Are we gonna negotiate or are we gonna burn this bitch down? - December 17, 2021

- Theophania sends Magnus to go get Osiris and Rusty from the Rites Wing while she, Lyrielle, and Raiàn head across the street to the Hall of Justice

- Magnus gets to the Rites wing and tells Osiris about the kidnapping of Callie and Osiris is her usual unflappable self

- Osiris collects Rusty where he is helping out around the Rites area and they head over to the Hall of Justice to meet the others

- When they arrive Theophania is making quite a fuss to the door guard who is used to dealing with frantic people, so she's not making much head way

- Osiris calmly asks if Abigail Swinson is in, and she just grabs Theophania's shoulder and drives her to where she has surmised Abigail's office is and knocks on the door

- There is a very confusing scene where Theophania tries to explain everything to the Captain, but it's very haphazard.

LORE DROP FROM CAPT SWINSON ABOUT THE BLACK BLOODS

- The Black Bloods control or are involved in most of the major crimes around the city

- They are organized into very carefully separated cells that do not communicate directly with each other, but somehow they each do their part to work towards the goals of the greater group

- The leaders of each cell receive their orders in their minds, and then they perform them.

- Because each organization is almost it's own organization, you could run afoul of several of them out to kill you at the same time.

- The Capt provides a contingent of five guards to come with them to hopefully arrest the kidnappers once Rusty or Theophania get Callie out of harm's way

- Osiris gives the guards who come with them a description of Jimmy

- The primary objective is to get Callie to safety

- The secondary objective is to arrest Jimmy and his cohorts.

- The code phrase when Callie is safe and the guards can rush in and start arresting or helping in the fight

- They get to the Black Dog and the guards and everyone except Rusty and Raiàn hides - Raiàn stands just behind him for his obvious back up

- Osiris casts Enhance Ability (Eagle's Splendor) on Rusty

- Theophania casts Invisibility on herself

- Rusty stands like 30' away from the building and shouts to Jimmy that he's here, and then he waits

- When there is no response he goes the front door, bangs on it, and then sticks his head in the door

- There's a bartender behind the bar, and Jimmy's sitting at the table having a drink

- Jimmy invites Rusty in, but Rusty says he would prefer to stay outside

- Jimmy has the bartender give him a drink anyway, so Rusty takes it and walks 10'-20' away back out into the street

- Rusty leave the door open and they are watching each other

- Theophania (INVISIBLE!) steps just inside the bar to the side of the door and readies herself for what might come

- When Jimmy doesn't follow Rusty outside he comes back and stands in the doorway

- Careful negotiation ensues. For an hour.

- Jimmy mentions "The Voice" which we assume to be the leader of the Black Bloods

- The conversation ends with a carefully worded détente between Jimmy's cell of the Black Bloods and the party

- Callie is promised to be returned shortly, and after the conference with the guards who came with them, they all walk back to the boardinghouse and Callie is asleep on the stoop, drugged.

- They get her upstairs to bed and then Osiris tries to check her teacup to see if she was drugged before she even answered the door, but all the teacups are piled on a tray that needs to be taken to the kitchen (Magnus is sus as hell)

-1,300 XP ea for 8,140 XP total ea.

In Which They Argue About a Boat #EnoughAboutTheGawdDamnedBoatAlready #Seriously - December 3, 2021

 BATTLE WITH THE BLACK BLOODS

- Burly Guy #2 runs up to Rusty and swings twice hitting the second time for 7 slashing dmg, then he stabs with the dagger in his offhand for 5 piercing dmg

- Raiàn steps forward just past Rusty and breathes lightning at BG2 and the Lean Guy #2 for 5 lightning dmg then she Misty Steps across the cave closer to BG1 and LG3

- Theophania runs to the side wall nearish Raiàn and tries to shoot BG2 with her crossbow, but misses

- Osiris moves to flank BG with Rusty, but misses with her warhammer

- Rusty's eyes go red with battle rage and he slices into BG2 with his great sword for 10 slashing dmg

- Lyrielle steps behind Rusty and drinks the potion that Tiff gave her for a d4 to her rolls

- LG1 moves to flank Osiris with BG2 and slices her for 7 slashing dmg

- BG1 steps up to Raiàn and slices he for 5 slashing dmg, then again for 7 slashing dmg, and then stabs her with the dagger in his offhand for 6 piercing dmg.

