Living in Waterdeep - Part 3

With the enormous threat of a dragon looming overhead, the party had little choice but to attempt to make an escape, or else give themselves up – the latter of which they expected would lead to executions. However, they did not have long to make a plan, as a small number of Warforged soldiers entered the building and began searching each of the rooms. Kyrune, Dex and Milo exited the basement first, attempting to pave a way out for Flo, Tamas and the Prince. Dex and Kyrune would place themselves on either side of a doorway, and when one of the soldiers approached the room, Milo would catch it’s attention. Once the guard ran through the door to attack or arrest him, the other two would be able to take it by surprise. Using this method, they successfully defended the building from Pelias’s troops – however, they still required a means to escape the dragon.

Flo surmised that if they could get to the river, swimming underwater could provide an effective cover from the acid-breath of the dragon. Unfortunately, this plan required that someone draw the dragon’s attention while the others made a break through the 30 foot gap between the building and the river. It seemed unlikely that any form of attack from the street could successfully keep the others safe – however, spotting the holes in the rooftop, as well as an adjacent building which was taller still, the party put together a plan.

Milo was the first to walk out into the open air, hoping that his elfin heritage would spare him any immediate wrath or retribution on Pelias’s part. He cried out
“We have taken out the guards you sent in to arrest us. If you want to take us in to custody, you’ll have to come down here and get us.”
Pelias’s face, no longer covered by the ornate mask, became one of cautious amusement. He seemed to be considering his options, not wanting to land on the ground and lose his dragon’s advantage of being airborne. He did however, reduce altitude, circling closer overhead than before. Kyrune stepped out of the building following this, and upon seeing he was unarmed, Pelias was convinced of his victory. He steered the dragon down to the crest of the building’s roof, but before it could land, the plan came into action. Kyrune’s blade appeared in his outstretched, empty hands – his arcane magic allowing him to summon it at will – and he struck at the dragon’s underside with all of his might. In the same second Dex, who had used Milo and Kyrune’s distraction to climb onto the roof of the adjacent building, jumped onto the dragon’s back, and began slashing wildly at it while crawling up towards its neck and head, where Pelias perched. The blows were not deep or fatal, but were nevertheless sudden and surprising enough to cause the dragon to screech and cough thicks gout of acid bile. Milo attempted to dodge, but was hit on his right side, his mail giving way to burning liquid which tore at and ignited the flesh of his arm. The noise of its sizzling was just about audible, under the chaos of Milo’s pained cries, Pelias’s rage-fuelled shouts, the beat of wings as the dragon began ascending once more, escaping Kyrune’s violent slashes and spells.

Flo burst into the street at full speed, tackling Milo and knocking him with her into the river, immediately swimming with the current to get the two of them as far from the battle as possible. On top of the dragon, Dex struck at Pelias with his daggers, but wasn’t certain whether he had merely glanced with them, or whether Pelias was somehow protecting himself from attack – the only thing he was certain of was that for some reason the blades failed to sink in to the Eladrin flesh. While swinging back for a second strike, he heard a smirk – Pelias turned and looked him in the eyes, and suddenly Dex was alone on the beast. Taking his opportunity, he scurried up to the dragon’s head, and held his blade high in the air, intending to blind the creature while it was still distracted with Kyrune’s offensive from below. However, by this point the Shadar-Kai’s attacks were waning, as the several large droplets of acid that had been attempting to ignore cut deeper and deeper into his neck and arms and chest, and the dragon finally managed to gain the altitude to pull out of his physical reach.

