Session 01: Back-Alley Brawl

Danger awaits those who travel the unwatched streets and alleyways of Waterdeep especially at night, when the most unsavory folks start their day...

Summary
The party met at the Yawning Portal, an inn located in Waterdeep famous across the realms for being the primary entrance into Undermountain.

The tiefling outfitter turned sorcerer, Kados, returned to Waterdeep seeking knowledge from the Emerald Archives. It was late when Kados entered the city walls, he had heard many tales of the Yawning Portal inn and decided to find rest there.

Viego, a member of the human House Deocar, left his home with the family greataxe and a bottle of wine from his father's collection. He hoped to hone his skills in battle by keeping an eye out for fights at the Yawning Portal.

Having never been to the Castle Ward in his previous visits to Waterdeep, Kados was lost until he saw Viego trudging through the streets. Kados introduced himself to the drunken human and tagged along to reach the Yawning Portal.

The Yawning Portal
At the Yawning Portal, Jynxx the goblin monk had stopped in after a lesson from his master, Elveara. The inn was one of the few places on Waterdeep's street level where the goblin could reveal his face without worry of judgement or persecution.

Maho, a human private investigator looking for information, entered the Yawning Portal shortly after Jynxx. The two were familiar with one another and Maho revealed that he was commissioned separately by both the Zhentarim and the Xanathar Guild to locate the black cheese dealer, a half-orc named Jurai. It turned out that Jynxx already knew of Jurai's activities and that his master, Elveara, was on the hunt for Jurai as his product had started to reach the children of the Dock Ward.

While Maho and Jynxx exchanged information, Viego and Kados entered the inn. Viego, suspicious of the goblin's and human's demeanor, approached the two ready to question them. Before this could happen, a barmaid guided Viego and Kados into the empty seats at Maho and Jynxx's table.

The proprietor of the Yawning Portal, a muscular man named Durnan, hosted a trivia night in hopes of instilling more of a respect for the history and culture of Waterdeep in all of the "milk-drinking vagrants and troublemakers of tourists and adventurers" who had been invading the city in the recent days. After the trivia, Viego drunkenly racked up a bill on his family's tab and the group took part in the consumption of several rare and exotic cuisines and refreshments including blue dragon meat and Heartland ales. As the night grew long, the party decided to leave the inn.

Trouble in the Streets
The party stumbled through the streets of Waterdeep, eventually making there way to the Trades Ward where they heard a dull, fleshy thud and a yelp of pain coming from a dark alleyway. The source of the sound was from a group of red-robed individuals wearing golden half-face masks getting ready to cut open a human red-haired human man.

The adventurers engaged the red-robed group in combat. While they were able to successfully defeat the red-robed men, Viego suffered a debilitating injury to his left arm from a spell of necrotic nature. Kados and Jynxx, having been attacked by red-robed men before, chased down the leader of the group and demanded to know who he was affiliated with. The leader did not hand over the information, while Kados and Jynxx had restrained the man they were not able to stop him from using his magic to take his own life. The only information gained was left in the form of a torn receipt card reading "10 - Marsh tr-".

Grateful for the heroism of the adventurers, the victim of the attack introduced himself as Renaer Neverember, the son of Waterdeep's former and recently deposed Open Lord, and invited the group back to his home in the North Ward to recuperate from the encounter.

Renaer's Offer
After the altercation, the party found themselves at Renaer's luxurious abode in the North Ward. After a few rounds of wine and healing potions, Renaer revealed that his assailants were after something called the "stone of golorr". While the noble could not provide any more information regarding his assailants' affiliation or where they came from, he did make note of his connections that could prove to be better resources for the adventurers.

Renaer offered his connections in exchange for the capture of someone, a drow who he believed to be stalking him. Renaer assumed he would be accosted by the drow that night but he was wrong and believed the drow may have been involved with the attack. If the party was able to capture and bring the drow to Renaer for information, the noble would probe his network for more information regarding the folks in red robes.

The party agreed to Renaer's offer and looked to the surrounding neighborhood for stakeout locations.

Player Characters

 * Jynxx the goblin monk
 * Kados the tiefling sorcerer


 * Maho the human wizard
 * Viego the human kensei

Non-Player Characters

 * Durnan, the male human owner and barkeep of The Yawning Portal in Waterdeep's Castle Ward.
 * Elveara, the female drow monk and master to Jynxx.
 * Thomas, a male human barboy at the Yawning Portal.
 * Renaer, the male human noble and son of the recently deposed Open Lord of Waterdeep, Dagult Neverember.

Allies

 * Renaer: The party was able to save Renaer's life from the hands of a group of red-robed folks led by a half-orc.