Mirror Mirror

Soon enough, Josiah returns to collect the group and beckons them to follow. The group moves up the vast staircase to a great hall whose only occupant is a young woman looking out one of the many vast floor to ceiling windows. When she turns, each member of the group catches their breath. The Lady Stehelen is beautiful beyond words. She is tall and graceful and seems to be young in years, around 20. The group had been expecting someone of more years.

The group inspects their new magical booty that they have acquired from the heist they have pulled at Minreth's Magic Store. They have almost more treasure than they can carry. Thank goodness they have also acquired a 'bag of holding'.

Once the adventurers have inspected, shared out and attuned with the items they wish. Talk moves to what actions are next. They first issue a sending to Onthar Frume of The Order Of The Obisidan Dagger, warning him of some sort of plot to either kill or capture the Lady Stehelen. Onthar tells them not to tell anyone else within The Order, he is not sure who he can trust.

The group decides they should perhaps go to Lady Stehelen personally and warn her as well as offer their services.

The group takes the rest of the afternoon to disguise themselves as best they can. They are a recognizable group and there is a good chance that The Order Of The Obsidian Dagger will be in search of them. After all they did just annihilate a very expensive store within the walls of Baldur's Gate. Yeava makes herself over as a homeless woman while Azalea dresses up as a farmer with the halfling, Saraphina, dressing up as a pig.

The others look on at this odd choice of disguise, as Saraphina's job of becoming a pig lacks in many fundamental ways. Saraphina though is very proud of her disguise as she struts about on all fours performing for the group. Someone, deciding the disguise will get them all caught and killed, performs a bit of magic making Saraphina seem more pig-like. Oorr cloaks himself and uses makeup to reduce the very noticeable beak from underneath the cloak's hood.  Artemis is no where to be found. Has she fled in fear of reprisal from Yeava, no one knows.

The Lady Stehelen
500 XP

They move off towards the upper city. Getting past the guards at the gates to the upper city is a venture in a very convincing act of Azalea passing herself off as a farmer who has a magical talking pig which she wishes to sell to one of the nobles, Lady Stehelen perhaps. Once the gullible guards are passed the some of the group discards their disguises and approaches, after some false turns by Oorr, the manor house of Lady Stehelen.

The clean themselves up as best they can and Yeava dons the garb of The Order before knocking upon the doors to the manor. They present to the servant who answers the door, Josiah, the letter they have discovered as proof of their desire to warn and protect the Lady. After having to wait outside for a few minutes, Josiah returns and tells them that the Lady Stehelen will see them.

They enter a great mansion with a large foyer with a grand staircase flanked by two dragon statues. Josiah ushers them into a waiting room and instructs them to wait here. Within the room are many curiosities. Saraphina casts detect magic and many things in the room come to her attention. There is a glass orb upon a pedestal, within which there is a swirly mass of grey mist. The shelves of the room contain a treasure trove of items which glow magically to Saraphina's magical senses. A set of dice, a couple of daggers, a doll and an oddly colored cube which is divided into smaller cubes, each side almost a completely different color.

The group resists their urges and does not attempt to tamper with anything. Out of fear or respect, it is not clear.

Meta Game Spoiler

DM Note: What!? Nothing. You don't tamper with anything that was odd and cool? Arrgggghhhh

They each take turns in laying out the events which had occurred and the threat that the Lady Stehelen now faces from the Children Of Gwynt. Yeava politely asks if she would submit herself to be within a spell of Zone of Truth, so they may move forward with little doubts. She agrees but it soon turns out to be a huge circle of sharing as each person is moved to come close to the Lady and they all give out their truths. Some very personal. Some sexual. Some odd, as in the unlikely bonding of a noble born lady and a "pig".

The group finds out over the course of the zone of group love, that the Lady Stehelen is in fact a Steel dragon. Born of a father she never got to know because the Order Of The Obisidan Dagger had killed him. She was born and raised by scholars in the city of Sigil, the world between all worlds. She has vowed that she will disband or destroy The Order.

Meta Game Spoiler

"see Steel Meets Steel

The group agrees to help her.

The Plan To Enter Ondine's Tower

She shows them to her private library. When they enter they see a luxurious room with several tall mirrors on stands. She perhaps has a way into Ondine's, the leader of The Order, protected tower. But she will need their help. She places a necklace around the neck of Oorr. On the necklace is a small metal version of one of the larger standing mirrors. When Oorr approaches on of the mirrors he no longer sees his reflection but that of the room from a different angle, from a different mirror. Lady Stehelen encourages him to step through. He does and emerges on the other side of the room stepping from a different mirror.

The mirrors are tied to one another. If they can place one of the mirrors in Ondine's tower then whoever wishes can cross through one of the mirrors here and travel to the other, inside the tower.

