Neverwinter World; a Dungeon World Playset

Placing her coin on the bar to cover the young man's drink (and her own - indicating this with a nod), TWYLL picks up both glasses in one hand, weaving her other through the crook of his arm. Taking advantage of his dumbfoundedness, she leads him back to a pair of armchairs near the booth. As she seats herself in the one closest to her prey, she smiles and - holding her hand to her chest - bows her head a bit.

She draws in a deep breath and - in a rush of heavily accented syllables, seemingly one single phrase - gives him her full name (including her House, her father's mother's House, and the one into which her brother married into). Then, after a beat, she says more simply, "you can call me 'Twyll'." Experience has told her that the Drow nomenclature is barely understandable outside of Drow culture - even other Fae fail to decipher it. She has found it best to confound with the dizzying truth (with a few embellishments), then give an easy out.

"How? I am fast and efficient when necessary. What? Well, this is a tavern, of course."

She strains to divide her attention between her new companion and the discourse in the nearby booth, before returning her full attention to him.

After they stare at each other for a moment, he clearly befuddled (or trying to formulate a likely lie, perhaps), she adds, "meet you? Here?" She gives a slightly pitying look, "wouldn't it have been easier to wait for you, if that were the case?"

After a pause, she continues: "What ... or rather who ... are you? But, yes, also 'what'"
 
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PRITCHARD stares. "I? I am..." He lowers his voice. "Pritchard Blackmantle, late of Waterdeep. I am here, at this tavern, at any rate, to meet someone. Someone not you, it seems. As to what I am? I could be mysterious and say we both have secrets to hide. But the simple truth is: I do not know."

Then he sputters passionately, "Why did you leave me like that?"

As he takes in the drow's answer, his mind returns to the arranged rendezvous.

[Cutscene: a simply-appointed alabaster chamber, a brazier of white-hot coals at its center. Hooded figures chanting. <flash> A scream. Blood splattered and smeared on the walls. <flash> Pritchard standing at the curved threshhold to the chamber of horrors, a look of shock and terror on his face. Bodies strewn across the floor. He steps forward towards the brazier. A searing white light obscures all else.]

That tiefling woman. Something about her.... He racks his brain to recall who she is.



Pritchard is consulting his accumulated knowledge of the upper classes (and aspirers) of Waterdeep to recognize the tiefling woman.

SPOUT LORE

When you consult your accumulated knowledge, roll +INT: on a 10+, the GM will tell you something interesting and useful about the topic at hand; on a 7-9, the GM will tell you something interesting—it’s on you to make it useful; either way the GM might ask, “How do you know this?”

r4,4 +2 INT =10. Something interesting and useful, please!
 

Before answering the question, TWYLL cocks her head to one side and takes a moment to examine Blackmantle's expression. Deciding that he is in earnest, almost guileless, in fact, she leans forward to give an answer, albeit not a full one.

"It simply became too hot to remain there," she says with a wry grin. "Surely you could see it wasn't safe to stay. As to why I left you behind? I do not know you. How do I know that you are not part of that ambush?"

Sitting back, she narrows her eyes at him, then adds, "for now? I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt." After a pause, she repeats, "for now."
 

That tiefling woman. Something about her.... He racks his brain to recall who she is.


Pritchard is consulting his accumulated knowledge of the upper classes (and aspirers) of Waterdeep to recognize the tiefling woman.

SPOUT LORE

When you consult your accumulated knowledge, roll +INT: on a 10+, the GM will tell you something interesting and useful about the topic at hand; on a 7-9, the GM will tell you something interesting—it’s on you to make it useful; either way the GM might ask, “How do you know this?”

r4,4 +2 INT =10. Something interesting and useful, please!

We'll go ahead and go with your surmise here for interesting, while I'll make it useful.

Lady Lily-Rose Crowleister! Pritchard Blackmantle knew her cousin, Bathington, in Waterdeep: scion of spice merchants; wicked sense of humor; wicked in general. Bathington was a member of the Order of the Ruby Chalice, a loose cult whose occasional meetings Pritchard attended before the fateful meeting with another group, the one that was massacred.

So how is it useful?

