Neverwinter World; a Dungeon World Playset

[Once again, dear readers, I consolidate herein this tidy post multiple Moves and fictional components made by both @Nephis and myself for clarity and concision.]

Considering the magical sensor before her, TWYLL's blood runs cold. Then her brain kicks into overdrive, considering the various protocols for dealing with magical surveillance of this nature gleaned through years of spycraft.



Twyll Spouts Lore for methods to bypass occasionally the magical scrying device, e.g. the use of pencil and paper, a language that Valindra might not understand, etc? For example, can I Spout Lore to see what Twyll, a Bregan D'aerthe spy, might know about how to do this? Or does Valindra simply know everything?

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?”

r4,5 +1 INT = 10.

Per @Manbearcat :
Something interesting and useful.

She wouldn’t know drow hand signals/cant. You could surely teach Pritchard rudiments of that to communicate sensitive content that you don’t want her to know.

Also, she doesn’t know that you know about the sensor. So you could feed her false intel with a move like a sneaky effer!

And, again, you could use it to Uno Reverso and triangulate her position if you could figure a way to do that.



The next morning, TWYLL rises early and makes her way to the drow encampment at Castle Never to sign with Kimmuriel Oblondra in the drow secret language about someone - not Twyll - teaching Pritchard some rudimentary drow hand signals... stuff that would indicate that what Twyll was actually saying is a lie, or some of it is...

Per @Manbearcat :
I think (i) your 10+ Spout Lore along with (ii) your Bregan D'aerthe Spy theme along with (iii) the pre-existing drow encampment and their purpose therein is enough to just resolve this.

It isn't some kind of massive advantage that requires a move to be made. So go ahead and just put your Spout Lore move in there along with this fiction above as a flashback-equivalent before you head to the trade house.
Kimmuriel Oblodra would demand that you (a) continue to intentionally draw Valindra's surveillance so that you can countersurveil her with the limited means you have (olfactory) when you do; each instance of this we'll call a "Clue" (The Between parlance). You have 1 currently (from your last DR move). Once you've nailed down where she is, Oblodra will outfit you with a crew of shock troopers to assault her lair.

We'll treat this like a custom move version of The Between's Answer a Question:

Locate Valindra Shadowmantle's Lair
When Twyll is confident she has countersurveiled the Thayan Leader enough to locate her position, roll +Clues.
On a 10+, the answer is correct. Kimmuriel Oblodra outfits Twyll with a crew of BD shock troopers and the lead can be pursued.
On a 7-9, as above, but the GM will add an unwelcome complication to the answer.
On a 6-, the answer is incorrect. Do not mark xp, and the GM makes a hard move.

* * *

PRITCHARD stiffens at the knock on his door later the next morning. Nimor Ironvice and his gang of lackeys?!?

He grabs his swordcane, plants one knee against the door interior as a brace, and stammers with all the confidence he can muster, "Who ... is it?"

A voice behind him says simply, "A friend sent me."

Pritchard whirls. "How?!?"

A male drow reaches out to halt his hand at the swordcane, the window visibly open over his shoulder. "I am a friend of Twyll's. There is something you need to know," he states plainly.

* * *
The sun begins to sink below the horizon out over the docks and shores of the Sword Coast, sending out a dazzling display of crimson, salmon, and tangerine through the distant clouds, before Lady Lily-Rose saunters up to join PRITCHARD and Twyll, twirling a parasol playfully over her shoulder.

Twyll rolls her eyes when the Lady's back is turned.

Halted at the counter by the presence of the beefy clerk intervening himself between the otherwise-engaged Belyse and the trio, Pritchard smiles winningly and says, "Ah, yes, good clerk, right so, right so. Would that you could help us, indeed. But no, our business here is personal business, I'm afraid, not transactional. Personal business with Belyse, you understand. We are old friends from the City of Splendors come to speak," he leans in, conspiratorially and whispers, "of private matters. Perhaps you can pry the good woman away from her current charges for just the briefest of moments so that we can converse. In private." Pritchard strokes his mustache gently as his eyes smolder during the connection.




Pritchard is pressing the clerk to convince him to neglect his duties and let them pass.

PARLEY (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.

r6,4 +1 CHA = 11.
 

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Belyse registers the voice and winces...maybe even shudders is more like it.

