Eleint 19
Eleint 19, 1369:
The party immediately appears in an underground chamber (50'x50')
on a stone bridge 40' above a bubbling smelly mud surface. There
are passages leaving the chamber from either end of the bridge and
a ladder set in the wall. The ceiling is too far overhead to
spot. They exit the chamber to the east, Dexter spends 3 Faerie
Fire spells on the bridge and they walk back on. They are
returned to the Nesme' bridge, where the original Faerie Fire has
gone out (prematurely).
Deciding that as long as the door swings both ways, it's safe to
explore, the party immediately asks Darius to cast Faerie Fire on
the Nesme' bridge again and reappears in the underground chamber.
Henkles speculates to the party about how to get to the surface
and his magic spiked ball becomes a bouncing guide.
Narthandarkanas reports that it now has a magical guide power that
it did not have before. The party decides to follow it. Although
the GM neglects to mention it, blue-green sparks run up and down
the chain as it bounces, making it easier to spot at a distance.
The party spends the next 7 1/2 hours following a clanging,
bouncing, sparkling spiked ball & chain. Along the way they kill
6 stirges, 5 giant centipedes, 3 goblins, and 12 orcs. They
collect 3 heavy crossbows, 11 bolts, 12 slow-poisoned scimitars,
12 slow-poisoned shortswords, 4 short bows, 50 sheaf arrows, 2
magic sheaf arrows (cast a spell on impact), 143cp, 140sp, 41gp, a
+2 shield, a brass ring and 7 clay pots that they believe contain
oil. They spend most of their time moving the wagon and mules up
and down 45 degree stairways. At the end of this time, they are
at the base of a steeper (55 degree) stairway that stretches up
into the darkness.
1720xp to the party for assorted critters
Leaving the wagon behind, the party went up the stairs to see
where they went, following the bouncing ball. About 100 feet up
the stairway the ball bounced over a log that had been wedged
across the stairway to block it and continued bouncing up. As the
party aproached it, the log revealed itself to be a roper, which
grabbed most of the front half of the party and started taking
large bites out of the small thief. The party managed to kill it
and not quite lose Stewart. Not too many people fell backwards
down the stairs. In the roper's gizzard, the party found 22pp and
what turned out to be a 50gp moonstone. Afterwards, many healing
spells where used. Stewart used the Cure Minor Wounds ability of
his shield.
7000xp to the party for the roper
At the top of the stairs, the ball stopped bouncing in in a small
cluttered room filled with old crates, barrels and refuse. There
was some indication of movement, so the party tossed a turkey into
the room. There was some noise and then silence. Maanamere and
Narthandarkanas crept cautiously up the stairs until they could
see the floor of the room, where they found a dead turkey.
Eventually they determined that there were rats hiding in the
garbage in the room. Narthan noticed that the ball and chain had
returned to its "just a magic weapon" state.
There was a trap door in the ceiling of this room. Stewart's
climbing frame was set up under it and Steve listened at it and
heard noises of a city. He tried to open it, but didn't have the
leverage on the frame. He did chip through the rotten wood enough
to know that there was a pile of barrels sitting on the top of the
trap door.
The party decided to bring up the wagon to stand on and began
clearing space in the middle of the room. This panicked the rats
and they attacked. The fight was pretty one sided, but Cassie did
get bitten once.
84xp exterminator fee to party
Once the wagon was in place and some crates stacked on it, the
fighters heaved until they lifted the trap door and barrels. This
caused a lot of racket and some damage to a drunk sleeping nearby.
The party emerged into an alley behind The Blushing Nymph in
Waterdeep. They managed to convince the tavern owner to go back
to sleep without looking out the window and healed the drunk.
Unfortunately, while they were getting the wagon, mules and bear
out, several local youths saw them and heard the bear. They ran
off and told the watch that there was a monster coming out of
Undermountain. Dexter got the bear hidden under a blanket in the
wagon, and the others got the barrels stacked, before the watch
arrived, but it was still pretty obvious to the captain what had
happened. He made it clear that he didn't want to see the party
near this alley again and set guards to watch and examine the room
below the trap door.
Darius led the party to the D&D brewery in South Ward, which was
run by his half-uncle Darill, a half-orc who clearly had some
adventuring experience. Darill agreed to let the party leave the
bear and the wagon in the warehouse behind the brewery. The party
gave him a hand-keg of hard cider as a thank-you gift.
The party needed rest, so Darius then ecorted evryone to The House
of Good Spirits, the headquarters of the Vintners', Distillers'
and Brewers' Guild. The House of Good Spirits has the atmosphere
of a brewery, costs 2gp/bed/night, features "the best and cheapest
selection of liqueurs and strong drink in the entire City of
Splendors", and each room comes with all the ale you want for
free. The party adapted well to their new surroundings.
As Dexter is an alcoholic, Darius led him away from the House of
Good Spirits. They spent most of the day (and 40gp each) enjoying
the services of Mother Tathlorn's House of Pleasure and Healing.In
the late afternoon, Darius collected Dexter and informed him that
he had got them a room. This turned out to be the Imperial Suite
on the top floor of the Gentle Rest, overlooking most of the city
from Trades Ward (at a cost of 12gp/night). After seeing the
room, Dexter diverted briefly to the D&D Brewery, to spend some
time grooming his bear. Darius, in the mean time, arranged for an
elaborate (5gp) dinner in the suite for the entire party. They
spent the evening relaxing and making plans for the week.