Lady Lily-Rose Crowleister is no simple, high-society, hanger-on. Through her unique gambling ventures, she has been a financier for cult activities for some time. And not one cult; multiples. She knows a lot of people in devilry; debtors, collectors, ritualists.

"Mammon's Pilferer" she has been dubbed in some circles. Her coins lost to other's purses in a stray game of cards find themselves poofing and reappearing back in The Pilferer's pockets. Accordingly, the scam risks nothing and earns a heap of coin to monetarily backstop various and sundry illicit, or worse, activities. However, she has to aim high for big fish and move around a lot, lest her racket bring too much heat upon her.

The sound of heavy horses slowing from a gallop.

Mailed boots clomp up the stairs outside.

The door opens and one of Neverember's sellsword cavalry appears in the foyer threshold. The bard's song abruptly stops as does the hushed conversation.

<Cut to the booth and the shrouded figure. The voice is low, gravely, impenetrable; "it shall be done." The figure scoops the coin purse and "melts" like dark smoke through the exterior wall. The sound of a phantasmal neigh and a singular, soft gallop from outside that same wall. Then...nothing.>

The creepy horse-neigh has all eyes in the room looking all around, even up at the open ceiling joists. That fright momentarily takes in the patrons, but then their eyes settle back upon Neverember's man-at-arms. He tosses something upon the ground in the common room. It clangs, rolls awkwardly, comes to a stop.

Cymril's mask.

"Take heart citizens," he declares jovially. A few chuckles can be heard in the street behind him.

"Cymril is no more. This silly insurgency can come to an end. We look to the coming dawn with hope. All will be forgiven. All baleful acts pardoned."

The massive, plate-clad cavalryman looks around the hushed room and lets this news soak in.

"Tomorrow, we expect an abundance of former enemies turned ally. See yourselves to The Protector's Enclave at first light. There is many a social work and restoration project to be done on behalf of our beleaguered, beautiful Neverwinter. You will be handsomely rewarded in both spirit and bank note, I assure you."

Back at the boothe, where the shrouded stranger has disappeared, Twyll registers that Casimir has drawn a 3 inch blade and has murder in his eyes. Bogdana's hand and stern look tries to stay him...





What do you do, if anything? Or do you let this play out?

Back-and-forth with @Nephis :

DISCERN REALITIES
When you closely study a situation or person, roll+Wis. ✴On a 10+, ask the GM 3 questions from the list below. ✴On a 7–9, ask 1. Either way, take +1 forward when acting on the answers.

r(3, 6) +1 = 10. 3 questions.

1) (@Nephis ) What here is not what it appears to be?

Twyll's attention is most strongly on the booth and what took place there when Neverember's soldier arrives. In particular, that cloaked figure. She is surprised about the money exchange: she'd initially thought the cloaked figure was hiring them, not vice versa. And he doesn't seem like a normal ... err ... human.


Manbearcat Answer: Two things:

* The long, flowing locks and the feminine hand that seeps out of the cloaked cowl and sleeve betrays a "she," not a "he."

* Further still, when the figure leans forward and scoops up the coin, it becomes clear that the ashen-colored shrouding is an overgarment. Beneath they're wearing a red cloak or robe.

2) (@Nephis ) What here is useful or valuable to me?

Twyll scans the crowd in the tavern looking for grief, shock, elation, etc: Re any reactions to the throwing down of Cymril's mask.


Manbearcat Answer: Theryis, the half-elven (eladrin) half-sister of the Harper cell leader (Toram) in Neverwinter shutters a very silent weeping from behind the counter. Perhaps fear of what this will mean for him? Or for his use of her establishment (she owns and operates The House of a Thousand Faces) in insurgent affairs?

Twyll narrows her eyes in seeing that, filing away her thoughts for further reflection.

3) (@Nephis ) Who or what is really in control here?

Twyll scans the room once again, including the various games of chance. So much going on in one location: who or what is really in control here? Are they all just puppets? Is the puppeteer here?


