Session 9: A Guilded Cage

Characters involved:

• Amaril, elf cleric of Helm.
• Shrain, dwarf cleric of Moradin.
• Zelder, halfling rogue and pastry aficionado.
• Ulther Stormwind, human fighter of Icewind Dale.
• Vaicht, elf monk of Kelemvor.

With the ghouls put down and the Bhaal cultist slain, the PCs discovered the body of a young Outer City woman in the next chamber. One leg had been mostly eaten by the ghouls, but they also saw that she'd been struck on the head and stabbed repeatedly in the back. Zelder, however, looked closer and determined that the woman had died from a more natural cause: sundown fever, an affliction known to strike the Outer City. There was also traces of grave dirt on her clothes and nails, suggesting that she'd been dug up then inflicted with further the wounds. And the ghouls...perhaps they showed up later? It was not unheard of for ghouls to sniff out fresh corpses.

The PCs left behind the evidence that Ravengard had asked them to leave in the crypt: the broken cane, the pipe, and the bloody dagger belonging to Ariax Rillyn. What conclusions others would make upon finding the woman, the ghouls, and the cultist was anyone's guess. Would it do what Ravengard wanted?

 From the crypts, the party was joined by Piper and Ulther, and together they set out to make the midnight secret meeting they'd learned about in the Baldur's Mouth edition that Primeiro had decoded: : “Gather at the last bell above the ankle of the Sow’s Foot.”

On the way up through the Lower City, in the constant drizzle of rain, they encountered a swarm or rats skittering through one intersection. Pausing to let the vermin pass, they saw in the rear a very large one among them. It stopped, swiveled its head at them, and hissed—at which point the PCs shot arrows and tossed daggers at the thing. Most of the missiles missed the giant rat, but Shrain hurled one of his hand axes and it buried itself in the animal's body. Twitting, it fell over, dying. Even as they hurried on their way, they heard more rats screeching nearby and the shouts of people fleeing from the masses.

In the Outer City they had another strange encounter: A man sitting in the darkness, catching their attention by creating sparks in some sort of wand. Zelder approached the vagrant, who sat against a building wall, but the man said only a few cryptic words; something about another person they should be concerned with. But a quick look around revealed nothing. When Zelder lit his torch to get a better look, the vagrant was gone.

They continued on their way to the Sow's Foot district. Once there, Piper and Vaicht asked around among some of the still-awake residents. When the monk offered a few silver pieces to one woman, she said, after telling them where Hamhock's Slaughterhouse was, "Bless you and bless Nine-Fingers." Nine-Fingers was not a name they knew.

Soon they came upon the darkened building, where two roguish men stood outside as guards; Piper knew that if this was a secret and important Guild meeting, then sentries would have already seen them by this point anyway. There was no plan to infiltrate secretly or to attack anyone; they simply wished to attend and learn what was going on. To prove their way in, Zelder successfully folded the Baldur's Mouth broadsheet the way that Primeiro had, revealing the secret message that had prompted their knowledge of the secret meeting in the first place.

Rilsa Rael

Inside, the PCs found their way down to the cellar of the slaughterhouse, where a central, chanedeliered and balconied room had become the gathering hall of knaves—men and women of ill repute, thieves, or, if what Rilsa Rael had told them before was true, the only people working on behalf of the common people of Baldur's Gate. The knaves here seemed like Outer City rogues, but some looked like Lower City citizens.

It was clear that some of the PCs were recognized—the title "Heroes of the Wide" followed them still. Shrain spotted Rael on the balcony above, and she returned his gaze, acknowledging him. The PCs also saw that the half-elf Laraelra Thundreth, sorceress and proprietor of the Low Lantern, was also in attendance. They'd last seen her escaping in the harbor when they'd shut the place down on behalf of Marshal Ravengard and the Flaming Fist. Her glare proved she remembered them well enough. (Vaicht, Amaril, and Piper had not arrived in the city then and had no idea who she was.)

Zelder spotted a curious halfling named Thurgo Songbuckle and exchanged with him opinions about the food of Baldur's Gate. The latter had had procured some delicious meat pies and so the former bargained for one to try one himself. Thurgo's reason for being there at the Guild meeting was unclear—the not-entirely-friendly halfling was evasive about particulars—but he did say he was newly arrived in the city and was only there for the gold. He seemed amused by all of Baldur's Gate's troubles and even asked Zelder about the new rat problem.

Before long, the crowd quieted as another person of importance arrived: Nine-Fingers, evidently the leader of the Guild, a young woman attended by an entourage of weapon- and magic-using females. The gathering quieted as Nine-Fingers addressed the PCs: clearly she knew who they were, but she asked them to introduce the newcomers among them. They did so.

The PCs—particularly Ulther Stormwind, who'd been involved in Baldur's Gate's business since Duke Abdel's assassination—admitted to working with the Flaming Fist when Nine-Fingers asked about Ravengard and Silvershield, but also cited a greater interest in uncovering the plot behind Abdel's death. Nine-Fingers seemed to respect this, and she said she would like to work with them about this, given their aid to the city thus far. But there was some other business that needed addressing first: Guild justice.

Nine-Fingers, guildmistress

Thundreth demanded reparations for what the PCs had done to her, and Nine-Fingers granted it to her—the Low Lantern's proprietor was obviously someone of respect in the Guild. The challenge: PCs would have to face an equal number of opponents as themselves—six against six. Whether the victor granted mercy or not was up to them, but whatever the result, the meaning was clear: any grievance between the PCs and Laraelra Thundreth would be ended when it the fight was concluded.

And so the room cleared and the chamber with its four doorways and high balcony became an impromptu arena with a crowd of guild members! Thundreth stepped out from one doorway as her six henchmen rushed into the room and immediately set upon the PCs with short swords.

The battle went well at first—a couple of the men were knocked out, and Piper even forced a third to relent—until Thundreth herself got involved. She cast a spell of sleep upon the PCs, and it dropped three of the party outright now that their wounds had made them more susceptible to the magic. The remaining three weren't faring too well, and Thundreth herself rushed over to Ulther's unconscious form and held her dagger over his neck, demanding that the others "surrender or he dies!"

In a moment of desperation, Piper decided to try to take Thundreth down with a single bolt from his hand crossbow. The attempt proved ill-advised and his distractions too great: Instead of a perfect shot, the crossbow bolt flew wide (nearly hitting a spectator on the balcony above) and the crossbow itself tumbled awkwardly out of his grip. Embarrassed, and in a compromised position, Piper had no other choices.

Thundred's remaining henchmen set upon him and the other two PCs still standing, knocking them all out with the pommels of their swords.

Everything went black!

At the mercy of Laraelra Thundreth and the Guild...