Lady Yalah Gralhund:
CHES 27th (The Claw of Sunsets – 1492 DR)
00:20 am
Believing that the Drow, led by the Bregan D’Aerthe, had begun their own assault on Gralhund Villa, the Rogue know they needed to find Lord Orond and Lady Yalah Gralhund and restive the Stone of Golorr from then so soon as possible.
Zarek: “Being ‘Invisible’ will only aid you so far, then your life in in the lap of the Gods.” The Rogue considers as he begins to waves his arms around so as to alert Alley to his next move.
The Rogue and Bard found nothing of importance in the Head Butlers room, but did discover that there was access to the living quarters of Lord Orond and Lady Yalah Gralhund.
Zarek: “Wait here, I am going to retrieve the keys I believe that the Head Butler would carry from his body in the Laundry Room.”
Alley: “Fine, but be quick and as silent as you can.”
The Rogue makes his way back down to the Laundry Room and searches the dead body of the Head Butler. The Rogue only finds a small set of keys, which could be for his bedroom door and the chest in his room and so not wanting to linger too much the Rogue returns to the first floor of the hoe of Lord Orond and Lady Yalah Gralhund.
Several things happen at once, first of all the Rogue can still hear the noise of fighting on the first floor, accompanied by the background sound of pounding, as they seem to be attempting to bash down a door. Then, whilst on the stairs and standing next to the body of the Head Maid or Housekeeper, the Rogue sees 2 more Gralhund Guards rushing from their Barracks into the Great Hall, as they went to defend Lord Orond and Lady Yalah Gralhund.
The Rogue gratefully let them both pass hoping that they made the resistance on the first floor that little bit less formidable.
Zarek: “Poor innocent woman, she did nothing to deserve this.”
Then the Rouge gets an inspiration and searches the body of the dead Head Maid or Housekeeper and finds what he was looking for. A set of keys that would unlock most items in Gralhund Villa, excluding any personal items that may be in the Master Bedroom of Lord Orond and Lady Yalah Gralhund.
Zarek: “Who knows what they may have hidden, both wealth and information that could be invaluable. Not to mention anything that would incriminate them, that is the kind of evidence that the City Watch, or Laeral Silverhand, would demand before arresting a member of a Noble Family like the Gralhunds. Politics, always politics.” Zarek realises.
The Rogue heads but upstairs to the servants’ quarters and re-joins the Bard. Whilst inside the Head Butlers Room. They discuss their options.
- Go back to the Great Hall and access the first floor that way.
- They need to avoid the Zhentarim Thugs and Gralhund Guards blocking the stairs.
- Go back to the Garden, access the first floor via a window or the Balcony on the northside of the Villa.
- There may be Guards and the climb may be difficult.
- Go out of the window in the Head Butlers Room and onto the Balcony.
- There is no way of knowing where the Balcony leads to and if there are any enemies there.
Zarek: “We had too many options and we failed to heed Jarlaxle’s Report on The Cultists of Asmodeus, a visit to the Surveyors’, Map, and Chart-makers’ Guild would have provided us with the plans needed to plan our assault. Or maybe the other Guilds also had their own Maps.” Next time Zarek thinks to himself.
The Rogue, knowing that every second counts and that the Stone of Golorr may have already been taken while Alley stand in this room. Zarek rushes to turn out the lamp, gently pulls the curtain open, so as not to give away his position, and looks out through the window.
00:25 am
Then Garden appears quiet and the surrounding houses show no sign of being alerted of the chaos erupting within Gralhund Villa. From the window of the Butler’s Room, the Rogue can see the Guards Barracks roof directly below him to the east, some 20’ feet or more, and the end of the balcony to the north. Just a simple climb across the wall and then over the ornate wrought iron railing, or so the Rogue thought.
Just as Zarek was about to turn back and inform Alley of his finds and plan, he catches the sight of what at first, he believed to be the shadow of a tall humanoid accompanied by 2 canine like creatures. The Rouge recalls having head Hounds in the Garden when he was previously reconnoitring Gralhund Villa, disguised as a member of the Dungsweepers Guild.
