TL;DW / Recap After taking a short rest inside the Vanthamper vault, the Dickbags continue their investigation. Now looking for the puzzle box, held by Thurstwell Vanthamper, the group makes their way back to the main floor of the estate along with Falastar, Satir, Reya, and Thavius Krieg. Liam begins checking doors leading out of the kitchen, finding the pantry (where he snags a bag of flour), the servant’s quarters, and eventually the main entryway. Slobberchops (the winged house cat) seems to take a liking to Toph and begins following her around. The group quietly makes their way upstairs where Liam spots an armored guard near the top of the staircase. Focusing his Ki, Liam casts a sphere of silence around them. The guard notices Liam coming up the stairs and a battle ensues. Due to the narrow stairwell, most of the group is unable to lend aid leaving the fight to Liam, Ser Nedir, and Elder Storm. Unable to get to the top of the stairs, Toph gives some attention to Slobberchops, first petting him and then offering him some of her dried rations. The guards are eventually disposed of allowing the group to continue to the 2nd floor. Still within the silent sphere, Liam begins scouting through the various rooms. The first room appeared to be a powder room. Inside was a door to a bedroom which turned out to be that of Duke Thalamra Vanthamper. Inside the bedroom Liam finds a chest that he is able to open with one of the keys he acquired from the Duke. Inside he finds some ledgers (written in infernal), a set of caligraphers supplies, a coin purse made from sheep’s bladder, and a strange set of musical pipes. As Liam begins removing the items from the chest a hidden trap is set off, sending out a blast of poisonous gas. Liam manages to duck out of the way and avoid any damage. After allowing time for the gas to dissapate, Liam grabs the remaining items from the chest. Returning to the main area, Liam continues to the next door which turns out to be Thurstwell’s room. They find Thurstwell sitting in the corner, unaware of their presence. Slobberchops walks near the party and begins lowly growling at something inside the room. Elder Storm gets Thurstwell’s attention and immediately met with a sacred flame attack from Thurstwell. Liam rushes into the room to find Thurstwell now cowering on the other side of his bed. As he moves through the room, Liam gets attacked by an imp that was previously invisible, but the attack misses. Liam continues towards Thurstwell and tries to attack, but finds that he is unable to do so (Thurstwell casted sanctuary!). After making another attempt at attacking Liam is able to make contact with Thurstwell, delivering a weak front kick that still manages to cause Thurstwell to fall and hit his head. He lies unconcious on the floor. Elder Storm then enters the room and is able to stabalize Thurstwell, saving him from impending death. Ser Nedir and Liam finish dispatching of the remaining imp in the room. Ser Nedir then uses his Lay on Hands to revive Thurstwell. They retrieve the puzzle box as well as acquire a few supplies from another chest that Thurstwell had in the room. They soon hear Falastar (still outside the room) inquire where Reya and Thavius went. It seems they snuck out during the comotion! Focusing on the matters at hand, the Dickbags realize they still need to get out of the house safely. They decide to take Thurstwell with them by Ser Nedir throwing him over his shoulder. They make their way downstairs and head back out through the kitchen. When seen by the guards posted outside, Thurstwell instructs them to stand down. Elder Storm collects 4 steeds from some stables they have on the property and the group makes their way out without incident. As the group makes their way to lower city, they drop off Satir at the gate/guard station and ask that one of them escort Satir back to their home. After the Dickbags present their signets of the Flaming Fist, the guards hesitantly agree asking that the Dickbags let them know the next time they are pursuing business in upper city. The Dickbags continue into lower city and decide to rest at a nearby tavern before heading to see Captain Zodge. As they enter the tavern, they speak with the bartender about getting some rooms. When the bartender inquires about the man drapped over Ser Nedir’s shoulder, the group convinces him that he’s a friend that just had too much to drink (despite Thurstwell stating otherwise). They all head upstairs to one of the rooms where they inspect the puzzle box. As Liam starts to attempt opening it, he is warned by Thurstwell that he may want to reconsider given the box is infernal in nature. Not wanting to push his luck more than they already have, Liam sets the box aside and instead takes a look at the 3 ledgers he acquired from the Duke’s bedroom. The ledgers contain the actual business dealings of the Vanthampers. Though written in infernal, the information contained actually appears to be legitimate and there is no connection with the Cult of the Dead 3 that Liam can find. Meanwhile, Elder Storm examines the needle that he acquired from the Vanthamper vault. It appeared to resemble a tattoo needle. As he held it near his skin a magical tattoo began to appear, covering his chest and arms. The tattoo depicted moving tornadoes with lightning and forest fires (very tempest!). What could this tattoo be and what will happen to Elder Storm now that he has it?
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