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Family Matters - Forgotten Realms Waterdeep Campaign
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<blockquote data-quote="Isida Kep'Tukari" data-source="post: 6222304" data-attributes="member: 4441"><p><strong>Session 23</strong></p><p></p><p>When we last left our intrepid heroes they had just rescued a dancer named Shell, and at least one other luckless soul from Salt Isle, a private temple of Umberlee. Priests of Mystra and mages from the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors had been summoned to see what could be done. They could not risk a holy war with Umberlee’s faithful, but both the priests and mages could speak with the head of Umberlee’s church immediately and find out what in the world they thought was going on (backed with enough evidence to avoid lies).</p><p></p><p>Several hours later, the delegation returned with some sobering news. Apparently Brother Lyric had been put in charge of receiving certain tribute to Salt Isle (that was what most of those shell containers that were going from the temple on the Docks contained), as well as in restoring the ship on the bottom of Salt Isle. That ship was now gone, along with a large amount of tribute and one Sister Mirra. Apparently her and Lyric had made contact with the ixitchaital and bargained for their own purposes, rather than that of the faith. The head priest of Umberlee had been very angry to hear what they had been up to, appalled at the state of the victims, and livid at the loss of the ship. According to him it had been sealed off while under construction, and Brother Lyric and Sister Mirra must have been funneling tribute down there as well as their victims.</p><p></p><p>Umberlee’s priests were looking for the ship now, but it seems that Brother Lyric had not been on Salt Isle today, and was most likely somewhere in Dock Ward. The group immediately volunteered to go help look for him, help gratefully accepted. Shandri found someone in her temple (as they were all still in the Temple of Istishia) to make fair likenesses of Lyric’s face, the Order mage magically made several copies, and she distributed them to her squad of UPS urchins and scattered them down the dock.</p><p></p><p>The group also took several copies and headed that way themselves, to ask questions of people who might ignore urchins. Eventually they found evidence he’d been heading down the dock proper, looking for a ship. And oddly enough, there was a powerful storm brewing right now. The group went to talk to the Singing Lark, the last ship Shell had performed on, as they might be sympathetic to her plight, and they said they had seen him heading towards the larger passenger ships. But it was finally with one of the crew of the all-female Screaming Harpy, a sailor named Sasha, who both recognized Lyric and said he’d left on a huge ship called the Storm Wind an hour prior. But the Storm Wind had turned back and docked in the storm.</p><p></p><p>Thusly armed, the group went to speak to the captain of the Storm Wind, who thought them mad for being out in this weather, but was even more mad to think he might be harboring a criminal of Umberlee’s church. He told the crew Lyric was in one of the lower holds, him and some of his cargo.</p><p></p><p>The group went to confront him, the ship sloshing and rocking at its berth as the storm reached its height. Lyric, being very paranoid, took one look at the group and opened up one of the huge crates he’d brought with him. In burst open in a gush of water, filling the hold to a depth of three feet, and revealing two angry scrags (water trolls). Swearing mightily, the party waded in (sometimes literally) to the fight. William used magic to hold Lyric, making him fall over in the water. Garden climbed atop him, not just to keep his head above water, but also to keep him in one place. (He wasn’t particularly fussed if Lyric drowned; he didn’t have a high opinion of the man.)</p><p></p><p>Evelyn would paralyze one troll or the other with Margul, the dreaded freeze, and Garden skewered them in vulnerable areas, while Charissa shot her gun with superb accuracy, Steven wielded his new sword, and Shandri empowered them with the blessings of Istishia. Though the trolls regenerated in water, and their claws and fangs ripped into Steven and Garden, the party was able to finally decapitate them. The crew of the Storm Wind had been right outside the hold, ready to lend a hand if the trolls had tried to get past them.</p><p></p><p>The storm, perhaps not so strangely, began to subside right then.</p><p></p><p>When the party came up to the top, the priests of Mystra and the Order mages were just arriving, along with a very impressive-looking man in rich blue and green robes encrusted with pearls, bearing a massive holy symbol. This was the high priest of Umberlee, and he was NOT happy with Brother Lyric. With sharp words of condemnation, the high priest grabbed Lyric and threw him into the sea, transforming him into a hapless fish as he did for his punishment.