Ragamuffin Productions Presents – The Meeting in the Tower
Jhelnae sank into the high-backed chair offered to in the parlor of the manor house of Phaulkonmere. After sprinting down streets and alleys of Waterdeep and dancing her way through the Jade Dancer festhall, it felt good to finally sit down. When Aleina and Jhelnae had shown up at Phaulkonmere earlier, as before, vines had pulled the gate open to allow entry. This time, however, the faerie lanterns of the courtyard garden lit, one by one, to lead them to the manor rather than deeper into the gardens. At the house they had been met by Mellanor Fellbranch, the half-elf groundskeeper of the place, and he led them here for a reunion with Fargas, Dasher Snobeedle, and the three street urchins.
It was now late into the evening and the room was dark, despite attempts to light it. Several of the candles in the chandelier above had long ago been burnt to stubs and only a few of the wall lanterns were lit. The half-drow supposed the mistress of the house, the disembodied Lady Jeryth, had little need for bright light in her parlor or even the parlor itself really. So, some things, like replacing candles and refilling lantern oil, had been neglected. Shadows lay heavy in the corners of the room. Nothing the half-drow's enhanced vision couldn't penetrate, but it gave the place a lonely, abandoned feel, despite all the others in the room.
"Tell them what you told us," Lady Jeryth's voice sounded over the crackle and pop of the fire in the hearth.
Her voice came from above, as if she sat among the dust covered knick-knacks on the fireplace mantle.
"Again?" the red skinned tiefling boy asked, shoulders slumping. "All of it? Can't we go now?"
He sat with the two other children - the willowy, deaf girl with straight, long dark hair and the chubby brown skinned boy - on a sofa facing the fireplace. Orange light played off their dirt smudged faces from the flames.
"You know," Fargas said. "We risked life and limb against two crazy monk girls to save you and Lady Jeryth has fed you. So, is it really too much to ask for you to repeat your story for my friends who just arrived?"
The tiefling and brown-skinned boy looked appropriately guilty, but the deaf girl gnawed at a chicken leg she ate, oblivious to what was being said. Only crumbs and bone scrap filled the plates on the laps of the boys - they'd obviously been faster eaters, which amazed the half-drow since the girl ate ravenously.
"You keep fixating on those two monks," Dasher said. "There was also a whole gang of wererats."
"Did you see what one of them did to that barrel?" Fargas asked. "With her bare hand? And the intense way they looked at you, like they were going to rip your heart right out of your chest. So yeah, they made a bit of an impression."
"Well, the Shard Shunners are dangerous too," the young halfling male said. Then frowned and looked at Aleina and Jhelnae. "How did you two stop them? Did you kill them?"
"We didn't kill anybody," the aasimar said. "Just used the bouncers and the Jade Dancer herself to scare them off."
"That's good," Dasher said, clearly relieved his former gang has not been harmed.
"And yes, those monks and wererats were scary," Aleina continued. "But you both seem focused only on the halflings. Let's not forget the big man with the short sword or the one who transformed himself into a Jhelnae look alike."
"Transformed himself to look like Jhelnae?" Fargas said, brow wrinkling in confusion. "I didn't see that. When did that happen?"
"That's how they got past the door jack," the half-drow said. "They used my charm against us by taking my form."
"How could you not see that?" the aasimar asked, voice incredulous. "He…, she…, it…, whatever it was became a copy of Jhelnae, and was right there. On the dance floor."
"I didn't see that either," Dasher said.
"A copy of the dark elf lady?" the chubby boy asked. "Didn't see it."
The tiefling boy shook head to show he also had not seen the half-drow's twin.
"We're all short, okay," Fargas said. "And we were in a place crammed full of people taller than us. So sorry if we didn't see everything you saw."
The way he said sorry sounded the opposite of asking for forgiveness.
"Nat saw," Aleina said. "Didn't you?"
The dark-haired girl lowered the chicken bone from her mouth in response to the aasimar pointing at her. But she gave them all a blank expression as she didn't know what was being said. Some signing by her tiefling friend, however, soon had her nodding vigorously and signing back while gesturing at the half-drow.
"She says the gray-haired man turned into a copy of her," the tiefling boy.
"Did she copy your clothes as well?" the disembodied voice of Lady Jeryth asked. "Or only take your form?"
