(A1:S6) "The best laid plans..." (Part 1)
General Summary
"Stonewatch will go to the dogs if MY house doesn't get that mace." Our heroes are given an ultimatum. Izzar Despath, working on behalf of The Wanderer (who seems to be pulling strings behind the scenes) rescued and will protect the party from The Dogs of War on one condition: Springsister Hallia, head of House Spring and the second part of the Triumvirate won the monthly "Trial of the Triumvirate" in Stonewatch. Normally, the three houses have trouble agreeing on laws for the city, so an item was forged as a symbol: A golden mace that counted as 10 votes for the Triumvirate. Each house sends their best fighter into the arena in a battle of life and death and whichever house's fighter survives, gets the mace for the month. 10 votes is alot and it would give the winning house the ability to pass any law or regulation they want. Izzar would like the party to sneak into the victory banquet two days from now and steal the mace. Izzar, working off of the cutthroat logic of Drow culture, tells the party that if they steal the mace without anyone noticing and without it being tied to House Despath, he'll be able to claim it. If the theft was tracked back to Izzar, he never met the party. As the city descended into lockdown due to the party escaping, Izzar warned them that they would be under strict surveillance. They must not leave the manor unless they get strict permission from Izzar, but other than that the manor is free for them to explore. The party worked tirelessly the next two days, gathering intel and planning out the heist. They had everything laid out: who would sneak in, who would grab the mace, what the escape route was... everything. However, things would change when The Wanderer showed up to meet with the party. He revealed to them plans to backstab Izzar by giving him a fake mace. He pulled out an exact replica of the real one, except it's not magical. Apparently, this ancient artifact is a key to opening the underground vault that holds the "Shroud of Exe". With the heist planned, and now the plan to trick Izzar in place, our heroes go to bed and prepare for the party.
