Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="THEMNGMNT" data-source="post: 9036156" data-attributes="member: 6809274">50th and 51st session of my Dragon Heist/Deck of Many Things mashup. Three player characters: Half-orc cavalier fighter, halfling swashbuckler rogue, and half-elf evoker wizard/grave cleric. 10th level.In the first session, they made plans for a high stakes exchange with their enemies. They possess the last two cards of the Deck of Many Things...and the Book of Vile Darkness. Their enemies want both. Who are their enemies? Tassatar, a mind flayer who is part of the Xanathar Guild. And the Tower Arcane, my version of the Arcane Brotherhood.They set the exchange for an abandoned noble estate that's been the setting for multiple action scenes throughout the campaign. Fitting to bring it back around one last time as we near the end of the campaign.The characters scrounged up enough money for the material components for Leomond's Secret Chest (IIRC) which allows them to send the chest and its contents to the ethereal plane. They placed the book and the cards in the chest.They used their contacts with the city watch to get a contingent of crossbowmen and position them on the roof of the noble estate. Unbeknownst to them, their contact with the watch was replaced by a changeling in the employ of the mind flayer...The second session kicked off with the exchange itself. Midnight in Waterdeep. A light snow falling over the estate's courtyard. For visual reference, I used the House of Blue Leaves from Kill Bill. First to arrive was a mage from the Tower Arcane. She materialized in a swirl of snow. A woman wreathed in ice that glittered like diamonds. The mind flayer's thrall arrived next -- the love interest of the half-elf wizard, a drow wizard completely in the grip of mind control. When she opened her mouth, it was the voice of the mind flayer that came out.The halfling rogue took the lead in negotiations. His intent was to pit both sides against each other. This player is a fantastic lateral thinker who keeps me on my toes. I always love seeing what he'll come up with next.The mind flayer had taken captive four allies of the characters and placed them in a death trap. It offered the location of the death trap in return for the book and cards. The Tower Arcane offered an alliance and employment. Impressed with the characters, they were asked to be the primary agents of the Tower Arcane in Waterdeep.When the half-elf wizard produced the secret chest, the "city watch" attacked. Simultaneously, a dozen grimlock thralls burst forth from the estate's basement. The wizard was able to dismiss the chest before the they could seize it. But the characters were immediately overwhelmed by superior numbers.The rogue offered the Tower Arcane a deal -- save our friends in the death trap, and we'll give you the Book of Vile Darkness. The mage nodded, then vanished. (Cool move, but I was a little bit bummed out by it. The death trap was the Weeping Labyrinth from Dungeon 209, which is an amazing map/adventure I've been dying to run for years. Oh, well.)The characters turned their attention to the mind flayer's thralls. It was an epic brawl, with the drow wizard casting a sequence of mind control spells that had the characters turning on each other, regaining their senses, and then turning on each other again. Near the end of the session, the half-elf wizard was unconscious and being carried away by grimlocks. The rogue knocked out the drow wizard, breaking the charm the orc fighter had succumbed to. Now in control of himself, the fighter literally punched to death the remaining grimlocks to save the half-elf wizard.Next session: The Tower Arcane holds up their end of the bargain...but will the players?</blockquote>

Verification