Oorr says he can get it into the tower.

Plans are made and supper is eaten. The group is shown comfortable quarters within the Lady's manor. The group finds accommodations within the servants quarters, save for Azalea who is invited into the Lady's personal chambers. The two of them are not seen for some time.

During the night, Oorr gives in to his passion of reading and seeks out the manor's library. He peruses the titles but adheres to the house's rules of not removing any of the books from the room.

Meta Game Spoiler

DM Note: What the hell guys. No one is touching anything anymore?!? What now that you've ripped off an magic store you're lawful again?

The Violation Of Sarra

In the morning, Oorr takes one of the mirrors and places it into the bag of holding. He flies off towards the Order's keep under an invisibility spell. He alights upon Ondine's tower and then dimension doors into the main entrance room, which he had been in before. Finding no one there he moves up the staircase and into the corridor. Finding an out of the way corner, he places the mirror.

He then moves from door to door and listens. The first room is empty but the second room has the sounds of struggle, crying and gruff laughter. Oorr decides to not press his luck. He activates the mirror and steps through it back into the Lady Stehelen's manor. There he tells the group of his findings and they step through, back into Ondine's tower.

They cautiously approach the door, from which there are sounds and they move in. Inside they find a familiar face, Sarra, the barmaid from the Goblin King's Inn, is lain on the table being abused by several men. Her face streaked with tears and her clothes in ripped tatters. The group moves quickly to strike.

Brual Monks
5,300 XP

The men they face are clothed in simple straps of leather and bear no weapons. They are heavily muscled though and as they clench their fists, their fists glow with a fiery light. The fight is tough, with the fighting monks peppering the group with multiple fiery fist blows which knock some of the group off their feet leaving them stunned. Soon enough they are victorious. Azalea rushes to search the bodies but these are monks who carry very little upon themselves. Hiding behind a barrel she finds her old lover, Sarra cowering. She comforts the halfling but not too much. Azalea warns her that she has moved on. The halfling doesn't seem to register that as she clings to the dragonborn. Weary and worn they move further up the tower.





The Rotating Chamber
1,000 XP

Finding themselves at the top of the stairs, they enter a large round chamber. This chamber is much larger than the tower should accommodate. In the center of the room is a circular pillar which can be reached by four bridges. Upon the central large pillar are four bronze bowls surrounding a blazing central brazier. As they cross the bridge to the central pillar, the room gives the slightest perceptual jerk as the entire chamber begins to rotate with a barely audible grinding of stone sound. Yeava runs back to the stairs to find that the way back down is now block by solid stone which moves slowly.

The group moves from bowl to bowl trying to decipher the odd writing within. Yeava recgonizes it as infernal and translates for the group:

Bowl 1:

While you live we cannot part

I must live inside you

Locked within

Bowl 2:

No legs to dance

No lungs to breathe

No life to live

Yet I do all these

Bowl 3:

Light enough to rise in air
Strong enough to crack stone
Gentle enough to soothe skin

Bowl 4:

Light as a feather
Yet cannot hold for long

The characters puzzle over the words until, after only the barest of moments. Oorr shouts: blood, fire, water and air. Oorr moves to the third bowl and blows on it. The bowl begins to emit light and that light begins to travel down the pedestal until it covers a wedge shape, a fourth the size of the chamber. They begin to fill each bowl with fire, from the brazier, water from a canteen and....whose blood to use? Oorr sets down the bag of holding and pulls out the mirror again, setting it down on the stone. He activates it, goes through and shouts for someone to bring him a chicken. Minutes later, Josiah returns with a chicken which they sacrifice above the last bowl.

The chamber rotates until a new set of stairs appears below the stair opening. The characters descend.

Meta Game Spoiler

DM Note: That was waaaaay too easy. Damn you Oorr. Damn you to RPG puzzle hell. I'll get you next time. That took all of, what, a minute.

Ondine
6,500 XP

The group descends the stairs, this time entering a vast room whose center is filled with a magical circle. On the other side of the room is a well dressed man in robes of The Order Of Obsidian Dagger. He greets the characters he has met before and introduces himself to those he hasn't. He is Ondine, the leader of The Order. What could they possibly want. 

The group makes their accusations to which Ondine refuses to confess to. He is quite sure he doesn't know what they're talking about, but he is more than willing to defend himself. Which he does. The group is already aching from their previous encounter and the healing is starting to run out.

The group throws all they can at their enemy as Saraphina roars with anger and charges towards him. It is then that she notices, crawling up from the numerous piles of bodies, skeletons, each with four arms rising to attack her. In the meantime, Yeava feels a presence in her mind and somehow she feels that perhaps Ondine is not the enemy they thought he was. She begins to yell out to not attack him and refuses to attack Ondine herself. Later the same thought passes through the mind of Azalea but she shakes it off and continues her attacks. Spell after spell is tossed about the room while Saraphina is doing poorly fending off multiple attacks from the four armed skeletons surrounding her.

