Session 23, The Kids Aren't Alright

The evening at the Durinbold residence wound down pleasantly enough, with the Cassalanters making polite small talk and asking the party about their lives back in Baldur's Gate. Victoro, ever the wine snob, had gifted Velessa an entire bottle of special fortified vintage during dinner, leaving the small drow wizard noticeably unsteady on her feet by the time the party said their farewells around nine in the evening. Shane, ever the professional, had spent the dinner asking Victoro a careful list of questions about his vineyard and his best-selling wines — all so he could better impersonate the man should the need arise. With the evening still young enough to catch a late showing, the group made their way to the theater.

The play they attended, a spicy burlesque performance called "The Lusty Kobold," turned out to be a touch more provocative than some of the party had anticipated, though not entirely unwelcome. Drinks were served throughout, and by the time the curtain fell just after midnight, Talya had joined Velessa in a state of cheerful intoxication. The group made the twenty-minute walk back to the Blushing Mermaid, arriving to find the inn still lively despite the late hour, and quickly turned their attention to the secret passages Shane and Séantal had previously discovered hidden behind the guest room walls.

They piled into Shane's room and slipped into the narrow stone corridor concealed behind a hinged panel. The passage was a tight squeeze for Vagnfríður, who nearly had to turn sideways to move through it, while the others found it just barely wider than their shoulders. The corridor ran the length of the guest rooms, with hidden panels allowing access to each one, before a set of narrow stairs descended into darkness — and then abruptly ended at a flooded lower level. Velessa quickly worked a ritual to allow the entire party to breathe underwater, just in case, before Shane and Talya spotted a hinged candlestick mounted to the wall. When Shane pulled it, the water drained away entirely, revealing a long, smooth-stoned underground corridor stretching some sixty feet into the dark.

Séantal took point, carefully scanning the flagstone floor and marking loose stones every fifth or sixth step — potential traps — by circling them with the tip of his blade so the others could step around them. The corridor was a straight shot, the walls carved from rectangular blocks that had clearly been submerged for a very long time. At the far end, another staircase climbed upward, and the party ascended to find a cozy, graffiti-covered room stuffed with maps of Waterdeep, stacks of scrolls, and a handful of magical lamps burning with a steady, undying flame. Velessa pocketed two of the lamps for future use, and the group began to examine what they had found.

The scrolls turned out to be orders — casually worded directives for petty crimes and acts of sabotage, each one aimed at a noble family or business with ties to Waterdeep's aristocracy. A list of eighty-five noble houses lay spread across a table, thirty of them marked with an "X" to indicate verified involvement in some unnamed conspiracy, while the Durinbolds notably lacked any such mark. Each scroll was signed at the bottom with one of two sets of initials: "EC" or "TC." The Cassalanter twins. Shane found a brass seal tucked in a drawer — the very stamp being used to authenticate the group's writs — and quietly pocketed it, already planning to make it useless. Velessa warded the underground corridor with a magical alarm before the party settled in to decide their next move.

They did not have long to deliberate. The magical lamps flickered and died all at once, plunging the room into darkness, and Velessa's alarm triggered — a single mental chime warning her that someone was approaching from below. The party scrambled to hide, with Talya throwing up a hasty invisibility over herself and Vagnfríður while Velessa vanished on her own and Séantal melted into the shadows. Then the glow appeared: a pale, unearthly purple light rising from the staircase, emanating from the body of Lady Alathene Moonstar herself. She did not look as she had the last time they had seen her. Her flesh was ethereal, translucent, revealing the skeletal structure beneath, and her dead purple eyes swept the room with cold, methodical precision. Velessa and Talya, their hearts hammering, recognized immediately what they were looking at — a lich, one of the most terrifyingly powerful undead creatures in existence.

The lich's gaze paused and lingered on the corner where Vagnfríður stood invisible, and a slow smirk drew across her lips. She reached into Vagnfríður's mind with the casual ease of someone rifling through a drawer, reading the surface of her thoughts — and the deeper ones beneath. The room was utterly silent. Then, without raising her voice, Lady Alathene spoke aloud: "If you took anything, put it back." She turned and descended the stairs at a leisurely pace, her purple glow fading down the corridor until it vanished entirely, and the lamps flickered back to life. Vagnfríður immediately pointed out that Velessa had taken the candles. Velessa put the candles back. Shane, meanwhile, made a careful wax imprint of the brass seal before defacing the original and returning it to the drawer, ensuring it could no longer be used while preserving a copy for later.

