Quiet as a mouse ....

The party left towards the end of the day, hoping to arrive nearer dusk and let bad light cover their actions. Driving boldly along the main streets, they only encountered a single patrol and brazened their way through with the planned cover story. Slowing as they passed the east wall of the estate, Faweh slid from the rear of the wagon onto the wall, whilst Kaddim-sul boosted Neebin up, to aid him into the grounds. Pausing briefly to check the interior was quiet, Faweh dropped to the inside of the wall and settled to observe the mansion and grounds properly, with Neebin beside him.

All was quiet, a few outbuildings showed little sign of use and the grounds appeared neglected; the mansion itself was dark, showing no lights or activity from within. Cautioning Neebin to remain by the wall, Faweh set off to scout round the property. Circling the grounds he passed a single doorway at the rear, maybe a utility or kitchen access, whilst the gates at the front of the estate were partly open - enough to allow pedestrian access - though checking the main doors to the mansion house, he found them locked. Moving to a nearby window, he also saw the drapes were firmly pulled to cover them completely, though any reasonable light inside would still show through odd gaps, as he was so close.

Returning to Neebin, they prepared to leave the grounds, the others had circled round the area and on the next pass by the wall, the two members inside slipped back over and regained the inside of the wagon again. Faweh explained what he had discovered and they decided to leave the wagon, to return and explore the inside of the mansion. Finding a side court close to the front gates of the Bloodmire estate, they parked the wagon and arranged the goods as though in the middle of a delivery, before slinking off towards their target.

Entering through the main gates this time, the party circled to the rear door and Faweh let them inside the mansion building; moving carefully inside he found himself in the kitchens as he expected. Using a shuttered lantern for faint light, he moved into the main hallway, whilst the others stayed in the safety of the empty kitchen. Finding doors to each side and the grand staircase leading up behind him, he moved to the right-hand doors first; cracking them open he listened carefully.

Hearing faint shuffling steps from deeper inside, he let a little more light escape the lantern to reveal a bulky human shape. Finding a few pebbles in his pocket, Faweh bounced a couple off the being causing it to turn and move his way. Staring into the sallow drawn features of the creature as it approached, Faweh noted the scars & stitched seams crossing its head and upper torso. Deducing he faced a golem, he backed off, however on reaching the hall doorway the creature stopped and then turned back into the hall.

Slipping back to the doors, Faweh closed them quietly and moved to the opposite side, repeating the process but finding this hall quiet; he moved in and checked the rooms along the left side finding a small library, a private lounge and a sparse music room. At the end a tight staircase led upwards, before he reached the grand doors to the ballroom; quickly repeating his methodical check at the doors, this time he had no problems hearing the sounds of multiple beings moving hesitantly round the large room.

Faweh then checked the second floor, but at the top of the staircase he found more beings shuffling about the rooms and halls to each side and quietly retreated back to the kitchens. He reported all he'd found to the others and then slipped up the rear stairs to check above the kitchens. Finding small drab rooms, he guessed he'd discovered the servants quarters and listened at several doors. Gentle snoring from one door led him to unlock it and look inside, to see a man in the bed sleeping; going to the next he found a young girl sitting awake on the bed. Trying not to startle her, he questioned her quickly and then persuaded her to leave the room, after which he woke the other servants and hustled them all downstairs.

Realising the servants demeanors ranged from scared to nervous, the party felt now was a good time to retire from the grounds and see what they could disclose in safer surroundings. Leaving the building, the group moved to the gates and got back to the wagon without incident, they then drove back to Trader Brasshorn.

New Beginnings

Taking stock of their position, the Party settled to a few days organising their new base of operations. With help from Trader Brasshorn, the Party worked to secure the entrances to the complex whilst altering the internal arrangements of the rooms, moulding them to something more fitting to their new use.

Janus & Khaan decided to remain and secure the base, whilst other members continued the search in the city following the fragmentary leads they had garnered so far. Zan-kyri also decided to remain and pursue arcane research, something Waterdeep provided in good measure.

After some days, Trader Brasshorn interrupted the Party's progress, requesting a meeting to discuss a sensitive proposition which could be to their mutual advantage. Randalla Brasshorn had rented a private room in her local tavern and the Party arrived to find her in the company of a Halfling; she introduced him, vouching for his character, as Neebin a sorceror from the Nelanther Ilses.

