A Tapestry of Deeds And Gold
Lore Board
Waterdeep
Large city, badly damaged in the Spellplague when stone colossi rampaged through the city. Ruled by the Open Lord, Laeral Silverhand, with the anonymous Masked Lords forming the city council
Baldur's Gate
Largest most important city, largely unharmed by the Spellplague, many refugees slowly dispersing back into the Sword Coast after fleeing there after the Spellplague
Luskan
(City of Sails) Annihilated by the Spellplague, was a lawless place until several decades ago when 5 captains imposed some order, in the last decade now runs a legal shipping trade and is a haven for technomancers creating constructs, the exotic raw materials required being shipped in from far foreign parts along the Luskan trading routes.
You have heard the name JARLAXLE, one of the five captains who runs Luskan:
The son of Asphosis now resides in Waterdeep, He waits for the ships of Jarlaxle from Luskan to bring more of their mechanical marvels to sell cheaply to the great and the good...Little do they know these contraptions have eyes that see and ears that hear...
Spellplague
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A magical cataclysm involving the death of a God over a century ago where blue fire rained down across the Sword Coast...
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Cassalanters
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A noble lord and lady and their family, wealthy and seemingly popular
Xanathar
Famous beholder crime boss currently at war in the streets with the Zhentarim due to, as far as you know, some magical artifact related to a MASSIVE amount of gold hidden somewhere in Waterdeep
The Zhentarim
A group of mercenaries, thieves, assassins and rogue wizards with outposts all across the Sword Coast. The Zhents have splintered with a new faction led it appears by a mage called Manshoon, or at least one of his clones, the original Manshoon having been killed during the events of the Spellplague
Zhentarim Symbol
New Zhentarim
(offshoot?) Symbol
Dumasseo
In the near future, not sure when, a few months, a Great Game is about to begin, in or near the city of Waterdeep, far to the west of here. Within the city is a noble family, the Cassalanters. They may need some help once the game gets underway, depending on events they may even seek you out, if you've survived and made a name for yourselves. All I ask is that should you end up in Waterdeep you help them if you can. No contract, no binding clauses, just a favour.
Trollskull Tavern & Manor
Trollskull Tavern is the ground floor, the rest of the manor is accessed by an external stair and door.
The doorknocker, a three-eyed metallic skull with googly eyes is called UMBELLICON... The poltergeist soon to be bartender is called LIF...
The Manor sits on Trollskull Alley, in the immediate vicinity are the following:
The Bent Nail - Carpenter and Woodcarver
Steam and Steel - Forge Blacksmiths
Corellon's Crown - Herbalist
Tiger's Eye - Private detective
Book Wyrm's Treasure - Bookstore
Frewn's Brews - Small tavern with big pretensions owned by Emmek Frewn, a slimy character who tries to appear above his means as it were, but looks showy and tacky as a result
Urchins
NAT, black-haired deaf girl, wooden sword
JENKS, short, stout boy, wears 'robes' amd has a stuffed owlbear familiar called 'Teat' (Teat-owl, LOL)
SQUIDDLY, red tiefling with an eye-patch, has a small bow
The gang call themselves The Excellent Adventurers, they know the North Ward well and Waterdeep in general fairly well. Prone to interfering and potentially getting themselves into danger...
Factions
Faction : Relationship
ZHENTARIM: BAD, with you rescuing Renaer they lost a lot of stolen goods from the warehouse
XANATHAR: BAD, killed Kenku members and compromised underground sewer faction outpost. The Xanatharians now possess whatever was in Renaer's locket when the Zhentarim kidnapped him, and were in turn jumped by the Xanatharians
CASSALANTERS: GOOD, they are currently your patrons, will provide resources, but they are not telling you everything
Dusk Reavers Information From Temple Where You Found Erimines
The Dusk Reavers were headed up by Handsome Boy, a slim, finely dressed individual with a face of smoke
That Dagult Neverember, the disgraced former Open Lord of Waterdeep, now Lord of Neverwinter, was behind creating the Reavers to plunder the shipping lanes of Luskan, then when that proved unprofitable began searching out more ways to get gold, including Asphosis' lair and disbanded the Reavers into the wild to await orders
Bronny (the Duergar from Womford) and her team travelled to the Great Worm Cavern and something happened to their memories, but she remembers:
- The twisted dead body of Asphosis, the ancient black dragon crystalmancer and necromancer
- The Reavers, under the orders of Handsome Boy loaded gold that was sent through a portal to Scuttlehaven, the Reaver's base under the ruined shore town of Thornhold
Erimines and Queen Barenziah
​Erimines, philosopher, Way of the Five Grains, became favourite of Queen Barenziah, leader of the Agatean Empire a thousand years ago.
Overthrown, Erimines killed, Queen Barenziah entombed in the temple upstream of Womford where she was destined to die a slow death being mechanically force fed grain but magically unable to die over several decades.
Somehow, the wards binding Erimines' and Barenziah's spirits were broken when Erimines in his pot was removed from the temple; from the tomb inscription:
...Bound Together In Death As They Were In Life These Wards Will Hold Sustained By Their Twin Souls...
(Erimines pot was removed from the tomb, but left in the temple when Barenziah possessed the pirate boy Gideon, see Threats Over Thornhold)
Barenziah is rising as a dark queen, in league with black dragonborn necromancers of Asphosis who have appeared in the land (undead Hydra encounter), Kaladan's death by the Son of Asphosis, the Written/Unwritten)
Abolethic Sovereignty & Hierovenin
A civilisation of Aboleths, powerful aquatic creatures living in a deep sunken city Xipphu , master telepaths,they could control the minds of humanoids, often becoming warlock patrons. In the last four decades their influence was believed to have waned.
