Session 3: The Neverwinter Riot

"The session started with the party still in Leilon. After leaving the Five Heads are Better than One Cathedral/Shopping Outlet, the party headed to Zwakin’s bake shop. The introverted baker told them that she did not do retail sales but was willing to give them 50 dozen cinnamon rolls for 60 gp. The party discussed the logistics of carrying 150 lbs of four-ounce cinnamon rolls, but declined in the end.

On the road back to Neverwinter, the party was confronted by several Cult of the Dragon members (Dracolich variety). The cultists declared themselves “harbringers” of destruction. The party corrected this to “harbingers.” This prompted the Cultists to declare, “no, we do not announce destruction; we bring it,” and attack the party. Timothy killed a cultist quickly, but reacted as a barbarian does to the spell Hold Person, freezing up and getting stabbed - a lot.

Back in Neverwinter, the party decided to get the contracts that held Horace’s soul from the enigmatic “Gunther.” Sneaking back into Neverwinter, using the tunnels, they realized that they had never made it into the city before. Luckily, when they poked their head up, the party was in the city, but the wealthy Blacklake district rather than the docks. On the way to the docks, the New Greycloaks, Neverember’s notorious Mimbaran Zhentilar mercenaries (who are responsible for order in the city, if not peace), confronted the party. The party told the guards that they were on their way to give a message to Gunthar. The Sergeant responded, “we got a message that you can give Gunthar, a broken leg or two and a broken arm.”

Thus, in an extremely rough melee, the party learned about the rivalry between the (evil) Zhentarim mercenaries, in charge of official oppression in the city and the (evil Zhentarim) Dockworker Association, which monopolizes the organized crime in the city. Indeed, by killing a Greycloak sergeant in the conflict, the party escalated it.  

The resulting street battles between the rival Zhentarim organizations provided cover for the party to steal a safe from the Dockworkers and flee the city. The safe contained several devilish contracts (including Horace’s) and other treasures, including intelligence reports on Karthou (looking for the liche Valindra Shadowmantle) and Smokeless, a rumored meeting house in the Neverwinter Wood. Little Eyes, the kobold proprietor of Smokeless, arrived to palm the report on Smokeless and to inform them of the new rewards posted on them (1000gp by Neverember and 5000gp by Gunthar).  

The start of the next quest will be incorporated into the Thursday summary."

Some notes on this session. I did scale the encounters down from the original playtest of these adventures, but I forgot that my teen groups tend to be much more tepid about committing to combat, which makes every combat more dangerous as characters often wait until the second turn to react. The talk it out attempts here were less successful than before, as the groups encountered here were both evil and extremely willing to use violence.

I also decided to star dividing the summary more by plotline than date.

Session 3: The Neverwinter Riot is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.