Adventures of Malric 05

04/01/872

Malric Kindhell found himself embroiled in a dire situation when Tharivol Dalanthanis, the elven second mate of The Sundancer, was unjustly taken during shore leave in Vuudrav's Landing, a bustling port city nestled along the Southeastern coast of Wildemount. Tharivol had been cleaning house at The Sultry Coin, a lavish gambling hall in the Lantern District, when he was accused of cheating by Ulrath Draz'Valorr, an influential Draconblood noble from Xarzith Kitril. The accusation, though baseless, was followed by swift and brutal action; Ravenite guards in Ulrath’s employ shackled Tharivol and dragged him away. Malric received word of this injustice from Randy, the ship’s goblin cook and Tharivol’s gambling companion, and wasted no time rallying his companions: Naelira Tyne, a half-elf ranger, Dazhra, a stoic half-orc warrior, and Randy himself.

The Sultry Coin

Upon informing Captain Solaris aboard The Sundancer, Malric and his party were given a stern warning: the ship would depart in 48 hours with or without Tharivol, or them. With little time and no political backing in Vuudrav’s Landing, Malric and his allies vowed to retrieve their friend by any means necessary. Their first step brought them back to The Sultry Coin, which was closed until evening. However, the velvet-waistcoated halfling gatekeeper demanded a bribe for early entry. Dazhra, ever the blunt instrument, simply moved the halfling aside, and the group entered the opulent and quiet establishment.

Inside, they found Jossin, a jittery young dealer who revealed the truth: Tharivol had been winning fair and square, but Ulrath, likely motivated by pride and deeper schemes, framed him. Jossin, under pressure, admitted Ulrath controlled much of the black market between Vuudrav’s Landing and Xarzith Kitril, and his private guards often made "troublemakers" disappear without question.

Their clandestine investigation was interrupted by the appearance of Nyra Vell, the commanding and graceful tiefling madam of The Sultry Coin. She offered them tea and a proposition in a private backroom. With a calm demeanor and a keen eye for opportunity, Nyra revealed that Ulrath and his puppet, Kessik Vallmark, ran an elite, demon-themed gambling house at the top of the cliffs: The Devil’s Grin. Kessik had stolen thousands of gold from Nyra to fund the operation, and Ulrath, suspected of demonic worship and humanoid sacrifice, had deeper and more sinister ambitions. Nyra’s sources indicated that Tharivol was likely taken as a sacrifice - another tribute in Ulrath’s growing power. Malric’s group now faced a grave and time-sensitive decision: help Nyra humiliate her enemies and recover her stolen wealth, and in return, gain the means to infiltrate Ulrath’s fortress-like mansion and rescue their comrade.

Malric accepted the job, understanding the risks but seeing no better path forward. The plan was both audacious and elegant: infiltrate The Devil’s Grin during the final night of a grand tournament, steal a golden statuette of Tiamat which was meant as the tournament’s grand prize, and retrieve the seven thousand gold coins stolen from Nyra by Kessik. With these, Nyra would grant them secret entry into Ulrath’s estate while the noble attended the festivities at The Devil's Grin. She provided Malric with a magically concealed bag of holding that would be undetectable within the casino’s enchanted perimeter, and warned them sternly against placing anything else inside other than the seven thousand gold and the Tiamat statue, as she is the only one with the ability to open the bag. She also conjured an image of Kessik and Ulrath, as well as Tomlin, her agent embedded within the casino, who would provide them with disguises and access credentials, so that they would recognize them. She cautioned that The Devil’s Grin, despite the sinister associations, is a legitimate business, and as such, its guests and staff, mostly innocents, should not be harmed.

The Devil's Grin

The plan was for Malric and Naelira to be disguised as staff, with Naelira donning a horned headband to pass as a tiefling, and Dazhra to pose as a rich noble and gambler. The team ascended to The Devil’s Grin aboard a brumestone-powered gondola. The casino, carved into the cliff face, loomed like a monstrous maw, with its entrance shaped like the jagged fangs of a devil. Inside, they were greeted by a man theatrically playing the role of Charon, ferrying them across a manmade river to the gambling floor. The cavernous interior of the casino stretched hundreds of feet, alive with noise, music, and flickering lights, a stark contrast to the silence of The Sultry Coin. Malric, with Naelira at his side, found Tomlin by the bar and used the prearranged passphrase. True to his word, Tomlin provided staff uniforms and a magical access pass to Malric, giving him the tools he needed to begin reconnaissance behind the scenes, while Naelira worked the bar and Dazhra scoped out the tournament area.

With Ulrath in attendance and his mansion minimally guarded, the window for action was open, but narrowing. The group had 10 hours before the tournament is concluded and the Tiamat statue was awarded - little time to pull off a heist in a den full of civilians, criminals, illusions, and power games, which left little time to both steal the goods, return them to Nyra, and rescue Tharivol from Ulrath's mansion before he returns.

The plan was set: Dazhra would case the tournament room where the Tiamat status was on display, Naelira would act as a waitress at the bar as it's the most central location, and Malric will use the magic pass to explore the employee area and assess access to the vault, and everyone would reconvene in twenty minutes with their findings. After which, they would devise the heist strategy to secure both the statue and the gold. Only then could they hope to retrieve Tharivol from the grasp of the powerful noble whose ambitions may be rooted in the darkest depths of demonic pacts - a threat that could reach far beyond the back alleys of Vuudrav’s Landing and into the heart of Xarzith Kitril itself. But Malric Kindhell had faced long odds before, and this time, the stakes were nothing less than a friend’s life… and the unraveling of something far more sinister brewing in the shadows of power.