She turns to see Pritchard Blackmantle making, clearly convincing, overtures to her clerk. Quickly intervening, as the big lug behind the counter is already admitting them to her care, she announces "Townsend, can you see to our fair couple's needs, please?" Through a severely grimace-weighted smile, she says goodbye to her actual clients and ushers Pritchard to the back behind some screens.

Her voice is hushed low to avoid suspicion, while her words are spat like poison-laden darts. Full excoriation-mode initiated.

"Pritchard Blackmantle...how dare you?! By the Gods. Do you forget yourself? What kind of danger you put my shop in by coming here? What kind of danger you put me in? How many eyes do you have on you Pritchard? I certainly know at least one set that has your whereabouts top on their mind!"

She raises her hands in clenched fists then throws out a sacred gesture to placate the Gods and a profane one to placate any watching Archdevils for good measure.

"This is why I left Waterdeep," she huffs to no one.

A collecting, slow inhale later, "how can I get you out of my hair?"
 

PRITCHARD's shoulders slump slightly under the reproach.

"Yes, Belyse," he hisses through clenched teeth. "No one is more aware of my ... predicament ... than I. I wouldn't be here out of anything other than sheer desperation.

"Surely you recognize Lady Lily-Rose Crowleister from the gaming tables at Waterdeep. It is far too convoluted a tale to get into right now, but Lady Lily-Rose does not have an invitation to tonight's ventures aboard The Macabre and needs one. Badly. Undoubtedly you have such an invitation.

"I can provide you with two services if you allow Lady Lily-Rose to take your place aboard The Macabre tonight." He holds up a hand with forefinger extended. "Leave here and not return until my ... predicament ... is resolved--immediately."

He raises a second finger, "And further, since I have reason to believe certain ... former associates ... of yours share a common enemy with me, I will provide material aid such as I can to a certain feytouched Blacklake tavern proprietor and her heartsick brother in their struggle against..." <he lowers his voice> "... the practicioners of the black arts from the east.

"Don't ask me how, but my own struggles seem to have become entwined with various factions jockeying for position and control here within this city. You have my vow that I will do what I can for the half-elf in return for your aid now."




@Nephis has indicated that she is taking the source material story of a romantic relationship between "Cymril" and Toram and putting a slight spin to it--in her view she worked no seduction upon Toram, but rather he had developed an infatuation with "Cymril."

Further, in discussing how we viewed the suggested Harpers-Sons of Alagondar scenario in the setting sourcebook and how the Bregan D'aerthe infiltration into that dynamic might inflect that somewhat, we landed on the following: The original Cymril, a Harper agent, was an ally (friend? professional contact? lover?) of Jarlaxle, two top-level spooks with much in common. Cymril was actually, truly killed in the past, and Jarlaxle seized upon the opportunity to strengthen the Bregan D'aerthe's power within Neverwinter by fostering the idea that Cymril is more a mantle to be taken up by the leader of the resistance against Neverember than an individual identity. Hence the series of "Cymrils." She has no private identity of her own; people only interacted with "Cymril" in her official capacity when she was wearing the mask.

In leading the Sons of Alagondar as Cymril, Twyll felt no particular allegiance to their cause; her role was filled out of duty to the Bregan D'aerthe, and when she was ordered to abandon Cymril and instead foster Rosene for that leadership role, it was as easy for her as changing clothes.

Anyway, Pritchard Parleys with Belyse, building upon his knowledge of her past and her current allegiances to anticipate what she might desire in return for her aid.

PARLEY (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.

r4,1 +1 CHA = 6. And there we have it! Our first failed roll. Not sure how that interacts with making use of the "interesting and useful" information that is sure to win her aid. But I'm sure you'll come up with something appropriate!

Oh, and I mark XP.
 
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Definitely bringing in those eyes that Belyse was afraid of!




The door-jangle triggers as a trio of Toughs (3 x Minions, 3 HP, 1 Armor, d6 damage; crossbow = ignores armor/near/reload/stun poison bolt x 1 and short sword = close/wrong-foot) filter through in succession. Trailing them is none other than the scheming dwarf, Nimor Ironvice (Elite, 10 HP, 2 Armor, d8 damage; mace = close/deprive, and his hand-to-hand = hand/grabby), kitted out for a fight in armor and armament. As he ominously walks into the shop, letting his mace rhythmically fall into the palm of his opposite hand, one of his toughs reverses the outward face of the shop's door sign from OPEN to CLOSED. Simultaneously, multiple footsteps clatter across the wooden wraparound porch and stair of the shop, signaling that more toughs are manning the other exits; the pair of windows and the apartment door.

