The Story So Far...

Hired by a mysterious benefactor and urged to make haste to

the coastal city of Baldur's Gate to join his personal guard. Our

unlikely band of adventurers complied, only to discover that not

but the stench of death awaited them in the old city.

The man who hired them turned out to be no other than Duke

Dillard Portyr, one the four ruling Dukes of Baldur's Gate and

former Grand Duke. Upon arriving at his seemingly abandoned

Estate, they found him dead. Murdered and splayed before a

fiendish altar. His visage, brutalized and barely recognizable.

The search for clues resulted only in some cryptic runes eluding

to Zariel, ruler of Avernus, the first layer of hell. And a single fet

of fiendish foot-prints in the congealed pool of blood surrounding

the body.

It wasn't long before the clamor of iron-booted footsteps echoed

through the grand halls of Portyr's villa. The cacophany meeting

its end as a contingent of heavily armored men rushed through

the narrow doorway of the small ritual chamber and came to a

halt. Their brows furrowed at the gruesome sight, some losing

their stew. They readied their weapons and trained them on the
suspicious group of outlanders before them.

The Senior Officer stepped forward and steadied his men. He

identified himself as Captain Zodge of the Flaming Fists. A

mercenary group that "keeps the peace in this city of cut-

throats". As he would put it. He demanded to know what had

happened here. The group of strangers was able to convince him

that they were just as confused as he was and showed him the

letters that they had received. The letters promising wealth in

exchange for the Duke's safety, signed with his named and sealed

with the Portyr family crest. He accepted their claim of

innocence and conscripted them to solve the murder.

Convinced that Prtyr's death was the work of the local Cult of

the Dead Three. Zodge sent the party to meet with an old

contact at the Elfsong Tavern. A half elven woman named Tarina

who works for the Thieve's Guild.

However, the meeting with Tarina pivoted from drinks and

tavern games to bloodshed and survival as a band of pirates

bearing grisly swords and even gislier faces assaulted the tavern.

They demanded Tarina return to their ship and resume her

duties as crewmate or pay with her life.

Tarina, preferring neither, offered our party a deal. "They'll kill

me, that lot, surely. And then how will you find your cultists?

Help me and I'll tell you where they've been meeting."

They agreed, resolving to meet her assailants head on. They

descended the tavern stairs and called out to Captain Dead-Eye

directly. Words turned to battle underneath the brass lanterns of

the old inn. When the dust settled and the ale flowed once more.

Our party stood victorious. The Captain and several of his crew

now kibble for the grateful alleycats of oldtown.

Tarina informed them that members of the Cult of Dead Three

have been frequenting a high-class bathhouse in the northern

part of town. The Guild believes they might be using it as a front

for their activities. They'd need invites to get in, but she can help

with that.

Armed with this knowledge and still tending to battle wounds.

The party gets rooms at the inn and settles in for the night.