"Not my clothes," the half-drow answered.
"Then probably not a spell of mimicry," the Chosen of Mielikki said. "Some sort of shape shifter. Maybe a doppelganger."
"They even sounded like her," Aleina said. "Which was really weird because Jhelnae only spoke a few words to them, so it wasn't much to go on, but with just that little bit, they almost had the voice right."
"Likely a doppelganger then," Jeryth said. "They are, of course, natural vocal mimics."
"Don't completely rule out magic," Jhelnae said, playing over the encounter again in her mind. "The one who took my form was definitely some sort of spell caster. They cast flame against the Jade Dancer, remember? Not that it did them much good."
"They did," the aasimar agreed. "Are there shapeshifters that also can cast magic?"
"There are," the disembodied voice of the Chosen of Mielikki said, sounding worried. "Very dangerous ones. Even if I am right and it is just a doppelganger, that would be dangerous enough, but a spell casting one? More so."
More so. Those two innocent little words caused the group to go quiet. A night breeze blew in through the hinged open windows, setting chandelier candle flames fluttering and the ivy leaves surrounding the bank of arched, thick paned windows of the room rustling.
"A twin to Jhelnae," Fargas said, breaking the silence. "Are you sure you brought back the right one, Aleina? You're her roommate. Does she have a scar or birthmark somewhere normally covered by clothes? We can have her strip down and make sure it is there."
"By all that dances!" the half-drow said, throwing up her hands. "What part of, they didn't copy my clothes did you not understand? I'm wearing the same clothes as when you last saw me."
She gestured down to the belted cream-colored short dress and beige hose she wore.
"Just thought we should be extra careful," their halfling friend said with a shrug and a smirk. "But nevermind. No one else can get that same level of exasperation into that innocuous phrase. So, I'm convinced. You are Jhelnae."
"Fargas…" the half-drow muttered, trailing off and shaking her head.
But she couldn't fully keep a smile off her lips.
"You should hear my mother say it," Jhelnae found herself saying. "A whole range of meanings from the same phrase. Everything from happy surprise to the far more common, 'you'll be the death of me child'."
"Now that we have established no one needs to get naked in my parlor," the disembodied mistress of the house said, voice at first amused, then hardening. "We're still faced with the question of why someone hired the Shard Shunners to hunt and capture Jenks, Squiddly, and Nat and then sent dangerous individuals, including a shape shifting spell caster, to interrogate and murder them."
She continued in a soothing, encouraging tone.
"Tell them what you told us about what you saw and heard."
The boys gave glum nods, then the tiefling, Squiddly judging from the order they had responded to their names, brightened.
"Could we act it out?" he asked.
"Act it out?" Lady Jeryth asked.
"Like do a play," Squiddly said
"We do love plays and play acting," Jenks said, with hope in his eyes. "We sneak into the Pink Flumph to watch them all the time and even had our own production in front of it once."
"Until the Watch stopped us and took all of our props," the tiefling boy said.
"That is terrible!" Aleina said, voice angry. "Why would the Watch do that to children just doing a street performance?"
"Well," Squiddly said. "It might have something to do with us sort of borrowing those props from the theater."
"Yeah," Fargas said, chuckling. "That would do it."
Meanwhile, the brown skinned boy had been signing with Nat. She moved her plate off her lap and held her hands together in a praying, begging gesture.
"Oh, let them act it out," Jhelnae said. "There is no harm in it and they clearly want to."
"Thanks," Jenks said. "You know maybe you aren't as mean as we thought."
"And maybe you all aren't thieving little brats like I thought," the half-drow quipped back.
"Actually," Dasher said. "They had stolen my coin purse sometime during the chase. But they did return it when we got here in gratitude for saving their lives."
"Then I take it back," Jhelnae said. "You all are thieving little brats. And I'm just as mean as you thought, and a horrible critic by the way. So, you're acting better be really good."
She gave the boy a wink to take the sting from her words and the boy smiled and nodded.
"Besides," Aleina said. "These children have been through a lot. Retelling the experience through words is probably difficult and doing it through something that is fun for them might soften the experience."
"Very well then," Lady Jeryth said.
All three children hopped off the couch. Nat started rapidly signing.
