Session 10 Notes

(this one raw, but comprehensive)

The Artisan district bustles with the sounds of heavy and light industry. You hear the clanging of hammers at forges, bursts of steam and shouts ringing in the air. The artisans of Neverwinter, known for its “good hands,” seem to be bent at readiness for war, producing arms and armor, arrows and bows. Other stalls hold magical goods and components, instruments, painting supplies and the like. Unlike the market district, this is where the goods are made, with merchants perusing wares, materials, and components to be sold out of storefronts, or the many caravans stopping through Neverwinter on their way further north or south along the sword coast.

Before you stand the heavy wooden doors to the imposing building occupied by the Many Starred Cloak Wizards Guild. Where the wizards once roosted in a tower in the River district, now occupied by Orcs, their current residence is a four story masterpiece of masonry. The gothic architecture oozes importance, or perhaps self-importance, scrolling etched into eaves and alcoves adorned with stained glass depicting Mystra and her mysteries. Light reflects off the stonework as though it were glass, piercing the eyes of our more hungover companions. A large iron ring rests in the center of each door. What do you do? Val goes up to the door and knocks. Boom boom, it creaks open inward by itself.

Yglesia huffs in irritation, and walks in, followed by the party. Dungar tells Gil they’d appreciate the bagpipes.

Open the door, greeted by magic looking stuff (like walking into the ministry of magic but less Wall Street/world bank and more library of congress). A young man sitting at a desk marked reception looks up over his book and waves you over. Instructed by an apprentice that the magical investigations unit is on the third floor, please don’t open any doors or wander. Like most places of magic, it does hold its dangers to the uninitiated. There’s a conference room just off the main landing/entryway where you can wait, and the team will be right with you. First level students union, second level library and study rooms. Yglesia casts thaumaturgy loudly shouting “cookbook!" Gil asks if she can do it again. Yglesia madly walks up the stairs.

Approach the third floor, and see a listing on the wall of various rooms. First roll! Arcana, Val touches the directory and a line traces off leading in the direction of the conference room. Yglesia touches alll the buttons, it flashes and says “NO CHILDREN ALLOWED.”

They are led by the magic light to conference room 3A. Plate cookies and tea in the center of the roundtable in the conference room. 30 min wait. Val investigates and nerds out on Area 51 mage stuff. Yglesia does detect magic on the door and it shows a sign “please wait, an associate will be with you in…20mins….” Hijinks - lets put leaves in the cookies or the tea. Val asks for a leaf in her tea, doesn’t really help.

Dungar and Val talk about how nice it was last night. Gil doesn’t remember the flaming bagpipes. Thorne implies Dr. Yglesia definitely remembers.

Dungar trolls Yglesia about the egg. Gil says to call her shellfish, there’s so many joke opportunities around the egg. That’s enough yolks. Yglesia smolders.

Faerghus sweeps in and is dismissive and rude. Standing by him is a man who looks a little sickly, explains its his assistant (Hamlin). Thelonius comes in behind them, a nervous looking gnome

Val tries to intimidate Faerghus, doesn’t work. He sweeps out, Yglesia Thaumaturies a fart sound, Val makes a face, Thorne casts mold Eartth a middle finger. Thorne then gives Val a high five.

Leaves them with Thelonius to tell them about the findings of the investigation. He’s real nervous about the hijinks. The team starts to butter up Thelonius. Yglesia scans the report then lights it on fire. Also lights dungars on fire as they discuss the benefits of diversity to knowledge creation. Dungar puts it out, he actually cares about the findings because TT events. Thelonius asks them to all sit and he will brief them. Gets started in the briefing, Gil raises his hand. Asks if Thelonius has siblings, responds that he is an only child but the third Thelonius in a long line of prestigious scholars.

The undead weren't really undead, but demons inhabiting corpses, something they haven't seen before. Recommend they speak to someone more familiar with Death and how it works, or might be compromised. They've reached out to the Abhorsen but have been unable to make contact. Aralest didn’t answer a series of questions, though they did see some evidence that the demonic essence jumped to a fresher corpse. Describes the mage perpetrator, uncaptured, says Aralest might have access to the one jailed perpetrator. He has heard of celene before (heavy blushing). Mentions Aurelian and greycloaks and proper authorities who might have access to the jailed individual. Thelonius tells them Faerghus has been acting oddly of late, and while he would never ever search the man's workroom…..Gives them a runestone that should bypass his wards (talking loudly of other things trying to be stealth handing them it). Also tries to give them a survey to assess his performance, Val and dungar give him high marks. Tells them he and Faerghus will be taking a lunch for about an hour with Hamlin.

Faerghus’s workroom is on the third floor, down the hall and to the right down another hall, last room on the left.

Val take the runestone and they head to the workroom, parchment from thelonius has directions and gives top lines that faerghus might have been manipulating data, and who knows what else.

Run into a nervous student who tries to get funding from them. Hijinks…..in getting them out of way, they succeed. Poor Dunstan Appleton. They leave him in their wake and approach the door. Val uses the stone to unlock the door and traps. They enter the door and see the workroom. Dungar gives Thorne and Val foxes cunning, advantage on intelligence checks. In inspecting the workroom, perception check can show what looks like what might have been a summoning circle. Other doodads and knickknacks seem legit for wizardry stuff. There’s also an elaborate chest on a desk, looks like it matches the key. they open it and inside there is an ashmadai crest and the mask the wizard dude wore at Aralest's manor.

Yglesia sees the chest, it needs a key. Dungar finds potentially valuable components and things that can be stolen. The girls see materials and documents pertaining to investigations, but spark notes. Gil sees a scuffed out circle by the door. Thorne announces she has a key that may fit the chest. Reveals ashmadai crest, and a mask, intricate and gilded. It was the mask worn by the mage at Aralest’s mansion!

What if Aurelian was in on it? What if faerghus is Aurelian? SUSPICION.

As they move to leave the door opens, and in walks Faerghus’s assistant: says, “my master would not be pleased to see such an act of disrespect committed by guests to this hall. I will have to teach you a lesson.” Raises fist and shouts a word in infernal, a creature is summoned in the center of the room. As they watch, the skin suit of Hamlin sloughs off revealing a truly disgusting monster. End of combat, thorne for the kill: gives hamlin an intense mani pedi and haircut, as the summoned tongue-dog vanishes says “always brush your tongue when you brush your teeth”