Stepping past the dead servants, we opened the door between us and the sounds of battle. We found two Zhents on the other side and immediately sprang into action. Thankfully Boaz was there to bring Jumanji and I back from the brink of death. After dealing with the Zhents, we followed the sounds of combat upstairs. We found house guards fighting more Zhents. I voiced allegiance with the guards as we stepped in to help slay the apparent invaders. As we fought, a female voice called out that the city watch was on its way. One Zhent fled downstairs. As the last Zhent upstairs fell to the combined might of our group and the house guard, the female voice called out again, “Kill them too.” The guards turned on us! Tobby sprinted into the woman’s room and quickly dispatched her. Her half-orc bodyguard shut and locked the door separating them from us. Moments later, he opened the door and joined the fight against us while blocking our passage into the room. Tobby’s unconscious body lay bleeding just behind him.
A small man opened another door to our space and poked his head out. He glanced around with a terrified expression on his face and slammed the door shut again.
The fight was going badly for us. The guards and the half-orc were proving too much to handle. Luckily, Shava was there to work her magic. She slipped past the half-orc and disguised herself as the dead lady in the other room, knocking a screen over the corpse to conceal it. She dumped a healing potion down Tobby’s throat just as his life was slipping away. Then she ordered the half-orc to pursue the lone Zhent who fled downstairs. For a moment, I didn’t think he would obey. He then sullenly stomped off to do as ordered.
The small man checked the fight again and quickly shut his door.
Shava then ordered the remaining house guard to follow downstairs to kill the Zhent. They obeyed as well. Tobby expertly opened a chest in the woman’s room and found a concealed compartment. It contained ceremonial robes and holy symbols. Curious – were those symbols of Asmodeus? We confronted the slight man who was keeping tabs on our battle from his room. His name is Orund. Shava took the lead with her disguise still up and Orund addressed her as Yalla. We convinced him to show us a quick way out as the city watch was coming. We certainly didn’t need to be seen with more dead Zhents. As we made our way, we questioned Orund, and he indicated that Yalla had sent the Stone of Golorr away with the Nimblewright. It appears we had just missed both. We escaped just as the city watch was arriving.
The next morning we had a guest. The Harpers sent this man, Barrage, to help us with the absolute mess we had made at Gralhund Villa. It turns out the woman we killed the previous night was a Lord of Waterdeep. The watch will be investigating, and we do not want to be implicated. We came up with a story and alibi, and Barrage departed to arrange the other parts of our story.
Tymora watch over us.