Dragon Heist - Session 1: Preparation

Read The Dark House for more details about how the session went.

Below are the game-time notes that I prepared and took into the session.

Session Notes

Characters

Review the characters

● Akta - Tiefling Paladin

● Finzu - Halfing Monk
● Taman - Human Rogue
● Viigo - Dwarf Cleric

Strong Start

● Volo’s Gift
● Blood in the Streets

What Scenes Might Take Place

● Investigation in the Dock Ward

● Visit Xoblob’s Shop
● Skewered Dragon
● The warehouse (Kenku and thugs)
● The sewers (unlikely in this session)x

Secrets and Clues

Check off when revealed

● The warehouse is owned by the Gralhund family

● One of the dead thugs in the warehouse is a cultist of Asmodeus
 ● Luscan spies have been watching the Dock Ward but have been doing nothing
● There is a great struggle in the underworld. Zhents appear to be at war with the
Xanatharians
● Some noble families were ruined when they backed the Cult of the Dragon during the
War of the Dragon Queen
● Raenar Neverember is Daugault Neverember’s son but the two don’t get along. - Raenar
stayed in Waterdeep to try to undo what his father had done.
● Many towns never got back the money they lost. Some believe it was lost in the Well of
dragons
● Mercenaries loyal to Dagault had a half-dozen heavily armed carts wheeled into
Waterdeep during the War of Dragons
● The carnival ship of Luscan is a must-see
● The watch has an eye out for a mercenary spy named Urstul Floxin

Fantastic Locations

The warehouse - Change to being owned (unknown to characters) by the Grahlund’s but is in
fact being rented by the Casstelanters. There is a skeleton of a draco-lich there (alluding to the
family’s involvement in the War of the Dragon Queen).

NPCs

● Yara Strongfist
● Old Xoblob
● Renear Neverember
● Captain Hyustus Staget
● Floon Blagmar

Encounters

Kenku and thugs in the warehouse

Treasure

Paper Bird

Game Time Notes

Volo’s Gift

Volo is waiting for the group when they come down in the morning. Bonnie is there filling up his
coffee cup, looking at a little worried at the amount he has consumed. Apparently, he didn’t want
to miss the group so he arrived extremely early. He is cheery despite deep bags under his eyes
and excited for the group to begin undertaking.

In the night he realized he forgot to tell you how to identify Floon.

Floon is a very handsome man. I’d say he is in his early thirties, has wavy red-blone hair, and oh!
yes he is always wearing this exceptionally gaudy necklace. It shouldn’t be hard to it out of a
crowd. Its a unicorn head about this big (holds up his hands to indicate 6 inches) and is on a chain
of blue pearls. Almost never matches his garments but he insists on wearing it wherever we go.

The necklace is a holy symbol of Lurue. The team will have to make a Religion check if they find
it. Also, Floon has many different stories as to how he came by it:

● It was actually his mother’s

● Other stories may include
● He stole it from the bounty of some pirates he once sailed with
● It was a gift from the elves (needs more research)
● He found it in a lost legendary mine near Phandelvar

Volo will also provide the party copies of his Waterdeep Enscridion.

To the Warehouse

Blood in the Streets

Location: Dock Ward

As you turn a corner, you find yourselves on a street that has been cordoned off by the City Watch.
Lying on the cobblestones are a half-dozen corpses, seemingly the victims of some terrible
skirmish. Watch officers have disarmed and arrested three blood-drenched humans and are in the
midst of questioning witnesses. One of the officers sees you. “Get on,” she says. “Nothing to see
here”

● There are a dozen City Watch guards and three bandits.

 ● The bandits coldly catch the eye of anyone who passes by, but the City Watch won’t let
anyone near them.
● Each of the bandits has a black tattoo of a flying snake. (*One on the hand, two on the
arms)
● Some of the bodies have an eye tattooed on their person

Clue Number 1

Revelation: Floon was kidnapped by men with flying black snake tattoos

● Canvassing the Neighborhood

● Several people saw Floon with another man (Renaer) waylaid in front of Old Xoblob
Shop.

Old Xoblob Shop

A cloud of lavender-scented purple smoke trails out of the shop’s door as you peer inside. Every
wall is painted purple, and every dusty knickknack on the shelves is dyed a deep violet. The
hairless old gnome sitting cross-legged on the counter wears plum-colored robes. His cheeks are
decorated with nine purple face-painted eyes. The gnome lowers a pipe and exhales a cloud of
lavender smoke before raising a hand. “Hail and well met! Come browse the shelves of the most
curious curiosity shop in the world!”

