Fantasy Dragon Heist (Completed)

[ArcticFox]

"I don't know!" Amiri exclaims, agitated by your words even more because she cannot see it. "I hear something slithering."

The monster slides slowly over the floor, toward you. It growls like a dog might. Your arrow is stuck in its flesh, but it doesn't seem to mind it. Amiri grips her sword, ready to attack.

- Attack it.
- Lure it away.
- Escape.

 

[Yokai]

Attack it.
​

"It just absorbed my arrow," Iselas whispered back to her companion as she slowly hitched her crossbow back into its holster. With Amiri completely blind and her physical attacks doing absolutely nothing, there wasn't much choice. An idea occurred to her then, one that brought with it some tangible doubt. "I... just stay behind me, alright?" She reassured Amiri gently, reaching into her pack to retrieve the necklace of fireballs. "And be prepared to run." After all; she didn't know how powerful this fireball would be. Having said her piece Iselas aimed one of the remaining two attacks at the creature and shot.

 

[ArcticFox]

Amiri stands behind you as you throw the bead. As soon as it hits the creature it explodes. The explosion is so powerful that it makes the chamber tremble and it throws both of you back. You fall onto Amiri who hits the floor hard and groans, her sword flying out of her hands.

When the flames die down and smoke clears the smell of charred meat is overpowering. Amiri makes a grimace.

"That was something." She says trough coughing.

The blast did not hurt you, but it turned the creature to a pile of burnt, disgusting, mass. The chest behind has a padlock on it.

- Unclock it (roll d20 for dexterity check).
- Break it open (roll d20 for strength check).
- Have Amiri break it open.
- Leave.

 

[Yokai]

Unlock it (rolled 10).​

"Ah, sorry!" Iselas hurried to apologise, hands fluttering over her companion as she checked that she hadn't injured her even more. A gentle hand soothed her back for a few moments until the coughing died down. On the bright side; Amiri had thankfully broken her fall and the weird crawling creature was dead.

"Okay, there's a chest behind it," Iselas informed the other woman, hurrying to move out the way and to ease her weight off of her. "I'm going to try open it." With that said she crossed the chamber, waiting for Amiri so that she could lead her around the charred mass on the floor. Once again she retrieved her thieves' kit and set to work on the padlock.

 

[ArcticFox]

You unlock the chest without any struggle this time and find some good stuff inside. The chest contains 10 gold coins, a spherical gold beholder pendant with tiny gems for eyes (worth 250 gp), and a spell scroll of darkvision. You don't have to be a magic user to use the scrolls, all it takes is to read out the text. You can use it on Amiri, or save it for later.

There's nothing else interesting in this side of the hideout.

- Use the scroll and proceed to the other hidden door.
- Just proceed through the hidden door.

 

[Yokai]

Use the scroll and proceed to the other hidden door.
​

The valuable items were swiftly pocketed with a pleased smile and Iselas' mood was already much happier for the discovery. However, it was the scroll that truly captured her interest and once she'd realised what it was -- and that she didn't need to be a sorcerer to use it -- the half-elf hurriedly turned to Amiri.

"Hey, want to see what I see?" Iselas asked, all bright smiles and genuinely hopeful as she recited the words aloud.

 

[ArcticFox]

You use the scroll on Amiri and she grins widely after acquiring dark vision.

"Much better." She nods. "Thanks."

Then, she takes the lead, eager to continue. You proceed back to the passage and to the door on the right side. After a bit of patting, you find the same concealed door knob and push them open just enough to see what's behind.

This room is also in darkness. You see three duergars inside. Two of the drow dwarves stand guard a little further from the door, but are turned toward the third one and don't notice you yet. The third duergar seems to be working on some kind of a mechanical invention. He hammers down a part, then curses.

"Let's kill them whole they are occupied." Amiri whispers.

- Attack them.
- Approach them.
- Leave.

 

[Yokai]

Approach them.​

Iselas didn't enjoy killing those who hadn't outright wronged her, though she also recognised the wisdom of Amiri's advice. Normally she'd have attacked if they were in the way of her quest, or if they posed a genuine threat. In this case, she decided to give them a chance; because she was also curious about what exactly they were doing.

"I don't think they're with the Xanathar," Iselas whispered back to her companion. "I think we should see if they're friendly." Which was very unlikely knowing Iselas' luck.

Standing up straighter Iselas stepped out into the room, hands raised in the demonstrative sign of 'I bring peace'. "Excuse me?" She called out.

 

[ArcticFox]

"Yes, what?" The tinkering duergar calls out without turning around. The other two turn toward you though, and they do not look friendly as they ready their hammers.

"Intruders." One of them says.

"What?" The inventor calls, his hammering blocking out any other sound.

