Waterdeep: Dragon Heist - Session XVIII

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Last Session: Session XVII The Trial of Sowron

Next Session: Session XIX A Botched Infiltration

Basics & Rundown
Out of Game Date played: 2020-04-04

Session Title:  Terror in Trollskull Alley

In-game Date:  Tarsakh 20 1583 DR

Location: Waterdeep

Player Characters: (Alphabetical order)
 * Choo-Cha (Cory)
 * Gooz (Aaron)
 * Järna (Claire)
 * Julian Bellafontaine (Matt)
 * Thola (Julianne)

Calm Before the Storm
The next few months provide the players with some reprieve as there is nothing too much going on other than waiting out the winter.

Burrow-warden Jadger wishes the players a farewell & is glad to be returning to his home. Tells the players to summon him in 200 years when his exile is timed out & starts his long trek back to Blingdenstone.

Unfortunately, for many of the players hoping to free Sowron during his transit to the prison known as " The Circle " he was teleported to the entrance instead due to the massive influx of refugees fleeing southward causing what many deemed as "risky conditions".

A few strange things happened throughout the city, a large whale appears in the middle of Waterdeep's bay every full moon. Many from the House of the Moon see this as a sign from their beloved Selûne.

Thola receives a letter summoning her to the Underdark Kingdom of GauntlGrym at the behest of Bruenor Battlehammer concerning her experiences in the Underdark.

The private eye business across the street, Tiger's Eye, where Vincent Trench used to conduct his practice closed due to no one seeing or hearing from the man for several months. Many believe that he was killed because he gave his testimony to the city watch during Sowron's trial. A new business has gone up named " By the Book " run by a stern half-elf by the name of Dirth Habernathy.

The city seems eerily quiet while the news that Luskan's Red Hexagon Trading Company has double recruitment & it's fleet size in the past three months. Many are worried war may be on the horizon.

Neverwinter's refugee crisis has overwhelmed the city, many are dying as there is not enough winter food stores to go around. Priority is being given to humans which has sparked racial riots in the otherwise peaceful multicultural city.

Waterdeep has closed it's walls to incoming refugees from Neverwinter forcing them to continue southward to Baulder's Gate. The Open Lord Laerel Silverhand order the city to start mobilizing for defense. The Open Lord also declares harsher punishments according to the Code Legal of Waterdeep & the Magister's & Lord's Court has taken it in stride typically assigning the maximum sentence for any crime.

Each player does something in their downtime:
 * Choo-Cha
 * Smoothing things over with the Harpers
 * Roughed up  Skeemo  while invisible for being a witness in the Trial of Sowron
 * Gooz
 * Studied more about law to help others appeal & get out of Jail
 * Within three (3) months he acquitted three (3) goblins named:
 * Stinko
 * Ponch
 * Lesly
 * Järna
 * Looking for leads on her mother, Gravvaz
 * Found out that she may be living in Luskan currently part of the The Red Hexagon Trading Company
 * Got really into boating within the Waterdeep Bay
 * Julian Bellafontaine
 * Smoothing things over with the Harpers
 * Thola
 * Studied the whale in the Waterdeep bay & learnt that it is a type of water lycanthrope, possibly native to the sea

Fireball
On Tarsakh 20 1583 DR, a large fireball ignited in the middle of Trollskull Alley shattering many of the windows on Spooky's front facade. Causing billowing acrid smoke to billow into the sky while screams & cries coming from outside. The party all rush out to investigate the commotion.

As they exited they saw nearly a dozen people dead with dozens injured while there was fire set to multiple stalls & businesses.

Julian Bellafontaine added to the pandemonium by getting onto a cart & yelling into the crowd if anyone saw what happened while people were scattering from the scene. He quickly hopped & started to to approach people to gather more information. Along his way he did spy among the dead were two (2) mercenaries one with a black winged snake, typically associated with the Manshoon faction of the Zhentarim. He then approached someone who was helping the injured, she introduced herself as Fala Lefaliir. Julian recognized her as the herbalist shop-keep that owned Corellon's Crown. She said she would be more than willing to talk but after she tends to some of the injured people. Julian starts to help casting healing spells on the injured. Järna come to help tend wounds along with Julian.

Choo-Cha scaled up Spooky's in order to get a better view of the scene, She ends up seeing someone hopping along rooftops near Horn Street (~700 ft / ~200 m) away & she decides to jump down & pursue.

Thola taking in the scene start inspecting bodies, she sees someone she recognizes, Dalakhar, the gnome that shared the road with her & Raener Neverember on there way back to Waterdeep 3.5 months ago. She casts the Speak with the dead spell on him to find out that he was on his way to see her and those who rescued Raenerfrom a warehouse. He has the Stone of Golorr on him but was being pursued by three (3) people. After that Thola blessed him and released the spell, then proceeded to search the body. She found 5 gemstones worth 100 GP each but nothing else on the gnome's body. She decided that the gnome must have meant the stone was in him and carried Dalakhar  back to Spooky's' kitchen where she cut open his chest and stomach to attempt to find the stone within the gnomes body but came up empty handed.

Gooz started cleaning up the mess outside of Spooky's attempting to look for anywhere the gnome may have stashed the stone before his death. While looking he found a note fluttering from the sky above that gave information on how to use a Necklace of Fireballs & when to use it on the gnome.

Julian went to inspect the bodies of the two mercenaries and discovered that there was a third with them that must have been just out of the blast radius as they fled eastward down Saerdoun Street. Choo-Cha joined and they both pursued who they believed of suspects in this crime observing several members of the city guard heading towards the crime scene as well as a few griffon cavalry circling overhead. They followed the fresh muddied spring tracks to Gralhund Villa, but Choo-Cha suspected that this was not the same suspect she saw hoping along rooftops on Horn Street she saw a few minutes earlier.

All the party reconvenes back at Spooky's and shares their finds when two members of the City Watch arrive & introduce themselves as Saeth Cromley & Barnibus Blastwind. They ask the party if they saw a found a small humanoid, possibly a gnome or halfling at the scene of the accident or that came into the bar. Everyone said no but Barnibus could tell Thola knew something else (due to the fact that she has a gnome's body in the back kitchen on a table cut open. When Barnibus started to press for more Julian started crying in an attempt & attempted to make Barnibus feel bad about pressing after what was obviously a very jarring incident.

On their way out, Barnibus saw a wanted posted that was hung on the Noticeboard & went to take it. Gooz tells him that he wouldn't want to steal that notice as it would be breaking the law & Barnibus drops the poster onto the floor. The poster was for a wanted Nimblewright named Helux that escaped from the House of the Inspired Hands (The Temple of Gond in the Sea Ward) (Originally put up in Session XIV).

After Barnibus left the party stripped down the gnome and fed him to the giant flytrap in the arboretum.

Barnibus' Visit
The following day Barnibus visited Spooky's again the following day by himself to obtain information about the dwarf. The party seemed reluctant gave some information about the note Gooz found. Barnibus tells the party in good faith that he believes there are at least two suspect aiming to kill the gnome, but unfortunately without a body he may never know who the target was and what their links may be. Unfortunately, his work is pulling him in a few other directions and he will not be able fully investigate. He has made a few arrests in connection to the crime already.