Finding the Imp (Session 22)

A Visit to the Whitehelm Residence
Having rested and recovered from their travels while in Rowen, it was time for the adventurers to get back to work. They took the four metal pieces they had collected on their journey and put them together, creating an amulet in the shape of a helmet. Unsure of what to do next, they went to see Charleston Wentwick at the Whitehelm residence.

Fortunately when they arrived, the Whitehelm boys were out of town, and so Wentwick was able to let the group in and speak to them. They showed him the completed amulet and he confirmed that it was indeed in the shape of a helmet - the very helmet that Whitehelm took his name from. Wentwick explained that the helmet was no ordinary head-piece - it had been demon-forged, and thus had powerful magical properties, including granting the user incredible strength and magical power, as well as increased longevity. To craft the hemlet, Whitehelm had made a deal with a demon, which is always a risk, as demons rarely keep their end of a bargain. The helmet came with a curse: the capability of corrupting or bringing out the bad side of its wearer, especially if the wearer is weak or morally lacking.

Whitehelm had lived much longer than a normal human; the helmet was crafted nearly 600 years prior. And while he may have been a good man at one point in time, the helmet caused him to do some very bad things, of which the adventurers were familiar, whether they knew it or not. Wentwick recapped Whitehelm's misdeeds, and the ways the group had fixed the problems he had created:

-Five hundred years prior, Whitehelm stabbed the Eladrin Ghaele of Winter with a perpetual icicle, causing the land and its inhabitants to be frozen and creating the Petrified Forest. The heroes used the perpetual icicle to reverse the damage, thawing the land and its people.

-Three hundred and fifty years prior, Whitehelm convinced a dwarven king to gamble with and lose his family's runestone, costing him the throne and resulting in the rise of a authoritarian government. The heroes returned the runestone and restored the rightful ruler of Mount Mali to the throne.

-Two hundred years prior, Whitehelm stole a magical flute from the elves, who needed it to protect their forest. The heroes returned the flute and cleared the sacred grove of Drow invaders, allowing the tree of life and the Bactrian Forest to bloom once again.

-Sixty years prior, Whitehelm helped the cult of Zehir gain power and poison the drinking water in Sardis City. The heroes defeated the leaders of the cult and applied an antidote to the water supply to negate the poison.

It was after this that Whitehelm met his wife, Wentwick explained. With her influence, he was able to part with the helmet. He wanted to fix the mistakes he had made in his life before he died, but for some reason could not do it himself, so he left the means to reverse his wrongdoings with a group that he knew was capable. "He must have still had some good left in him before he died," Wentwick said.

Whitehelm tried to shield his sons from the influence of the helmet, but was unable to do so entirely. "His eldest son Aldric has been searching fruitlessly for the helm since his father died," Wentwick explained gravely. "Who knows what would happen if it were to fall into his hands."

Wentwick believed that Whitehelm intended for the adventurers to find and destroy the helm, but even as Whitehelm's most trusted adviser, Wentwick did not know where the helm was located. He suggested the explorers seek out the imp Pzarzat, who helped to forge the helmet initially. He told them the imp was likely to be found in the city of Tazanon, but warned them that the city was dangerous and the imp untrustworthy. He hoped, however, that the imp would be able to shed some light on the purpose of the amulet, and might even know where the helmet had gone.

The adventurers thanked Wentwick, found out some inconsequential details about his personal life (his mother's name was Julie, for example), and went off to locate the imp.

Finding the Imp
As the group would learn, Tazanon was a seedy place full of unseemly characters doing shady business. The town was ruled over by a conclave of dark wizards, who had seen fit to protect their secrecy by enshrouding the place in a magical thunderstorm. To get to the city gates, the adventurers would have to brave the perilous weather.

The wind whipped around them, hindering their movement, and the torrential rain made it difficult to see more than a few paces in front of them. Those wearing metal armor were especially susceptible to lightning strikes. They slowly made their way through the storm, sheltering under trees and rock outcroppings when possible. Fausto took refuge in a small, abandoned hut, finding 500g left by the previous inhabitant. Cora retreated to a cave containing a corpse wearing a pair of Rogue's gloves, which she helped herself to. Sopping wet and slightly singed, the group found their way out of the storm and at the gates to the city. They entered Tazanon just in time for the weekly black market. Vendors in their stalls lined the streets, wondrous and unusual items on display. The heroes' eyes lit up, eager to peruse the goods. They stopped at a stall run by a haggard-looking halfling called Lamorac Hornwood, who was selling illegal drugs. Twitch immediately purchased and consumed a pill called Glue, finding himself immobilized. Not learning from Twitch's mistake, Caraga purchased and consumed a red liquid called Flashbang, winding up temporarily blinded. Not to be outdone, Cora purchased and snorted a powder called Songbird, becoming temporarily deafened. Once the effects of the drug had worn off, Twitch went back to the stall and purchased a small tab of something called Dragontail, which left him dazed and slightly injured. He decided to purchase a little of all four of the drugs and save them for future use.

Coming off of their drug highs, Twitch, Cora, and Caraga met Taargus near the booth of tiefling Zatari Tavon, who was offering various forgery services. Asking her what type of business she normally did, Zatari offered them her most recent project: forged invitations to an upcoming gala at the nearby Kichester Museum of Art. Never ones to turn down a chance to attend a fancy party, they all agreed to purchase the invitations.