"I said there are two intruders here, Thorvin!" The other guard called impatiently. "Should we kill them?"

"Kill? What, no, why would you do that?" The inventor stops his work and turns away from his machinery.

They all look alike, the three duergar, with long grey bears and pale-grey skin and eyes that look blind. But they see perfectly well. Thorvin scans you thoughtfully, then asks.

"Do you know anything about automatons?"

- Yes.
- No.
- Maybe.

 

[Yokai]

Maybe.
​

Well, that went better than she'd expected! Iselas flashed the two antsy guards a bright, easy-going smile before she turned her attention onto this 'Thorvin'. She wondered what kind of machinery he was working on that needed any sort of advice pertaining to automatons. Was he trying to make or repair one?

"I've seen and fought nimblewrights, if that helps?" Iselas offered lightly, hand instinctively brushing over her long-since-healed wound. "Why, what do you need assistance with?"

 

[ArcticFox]

Thorvin nods as you speak, then points to the mechanical shape behind him, "This thing." The guards let you approach and you are able to make sense out of the shape now - it is a mechanical beholder, lying down on its side.

"The Xanathar want it flying over the Parade of Wonders to remind everyone of the beholders' superiority." He shakes his head. "I built the damn thing, but can't figure out how to make it fly."

- Examine the machine (roll d20 for intelligence check).
- Leave it alone.
- Ask Thorvin something.

 

[Yokai]

Examine the machine (rolled 3).
​

Iselas may or may not have snorted at that ludicrous line. 'Reminding people of the beholder's superiority' possibly sounded like the dumbest thing she'd ever heard. Still, she inched closer to the mechanical beholder to have a better look, hoping that something would come to her.

"I'm surprised that they aren't trying to keep a low profile at the moment," Iselas offered in means of conversation; which was true. With the Zenths forced underground and the Xanaths stealing the Stone, wouldn't they want to be a little more subtle?

 

[ArcticFox]

"They are a strange group." Thorvin shrugs.

You examine the machine. Press a button. The mechanical beholder lets out a cloud of steam, then a flash of blinding light from its stalks. The duergar cover their sensitive eyes quickly, but it doesn't hurt you or Amiri as much.

- Use this chance to slip through the door on the right.
- Slip through the door in front.
- Stay there.

 

[Yokai]

Use this chance to slip through the door on the right.
​

Iselas had absolutely no idea what button she'd pressed or what she'd done but this was the perfect opportunity to slip away. Seizing the chance she turned -- grabbing Amiri's wrist as she passed by -- and ducked through the door on the right. Hopefully this would lead them somewhere productive... or at least bring them closer to their quarry.

 

[ArcticFox]

You slip through the door unnoticed, as the duergar are recovering from the blinding light. The door opens and you find yourself in another room in disrepair.

Harmless rats crawl about, minding their own business. Stone stairs climb up feet to a wooden door that opens into a street or alley. Crates and barrels are stacked at the bottom of the stairs. A plain wooden door stands open into a room containing dusty furnishings in storage. The furniture includes a scratched wooden desk, several wobbly chairs, a coat rack, two small tables, and an empty wooden trunk.

To your left is another set of doors, these ones closed.

- Try the closed door.
- Hide in case the duergar start searching.
- Follow the stairwell out of the hideout.

 

[Yokai]

Try the closed door.
​

Paranoia itched beneath Iselas' skin as she glanced over her shoulder at the room they'd just departed from. She wasn't sure whether the duergar would actively pursue them and she didn't want to hang around to find out. Blue eyes swept over the interior of the room quickly, noting the decrepit state and the stairs that led back out onto the street. Briefly she wondered where those stairs would take them but decided that staying in the Xanathar base was more important. Crossing the room on anxious feet she reached for the closed door handle, tentatively trying her luck.

 

[ArcticFox]

The door opens with a creak and the of you step into a dimly lit room. It looks like the continuation of the cellars, like other rooms were, with stone walls and crumbling shelves. But what's of note in this room is the stone throne on the far side, occupied by a duergar, flanked by two kobold guards.

The duergar holds a whip in his hand, shouting at his kobold servants, who cower in his presence. He notices you enter and squints, obviously not knowing who you are.

"What are you doing here? I told them not to let anyone in without my permission!" He sounds angry.

You spot something in his left hand, an oval, grey shape, streaked with black lines. It most certainly is some kind of a stone and the duergar leader seems very protective of it, scowling as he notices your gaze.

- Attack him.
- Interrogate him.
- Leave.

