Callan frowns, "The other Zhents are going to want this stuff back. If we leave it here, chances are it won't be here when we return. Floon's the priority, but we ought to move this stuff at least a little bit. I could certainly use the funds, and I know you two need it."
"Anyways, we probably ought to trace them to whatever sewer entrance they used. Probably nearby. Circe? Think you might be able to track the scent of the goons that far? They likely smell of both the sewer and the blood they spilled here. I'll get you a pigeon, a live one that you can chase around the workshop."
Circe's ears perk up, "Not meow," she says. "Lots of boots approaching."
Zyllee hears it too. Many people are approaching the warehouse. Looking out the windows you all can see that a little over a dozen members of the City Watch are nearing.
Zyllee grins at all the loot they found. " Even the Zhents pay a tithe to Mask," she says under her breath.
Zyllee looks at the others in fear as they seethe Watch closing in on them. " What if we are blamed for these murders?" Her mind races as she thinks of what to do.
"Quick, hide the good stuff in the room downstairs!" Hugo moves swiftly to do just that and get the secret door closed again. Next he says "don't worry, I'll do the talk..."but then touches his face near his drow eyes and remembers he currently has no disguise. To Renaer he instead says playfully "ah, perhaps you should do the talking, your Lordship."
The half-drow takes a moment to kneel down on one knee and pull out his disguise kit. He starts applying makeup to disguise his drow features and puts on an old, broken set of spectacles with some pink tint to them to further hide his eye color. He finishes it off with the damaged, black top hat. If he has time to finish he'll tell Renaer, "ok, I might be able to at least back you up now."
Callan smiles at Zylee, "Don't worry, we have several of the culprits to hand over to them. Further I'm a guild member in good standing, and there's a noble with us to vouch for our story. Surely the guards will keep that in mind."
Confidently, he strides over to the front door and opens it, calling out, "Officers!? We could use a hand over here if you have time good sirs."
Hugo manages to close up the secret door again and puts on a disguise.
When Callan gets the Watch's attention, the men all march up in formation to the warehouse. They are led by a stern-looking human man, clean shaven and with white hair. You can tell by looking at this man that he is a grizzled veteran of the Watch. He flashes a captain's badge to Callan, then says, "Captain Staget, City Watch, we heard of suspicious activity in this warehouse and will be searching the entire area. You four will stay here as we conduct our investigation. Would you mind answering some questions for me?"
He waves another officer over and says to him, "No one gets in or out. Surround the area." The other man nods and several men begin moving to guard the perimeter of the building.
He looks back to Callan and asks, "So, who are you and what happened here?"
Callan nods, "Certainly sir, we're adventurers of sorts. The three of us were hired to track down a man who had gone missing. We found out that two people matching his description had been nabbed by Zhents off of the street. Followed the kidnappers here, only to find the zhents dead. They'd been killed by people sent by Xanafar. The killers included four kenku who were still around when we arrived. Conflict ensued from there. Three of the kenku are subdued and await your questioning, the fourth regrettably is dead. Of the two kidnapped people, the one we'd been hired to find was taken by Xanafar's people into the sewers, the other we found safe. We were just about to make contact with you guys before checking out the sewer when we heard your approach."
"As far as we can tell, the killers have the wrong man, he looks almost just like the other guy, the young Neverember."
Captain Staget furrows his brow at the gnome. "Hrmph, I sense no deception from you. Neverember you say?" he asks as he looks towards Renaer. At that point, Renaer steps forward and explains the situation to the captain from his point of view. He explains all the details from the bar, to being kidnapped, and finally to the rescue by our young heroes. The captain seems a bit agitated during all of this, but does his best to stay cordial and professional in front of the noble.
Meanwhile, several other guards are conducting their own investigation of the scene. It doesn't take them long to realize that the bodies are in fact Zhentarim and Xanathar thugs. From their discussion, you all get the sense that violence between the two organizations has been escalating lately. The City Watch have seen many situations like this in recent weeks.
Once the general explanations and investigations are done, Captain Staget looks to the four of you and says, "It's best not to meddle in criminal matters, you hear me. Leave this dirty business to the City Watch. As for your friend Floon, noble or not, I will not be sending a force into the sewers in search of some brat who might well be a damn Zhent or Xanathar Guild spy. We'll be conducting our own investigation of this Floon character and proceeding from there. You all are free to go, so run along now."
The guards begin mobilizing to leave the area as they take away the bodies and the kenku prisoners as well as some evidence of the crime scene.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Zyllee shakes her head at his words. " So the City Watch is just going to abandon a noble to the underbelly of this city? If this could happen to a noble then then truly no-one is safe. I thought the City Watch was here for exactly situations like this..." She bats her eyelashes at Captain Staget.
