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The Mystics of Trollskull Manor were hanging out in the Flagon and the Dragon, a tavern in Skullport, when the door opened and they heard a familiar cackle.
The Mad Mage, Halaster, had entered. Halster was accompanied by an older woman with gray dreadlocks. She had the grim unamused demeanor of someone fulfilling an old obligation. She wore dark gray robes and carried a twisted wooden staff.
Halaster saw the party immediately, calling out to them, "Hey! Look who it is! The Mystics of Something-Something!
The Mystics were wearing hastily donned disguises created by Kem Hearthfire - Etlenda had a drawn-on scar, Winterfrost wore a fake dwarf beard and face paint to cover her blue skin, Push-ta - foregoing the more logical use of his magical hat of disguise - wore an eyepatch.
Halaster escorted his companion to the bar and begged her indulgence as he stopped by the table of the Mystics. Halaster was in a good mood. He bought them all a round of drinks and welcomed them to Skullport.
"Ah, Skullport. Dearest home of the desperate and lost. Yet without the Thirteen, Skullport's but a shadow of its former glory. The people do not cry out for revolution, but whimper for it into their cups and pillows. You know, this place has really gone to hell since the Hoist broke. See, folks are like a stew; if you don't stir it enough, it spoils. And this place sure is spoiled."
Halaster was momentarily distracted by a stray thought, "I wonder if that mind flayer is still running amok."
"Anyway, What was I saying? Oh right! Skullport's wonderful for blowing off steam—so I banned my students from ever visiting it. Poly'd one into a rooster once, tossed him into the river. Funny thing was, turns out roosters can't swim!" Halaster became pensive, "Oh, dearest Delanco. How I miss him."
"So, I just wanted to stop by and let you know, you guys are doing great! You're stars, baby! Season eighty-four's goin' grand. You're a hit on all the crystal spheres - especially the Nine Hells. Devils galore are pining for your souls. Ratings could be better elsewhere, like the City of Doors, but just wait 'til the mid-season finale—it'll knock the their socks right off!"
"No, really, I'm super impressed with you so far. I really like you guys. Which is a shame really. It's going to make what I'm about to do that much harder. Sorry."
Halaster snapped his fingers.
The party found themselves transported back onto the River Sargauth. They were sitting in the gondola, approaching the fortress on Skull Island.
- Winterfrost of House Silverspear - Chaotic Good Moon Elf Noble and Fighter. The daughter of elven diplomats, raised among dwarves.
- Etlenda, aka "Exile" - Neutral Good Eladrin Outlander and Paladin. Exiled from the Feywild and raised by wolves. While exploring the Feydark he crossed over into the Underdark and emerged into the Mortal World.
- Tempus Vegvisir - Lawful Good Human Trade Sheriff and Cleric of Helm. Husband and Father.
- Push-ta "Bearbite" Tok - Neutral Half-Orc Former Smuggler and Rogue, secret member of the Zhentarim.
- Kem Hearthfire - Chaotic Good Half-Orc Former Gladiator Priestess of Gond.
- Randall - Chaotic Good Human Scout and Smuggler. The child of minor nobles slain by Manshoon - or one of his duplicates, he now leads smugglers down the River Sargauth to Skullport.
- Glom the Wretched, aka "Hu-Man Patty Johnson" - Chaotic Neutral Goblin NPC, former thief and guide to the Arcane Chambers.
Skull Island
What just happened? Were they transported in time? Winterfrost checked her satchel to see if she had the moonstones to deliver to Ca'al Claddani. She did not. They were all still wearing the disguises. So time itself was not reset. Weird.
The gondola approached the docks within the walls of the fortress. There were other launches and boats with smugglers moving products onto the docks.
The gondolier poled the craft to one of the docks and the party disembarked. This time - EVERYONE GAVE THE GONDOLIER A GOLD PIECE!
DM - No one was going to repeat that mistake.
The Gondolier nodded and pushed his gondola away, returning up-river into the caves of Undermountain.
The party climbed some stairs and made their way towards the bridge connecting the island to Skullport. A group of armed men bearing the symbol of Xanathar's Guild approached, their swords drawn, ""Halt! The Eye sees all, and all who enter Skullport must identify themselves to the Xanathar Guild! Stand and be recognized or taste steel!"