Suddenly someone, Oorr perhaps, shouts out to Azalea that perhaps she has the skill to turn and take control of the undead skeletons. She does. And the tide of the battle turns very quickly. The skeletons stop their slashing of the halfling Saraphina and turn on their master.

Soon enough Ondine falls. Before the sounds of battle completely subside, Yeava is pawing at the dead body looking for treasure. She is not going to be left out of finding awesome stuff this time. The skeletons are soon made back into a pile of bones and the rest of the group begins the pilfering.

In her panic, Azalea finds very little until she comes across a long locked chest. She tries briefly to pick the lock but resorts to simply battering at it until it breaks. Within is a javelin imbued with magical energy. Finally, she has scored.

Oorr, meanwhile is looking at the magical circle in the middle of the floor and determines that it is a teleportation circle. He activates it and is transported to a land high up in the mountains. All around him he can see small settlements and a large castle. He quickly teleports back and tells the news to the others. 

Oorr then sets up the mirror again and this time brings Lady Stehelen back through into Ondine's tower. She asks them what they are to do now?

Explore the other side of the teleportation circle? Destroy The Order or perhaps, take over The Order? 

Yes, they all sound good.

Another City, Another Heist

The group moves through the rooms of, the now dead, Doctor Modar. The possibility of new and wondrous items excites the group as they dig through the pile of discarded items found in the room with many covered bodies.

Saraphina moves among the many bodies, which are draped in white linen. She approaches one and pulls back the sheet covering the face. She is horrified to find that the body underneath is without a face. It has been carefully and surgically removed. The nose is an odd cavity in the middle of the face. The eyes, without eyelids, bulge, unblinking. She moves the sheet to re-cover the body, but as she does so, she notices it breathing ever so slightly. She lays her hands on the creature and uses her magic to restore more life to it. The human regains consciousness and is soon screaming in agony. He panics as he reaches for his face and screams, demanding to know what is going on.

Grim Treasures

Saraphina, feeling sorry for the the person, pulls the human upright, supporting it under its shoulders. She assists it, climbing the stairs in to the brightly lit room above. The human wails as it comes into the light, unable to shield his eyes. She pulls him up to a mirror and exclaims, "This is what's going on. You have no face." The pitiful creature sobs and screams until she uses her magic once again to calm it and lays him down. She returns to the others who are simply sorting the treasure trove among themselves. The creature's quiet death is witnessed by no one.

Yeava and Oorr find a vast array of discarded items but very little money. Apparently the doctor was more worried about hard coin than the personal belongings of his victims. Saraphina moves to the doctor's library and finds a dizzy array of medical books with intricate detail of various spieces and their anatomy. As well as she finds a diary of the doctor's various experiments on grafting various body parts, skin, eyes, arms and such to some of the Children Of Gwynt. Azalea, frustrated that the others are getting first dibs at finding various items moves to a different part of the building in order to find things for herself. In the doctor's office she finds a letter addressed to the doctor.

It reads:
"Please obtain the Lady Stehlen.
She has obtained much power and garnered much influence.
She will be a useful addition and she is a growing nuisance."

The signature is not easily readable, but it is possible that it could be "Ondine", the leader of The Order Of The Obsidian Dagger.

Once the adventurers are confident that they have pilfered what they can the steathily exit the building and, feeling they should not return to the Goblin King's Inn, for fear that they have been spotted, Yeava leads them back to an old hovel, which she knows to be vacant currently. It is the old shack of a house in which she had killed the young couple who were possible witness the other night.

Once there, they set about preparing defenses, scattering ball-bearings under windows and blocking doors. While the others are working on the defenses, Saraphina jumps on the old mattress, carefully landing on the one spot not covered in blood and claims the bed. Then they lay down to rest. Yeava mentally notes that Artemis is nowhere to be seen.

Artemis has flown off to the far woods which are outside the city walls. She worries about any retaliation Yeava might commit in response to her riving Yeava's kills. What she lacks in sleep she gains in the hopes that she will not be found.

A Disturbance In The Night

During the night, the group is awakened by the sound of a body slipping and falling upon the ball-bearings under one of the windows. As each of them quickly rise ready to fight, they see a man and a woman, the woman laying on the floor underneath the window, her breath knocked out her lungs. The man stands nervously, hands raised placatingly. The group surrounds them and soon the two are bound in rope lying on the floor. Using magic to force the truth from them, the group finds that the two homeless people were told by a mysterious stranger that they could find safe and warm lodgings within this small home and that there would be no one within.

