Spirited Away
We open on Baldur's Gate, explosions taking place as a full on gangwar assault is taking place. Agents of the warring crime syndicates under Rothgar and Xanathar fight in the streets as Xanathar's forces descend on Rothgar's new entrenched base of operations. Xanathar has come a long way from Waterdeep to destroy his hated enemy, and nothing will stop him from destroying Rothgar. The fight is long and bloody, but eventually Xanathar's forces win out over Rothgar's men, and the base is lost. A magic dome has been erected over the field, negating teleport magic keeping Rothgar from escaping. Xanathar descends to anihalate his rival, but only finds an empty room.
Cut to an hour earlier as the battle rages. He is accompanied by CC, whomst he has hired as a bodyguard after she lost a couple games of pond to Rothgar. Rothgar is panicking in his room when a voice with no source speaks up, barely a whisper.
Mysterious voice: Hello Rothgar, I understand that you have found yourself in quite the predicament.
R: WHO SAID THAT!? I WONT FALL FOR ANOTHER TRICK XANAY! YOU HAVEN'T CAUGHT ME YET!
Rothgar is furiously trying to dig a hole underneath the barriar in his bunker underground using his disintegrate eyestalk, but to no avail as the barrier extends in a sphere underground.
M: It is no trick Rothgar, I am a helping hand in your dire times. I can help you escape, but only if you trust me, and only if you give me what I desire.
R: And why the fuck should I believe you? You could be buttering me up to make a mistake!
CC: Xanathar is already at your doorstep, and you have no means of escape. If she is trying to trick you, she is only hastening the inevitable. She is pretty much our only choice.
R: Grrr, guess you got me there. still, Thats one hell of a deal, and shady as hell. What do you want from me?
M: I want the destruction of your enemies. I require knowledge. Give me everything you know about Xanathar and his crimes, all of your records and your memories to add to my collection, and I will protect you from his wrath.
Xanathar in the distance: Come out and play Rothy~~, just like old times~~, Lets see what happens when I gouge out your eyes and replace them with black powder~~, wouldnt that be fun old friend??
R: You two make a compelling argument. If you can get rid of this bastard for good and keep me safe, I will give you whatever you want. Want me to throw in some boot licking cause I'll shine your shoes for ya as a bonus.
M: That will suffice.
A ghostly figure of a woman manifests, Barely perceptable as whisps of smoke and air distortions. She extends a hand and gently caresses the distrought Rothgar, as if to comfort him.
R: Alright weird lady, whats the plan? This barrier is blocking all forms of travel, teleportation is impossible and there are no planes to walk to.
M: That is where you are wrong, Rothgar. There is a world beyond what is known by most mortal kind, for it is not a world governed by space, but of memory. No magic designed by this land even understands the mechanics of where we are going, let alone can stop our journey there, For the people of this section of existance are trapped in worlds defined by physicality, cause and effect, and invioable rigidity. Where we go is a land of the soul, where the physical world must bow to the will of hearts and minds, instead of the inverse as you so well know. And I am one of the rare souls with a key to the path of the lost heart of the worlds soul. It is fortunate you made your base where you did young Rothgar, as the connection to this place is strong, even for this part of a city.
At this point, the formless ghost raises her hand to her chest, and plunges her hand into her ribcage in a show of brilliant light. Extracting from her chest is a large key, which she then uses to point to a wall of the bunker. Reality feels to have shifted as ley line energies gather up to create a magic circle on the wall, in a style far removed from the simple magics one might see with your average wizard. The magic circle begins to solidify as a large black entrence to a space beyond known realities opens up a magic gate as shown below. Rothgar desperatly leaps for the gate, as the mysterious woman follows behind.
We then open in the party room where our agents now stand, an indeterminate time before the fateful arival.
R: What is this place? It's like nothing I have ever seen? Maybe something I once dreamt?
M: It is a world forged from the memory of a soul, whether that soul is one from the distant past or the far future, I do not have the time or need to look into.
R: Ok, swank. But I got a couple of questions. First, am I safe here? Is this place truly impenetrable, or is that something you only think is true. And two, what am I supposed to do, just sit here? Not to be ungrateful but being locked in a room for indeterminate time will cause insanity for just about anybody.
M: To answer the first, it is extermly unlikely that anyone else will find you here. They would not only need to be standing in the right place at the right time, but they would also need to either know you are here, and get lucky, or not know you are here, and get astronomically lucky.
CC: Would you be able to bring a couple additional people I know to assist in guarding the room? They should be competenet enough to sit in a room all day in case anything were to happen.
M: If you hand me that list I will bring all those you require.
R: Great, and the second?
M: That device overthere is a "Television" and it is capable of creating a few simulated realities to play in. Should keep you entertained.
R: Excellent. Suppose that will do until you resolve the X situation. Now tell me what you need to know.
M: well lets start at the beginning, what enterprises do you know Xanathar is invested in...
We cut back to a few days after the raid, Xanathars fuming as somehow Rothgar has slipped his grasp yet again back at his home in Waterdeep. However his mood worsens further as a low level grunt brings him todays copy of the Water's Edge:
"Xanathar exposed, arrest emminent"
"In today's news, law enforcement has finally gotten the evidence it needs to make an arrest on crime kingpin Xanathar. Up until this point, Xanathar has been able to bribe and silence the right people in order to prevent legal ramifications for his illicit schemes. However, thanks to testimony from a confidential witness, in addition to supporting testimony from recent Baldur's Gate felon Tyranus Gambledorf obtained in a plea bargain to avoid execution, and physical evidence obtained during the course of our investigation, "The Waters Edge" has gotten all the pieces it needs to remove the roadblocks preventing a city wide effort to stamp out crime. several key businesses and politicians, which we will list out in the main article on page 9, have been identified as collaborators and will be swiftly dealt with by the city guard. In addition, it has been determined that Xanathar is not in fact a mere mortal, but a beholder. A monster running the scenes of our city in the background. We have no intention of letting this vile creature control the lives of the people of Waterdeep any longer. Xanathar, I hope you are reading this, because we here at the Edge want you to know that we are no longer the yellow tabloid journalists we once were, and we are not going to stop until you are put behind bars.
Article written by traveling journalist Pistachio D.