Fantasy Dragon Heist (Completed)

[ArcticFox]

"I... don't know to be honest." The young man slumps his shoulders. "As I said, I haven't been in touch with my father for much longer than I was. I'm afraid he didn't divulge any plans to me."

Before you can find any other information or have a chance to look around the warehouse, you hear a loud bang, then a creak, and the sound of wooden boards shattering. Soon after a squad of City Watch walks into the warehouse, armed to the teeth. They find their way to the back room, as the doors hang wide open. At their front is a middle-aged, grizzled looking officer, with a harsh and uncompromising look. To everyone's surprise, he first addresses Reanar.

"Neverember." He nods.

"Oh, captain Staget." The blonde man hurries to greet the man.

You can now see that the four officers behind the captain have the two escaped kenkus in custody, with their feathered arms bound behind their backs and eyes blindfolded. The captain softens considerably as Reanar comes out to greet him and only gives you and your companions a brief glance.

The two men converse for a moment, and Reanar tries his best to explain what happened. It helps your case considerably that he glorifies you as their saviours. This even makes the captain smile for a short moment, before turning serious again.

"Travellers." He addresses you then. "You have committed several crimes today, but as your intentions proved to be honourable in the end, I am willing to overlook them this time. But, this is the first and the last time I will do that." He then pulls out a folded parchment and hands it to you. "Code Legal." He explains. "I advise you read it. Should you break any laws written in the Code, I will find you."

You can see Regongar tense up beside you, he never handled authority well. Amiri is surprisingly calm still.

- Ask the captain to help you find Floon.
- Ask Reanar to come with you.
- Ask the captain for some other information.
- Leave the warehouse and go find the sewer entrance.

 

[Yokai]

Ask the captain for some other information.
​

Renaer's interrogation would have to come at another time -- if such a chance existed -- as the City Watch were upon them in mere seconds. The interaction between the young noble and this new Guard Captain caused a lump to form in Iselas' throat. Clearly they were familiar with one another and the almost endearing look Captain Staget gave Renaer reminded her of someone from long ago.

Iselas' melancholy smile disappeared when the attention was turned back to their group, and a snort of amusement followed the Captain's warning. She accepted the Code Legal offered to her with two fingers and held the offending item at arms length.

Ew, rules.

"Sounds peachy, Cap." Iselas said dryly, intending to burn the parchment at a moments notice. Well, actually she might give it a read at some point. There had to be some loopholes to be exploited if they did get caught. For now she focused on the task at hand.

"Unfortunately Pretty Boy wasn't the objective here," She winked apologetically in Renaer's direction; or as apologetically as one could wink. "If you have any information that could help us find Floon, or any information regarding the Zhents, then we'd be able to get out from under your feet as soon as possible."

 

[ArcticFox]

"If he was dragged by the Zenths, then he is as good as dead." Captain Staget responds. "And I am not about to send any member of the City Watch on a hopeless hunt, so your friend is on your own." He turns to Renaer apologetically. "It is how it is. For all I know he might even be a Zentharim or a Xanathar spy."

"He is not, captain, I guarantee that!" Renaer says, wounded. Then he turns to you. "I'm going with you, if you are still intent to look for Floon. Sewers, was it? I heard the kenku say that."

"No, you are only going to drag us down. I doubt you even know how to hold a sword." Amiri says, scowling.

"You do whatever you want, just keep the blood off the streets, okay?" Captain Staget says, motioning for his men to move out, taking the two prisoners with them, and stepping carefully around the bodies littering the warehouse.

"I know where is the closest sewer entrance." Renaer says to you, deciding to ignore mistrustful looks of your companions.

- Take Renaer with you and let him lead you to the sewers.
- Follow the tracks out of the warehouse to find the sewers on your own (roll d20 for investigation check).

 

[Yokai]

Take Renaer with you and let him lead you to the sewers.​

So, it seemed that Renaer wanted to help them track down Floon. Iselas tried to push down the flicker of suspicion that followed his proclamation. Brief dealings with nobles could prove to be invaluable but prolonged exposure...? Iselas frowned. Try as she might there would always be a small angry, child-sized part of her that despised the nobles for what they were.

With Captain Staget gone she pushed the Code Legal into a vacant pocket, none too gently either, and turned her icy gaze onto Renaer. She leaned closer to Amiri.

"Well, Cap' did say that we could do whatever we want," Iselas said with forced cheer, though it was clear that she was uncomfortable with the idea of bringing Renaer along. It would save them some time, however, and who knew? Maybe a noble would come in useful?