Callan looks abashed at the officer's admonition, deciding to say nothing else as the guards depart.
After they're gone, he turns to his companions. "All right then, so we're agreed? We'll track Floon down ourselves right? Only... how long do you think he will last before they realize the mistake? I don't know if we want to rush down there without some rest."
Captain Staget seems undeterred by Zyllee's attempt to convince him. He replies to her, "Listen here young lady, we have an active investigation going on here. Just so you know, not all City Watch officers are as nice as me. Whatever you kids do, just keep the blood of the streets, okay?"
The captain hands each of you a folded up sheet of paper. It's a copy of the Code Legal, which lists various crimes and their associated punishments in Waterdeep. He nods to his men to leave, and they take away the bodies and the kenku. You all are now left alone outside the warehouse.
Zyllee, with your passive Insight, you get the sense that the Captain might be secretly happy that young adventurers are helping here. Perhaps his hands are tied for some reason or perhaps he cares more about what happens in the city versus what happens in the sewers. Either way, you get the feeling that they will be dragging their heels on this investigation of Floon.
Zyllee frowns as they depart. " Well that was a letdown. I was hoping for more from our city watch. " She looks down in thought before looking up at her friends. " This is up to us. I can feel it. I'm good at reading people from my....." She trails off. " Anyways...Reading Captain Staget I can tell that nothing will be done for Floon. If there is it will be delayed. We are the only ones that can do it. So who is in with me?" She looks at her friends to see their reactions.
Callan takes a deep breath, then says, "I'm with you of course, can't let that poor man suffer for no good reason if we can help it. But one thing's for sure, if we get in over our heads, we get the hell out, alright? I want to help him, but there's no cause to add even more lives to what's been done tonight. Circe? Can you pick up the scent? That pigeon's still on offer."
"Ah, Callan, I hate to tell you, but we're already in over our heads." After a pause Hugo continues with more enthusiasm "luckily we have the sword of Neverember here and perhaps the great hero Maximillian himself will show up at just the right time!" "What could go wrong? Lead the way! Although, you mentioned rest?"
After the guards leave, Renaer says to the group, "I concur, it is up to us to rescue Floon. As I said, my sword will be at your side."
Meanwhile, Circe begins sniffing around outside, "Callan, you better not be lying about this pigeon." She has some difficulty due to how smelly this area is, but does pick up on the scent. She points her paw in a direction, "That way."
Feel free to short rest. Do you all follow Circe? Or is there anything else you would like to do either before, after, or during the rest? Once you follow Circe, I will move the story along.
" We are in agreement then. That's wonderful. It's important for all concerned to be in agreement before beginning a grand adventure. Callan, if we get in over our heads we will get out of there immediately. We are after all new to this As Hugo said... what could go wrong?" She grins happily. " Let's get started on this mystery. "
After a short rest, Circe leads the four of you through various back alleyways that eventually lead to a circular metal cover inset in the pavement. The cover itself is easily lifted, revealing a ladder that leads down into the dark sewers. The smell of piss and shit assaults your noses.
At this point, Circe scrunches her nose and looks very upset, "Seriously, Callan?! You want me to go down there?"
Zyllee looks doubtfully at the area they are walking through. As the horrible odor assaults her senses she fights to keep from retching. She looks even paler than normal. " Well..If we must do this lets get it over with. " She takes a deep breath and begins climbing down the ladder.
The four of you go down into the dark sewers. Due to the darkness, Renaer has difficulty seeing so he lights a torch. The smell down here is awful, but you all press onward. A putrid stream flows along this sewer tunnel, which leads in two directions. In one direction, you see a tiny symbol drawn on the wall in yellow chalk: a palm-sized circle with ten equidistant spokes radiating out from its circumference.
It's pretty obvious which way they took him.
After an hour of following similar signs through the tunnels, you come to a three-way intersection where a ladder leads up into a stone shaft capped by a circular metal cover. One of the familiar chalk symbols is marked on a wall nearby, and floating near the symbol is a spherical, grapefruit-sized creature with a bulging central eye and four stumpy eyestalks. It bares its teeth at you.
Before you can react, the creature fires two rays towards Ranaer and Callan. Ranaer is caught off guard by the ray of force and is hurled backward through the air, crashing into Hugo behind him. The two of them fly back several feet as they are both knocked to the ground. Callan feels the darker ray begin to effect his mind, but he shakes it off.
Hugo is prone, Callan resisted some magical ray. Avg initiative of party was 13. This thing rolled a 16. Actions pls.
