Date: 08/11/09

XP Awarded: none

Start: Sandpoint, late autumn.

After a second week in Sandpoint spent studying and training, the party meets to discuss their plans. The mysterious note makes reference to the Foxglove townhouse in Magnimar, and the adventurers agree that any further leads that would explain what is behind the rash of murders would most likely be found there.

Signore finds that the Waverunner will sail the next morning, a stout cog captained by the salty captain Karab. In exchange for the party's extra firepower onboard, he agrees to give the party free transport to Magnimar, but Deivon must pay for the transport for his large warhorse.

The next morning dawns clear and cool, with a brisk wind blowing from the north. The party makes themselves as comfortable as they can among the crowded, tall piles of crates as the ship sails out into the Varisian Gulf. The journey is quite rough as the round cog rolls through the choppy water, and Captain Karab keeps the Waverunner within sight of the shore. Throughout the day the ship makes good time along the western coast of Varisia. As the sun sinks redly into the Varisian Gulf to the west, the wind dies down and the ship's progress slows considerably. The night quickly grows chilly, but passes uneventfully.

The next morning as dawn breaks, the party wakes to find the sea considerably more crowded. As the Waverunner rounds Cape Indros, the ocean is covered with dozens of sailing vessels - Osirian dhows, Chelaxian slave galleys, longships from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, and even a graceful elven Wingship with great, sweeping sails that almost reach down to the waves - and what seems like a hundred smaller boats. The massive Irespan - a ruined stone bridge of impossible size - reaches dramatically out to the Varisian Gulf and the islands on the horizon. Where the almost sheer Seacleft cuts through the city, the solitary Arvensoar reaches into the sky.

The portly Waverunner slowly picks its way through the mass of ships into the busy port of Outcast's Cove and ties up alongside a bustling pier. Almost immediately a swarm of dockhands leap aboard and begin unloading crates, and the adventurers step ashore leading their massive warhorse. At the end of the pier they find themselves in a busy marketplace, surrounded by vendors, porters, street entertainers, children, merchants with their bodyguards, and carts full of goods. As the party moves through the jostling crowd, Signore notices a few acquaintances and gives them the nod, and the going becomes much easier. People move out of the way of the heavily armed Deivon and his massive warhorse, and soon the adventurers are in the Lowcleft neighborhood.

Due to the time of day, the pubs, hookah bars, brothels, and playhouses are all closed, and the streets are mostly empty. Kiria leads the group to a pub that he knows is open and the party sits for breakfast while they make plans. Gob says he will go to the Stone of the Seers, the school of wizardry he attended for several years, to meet some friends. Kiria says he's got some people to catch up with as well, and promises to meet up with the group "later." After another hour, Signore and Deivon find rooms and stabling at the Shady Tree, and Signore leaves to try to find out information about where the Foxglove townhouse might be.

At dinnertime Gob and Signore return to the Shady Tree to find Deivon talking to some other travellers in the inn's common room. Gob explains that he's taken a part-time tutoring position and will be staying in a room at the Stone of the Seers, but intends to devote his time to helping the party when he's not at the school of wizardry. There's no sign of Kiria. Signore explains he hasn't had much success finding the Foxglove townhouse yet, but he's got a few more leads to follow up on. Gob returns to the Stone of the Seers for the night while Signore heads back out into the lively evening crowd to continue his research.

The next morning Deivon wakes to find Signore has returned from his overnight expedition with an address. Ready to to investigate, they have to wait for Gob to finish his tutoring lessons - with a spoiled, young girl from a very wealthy Korvosan family - before gathering the dwarf and heading out.

Heading into the Grand Arch neighborhood in the Summit, the party comes to Starsilver Plaza, where abalone shell inlays embedded in the pavement create the impression of a field of stars. Passing through a narrow side street, they find a small courtyard dominated by a large fountain of four pools of water, each fed by a stream of water from a long-necked draconic head. The address found by Signore belongs to a three-story townhouse with lots of windows, but all the ground floor windows and doors are boarded up. A cleaning lady on the steps of a neighboring townhouse says that the boards were put up one night not too long ago.

The adventurers explore the neighborhood a little further and find a cramped but clean alleyway that winds behind the townhouse. There seems to be some manner of walled garden between the alley and the townhouse, but the surrounding buildings are full of servants and children, so the party decides to return later in the evening when they may be more discreet. Instead the group leaves Grand Arch to explore Bridgeward to see what's new in town since their last visit.