The group extracts a description of the mysterious figure from the couple and find that it seems to fit the store owner of the magic store they had stolen from. Minreth. After deciding they have learned what they needed, Yeava looks to the group, dagger in hand close to the homeless duo. The group give a collective shrug. Yeava dispatches them with efficient stabs to the temples.

No loose ends.

The next morning the group debates their next course of action. They must let Onthar, of The Order, know of their discovery of Doctor Modar and his activities. They also feel that the Lady Stehelen must be warned. But their overriding priority will be Minreth's Magic Store. They need to question, perhaps with force, the proprietor.

Yet Another Store Heist

The group approaches Minreth's Magic Store but before standing in front of it, they move to a secluded alleyway and prepare to disguise themselves as best they can. They do not want to match the description of the group that had stolen from the store the other day. A remarkable feat considering the fact they are a memorable and eclectic group of adventures: A half-elf, an aarakocra, an ugly halfling, and a dragonborn.

As they approach the store, they see that it is now guarded by a half dozen soldiers from The Order. They mill about but when the group moves close enough they stop the group and ask their business. What follows is a bewildering flurry of distracting arguments about the rights of dragonborns, discrimination as well a a oddly disguised halfling on stilts made from wooden crates found in an alleyway, arguing about racism.  While the soldiers are distracted with a burgeoning protest outside the shop, Yeava and Oorr gain access to the store by magic. Yeava using her stolen cloak of displacement and Oorr using invisibility.

Once inside the store they look about the empty room. No sign of Minreth. They smile at each other as they look into the multitude of magical items displayed in large showcases. They try to gain access to the cabinets but they can find no lock to pick and cannot shatter whatever force is protecting the items within.

Then Oorr looks down the corridor he had tried to sneak down using invisibility, the last time he was here. The corridor has an anti-magic field. He smiles at Yeava as he gestures to the corridor. Both of them push on the showcase cabinets with all their might and one of the corners of the cabinet enters the corridor. As it does so some of the containment spell breaks down and Oorr reaches in and begins hauling out as much as he can grab.

The Doomsday Device

Yeava moves down the corridor and finds a room at the end of it. Minreth's personal quarters. It is a nicely furnished room but the elf is not here either. Or so it would seem. As Yeava stands quietly scanning the room, she hears a slight shuffle from underneath the bed. She moves to the bed and flips it up.

Underneath the bed she sees a cowering elf, Minreth. The elf holds two odd pieces of metal rods, one in each hand. As Yeava reaches for a drop of Oil of Taggit and then stretches out her hand to touch the elf with it, Minreth joins the two pieces of metal. There is the sound of rushing air and the crackle of magic from back in the direction of the storefront. Oorr, in the corridor still collecting booty, looks into the storefront area and sees a teleportation sphere grow to encompass most of the store and then disappear, taking most of the store with it. All that remains is a slightly glowing edges of wood and rock where the sphere's edges touch.

Outside the store, Yeava and Saraphina's argument with the soldiers has escalated to the point where weapons were drawn and the two adventurers kill off the contingent of guards. The sounds of battle has brought the sounds of many heavy footsteps running towards their position. They enter the store just as the sphere of teleportation has disasperated and they tell the others that there will soon be many more soldiers arriving.

They quickly make their way out of the store by means of both magic and stealth, but not before Yeava sinks her dagger into the temple of the  unconscious Minreth.

No loose ends.

They each head back, by various ways, to the vacant hovel of the evening before. They will regroup rethink and inspect their booty.

No one will tell them what they can and cannot afford.


Meta Game Spoiler

"DM Note: Here I had thought I had protected this magic store from thievery so well. I thought, there's no way I'll need this doomsday device to teleport everything away. Stupid DM.

The Faceless Menace

Saraphina, Artemis and Oorr head off to investigate the upper city of Baldur's Gate while Yeava and Azalea stay behind to question their captive in the inn's basement. First though Yeava heads back to the stone building which she had seen their captive about to enter before his capture. Yeava crouches across the street, for all appearances, a homeless woman down on her luck. She watches as several sick and injured people enter and leave the building. She watches until the shop owner that Yeava crouches by brings her food and asks if she needs help. Yeava asks about the doctor across the way and the store owner tells her off the great doctor who is such a boon to the area as he has healed and mended many people over the years.

The group heading off to the upper city soon are amidst the rich and the privileged. Stately manors, well groomed properties and  finely dressed nobles. There they ask around regarding some of the more prominent manor houses. They ask about a tall spiraling tower which seems to defy physics with it's near toppling appearance. They are told it is an old wizard's tower. Ramazith's Tower should not be approached. The old wizard himself hasn't been seen in decades but wizards being wizards his tower still is dangerous.