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Callan frowns, "The other Zhents are going to want this stuff back. If we leave it here, chances are it won't be here when we return. Floon's the priority, but we ought to move this stuff at least a little bit. I could certainly use the funds, and I know you two need it."
"Anyways, we probably ought to trace them to whatever sewer entrance they used. Probably nearby. Circe? Think you might be able to track the scent of the goons that far? They likely smell of both the sewer and the blood they spilled here. I'll get you a pigeon, a live one that you can chase around the workshop."
Circe's ears perk up, "Not meow," she says. "Lots of boots approaching."
Zyllee hears it too. Many people are approaching the warehouse. Looking out the windows you all can see that a little over a dozen members of the City Watch are nearing.
What do you do?
Zyllee grins at all the loot they found. " Even the Zhents pay a tithe to Mask," she says under her breath.
Zyllee looks at the others in fear as they seethe Watch closing in on them. " What if we are blamed for these murders?" Her mind races as she thinks of what to do.
"Quick, hide the good stuff in the room downstairs!" Hugo moves swiftly to do just that and get the secret door closed again. Next he says "don't worry, I'll do the talk..." but then touches his face near his drow eyes and remembers he currently has no disguise. To Renaer he instead says playfully "ah, perhaps you should do the talking, your Lordship."
The half-drow takes a moment to kneel down on one knee and pull out his disguise kit. He starts applying makeup to disguise his drow features and puts on an old, broken set of spectacles with some pink tint to them to further hide his eye color. He finishes it off with the damaged, black top hat. If he has time to finish he'll tell Renaer, "ok, I might be able to at least back you up now."
Callan smiles at Zylee, "Don't worry, we have several of the culprits to hand over to them. Further I'm a guild member in good standing, and there's a noble with us to vouch for our story. Surely the guards will keep that in mind."
Confidently, he strides over to the front door and opens it, calling out, "Officers!? We could use a hand over here if you have time good sirs."
Hugo manages to close up the secret door again and puts on a disguise.
When Callan gets the Watch's attention, the men all march up in formation to the warehouse. They are led by a stern-looking human man, clean shaven and with white hair. You can tell by looking at this man that he is a grizzled veteran of the Watch. He flashes a captain's badge to Callan, then says, "Captain Staget, City Watch, we heard of suspicious activity in this warehouse and will be searching the entire area. You four will stay here as we conduct our investigation. Would you mind answering some questions for me?"
He waves another officer over and says to him, "No one gets in or out. Surround the area." The other man nods and several men begin moving to guard the perimeter of the building.
He looks back to Callan and asks, "So, who are you and what happened here?"
Callan nods, "Certainly sir, we're adventurers of sorts. The three of us were hired to track down a man who had gone missing. We found out that two people matching his description had been nabbed by Zhents off of the street. Followed the kidnappers here, only to find the zhents dead. They'd been killed by people sent by Xanafar. The killers included four kenku who were still around when we arrived. Conflict ensued from there. Three of the kenku are subdued and await your questioning, the fourth regrettably is dead. Of the two kidnapped people, the one we'd been hired to find was taken by Xanafar's people into the sewers, the other we found safe. We were just about to make contact with you guys before checking out the sewer when we heard your approach."
"As far as we can tell, the killers have the wrong man, he looks almost just like the other guy, the young Neverember."
Captain Staget furrows his brow at the gnome. "Hrmph, I sense no deception from you. Neverember you say?" he asks as he looks towards Renaer. At that point, Renaer steps forward and explains the situation to the captain from his point of view. He explains all the details from the bar, to being kidnapped, and finally to the rescue by our young heroes. The captain seems a bit agitated during all of this, but does his best to stay cordial and professional in front of the noble.
Meanwhile, several other guards are conducting their own investigation of the scene. It doesn't take them long to realize that the bodies are in fact Zhentarim and Xanathar thugs. From their discussion, you all get the sense that violence between the two organizations has been escalating lately. The City Watch have seen many situations like this in recent weeks.
Once the general explanations and investigations are done, Captain Staget looks to the four of you and says, "It's best not to meddle in criminal matters, you hear me. Leave this dirty business to the City Watch. As for your friend Floon, noble or not, I will not be sending a force into the sewers in search of some brat who might well be a damn Zhent or Xanathar Guild spy. We'll be conducting our own investigation of this Floon character and proceeding from there. You all are free to go, so run along now."
The guards begin mobilizing to leave the area as they take away the bodies and the kenku prisoners as well as some evidence of the crime scene.
Zyllee shakes her head at his words. " So the City Watch is just going to abandon a noble to the underbelly of this city? If this could happen to a noble then then truly no-one is safe. I thought the City Watch was here for exactly situations like this..." She bats her eyelashes at Captain Staget.
