Waterdeep: Dragon Heist

Status
Not open for further replies.
Reader mode
Nodding at Yorin as he finished, Alveron gave a weak smile, "We may be your pack, but it's still worth looking for family." Her gaze wandered for a moment, "I've heard descriptions of both ... if I go back to my 'job', I can try to ask around here and there. No one generally expects much of the 'dumb barmaid', might assume she's looking for a lover that came and went. 'Poor lass,' I imagine they'll think."

Her eyes returned to the dagger Yorin still held in his hands, "At ... at the very least, if something like this has shown up, we have a trail. Now we just need to follow it back, but that's a conversation we can have when you're ready. We find this Floon person for Volo, we'll have the funds to invest in a proper search, and who knows, maybe we'll even know what we're doing at that point?" Alveron chuckled before gesturing back to the rest of the shop, her posture returning.

"Stay here if ya like, I'll still give the gnome something for the dagger, just cuz I think he might be worth tryin' to have like us, in case somethin' else shows up. Now personally, I've got my eye onna few things, there was a weird purple egg and a bag tied up nice'n tight. If I get'em, you interested in seein' what might be inside?" She smiled as she pushed off against the wall.
 
Szilard sees that his ploy is not wholly ineffective and continues with the sale. "That will be just fine. One does not find an accessory like this every day." The hobgoblin pulls out three coins, and hands them over one by one, twirling each one between his fingers and using just a hint of arcane energy to turn it purple for a few moments. Afterwards, he puts on the glove. It could hardly look more out of place against Szilard's grey skin and pragmatic, brown outfit, but if he notices, he gives no sign.
 
Yorin grunted in response and shook his head before looking back down at the dagger. "You don't need to get involved, Alveron. I will find and kill this man. He is my eternal quarry, and in the end we shall slay each other in a glorious battle. That is my fate as proclaimed by the stars, and I shall fulfill it when the time has come. The time is not now. I am far from strong enough, and if I were to face the man with orange eyes now, I would surely be slaughtered." He paused as if pulled from an intense focus. "You and the others may purchase what you wish. I will go." He looked up from the blade, his face expressionless once again as he straightened, tucking the blade into his belt before stalking back over to the gnome. "Sorry." He tossed a gold coin to the frightened gnome before turning back to the party. "I'll be outside when you are ready to depart. " He made his exit, taking a seat outside the door, wringing his hands together.
 
Satisfied that the drama was over Pety watches Yorin walk out then walks back over to the gnome. "Tell me about the purple egg." She hops up on the counter next to Xoblob and and sits cross legged with perfect posture. "I bet it has an interesting story! Where did you find it?"
 
Xoblob still distracted by the somewhat feral man, takes the coin from the hobgoblin, but flinched as the other coin was tossed in his direction. It fell hit the counter with a heavy clink. "Th-th-thanks. Ss-s-sorry." He mumbles.

After Yorin leaves, Xoblob turns to Petydark, "It came from the previous owner. I have no idea it's origins." He looked to his pipe on the ground, hopping off the counter and collecting it. Xoblob wiped it off with a thumb as he circled the counter and crawling back up to his seat. He packed the pipe lighting it with a small purple lighter and inhaling more of the lavender smoke to calm his nerves.
 
Pety watches as the tiny shopkeeper hops down, circles around her then climbs back up on the counter. When he lights his pipe again she waves away the smoke and coughs. "How much?" she asks, "And what's in it?"
 
Alveron listened quietly to Yorin as he spoke, keeping her expression neutral as he left, but in their mind, '...no battle is ever glorious, and I don't intend to let a friend go on a suicide mission. Even if you don't recognize me ... I'll still help.'

With a nod as Yorin stepped outside, Alveron approached the counter where the others had gathered, and leaned on it, looking over the small Gnome. "So how much of this is stuff you've actually bought? Didja add the tinge to it yourself? All the purple, maroon and mauve that coats this place." She pointed a thumb over her shoulder, "Cuz to be honest, I'mma bit interested in the pouch back there, bit of an interest in ... things that might hide what's inside. Bit of'a lottery, yanno? Surprises."

Resting her head on her hand she continued, "I know Yorin might've been a tad reactive, but I imagine you can understan' when sometimes an item jus' catches you, specially one who collects as you do. Someone brings somethin' and you just gotta have it -- a feeling that it's important." Alveron fixed her gaze on Xoblob, "Seein' as we're likely to clean a few of your shelves, might I ask you to keep an eye out for the fellow who brought that dagger? Maybe see if he brings more wares for sale, maybe ask the story of the dagger he found, yanno? Items can have such interestin' paths through this world -- as I'm sure yanno from your own goods." As she spoke she reached for her pouch, flipping a few gold between her fingers, hoping Xoblob understood what she was hinting at.
 