Winterfrost turned anxiously towards Etlenda, who had taken a vow to never speak an untruth. They were worried he would honestly identify himself to the guards. The Mystics of Trollskull Manor were well known enemies of Xanathar's Guild and a bounty had been offered for their murder.
Etlenda said, "I am known as Exile."
Winterfrost sighed with relief - few knew Etlenda's Eladrin epithet.
Push-ta relied upon the cover he had created for the party at Lady Haventree's estate - "I am Sven."
Kem had brain jellies so she stared blankly into the distance, hour mouth slightly agape.
Randall shrugged, "I am Randall, you know me."
Glom the Wretched, a goblin thief wearing a magical circlet that made her appear to be human, stiffly extended her hand in greeting, and loudly declared, "I am hu-man Patty Johnson! I poop in holes like a hu-man!"
"Um, Yes, hello, I am Geldax Breer, a lamplighter from Waterdeep. I'm just trying to get home. I have NO idea where I am or what's going on!"
Winterfrost, a moon elf wearing a fake beard trying to pass herself as a dwarf, defiantly puffed out her chest and shouted, "I am - uh - A DWARF! Of clan - BLOODHAMMER!"
Suddenly a green glow appeared from around the corner as a floating skull, wreathed in flame with incandescent eyes, hovered into view. It moved between the party towards the guards, muttering nonsense.
The guards became nervous and parted to allow it to pass. They stared in awe as the flameskull made its way past, babbling senile gibberish.
"Can we pass?" asked Etlenda.
"What? Oh, sure. Carry on." stammered the anxious guard captain.
The party crossed the bridge into Skullport.
Xanathar Sends Its Love
The city on the other side was built within a massive cavern. The street level was elevated from the waters of the River Sargauth by over a dozen feet. The party could not remember how the gondola let them off directly into the city during their first visit - indeed the memory of that initial visit had become increasing hazy and unreliable.
"We need to find that wizard who could send this poor guy home," said Etlenda, referring to Geldax Breer.
"We should go back to the Flagon and the Dragon, she'd know." suggested Winterfrost.
Before they could do so, they witnessed a commotion ahead. Several duergar had arrested what appeared to be a blind beggar - a tiefling. Several onlookers watched, some in outrage and others with passive interest. The blind beggar was manacled and being man-handled by two of the duergar.
"Stand back! This man is a Zhentarim spy and a traitor! We're taking him to skull island for interrogation! He by executed for his crimes in two bells time!"
Etlenda saw the mistreatment of the pathetic blind beggar and grit his teeth, "There's injustice! This will not stand!"
The party split up. Winterfrost and Etlenda stood firm in the center of the street to intercept the duergar while Randall and Bearbite hid in a nearby alley. Their goal was to let the duergar come closer so that Randall and Bearbite could sneak behind and surround them.
The duergar came within thirty feet. Winterfrost abandoned the plan and charged!
Etlenda sighed, "You know, like in the plan!"
The ruse abandoned, Etlenda and Bearbite joined Winterfrost. Two of the duergar grew to prodigious height.
Three of the duergar were quickly dispatched - one was killed while two were knocked unconscious. The fourth, gravely wounded, became invisible and tried to flee. Tempus sent his bat familiar, Edward, to use his echolocation to find the invisible giant. Tempus then pointed out the duergar's location to the others.
Winterfrost closed and attacked. The duergar fell to the ground - visible, normal sized, and unconscious.
Bosskyn Gorrb
The tiefling told his saviors that they had to hide. He said he had a safehouse they could all use. He asked them to describe where they were, based on that he gave them directions as they escorted the blind beggar up some stairs and across a network of rope bridges and catwalks to a run down abandoned building called the Keel Hall.
The blind man led them through a concealed entrance. The interior once held a fest hall with long tables and benches. Black winged snakes hung lazily in the stout rafters. The tiefling introduced himself as Bosskyn Gorrb. Bosskyn said that he was a former "Caravan Guard", long ago blinded and now retired. He greeted each member of the party, shaking their hands and touching their faces. He recognized the name Push-ta Tok and the two shared a secret handshake, confirming to each other their affiliation with the Zhentarim.
Etlenda said, "Wait, they weren't lying? You ARE a Zhentarim spy?"