Meanwhile, Fausto was visiting with Mepodri Yitis, the drow representative of the Assassin's Guild. He offered Fausto contracts on Princess Fiora Calopraza, the warlord Tog Poogugh, and the pirate Orval Kidd, and agreed to pay 200 gp for the head of each. Fausto tried to barter for a higher price, but Mepodri dismissed his efforts, explaining that only members of the Assassin's Guild get better prices, and that one needed to take a low-paying contract to become a member of the Guild. Fausto agreed, taking all three contracts and setting them aside for future use...

Finishing up with the Assassin's Guild, Fausto next headed to the oddities shop, run by a cackling old woman called Iwona Grala. She was selling a variety of mysterious objects of questionable usefulness. Fausto bought a bundle of dried fingers wrapped together with twine, bringing them back to the Assassin's Guild representative to try to convince him that he had already begun working on his contracts. The drow recognized the bundle from the oddities shop and shooed away Fausto, who then headed over to speak to a half-orc named Balogog. The half-orc had an underbite but fabulous hair, and was buying and selling monster parts, enabling Fausto to make a profit on the owlbear beak he was carrying. Balogog attempted to get Twitch to sell T.J. Max to him, but Twitch refused.

Next, the group pressured Twitch into visiting the ritual scroll vendor, explaining to him that he was able to use rituals, much to his surprise. He reluctantly agreed to talk to the old man who smelled of incense, fumbling his way through an attempt to proselytize to him about Kord, before buying a scroll for a ritual called Shrink. At the same time, Taargus was drawn to the stand of fellow dragonborn Eozzik Unzu, a fence who was selling some items of dubious origin. Taargus was pleased to get a good deal on a bag of holding.

Finished with their shopping, the adventures had gathered in the market, trying to figure out where to go next, when they were approached by a young girl with blonde pigtails. She excitedly told them that they were dressed like heroes, and wondered what kinds of heroic deeds they had done. Cora attempted to talk to her but Twitch was immediately suspicious and scared her off - and for good reason, evidently, for after she left Cora noticed she was missing a dagger and several other items from her pack. She vowed to catch the girl and cut off her pigtails, and with that, a chase began.

They ran after her through the streets, occasionally gaining ground after finding a shortcut or deftly maneuvering over a stack of crates, sometimes falling behind after getting stuck in a thick crowd or taking a wrong turn. A giggling gang of street urchins tried to trip Twitch more than once. Nimble on her feet, Cora scaled a building and went after the girl from the rooftops. Eagle-eyed Fausto found a small, valuable platinum sundial, which he grabbed up as he ran.

Eventually they caught up with the girl, and as promised, Cora cut off her pigtails. As the girl, crying, returned Cora's stolen items, they were approached by a tall blonde woman who introduced herself as Kat, the girl's older sister. She explained that she was a member of the Thieves' Guild, and that her little sister Analise still needed some practice if she were going to join as well. However, she was willing to make a deal by way of apology for her sister's actions: she had overheard them talking about the imp, and knew where he was located. That information could be theirs if they were willing to join a team that she was putting together to stage a heist.

The item at the center of the heist was a work of art - a painting by late renowned portrait artist Philippe Janvier. The portrait was of Lord Nikolaus Alby, and the Thieves Guild had been hired by the wizard Waldron Alby - grandson of Nikolaus - to retrieve it. Kat tasked the group with stealing the portrait and replacing it with a convincing forgery. An entire exhibit based on the works of Janvier was about to open at the Kichester Museum of Art in the nearby city of Kichester, with a private banquet being held the evening of the opening. The gala was set to take place in two days - plenty of time for the group to do some reconnaissance and set up a plan for the heist. Kat supplied them with the forged painting (created by none other than master forger Zatari Tavon) and a map of the art museum. The rest of the plan was up to them.

They decided to head to the museum and have a look around, splitting up to see as much as possible. Fausto and Taargus used the map received to determine that the museum's basement could be accessed through an underground sewer system. Taargus used his great strength to pry open the sewer grate cover. Dubbing themselves the "Sewer Crew," the two trudged through murky sewer water toward the museum. For unknown reasons, Taargus filled his waterskin with sewage to save for later. They reached the basement of the museum decidedly smellier than they had been previously, but no worse for wear. Fausto picked through some discarded relics in the basement's storage room, and snatched a beautiful but slightly cracked elven vase that he thought might be valuable. They spent some additional time searching the basement, gathering information to bring back to the rest of the group.

Meanwhile, Cora, Caraga, and Twitch entered the museum through the main doorway, posing as normal museum visitors. The gallery that would be housing the Janvier paintings was currently locked, and would not be opened until the evening of the gala. Twitch struck up a totally not suspicious conversation with Jennah, one of the museum's nine security guards, asking her about her favorite artwork (the discus statue) as well as the upcoming exhibition. He tried to convince her to let him in to see the Janvier works early, but she informed him that they would not actually be arriving until the day of the banquet. He also learned that four security guards were generally patrolling the museum overnight. Unable to get any further useful information from her, Twitch went into the administration offices, where his presence was questioned by Irenwed Gildir, the museum curator. The snobby elf was mistrustful of the cleric, and Twitch left without any additional intel.

Cora and Caraga scoped out the first and second floor rotundas, as well as the galleries. They inspected the balconies, noting that Caraga's Rope of Climbing could come in handy. They then began chatting up another security guard, who introduced himself as George Jackson, and agree to meet them for drinks at the Secret Lion tavern in Tazanon the following evening. Planning to get him drunk and then get more information out of him, they considered this a success, and left for the day.