Summary
Flamerule 2
The party disembarks from the Silver Hawk in Yhaunn and go into town and find an inn, the Naughty Nixie. After resting for the night, Prim explains over breakfast that she is looking for people who may have kidnapped her mother and killed her father. She doesn't know if her mother is alive or not. One clue she has is a list of names of merchants in different cities that she stole from one of her clients. She is looking for Durrant Farrowcreek and she thinks he is involved. They go to the guild hall for the glassworkers craft and try to get in and see him, but the receptionist won't let them in. They decide they need more local information and they head down to the market district. Prim leads them into some shifty stores and starts asking locals for a source of information. They get sent to the Shark Tavern to speak with the unnamed barkeep. For twenty gold, he tells them where Farrowcreek lives, the name of his dinner club and the name and address of his mistress. They split up with Prim, Dolomoth and Akari watching the mistress' apartment and Joan, Aria and Furath watching his home. When Farrowcreek shows up in his carriage and goes inside, they decide to act. They run back and get the rest of the party and group up at the mistress'. The carriage is parked a few streets away while they wait. The party decides to ambush the bodyguards and driver, take their places and wait for Farrowcreek to come out. Prim coats her dagger with sleep poison and gives it to Akari, then also poisons two of her hair needles. Furath turns them invisible and they sneak up on the guards. Akari stabs the driver, but he resists the poison. Prim stabs the first guard and he goes down. Joan casts Hold Person on the driver, but he resists again. Prim stabs the second guard, but he also manages to hold off the sleep poison. Furath wants to cast Sleep, but he's afraid it may hit Prim and Akari. Aria casts Dissonant Whispers at the driver and he stays on his feet (GM's note I rolled a nat 20, an 18 and a 16 for the driver's saves). With the driver and guard wounded, Furath takes a chance they have been weakened enough and casts Sleep and knocks them out. The party takes the driver's clothes for Joan, who will drive the carriage. Akari and Dolomoth take the guards' swords and use Disguise Self to change their appearances. Dolomoth also turns Prim invisible, she will hide in the carriage with more sleep poison on her dagger. The guards and driver are gagged and tied up and left behind in a dark alley. Once they're in position they wait until a houseboy comes with a message Farrowcreek is ready to leave. Joan drives the carriage back, but gets lost. After a few wrong turns, they arrive at the mistress' apt and Farrowcreek comes out and gets in the carriage. Joan drives away and Prim stabs Farrowcreek. The poison slows him and they try to grab him. He activates a magic ring and Misty Steps outside, falling to the road. Furath and Aria rush up to help capture him and Dolomoth ends up dropping him with an Eldritch Blast. Joan climbs down and casts Spare the Dying on him before they load him back into the carriage. Joan drives off to a quiet part of the dock side district and Prim and Dolomoth interrogate Farrowcreek, beating and cutting him and threatening his family's lives. He breaks and spills what he knows. There's a conspiracy to take control of the city councils in Sembia to influence voting and decision making at the national level. Farrowcreek was recruited by Vilsek Malveen in Selgaunt. Farrowcreek has recruited three others here in Yhaunn. He knows similar groups are at work in Saerloon and Ordulin and possibly in Urmlaspyr. Prim's father was killed to clear the way for an ally to take his council seat. They tried poisoning him years ago, but injured her mother instead. They kidnapped Prim's mother but Farrowcreek thinks she is dead. The conspiracy wants Prim as well, something about her inheritance through her mother, but he doesn't know what. The whole plan is to stop Sembia's efforts to resist Zhentarim expansion. Sembia is sending money to allies like Hillsfar to help them resist the Zhentarim and serve as a buffer between the Zhentarim and other nations.
Prim and Dolomoth frighten Farrowcreek into keeping quiet about what he told them. They rob him and take the two horses from the carriage. They return to their inn and gather their belongings. Furath pays the stableboys to ready and saddle their horses and they ride across town to the only gatehouse. It's well after midnight and the gates are closed, but Akari bribes and smooth talks the guards into letting them out. The party rides away from Yhaunn in the rain, pondering their next move.
Flamerule 3
Silly Quotes and Smart Remarks
Discussing the pronunciation of "Yhaunn"
Jim "It's "uh-HAWN" but I'm just going to say "yawn" "
Brittany and Evan fake yawns
Talking about planning to question the bad guy, how far are Sam (and Prim) willing to go?
Nick "Nothing jogs the memory like a good dose of murder"
Possibly sending a message to lure out the bad guy
Jim "You have two bards; is it a singing telegram?"
Talking to the local informant, he says "Let's see the color of your coin"
Brittany "It's an NFT"
Jim "It's a picture of a gold piece"
They knocked out the bad guy's guards, robbed them and tied them up, then dumped their pocket flask of whiskey over them
Nick "Covered in shame and booze"
The bad guy is explaining the cell structure of their conspiracy. He was recruited by someone in another city, then recruited three allies here in Yhaunn
Brittany "This is just a pyramid scheme"