- LG2 moves up to Osiris and readies his action to attack her when his friend moves to flank with him

- LG3 moves to flank Osiris and LG2 and misses her with his reaction, then LG3 slices her for 8 slashing dmg

- BG2 turns and slices Osiris for 4 slashing dmg, then turns back and misses Rusty, then turns again stab Osiris for 5 piercing dmg

- Raiàn moves to flank LG1 taking 12 slashing dmg as she runs past him, then she casts Burning Hands on the other four Black Bloods for 8 fire dmg to LG1 and LG2 and 4 fire dmg on LG3 and BG2.

- Theophania side steps back towards the entrance 5' then she shoots BG2 for 4 piercing dmg then she casts Healing Word on Osiris for 4 HP

- Osiris casts Twilight Sanctuary so our side gets 6 Temp HP each, then she Misty Steps back up the tunnel from which they came

- Rusty moves around BG2 next to LG2 and Holds his Action until Lyrielle moves to flank BG2 with him

- Lyrielle moves to flank with Rusty and he slices BG2 for 10 slashing dmg, then Lyrielle smacks BG2 with her staff for 8 bludgeoning dmg, then she Flurry of Blows him for 5 bludgeoning with his fist then kicks him for 5 bludgeoning dmg

- LG1 misses Raiàn

- BG1 moves to flank Raiàn with LG1, slices her for 4 slashing dmg, then stabs her 7 slashing dmg, then stabs her with his dagger for 5 piercing dmg and she is unconscious

- LG2 moves to flank Rusty and swipes but misses

- LG3 moves to flank Lyrielle and slices her for 5 slashing dmg

- BG2 slices Rusty for 3 slashing dmg, then turns and misses Lyrielle, then turns again and stabs Rusty inconsequentially for no real damage

- Raiàn bleeds a lot (failed Death ST).

- Tiff moves to flank LG3 with Lyrielle pulls a handaxe then she casts Healing Word on Raiàn for 5 HP, not dying anymore!

- Osiris casts Cure Wounds (Lvl 2) for 15 HP and she moves forward to be just inside the room again

- Rusty misses BG1 with his greatsword

- Lyrielle bonks BG2 for 10 bludgeoning, then punches him for 6 bludgeoning dmg, and he is unconscious

- BG1 slashes Raiàn for 3 slashing dmg, then again for 4 slashing, and she is unconscious again, then he turns and runs through one of the other doors

- LG2 slices Rusty for 9 slashing dmg

- Raiàn manages not to bleed as much this time.

- Theophania moves to the next corner up where she can't be flanked, and she shoots LG1 for 9 piercing dmg, then casts Healing Word on Raiàn for 4 HP

- Osiris moves to flank LG2 with Rusty shooting BG1 for 2 piercing dmg

- Rusty moves away from LG2 dodging a sword as he does, flanks LG1 with Raiàn and slices him for 13 slashing dmg, putting him down

- Lyrielle runs up the path after BG1 missing him with her staff, then she punches him for 5 bludgeoning dmg then misses kicking him

- BG1 moves away from Lyrielle taking 10 bludgeoning dmg as he does so, then he disappears up the tunnel

- LG2 Disengages and moves towards a different corridor

- Raiàn drags herself upright, then casts Magic Missile on LG2 for 10 force dmg, and he is no dead.

