Session 83 - Solveig Is Not A Master Interrogator!

Wed 7th May 2025

In-game timeline: Alturiak 7 - Alturiak 7

Whilst Sanada and Faith headed to the Merchants' Quarter library to research Dragon Shrines and Shadar-Kai magic, respectively, Alwaith and Solveig came up with a plan to interrogate the captured member of the Black Sun cult.

They put a lot of thought into their disguise and how to try to win over the young, scared, captured acolyte, with Solveig disguising himself as another, senior, captured member of the cult, with a semi-detailed backstory about why he was in Neverwinter. A slight mis-step, perhaps, when Solveig implied that he was here to kill the acolyte (!) but he managed to pull it back with some name-dropping and the odd convincing persuasion roll.

Having gained some of the acolyte's confidence, the plan fell apart a little when it was realised that our "Heroes" had not discussed what information they actually wanted to get from the cult member! Assuming that this low-level member of the local cult would just reel off a detailed plan of what the entire cult was doing, complete with names, locations, dates and methods was perhaps a little… unrealistic? With a lack of pointed questioning, Solveig managed to find out only a few details, and came away from the task somewhat disappointed, though he had managed to gain some information - possibly more than even he realised - including a password.

With the whole party again reunited in the evening, they decided to waste no time, and spend the evening scouting out the entrance to the old sewers, which are reputed to be where the cult is based within the city.

This scouting starts well, with the entrance being located down a dark alleyway, and all of the party able to do a grand job of hiding in shadows, or changing into alley-way-loving creatures, like a rat. They are perfectly set up for a few hours of observation of the comings and goings into the cult hideout before heading back for a well-needed rest.

Until they immediately decide (at least, Faith immediately decides) to just walk up to the entrance and go into the sewers, with no time dedicated to hiding and scouting at all. With zero useful information gained from the acolyte about the entranceway, the guards, the traps, the membership or the intentions of the cult, they were somewhat ill-equipped for this venture - except that they did have lots of health, and a decent bundle of spells at their disposal.

Their stealthy infiltration started badly and got worse.

Boldy opening the main door, they hear an alarm go off in the depths below. But they continue on anyway. The gate to the descending stairway seems magically locked, so Sanada uses her stealthy abilities to appear on the other side of the gate, promptly setting off a poison gas trap that envelopes them all, just as Faith correctly guesses that using the password learned by Solveig will allow the gate to be opened.

Having triggered a loud alarm and a poisonous trap, and with night descending and them starting to feel the tiredness of a long day, they decided to press on. How they have managed to reach the dizzy heights of level 8 and 9 is a mystery.

Descending the stairwell into the old, but well-lit and obviously occupied, sewers below, they reach the damp footpaths beside the running river of sewage and large, suspended, metal freshwater pipes. Strangely, the guards here seem to be aware of their coming, and are ready for them. What should have been a simple, quick dispatch of two lightly armed guards takes a while, enabling one of them to escape and raise the alarm further in the sewers. If the guard's shouting isn't enough, Faith's triggering of another trap involving loud thunderclaps certainly seals that warning. Meanwhile, the stealthy monk takes one look at the situation and turns and runs, influenced possibly by the failing of a saving throw against a Command spell, which was not helped by her continued despondency - something which also seems to affect all those around her too. Sanada runs back upstairs, headlong into the now reset poison gas trap, triggering it once more.

Solveig, reluctant to waste his rat-form, continues on into the sewer to see what he could see, leaving the guards for Alwaith and Faith to deal with (unaware of Sanada's flight) - something they struggle to do quickly due to the plentiful cover in the sewers, and their lack of preparation for what they would find down here. Finding himself on the wrong side of the sewage canal to investigate much further, Solveig decides to try to jump the significant distance upwards and across to the water pipe. As a small rat. He fails, falling into the rancid sewer water and almost drowning. As the flow of sewage starts to take him downstream, the druid reluctantly changes back into his Firbolg self and, with the help of Alwaith, clambers out of the river, coughing and spluttering.

As the last remaining guard flees deeper into the sewers, shouting warnings as he runs, the group, back together once more, are having to make a quick decision whether to quickly follow, or regroup and reconsider their, now somewhat limited, options…