Without looking at the big lug of a clerk behind the counter, Ironvice menacingly says "boy, why don't you...take that lovely couple outside and treat them to some fresh, Neverwinter air?"

While it wasn't clear before, while large-of-size, the clerk is actually quite young...maybe 15 or 16 years old? For a moment, he clams up...but he finds some uncommon courage fairly quickly. Maybe a hard life or maybe he's backed off too many times and this is the moment to make a stand? Or maybe it is just simply "it is his job to protect this shop?" He musters a half-scowl and his hand feels for a club-like implement on the counter behind him, knuckles wrapping around it (see below).

Nimor turns to the clerk..."I won't tell you a third time, boy...get (he says the last in a low growl)."

Meanwhile, behind the screens, Belyse eyes Pritchard with a contemptuous <I told you so> look right before whispering at him "there can be no bloodshed in my shop...certainly not that of Ansel (referring to the boy-clerk), ya hear?" Her hand enfolds the turning knob of the door to the back of the shop and the common area of her attached apartment.





Ansel is game here. You can take him as a Hireling for this conflict as follows:

Ansel (Skill 2)

Intervene: When Ansel helps you defy danger you may opt to take +1 from his aid. If you do you cannot get a 10+ result, a 10+ instead counts as a 7–9 and Ansel takes on the burden of the trouble, reducing his Skill by 1.
Man-at-Arms: When you deal damage while Ansel aids you, add his skill to the damage done. If your attack results in consequences (like a counter attack), Ansel reduces it by half and his Skill is reduced by 1.

Special: If Ansel's Skill is reduced to 0, he is slain, bloodying the floor of the Tarmalune Trade House, generating a negative disposition from Belyse and a problem with a criminal investigation (and the attendant increase in profile because of it)!

What do you do? Nimor isn't going to simply backdown. You have no leverage here by default so you can't just simply parley (move) your way out of this. Talking is going to start with Defying Danger to get even the prospect of a peaceful resolution online here.

The Trade House is about 25 x 30 x 9 so everything is Near range or inward. The room has counterspace with merchandise lining the bay-facing (west) wall as well as an island in the middle with more merchandise and the clerk's counting house kit. The apartment door is on the north wall where you are within Reach range. Singular windows on East and West wall w/ entry door on South wall.

Ansel is at the west wall counterspace with the couple, Nimor is just outside of Reach range of the north wall, working his way there. The 3 x Minions are filtering around the room to cover the windows and front door.
 
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PRITCHARD spies Ansel's hand reaching for an improvised weapon, hears the menace in Ironvice's voice, and edges back into the main sales floor.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen." He holds up his hands. "Let us keep our heads about us. This is a house of commerce, not the Great Yard at Castle Never. We are rational folk. Ansel, this matter is between Master Ironvice and myself. Ironvice, you are a reasonable man. Er, dwarf. You wouldn't have traveled all the way from Waterdeep to speak with me only to have our conversation spoiled by the distraction of others.

"Why don't you and I step back outside onto the porch and discuss your concerns alone?"




Pritchard is Defying Danger (INT) to de-escalate the rising tension and convince all parties to chill out before violence breaks out.

DEFY DANGER

When danger looms, the stakes are high, and you do something chancy, check if another move applies. If not, roll...

... +INT to apply expertise or enact a clever plan

On a 10+, you pull it off as well as one could hope; on a 7-9, you can do it, but the GM will present a lesser success, a cost, or a consequence (and maybe a choice between them, or a chance to back down).

r6,2 +2 INT = 10! Danger defied!

If Ironvice accepts Pritchard's offer to "step outside," Pritchard will go willingly. His aim is to put off Ironvice taking him to Mordai Vell immediately so that he can "tie up some loose ends" first (namely, (a) secure Lady Lily-Rose's place at the gambling tables aboard The Macabre so that an eventual meeting with Mordai Vell can be made under much more favorable terms than being taken prisoner and (b) some intelligence-gathering can be made on the Thayans' involvement in these affairs.

