Our party have left the infamous Copper Cup, although some have pledged to return as soon as possible, and are headed back to Trollskull Manor to ponder their next move. As they draw closer to their manor Finn suggests that it might be wise to pay Lord Malthos Roznar a visit. It may be getting a little late in the evening but the rest of the party agree that time is of the essence and so they divert to the Lord's Manor. Walking through the darkened streets of Waterdeep they soon reach the ornate iron gates of Roznar Manor a guard stands on sentry duty to one side. Farraine walks up to the man to ask to speak with Lord Roznar and somehow manages to piss him off within 30 seconds of speaking with him. Fortunately Garrick is able to quickly diffuse the situation and shows the guard the writ of authority granted to our heroes and the guard reluctantly opens the gate and bids them entry. Leading the way up the winding gravel path to the front door the guard asks the party to wait whilst he gets Lord Roznar. A few moments later the large oak door swings open and a servant beckons them to enter. The interior of the building exudes opulent decadence with a distinctly gaudy flair. Gilded trim lines every wall, competing with vibrant tapestries and ostentatious chandeliers dripping with gemstones. The furniture, a mix of overstuffed velvet chairs and lacquered mahogany, speaks to wealth rather than taste. They are led through the corridor past a large sculpture of a dragon and arrive in Roznar's Study, where a large ornate desk dominates the room, thick velvet curtains hang above the windows. Finn immediately notices the piano in the corner and starts to make his way over to it. Roznar shoots him with a quizzical and disapproving glare, the halfling stops in his tracks.
Lord Roznar asks them the purpose of their visit at such a late hour and Garrick is quick to mention that they are here to take him up on his offer to show them the Dragon artefacts he had spoken of during their meeting at the Jade Jug. Roznar's demeanour changes immediately, an eagerness to show off his possessions washes over him. Moving to a chest, he unlocks it and reverently lifts a velvet wrapped bundle and gently places it on the large desk. There in front of them is the obsidian dragon idol, a dragon scale pendant and a rather large book titled Forgotten Draconic Histories. Garrick asks the Lord where he managed to get hold of such fascinating items.
"Why I got them from a rather well known establishment down in the Dock Ward, you may have heard of it, The Old Xoblob Shop. After I got word that these items were available I just had to have them for my collection"
Finn asks who it was that told him that these items were available for purchase and is not surprised to hear the name of Siressa who apparently can be found frequenting the Elf Stone Tavern. Garrick probes further and Roznar is more than willing to provide further details on the transaction and the motivation behind the purchase. It appears that the Lord is honest in his responses and there is no ill will in his desire to own these objects. Sigrid asks if the Obsidian Dragon Statue does anything, the Lord looks puzzled as the Druid holds up her recently purchased onyx Dog furthering Roznar's bemusement even further. Lucian asks Roznar if he may take a closer look at the artifacts to see if there is any potentially dangerous magic associated with them. The Wizard's eyes cloud over as he gently picks up the dragon statue and begins to turn it over in his hands. He senses a faint magical charm, a dream of dragons. Placing it down on the desk he then picks up the pendant. Once more his eyes cloud over and a strong sense of desire begins to flood over him. Finally he picks up the large tome and is filled with a thirst for the knowledge contained within. Lucian asks Lord Roznar if he has read the book. Roznar confirms that indeed he has but they need not fear as there is no mention of the Cult of the Dragon contained within it's pages. Disturbingly Raznar tells Lucian of the dreams he has been having with increasingly regularity and intensity since the items came into his possession, dreams filled with Dragons.
In another surprising twist Sigrid asks if she can have a look around the adjoining rooms to Lord Roznar's study, once more a confused expression passes over the Lord's face as he declines her request. Immediately following his denial, Sigrid then asks if she can use the bathroom instead. One wonders if there is anyone in the history of the Forgotten Realms who has looked more confused than Lord Roznar at this point. Shaking his head in an attempt to banish the befuddlement from his brain, Roznar calls for a servant to escort Sigrid to the bathroom and the two of them exit the study. A few moments later a cry is heard from outside of the study calling for Lord Roznar to come quickly, it sounds a little like the servant who was on urinary escort duty. With a sigh of annoyance Lord Roznar leaves the study and the rest of our heroes look to one another. Finn feels a tugging at his side and Binky, his Imp Familiar pops into sight.
"Sir, Kormallis has left his manor with someone with tentacles coming from their face" whispers the Imp in Finn's ear.
"Where did they go?" Asks the Halfling.
"I don't know, you only told me to come and tell you if something happened, you never specified for me to follow".
With a brief sigh, Finn informs the rest of the party of this alarming new development. Roznar enters the room, clearly annoyed having apparently been led on somewhat of a wild goose chase. The party thank him for his time and begin leaving the manor looking around in search of Sigrid. It as this point that our focus must shift and pick up the story of the Druidic member of the group. As it turns out the request to use the bathroom was unsurprisingly a ruse to give her the opportunity to transform into a fly and then use this diminutive form to explore the manor in greater detail. Buzzing through corridors undetected and finding out all of the Lord's hidden secrets. Unfortunately what actually happened was a little less dramatic. After being escorted to the bathroom she did indeed turn into a fly. She then made her way back into the study and slipped beneath the door into one of the adjoining rooms. What she discovered was Roznar's Library, there were a lot of books, as you tend to expect from a library. When she returned to the study she saw the rest of the party starting to leave so quickly buzzed back to the bathroom to resume her humanoid form and flush before joining the rest of the group at the foot of the manor steps. Before they depart Finn whispers careful instructions to Binky to keep watch on Roznar's Manor and should Lord Roznar leave to find out where they are going to before coming to tell us.
