Waterdeep online

[mel]

Maeci goes downstairs and talks with Jhorne for an hour or so.

She returns and says to Taman and Gage, "My calling is here, battling the phaerimm alongside the Crimson Wing. It is in my blood. I will return in a fortnight. Jhorne says he can easily return me to Waterdeep at any time should I wish it.

I have enjoyed my time among those of House Kholarrn and look forward to seeing you soon."

[Kevok]

Taman is correct in his assumption that Gage will return to Waterdeep along with him.

[Lothrhino]

Back to Waterdeep then.

[mel]

Maeci is touched by your kind words.

[shoonvii]

Alright, so with a "'Til swords part." Taman and Gage teleport back to Waterdeep. Nothing has changed in your absence, since you've only been gone a few hours.

Here's a good piece on the ToT (C&P the address):

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_of_Troubles_(Forgotten_Realms)

LMK if there's anything else you want to know.

You can make an appointment to meet with Lady Melshimber on the morrow.

[Lothrhino]

Taman to Gage in a private conversation the day after returning to Waterdeep;

" I am meeting Lady Melshimber this evening for dinner. I do however want to use the time that Maeci is away to attempt to recover a powerful item. Using the book I obtained in Corm Orp I have discovered this passage "It is my belief that the trio - Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul before their divine ascension - buried Borem’s Heart, pierced by the Jathiman Dagger, on Mezeketh Isle off the coast of Sembia. Will removing the dagger from Borem’s Quagheart awaken the ancient god or give the remover his lingering power? The Sharran cult that acts as wardens of the lighthouse on Mezeketh Isle would certainly make finding out difficult …" I want to travel there and attempt to find the heart.Both of us are touched by the shadows and should have an easier time then if we were assisted be Maeci and her misguided beliefs. I want the two of us to leave for Sembia in the next few days. What say you?"

[Kevok]

Gage replies "Now is the perfect opprotunity for such a mission. With Maeci out of the picture we can be free to do whatever is needed to gain what you seek."

Gage will also check in with the operations in the Sprawls to see how things are going.

[shoonvii]

Everything is going well in the Sprawls. Your "cease-fire" with the Shadow Thieves continues as before, i.e. the occasional clash, but nothing fatal on any large scale.

[shoonvii]

| KYTHORN 7 |
House Kholarnn goes to Corm Orp and aids the Crimson Wing. Taman and Gage return to Waterdeep, leaving Maeci with the army.

| KYTHORN 12 |
Taman and Gage travel to Mezeketh Isle and the Adumbral Calyx.

| KYTHORN 13 |
Taman and Gage return to Waterdeep.

| KYTHORN 21 |
Maeci returns to Waterdeep with Jhorne and relays her tale to the rest of the House:

"The Crimson Wing joined forces with the Riders in Red Cloaks militia out of Asbravn and Helmites with some militia out of Hluthvar to chase down the remaining phaerimm hordes in the Far Hills.

The allied forces destroyed the phaerimm and their army. Even Zhentarim forces from Darkhold joined in the fight, as they were basically fighting on their doorstep.

The Crimson Wing returned to Corm Orp to continue rebuilding the town. Word reached Corm Orp that while the allies were chasing down the horde, phaerimm forces teleported into Asbravn and Hluthvar. Casualties were minimal, but in both towns, the phaerimm made off with artifacts found beneath the settlements."

She then goes out on the town with Jhorne, and later returns with Straife Blackthorne (a former adventuring partner of Jhorne), Mina of the Gur, and Fenn Estelmer in tow – telling the others of the House that they are returning to the Crimson Wing to help them stabilize the Stonelands region.

| KYTHORN 22 |
Maeci, Jhorne, Straife, Mina, and Fenn return to the Crimson Wing.

| FLAMERULE 15 |
Gage learns that the Shadow Thieves have struck a deal with the Shadovar of Shade, which explains why the Black Viper – the lead Shadow Thief he had been dealing with – is a shade. The details of the pact are unknown.

| ELEASIAS 22 |
Word reaches Waterdeep that several of Mystra’s chosen attacked and damaged Shade’s mythallar, temporally crippling the city. Also, the elves and their allies drove the Phaerimm out of Evereska and cities’ Mythal was restored.

| ELEASIAS 24 |
South Ward Cobbler Finds Rubies
Dharjamyn Thauntle has collected "pretty rocks" for years, buying "stones from afar" from caravan masters. A short, stout citizen of respectable years, Thauntle says he can no longer swing a pick with "sureness," nor scramble up the brigand-haunted tors and cliffs within a halfday ride of the city. So he has turned to scaling the slopes of Mount Waterdeep despite City Guard disapproval.

Somewhere thereon, before sunset yestereve, he split a rock along a "soft streak" and found that it held six rubies of worthy size. Local gemcutters scoff at Thauntle's tale, but a nameless one of them purchased his stones this morn.