Persuasion: 16
Callan looks abashed at the officer's admonition, deciding to say nothing else as the guards depart.
After they're gone, he turns to his companions. "All right then, so we're agreed? We'll track Floon down ourselves right? Only... how long do you think he will last before they realize the mistake? I don't know if we want to rush down there without some rest."
Captain Staget seems undeterred by Zyllee's attempt to convince him. He replies to her, "Listen here young lady, we have an active investigation going on here. Just so you know, not all City Watch officers are as nice as me. Whatever you kids do, just keep the blood of the streets, okay?"
The captain hands each of you a folded up sheet of paper. It's a copy of the Code Legal, which lists various crimes and their associated punishments in Waterdeep. He nods to his men to leave, and they take away the bodies and the kenku. You all are now left alone outside the warehouse.
Zyllee, with your passive Insight, you get the sense that the Captain might be secretly happy that young adventurers are helping here. Perhaps his hands are tied for some reason or perhaps he cares more about what happens in the city versus what happens in the sewers. Either way, you get the feeling that they will be dragging their heels on this investigation of Floon.
Zyllee frowns as they depart. " Well that was a letdown. I was hoping for more from our city watch. " She looks down in thought before looking up at her friends. " This is up to us. I can feel it. I'm good at reading people from my....." She trails off. " Anyways...Reading Captain Staget I can tell that nothing will be done for Floon. If there is it will be delayed. We are the only ones that can do it. So who is in with me?" She looks at her friends to see their reactions.
Callan takes a deep breath, then says, "I'm with you of course, can't let that poor man suffer for no good reason if we can help it. But one thing's for sure, if we get in over our heads, we get the hell out, alright? I want to help him, but there's no cause to add even more lives to what's been done tonight. Circe? Can you pick up the scent? That pigeon's still on offer."
"Ah, Callan, I hate to tell you, but we're already in over our heads." After a pause Hugo continues with more enthusiasm "luckily we have the sword of Neverember here and perhaps the great hero Maximillian himself will show up at just the right time!" "What could go wrong? Lead the way! Although, you mentioned rest?"
After the guards leave, Renaer says to the group, "I concur, it is up to us to rescue Floon. As I said, my sword will be at your side."
Meanwhile, Circe begins sniffing around outside, "Callan, you better not be lying about this pigeon." She has some difficulty due to how smelly this area is, but does pick up on the scent. She points her paw in a direction, "That way."
Feel free to short rest. Do you all follow Circe? Or is there anything else you would like to do either before, after, or during the rest? Once you follow Circe, I will move the story along.
" We are in agreement then. That's wonderful. It's important for all concerned to be in agreement before beginning a grand adventure. Callan, if we get in over our heads we will get out of there immediately. We are after all new to this As Hugo said... what could go wrong?" She grins happily. " Let's get started on this mystery. "
Callan rubs his chin, "I guess I can't argue with that Hugo, in any case, Circe says they went that way, whenever we're ready to go."
After a short rest, Circe leads the four of you through various back alleyways that eventually lead to a circular metal cover inset in the pavement. The cover itself is easily lifted, revealing a ladder that leads down into the dark sewers. The smell of piss and shit assaults your noses.
At this point, Circe scrunches her nose and looks very upset, "Seriously, Callan?! You want me to go down there?"
Zyllee looks doubtfully at the area they are walking through. As the horrible odor assaults her senses she fights to keep from retching. She looks even paler than normal. " Well..If we must do this lets get it over with. " She takes a deep breath and begins climbing down the ladder.
The four of you go down into the dark sewers. Due to the darkness, Renaer has difficulty seeing so he lights a torch. The smell down here is awful, but you all press onward. A putrid stream flows along this sewer tunnel, which leads in two directions. In one direction, you see a tiny symbol drawn on the wall in yellow chalk: a palm-sized circle with ten equidistant spokes radiating out from its circumference.
It's pretty obvious which way they took him.
After an hour of following similar signs through the tunnels, you come to a three-way intersection where a ladder leads up into a stone shaft capped by a circular metal cover. One of the familiar chalk symbols is marked on a wall nearby, and floating near the symbol is a spherical, grapefruit-sized creature with a bulging central eye and four stumpy eyestalks. It bares its teeth at you.
Before you can react, the creature fires two rays towards Ranaer and Callan. Ranaer is caught off guard by the ray of force and is hurled backward through the air, crashing into Hugo behind him. The two of them fly back several feet as they are both knocked to the ground. Callan feels the darker ray begin to effect his mind, but he shakes it off.
Hugo is prone, Callan resisted some magical ray. Avg initiative of party was 13. This thing rolled a 16. Actions pls.