Without further delay, our band of heroes heads off at top speed to the manor of Lord Edgar Kormallis. As they approach the gates to the manor a guard spots them and heads over, as he gets closer he notices Farraine and Finn and more than a hint of annoyance spreads across his face.
"Why don't you see if you can charm him" says Farraine to his Halfling buddy.
Finn looks slightly confused but is not one to back down from a challenge and so marches up to the gates and proceeds to flirt as best he can with the guard.
Farraine shakes his head in dismay, it's possible he had more magical solutions in mind.
Garrick steps in and asks the Guard if he is aware that the Lord of the Manor is no longer in....the manor. "Of course I know he is not here, wouldn't be much of a guard if I didn't know the whereabouts of my employer now would I?" he says
"So where is Lord Kormallis? Where did he go?" asks Garrick, a sense of urgency creeping into his voice.
"Er, well, I saw him leave of course, but er, well, well it's not my place to question his lordship on his business now is it, they went that way though" he replies pointing in a generally southern direction. Sigrid quickly conjures a hawk and the bird takes flight to try and track the whereabouts of Lord Kormallis.
Garrick sighs "Go and get Sister Garaele, there's a good guard".
The guard hurries off to the manor in a cloud of embarrassment. A few moments later the air is punctuated with screams coming from inside the abode. The party rush through the gates and into the house where they find Sister Garaele lying dead on the floor. It soon becomes clear that there is nothing that our party can do for her at the moment so Garrick quickly scoops her up in his arms and makes his way to the nearest temple where she can be placed under a gentle repose spell (much the same as Beef once was). Sigrid walks over to one of the nearby houseplants and uses her Druid ability to question a rather fine looking fern for some information as to what transpired here. It turns out that there was an altercation and a man with a tentacled face who moved towards Sister Garaele and she simply fell to the floor. Farraine and Finn head off to the nearest Watch House to alert the City Watch of this latest development.
At the Watch House Farraine demands to speak with the Watch Commander and he proceeds to tell him of the disappearance of Lord Kormallis and provides a description of his potential captor. The Commander calls for his second in command and relays the information to alert all Watch Houses and search the city. Farraine warns them to be careful, given what has happened to Sister Garaele. The Commander reassures them that they have resources available to them to deal with such threats. Finn asks that should the Watch find anything for them to be contacted immediately at Trollskull Manor. The Commander agrees and Farraine and Finn head back to Trollskull exhausted. It has been a long and busy day.
Back in Trollskull Manor Finn and Farraine head over to their usual table where Sigrid, Lucian and Garrick are now sat. Ozen brings over a couple of tankards of ale and sets them down in front of them, they barely touch the table before they are picked up drained and handed back to the Barman to be refilled. The group discuss the events of the day and their plans for the day to follow, should they head over to interview Lady Ithana Irlingstar, should they follow a potential lead in the sewers (the last place they saw a tentacled face foe) or is Siressa their next target? As the ales flow and the patrons begin to depart, Sigrid, for reasons known only to her, challenges Farraine - the strongest of the party - to an arm wrestle contest. At first the rest of the party think she is joking but there is a look of steeled determination on her face. Farraine asks if she is sure as he is not one to hold back in such matters. Sigrid assures him that her challenge is genuine. She holds her arm up, elbow resting on the table. Farraine smiles and takes a seat opposite, placing his hand in hers...3....2....1....Go!
It is said that there is nothing in the entire universe that travels faster than light itself, although philosophers have often argued that darkness is an exception (it having being there long before the light has arrived) but the the movement of Sigrid's arm being slammed into the table comes a very close second. There is a crunching and snapping of bone as Farraine pushes her hands into the table and she whimpers slightly as pain shoots through her body. She composes herself somewhat, nodding towards Farraine before gingerly standing up and making her way upstairs to her room. Farraine looks over at Byron "Fancy a go?" he says with a smile. The Monk shakes his head and resumes the polishing of a table.
With that the rest of the party head off to their rooms to get some well earned rest.
Morning breaks and the Sun begins it's lazy climb into the skies above Waterdeep. Our heroes emerge from their rooms and down to another magnificent breakfast from Chef Ozen. Sigrid's arm is heavily bandaged but she seems otherwise in good spirits as they sit down and begin their feast. Bellies full the party head out to the temple to check on Sister Garaele. A Priest greets them at the entrance and takes them to her resting place. The lifeless body of Sister Garaele lies on an alter in a candlelit room. Garrick walks up to the alter and tries a spell of his own to bring her back but it is ineffective. The party pay their respects and head off to Roznar's Mansion, Lucian believes he will be able to dispel the artifacts of their magic.
Once more the group arrive at the Manor of Lord Roznar and are granted entry to his study for a second time. Lord Roznar is more than willing for the Wizard to attempt to rid them of any nefarious spells as long as he doesn't cause them any damage. Lucian picks up each item in turn and performs his magical ritual after a short while he places them back down "It is done". Lord Roznar takes the items - with noticeably less care than he did previously and places them back inside the chest. It seems the party have removed a potential threat and released Lord Roznar from danger for the time being. Before heading back to Trollskull manor for lunch the party tell Roznar to be cautious and to keep them informed of any further developments.
Over lunch the party once more discuss their options. Finn Suggests that they should interview Lady Irlingstar, a suggestion met with a surprising level of distain from Garrick. It appears that such a line of inquiry brings into question the reassurance from his god that Lady Irlingstar is not involved with the Cult of the Dragon. Instead, it seems that the party's next port of call will be the Elf Stone Tavern and finding the illusive Siressa.
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