Manbearcat Answer: Yup, they are (puppets). Lady Lily-Rose (puppeteer) is running all kinds of games here. Not just the aforementioned "Disappearing Mammon Coin Trick" should she endure the loss of a hand of cards, but she is also employing various magical legerdemain and tiny critters to lighten pockets, purses, and steel stray brooches and cufflinks!

It is incredibly subtle, and she is careful not to overdo it, but she must really need a big score (desperation?) to employ all of these means.
 
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As Neverember's man-at-arms ends his declamation and silence settles over the tavern, two things happen: seething tension rises, palpably, from some of the assembled; and Twyll leans in to whisper in PRITCHARD's ear, "Violence is about to break out. Oh, and your lady friend, the one with the horns that you keep staring at, is some kind of prestidigitator and card sharp. She is ... I think the term is 'working the room' ... to her profit!"

Blackmantle blanches. Violence? Enough of that already tonight! They need to get out of here. Quickly.

And yet ...

He must know! Why did Lady Lily-Rose summon him here? What does she know about him? And ... his affliction?

"I shall convince her to leave. Immediately. Would you come with us? I can use the back up."

Twyll nods, once. "I've nothing better planned. I can create a distraction."

As the man-at-arms chuckles at his own rhetoric and preens at his figure reflected in so many mirrors, Pritchard rises and sidles up to Lady Lily-Rose.

"Lady Lily-Rose!" he exclaims. "Hail fellow and well met!"

He leans in close and whispers through clenched teeth, "It is I, Blackmantle. Your 'game' here is up. Right now. Violence is about to break out. If you value your hide, you will come with me!"

At that moment, Twyll's voice cuts through the grumbling and whispers: "He's got a knife!"

Attention is drawn to the boothed table and the youth rising angrily from his chair, a colleague's hand on his arm. Twyll begins slinking towards a rear exit.




Pritchard, making full use of his leverage over Lady Lily-Rose by means of his awareness of her "game," is intending to convince her to leave The House of a Thousand Faces with him immediately.

PERSUADE (vs. NPCs)

When you press or entice an NPC, say what you want them to do (or not do). If they have reason to resist, roll +CHA: on a 10+, they either do as you want or reveal the easiest way to convince them; on a 7-9, they reveal something you can do to convince them, though it’ll likely be costly, tricky, or distasteful.

r5,4 +1 CHA +1 forward from Discern Realities, acting on knowledge of her subterfuge here = 11.

Meanwhile, Twyll spends her remaining Guile to create a distraction to facilitate their egress.

CHAMELEON

[...] You may spend Guile, 1-for-1, to:

[...]

+ Direct suspicion or attention elsewhere

Following successful egress from this scene, Pritchard will bring the two women back to his quarters at The Driftwood Tavern for private consultation.
 
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<Cut to the Driftwood Tavern on the bay>

<Pulling 100 % straight from NCS Driftwood Tavern p154 here>

Madame Rosene and her regulars have filled the inside of the tavern with bric-à-brac, curios, and relics of Neverwinter before its fall. The statue from a favorite fountain stands in a corner. A wineseller’s planter boxes, filled with flowers, brighten the walls. A knob and a knocker from a noble’s estate are attached to the privy door. Ornate doors pulled from the wreck-age make fine tables, and unbroken panes of stained glass hang overhead as chandeliers, lit by hundreds of carefully placed candles. Though the decorations have been salvaged from all over the city, the tavern does not feel junky, and no one thinks Madame Rosene is taking advantage of Neverwinter’s fall. Quite the opposite—the Driftwood is considered a monument to old Neverwinter, like a dusty painting of a beautiful girl hanging above the deathbed of an aged noblewoman.

"How gauche of you not to afford me a chariot on this dashing rescue," says Lady Lily-Rose as she pulls out a fan from a pocket and pantomimes as much fake drama as possible.

Madame Rosene, hardened look on her weathered face, picks herself up from a horseshoe collection of tables where a meeting of weathered-faced folks with hardened looks is going down. Her pointed demeanor conveys "this isn't time for dilly dally."