"Lead the way, Ren!"

Iselas glanced over to Amiri and grinned. "Think of him more as our guide than our back-up. He isn't here to wield a big ol' sword, we already got someone for that."

 

[ArcticFox]

"Men are useless, you should know that." Amiri says, which gets her an eye roll from Regongar and and uncomfortable look from Renaer.

Still, all three of you follow Renaer together, as he walks out of the warehouse and through the alleys of the Dock Ward, finally stopping in front of a hatch in the ground. Amiri pushes past, intentionally pushing Renaer stronger than she had to, and then lifts the hatch with ease and throws it aside.

You look down and see that there is no natural light or any kind of torches inside the sewer. Only you and your half-orc companion will be able to see in the darkness and it would only be in black and white. You would have to guide your two human companions, providing you wanted Renaer with you at all. Regongar also had a spell of light in his repertoire, but it would work for a couple of seconds and then fizzle out. It would be useful for lighting up the walls of the sewer so you can watch out for the yellow signs that the kenku mentioned.

Amiri doesn't wait for anyone, jumping down first, despite knowing she wont be able to see a thing. Regongar mutters something about stupid barbarians and jumps down after her. Though he stays, looking up at you.

"Come on, Iselas. Leave the noble up there, I'm sure he's not used to the sewers."

"I want to go." Renaer argues. "I can fight." He says, pulling out a short knife from his belt as if it could back up his words. "Please, Floon is my friend, and it is my fault he is down there anyway. I want to come with you."

- Go in alone.
- Go in with Renaer.

 

[Yokai]

Go in alone.​

"Nobles must be accustomed to getting what they want, even at the expense of everyone else." Iselas lamented, staring down at the threat of Renaer's knife as her expression appeared to fold in on itself. It seemed hypocritical of her to hate the young man for the circumstances of his birth, especially when he used words like 'friend' and 'please'.

Iselas hadn't even figured out why Amiri and Regongar still followed her; whether it was out of the promise of payment or some strange form of respect, she couldn't say. Either way she didn't want to lose that.

"If you think you won't be a burden in the dark then I can't stop you from following," Iselas decided, inching away from the knife. "But if you don't trust yourself then stay here, there's no need to directly endanger yourself, right?" The words felt cold on her tongue -- he deserved the chance to prove himself, she knew that -- and yet, Iselas stepped over the edge and plummeted down into the dark.

 

[ArcticFox]

A moment after you jump down into the stinky waters of the sewer, thankfully only ankle deep, you hear another splash behind you and a soft curse as Renaer stumbles and pushes you, making you in turn bump into Amiri who was turned toward a wall, hands extended forward to brace herself. She catches you with one muscular arm.

"You okay?" She asks, looking vaguely toward you, though really not seeing anything in the darkness.

"Sorry." Renaer says apologetically, reaching with his hand to grab at your cloak. "I have to come with you. I promise you won't even notice I'm here." Which is going to be a difficult thing, considering he is pulling on your cloak.

"So, we have two blind humans here." Regongar snorts. "I suggest we put them in the middle. You wanna take point or back, Iselas?" He asks.

You can barely focus on anything but the smell of the putrid stream flows along this sewer tunnel, but you can see that it leads in two directions. In one direction, you see a tiny symbol drawn on the wall in yellow chalk: a palm-sized circle with ten equidistant spokes radiating out from its circumference.

- Take point and follow the symbols.
- Take back and tell Regongar to follow the symbols.
- Take point and go in the opposite direction.
- Take back and let Regongar go where he wants.

 

[Yokai]

Take point and follow the symbols.​

“‘M fine,” Iselas murmured, easing Amiri’s concern as she patted the arm that had stopped her from falling. Belatedly she noticed that it was a very nice, muscular arm -- thankfully the other woman was too blind to catch her nervous smile. Otherwise the half-elf would’ve felt a little embarrassed, a rare occurrence in itself. Instead Iselas turned to gently herd the two humans closer as they needed to remain bundled together.

“I’ll take point, Reggie,” She offered quickly, eyes already focused on the yellow symbols they’d been advised to follow. “And you two can hold onto my cloak if it helps.” Iselas directed the two humans. Because really? Getting lost and dying in a sewer seemed like an awful way to go. Breathing down here felt like she was intentionally poisoning herself, the scent of putrid sewage making each lungful heavy and cloying on her tongue.

