OBSERVING THE VILLA

The Villa, for our purposes, exists in one of two states when the PCs arrive: Before the Zhentarim
Raid and During the Zhentarim Raid. The DM can select which scenario is true based on any
number of criteria, but I’m going to use a simple metric: If the PCs arrive during the day, then the
Zhentarim raid happens that night. If they arrive at night, then the Zhentarim raid is in progress.
(And if, for whatever reason, they specifically decide not to go to the Gralhund Villa after tracking
the nimblewright back to it, I’ll trigger the raid a couple days later and have the PCs hear reports
of it – either through broadsheets or contacts or simply gossip in their tavern’s common room.)

Before the raid happens (i.e., if the PCs arrive during the day), the Villa is under observation by up
to three different factions. If the PCs scout around the Villa, they may be able to spot these teams.
The DC for Wisdom (Perception) tests is noted with each faction.

ZHENTARIM WATCHERS (DC 12): Two Zhentarim thugs are located on the roofs of the
buildings near the estate, stealthily changing their position from time to time. They have been
placed here by Urstul Floxin to make sure that neither the nimblewright, the Gralhunds, nor
the Stone of Golorr leave the villa before the raid begins. They have a black flying snake with
them to send a message if necessary.

The Zhentarim watchers spotted one of Xanathar’s gazers, but didn’t realize it was watching them
(or that it has remained in the area). They are unaware of the presence of Jarlaxle’s team.

XANATHAR’S GAZERS (DC 16): There are four of Xanathar’s gazers in the area. At DC 16, the
PCs spot one gazer. They spot an additional gazer for each PC who succeeds on the test or for
every 2 points of margin of success.

Xanathar’s agents tracked Urstul Floxin and the Zhentarim watchers to the villa when he gave
them their instructions. Xanathar isn’t sure exactly what Floxin wants with the Gralhunds, but he’s
installed the gazers to find out.

JARLAXLE’S TEAM (DC 14): If Jarlaxle has been tipped off by the PCs, he has a team holed up
in Artheyn Manor across the street from the villa.

The Artheyns are a mercantile family. Radford Artheyn, the patriarch, has packed up the
household and temporarily relocated to the Moonshae Isles in pursuit of a rumored vein of black
gold in Alaron. (See MOON1-3: Black Gold from the 4th Edition Living Forgotten Realms for more
on black gold, although the details aren’t actually important for this scenario.) Drop cloths cover
most of the furniture in the three-story house. A watch team has been stationed by the front door
(Area A), which is on the opposite side of the house from Gralhund Villa, and the primary
observation team is on the top floor (Area B).

Area A: Fel’Rekt Lafeen (drow gunslinger; Dragon Heist, p. 201) and 2 drow.

 A Directive from Jarlaxle lays on a side table. (If the PCs search Artheyn Manor after the
raid, Fel’Rekt has carelessly left this behind.) The directive, signed by “Jarlaxle Baenre”,
indicates that Fel’Rekt is to keep a watch on the Gralhund Villa and “seize any
opportunity to take possession of the Stone of Golorr”. Updates are to be sent twice daily
 via Fenerus Stormcastle, and someone named Krebbyg has been instructed to pick up
messages from Fenerus twice daily for the duration of the Gralhund operation.
 GM Note: Fenerus Stormcastle’s House is a Bregan D’Aerthe outpost, see Part 3.
Area B: Two drow gunslingers and 6 drow.

Jarlaxle’s team are aware of both the Zhentarim watchers and Xanathar’s gazers.

OVERVIEW 52[–] P

Gralhund Villa sits in the middle of an upper-class residential neighborhood in the North Ward. Here are
some general facts to keep in mind:

 The streets around the villa have pedestrians and coaches traveling along them at all hours, though
traffic is heavier during the day.
 The estate is enclosed by 12-foot-high stone walls that require a successful DC 15 Strength
(Athletics) check to negotiate without the aid of climbing gear or magic.
 Neighbors and bystanders alert the City Watch if they hear loud, disturbing noises (such as
a thunderwave spell) coming from the estate or if they see anything suspicious. The Watch sends
a mage and six veterans (one sergeant and five constables) to investigate, and it takes 1d6 +
4 minutes for this force to arrive.
 All ceilings in the mansion are 20 feet high.

G1. LOCKED GATESP52[–]

Through a set of ornate iron gates, the characters can see a yard with several large trees, as well as two
footpaths that lead to a two-story brick mansion and eastward toward a detached coach house.

