Rudiger Václav

IN DEPTH

Generally nervous and self-defeating, Rudiger considers himself a realist but is really quite the pessimist. Confidence doesn't come easily or naturally to him, but when given a task, he will determinedly carry it out - even if he needs to force himself to be brave to do so. In the same vein, he tends to have a pretty poor sense of self-worth, especially as a monster-folk raised in a largely humanoid city.

He is a bit of a coward, but has slowly improved on that front over time - largely thanks to the moral support of both his party and his patron. As long as he doesn't get lost in his own head while considering the worst possible outcomes of a situation, he's capable of feats both heroic and villainous.

By his nature as a kenku, he is noticeably drawn to authority figures — particularly those who offer him praise and/or validation. Once upon a time, this presented as an unwavering belief in law and order - though given everything that's occurred over the course of his adventure, that's slowly shifted to valuing his personal loyalties over a reliance on City officials.

The one area where his pride outweighs his lack of self-confidence is when it comes to matters of intellect. Rudiger is smart, and he knows it; flaunts it, at times - sometimes without meaning to, sometimes because someone's ruffled his feathers. Thanks to the deal with his patron, "Craig," he has been granted inspiration and creativity beyond the mimicry that limits most kenkus’ industrious endeavors, and turns that skill particularly towards carrying on his late father's firearm research.

TRAITS

⮞ The Real Magic Was The Inventions We Made Along The Way

Despite relying heavily on various forms of magic to overcome his natural limitations, and even posessing a bit of his own, Rudiger openly scoffs at society’s reliance upon the arcane. He instead imagines the rise of clockwork and machinery as the pillars to uphold society. He doesn’t seem to accept the thought of the two working in conjunction, though - it’s one or the other, in his mind.

⮞ Vocal Disconnect

When he speaks through his voicebox, his beak doesn’t move. In fact, he can hold a completely normal conversation while actively using his beak to eat or drink. Without his voicebox, he is wholly reliant on his innate mimcry abilities—and he’d rather be mute than use them. Especially now that relying on mimicry would actively limit his communicative abilities.

⮞ Water, Please

In a world where ale and mead may as well flow like water, Rudiger chooses not to partake. Any sense of losing his autonomy or control over himself is a source of great anxiety, and he hates the way alcohol makes him feel fuzzy and slow. It doesn’t help that he’s a natural lightweight, and really doesn’t need much to become completely inebriated.

⮞ Positive Reinforcement

While early on, the idea of taking another creature’s life was abhorrent to Rudiger — and, actually, the stipulation where anything he kills has its soul siphoned right to “Craig” was snuck into the contract and never meant to be a part of the deal as far as Rudiger was concerned — it’s something he’s grown used to. “Craig” has grown stronger with each (sometimes sizeable) soul Rudiger has fed him, and has shared pieces of that bounty with him in various ways. Rudiger knows that denying another creature’s soul its afterlife is wrong, but… there’s very little he wouldn’t do for “Craig’s” continued approval.

⮞ Shoulder Devil

He and “Craig” maintain a near-constant connection, and while the devil isn’t always listening in on the party’s conversations, Rudiger feels it’s safer to assume otherwise. While Rudiger tends to speak aloud to him, “Craig” typically responds privately, in Rudiger’s head. However, he’s also capable of projecting his voice through Rudiger’s voicebox—a recent development, and one that Rudiger hasn’t protested but is not fully comfortable with, as it edges a bit too close to loss of autonomy.

CURRENT EVENTS

After a battle hard-fought, the heads of the Queen's Claw have been defeated, returning the City's governance to the rightful hands. While the party worked to retake the Castle, their allies engaged in battle all throughout the city, eventually winning the day. Arkhan the Cruel, the driving force behind this entire endeavor, even showed to admit his defeat in person. For some reason.

Though there are still loose ends to tie up, they aren't extremely pressing matters. For the first time in months, the partyhas earned a genuine reprieve. One by one, they are individually approached by Lady Silverhand and offered a seat on the Council. Loonkito immediately accepts. Ohnor seeks his new patron's permission before he does, too. Pyre genially declines. Rudiger, after a long discussion with Craig about the pros and cons, hesitantly joins them.

And now, for a time, things are at relative peace. Arkhan may have promised (in writing!) to stop pursuing the group, but they know that things aren't over with him. War-weary and eager for any slice of normalcy, they will take the time they are given before the next crisis calls them to action.

For Rudiger, this means taking the time to focus on personal projects. His poor brother still needs a functioning body, and the family home either needs to be rebuilt or re-established elsewhere in the city. He needs to think up a way to circumvent the limitations imposed on Craig's ascent to power--maybe even convince him to do something crazy like shift alliegances. And, of course, he needs to figure out what, exactly, it is that he feels for his patron.