 

[ArcticFox]

"Sure." Regongar shrugs and goes to the back of the line.

"I can see fine." Amiri says as if offended, when you step to the front to lead them.

She stumbles over something in the very next moment and falls against you though, and biting down a curse, she placed a hand on your shoulder, letting you guide her. Reanar is behind her, but Amiri is not letting him hold onto her cloak, slapping his hand away and snarling as a wild animal might. Regongar lets out a frustrated grunt at this display and grabs the noble by his upper arm, leading him beside him like a child.

Whatever you are looking for seems to be deep in the city's labyrinthine sewers. You have to stop at every crossroad to make a decision about which direction to go and find a symbol scrawled in yellow chalk- a stylised representation of Xanathar - next to the tunnel that leads in the right direction. At some points the half-orc has to use his light spell, as the symbol is too faded for either of you to discern it with your dark vision, but you manage to follow the trail.

--

After an hour of following signs through the tunnels, you come to a three-way intersection where a ladder leads up into a stone shaft capped by a circular metal cover. One of the familiar chalk symbols is marked on a wall nearby, and floating near the symbol is a spherical, grapefruit-sized creature with a bulging central eye and four stumpy eyestalks. It bares its teeth at you.

Amiri has heard the creature and looks alert, though she clearly cannot see it. Reanar is oblivious to anything happening, while Regongar already has a lightning bolt curling around his right arm.

- Attack it with the short sword (roll d20, modifier 1).
- Attack it with the crossbow (roll d20, modifier 1).
- Let Regongar fight, while you move the others to a safe distance.
- Tell Regongar to keep the others safe.

 

[Yokai]

Attack it with the crossbow (rolled 8).​

Standing at the three-way intersection Iselas squinted at the dilapidated stone walls for any sign of the yellowed symbol. Instead of finding said symbol her gaze settled on, perhaps, the creepiest creature she’d seen in a long time. It left her to wonder; must everything in this sewer be ugly? First the smell, then the scenery, and now the creatures.

Where were the attractive people!? Where was the gold!?

Soundlessly Iselas removed her crossbow, not wanting to frighten her blind ducklings more than necessary, and aimed an arrow at the creature’s central eye. If her aim was true then this fight would hopefully be over before it had properly begun.

 

[ArcticFox]

Your hand trembles when you fire, causing the arrow to fly astray, harmlessly hitting the wall next to the creature. It attacks you first, being the closest of your party, its big jaws snapping around your lower arm before you can reload. It hurts, but you cannot feel the teeth pierce the leather armour, which is one good thing at least.

Amiri swings blindly at the movement, by sheer luck striking one of the creature's appendages and not your head, slicing off an eye and forcing the gazer to let go of you. Renaer screams at this, flailing about, but only managing to hit the wall of the sewer, facing a completely different direction than the one in which the fight was.

Regongar can see the gazer clearly though, and as it recoils from you an focuses on Amiri, he intercepts it with a lightning bolt, and it falls stunned to the ground, into the filthy stream. It stirs a second later, ready to attack the half-orc.

- Attack it with the short sword (roll d20, modifier 1).
- Attack it with the crossbow (roll d20, modifier 1).
- Let Regongar fight, while you move the others to a safe distance.
- Tell Regongar to keep the others safe.

 

[Yokai]

Attack it with the short sword: tell Regongar to keep the others safe (rolled 12).
​

That certainly didn't go to plan.

Iselas hand clamped down over the arm that had been bitten, face pinched with pain as she narrowly avoided being beheaded. Friendly-fire seemed like an awful way to go. This wasn't a great situation to be in They were all clumped together too closely and more likely to hurt one another in the dark sewers. This time she drew her short sword and returned her crossbow, considering that she'd lost the advantage of distance, and swung towards the creature.

"Reg, pull the others back and protect them!"

 

[ArcticFox]

"I'm not babysitting anyone!" Regongar shouts.

"I can protect myself!" Amiri yells.

Renaer only keeps flailing around with his sword drawn, until Regongar growls and takes hold of his wrist, hissing how he's just gonna injure someone with it.

Your strike lands on the gazer, just barely. It moves in the last second, and you chop off another appendage, but the creature swoops up at you, almost biting you again. Somehow Amiri's blade stops it, piercing it from the side as the teeth clamp inches away from your face. She seems to be getting the hang of blind combat.

Gazer falls to the ground, screeching incoherently, until you finish it off.

