Local 509's Return to Waterdeep

Relaxed and more than a little tired after their wonderful stay at the Blushing Mermaid Inn, the core of the famous adventurers Local 509 returned to the secluded cul-de-sac called The Cliffride and once more viewed the villa they had rented for the duration of the festival. It really was a beautiful place! With it's back against the city wall and the balcony stretching over the wall and the cliff beyond, the three story building was a mansion. It was made of the local stone that so much of the city was built from; rough gray granite. The blocks of stone were fine mortared and much effort had been spent placing the stones to their best visual advantage. The lit candles visible through the many windows seemed to call them through large carved wooden front door.

As they reached for the large brass knob in the center of the right door, it opened and revealed a middle aged man in black livery.

"Good evening masters and mistresses. I am your butler, Titus. I have been engaged by the owners of this villa to ensure that your stay here is a pleasant and comfortable as it can possibly be. Please enter. I have prepared a slight snack and drink for your return."

"So you're the butler?" asked Stallen as he and the rest of the group walked into the entry hall. "Is there an extra charge for your service?"

"No sir. As I say, I have been engaged by the owners at their expense. Any additional staff you might desire will be at your own cost, but I come with the villa so to speak."

"Crimemany, look at this place!" exclaimed Ox as he walked in. His eyes were as big as saucers as they tried to see every part of the large room.

And well he might exclaim. The room was very large, beautifully furnished and tastefully decorated. A cheery fire was burning in the fireplace which despite the warm summer weather was welcome as the building seemed cold inside. No doubt this was because of it's disuse. Several door could be seen leading off to different parts of the building.

The party shrugged off their packs and placed them on the flagstone floor near a granite wall and proceeded further into the room. A large fine carpet covered the center of the room lying under the graceful wrought iron chandelier whose many candles lit the room brightly.

"Would you care to dine first or would you rather explore?" asked Titus.

Looking around him for ascent, Stallen said "We just finished a rather large meal, so I think we would like to see the place first."

"Of course sir. Would you like me to guide you, or would you rather discover the house for yourself?"

"Oh, please show us around" said Galranwyn. "I'm sure we will learn more from you as our guide than we could find out for ourselves."

"As you wish Milady." He seemed pleased that he was being allowed to give them the tour.

As he showed them room after room, they began to realize the magnitude of the mansion they had rented. It was very large, and it seemed that one wonder after another awaited them in every room. It would take far to long to describe it to you, and I am afraid my descriptive skill would be too paltry to do it justice. Instead I will simply sum up by listing the rooms they viewed.

There were two dining rooms, one formal with great tables and one casual with smaller round tables. The kitchen was off the casual dining room. There were two living rooms, one large and grand enough to be a ball room and the other cunningly decorated to be intimate and casual despite it's great size. The second floor was less expensively furnished, and the rooms were designed to be used mostly for servants and guards. They were gratified that even this area had a relaxing common room with two fireplaces that had a panel that could be opened into each of the two bedrooms that could be used by a single guest. Even in the "barracks rooms" as Titus called them were furnished with a comfortable bed and occasional furnishings.

The top floors were obviously for the primary occupants use. Each one had it's own charms and seemed to have been designed to attract different guests. The most stunning room was the "SeaView" room. It was a large room with doors onto several bedrooms and the top floor common area. The outer wall was made of wrought iron and hundreds of panes of leaded glass, slightly purpled with age that looked out onto the sea that crashed against the cliffs beneath them. Beyond the matching French doors was a spacious balcony that stretched out over the city wall and allowed one to look down at the surging water some 80' below.

Their heads fairly reeling with the sumptuous rooms they had been shown, everyone discovered they had a thirst after all and so they repaired to the casual dining room on the first floor. Once they realized the magnitude of the building, they decided after little conversation (unusual for them) that additional servants would be needed. With Titus's help they decided on a Chef, an assistant cook willing to do some moderate lifting if needed and two wash women to make the beds and baths and do the cleaning up.

Who would sleep in what room was not so easily determined, but at last everyone knew where they would be staying. By this time, it was late in the evening and they were still feeling decidedly mellow after their massages and baths at the inn, so they grabbed their back packs and most went upstairs to enjoy a deep and healing sleep.

