The Shard Runners Disbanded

The adventurers have just discovered a staircase descending from the hidden room in the warehouse they have broken into, looking for Draak, the half-dragon somehow involved with the necromancer tabaxi. One by one they descend the narrow staircase. At the bottom after a turn, they are confronted by a slightly rusted steel door. Gavin easily picks the lock and turns to the group to make sure they are ready. Behind him is Messick and Fritz, followed by a massive eagle, Angel, who takes up the entire stairwell's width. Gavin opens the door.

Into The Sewers

The rusted hinges loudly groan as the door is opened and the group is hit with the putrid smell of sewer. They carefully walk along the small edge of the sewer tunnel, fetid liquid running beside them in a deep and slow flowing river, inches below their feet. They walk until they see dim fire light and talking from a small side tunnel.

Gavin carefully approaches. Just past the small corridor is a room with a small fire in the middle. Three small figures sit with their backs to Gavin, silhouetted by the fire. Beside them standing to the side is a man, scrawny and oily, barking orders at someone off to the other side of the fire. On the other side of the fire, is a small figure, writhing on the floor, grunting and moaning, either with effort or in pain.

Gavin, returns to the others and relays what he has seen. Gavin then returns to the small room, at the head of a small parade. Gavin and Fritz each playing their violin. Oddly they are playing different songs; both poorly. Behind them, Fritz's fire mephits dance to the odd rhythm of the two competing songs. Distracted, the figure on the floor stops writhing, and stands. It is a large rat creature. Gavin and Fritz, now further into the room, see that it is filled with at least a half dozen wererats. The man standing beside the fire begins to transform, rat features transforming onto his face.

The Shard Runners

Messick, spell at the ready, fires off at the figure that was on the ground writhing. It is then that they are stopped by three familiar figures. The three figures silhouetted by the fire turn to look at the adventurers, their features turning from wererat into that of the three street urchins that have been frequenting the Trollskull Manor. Nat, Jenks and Squiddly. They shout for the group to hold their fire and hold their hands out to stop further attacks.

The three urchins look embarrassed and horrified that the Messick, Fritz and Gavin has discovered them in their sewer home. They ask Messick if he is disappointed in them.

After more than a bit of explanation, it is found that this is where the three urchins live, along with their other friends and this adult, Ralf. Together they are a gang, a family; The Shard Runners. They scrounge the streets for money and food and bring it back here to Ralf in order to feed him and the other street kids. Yes. They are all wererats. Ralf has explained to them that they are unwelcome in the world above the sewers and this is the best they can do. As long as they look after him and contribute, the gang will survive.

The three urchins beckon the adventures to stay and share in their meal. The three are exceptionally proud as they have purchased street vendor kabobs with the money they have earned from the Trollskull Manor work.

Messick, asks Ralf, what he himself contributes. Ralf, looking affronted, tells Messick that he looks after the best interests of the children. He makes sure they have enough to eat and a place to sleep. The warmth of the sewers keeps them from freezing during the winters of Waterdeep. He alone has taken in these unwanted, unloved children.

Doubtful Good Intentions

Ralf, seeing the discussion begin to turn towards, what exactly he brings to the gang, begins to admonish the children, telling them that without him they would be long dead; they are ungrateful. He begins to back away up a rickety set of stairs leading up and out of the room. Deciding that Ralf is up to no good, the adventurers all simultaneously strike the escaping Ralf. But all three united strikes are enough to kill Ralf. The children shriek in horror.

Messick immediately tries to calm them. He casts gentle repose over the body of Ralf, telling the children that he can easily bring Ralf back to life.....if that is what they truly wish. As long as they do not remove the coins off his eyes, he can restore life back to Ralf. They should take time to discuss among themselves if Ralf was really looking after them or was he instead just taking advantage of them and that in fact, it was them that was keeping Ralf alive with all their work.

The children begin discussing and debating among themselves. In the commotion, some of the group notice that Nat, the lanky Illuskan girl and the oldest of the group, is not participating in the discussion. They look around to find her standing over the dead body of Ralf, lying peacefully on the floor, his eyes covered with a coin over each. Nat, makes no noise but tears stream down over her face, which is contorted in anger. She then slaps the coins off of Ralf's eyes, preventing him from being brought back to life. She runs out of the room, sobs escaping her usually silent mouth.

The rest of the children stand in shock as do the adventurers.

Nat's Pain

A few more gently put questions find that Ralf often favored Nat, in fact they would often go out alone on scavenging missions. They asked if Nat had always been a mute, of if she had ever talked. No one remembered. They had all been very young when brought into the Shard Runners. And it was Ralf who gave them the gift of being a wererat, in order that they could survive here in the sewers.

The adventurers discuss quietly among themselves then tell the children that they are all welcome to come stay at Trollskull Manor. They are a little worried about Nat but she is the most skilled of all of them. She'll be okay.

Kobold Ambush

The group tells the kids that they have to carry on. The kids warn them off the troublesome kobolds up ahead in the sewers. The kobolds often take potshots at them if they stray too far into the kobolds area.