At this moment, Tamas fled - the Prince taking shelter under his arm – out into the open air. The dragon, spotting the halfling’s blade about to blind it as well as multiple targets below, made a drastic move, and plummeted from the air once more, intentionally crashing to the ground and the edge of the building. With the sudden force of movement, Dex’s blade sunk into the side of the dragon’s eye, but failed to blind it. The Halfling fell from the beast’s back and hit the ground with a painful thud, while the three people on the street were all suddenly hit with the explosive force of several tonnes of dragon. Tamas and the Prince were thrown clear of the street, landing completely unconscious in the river. While Kyrune remained barely conscious, he forced his eyes to remain open, willed his body to function just long enough to drag Dex, who was also out cold, and himself into the river waters, and escape before the dragon arose once more from the rubble it had flung itself into. As he began to flow downstream with Dex in one arm, his eyes facing up towards the sky, he caught a final glimpse of  two figures standing on the nearby bridge, watching him. He imagined he heard a whisper, in a deep, Drow accent…
“You are strong enough. An ideal candidate for our needs…”
And then there was sleep.

It was late in the evening by the time they awoke. The sun was setting, and the sky of Waterdeep was afire with oranges and reds and pinks. Flo, being the only one still conscious and unharmed of the adventurers, had followed the current until she found a tunnel which she expected was either a sewer or, given the river was flowing into it, rather than vice-versa, a storm drain. Here she waited for the others to come down the river flow, and finding each of them unconscious, she towed them into the shelter of this tunnel. She examined and tended to each of their wounds with the help of a numb, yet reasonably stable Milo. Once everyone was awake and patched up, she asked a simple, yet significant question.

“What happened to the Prince?”

He had never come down the river with the rest of them. Because the other three were all unconscious when they came down the river, and particularly because of the severity of Kyrune’s wounds, she assumed that they had failed to fight off Pelias, and that Ro’liath was captured. While all three of Dex, Kyrune and Tamas reported their last memories being of Tamas and the Prince hitting the water, they could offer no explanation as to where the Prince had disappeared to.

“This is just typical. Doesn’t make any sense,” came the belligerent tone in Dex’s voice. “Tamas, you were supposed to keep an eye on him.”
The Deva’s face darkened, but it was Flo who responded.
“You just wanted whatever it was he stole. Anything of value, that’s all you’re interested in. It’s a fine line you’re straddling, between Ioun and Vecna, you know.”
With those words, complete silence fell among them. The following seconds felt like hours, stretched out by tension, completely silent but for the sound of the shin-high water trickling around them, moving deeper into the tunnel.

“Wha-t?”
“You’re a follower of Ioun, aren’t you? You grew up believing in her, pushing to acquire and spread knowledge? But you needed to make a living, and you got into thieving, and suddenly it was gold you were acquiring, and you certainly weren’t willing to spread much of that. So now you’re a hoarder. You want more for you, but you’re less interested in other people.”
Silence fell again. Flo maintained an heir of indignation, offering no explanation for her sudden outburst and, beneath it all, feeling slightly embarrassed about spilling a comrade’s personal history in front of others. After another hour-long-several-seconds, Tamas looked directly at Flo.
“You’re a psychic.”
“Yes.”
“Well thank you, for that, then. I appreciate you sticking up for me, but as you can probably imagine yourself this only raises more problems than it solves.”
The five of them sat in the water, staring at one another, nervous expressions on Tamas and Dex’s face in particular.

“I don’t see the problem,” Milo spoke suddenly. “She’s obviously on our side, I mean she could have let any or all of us drown in the river. Instead, we’re all here, and we’re all recovering, except for Ro’liath, and I can vouch for her that he didn’t pass this way. And we have bigger problems at the moment than some embarrassing talk about what religion we belong to. I mean, we are most likely, right now, being hunted by a dragon.”
Kyrune and Dex nodded. Tamas seemed pensive momentarily, but shrugged and stood up.
“I’m exclusively devoted to the Elfin Spirits, by the way, so no trying to convert me,” Milo added.
The others grinned, standing up alongside Tamas.
“Let’s just head on,” sighed Flo.