"Alright Mr Blue," she says, knowing that is an alias and that you are on the run from something...or to something. "As you can see, we are in the middle of an emergency meeting. I don't have time for formalities." She reaches out her hand for the requisite Coin. <I'm assuming the accommodations are just 0 Coin color @darkbard and not an actual recharge, given that you're only down 4 HP. If it is an actual recharge, this is an expensive joint; Well-to-Do and Convalescence House fees and services only>

Once the Coin is collected she offers a stern, "Now off with you <shooshing gesture>. And I don't want to hear a damn peep from your room, ya hear? Not a peep or I'll throw ya in the sea!" She scampers back to her table.

<Cut to the room>

Lady Lily-Rose's demeanor is a stark contrast to the playfulness prior. It is all dark and clouded. "The Patriarch of Asmodeus is very angry. Through cursed luck, you've effed up his plans, Master Blackmantle. He's paid the scoundrel Nimor Ironvice to track you down. The fool arrived here last evening from Waterdeep, a wagon of lackeys backing him. You'll need to lay low or skedaddle."

She walks over to your bay-facing window, peeks out, then closes the curtains. "He'll find out where you're staying soon enough and have the place surveiled around the clock."

She turns around slowly, smiles, and boops you on the nose as she moseys by. "...Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand, I think that is probably all I can say on the matter." She walks slowly to the door, practically begging to be paid for more information.





What do we do here? Let her go, hit the sack, and make some kind of play in the morning? Or are you going to try to milk her for more than that?
 
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[In this entry, I post both for myself and @Nephis, with her permission and following her instructions. And, yes, the scene being set at the inn is color; there is no mechanical play (Recover, spending of Coin, and so on).]

As Blackmantle and Lady Lily-Rose ascend the wide, creaking staircase to the second floor, TWYLL pauses for a moment. "I'll be right behind you," she murmurs, sotto voce.

Clearly Rosene did not recognize her without the mask. That is good. It wouldn't do at all to spoil the charade that "Cymril" is dead. The Sons of Alagondar may be fractured, dysfunctional--even before Cymril's death but especially now without her hand on the tiller--but her directive from Jarlaxle himself was clear: win Rosene's trust. If the group can serve whatever designs Twyll's superiors in the Bregan D'aerthe have in mind, it must come from the leadership of Rosene and her Graycloaks inner circle, not those hotheads among the Nashers faction, so prone to needless violence and lacking in any subtlety.

Now, to get a sense of how the Graycloaks are taking the news of their leader's "death," what they know of that fatal ambush, and how they plan to respond.

The kaleidoscope of colors thrown by the stained glass chandeliers overhead, twisting gently on their suspension wires, plays with the shadows cast by clutter of Neverwinter bric-a-brac.

Twyll times her movements precisely with the interplay of light and darkness, darts back into the meeting room behind the statue of the Forsaken Mermaid pried from an old fountain in the corner, hidden in shadow and near enough to overhear what's said by those present.




Twyll is using the distracting interplay of lights from the stained glass and shadows of the nighttime interior to hide herself and overhear the proceedings of this emergency meeting of the Graycloaks.

CHAMELEON

When you use your surroundings to avoid suspicion or trouble, roll +WIS: on a 10+, hold 2 Guile; on a 7-9, hold 1 Guile and the GM reveals an Unwelcome Truth that cannot be resolved by spending Guile. You may spend Guile, 1-for-1, to:

+ Move about or maneuver unchallenged

+ Withstand direct scrutiny or questioning

+ Direct suspicion or attention elsewhere

r5,5 +1 WIS = 11. Hold 2 Guile.

Twyll spends 1 Guile to move about or maneuver unchallenged into the hiding space behind the statue of the Forsaken Mermaid.

From there, she makes a Discern Realities check to glean what she can from the meeting.

DISCERN REALITIES

When you study a situation or person, looking to the GM for insight, roll +WIS: on a 10+, ask the GM 3 questions from the list below; on a 7-9, ask 1; either way, gain +1 forward on your next move that acts on the answers.
  • What happened here?
  • What is about to happen?
  • What should I be on the lookout for?
  • What here is useful or valuable to me?
  • Who or what is really in control here?
  • What here is not what it appears to be?
r4,2 +1 WIS = 7. 1 Question: What here is useful or valuable to me (in pursuing my task of ingratiating myself with Rosene)?



