Comeback Time for the Murder Hobos! Even Breakfast Cereal Isn’t Safe!

The Saturday game, recapping 7/11/20 and 8/1/20 – After a long fight, we kill a dragon! After setting up our mansion, we identify and distribute some genuinely nice items, take a long rest and awaken the next day feeling much more experienced. After returning to the Cassalanter family, we collect our reward.

We hear the story of Elturel, coincidentally the hometown of the Paladin. Refugees from the city have been pouring into Waterdeep. We meet with our contact Mirt who says the city needs our help. The Open Lord of Waterdeep, Laeral Silverhand, travelled to Elturel to discover why so many refugees were coming to Waterdeep. She has not returned and is presumed dead. Someone or some organization has been murdering refugees and carving strange symbols into the corpses. Mirt wishes us to find the culprits and bring them to justice. In exchange for our successful help, we will be rewarded with noble titles. We enlist into the Grey Hand and are given half of the watermark that sealed the enlistment papers and badges that identify us as members. We are further instructed to meet with Tarina, an informant, at the Elfsong Tavern and given 500 gold to pay her. Also, we are to speak with the druid Torimesh at Insight Park where six bodies were found.

First, we visit the mortuary. We examine the six bodies and confirm that the symbols of the Dead Three, Bane, Myrkul and Bhaal, were carved into the bodies postmortem. The Cleric speaks with dead and none of them can identify their killers. However, we are given lots of LORE about Elturel, the Hellriders force which protected the city and the Companion, a kind of second sun that hovers above the city and burns undead.

We move on to the Elfsong Tavern to speak with Tarina. The tavern is named after the disembodied voice of an elven woman who sings the same sad lament periodically. As we enter, we find a pregnant woman with two children being harassed by an anti-refugee drunken man. The Paladin speaks with her about what happened in Elturel. She relates leaving the city as it was being attacked by flying ships. There was a flash of light and the city was just gone with only a crater remaining. We tell the woman that we own an Inn called Trollskull Manor where her family would be welcome. The DM awards us with a point of inspiration for our kindness.

With a nod from the barkeep, we are directed to Tarina. We approach her with the 500-gold payment. The elf song begins, and the assembled patrons are shocked to discover the voice is singing a different song. Over hundreds of years, this has never happened before! We have no idea what this means so back to business. Tarina states that a tannery in the Dock Ward appears to operate normally during the day, but at night followers of the Dead Three have been seen going in and out of the premises.

Next, we meet with Tormesh the druid at insight Park. He leads us to a tree where the body of one Edmaul Edwards was found. We see no clues, but Tormesh performs a ritual on the tree which allows him to see a vision of an angelic figure with its arms in chains and a tablet with writing on it that Tormesh recognizes as infernal. We investigate the sites where the other bodies were found and find evidence of substances used in tanning.

On our way to the tannery, we first stop by our friend Grinda’s at the waterfront to ask about the goings on. She confirms black robed figures are seen keeping watch and moving about a docked ship. The Rogue searches the ship and finds some valuable information leading us to a bathhouse called the Frolicking Nymph. Meanwhile, the Wizard and Sorcerer fly on their magic broom to follow a robed figure who disappears into the afore mentioned bathhouse. The rest of us, well, we kill a LOT of guys and then are approached by the flying broom with a note to follow it. And that is how we all end up at the Frolicking Nymph. Within, we find a secret door leading to a staircase down. We make our way to a chamber containing three doors with carvings which represent the Dead Three. We take the south door with the symbol of Myrkul on it into a room with three corpses which turn out to be not quite dead, so we kill them again.

Heading south, we find a room where several undead gather around a human cadaver. Also, there is a vampire that we immediately name Count Chocula! We kill everything except the vampire who turns into mist to get away. Investigation shows that these folks were collecting the sulfur smelling corpse damp gas for use in necromancy. Past a door and north we see three zombies whom we promptly kill. The Paladin sees a corridor west to an altar area with nine figures, one of whom is doing a ritual by carving symbols into a still living man while the rest watch. In a surprise round of two fireballs and an eldritch blast, we kill everyone except the captive. His name is Clim Jasso, a merchant from Elturel. We throw him a heal and he heads out.

Continuing down a hallway leading east we open a door south into a room with a sarcophagus. Cracking the lid, we see Count Chocula sleeping. We stake him until dead then loot his sarcophagus. We take a long rest in our mansion which is good because upon awakening, we must kill six exploding zombies. Further east, we come upon a door which opens to a tiled floor leading north and turning west. Down on an island, two figures are fighting while three observe. After a long fight, we manage to subdue or kill the four bad guys and free the man who was being attacked. Our next task is to question him.