BRIGHTLAMP AT THE OUTSKIRTS OF WATERDEEP:
Zarek Brightlamp, as he did on many occasions, stayed at the last inn before Waterdeep having finished their sale of books while Alexander Brightlamp continued on to find a place camp before nightfall. It will be Zarek Brightlamp’s 18th birthday soon and Alexander Brightlamp has chosen to allow Zarek Brightlamp to explore and enjoy the city.
Zarek Brightlamp cast the spell ‘Disguise Self’ on him, to change his form to that of a dwarf, so he can infiltrate the inn and practice his skills of deception and languages.
After chatting to some dwarf miners, Zarek Brightlamp left before his spell ran out and made his way on to the camp and Alexander Brightlamp. Zarek Brightlamp sees Waterdeep at night from a distance and is in awe and can’t wait to enter.
Then a Zarek Brightlamp spot the smoke of the camp fire and as he gets closer realises it was a large fire and not a campfire. Zarek Brightlamp finds Alexander Brightlamp, apparently dead, by the burning covered wagon and tent and with Hero, their horse, missing.
Alexander is barely alive and insist Zarek retrieve his box from the blazing chart. Alexander then grabs Zarek says:
“I have always loved you like a son and have done the best I can for you….”
“I am sorry that I can’t continue the journey with you…”
“Cough, Cough, Cough.”
As he visibly slips away his last words to Zarek are:
“The Actor…cough. Roach.”
It is Uktar, the month of the rotting close to the feast of the Moon, and the weather turns, rain and then sleet being to fall.
Zarek buries Alexander on the bluff overlooking Waterdeep, searches the wagon and retrieves some food from the half-burnt tent. Zarek elects to travel onto Waterdeep and seek entrance to the city.
Zarek looks through the items in Alexander’s box and they turn out to be keepsakes, the deeds to his shop in Baldur’s Gate and his journal. Zarek reads from the latest entry back to the beginning and can see how Alexander had been unsure at first of keeping Zarek and spent a long time trying to find his mother Merieland father but found no name for him. The name Meloon Wardragon was written several times in the margins and is a lead to the father.
With the few positions he had on him, 10 Gold pieces and an uncertain future Zarek heads to Waterdeep the City of Splendors. Zarek decides to have an uncomfortable night under a tree by Waterdeep and enter the next morning.
Zarek decides to change his appearance again with his ‘Disguise Self’ spell and once more becomes the dwarf named Hel Hammerhand from Baldur’s Gate. The guards do not allow access to Waterdeep, undenounced to Zarek because of the quarantine placed on the Field Ward. The guards of the Waterdeep City Watch send Zarek away onto the next gate.
It starts to sleet again making the walk even more miserable than Zarek would have wanted.
City Watch: “Bastard hornheads aren’t allowed in.”
Here again the guard denies Zarek access and all look suspiciously towards the lone Dwarf seeking access. Eventually, a Watch Civilar appears on the walls of the Field Ward and orders for the gates to be opened and the dwarf allowed access.
The Watch Civilar, being annoyed and suspicious of the lone dwarf was allowed access solely to inconvenience the insistent and tiresome dwarf.
Zarek then slowly began to realise what he had been allowed to enter. There were no other travellers entering or leaving and all he can see now was hovels, the odd stone building and lots and lots of people.
Once inside, Zarek makes his way south to the next gate in the guise of the dwarf Helm the Hammerhand, and there he makes his plea to be allowed out of the Field Ward. Many locals and other civilians laugh at the Dwarf and he make the situation worse by offering a bribe to the guard to gain access Waterdeep and escape the quarantine, this was a very bad idea and causes the City Watch to be ordered out to apprehend the Dwarf.
Zarek dashes away and is can slip the 2 City Watch chasing him by changing back into his Tiefling form. Several locals and other civilians watch the chase and Zarek.
Zarek spends the next few hours wandering the Field Ward to accustom himself with his new surroundings. Starting from the Upper Towers and walking East Zarek explorers the Field Ward and he realises that this ward of Waterdeep is the poorest and not controled by the laws and protect of the city. There are also too many people for it to be the normal amount of traffic, also why was he not allowed out of the Field Ward?
Reaching Endshift Street, Zarek turns around and heads back West passing an old bordered up theatre which reminds him of the last words of Alexander Brightlamp.
“The Actor…Roach.”
Zarek passes the North Gate and reaches a street called Nanze Street which is full of undesirable folks and Zarek moves South and Westwards. Here in Trollyard, by Troll gate, Zarek finds more people, who he now thinks to be refugees, some keeping out of the sleet and others attempting to gain information.
Zarek, on his walk around the Field Ward only spotted the one possible location where they were offering accommodation, but there were several places that were offering food and drink. The accommodation was in Twelvedog Court and a Tavern in Burnt Inn Street.
At the Tavern, called the Sun in Splendour, Zarek ordered some food and drink and the waitress, Lei, told him he had best change his coin for Waterdhavian coins as most businesses would not accept or charge more. She kindly offered to introduce someone who would assit and there was a small 5% commission.
Lei brought him some hard cheese, dark bread, fish head soup and Ale. The hour he was told it would take became 3, then 3 and then 4. Finally, Lei took Zarek outside and that’s when Zarek became woozy and eventually unconscious.
It sleets throughout the night.
The next thing, Zarek wakes up by a hut and freezing cold. A woman then approaches Zarek with a warm beverage and some kind words but the Tiefling believes it to be another try to rob him and has only harsh words for her.
Kind Woman: “I guess it true what they say about your kind, devils all of you.”
Zarek moves off and tries to find out what is going on in the Field Ward. Standing around the Northyard for several hours he notices that bodies are being moved around the Field Ward and taken to building by the North Gate. The high number of the bodies was coming from the West of the Field Ward.
As it was getting late, and not wanting to spend another night under the stars, Zarek walks back to Twelvedog Court and the boarding house there. The lady owner of the establishment, a Mrs Roper, was reluctant to allow Zarek to stay as it can scare off the other residents. Nonetheless, Zarek managed to persuade Mrs Roper to agree for him to pay 4 Nibs a day, 4 Copper, to stay in the basement and also help out with any tasks and protection too as he also persuaded the landlady that he was handy with his Dagger. Zarek has a job, though he needs to pay for the privilege, which provides a roof over his head and one hot meal a day. His money situation is a lot worse as he only has the change from a gold coin that was not in his stashed pouch and that leaves him with only 9 Silver pieces to his name.