"What was that?" Renaer asks.

"A floating eyeball." Regonar says, clearly disgusted. Then he shakes his head and points ahead, down the tunnel with a sign. "Let's just go, I'm tired of this place."

- Proceed on cautiously.
- Proceed on quickly.
- Talk with one of your companions.

 

[Yokai]

Proceed on cautiously.​

Crisis averted! Iselas toed the creature's dead body with her boot and cringed in memory at its gnashing teeth. It seemed that even when blind as a bat Amiri was a much formidable warrior than she. In fact, if she hadn't stepped in, if she hadn't loved a good fight, then perhaps that entire ordeal would have gone very differently. So, with the danger passed, she reached out to gently take Amiri's elbow and guide her back to the group.

"Thank you," Iselas said quietly into the gloom, her voice hushed and meant only for Amiri to hear. When they were back in the safety formation again she released her. Instead she turned to Regongar with a solemn nod and a teasing glint in her eyes. "Can't have you getting bored down here. Let's move on quickly, hm?"

 

[ArcticFox]

"Yeah." Amiri nods as you rejoin the men. Regongar is anxious to go, but he stays on the back as instructed previously.

Soon after following the tunnel with the sign on the last intersection you reach an area lit by torchlight. You see that the main sewer tunnel expands into a circular hub with a pair of arrow slits carved into its outer walls, directly across from each other. Two passages continue on to the north and south. A stone door is set into the back wall of a stone ledge to the west.

Next to the door you see two goblin guards, sleeping soundly.

​

"Better to kill them." Regongar says immediately. "They could only bring trouble from behind once we stir trouble inside."

"No glory in killing sleeping enemies." Amiri scoffs.

"Can we not just go by them?" Renaer whispers. "They look harmless."

- Sneak past them (roll d20 for stealth check, modifier 7).
- Pickpocket the goblins (roll d20 for sleight of hand check, modifier 7).
- Kill them while they sleep.

 

[Yokai]

Pickpocket the goblins (rolled 19).
​

The sight of the two goblins fast asleep on the job caused the rogue's fingers to twitch restlessly at her sides. Iselas shuffled her feet anxiously, visibly trying to fight back the urge to pick through their pockets. She didn't need to steal anymore -- she knew that she had money now and that there were people she could rely upon -- she knew that she didn't have to steal anymore. But she wanted to. Badly.

Perhaps it was this fatal flaw in her character, or some undeniable compulsion, which drove her to offer a non-committal hum to her companions' concerns and step closer to the sleeping guards. Fighting had never been her strongest point but speed, stealth, and general sleight of hand were skills she felt confident in. They were skills she'd survived on. So, Iselas softened her footsteps and drew silently nearer, almost reluctantly drawn in.

 

[ArcticFox]

You pick their pockets masterfully, like you were born to do it. The goblins don't mvoe a muscle, nor do they even hear your breath as you strip them clean of any valuables. Though they don't have much on them, one has a pouch with 3 gold pieces and the other with 4, and a broken gazer tooth, which is really disgusting and not useful at all. You pocket the gold, though.

"Old habits die hard?" Regongar whispers as the party walks to join you.

Amiri looks disinterested and is in favour of continuing through the doors, while Renaer is clearly uncomfortable with your display, but he doesn't say a word.

- Sneak past the goblins (roll d20 for stealth check, modifier 7).
- Kill them while they sleep.

 

[Yokai]

Sneak past the goblins (rolled 1).
​

"Something like that." Iselas whispered back, gently prodding Regongar in the side as she passed him by. With the gold now pocketed Iselas heart felt a little lighter, the insatiable itch beneath her skin quiet for the time being. It'd been a while since she'd stolen something and the rogue felt no guilt in the act. Better to rob them of their gold than to rob them of their lives.

"Come on, we'll take that as payment for not attacking while they're asleep." She continued, voice still hushed, as she crept past them.

 

[ArcticFox]

You try to go past the goblins, but as you move to walk, you step on your shoelace, tripping over it and falling straight on top of one sleeping creature. The goblin's eyes snap open and then he shouts in alarm, stirring the other sentry awake. He is still unarmed though, and you are larger than him, so he is pinned down. He is trying to reach his spear, which is leaning on the wall next to him.

"Hells, woman!" Regongar shouts, though he looks like he is on the verge of laughing.

Amiri lets out a war cry and charges the second goblin, but he had reached his crossbow already and is aiming it at you.