The other manor which they ask about is a large gleaming stone building with silver accents. It looks to be of recent construction and bustles with activity. The group is told that it is the noble manor of Stehlen. A woman of great riches and of great respect. She is fairly new to the city but has already gained much respect and influence. She is said to be wise and just. Wise well beyond her young years.

The group investigates further into The Order's upper keep but fail to do much other than to annoy officers and pick fights with other soldiers. They decide to turn back to see what the others have learned from their hostage but not before showing off Artemis and Saraphina's new trick to some of the locals which results in Saraphina crashing to the ground and smashing her face upon the stones.

Faceless Ambush
5,400 XP

As they walk back through the lower city, a rag tag group of street children bustle around them cheering, laughing and shoving, some with their hands outstretched asking for money. Saraphina notices something is not right and her hand goes to where her mace is. She finds it missing. Sure enough she spots off to one side of the street, heading down an alleyway, a small child clumsily dragging her heavy mace. The others quickly check their belongings as Saraphina rushes off and gives chase after her mace. Artemis quickly follows.

Saraphina rushes through the narrowing alleyway filled with stalls and the encroaching awnings darken then alleyway. Suddenly a net is thrown over the halfling and Saraphina finds herself being dragged into a darkened building. Artemis is soon netted as well but Artemis is able to magically teleport out of the net while Oorr claws his way out. They duck into the building where Saraphina was taken.

Inside is pitch black, but it is soon lit brightly with Artemis's daylight spell. Standing in the far corner are three hooded figures, one of which is holding Saraphina down with his foot. The battle is fast and furious and when over the group investigates the dead bodies. When their hoods are withdrawn the group sees each of the figures had a metal mask. When Ooor removes one of the masks he finds that the mysterious figures have no faces behind the metal masks. Only their musculature is visible without their faces. Oorr flies back to help the others.

An Armful Of Questions
1,800 + 500 XP

Back in the inn, Yeava walks down the stairs to the Nolan's room where they have left their hostage tied. Oorr has taken up his place in the inn and begins to get the crowd into a loud sing along, in order to cover up any potential sounds from the interrogation below. Yeava walks into the room and sees that there is no hostage. Quickly she looks around, just in time to avoid a dagger in the back. She moves quickly and soon has the hostage around the neck from behind. She knows she had tied this man  well enough that he should not have escape on his own. As she is thinking this, a dagger comes at her from behind the hooded figure.

It is then that Yeava receives a sending from Artemis. They have just been ambushed by a group of assassins that have metal masks for faces.  Artemis advises caution. Thanks.

They fight with the hooded figure slashing at Yeava from puzzling angles. Soon enough Yeava is able to subdue her enemy and brings it to the brink of death. She with the aid of Azalea is able to tie the man to a chair and revive him with the use of a spellgem....smashed against his forhead. They question him harshly and find that he is indeed one of the 'Children Of Gwynt'.

He has been given the gift of extra grafted arms and eyes from a genius doctor, Doctor Modar. The Doctor is in the employ of 'The Children'. He can make any one of 'The Children' look like anyone they want.....provided they have stolen their face. They have been doing this for years. The number of their infiltrations is beyond knowing. They have people in powerful places.  They inspect this creatures face and find that there are subtle marks which show that his face has been grafted on. Yeava picks at it then pulls it off completely. After realizing they have what they can get from this creature they debate on what to do with him. Oorr solves that with an arrow through the creature's eye.

The group is finally making headway.

They leave Azalea and Artemis to hack up the body, bag it and clean up the room. They do not do a great job cleaning up the bloody mess as Nolan later complains that his room is in a horrible state and demands they do a better job at cleaning it up. They don't.

They load up the dismembered body into the back of Yeava's cart and head off to The Order's keep to meet with Onthar. They meet with him and let him know what they have learned. Does he suspect anyone in particular now, knowing that the disappearances and then reappearances may have to do with 'The Children Of Gwynt's ability to steal people's faces. He suspects many, even the head of The Order itself, Ondine, but he must know for sure.

They ask him for his assistance in disposing of the body they have. As he is helping them, they are approached by several soldiers and they are informed that Yeava is wanted for questioning. It has to do with a cloak of displacement being stolen from a local merchant. Yeava holds out her cloak to show them a dirty and worn cloak with a questioning look but it does not dissuade the soldiers. They escort the group to a large tower near the back of the keep. Ondine's Tower.

There they are questioned by Ondine, the leader of The Order. He is dressed finely and seems disinterested at best.  A menial task that he is being forced to do. He gets one of his mages to cast zone of truth around Yeava. He asks Yeava if she has stolen the cloak. Yeava answers "No, the merchant gave it to me". She does not add the fact that Oorr had used magic to dominate the merchant into giving it to her. The mage nods to Ondine and Ondine dismisses them.