However it appears the Sovereignty is once more stretching out its power through the development of a potent toxin called HIEROVENIN, a substance manifesting as a poison and a curse that can erode the divine powers of clerics and paladins.
There is a connection between Handsome Boy of the Dusk Reavers and the distribution of this poison...
Wax Underhill
Visited as a child by an ancient female Tortle with a mechanical heart called Grisamentum who showed you a symbol of a half-cog balanced by fire...
After the party retrieved Gond's monocle Wax will be allowed access to The Library of Gond, although the priest has warned that blueprints bearing the COGFIRE symbol are frowned upon due to their possibly necromantic nature... The blueprint for Watson's Mechanical Arm bears this symbol...
Maggie Brandywine (Margerita Pennyflower)
A fey foundling of an ancient faerie family whose elders turned traitor during a great war between the Fey and the beholder Barabbas...Margerita's two siblings wiped her memory and secreted her into the Material Plane, her sister Dandelia died as her brother Flax took her through a portal...
Of Flax there is no information except that he seems to have remained in the mortal realm.
Owner of the ancestral White White Bow which has seven rubies, each a Redcap, a vicious fey creature that requires blood to survive, and if manifested from the bow, must kill or will attack the bow's wielder. The redcaps refer to the owner of the bow as FUD, Creator, Redeemer, Destroyer
Donum Meum
A cleric of the Church of Bane, on instruction from his church is attempting to find out the origins and goals of those parties distributing the HIEROVENIN. His immediate superior is Imperceptor Lyeneru.
Useful Items You Possess
The Geckoscope
The Horonullica (5' x 5' x 10' anti-magic column)
The Lantern of Revealing
A Telescope
Festival Screamer
The Duplicator
10lb Black Powder
Contacts
RENAER NEVEREMBER, estranged son of Dagult Neverember, Open Lord of Neverwinter, disgraced ex-Open Lord of Watderdeep. Recently kidnapped, a locket containing a portrait of his mother contained a secret compartment with something in it, which was stolen by the Zhentarim at a warehouse, who were ambushed by Xanatharians who now have whatever was in the locket. He is a source for information about high society of Waterdeep.
FLOON BLAGMAR, friend of Renaer, he was mistaken for Renaer and taken to the Xanatharian sewer hideout where you rescued him. He writes letters for people and does some paperwork sleuthing for legal cases. He has contacts in the guilds (Carpenters, Roofers, Cellarers/Plumbers etc.)
LARRY THE POO, local representative of the guild of dungsweepers and street-cleaners. You were very generous to him and he is a font of knowledge about the great and the good (and the not so good!) of Waterdeep...
NEVILLE TURBOT, reporter for the Waterdeep Wazoo. Has an uncanny knack of turning up unexpectedly wherever there is a story, he must know a LOT about what goes on in Waterdeep, no doubt the soul of discretion where scandal is concerned....
ASSORTED GUILD MEMBERS, mostly friendly except Broxley Fairkettle (Innkeepers) who tried to touch you for a bribe, and Justyn Rask from the Butcher's Guild who seemed frankly insane!
KURREMKERKURREK, a powerful mage whom you assisted. They have granted Wax & Maggie a QUESTION which they will use their considerable magical and oracular powers to answer
Prophecy
Fire is coming. There will be a day when fire will rain down and you will have but a moment to save one you love, or one who loves you.
Stone of Golorr
​Three Eyes plus the Stone of Golorr required to ascertain the location of the dwarven vault containing SEVEN MILLION gold pieces.
Cassalanters have one Eye, Xanathar has another, Manshoon (Zhentarim) has the last. Who has the Stone of Golorr? Unknown!
Manshoon (Zhentarim): Kolat Tower, location known, an apparently derelict tower protected by a magical shield. Access to tower unknown. The fact that (a clone of) Manshoon is running the Zhentarim is NOT common knowledge.
Xanathar: Has a lair somewhere under the city and many warehouses & safe houses across the city. The one you know of is called Terasse in the Southern Ward.
Immediate Timeline
20-Kythorn-1492 Kolat towers
21-Kythorn-1492 Jenks Tutor - FIREBALL!
22-Kythorn-1492 ) Trollskull Opening
23-Kythorn-1492 ) Waterdeep Wazoo
24-Kythorn-1492 )
25-Kythorn-1492 )
26-Kythorn-1492 Fleetswake Festival : Selune Sashelas
27-Kythorn-1492
28-Kythorn-1492
29-Kythorn-1492 Fleetswake Festival : Shipwrights Ball
30-Kythorn-1492
1-Flamerule-1492
2-Flamerule-1492
3 -Flamerule-1492 Fleetswake Festival : Fair Seas Festival
TO-DO (Just to refresh memory, not required to do any/all, and are not in any specific order)
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Hire staff ✓
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Fit out tavern (Kind of implied ✓)
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Open tavern
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Visit the Archive of Gond ✓
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Visit the Archive of Gond Again
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Investigate Maggie's brother Flax
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Find Neverember's Gold (See 'Stone of Golorr')
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Investigate Handsome Boy & Hierovenin at Scuttlehaven (Thornhold)
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Choose your magic item from the Cassalanters ✓