SC.2.3 Before the Storm

Session Preface

Sleep comes more easily with fewer plates spinning. No longer on the hook to aid the various criminal organizations of city, you collectively set your sights on the task at hand, the Rakshasa terrorizing the city. Invitation to the Liar's Night Masquerade in hand and a near tenday to prepare, you find yourself in the rare position of having a moment to catch your breath and strategize, rather than diving headfirst into the fray.   The next morning brings an early start, the Carpenters', Roofers', & Plaisterers' Guild arriving promptly at sunrise, constructing scaffolding and pulleys just outside. You wake to the grinding of saws against wooden boards, the clanging of metal rods, and the creaking of ropes, along with barked orders and instructions from a crew captain.   Downstairs, you're surprised to see a wooden picnic table with bench seating that's been dragged into the tavern. At it sits Tally in her craftsmen's vest and work trousers, chatting with Rishaal the dragonborn and a new individual, a lanky human wearing a full-length cloak with wild orange curly hair tucked beneath a fedora.   "I know you'll get a whole suite of furniture in here that all matches and makes it proper cozy or what have you, but in the meantime, we needed a place to sit if we were gonna be filling our morning mugs!" Tally says, lifting her coffee cup towards you. The newcomer follows suit, grinning with a toothy smile.   Mya, behind the bar, shrugs and laughs, "I think we're a coffee brewery now. And I guess that makes me a morning person?"   "You could always just give me the keys and teach me how to use that contraption!" Tally says in response, chuckling to herself.  

Session Summary

  The companions spend the tenday preparing for the Liar's Night Masquerade.  

Costumes & Preparation

Endriel commissions his sister, Velgwyn, to create their disguises for the party. Thaust's costume is that of a treant from his childhood, covered in moss and realistic leaves. Hawk decides to attend as Nightinggale, but asks Velgwyn to add further embellishments to his homemade costume. Endriel opts to attend in dark cloaks and a plague doctor's mask.   While working alongside Velgwyn, Endriel is able to attend to her, offering distractions from her present unspoken sadness. They chat, remembering stories from growing up and antics they used to get up to together. Eventually Endriel learns that Velgwyn's partner broke off their relationship, becoming romantic with their co-star in a production Velgwyn is in charge of costuming.  

Renovations

While Hawk and Endriel are out investigating, Thaust stays behind to help with renovations. As a result, he is the only one present when it comes to making decisions about the decor and overall direction of the tavern. Ultimately, he settles on a multi-faceted aesthetic that includes quiet areas near the fireplace, space around the bar for more raucous guests, and a mix of different materials like exposed stone, natural shape wood, and other features. Further, he is in charge of installing the kitchen, designing it specifically for baking pies.  

Investigating Ellian

Sharing another meal with Soveliss, Hawk learns that the entire Ardeep operation has been moved to Waterdeep following coming into a deal of wealth, though he doesn't know the exact details of how. They sponsor a number of rebuilding efforts in the Dock Ward and feeding community members throughout the South Ward. Beyond the city walls, Ellian gives impassioned speeches pushing for a populist movement against the established Lords of Waterdeep. Hawk attends a meeting, observing the speech and the more outlandish Jander's proximity to Ellian as his right-hand man in place of the more measured Father.  

The rulers of Waterdeep are cowards! Hiding in obscurity to determine our fates in the shadows. They claim their secrecy is to prevent corruption, but is not a mask the face of corruption itself? They claim the Masked Lords represent us all, but how would we ever know? We can’t prove it! We must take them at their word and words are worthless without knowing who speaks them.   And in their anonymity, they dole out callous laws and regulations designed only to maintain the status quo! How many of them are punished by fees? Costs you and I could never bear, but that the nobles would spill from their coin purse and never notice the difference! If crimes are punished with fees, they are only crimes for the poor! The rich, the Masked Lords and their friends, act with impunity and we suffer the consequences!   For too long we have allowed the callous cabal of leeches who rule this city to decide our fate, begging for scraps after they’ve cut us off at the knees and told us to be quiet. Wait your turn, they say! Earn your way to the top like I did, they say. They inherited their wealth and our time will never come. Unless we make it!   We will turn our scars into knives and plunge them into the festering heart at the core of this wicked system. We will rise up and take back this city, not for ourselves, but for everyone who calls Waterdeep home! We will cast the current system out into the sea and start anew. A better world is possible and we will make it so.   Down with those who would lord over us from behind a mask! Down with the elites who operate in the shadows, orchestrating events to keep us pinned in poverty! Down with the Masked Lords!