- Osiris walks over to Raiàn and heals her for 14 HP with a level 2 Cure Wounds

- Rusty starts checking the bodies for loot or identifying marks like tattoos and he finds 50 GP, some of them have tattoos, but they don't look like gang signs, and he also finds a note in one of the lean guys that is a picture drawn by his kiddo (Stick figures "For Daddy")

- Osiris lays the corpses out respectfully, closes their eyes, and says a prayer for each

-  Theophania checks the room and find a niche with a bottle with an unknown liquid in, so she pockets it

- Rusty then checks behind the third door where neither of the bad guys tried to run and there's another tunnel

- Osiris takes the time to take a few steps up each tunnel and smells each. The one where BG1 fled the air smells slightly freshers, the second one smells musty and damp, and third one smells about the same as the battle room, so it may lead to a different part of the sewers

- They all agree to head down the one that Osiris thinks leads deeper underground, and just a little way up the tunnel, there's a side door

- Theophania checks if it's locked, and it's not so she opens it. There's a bunk room with spare sets of clothes behind the door. Like a crash pad.

- They close door and move on.

- Farther up the tunnel they start to hear running water. A lot of it.

- They come up to where a by-pass canal with a parked row boat is hidden behind carefully cultivated plant life. The city is not visible from inside.

- There is also an office in a small alcove off to the side. Raiàn finds paperwork that's all written in a cipher

- Theophania's ears perk up when she hear Raiàn cursing the coded papers, so she comes over and stuffs everything she can grab out of the desk and stuffs it all into her Bag of Holding

- Raiàn tries to break the dagger in the desk drawer, but is unsuccessful

- Osiris ties a rope to the little boat and Rusty holds the other end and lets her out just until she can see where the hidden canal is (just south of the Golden Bridge near the Temple and north of the docks), then she rows backwards a little bit and Rusty pulls her back in. 

- They then shove the boat out into the river and head back up the tunnel

- They don't hear anyone coming, so they head up the next tunnel that smelled the same as the junction room

- This tunnel leads to another room that is a store room.

- Stored in the room are food, weapons (at least one barrel are orcish made), medical supplies, and clean water

- Osiris does not Detect any Magic

- While everyone else is poking through the barrels and crate, she finds a hidden compartment in the back with 100GP and a large-ish sapphire 

- The gem is not magical.

- The last tunnel is very twisty and leads to a trap door that opens in an alley just across from the Beard and Barrel. The trap door has a layer of street cobbles on it so it blends in with the street.

- Theophania makes a note about the 23rd cobble 6-over from the corner of the building being the one to lift for the trapdoor

- Osiris pops into the Beard and Barrel to check for Jimmy or BG1 who got away, and neither are in there.

- Osiris makes plans with Rusty to fetch the dead bodies for the Temple and the other three head to the library to work on the Code

- While Osiris and and Rusty are carting dead bodies up from the battle scene when a couple of city guards approach them. 

- Osiris gives a long rambling explanation that is basically the truth and she and Rusty give their real names to them

- Rusty smooths it over a bit with a slightly less garbled explanation about investigating deaths that shouldn't be happening and how they were searching the sewers to check that the dragon who attacked the marketplace the other day (yesterday?) hadn't gone in there

- Meanwhile back at the library, after their hour or two of working on the coded notes, there's a pounding at the study room door where Lyrielle, Raiàn, and Theophania have set themselves up.

- Magnus explains that a bunch of people wearing all black and masks took Callie and left a note that read, "Surrender yourself at the Black Dog tonight with the goods you've stolen or you'll only see pieces of her again."

- 900 XP ea for 6,840 XP total ea.

More Sewer Slogging - November 19, 2021

 - They group doesn't wake up until midmorning after finally going back to sleep.

- Theophania is much better after some real sleep.

- She heads across the street to talk to Shawn Andertree about the tip she gave him about orcish weapons coming into the city.