 

[Yokai]

Attack him.
​

The scene that the two women stepped into definitely wasn't one that Iselas was expecting. When they'd been sent to retrieve the stone she'd envisioned breaking into a treasury or facing down another mind flayer. Not a duergar on a throne made of cold stone with a whip in his hand and what could possibly be their quarry in the other. It didn't take much prompting -- his enraged voice and the cowering slaves before him were enough incentive already -- for Iselas to come to a conclusion.

"Sorry for the intrusion," Iselas shot back as she withdrew her crossbow and hitched a bolt in one fluid movement before taking aim for the nearest guard.

 

[ArcticFox]

The kobold guards scatter quickly at the first sign of danger, running to the far back of the room and through a door on the other side. You don't hit either of them.

"You cowards!" The duergar snarls, lashing out with his whip. He looks reluctant to attack you, eyes darting between you and the exit.

Amiri steps back toward him and he bolts after his kobolds.

- Shoot him (roll d20 for dexterity check).
- Catch him (roll d20 for athletics check).
- Let him go.

 

[Yokai]

Shoot him (rolled 6).
​

Surprise fluttered across Iselas' features as her bolt clattered uselessly aside; a feat that she was thankful for as the guards had clearly aligned themselves in the 'not looking for a fight' category. Instead her attention was turned back onto the man with the stone, tensing in preparation to dodge an incoming attack -- one that never came. Because the same man that had just yelled at his guards for their cowardice had now turned tail and ran. Unfortunately, she couldn't allow him to escape. Another bolt was swiftly hitched and this time she aimed for the man's retreating back.

 

[ArcticFox]

You hit the duergar's leg and he stumbles to the ground with a grunt of pain. Amiri runs up to him quickly and dispatches of him without a question. The grey-green stone rolls out of his hand to the floor and Amiri picks it up.

"The Stone of Golorr?" She asks, uncertain. "Doesn't feel special."

When she hands it to you, you don't feel anything either. Renaer had said the Stone is a sentient being, but either it refuses to speak to you, or he was wrong.

- Take it to the Councilwoman.
- Take it to Renaer.
- Take it to Blackstaff.
- Something else.

 

[Yokai]

Take it to Renaer.
​

"Weird," Iselas hummed in response to Amiri's accurate observation. The stone in her hand was underwhelming to say the least and a new edge of uncertainty had slipped beneath her skin. Hopefully Renaer knew what to do with it, or at the very least he could recognise and confirm that it was the Stone of Golorr. With that thought she pocketed the stone, glancing over any remaining kobold in the room.

"You guys are free to get out of here now, that guy seemed like an ass!" Iselas supplied cheerfully, reaching out to pat Amiri's shoulder as she passed by. "Shall we get out of here too?"

 

[ArcticFox]

When you give the stone to Renaer he hums thoughtfully and takes a moment to examine it. Eventually he motioned you to follow him through his home, to a huge room, with an imposing mahogany desk in the centre and shelves lining the wall behind it. Everything in that room seems to be made a bit too large on purpose, making the whole room look very important.

"My father's study." Renaer explains, shrugging. He steps to the desk and shifts through the papers and ledgers, until finally he pulls out a piece of parchment with a drawing on it. "Here it is." He shows it to you. "Looks the same, right?"

The drawing of the Stone of Golorr does look pretty much like the drawing.

"I don't know how to make it talk, or whatever it does." Renaer shrugs. "You should ask a mage, but someone close to you, that you trust. And please be careful. If anyone catches wind that you have the Stone... well, you know what happened with the fireball."

- Take it to Blackstaff.
- Take it to the Theatre.
- Something else.

 

[Yokai]

Take it to Blackstaff.​

A not-so-small part of Iselas wanted to keep the stone out of anyone else's hands, to hoard it away from the public and keep it a secret. But even Renaer's presence couldn't fight back the wave of disappointment that followed her sudden realisation that that was exactly what she's going to have to do. The councilwoman who'd approached her was out of the question; she was suspicious and Iselas did not trust her at all. That only left... Blackstaff.

"Yeah... alright," Iselas conceded with a downward turn to her lips as she pocketed the stone once more. "I'll you see soon, Ren." She nodded, attempting to muster a smile through her turmoil and confusion before departing for the tower.

 

[ArcticFox]

Varja Blackstaff admits you to her office without a fuss. Your good relations with Meloon had incurred you even more favour with the woman and no one stopped you to make an appointment when you came to visit. When you show her the Stone she looks at it in surprise, but she collects herself quickly.

"May I please have it?" She asks, extending one slender hand. When the polished surface of the Stone touches her hand she frowns. "I expected it to be more..." She shrugs. "I don't know, really. It doesn't seem magical. Perhaps someone close to Dagult would know how to use it?" She gives the stone back to you. "Thread carefully, Iselas. Don't show it to everyone."

With both of them leading to a dead end, you don't have much choice any more.

- Go to the Theatre already.