HoT2-6
In the quiet hour before the lightless dawn, Skullport is sleepless. The lords of the city question their alliances, review their preparations, and perhaps even utter prayers to whatever gods would have them. Everyone who's lived in the city long enough can sense when change is in the air, and this feels bigger than anything in recent memory.
In the dark hold, five coins are reunited. In the holds of pirate ships, raiders quietly ready themselves. In the slave holds of the Iron Ring, thousands await news of the coming day, a day that will either bring liberty, or extinguish all hope.
Heroes rest. Men and monsters prepare. The Skulls brood. And in the dark below...
The Eye opens.
The Setup
The party holds 5 coins: including those formerly owned by the Rag Mage, Kessra Tan'orthal, Keeper Gideona, Captain Rand Orlack, as well as that of Qilue Veladorn (which she's holding onto, thanks). A 6th has been promised by Misker, the Pirate Tyrant, as aiding your quest would greatly injure his chief rival, the Xanathar.
The party is joined by three allies:
| Name | Description | Capabilities | How/why they joined |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adrian Deepwinter |
Young nobleman of Waterdeep, presumably human (with occasional wings) |
Arcane magic, up to and including dominating greater demons |
His quest to find the Astrolabe brought the party here in the first place, after which he invited them to join a new quest to aid Qilue. |
| Qilue Veladorn |
Drow priestess of Eilistraee, chosen of Mystra |
Not witnessed by the party, but likely powerful |
She's been fighting the darker elements of Skullport for years. Adrian informed her of the possibility of harnessing the magic underpinning the city, denying it to the Skulls, and effectively taking control. He pledged to provide assistance in the form of adventurers. |
|
Zulkir Lauzoril |
Early-middle-aged man, rakishly handsome, robed in red. |
Wizard (enchanter) of some renown. Chief of all enchanters in his order, so he must be pretty badass. |
His motives are unclear. He is part of the Red Wizard enclave that sparked the very crisis Qilue is acting to oppose. It's unclear if he is in charge of said enclave, or is perhaps working against others in his organization. Opposing slavery would likely lead to the failure of his nation's foray into Skullport, and yet he has joined the party, providing Gideona's coin as a token of good faith, and having submitted to the spell that binds all participants to never speak of the plan outside the circle. |
The Quest
Your adventuring company, the Knights of the Sword Coast, has contracted with Lord Adrian Deepwinter, to assist Arch-priestess Qilue Veladorn in harnessing the 6 Pieces of Eight needed to unlock the ultimate magical power of Skullport, which Deepwinter contends is nothing more than an ancient Mythallar created by the Netherese arcanists who laid the foundation of the city. Once harnessed, the mythallar can be turned to the use of Qilue, who will use it to break the Skull's power over the city, and open the door to the downfall of the slavers, thieves, and murderers who call the city home.
Reward
- 60,000 gold pieces
- The use of Deepwinter Mansion as a base of operations in Waterdeep
- Sponsorship of the party's Adventuring Charter
Progress
Prior to first session
Prior to the first session, Deepwinter contracted the original Knights of the Sword Coast in finding an artifact known as the Astromancer's Navicus, an astrolabe of sorts containing ancient astronomical data. They hunted for the artifact, eventually locating it in the sanctum of an ancient temple to a forgotten deity, deep inside of Undermountain.
Session 1
After battling a host of demons, the Knights recovered the astrolabe, but were soon assaulted by a fearsome beholder. The older Knights bid the new recruits to flee with the artifact, and that they did. Gemidan, in possession of the astrolabe, and desperate for a safe haven, sought the protection of Blackstaff Tower, home to his former master, and, by a happy coincidence, current residence of Aurora, Whyssal, and the others. He offered them a share of a lucrative contract--10,000 gold pieces--simply to escort him and the other Knights across town. Warily, they accepted, tentatively joining the Knights of the Sword Coast.
