Resolving the Conflict at Grannie Grinda's
- Following the events of WoW C2.S2.05: Carousing the Carnival, Confrontation with a Crab, the party picked back up where they left off at Grinda Garloth's Workshop in the Dock Ward. After defeating Grinda Garloth and knocking her unconscious, they began to take stock of the situation.
- Pyper noticed that Grinda was wearing a large amulet that contained a heart floating in green liquid. It appeared to be healing her, and Pyper warned the group.
- The stray akita Slumbeare rushed to guard Grinda's unconscious body. Its ferocious bark scared several of the party members who retreated and began peering inside Grannie Grinda's Crab Shack.
- Vonna was unfazed by the dog and was able to use a commanding tone to instruct it to sit. She rewarded it with some food and seemed to build a connection with the dog.
- Bartholomew Glockenspiel, Bruce, and Pyper Runecut attempted to get the large amulet off of Grinda without spooking the dog, and Bruce eventually succeeded. Bruce then felt a strong compulsion and put on the amulet himself, despite the warnings from his friends. He immediately felt stronger, smarter, and that he had more energy. He felt there could be no possible downside to this amulet.
- Meanwhile, Fearonuh broke into a window of Grinda's building and confirmed that she was in fact an advanced artificer. The crab shack was a front concealing a workshop full of tools and magical equipment. She also noticed a heavily damaged N8 Unit in the corner with a broken arm that appeared to be under repair. She busted into Grinda's bedroom and smashed open a small chest to find 500 gold, and letter. All the while, an alarm system was going off inside the building.
- The letter was dated that same day and read:
- Grinda,The Overseer wants the full bundle of weaponry delivered to Terasse’s House of Healing on Elsambul’s Lane no later than seven days from now so that it can be sent down to headquarters with the next gladiatorial audience. Don’t be late! He’s looking forward to seeing some exotic gutting.
- Also, get that construct repaired quickly. We have major plans for it. The new cannon arm prototype you proposed sounds delightful.
- -Ahmaergo
- Then Grinda woke up in a daze. She seemed much more like a sweet old lady and did not remember the battle that just took place. When questioned, she said:
- She had many dealings with the The Thieves Guild, but sold weapons and items to all sorts of people in Waterdeep.
- She was one of the few people that knew how to fix the Lantanese constructs like the Nimblewright servant bots that had recently been imported by The Sea Maiden's Faire
- She said she had also experimented the construct's power core, replacing the sapphire which held a bound a water elemental with a corundum that bound a fire elemental. She said the water elementals were docile and obedient, but did not have the strength necessary to be good fighters.
- She confirmed N8 and TMM05 units were some of her prototypes, and while glad to see them still operational.
- She divulged that the amulet had been helping keep her cancer at bay and that it had been given to her by a man named Nar'l Xibrindas. She said she now could tell that the amulet had exerted some kind of influence over her and she was glad to be rid of it.
- Grinda warned them that the workshop was full of traps, but Vonna, Pyper, and Fearonuh were already inside at the time. They were nearly killed when a trap triggered and the metal floor electrified.
- The electric shock surged through Pyper and triggered an eruption of wild magic. The air around her inverted—a deafening vacuum-pop—before reality snapped back in with a roar. Tools, gears, parchment scraps, even an oil lamp ripped free from their shelves and spun toward her in a dizzying spiral. Nails and screws glittered like swarming fireflies in the storm. A large crystal tore loose from its resting place, weightless and furious. It whirled into the air, tracing jagged orbits around Pyper, each pass leaving faint trails of shimmering light. Her hair lifted and spread in the static, eyes wide, arcs of stray lightning snapping from her fingertips to the debris circling her. The smell of metal and magic merged, thick and electric, as if the workshop itself was holding its breath. Then everything eased, and the floating items clattered to the floor. All except the crystal, which continued to orbit Pyper. As she steadied herself she observed the crystal and caught fleeting images of a figure in the reflection , almost as if in her peripheral vision.
- The surge also booted up the damaged N8 and Vonna heard it announce: "Memory core damaged. BZZZT default files corruptBZZT.. attempting load from archiBZZZT...unresolved directives found." Then it jumped out a window and disappeared into the night.
- Some pirates who lived next door came to check on the welfare of their neighbor, but were scared away by TMM05 when it rammed into the side of the building near them, in the midst of an existential crisis.
- Grinda soothed TMM05 in a touching moment, and was highly curious of how her creation had become sentient, examining it closely.
- The group was ultimately able to leave on good terms with Grinda. They reminded her that she had attacked them first. She conceded that the damage to her workshop was something she had brought upon herself. Grinda again thanked them for ridding her of the amulet.
An Explosive Grand Opening
- Two days later, the grand opening of Lost and Found Tavern had finally arrived. After weeks of work, the building was fully cleaned and repaired. The party's vision for a green and purple color scheme had come to fruition, and was somehow eye catching yet tasteful. The perpetual stew is a hit, and the place had the appeal of a classy divebar, something like Cheers.
