Storm King’s Thunder: Session 17. Before the Beard: Maganose’s Hidden Past

3^rd-4^th Alturiak 1458DR

During the night, while the rest of the Griffon’s slumbered Fenris slipped Amadeous’ Slippers of Spider Climbing off his feet and put them on, testing them until he had attuned. After an hour, he crept out the window and surveyed the Waterdeep night. A city that never slept, the streets were still alive with people despite the late hour. Looking over towards Castle Ward, he saw a small villa which promised the wealth of the nouveax riche with it’s gaudy decorations of statues and tacky gold leaf.

After enchanting himself with Longstrider and Pass Without Trace, he sneaked past the lone guard outside and surveyed the ground floor: downstairs he saw a study, a kitchen and a dining room but the windows were seemed solid and well-protected. Walking up the wall he found the 1^st floor windows less sturdy and picked the lock of the master bedroom. The room smelled heavily of cologne and a man slumbered heavily in bed. Surveying the room, he found and unlocked a small vault but the chest inside was well-defended. Rifling through the chests he found a chunky gold necklace depicting a dog and many pairs of ostentatious but well-made clothes. Looking at the man he saw a necklace with a key and slipped it off his neck, unlocked the vault chest and helped himself to the “petty cash” of 500gp. He then relocked the chest and vault and put the key under the man’s pillow.

Seeing a small poodle sleeping outside the bedroom, he exited through the window and explored the neighbouring bedroom. An elderly woman slept upright in bed, clutching her knitting. On a bedside table he saw an old portrait of a young bearded man, the features recognisable but Fenris could not place him. A fine but worn gold amulet lay next to it and opening it he saw a replica of the portrait of the young bearded man with an inscription: “My Dearest Elira, For the time we were gifted. Yours always, Maganose”. Surprised that the handsome fellow appeared to be the elderly wizard in his company he closed the amulet and pocketed it. Searching the room he found more jewellery and a silver handmirror that he also seized.

Heading out the window (being careful to latch it on the way out) he crept outside and tried to enter the rear kitchen door but as he tried to pick the lock a magical alarm sounded. Thinking better of it, he crept back into the night, leaving the guard bewildered and investigating the noise. Heading back to Greenglade Tower, Fenris put the Slippers of Spider Climbing back on Amadeous and as the dawn broke went out to buy pastries for everyone.

After breakfast everyone decided to head to the Temple of Oghma in Castle Ward to see if they could find out more about Old Gnawbone. Castle Ward was dominated by the sight of Mount Waterdeep in the southwest, with Castle Waterdeep atop it. A drunk man bumped into Amadeous, dropping his purse. After apologising and dusting Amadeous off he head into the crowd and Amadeous noticed that the man had dropped his purse. Inside he found silver, some dice and an old voucher for a free potion of healing at a shop called “Balthorr’s Rare and Wonderous Treasures”.

Darius remembered the temple from his youth as it was a famous building in the city, being beautiful and also known as “The Font of Knowledge”. They were greeted by the sight of an enormous four-storey building decorated in green marble with a basilica tiled in enchanted mother-of-pearl: a testament to the wealth of the temple. Clergy and visitors bustled in and out of the large double-doors and Fenris stopped a young halfling nun to ask her where to go. She described the layout of the Great Library and explained that there were assistants to answer questions inside. Heading up the stairs and through the doors they found an entrance hall with an vast statue of Oghma, god of knowledge and learning. Heading inside the Great Library itself they spoke to an elderly dragonborn monk, who arranged a meeting with Tifalin Silverflow, High Seeker of the Font of Knowledge.

Tifalin was an elderly gnomish woman who spoke with them in her office. She told a story of meeting Old Gnawbone (formally known as Claugiyaliamatar) many years before during the Spellplague, when the gods Cyric and Shar murdered Mystra (goddess of magic) and dark magical energy surged across the planes as the corrupted weave of magic fell apart. In desperation she had sought out Claugiyaliamatar for an explanation and a solution to the disaster, trading her true name for the answers she sought. She had learnt her true name through years of prayer, meditation and study: unique cosmic identifier that would give the creature a power to scry her and influence over her soul for the rest of her days. Unfortunately for Tifalin, the Spellplague would resolve itself anyway 6 years later when Mystra would be reborn but nought could be done to end it now.

