Moving through the large double doors through which Draak, the massive half-dragon, had moments before escaped. They enter a vast empty stone chamber. It is empty save for the massive floor-to-ceiling column standing in the center of the room. Its dark surface shimmers and flows. At its center is a symbol: a large circle with 8 rays emanating from it. Fritz determines that the column is actually a teleportation artifact. Fritz is uncertain as to where it goes or how it activates.
A Failed Kobold Ambush
At the end of the passageway is a dead end, but after a bit of poking and prodding they find the dead end wall can be pushed on just one side to rotate a section of the wall to reveal a hidden exit back out to the sewers. In fact they are close to the small room with the Shard Runner children where they had started. They return to the small alcove off of the sewer system where they had encountered the wererat children and use the stairs there which lead to a small restaurant.
Exiting The Sewer, Into A Restaurant
(this must be some sort of health code violation)
Bloodied, covered in filth, carrying the reposed body of their companion, and smelling strongly of sewer they climb into the crawl space which then leads to a small restaurant. Ms Peabody, a halfling woman, stares incredulously at the group as they exit her crawl space and walk right through the restaurant filled with mostly haflings eating. Ms Peabody chastises them harshly. This isn't a thoroughfare from the sewers. They are tracking filth through her restaurant. Why are they carrying a dead body. They smell horrible. A few gold coins placed in her hands seems to calm the halfling somewhat but she tells them to hurry up and remove themselves from her restaurant.
Returning to their manor, they revive Gavin and then decide on what to do next. Someone points out that they technically do not have the Waterdeep permit to remove monsters below the surface, as was pointed out to them by the Dungeon Sweepers Guild. So the group decides to visit the Dungeon Sweepers.
The Dungeon Sweepers Guild
They travel through the city until they find a small squat building, the shingle above the door displaying a crossed battleaxes and a sword. Inside they find a mixture of humans, dwarves, half-elves, and a goliath. All of them burly and sour looking when the group enters the building. The dwarf, Takghal, speaks for the group and asks the group if they are coming to the Dungeon Sweepers Guild for help. Perhaps something they couldn't handle on their own.Harsh words are exchanged, weapons are drawn culminating in Harry, the hairless cat, Eda's familiar is cleaved in half. Finally, cooler heads prevail and a bargain is struck. The Dungeon Sweepers Guild is given the contract for cleaning out the ooze from the sewer stronghold that the TrollSkull Champions Guild has "heard about". No they were never down in the sewers on guild related business. They are trying to be neighborly and responsible by giving the Dungeon Sweepers the contract they had "heard about".
A team is assembled and the Dungeon Sweepers excitedly head out.
A Coin From An Ancient Civilization
Fritz tells the others that he is eager to have a gem appraised that he has been holding on to for a while. They exit the Dungeon Sweepers Guild building and flag down the nearest City Watch. They ask for a good and reputable gem appraiser. He directs them to Hlethvagi's Coins and Gems, in the South Ward.
Arriving at Hlethvagi's Coins and Gems they find a stout human woman, Hlethvagi at the counter. Fritz's appraisal for his gem is underwhelming so he decides to hold on to it. But this reminds Messick of the odd coin he had found back in the kobold warrens, many tenday ago. He show the woman his coin. At first, she looks puzzled and then surprised. She tells him that the coin has no monetary value, for it isn't a currency used anywhere....anymore. She tells him this might be a coin from the mythical civilization of Daoine Gloine, which was said to lie beyond the Barrier Peaks.
Hlethvagi tells them that they really should ask Anaxi Zephries, a cartographer within Waterdeep who is obsessed about this lost civilization.
Returning to the Trollskull Manor, Messick tasks one of the street urchins, who have begun making their new home in the storage shed behind the manor, with delivering a message to Anaxi Zephries: They wish to ask Anaxi what he knows of the lost city of Daoine Gloine.
A medieval Hostile Takeover
They are not settled long, before Takghal, the dwarf from the Dungeon Sweepers Guild enters the manor. He is both distraught and angry. The entire party, a dozen strong, have not returned from the sewers. He demands to know what was in there. What will they do about it. Was this a trap to get rid of the Dungeon Sweepers Guild. Angry words are hurled but finally the group convinces Takghal that the Dungeon Sweepers Guild be a subsidiary of the Trollskull Champions Guild. This way the Trollskull Champions can take over such dangerous contracts such as the disastrous one they have just suffered, while allowing the Dungeon Sweepers to take on contracts the Trollskull Champions do not have time or resources for.
Takghal sighs in resignation as he signs the legal contract that essentially gives away control to the Trollskull Champions.
That being done, the Trollskull Champions Guild can now take over the contract of cleaning out the ooze creature in the sewers below. Plans are made. Equipment readied. The group moves out.
Returning to the Peabody's restaurant, they step carefully through the crowd of halflings seated at their meals. Ms Peabody admonishes them again. This is not ok! But again, a few gold pieces, dragons, are enough to quiet Ms Peabody, while still leaving her scowlling at the backs of the adventurers as they descend down into her storage area.
The Ooze. Round Two
Moving through the sewers, familiar with the layout, they find the room again that contained the ooze creature. Peaking through the gap below the door with Gavin's thief's mirror, they see that the ooze, larger than ever. It clings to the ceiling, its surface sloshes and tentacles drop down seeking anything that moves.Messick has a plan.
Using the spell, anti-life shield, Messick essentially blocks the ooze from approaching while he and the others lob spells and attacks into the room with the ooze. The one sided battle takes a while, as the ooze resists much of the damage they cause. After a few minutes though, in the hall behind the group, the stone floor begins to break as tentacles of the ooze have finished burrowing through the ground and have found the rear flank of the group. But the ooze has sustained too much damage over the time they had been attacking it and soon enough the group overcomes the creature.
Inside the room are the barely discernible remains of the previous battle with the Dungeon Sweepers Guild.
The Lost Civilization Of Daoine Gloine
They return to Trollskull Manor. There waiting for them is Anaxi Zephries. He has come at the behest of the group. Messick shows Anaxi his old coin he had found. Anaxi inspects it for quite some time before he rapidly begins to ask questions: Where did you find it? Who had it before you? Who have you shown this to?
Messick tells him of the kobold warrens where they had found it.
Anaxi tells them of the, what some people think of as mythical, lost city of Daoine Gloine. But it really existed. It was a civilization that was said to have had access to a mysterious energy and magical knowledge. The creatures that populated it were said to be made up entirely of crystals. Perhaps the creatures themselves had some sort of energy within their crystal structure. The knowledge that could be learned from them would have an enormous impact upon the world.
In fact, a mage name Kwalish, was said to be searching for such knowledge. After his business was done in Waterdeep a few hundred years ago, he was said to have gone searching for the city. In fact, Anaxi had organized and financed an expedition to find the city several years ago....but no one returned.
With that a sadness comes over Anaxi, but he soon recovers and is excited to hire the guild for a new expedition. Now that he has concrete evidence perhaps he can get academically inclined nobles to help finance the expedition.
Messick is wary about such a long journey and asks Anaxi if he can procure a teleporation circle back to Waterdeep to cut the journey's length. Anaxi agrees to see what he can do.
Gavin jots down "ancient city thing"....and tacks it to the guild's 'To Do Board'.
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