On their way out Onthar cautions them to not make an enemy out of Ondine or The Order as he may not be able to help them if they do. The group collectively shrugs and heads out. They head towards the stone building which they have learned is Doctor Modar's residence.

Doctor Modar
9, 000 XP

They scout the building until confident enough they enter. Inside they find an attractive, if odd, woman behind a desk with her feet upon it. She is heavily made up with exaggerated features and bosom. She speaks highly of the doctor and sees that Saraphina is a halfling. An injured halfling at that and seems very excited. She tells the others to sit in the waiting room while she takes the halfling downstairs to see the doctor.  Saraphina looks to the others a little worried but goes along. Oorr turning invisible, follows behind.

The others waiting on the main floor are watched by a great black bird up on a shelf. They look around at each other but Yeava cautions against speaking in front of the bird. Artemis goes to pet the bird but the bird simply pecks at her hand. Artemis glares at the bird clutching her hand back to herself.

Downstairs, Saraphina is brought into a room filled with medical equipment and steel tables. She is brought a potion to drink by the doctor's assistant, Eryinna. Saraphina is reluctant, procrastinating with such excuses as she has to go to the bathroom but eventually she drinks it. And falls asleep.

Oorr, still invisible, watches as Eryinna lifts the halfling and carries it off to the fireplace, move something on the mantle and goes into the fireplace as it turns into a revolving hidden door. Oorr tries to follow but is not quick enough. Soon the others are downstairs trying to find a way to follow their companion.

On the mantle are several odds and ends. Candlesticks, statuettes and a chess set. They move each piece over and over and even play the game of chess but no door opens. Eventually someone notices the mirror over the mantle reflects everything but the chessboard is different. They move the chess pieces to match the mirror and the fireplace door opens. One by one they enter and descend the stairs beyond it.

Once they have descended the stairs, they enter a vast room lit by torchlight. At the far end is a tall dark human figure and the girl, Eryinna. The group demands their companion's return. Their answer is a yell from Eryinna as she attacks. She is quickly felled which doesn't seem to affect Doctor Modar. He moves quickly among them and the group notices that their damage doesn't seem to affect the doctor much. Slashes and arrow wounds quickly heal.

Meanwhile, Saraphina awakens in a large darkened room. Naked. She can barely make our anything except for multiple bodies covered in sheet scattered throughout the room. She eventually makes her way to a set of stairs, from which above she can hear the sounds of fighting. She also finds a large pile of belongings, on top of which, she finds her own weapons, clothing and armor. She dons her clothes and climbs the stairs to join the battle.

At different times, the doctor stares at Artemis, Azalea and Yeava and the adventurers turn on their companions fighting to protect the doctor. Soon Oorr tries to charge his attacks with radiant power and the enemies ability to regenerate is hampered. Finally, the enemy is vanquished and the individuals who were under the doctor's influence regain their senses.

The  doctor is dead.

A Touch Of Taggit

The group has just emerged from the Underdark, climbing their way up from Blingdenstone. They follow a nearby river until they are able to acquire passage on a passing ship. Eventually they make their way to the docks of Baldur's Gate. There they disembark.

The outer city is bustling with activity and the group splits up to explore around. Azalea's mission is to find protection for Stool. She finds a blacksmith who will mend a large pot for her and then she fills it with mud and dirt from the nearby shore, planting her myconid friend in the planter for nourishment.

Yeava finds a street kid and hands him a message to drop off inside the city. She will ask the assassin's guild within to send her a horse and carriage to enter into the city. Yeava follows the boy until he passes the city gate into the inner city. The group reunites and waits. Not long afterwards a horse and carriage pull up to the tent pub they are in and the driver gives Yeava a subtle nob and walks away. The group climbs aboard the the cart and Yeava drives off towards the inner city.

The guards at the gate, bearing symbols of The Order Of The Obsidian Dagger, make people pay a "gate tax" to enter the city. The guards ask varying prices depending on how much they think the people can afford. As the group approaches the gate they are asked to pay 2 gold each. The group hesitates only a moment before handing over the gold. No point in stirring up trouble right away. The guards take the gold greedily and snicker.

Inside the city the group travels to the inn, which Yeava knows is a front for her assassin's guild. They enter the Goblin King Inn. Inside a bard is playing while many of the patrons are gambling at a large table at the back. Yeava approaches the large bartender and makes an exchange. The contact information for the purple worm poison farmers for a large sum of gold.

