This morning, we awoke before dawn, and met with the Council of Waterdeep, to whom we gave a full accounting of our recent northern adventure. Pleased by our report, the Council has tasked our fellowship with another quest: to track down Dannak the White.
But first, we have been invited to take special part in the festivities of Founder’s Day. To that end, we agreed to perform a costumed martial demonstration for the people of Waterdeep, in the Field of Triumph, the City of Splendor’s most illustrious public arena.
Tegan, in the comical guise of Dagult Neverember, led our fellowship, dressed as a coterie of monsters, into the centre of the arena, to joyous howls of anticipation from the assembled crowd. Suddenly, magical barriers split the battleground into four quadrants, and in each of these, an elemental adversary appeared. Tegan and I faced off against Earth, while the other cunts faced Fire in the adjacent cell. For the time being, Water and Air could do nothing but wait in their own cells.
Tegan and I blasted our earthy opponent with force and thunder, and the crowd cheered, as Gunx extinguished the elemental Fire with his bare hands. A moment later, they cheered again as Tegan shattered the elemental Earth, just before the magical barriers vanished. The Air rushed in at Jorad, and Gunx leapt headlong into the Water. Brick and Tolarin aided Jorad, and together they beat the elemental Air. Tegan and I assisted Gunx, and at last we defeated the elemental Water. The crowd went berserk with delight. We were awarded precious medallions of victory, and as the heroes of the day, we received an invitation to attend an exclusive evening feast for nobles and dignitaries inside Cassalanter Manor.
We changed out of our costumes, and into proper evening wear, and after a short rest, we made our way to the three-storey manor in the Sea Ward, owned by Victoro and Ammalia Cassalanter. We were greeted at the door by a tiefling butler named Willifort Crowelle, who invited us to tour the grounds, or join the other distinguished guests in the ballroom. We chose the latter, and there we encountered dozens of finely dressed nobles, talking amongst themselves and taking turns dancing with an enchanted mannequin.
While my fellow cunts mingled with these pompous aristocrats, I slipped through the banquet hall and kitchens, down a set of stairs, followed by Gunx and Tolarin. I found a handful of nobles playing cards, so I sat in for a hand, and naturally, won the pot, thanks be to Beshaba.
I then excused myself, and found Gunx in an adjacent chamber, burning one down with our host, Victoro Cassalanter.
Lord Cassalanter needed to attend to his other guests, so the butler, Crowelle, hastily escorted Gunx and I to a mud room leading to the Butterfly Garden. The dragon-eyed monk noticed the ruffle of a gown peeking out from behind a closet door and, giving it a tug, discovered Esvele Rosznar, a young noblewoman, dressed in black leathers and bent on mischief. I gave this pawn of misfortune Lady Doom’s blessing as she darted off to ransack the manor.
A moment later, the butler escorted Tolarin in to join Gunx and I, and together we found our fellows in the garden outside. Tolarin told us all of the wondrous library he had found. Tegan and Jorad pointed out the strictly-cordoned feast for the poor nearby, and voiced suspicions about the ‘special food’ being served there.
I took the liberty of picking a locked door back into the manor and, with Gunx and Tolarin, stealthily entered a small study. Here, we found a notebook belonging to Victoro, scribbled with cryptic notes about “Dagult’s Dragons” being the “answer to prayers”; something about informing “Y.G” about “the mausoleum”; and, strangest of all, “Golorr is an Aboleth”.
We returned upstairs to the ballroom, then ducked into the powder room for a quick cunts conference about the racist noble woman, Yala Gralhund, presumably the Y.G. mentioned in Victoro’s note. From there, we ventured upstairs and found a private sitting room, where I led the group in prayer as we made offering to Beshaba.
Then, the monks ducked into a linen closet, and had a scuffle with some enchanted laundry. Brick and Jorad came to their aid, ending the melee quickly, but drawing the unwelcome attention of a housemaid. I charmed her, by Beshaba’s disgrace, and sent her away without further incident.
We then entered the sumptuously appointed master bedroom, beautifully decorated with nine infernal friezes. I quickly discovered a lockbox under the bed. Choking through the effects of a poisonous gas booby trap, inside I found a crimson cloak, and a golden mask and dagger: ritual regalia of the arch-devil Asmodeus, according to Tegan. He took the cloak and mask, and I kept the dagger.