Pisheo, Victorex and some of the others however had their followers to think of. Pisheo went to the balcony and spread her cloak over her arms, changing into the shape of a bat and flew off. Victorex and Galranwyn used their magic to instantly transport themselves to the secluded valley in the Rat Hills where the followers were billeted.

Their was much rejoicing when the leaders described the villa they had rented and told them that they would all have an opportunity to have an extended stay their at no expense. After explaining how to get to the villa from the hills, some of the leaders made their way to their bedrolls and got what sleep they could. Others returned to spend the night in the villa. The delighted conversations regarding their plans for the stay in Waterdeep kept the happy followers up for much of the night.

-----

The villa dwellers were awakened late the next morning by a dulcet toned chime played outside the door by Titus. He then would say "Breakfast is served if it please you" as he passed from one bedroom to the next. Everyone seemed to be anxiously awaiting their first full day in Waterdeep, so they all rose and quickly performed their morning ablutions.

Anticipating a day in the city, they were all dressed in their finest "going out" clothes when they came down stairs. What a change this was! The grim armor and weapons of a band of war had been exchanged for colorful and comely clothing. As each person entered the casual dining room where a fine breakfast had been set, the others complemented them on their appearance. A feeling of excitement rose among them.

"So, what's on the list today?" asked Ember through a mouth full of bacon.

"Shopping!" shouted several of the diners.

"Shopping, right, but who knows the city best here?" asked Victorex.

Pisheo spoke up first saying "there is a guy in my group that will get here about mid-day that is an expert in the city. He was born and raised here and has experience ... well, lets just say he knows even places that are very obscure."

"That suits me" said Victorex. "Even though I have been here many times, it is so big I feel I have hardly touched the surface of what it has to offer". This sentiment was echoed by many others, so they decided to have a second helping of the fine food.

As they were waiting for it's preparation, Titus entered bringing with him the servants whom he introduced. The most noteworthy was the Chef named Borit who (although an excellent cook as the breakfast attested) seemed less that obsequious.

They spent the morning discussing what kinds of things they would like to buy and what order they should visit the shops in. It was very nice to sit and sop up the last of the huge breakfast talking about all the things they would find in the greatest city on the Sword Coast.

Soon after mid-day, there was a knock at the main door which Titus answered. Then, there was pandemonium. The followers who had drawn the first stay had arrived. They spread, plague-like through the mansion, investigating and exclaiming over every room. Fortunately, there was only one fist-fight over the beds they would occupy, as feelings and anticipation were running high. The leaders gave simple orders to their sub-alterns; instructing them to get the folks comfortable in their rooms, and to help out the servants in anyway they could.

Pisheo hunted up Jasper, the one who best knew Waterdeep and asked him to follower her to the dining room. After learning their intentions, he seemed very happy to be accompanying them on their city excursion. With a cheerful cry of "To Waterdeep!" he led them out of the villa and into the warm summer sun which shined benevolently down on the great city.

Taking their time, (they had decided this time they would see the city "the slow way") they made their way along the cliff under Waterdeep Mountain. The eyes of the giant stone Walking Statue seemed to follow them as they walked. Their path took them past the tower of Blackstaff Arunson the Known Lord of Waterdeep and the beautiful Waterdeep Palace. The streets crowded with people going about their tasks. The traffic seemed worse than they remembered from their last trip and they wondered about this until Jasper said "It always gets like this at festival time".

They wound their way through the swiftly moving throng toward the area that Jasper said was were the best shops were located. They saw many places of interest on the way, and several of the party made mental notes to return when time and the desires of the rest of the group allowed. They arrived at a spot where the brightly painted signs of business seemed to hang from every eve. Jasper led them to a store named "Halamber's Lutes and Harps". Although this was not their original planned destination, Stallen and Katrina were adamant about entering as they remembered the remarkable quality of the instruments he produced. As Katrina and Stallen inspected the beautiful instruments, Galranwyn took out a pen and ink from her magical bag and inscribed small pieces of parchment with
"Deliveries and Information Regarding items of an Unusual Nature should be made to Villa Stormwatch. The Local 509". These they used to have their purchases delivered and the coins for them produced.