(The campaign is on pause for now, having completed this arc. We are starting Descent into Avernus next, which will canonically fall exactly where we're playing it -- after the siege of Waterdeep, but before the Elemental Investigators set off on their next adventure.)

PRE-CAMPAIGN HISTORY

Alward Václav was a man so wholly invested in his creative endeavors that he would have barely earned a participation trophy for every other aspect of his life. Around hours and days spent in his workshop, he married the woman his family expected; played the role of the aristocratic husband; fathered a son. Checked off all the requirements for continuing the family line and all that nonsense.

Unfortunately, his wife suffered an untimely death during their child’s infancy. It happened during one of Alward’s periods of manic invention, where he’d sometimes not resurface from the workshop for days, even weeks at a time. By the time he made his way upstairs, she was blotchy and soft, and the baby’s cries were little more than weak whimpers.

Now, Alward wasn’t a monster—he mourned his wife, of course—but he was inherently selfish. He’d barely wanted to be a father at all, let alone a single father. But, he tried to be more present in his son’s life… at least, while he was small and helpless. The child even eventually grew on him a little.

But, Alward’s eccentricities simply could not be contained by fatherhood.

It was during a walk through the City of the Dead, the vast, lushly kept graveyard near the center of Waterdeep, that they found the fledgeling. A little kenku, all alone, still in its baby down. Alward’s only knowledge of kenku was that they were common throughout the city; thieves and criminals that existed on the fringes of human society. Figuring it could be a learning experience for both him and his son—like raising caterpillars or frogs with small children—he took the hatchling home.

For a while, the two children got on well together. Toddlers love teaching anyone who will listen how to do things, and little Callan was no exception. He taught the kenku all about how to use silverware, play games, and even dress himself. He took to their new addition much quicker than Alward thought he would - and what was intended to be an experimental, temporary sort of 'pet' soon became a real part of the family.

As he learned more and more about the kenku and their inherent abilities for mimicry, Alward began having Rudiger help him with projects in his workshop -- as a sort of living notepad, eager to copy down and memorize all of the formulas and measurements he could rattle off, and freeing up his attention to focus more intently on the work at hand.

Soon enough, it became a daily occurance. Callan, who did not have much of a mind for machinery, sort of found himself pushed out of their little bubble. And, over time, Alward's blatant favoritism caused a rift to grow between the two boys. It seemed that no matter what Callan did, nothing ever made him stand out in his father's eyes.

While Callan’s bitterness festered, Rudiger didn’t quite understand that anything was wrong. He took Callan’s snapping and short temper toward him as momentary spats, and Callan took Rudiger’s insistence on acting brotherly as blatant flaunting. It all finally came to a head at the settling of their father’s estate--they were both just on the cusp of adulthood when a workshop accident took Alward's life--when it was revealed that Rudiger would receive the entirety of the family inheritance.

Callan was furious. Fists and accusations flew. Rudiger was confused—and hurt. He didn’t understand why Callan was acting so cruel; he hadn’t meant to do anything to upset him. So, in an effort to placate him, he offered to split the inheritance. Then, when that wasn’t enough, he offered all of it. The house. The family name. Whatever would make Callan happy.

In the end, Callan made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with Rudiger. Rudiger took the only piece of his father that he’d managed to keep—the schematics for his inventions—and left the Václav estate behind.

CAMPAIGN STORYLINE

⮞ The Start of Something

Without a home or family to return to, Rudiger spent his days floating aimlessly throughout the city wards. It didn’t take particularly long for him to find himself in friendly company—a mixed group of travelers and fortune-seekers who quickly pulled him into their midst as they set out on their very first quest.

Now, there was nothing particularly illegal about choosing to worship a devil. But, devils don’t work for free—which meant the handful of recent murders throughout the North Ward coinciding with a local family recently having come into a mysterious fortune was well worth investigating. Stake-outs and undercover investigations followed, as they worked to track down the proof and reason behind the murders.

They fought one of the family's children at one point—sacrificed and having been turned into a chain devil by his parents’ machinations—and were then introduced to the devil that had been profiteering not from the family themselves, but from the little cult they’d amassed… thanks to a spelling error. He offered the party a contract in exchange for basically whatever they wanted, but everybody agreed that it was a bad idea.

The devil told them that his offer remained on the table, and all they’d need to do is call for him if they changed their mind.