"She says we need three masks," Squiddly said. "Two of them need to be made of gold and have devil faces on them and the other one made of dark metal. We also need a golden metal gauntlet for a mechanical hand."
"Do we really need those?" the aasimar said. "Can't you just tell us what your characters look like, and we'll use our imagination."
"Plays have props," Jenks said. "And she said our acting better be really good."
The boy's point at Jhelnae drew an admonishing look from Aleina. The half-drow gave an open-handed gesture of innocence in response.
"Some props might soften the experience for them," she said, feeding the aasimar's words back to her.
"Mellanor," Lady Jeryth said. "Upstairs in my closet or in my sister's are probably some masks we wore to masquerade balls or for Trolltide. Would you fetch three please?"
Even the ever-stoic half-elf groundskeeper, who had been silently standing and listening to the whole exchange, couldn't resist a sigh as he left the room to fulfill the request of his mistress.
"We'll also need to clear a space," Squiddly said, gesturing to the sofa. "Could we get someone to move this back while we discuss the stage directions?"
Not waiting for an answer, the three huddled and fingers flew in rapid, silent communication.
Jhelnae looked around the room, but soon made the discovery that she and Aleina were the largest of those gathered in the parlor with Mellanor gone.
"Where is Kuhl when you need him?" the aasimar asked as she and the half-drow scooted the sofa back.
"Probably fighting a scarecrow," Fargas said.
"Hopefully they are okay," Aleina said.
She adjusted her end of the sofa to make it line up with the hearth in its new position, even though they would be moving it right back after the impromptu play was done. Jhelnae rolled her eyes.
"He has Dawnbringer," the half-drow said. "A blazing sword of radiance versus something made out of straw and sticks. Of course they'll be okay. They just have to find the thing."
"He isn't here," their halfling friend said. "So, we can be honest without the risk of building up his ego too much. He doesn't even really need Dawnbringer, does he? I mean he could rip apart a scarecrow with his bare hands, right? Have you seen the muscles on him?"
The half-drow had seen them of course. But decided not to admit that.
"Never really noticed," she said.
"Is he muscular?" the aasimar asked. "I also hadn't noticed."
Her voice didn't hold even the slightest bit of conviction.
"You never noticed your convenient pillow in the Underdark was really well built?" Fargas scoffed. "Yeah, right."
"I noticed," Lady Jeryth said. "And I don't even have a body anymore. Convenient pillow in the Underdark? Sounds deliciously ardent and amorous. Care to share the details?"
"Get ready to be very disappointed," Fargas laughed.
The Chosen of Mielikki was quite disappointed after Fargas explained.
"Wait," she said. "You literally used him as a pillow? That wasn't a euphemism for something else?"
Aleina's only action was the reddening of her pale cheeks.
"You need to release that pent up celestial passion!" Lady Jeryth exclaimed. "I have just the book for inspiration in my library. I'll loan it to you. It's called Shocking Tales of Elven Desire."
"Umm…"
It was all the aasimar got out before Mellanor returned. Nat started immediately signing to the group the moment she saw the masks he held.
"She says none of those are gold, or black metal, and they don't have devil faces," Jenks said.
This was true. All were short masks that left the lower part of the face uncovered. One depicted a blazing sun on half and a crescent moon and stars in the night sky on the other, one was designed to look like a silver dragon in a mountainous landscape, and the third was a motley of colors with blue stag antlers at its crown.
"Great actors don't need exact props," Aleina said. "They use the tools they have and still get the audience to get swept up in the story."
The deaf girl blew out a sigh in a huff after getting a translation, looked at the ceiling, shook her head, and stamped her foot, then signed.
"She says fiiine," Squiddly said, unnecessarily emphasizing the sarcasm to indicate it was not fine. "But we still need a gauntlet for a mechanical hand."
Wordlessly, Mellanor pulled free one of the leather gardening gloves tucked into his belt and offered it.
Nat's response was an even deeper sigh than before and the forlorn stare at the ceiling was even more pronounced and longer in duration. But she eventually took the offered glove and slid it over her right hand. Each actor selected a mask - Nat the sun and moon, Jenk the silver dragon, and Squiddly the stag horned one.
"We could use a little more light," the tiefling boy said, staring accusingly up at the chandelier with mostly unlit, burnt out, wax stubs instead of candles.