- Best of all, the party had made peace with the resident ghost, who seemed to be less menacing the more the place was cleaned up. Now that the tavern is open he diligently sweeps the floor and washes the tables, all of course, still invisible. He also can be counted on to sling ales down the bar, a favorite attraction for guests. You had come to confirm that in life, he was Lif Erwarden, the founder, and longtime proprietor of the former Trollskull Tavern.
- The Street Urchins were also grateful to have a place to live and had taken to their jobs quickly as servers. They only had to be scolded now and then about swindling the patrons in their gambling schemes. Slumbeare had also taken up his post as guard dog, carefully watching everyone who came and went from the front porch of the tavern.
- Having been inspired by the Sea Maiden's Faire, the party decided to host a mini street festival for the grand opening. A few bards and bands had seen the signs they had put up and approached the party about playing the gig, agreeing to pay for tips only. The first group was up, carrying on with some raucous sea shanties. The night was off to an amazing start.
- Their business partner Renaer Neverember was there celebrating the big night accompanied by his boyfriend Floon Blaagmar
- Bruce then noticed an unassuming male gnome weave his way through the crowd and begin speaking to Renaer. Shortly thereafter, four men in black cloaks pushed through the crowd and they began chasing the gnome and Renaer. These eventually were confirmed to be Zhentarim agents.
- Suddenly the buildings were rocked by a massive explosion. The windows of the tavern and other nearby structures shattered. The party's ears were ringing, and as their hearing began to return, they began to hear screaming.
The Crime Scene
- The party took stock of the carnage and saw that a fiery explosion had killed twelve people among the attendees at the tightly packed concert. Several more were injured. These included:
- Three dead Zhenterim thugs
- Urstul Floxin the Zhentarim, Waterdeep Chapter boss, badly injured, his face heavily burned
- One dead gnome
- Renaer Neverember, badly injured
- Eight dead commoners
- The party spoke with witnesses to determine what happened:
- A middle aged woman said she saw a firey blast come from up in the rooftops and then a figure jumped down and snatched something out of the jacket of one of the dead. She said it was "like a puppet of a man" and that it had a metal arm
- A young kid said the figure was wearing a ratty black cloak that obscured its face and that he saw it pull something fist sized out of the jacket of the dead gnome
- Rishaal the Page Turner said that the figure sprinted south, and that he saw something glowing in its cloak
- Fearonuh helped carry Renaer over to the tavern to be tended to. Renaer provided the following details:
- The Gnome was named Dalakhar, and was one of his father Dagult Neverember's operatives. He was tasked with keeping an eye on Renaer, and Renaer said it was pretty annoying having him skulking around.
- He said that Dalakhar had abruptly disappeared about a month ago, since just before he had met the party
- Dalakhar had approached him out of the blue that night and told him he needed to give him something, and that he needed Renaer's help getting it to Dagult
- Shortly thereafter, the Zhentarim agents accosted them before Dalakhar could hand over the item, and then the explosion happened
- Renaer recalled that the in the events of WoW C1.S2.02 Warehouse Warfare, Sewer Stronghold, the Zhents had interrogated him about a item called the Unknown that belonged to his father. He now believes Dalakhar may have been trying to give him the stone
- Vonna carried Urstul over to the tavern to be tended to. She healed him with her divine magic, stabilizing him. Urstul provided the following details:
- He said that the Zhents had been there to help celebrate the party's grand opening. However, Vonna detected that Urstul was not being truthful.
- He confirmed Dalakhar was someone they had been hunting for a while. This was true- Urstul had previously ordered the Zhents to be on the lookout for him.
- Meanwhile, Pyper Runecut used her powers to absorb and quench all the active fires in the area, helping avert further damage
- Metatronia looked in the jacket of Dalakhar. She only found a letter that read:
Dalakhar,
I had to give considerable thought to your request. But you were always kind to me even when your demonic master was not. If you are still in need of my aid, you may claim whatever sanctuary I can offer.
Kalain of the Nine Waters
- About five minutes after the explosion the Waterdeep City Guard showed up to the scene. Three high ranking guards flew in on the back of impressive griffons, including Captain of the Guard, Jalester Silvermane
- The guards questioned the party along with everyone else at the crime scene. Bartholomew Glockenspiel avoided questioning by turning invisible, but made himself a person of interest. The witnesses helped the guards understand that the explosion appeared to be magical in nature, and that the suspect had a metal arm, possibly a construct. The guards resolved to get Unknown involved, the special unit that investigated higher level and magical threats.
- Vonna suspected that the malfunctioning N8 Unit may have caused the explosion and attempted to contact him via her Compass of Sending, but got no response. She did not share her suspicion with Urstul, who ducked out before he could be questioned by the Guards.
- TO BE CONTINUED...