In the end, uncovering the family’s involvement with the devil Asmodeus—and the cult’s involvement with the devil Asmodeis—turned some heads their way. In particular, the ward’s guard captain, who offered the group a trial run with the promise of a more permanent job under his command contingent on their performance.

Their first official mission: investigate a ghost ship that had been plaguing the harbor. Turns out the ship was alive? Kind of? And, of course, devilish in nature. They took care of it, though it was far from an easy fight. Still, it impressed their new boss, and steadily earned them his confidence.

⮞ A Deal With A Devil

Frustrated with his own weaknesses—particularly his limitations when it came to doing anything but copying the ideas laid out in his father’s schematics while the people he’d surrounded himself with were so creative and full of ingenuity—Rudiger secretly called for a one-on-one meeting with the devil they’d previously spoken to.

The Devil—dubbed “Craig” by the party, as devils are known to avoid sharing their true names—came on strong. He offered Rudiger the things any kenku would want: speech, flight; the things robbed of them by their ancient curse. But, Rudiger already had speech (as he tapped at his voicebox), and had no real desire for flight, much preferring the feel of solid ground beneath his talons.

Instead, he asked for something much less simple: ingenuity. The ability to dream, to create new ideas from his own thoughts instead of relying on piecing together other pieces of knowledge he’d memorized. In return, he offered his soul upon his death.

The devil drew up the contract, and wary of the trickery typical of such creatures, Rudiger inspected it carefully. At first, he found it to be above board and happily signed his soul away—but it soon became apparent that while he’d looked for signs of invisible ink or magical manipulation, he hadn’t flipped the page over to check the back. Where, of course, “Craig” had stipulated that it wasn’t just Rudiger’s soul at stake, but those of his party, as well.

It was probably because Rudiger wasn’t angry that “Craig” agreed to return to the negotiating table at all. Instead, Rudiger praised the devil’s cleverness—and admitted that it was his own fault for not checking for such an obvious ruse. But, unwilling to tie his own fate to that of his friends without their express consent, he made a counteroffer: the soul of anyone Rudiger happened to kill during their adventures instead of those of his friends.

Seeing the opportunity for much greater profit, "Craig" heartily agreed to the terms, and adjusted the contract to reflect as such.

Expecting his time as an adventurer to be short-lived, Rudiger wasn’t planning on leading the sort of life that required the taking of many souls. He figured the group would split once their work for the city was complete, and he could devote the rest of his life to the art of invention, just like his father. So, what harm would the loss of maybe a handful of criminal souls really cause?

⮞ ('Pebble' in Giant)

Some stuff outside the city (Rudiger's first time!!), some cursed scarecrows and aggressive fire giants. The discovery of the Earth Anvil and the creation of Pyre's Thunderwave Glaive.

⮞ Water-Deeper

The group sets out to investigate reports of a disturbance out at some islands several days' sail away. Sea battles, a string of sailor's curses so powerful that they summoned the Sea Bitch herself, and some plane-bleed affecting the islands in question. Harpy Revolution. A battle against the group's shadow-selves. Preparations for dispatching a kraken, and the introduction of the mysterious Draconeer. The creation of Rudiger's Longshot in an old abandoned workshop.

Finally, a long-odds battle against the kraken. Unsure how we were actually supposed to kill it, but with most of the party pretty close to death and the kraken stuck halfway through a portal to the Plane of Water (which needed to be closed because it was causing all sorts of issues on the island), Rudiger activated a portal stone they'd obtained from the Shadowfell island as close to the other portal as he could get--a tactic he assumed would be suicidal, but might save the rest of his friends. Ohnor tries to save him, and the ensuing temporal disruption caused by the two portals enveloping each other not only kills the kraken, but spits the two of them into the fucking Astral Sea.

Luckily, "Craig," greatly empowered by the kraken's soul, is able to reach them. He returns them safely to the material plane, where they reconvene with the rest of the group before teleporting back to the city via Ohnor's Transport via Plants spell.

⮞ A Changed City

Aw jeez, the bad guys have infiltrated the guard and several of the positions of power within the city. Captain Glen needs us to investigate because his hands are kind of tied. We start at the guard barracks, where shit doesn't go well and we get separated and found out and Rudiger accidentally blows up a guard captain's office. There's secrets beneath the city, though, and a way in through the captains' offices... so we explore down there some. Krull almost fucking womps us. We steal a dragon soul trapped in an orb. Don't know what it's for, but know we need to get the rest of them. Learn the cult's plan is to create a new body for Tiamat or something. It's not good. This is a lot bigger than we thought.