An arcane lock spell is cast on the gates. Forcing them open requires a successful DC 25 Strength
(Athletics) check, while picking the lock requires a successful DC 20 Dexterity check using thieves' tools.
The spell doesn't bar members of the Gralhund family, their staff, their guards, or Lady
Gralhund's nimblewright from opening the gates.
G2. YARDP52[–]
The estate is well tended. In spring and summer, large trees provide shade. The trees begin shedding leaves
in the fall. By winter, their branches are stripped bare.

Balcony.
Through the trees, the characters can see a large balcony (area G17) enclosed by an iron railing above the
mansion's main entrance. The balcony is 20 feet above ground level, and scaling the mansion's brick walls
to reach it without the aid of climbing gear or magic requires a successful DC 15 Strength (Athletics)
check.

Evil Groundskeeper.
The yard is looked after by a menacing groundskeeper named Hurv Taldred (LE male Illuskan cult fanatic)
and his two quiet mastiffs. The Gralhunds paid a necromancer to perform a ritual on Hurv and his mastiffs.
After sundown, the physical forms of these figures melt away, and they become three shadows until dawn.
Characters who succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity (Stealth) check can cross the yard without being detected.
Otherwise, Hurv and his hounds detect the characters and attack, day or night.

G3. COACH HOUSEP52[–]

This stone building contains a beautifully maintained coach and clean stables that house four draft
horses and Lady Gralhund's jet-black riding horse, named Maladar. A sliding wooden door bars access to
the street and has a padlock on the outside that holds it shut. Picking the lock requires a successful DC 20
Dexterity check using thieves' tools.

The larger room north of the stables contains tack and harness for each horse, as well as bales of hay and
yard tools. The smaller room in the northwest corner has two cots: one for the groundskeeper, Hurv
(see area G2), who sleeps during the day, and one for a stableboy named Ike (commoner), who sleeps here
at night. Ike is away (either picking up food for the horses or out drinking with friends) if the characters
arrive during the day.

Treasure.
Lady Gralhund's horse is outfitted with horseshoes of speed and two saddlebags, each of which holds four
5-pound gold trade bars worth 250 gp each.

G4. GUARD BARRACKSP52[–]

This one-story stone building attached to the mansion serves as quarters for twenty house guards. The main
room contains ten bunk beds. Each comes with a pair of footlockers containing folded clothes and
worthless personal effects.

The room in the northwest corner contains wooden mannequins and racks designed to hold armor and
weapons. Since there are no guards present, the mannequins and racks are bare.
G5. KITCHENP52[–]
An unlocked wooden door leads from the yard to the mansion's kitchen, which is stocked with cookware
and utensils. A large fireplace is used for cooking meals.
G6. PANTRYP52[–]
This pantry is lined with shelves containing dry foodstuffs, spices, folded tablecloths, and jars of preserves.
Casks of fresh water, ale, and wine are also stored here.

Barred Door.
A back door leads out to the street. This sturdy wooden door is barred shut on the inside. Forcing it open
from the outside requires a successful DC 20 Strength (Athletics) check and makes a lot of noise.

Corpses.
The Zhents have killed two servants, an older male human (the head butler) and a younger male halfling (a
cook), and left their bodies on the floor.

G7. LAUNDRY ROOMP52[–]

This room is where servants wash clothing. It contains scrub buckets, wash basins, soap, mops, and
chamber pots.

Corpses.
The Zhents have killed a servant, a middle-aged female human (the head maid), and left her body on the
stairs leading up to the servants' quarters (area G19). The maid has a ring of keys on her belt that opens all
the locked doors in the mansion as well as the cabinets in area G8.

G8. GREAT HALLP53[–]

Characters who enter this hall for the first time notice the following:

 The floor is strewn with bodies. Two thugs holding bloody maces stand over them.
 The sound of fighting can be heard coming from the top of a wide staircase in the northwest
corner (see area G13).
 Two iron chandeliers hang from the dark mahogany ceiling above a long dining table carved from
red larchwood. Chairs surround the table, with a particularly tall and elaborate chair at each end.
 Lining the wood-paneled walls are tapestries and locked wooden cabinets that contain fine dishes,
silverware, and candlesticks.
 A fireplace with a black marble mantelpiece has a framed family portrait mounted above it. (The
portrait depicts Lord and Lady Gralhund, their three young children, and a family dog that died
three years ago.)

Corpses.
Lying about the room are the bodies of eight guards wearing bloody and tattered House Gralhund livery
over their chain shirts, as well as two dead Zhents in black leather armor. All are humans.

Thugs.
The two figures with maces are Zhents clad in black leather armor. Their orders are to hold the room. They
attack strangers, including members of the City Watch, on sight. They carry no treasure.