Bosskyn ignored Etlenda but instead focused on Push-ta. Bosskyn told him that he desperately needed his help. He had discovered a means of restoring the power of the Thirteen and eventually removing the Xanathar's Guild from power. But he could not do it alone - he needed Push-ta's help!
The team was interested and wanted to know more.
Bosskyn said that the former rulers of Skullport were the Thirteen - powerful flameskull mages. He said that, over a decade ago, something happened that enfeebled the Thirteen. They became senile and useless. Xanathar's Guild took advantage of the power vacuum and took over the town.
However, he had recently learned that Nightshade the apothecary knew the recipe of a potion that would restore the mental faculties of a flameskull. If they could capture a flameskull and bring it to her, she could restore it to power. Once one is restored, it could reinvigorate the others. Eventually all thirteen would be restored and they would overthrow Xanathar's Guild.
Their mission, then, was to find and capture a flameskull and take it to Nightshade, who ran a shop called Nightshade's Caress.
The team agreed to take on this mission but first they had to take Geldax Breer to a wizard.
The Poisoned Quill
The team found their way to a shop in the middle level called the Poisoned Quill. The shop belonged to an aged woman wearing gray robes named Tasselgryn "Tas" Velldarn - Halaster's companion at the Flagon and the Dragon. She possessed a printing press and her shop was decorated with various fliers and bills, some recent ones included recruitment fliers for the Legion of Azrok. She was also a notary who could bear witness to transfer of titles and property.
Tas was taciturn and dour. She had little patience for distractions and customers were a distraction.
They asked her about magic teleportation. She sighed and pointed to a menu of services:
- Identify spell 10gp
- Mind blank spell 150gp
- Sending 5gp
- Spell scroll of Sending 25gp
- Teleportation 50gp
They asked where the teleportation led. She shrugged, "I don't know. An orphanage or an attic or a dock or something. It's one way and they never come back. I honestly have no idea. I'm fairly certain it works though."
They asked Geldax if he was willing to take the risk.
"Oh yes! Anything is better than this place!"
So the Mystics of Trollskull Manor ponied up the gold. Tas pulled back a rug to reveal a concealed teleportation circle. She performed the ritual and Geldax disappeared in a brilliant blue aura.
Capture the Flameskull
They exited the Poisoned Quill and Push-ta said, "Okay, how do we find a flameskull?"
"Wander around town until we find one, I guess," said Etlenda.
"Wait! There's one!" shouted Winterfrost, pointing at a flameskull floating into view sixty feet away, muttering incoherent gibberish.
DM - I was planning on rolling 1d20 every so often as they wandered around town. If I rolled a 1 or a 20, they'd find a flameskull. Turns out I rolled a 1 on the very first roll!
They gave chase. The flameskull turned to flee.
Winterfrost shouted after the flameskull, repeating something she heard the other one say earlier on Skull Island.
DM - I had Winterfrost make a Persuasion skill check. She rolled a natural 20 for a 24. I had to reward the quick thinking and the good roll.
The flameskull stopped and turned. It looked at her inquisitively.
Bearbite shouted at the flameskull, somewhat annoyingly, "GET INTO THE BAG!"
DM - Bearbite made an Intimidation check, rolling 12.
Randall ran up and threw a bag onto the skull, capturing it.
"Quick! To the apothecary!"
Randall ran down the boardwalk as fast as he could, carrying a struggling flameskull in a bag. The others followed behind him. Bystanders hurriedly got out of the way of the rushing group.
Just outside the Nightshade's Caress, the flameskull escaped the bag. Randall re-captured it before it could escape. He threw open the door to the Nightshade's Caress and ran inside, panting.
DM - That was a fun and very cinematic little caper. I had a bunch of random commoners strewn around on the boardwalk to act as minor obstacles and flavor.
Nightshade's Caress
Randall slammed the door behind him to prevent the flameskull from escaping again.
He turned around and saw before him a withered crone covered in bandages, wearing a long robe. Her eyes burned with magical fire. Her wrinkled lips withdrawn to reveal long yellow teeth. Her stringy hair blown by magical energies. She reached forth with a desiccated claw-like hand.
"WHO DARES INTRUDE UPON MY DEMENSE? And also, welcome to the Nightshade's Caress, what may I do for you?"