Living in Waterdeep - Part 2

As the five adventurers joined the crowd rallying around the Goldenspire palace, Milo’s attention was immediately drawn to the strange mask which covered the lower half of Pelias’ face as he spoke. While Flo pointed out that it may have been the source of the magic which allowed his voice to echo throughout the surrounding streets, or that he may simply be wearing it for ceremonial reasons, Milo was put off by its unusual appearance. It was polished silver, with intricate carvings like weaving branches of leaves moving across it, brushed in toward a small dark slit no bigger than a coin, over his mouth. Not one of them had ever seen an ornament like it before.

His speech did not bear any new information, yet it was powerful, desperately passionate and stirring. While Milo needed little convincing to side against the Drow, even the rest of the party found themselves moved by his words - though not to the extent of the crowds around them. People of all races were queuing to sign themselves up to the cause, being given tags to indicate their allegiance, as well as the promise of weapons, armour and training within the coming days. Standing to the side of the lines, Dex spotted two Drow men, wearing long cloaks and dark hoods to hide as much of their features as they could. As he pointed them out to the others, Milo made eye contact with the taller of the two. He was a thin man, with sharp features, whose skin looked tight on his gaunt cheeks. When their eyes met, he flashed a grin, exposing sharp, pointed teeth. Milo swore under his breath, but decided that if Pelias was vouching for them, then he would withhold his contempt.

The crowd were still pouring towards the stand moments later, after the speeches had died down. Pelias was mingling with the crowd personally now, occasionally making sweeping gestures towards the colossus that stood nearby. Staring up at the monstrous warforged, a shape caught Tamas’ eye. The silhouette of a small figure was clearly visible in the upstairs window of a nearby building. The figure was shrouded completely in darkness, though the Deva thought he saw, just briefly, a glimmer or shine in one of its eyes. At that precise moment, he felt a tug deep within him - right down in his soul. The silhouette vanished as the person in the building fled, and Tamas knew, instinctively that he must follow.

As he began tearing himself through the crowd, a horn was heard booming out over the city streets, and a cry was heard from the smaller of the Drow figures.
“There! The fugitive! Guards!”
Immediately presuming he had been recognized, Dex fled in the same direction of Tamas, with the others following after despite not knowing what had stirred up the sense of urgency. As they reached the door of the building in which the figure was seen, Tamas quickly explained that he had seen someone suspicious and was attempting to give chase. At that moment, a group of five warforged soldiers caught up to them and, when they merely asked Dex to move out of the way rather than attempting to arrest him, he immediately switched on his Halfling charms.
“Certainly officers. We would never impede an investigation for such heinous criminal acts as…?”
“Theft of items belonging to the royal family,” one of them stated gruffly, as they disappeared into the building.

Flo and Milo were just breaking out of the crowd with Kyrune, who offered the grinning Dex a knowing look. Tamas turned to them.
“I don’t know why, but I just know that we have to catch up to that criminal. There’s something important about him.”
Seeing Flo and Milo’s cynical expressions, he added
“Look, Deva just know things sometimes, alright? It comes with the territory.”
Dex looked at Kyrune.
“Royal treasure and possible reward for capturing a fugitive? All sounds important to me.” With that, Kyrune grabbed the Halfling by the waist and threw him into the air, where he pulled himself in through the open upstairs window. Turning to the others the Shadar-Kai stated simply “take either side of the house – leave no direction for him to escape,” before running in the door.
Milo shrugged, and took off down an alley to the right of the building, followed by Tamas, while Flo ran off to the left hand side.

Indoors, the warforged turned as they heard Kyrune coming up the stairwell after them. Immediately a cloaked used this distraction to leap past them, out another window at the rear of the house, followed swiftly by Dex. As one of the constructs shouted “After them!” Kyrune brandished a sphere of flame magic, shouting “Not if I get them first!”

The chase was on. Seeing a dark figure, followed by Dex, followed by an eruption of fire all bursting forth from an upstairs window, the others gave chase from the streets. Hearing a heavy sound, Flo turned her head to see Kyrune running behind her, while crying out insulting calls and general obscenities to the guards that were stumbling in pursuit themselves. As two of them hit street level and chased he and Flo, she began knocking over nearby bins, loose bits and pieces of wood, anything she passed to slow her pursuers down. Kyrune followed her lead and did likewise, as well as casting minor fire spells on any of the more flammable materials to further slow the guards.