Aleina raised her hand and cast a light spell on the hanging fixture, adding a pale white glow to its flickering radiance. This brought smiles and claps of gratitude from the actors. The boys then walked off the wool red and gold throw rug while Nat took the center, and the play began. Her face took on a solemn, serious mien, and she started signing. This went on for several moments with no translation, which was long enough for the audience to exchange glances of confusion. The deaf girl finally looked to her companions and stamped her foot.
"We can't understand you with that glove on," Jenks said, fingers flying as he spoke.
Considering the glove was many sizes too large for her, this wasn't really a surprise.
Nat pursed her lips in frustration, but took off the glove, tucked in a pocket, and started signing again.
"Imagine, if you will," the tiefling boy translated, voice deep and sonorous. "A tower in the Trades Ward. Once a wizard's laboratory and study, but now long abandoned and for sale. The Ragamuffins found a secret door on the roof and sometimes entered to take their ease in the rafters."
She moved off the carpet to allow the unmasked Jenks and Squiddy to take their places. They moved across the 'stage' in a shuffling circular pattern, implying the center contained some sort of hole, leapt up on the sofa and laid down on their back, hands behind their heads and staring up at the ceiling.
From off the throw rug, Nat started signing.
"Suddenly, light shone from the diagram on the floor of the tower below," the tiefling boy said in the same voice as before.
Both boys flipped onto their bellies and peered downward, faces expressing surprise and fright. Then they hopped off the sofa and walked to the center of the throw rug.
"I am no longer Jenks," the brown skinned boy said, putting on his silver dragon half-mask. "Imagine I just appeared, I'm wearing crimson robes, and this is a golden mask with a devil's face."
"And I'm a lady in crimson robes and a devil's mask," Squiddly said.
He donned his motley mask with blue antlers. His own horns made the fit very poor and he had to adjust it several times before he could see. Then he looped his arm with Jenks and stood with his other hand on his hip in a feminine manner.
"They had to wait for a bit," the tiefling said, tapping a foot as if in impatience.
With that, Nat stepped onto the carpet, her sun and moon mask in place.
"She is playing the man we saw in dark robes who wore a black metal mask with a mechanical hand," Jenks said. "He appeared in the circle on the tower floor after the first two."
The deaf girl stood straight and tall and gestured towards her fellow actors with her gloved hand.
"I've come as requested," Squiggly intoned in a deep voice that somehow still sounded childlike. "What did you need to discuss that we couldn't do through our intermediaries?"
"Have you made any progress towards finding the stone?" Jenks asked.
Unlike his friend, he spoke naturally, not changing his voice for his role. Jhelnae decided she sort of preferred it that way.
"My agents still search for the deep gnome," the tiefling said, but the hand motions made by Nat made it clear that her character was the speaker. "As I'm sure yours do as well. I told you I would let you know when we find him or learn something new."
"Just as you told us when you sent agents to recover it from the Xanathar?" Squiddly asked.
But his voice was different, higher pitched, an impression of a feline speaker.
"We've been over this before," the tiefling again spoke, but this time with the male voice with Nat making gestures as if talking. "I did not know the Xanathar possessed the stone when the gnome stole it. I sought an alliance with the beholder's network instead my representatives were accused as thieves and killed, and I got dragged into a costly gang war. A war I am committed to waging as I cannot mollify the Xanathar with promises to return the stone if I find it because I promised Neverember's embezzled treasure cache to you."
"Of course we trust you to give the stone to us as promised," Jenks said, giving a comforting pat on Squiddly's hand. "Forgive us for our fretting. But I must remind you - we have a deadline."
"Founder's Day," the tiefling said in his male character's voice while Nat in the half sun half moon and stars mask nodded. "I remember. See you remember your promises once you are Open Lord."
The dark-haired girl moved her hands in gestures reminiscent of spell casting then ran off the carpet.
"The man in the black mask just disappeared," Jenks whispered from behind his silver dragon mask.
"Can we trust him?" Squiddly said in the voice of his female character.
"We most certainly cannot," Jenks said, no longer whispering and back in his role. "But we need him to take care of Silverhand and the Blackstaff for us."
"You think he can?" the tiefling asked.
