The sounds of the sea filled the party's senses as they stepped within the gate of Luskan. Gulls called out to the sun and clouds. The moisture could be felt on their skin, and the salt in their nostrils. The stones used to build the outer wall, as well as those of the massive palaces of Luskan's captains had taken on a peculiar green tint from the constant battering of the sea's mists. Nearby were a number of small islands with wooden boardwalks built for travel between them. One of them even held a tower, which is exactly what brought our party here.
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| Krevish helpfully points out that this is not the tower they are looking for. |
Krevish was indeed correct. The ground floor of the Hosttower was patrolled by undead, who were easily turned by the divine power of Avrilenne and Steve Nash. At each of the cardinal directions was also a library, each of which was occupied by Hosttower wizards and their Zhentarim allies. In the interest of being thorough, Chode Hammer searched every wall for hidden doors. Just as Aria was about to tell him to give it up, he knocked on a wall that answered with a hollow echo. "Aha! See, I knew these magicky types would have some secrets in this place. They can't help it," he said as he pulled out his kit of oddly shaped tools to start work on the door's lock.
Chode was successful in opening the door, which led down a small stone staircase. The air was especially moist, and the walls wet with drops of water. Chode wet his finger with a drop, licked it, then explained, "It's salty. No doubt we are below the waterline now."
The sub-level of the tower was a bit of a maze, and within were Zhentarim soldiers training monsters the adventurers were not unfamiliar with. There were owlbears, the tentacled panthers known as displacer beasts, and manticores, man headed lions who had particularly nasty spines they could launch from their tails. An automatically locking cell, and several one way doors made sure that the dungeon lived up to Chode's expectation of secrets.
It became obvious this sub-level's main purpose was as a dungeon, thanks to the proliferation of cells. Perhaps, they thought, the false doors were there to torment prisoners who thought they might have a chance to escape the horrid place. They only encountered one prisoner who still lived, however. There was a reasonable chance the undead wandering the tower consisted of the former occupants of the many cells.
The party quickly dispatched the man's owlbear tormentors, thanks to incapacitating them with noxious stinking clouds. The man quickly retrieved his clothing and equipment, which was in a pile in the corner of the room. It was slightly damp and smelled of owlbear, but he quipped that it beat being tortured.
He introduced himself as Brinshaar, a mage from Neverwinter, he was being tortured so that he would reveal Lord Nasher's magical defenses. "Thanks to you, they learned nothing," he said, "and Neverwinter remains safe! As it turns out, I can repay you immediately. I have seen the statuette you tell me that you seek. It is secreted not within the Hosttower itself, but somewhere in these dungeons. Clever, no?"
Aria did nothing to hide her displeasure that Augustar had been so quick to reveal their quest to this man, and she also whispered to the others that she got a bad vibe from this man. However, he fought bravely at their side, all the way to the room at the end of a long twisting corridor, where the statuette was held.
Battle was quickly joined. Before our party could even ready their weapons, two of them lay on the ground. A manticore whipped its tail, launching deadly spines at Lady Deschanel. She barely let out a grunt, and fell with four black spines protruding from her chest. The helmed Hosttower mage then completed a spell, with a deafening thunder clap, a bolt of lightning flew from his outstretched finger. The bolt hit Augustar directly, and he fell to ground with a plume of black smoke rising from his chest. The room was soon filled with the smell of ozone, and a dash of burnt flesh.
Although things were looking grim, the party only redoubled their efforts, so that they might save their fallen comrades. Aria cast a stinking cloud spell which made a manticore and several Zhent warriors into easy targets. Avrilenne prayed to Tyr to bring justice to these evil men. Her prayers were answered as the wizard and his guard were frozen still.
The remaining manticore was soon overwhelmed and cut down. Victorious, while the wounded were tended to, Chode moved to examine the statuette.
The statuette recovered, Brinshaar smiled, and clapped them each on the shoulder warmly.
Done basking in their accomplishment, the party now realized their most pressing concern was finding their way out of this dank dungeon. It again proved to be a maze, as the party circled around and got in the same auto-locking magic trap they had encountered earlier. Avoiding that direction a second time, they eventually found another narrow stone staircase that led to a one-way door, emerging in the foyer of the Hosttower.
"I knew he wasn't to be trusted!" exclaimed an exasperated Aria. Indeed, Brinshaar was waiting on the docks just outside the tower, with an entourage of vicious displacer beasts.
"Oooh... You're going to get it for fooling us you seedy little man," Aria said as she began a series of arcane gestures.
Upon completion of her spell, there was a sound like a dragon's roar. The great black cats let out yelps of pain as their coats were suddenly engulfed in flame.
"That's a new one Brinshaar... say hello to my little friend, 'fireball'," Aria said with a menacing tone.
The mage smiled and began a spell of his own, however, his face immediately contorted into panic as he realized he had no voice! Steve Nash had silenced the mage with divine power. Brinshaar tried to turn, but tripped over his long robes. His days ended soon after, at the hands of Aria's magic missile spell. Extending her fingers, brilliant streaks of energy launched out at Brinshaar. He screamed as they hit, burning out his eyes until his skull was nothing more than a smoking husk. If there was ever any doubt amongst the party that Aria Darkstar was not one to cross, there was certainly none now.
The party took a well deserved rest at the local inn, planning to leave for Neverwinter in the morning to resupply and visit the local training hall. It seemed they were quite popular now, however, as a group of pirates met them at the city gates.
In the aftermath of the battle, Steve Nash observed, "No rest for the... virtuous, I suppose?"
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