Chapter 2: Shoot First, Dawdle Later

Day 1-2:

Traveling for two more days along the High Road, the party at last camped outside the gates of Waterdeep. Their rest was interrupted by the thundering of hooves, and Grog found a man on horseback pursued by six others. The man shouted something about Cassalantar, but Elerra forced the issue by downing one of the pursuing riders with a well placed arrow. The others made short work of the riders, upon whom Verrick discovered badges signaling that they were agents of the Hidden Lords of Waterdeep. He waited until his companions slept, and then in a panic slew their mounts, burning and burying the bodies.

At the gate the next morning, the party gave their name as "the Dragonwalls," and registered themselves as refugees from Elturel. They discovered a great number of such refugees, as well as much chaos and confusion about the city. The Open Lord and their retinue had gone missing while hunting Orcs, and the various noble houses were in contention to replace them. The House of Cassalantar, despite being upstarts, were considered strong bets. The party secured rooms for a week at the Blackstar Inn within the Dock Ward. Entering the Inn, Verrick spotted his cousin waiting for him, the Cavalier Ardreth Elsandorel. The Cavalier designated his younger cousin a task he did not wish to complete himself, to infiltrate the Cassalantar's Founder's Day feast, and find evidence of nefarious deeds committed by the up and coming noble house. They were given a blueprint of the Cassalantar Estate.

Day 3:

The Dragonwalls broke their fast, and set about their day. Elerra was granted a copy of the Code Legal, having already broken half of it. Gog seeks out the job board, looking for a missing friend. Verrick, Elerra, and Puck decide to attend the Founder's Day Feast as honored Guests, while Gog and Tibur decide instead to hire themselves on as guards. They sought out Aurora's Waterdeep Way Shop, seeking potent magic to add to their arsenal. After a day of shopping, Gog led the others to an old haunt of his, a fighting and betting pit. After being introduced to the Fit Pit Master, Fricyria Delight, the party made a small fortune placing bets on themselves with Amrik Vanthampur.

Day 4:

Flush with the spoils of the night before, the party set about securing their positions for the Founder's Day Feast. Gog and Tibur presented themselves to Lady Ardra of House De'spri. They were assigned to protect the Ladies Melinda and Niora De'spri.

Day 5:

Picking odd jobs from the job board, the party does some side work finding stowaway halflings in fruit creates, and busts some mysterious “ghosts” who were actually just scoundrels attempting to con the tavern owner out of his establishment. The party accepted a bribe and then told on them anyway, effectively conning the con men. Gog procured some special hallucinogenic herbs from the Emporio Verdantis in the Trade Ward, and the party returned to the fighting pits to observe a mysterious Drow do battle with the reigning orc champion while tripping out of their minds. Puck was underwater, Elerra was on the ceiling, and Verrick was chasing small critters. A good time was had by all. Tibbur faces an enormous scorpion monster, and manages to squeak out a victory as well. Day 6:

After a night of raucous entertainment and little sleep, the party seeks out a hangover cure before tackling the Twilight Tower outside the walls for the city watch (which they had previously learned of from the job board). After arranging passage on Old Sam’s boat and navigating the posted guards most un-stealthily, the ghostly tower surrounded by purple black blooms appeared before them, a black circular stone with words carved in.

"I eat, I live. I breathe, I live. I drink, I die."

Verrick blasted the circle with a bolt of flame, and the portal into the tower opened. Thus began a seemingly maddening journey into a many floored library of meaningless words, full of deadly traps both arcane and mechanical. The party split, with Gog, Puck, and Elerra descending into the basement, and Verrick and Tibur attempting to climb the tower. They found magical bubbles that burst into flames, barrages of arrows, strange rooms of endless night filled with strange creeping shadows and even creepier screaming stone children, and a series of puzzles requiring elemental solutions. Elerra steals a card from a deck of many things, activating and deactivating several large traps in the process. Puck follows her lead and becomes a balloon unless he holds a special stone. Battered by fireballs and walls of magical force, the party was eventually forced together by a storm of arcane butterflies seeking to consume them, coupled with strange shrinking magic that overcame Tibur. The hapless lizardman attempted to use the magic he had won in the fighting pits to remove the shrinking magic, to learn that the belt he had received only enlarged certain select areas of his body.

After the butterfly menace was defeated, a diamond and golden key which opened the door to the next level was revealed.

Eventually, the party found a room with four elemental lights. Thinking it another of the elemental puzzles, Verrick unleashed his magic, only to be hurled across the room by the vengeful living spell. The solution instead was to feed the animate spells apples of the corresponding color, rendering them harmless and opening the path. At the top of the tower, the party met Eliatrope the Joyous, an elemental Djinn of incredible power. The enigmatic Genie granted each of the party a mystical tattoo to enhance their abilities, and let them know she would call on them again, before reinforcing the magic which hid the tower.

Day 8: The following day, the party dresses for guard duty or a party, depending on their chosen role. Gog is surprised to meet an old friend Sirius who they thought had been murdered by kobolds. He has reappeared from the dead in a matching guard uniform, save for his left hand.

They catch up briefly as Tibbur befriends the deaf halfling archer Tom, who will be their fellow bodyguard for the evening.

Entering the grand ballroom in style, the Cavalier talks his way into retaining his blade, for demonstration purposes. They foolishly allow Elerra to keep hers as well.

Once inside, Verrick makes good on his promise both to duel for the crowd as well as provide a diversion in one graceful dance of blades and wit, while the rogue streals away upstairs to loot the place blind and find some good dirt besides (a captive demon is a bad sign).

The party turns deadly as their client is attacked by an unknown assassin. Tibbur heals the young noble woman and pursues her assailant, but he quickly disappears into the night. She is seen home while Sirius sweet-talks his way into the nurse’s chambers to borrow the rune which allows Ascot to escape.

Puck and Verrick are blissfully unaware of the impending carnage as they enjoy the property’s guest houses with their dates.