Rescue from the Manor

We began the day investigating the favored brother of Mordden named Amryn. He worked out of the Curse of the Princess, a tavern installed in a converted ship of some sort. We elected to enter with guile and guise; I freshly applied my feather wax-dye (I do miss my original color), got dressed, and set off in character. I was never the best in my gang at theater, but I still tried.
 
When we approached the ship, we saw it was integrated into the dock solidly; no sailing off. On the mast was two ravens and I could tell something wasn't quite right with them. I doubted they were natural birds nor divine omens. We climbed the plank and saw the deck littered with the corpses of seagulls. I didn't see any injuries or exteranl wounds on them; I believe they were killed with a subtle poison or magic of some sorts. Not a great welcome to the tavern.
 
We descended into the first floor of the ship to see a fairly lively tavern scene. I recognized the guard who pulled us aside when we entered the city; he seemed to be bemoaning some misfortune at work. I steered clear of him and went to the bar, where I saw the barkeep was a fellow kenku! I greeted him in our gestural language and asked about the circumstances of the tavern.
 
The tavern owner was near the bar with a crab familiar, according to barkeep Oimaye. Oimaye (who appeared to be around 40 or so years old) also let me know he was treated tolerably, but he didn't really approve of the owner's associations that would frequent the tavern. While I was chatting with Oimaye, my cohorts descended another level.
 
I hurried after them to see another bar with another kenku. This fellow, of whom I later learned was named Aodaelo, was older, maybe around 50 or even 60. He had a horrid scar down half his face, rendering one eye useless. Unlike the friendly Oimaye, Aodaelo was far more gruff and despondent. Seeing who was in the room, I could understand why.
 
At one end of the ship sat Amryn, who had a thorny spiny fiendish looking partner with leathery wings. I knew not who they were, but the multiple bodyguards and the casual fiend definitely cast Amryn in a harsh light. I didn't feel as though Amryn was a ... welcoming patron of the tavern. Based on Aodaelo's testamony, and what I was about to witness, I was correct.
 
An elderly man came to meet Amryn while we were watching. I sat on a sofa with Makaan's sister under the guise of a friendly drink while Makaan and Avindir were at the bar. Multiple smaller groups proved to be more subtle than a larger group. The elderly man begged Amryn to accept some paltry sum of coinage to stave off the end point of a debt. Amryn was not impressed and said he would "take what was owed from you discreetly"; likely some sort of harvesting or labor. With a signal, he told Aodaelo to put some concoction into the man's drink. Aodaelo signed to me that this was how things were, and that I would best be leaving soon. The old man knew this was some sort of end, and drank the brew with resignation before falling unconscious. A guard carried him underdeck one level further, which was the last I saw of the man.
 
Therezia seemed mighty displeased by the sight, which was understandable. Even though we were on a scouting mission, she was getting ready to throw down and save the man. I threw a nut at Makaan to get him to notice his sister's adrenaline-fueled fury, then we hurredly left the room. I spoke to Oimaye once more, asking for an address and about Aodaelo. It turned out Oimaye took care of the elderly kenku and they lived in a run-down portion of the docks.
 
We knew we needed a way into the manor, so we went to visit the Archivist Kema, whom we helped in the gambling room earlier. It was a bit of a slog to get to her, but I saw the elaborate and gorgeous building she worked in. Only the hallowed temples of the commune approached the artistic level of this architecture back home. Archivist Kema informed us that she couldn't find a sewer map of the estate we were going to infiltrate. The owner of the estate was the "Master of the Sewers" and worked intensely at installing and maintaining the sewer network in the city. A noble job, but one she has perverted to cruelty. Archivist Kema offered to introduce us to members of the undermarket (a band of less-than-legal merchants and workers) with the possibility that they would know a way in through the sewers. This sat poorly with my group, who didn't trust the undermarket denizens.
 
I filed that away in my mind for when we returned to the bathhouse, where I told Caeled about the kenku and what we saw. We also informed him of our mission and our desires to try to sneak in. Caeled had no map, nor did he really trust the undermarket denizens either. Instead, we chose to disguise ourselves and enter through the front door. Avindir would use the mask of many faces to emulate Amryn and lead me, an up and coming merchant, into the manor. There, we would look for the sewer entrance and save Therezia's mentor.
 
Caeled procured me a gorgeous suit of shining green and vibrant purple, which I felt was quite flattering. Makaan and Therezia were my bodyguards, and their scowling faces really sold it. We entered the district without trouble (thanks to the letter of passage from Mordden) and entered the estate without issue (thanks to the illusions of Avindir).
 
I was introduced as Raylano Korae, a usurus moneydealer from Carangoroth and possible ally of the family. Once we entered, Avindir-Amryn asked a butler or servant for fine wines in the cellar and followed him down. When we got our wine and our glasses, we searched for the sewer entrance. It turned out to be quite accessible in the sewer, so we proceeded to sneak in and look for Therezia's mentor, Zalkrieg. When looking, we stumbled into a profane chapel to Xatris, Dark Lord of Tyrrany and Cruelty. Four cultists were chanting (quite ominously) and a single spined spiky thorny fiend was at the end of the room. When we entered, he could tell Avindir wasn't Amryn, and he got ready to launch quills or whatever the fiend had at Avindir. I stepped in front to intercept, and the fight was on.
 
We took down the four cultists quite swiftly; they were not experienced brawlers. Before we could focus on the fiend, however, Dame Deidre (Amryn and Mordden's mother) entered the room from some secret passage and banished a giant-form Makaan from sight! We knew we had to focus down the Dame, but she proved to be more difficult than anticipated when she grew flaming claw hands. Avindir conjured a massive bolt of crackling lightning, fled to a corner, and the Dame pursued. Avindir, blessed be his spunk, was not fit for a claw fight with the Dame and fell to his wounds. I had to intervene, so I struck down the fiend and the Dame for their profanities, then tended to the injured allies. Everyone was feeling the pain, but we survived.
 
Makaan destroyed the icon of Xatris, who resembled an angelic figure with saw-like teeth, and the statue crumbled into gravel-sand. In the rubble was a single weapon of hellfire. None of us felt comfortable with such an implement, so we wrapped it up and Avindir was tasks with keeping it safe from us and us from it. I pryaed to Xatris, Thuses, and Garagnos the Dark Lord of the Underground to hopefully help remove the profane desecration on this place. This was not the right way to revere the Sphere of Darkness.
 
We found a burning altar in a hidden room and a ladder leading out in another. With an exit identified, I had to find the mentor Zakrieg. I snuck past patrolling cutlists and found many rooms he was not in. The last room I checked contained him -- he was pacing back and forth in a locked chamber (of which we found a key) and seemed distressed. I identified him and guided him back to the vanguards, but he insisted on taking a truly beautifully crafted shield with him. Strange for sure, but we weren't in a safe place to argue.
 
When we returned to the vanguards, I saw his shadow's silhouette was nothing like the form I saw with my eyes. His shadow had stubby wings, swine features, and suggested what we saw was illusory in some way. He also seemed particularly attached to the shield.
 
Makaan was especially affected by something going on, then informed us that the shield contained (or was possessed?) by some fiendish presence who wished for freedom. We knew earlier that the Dame was trying to free some kind of fiend, and it appeared that we now had them.
 
This is far beyond what I trained for.