Velessa's imp familiar, Quillbit — a small mischievous imp who had been scouting the room — flatly refused to remain behind after that encounter, citing the lich's ability to see through invisibility as a perfectly reasonable excuse to leave immediately. The party agreed it was time to go. Velessa sent an invisible magical eye drifting through the tunnels to keep watch on the room in their absence, having extended its duration to nine hours through a collaborative ritual with Talya, Séantal, and a barely-coherent Russora — one of her apprentices, who had been found at the bar downstairs along with her sister Nysene and Kaela, all three of them drunk and disguised as adults. The party retreated to their rooms to rest and wait.

They did not wait long. Quillbit sent word that the water in the corridor was draining again, and through her magical eye, Velessa watched two young, blonde, expensively dressed siblings climb the stairs into the secret room. The woman erupted immediately upon seeing the state of the place, throwing furniture and ranting about the intrusion, while the man stood at a calm parade rest and urged her to think rationally, noting that the attack on the Chionthar Princess had been sloppy and that they should expect increased scrutiny. Velessa, watching from over a hundred feet away, used a message spell to reach out to the woman directly — opening with the question of whether she knew her brother was dead. The woman's response was immediate and furious: he was not dead, she insisted, though it would be better if he were. He was in Minauros. In Hell.

The party negotiated a meeting, and the twins — Elzerina and Terenzio Cassalanter — agreed to meet them at a small outdoor cafe near the docks. Over breakfast, with approximately twenty of their red-sashed supporters quietly circling the area, the twins laid out the truth behind the 99. Their parents, Victoro and Ammalia Cassalanter, had made a pact with Asmodeus decades ago, trading their children's souls for a million gold dragons and the restoration of their family's name and power. The twins had been spared only because their parents managed to pay back the gold — stolen from the city's own coffers in a brazen heist — and fulfill the second clause of the contract: the sacrifice of ninety-nine souls. Ammalia had hosted a dinner party for the city's poorest citizens, fed them a poisoned meal timed to activate at the exact moment Victoro was below the estate shoveling coins into a flame for Asmodeus, and watched ninety-nine of her neighbors die gasping on the floor. The other noble families who had helped serve the food were then silenced with the reminder that they were equally complicit.

Their older brother Osvaldo had fared worst of all, transformed into a chain devil as a down payment on the deal the very night it was struck. Elzerina, bound in a warlock's pact to Glasya — Asmodeus's own daughter, who had her eyes set on her father's throne — wanted nothing less than to see every person involved burn, up to and including Asmodeus himself. Terenzio, the calmer of the two, sought accountability through exposure. The party recounted their own exploits in the Hells, including the resurrection of the smut author Cicerox, which had apparently infuriated Glasya greatly — a detail that seemed to earn them a measure of grudging respect from the twins. Séantal dispatched their quadrone assistant, 7-42B, to research Waterdeep's legal system, and the little mechanical creature appeared instantly, shivering under its own weight, and asked with complete sincerity whether murder was on the day's agenda.

The party struck an informal alliance with the Cassalanter twins: no more bombings, and in exchange, the group would work to gather the evidence needed to bring their parents and the complicit noble houses to justice through legitimate means. Velessa repaired the twins' damaged brass seal with a quick working of magic, and the twins' supporters handed out folded red sashes to the party as a mark of alliance before Elzerina and Terenzio departed. Elzerina promised to reach out to her contacts in the Hells to see if a copy of the original infernal contract could be located. As the twins walked away, Velessa kept her invisible magical eye drifting quietly behind them through the streets of Waterdeep — and the GM let slip, almost as an afterthought, that Velessa's sisters back at the Blushing Mermaid had been receiving mysterious visitors of their own. Visitors who were not wearing their own faces.