An ornate locked door was no match for Brick’s brawn, and entering the adjoining room, we arrived in Ammalia Cassalanter’s private study. Jorad ransacked the desk for fancy stationery and whatnot, and I claimed a crimson leather grimoire, detailing a dark ritual that will require further study. Tolarin climbed a ladder in the corner, and we all followed.
In the attic, we found a chain devil, howling in agony, confined by the magic of a pentacle scorched into the floorboards. The fiend was unresponsive to our presence, so we went back down to the third floor.
We discovered a children’s playroom, occupied by a nanny, and a children’s bedroom, occupied by the Cassalanter’s young son and daughter. The nanny admitted to knowing about the devil in the attic. We convinced them all that we had good intentions and, like the nanny, want to keep the children safe.
We went back down to the main floor foyer, and by Beshaba’s will, I magically disguised myself as Victoro Cassalanter, and led our group past clueless guards, down into the cellar. A solid iron door, with three stout locks, burst open with the combined effort of Gunx, Tolarin, and Brick. As Brick stepped inside, he found nothing but the icy blast of a booby trap: the vault was otherwise empty.
Moving on, past endless casks of wine, behind a faded symbol of Siamorphe, a draft betrayed a secret door that failed to conceal a stunning hidden cache: twenty silver trade bars worth twenty five gold pieces each, and countless gold coins!
A set of stairs led down from here to a deeper underground chamber, where we found three dungeon cells, and a spiral staircase going deeper still. We headed down, following the sounds of infernal chanting. We came to a subterranean cathedral, lined with iron candlesticks, leading to a huge fiery cauldron surrounded by three chanting cultists, and a colossal statue of a handsome devil surrounded by tapestries depicting graphic scenes of human debauchery. Pretty mild stuff, by tiefling standards.
Tolarin vanished into the shadows, exploring who knows where, while I approached the cultists, secure in my magical guise, commanding them to carry on with their duty, and pay the rest of our party no mind. Then, after checking behind a nearby door to make certain we were alone, I returned, and gave the signal for Gunx to attack.
Gunx slammed into one cultist, breaking his back against the stone cauldron. Tegan skewered another with his blade, and Brick knocked the third unconscious. We dragged the cultists up the spiral stairs and locked all three in a cell. Back down the stairs, through a set of double doors, we came upon the Cassalanter family crypt. Tegan cast a Detect Magic spell and, in doing so, aroused three menacing specters from their sarcophagal slumber.
A fourth spirit, different from the others, coalesced from the casket of Caladorn Cassalanter, a ghostly, gallant armoured apparition. This spirit hailed me as his kin, due to my disguised appearance, and offered a boon if we were the enemies of Asmodeus. I declared our enmity for the arch-devil, and accepted the offer: a suit of enchanted plate armour, and a magical Mace of Disruption. Brick donned the distinctive armour, and gripped the mace with eagerness.
After a brief rest, we continued to explore, and found a bunk-room decorated with bas reliefs depicting gruesome devilish pit fiends. Tolarin discovered one of the sculpted panels concealed a secret door, and going through, we found a storage room, and another secret door. Going through that, we found ourselves back in the temple, amidst dozens of chanting cultists: their dark ritual had begun.
Focused on their ceremony, none of the cultists noticed our party enter the chamber. Following Tegan’s signals, we all moved to the central aisle of the temple, taking positions in preparation to attack. Jorad Shattered the south balcony, killing five cultists with falling stonework, while Gunx snapped the neck of another cultist near the altar. Suddenly alert to their dangerous circumstance, the cultists threw open their robes, drawing their hidden scimitars and revealing their leather armour. Still, their martial skills were no match for ours, and before long all were defeated, save one: Victoro Cassalanter, who had been leading the ritual. He cursed us as he escaped into the shadows. Brick struck the statue of Asmodeus with his enchanted mace. The hellish shell shattered, revealing a statue of Siamorphe hidden beneath.
Instantly, we felt a wave of rejuvenating energy wash over us, and I realized that all of our injuries, even our frostbite infirmities, had been miraculously healed by the Maid of Misfortune! Beshaba has rewarded our fellowship for spoiling the Cassalanter’s hellish plans.
Gunx was keen to check on the children, so we went back upstairs and found the nanny, Laiba Rosse. Laiba explained that Lord and Lady Cassalantar had left suddenly with their kids, taking them to a country estate. With our nefarious hosts gone, and the party winding down, we decided it was time to leave. On our way out, we noticed that the peasant guests in the outdoor pavilion all appeared to be dead: no doubt poisoned by the “special food”. The Maid of Misfortune strikes again, klaatu barada nikto amen!