I hope to leverage

GIVE ME FUEL, GIVE ME FIRE

When you gaze intensely into someone’s eyes, you may ask their player “what fuels the flames of your desire?” They’ll answer with the truth, even if the character does not know or would otherwise keep this hidden.

in conversation with Ironvice to glean some information he can leverage over the dwarf in striking a bargain to this effect. If the fiction has been moved to such an opening, I make that move now. If Pritchard needs to do more to establish position for that, well, then so be it; frame the fiction, and I'll address that as necessary.



Meanwhile...

TWYLL catches Lady Lily-Rose by the elbow.

"Gwyneth, darling," she inquires of the tiefling with feigned concern, "you're looking a tad peaked. You're not going to faint, are you?" She grabs the gambler's fan and begins cooling her with it. "Protector's Enclave, indeed!" she mutters. "Neverember needs to do a better job of protecting than this," she grumbles further.




Twyll is using Lady Lily-Rose as an accomplice in her ruse to feign being innocent-bystanders caught in the crosshairs.

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 direct suspicion away from her as possible ally-acquaintance of Pritchard.
 

Ansel’s knuckles loosen and his aggro fades.

Ironvice pauses in his stalking and threats.

The dwarf bounty hunter mulls.

“Mmmmmm…mmmmm. Outside.” He gestures to Pritchard and his lackeys with a quick nod of his head toward the door. He tips his leather tricorn to everyone else (including Twyll and Lily-Rose who have melted into the “bystander background”). “Good day.”

And out the door they all go.

Barked orders can be heard by those inside; “you and you on the roof…eyes for Neverember’s patrols.” The sounds of 2 of the 3 lackeys at his side scaling the exterior wall can be heard.

He turns to Pritchard.


GIVE ME FUEL, GIVE ME FIRE

When you gaze intensely into someone’s eyes, you may ask their player “what fuels the flames of your desire?” They’ll answer with the truth, even if the character does not know or would otherwise keep this hidden.

in conversation with Ironvice to glean some information he can leverage over the dwarf in striking a bargain to this effect. If the fiction has been moved to such an opening, I make that move now. If Pritchard needs to do more to establish position for that, well, then so be it; frame the fiction, and I'll address that as necessary.

The look immediately betrays Ironvice’s weakness in position here. This isn’t a money job with Mordai Vell simply as his employer. Just like Nimor Ironvice knows of Pritchard’s dark past and can expose him, Mordai Vell has something dastardly over Nimor Ironvice that can equally compromise the dwarven bounty hunter. But it’s definitely not rep-based. It’s a soft spot. A kind of weakness a fella like Ironvice simply can’t afford…won’t tolerate. Love…duty…or something like it. Nimor Ironvice is commiting this act so Vell will relinquish his infernal hold on that precious thing.

<you have a moment of Sherlock Holmes clarity…or supernatural clairvoyance…tell us what you see Vell has on Ironvice>

Nimor Ironvice clears his throat to recover his wits and feign strength.

“You know why I’m here. Don’t play dumb. I don’t have the patience for it.”





ATTACHING GM METACOMMENTARY FOR THOSE FOLLOWING ALONG WHO ARE LEARNING THE GAME'S STRUCTURE AND RULES

Situation-state and Win Con/Loss Con for social conflict with Belyse:

1) PCs already established leverage to use (Harper’s material support for activities here) via move going into the conflict at Tarmalune Trading House.

2) Unfortunately, we had a failed Parley move leading to Belyses’ announced fears in engaging with Pritchard being realized to complicate matters.

3) The nature of that attendant fiction wasn’t “Loss Con achieved,” but rather “complication needing to be fully resolved without escalating to an actual Loss Con."

4) Pending is (a) full resolution of that complication and (b) a successful social move that circles back to the leverage. I would call that a Defy Danger given the circumstances, with the danger being “she’s had it with you; GTFO.”
 
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[This time, Dear Readers, it is I, @Nephis , who consolidates the words and ideas of myself and @darkbard. Enjoy!]



As the door to the establishment closes, TWYLL quickly thinks through any possible actions she might be able to take in helping their now-joint cause. Clearly the drow needs to pick up the thread Pritchard had to drop. At the same time, she must be careful what will be "shared" with Valindra.