Horthan Hethdance of the Guard warns that citizens who "tear apart the mountainside looking for gems or anything else" can expect "arrest, at the very least!"

The cobbler's shop, Thauntle's Good Heels and Soles, stands on the north side of Olaim's Cut.

| ELEASIAS 30 |
Flying Snake Seen in Sea Ward
Chanszra Ahlmhaund, a wealthy widow of the Street of Whispers, says she looked out of a high window at dimmergloam* yestereve, and saw a snake flying past: "As long as my coach horse! Black, mottled green -- with eyes like green flames! Nasty, 'twas, and looking for someone specific, too, I swear to the gods!"

The Street of Whispers is known for courtesans, soothsayers, and dabblers in minor magics. The Watch confirms several licenses for enspelled pets and guardian beasts are held by area dwellers, but none describes a wingéd snake.

However, at least two noble families with nearby mansions, Estelmer and Zun, have "sarser licenses" (named for the long-ago clerk who devised them, and often called "allcloak licenses" because they cover all nonprohibited beasts a property owner may wish to import, trade in, or keep). Anyone seeing the snake is asked to alert the Watch.

*When bright sunset is gone from city spires but not the sky, many Waterdhavians pause to enjoy this last, soft daylight.

| ELEINT 7 |
Monster-Man Found Murdered in Trollskull Alley!
Andruthra Thorn of the Watch will confirm only that they recovered "the corpse of an unknown man" from the notorious dead-end alley this morn, but several local residents and tradesfolk (notably Haunzro Thlam, of Thlam's Fresh Loaves of Immar Street, who was making early deliveries of his famous morningfeast buns) confirm that the "stabbed and cut open" man -- naked but for a pair of boots -- had one unusual feature: his body sported a ratlike, hairless tail more than a foot long!

The Watch took the remains to Farwatch Tower for examination, displaying only the face to interested persons, but the murdered man is as yet unidentified. Watchful Order mages were seen at work in the alley.

Located north of Delzorin Street in North Ward, Trollskull Alley was for years a favorite spot for duels and trysts, and local Watch patrols scour it regularly.

| ELEINT 21 |
Serious Carriage Crash on Sul Street
Three draft horses were injured early today, a delivery cart destroyed, and the display window of Aumra's Fine Potteryworks (on west-side Sul north of Zarimtar) demolished by a flying cart-wheel, when an illegal race ended in disaster.

Two men are in Watch custody, but no names have been released pending further investigation. There's talk that the guilty fled, and those arrested were drunks betting on the race, not participants.

The long, straight north-south streets in Sea and North Wards have for years hosted various pell-mell races and chases. Sul Street in particular seems a favored site for so-called "chariot challenges." These are cart or carriage races wherein citizens -- usually young apprentices finished with their deliveries but still in possession of small open carts belonging to their masters -- dash in pairs, almost always from north to south, to an agreed-upon endpoint. Local residents often complain about noisy cartwheels, hooves, and shouts or oaths, but some say the loudest complainers are those who bet on losing racers. Impromptu betting is the norm at such races.

| MARPENOTH 5 |
New Scent Makes Faces Glow
Yestereve, several Waterdhavian matrons were deeply frightened hours after applying a new scent to their faces. The fragrance, "Waterfall Kiss," is made and marketed by the half-elf Jhamanthra Tsathree, of Tsathree's Comforts shop on Golden Serpent Street in North Ward. Jhamanthra confirms her first sales were made early yesterday, but insists she was "entirely unaware" that Waterfall Kiss can make faces glow. The fragrance is a secret brew of herbs in water, which creates a clear, strong-smelling, slightly oily liquid used as a facial wash. It removes dirt and "tired skin" and leaves its scent behind.

The glow -- a vivid lime green that comes on suddenly, and lasts for hours -- occurs only when certain rouges and powders are applied to Kiss-treated skin. Most of the startled users were furious (one has reportedly hired a mage to "Do to that trickster what she did to me!"), but several enjoyed the attention.

Young wealthy Waterdhavians are flocking to Tsathree's Comforts to procure their own supplies. Kiss sells for 3 gp/handbottle -- but may soon be more: street resale prices of 6 to 9 gp have been reported. A new fad may be in the making, as revelers experiment with making other skin areas glow.

| MARPENOTH 19 |
Strange Fire on Cage Street
A high-coin gown, cloak, and fineries shop on the "northwest block" of Cage Street in Castle Ward erupted in flames yesterday -- bright, vivid blue flames that lacked heat and smoke, consumed nothing, and soon vanished. Staff of Mhalavo's Brightstar could give no reason for the mysterious conflagration, and they insisted it was no "bid for fame" on their part.

Lady Shopmatron Daztriiya Ghallowglond opined that the blaze was "obviously magic . . . and so many who use such forces are malicious and untrustworthy, even deranged." Ghallowglond believes mischief was a more likely reason than madness, and "if it was an attempt to distract staff so as to steal our superb wares, it failed utterly -- as such attempts always will."

