SATURDAY, FEB 7TH - MASTER AND APPRENTICE CAMPAIGN 1 : SESSION 3 RECAP; PART 1
What's going on everyone, Aldor here! Welcome back to The Maze! This story will pick back up with our loveable underdog crew of Odds and Ends : Dockside Mystic Shop!
Last we left off, our crew had just gotten back to the shop after getting the necklace Melania requested from the old Tempus Sanctuary near the now ruined village of Conyberry. Ukalis had identified the necklace as indeed the one we were looking for, so the next morning we set out to the Arcane Tower in the Castle district (Ukalis was admitted in, maybe his reputation isn’t as bad as the streets whisper that it is). After speaking with the assistant at the front desk, we were told Melania wasn't in, but she did leave us a note. Sounds like she was out for the day, but asked that we meet her at the Golden Gallows. I've heard of this place, it's not one I normally offer my patronage, but higher end crews back in the day would meet there, the guards don't really patrol taverns where the rich are. As we all know, crimes are only illegal for poor people if the punishment is a fine…
Regardless, we finish our shift at the O&E, then head to the Gallows that night. This Tavern was busy, and run by a team of halflings that seemed like a well oiled machine, not an empty tankard in sight. We head to a table on the far end of the room and face the door. Ukalis shares some looks with 3 cloaked figures that walk in and give us a look, but Cade and I were too busy people watching the rest of the bar to notice, I'm sure they're not dangerous at all anyways! After what felt like 30 minutes (probably 5) Melania finally makes herself known, and is oblivious to our position until Ukalis slyly buys her a drink at the bar and has the keep tell her where it came from. She comes over and is instantly to the point.
“Do you have it, is it on you?”
“Yes” replied Ukalis, “But maybe we should do our business elsewhere”
Strangely, Melania brought up that maybe here would be the best place to do it, with the eyes of all of those around us, but we didn't see the harm until Ukalis and Cade noticed those 3 cloaked individuals walking around the bar…one to the middle of the room to the middle island bar, one to the back of the bar near the stage where there was an active performance happening, and one to the front door we came in. Ukalis indicates this to our crew and starts to explain to Melania the situation. I move to the bar and glance at the cloaked man there who sees that I'm looking, and looks away. I hear stools behind me scrape the hardwood as I flick my gaze backwards to see Ukalis holding Melania’s hand and start walking towards the door as Cade stands in front of him ready to meet the man at the front.
In what seems like a split second, I hear commotion behind me again, i turn back just in time to see a man behind Ukalis with what appears to be a dagger, and Ukalis’ conjured mage’s hand pushing the arm with the dagger away, looks like the man was attempting to take him hostage and Ukalis was able to push away the dagger as he starts to move, Cade repositions and employs his shield and hammer in his hands, ready for a fight. As I acclimate to my current situation at the bar, I see my mark at the bar start to move towards us.
The man behind me flicks 2 Daggers at Cade, one misses and skids across the floor, the other finds its target and sinks into Cade's shoulder. Cade cries out, and his eyes begin to show the fury of a man who's seen countless battles. I was sure he'd be fine, so I cut back to my enemy. I throw a net at him, but due to the countless drinks I had had, it sails over his head, so I throw my tankard of ale, which he also ducks.
“Give up!” I shouted. “I won't miss a third time!”
This assailant must not speak the common tongue, because he wasn't phased, so I prepare to fight my mute foe just as I hear Cade land a thunderous blow on the man who had hurt him. Ukalis gets to the door and I see Melania break from his grasp just as he commands his mage hand to float up to his new position and pin the man's hand at the door, which looked like it was drawing a blade. Melania makes it out of the bar, spins around and casts some sort of magic to trap us inside, the door completely barricaded with some sort of conjured webbing. My assailant goes to hit me as I dodge, and egged him on
“Thats one!”
Cade and I are back to back now, and I dart around his shield and bury my dagger in his foes head, rip it out and slide back to my man.
“You should've run when you had the chance.”
Well, it seems like if he didn't understand me before, he definitely understands watching his companions life leave his eyes and slump to the floor, because after that he runs to the back of the stage and towards the back door. I look to the front, Ukalis uses a fire bolt to burn through the web and he and the cloaked man run into the road after Melania. I look back in time to see the curtain behind the stage flutter as my man tries to escape out the back. Next thing I remember is being outside in the back alley not able to find a trace of him as the case runs up on me.
“Aldor, is that you?” He said almost in a whisper.
“It's me, no sign of him….”
Then Cade noticed a blood smear on the stone wall I had missed in the heat of the moment, we began to follow it not knowing where our employer was. After some more tracking, we locate a manhole cover to the Neverwinter sewers our assailant must have dropped into. I look at Cade…
“Shields first” I chuckle as he climbs down.
Little did we know, this was just the beginning of a VERY long night…Part II of Session 3 coming soon!