A movement out of the corner of her eyes catches her attention: Belyse has reappeared from behind the screen, clearly having heard the exchange and the door closing behind them. The sight of the former Harper gives the Bregan D'aerthe spy an idea: she has long known through Jarlaxle that certain Harper agents have some passing knowledge of the drow secret language. Is it possible that Belyse is one of these agents? She racks her brain to remember whether she has ever heard any mention of this from either Jarlaxle himself or his second, Kimmuriel Oblodra. She will simply have to find out herself

She waits a beat - is the coast truly clear? - then slips over to where the proprietress is standing. Their eyes meet and mirror the wary watchfulness of the other. The drow - ever mindful of the curious ear of Lily-Rose (who has followed her across the room) and even more mindful of the sensor listening and watching her every word and action, begins to speak. Her speech, however, is two-fold: as she uses her mouth to voice words and sentences, her fingers begin to move in her native hand signals:

* ALOUD WITH VOICE: "Pritchard has removed the threat from your establishment and is dealing with the situation outside."

* SILENTLY WITH HANDS: <Understand ... yes equals silence ... hand only ... important ... I help Harpers ...>

* VOICE: "As you asked, there has been no bloodshed. The floor remains clean. Your boy remains unharmed."

* HANDS: <... you help her ...> Twyll tilts her head - could be toward the clean floor, could be toward Lily-Rose <... climb boat ... I help ... > Twyll spells out the names <... T.H.E.R.Y..I.S. and T.O.R.A.M. ...>

In spelling out their names, Twyll has decided not to use the signs that the Bregan D'aerthe have come with for these two well-known Harpers: "Many-faced Harper" for Theryis and "Hot-headed Harper" for Toram (or the more recent name of "Loverboy" in recognition of his infatuation with the newest and final performer of "Cymril").

As Twyll makes these gestures and subsequently awaits a response from Belyse, the drow has the sense of electricity flashing across her skin, down to her fingertips and toes, up to her scalp, stinging her eyes and nose. As these sensations cause her eyes to water, she desperately holds onto her poise and keeps her attention on the proprietress.




Twyll is using a new custom move to do with using Drow Hand Signals to avoid Valindra's scrutiny (with NPCs).

DROW SIGNALS: When you evade Valindra's surveillance by using hand signals that Harpers might know, roll +INT: on a 10+, hold 3 Veil; on a 7-9, hold 2 Veil. Spend Veil 1 for 1:
  • The object of your communication understands you.
  • The object of your communication is also convinced of your plea or warning.
  • You avoid danger or trouble outside of Valindra's scrutiny (or else, there is some).
r1,3+1 INT = 5. Ack! It's contagious! And I mark XP.

Regarding sensing the location of Valindra through her sensor after having used Drow Signals:

Question:
How does Twyll do the countersurveillance of V? Must she actively handle the sensor? Does she receive olfactory data (ie Clues), only when she does so?
Answer:
Discern Realities when she does something that will draw Valindra's eyes (like Drow Signals).
it would definitely be DR follow-up to countersurveil.
Twyll countersurveils via Discern Realities (I am deploying the +1 forward acting on (iii) it could be used against her to locate Valindra):

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?
r5,1+1 WIS +1 Forward = 8, 1 question: What here is not what it appears to be?



@darkbard thinks the manifestation of GIVE ME FUEL, GIVE ME FIRE is supernatural in nature, an instantiation of the diabolic intelligence that has marked PRITCHARD with its BURNING BRAND. Hence Pritchard bears witness to scenes in the following cutscene montage to which he never could have seen himself.



<Nimor Ironvice stands close to the ring in the center of a chamber deep underground amid a crowd of shouting, cheering dwarves. In the ring, two drakes; about the size and build of bull terriers, one mottled green, the other a black and red brindle; tear and claw at each other. The brindle proves victorious but suffers a grievous wound.

<Flash>

Ironvice hands over a coin purse to a well-dressed and rotund dwarf who shakes his head pityingly.

<Flash>

In a cozy private sleeping chamber, Ironvice tends to the wounded drake with medicinal poultices beside a glowing potbellied stove.

At the chamber door, open a crack, an eye peering in at the occupants, diabolical intent visible in its glare.

<Flash>

Daylight. A bright boulevard in Waterdeep. Ironvice strolls nonchalantly, tipping his tricorn hat seemingly at random to passersby. He wears a fatuous grin. Behind him, ambling cheerfully but with a limp, trails the drake.