- Shout at Regongar to help.
- Shout at Renaer to help.
- Rely on Amiri to take him down as you deal with the one under you.

 

[Yokai]

Shout at Regongar to help.​

"Don't be so mean, Reg!" Iselas whined, pouting down at the goblin beneath her as she grappled with the creature in an attempt to overpower it. She couldn't allow it to reach the spear, one of her hands wrapped around the goblin's throat. "Help me out already!" The bright shade of pink that had pulled itself across her cheeks and ears was definitely due to the exertion. And definitely not because she was embarrassed. No way.

I can't believe I tripped over my own shoelace, Iselas thought morosely. Dying here would certainly put her out of her misery.

 

[ArcticFox]

The goblin shoots out a bolt at you, but Regongar intercepts it with a bolt of lightning and it skitters to the ground at your feet. Amiri cuts through the goblin in the next moment, leaving you to struggle for a bit with the one you've pinned down. But, it doesn't take long to render him unconscious.

"For a thief, you are not very stealthy." The half-orc says walking up to you with a smug grin.

Amiri opens the door the sentries were guarding and Renaer moves to stop her, but he doesn't reach her in time.

Thankfully, the room behind the door is empty. It contains six tattered, straw-stuffed mattresses and nothing really of value. However you can hear the sounds of activity in the next room through the thin wooden door that separates these two chambers.

- Proceed through the wooden door.
- Peek through the door.
- Listen at the door.

 

[Yokai]

Listen at the door.​

Goblin rendered unconscious she stood up and attempted to will her blush away. It was rare for the little rogue to get flustered and when she did she hated it. Being embarrassed reminded her of the years she'd felt feeling useless; a burden on those who'd chosen to look out for her.

When Regongar ventured close enough she made sure to shove at his shoulder. Though the wink she sent his way diffused any plausibility of her actually being annoyed at him. It was hard to stay mad at Amiri or Regongar, both tended to be frustratingly honest. Even if she appreciated that too.

"Not all of us can be bad boy sorcerers," Iselas retorted with a huff, bending over to hide her smile as she retied her shoelaces with practiced fingers. When she finally came to halt inside the newly discovered room she paused at the door, brushing a strand of golden hair behind a pointed ear, and listened.

 

[ArcticFox]

Through the door you hear scraping of furniture on the ground, then something being tossed, and then concerned raised voices. You recognise one voice, you've heard it the same day in the Yawning Portal, it belongs to one of the bandits that were a part of the bar brawl. The other one is unfamiliar, deep and angry.

"No, that won't work, Zemk."

"Shut it, whelp. Let me work in peace."

"But you can't just toss everything in front of it. What about the gap at the bottom, huh?"

"Urgh, fine, go find something for the gap!"

"I think there were some blankets over there..."

You hear footsteps then, but they are not approaching your location.

- Walk in silently with everyone.
- Walk in silently alone.
- Walk in silently with a companion.
- Burst inside and catch them by surprise.

 

[Yokai]

Burst inside and catch them by surprise.​

Iselas must have painted a strange image standing there; her head tilted marginally to the side as electric eyes grew unfocused and glazed. Truthfully she was just listening very intently to the room next door and from what she had gathered it didn't sound very good. In fact... the moving of furniture and the mention of a gap at the bottom?

"I... I think they might be blocking the door," Iselas whispered softly as she drew back to her companions, she licked her lips nervously. "I say we burst through and take them by surprise." Instantly her eyes flickered over to Amiri, the most likely to enjoy the upfront approach.

 

[ArcticFox]

As you have correctly judged, Amiri is the first to take you up on the offer, kicking in the door with a blood curdling war cry. It turns out that the the people inside the room were not blocking the door your party burst through. They were standing at the opposite end of the room and blocking the second exit out of it.

Both of them looked very surprised when you burst in. You recognise Krentz, the banding from the brawl, hands filled with blankets that he is trying to bring to his companion. The other man, a stout dwarf with a maul on his back, is hurriedly stacking various pieces of furniture against the door on the opposite wall. Whatever was through those doors, the men did not want getting through to them.

"I know you!" Krentz starts, but he doesn't finish, as Amiri slams the butt of her sword against his face.

The dwarf reaches for the maul on his back, but Regongar interrupts him with a shock that brings him down to his knees. He still has quite a bit of fight in him, but you have your crossbow ready and trained on him.

- Question the dwarf.
- Question the human bandit.
- Kill them.
- Release them.