</p><p></p><p>In the shark-heavy storm-tossed seas, he wouldn’t last an hour.</p><p></p><p>The other cargo containers Lyric had were taken out as well. Aside from some scrags-in-a-box, the other contained an ebony-and-silver chest, as well as several of the large clam shells filled with treasure. The high priest claimed the clam shells as stolen tribute, but after looking in the chest, said the remainder was Lyric’s personal gear, and “to the victor, go the spoils.” </p><p></p><p>Lyric, it seemed, was not a man to stint himself, and the group was mildly pleased at the rich amount of things they would be able to sell and split amongst themselves.</p><p></p><p>The group was perhaps pleased, if also puzzled, the next morning when another of those mysterious boxes appeared in each of their residences, bypassing any of the security they had set up. Inside this box were five thousand gold coins.</p><p></p><p>A bit perturbed, but unwilling to let the gold go to waste, the group set about using that money wisely.</p><p></p><p>----------------------</p><p></p><p>It is six weeks to Midwinter and the great party that Evelyn is throwing to show off the newly-renovated House of Violette, and the group has been very busy.</p><p></p><p><strong>Evelyn</strong> – Midwinter is coming up soon, and you’ve been busy restoring your home to its former glory and then some. Repairs done, walls painted, murals retouched or created, and various furnishings and artwork repairs or acquired, now the House of Violette looks its status both inside and out. The home now has the appropriate number of servants, and Molly is the housekeeper over them all. Even the butler and steward bow to her expertise and seniority in the household. Also, they’re properly terrified of her.</p><p></p><p>The house gardens and back court now look splendid, even in the winter. There is a tent set up there now to heat the gardens and let them bloom in midwinter. Your party looks as if it will be fantastic! The Order of the Vine is coming to help regulate your newly-replenished cellars, you have musicians coming from the temple of Oghma, and your kitchen staff will make a fine feast.</p><p></p><p>You’ve also been working with Wu Yen, the lung wang dragon on the Waterdeep Council of Wyrms, for your silk business. Madame Silverleaf wanted you to see if you could broker a deal because she’s started getting orders from Calimshan, and they prefer silk in that hot clime. Your investments are doing quite well (you have a return of 2,000 right now), and Wu Yen can arrange for that discount. She is also willing to pay that return not just in gold, but in, say magical items or instruction as well. (Evelyn primarily wants to use the cash to maintain her new lifestyle, but will also accept some instruction in different spells, should she see something that tickles her fancy.)</p><p></p><p><strong>Steven</strong> – Steven and Ravinica buy a house, the House of Violette the Younger, a fine small manor in Sea Ward close to the Temple of Mystra. Ravinica intends to expand the house through several other planes, making it far more generous on the inside than it would appear. The house is made of a curious sort of blue stone. </p><p></p><p>He also spends time researching his new sword, and learns he must to a ritual to unlock the power inside, that of a sleeping paladin’s soul. He must spend a day purifying the evil out of a vile magical artifact. The Temple of Mystra does not have any on hand, but should you head to the Temple of Ilmater, the halls of the god of mercy and suffering sometimes to play host to evil items before they are cleansed. And if someone is willing to help them in that task, they are happy to have you. You spend a day in very prayerful contemplation, chanting and washing a nasty assassins dagger in holy water, until at the end of the day is has dissolved. It is this act that opens a small conduit between you and Excordius. </p><p></p><p><strong>Garden</strong> – [This was in response to several specific questions/requests by the player] You can, with cash in hand, convince one of your abutting neighbors to find alternative accommodations, and then with the help of some clansgnomes, knock down the adjoining wall, expand the size of your shop, put up the shooting range, lock experimentation area, and alchemist’s area, as well as making all the attendant security upgrades.