Orphans & Organizations: session 6

Unlucky Work

Vajra is the Blackstaff and invites Gwen to Blackstaff Tower, who agrees. We all debate about what to do and what it could mean for us to have caught the attention of such an important and powerful person.

It's nearing dusk and Vivi explores the attic and turret of Trollskull Manor.

We gather up and prepare to go to Blackstaff Tower and Farah wants to stop to check on her adpoted orphans first. Lif pantomimes walking out while floating in place.

Some roughs are lingering around Trollskull Alley as we depart, messing with one of the doors. They see us and run off but Gwen puts a note under the door advising them to get a new lock. We argue about the ethics of putting your nose in other peoples' business as we walk.

We find the children, who hadn't done a very good job looking for Gwen. Farah assures them that it's ok and Gwen gives each of them a dagger. They have various levels of interest in them and Gwen offers to train them. Squidly carves his "name" in a wall, but it's just a squiggle. Farah and Azthoran suggest they also need to learn their letters then Farah tells them to go back to her house for the night.

Azthoran uses illusions to make the stuffed beholder that Farah gave them spookier. Squidly looks impressed and asks if he could learn how to do magic. Az tells him to start by learning letters and languages - libraries around the city would be a good place to start.

Azthoran disguises himself as a scribe using Mask of Many Faces and Farah does the same, but as an unarmed adventurer aide.

The guards in front of Blackstaff Tower let us in when Gwen provides her name. As we enter the tower, we notice that Zephyr is missing - we don't remember her being with us since shortly after we left the manor (her player was absent this session). We really have to do better about making sure each of us know where we're going. An elf with brown/black sclera sitting at a desk, surrounded by bustling clerks, directs us further into the tower after Azthoran announces Gwen the Red.

We meet a gnome, who leads us up a set of stairs, speaking a set of phrases when the stairs run out, causing a new set of stairs to appear. This repeats many times before the stairs end at a single door, this time the gnome causes the door's handle to appear.

Beyond the door is a nature-themed lobby. Azthoran cautions the group about what information we offer up of our own accord. The room beyond the lobby is richly-decorated without being luxurious. A somewhat dimminutive human woman with olive skin stands up from behind a desk: Blackstaff Vajra Safar.

Vajra says she was eager to meet Gwen and is impressed that she accepted the invitation. Vajra said she might owe us a bit of a favor? Renaer and Vajra go back a ways, he suggested she take an interest in us, with how we can "help this city."

Vajra asks if we've heard of the Grey Hands - a sort of publicly-known special forces of the Guard. It sounds like she's offering Gwen a "part-time position" in the Grey Hands, paid with gold, information, etc. It would also allow her to work outside the Code Legal (assuming otherwise moral behavior). After some consideration, Gwen agrees and Vajra says there needs to be a test.

Some of the Dungsweepers have requested protection. A group from the Lords' Alliance has been protecting them but has to be away for a while. We're to fill in for 4-6 hours for 4 days. The Dungsweepers are concerned with being caught in gang activity. Morton Till is the lead of the group and would want to meet with us in 2 days. The pay is 20 gold per day for each, and for everyone who makes the whole time, 125 gold to split.

The oddities involved may be magical in nature.

Who's paying Safar to set this up? The Lords' Alliance.

This is just for protection? Not solving mysteries? Correct.

This is for 08 - 11 Eleint, it is currently 06 Eleint. We stay with them each day until dismissed by Morton Till.

We head to the Shallow's End to discuss further. We are all onboard with the job: the pay is suspiciously good and getting information is appealing as well. Farah is in favor of helping out the Dungsweepers too.

Paying outright to get the Manor started in a tenday is 1200 gold. Oof.

TODO:

• clean rooms
• Gwen to sell silver bars
• fix kitchen
• put locks on the doors
• make sure privy works

Skipping forward a bit (after the job)

Vivi likes the attic bedroom. Azthoran to take bedroom on third floor (not the master bedroom). Farah takes the master bedroom and Gwen will stay in the spare room, since she doesn't plan to stay in Waterdeep.

Farah asks her family to help clean the Manor tomorrow. That saves us 5 gold from the total (1195 gold).

We get locks made for the front door with 6 keys and locks on all the bedchambers. This is 20 gold from the total (1175 gold).

Back to the job

Day 1

We meet Morton, who is a little surprised by our appearance but is reassured by the presence of Gwen.

The dungsweepers:

• Morton (foreman)
• Errol (a little shady, tries to nick things but is usually stopped by Morton)
• Stooge (a young doof, talks about everything in sight non-stop)

Stooge finds a mostly-empty bottle with a small amount of thick yellow liquid in it. Azthoran swirls it around to get an idea of what it is and it starts to fill the bottle with foam. When the foam hits the cork, it bursts out and spreads a noxious cloud, making Farah nauseated and exhausted (level 1).

The cloud disperses and people recover. The bottle is now fully empty.

The weird occurrances have been happening for a month.

Farah asked if they've done anything to piss off a sorcerer, run over an old lady with a cart, read any creepy books, etc? Azthoran asked what happened a month ago. Farah looked at Stooge's aura and found something magical on his hip: a pink gem (with a necromancy aura). The Curious Past on the Street of Silks is the shop where he got it. He paid 70 gold for it.

Apparently random good fortune has been befalling Stooge as the ill fortune has affected others nearby him.

Gradil the Blue was the proprietor but died when the shop burned down 25 years ago. There's nothing obvious at the ruins of The Curious Past, but they are emenating a faint aura of illusion magic.

Day 2

Farah asks Stooge when he went to the Curious Past; it was last month on Agairon's Day (a holiday at the first day of Aleisis, named after a super powerful wizard) an hour or so after sunset. He says the proprietor's name is Gradil the Blue - probably a halfling.

Azthoran tells Stooge about the fate of The Curious Past and he looks very upset about it. After the shift, Stooge gets upset at us but as he starts to yell, we're interrupted by guard whistles and a carrion crawler barrelling down the street!