After making several purchases, they continued to the "Halls of Hilmer" where they found fine a fine ax for Ox who was almost unbearably excited about getting such a fine weapon. The others arraigned to have new plate armor made for themselves as all agreed that Hilmer was an artist in armorsmithing. They next visited the store of Philanter who sold them ingredients for casting spells, inks of an exotic nature and several magical potions.

The whole time they had been shopping at the various stores, Victorex with his usual focused nature kept repeating as if it were a religious mantra "When are we going to Balthor's?" The others tired quickly of this and instructed Jasper to lead them to this strange and eclectic shop.

They found the places exactly as they remembered it: dirty, disorganized and amazing. They were met at the door by a pair of girl twins who looked about 12 years old and spoke in close unison. The twins welcomed them to the store, and upon learning that they were the Local 509, quickly summoned the rotund Balthor who led them to the curtained area in the rear where patrons of importance were entertained.

Blathor showed them wonder upon wonder instructing an assistant to produce items on satin pillows for their inspection and purchase. Jasper's eyes got wider and wider as he saw the strange and peculiar items Balthor brought forth, and a stunned expression crept onto his face as the party almost casually agreed to pay sums for these items that would keep a man like him in luxury for the rest of his days.

When they price of the last item had been agreed upon and Balthor had promised delivery of everything on the day following, they went back out into the crowded streets again. By this time it was well past mid-day and despite broad hints from Jasper, they were to excited to eat. They asked Jasper if he knew of a place where items such as those found at Balthors could be found. He took them to a small shop, well off the fashionable streets in the dock ward to a rickety building that had a battered sign reading "Old Xoblob's" over the door.

Xoblob turned out to be named Dandulus. He was helped out in the shop by his wife Arathka and an assistant named Hlondaglus. The building was two stories high and seemed almost ready to come down at any moment as little time had been spent keeping it standing. Dandulus showed them many items, but one interested Stallen to the exclusion of all else. This was because Dandulus had a Ring of Efreete Control.

Long ago, in the desert of Seker Jon Keel had found a bottle. Using his ability to discover hidden information about such items, he had determined that an Efreete had been imprisoned in that bottle some 1237 years before. He had always wondered about the being contained in the bottle, and thought this would be his best chance at liberating the jinn without endangering himself. His researches had discovered that the Efreete were a dangerously unpredictable race which is why they had been imprisoned in the first place. He knew that some of them would grant wishes upon release from their long imprisonment, while others would turn on their liberators and kill them instantly!

Fervently wishing to avoid the latter fate while perhaps enjoying the former, he made an arraignment with Dandulus after much negotiations. Now Dandulus had also heard of Efreets and was also very interested when he heard that Jon Keel had an imprisoned one is his possession. Now, Jon Keel did not want to buy the ring which was very expensive and well beyond his current finances, so he offered Dandulus two thousand gold pieces to wear the ring and protect Jon Keel. They thought that if the Efreete was benevolent, there would be no problem and Dandulus would have earned his gold in a few brief moments for no effort at all. While if the being proved to be malevolent, Jon Keel would be protected as Dandulus would use the ring to control the Efreet. Confidant that all eventualities were covered, Jon Keel carefully cut away the lead with which the bottle had been sealed and pulled the cork from the bottle.

With a loud roar like the sound of a great forge in operation, a huge blue flame spouted from the top of the bottle. Jon Keel dropped it quickly. He and Dandulus watched as the flame grew larger and larger. Dandulus cried out when the flame began to envelope the ceiling! In a moment, the flame had burned a hole in the ceiling and in the roof of the building some 20' overhead. Scattered fires were set as debris from the upper floors dropped to the wooden floor and counters of goods. And then standing before them was a creature made of blue flame in the shape of a man. His head rose well up over the hole burned in the roof and looked down at the small humans under him.

In a voice made of living flame he said "WHO HAS LOOSED ME FROM MY FOUL IMPRISONMENT?"

Jon Keel after glancing at Dandulus to make sure he was still ready with the ring raised a tentative hand and said "I did".