Ghallowglond warned would-be thieves that the Brightstar is guarded by "unseen and very attentive eyes." She felt the Watch "responded too slowly, given our importance and proximity to Ahghairon's Tower and the Palace," and expects them to prevent "further problems," while the Brightstar will remain "the first choice of discerning courtiers, as well as of visitors to our city having important civic or social engagements, who desire to be clad appropriately.".

[shoonvii]

| UKTAR 2 |
Shapechanger on the Loose!
Shoppers on the Street of the Tusks in Trades Ward were startled yesterday by a lone being that ran south down the street, changing its shape repeatedly as it made various screams, wails, and grunts. No one noticed where it came from, and after stumbling hurriedly down the busy street, it turned east into even busier Vellaar's Lane -- where no one seems to have noticed it (suggesting either a magical disappearance or an immediate cessation of beast-shapes).

Along its brief run, the being passed two startled members of the City Watch, who were off duty and buying pastries and beer for a walk and talk*; a clerk from the Palace on official duty; and several well-respected senior officials of various guilds. All agree that they saw such things as tentacles, elephant heads, stag antlers, "dozens of flowing, opening eyes and mouths," wings, and a shark tail. It's not known if they witnessed an illusion; the results of a magical prank, curse, or punishment; an experimental spell gone wrong; or something more sinister. Persons with any information about the shapechanging display are asked to report what they know to the Watch; testimony will be kept in strict confidence.

*A meal taken while walking and talking in the streets, in this case as they strolled home from work.

| UKTAR 16 |
Man Wounds Self, Vanishes
Shopkeeper Saldremor Rivryn of Rivryn's Blades and Sharpenings on west-front Gaustus Street in Trades Ward was astonished late yesterday after he sold a "nondescript old knife" to the outlander who "looked to be from Amn, or northern Tethyr, mayhap." The purchaser laid down three coppers -- properly minted, recent "thumbs" from Cormyr, Rivryn notes -- for the old dagger, which Rivryn bought months ago from an "adventuring band under Tymora's frown, who took ten gold for a huge sack of old weapons and mongery. Salvaged from a ruined mansion in the woods nigh Secomber, they said."

The outlander kissed the blade, cried out, "At last!" with some emotion -- and plunged the blade into his own shoulder. Blood spurted, the man drew forth the bloody blade and kissed it again, and then, Rivryn claims, "just faded away into the air."
Rivryn insists his tale is no bid for customers. He judges the wound not fatal, "if the blade be untainted and all left to heal rather than flow." The origins, identity, and fate of the outlander remain unknown; Watch investigations proceed.

| UKTAR 30 |
Double Wedding on Spindle Street
Unmarried sisters who own adjoining houses on west-front Spindle Street in Trades Ward have just married each other's street-level tenants. Sharlma and Ierithue Steelhawk, some forty-odd summers old, inherited the buildings from their father, the famous archer and adventurer Duroamyn "Deathstrike" Steelhawk.

As in many Waterdhavian tallhouses, they dwell on the topmost floors, letting out the floors immediately beneath to tenants, who also rent the street level below as a shop. Sharlma has the more northerly house. The buildings share a common wall, and the sisters' apartments connect.

It was commonly known that Sharlma and her tenant, the wizard Starago Nye of Starnight Spells and Magelore (minor castings, identifications, advice), were longtime lovers. Ierithue and her tenant, Bhelgrair Yathro of Yathro's Adventurers' Outfitting (ropes, maps, weapons, tents), were thought to enjoy similar relations. Rumors abound about what led the four to switch partners and engage in formal union. The couples kept celebrations private, and they have announced no plans for changes in the business of the shops.

| NIGHTAL 14 |
Sharp Rise in Silversheen
Last tenday's announcement that the sculptor Marleon Krendlemar (of Swords Street, Castle Ward) intends to cast his next gigantic statue in silversheen has led to steep increases in the overcounter price of the shiny make-metal. Sometimes called "alloys," make-metals are mixtures of smelted metals such as iron and zinc, often with small amounts of more valuable metals, and strange "secret ingredients." The alchemists who produce make-metals always keep amounts, processes, and precise ingredients secret, citing the perilous nature of the work (which all too often ends in poisonings, acid fleshmelt, or deadly explosions).

Silversheen, the glossy, mirror-bright silver "metal" seen in many local decorative castings, is smooth, heavy, and too brittle to see service in armor, fastenings, struts, or cookware. Devised decades ago by Eremaun Uthchantaer of Amphail, silversheen saw the secrets of its creation "get out" when the alchemist died and his dozen-some workers scattered, each taking its secrets. Waterdeep is currently home to at least seven silversheen makers; their wares are sold as finished castings or in "melt-bars" the size of a human forearm (formerly about 1 gp each; now 5 gp or more).