Session 1: Meet, Greet and Deceit
Short Synopsis
At the Broken Beak a meeting was planned
The Drow Fallin was looking for a helping hand
To find the source of a gemstone grand
The job was taken by the motley band.
Tammy threatened the band to get rich
Elisandra smacked that dirty snitch
Then some derro gave their own pitch
Asking that the band’s allegiance switch.
They arrived at the bugbear slum
Guarded by a bunch of orc scum
Luka and Naeric tricked them to come
Into thinking they were getting some.
Gith and Doth finally show
Baltro pretended to be a bro’
And offered to pay for a gemstone’s glow
For tomorrow they would all go.
Long Synopsis
At the Broken Beak, a motley band of derelicts gathers at a table. The bugbear Baltro Belenzon begins by bringing a book. Elisandra Fey-Branch, a drow, carries an air of delicate danger. With his feet dangling from the chair, the goblin Ermagard sings a little ditty to himself. Luka is a mysterious hooded figure watching everyone with thoughtful eyes. A half-orc female named Naeric sits grimly over her ale. The svirfneblin Randen Goldthumb sniffs at a dubious looking sausage. Velrak, the aloof drow, watches the non-drow with contemptuous disdain.
The drow Fallin arrives at their table to offer a job. She displays a glowing gem that is suffused with what appears to be faezress. Fallin represents an unnamed organization that seeks to procure more of these gems and to learn of their origin. This particular gemstone had been acquired in a gambling den from Gully the Goblin. Apparently, the goblin had stolen the gem from the bugbear pair of Gin and Doth. The bugbears run a small gang from a corner in the Braeryn. Desiring to keep their presence in this matter limited, Fallin’s organization seeks to have an unrelated third party to act on their behalf to retrieve the gem. The party agrees to take up the job and will meet with her in two days to report.
As soon as the drow leaves, Tammy the Goblin and her ogre companion arrive. Having overheard the conversation, she offers to setup a meeting with Gin and Doth in exchange for money. Tammy also hints that if the party declines, she plans on snitching on them. Elisandra delivers a blast of poisonous gas to Tammy’s face. As the goblin’s lifeless body collapses to the ground, the party has a brief tavern brawl with Tammy’s ogre companion.
In the aftermath of the battle, the party heads out towards Gin and Doth’s complex. A band of derros follow them. When the party attempts to sneak into an alleyway, they are ambushed by giant spiders. There is a quick and bloody battle in the alley in which the party prevails. Baltro and Randen are knocked out, but eventually revived. The adventurers turn to confront the derro. Their leader, Drokki, explains that the Gray Ghosts are also seeking these magical gemstones. The derro are willing to leave the party unmolested upon Randen’s promise that he will talk with them if they find out about the source of the gemstones.
Eventually, the party makes their way to Gin and Doth’s compound. They trip an alarm that alerts a pair of goblins. After Luka’s acrobatic attacks, Randen’s fiery blast and Baltro’s pokey spear, the goblins are swiftly dispatched. Randen uses a spell to disguise himself as Tammy the goblin and tries to get past the orc guards. After some plotting, the party comes up with a plan to seduce the orc guards. Luka surprises everyone by turning into a curvy orc woman. Upon luring an orc into a nearby building, the party lays their own ambush. Luka disguises himself as the orc guard and sends another orc to a threesome that the orc was not expecting.
When Doth and Gin make their way to the perimeter, Baltro and Randen try to deceive them. Randen poses as Tammy and tries to explain that Gully stole the gem from Doth and Gin. Baltro convinces them that he is on a quest for a druid to look for gemstones. The bugbear pair reveal that they had obtained the gemstone from a svirfneblin slave obtained in a drow raid and that the slave knows the location of the mine. They are willing to allow Baltro and his servants, including “Tammy” to join them as long as Baltro pays for the gemstone. Baltro agrees to meet them in the morning to travel to the mines…