The being of fire fixed him with eyes of flame and said "FOR 500 YEARS I SWORE THAT HE WHO OPENED MY BOTTLE SHOULD BE GRANTED 3 WISHES IN GRATITUDE. BUT STILL I WAS IMPRISONED. IN MY BITTERNESS, I THEN VOWED THAT 2 WISHES WERE GOOD ENOUGH FOR ONE WHO HAD TAKE SO LONG TO FREE ME. AND STILL IN THE BOTTLE I REMAINED. FOR ANOTHER 500 YEARS I ATE THE BITTER FRUIT OF DURANCE VILE AND VOWED THAT ONLY A SINGLE WISH WOULD BE SUFFICIENT TO ONE SO TARDY. FOR ANOTHER 200 YEARS I WAITED FOR THIS DAY. SPEAK NOW THY WISH AND I SHALL FLY THENCE TO FREEDOM INSHALLAH!"

In a voice trembling with emotion (and perhaps fear?) Jon Keel said "I wish that I be given the natural ability of Body Control permanently".

"AS COMMANDS MY MASTER, SO SHALL I OBEY."

With that, the Efreet reached down to Jon and took his head in his fiery hands. Jon Keel screamed and all his limbs twitched frantically like one possessed of a demon. It seemed that all of his large limbs would break like dried twigs so violently did they flail about. Dandulus and the rest of the group looked on hopelessly as Jon wailed in agony. The wife of Dandulus did her best to put out the flames with what water was handy, but their assistant was much more effective as he used spells to control the many fires that had sprung up around the room.

In a few moments, the Efreete let Jon Keel go. The giant lay sprawled on the floor, unconscious, looking like a singed rag doll. In his furnace voice the Efreet said "I AM FREE, FREE AT LAST!" and with a final evil sounding laugh, flew up into the night sky and quickly disappeared.

Released from their fascination, the members of Local 509 sprang into action. Some bent to inspect the injuries of Jon Keel while others helped Dandulus and his helpers to douse the remaining fires. Although they were all choking with the smoke and stunned with the suddenness of the disaster, they soon had the fires put out and were able to more calmly inspect the damage.

Through the thinning smoke, they could see a huge hole in the 2nd floor and an equally large one through the roof. Many of the shop's wares had been burned or damaged by the smoke and Dandulus looked about him with a stunned expression. His wife, wailing, ran from counter to counter trying to find the undamaged goods. The assistant leaned against the wall, exhausted by fear and the rapid casting of many spells. The bedraggled head of Jasper popped up from under a heap of pots and pans where he had taken refuge. He looked stunned.

After a lengthy inspection, Galranwyn rose up from Jon Keel's comatose form and said "He isn't burned thank the gods, and seems to be simply unconscious as if in a deep sleep. I can't wake him through. Other than that he look all right, but I'll bet he aches mightily when he wakes up."

"I wonder what that body control thing is he asked for" said Timber.

"We'll have to ask him when he wakes up" said Stallen. "I have no idea."

"How are we going to get him home?" wondered Pisheo. "I'm not going to carry him. He's too damned big!"

"I'll take care of that" replied Galranwyn. "I will shrink him so I can carry him, then use my Teleport spell to return to the villa."

All agreed that this would be the best thing to do, but before they could put the plan into action, there came a loud pounding at the door.

"Open up in the name of the City Guard!" a loud voice demanded.

Dandulus groaned "What now I wonder" and hurried to open the door.

Outside they could see six longswordsmen with their weapons drawn and beyond them in the street, a large crowd which had gathered at the sight of the huge being of flame that had suddenly appeared. Shouts of "Careful, he might still be in there" and "don't let it get out!" could be heard.

The officer of the guard strode into the room and took the situation in at a glance. He turned to Dandulus and said "What's been going on here?" in a voice filled with menace.

Dandulus did his best to placate the guard, telling him it was an accident with an experiment that had gone awry. Continuing, he told the guard that there was no need for alarm and apologized for the inconvenience. After a series of questions from the guard officer about the details of the event and repeated assurances from Dandulus that all was in order, the guards relaxed. The officer warned them all that such disturbances of the peace would not be tolerated in the future and that it was only the high standing of Dandulus in the city that prevented him from taking them all to the Magisters. For once, Local 509 were silent and respectful. With a final warning look, the guards left the shop and began to disperse the large crowd gathered outside with the traditional statements "Nothing to see here, it's all over. Move along!" and soon, the street was cleared of all but the most curious.