After settling with drinks, the Party waited for Randalla to make her proposal. She opened by expressing her thanks for their recent actions, confronting evil doers that plagued both her trade caravan and her city, Waterdeep. Randalla offered them a proposal, though she said little about its details until they gave an oath to keep secret the information she would disclose, saying only they would have ample opportunity to continue facing evil down and liberating the spoils for any ends they deemed appropriate. The party discussed this briefly and decided to agree to the oath, so long as their actions wouldn't threaten the city populace; Randalla agreed and stated that such an event would only occur if the populace turned to evil en masse.

With their oath she continued and explained she was a member of a small band called the Harpers; a group dedicated to opposing evil and its plans against the Realms. Though they opposed any evil they found and the forces behind it, they have since the Time of Troubles focused their attentions more to the spreading influence of the Zhentarim. Displaced from their original Moonsea bases, this mercenary trader  group had turned towards the Sword Coast and planned to disrupt its normal life and achieve total domination of its lands.

Randalla explained the Harpers were a small group with agents scattered along the Sword Coast, who used bands of independant adventurers to swell their ranks and pursue mutual goals; one of these agents had already marked the Party's past actions and advised her of their ability in combating evil.

Randalla advised the Party that the Harpers were aware that several Zhentarim agents had infiltrated the Sword Coast and though some of their actions have been quite open, there were bound to be many more they had carefully hidden. She advised them that the information they had gained from the assassin guild aimed towards Lady Luvia Bloodmire, an alchemist of middling ability who till recently had not aroused any suspicions.

In recent weeks however the Lady had become noticeably more reclusive, Randalla's people had also noticed some odd alterations to the mansion grounds, new strange guards and an air of neglect settling over the estate; coupled with the servants obvious nervousness - becoming near outright fear in past days - this all pointed to a need for further investigation and Randalla suggested the Party visit the mansion to scout.

Randalla warned that being located in the Sea Ward, City Guard patrols would be more frequent and more alert. She provided them with some equipment to assist the mission, the party asked for a wagon and some wine to act as cover should a Guard patrol stop them, which would lend an air of legitimacy to their trip.

Loose ends

Few tasks remained to the party for now - however returning the captive children was a priority. They took them to the Guard Barracks at first light, handing them to a relieved Captain Rulathon who ordered strong patrols to return the youngsters to their families.

The party had the idea to utilise the assassin warren as a lair of their own, a base on the Sword Coast - discussing the idea with Trader Brasshorn, she confirmed that the laws of the city did not apply beneath its sewers; it had long been held that 'right of might' applied below the surface, what you could hold you could keep.

Their only new lead now was a name and a map, the name uttered by Argesh in his dying words - that of 'Lady Luvia' and a map to a hill base located below Baldur's Gate in the Cloak Wood.

An uneasy alliance

The rogue had got to a position to see into the main chamber and spied a diverse group spread around the space - a broad solidly built individual, cloaked and hooded stood with his back to the drape; there were two goblins close to him (bearing the mark of the Red Hand), four drow towards the far left rear of the room and five humans lounging mostly around the right side of the room. The broad man was berating one of the goblins and the rogue listened intently as he continued his tirade in a gruff rasping voice -

"... you didn't stop them then; sounds to me like failure? I won't tolerate failure. The Lady doesn't tolerate failure either!"
He suddenly grasped the goblin by the neck and with a powerful twist broke it, before throwing its lifeless body to the ground.
"That's the penalty for failure." He then pointed at the drow. "The Lady holds to the treaty, tell your mistress that nothing is changed".
One of the drow then turned and left through the far door; the broad man gestured towards the humans and they started to discuss the captives.

Noting two doors in the rear wall and a third on the left wall, together with a clutter of crates and barrels piled randomly round the chamber - the rogue chose this point to slip back to the rest of the group as it sounded like they could be discovered at any moment. He relayed what he had observed and then they all entered and approached the drape, managing it with reasonable stealth.

Reaching the drape, they paused before rushing the occupants of the room beyond - the three remaining drow fighters intially hung back, whilst the humans closed from the sides of the room bracketing their leader and the remaining goblin in the centre. The party ignored the drow at first, hoping to even the numbers should they decide to join the fight against them - the human fighters were comparable to those they had encountered throughout the warren of the assassin lair, the goblin although tough had little skill and only the hooded, cloaked leader gave any serious opposition to the party; occasional glimpses showed the heavy features of a Half Orc.