As the party crosses a main avenue, they become caught up in a crowd of people heading towards Serpent's Run. It's a festive atmosphere, and several revelers seem to be rather drunk already. The adventurers decide to go along for the ride and see what event is scheduled for the day. As they near the massive stadium, a wizard on a flying carpet passes overhead, just a few feet above the boisterous crowd. Ticket sellers are announcing the imminent start of the reenactment of the Battle of Sarvis, a famous naval victory from the early days of Magnimar's founding. After purchasing tickets, the party finds seats high up in the stands and watches the spectacle unfold far below, complete with pyrotechnics and flashy spells.

The battle doesn't last too long, and a few hours later the stadium empties out into the streets of the Marble District. The crowd streams down the streets towards the rest of Magnimar, and as the party walks along, they become aware of a large group of drunks harassing a street entertainer. The entertainer has a pair of small goat horns curling out from his forehead, and is pushed to the ground by one of the drunks while the others cheer.

Deciding to intervene, the party push their way into the crowd and Gob casts a sleeping spell on the most aggressive. They fall to the ground, along with the entertainer, and immediately cries go up as the others believe that the spell has killed their friends. Deivon steps in front to prevent the crowd from attacking Gob, and pushes the sleeping entertainer to wake him. He sits up confusedly, takes stock of the situation, and flees into a narrow alley behind the party, advising the party to do likewise. Some of the crowd in the rear is shoving forward towards the party, who are now surrounded, and a few of the sleeping drunks on the ground disappear under the mob. Deivon and Signore try to wake up the others and pull the ones being stepped on to safety. The crowd is growing larger and becoming more violent, so Deivon picks up one of the trampled victims and throws him over his shoulder, before the party flees down the narrow alley.

It leads to another busy street, and Signore can see the mob starting to come down the narrow alley after them. Gob considers casting another sleep spell to block the alley, but realizes that the sleeping victims will likely be trampled by the mob behind them, so the adventurers split up. Signore dodges into a large group of people, while Gob and Deivon rush down the street carrying the unconscious trampling victim. After a few minutes they've escaped the area, and stop to try to revive the person they've been carrying. They find that he's badly wounded and in danger of dying. Deivon attempts first aid but isn't successful. He gives the victim one of his healing potions, and the drunk wakes up, sees the party, then yells and quickly runs away. Others in the street give Gob and Deivon suspicious looks, and the adventurers quickly leave the area.

Later that evening, after regrouping and discussing plans over dinner, the party returns to the darkened alley behind the Foxglove townhouse. Signore scrambles over the top of the stone wall and throws down a rope for the others to follow. On the far side the adventurers discover a rather overgrown sizeable garden with several trees. Though the trees have been dropping their leaves, they still retain enough to give the party good cover while they inspect the rear of the townhouse. They find the ground floor windows boarded over in the same manner as the front, including a sunroom lined with floor-to-ceiling windows and a boarded up door. Using a crobar Signore has got, Deivon pries off the boards and the party discovers one of the keys they found in the caverns under Foxglove Manor fits the lock perfectly.

Inside, the townhouse is cold, dark, and dusty. The rooms lie in disarray, as if someone ransacked the place months ago. The adventurers explore a dining room, study, lounge, and trophy hall before finding a set of stairs leading to the floors above. As they reach the bottom of the stairs, they hear Aldern's voice call out to them from above, and a light appears. Aldern and Iesha Foxglove come down the stairs, expressing surprise that they've got visitors, and apologize for the dreadful mess the house is in. They ask the party to follow them to the dining hall so they can prepare a meal for the party. The adventurers look at each other questioningly, and suspiciously follow the Foxgloves.

Signore and Gob enter the kitchen with Aldern, as Deivon makes his way though the dining room with Iesha. Suddenly she grabs a longsword lying hidden under an overturned chair, and her features ripple and melt as she changes form into a twisted, scaley creature with freakishly long limbs and fingers. She attacks Deivon with the longsword, driving it deep into his chest with surprising strength. Badly wounded, Deivon falls back and struggles to draw his own sword, barely parrying her follow-up thrust. In the kitchen, Aldern's form melts away as he also transforms into one of the hairless, faceless creatures and snatches up a longsword hidden above the door frame. He strikes at Signore, but the gnome's reflexes carry him out of the way of the deadly swing.

Gob drops back and casts a spell that send darts of magical energy into the creature, and Signore manages to get some blows in from his attacks. Deivon lands a heavy blow of his own on the creature he is fighting, and maneuvers himself up against a wall to protect his back. The creatures seem to work as a team and try to flank Deivon, but Gob's magic missiles drop one to the ground. Seeing this, the second turns to flee, and Signore just misses a parting attack as the creature rushes out the door into the back garden with surprising speed. Gob gives chase, but emerges from the house just as the creature stretches its arms to grab the top of the back wall and vault over it.