DM - I had a lot of fun playing Nightshade as this ancient undead monster who runs a quaint little apothecary shop tending plants and bonsai. The players thought she was hilarious.
Randall backed against the wall in fear. The door opened and he was soon joined by the others.
They said that they had learned that Nightshade may possess a means of restoring the flameskull to its former power.
She confirmed that she did possess such a formula. However, she lacked two key ingredients - the blood of a Netherese mixed with arachnid venom. As it happens, a man of Netherese descent was recently captured by giant spiders who dwell within the Tanor'thal Refuge - an abandoned structure built by the drow in the shape of a giant hideous spider. You can find it above Dalagor's Fortress in Eastern Upper Skullport.
"Go, now! You have less than two hours! I will watch over your flameskull while you are gone. And have a nice day!"
DM - The quest in the Companion was poorly laid out. It had a summary of the quest on page 47-48, and I was going off that. What I didn't know, and it wasn't mentioned in the summary, was that more detail was available in the specific sections on the Keel Hall, Nightshade's Caress, and Tanor'thal Refuge.
The summary says:
She is aware of the ritual that can restore the Thirteen to their former glory, as well as the most important component: Netherese blood mixed with arachnid venom.
So that's what I told the players. I really wish the summary would have just included all the relevant parts from the later specific sections so I'd know I should have said:
"For this ritual I require the blood of a victim not yet dead, cloudy with spider venom. Go forth and go fast, for those beasts have little patience."
This led to some minor confusion later on, but not too bad.
As it was, nobody bothered to stop and wonder - "how did she know a man of Netherese descent was captured by giant spiders and is still alive??"
Tanor'thal Refuge
Randall paid a local a platinum piece to lead them to Tanor'tal Refuge. They arrived and found a building in the shape of a giant spider clinging to the stone ceiling. A nearby tall building connected to the back of the spider's abdomen.
The party entered the building - a former slave market of the drow. The room had high ceilings, a set of stairs in the corner led to a catwalk connecting to the hatch in the ceiling. The walls were covered in thick webs. Large nests could be seen in the corners.
The party was soon attacked by several giant spiders as well as humanoid spiders known as ettercaps.
After a fierce battle, all of the spiders and ettercaps, save one, had been dispatched. One ettercap managed to flee into the hatch in the ceiling.
The Last Magi of the Netherese
After searching the spider nests, finding only small trinkets and amulets bearing the symbol of house Tanor'thal, and cutting venom sacks out of the dead spiders, the team climbed the stairs into the giant stone spider.
The stone spider was abandoned but covered in thick sheets of webs. They found the ettercap hiding within but left it alone. They moved to the chamber in the head of the spider and found a man cocooned within spider silk. He was dehydrated, emaciated, and barely alive. His name was Gonderth Nethran.
The party carried him out of the giant stone spider and outside. They brought him back to Nightshade's Caress.
Once inside, Nightshade took him into a back room where she kept a large heavy chair with restraints.
"So the last descendant of the magi of the ancient Netherese still lives. Your ancestors sought to curse me, banish me! But soon you will die - AND DESPITE THEIR BEST EFFORTS I YET LIVE!"
She sensed the look of concern on the party behind her, so she amended her statement, "that is, you will die of natural causes, of course. Now for the bloodletting."
"The WHAT?" said Gonderth, "I thought you were saving me!"
"Oh do not worry, little mortal. I do not need ALL your blood! Just some of it."
"Yeah," apologized Etlenda, "We kind of really need this, thanks. Don't worry. We'll get that poison out of you and restore you to health real soon."
"Now leave me! I need to be alone to perform the blood ritual! If you will please wait in the lobby, I will be with you shortly."
Etlenda hesitated.
"Oh, I won't HARM him, paladin! You can have him and your precious potion soon enough."
The party reluctantly retreated to allow the undead apothecary to complete her ritual.
An hour later she emerged with a a stoppered tincture. "To restore the Thirteen, you must remind the flameskulls of their purpose, of their creators—but the Netherese magi are all dead, their kin reduced to bone and dust. All but one. And his blood is now yours to use. Take the blood and the skull to the Grotto of the Netherese. To find it, seek out the wisdom of the fish-man who dwells in the cave on the far side of the River Sargauth, across from Skull Island."
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