The floor of the great hall trembles vigorously and pieces of stone fall from the ceiling, our heroes rush out of the large hall as rocks crash to the floor behind them. The door slams shut, rubble piles up against it as the party pause to get their breath back. Straightening up they continue down the passageway until they find another of Finn's best friends, a door. Reluctantly the Halfling retrieves his lockpicking tools from his belt and probes at the lock, but his heart just isn't in it and his mind begins to wander, they were so sure they had picked the right response to the dwarf's questions. A snap of metal brings him back to the real world, a broken lockpick in his hand and a stubbornly locked door in front of him. Lucian brushes Finn to one side and casts a spell on the door and the lock clicks open. "That's how it's done little one" says the Wizard, smirking. Finn scowls at the mage as he walks through the door. In the centre of the room beyond is a large tree, a magical aura surrounds it, blue leaves hang from the twisted branches that sway in a non existent breeze. In the centre of the tree's trunk is a circular indentation as if something absent used to be held there.
Sigrid walks up slowly to the tree and touches the rough bark, he eyes close as she channels her Druidic powers to speak with the tree. "Has anyone passed by you recently?". A deep, slow, purposeful voice echoes in her head "No-one has been her for a long time". Finn tells Sigrid to ask about The Heart of Ashardalon. Once again the voice enters her head, bypassing her ears completely, "I used to be its guardian but it is now with the dwarf". Sigrid removes her hand from the trunk of the tree and her eyes open. She tells the rest of the party that Veydran, the Dwarf from the previous room was the one who has the artifact they seek. If only they had given the correct reply to the Dwarf's question perhaps they would have it by now. There is a sigh of resignation from the group but they decide to press on through the labyrinthine dungeon, perhaps another opportunity will arise for them to prove themselves worthy. A door on the other side of the room leads to a medium sized room, within which sits a leather wing-backed chair. Opposite the chair stands a large serpentine statue, green jeweled eyes stare at the chair ominously, almost daring anyone to take a seat. Finn cautiously moves towards the chair and carefully examines it, but he does not find any of the usual trap-like mechanisms familiar to him. Lucian pushes the Halfling to one side and leans closer into the worn leather seat cushion. A cushion that has no doubt been in close proximity to a plethora of backsides, absorbed gases that no man should be subjected to and if the scary looking snake statue is anything to go by a fair amount of poop. Nonetheless the Wizard presses his nose to the cracked leather and inhales deeply. Finn gags uncontrollably off to one side as the Wizard stands up straight, his brow wrinkled and eyes slightly crossed and watering.
"Well?" inquires the Halfling.
Lucian replies with difficulty as his throat wretches a little, "Glue" he manages.
"Well, I've seen enough" says Finn and immediately makes towards the door on the other side of the room. Lucian, Garrick and Farraine follow the Halfling as he carefully opens the door and walks through it into another room, the air filled with the musty smell of aged parchment. Shelves line the walls, filled with dusty scrolls and withered tomes. Lucian is back in his element. He immediately starts running his fingers over the bindings, his lips moving soundlessly as he peruses the hoard of knowledge before him. Unfortunately despite the number of volumes lining the shelves, none of them seem to contain any information that will aide them in their quest to find Veydran or The Heart of Ashardalon.
Suddenly, an eerie voice from the room behind them echoes "Bound by sovereign not by chain, struggle all you like, only in vain, one word alone undoes this plight, speak it now or stay the night". The four of them rush back into the room to find Sigrid sat in the chair, staring fixedly at the serpent statue. Their faces etched with incredulity as Sigrid tries in vain to get out of the chair, completely unsurprisingly she is unable to extricate herself. Farraine shoots a look to Finn as if to ask if the Druid is right in the head. Finn looks at Sigrid, arse firmly rooted to the chair and then to the serpent statue whose eyes glow bright green and shakes his head.
"Well now what are we supposed to do?" Farraine asks
"It appears that there is some kind of password that needs to be spoken in order to release her" says Garrick as he ponders the riddle. Finn and Farraine huddle together to give it some thought but after a lengthy discussion punctuated by the occasional struggle from the Druid, all they can come up with is the word "Duty". The two of them head back to Garrick and Lucian and tell them what they came up with. The four of them discuss their options it certainly does seem to follow a logical connection to the riddle, one could be bound to someone by a sense of duty. Sigrid agrees with their reasoning and utters the word...nothing happens and her backside remains firmly attached to the chair. Minute after minute passes as more possibilities are spoken in the hope of releasing the annoyingly inquisitive Druid but nothing appears to work. Heads are scratched, chins stroked, brain cells stretched to breaking point but none of the suggested words can unbreak the curse and Sigrid remains stubbornly seated. With no other options presenting themselves and the party truly stumped, Farraine tries to move the chair itself. The wooden legs drag easily over the flagstones and a plan begins to formulate in the Fighter's mind.