"His name is one of the few names more storied in magic than even Silverhand or the Blackstaff," Jenks said. "The question is not whether he can take care of them, but how to be rid of him after he does. Thankfully, he himself provided us with the means. He wants us to help him usurp the Mad Mage of Undermountain once I am the Open Lord? Very well, we will help. Hopefully, Blackcloak will destroy him for us."
The way the boy voiced the word help made it clear the opposite was intended.
"We need to find that stone," Squiddly said in his female voice, tone distraught. "We can't lose…wait! Did you hear something?"
Both masked faces, the motley colored one with antlers and the silver dragon one, looked upward. The children held the pose for a moment, then Nat joined them on the carpet. Together they removed their masks and bowed low.
It wasn't until Mellanor started clapping that Jhelnae realized what was expected. She and the others joined in while the children repeated their bows a few more times.
"You know," Lady Jeryth said. "I am glad you acted it out. I actually understood the sequence of events better than when you just told us earlier. Now, this is important, children. Did any of the three let a name slip?"
All three urchins looked thoughtful, Nat after a signed translation of the request, then shook their heads.
"What happened after they looked up and saw you?" Aleina asked.
"The woman tried to kill us!" the tiefling said in his non-acting voice. "After she got over her surprise at seeing us, she cast a bunch of glowing darts!"
"But we were already on our way out," Jenks said. "We'd kept the secret door to the roof propped open, just in case someone caught us up there and we had to run away quickly."
"That must have been terrifying," the aasimar said. "I'm sorry this all has happened to you."
"Why the masks?" Jhelnae asked.
"Umm… they're props," the tiefling boy said. "Like we told you."
"No, I mean why did they wear the masks?" the half-drow said. "The gold ones with the devil faces and the black metal one."
"Anonymity," Lady Jeryth said. "Everything has been set up for secrecy. The use of a teleportation circle to an abandoned tower, thought secure, so no one would see them coming and going. But the masks during the meeting tell me the conspirators might not even have revealed their identities to each other."
"The gold masks with the crimson robes knew who the other was," Fargas said. "They said his name was even more storied in magic than even Laeral Silverhand. So, someone famous. Who could that be?"
Moments of silence passed as everyone thought.
"The name Elminster comes to mind of course," the Chosen of Mielikki said after a time, "But as he raised Laeral, that makes no sense. Otherwise, I would say Halaster Blackcloak, the Mad Mage, but based on the conversation it clearly is not him."
"Whatever they are planning," Jhelnae said. "It isn't anything good for the Open Lord or the… Blackstaff?"
"Basically, the official wizard of the city," Lady Jeryth said. "As well as the wielder of said staff."
"Well, whoever he is," Fargas said. "Someone better warn him and the Open Lord that there is a plot against them."
"Her," the disembodied mistress of the house said. "The current Blackstaff, Vajra Safahr, is a woman. And they will be warned, but when and where is there not an ongoing plot against the ruler of the city and its chief wizard?"
"Never and nowhere?" Aleina guessed.
"Never and nowhere," Lady Jeryth agreed. "Whoever they are, the gold masks and crimson robes indicate they are members of the cult of Asmodeus. Which fits with the imps who killed the poor pigeon who held my consciousness during the street chase."
"We ran into one of those creatures before," Jhelnae said. Remember, Aleina. In the City of the Dead. It was attacking that…"
She trailed off and shared a look of surprised realization with the aasimar.
"Deep gnome," they both said together.
"You children mentioned a gnome in the play, didn't you?" Fargas asked.
"The one in the black mask said a gnome stole something from the Xanathar," the tiefling boy said.
"I think it might have been the same gnome we saw in the City of the Dead," Aleina said. "An imp was attacking him, but Jhelnae and I chased it off. Instead of thanking us, the gnome gave us a suspicious look, and ran off."
Her voice was excited, eyes bright with intensity. Jhelnae could relate. At the moment, as an experience she'd thought a random occurrence of her past snapped into a greater unknown whole, she understood why Sky loved to unravel mysteries. The feeling was exhilarating, not that she'd ever admit that to the tabaxi.
"Ran off without so much as a thank you," the half-drow confirmed, nodding.
"So, what happened after?" the aasimar asked. "They saw you, she cast glowing darts at you, but you were already on your way out. Then what? Somehow you ended up captured by the wererat gang."
"Dasher is the one who can provide that information," Lady Jeryth said.