<Flash>

Ironvice returning to his empty chambers. Panic in his voice. “Chompers? Where are you Chompers?!?”

<Flash>

Mordai Vell sits upon a lavish armchair in a well-appointed apartment, stroking a brindled drake curled up on a hassock beside him. “Good boy, Chompers,” he purrs.


***

“Look, Ironvice, I don’t like this game any more than you do. Mordai Vell exercises control over people in a way no mortal man ought. He treats others like a cruel master does his hound! It’s despicable.


“And so, while I understand you have a job to do, I ask of you, I beg of you: let us protract this loathsome game a bit longer. Allow me to walk away from here today. I have other, urgent matters to attend to, more urgent than even this ‘friendly invitation’ to Vellgard Manor. Three days is all I ask. Surely, you can find me at any moment, as our rendezvous here reveals. Give me that time! Then I will come with you, and you will have fulfilled your duty. And extracted yourself from whatever hold the magus has upon you. Vell is renowned for his patience, his schemes and machinations taking months and years to play out! Surely, he is distracted enough currently in his stratagem of ingratiating himself with General Sabine and Neverember that this extra time will mean nothing to him!”



It's pretty clear Pritchard makes a Parley move here (I would like to deploy the +1 forward he received in learning Mordai Vell spent years working toward an apotheosis ritual that I subverted—your (ii) in post 18, which, at the least, hints at the tiefling’s willingness to play the long game), hoping to buy time and subconsciously exploit the secret knowledge he has plucked from Ironvice’s not-so-iron bosom!

PARLEY (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.

R1,4 +1 CHA +1 forward = 7.
 

* On TWYLL's Drow Signals 6-, Belyse agrees...but she has a big demand...and it is immediate:

Belyse purses her lips, scrunches her nose, furrows her brow. She looks at her hands and curses quietly in frustration as she practices making a collection of complex signals over the next minute. When she feels confident, she inhales and performs the collection of interlocking fingers, points, palm gestures, and balled fists in sequence.

Net: You're going to have to do better than materially help Therys and Toram down the line. She wants something big and she wants it now. Lord Dagult Neverember's captain (the bastard from last evening at the ruined manor and the inn in Blacklake) slew someone she cares deeply about either at that ruined manor in in The House of a Thousand Faces after you guys left the scene. He has to die...this very night...otherwise she won't give up her ferry ticket and seat at the table. Further, he can't die in the Protector's Enclave. That will bring too much heat upon her business. It has to happen when he is out on patrol in the Blacklake, River, or Chasm Districts. Take it or leave it. You've got these evening hours left before dawn to extinguish Captain Plinth, "The Hammer."

So getting Lady Lily-Rose aboard The Macabre and at the table is going to entail either (1) doing this dangerous and terrible thing for Belyse or (2) opting-out and figuring out how to get her aboard and at the table yourselves in a Blades-like Score.

* On TWYLL's Discern Realities 7-9 to olfactory countersurveil Valindra Shadowmantle (What here is not what it appears to be?):

The organic, rustic whiff of a deciduous grove, broad leafs shed to the ground in multitudes. The smell of autumn and the circle of life.

But something more...something terrible. Ash...supernaturally charged with dread. The sensory smack of pestilence. The smell of unnatural death.


* On PRITCHARD's Parley 7-9 to convince Nimor Ironvice for 3 days delay:

The dwarf looks skyward at his scouts on the roof of the Tarmalune Trade House. He waves them off and the scale to the ground and disperse.

"Alright dandy from Waterdeep. You've got your three days...on one condition. I lost something precious to me. Brindle drake, yay height (pantomimes), a jaw so square and mighty it'll tear a door clean from its hinges if the pups in a foul mood."

He leans in and hisses with a mix of menace and pain, "he's a missin.' Not run-away-from-home-like. Stolen-like. You better get me a lead or when I find you again in 3 days, I'm a takin' somethin' from you you won't want to give. Savvy?"

He leans back so his tobacco-chew-befouled breath isn't quite so pungent! <Spits> "You find him outright...and I'll do you one better. Me and mine <signalling to his lackeys> will be indebted to ya. And you know my rep. I always pay back a favor owed."

