Session 32 – Last Day In The City Of Xanathar

You awaken on the 27th of Primus, after having dealt with the messy business of hiring a necromancer to allow Feebs to speak with the corpse of his old village nemesis, Kraq.

Over breakfast, Mutaa expresses his pleasure that the shipment he was waiting for has arrived at the docks so by end of day it will be loaded and ready to go so the caravan will leave tomorrow as planned. “Don’t be late!”, he admonishes. “We leave at dawn tomorrow with or without you.”

Not having heard anything from the street urchin known as Dodge yet regarding the whereabouts of the renegade Drow, Mothalden, you decide to go out looking for him yourself. Besides, you need to do a bit of shopping anyway, and how could you resist exploring the infamous Xanathar City while you are here.

So, Gunkyn breaks out his disguise kit, since he has already had one experience with someone recognizing him and mention that they were surprised he had risked coming back here, and make himself up as stable hand most convincingly and off you go into the city.

Strolling through the west side of the inner portion of the city, past occult shops and various other vendors, you spot a familiar looking top-hat in the crowd. It seems Dodge is up to his normal lively hood of picking pockets and pilfering the occasional piece of fruit.

The throngs of people clearly have noticed Sylbella, as a ten-foot tall, green-skinned Firbolg in a dessert town, is kind of hard not to notice. This proves to be just the distraction Gunkyn needs to get behind Dodge and strike up a conversation. Alas, he has not spotted Mothalden himself but reports that he has been seen entering the Casino – not just any casino, but THE Casino – the Palace of Xanathar, the huge golden spire that dominates the center of the city. A place you have to know someone to get inside.

For now you choose to head closer to the docks as reportedly the money changers there are less likely to cheat you (since they know better than to piss of sailors and pirates that may be in port). It is also the best place to find the freshest choices of fish and fruits, coming right off the boats. You exchange miscellaneous gems and coin for diamonds (600gp worth) for future considerations of learning spells that allow for resurrection, as well as a few extra weeks’ worth of foodstuffs to keep in the bag of holding – getting lost in the desert with no food and water once was enough. Feebs also finds a Scroll of Find Familiar so he can copy the spell into his spellbook.

From there you decide to stake out the eastern most entrance to Xanathar Palace in hopes of spotting Mothalden. One thing you really notice, now that you are explicitly looking at the Casino is the ten globe-like windows near the top of the tower. Feebs happens to notice that occasionally one can see movement, as thought there are people stationed in each window, looking out over the whole of the city in every direction.

While waiting for any sign of Mothalden coming or going from the Casino, you once again spot a familiar top-hat in the crowd. Once again Gunkyn uses his skills to get behind Dodge and being a conversation.

This time Dodge reports that Mothalden was seen leaving the city this morning out of the north gate – somehow you managed to miss him entirely! Since it is clear that he has left the city, you make your way back to the Jewel of the Desert Shipping and Caravan Company to prepare for tomorrow’s departure.

The next morning, the caravan starts the twelve to fourteen day journey to the Library of the Cobalt Soul. But as luck would have it, a mere half-day out of Xanathar City you are attacked by a band of berserkers.

They are fairly easily dealt with but not without Gunkyn and Feebs both sustain injury – that is when you realize you did not buy a single potion of healing when you had the chance. Hopefully the first planned major stop at a Caravanserai called Arbuzum in a few days will give you another chance to stock up on those.