Rapid Recap
- Following a tip from Yagra Stonefist, the party tracked Floon Blaagmar to a Zhentarim warehouse on Candle Lane where they found several dead Zhents bearing a symbol of a skull with a crown of eyes — the mark of The Thieves Guild
- The party discovered a hidden trapdoor and descended into the sewers, battling Kenku assassins before finding a fortified Unknown guarded by Zhentarim agents
- The party fought through the hideout and rescued both Floon and Renaer Neverember — who had been mistakenly kidnapped by Zhents looking for information about his father Dagult Neverember's hidden gold and the Unknown
- A TMM05 named Unknown appeared and attempted to escape through a portal using a strange sphere — TMM05 and Pyper killed it and the party recovered the sphere
- Renaer offered the party Trollskull Manor as repayment for saving his life, and confirmed the Zhents had been interrogating him about the Unknown — a magic item belonging to his father that could lead to a hidden vault of embezzled gold
Full Recap
Following the events of WoW S.01 A Rowdy Night at the Yawning Portal, the party had agreed to help Volo find his missing friend Floon Blaagmar. They had received a tip from Yagra Stonefist that Floon had last been seen in the Dock Ward, near Candle Lane. Time to investigate.
The Zhentarim Warehouse
- The party headed to the Dock Ward and began asking around about Floon. A few locals remembered seeing him and a noble-looking man drinking at a tavern called the Unknown, which had been trashed by some ruffians the night before. Nearby they found a warehouse with the door ajar, and inside found a bloodbath: six dead bodies, all wearing black scarves. They also found scraps of paper confirming these were Zhentarim agents. Strangely, someone had painted the symbol of a skull with a crown of ten eyes on the wall.
- Before they could investigate further, a large Black Network thug named Unknown and two of his men emerged from the back room, also looking for Floon. A fight broke out and the party easily dispatched of them, with TMM05 impaling Krentz on a drill. The two other Zhents quickly surrendered and confirmed that a group of Kenku had assaulted the warehouse and taken two men, one of which was likely Floon. They suggested searching the sewers.
Into the Sewers
- The party found a trapdoor hidden under a rug and descended into the sewers below. They came upon a Kenku in the sewers and it immediately attacked. Bruce was nearly killed after being stabbed in a sneak attack by the Kenku. As the rest of the party worked quickly to finish off the Kenku, Fearonuh applied a tourniquet and stabilized Bruce before he bled out.
- Moving further through the sewers they discovered a network of fortified chambers and tunnels serving as a Unknown. After navigating a pit trap, they found two guards in an antechamber who quickly attacked on sight. The party dispatched them effectively — Metatronia using a clever Command spell to make a guard walk into a wall — and found a store room with the bodies of recently slain Kenku.
The Hideout
- After listening through the door of the main hideout chamber, the party burst in and found four Zhentarim agents, and both Renaer Neverember and Floon Blaagmar tied to a pillar. A tough battle ensued: Fearonuh was nearly killed by a Zhent who got behind her and slashed her across the back. Vonna bravely stood in front of a fire bolt launched at the restrained Renaer, taking the full blast to protect him. Eventually TMM05 and Bruce dispatched the final two Zhents and the room was secured.
- Renaer quickly identified himself. He was the estranged son of the city's disgraced former Open Lord Dagult Neverember, and was embarrassed about his father's crimes. He said the Zhents had confused him for his father and were interrogating him about something called the Stone of Golorr, which he said was a magic item of his father's that he knew almost nothing about. He said he did have a clue his father had given him hidden inside a platinum locket with a blue stone. He thanked the party profusely for saving his life and offered them Trollskull Manor — a property he owned in North Ward that had been sitting empty — as repayment.
The Mind Flayer
- Suddenly, an alien-looking creature appeared in the chamber. It was tall and thin, with a large bulbous purple head, four facial tentacles, and wore black robes. It was a Mind Flayer, one of the most feared creatures in existence. It turned to face TMM05 and seemed immediately curious about the construct.
- It approached TMM05 and in a booming voice inside everyone's head said:"Fascinating. I've not encountered one of your kind before. My name is Nihiloor. I don't suppose you know what you are?" TMM05 pointed its gun at the creature.
- Nihiloor continued: "Quite right. I'll skip the pleasantries. I don't know how you came to be here but I can see you are not allied with these Zhentarim fools. You clearly have some awareness, some intelligence. That makes you interesting to me. I'm about to leave this place and I think you should come with me. You could learn so much."
- Then the Mind Flayer produced a strange looking sphere about the size of a grapefruit and slotted it into a depression in the wall, activating a glowing circular portal. Pyper hit it with a Scorching Ray, doing damage and making it drop the sphere. TMM05 charged and grappled it, doing significant damage. The creature blasted TMM05 with a psychic attack that sent it reeling, and moved for the portal. TMM05 charged again, plunging both drills into the creature and pinning it to the wall. It let out a horrible psychic scream before going limp and dissolving into a puddle of goo.
- The party recovered the sphere from the floor of the chamber. Renaer said he was familiar with this type of portal technology, that it was Illithid (Mind Flayer) technology. He and Floon both agreed to keep their rescue secret, aware that there would be serious consequences if word got out about the battle. The party said their goodbyes and left the way they came in, avoiding any further conflict.