"I'm not going to drag you around this place isn't there some kind of animal magic you could conjure to carry you in this chair whilst we continue exploring?" Farraine asks.
Sigrid considers this carefully, drawing upon years and years of Druidic training and experience. After a brief moment she utters an incantation and there is a small puff of cloud and 4 large tortoises sit at her feet. Farraine and Garrick look to one another with confused expressions, it seems they had thought she would have chosen a large animal upon the back of which the chair could be tied. The thought process of the Druid is just as confusing as some of the riddles of this dungeon it seems. With care and puzzled expressions Farraine and Garrick lift the chair and place each of its legs on the back of one of the tortoises.
The party re group and head out of the room back towards the magical tree with Sigrid and her Throne Tortoises following slowly behind them. Turning down another corridor, our heroes find themselves in another room, in the centre of the room are six levers sprouting from the stone floor. Around the levers, Dwarven Runes. Garrick walks up to them and reads them aloud to the rest of the party.
"The first to call, a voice loud and clear
The second to follow, a whisper you hear
The third must come last, silent and still
The fourth will sing, with a voice of thrill
The fifth is a murmur, just out of sight
The sixth is a question, without any light"
"Oh great, another fucking puzzle, as if this place hasn't made us feel stupid enough as it is" says Finn, despondently. The halfling collapses on the floor and sits cross-legged, his hands massaging his temples as he considers the riddle presented to them. Looking at each of the levers there is a small number etched into the stone at their base. It appears that they need to be pulled in a particular order. Garrick, Farraine and Lucian join the Halfling and discuss the meaning of the riddle and the likely solution. Given that the first to be pulled is "A voice loud and clear" and the last is "Silent and still" it would make sense that the order of pulling should relate to the volume of sound suggested in the riddle. After a few minutes of further discussions, Finn gets to his feet and moves to the first lever and pulls it towards him, there is a loud clang, pulling the second one reveals a second clang only quieter this time, silence follows the third lever. Moving to the fourth lever the Halfling gives it a pull and musical notes echo around the chamber. The fifth lever results in a faint clang and finally the sixth is followed by a dull thud. Armed with this knowledge the party agree on a possible correct order and Finn gives it a try, nothing happens. Switching up the order slightly they try another sequence, only to get the same result. With each unsuccessful attempt they grow more and more frustrated. When Sigrid, borne upon her tortoise driven chair arrives in the room, Farraine has resorted to ignoring all possible logic and is just pulling levers at random. All of a sudden as Farraine pulls the final lever for the umpteenth time, there is a loud and distinct click coming from the northern end of the room. Finn rushes towards the source of the sound and finds an unlocked door, opening it to reveal a room. The Halfling pauses and notices a mechanism hidden in the stone floor and something in one of the walls off to one side. Upon closer inspection of the trap mechanism he discovers that it is deactivated, perhaps as a result of the random lever pulling of his friend, Farraine. On the other side of the room sits another doorway and the party slowly make their way over to it. Finn opens the door to reveal a small room, spider webs line the walls and ceiling and small egg sacks litter the floor. Without hesitation, Lucian recalls the recent incident on the slave ship and hurls a bolt of fire into the darkened room. Flames engulf the webbing and burn ferociously, leaving nothing behind. As the flames die down the party move into the room, it is empty save for the smell of burnt silk and acrid smoke. Sigrid slowly catches up with them as they turn back and exit the room, it seems they have explored every inch of this dungeon and have come up short this time. With heavy hearts and the painful realisation that they are not as smart as they once thought they were, our heroes head back to the entrance. Farraine, Lucian, Finn and Garrick wait at the steps to the Doomvault Halls and wait for a half hour or so for Sigrid and her tortoises to catch up. When she does so, Lucian conjures a teleportation circle and they all step inside. There is a puff of smoke and the steps to the Doomvault halls are empty once more.