Last we left off, our party found themselves guests of the Durinbold household, sharing a pleasant evening of wine, small talk, and careful observation — Shane cataloguing every detail of Victoro Cassalanter's mannerisms for future use, while Velessa found herself considerably more acquainted with a bottle of fortified vintage than she had perhaps intended. The night carried them onward to a rather spirited burlesque performance, and then back to the Blushing Mermaid, where curiosity and opportunity led them into the secret stone passages hidden behind the inn's guest room walls. What began as exploration led them deeper — through a flooded corridor drained by a hidden mechanism, past flagstones marked as potential traps by Séantal's careful blade, and into a cozy underground room stuffed with maps, scrolls, and the unmistakable evidence of a conspiracy reaching across eighty-five of Waterdeep's noble houses. The brass seal of the Cassalanter twins was pocketed, copied, and defaced before the room's magical lamps died all at once — and Lady Alathene Moonstar descended the stairs in a pale purple glow, her flesh translucent over bone, her dead eyes sweeping the room with the patience of something that has had centuries to learn how to wait. A lich. She read Vagnfríður's thoughts as casually as one reads a broadsheet, told the party to put back what they had taken, and left. They put it back.

The night's revelations, however, were only beginning. Through Velessa's drifting magical eye, the party watched the Cassalanter twins — Elzerina and Terenzio — arrive in the secret room, and made contact. What followed was a breakfast meeting near the docks, ringed by red-sashed supporters, where the twins laid bare the full horror of their family's history: a pact with Asmodeus, a million gold dragons, ninety-nine souls poisoned at a dinner party hosted by their own mother, and an older brother named Osvaldo transformed into a chain devil as a down payment the very night the deal was struck. Elzerina, bound to Glasya in her own warlock's pact, wanted to see everyone involved reduced to ash. Terenzio wanted a trial. The party, having already managed to irritate Glasya personally during their own adventures in the Hells, found themselves in the curious position of earning the twins' grudging respect.

Now, with an uneasy alliance struck, red sashes folded into their pockets, and a promise of no more bombings hanging in the morning air, the group turns their attention to the long and dangerous work of building a case against some of Waterdeep's most powerful and most damned citizens. But the city does not stand still while they plan — and back at the Blushing Mermaid, Velessa's sisters have been receiving visitors. Visitors who are not wearing their own faces.

A wine snob gave Velessa a pour, And Shane memorized Victoro's lore. They watched kobolds dance, Then took their last chance To sneak through a wall to explore!

Past flagstones that Séantal had ringed, They found scrolls and a seal that was hinged. The lamps all went dark, A lich left her mark — "Put it back." And they did, fully cringed.

Shane copied the seal with some wax, While Velessa set magical traps. Then two blondes appeared, And the party, though feared, Sent a message: "Your brother? He's lapsed!"

At breakfast the twins told their tale: Their parents had struck up a sale — Ninety-nine souls were fed, Osvaldo's a chain devil dead, And Glasya's on Asmodeus's trail!

Red sashes were handed around, An alliance on shaky ground. But back at the inn, Something wicked crept in — Strange faces, without any sound.

Hearke well, ye souls of curious bent, Who suppe with lords of dark intent; The party dined, and wine did flow, While Shane did mark each word and show Of Victoro's face, for future ment.

Then to the theatre, bold and bright, A lusty kobold graced the night; With drink in hand and curtain fell, The merry band, as tales do tell, Returned to inn past midnight's light.

Behind the wall, a passage thin, They crept through stone and dark within; Past flooded halls and flagstones laid, Past traps that Séantal's blade had stayed, To scrolls and seals of wicked kin.

Then rose a glow of purple dread, A lich ascended from the dead; She read their thoughts with hollow eyes, Spoke soft, "Return what you did prize," And turned, and left, and nothing said.

At breakfast near the harbour's shore, The twins confessed their parents' war: Ninety-nine souls in poison fed, A brother chained among the dead — Now red sashes the party wore.

So the party spent a lovely evening getting wine-poisoned by a man they're planning to destroy, watched a kobold burlesque show, and then immediately broke into a secret underground conspiracy room like normal people do after a night out. They found maps, scrolls, a brass seal, and overwhelming evidence that Waterdeep's nobility is rotten to its very expensive core — which, honestly, tracks. Then a lich showed up, read Vagnfríður's mind like a grocery list, told them to put the candles back, and left. They put the candles back. Shane did, however, manage to copy the seal before defacing it, because Shane is the only one in this group operating at anything resembling a professional level.