The rogue started flanking round the left side of the room and disposing of his last opponent, found himself facing the drow. It was unclear if he made some motion to entice them or that they felt threatened by his presence, maybe it some capricious streak of cruelty that drove the drow, but they chose that moment to enter the fight. Argesh, the half-orc leader, had proven a durable foe, as had the remaining goblin - however even the addition of the three drow to their side, proved too little to turn the fight back in their favour. Seeing the way fo the fight, the drow used dark powers to obscure the sight of the party and when they were able to fully see the chamber again, one of the drow was missing and the left most door was open.

Argesh did not hold out for much longer as the perty grouped against him; falling to the ground, he growled a lst few words before passing:
"The Lady Luvia will know of this, all is by her design and I'm the least of what you will have to face from her."
Although the drow leader proved a tough competent adversary, the party did clear the chamber in short order and then quickly used the open door to try to catch the last drow. Finding an ascending stairwell, they raced up and came to a blank wall - the rogue determined it to be a concealed door and found the opening mechanism. It led onto the street which surrounded the City of the Dead, it was by now late in the night and the drow was no where to be seen, even in the quiet streets of the area.

Swords to their left, daggers to their right ...

The party on the far side engaged the two fighters and quickly disposed of them to allow the rest to cross the pit more safely. Once across, they moved forward to the junction to find a main cross passage - to the right a door, whilst to the left it sloped away down into the gloom; ahead off-set to either side of their passage, were two more short corridors leading to closed doors.

The swordmage crept down to the right door and listening, heard low growls followed by a brief human 'shush'. The rest of the party grouped round the junction and after a short time the end door pulled open to allow attack dogs out. They ran past the swordmage, who slashed at those he could; some stopped to engage him whilst others moved towards the party. Within seconds fighters opened the other doors and moved forward to harry the party from the sides. A drawn out & fluid fight ensued and the party were hard set by a changing number of opponents, who used their knowledge of the area layout to some advantage. Dwindling numbers however, forced the assassins to retreat back into the as yet unseen rooms behind the doors and the party pursued them to prevent any alarm being raised.

Determining the doors led to a kennel and a bunkroom or barracks area, the party moved off down the gloomy corridor, still searching for the captive children. Coming to a small junction space, they had the choice of a sharply descending left-hand passage - from which they heard a continous rumbling noise and felt dampness in the air - and a shorter level passage to the right ending at a door. They choose the door first and moved carefully towards it, prepared to enter and engage more opponents.

The door meant the party entered in file and the found themselves in the side of a T shaped room, near the bottom. An opponent had used the door for cover to attack party members as they passed by, another had used a table for cover and quickly engaged, whilst a third moved down quickly from further up the room. Some of the party manoeuvred round the assassins and found others lurking in one side area, they released attack dogs and battled to move into the main room. They put up a stiff resistance but were unable to match the aggression shown by the party and were soon defeated. The party found two children locked in a cage in the opposite wing of the room; releasing them, the party decided to press on and instructed the children to remain safely in the room.

The party retraced their steps and then descended the other passage until they reached a chasm crossing their path; a fissure had split the rock and crossed the passageway leaving a rough cave, a waterfall to the right was the source of the earlier noise and dampness. A rough slat bridge had been strung over the chasm, which the party used to cross over. Using the rude steps hacked from the rock on the far side, they regained the original passage to be jumped by another pair of fighters - but by now the had their measure and dispatched them both in short order.

Moving on they came to another room and found more guards with three more children in a cage at the rear. Disposing of the guards, they released the children and told them to go back to the other room and stay with the other children. They moved on, down a longer winding corridor, until they came to a heavy closed door - the rogue slipped through and found a wide annexe behind witha heavy drape across the far end. Moving carefully forward he found a break in the drape and spied out the far side.

Shaking the Hands of Glory

Letting the rogue scout ahead, the party set to descend the revealed shaft, which led to a small chamber with a single corridor leading away. The rogue heard the murmur of conversation and dim wavering light from down it and creeping further forwards, he spied past a turn towards a further chamber containing two men relaxing in conversation.

The others in the group had now descended and with some stealth they approached the second room, before finally rushing forward. The party briefly surprised the occupants, although they quickly recovered and prepared weapons. A further man resting in a far corridor, moved to open a nearby door and a fourth appeared from a side chamber. A stiff fight, enjoined by a quartet of guard dogs released from a rear chamber, still saw the party victorious and they proceeded to search round the rooms for further clues.

