Hightailing it out of Jester’s Green, the party moves onward towards SUzail, arriving in time to get in on some of the pre-party fun. They mingle with adventurers of every stripe, interested merchants and gawking hanger’s on. Having little time to acclimate to the city, the first stops are to seek some lodging…which proves to be difficult given the festivities. Nonetheless, a bit of exploration nd a ew bribes gets the mages registered with the Council of Mages, procures some lodging and allows for a little bit of sightseeing.
The following day sees the great event unfold and the group is admitted into the manor grounds for some light refreshments and polite mingling. Some rumors are heard about various guests, the host, and the party itself. Later, there is a lavish dinner in the great dining hall. There the astute cleric notices some nonverbal communication happening between the host and one of the adventuring parties. Following the dinner, the adventuring groups make their presentations to the King and receive polite thanks for the service to Cormyr. The cleric again notices some sort of tension between the host and the leader of one of the adventuring parties. Hmm…something is afoot.
The King retires and the party gets into full swing. Eventually all guests not housed in the manor house proper are sent to a nearby inn to continue the festivities. Finally, in the wee hours, everyone is settled in when…loud banging precedes the entry of stern faced Purple Dragons and troubled War Wizards. The host of the party has been found murdered in his study. As the party has no known connections with anyone in Suzail, they are tapped to help with the investigation.
In typical fashion, the group uses an avenue not really considered in the module writing process and use speak with dead spells to converse with the slain victim.Said victim turns out to be one of the adventuring party seen having words with the host. Said victim looks exactly like the host by virtue of being a doppelganger! The doppler is not pleased with the prospect of being a sacrificial lamb to enable his companion’s financial success and he spills the beans.
The War Wizards are alerted and the manor house is searched top to bottom with means obth magical and physical The co-conspirators are discovered hiding in one of the lower family crypts and are swiftly taken into custody. There it is discovered that the plot originated amongst the members of the Zhentarim, and the party members are hailed as heroes.
To show gratitude, the host gives a generous financial reward, allows the group to stay on the premises for the next six months and puts his staff at their disposal. The Tormites take advantage of the opportunity – and their newly found fame – to dispose of many items of great value. Flush with cash, they sit back and ponder the next set of moves. Some measure of permanency is desirable – both Malchor and Kormier could use a base of operations. One to increase his god’s stature, the other to manufacture magical equipment. Along the way, research is carried out into the items the party has collected since arriving in Cormyr and it is found that they have almost completed a set of magical items that belong to the royal house.The item that is missing is a magical dagger known as Deathend. Not much is known about its current whereabouts. The elves are dispatched to a monastery known for its collection of minutia to see if a clue may be obtained. Meanwhile the cleric, paladin, mage, and fighter journey to Immersea to scout some real estate suitable for building a temple. After some time, the elves rejoin them, along with one of the monks.
Negotiations are undertaken with the noble houses and eventually a plot is leased. The mages manufacture large quantities of raw materials and magically fashion them into a serviceable shrine devoted to Torm. Some outbuildings are provided to house BeLushI – as he is now the new defender of the shrine. Far from the main road, the mage excavates a vault, lines it with stone walls and then seals the entrance with more stone. All the party wealth is housed within. While the elves hang out with Belushi, the rest of the group returns to the capital city to obtain the services of an architect to draw up plans for a permanent church complex devoted to Torm. There are many details to consider, work crews to be hired, food obtained and raw materials to be collected.
While much of the initial construction was magically enhanced, it is decided that the way of manual labor will account for much of the building of the permanent phase of the project. With construction slated to take the better part of a year, the group sets its sights on a return to the lair of the bibliophile, to see if any clues regarding the whereabouts of the missing dagger may be gleaned…
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