Ladrengielle – blogpost 10

It is 14.30 and the river is now calmer than before. I point to the hooded figure on the other side of the river. Delvin is still scared and doesn’t want to approach. Kharrum grabs a raft that is conveniently lying at the shore and makes way down the river again. More rafts are available, therefore Borac and I get one as well. When we approach the hooded figure in the boat, we cannot see what is under his hood at first. I squint my eyes and spot that it is a skeleton! Borac is still sensitive to light because of his previous Duergarr skull enlargement, so he yells and steers away from the skeleton and the light it’s emitting.

We come across a fish-shaped cave. We can float into its rocky mouth and step on land and do so. We see a statue of a nobleman. It looks like a prince. Further in the room, we see statues all connected through spider webs. It seems like the statures are creatures made of stone as we encountered before: petrified. Francissy sets fire to the webs and causes a large fire. Now, we can see all the statues. Could this be the work of Hallister? The skeleton man followed us. He is still not approaching but seems to be looking at us. I call out to him. He only turns his head 180 degrees. I call again: ‘Where is Skullport?!’ He points downstream.

We follow his boney hand and set course for Skullport. We again see a cave, but this one looks like a clam. Creatures there are emitting light and seem to be looking for something. They are ignoring us, so we float further on our rafts.
When we’re between two big cliffs, we are ambushed by cultists! I get shot by an arrow and faint. AGAIN!

Borac wakes me up and brings me horrible news: Delvin died. He got shot by one of the elite warriors. We have ended up on what looks like a lake. We see a big castle with many torches on the walls in front of us. A couple of spikes restrain our rafts. We need to swim further to get to the city harbor. A building that stretches from the water to the ceiling is impressive to look at. We also hear a lot of noise coming from the buildings nearby.

I recall I have to deliver a pouch with three moonstones to Flagon & the Dragon to a drow called Cal’al: a quest from the Harpers. As we climb to shore, we get a horrible feeling about what is happening here. Inside, I see many Bugbears and some pile of people on the table, all dead. Xanathars’ eye is drawn on a wall near the building. We fear that we’re not in Skullport or that Skullport has been taken over by the Xanathar guild. We try to sneak past the building, but a couple of Bugbears exit. We greet them really convincingly with: ‘Hail Xanathar!’ They believe me when I’m lying that I am escorting the party as my prisoners. They tell us Xanathars’ lair has been attacked and infiltrated Skullport to gain grounds for the guild. We know who’d attacked the lair: that was us. I succeed in convincing them to go back inside and that I don’t need any help. They re-enter, and the party makes way to the rafts: this is NOT the spot to enter Skullport city. We steer to a shore close by, away from the Bugbear base.

When we get to the shore, we bury Delvin. We mourn for a bit and then see the practicality in walking further to find his guardian. Before we go, I paint my overdress black and leave out the Xanathar-sign to serve as a disguise.

Skullport looks really wrecked. The city is dimly lit. Many weird creatures roam here, and it looks really sketchy. We see a shop with a ‘zombies for sale’-sign. Kharrum really wants to enter: the first thing he does is turning all the undead in the store. He kills them all in one flick of his finger. The shop owner is outraged, but Kharrum doesn’t care. We exit and continue our way. We investigate Skullport further: we enter a tavern, drink some beer called Wyrm Wizz (it is really disgusting), and get directions to Flagon & the Dragon. It is not that long of a walk: I enter and greet Cal’al. I give her the pouch Threestings gave me and prove to her I’m a member of the Harpers by showing her my pin. She thanks me and tells me that we’re in lower Skullport: the bad side of town. Most creatures have left this level of Skullport. The majority lives in mid or high Skullport. We decide to move a level up to look for a place to sleep.