WoW S.17 A Clash with the Cult

1. The evening after Fearonuh's election to Zhentarim leadership, Kaevja Cynavern warded the tavern with alarm spells and glyphs of warding
2. That same night, Slumbeare's sharp instincts exposed a shapeshifted imp scout spying at the bar, and later a real break-in through Fearonuh's window proved the new alarm wards worked exactly as intended
3. Pyper Runecut moved in with the Cassalanter Family, hoping Amalia could help her learn to control her powers
4. Jarlaxle arrived one morning disguised as Zardoz Zord, gave an impromptu musical performance, and negotiated a 55 percent cut of the eventual vault gold in exchange for his continued help, plus a date with Metatronia. They also cemented a plan to simultaneously strike both known cult bases that night.
5. Leaving Fearonuh behind for safety, the party stormed a devil cult safehouse on Aveen Street, fighting through cultists, imps, and a barbed devil
6. Bruce was nearly killed by animated tentacles and the barbed devil before Vonna and Bartholomew turned the fight, and the cult leader was captured alive for later interrogation.
7. In a hidden basement, the party found a genuine fragment of Hell called a Hell Cyst and a cursed mirror bearing the sigil of House Cassalanter, casting real doubt on the family's polished reputation

Warding Trollskull Manor

1. The evening after Fearonuh's election to lead the Zhentarim, Kaevja Cynavern came by the tavern to set up proper defenses, working alongside two Zhent apprentice mages.
2. The finished ward included forty alarm spells placed at nearly every window, exploding glyphs set into the entrance of the second floor, and in Bruce's room up in the turret, and arcane lock cast on the main first floor doors.
3. Fearonuh backed all of it with a standing order of her own, five Zhent grunts on watch at the tavern at all times.

Not Just a Rat

1. That evening, while the party was having drinks downstairs, Slumbeare growled low at something skittering along the baseboards, his instincts picking up on it well before anyone else noticed.
2. Ruffles gave chase and cornered it in a hole in the wall, only for the "rat" to burst back out of the plaster as a fully formed imp before scrambling for cover on a shelf.
3. Metatronia dropped it with a single shot from the Crescent Moonbow before it could get any further.
4. She recognized the trick immediately afterward. Imps can take the shape of a rat or a raven at will, which meant this almost certainly wasn't the first time one had gotten close.

Thieves in the Night

1. Later that night, a pair of imps slipped in through Fearonuh's window. The moment they crossed the threshold, one of Kaevja's alarm spells triggered, the ward earning its keep for the first time.
2. Fearonuh woke tangled in her own blankets while one of the imps rifled through her bag, clearly hunting for the Stone.
3. The rest of the party reached her before it could find anything, and both imps were cut down before they got away.

A Song and a Bargain

1. After the imp incursion the party further strengthened the tavern defenses and rested up for about a week without any major events. Fearnouh continued to install herself as Zhent leader and the tavern continued to receive steady business. 
2. Pyper Runecut was fearful that she might put her friends in danger if she transformed into her fiery alter-ego again and decided to go visit with Ammalia Cassalanter who had offered to help her explore her powers when the party first met the Cassalanter Family. Amalia offered to host Pyper in their lavish guest house.  Pyper returned to the tavern to grab some of her things and let the party know she'd be staying with the Cassalanters for a while. She said she had told them vague updates on their hunt for the Stone of Golorr and she would arrange to have the whole party visit to provide a full report.
3. Then one morning Jarlaxle arrived during breakfast in full Zardoz Zord disguise, flute in hand, backed by two other musicians. He made his entrance playing a jaunty little tune, like he'd simply stopped by to play a gig for the bustling crowd.
4. After the first song he settled in for a conversation with the party, opening warmly: "My friends! I trust you're all still breathing, more or less." He raised his glass toward Metatronia. "I heard you sprung one of my people out from under Zhent noses at Yellowspire. Clean work. You have my thanks."
5. Then, a nod to Fearonuh: "And what's more, I hear Urstul's dead, and you're running the show? I didn't think your crew had the teeth for a play like that. My compliments, Madame President."
6. "Now. Fill me in, what went down at Yellowspire? Why were you there in the first place? I heard the place went up in flames. Was that your doing?" 
7. Then, with a small smile, the needling began. "I ask with love, not accusation, why didn't you think to work with me on that operation? I'd have provided you better information. Less risk. I'd hate to think you're handling things without me now." 
8. The party shared the truth, that they hadn't necessarily planned to attack Yellowspire that day. They recounted the devil assault, but intentionally left out any reference to Kolat Towers and Manshoon. Thanks to Metatronia's deception skills, Jarlaxle didn't seem to suspect anything was left out. Jarlaxle's tone sharpened at the mention of devils. "Interesting. Yes, I've gotten some reports on this devil cult. No doubt it's related. Alarming to know they can track the Stone so closely. I hope you're keeping it locked safely away." Fearonuh reacted to that a bit oddly, not wanting to part from the stone.
9. The party mentioned what they'd learned about the cult. He leaned forward, sharpening further. "Now that's interesting. I've had someone watching that windmill myself." A shrug. "Hasn't given me much, no names, nothing that scries clean. I don't suppose you've done better."
10. They also brought up the Cassalanters, and his interest visibly deepened. "The Cassalanters. Now that's a partnership I didn't expect out of you." A beat. "Has it turned up anything useful, leads on the eyes? I'm curious how they're wrapped up in all of this."  The party explained the situation with their childrens souls, but didn't reveal the contract they signed to help the Cassalanters.
11. Business followed. "While we're speaking plainly, where do things stand with the Stone? I still have the Eye off Xanathar's corpse, safe as promised. Any leads on the other two?"
12. "And I'd like to be a partner this time, not a guest finding out after the fact what I missed."
13. The party told him about Grinda's kidnapping. "Oh no, Grinda! The dame is a good friend of mine, she did great work on our nimblewrights." He set his glass down. "But we can't hand over the Stone, or an Eye, for anyone, not even Grinda." Softer: "But perhaps we can get her back without paying that price, if we strike them first." 
14. Then, more serious. "Which is exactly why I need to ask you something." "Now that you're not just working an angle for me, but sitting on real power of your own, what's the actual plan? Once you've got all that gold in front of you, do you mean to keep it? Split it? Hand it back to the city? I ask because my own reasons for wanting this resolved aren't purely charitable, and I'd rather know now if we're working toward the same ending."
15. Leaning back: "Which brings me to the real question, are we still friends, allies? Or should I start watching my back?"
16. What followed was a real negotiation. The party haggled with him openly over how the eventual gold would be split. Jarlaxle conceded that he didn't strictly need the full sum himself, it was plausible some disappeared. He only needed enough to make his case to Laeral Silverhand, and they settled on him taking 55 percent of the recovered vault gold.
17. He agreed to the terms without much fuss. His one additional condition was to finally get a date with Metatronia.
18. Finally they cemented the plan to strike both known cult locations simultaneously that night. The party planned to assault the location on Aveen Street, while Jarlaxle and his team took on the windmill.

