SC.1.6 Following Rats

Session Preface

Evening deepens around you, only a handful of stars illuminating the sky through wisps of clouds. A cutting wind whips at your cloaks from the docks. The streets smell of oil and grease where torches of lit rags stand in broken lamp stands, the glass long broken and covered in a film of salt air and grime.

Endriel leads the way, retracing the path Ziraj took through the streets and alleyways. Following Lackpurse Lane eastward, you pass a half-dozen taverns and festhalls, including the renowned Yawning Portal. A boisterous crowd continues the day's festivities even as today slips into yesterday. Their voices, a cacophony, spill out into the streets over a band's lively rendition of a popular drinking song from a few years past.

Before long, you're navigating the wider thoroughfares, where carts and carriages now leisurely roll through the city in sharp contrast to the multi-lane bustle that will come with the morning. Finally, you cross the Way of the Dragon and duck into Blackhorn Alley.

The alleyway is labyrinthine, curling around itself with several dead ends and only one way in or out. Much of the alley cuts behind the homes and small businesses on the High Road moving to the heart of the Trades Ward. The only local landmark of note in the alley, the Plinth, is a small, unassuming temple that welcomes all whose faith has too small of a following to be represented elsewhere in the city. Decorations from the festival still adorn the stairs and walls, streamers in various colors and sigils of a dozen or more dieties from a variety of pantheons.

You approach the Zhentarim Safehouse Istrid described to Pax. From the exterior, it appears unremarkable, just another solid stone wall of a building's exterior. To your investigation, scratch marks in a crescent shape along the ground signal the presence of a false door. Pressing your fingertips against the grout, you pull and the stonework groans as a wall opens into a dark corridor, descending into a basement. You follow a dim light into another chamber, where Ziraj stands in low light, tense. He faces you, his massive bow drawn, a black-feathered arrow nocked at his cheek.

"You should not be here. Speak swiftly, while you can."

Session Summary

Investigating the Safe House

After convincing Ziraj they are neither intruders nor Xanathar guild members, the party commence investigating the gruesome scene before them. In total, they find four of the five victims spread throughout the room. From the position of the bodies and the fact that those closest to the door had no chance to react, whereas those further away at least armed themselves or tried to escape, they determine the threat caught the Zhentarim by surprise and gave them little time to react. The claw and bite marks suggested a humaoid creature with feral ferocity.

Painted on the wall in blood, the phrase "Follow the Rats" at first seems like a clue to seek out informants within the Zhentarim, but when Thaust realizes the bodies are also covered in tiny bite marks, he posits that it may be more literal in nature. He tracks down one of the rodents in a burrowed out portion of the kitchen, but their limited communication only confirms their presence, not their intent.

While Endriel and Thaust further study the scene, Hawk searches for signs of theft or pilfering. To his surprise, finds that neither equipment nor supplies have been removed. He also comes across a field report for the Zhentarim agents who were attacked.

“The Majordomo is confirmed to have not survived and none have risen up to take their place here. Though their pet wyvern still haunts the caverns and tunnels of the Underdark, feasting on those foolish enough to wander from safety. The Guild has not tried to rebuild efforts, but maintain a minimal presence in the city. A peculiar presence seems to hang over Skullport, with our squad not unaffected. Whispers of frequent nightmares, disassociated voices, and dark urges. This reprieve can’t come soon enough.”

Having exhausted the investigation, the companions deliberate how to proceed. They consider finding resources for shrinking themselves down, to which Ziraj suggests their neighbor Fala, an herbalist who operates the shop Corellon's Crown, who he has long been friends with. While they consider this, they decide to investigate the rats themselves before dawn breaks, for fear of losing time or the trail.

Following Rats

Deftly navigating the shadows and alleyways of Waterdeep, Hawk manages to pick up the trail of rodents as they move through the city in a disparate, but direct path, following one until finding another and so on. Eventually, it leads to the cellar of Henndever's Coffins and Coffers. Picking the lock and proceeding in, the companions find an even more concentrated presence of rats. Studying them for a moment, they seem to act as if a storm were brewing and they were responding to some primal instincts as it relates to a change in the environment that others overlook. The trail leads through a weakened wall that Thaust carefully excavates without causing further damage.