The real kicker came at breakfast — a perfectly normal meal that somehow involved learning that Victoro and Ammalia Cassalanter poisoned ninety-nine of their neighbors at a dinner party to pay off a deal with Asmodeus, turned their eldest son into a chain devil as a down payment, and then blackmailed half the city's nobility into silence. Their surviving kids, Elzerina and Terenzio, are furious about it in slightly different ways, and have now agreed to stop blowing things up in exchange for the party's help bringing their parents to justice through "legitimate means" — a phrase that clearly caused everyone at the table some discomfort. The party left with red sashes, an infernal mystery to unravel, and the small but deeply alarming detail that someone wearing a stranger's face has been visiting Velessa's sisters at the inn. Great! Everything is fine!

Dramatic

Lady Alathene Moonstar reveals herself as a lich, her ethereal flesh exposing skeletal structure beneath, and stares directly at the invisible Vagnfríður while telepathically probing her mind.

Context: The party was hiding in the secret chamber when the lich entered, her unearthly purple glow filling the room. She saw through all their invisibility.

Funny — Quillbit

If that thing was what I think it is, it can see anyway. I don't — it doesn't matter if I'm invisible. Ever heard of true sight?

Context: Quillbit, visibly terrified after the lich's visit, refusing to stay in the secret room any longer and making her case to Velessa.

Funny — Quillbit

So I can piss on their pillows?

Context: Quillbit negotiating the terms of her scouting assignment, delighted to find a loophole in Velessa's instructions not to cause overwhelming destruction.

Dramatic — Lady Alathene Moonstar

If you took anything, put it back.

Context: The lich calmly addressed the hidden, invisible party after scanning the room, then turned and walked away without further confrontation.

Intriguing — Terenzio Cassalanter

On the very night that they passed the coins to Asmodeus, my mother hosted a dinner party. One where she so graciously decided to feed the poor of Waterdeep.

Context: Terenzio calmly recounting the horrific truth behind the '99' — a poisoned dinner party that sacrificed ninety-nine poor souls to fulfill an infernal contract.

Funny — 7-42B

Master, do we have murder on the agenda today?

Context: The quadrone modron appeared the instant Séantal said its name, shivering under its own weight, and immediately asked this question with complete sincerity.

Dramatic — Elzerina Cassalanter

I won't be happy until Asmodeus himself pays.

Context: Elzerina's blunt declaration of her ultimate goal when asked what she wanted from the end of the whole escapade, leaving the party momentarily speechless.

Intriguing

The GM reveals that Velessa's sisters have been hosting mysterious visitors at the Blushing Mermaid — visitors who are not wearing their own faces.

Context: Dropped as a cliffhanger detail near the end of the session, hinting at a new thread of intrigue involving Ilmryn and Talice.

1. Dinner with the Durinbolds

The party concludes a dinner meeting with the Durinbold family while investigating the mysterious '99' and the Cassalanters.

Key events

• The party finishes their dinner with the Durinbolds, having grilled them for information regarding the Cassalanters and the death of Osvaldo.
• Velessa consumes an entire bottle of special vintage fortified wine gifted by Victoro, leaving her noticeably intoxicated.
• Shane asks the Durinbolds a series of specific questions about their vineyard and vintages to better prepare for future disguises as Victoro.
• The group makes small talk about their lives in Baldur's Gate before parting ways around 9:00 PM.

2. A Spicy Performance

The party attends a burlesque-style play titled 'The Lusty Kobold' at a local theater.

Key events

• The party uses tickets obtained during their tour to attend a late-night showing of a spicy play.
• The performance is described as a burlesque show featuring scantily clad performers and suggestive innuendo.
• More drinks are served during the performance, further contributing to the intoxication of Talya and Velessa.
• The play concludes after midnight, and the group prepares to return to their inn.

3. The Secret Tunnels of the Blushing Mermaid

The party discovers and explores a network of hidden passages and flooded corridors beneath the Blushing Mermaid inn.