In the street running parallel at the other side, Milo spotted some stacked crates just ahead of him. Running full pelt, he lept as high as he could, catching the top crate and using it as a springboard up onto the rooftops that Dex and the cloaked figure were now dashing across. Meanwhile, Tamas spotted a single one of the constructs gaining distance behind him. With the final two warforged giving chase across the rooftops, he concocted a plan to take out two birds with one stone – just as one of them was leaping from one roof to another, he cast out a strand of divine magic to pull at its iron-body. Rather than landing firmly on the next building, its velocity dramatically decreased in the air, causing it to collide with the edge of the roof, and fall sideways towards the street. Tamas successfully took off ahead of the warforged figures as the one in pursuit of him collapsed over its fallen comrade and the two became entangled.

Up on the buildings, the cloaked figure was still firmly ahead of Dex and Milo, who were being pursued by the final remaining warforged. Despite hurling several shuriken back at him, Dex was unable to lose the tail, while Milo was incapable of firing his bow backwards and maintaining his forward momentum simultaneously. However, the end of the rooftops loomed ahead, as the party were rapidly approaching the river separating the Pisc Isle from the Tartarus. The figure sprung from the final rooftop into the open air. Dex and Milo followed suit, merely as a matter of instinct, and finally, the construct made the leap of faith. Flo, Kyrune and Tamas all reached the river in time to see the four figures plunge into its waters. Seconds later, the cloaked figure pulled itself laboriously out on the other side, and, clearly weighed down by its drenched clothing, dragged itself with an injured briskness into a ruined building on the bank. Dex and Milo pulled themselves also, coughing and spluttering.
The warforged, likely due to its stone and metal construction, did not resurface.

Tamas was the first to enter the decrepit building. The ceiling was caved in at various points, and much of the inside rooms – particularly beneath the gaps – was charred and stank of a bile, smoldering smell. In a small side room, he found a trap door opened, and he followed down into a basement. It was completely filled with books and scrolls, piled onto shelves and stuffed into drawers which were packed beyond the point of closing. At the back, huddled under the shadow of a looming bookcase and wrapped in a soaked cloak sat a boy, small and thin, and probably only in his mid-teens.

“I won’t hurt you. I just want to ask you a few questions,” Tamas stated, as calmly as possible. “I’m not one of those warforged. I’m not some guard. I’m a Deva. You can trust me.”

The boy huddled himself up further, but seemed to realize he was surrounded. Lifting his head, Tamas saw he was human, was badly injured, and had a particularly striking wound around his left eye, although the eye itself was covered over with a bloodstained bandage. “Ro’liath,” the child said nervously. “I’m Prince Ro’liath. Please… help me.”

The party followed Tamas down to the room, but gave the Deva and the Prince space – the boy reacting poorly any time one of the others got too close to him. He explained to Tamas that he had been injured by the last Dragon attack, and was trapped under wreckage for several days. When he did finally escape and seek help, and saw Pelias’s Warforged for the first time, they proclaimed him a fraud and ran at him aggressively. Instinctually he fled, and had since been afraid to show his face. He learned from eavesdropping at various places that Pelias declared the Prince dead, that there was a criminal bearing his likeness who was to be captured at all costs, and that some treasure of the royal family had been stolen by this imposter, and its recovery was considered even more important than capturing the fugitive alive.

Before any of the party could respond to this point – Dex in particular itching to know what the treasure may be – something was heard booming out over the building. The voice of Pelias rang in the air after it, proclaiming
“We have found you. Come out now, hand over the treasure, and you may be spared from senselessness of an execution. There is no need for bloodshed or death here.”
As the Prince curled up in fear, Milo moved upstairs to take a look outside.
“Guys, we’ve got a bigger concern here,” came his voice, somewhat frantically.
“Pelias is… he’s mounted on top of the dragon.”