Ambushed along the way, they prevailed with the help of their newfound allied, and reported to the meeting site, Deepwinter Mansion, in the Sea Ward, but they did not find the quest's sponsor. Instead, they were ambushed by Baric of Luskan, who bullied them into exchanging the astrolabe for their lives. They gave him a false copy, but he was able to steal back the real thing.
- Session 2
In order to salvage the mission, the Knights needed two things: the astrolabe, and the man who promised to pay for it. To the latter end, they contracted with the Mystic Eyes, a party of private investigators. To the former, Aurora called in a favor, gaining the use of a Halruuan Skyship, needed to catch up to Baric's more seabound ship, already en route to Luskan.
They assaulted Baric's ship from the skip, overpowering the privateer mercenaries he'd hired to defend him, and retrieved the artifact. He attempted to flee to the Host Tower via teleportation, leaving them with a parting gift in the form of a massive time bomb, but they combined their efforts to shove the bomb through the portal after him, where it presumably detonated.
They returned to city to await news of the investigation into Lord Deepwinter's whereabouts. The Mystic Eyes informed him that he had been located: in Skullport, Waterdeep's dark sister city, deep beneath the mountain. Surely, he had been kidnapped by some nasty folk if he had been taken there. The investigators offered to escort the party to him--for a price.
Session 3
Using knowledge of the secret ways of the city, no doubt gained through experience, the Mystic Eyes' leader, Kaine, secured passage from the party via the Keepers, whose ships, crewed by undead sailors, magically ply the waterways leading from the open sea to the harbor of Skullport.
Within the city, they were briskly escorted through streets lined with shops and stalls selling every vice known to man, passing by slave auctions, and witnessing countless atrocities. In the heights of the city, it's "classy" district, they came to a dark temple (slash whorehouse), where it seemed Lord Deepwinter was not a prisoner at all, but a guest of the temple's priestess (slash madam). The lord paid the investigators for their aid and dismissed them, then got about with the business of the quest.
Firstly, he paid the party triple the promised sum (30,000 gp, up from 10) for all the extra trouble they'd endured. Then, he asked for the artifact, which they provided. He explained what it was they'd been risking their lives for.
Priceless as a historical artifact, the astrolabe was revealed to be nothing more than a vessel for the true treasure, a Chardalyn (ancient Netherese magic for storing the knowledge to work a spell into a form transferable between casters) containing the spell needed to modify the workings of an active mythallar. His original plan was to extract the chardalyn into himself, but, inexplicably, the chardalyn transferred unbidden into Gemidan, where it remains, presumably because he lacks the knowledge (or desire) to remove it.
Therefore, Adrian offered to bring the party into the secret circle of conspirators, bound by holy magic not to reveal the details of their plot outside the circle, and offered further payment for additional services rendered.
He introduced them to Qilue Veladorn, a drow priestess, who seemed annoyed that he was bringing outsiders into their plan. He asked them to agree to be bound by magic not to betray her confidence--the priestess conducted a holy ritual to ensure their silence. Suitably mollified, she allowed him to explain their true purpose:
Qilue, arch-priestess of the Promenade (a temple to Eilistraee near Skullport), had long been opposed to the foul practices of the city, and has done her best to disrupt the operations of the slavers, thieves, and ne'er-do-wells of the city, running a modestly successful underground railroad through her temple. She had never had the strength to directly oppose any of the major factions--let alone all of them combined--and had to operate in shadows, and thus could only save a small fraction of those destined for servitude.
Until she met Adrian.
He gained her confidence, and revealed that he has privileged knowledge of the secret, ancient magicks behind the true lords of the city: the Skulls. He contends that the magic which empowers the Skulls (which they then use to enforce their brutal law, and rebuff every incursion from the surface authorities) in fact stems from a Mythallar, an ancient Netherese magical engine, which produces nigh-limitless magical power in perpetuity. Further, he claims he has the magic to alter the workings of this mythallar (courtesy of the Chardalyn contained within the astrolabe), and therefore can provide Qilue with the means of overpowering the mighty Skulls, and presumably any other rivals in
(He did not divulge any details of what he sought to get out of the deal, or how he convinced Qilue he was acting in good faith, and with good information.)the city.