Key events

• The party gathers in Shane's room to prepare for an ambush and further exploration of the hidden passages behind the guest rooms.
• The party enters a secret corridor hidden behind the guest rooms, discovering narrow passages and hidden panels for spying on each room.
• Vagnfríður finds the passage a tight squeeze due to her size, nearly needing to turn sideways to move through it.
• Descending further, the group finds a flooded staircase leading to a lower level.
• Talya and Shane discover a hinged candlestick that acts as a mechanism to drain the water from the lower tunnels.
• Velessa performs a ritual to allow the party to breathe underwater as a precaution before they descend into the depths.
• The party traverses a sixty-foot underground corridor made of smooth stone, carefully avoiding loose flagstones that Séantal identifies as potential traps.
• Velessa wards the corridor with a magical alarm to alert her if anyone enters the passage.
• The group ascends a final staircase at the end of the tunnel, emerging into a hidden room filled with maps and scrolls.

4. The Secret Chamber of the 99

The party explores a hidden room at the end of a long, flooded corridor beneath the Blushing Mermaid, discovering evidence of a conspiracy involving Waterdeep's noble houses.

Key events

• The party enters a cozy but edgy hidden room filled with maps, scrolls, and graffiti.
• They discover a list of Waterdeep's noble houses, with the Cassalanters marked with an 'X' and the Durinbolds left unchecked.
• Shane finds a brass seal in a drawer used for passing official writs and decides to take it.
• Talya uses a magical wand to detect any arcane presence, finding only continual flames within the lamps.
• Velessa takes two of the magical lamps to use as light sources for future underwater excursions.
• The group examines various scrolls containing orders for petty crimes and sabotage directed at noble families, each signed with the initials 'EC' or 'TC'.
• Séantal identifies the initials 'EC' and 'TC' on the orders, deducing they belong to the Cassalanter twins.
• Velessa proposes using a powerful divination spell to create an invisible eye to monitor the room remotely.
• The party discusses leaving the room to avoid detection, noting that Velessa's alarm spell is still active in the tunnel.

5. A Chilling Encounter in the Secret Room

While hiding in the secret chamber, the party is confronted by the terrifying true form of Lady Alathene Moonstar.

Key events

• Velessa instructs her familiar, Quillbit, to remain in the secret room to scout while the party prepares to leave.
• A humorous argument ensues regarding Quillbit's behavior, specifically her threat to urinate on the party's pillows.
• Suddenly, the magical lights in the room flicker and go out, signaling the arrival of an unknown entity.
• The party scrambles to hide, with Talya and Velessa using magic to turn themselves and Vagnfríður invisible.
• Talya experiences a wild magic surge during her casting, though it results in a harmless recovery of her internal magical reserves.
• Velessa's magical alarm triggers, alerting her to a single individual approaching the room from the flooded corridor.
• An unearthly purple glow begins to emanate from the staircase as the party waits in silence.
• Lady Alathene Moonstar enters the room, appearing as a lich with ethereal flesh revealing a skeletal structure and pale purple eyes.
• The lich stares directly at the invisible Vagnfríður and telepathically probes her mind, sensing her fear.
• Velessa and Talya, rolling high on Arcana checks, identify the creature as a lich and feel a wave of panic.
• Lady Alathene warns the intruders out loud to return anything they took before calmly descending the stairs.
• Once the lich departs, the party discusses the extreme danger she poses, with Quillbit expressing genuine terror.
• Shane makes a wax imprint of the stolen seal and defaces the original before returning it to avoid detection.

6. The Drunken Apprentices and the Circle Ritual

Velessa searches for her apprentices to assist with a ritual, finds them drunk at the bar, and then performs a collaborative circle ritual to empower a long-duration scouting spell.

Key events

• Velessa attempts to locate her apprentices within the secret tunnels and her own room, but finds them missing.
• The party discovers Russora, Nysene, and Kaela at the bar, having used magic to disguise themselves as adults to buy drinks.
• The apprentices are heavily intoxicated, with Nysene slumped over and Kaela barely holding herself upright.
• Velessa brings all the apprentices back to her room to assist in a magical ritual.
• Velessa explains the mechanics of circle magic, requiring the others to contribute minor magical energy to sustain a spell.
• Talya, Séantal, and Russora join Velessa in the ritual, pooling their power into the weave.
• Velessa manifests an invisible, invulnerable magical eye that she sends through the tunnels to the secret meeting room.
• The ritual successfully extends the duration of the scouting spell to nine hours, providing a long-term surveillance window.