Pressing onward through hastily dug tunnels from years ago, the party travel a winding path and eventually burrow out into the sealed interior of a mausoleum in the City of the Dead. Against the wall, the companions also uncover the fifth Zhentarim victim, covered in bite marks and colorless, drained of blood. On a raised pedestal, a single coffin in pristine condition rests, ajar. On the inside of the casket's cover, a message reads, "FOLLOW IN DEATH AND LIVE FOREVER, BID FAREWELL TO LIGHT, DWELL ETERNAL IN SHADOW." Within the coffin itself, a deeper shadow seems to beckon towards them, inviting them. The shadow-within-shadow swirls slowly, the edges of the effect seeming to leech color from the otherwise vibrant crimson velvet interior lining.

Suspecting this to be a portal of some kind associated with a vampiric threat, the companions decide to retreat for rest and research before returning the next evening to face whatever darkness lie beyond.

Research & Preparations

After hours of meditation, Endriel visits the Font of Knowledge, the temple to Oghma. Here, he researches both vampires and the nature of the shadow realm. In his studies, he confirms the vampire's vulnerabilities to sources of radiant light and their abilities to regenerate within coffins that are prepared and connected to their home or place of death. He also finds a handwritten series of missives exploring the nature of demi-planes within the Shadowfell that exist adjacent but distinct from one another, individually shroud in mist that serves as a barrier, sometime permeable and other times impenetrable, rather than as separate planes or parallel universes. It goes on to describe another setting in which a vampiric threat maintains a similar domain, giving the companions a sense of scope for what may be on the other side of the portal.

While Endriel continues his research, Hawk seeks out the Knights of Holy Judgement at the Halls of Justice. Explaining the situation and his involvement in the contract, they grant him a blessing, charging his arrows with radiant damage to help face the undead threat.

Thaust similarly seeks out his fellow worshippers of gods of the storm and is able to acquire three bottles of holy water said to be gathered from the center of a storm by a ship struck by lightning through a metal rod used to charge the holy water with the storm's pure power. As he goes to leave, he is followed and stopped by a young half-orc who introduces himself as Ulric.

“You were the cleric of Zeus, right? Speaking to the other worshippers of Talos about your family’s theology of the god of storms as a bringer of life? … My father was a warrior, defender of our people in the Moonshae Isles. There too, we worship a god of storms who is both merciful and maleficent. But here, there are none who see both sides of the coin... Because of this, I would offer a gift. Wield my father’s hammer, blessed by the storm, against those who would destroy beautiful things and harm the undeserving. In return, I ask for a kindness. As is the custom of my people, train me as you would a squire. Not in the ways of war, but in the ways of wisdom. Teach me of your Zeus and allow me to see my father’s legacy honored in both your victories and my vocation.”

Taken aback by this sudden, unexpected offer, Thaust humbly accepts, but insists that their relationship must be one of equal footing. Ulric agrees to share his customs and ways, so long as Thaust brings honor to his family in how he carries himself and this gift, the name of which translates to Stormward, Oath of the Blinding Sky. Thaust casts a platonic bond over them as an acceptance and embrace of his new responsibilities and follower. Not wanting to subject Ulric to the dangers of the plane of shadows, Thaust bids him to wait for their return at Trollskull Manor, when his training can begin in earnest.

The rest of the day passes on with preparations for whatever journey now lies before the party. As night descends over Waterdeep, the companions return to the mausoleum and prepare to pass through the shadowfell portal.

Session Overview

Date Played:
October 27, 2024
Party:

• Endriel
• Hawk
• Thaust

Time Passed:
Marpenoth 19, 1493 PM - Marpenoth 20, 1493 PM
NPCs:

• Ziraj
• Ulric Rowantree

Loot:

• 15 Radiant Arrows
• 3 Vials of Holy Water
• Stormward, Oath of the Blinding Sky