Session 7 - The Journey to Waterdeep

Session Date: December 29, 2019The session begins with the party having rested in Redcap

Topknot brings the party together and summons Bob from the skull, who tells them about the contract and the Book that was with it.

The book is called the Lucinomicon but that is not its true name. Bob won’t speak its true name for the fear of the power it might unlock. This book has the power to summon an arch-devil or one of its messengers for the purpose of entering an infernal contract. People started calling it that because the devil that would appear would refer to itself as Luci, at this point this seems to be the only devil that will answer the summoning and this one is just a messenger. its strange that more devils wouldn’t want to answer well with what’s going on down there and all.

The contract is a powerful bit of magic law -- this one seems to be more powerful then most as it is made up of several types of magic woven together. Bob has never seen this in person but has heard about the theory that a contract formed on a leyline nexus (a point where 2 or more leylines cross) is more powerful.

The party leaves Redcap and heads toward Waterdeep. For three days they travel, managing to keep just ahead of a huge storm they notice also approaching Waterdeep.

As the party crests the final hill before Waterdeep, they see it in the distance. As they approach the main gate of the city they can see that it is currently shut with a large force of the city guard present. a long line of carts stretches back from the entrance for several miles all stopped. people have made camp on the side of the road next to their carts and are waiting on entrance into the city. many of the carts are merchants loaded with good. some of which are starting to spoil.

To the south of the town, outside the walls, the party can see an ever-stretching landscape of crudely built shacks and huts. this is the so called 9th borough. it is made up of primarily goblins who in recent years have begun to break away from the tribal way of life for something more urban.

The group finds an inn called the Damp Hovel and rents a room to share. Meanwhile they investigate the paperwork they got from Dr. Naznarth and find a note written to Julia, which grants access to the city, and has the necessary papers to retrieve the dragon skull, and names the party members.

Asking around the party hears a rumor that some noble in the high lord's court has been missing for a few weeks, and the city is on lockdown until he is located, or until the high lord says to open the gates otherwise.

The party does a bit of shopping in the shoddy stores they find in the 9th borough. They're told of two shops in the area, a general store, and a shop called Auntie's Elixirs. They visit Auntie's Elixirs, and have the proprietor identify a potion they had on-hand which they were referring to the granny potion, it turns out to be a potion of fire breathing. They also buy a few healing potions.

Proceeding the the general store, it's dank and kind of crappy, but Dae is excited by so many mundane things that she's never seen in her live and tries to buy pretty much everything, but Topknot keeps her from buying too much nonsense.

While the group is shopping, Topknot and Teddy both notice a goblin woman watching them from afar a few times.

The group takes their letter from Dr. Naznarth and sees if that'll let them bypass the line and get into the city proper. They are approached by a guard who identifies himself as Guard LT Trent Coldridge and asks what their business is. He asks them their business and explains that the city is currently on lockdown and they cannot go in. The group notices LT Coldridge has a crest of a range of 3 peaks covered in snow.

Going back into the 9th borough, they again notice the goblin woman watching them and topknot approaches her. The woman introduces herself as Kasandra and says she needs a healer and asks the party to help, then goes into a small house near the walls of the city. Following her inside, they find a very sick and injured gnome who she says is named Alfred Frey and that she has been caring for the gnome the past few weeks. Alfred is well enough to speak and tells the group that he has doesn’t know how long he has been here. He has been coming here for the last few months in secret using the old sewer system to be with the woman who he is in love with. He also says he was attacked by some kind of tree monsters, who were green and slimy. Teddy uses a minor healing spell on him and he feels a bit better, but still seems very ill.

After a long rest, Dae is able to pray to change her spells, and casts a Lesser Restoration on the gnome which seems to remove the cause of the illness, but he still obviously needs some rest. Alfred asks that the party help sneak him back into the city, as walking up to the gate will cause too many questions to be asked. He doesn’t know the city is on lockdown because of him missing.

While Alfred rests, the party spends the next day or so looking for sewer entrances, and most of them are guarded as expected, but the one nearby in the 9th borough just happens to be unguarded.