7. Arrival of the Cassalanter Siblings and Telepathic Interrogation

Through the magical eye and Quillbit's scouting, the party witnesses the arrival of the Cassalanter twins, and Velessa initiates a telepathic conversation with them.

Key events

• Quillbit alerts Velessa that the water in the secret corridor is draining, signaling someone's arrival.
• Velessa watches through her magical eye as two blonde siblings — a young man and a woman — enter the secret room.
• The siblings appear disheveled, with mud-scuffed boots and messy hair.
• The woman erupts in anger upon realizing someone has been in their hideout, throwing furniture in a fit of rage.
• The man stands calmly at a parade rest and urges his sister to think rationally, noting the location may no longer be safe.
• He mentions that the attack on the Chionthar Princess was 'sloppy' and that they should expect more scrutiny.
• Velessa uses a message spell to contact the woman, questioning her about the fate of their brother, Osvaldo.
• The woman reacts with shock and anger, claiming Osvaldo is not dead but likely trapped in Minauros in the Hells.
• The party identifies themselves as a 'concerned party' and negotiates a meeting with the siblings at a public cafe near the docks.
• The siblings are identified by name — the woman as Elzerina and the man as Terenzio — when they address each other.

8. Breakfast with the Cassalanter Twins

The party meets with Elzerina and Terenzio Cassalanter at an outdoor cafe near the Waterdeep docks to discuss the truth behind the 99 and their parents' infernal pact.

Key events

• Velessa uses her magical eye to scout the area, noticing approximately twenty individuals wearing red sashes monitoring the cafe.
• Elzerina and Terenzio reveal that their parents, Victoro and Ammalia Cassalanter, made a pact with Asmodeus for wealth and power.
• The twins explain the '99' refers to a horrific event where their parents poisoned ninety-nine poor citizens during a dinner party to fulfill a soul sacrifice requirement of their contract.
• The complicit noble families were implicated in the scheme and silenced by the threat of mutual exposure.
• Terenzio admits that the attack on the Chionthar Princess was a miscalculation intended to target the devil Mizora.
• The party learns that the twins' older brother, Osvaldo, was transformed into a chain devil as a 'down payment' on the deal, while they were spared only because of the sacrifice.
• Elzerina reveals she is a warlock pact-bound to Glasya, the daughter of Asmodeus, with the goal of eventually usurping the throne of Hell.
• Terenzio reveals he is a wizard who mastered the weave through study, while his sister 'took shortcuts' as a warlock.
• The party recounts their own exploits in the Hells, including the resurrection of the smut author Cicerox, which apparently greatly annoyed Glasya.
• Séantal summons 7-42B to research Waterdeep's legal system and determine how to bring the corrupt nobility to justice.
• 7-42B arrives and immediately asks if murder is on the day's agenda.
• The party debates whether to assist the twins through legal means or more direct action, ultimately leaning toward gathering evidence.
• Velessa uses magic to repair the twins' brass seal after it was previously damaged by Shane.
• Séantal secures a promise from the twins to cease attacks on the city in exchange for help bringing their parents to justice.
• The twins provide the party with red sashes, identifying them as allies of the 99 movement.
• The GM reveals that Velessa's sisters have been hosting mysterious, disguised visitors at the Blushing Mermaid.
• Elzerina agrees to try and contact someone in the Hells to locate the original infernal contract.
• The twins depart the cafe, unaware that Velessa is still tracking them with her invisible magical eye.

9. A Debate on Discipline, Penmanship, and Magic

The party engages in a spirited debate regarding the upbringing of Velessa's wards, the practical importance of literacy, and the eccentricities of magical practice.

Key events

• Séantal criticizes Velessa's hands-off parenting style after the Eomane children were found drinking at a bar.
• Velessa defends her methods, arguing that providing freedom and structure through lessons is better than the abuse the children suffered in their previous home.
• The conversation shifts to the importance of penmanship, with Séantal expressing horror at the idea of poor record-keeping.
• Vagnfríður dismisses the need for writing, claiming she simply looks into barrels to check stock or dips a claw in ink if absolutely necessary.
• Velessa explains that she learns magic by stealing and copying spells, which requires the ability to read even the most difficult wizardly handwriting.
• Velessa describes her ceremonial tools, including a peach wood sword used for banishing metaphorical demons and a sword made of coins that hangs above her door.
• Talya expresses newfound respect for Velessa's religious dedication, despite the perceived absurdity of the rituals.
• The party concludes the session by planning a future visit to the Durinbold residence to continue their investigation.

