Session14

Julias, the oldest son of the Estavana's visited you in the prison and requested that you somehow discredit or make his younger brother vincent lose favor with the don so that Julias can take over the donship. He requested that he prefers you not to kill him as the don will almost definitely request the guilds diviners help for a matter that serious. If you refuse his request he would release your identity as the last heir to the previous royal family of myth drannor.

After that the estavana's estate was attacked and you saved the family, the don granted pardon to Falith at request of Vincent for saving their lives. The don also granted you a favor of any kind as well as a VIP card for a famous auction that is coming up on the last day of the month. Then you headed to bread broth and beyond staying at the guilds rooms and just generally resting after fighting through the night. Late in the next evening you did some shopping before finally returning to the guild around 6pm on the 28th.

AT THE ADVENTURERS GUILD
When you enter the place is quiet busy at the moment as it's dinner time however over the rowdy shouts of the adventurers and people dining at bread broth and beyond you hear a tiny voice speaking up.

Receptionist (felicity knight - long brown hair kinda chubby) "Umm hello, excuse me. Brick detective agency. The guild master would like to see you please."

She opens the side door and points.

"straight ahead, office at the far end."

At the end of the hallway is a large office. Through pane window in the door you can see an obnoxiously large room for how little furniture there is, only a few book cases and desk with 4 chairs sitting at the back. The guild master can be seen sipping tea.

* players knock*

"Ah yes come in, good to see you again. I trust you all doing well.".

"Listen I have heard you have a few new members and you'll be taking the trials to gain official membership, but I can offer you a fast track so you don't have to climb the ranks again. I will immediatly give you C class badges to your group now, as well as, upon completltion of the task I have in mind a promotion to B class which comes with the benefits of high class rooms in any cities with guild, a 30% discount on all goods but most importantly access to restricted goods and magic items that are usually far to expensive or impossible to purchase usually."
 * Based on current estimates with the information you have provided us before and with a little help from Henry we have worked out that roughly 2 weeks after a portal opens it will become stable. After that it will be too late.
 * So we put out some contacts and found out that areas in the underchasm(giant crator that leads to the underdark) are showing more planar activity than normal. Henry confirms that this will likely mean a new portal opening soon.
 * To the far south is a town called delzimmer which is located near the underchasm, we have a portal array set up there for quick travel, as travel by foot would take many months to travel to by foot. However not long after we sent out one of our only B class adventurers the portal went dark.
 * A) find out why
 * B) Investigate the potential portal and stop it from becoming stable.
 * As for how you should get there, Conveniently the yellow springs will be opening soon and you can take the river there. Although dangerous it's really the only choice we have currently to get you there on time.
 * Keep in mind that if you can't fix the portal, you will have to spend several months traveling back to claim your rewards.

YELOW SPRINGS INFORMATION

 * Yellow springs is a mystical event that pierces the veil into the path souls take before they reach their respective locations in the afterlife.
 * Head to the town of Yhuann following the road southeast out of the city.
 * Ususally around 2 weeks from now though the time varies the fabric between life and death become thin and a river will appear. The river is rumoured to be the path to the after life. It will remain there for roughly half a day.
 * Anyone who stays in the river to the very end will end is never heard from so you must disembark when the trees and grass change from purple to brown which will bring you out somewhere in the vicinity of the riftwood area where delzimmer is located.
 * Fall in the river, you'll die.
 * Disembark at the wrong spot and get lost, you'll die.
 * Stay in there too long and you'll lose your memory, and then die.
 * It's a somewhat popular place for exploration as the river is always changing and lots of famous necromancers and mages throughout history have setup towers and castles there as for some reason living beings inside the river don't age and it's even rumored they gain a day or two of life for every hundred years they spend there. Of course all but the most powerful lose their memories and minds within a few hours let alone a few hundred years.
 * Around 10 thousand years ago it used to take a different path (started in deep maw and ended in Underchasm)

NATASHA ENCOUNTER
You hear a womans voice calling over toward your direction.

(Natasha) "Oh my god Tallybear, I've been looking for you everywhere. I can't believe I finally found you."

Identifying the source of the voice you can see a youngish woman in her mid 20's. Long red hair pale skin and freckles. Big circular glass that cover most her face and a deep blue dress made of some very thick and fluffy material. Normally with a material this thick and fluffy you wouldn't be able to gain much information into the persons figure however what you can tell is that she is extremely well endowed. Like when she was rolling for tits she rolled a nat 20. We're talking absurd anime titties. It's a literal wonder she doesn't topple over at any given moment.