Then he spots 2 Gralhund Guards, not wearing any armour but carrying a Longsword and Shortsword, running from the Guards Barracks and making their way to the front of the house.
Zarek: “Very good, the more confusion there is, the better our chance of not being discovered.” The Rogue believes.
The Rogue explains to the Bard his plan, he will climb first across to the Balcony and see if there is another way into the main house that way.
Zarek: “The rooms of Lord Orond and Lady Yalah Gralhund must have access to the Balcony, follow up after me and keep as silent as you can.”
Alley doesn’t not respond and Zarek smirks as he realises that she is being Alley.
The Rogue full of confidence and seeing that the climb was fairly simple, hurled himself at the railings, which turned out to be wet with evening dew and he began to fall. The Rogue makes a frantic grab at the wall as he fell and was able to, acrobatically, soften his fall and grab onto the window ledge below. The Bard leaned out concerned and saw how the Rogue then effortlessly scaled back onto, and over, the railing soundlessly, and red of face.
The Bard followed the Rogue and was able to climb across without incident.
Balcony:
This large balcony is enclosed by an ornate wrought iron railing and has tables and lounge chairs neatly arranged on it. The ground is 20’ feet below, and open glass doors lead to the Master Bedroom.
The Rogue gestures to the Bard to stay where she was on the Balcony, at its north-east corner, while he then softly made his way to the source of light coming from the glass door and as the Rogue moved slightly, he was happy to see that they were open.
The Rogue crouched down, behind one of the tables on the Balcony, concentrating on the noise coming from inside the house and whatever he was able to see inside the Gralhund Villa from where he was. The first thing he noticed was that the room he was looking into appeared to be the Gralhund Master Bedroom and Hrabbaz, the Half-Orc Butler that accompanied Lady Yalah Gralhund seen through the Nimblewright Crystal Ball, and he was holding a Morningstar.
The Rogue was also able to clearly hear the noise from where he was an it was the sounds of the Gralhund Guard’s fighting with Zhentarim Thugs. Then there was another group trying to kick-in a door and the sound of Urstul Floxin could easily be distinguished for the other cries.
Zarek: “Excellent, I just need to wait for one of the Factions to deal with the other and I will act then.”
The Rouge turns and realises that he is out of the range of the Bard and she had not responded when he made his intensions clear to her.
Zarek: “Strange, maybe she just does not want to give our advantage away.”
Alley: “We are in the line of sight of the Drow and they have already expelled a projectile using their Smoke Powder, we need to be alert.” The Bard thinks to herself as she looks about the scene only to spot movement on the roof above as something briefly blocks the moon, twice.
Alley: “They look like the Drow from the Sea Maidens Faire and there are no good ways for me to alert Zarek, a Spell or sound give me away, I will hide here in the corner and stay alert.”
The Rogue waits to see how the cards are played.
The fight beyond the Master Bedroom continues and the Rogue also hears the voice of Urstul Floxin demanding that Lord Orond Gralhund
Urstul Floxin: “Open the door my Lord, cause if you make us wate our time kicking it down you will pay a severe price.”
The Rogue moves closer to the glass door so he can view the Master Bedroom in its entirety and see who else was in the room. Next to the glass doors, the Rogue can now clearly see the whole room:
Master Bedroom:
The doors to this room have been thrown open and the room contains the following occupants and features that the Rogue can see:
- Lady Yalah Gralhund, wearing a Breastplate and armed with a Rapier.
- Standing in front of her is a well-dressed Half-Orc bodyguard, Hrabbaz, who is wielding a Morningstar.
- Standing next to Hrabbaz is the Gralhund Nimblewright with a Rapier in one hand and a Dagger in the other.
- A Wooden Trunk rests at the foot of a large, canopied bed in the southwest corner.
- A claw-footed bath tub sits in the northwest alcove near a free standing mirror and a privacy screen.
- Hanging above a fireplace in the southeast corner is a Shield that bears the Gralhund Coat of Arms. Logs are stacked neatly next to the hearth.
- A tall mahogany wardrobe stuffed with expensive gowns and dress clothes stands next to a pair of open glass doors leading out to a balcony.