Victoro Cassalanter

A wine snob who gifted Velessa an entire bottle of special fortified vintage wine during dinner at the Durinbold residence.

Quillbit

Velessa's imp familiar who wears a dress and possesses a chaotic, mischievous personality. She agreed to stay behind and spy on the secret room in exchange for room service, threatened to urinate on the party's pillows, and was genuinely terrified by the presence of the lich Lady Alathene Moonstar.

Lady Alathene Moonstar

The proprietress of the Blushing Mermaid who reveals herself to be a powerful lich. She possesses an ethereal flesh that reveals skeletal structure beneath it, pale dead purple eyes, and an unearthly purple glow. She can see through invisibility, telepathically probe the minds of those nearby, and calmly warned the party to return anything they took before departing.

Russora Eomane

One of Velessa's wards, found drinking at the bar under a magical disguise. Despite being intoxicated, she was the only apprentice sober enough to assist Velessa with the circle magic ritual.

Nysene Eomane

One of Velessa's wards, found completely incapacitated by alcohol at the bar, slumped over on Kaela's shoulder.

Kaela

Seris's adopted daughter, found at the bar struggling to stay upright while supporting a drunken Nysene.

Elzerina Cassalanter

A young blonde woman and one of the leaders of the 99 movement. She is volatile and prone to outbursts of rage, erupting in anger upon discovering their hideout had been compromised. She is a warlock pact-bound to Glasya and harbors a deep, violent hatred for her parents and Asmodeus, wanting to see them all burn and ultimately steal the Hells from Asmodeus himself.

Terenzio Cassalanter

Elzerina's brother and co-leader of the 99 movement. He is calm and stoic, maintaining a 'parade rest' posture even in tense situations. He is a wizard who mastered the weave through study, using prestidigitation to clean himself and his sister before their public meeting. He seeks accountability and gathers proof to dismantle House Cassalanter.

Osvaldo Cassalanter

The eldest Cassalanter son, mentioned as having been transformed into a chain devil as a 'down payment' on his parents' deal with Asmodeus. Elzerina insists he is not dead, but is likely trapped in Minauros.

Ammalia Cassalanter

The matriarch of House Cassalanter, mentioned as having hosted a poisoned dinner party for ninety-nine poor citizens to fulfill the soul sacrifice clause of her infernal bargain with Asmodeus.

Glasya

The daughter of Asmodeus, mentioned as Elzerina's warlock patron. She is said to have her eyes set on the throne of Hell and was reportedly angered by the party's resurrection of Cicerox.

7-42B

A quadrone modron serving as Séantal's personal assistant. It is a mechanical cube with multiple limbs, prone to shivering under its own weight and stacking things on its head. It was dispatched to research Waterdeep's legal system and immediately asked if murder was on the day's agenda upon being summoned.

Durinbold Residence

The home of the Durinbold family where the party attended a dinner and gathered information on the Cassalanters.

The Blushing Mermaid

A luxurious inn in Waterdeep's Dock Ward where the party is staying. It features secret tunnels behind the guest rooms, a hidden underground complex accessible via a flooded corridor, and a lively bar that remains active even after midnight.

The Secret Tunnels

A network of narrow stone passages and staircases hidden within the walls and beneath the foundation of the Blushing Mermaid, including a sixty-foot flooded underground corridor with loose flagstone traps.

Secret Chamber of the 99

A cozy, plush hidden room at the top of a long underground corridor beneath the Blushing Mermaid, filled with maps of Waterdeep, scrolls detailing orders for petty crimes, and graffiti. It serves as the clandestine meeting place for the leaders of the 99 movement.

Outdoor Cafe near the Docks

A small outdoor eatery built into the city wall near the Waterdeep harbor, featuring outdoor seating with a view of dock traffic. The party met the Cassalanter twins here for breakfast, surrounded by approximately twenty hidden supporters wearing red sashes.

Fortified Wine

A special vintage bottle of fortified wine gifted by Victoro Cassalanter to Velessa during dinner. She drank the entire bottle, leading to her noticeable intoxication for much of the evening.

