W:DH Week 18 – Is it getting warmer?

Our grand opening was tonight, and I couldn’t wait.  This was going to be our night. Nothing was going to ruin it.  Well, except for the dead body upstairs, or the evil-aligned troupe setting up to perform for our guests, or the increasingly frustrated Sgt. Cromley who keeps popping up at the least opportune times, or – I don’t know – the leader of the Zhentarum staging an attack against us.  While all of those things were bad, I think a portion of the guests who endured it all may have had a good time!

We started our evening by learning a bit more about our performers.  They call themselves the Sea Maiden’s Carnival.  We watched as they set up and noticed nothing negative about their actions – they were quite busy prepping for the performance.  We immediately noticed our friend Sgt. Cromley scribbling in his ever-present notebook.  He had somehow heard about the break in we had last night.  He insisted that we let him up on the roof to see where it had happened, and we grudgingly allowed it.  A short time later, he began shouting orders to some of his men below.  We couldn’t make out his words, but if Cromley is excited, we will likely not enjoy the results.

We were split trying to monitor Cromley, entertain our guests, watch for suspicious activity from the performers.  It was on this last task that Tobby may have landed.  He noticed a window open on the second floor with talon marks in the snow outside.  He, Boaz, and I investigated.  Our search ended in the library, where we found Kenku turning over the place.  Tobby was the first in the room and they immediately attacked him.  We fought back and killed two of them.  Moments later, they stood back up.  Their wounds were still visible, so this didn’t seem like healing.  I attempted to turn undead.  Before I could finish calling for Tymora’s aid, a large being appeared in the corner.  It spoke, and my holy symbol melted in my hand.  Never have I experienced such power.  Tobby killed two of the Kenku, and the large creature let our a bellow that caused the last living Kenku crumple and die.  The creature then vanished.

Cromley came to the room and we began to explain why we had yet more dead in our manor.  He blew a whistle and his investigation started immediately.  The watch showed up in force.  Our grand opening wound down, with the remaining patrons moving outside.  While Cromley started his work, we spoke with Barnabus.  He told us the large creature we fought was likely Manshoon, the undead leader of the Zhentarum. It seems we have gained some very unwanted attention.

We realized that the dead body was still upstairs.  Shava had cast invisibility on it earlier, and we could only hope it had gone unnoticed.  Jumanji bluffed his way past some guards and went upstairs.  With guards both above and below, he somehow found an opening to toss the body out a window unnoticed.  He gabbed a large bag and made his way down.  He was able to find the invisible, but surely mangled body at the base of the building.  He was able to fold the body into the bag, make his way to the sewer, and deposit the body into the water below.

We spoke with Renaer.  With all that was happening, we came clean with everything we had done.  We even told him about finding the Stone.  We discussed what we hoped to do with the stone, and how our plans may affect the attention we were gaining.  We need to tread carefully here.

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