Oorr, an aarakocra, watches the bard playing for the inn and pulls out his own lyre. Soon Oorr goes from accompanying the other bard to overtaking the song and raising the tempo. The inn erupts in cheers and sings along with Oorr. The other bard, Nolan, infuriated by the poor manners of Oorr demands that Boyle, the bartender, kick Oorr out, but the patrons disagree and Nolan storms out of the inn. Oorr makes a tidy sum in tips that evening.

Saraphina, meanwhile is checking out the gambling table. The table is running a game of 'Twenty Bone'. Large sums of money pass back and forth between the inn and the players. Coins won by the inn are swept into a slot in the table. Saraphina, being the halfling she is, is able to duck under the table and inspect the lockbox fixed to the underside of the table. Noting the information for future use she returns to watching the game.

Yeava notices the same young boy, of about 8 years, that had relayed the message for her earlier has returned to the inn. He picks his way through the crowded part of the inn, near the gambling table. Yeava watches him, clumsily pickpocket several patrons. The boy then moves on to a table with several guards of the Order Of The Obsidian Dagger. They are loud and drinking heavily. Their white robes dirty and unkempt. The boy inexpertly bumps into one of the guards and attempts to relieve the guard of some gold. Unfortunately, the guard is too quick. He grabs the arm of the boy, the boy still holding a couple of gold in his hands taken from the burly guard.

The guard raises up his catch to show the others and they work together to hold the boy down while the affronted guard draws his sword. They will take the boys hand for his offence. Yeava and the others get up and prepare to fight. Yeava intervenes and speaks to the guards, while subtly ushering the boy away. The guards distracted by the adventurers soon forget about the boy. Yeava soon recaptures the boy outside and finds that the boy must collect enough to pay the 'Children Of Gwynt' otherwise they will beat him and the other children. Yeava schools the young boy in his stupidity and gives him a card which will help the boy find her, when he is ready to learn how to truly be stealthy.

Back in the inn, the group is approached by a senior officer of the Order Of The Obsidian Dagger. He has witnessed the group's helping of the boy and feels they could be what he has been looking for. He tells them that The Order is not quite what it used to be. One of the generals of The Order, Onthar Frume, has tasked him with finding a group of capable outsiders to bring to him.

The rest of the evening is spent drinking and listening to Oorr entertain the inn while Azalea flirts, successfully, with the attractive halfling barmaid. Eventually they find their ways to various beds and sleep more comfortably than they have in ages. Azalea taking comfort in the arms of Sarra. It has been too long.

After spending a comfortable evening in the Goblin King Inn, the group is found again by the officer who leads them to the lower city's Order Keep. Once inside the fortified keep they enter a large ornate 'throne' room. There is much activity, which seems to be mostly centered on a well dressed figure at the 'throne' area. But the group is instead ushered off to a side office. There they wait in a small but well furnished room. The desk is littered with maps and letters, while on the shelves along the walls is an assortment of eclectic trinkets. Items such as a silvered flute, a steel gauntlet with six fingers,  a petrified songbird, a simple gold ring engraved with "To My Love". At the center of the memorabilia is a beautiful obsidian dagger, with what appears to be still some blood on it's blade.

A large man dressed in clean and simple Order Of The Obsidian Dagger robes enters the room. He greets them and introduces himself as Onthar Frume, one of the leaders of The Order. He tasks the group with investigating several assassinations and disappearances. There has been nefarious activity in the last ten years, which has seen many political figures of Baldur's Gate disappear. Some have returned with vague and odd excuses but many have not returned. Some of the Parliment Of Peers have been simply found dead. He suspects the 'Children Of Gwynt', an thieves/assassins guild which has seemed to recently shown itself within the walls of the city.

Since the group is mostly outsiders he feels that they will have not been corrupted by whatever is beginning to influence even The Order itself. He trusts very few people with The Order. The direction The Order has taken within the past few years has weakened it. A 'conscription' policy has seen the induction of males as young as 14 years into The Order. Most of The Order has not taken the famous sworn oath and as such, the city's army has grown vast but corruption seeps through it like a disease.

The group is given badges of The Order and robes to designate themselves as members of The Order, so that they will be able to move through the city unbarred. The group looks to Azalea, who still clutches the large pot, in which Stool happily sits. They tell her that it will not be easy carting around Stool while they move about the city and they don't want any harm to come to the young myconid sprout. Reluctantly, Azalea sighs  in agreement and forces Onthar to babysit Stool. She gives the soldier a list of instructions and demands for the care of her companion before the group leaves.

Before Yeava leaves she gives Onthar a bag of empty spellgems. She instructs Onthar that she would appreciate it if he could find someone to charge the spell gems with several spells of  'Zone Of Truth' and 'Healing'. They can be left at the Goblin King's Inn with the bartender there.