Xoblob relaxed slightly, the clam of his herb washing over him as he took another puff of the pipe. "Four dragons for the egg. What's inside is for you to find out, isn't the mystery just exciting?" He tried to sound excited by the possibility, but it fell a little flat - he was still slightly shaken.

The small man timidly turned his attention to Alveron, "Well, I enjoy bartering. As you say, every item has a story. I don't care much for what it was, but I enjoy being a part of it, and I'm always ready to let it go." Xoblob shakes his head. "I keep a few items that speak to me," he shakes his pipe, "and I leave my mark on some items. If the man comes back, I'll ask." He smiled, "The bag, a single dragon for it."
 
"Oh! I have that much. I think?" Pety digs around in her coin purse stirring the coins around with one finger. She pulls out four small gold coins and hands them to the gnome. "There's a dragon on them, so I assume that's the one that you need. These coins are so strange" Snatching up the egg she gingerly holds it up to her ear to see if she can hear anything. "Do I open it or will it open for me?"
 
Smiling, Alveron moved towards the pouch and caught sight of apparently yet another one of the small mechanical crabs. As she reached for it, Xoblob called out its price and she shrugged, grabbing both the pouch and crab off the shelves, returning to the counter. Placing them down she pulled out the dragons, making sure not to accidentally place her coin of Tymora on the counter. She placed one on the counter, sliding it forward to the gnome, "For the bag," reaching back she pulled out another five, "For one of the many mechanical crabs," and with a smile she placed another coin on the counter, "For keepin' an eye out -- on the one who brought the dagger, and an orange eyed fellow."

Holding her finger still on the last coin she smiled strangely towards the Gnome, "I enjoy makin' friends, meetin' new people. Seems I've got two new friends to look for, and since I work at a bar, I'll be sure to tell many of the wonders an' curiosities to be found at 'Old Xoblob's Shop' in the Dock Ward, even that he might offer some coin for peculiar items..."

Looking around at the rest of the group she hefted the pouch in her hand, feeling a mix of edges and flat sides, 'Hm ... have an idea what's in here, but I won't open it until we're outside.' She glanced back towards the crab yet it seemed to have ... shifted? Or perhaps she didn't realize how far she'd placed it on the counter with all the dragons she'd placed down. Reaching for it to place in her pouch she spoke to the group, "Well, are we ready to move on? Think this was interestin', but we still got things to do today."
 
Last edited:
"Oh no, you wait for it to open. It's an egg, not a coin purse. Though, who knows what's inside? Not me. Could be worth a bit of coin if it ever hatches." Xoblob seems to have settled back down between his pipe and the flowing coin and with Yorin outside there seemed no immediate threat. He scooped up the coins and put them in a small purple purse he pulled out of a small pocket.

As Alveron collected the items and paid for them, he nodded eagerly. "I'll be sure to keep an eye out for either of the men." He shivered, "Orange eyes. Yup. Enjoy the bag and the crab." He greedily added the coin to his bag. "Have a good evening, sorry about your friend." He waves you all out of the shop.
 
"Well, not exactly what we were after but definitely good that we stopped in. I can't identify specific enchantments, but if you all want I can examine your new knick knacks for magic," Tristan sets after they leave the shop.
 
Pety walks through the door and waves back toward Xoblob, "See ya soon!" Walking toward the group with a smile she drops her cool purple egg into her coin purse and cinches the top.

"Are we all ready to go find Volo's lost fool of a friend Floon?" Pety's eyes flare and she says, "Ooh, that was fun to say." Looking left to right around the group she tries to match the demeanor of the group by dropping her smile. "Shall we?"

Tristan causes Pety to stop in her tracks, "You would do that for me?"

 
Last edited:
Following the group back outside, Alveron opened the purple pouch, finding inside it was a bag of various teeth, with one rotten one. She couldn't help the snort of a laugh as she opened it wider to show the others, "Hah! How fitting," she reached in and grabbed a few to hold in her palm as they walked, "wonder if I can figure out what all these came from." Returning them into the pouch she tied it closed once more, responding to both Tristan and Pety, "Maybe inna little bit Tristan, a place as shady as the Dock Ward I think it best we keep our eyes open an' focused. Least till we get somewhere we can settle easier. Think it's time we get back to our current job, an' see what we manage."
 