- Shawn Andertree has no idea what's going on with the tip, but he did tell Captain Abigail Swinson

- Once back at the Temple, Osiris wants to hunts around in the sewers for the real, adolescent black dragon who dove into the river and may still be down there biding its time

- CREME BRULEE BREAK

- They decide to start at the entrance closest to the Docks Market and make their way to the closest large nexus from there to check it out and see what happens from there 

- Osiris uses her cleric ability to give Darkvision to Rusty and Raiàn and then Rusty picks the entry lock

- Osiris leads the way with Theophania behind her giving directions then Raiàn, Rusty, and Lyrielle taking the rear

- After not very long, Osiris starts to hear voices and movement coming from ahead of them in the sewer, so she shushes everyone and they sneak forward until Theophania trips over Osiris's hammer and splashes loudly

- One of the voices says, "Hey did you hear that?" And then they go quiet

- Osiris then casts Thaumaturgy to make it sound like there's a rat splashing around 30' ahead of them

- The voices resume their conversation about how they're lost 

- Osiris then approaches them in case they're just maintenance workers

- They are not maintenance workers. They are not in the official uniforms (we rolled percentile dice, and there ARE official uniforms), they looks shifty, one of them tells a lie about losing his coin purse down a sewer grate but does admit to being handy with a lockpick

- The party doesn't want to redirect themselves to show these shifty guys a way out, so they just head passed when they won't admit to what they are really doing down here.

- They continue looking for evidence of the adolescent black dragon 

- Lyrielle overhears as the last person to squeeze around them in the narrow passage "Let's find the hidden tunnel and get out of here."

- She hurries forward and tells the group, so they decide to head just a few dozen feet farther and let her trail them until they find their hidden entrance.

- Before she heads off, Osiris casts Enhance Ability (Cat's Grace) on her and she easily trails them while they continue wandering and bumbling around for like 20-30 minutes until they find what they are looking for and Lyrielle watches them open a tiny camouflaged doorway and enter it.

- Theophania marks its location on her copied map in her notebook and they go to on to their nexus giving the shifty dudes time to get out before they start sniffing around

- They get to the nexus and start hunting for evidence of the dragon, but they only find some of the noxious slime that is left-over from Magnus dumping things in the grates

- It looks like this blob floated down from the NE tunnel, so they follow that path of slime until it gets thicker and thicker and eventually they get to a storm grate with a large collection of slime that moves a little bit as they approach, and Theophania uses her turpentine sprayer to good effect. 

- This sewer grate is near city hall by her maps

- When Theophania checks to see if the moving goo was taken care of, it lunges for her and envelopes her foot

- Osiris grabs her warhammer and croquets a large chunk of it that goes flying and stick to a wall

- Between Osiris's Sacred Flame and Theophania's turpentine sprayer they make pretty quick work of it

- There's no slime up stream, so they head down stream to check for more slime monsters and to see where the most muck collects 

- When they area approaching the docks area near the marketplace the muck has gotten quite thick, but there no signs at all of the dragon

- There are four possible entrances from the river at this point two one this side and two on the other point based on where the dragon dove in and started swimming it could have entered through

- The group decides to head to the hidden doorway and check another branch of the sewer system and another entry area tomorrow

- They get to the general area pretty quickly, but it does take them a good fifteen minutes to find it again.

- They listen for a few minutes and hear nothing, so they open the door (which is very tiny like 24" W) and it open onto another tunnel with a source of light at the far end

- Everyone sort of looks at each other, so Theophania just tiptoes down the tunnel with the tools jangling at her belt as she goes

- The tunnel leads to a large central room that is a hub with several doors off of it that are all closed.

- As they are entering, some of the doors open and guys holding weapons come out and ask who they are, so Tiff just says, "We're looking for the dragon that attack the marketplace the other day."

- The guys ask everyone to put their weapons down, and the entire group refuses to put their weapons down 

- Rusty pulls his greatsword and asks "Are you the Black Bloods?"

- "Okay, we have to kill them now."

- All weapons are brandished.

- 800 XP ea for 5,940 XP total ea.