"Whew" sighed Dandulus "I thought we were in serious trouble there. Thank the gods it festival time. They tend to be a bit more lenient then." Turning to say something to his wife, Dandulus winced when he caught her heated gaze.

"Be glad the guard let you off easily" she said "you won't be so lucky when I get you alone." She turned to the others in the shop and in a sarcastic voice said "If you feel that you've done enough damage to my shop, I would like you to find somewhere else to play."

Looking more than a little sheepish and with many an apology, they began to make their way to the door. Galranwyn cast her shrink spell on Jon Keel. As she picked up the now doll sized giant, she paused and looked at him carefully.

"He's stopped breathing!" she said with alarm. She put his tiny chest up to her ear and waited. "His heart is only beating about 4 times per minute too. I wonder that the Efreet didn't do something nasty after all." But after several minutes of close inspection, she determined that he was all right even though his bodily functions had been vastly slowed.

"He's all right as far as I can see. We'll just have to see what he is like in the morning." and with a "POP" of evacuated air disappeared back to their villa. Arriving in an instant in her room there, Galranwyn carried the still sleeping diminutive form of Jon Keel to the huge bed that was his in the main bedroom. She propped him up against the pillow, and hurried down the stairs and out the door to return to Xoblobs shop where her friends were waiting.

Meanwhile, Local 509 had walked out to the street to wait for Galranwyn's return.

"Funny" said Timber "the damage doesn't look so bad from out here."

"What were they thinking?" said Pisheo. "Didn't they know that something like that would happen?"

"Do you think it would have made a difference to Jon Keel even if he did?" asked Victorex. "He'd have done it anyway."

"I need a drink" rumbled Krom. "Lets find a bar as soon as possible".

"I second that thought" said Jasper in a shaky voice. "The Unicorn's Horn is just up this street."

They all agreed. Then standing outside they talked for a while about the Efreet and wondered what the long range effects of the encounter would be for Jon Keel until Galranwyn (a bit winded) rushed up to rejoin them. Together they left the still smoking building and the shrill voice of the women of the house behind and sought solace in the strongest drinks the Unicorn's Horn had to offer.

Back at the villa, Jon Keel awoke from his sleep and opened his eyes. There was something funny about the room he found himself in. It seemed vastly bigger than it had the last time he was in it. Looking down at the bed he screamed! He saw himself as a tiny doll in an enormous bed.

"That traitorous Efreet has shrunk me" he cried. "This is not Body Control at all, he has swindled me out of my wish!" The rest of this monolog must be left unwritten in consideration of the easily shocked. Suffice it to say that the stream of invective flowed unhindered for at least 10 minutes without interruption or repetition until the effects of Galranwyn's spell wore off and he regained his old size. While this left Jon Keel considerably puzzled, he accepted his return to normal with relief.

When they had recovered some sense of ease, they made their way back to the villa.

There, they spent an unquiet night with their dreams which were filled with fires and giants.
--------

The next morning, they awoke again to the sounds of Titus and his chimes ringing them to breakfast. They were all much relieved to find Jon Keel himself once more. Despite repeated question regarding the effect of the Efreet's wish, Jon did little to enlighten them. This was no surprise as Jon was a great one for secrets.

Totaling their expenses from the previous day they agreed that the first item of business was to exchange their hoard of gems for ready coin. They consulted with Jasper who agreed that the best place to start would be the gem merchant named Olhaziem with whom they had dealt with before.

As they were getting ready to leave, there was a knock at their door that turned out to be members of the City Watch. They asked to meet the members of Local 509 so that they could identify them so in the future they would know that they belonged in the villa. The Watch were brought into the casual dining room and fed a quick breakfast which they enjoyed very much. They left thanking the party for their hospitality and promising promptness in the event of any trouble at the villa. As soon as the Watch had left, the group elected to take care of the gems set out for Olhazim's.

Once inside the building with the facade shaped like a cut gem, they were taken back to the examination room by an appraiser named Otto. However, once he had a look at the number and size of the gems, Otto quickly called in Olhazim himself. Olhazim became very excited upon seeing all that was in the gem hoard and decided to call in reinforcements. He had Otto go to the Gem Cutters guild and find someone who would help in the appraisal of the gems. Otto soon returned with a Guild leader by the name of Jahasek in tow. Jahasek and Olhazim did a very quick estimate of the value of the gems, and of the time it would take to do a proper tally of their true value.

