SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21ST - MASTER AND APPRENTICE CAMPAIGN 1 : SESSION 5 RECAP
Back at Odds and Ends…life was back to our version of normal and the crew finally got some sleep. The next morning I disposed of the body WITHOUT ANY WITNESSES. One small wrinkle though, after our shift, tonight was the night that the lovely not at all killer buyers were scheduled to meet Ukalis and Cade on the docks — you know, the same charming individuals from the evening I rescued Melania from her little kidnapping situation. Walking in blind felt like a great way to get ventilated, so we did something unusual.
We planned ahead.
Cade reached out to his City Guard friend Quintus to arrange a heavier patrol presence along the docks. Nothing says “let’s all behave like professionals” quite like armed men in uniform. Shortly after, we grabbed some dinner and headed down for our “meeting” with a decoy necklace to try to get some info out of these kind men.
We decided I would do what I do best — stay out of sight and in control. I took up a nice hidden vantage point on the side of the dock where I could see everything and, more importantly, not be seen. The buyers hadn’t clocked me yet, and I prefer to keep my advantages intact.
It was a beautiful plan…elegant…thoughtful…
Professionally executed.
Right up until we collectively remembered we forgot to enchant the necklace…
One of the buyers’ little henchmen spotted the problem immediately. The second he realized the necklace wasn’t magical.
To our credit — we pivoted like professionals. Played the part of equally offended middlemen who had clearly been swindled by some third party.
Sold it too.
The cloaked buyers backed off and returned to their boat without anyone needing to bleed. Always nice when my day doesn’t end in a stabbing.
That’s when I spotted something interesting.
Stamped on one of the men’s crossbows was a crest I knew all too well.
The mark of King Neverember II.
Which raises a deeply annoying question:
Are these so-called buyers actually Neverwinter’s secret police?
The guards we had asked for finally showed up, and I ran into Gideon — my former Nightwatch mentor — who just happened to be part of the increased patrol Cade arranged, because apparently the city isn’t big enough for me to avoid my past.
Pleasantries were exchanged. Nothing incriminating was said. Everyone pretended this was normal.
Back at Odds & Ends, the next day passed quietly enough. We made some coin, kept the shelves stocked, and did our best impression of law-abiding shopkeepers.
One customer did catch my attention. He was well equipped and carried himself like someone who knew exactly what he was looking at. Even worse, he asked educated and pointed questions, more suspiciously, he bought nothing…I’m sure that’s nothing though!
For about five blessed minutes, things were quiet. In my experience, that means the universe winding up to punch us in the teeth.
Then it happened. Ukalis went stiff mid-task, eyes glazed like he was listening to ghosts again. Turns out he was — message only he could hear.
Melania was in trouble…again.
Her contact — the poor fool meant to take custody of the necklace — had been found dead in his quarters. Which meant, naturally, the problem rolled right back downhill to us.
Love that for us.
That night we headed to the stables near the Eastgate to meet Melania.
I walked in, saw an older stable hand, and immediately assumed we were early.
Ukalis, being the magical nuisance that he is, squinted for half a second and went, “Yeah, that’s her.”
Disguise spell.
I hate when he’s right.
Once the theatrics dropped, Melania filled us in. Her contact was dead, she was effectively stranded inside Neverwinter, and leaving openly would tip off all the different factions after this necklace, and by extension, control of the city. Now we knew that meant The Many Starred Cloak, Neverember II himself, and the true servant of the nine hells himself, Jeralt - Lord of Pain!
So she asked us to take the necklace north and locate the heir of the Sons of Algondar.
Reasonable enough, right up until she told us where the heir was last seen.
Icewind Dale.
Past the Spine of the World. You know — that charming frozen nightmare sensible people avoid. Naturally, we took the job. Five hundred gold plus expenses has a funny way of making terrible decisions sound like solid investments.
Then came the part that really hurt.
To get us out clean, Melania’s allies needed to stage a proper distraction.
Which meant faking our deaths.
Which meant Odds & Ends had to burn.
I’ll admit — that one landed heavy. The shop wasn’t much to look at, but it was ours. Hard to watch your entire livelihood get scheduled for demolition before breakfast.
Still… a new shop AND political favor from the returning heir and new and rightful king? That’s the kind of long game I can appreciate, so we agreed. Early the next morning, one of Melania’s contacts arrived at the back door with three fresh corpses to play us in the upcoming tragedy. Always a comforting side dish with your morning coffee. We grabbed what we could carry and slipped out.
The explosion hit just as we were clearing the district.
Loud.
Final.
Effective.
There goes everything I knew, in one flash.
We headed east under fresh identities as Melania prepared a decoy necklace to send north by another route — credit where it’s due, that was actually clever. She would maintain her cover in the city and buy us time. The trail was uneventful until the second night on the road, we had wolves over for tea.
Finally I had a chance to demonstrate what happens when you give me control of the battlefield.
Smoke bombs.
Caltrops.
Ball bearings.
Clean lanes. Forced movement. Absolute chaos exactly where I wanted it.
Frankly, it was art. AND ever the kind soul, I kept 2 of them alive and away from my bloodthirsty companions. We reached a small farming village the next day, resupplied, and secured a night’s rest in a generous shopkeeper’s barn. In the morning we set off under a crisp wind and vibrant sun.
And that…
…is where we leave things for now.
Icewind Dale is waiting.
Poor life choices, but here we are.
Keep your sword arm free.
— Aldor
