October 12, 2019 (Sat). Mon’s Place
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A few weeks ago, all Aasimars in Baldur’s Gate gained true flight. The bailiff Jedren Hillard petitioned the Council to declare flying Aasimars illegal in the city. The Grand Duke directed the Flaming Fists to arrest all Aasimars capable of true flight.
Bob witnessed firsthand how one of his kin and close friends was dragged from a tavern and executed by the Fists. Luckily, he escaped. Bob soon found the others and convinced them to seek vengeance upon the bailiff. Manoch, Ray and Gwymord agreed and Nerisella was hired to do a “distraction”. After a week’s planning, the sinister deed was done and Hillard was no more.
Unfortunately, this “Dark Secret” did not stay a secret for long. Zodge, captain of the Flaming Fists, discovered the truth and used this information as leverage in his negotiations (see below).
Soon, everyone was drafted as deputies into the Flaming Fists by Captain Zodge. Since the Fists were undermanned, the new deputies were tasked to investigate and put an end to cultists of the Dead Three: Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul. “Find their lair and exterminate those cockroaches”, said Zodge. “After a tenday, report back to me and you shall be paid two hundred gold EACH!”
Zodge instructed them to proceed to the Elfsong tavern and look for a spy named Terina who would provide them with more information about the cultists.
Before proceeding to the Elfsong, they decided to investigate the murder of Milton, a fish broker, but that, pardon the pun, was indeed a red herring.
At the tavern, the group was about to start a conversation with Terina when a group of pirates barged in and demanded that Terina pay a gambling debt. The party tried to interfere, but heated verbal exchanges soon led to violence!
Our heroes made short work of the pirates but the leader was a tough nut to crack. It took Manoch, Terina, and Gwymord’s expertise on kidney extraction to finally bring him down for good.
Thanking the party, Terina told them that she has been staking out some cultists to a nearby bath house suspected to be their base of operations. She suspected a secret door somewhere in the bath house which could lead to a subterranean lair.
Our heroes staked out the bath house during the day. Manoch, after sneering at monks doing Tai-Chi at the Zen gardens, encountered a Hobgoblin Ironshadow monk. Manoch politely begged off further conversation...
Meanwhile, Gwymord located the secret doors in the massage room and Manoch bribed a masseuse named Jabaz for more information. Jabaz confessed that this establishment is owned by the Vanthampurs, a noble family and member of the Council of Four. Thurstwell Vanthampur, oldest son of Duchess Thalamra Vanthampur, operated and managed this business. Jabaz also revealed that cultists “with wicked curved daggers” patrolled the gardens and the baths at night.
After careful strategical and tactical considerations, the party executed their plan: Nerisella hired some urchin contacts to prepare a manure cart to ram the carriage of the last noble leaving for the night. Their plan worked perfectly! In fact, one of the urchins had a grand idea to set the feces on fire which literally sent shit fireworks all over the place!
During the ruse, the party snuck in through the Northeast wall and made their way to the secret door...
This “dungeon” was, in fact, an old, abandoned aqueduct--most likely owned and operated by the Vanthampurs (yes, sewage and aqueducts was a family business). Here, our heroes encountered cultists and wicked altars devoted to the Dead Three.
They also rescued a Patriar from torture, Klim Jhasso, who immediately converted to Manoch’s worship of Tyr and promised them a hefty reward should they bring him back to his villa and family. (DM Note: Jhasso lied. He is worthless and his family has no clout nor power.)
At the Eastern end of the dungeon, the party came upon a melee battle in progress: Mortlock Vanthampur, a brute of a man with a great club was up against Vaaz, a Death’s Head of Bhaal. Mortlock cried for help, claiming that he was betrayed by his brothers! The party chose to take his word for it.
The Bhaal Cultist proved to be a difficult opponent. With his Murder Aura, he quickly felled Gwymord. Worse, Manoch was out of Smites and they had to chase the cultist who made his last stand when cornered in the other room.
With their luck running out, Manoch uttered a prayer to his god. “Great Tyr! Your humble servant beseeches you--lend me your holy strength in this hour of need!”
Tyr replied, “Don’t be so pushy!”
“Push! Of course!” Inspired, Manoch rushed forward to lock blades with the cultist. “Take this, evildoer! Shoving Smite!” And with all his strength, he pushed the cultist to the floor, leaving him open for the newly-revived Gwymord’s sword. With a few more blows the heroes ultimately prevailed!
Mortlock thanked the party and revealed the following information:
As the party escape from the dungeon, they emerged to find the guards upstairs were dead. The heroes were then quickly surrounded by five Dragon Cultists of Tiamat. Their leader, Ultiss, says “I believe you have something that belongs to us.”
“Oh yeah, I am so sorry.” Mortlock grinned. “I forgot this one little detail.”
Knowing that they were low on resources (and health), Augustus Manoch interjects, “Maybe we can come to some sort of agreement. This fellow here has turned against his family and has confessed that they, indeed, stole your treasure. If we return it to you, maybe you could help us exact vengeance on the perpetrators?”
“It sounds like a good deal,” Ultiss said. “We are not violent people. We only come here to take what belongs to our Great Mother.”
“Very well,” said Manoch. “Then we have an agreement. However...there’s one more thing. Did you happen to encounter a Hobgoblin monk in these premises?”
“A Hobgoblin monk? No we didn’t. And if we did, we would have run the other way!”
- - TO BE CONTINUED --