 

Meeting with Mirt

  Endriel meets with Mirt, one of the longest tenured Harpers in the city. Endriel shares his intel on the Zhentarim, Xanathar's, Jarlaxle, and the Crimson Cord. Mirt considers the implications of the shifting power balance and whether the Harpers might need to step in to preserve the Zhentarim, considering them the lesser evil in comparison to a rogue vampire operating from the shadows. When asked about the disappearances within the city, he cannot speak to details, but points Endriel to a few reporters that he keeps in contact with who might be able to help.  

Meeting Neighbors

  While speeding up the renovations around Trollsull Manor, Thaust has the chance to meet a few of their additional neighbors. He formally introduces himself and his companions to Vincent Trench, the fedora-wearing private eye who operates Tiger's Eye. He also meets Fatima and is delighted to be reunited with her nieces and nephew, who traveled with Thaust and Hawk to Waterdeep weeks ago.  

Investigating the Cassalanter Family

  Whether through their past experiences or picking up information around the city in their other work, the party learns the following about the Cassalanters:

• They are a prominent Waterdeep family, dating back several centuries, though they are presumed to not be Masked Lords, or they posture as if they are not for one reason or another
• They fought hard publicly in favor of the anti-magic sentiment in recent years
• They run a money-lending business with interest rates that favor other wealthy families
• Ellian kept them on a short list of families to watch, saying "Coin begets Corruption"
• Victoro, the patriarch, is the son of Caladorn Cassalanter, a former Masked Lord and hero of the North. Victoro's older brother, Romero, was assassinated after it was revealed he was involved in an embellzement scheme with Degault Neverember, the former Open Lord of Waterdeep
• Ammalia, the matriarch, has founded a number of philanthropic societies and made generous donations to temples dedicated to good-aligned deities. They are known to worship Siamorphe, a demigod whose ethos is the nobility's right and responsibility to rule

   

Staking Out Cassalanter Villa

  Hawk and Endriel both take turns investigating Cassalanter Villa, discovering the following details about the property and its residents.   In general, the villa is a walled-off three story property with a stand alone carriage and two-story guest house. Guards patrol the exterior of the wall and maintain a presence at each door. Within the walls, there's an expansive butterfly garden meticulously maintained by Ammalia Cassalanter.  

• In general, the villa is a walled-off three story property with a stand alone carriage and two-story guest house.
• Guards patrol the exterior of the wall and maintain a presence at each door. Within the walls, there's an expansive butterfly garden meticulously maintained by Ammalia Cassalanter.
• Victoro keeps his valuables locked in his office desk
• There's a vault in the basement
• When working on the third floor once, their servants heard horrible screams coming from above them on the roof.
• The servants are periodically asked to gather in one area of the house or another; it’s an open secret that this is done so that the Cassalanters can host secret guests.
• Ammalia is worried sick about her daughter, although they seem in perfect health.
• There’s a secret orgy room under the guest house

 

Investigating Disappearances

  Tracking down Mirt's contacts, Endriel learns that reporters have indeed caught wind of a series of disappearances, but that a prominent member of the Arcane Order has paid all of the broadsheets to remain silent about these events, not wanting to turn the city's sentiment against them. One of the reporters describes a merchant who snuck magic contraband in and then reported it as stolen, only to go missing themselves when the reporter went to follow up on the story.   Speaking to Vincent Trench, Endriel discovers he too is working on a missing person case and is happy to collaborate on it together. In his case, a dwarven widow approached him in hopes of finding her missing son. As Vincent's learned, her son had inherited his father's magical Ring of Stoneshaping. Vincent's investigation revealed that the dwarf had a gambling problem and unpaid debts. He had coordinated with a known Zhentarim fence to sell the ring to pay off the coin he owed. Instead, he and the fence alike went missing, the ring gone as well.