The dwarf and the toughs filter out into the Protector's Enclave as Nimor Ironvice throws three fingers up and shouts "Three days."





Most pressing right now is the sitch within Tarmalune Trade House. Do you agree or do you beg off, looking to find another way.

Then, what do you do?
 
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Belyse purses her lips, scrunches her nose, furrows her brow. She looks at her hands and curses quietly in frustration as she practices making a collection of complex signals over the next minute. When she feels confident, she inhales and performs the collection of interlocking fingers, points, palm gestures, and balled fists in sequence.

Net: You're going to have to do better than materially help Therys and Toram down the line. She wants something big and she wants it now. Lord Dagult Neverember's captain (the bastard from last evening at the ruined manor and the inn in Blacklake) slew someone she cares deeply about either at that ruined manor in in The House of a Thousand Faces after you guys left the scene. He has to die...this very night...otherwise she won't give up her ferry ticket and seat at the table. Further, he can't die in the Protector's Enclave. That will bring too much heat upon her business. It has to happen when he is out on patrol in the Blacklake, River, or Chasm Districts. Take it or leave it. You've got these evening hours left before dawn to extinguish Captain Plinth, "The Hammer."

TWYLL's heart skips a beat at Belyse’s mention of the death of someone in the House of a Thousand Faces at the hands of Captain Plinth, and she looks harder at the woman’s features. She remembers hearing a rumor that Casimir’s family hailed from Tarmalune, and the former Harper agent strongly resembles that young man. His mother, perhaps? And Twyll was instrumental in his death?

“Casimir?” the drow asks aloud, “he’s dead?” She takes the proprietress’s bleakly dry-eyed stare as an affirmative. “In that case, consider the “Hammer” dead as well.”




As Ironvice begins to amble off, PRITCHARD calls out, “Wait! We haven’t shaken on it!”

The dwarf turns. Blackmantle scurries forward and grasps the dwarf’s hand. There is an almost-vampiric transfer of spirit, as Ironvice’s despondence over his “lost” pet inflames the brand that burns upon Pritchard’s breast.

Disconcerted, the dwarf pulls his hand away and retreats, grumbling to himself.

Pritchard smiles slightly. But his eyes betray a deeper, troubled sentiment burning within.




Pritchard uses this Custom Move, per @Manbearcat

DRAW UPON IRONVICE's DESPONDENCE

When you draw upon Nimor Ironvice's powerful emotions as you shake on your deal, roll +Cha. On a 10+ take 3 Burning Brand charges; on a 7-9 take 1 Burning Brand charge; on a 6- take 1 Burning Brand charge but suffer psychic biofeedback from the dwarf’s dismay: -1 ongoing until you release that charge via Inflame.

r5,1 +1 CHA = 7. Pritchard takes 1 charge for Burning Brand.



Sitting at a dark corner table, Blackmantle peers dubiously at the liquid in the glass he is holding. Taking a sniff does not seem make whatever it is more palatable. As TWYLL draws rapidly on a scrap of paper with her pencil nub, holding her head down, she is amused by her companion’s reactions to both the occupants of the tavern as well as its offerings in drink and food. She is well aware that the fare of The Fallen Tavern and its patrons are not for everyone. Nonetheless, for her and for fellow outsiders in Neverwinter, this is neutral ground, as safe as one can expect in this city.

“Look here,” the drow now says to him, bringing his nervously skittering gaze back to her and to the map she has drawn. “This is the route that Plinth generally takes at this time of night, or at least one of them. Judging from where he’s already been tonight, this is where I expect him to travel. It will take him under the Shard of Night..”

Twyll pauses to smirk in response Pritchard’s shudder, for this will be the same route she just took him on to get to this tavern, and his reactions just as she expected: uneasiness, anxiously jumping at shadows, just as she has noticed any non-drow (or orc, for that matter) to have while walking under the shadow of that strange detached and floating tower, high above their heads.

“That should put him into the perfect frame of mind for my ambush: nervous and looking everywhere … except where I am hiding. That is my hope. Will you aid me?”




Twyll Spouts Lore about what she knows of Captain Plinth’s patrol route to find the best place to set an ambush.

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?”

r6,1+1 INT = 8, something interesting: it's up to us to make it useful!