The five of you continue down the street and round the corner. You can hear the City Watch wagon coming down from the north to cart off those criminals. Along the walk, Alveron makes note of several more markings along the buildings. One marked as a home for the poor where a starving child might get a bite to eat if he can bring a trinket in trade, another marks an alley as a good spot for pickpockets and thugs on busy nights. At the corner, a lantern hangs outside an inconspicuous door which identifies the build as a City Watch outpost, thieves cant cleverly tagged on the wall marks it as empty. Finally you come upon the Skewered Dragon a little over a block away from Old Xoblob's Shop.

The Skewered Dragon looks like a ruin. Both of its front-facing windows are smashed and a ship's anchor is lodged in the roof. Through the windows you can see a group of haggard patrons drinking from huge tankards. As you push into the establishment, an older man with a thick beard interrupted by a large scar on one cheek looks you over from his place behind the bar, "Ya best be here to drink to a hard day's work and not to start trouble in me bar!" He grabs five of the huge tankards and asks, "What'll ya be havin'?"
 
Last edited:
Pety moves to the bar and stands next to Tristan. After the bartender confirms he was there last night Pety says, "What an unpleasant welcome for a group of troll slayers. That's right! Not but an hour ago this lot you are looking at burned down a troll who was crawling up into the Yawning Portal. So, we said to ourselves. 'Why don't we find an out of the way bar with no mouth to the underworld so we can sit and enjoy our ales in peace?' One of my compatriates here suggested that we visit the Skewered Dragon where we can sit by the broken front window to enjoy the salty breeze blowing up from the fish barrels on the docks." Pety leans into the bar with a huge smile on her face. "No, I am lying. We're here looking for a friend for a friend. Have you seen a fancy lad who enjoys a little gambling and cavorting around here? His name is Floon. I know, it's a ridiculous name, right? You would definitely remember it if you heard it and I imagine a lad like that would stand out in here like a clean spot on a goblin's ass. This place is the goblin's ass in case I was talking to fast for you to follow." After her rant, Pety stands up straight and snaps her fingers causing a brief flame to flicker followed by a shower of sparks falling to the bar. "In case your wondering, I wasn't misleading you about the troll."
 
The bartender grabbed one of the tankards and filled it from the tap setting it down but not taking his hand off the handle before sticking out his other hand, "It'll be two nib for the ale and three for the pie. As for the workin', I was here last night, aye." He waited for the coin before releasing the tankard as Pety spoke.

As Petydark finished and the spark lit in her hand, the several patrons of the establishment jumped to their feet reaching for their blades. The old man behind the bar bent down and reached for a large knife, not quite a shortsword, but longer than the dagger. He calmly placed it on the bar, his hand wrapped tightly around the hilt. "Ya better watch yer tongue, elf. If ye want information it comes at a price, and the price just went up. How about ya buy an ale, they're on special, two shard a piece." He looks to Tristain, "And it looks like your friend'll need a refill." The man spits on the ground and the patrons seem ready to join in.
 
"I mean I will, of course I will, but it would be polite to let me drink a little of this one first. I do apologize for her rudeness though," Tristan fixes Pety with a cold but somewhat bewildered look, "apparently fighting a troll hasn't taught her not to throw sparks indoors."

He takes a sip of the ale and lifts the glass, "now let the blessings of Waukeen be upon this house and we'll all pay a fair market price for everything." Tristan watches the bartender more closely as he says his next words, looking for some internal thought or reaction. "Information included."
 
Walking with the group Alveron kept her eye out for more marks, noticing a few more with interest, 'Hm ... that alley seems to be pretty popular, might be worth checking out on our way back -- maybe something of Floon's there.'

Approaching the Skewered Dragon, Alveron couldn't help but stare for a moment at the ... anchor that was somehow lodged into the roof. The windows they could understand, broken in a brawl, or thugs thinking themselves clever, but the anchor? That doesn't just casually happen. Hearing the barkeeper's introduction, Alveron smiled at first, however it quickly faded upon hearing Pety's response.

Inwardly Alveron groaned, this wasn't how one tried to gain information -- it was a push and pull, not a push and a flame in the other's face, specially in their own territory. As the sounds of many chairs sliding back from people standing moved through the room, Alveron let out a hesitant chuckle, as she leaned her back against the bar, "Please -- I think we all know elves don' always understan' how things work, yeah? So flighty, or off in their own little worlds. Needin' to understan' we don't start a conversation with insults, right?"