She runs over and jumps on to tally and gives him a few smooches.

(Natasha) "How are youuuu TALLYBEAR, I missed you soooo much. Who are you adorable little friends."

She jumps off tally and runs up to you all.

(Natasha) "What's your name. I'm Natasha."

MAKE SURE SHE GETS EVERYONES NAME

ROLL INSIGHT ON VIZIZE IF HE USES HE REAL NAME  (Natasha) "You guys are great, you're so pretty Faen and -hugs- and Vizize you're quiet powerful, I'm sure you're all quiet popular with the girls around town"
 * (12) you can see a hint of recognition at the mention of your name.
 * (18) you can tell that her whole personality and demeanor seem to be put on.

(Natasha) "Listen guys, I know this is rude of me but I haven't seen tally bear in soo long. Can I just steal him for a bit. Only for a little while, you guys can meet up again later".

---

As soon as you're alone with her, he demeanor completely changes to the one you're used to.

(Natasha) "I have to say, the people you're hanging out with these days don't seem all that capable. Still, it's good to keep a few lackies on hand I suppose. Anyway, the Sickle Concord has just received news about the possible location of the Patera. (which you know as the name of the item you're looking for). Apparently when the library of Deniers here was cleaning out their shelves a few old books were discovered. Among them was one, very very old book, seemingly unimportant ledger of items that apparently detailed that an old necromancer named Vizize had acquired it many millennia ago. Apparently he was somewhat of a fanatic about discovering immortality although I doubt any of the previous owners had any idea it's actual use.

In any case since the darkening no one has ever returned alive from the Ammanthar forest. But it seems kismet is on your side. I suspect this Vizize fellow you're traveling with to be perhaps a relative of his. I can smell the scent of necromancy on him. At the very least it's too coincidental that someone with the same name should show up in your group now.

Conventionally the yellow springs is also opening soon so perhaps you can take a little exploration and see what you can find out. And of course, this goes without saying but don't head into the forest. Can you do this for me my love.

She traces her finger across your cheek to your lips and fade to black(porn music)

INFORMATION ABOUT WAYS TO GET YOUNG
'all you adventurers think you can get rich quick because of a few lucky adventurers getting some youth potions before, it's a stupid plan and I can't tell you any information about the yellow springs unless you have a mission for it'.

Auctionhouse
-info; AH is run by the silver cloud guild, basically they just offload the shittier magical items they have collected.

2PM SILVER CLOUD, WEST SIDE;

On the West side of the Silver Cloud, two large steel doors that usually remained barred and closed are now open. Standing at the front are two large burly men and a large queue of all manner of people, ranging from peasant halflings, dwarven merchants, and even lesser noble humans. (perception roll 10 reveals quite a few other groups from adventurer guilds that are not the silver cloud) The queue spans out in an orderly snakelike pattern a fair distance away from the doors. About 20 feet to the left of the doors is another smaller door with a red carpet that leads up to it. Two fairly attractive women in thin form fitting red and black dresses are standing by it.

--

As you approach the slightly younger looking of the two women with short wavey hair and a small mole near her left lip greets you.

(Mimi) "Good evening noble sirs, I'm afraid this is the queue for VIP guests only as there are only a very small number of rooms available. If you wish to join the Auction you will need to queue up over there".

(Becky)--

She points to the other long queue.

--

Private or open rooms.

--

As you're guided inside through a few corridors you come out at the top of an area that is fairly similar in design to the Arena in the trial grounds. However instead of a sandy pit, there is a raised platform with benches extending outward from it. On the left and right side closest to the stage are are few private rooms. The ones on the right are open balconies and the ones on the left have a one way mirror blocking people from the outside from viewing in. She leads you toward (THE ONE THEY CHOSE) and lets you know that bidding will start in about an hour.

Inside your bidding room is a bunch of various platters of meats and fruits. The chairs are high quality leather and the decor is carpeted with thick curtains giving a very warm feel. As you spend some time making some small talk and entertaining yourself eventually the stage curtains open revealing a very tall and thin old half orc. Salt and pepper hair and a sparse but long goatee neatly platted down his chin.