</p><p></p><p>There is no particular guild for subtle bodyguards, as it seems they’re usually individually trained. Some of them do come from the Temple of Helm, the Watchful Protector, and that would be the closest to a bodyguard service in the city. It would upset no order to supply subtle guards, if you so wanted. The clan has no objections, as gnomes would actually be ideal for such a job (who expects a gnome? Nobody, that’s who). </p><p></p><p>The Shadow Thieves do have a chart for the amount of gold that needs to be paid to make a home off-limits, but it’s also based on politics. Some families or households do not provide protection money to the guild because it's more politic to leave them alone. And that "off-limits" designation can be lifted if the household threatens the profits of the guild. </p><p></p><p>Garden also spends several days a week visiting Shell in the Temple of Istishia, talking with her, becoming friends, and bolstering her spirits.</p><p></p><p><strong>Charissa</strong> – You work with another alchemist to develop the quicksober powder, a different form of an obscure spell of the same name. A batch is good for five doses, which run about ten gold each. So while not terribly cheap, it is quite useful and more discreet than hitting someone with a warhammer.</p><p></p><p>You also work with Marlowe Miccar to produce your silencer charm. The young man does lose some of his stammering nervousness when he works, becoming very businesslike and focused. Pico, his teacup poodle familiar, comes along in magically warmed fleece-lined carrier, and stands comically fierce guard while Marlowe works with you. The dog may be smaller than your shoe, but he is very loyal.</p><p></p><p>You take on some additional commissions as a result of the contacts made during the Jassarian party, bringing your average income to seventy a week for the past six weeks.</p><p></p><p>The Vintner’s Guild is charging small parties twenty gold for the services of the Order of the Vine, and large parties anywhere from fifty to one hundred, depending on the size of the party and the number of Knights needed. The Guild takes a twenty-five percent cut of your fee, gets to market their wares to the party organizer, and offers you guild space and resources. So they will allow any Order member a bed and board at any Guild Hall in the city, take care of uniform and tabards, and you may call upon Guild resources should you run into difficulty. As you are being advertised as a combination of entertainers and security that justifies your higher prices over just a bard or just a mercenary.</p><p></p><p><strong>William</strong> – You do some scroll-making and research in the Order library. To make ends meet, you’ve also been working in the warehouse, as not to be a mooch. </p><p></p><p><strong>Shandri</strong> – Been doing swimming lesons, working with UPS, talking to Shell, and learning from temple of Siamorphe.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Isida Kep'Tukari, post: 6222304, member: 4441"] [b]Session 23[/b] When we last left our intrepid heroes they had just rescued a dancer named Shell, and at least one other luckless soul from Salt Isle, a private temple of Umberlee. Priests of Mystra and mages from the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors had been summoned to see what could be done. They could not risk a holy war with Umberlee’s faithful, but both the priests and mages could speak with the head of Umberlee’s church immediately and find out what in the world they thought was going on (backed with enough evidence to avoid lies). Several hours later, the delegation returned with some sobering news. Apparently Brother Lyric had been put in charge of receiving certain tribute to Salt Isle (that was what most of those shell containers that were going from the temple on the Docks contained), as well as in restoring the ship on the bottom of Salt Isle. That ship was now gone, along with a large amount of tribute and one Sister Mirra. Apparently her and Lyric had made contact with the ixitchaital and bargained for their own purposes, rather than that of the faith. The head priest of Umberlee had been very angry to hear what they had been up to, appalled at the state of the victims, and livid at the loss of the ship. According to him it had been sealed off while under construction, and Brother Lyric and Sister Mirra must have been funneling tribute down there as well as their victims. Umberlee’s priests were looking for the ship now, but it seems that Brother Lyric had not been on Salt Isle today, and was most likely somewhere in Dock Ward. The group immediately volunteered to go help look for him, help gratefully accepted. Shandri found someone in her temple (as they were all still in the Temple of Istishia) to make fair likenesses of Lyric’s face, the Order mage magically made several copies, and she distributed them to her squad of UPS urchins and scattered them down the dock. The group also took several copies and headed that way themselves, to ask questions of people who