Trying to get back into their rhythm they continued, "I think it's reasonable if we buy these lovely folks another round for bein' so disruptive to their relaxin', right Tristan? The 'blessings of Waukeen' you mention so much? Speakin' as a barmaid m'self, I don't much care for dealin' with violence when it's much nicer to be drinkin'and enjoyin' a good meal."

Alveron turned back towards the barkeep, "An ale for each of us, and I'll admit I'm a bit peckish from our walkin', if I could get a pie as well." She smiled, "No sense talkin' potential business with a parched throat and an empty belly, right? I'm also very curious about that anchor above us, if I may ask -- not somethin' usually expect to find so far away from the water!"
 
The bartender keeps a hand on his dagger, but relaxes it slightly. He looks at the cleric of Waukeen, "Fair market price says I got what you want and it'll cost ya a dragon - for the information about yer friend. Beer's two nibs, pie's three."

He looks to the woman, "Five ales for me fellas, is a shard, four more for you an' yours, plus another pie..." He pauses, looking her over, "As a fellow proprietor, it'll be another shard. So two shard for the food and drink. Maybe you come back another time to ask about the anchor, doll." He took the knife off the counter, stuffing it haphazardly into his belt before pouring the nine ales. He set them all out on the bar before fetching two meat pies. With a wave of his hand and a magical word, they began to steam, piping hot. "Money for information." He held out his hand as he spoke to no one in particular.
 
With a very long and drawn out and exasperated sigh which is still going and only now, no now... now ends in a dramatic pfft, Petydark reaches a slender finger into her coin purse to stir the various pointless pieces of metal around. She slowly looks up at the bartender with a slack face and says, "So, how much for the ales and the meat pies..." to which she gives Alveron a sidelong glance and an eye roll, "and the information?" She ends her sentence in a sarcastic, sing-songy way then plops down on the barstool still stirring her coins and bouncing the bottom of the bag. Clinkle, clinkle, clink.
 
Szilard's eyes flicker across the broken windows as they step into the tavern. He keeps his eyes on the crowd as Pety bickers with the barman, but he doesn't pull all of his attention from the pair. "Shards are the silver ones." he says dryly. "Kra lashesh-" He starts saying quietly, then remembers to say it in common, "Violence is for when you want people to know about you. Money is for when you want to know about people."
 
With a mimicking eyeroll before wearing a smirk, Alveron reached into Pety's coin purse, pulling out two of the silver pieces, "These're shards. Silver, as Szilard said." Reaching in once more she pulled out a golden coin, "And these're dragons, obviously." Placing the three coins in the bartender's outstretched hand, she set the two pies before herself and Tristan in a practiced manner.

Smiling toward the man she leaned on the counter, "Lemme know if you'd like me to deliver the drinks to the other fine patrons, dunno if you got anyone helpin' ya today." Taking a bite of the meat pie, surprised at how warm it actually was, she took a moment before speaking again, "This's pretty good -- havin' it warm is definitely a treat. However, as ya might've guessed, we didn't fully c'mere for drinks an' meals." After another bite she continued, "Not to speak rudely of your guests, but I imagine a few nights ago, probably had someone who stuck out an awful lot -- two people, if'm to be honest. Heard this is apparently a good place to forget your troubles, with cards and dice dancin' at the tables. Recall an older man and a younger, comin' as a pair, the one dressed like he breathed nothin' but wealth? Perhaps not findin' Tymora favorin' him that night, though I 'spose same could be said for many a gambler."
 
The man took the coin, pushing tankards across the bar, "If you're willing." He nods toward the men standing at the two tables and they begin to take their seats again as he continues, "You're talkin' 'bout that escort, yeah? Came in with the writer, lost a whole sack a gold before he left with the lil' lord?"

One of the men at the tables grumbled, "Damn Neverember. Chip off the ol' block. Spoilt an' rich and loves to flaunt it like his pop."

Another adds, "Aye, left pretty late, then tha' man with the serpent tattoo followed 'em out."

A third pipes up, "Might ask 'round Candle Lane, see if he knows which way they went after they turned tha' corner." He points out the window. Looking out the window, it was easy to tell the only corner they could have seen the pair turn down would have taken Floon and the young Lord Neverember right past Old Xoblob's Shop.
 
Reader mode
Status
Not open for further replies.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 4 (members: 0, guests: 4)
Back
Top