While both had met their side of the bargain, Tifalin had felt the scrying eyes of the dragon on her since and felt it’s influence tugging on her soul. She warned them of the danger in dealing with it but being aware of the dangers of the giants, agreed to give them Verdant Green: an ancient tome of primordial magic of the forests that they could gift to Old Gnawbone to grant them audience. In exchange she would want any scrolls or tomes of the lore of giants they found at the Eye of Annam but she would ask a monk to make a copy of Verdant Green for the temple before she handed in over. She bid them return tomorrow.

Saying goodbye to Tifalin, they went to the Docks district where they found a huge Dragonborn warrior named Agrax prizefighting in the streets, challenging all to defeat him in a brawl. Maganose pushed forward Korrak and as the fight began, Amadeous took the opportunity to pick the pockets of one of the crowd. Maganose sought out a book-keeper and found a halfing taking bets. On only 2:1 odds for Korrak to win they stopped and had Korrak don a blindfold, raising the stakes. After a few rounds of Korrak and the Agrax trading blows, Agrax was bloody and beaten and yielded, which netted a large win from the bookie. Carlan slipped away to cast Alter Self to appear as another Dragonborn challenger. Amadeous whispered to Korrak the plan and they managed to put on a good show of Korrak throwing the fight to Carlan, which won more prize money.

As the crowd dispersed, Fenris sought out a shop to fence off his stolen wares. Using his instincts he spotted a dingy shop marked with traces of thieve’s cant and entered. Coding his language carefully, he pawned off everything “he had inherited from his recently-deceased aunt” (apart from the amulet with the picture of Maganose) and bought some thieve’s tools as “his friend was locked out of his house and he needed to help him back in”. Curious, Amadeous followed Fenris and explained “his interest in the performing arts” and need for “make-up for his performances” and bought a disguise kit.

With this they asked the way to “Balthorr’s Rare and Wonderous Treasures” and found an old but established magic shop in Castle Ward. Balthorr was an elderly half-orc that was surprised that any of the vouchers were still around and agreed to honour it. Maganose argued that the voucher didn’t specify what type of potion of healing it was and through legalistic language and persuasion, Balthorr agreed to honour the voucher for a Potion of Supreme Healing. They perused the shelves but couldn’t find anything they wanted to buy so headed out as Balthorr was deciding where to frame the old voucher (a relic of when he opened his shop).

Wanting a plush bed for the night they found “The House of Purple Silks” in Sea Ward. A lone Goliath doorman stood outside and explained this inn was a place for the wealthy who wanted discreet pleasure. Balking at the price (55GP per person per night) they left Darius there for the night, the happenings of his stay being something only known to him. Reflecting on their overspending recently they went to a flophouse in Dock Ward called The Smokehouse. After a dinner of fish stew and moonshine they head off to bed. During the night Fenris left the amulet next to Maganose bed, leaving Maganose nostalgic but also utterly bewildered in the morning at how it got there. During breakfast, Maganose showed everyone the amulet and described “Elira” as an old fling from many years ago.

They head back to the Font of Knowledge and retrieved Verdant Green. Pondering the route to the Kryptgarden forest, they decided to take the Long Road north through the villages of Rassalantar, Amphail, Red Larch and Westbridge as this would take them near Kryptgarden but also near Triboar. They head to South ward to charter a coach to Rassalantar and met a coachman named Malabar. They set off at a brisk pace but after traveling most of the day they needed to rest. After an uneventful night they came across some figures in the road: bandits. Desperate and hungry they demanded money but Korrak snarled and intimidated them into stepping aside. By late morning they reached the small village of Rassalantar, where Malabar dropped them off.