The group splits up and moves through the city. Artemis and Saraphina move to the upper city where they find the upper city's Keep for The Order. There they try to move about the Keep in order to learn what they can, only to find that their unrefined manners show them as member of The Order which have not been trained for the upper city. Here diplomacy and manners are as important as skills in defense.

Oorr and Azalea patrol the streets looking for shops that would sell magical items. After encountering a couple of shady places which sell trinkets and pass them off as magical, they find the genuine article. They enter a shop which is owned by a haughty high-elf named Minreth. He is persuaded to show the two adventurers items only after they have shown him their worthiness in gold. He shows to them a few wands, a couple of weapons but they find nothing to their interest.

Yeava searches the lower city until she spots a group of children moving about the crowd pick pocketing and working in teams to pilfer from the various shops and carts in the market place. She follows them until she finds them returning to their shared hovel, which is a basement of a run down house. She moves silently down finding the small room filled with children, street rats, gathering their collected treasures, small as they may be and sharing in their meager food.

She waits off to the side, disguised as a homeless beggar half buried in garbage, and watches the hovel. She is rewarded some hours later as night falls, when a robed figure approaches the run down home. He enters the basement and soon returns tucking away the small amount of gold he has collected into his pouch before moving on. Yeava follows and witnesses the same collection from a half dozen similar hovels housing similar 'street rats'. Yeava follows until the hooded figure approaches a nice looking stone building.

Before the hooded figure can enter the building, Yeava sends out an illusion of a small child bearing a small sack of coin. As the hooded figure approaches the child, Yeava springs from the shadows and touches the figure with a drop of 'Oil of Taggit'. The hooded figure drops unconscious. Yeava drags the body off to a deserted alleyway, covers the body and returns to the Goblin King Inn.

There at the inn she finds her companions and tells them off what she has discovered. Collecting up her horse and carriage the others follow. Oor and Artemis take flight to watch for approaching guards while the others try to load the body into the back of the carriage. Saraphina making every attempt at looking like she is helping but the little halfling only makes things worse.

The body is haphazardly half in and out of the carriage when a couple, perhaps out for a moonlit stroll or returning from dinner, walk past as the group is quickly able to toss the rest of the body into the back of the carriage. Trying not to act suspiciously, the group watches as the couple quickens their pace with furtive glances over their shoulders. Yeava takes chase as both Oorr and Artemis fly to try and keep track of the couple. They are soon tracked down and followed into a dead-end alleyway.

Yeava threatens them with death if they tell anyone what they have witnessed. The couple anxiously agree and Yeava lets them go. She watches as they run home and she follows. Once back at their poor home she watches and listens as they console each other until they fall asleep. Once sleeping, Yeava slips into the house and kills them both. Quickly and quietly. She then moves about the small house setting the scene for what will look like a break-in. She then slips back out and returns to the inn.

Unnoticed by Yeava, Artemis flying above followed Yeava and watched the incident. Once Yeava left back to the inn, Artemis entered the house, finds the murdered couple  and uses her magic to return them to life. Telling them they have to leave immediately, she tosses them some gold as they flee from their home, never to return. Artemis then flies back to the inn.

Back at the inn, Oorr, Saraphina and Azalea have transferred the still unconscious body to the basement of the Goblin King Inn and placed him in the bartenders quarters. Soon the adventurers are all reassembled and stare at the unconscious and now bound body of the robed figure. He is bound hands to feet behind his back and the group decides what to do next. The 'oil of taggit' will keep the bound figure unconscious until the next evening. They will retire and sleep.

Artemis worriedly peeks at Yeava and rushes off to find sleeping quarters behind locked and magically bound doors. Yeava watches the elf's odd behavior as the rest of the group finds sleeping arrangements.

Yeava decides that Artemis deserves watching.

The next day, the group decides to take their time exploring before getting down to the task of interrogation. Oorr and Azalea tell Yeava of  the magic item store, Minreth's Runes. They go together to find what kind of deals they can obtain there.

Meanwhile, Saraphina and Artemis return to the upper city to see if they can learn more of The Order there. They learn little but  instead wander the streets and regale the well-to-do citizens of the upper city with their feats of daring, as Artemis would pick up Saraphina, fly her up to dizzying heights then drop her, then diving down to catch her. This worked but only after Saraphina had the first time crashed to the ground smashing up her already misshapen face.

The others have more success at Minreth's Runes. They convince the proprietor to show them a prized possession only to find that the 'Cloak Of Displacement' is thousands of gold beyond their means. This barrier is only temporary, as Oorr casts 'Dominate Person' upon Minreth. Oorr tells Minreth to give the cloak to Yeava, as a gift. The high-elf hands over the cloak and the group quickly depart.

Minreth, who is unable to break free of the magical dominance, struggles for the next minute to free himself of the magical spell. While he can do nothing but stand still, he plots his revenge.