The young halfling winced, obviously not missing the disapproval in the tone of their host. He'd been sitting, silent, just listening, probably hoping to be forgotten.
"The Shard Shunners were hired to find three urchins," Dasher said. "A young tiefling, a young brown skinned boy, and a dark-haired girl. Three jackets had been left behind at the tower provided your scent, but even with that, you weren't easy to find. They'd been looking for you even before I joined them. Waterdeep is a big city, and you know the sewers well. But the clients paid well and, as fast as you all are in those sewers, you still aren't as fast as a group of wererats."
"We didn't even know they were looking for us," Jenks said. "Otherwise, they'd never have caught us."
He and Squiddly kept a running translation in sign during the conversation, and Nat chose to break in with a series of hand gestures and an emphatic shake of the head.
"Never ever, she says," Squiddly relayed.
"Now that you know someone is hunting you," Aleina said. "You should stay somewhere safe. You can come with us, and we can set up space for you in the Trollskull."
"We better make sure to lock everything valuable up," Jhelnae muttered.
The boys even chose to translate this partway joking aside, which earned a stuck-out tongue towards the half-drow from the dark-haired girl.
"Yeah, Aleina," Fargas said. "Great idea. Hey, we lost those three children we were chasing. They were last seen with the Runaway Aasimar bride. Do you think we should look for them where she lives? No, why would we do that? That makes too much sense and is too obvious."
"Well, the streets obviously aren't safe for them either," Aleina said, throwing up her hands. "You heard Dasher, they were planning on interrogating those kids and murdering them!"
"It is true," the young halfling said. "I might have fallen on hard times, become a drunk, racked up gambling debts, and stolen from my family. But once I heard the group sent to pay us and fetch the children asking if we had a way to dispose of the bodies in the sewer I slipped out and set them free. I haven't fallen that far."
"They can stay here," Lady Jeryth said. "Anyone who comes here looking for them will find that here, in Phaulkonmere, I can do far more than take over the consciousness of animals. Far more. Anyone who comes on these grounds, or this house, looking for trouble, will find their share of it."
Mellanor, who had been sitting with his normal stoic expression, looked up in surprise.
"The manor is a mausoleum, Mel," the Chosen of Mielikki said. "I have the few house staff here keep it exactly the same as when my family lived here. Even my room, bed all made, closet all stuffed with dusty clothes, and I don't even have a body anymore. It is time for a change."
The half-elf groundskeeper cocked his head to one side, considering, then nodded.
"Children," the disembodied voice of Lady Jeryth said. "They say every rose has its thorns. But that is not entirely true. Have you ever had sweet cakes with a frosted rose decorated on top? No thorns. Would you like to try some for tea tomorrow? I'll send Mel to fetch some from a bakery I know if you do."
The urchins all looked at each other in surprise for a moment, then nodded vigorously.
"Then that is what we shall do," their host said. "But another question remains. Why Dasher? Why did you raid your family's accounts? And then, after they realized something was wrong and cut you off, why did you run from Mellanor when I sent him to ask after you, or ignore the further summons I sent by animal messenger?"
The young halfling heaved a heavy sigh. When they had first seen him, he'd been running out of the hostel, away from his former gang. Following that, there had always been other distractions. More running, the events at the Jade Dancer, the play put on by the children. But now that he was the center of focus, Jhelnae had a chance to really study him. He looked terrible - hair matted, cheeks sunken, skin sallow, and well-made clothes disheveled and smudged.
"Shame," he finally said, shrugging. "Embarrassment. The family trusted me with those accounts, and I broke that trust. All to impress a half-elf girl who was obviously using me to get at my family's money."
"You were played," Fargas said, voice understanding. "Your parents didn't warn you about big people who will take advantage of us like that?"
"Of course they did!" Dasher said, striking both knees with his fists. "I knew it even as it was happening. But she was so beautiful, red hair, emerald eyes of green, smooth golden skin, and…"
He trailed off and looked up at Jhelnae and Aleina uncomfortably and then gave a knowing look towards Fargas, who nodded.
"The best features of human and elven mixed. I'd have given anything she wanted to stay in her company," he said. "Gave her everything she wanted. And what she wanted were endless rounds of drinking, drugs, and gambling in the seediest of festhalls. The sad thing is I'd probably fall for it all again if I saw her again."