PRITCHARD BLACKMANTLE sputters in shock and dismay, "Patriarch of Asmodeus?!? Spoiled his plans?!? Ironvice, that untrustworthy, scheming blackguard!

"None of this makes any sense! The rituals I attended with your cousin Bathington were make-believe, just idle games of costume and theater. It is true that I have studied the occult for years, but all of that was pseudoscholarship. What has Bathington, or I, or any of our associates in Waterdeep to do with true devilry?

"No, don't go yet," he raises his voice above a fierce whisper as she reaches for the door.

"You found me here easily enough. If you did so, so can Ironvice. Surely, you leave much unsaid. Won't you aid me, please? My good deed in getting you out of the House of a Thousand Faces before your game was exposed must be worth that much to you?"




Pritchard is trying to extract more information from Lady Lily-Rose, in the vein of Spout Lore (that is, something interesting and useful to his current plight). @Manbearcat has offered the following Custom Move for the situation:

Intel
When you soak Lady Lily-Rose for info after you've done her a solid, roll +Cha.

10+ its available this one time and for a fair price; 20 Coin -Charisma or she needs a favor from you.
7-9 and its available, but it will cost you. Your call; 30 Coin - Charisma or she needs a favor from you that you won't like.

r6,6 +1 CHA = 13. As we have said already privately, our rolls so far in this game have been riDONKulous!

20 - 15 CHA = 5 Coin is all Pritchard has; thus, he will opt to owe Lady Lily-Rose a favor in kind in lieu of spending all his Coin right now.
 
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As Blackmantle and Lady Lily-Rose ascend the wide, creaking staircase to the second floor, TWYLL pauses for a moment. "I'll be right behind you," she murmurs, sotto voce.

Clearly Rosene did not recognize her without the mask. That is good. It wouldn't do at all to spoil the charade that "Cymril" is dead. The Sons of Alagondar may be fractured, dysfunctional--even before Cymril's death but especially now without her hand on the tiller--but her directive from Jarlaxle himself was clear: win Rosene's trust. If the group can serve whatever designs Twyll's superiors in the Bregan D'aerthe have in mind, it must come from the leadership of Rosene and her Graycloaks inner circle, not those hotheads among the Nashers faction, so prone to needless violence and lacking in any subtlety.

Now, to get a sense of how the Graycloaks are taking the news of their leader's "death," what they know of that fatal ambush, and how they plan to respond.

The kaleidoscope of colors thrown by the stained glass chandeliers overhead, twisting gently on their suspension wires, plays with the shadows cast by clutter of Neverwinter bric-a-brac.

Twyll times her movements precisely with the interplay of light and darkness, darts back into the meeting room behind the statue of the Forsaken Mermaid pried from an old fountain in the corner, hidden in shadow and near enough to overhear what's said by those present.

* What here is useful or valuable to Twyll (in pursuing her task of ingratiating herself with Rosene)

During the meeting, Rosene continuously impresses upon the collected Graycloaks both the cultural and mercantile significance of reclaiming Thundertree (a small, logging village east of Neverwinter on the banks of Neverwinter River, ruined during Mt Hotenow's eruption). She detests that it was taken by the ash and cinders, then taken by undead horde, and is now rumored to be a secret Thayan outpost in the bosom of Neverwinter's domain and responsibility.

The collected Graycloaks all feel it is a terrible allocation of resources, given the circumstances, and a pipe dream.

--------------


Take +1 forward when acting upon the info above.

PRITCHARD BLACKMANTLE sputters in shock and dismay, "Patriarch of Asmodeus?!? Spoiled his plans?!? Ironvice, that untrustworthy, scheming blackguard!

"None of this makes any sense! The rituals I attended with your cousin Bathington were make-believe, just idle games of costume and theater. It is true that I have studied the occult for years, but all of that was pseudoscholarship. What has Bathington, or I, or any of our associates in Waterdeep to do with true devilry?

"No, don't go yet," he raises his voice above a fierce whisper as she reaches for the door.

"You found me here easily enough. If you did so, so can Ironvice. Surely, you leave much unsaid. Won't you aid me, please? My good deed in getting you out of the House of a Thousand Faces before your game was exposed must be worth that much to you?"