Old Xoblob

● Doesn’t really want to share information but will if offered a new purple item or a
successful DC 13 Charisma (Intimidation or Persuasion) check.
● Doesn’t know Floon by name but recognizes the description. Tells the party that he and
another male were jumped outside the shop by five rough-looking men in black leather
armor. The only detail he can share is that one of them had a black-winged snake tattoo
on his neck.
● Outside the shop, the party can search and find the Unicorn from Floon’s necklace lying
in the gutter.

Questioning at the Skewered Dragon

● Several NPCs will remember Floon and be able to describe how he drank with Volo.
● They were joined by another individual and soon after Volo left.
● The other man is “a spoiled, rich noble who likes to run our noses in it!”
● The party can bribe or coerce the fact that it was, in fact, Renaer, out of Berca, the
bartender.
● Floon and the other man left around midnight.
 ● They were followed out by several men, one of whom had a tattoo of a flying black snake
on his neck.
● Unfortunately, none of them know what the snake tattoo means or wants to admit that
they do.

Clue Number 2

Revelation: Floon was taken to a warehouse on Candle Lane

● Canvassing the Neighborhood (Looking for tattoos)

● Several locals have seen men with tattoos “up by the candle on Candle Lane”.
● Surveying the lane the party is able to ascertain the correct warehouse by a black-winged
snake painted rather discreetly on the side of the door through an Investigation Check.
● They can also ask workers at other warehouses along Candle Lane which can point them
in the right direction
● May also reveal that there was “some kind of ruckus” over there early this morning. Large
groups of people coming and going, unusual for that building as it is normally always
locked up.

Questioning the Prisoners

● If they try, they are likely to run into #Captain Hyustus Staget
● If they can convince the prisoners to talk they will learn that they aren’t local, but were
told to report to the warehouse as a safe haven after performing the hit on the
Xanatharians.

Failsafes

● The Zhentarim hear that the party is asking questions about their agents and or safe
houses. Four Zhent thugs show up to try and intimidate them into going away.
● A small squad of Zhents arrives at the warehouse. The kenku have set an ambush and
the fight spills out into the street right in front of the party.
● If the party is not at the warehouse
● Then they hear the noises of a skirmish coming from that direction

At the Warehouse

History

After he lost his Eye to Xanathar, Manshoon needed to get back in the game. His agents
eventually concluded that Neverember’s son, Renaer, might have another of the Eyes. They were
right, although Renaer didn’t know it: His father had given him an elaborate, ivory mourning
locket in honor of his mother. The Eye was hidden inside it.
Order of Events

● Zhentarim agents snatch Renaer Neverember and his friend Floon Blagmaar.
● While questioning Renaer in Area Z5, they realize that the Eye is in the mourning locket
and take the locket from Renaer.
● Renaer is hauled back down to Area Z2 and tied up next to Floon. Upstairs, the
Zhentarim breaks open the locket (it can still be found in Area Z5), remove the Eye, and
give it to a courier to carry to Manshoon.
● Floon is then hauled upstairs for questioning (the Zhentarim want to see if he might be
worth a ransom).
● Xanathar’s agents storm the warehouse. They immediately find “the prisoner” (i.e.,
Floon), assume he’s Renaer, and several of their agents hustle him out to their sewer
hideout. Meanwhile, Renaer takes advantage of the confusion downstairs to slip his
bonds and hide in Area Z2.
● Xanathar’s agents do a perfunctory sweep of the warehouse and then take off, leaving
the kenku behind to kill any Zhents who show up.

Getting In

● Doors and windows can be unlocked with a DC 12 Dexterity check using thieves’ tools or
can be forced open with a DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check.
● The party can knock but this alerts the kenku. If this happens the players can hear the
kenku scrambling around

Roster
 Unit Area Notes

Kenku 4x Z1 Need to determine if hidden or not

Kenku

● Fight until two of them are incapacitated or killed. The survivors will try to flee.
● A DC 10 Charisma (Intimidation) will force them to divulge what they know
○ A deep voice with an orcish accent: “Xanathar sends its regards”
○ Thin, nasally voice: “Tie up the pretty boy in the backroom!” “Follow the yellow
signs in the sewers”
○ Scratchy voice: “No time to loot the place. Just get him to the boss”
○ Other than the above they really can’t describe

Renaer

● Will be able to tell the party that:

○ He was questioned by the Zhents about the half-million dragons his father stole
from the city
○ They ripped off a locket that was very precious to him
○ If they find the locket and see the secret compartment inside it, he will tell them
that he had no idea that the compartment existed or what was stored inside it.