G9. PARLORP53[–]
Urstul Floxin was confined here when he returned to the villa, but shortly thereafter he killed his guards
and escaped. The room is furnished for comfort and contains dainty chairs, a chaise longue, a wine cabinet,
and framed paintings of various long-dead members of the Gralhund family.

Corpses.
The bodies of the two guards lie atop bloodsoaked rugs. The guards wear chain shirts and the livery of
House Gralhund.

G10. DEN AND TROPHY ROOMP53[–]

Lord Gralhund's den has the heads of various beasts mounted on the walls and gleaming suits of armor
standing at attention in the corners. Bearskin rugs and overstuffed chairs fill the room.

Lord Gralhund recently took up falconry as a hobby. In the middle of the room, resting on a table, is a cage
containing a hooded falcon (use hawk statistics).
G11. OROND'S STUDYP53[–]
The door to this room is locked. The lock can be picked by a character who makes a successful DC 15
Dexterity check using thieves' tools. The room has these features:

 A 10-foot-square canvas wrestling mat is sprawled on the floor in the middle of the room.
 Velvet armchairs, small statues of naked men on pedestals, and tall mahogany bookshelves are
arranged neatly around the room.
 A mahogany desk in one corner doesn't look like it sees much use.

Books.
Most of the books are fake boxes made of painted cardboard. A few have bawdy drawings and salacious
poems hidden inside them.

Area G11 – Orond’s Study: The mahogany desk is covered with papers, which consist of
the Gralhund Study of the Grand Game (see Part 6D).

G12. FAMILY LIBRARYP53[–]

The wood-paneled library includes these features:

 Tall bookshelves are packed with tomes. Sliding wooden ladders mounted on rails allow easy
access to higher shelves.
 In one corner stands an iron lectern with a closed, locked, leather-bound tome resting on it.
 Two padded chairs face a large fireplace. One has a wolf skin draped over it.

Books.
Many of the books were handed down to Lady Gralhund by her parents, and they are well kept. They
include historical texts, play scripts, novels, and poetry collections.

Locked Tome.
Although it looks like it might be a spellbook, the tome on the lectern is a chronicle of the Gralhund
family's accomplishments, embellished or recast to paint the family in the most favorable light. A detect
magic spell reveals an aura of abjuration magic emanating from the tome.
The tome is meant to be unlocked using a key that Lady Gralhund wears on a chain around her neck. The
lock can be picked by a character who succeeds on a DC 15 Dexterity check using thieves' tools, or it can
be opened with a knock spell or similar magic. Opening the book by any means other than using the proper
key causes three specters to appear within 10 feet of the book and attack its opener. The magic that binds
the specters has weakened over time; they can exist on the Material Plane for only 1 minute, after which
time they are banished to the Ethereal Plane (unless destroyed first). The specters manifest as ghostly
tieflings with elongated fingers.

The Gralhund family crest appears on the book's title page. The rest of the book is written in Common and
describes births, deaths, and other family events between 1239 DR, the Year of the Bloodied Sword, and
1422 DR, the Year of Advancing Shadows. Of particular note is the little-known fact that the Gralhunds
forged pacts with devils in years past, giving rise to a strain of tieflings. All such members of the house
were sent to live on a Gralhund estate in Yartar, a city far to the north (or so the book claims in its
epilogue), and there are passing references to some Waterdavian family members having been born with
tails.

Orond was studding A Missive from Castle Ward. He leaves it laying on the arm of one of the
library’s chairs if disturbed (by, for example, a Zhentarim strike team breaking into this house).

 A Missive from Castle Ward: “We are now certain that the Second Eye was carried from
the warehouse in the Dock Ward to Yellowspire in the Castle Ward. I no longer believe
that it remains within Yellowspire, however. After observing the Zhentarim traffic here, I
am convinced that they must be using a teleportal within the tower. If we wish to track
the Second Eye further, we will need to access that teleportal or otherwise determine
where it leads. – Chirada”

G13. UPSTAIRS FOYERP53[–]

A lot is happening in this elegant foyer:

 A battle rages between several Zhents and house guards, and the floor is strewn with dead bodies.
 Doors to the master bedroom (area G16) stand open. (If Lady Gralhund is in the master bedroom,
she shouts, "The City Watch is on the way!")
 The door to area G15a is ajar. Beyond it, characters can hear someone putting a boot to another
door.

Corpses.
Lying on the floor are the corpses and weapons of six guards wearing House Gralhund livery over chain
shirts and two Zhents in black leather armor.