The Rogue can see that the double doors to this room, on the western side, were open and he could clearly hear the sound of fighting beyond.
Zarek retreats back and decides to wait once more, not wishing to expose himself unnecessarily.
00:30 am
Zarek: “Still no sign of Alley, I fear the worse.”
As the Rogue looks about the Balcony for his partner in crime, he spots the Silent decent of two lone figures from the roof, down onto the Balcony. He does however spot 2 Gralhund Guard banging on the front door below him.
Zarek: “Drow, where did they come from?”
The Rogue attempts to make himself as small as possible as he watches then closely. One of them moves over to the glass doors and peers inside the Master Bedroom, the other hugs the wall and looks about the Balcony using his superior Drow Darkvision.
Alley: “I know that Zarek will take this opportunity to slip-in and take the Stone of Golorr from its owner, Lady Yalah Gralhund. The Rouge with his exceptionally Dextrous hands will not cancel the Invisibility, perfect.”
Other loud crack rings out though the night, as it also breaks the glass of the window somewhere in the Villa and the Rogue guesses that they were using the Lantanese Firearms from the roof to the west. That is where the Zhentarim were keep watch on Gralhund Villa, which must mean they had gone already or have been made to disappear by the Drow Gunslinger and friends.
The Drow pulls back to join his friend hugging the wall, right next to the glass doors.
Zarek finds himself placing his hand into his ‘Bag of Holding’, looking for an item of importance.
Then the Rogue’s heart sinks as he sees that the southern door in the Master Bedroom was opened and out stepped a young teenaged boy, in fine cloths, calling out for his mother. Behind him Zarek sees that there is an even young girl in the room peering out.
Lady Yalah Gralhund: “Zartan, I told you not to leave your room and to protect your sister, now do as you were told. Now!”
The teenaged boy quickly does a s he was ordered to.
Zarek: “sometimes there are civilian casualties in war, it can’t be helped.”
Alley: “Was that the sound of a child, no one said that there would be innocent children here. Do not worry, Zarek will take this into account, he will draw the fight out onto the Balcony.”
Zarek: “Where was I, oh yes I can hear Urstul Floxin and Lady Yalah Gralhund, both deserve whatever befalls them this night and I fear that will be my wrath.”
Zarek continues to wait as he hears the labours of the door kicking paying off and finally the door is breached. There is a cheer and a whimpering as Urstul Floxin calls out to Lady Yalah Gralhund.
Urstul Floxin: “Lady Gralhund, we have your husband and if you do not want us to kill him and then your children, I suggest you hand over the Stone.”
Lady Yalah Gralhund: “The City Watch will be here soon and I will defend the life of my children to the death Floxin, come and try if you dare.”
Hrabbaz: “Over your dead body fool.”
Lady Yalah Gralhund appears to have sensed that her options had diminished and she rushes off to the room at the south end of the, Master Bedroom. This is when Lady Yalah Gralhund first hands the Stone of Golorr to the Nimblewright and then dashes into the children’s room and locks the door behind herself.
The Nimblewright dashes out of the Master Bedroom and heads for the Balcony making it halfway along it.
The Rogue can then see that Lord Orond Gralhund is marched into the Master Bedroom in front of 3 Zhentarim Thugs and following them, is Urstul Floxin himself. There is still the sound of fighting coming from the room beyond the Master Bedroom, leading to Zarek knowing that there were more enemies within the Villa.
One of the Zhentarim moves to cover the open glass door leading to the Balcony and the other 2 Zhentarim stand in front of Hrabbaz.
The Rogue can hear the main door below being opened as the banging on it stops. The 2 Gralhund Guards must have been let in by their comrades from the barracks.
The Drow on the Balcony begin to move about so as to obtain a better line of sight into the Master Bedroom. The Rogue then looks down to see that he had taken out the ‘Necklace of Fireballs’. There are only 2 Drow that he can see on the Balcony, one in the corner directly behind him and the other looking out about the Garden, halfway along the Balcony.
Zarek: “My chance to avenge Iomhar is right there in front of me. Lady Yalah Gralhund will need to wait or hopefully burn down with her Villa. I will first kill her husband, maybe let her live and suffer as I have. The others are nothing to me and it would be such sweet poetic justice.”
