SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15TH - MASTER AND APPRENTICE CAMPAIGN 1 : SESSION 4 RECAP ; PART 2
Deals in the Fog
*Told from a recount of events, because while I was saving the damsel, the boys were playing pattycake on the docks!
Neverwinter’s docks never truly slept—they merely held their breath.
Ukalis and Cade arrived beneath a low ceiling of fog, the kind that swallowed lantern light and muffled sound until the world felt smaller, closer, and far more dangerous. Somewhere behind them, Aldor had taken the amulet and vanished into stately manor in search of Melania, or whatever was claiming to be her to this magic amulet.
For now, Ukalis and Cade had their own shadows to deal with.
A small boat emerged silently from the mist, its oars dipping into the black water. Cloaked figures disembarked without a word, tying off their vessel before climbing onto the slick wooden docks. Their lantern burned low, deliberately so, casting just enough light to reveal faces.
Cade’s hand never strayed far from his weapon. Old habits from a former life died hard—especially when the air felt like the moment before an ambush.
The cloaked men spoke first.
“Do you have the necklace” one of them said.
Ukalis, ever the shopkeep, ever the performer, laughed softly and shook his head.
“Of course not, he said. Why would anyone hand over something so valuable without first discussing the price?”
He feigned offense at the suggestion—after all, they weren’t idiots.
What followed was a careful dance. Half‑truths. Long pauses. Cloaked figures stepping aside to whisper to someone unseen, while Cade scanned the fog for movement that never quite revealed itself. Eventually, one of the men returned and agreed to Ukalis’ terms: five hundred gold.
The exchange would not happen tonight.
Tomorrow night, same docks.
The men boarded their boat, shielding their lantern as they pushed back into the mist. Within seconds, they were gone—swallowed by darkness, water, and the distant glow of taverns and rotting warehouses lining the dockside streets.
Ukalis and Cade exchanged a look.
Whatever Aldor was doing, they needed to find him—now.
Retracing their steps, they almost ran into him (literally) in the Temple District, staggering beneath the weight of a woman barely clinging to life.
Melania was alive...they couldn’t believe it (neither could the DM 😂)
Bloodied, exhausted, and barely conscious, she leaned heavily on Aldor as they rushed toward the Temple of Selûne. Her injuries told a story she was not yet able to speak aloud—one of betrayal, pursuit, and knowledge that powerful people wanted buried.
At her insistence, the priests took her in without question. Healing magic stabilized her, and the group was offered shelter for the night beneath Selûne’s silver light. For the first time since the docks, the tension loosened its grip—just slightly.
Morning brought clarity.
Melania asked to see them all, and she told them everything.
She confessed her ties to the Sons of Algondar, a secretive movement working to restore Neverwinter’s rightful bloodline after the chaos of the Spellplague and the rise of King Neverember’s rule, now continued by a son far more tyrannical than his elder.
The cloaked men on the docks?
They were hunters. Enforcers. Sent by the Many Starred Cloak. Formerly closely loyal mages to the Algondar family, but with no heir, their interests turned to gaining power for themselves…
Melania made no excuses. She asked for trust—not freely, but honestly. In return for saving her life, the Sons of Algondar would offer protection, resources, and information to the crew of Odds and Ends. Allies in the shadows of a city that devoured the unprepared.
After a long silence, Aldor stepped forward.
He placed the amulet on the table.
The pact was made.
Whatever lay ahead — gold, danger, or rebellion — the crew of Odds and Ends was now entangled in something far larger than a bits and baubles.
To be continued… this Saturday.