Storming the Aveen Street Shrine

1. The party agreed it would be best if Fearonuh sat out the mission since she refused to part with the Stone, and bringing her would put the Stone at risk. Vonna also noticed that she still hadn't healed from the last battle. Ziraj the Hunter and some other key Zhents helped guard the tavern while most of the party was away.
2. The party reached the cult safehouse on Aveen St just after dusk. Every window had its curtains drawn, and a handful of ravens sat perched in a nearby tree, watching the street with far too much focus for ordinary birds. A Perception check confirmed the suspicion before anyone even acted on it.
3. Metatronia shot one of the ravens dead, and the rest reacted instantly, revealing themselves as imps. One scratched frantically at a window before the fight had even properly started, clearly trying to warn whoever was inside.
4. TMM05 revved up and drove straight through the front wall with its drills, and the battle began in earnest. Cultists swarmed it, though their attempts to hold it in place with magic failed again and again.
5. Bruce broke off to enter through a window into the main foyer. There, he triggered a hidden trap, and black tentacles erupted from the floor to grab hold of him. He fought free only to be blasted back into them by an eldritch bolt from the cult's leader and was fully restrained.
6. Then a gaunt fiend (barbed devil) stepped into the foyer, its posture low and unsettlingly fluid. Uncountable needle-sharp spines bristled along its leathery, olive-green hide. Its long, spiky tail lashed the air, clicking like a nest of knives against the stone floor. It joined Bruce among the tentacles and embraced him. With a terrifying grin it drove its barbs into his side to excruciating effect.
7. Vonna answered the call, misty stepping past the tentacles to reach him. Her Hammer of Judgement erupted in blue flame with every strike, and the barbed devil went down fast. She turned immediately to the remaining cultists.
8. Bartholomew stepped through the chaos as well, taking a brutal psychic hit from the cult leader along the way but pressing on into melee regardless.
9. Metatronia kept picking off imps with unerring accuracy. She then turned the Moonbow on the cult leader itself, the impact sending out an eerie wail that damaged the cultists standing nearby.
10. With the tentacles finally gone, Bruce got his shot at the cult leader and knocked them unconscious with a plan to interrogate them. The party mopped up what remained of the cultists and imps without much further trouble and tied up the leader.
11. Once things had quieted down, EAGLE' swooped into the building to survey things, apparently it had been observing the raid for Fearonuh. 

Secrets in the Basement

1. While TMM05 guarded the unconscious cult leader, the party did a thorough search of the building. They turned up 12 potions of hill giant strength and a summoning circle etched with an infernal pentagram. The party surmised this was where all of the dastardly imps had been summoned, and destroying it could protect them from additional ambushes.
2. With the coast clear, Fearonuh arrived flanked by Tashlyn Yafeera and Ziraj the Hunter. Ziraj and Yafeera stood guard outside.
3. Behind a secret door, Bartholomew located a staircase that led down into a basement whose walls bore an unbroken mural of the Nine Hells. In the center of the chamber floated a Hell Cyst, a genuine fragment of the Nine Hells manifest on the Material Plane, its light pulsing faint red.
4. Nearby stood a large gold-framed mirror that burned the party members who looked at their own reflection in it. Bartholomew inspected it carefully and found a symbol on its back.
5. Metatronia, a drow noble herself, had studied Waterdhavian noble houses out of person curiosity. She recognized it immediately as a Waterdhavian noble sigil; a practice that was once common in Waterdeep, but which died out over a century ago. Further, she knew it to be the sigil of House Cassalanter.
6. The party was shaken. If the symbol meant what it appeared to mean, the polite, generous nobles who'd hired them for help might not be what they claimed to be at all. Some tie to the cult is all but confirmed, but are they willing patrons or desperate victims?
7. Just then, someone saw something out of the corner of their eye in the mirror...
8. TO BE CONTINUED