In the cellar of Trollskull Manor smoke rises and curls around the magical runes etched into the floorboards. As the wisps of smoke clear our heroes step out, they are not alone. Across the rooms sits a man tied to one of the large casks of ale. Dried blood from a probable broken nose has stained his clothes. Clothes that look remarkably like those worn by the sailors of the Slave ship. A commotion above draws the attention of the party and they quickly rush up the steps to investigate. Loud shouting and chanting can be heard coming from just outside the tavern and as they enter the bar it becomes clear that there has been some kind of scuffle. Ozen marches over to them, he is sporting a black eye but a wry smile.
"Good to see you again Sirs, where is the good lady?"
"Er, she's in the basement still, it seems tortoises and stairs are a bad combination"
Ozen looks confused briefly "No matter our guest down there is properly secured, saw to it m'self" the barman says with a wink. Gesturing to a number of overturned tables and chairs, Ozen explains the situation. "It seems our guest has been spreading some rumours and besmirching your good name Master Lucian"
Garrick, Farraine and Finn turn to look at the Wizard, a shocked expression lines his face. The front door to the tavern creeks open and the noise of the large crowd outside raises in volume and is muffled once more as the door closes behind Renaer Neverember. The nobleman walks over to them, stepping over broken furniture and takes Lucian to one side.
"As you may have gathered from the baying crowds outside, there are a number of people that have been told about the events on the slave ship and more importantly, the collateral damage resulting from one of you, how shall we say less well thought out spells. If only you had told us upon your return what had happened we may have been able to get ahead of this and prevent this ghastliness. Alas we are where we are." He hands Lucian a scroll, "We have prepared a statement for you to read out and there will be some local reporters to ask a few questions. The sooner we get this done, the better"
Ranaer leads the Wizard outside to the steps of the manor, Garrick Farraine and Finn follow closely behind. Outside, a large crowd is being held back by the City Watch, there is a distinct number of torches and pitchforks. Lucian steps forward and clears his throat.
"Good people of Waterdeep, I stand before you, not as an elf, not as a wizard, but as a citizen of this city - one who has bled, fought and sacrificed alongside my companions to protect the innocent and confront evil, wherever it rises. A tragedy occurred during our recent operation to rescue prisoners from a slaver vessel. Despite our best efforts. a fire broke out in the chaos of battle, claiming the lives of those we had hoped to save. I will carry that sorrow with me for the rest of my days. Let me be clear: I did not intend for those flames to spread. The idea that I would deliberately cause such horror - much less out of some twisted hatred for humans or any other race - is a vile and unfounded lie. My life's work is built on knowledge, unity and justice. Any who have fought beside me know this"
"Binky might say something different" Finn whispers to Farraine.
"These rumours", continues the Wizard. "are not only false - they are dangerous. They divide us when we should be standing together against the true enemies of peace: the slavers, the cultists and those who would see our city fall to chaos. The man spreading these lies, Thomas Wolfe was not amoung us when we fought to free those captives. He did not see the smoke sting our eyes, or the risk we took to reach those below decks. He is an agent of something darker - and I call on the City Watch to investigate his affiliations. I mourn those we could not save. I thank the Elvish Defence League for their support - but I say to all: This is not a matter of elf or man, halfling or dwarf. This is about truth. About fighting tyranny, not fueling fear. We at Trollskull Manor will continue to serve Waterdeep and its people with honour. I ask only for time and fairness - and that we remember who the real enemies are. Thank you"
A Gnome with a piece of parchment and quill in hand steps forward, "Hello there, Dandylion Quickquill of the Waterdeep Wazoo. If I may sir. A few questions. Sources say 'the elf Lucian smiled as fire consumed the ship's hold'—what’s your response to this explosive claim?"
Lucian is slightly taken aback by the accusation but manages to compose himself "That is a falsehood and a dangerous one at that, I can assure you I did no such thing"
"Would you say your party has a pattern of collateral damage during public operations?" the Gnome continues.
"I can assure you that during our operations we consider the safety of others paramount. What happened on that ship was a terrible accident"
"Some are calling you Lucian Blunderbeard. Is there any truth to this nickname?" inquires the Gnome reporter.
"There is now" whispers Farraine to Finn.
Lucian quickly denies the rumour. Once the gnome has finished his questions another report steps forward with more difficult questions for the Wizard, he does his best to answer them whilst retaining his dignity and reputation, each time he reiterates that the events on the ship were an accident and one that he will ensure doesn't happen again. Eventually Ranaer calls a halt to the inquisition and as the City Watch disperse the more subdued crowd they return to the bar of Trollskull Manor.
The next day the newspapers land on the ale-stained floor of Trollskull Manor and the headlines are not all good.
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