11 - 9/13/21 : You Bet Your Life

In-game date: 7th-8th of Freyrmond, 3521     During the afternoon of the 7th of Freyrmond, each member of the Red Spirits returned to Troll Skull Manor around the same time. As they approached, they noticed that the manor was no longer swarming with repairmen, and that the reconstruction had been completed. As they entered the manor, Lif greeted them and suggested they pick rooms for themselves.   Yilani chanced upon and spoke to the Rat Catchers who seemed upset that they failed their latest quest to catch a squirrel for her. Yilani encouraged them, and gives them a 'sidequest' to catch a live fish for her (in truth a planned peace offering for Violet). Reilly fashioned a magical fishing rod with her artificing abilities to aid in this endeavor. Excited with their new gig, the Rat Catchers scrambled to their new adventure.   Lif announced to the party that visitors had arrived, prompting them to return downstairs. Yilani took the lead in welcoming their guests, and was surprised to see Raeziel Ramrider and Ziraj the Hunter, who appeared distressed and paranoid. Raeziel informed the Red Spirits that Skeemo Weirdbottle had turned traitor for the Scions of Black Hearts, selling out his fellows in the Doom Raiders by giving proof of their illicit dealings to the City Watch and rendering all of the Doom Raiders wanted fugitives. Given that Lacky and Yilani had yet to establish any sort of criminal enterprises in association with the Doom Raiders, they were exempt from this fallout.   The Doom Raiders all split to protect each other from association, with only Raeziel and Ziraj sticking together because their destinations were in the same place. Raeziel pleaded with Yilani to let her lay low at Troll Skull Manor for the time being. In return, she offered 15 platinum pieces and her service as a worker at the tavern (in disguise). Yilani explained that she would need to consult her companions first before making any decisions.   Back upstairs, Yilani spoke with the others regarding Raeziel's proposition. Megumi saw value in having Raeziel as an ally, while Brooke disliked getting involved in gang warfare, and Reilly still had a negative opinion of Raeziel from their prior entanglement. Ziraj's presence also brought up questions for Reilly, seeing as she suspected Ziraj would seek shelter with Fala. Reilly asked to speak with Ziraj before making any decisions.   Reilly confronted Ziraj and asked for his intentions; he plainly stated that he would seek shelter with Fala, his long-time friend and former partner. Reilly countered this intention, offering him and Raeziel the option of staying at Troll Skull Manor in exchange for not going to Fala at all in order to keep them from getting involved. Ziraj agreed to this, and Reilly returned to her party to communicate her acceptance of the situation.   With everyone either on-board with the idea or at least begrudgingly accepting, the party returned to inform Raeziel and Ziraj that they would be allowed to stay, as long as they kept their presence concealed. Raeziel agreed, but informed the party that there was one last thing she had to take care of before going to ground; Davil's final order.   Davil's last directive before making his own escape from the law was simple; Skeemo betrayed the family, and he had to pay with his life. Preferably in a way that looked like an accident; Skeemo was likely a hero to the City Watch for turning on his companions, and if his death were to be linked back to the Doom Raiders, it would likely compound their legal troubles even further. Raeziel offered to compensate the party for their assistance in this matter, and though some misgivings were had, the party was able to come to a compromise over accompanying Raeziel for the hit. Raeziel suggested they leave immediately and led the party to the Trades Ward, where Skeemo's shop "Weirdbottle Concoctions" was located.   The party and Raeziel managed to approach the shop stealthily and took stock of the situation with their superior perceptive abilities. It seemed that Skeemo was intending to depart his store while hidden inside a cart, with several Scion thugs waiting to fire at potential pursuers from the rooftops. The party set their ambush off and sprung into action, with Megumi in her Karma alias slaying the driver of the cart while Yilani, Brooke, and Reilly took to the rooftops to eliminate the crossbowmen.   Skeemo attempted to flee the scene while the thugs occupied the party, by use of the Fly spell. However, Megumi was able to reactively stab Skeemo in the ankle and interrupt his concentration, breaking the spell and bringing him to ground. Skeemo's next move was to try to conceal himself by use of the Greater Invisibility spell, but Yilani's snake form afforded her a measure of blindsense and allowed her to lash out at him, bringing him down to unconsciousness.   After the party finished cleaning up the rest of the thugs, they stabilized and woke Skeemo to interrogate him. Raeziel asked Skeemo for the reasons behind his betrayal, to which Skeemo replied that he simply took a gamble on the power and wealth offered to him by the Scions of Black Hearts. His dream of a life of dominance in the Underdark overruled his loyalty to his family in the Doom Raiders, but he underestimated Raeziel's determination and lost his gamble.   The party was unable to get much information out of Skeemo, and turned him over to Raeziel to deal with. Raeziel dragged Skeemo to the nearby canals as he pleaded for his life; ignoring his cries, Raeziel forced Skeemo underwater and held him there until he drowned. Raeziel concluded that plenty of people drowned in Revelmoore's canals at night, and that it would be sufficient enough to throw the watch off their trail. With their grim work done, the party quickly canvassed Skeemo's store and returned to Troll Skull Manor before the guard could arrive.   Briefly after the party's departure, Urstul Floxin and Yorn surveyed the carnage, regarding it as a regrettable but acceptable loss. They too departed before the watch arrived.   Back at Troll Skull Manor, Raeziel thanked the party with an additional payment of 40 platinum coins. They then went over the items they acquired from both Skeemo's store and corpse; an enchanted, triangular brass amulet bearing the icon of a star globe, as well as a letter stamped with the wax seal of House Gralhund. Reilly was able to determine that the amulet was a Way-Amulet, a token required to bypass a specific magical barrier, though the particular barrier was unknown to them. This was likely Skeemo's key to whatever location he wanted to escape to.   The letter was discovered to be enciphered, and Megumi was able to partially translate it with her knowledge of Thieves' Cant. She was able to read most of the letter, although a proper noun referring to a "Stone of" something was too difficult and specific for her to translate.   “Many-Eyes holds the Stone of [???].
Unknown if it holds any of the eyes.
May be time to go undercover and play the turncoat to find the Stone.
May the hand guide you.”   The party cross-referenced their findings with the details from Lacky's dream, in which the masked drow known as "The Exile" held a brass star globe similar to the icon on the Way-Amulet. Pooling their clues together, they came to realize that The Exile was in fact Veszaltyrr Oussndar, the near-mythic founder of the Black Network who went missing 300 years ago, and that he had returned to lead the Scions of Black Hearts in an effort to recapture his original vision for the organization.   This revelation shocked Raeziel and rendered her both apologetic and distraught; she had previously thought that Urstul Floxin, previously a friend and comrade in the Doom Raiders, was the founder of the Scions of Black Hearts. However, the revelation of Veszaltyrr’s interference made too much sense for her to disregard. She believed there was no way to surmount the might of a wizard right out of myth now that they were involved with his schemes. However, the party decided that they would fight back to protect their home and their friends, and that they needed to share the information with their allies; namely Renaer and High Dragon Solauvaire.   The party visited Renaer's home of Brandath Manor just after midnight, where they were greeted by a servant of the house. This struck them as odd since Renaer usually saw to his own affairs. When Renaer arrived wearing a robe bearing the Ambermantle crest, the party knew something was off. The door was closed behind them, and the false Renaer showed his true colors as a Yuan-Ti infiltrator before attacking the party.