"Its simple, my good fellow. You remember the devilishly charming Mordai Vell, don't you? You surely attended some of his sponsored shindigs. (i) He is secretly The Ashmadai's Patriarch of Asmodeus here on the Sword Coast. Don't you pretend you didn't suspect. Don't pretend you weren't afraid the rumors of actual, real infernal sponsorship was at play in your dalliances with the dark side of high society. Well darling. It is all true. (ii) And Mordai Vell spent_years_working toward an apotheosis ritual that you seemingly accidentally stumbled upon and somehow subverted."

She peeks out the window again and closes the curtain again just as abruptly.

Without looking back at you, "he won't take that lying down. (iii) I suspect he would even 'sully his good name' by ingratiating himself with Lord Neverember to get to you...if that is what it took. (iv) So I suspect you'll find him in the considerably more lavish than this place, Moonstone Mask, in the Protector's Enclave...vying for the ear of Neverember...or vying to seduce him...if that is even possible."

Now looking back, her eyes are intense. "Now I can get you on that high-flying earthmote that the Moonstone Mask resides upon so you can parley with Mordai Vell...or whatever you plan to do with him (she clearly doesn't want to say "kill" out loud here). Maybe he can take back (?) what you accidentally stole from him?

But you have to do something for me."

She ushers Pritchard over to the window and peels back the curtain just long enough to reveal a large ship docking far out in the bay. "See that ship? That is The Macabre; a grisly vessel so named for its blood-soaked history. But that was long ago. It is now a floating casino, and, tomorrow night, it will hold one of the largest game the Sword Coast has ever seen with some of the biggest fish imaginable. I_need to be in those deep pockets."

She shuts the curtain again. "I'm blacklisted. I don't care how you do it, but you need to get me on that ship and a seat at that table."

----------------------


Take +1 forward when acting upon the (i-iv) info above.




END OF SESSION MOVE

1) Did you resolve any bonds? If so, mark XP and update your bonds.

* None of our Bonds have been resolved nor need updating at this point.

2) If you fulfilled your alignment at least once this session, mark XP.

* Pritchard Alignment (Neutral); to seek answers that maybe you oughtn’t. Yes. Approaching Lady Lily-Rose despite impending violence; pressing her for more information via INTEL, despite its cost.

* Twyll Alignment (Neutral); to deceive, misdirect, outthink. Yes. Using CHAMELEON to redirect everyone's attention to Casimir to effect escape; to eavesdrop on Graycloaks; etc.

3) Then answer these three questions as a group:

3a) Did we learn something new and important about the world?

* Yes. The Sons of Alagondar are hiring Thayans for some fell deed. The Patriarch of Asmodeus is angry with Blackmantle for spoiling his plans.

3b) Did we overcome a notable monster or enemy?

* Yes. We escaped Neverember's Mintarn mercenaries including their Elite Captain, and we eluded his mercenary captain in plate armor at The House of a Thousand Faces.

3c) Did we make notable progress toward or forestall a Grim Portent?

* No. We have yet to establish these.

3d) Did we prevent an Impending Doom?

* No. We have yet to establish these.




@darkbard @Nephis

* Go ahead and give us a brief vignette of the next morning for the PCs.

* What is your goal for the coming day? Point at the map (Neverwinter or beyond) and tell us where you are going first and why?

Once done, I'll frame an opening situation (or two if the PCs are splitting up for different goals).
 
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Besides addressing the two bullet points above, some more color backstory and intervening Moves, consolidated here in one post for ease of reading.

Twyll uses the heated discussion over Thundertree between the Graycloaks as a distraction to scoot from behind the Forsaken Mermaid and back up the stairwell, where she crosses paths with a self-satisfied Lady Lily-Rose making her exit.

PRITCHARD informs Twyll of the bargain he's made with the tiefling and the powerful faction seeking him out (though he is awkwardly and obviously obfuscating and vague as to why). Pritchard looks upon Twyll, his eyes smoldering in plea.

