Session #19

This session began on Tarsakh 27, 1492 DR (April 28).  In attendance were Aeoth (Paladin), Gwydion (Bard), Valian Lightfingers (Rogue), and Fradd (Rogue).

The party began the session by wanting to follow up on their lead from last session--and hopefully figure out a way to infiltrate Xanathar's Lair and recover/ steal(?) the Stone of Golor.  There was some discussion about the best way to go about doing this.  Several people wanted to speak with contacts in the Xanathar's guild, or contacts in the Black Network (Zhentarim).  After some discussion, the party decided against talking with these NPCs because they didn't want to inadvertently give away any hard-won information they had obtained about the Stone of Golor (which they knew was or had been--at least on Tarsakh 20th--in Xanathar's possession in his secret lair).

So instead, the party decided their best lead would be to head back to the Xanathar's Lair outpost which they cleared out on Tarsakh 20th, and hopefully find some new clues there.

The party headed into the sewers of Waterdeep, and unfortunately stumbled on a group of Spawn (or Sons) of Kyuss--which are super-tough regenerating zombies, that are completely infested with worms, and can convert people into Sons of Kyuss very quickly.  The encounter was going pretty rough for the party--and it was looking like the night would end in disappointment with a TPK.  So I did something I don't usually do, and checked for another encounter (figuring that adding a hostile wouldn't make the situation WORSE, but adding a neutral or friendly encounter was probably the only way they would get out of the sewers alive).

The dice favored the party.  My encounter check came up positivize, and my roll on the sewers encounter table indicated that a group of Vampire Spawn was in the area.  As much as the party might see themselves as "barely-associates" or "part-time contractors," the vampire lord of the city sees them as a valuable asset, and reliable mercenary help.  So the vampire spawn came to the aid of the party--while the paladin and bard used some quick thinking and magic to keep Valian from turning into a Son of Kyuss.

After the encounter, all of the PCs wanted to get out of the dungeons and find some place to hole up for a bit.  Preferably someplace SAFE, but they ended up getting an invitation from Medechai--the Medusa/seneschal of the Baron of Blood--to rest and recuperate as honored guests of the Baron in an undisclosed location somewhere beneath the city.  And given their situation, they were not in a good position to say "no."  So they accepted.  She then told them that they would have to wear blindfolds on their trip to this lair (presumably one of the Baron's hiding places in the city)--which they also accepted.  But everyone was trying to glean as much information about their whereabouts and how to get back to this places as they could--only Gywdion succeeded, if I recall correctly.

When they arrived they were shown into the dining room of a well furnished apartment.  There was a sumptious meal already laid out for them, and four beds in the adjoining apartments.  As soon as the Medusa left, they set about checking the food for poison, and purifying it before eating or touching anything.  Apparently, the Baron didn't want to kill any of them, because the food was fine.  The group then started to rest, and left Fradd the Rogue on first watch.  Well what would you know, but the Baron himself showed up then, and Fradd failed his wisdom save--so he was charmed.  The Baron then invited the rogue to come with him for a bit to talk. At the end of their conversation, the Baron cast geas on Fradd--requiring him to come ALONE to meet with him or his representative every week to provide a short oral summary of the party's plans and doings.  The Baron also told Fradd that he was not allowed to tell the party about these meetings, or the fact that Fradd met with the Baron this evening.

So the party woke up, none the wiser (the players know), and continued onwards to the abandoned Xanathar's Lair.  When they arrived, I checked to see if the Lair had been repopulated from Tarsakh 20th to Tarsakh 28th--and the dice said "Yes."  A quick check of the encounter table showed that a Lamia had moved into the abandoned lair, along with 5 or 6 jackleweres, and 9 human "mind-slaves" (two of which were pretty high level).  The party scouted a little bit, discovered that something had moved into the abandoned Xanathar's lair, and then attacked.

The rogues went for a quick kill--and knocked the Lamia down to about 1/4 of her health--before she managed to get away from them and put most of her minions in the way.  The Paladin went for the finishing blow, casting "Moonbeam" which was really lethal--since the Lamia is a shapechanger (until this point, she looked like a beautiful but cruel human woman).  Unfortunately before she died, she commanded all of her "mind-slaves" to kill the party--and since they were all also under the effects of geas--they kept fighting when she died (because geas isn't dispelled by the death of the caster).  This turned into a really long fight--probably the longest one I've run in the campaign so far.  It was unfortunate, because if it wasn't for her mental magic, some of the minions would have surrendered a lot earlier.

After the fight, the party checked the lair for clues about where Xanathar's main base/secret lair is located.  But they didn't find anything new--there's a magic circle there that requires a key to open (which the party doesn't have since the Mind Flayer took it with him when he fled from combat last week [Tarsakh/April 20th]).

I think the party was kind of disappointed by this session.  The fights were both very difficult, and there wasn't a ton of new information, or valuables they gained (the Lamia did have a small treasure horde with her).  We shall see what they get up to next session (Mirtul/May 4th).