Welcome to the silver cloud monthly auction. This month we have some extremely high quality magic items for sale due to the yellow springs approaching. As per the usual rules, we will start with the lower quality items and work our way up.
 * roll dice for every bid after every bid. If the dice is less than (12 - (2 * 50g increases) then the person will bid again. On a natural 1 the person will triple the bid. On a natural 2 they will double.

First item; https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/potion-of-vitality bidding will start at 100g

As the bidding starts the price is quickly raised; you overhear a voice you recognize, Sirin the young mistress from the Rigatoni shouting haughtily to her servants to buy this as a present for her father who is always worn out. However a young man in his 20's wearing fine gold trimmed leather armors and a feathered hat does not seem to want to give up and the price is quickly raised to 350g before Sirin getting angry suddenly raises the price to 500g. At this point the young man who looks so frustrated he's about to pop a blood vessel slams his hands down on his chair rest and slumps back and the auctioneer begins to call out "Going once, going twice". (ARE YOU BIDDING?)

500g.

Next up is; https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/potion-of-water-breathing bidding will start at 50g

Although probably worth only a little less than the potion of vitality the bidding is nowhere near as fierce for this item and starts to slow down around 150. '''(ARE YOU BIDDING?) A half orc in his 40s, with skin so dark and thick you could mistake it for leather. He seems to be the seafairing type.'''

200g

A few more items pass by that just seem to be to fill in the time. There's a longsword that was created by the famous dwarven smith Yorn. However the item is non magical and the price for exceeds its practical worth. There is also a few paintings. (a bunch of kobolds playing poker, a young gnome with average features and proportion in a dark dress, and a mind flayer who looks incredibly shocked and his face is warped) and a couple of signed books detailing the fictional journey of bobby the mighty. (written by the famous author A S mann)

until finally some more good items start to come along.

First is a https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/potion-of-diminution starting at 100g

300g

next is https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/oil-of-sharpness bidding starts at 150g

300g

next is a https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/potion-of-speed bidding starts at 200g

400g

3 STROKE BELL - An old brass bell a little larger than a fist. Found in the yellow springs, although no one knows what it's use is you could be one the discover it. Bidding starts at 50g? (if the players don't buy it ronald buys it)

There's a few boo's from the audience as no one thinks it will be worth that much however the man who brought some of the collectables earlier bids 50g.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/sending-stones

100g

https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/bead-of-force

500g

https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/bag-of-beans

200g

Next on the list is the https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/nine-lives-stealer (SCYTH GREAT SWORDS STATS)

At this point the man who fought with Sirin earlier for the Vitality potion stands up.

(Ronald - dwarvish) "I want this item, whoever dares fight me for it will be making an enemy out of me, the golden gates adventurers guild and the dukedom of Baldurs gate.".

The auctioneer speaks up to cut him off.

(Auctioneer) "Sir, we can't have you threatening our guests here. This is a fair auction. You must settle your accounts with your purse".

(Ronald) "Right you are, I got a bit carried away."

And he sits down but glares around the whole room before he does. Clearly showing that he meant every word.

1800g

https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/ring-of-x-ray-vision

1100g

https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/animated-shield

2500g

After the Auction ends its about 9pm. (roll perception of 18) to check they are being observed. nothing sus just following you.

Outside the city.
(if the players fought with ronald, he's waiting in ambush). Perception 18 will notice them behind some large rocks. Otherwise volley of arrows, then he walks out and tells them he will be taking the items from their body for making him have to waste time. If he hadn't of spent all his coin on the long journey here there's no way they could compete with him in wealth otherwise.

Use minion stats
 * dwarvish voice
 * You can see Ronald has an F class, and weak even for that. He likely paid his way in.
 * Son of Duke Ferren in Buldurs Gate.
 * Willing to give the bell and some information about how to use it if they spare his life.
 * -he head an old tale about a graveyad with a bell that rings three times. Supposedly you can trade with powerful people there that have sealed themselves up to escape death. They will place an item out and if you place one out of equal value they will trade if not they will go back to their coffins.

(fork that leads to scardale and Yhaunn there's a tiny village a few kilometers to the north.)

As you reach a junction in the road where it splits, one path heading south east going to Yhaunn, and one path heading straight east to scardale in the distance a few kilometeres to the north you can see some smoke. To small to be a forrestfire, but too big to be a camp. (perception of 15 reveals a few glinting lights sailing through the air every so often - firearrows)

large blue skinned creatures in tattered hoods dragging a few men who are tied together by their feet away from the city. Some appear dead, some unconscious.