The drow nods once. In her culture, debts of bondage are formed through obligation and leveraged for power over others. The Bregan D'aerthe taught her to forsake such manacles; there should be no outstanding obligations. This man helped her twice. First in the unleashing of ... flames ... through some sorcery, no doubt, scorching the turncoat member of her squad who sought to stab her in the back, literally. Then again in his clearing a path for their escape.

"I told you before I would aid you," she says. "Tell me what you need."





Twyll adds the following Bond: Blackmantle saved my life; that debt must be repaid as soon as possible.



Pritchard outlines to her his plan, how an old acquaintance made in Waterdeep, a merchant from Tarmalune named Belyse, famous for her exploits at the gambling tables of the City of Splendors, returned to her trading house in Neverwinter some months ago and may be able to offer them the entree they need to get Lady Lily-Rose aboard The Macabre.



Pritchard is Spouting Lore here to establish Belyse as an asset to exploit in some manner (probably through a future Parley move to give up her own spot at the gambling table aboard The Macabre to Lady Lily-Rose via the latter's assumption of the former's identity temporarily?) .

SPOUT LORE

When you consult your accumulated knowledge, roll +INT: on a 10+, the GM will tell you something interesting and useful about the topic at hand; on a 7-9, the GM will tell you something interesting—it’s on you to make it useful; either way the GM might ask, “How do you know this?”

r6,5 +2 INT = 13. The crazy dice rolls continue! Something interesting and useful it is, then!



Later that night. Pritchard leans over a hoary tome splayed open on the desk in his room. A candle flickers. He leans down close to the text, the scratches left across his nose and chin by the briar wicked and inflamed in the candlelight. He voices quietly the text as he reads:

... and one such place of power is the Dread Ring in Neverwinter Wood, constructed by the slave-armies of Szass Tam, lich-regent of Thay. A locus of energies thaumaturgical, primordial, necromantic, and oath-binding, this fortress of black stone once empowered rituals to breach the boundaries between planes and offers to the skilled practitioner the power to sunder the veil between realms, transform life unto death, seal or break bindings and oaths, exorcise fell possessors, and other like magicks.

Pritchard slams the book closed, a puff of dust expelled into the air, motes illumined by candelight. [The camera zooms in on the title embossed on the tome's cover: Trafficking with the Diabolical, A Treatise of Methodologies Ancient and Modern]

Through gritted teeth Pritchard hisses, "Those Thayans have their fingers in every pie!"

* * *

Elsewhere.

TWYLL sits cross-legged in the dark upon a bare wooden floor. Before her is an open satchel, the one she took from the body of her betrayer. She noted its ... odd density ... at the time, but the pressing needs of the moment omitted any scrutiny. Now, however....

"What secrets do you hold, courier bag?"

[The camera zooms out from the dingy room, out the window to reveal a newly, if hastily, constructed structure, Squid House emblazoned at its entrance, a tavern and boarding house in the Swamped Docks. Zooming in on one other window at a time and panning rapidly from one to the next, we get a sense that those who board here are dreamers, exiles, drug fiends, and others who seek only a quiet place for a few hours of solitude.]




Twyll is Discerning Realities here to examine the contents of the courier bag.

DISCERN REALITIES

When you study a situation or person, looking to the GM for insight, roll +WIS: on a 10+, ask the GM 3 questions from the list below; on a 7-9, ask 1; either way, gain +1 forward on your next move that acts on the answers.

  • What happened here?
  • What is about to happen?
  • What should I be on the lookout for?
  • What here is useful or valuable to me?
  • Who or what is really in control here?
  • What here is not what it appears to be?
r6,3 +1 WIS = 10! That's three questions:

(1) What should I be on the lookout for? (2) What here is not what it appears to be? (3) Who or what is really in control here?



Since we've met with nothing but overwhelming success (!!!) to this point, I assume we pick up the next day at Tarmalune Trade House to meet with Belyse and see if we can convince her to give her invitation to the gambling table to Lady Lily-Rose.
 
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Pritchard is Spouting Lore here to establish Belyse as an asset to exploit in some manner (probably through a future Parley move to give up her own spot at the gambling table aboard The Macabre to Lady Lily-Rose via the latter's assumption of the former's identity temporarily?) .