The cluster of chambers appeared to be a long disused underground warehouse and excepting a recent crude infill in the outer corridor, nothing unusual showed. The cleric hammered at the corridor infill, whilst in a corner of the guarded chamber, the rogue found a false wall section covering a rough hewn tunnel leading away. Quickly ducking down the short narrow passage, he discovered a small chamber on the other side of the infill, from which a spiral stairwell led down.

He descended with the swordmage in support, to find a large room at the bottom, dimly lit. The rogue saw only two figures at the far end and decided to sneak in, whilst the swordmage went back up to bring the others down. The rogue gained the cover of the bench tables running down the centre of the hall, but towards the far end he knocked a chair and was accosted by the figure seated on the end dias.

Realising he'd been spotted, the rogue stood and made to engage the leader in conversation; he elicited little except a name - Argesh - and soon found himself being surrounded by more fighters. The rest of the party appeared from the stairwell, to see the rogue dodging for his life and they advanced to engage his opponents. After a protracted fight they defeated them and rested briefly before quickly exploring the area. Finding only what appeared to be a kitchen and connected food storage, they moved on into the chamber beyond.

A strange blank room met their eyes, only broken by a lone statue near the middle of the floor, which at the rear rose ten foot to where the room continued back at a higher level; the raer face was pierced by two stairwells leading up to the higher floor. The lower floor was flagged with large slabs, each marked with an engraved cross at the centre of which was a small hole. The rogue moved forward and despite his care, was caught by a spear shaft as it shot up from the hole in the floor.

Realising he was in a trapped room, he took a random path and managing to avoid any further traps he sprung, moved towards the stairwells at the rear of the room. Passing the statue, he was again surprised as a fireball shot from the carved mouth facing his side. Managing to roll through, he avoided the blast and reached the stairs at the rear. The others followed and also made the stairs, though the less dextrous suffered some injuries from the traps.

They moved to the upper floor and edged down the corridor beyond, the rogue again out front. More cautious now, he spotted pressure plates crossing the width of the corridor and jumped across them. Landing on the far side, he drove forward yet again, as the floor fell away beneath him to reveal a fifteen foot pit. Two more fighters appeared from a junction ahead and quickly closed on the rogue, but he managed to manoeuvre them to allow some more of the party to jump over the pit and assist the fight.

Casing the joint

The party headed off to the area of the Trades Ward, where the target building was located. Most of them holed up in a local tavern, whilst the few streetwise members observed the warehouse in question. A standard edifice located on an alley corner, with a main door and an upper loading access. The rogue checked the outside and observed the lack of other access, before settling back to observe the activity around the building.

Aside from spotting a figure on a nearby roof, one who ducked out of sight - clumsily - when the rogue saw it, little occurred in the hours he waited nearby. Eventually retiring back to the tavern, the party decided on a frontal approach and returned en masse to the warehouse. Approaching the building, they found the main door slightly open and the rogue snuck in first to successfully lose himself in the piles of goods inside. The rest of the party then loudly entered posing as visiting Genasi with their human servants. Successfully distracting the occupants, they allowed the rogue to get to the loft area unobserved and then left with a few minor purchases.

The rogue remained and observed the staff close up and after a few hours left the building; but before rejoining the party back in the tavern, he crept round to the neighbouring building - the one where he'd spotted the watcher earlier - and gaining the roof quietly, he jumped the man and successfully subdued him. A short interrogation added some knowledge to that gained already, but left them short on ideas to proceed further.

A seemingly bland warehouse with little inside to point to any untoward activities - for the low value goods stored, maybe a high number of 'guards' (8 of them) and their overnight 'watch', were the only vaguely suspicious points of note. The captured man confirmed little else, excepting that a particular pile of crates in a corner were never touched and that on occasion a wagon drew up bearing some large crates and with its own crew; the hired hands were told to take a few hours rest away from the building, to return later when the wagon and crew had left after unloading.

These few points led the party to decide to confront the warehouse guards head on - they approached Guard Captain Rulathon and had him set a Guard sergeant with them incase of problem, before returning to the warehouse to investigate the pile of crates. Their arrival caused brief interest, more for their ability to enter a presumed closed building, but this subsided when the Guard sergeant upheld the party's status to be there. Moving to the crates they disamntled a number to reveal a hollow area within and a sturdy trapdoor set into the floor.