Hinged Candlestick

A wall-mounted candlestick in the secret tunnels that serves as a hidden lever. When pulled, it activates a drainage system that clears the flooded lower corridor, allowing passage without swimming.

List of Noble Houses

A document found in the secret chamber listing eighty-five noble families of Waterdeep, with thirty marked by 'X's to indicate their verified involvement in the Cassalanter sacrifice of ninety-nine souls.

Brass Seal

An official stamp found in a desk drawer in the secret chamber, used by the 99 to authenticate their writs and orders. Shane made a wax imprint of it and defaced the original before returning it. Velessa later repaired it using magic during the breakfast meeting with the twins.

Continual Flame Lamps

Magical lamps in the secret chamber that provide light without burning out. Velessa took two of them for use as light sources during future underwater excursions.

Wand of Detect Magic

A magical tool belonging to Talya, used to scan the secret room for arcane auras. It revealed only the continual flames within the lamps.

Sending Stones

A pair of magical stones that function like walkie-talkies, allowing the party to communicate silently while separated. Mentioned when the party discussed how to relay information while hiding.

Arcane Eye

An invisible, invulnerable magical sensor one inch in diameter created by Velessa. It can see in all directions with darkvision and move up to thirty feet per turn. Its duration was extended to nine hours through circle magic, and Velessa used it to spy on the secret chamber and later track the Cassalanter twins through the city.

Red Sashes

Distinctive red fabric worn as sashes or armbands by members of the 99 movement to identify one another. The twins' associates handed several folded sashes to the party at the end of their breakfast meeting, marking them as allies.

Peach Wood Sword

A ceremonial dull wooden sword owned by Velessa, used for various rituals including the banishing of metaphorical demons and spirits of bad luck. Mentioned during a discussion about her religious practices.

Sword of Coins

A decorative or ritualistic item belonging to Velessa that hangs above her door, associated with her spiritual practices.

Vagnfríður's Recipe Book

A very dry collection of recipes written by Vagnfríður a long time ago. Velessa suggested using it as a reading exercise for the children, particularly to practice deciphering difficult handwriting.

Water Breathing

Ritually cast by Velessa to allow the entire party to breathe underwater before descending into the flooded sections of the underground tunnels beneath the Blushing Mermaid.

Alarm

Cast by Velessa to ward the underground corridor with a twenty-foot cubic mental alert. It successfully triggered when Lady Alathene Moonstar approached, giving the party time to hide.

Detect Magic

Cast by Talya using her wand to scan the hidden room for magical items or traps, revealing only the continual flames within the lamps.

Invisibility

Cast by Talya to render herself and Vagnfríður invisible before Lady Alathene Moonstar entered the secret chamber. Velessa also turned herself invisible separately. The invisibility proved ineffective against the lich's supernatural senses.

Tides of Chaos

Talya tapped into her innate wild magic to gain advantage on a roll while attempting to identify the nature of the creature entering the room, triggering a wild magic surge that harmlessly restored her sorcery points.

Message

Used by Velessa to silently communicate the alarm's trigger to her companions while hiding, and later used to initiate a telepathic conversation with Elzerina Cassalanter across more than a hundred feet.

Disguise Self

Employed by the apprentices — Russora, Nysene, and Kaela — to make themselves appear older so they could be served alcohol at the Blushing Mermaid's bar.

Circle Magic

A collaborative casting technique where Velessa, Talya, Séantal, and Russora pooled their magical energy to extend the duration of Velessa's Arcane Eye from one hour to nine hours.

Arcane Eye

Cast by Velessa and empowered through circle magic to last nine hours. She used the invisible sensor to spy on the secret chamber, observe the Cassalanter twins' arrival and conversation, and track them through the city after their breakfast meeting.

Prestidigitation

Cast by Terenzio Cassalanter to magically clean the scuffs, mud, and mess from his and Elzerina's fine clothing and hair before their public meeting with the party.

Suggestion

Proposed by Velessa as a method to compel noble cultists to confess their crimes to the authorities, though the twins warned that many cultists are hardened against such effects.

Mending

Cast by Velessa during the breakfast meeting to instantly repair the Cassalanter twins' brass seal, which had been damaged by Shane during the party's earlier visit to the secret chamber.