Alley: “Wait I forgot that he had the ‘Necklace of Fireballs’. Surely, he wouldn’t, no, the whole Villa would probably burn down. Imagine the carnage and destruction, the children, way to keep a low profile. No, softly, softly, catchee monkey is what he will do.”
Zarek: “For Iomhar.” The Rogue whispers to himself.
The Rogue plucks 1 of the 2 beads left on the ‘Necklace of Fireballs’ and it falls from his fingers and there is nothing he can do, but watch it hit the floor and explode into a 20’ foot radius ball of scorching fire.
Boooooommmm.
Zarek: “Crumbs, luckily I have resistance to Fire; I hope Alley is in a safe place.”
All the Devils from The Nine Hells break loose.
00:35 am
Currently the Rogue can see the following players in the Grand Game before him:
- 1 Drow behind him, damaged by the ‘Fireball’.
- 1 Drow halfway down the Balcony, damaged by the ‘Fireball’.
- 3 Zhentarim in the Master Bedroom, the one by the glass doors damaged by the ‘Fireball’.
- Urstul Floxin holding Lord Orond Gralhund in front of him.
- Hrabbaz.
- Lady Yalah Gralhund and 2 Children locked in the south room.
- Nimblewright running away, damaged by the ‘Fireball’.
- Alley, unknown.
Zarek is now ‘Visible’ and is seen by everyone. The Rogue looks about for a way to target the Nimblewright which is trying to flee with the Stone of Golorr, that is when the Rogue spots the unwelcome guests that are perched on the edge of the roof like Evil Crows, several Drow and one of the Bregan D’Aerthe that he followed and spoke to Laeral Silverhand.
Zarek: “Fel’rekt Lafeen is the name he gave if my memory serves me right. He spoke and I fear he may be the leader of Bregan D’Aerthe, dangerous indeed.”
The Drow and Fel’rekt Lafeen silently lower themselves onto the Balcony, with half concentrating on the Nimblewright and half concentrating on, the now visible, Zarek.
One of the Drow, originally on the Balcony, moves towards the Nimblewright in an attempt to stop it and recover the Stone of Golorr.
Alley has no choice but to endeavour to stop the Nimblewright or recover the Stone of Golorr, which means that she needs to also become visible.
Alley: “I better make sure that I make as much noise and confusion as possible. Here goes, Tymora guide my hand.”
The Bard casts her Spell, ‘Chromatic Orb’, and directed it at the fleeing Nimblewright. Alley was also hoping that the properties of the Spell would activate and also effect the Drow closet to it too. The Bard was successful and managed to bring the Nimblewright down and make it release the Stone of Golorr, which skidded along the Balcony.
Alley immediately made a dash for the Stone of Golorr, just as the Drow on the Balcony attempted the same thing. The Bard however, was more agile and tucked and rolled coming up with the Stone of Golorr in her hand.
Alley: “Got it.”
Zarek: “Now what do I do?” The Rogue ponders as he can clearly see that his options are fewer than he had hoped.
Fel’rekt Lafeen and his Drow friends drop down from the rooftop and the Bregan D’Aerthe leader jumps down directly and appears to float a few inches off the ground, before finally dropping down onto it.
Meanwhile, a fight has broken out between Hrabbaz and the 2 Zhentarim Thugs accompanying Urstul Floxin, who along with Lord Orond Gralhund in front of him, are out of the line of the Rogue’s sight.
The Drow move about the Balcony assessing the situation as Alley attempts to Aid Zarek in the fight that is sure to erupt. The Bard casts her Spell ‘Faerie Fire’ at the Drow on the Balcony. Unfortunately, Tymora was also absent for Alley this night as her Spell was only able to affect one Drow, but she did also illuminate Fel’rekt Lafeen.
Everyone’s next actions would be critical and currently Alley and Zarek are two of the slowest combatants. Let’s all hope that the City Watch will come to help, Tymora knows they need it.
Zarek goes through his memory place and lists out every useable Magic Item, Potion and Spell that he has to hand.
Zarek: “Tymora guide my next move.”