This came at a most opportune time. Although Qilue would gladly accept the help at any time, recent events were forcing her hand. The Red Wizards of Thay have recently constructed an enclave within Skullport, and are constructing a magical portal to their homeland. This portal, once active, would open the city's slave trade to the massive market of the east, which would undoubtedly lead to a massive increase in trafficking due to skyrocketing demand. The already unbearable situation was about to get much, much worse.
Qilue explained that, although the Skulls hold order in the city, they are merely keepers of the peace, combatting any attempts to disrupt commerce, and otherwise acting mysteriously and without oversight. In any case, they are not administrators, and the city had need of coherent leadership. And thus, in times long past, the lords of the city decided to form a secret council, in a dark mirror of Waterdeep's Masked Lords. They split eight magical coins, known as the Pieces of Eight, between the eight most powerful lords of the city (undoubtedly pirates, slavers, and villains of the worst sort), who pledged to prevent the rise of any rival powers, and to meet occasionally to seek accord on issues needing their judgment. The coins were bearer instruments, meaning whoever holds a coin is a Lord of Skullport; it is therefore perfectly "legal" to steal a coin, or slay its holder, and become a bearer onself.
Qilue herself, long established as a power in the city, has had a coin of her own for some time. She also, as per the covenant of the coins, knows the identity of each other coin holder. She divulged this information, listing a rogue's gallery of names, a mix of both obvious figures (such as Zsstulk Ssarmn, one of the most prolific slavers in the city) and unlikely sorts (such as the Rag Mage, an insane, wandering hermit with unspeakable magical power).
As a test of their strength and commitment, she bid them to track down the Rag Mage and somehow obtain his coin. Adrian dissented, as this would seem to have been a nigh-impossible task, but the party was confident in their abilities. They set forth.
They scoured the city, mostly its darkest corners and most dangerous alleyways. The Rag Mage was strangely easy to find, but no pushover to combat. His magic seemed to animate gargage, detritus, and scattered objects into minions. Hiding behind a massive cyclone of animated objects, he sent a wave of minions at them, which proved tough, but ultimately the Knights overcame.
Still, it seemed he'd scarcely harnessed a fraction of his power, and he readied to smite them: when, without explanation, Aurora produced Silver Fire, and used it expertly unwind his enchantments, stripping his minions and protections away, and slamming him into the ground. She then approached him, unveiled him...and kissed him with surprising passion. Then slapped him.
Apparently, during this process, she quieted his madness, and he remembered who he was: Mezzrym, Aurora's on-again-off-again paramour, and general bastard. Still at nearly full strength, he excused himself from the conflict. When pressed, he simply handed them the coin and buzzed off.
The Knights returned to the temple and showed the coin to Qilue, who was suitably impressed (to say nothing of Adrian).
Session 4
The party split up, scouting out two more coins. The first, in the possession of Keeper Gideona, was to be found on her person, deep within her heavily warded tower in the complex of the Keepers. Whyssal snuck into the complex, stole the identity of a hapless apprentice, and skulked her way through tunnels into the main tower.
Bypassing dangerous wards, she maneuvered all the way into the Keeper's sleeping chamber, where Gideona slept in the embrace of an unknown man, secure in the strength of her wards. Indeed, they were powerful--four Greater Symbols ready to unleash hell the moment she entered the room. She made a play for the coin, disabling some of the wards, but was forced to flee when the sleepers were awoken by the alarm spells in the room.
This attempt placed the complex on high alert, which in turn signaled to other powers of the city that something was amiss.
Meanwhile, Jon sought news and rumors about the coin held by Captain Rand Orlack, a pirate (and some would say brainless thug) who had recently murdered his captain to become the lord of an impressive armada. Along the way, he was ambushed by assassins, but overcame them and scored a spiffy sword in the process.
Back at the ranch, the party was shocked to see a Red Wizard invite himself to the temple, and gain a private audience with the priestess. They met amongst themselves (and with Adrian) inside of a private extradimensional space (a pocket spa), and decided they couldn't trust anyone outside the room (spa).
