Case 666, 27 Flamerule 1491 DR - Midsummer Procession - Summary

The party got a bunch of information from Kyln. He told them about the informant inside the Asmodeus cult, the cultist who had been arrested (Sliith), and about his investigator who had disappeared.

The party had Vaz "arrested" and taken to talk to Sliith in jail. Sliith told them that the cult planned to kidnap a woman somewhere towards the end of the procession route and escape by boat.

Myrf, Ma'ahni, and Wendigo went to the dead-drop to exchange messages with the informant. Ma'ahni saw that it was a woman and stopped her. They exchanged some information, the woman said she had her own reasons for doing what she was doing and didn't need help. Her name is Jaana.

Bran did some research and Wendigo walked the route of the procession and they identified a few likely targets: The temple of Selûne, an orphanage, and Silverdearth debtor's prison.

Myrf's informant told him that there are members of the Parliament of Peers who are friendly to the Asmodeans, but it is unclear whether they have been bribed or are Asmodeus worshipers themselves. He also said he had information about someone unusual renting a small skiff for the night of 30 Flamerule. The party followed up with the owner of the boat, a human named Ste'ev. He confirmed that a creepy tiefling arranged to rent the boat.

Some of the party went to Silverdearth prision and met with Bolan Druhenor the prison administrator. He helped them identify several likely targets for kidnapping. One was the former adventurer Finolea Geerlove. Her cell was covered with bizarre arcane and mathematical etchings. As soon as she saw Nife, she became extremely agitated and ran up to him. It was obvious she could read some of the markings on his body. Bran cast detect thoughts on her and found that she had memories of a "metal man," and kept repeating, "I need to get back. If I could just get back!"

The party went to the apartment of Torvyn Golian, the Flaming Fist investigator who had gone missing. His rooms were above a cobbler shop in the lower city. The cobbler, a halfling woman named Dryss did not know where Torvyn was. The party entered his apartment through a second story window where they found Torvyn brutally slain and mutilated. His body was strung from the ceiling with chains and he had been turned inside out. Inside the room was a small creature the size of a fox which looked like a giant rat with a grotesquely mustachioed human face. The creature spoke with a thick Chultan accent and said, "Master Icanus salutes your boldness, but you should know that this is how he rewards boldness such as yours." The creature then leapt from the window and escaped into the night.

Concluding that the plan to kidnap Finolea must be connected to the Zenythri Triplicate, the party contacted Marish and made arrangements for him to travel to Mintarn with the cube where he would contact the Ironstar dwarves and ask for protection.

Vaz went to try to infiltrate the Asmodeans' temple. He first tried to convince various people at the temple that he had seen a vision of a woman that was important to Asmodeus, but no one seemed to know what he was talking about. He met Slitth who told that the kidnapping was a closely guarded secret. So Vaz used Slitth's recommendation to join the temple's security forces for the procession. He saw the high priest enter the temple, and then waited for the others to join him.

Meanwhile the rest of the party decided to try to free Finolea. Bran and Nife returned to Silverdearth Prison to ask some questions to Bolan. After learning that there was no practical way to pay off her debt (since it was owed to the mysterious Xanathar in Waterdeep), they bribed Bolan to let them spend time alone with Finloea in her cell. Once inside the cell, with the guards gone, Nife explained the situation. Bran made Finloea invisible and then created an illusion of her asleep in her bed. When the guards returned they let all three of them out, believing Finolea was sleeping. Nife and Wendigo immediately brought her to a waiting ship and left her with Ma'ahni, Myrf, Korbo, and Marish.

Bran stayed behind outside the prison and saw a guard who the suspected to be the Asmodean spy in the prison, run out of the prison and head straight for the temple of Asmodeus. Bran followed in disguise. When they reached the temple, he met Vaz and caught him up. They tried to stop the prison guard from entering the temple to report their visit to Finolea, but were unable to stop him and he was ushered downstairs by the temple guards. He soon returned and ran back to the prison. He was soon followed by the temple high priest (a human named Anarond) and two of his bodyguards. Bran and Vaz followed, meeting Nife and Wendigo along the way. They decided that since Finolea was safe, they would ambush the priest and his guards. They ran ahead of them and set an ambush on a quiet street.

Bran created an illusion of Finolea and they used it to bait Anarond and his group into stopping. the smalAnarond opened his robes and pulled something out of a bag he was carrying. It turned into the rat-like creature they had met at Torvyn's rooms. Anarond's guards showed their true forms, Bearded Devils, and a Spined Devil, which had been invisible, joined the fray. The element of surprise and the party's aggressive attack resulted in the quick defeat of the devils and the death of Anarond. The rat-like creature, a malevolent beast named Jank Marryn, fled. It was nearly caught by Wendigo who chased after it, but the creature's magic allowed it to escape.

The party took the bodies of the devils and Anarond, and chained them up in the apartment of Torvyn, along with a note saying: "Icanus, we salute your boldness, but you should know that this is how we reward boldness such as yours."