Fight in Progress.
Four veterans of House Gralhund (each with 30 hit points remaining) are fighting off an attacking force of
Zhents consisting of three thugs (each with 20 hit points remaining). The Zhents are trying to get to area
G16, but the guards are blocking them.

If the characters do nothing to affect the outcome of this fight, assume that it ends with three House
Gralhund veterans still alive and all the Zhents dead.
G14. BALLROOMP54[–]
The door to this room is locked. A character using thieves' tools can pick the lock with a successful DC 15
Dexterity check. The ballroom is unoccupied and contains the following features:

 Gilded mirrors, tasseled tapestries, and stained-glass lamps festoon the walls. Mounted above a
fireplace is a stag's head made of blown glass.
 The veined marble floor is polished to a mirror-like sheen.
  Tacky crystal chandeliers dangle from the ceiling, which has a mural depicting an orgy painted on
it.

G15. GUEST SUITEP54[–]

Lord Gralhund has barricaded himself in area G15b, using heavy furniture to block the door. Forcing it
open requires a successful DC 18 Strength (Athletics) check.

The characters encounter Urstul Floxin (see appendix B) in area G15a. Urstul is wounded with 50 hit
points remaining and has no poison coating his weapons, reducing his challenge rating to 3 (700 XP). He's
trying to kick open the door to area G15b in a desperate attempt to capture Lord Gralhund and trade him
for the Stone of Golorr. If he is accosted before reaching Lord Gralhund, Urstul tries to flee the villa and
uses any other surviving Zhents to cover his escape. He knows the same information that Lord Gralhund
does (see "Orond Gralhund" below) but won't divulge it or the name of his master, Manshoon, unless he's
magically compelled to do so.

Area G15a is a bathroom. A curtain to the east has been drawn back, revealing a claw-footed bathtub.

Orond Gralhund.
Having blocked the bedroom door with a wardrobe, a desk, and an overstuffed chair, Orond
Gralhund (see appendix B) cowers behind a bed in the southwest corner of area G15b. Although he's
armed with a rapier, Orond throws himself at the mercy of the first person to bust through his barricade.

Characters who have Lord Gralhund at their mercy can pry the following information from him with a
successful DC 10 Charisma (Intimidation) check, but the check is made with disadvantage if Lord
Gralhund has reason to believe his wife can see or overhear the conversation:

 "The Stone of Golorr is some kind of ancient creature transformed into an artifact. It knows the
location of a hidden vault in Waterdeep containing half a million dragons."

G16. MASTER BEDROOMP55[–]

The doors to this room have been thrown open. The room contains the following occupants and features:

 Yalah Gralhund, wearing a breastplate and armed with a rapier, stands next to her well-dressed
half-orc bodyguard, Hrabbaz (see appendix B for their statistics).
 A locked wooden trunk rests at the foot of a large, canopied bed in the southwest corner.
 A claw-footed bathtub sits in the northwest alcove near a freestanding mirror and a privacy screen.
 Hanging above a fireplace in the southeast corner is a shield that bears the Gralhund coat of arms.
Logs are stacked neatly next to the hearth.
 A tall mahogany wardrobe stuffed with expensive gowns and dress clothes stands next to a pair of
open glass doors leading out to a balcony.

G17. BALCONYP55[–]
This large balcony is enclosed by an ornate wrought iron railing and has lounge chairs neatly arranged on
it. The ground is 20 feet below, and open glass doors lead to the master bedroom (area G16).
G18. CHILDREN'S ROOMP55[–]
The door to this room is locked. The lock can be picked with a successful DC 15 Dexterity check using
thieves' tools.

Three beds line the south wall, and an empty cradle rests against the east wall. Other furnishings include
squat wardrobes, play rugs, and children's desks.

Children.
Confined here for their safety are the Gralhunds' two youngest children, a 13-year-old boy named Zartan
and a 10-year-old boy named Greth. Both are noncombatants. Their 18-year-old sister, Tomassin, is
visiting a tiefling cousin in Yartar.

G19. SERVANTS' WINGP55[–]

Three rooms in the southeast area of the upper floor are where the servants sleep at night. The head butler
and head maid have rooms to themselves, but those places are currently unoccupied. The largest of the
three chambers is a common room containing six bunk beds for the junior staff. A total of nine maids,
cooks, and valets (commoners) are holed up here, waiting for someone to rescue them. They are armed
with improvised weapons (rolling pins, mops, brooms, and the like) that are treated as clubs.

G6 – head butler and cook

G7 – head maid on the stairs up to G19

G8 – 8 guards, 2 Zhent

G9 – 2 guards

G13 – 6 guards, 2 Zhents