Afterward, they journeyed into town to parlay with Keeper Gideona, who received them in the presence of heavy guard, with her twelve closest associates in hand. They offered to work with her, and she was cautiously open to the idea, but first demanded a sworn oath that they were not in league with the Red Wizards. The party acquiesced, passing the test. She then demanded it of her own associates. Confused, and perhaps affronted, they nonetheless swore...or at least, the truest among them did. Five them found themselves unable to voice the words, as they were false, and the room was enchanted to silence all lies. She acted swiftly, her mighty golems slaying the faithless wizards, who'd been plotting to overthrow her and get in bed with the Red Wizards.
Happy to have used the party as a anvil upon which to strike her hammer, she agreed to terms: she would aid in their quest, if and only if they could prove their strength and ingenuity by stealing for her a mighty spell, the spell used by the Skulls to create their terrible shades. The party agreed.
They moved on to the pirate captain, although the hour was late. There was probably some sort of plan to parlay (don't really remember), but long story short, they killed a bunch of fools, including the captain, sent his first-mate (slash fuckbuddy) directly to hell (not a metaphor), and took over the flagship, all without being obviously seen by any of the pirates they didn't kill. Thus, they were able to create a fascimile of the captain, and assume control of the pirate band (tentatively).
Session 5
The party met with Misker, the Pirate Tyrant, an eclectic old beholder crime lord who considers himself the chief rival of the Xanathar (another eclectic beholder crime lord). He was all too happy to help, as disrupting slavery in Skullport would ruin his rival, while doing little to impact his smuggling empire. Of course, they had to prove powerful and clever enough to warrant his investment, and so he made them do battle in a private arena against a host of terrible monsters being eaten and mimicked by a Deepspawn.
(retcon: this totally happened. Totally.)
They then confronted Kessra Tan'orthal, lone drow matron in the city, who had been hiding in her fortress, waiting out the chaos, but, curiously, Aurora was able to talk her (or her doorman) into letting them in to parlay.
Kessra received them in a great hall, her whole family--dozens of noble drow and many more slaves, servants, and bodyguards--arrayed around her in a show of force. She negotiated in good faith for a time, as Aurora promised powerful aid in exchange for the vote of her coin. Then, she abruptly ceased negotiations and bid them to leave, post-haste.
The PCs noticed the lurking figure of a bald, albino drow, and, when she was pressed, she seemed to silently order her minions to act. Her minions being the entire family--dozens of noble drown, slaves, servants, and bodyguards--of the former matron mother, one of only two living drow remaining, the rest having been turned into vampires by the albino, in some previous villainy not witnessed by the PCs.
Despite their overwhelming number, the vampire drow were unsuccessful in slaying the PCs and the matron. The albino attempted to flee, but was captured alive. Adrian left her fate in Aurora's hands, and she quickly issued the order to kill. The albino was crushed by a stone demon and burned to ash.
Meanwhile, Kessra, former matron of the clan, was both thankful for their "rescue" of sorts, and despondent at the loss of her family and station. She gave them the coin, having no further use for it, and retreated to unknown corners of the world with the other survivor, a male drow wizard.
The PCs took residence in the abandoned drow fortress, cleaning out any remaining skulkers (in a serious of thrilling battles that took place offscreen), claiming any treasure (the best parts were already looted, natch), and discovering the "larder", a dungeon with dozens of slaves earmarked to feed hungry vampires.
There they rested, readying themselves for another day of action and excitement, but their respite was interrupted by the arrival of two visitors: Qilue and Lauzoril, the Red Wizard. They invited them in, after some understandable hesitation, and Lauzoril explained that he wished to join their quest. Qilue seemed to struggle to find the words to explain, but vouched for him, in a way. To prove his good will, he handed the party a coin, that formerly belonging to Keeper Gideona--known hater of Red Wizards.
And so the unlikely party now has all the coins they need. And a new ally that...seriously...I mean...seriously?