might ignore urchins. Eventually they found evidence he’d been heading down the dock proper, looking for a ship. And oddly enough, there was a powerful storm brewing right now. The group went to talk to the Singing Lark, the last ship Shell had performed on, as they might be sympathetic to her plight, and they said they had seen him heading towards the larger passenger ships. But it was finally with one of the crew of the all-female Screaming Harpy, a sailor named Sasha, who both recognized Lyric and said he’d left on a huge ship called the Storm Wind an hour prior. But the Storm Wind had turned back and docked in the storm. Thusly armed, the group went to speak to the captain of the Storm Wind, who thought them mad for being out in this weather, but was even more mad to think he might be harboring a criminal of Umberlee’s church. He told the crew Lyric was in one of the lower holds, him and some of his cargo. The group went to confront him, the ship sloshing and rocking at its berth as the storm reached its height. Lyric, being very paranoid, took one look at the group and opened up one of the huge crates he’d brought with him. In burst open in a gush of water, filling the hold to a depth of three feet, and revealing two angry scrags (water trolls). Swearing mightily, the party waded in (sometimes literally) to the fight. William used magic to hold Lyric, making him fall over in the water. Garden climbed atop him, not just to keep his head above water, but also to keep him in one place. (He wasn’t particularly fussed if Lyric drowned; he didn’t have a high opinion of the man.) Evelyn would paralyze one troll or the other with Margul, the dreaded freeze, and Garden skewered them in vulnerable areas, while Charissa shot her gun with superb accuracy, Steven wielded his new sword, and Shandri empowered them with the blessings of Istishia. Though the trolls regenerated in water, and their claws and fangs ripped into Steven and Garden, the party was able to finally decapitate them. The crew of the Storm Wind had been right outside the hold, ready to lend a hand if the trolls had tried to get past them. The storm, perhaps not so strangely, began to subside right then. When the party came up to the top, the priests of Mystra and the Order mages were just arriving, along with a very impressive-looking man in rich blue and green robes encrusted with pearls, bearing a massive holy symbol. This was the high priest of Umberlee, and he was NOT happy with Brother Lyric. With sharp words of condemnation, the high priest grabbed Lyric and threw him into the sea, transforming him into a hapless fish as he did for his punishment. In the shark-heavy storm-tossed seas, he wouldn’t last an hour. The other cargo containers Lyric had were taken out as well. Aside from some scrags-in-a-box, the other contained an ebony-and-silver chest, as well as several of the large clam shells filled with treasure. The high priest claimed the clam shells as stolen tribute, but after looking in the chest, said the remainder was Lyric’s personal gear, and “to the victor, go the spoils.” Lyric, it seemed, was not a man to stint himself, and the group was mildly pleased at the rich amount of things they would be able to sell and split amongst themselves. The group was perhaps pleased, if also puzzled, the next morning when another of those mysterious boxes appeared in each of their residences, bypassing any of the security they had set up. Inside this box were five thousand gold coins. A bit perturbed, but unwilling to let the gold go to waste, the group set about using that money wisely. ---------------------- It is six weeks to Midwinter and the great party that Evelyn is throwing to show off the newly-renovated House of Violette, and the group has been very busy. [B]Evelyn[/B] – Midwinter is coming up soon, and you’ve been busy restoring your home to its former glory and then some. Repairs done, walls painted, murals retouched or created, and various furnishings and artwork repairs or acquired, now the House of Violette looks its status both inside and out. The home now has the appropriate number of servants, and Molly is the housekeeper over them all. Even the butler and steward bow to her expertise and seniority in the household. Also, they’re properly terrified of her. The house gardens and back court now look splendid, even in the winter. There is a tent set up there now to heat the gardens and let them bloom in midwinter. Your party looks as if it will be fantastic! The Order of the Vine is coming to help regulate your newly-replenished cellars, you have musicians coming from the temple of Oghma, and your kitchen staff will make a fine feast. You’ve also been working with Wu Yen, the lung wang dragon on the Waterdeep Council of Wyrms, for your silk business. Madame Silverleaf wanted you to see if