SPOUT LORE

When you consult your accumulated knowledge, roll +INT: on a 10+, the GM will tell you something interesting and useful about the topic at hand; on a 7-9, the GM will tell you something interesting—it’s on you to make it useful; either way the GM might ask, “How do you know this?”

r6,5 +2 INT = 13. The crazy dice rolls continue! Something interesting and useful it is, then!

You already have something interesting here with "a merchant from Tarmalune named Belyse, famous for her exploits at the gambling tables of the City of Splendors, returned to her trading house in Neverwinter some months ago."

Here is how we make it useful: Belyse, is a former Harper, thrown out due to her pathological gambling causing both her and the organization trouble. Nonetheless, she still has a deep and abiding soft spot for the organization. She uses some percentage of her winnings to donate to their causes or aid agents directly. The news of Cymril's "death" will have met her ears. If you can convince Belyse that you will materially aid Theryis of The House of a Thousand Faces, more specifically her Harper brother Toram, in their ongoing effort against the Thayan scourge, she will surely give up her invitation and ferry ticket to The Macabre.

Twyll is Discerning Realities here to examine the contents of the courier bag.

DISCERN REALITIES

When you study a situation or person, looking to the GM for insight, roll +WIS: on a 10+, ask the GM 3 questions from the list below; on a 7-9, ask 1; either way, gain +1 forward on your next move that acts on the answers.

  • What happened here?
  • What is about to happen?
  • What should I be on the lookout for?
  • What here is useful or valuable to me?
  • Who or what is really in control here?
  • What here is not what it appears to be?
r6,3 +1 WIS = 10! That's three questions:

(1) What should I be on the lookout for? (2) What here is not what it appears to be? (3) Who or what is really in control here?

In play here:

(i) Twyll locates Valindra Shadowmantle's arcane sensor (2 extra Weight) which allows her full surveillance, visual and auditory, in a Near area of the sensor.

(ii) Valindra Shadowmantle is an extraordinarily powerful Thayan sorcerer of divination, necromantic, summoning, and transmutation prowess. If Twyll casually "loses" this sensor, Valindra will know instantly and will pursue in some level of force. Some very sneaky, very elaborate method to be rid of it will have to be undertaken (if undertaken at all).

(iii) Alternatively, it could be used against her to locate Valindra. As Valindra has visual and auditory insight on Twyll, curiously, Twyll can smell where Valindra is. There is an extremely potent smell of Douglas-fir pine, honeysuckle...and rot
.

Take +1 forward when acting upon one of the above.




Since we've met with nothing but overwhelming success (!!!) to this point, I assume we pick up the next day at Tarmalune Trade House to meet with Belyse and see if we can convince her to give her invitation to the gambling table to Lady Lily-Rose.

The Tarmalune Trade House is situated neatly at the foot of the famed Winged Wyvern Bridge which spans Neverwinter River. While the bridge is not open to traffic due to its repair not quite being to spec yet, the refurbished and newly gentrified Protector's Enclave district of SW Neverwinter (Lord Dagult Neverember's seat of power) is more than up and running. Open-market and street vendors engage boisterously in trade, beaurocrats and judges tax/confirm/deny/inform/sentence/parole in government building, while the clatter of armor-clad patrols of infantry and cavalry seem everywhere due to the acoustics of the city's steeply ascending elevation married to the newly constructed high walls. It all seems so..authentically cosmopolitan.

Belyse is seeing to a pair of newlyweds from Waterdeep that are (foolishly!) backpacking through The Savage North for their honeymoon. Belyse spent much of her life "on the hoof," so she is kindly assisting them as they need both a lot of new kit and resupply as well as instruction to transcend their amateurish disposition. Between laughs, she casually throws out a comment that it is a miracle that they have not yet been slain by bandits or found themselves in the belly of one beast or another, hoping to instill in them the seriousness of their expedition without cowing them fully.

When you both come through her door, triggering a tropey bell-jingle, she offers up the stereotypical "be right with you" as she mostly ignores you. The beefy clerk at the counter eyes you and throws a beckoning nod your way though, an awkward "I can help you" if there ever was one.
 
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