After a quick consultation together, they decided to an set up an account for local 509 at the Coin Changers. The gem merchants already had a large sum deposited there. They drew up papers that would place a clerk from the Coin Changers at the disposal of Local 509. His job would be to issue papers allowing anyone who had sold something to them to get their money from the money changers. This would enable the party to continue to make purchases and pay their bills without a complete accounting of the gems value. The appraisers said it would be at least two and maybe three days to complete that task. The party agreed to this, and papers were drawn up allowing Local 509 to draw on an amount of 350,00gp! After making some purchases at Olhazim's, the group selling the gems returned home.

While they were gone, the previous days purchases had begun to arrive. In fact, a steady stream of people began knocking at the door of Stormwatch. Pisheo had a visitor, the representative of the Coin Changers arrived with his papers, seals and a portable desk, and many merchants. It was well past mid-day that a visitor arrived asking for Galranwyn. He requested a private conversation with her, which got the rest of the group curious.

After the visitor had left, Galranwyn gathered them all together and told them that Xoblob (Dandulus) had filed a petition with the mage's guild against her to get money from the damage caused by the Efreete the night before. The sum of 2500gp was mentioned. Not wishing any trouble from the shopkeeper, they decided to visit him and make sure all was correct and pay him off.

When they arrived at Xobolbs, they saw the shop was closed, but tables had been set up in the street with hastily erected banners proclaiming the first ever "fire sale". Dandulus's wife was taking care of the customers that had come hoping for bargains. Explaining that they wished to speak to Dandulus about paying for the damages, they were allowed into the closed shop. Dandulus greeted them in a guarded fashion, but upon hearing they intended to pay him on the spot his attitude changed somewhat. He agreed to show them some items they had not seen on the night before. The party wanted to purchase many of them and so a deal was struck which included money for damages in the bill for the items they purchased. Some of the party members also agreed to lend a hand in the rebuilding by casting spells to speed the work along. They parted from Dandulus in the most amiable way, promising to see him tomorrow to begin helping.

While the group who went out was occupied at Xoblob's, those who stayed admitted a good looking gentleman from the tailors guild who had come at the request of Titus to measure them and take their clothing orders. He was working with those who stayed behind when the party who went to Xoblobs returned. As they entered Stormwatch, they saw a great load of boxes and crates and barrels lined up against the wall of the entry hall. These were quickly broken open and everyone had a very enjoyable time admiring the purchases they had made the previous day waiting their turn to be measured.

Everyone agreed that "J.B." the taylor made this a very enjoyable process indeed. Besides taking extremely detailed and accurate measurements, he was quite helpful in suggesting styles, colors and fabrics that would please them in an entertaining sort of way. He was efficient without being hurried and did his work so well they all were quite excited about their new wardrobe by the time they were finished with him. JB reaped a huge order and went happily on his way promising to have the bulk of their orders completed in a week (10 days).

Almost as soon as he left, the representative of the cobblers guild arrived and they gave him orders for a large number of custom made shoes, boots, gloves, cloaks, belts, jackets and the like all made of leather.

That evening was spent pleasantly at home admiring their purchases (Stallen disappeared to his room to practice with a new harp he had bought) and speaking with animated anticipation about the clothing and shoes they had ordered. All agreed that if this was what it was like living like a noble, it was very nice indeed!

The next morning, they were once again discussing what the day would hold for them as they had their breakfast. Now that the most important of their own wants had been taken care of, their thought turned to those items that would be needed by their followers and the people of Katina to take them through the coming winter months. As all of these items were of a fairly mundane nature, and as they would be of great variety, they all agreed to go to Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog shop. Jasper agreed once more to guide them to the nearest location which turned out to be fairly close to the villa.

They spent most of the next day there, happily examining the catalog and ordering everything they could think of that would make life easier and more pleasant at their home in Katina. They ordered matching tabards, scroll cases, backpacks and items to fill them, musical instruments, sheets, blankets and a universe of other items. There being so much to buy, it took them almost all day. They were still discussing what they might have forgotten when our story comes to an end for this week.