you could broker a deal because she’s started getting orders from Calimshan, and they prefer silk in that hot clime. Your investments are doing quite well (you have a return of 2,000 right now), and Wu Yen can arrange for that discount. She is also willing to pay that return not just in gold, but in, say magical items or instruction as well. (Evelyn primarily wants to use the cash to maintain her new lifestyle, but will also accept some instruction in different spells, should she see something that tickles her fancy.) [B]Steven[/B] – Steven and Ravinica buy a house, the House of Violette the Younger, a fine small manor in Sea Ward close to the Temple of Mystra. Ravinica intends to expand the house through several other planes, making it far more generous on the inside than it would appear. The house is made of a curious sort of blue stone. He also spends time researching his new sword, and learns he must to a ritual to unlock the power inside, that of a sleeping paladin’s soul. He must spend a day purifying the evil out of a vile magical artifact. The Temple of Mystra does not have any on hand, but should you head to the Temple of Ilmater, the halls of the god of mercy and suffering sometimes to play host to evil items before they are cleansed. And if someone is willing to help them in that task, they are happy to have you. You spend a day in very prayerful contemplation, chanting and washing a nasty assassins dagger in holy water, until at the end of the day is has dissolved. It is this act that opens a small conduit between you and Excordius. [B]Garden[/B] – [This was in response to several specific questions/requests by the player] You can, with cash in hand, convince one of your abutting neighbors to find alternative accommodations, and then with the help of some clansgnomes, knock down the adjoining wall, expand the size of your shop, put up the shooting range, lock experimentation area, and alchemist’s area, as well as making all the attendant security upgrades. There is no particular guild for subtle bodyguards, as it seems they’re usually individually trained. Some of them do come from the Temple of Helm, the Watchful Protector, and that would be the closest to a bodyguard service in the city. It would upset no order to supply subtle guards, if you so wanted. The clan has no objections, as gnomes would actually be ideal for such a job (who expects a gnome? Nobody, that’s who). The Shadow Thieves do have a chart for the amount of gold that needs to be paid to make a home off-limits, but it’s also based on politics. Some families or households do not provide protection money to the guild because it's more politic to leave them alone. And that "off-limits" designation can be lifted if the household threatens the profits of the guild. Garden also spends several days a week visiting Shell in the Temple of Istishia, talking with her, becoming friends, and bolstering her spirits. [B]Charissa[/B] – You work with another alchemist to develop the quicksober powder, a different form of an obscure spell of the same name. A batch is good for five doses, which run about ten gold each. So while not terribly cheap, it is quite useful and more discreet than hitting someone with a warhammer. You also work with Marlowe Miccar to produce your silencer charm. The young man does lose some of his stammering nervousness when he works, becoming very businesslike and focused. Pico, his teacup poodle familiar, comes along in magically warmed fleece-lined carrier, and stands comically fierce guard while Marlowe works with you. The dog may be smaller than your shoe, but he is very loyal. You take on some additional commissions as a result of the contacts made during the Jassarian party, bringing your average income to seventy a week for the past six weeks. The Vintner’s Guild is charging small parties twenty gold for the services of the Order of the Vine, and large parties anywhere from fifty to one hundred, depending on the size of the party and the number of Knights needed. The Guild takes a twenty-five percent cut of your fee, gets to market their wares to the party organizer, and offers you guild space and resources. So they will allow any Order member a bed and board at any Guild Hall in the city, take care of uniform and tabards, and you may call upon Guild resources should you run into difficulty. As you are being advertised as a combination of entertainers and security that justifies your higher prices over just a bard or just a mercenary. [B]William[/B] – You do some scroll-making and research in the Order library. To make ends meet, you’ve also been working in the warehouse, as not to be a mooch. [B]Shandri[/B] – Been doing swimming lesons, working with UPS, talking to Shell, and learning from temple of Siamorphe. [/QUOTE]
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