Moving further down the sewer tunnels, they find the area the children warned them off. Finding a side corridor Fritz sneaks along scouting ahead. Ahead, out of a slit in one of the corridors walls, a small fiery sphere is launched towards him, and explodes. Fritz, singed, returns to the others and tells them what happened. Gavin says he can try, thinking himself fairly dexterous. Fritz tells him that it's probably possible to grab the sphere, which he thinks is a delayed fireball, and throw it before it explodes.

Gavin darts into the corridor, seeing the sphere floating in the middle of the corridor, flames roiling around it. He jumps and grabs it, thinking to throw it before it explodes. The full force of the sphere explodes around Gavin as he tries to grab it. It turns out it wasn't a delayed fireball but a flaming sphere which the kobold in the room behind the arrow slit is controlling.

Messick decides he has a cure for this. Messick gets as close as he can to the arrow slit so he can see the room behind it. Other kobolds are in the room that he can see, and he casts cloud kill. The poisonous cloud expands but the kobolds quickly emerge from the room, not bothered by the poisonous cloud. Two of the kobolds are the tribes alchemists and they have been able to grant the other kobolds resistance to the poison.

Dead Duergar and Doomed Duergar

Fighting among the ever expanding green cloud they are able to finally kill the kobolds. Realizing the expanding cloud may expand towards the Shard Runner kids, the group retreats to find the children and tell them to get to higher ground. Soon enough the cloud begins to dissipate. Returning to the kobold area and pressing on further they find the cloud has killed a few duergar.

Further into the room they find a locked door. There is some commotion on the other side of the door. Gavin easily picks the lock on the door. Peering into the other room he sees two duergar, in their enlarged forms, pushing up against a door at the far end of the room.

Gavin closes the door and tells the others of the duergar. They decide to press on through the room. They unlock and open the door, trying to move quickly and quietly through the room. The duergar see them and instead of attacking they begin gesturing to the group and to the door which they are holding back. They yell but the language they shout is lost upon the group. The duergar farthest away from the door is able to muster the common word for "door", which he shouts in various ways from demanding, scared to pleading.

Fritz approaches the door and sees some sort of clear ooze seeping around the edges of the door. One single drop hits the duergar's hand and melts a hole all the way through in an instant. The duergar howling in pain but not letting up on his hold on the door. Fritz backs carefully away.

The group talks briefly before deciding, this isn't their problem, especially since Gavin has found another door out of this room which leads to a long corridor. They leave but not before locking both doors exiting the room. Just to be safe.

They pause and listen for a moment. On the other side of the door, back in the room, they can hear duerger arguing loudly in their harsh and incomprehensible tongue. Then there is the sound of breaking wood and shouts of pain and panic. The sounds do not last long and soon there is a deathly silence. Using his thief's mirror, Gavin peeks under the door. Turning the mirror multiple ways he doesn't see anything other than half dissolved duergar laying upon the floor. But when he turns the mirror to the ceiling, he says a massive ooze clinging to the ceiling. Pseudopods of ooze dangle from the ceiling.

Lieutenant Draak

Deciding not to reenter the room with the deadly ooze, they press on through the corridor.

Gavin scouts ahead and carefully crawling up a small set of stairs he sees Draak, the half-dragon they have been pursuing, pummeling and torturing a barely recognizable Meloon, arms chained above him to the ceiling. Meloon was the drunkard who had first approached them in the Yawning Portal Tavern, with the proposal of the heist during Liar's Night at Waterdeep Palace.

Further into the long room, standing in the shadows of the room is an illithid and a small creature at it's feet. Standing beside him is a woman with a vacant stare.

Gavin returns to the others and they discuss. They are potentially outmatched if they attack, but retreat through the ooze infested room is also a dicey option. They decide to attack. Hopefully, surprise will give them the advantage they so desperately need.

They charge in. Draak is taken by surprise. Messick and Fritz attacking the half-dragon, while Gavin charges in and attacks the mind-flayer. The illithid though finds his way into the mind of Gavin and Gavin stops attacking and calmly walks towards the illithid. The illithid holds the mousefolk, and begins to crack Gavin's skull to allow his pet, the intellect devourer, to take over Gavin.

Fritz summons his pack of wolves which attack and delay the illithid's plans for poor Gavin. Messick then uses his Talisman of Pure Good, gifted to him by the River King, and a crevice opens up beneath and devours the illithid. With the mind-flayer gone they focus on Draak, and soon, outnumbered the half-dragon begins to falter. Cutting a hole through the wall that is made of wolves, Draak rushes through the wolves and escapes out a side door.

Before the group can pursue, a creature descends from the ceiling. Looking like a deformed beholder, it's skin red and rubbery. It's eye stalks thin and its main eye cloudy. It speaks with telepathically to the group and tells them that it is impressed with them for besting it's lieutenant, Draak. They are welcome to have an audience with it whenever they desire working for it.

But even after it praises the group for it's prowess, it attacks Fritz and Fritz falls to the floor. Meessick now stands alone and must try to revive the others. He is able to reach Fritz but Gavin is out of reach. After killing the mind-witness, Gavin is gentle reposed.

But for now, their prey, Draak, has escaped.