"She disappeared on you," Fargas said. "The moment you no longer had access to the accounts."
"The moment I was destitute and had nowhere to turn but eventually, after begging on the streets for a ten day, the Shard Shunners," Dasher confirmed.
"It almost sounds like someone was trying to discredit you," Aleina said. She continued when all eyes turned to her. "My family was too poor to participate in Baldur's Gate anymore, but the older generations still talked politics anyway. One of the oldest political ploys to take out a political rival, as I understand it, was to hire a temptress to get them to do something very foolish. Blackmail or a fall in public opinion follows."
"Well, no one has tried to blackmail me," the young halfling said. "Not that they could, since my indiscretions were not secret or hidden. And I don't have any political aspirations."
"How about someone who wanted to discredit you in the family?" Fargas asked. "A younger brother or cousin who wanted your position?"
Dasher immediately shook his head
"My family is not like that," he said. "The simplest explanation fits. She wanted to use me for money and I'm an idiot."
"You've been to Waterdeep on business before," Lady Jeryth said. "Strange you would have attracted the attention of such a character this time. Anything unusual about this trip?"
Again, the young halfling shook his head.
"Nothing," he said. "I managed the mead deliveries, ordered supplies, met with our bankers…"
He hesitated.
"There was something bizarre, but I can't see how it relates," Dasher said. "Our bankers are the Cassalanters and, long before my trip, I was walking through the orchards, and I actually saw the Dryad of Vanderwood. Beautiful, amazing creature. She had a strange request for me after finding out I sometimes went to Waterdeep. She asked me to ask about the eldest Cassalnter son because some archfey Feywild had been receiving the strangest snatches of dreams from him."
"Let me make sure I understand this," Fargas said. "You met a beautiful dryad who asked you to check on the dreams of the son of your banker at the request of an archfey?"
The young halfling nodded.
"So, you've been known to use quite potent drugs even before the mysterious, red-haired, half-elf woman seduced you?" the older halfling said.
Dasher actually smiled.
"You sound like my family," he said. "But no, I was not on drugs at that time, I swear it happened just as I am telling you."
"It is not as crazy as it seems," Lady Jeryth said. "There is a history here unknown to those of you not from Waterdeep. On his first hunting trip in the Ardeep, the eldest Cassalanter boy was lost. He was very young and not part of the main hunting party, only part of the group that awaits the hunters at the outskirts. It was big news at the time. Search parties were sent, but the boy was not found. A sad tale and naturally his mother and father fell into a deep despair and their financial empire started crumbling around them. But this tale has a happy ending, because years later the boy wandered out of the local Vanderwood, the same age as when he had left and unharmed. Since then, the Cassalanter fortunes have reversed, and they are once more pillars of Waterdhavian society. Dasher, did you actually ask after Oswaldo with Victorio?"
"I almost forgot," the young halfing said. "But I actually did. Victorio thanked me for asking and told me his son was studying in Tethyr with the Dezlentyr side of the family. He found my story about the dryad appropriately bizarre and amusing."
Aleina's brow furrowed and Jhelnae could tell she was thinking hard. But she finally shook her head.
"That is all very strange," she said. "But you are right, none of that would be a reason to hire someone to discredit you. I mean your story about the dryad is enough to discredit you. The simple explanation does fit, the red-haired half-elf must have just been using you for money."
"And she found just the halfling idiot stupid enough to get what she wanted," Dasher said, looking at the ground and heaving another sigh.
Note, those of you who know the module will see I'm trying to link in hints of the villains and tie side quests back to them (and also changing pre-adventure events to accommodate). It is quite easy, as written, to have virtually zero interaction with the villain until the very end where they (or their agents) show up to stop you in a 'ha ha ha, I'm the final boss' moment. This happened in our play through and because we had Laeral Silverhand with us (if you can convince her you know were 500,000 gold dragons are, she will come as a party member, according to rules as written) the villain, Jarlaxle, immediately cut his losses and ran away (this is also rules as written, so my DM was playing it straight).
While this is fine, I was a bit dissatisfied we had zero interaction with our antagonist the entire adventure up until the end. So I'm trying to steer this narrative a little differently. The thing is, of course, you have to set it all up. Which can ruin the pacing...which might be exactly what this chapter does. Let me know if it is a drag.