Captain Plinth's Route with proposed ambush.png




Additionally, @darkbard and I have drafted the initial Front/Threat for both Pritchard and Twyll. These are provisional and may see amendment as play and/or inspiration dictate!

FRONT: THE ASHMADAI (Cult of Asmodeus)
INSTINCT:
to tempt into damnation
GRIM PORTENTS AND STAKES:
  • Possess Lord Dagult Neverember; Will Neverember rule openly as a diabolist?
  • Steal Valindra Shadowmantle’s phylactery; Will the PCs work to foil the Ashmadai or Valindra?
  • Recover the Ruby Rod of Asmodeus from Valindra Shadowmantle; Will Pritchard resist the temptation to claim the artifact for himself?
  • Reconstruct the Dread Ring in Neverwinter Wood; Will Pritchard use the power of the Dread Ring to exorcise the diabolic presence within him?

IMPENDING DOOM AND STAKES: condemn Neverwinter to Hell for eternal torment
GM MOVES:
  • Exploit human(oid) weakness
  • Tempt a soul into damnation
  • Strike a diabolical bargain
  • Recruit a powerful ally
  • Infiltrate an established organization
  • Summon a devil
  • Misdirect through subtlety and cleverness
  • To cow the weak through brazen display

FRONT: Valindra Shadowmantle (Thayan necromancer, lich)
INSTINCT
: to seek True Immortality
GRIM PORTENTS AND STAKES:
  • Destroy the Sons of Alogandar from within by subverting The Nashers to her malign will. Will Twyll expose Bregan D'aerthe's own subversive machinations to the Harpers and Sons?
  • Awaken the Neverwinter Nine; Will Valindra infiltrate Neverwinter’s new government via these undead Shapechangers?
  • Recover the Bones of the Dragon Lorragauth; Will Valindra use these bones to transform herself into a Dracolich?
  • Reconstruct the Dread Ring in Neverwinter Wood; Will Valindra use Pritchard’s diabolic potential to repair the power of the Dread Ring?
IMPENDING DOOM AND STAKES: break the Seal between the Material Plane and the Shadowfell to create a Dominion of Undeath out of Neverwinter
GM MOVES:
  • Spy on someone, unseen/from afar
  • Sense powerful emotions
  • Appear in glimpses, dreams, visions
  • Twist a bargain to a curse
  • Attack ruthlessly, with little warning
  • Offer service, secrets, power
  • Raise a powerful undead and bring it to bear
  • Summon a horde of rot and pestilence
 
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It is the dead of night, but the moon casts a deep shadow upon the once-fine rowhouses and meticulously landscaped parks of the, still very fallen, River District. Above looms The Shard of Night, the broken top of a mysterious tower which appeared a hundred years ago...before this ruinous cataclysm...and persists still. Instead of the moon granting a reprieve from the darkness, this strange floating structure seems to absorb it, shrouding all of the River District in darkness that only manual light will penetrate.

Raised flower gardens, long since lost to invasive overgrowth, stand like a hulking maze between one side of the cobbled street and the other, obscuring sightline. A guardhouse, abandoned these many years, stands vigil over the feral district at night. A phantom watcher drifts across the sightline of the window high above, then vanishes from view.

The horses' gaits are slow. Not labored. Measured. Uneasy. The lantern's mote on the end of the saddle's stanchion gives some purchase from the eeriness, from the darkness...but not nearly enough. They pass beneath a stone breezeway connecting a ruined merchant house on one side of the street to another on the opposite.

One of Captain Plinth's two flanking soldiers holds reins in one hand as he pulls his longcoat's high collar up nearly to the top of his chain coif with the other. "I hate this effing place. This place in particular. I hate that we have to trot around this...corpse...like it will ever be brought back to life...like it will ever be tamed."

Captain Plinth's horse stops for a moment and looses an unnerved neigh. The huge, plate-clad soldier on the steed back examines the nearby guardhouse. "It is only once a week...and you know what you signed up for. It's the job. It's the job until Lord Neverember says it isn't the job. Just keep your wits about you and ready yourself."

He pats the big horse on the neck and leans close to her head from the saddle. "What do you detect girl? Something...off...in the air?"

His head cranes up and around. "I feel it as well."





Where are you at in the scene? Presumably, you want to be undetected. Make a move to ensure that whatever the horse and Captain Plinth are sensing, it ain't you.
 

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