Session 06: City of the Dead
  1. Journals

Session 06: City of the Dead

Session
December 12, 2021

The party head over towards the dock ward first thing in the morning to join the burial at sea of Jerry The Fisherman.

When they arrive they are greeted by lots of candles and floating lights and every fisherman and sailor singing a for the death of one of their own.

After Jerry has been set off, the party is greeted by a man who claims to be Jerry's captain. He gives the party a message in a bottle. Apparently this was one of Jerry's treasured possessions. Inside the bottle is a treasure map that he'd been trying to solve for the past few weeks but was unable to.

On the map they find three clues on a map of Waterdeep.

The first clue leads them back home towards Trollskull Alley where the maps leads them to a squat, three-story house. They knock on the door and are greeted by a young boy named Pavel. They convince him to let them inside, apparently he's been told to not let anyone in by a group of older men who hang around this place.
Once inside they find some smugglers downstairs playing cards who immediately run off in a panic when they see the party entering.
While inspecting the basement they find the glyph depicted on the treasure map and find a hidden wall cache containing a Wand of Secrets. Wrapped around the paper is a scrap of paper upon which is written: "Whisper something that you've never told anyone".
They also found a string of letters written in grease-paint on the pivoted wall of the secret cache:

"CNSRRBONIRUWMUTASSHROHED"

The second clue leads them to a restaurant on the first floor of the interior of The Hawk Man.
Once inside they take a seat to grab a meal. During their time here the notice some trouble in the kitchen and decide to investigate. While hearing about the issues the owners are currently having, some party members start investigating the kitchen and find another glyph depicted on the treasure map.
In a hidden cache in the kitchen floor they find two Silver Daggers. A note wrapped around one of them reads: "For the shopkeep". They also find another piece of paper that says:

"FOUR AT A TIME. READ TOP TO BOTTOM."

Their third clue leads them to Three Daggers Alley, this infamously cursed alley in the dock ward is known for sometimes having magical daggers assault people passing through. The party had no clue about this and were assaulted the moment they entered the alley. The find another glyph on top of a sewer grate and head down there as fast as they can. Down in the sewers they find what looks to be a gang hideout. They are lucky enough to have arrived when nobody was there. Inside the hideout they find a chest with the glyph drawn at the bottom. The open a secret compartment and find the following message:

"ARRANGE IN SIX ROWS"

The party makes their way out of the sewers and attempt to solve the clues they've found to far as they have run out of other place to go.
After some time they figure out how to solve the clues.

CNSR
RBON
IRUW
MUTA
SSHR
OHED

"Crimson Brush Southern Ward", the solution leads them towards this shop in the Southern Ward (Waterdeep).

Once there, the find themselves in a small art store. The look around the store for a bit and discover a glyph on the portrait behind the shop counter.
The inquire the shopkeeper about this portrait which somehow angers him as he starts to transform into a werewolf and attack the party.
The party kill the werewolf, steal the painting, and make there way outside as fast as they can.

The investigate the painting and notice is depicts a specific statue or tomb in the City of the Dead. They head out in search of this tomb and find it without too much trouble.
Here they are met by the groundskeeper Adhamh who kindly asks them to leave this place alone, as recently many people have been going missing here.
The party manages to persuade Adhamh into telling them a secret entrance into the tomb in return for investigating why some of the sheep here have gone turning up dead.

The party make their way through the secret entrance into the Gost family tomb. The find themselves in a small dimly lit hallway where they skilfully spot a trap running down the middle of the hallway. They avoid falling down the trap hole and continue into a large Heroes' Tomb where there are attacked by Skeletal Warhorses
The party ends up taking some damage, but manage to destroy their foes without too much of an issue.