When we go to tell Captain Glen what all we found out, he is disturbed and realizes that we are now as much of a liability to him as he is to us. He tells us not to report to him anymore--and pretend like we've never worked for him. :(

⮞ The Best Laid Plans

We make a plan to ambush Resh, one of the cultists appointed to head of the guard and a fallen member of the previous adventuring party that was investigating this. The plan is to lure him somewhere using his old mentor as bait (with Ohnor 'disguise selfed' to look like her), then ambush him. Loonkito is on the rooftops, Pyre is lurking in an alleyway, and Rudiger is in an attic with a clear view of the scene, rifle at the ready.

But Resh doesn't come alone, and Ohnor isn't convincing enough once the conversation starts. Aside from a handful of goons, Resh has brought another high-ranking cult member. A battle breaks out on the narrow city street. When Rudiger takes his shot, the apparently heavily armored Resh catches the bullet, spots him, and unfurls his wings to fly up to the attic window. Wings that we did not realize he had.

While Rudiger is cornered in the attic, alone, the others are engaging with Saturn and their goons. The racket draws a small group of adventurers out of a nearby bar, and eager to fuck the police, they join the brawl. Ohnor is wild shaped into a giant ape tossing goons around, and Pyre is locked in combat with Saturn. Only Loonkito hears Rudiger's cry for help, but it'll take him a hot second to get over there.

Resh, who is a monk glamoured to look like a heavily armored guardsmen, as it turns out, brutalizes Rudiger. Without any hand to hand weapons or spells, all rudiger can try to do to defend himself is shoot--and miss--as he is grappled and has his face beaten in by Resh. When Loonkito finally scrabbles in through the window, he manages to grab Rudiger and get him out of the tower--with Resh trailing closely behind.

This puts them all on the street just in time to see Pyre go down from Saturn's onslaught. Despite their efforts to intercede, the enraged Saturn's morningstar swings down next--and splatters Pyre's brain across the cobblestone. The focus immediately turns to Saturn, and the group kills him in quick retaliation. Resh thanks us and leaves--but the party is too focused on Pyre's fallen form to pursue.

⮞ Homecoming - A Reprieve

Luckily, Pyre is wearing a magical ring, given to him back on the island by Draconeer, who claimed it can revive a person when they die. And also claimed that he'd already used up a whole box of them prior to their meeting. Despite how very suspicious Draconeer is, it turns out he was telling the truth: just as we've pulled Pyre into one of the pubs and Ohnor is preparing to revive him, the ring activates, and life is breathed back into Pyre--though he appears to be a bit less fiery and a bit more magma-ey for some reason.

Though relieved that their friend is okay (aside from a splitting headache), the group realizes that they can't remain where they are. With Resh gone and one of the guard captains dead, it isn't long before the authorities arrive. They're wanted men now, they're certain, and to stay where they currently are would be to drag innocent people into danger - so they ask the staff of the Waystone Tavern to feign ignorance to them ever having been here; claim they were squatting uninvited, if need be, and then set off.

With nowhere safe to hole up, and realizing they can't freely walk the streets now, the party dips into the sewers, aiming to put some distance between themselves and the Tavern while figuring out what comes next. While there, they stumble over the body of a Lord's Alliance member, still in full guardsmen's garb, that has apparently been unceremoniously dumped. They gather what they can from the corpse - some supplies, some money - and move on.

Rudiger suggests someplace they might be able to seek shelter, though he knows the suggestion won't be popular with his friends. His family home, where his brother still resides, is fairly unassuming and in an entirely different district from where they've been recently - and it has a workshop that he may be able to use. The party, under the impression that his brother was abusive towards Rudiger, is not thrilled. They agree, because they desperately need a place to go, but suggest breaking into a side room or something and just hiding out instead.

Rudiger manages to convince them to let him at least try to reason with his brother before they do anything illegal. Rudiger and Loonkito exit the sewers through a manhole within sight of the Vaclav residence, and head to the door while the others watch from their hiding spot. Rudiger knocks politely, and after a moment, his brother pulls open the door, grouchily uttering, "I already told you, I haven't seen him!"

Face to face for the first time in months, the brothers stare at each other. Rudiger's face is broken and bloody and even through his feathers, splotches of purplish bruising is beginning to show. Callan looks a bit unkempt and tired, but otherwise just how Rudiger remembers him--sour expression and all. Quick to fill the silence, Rudiger blurts out, "S-sorry to bother you, I... I know you told me you never wanted to see me again, but we have nowhere else to go. Please--"

Rudiger almost doesn't catch it, but the concern that crosses Callan's face as he takes in the bloody mess that is his brother is genuine. "What happened to you? What did you do? Some guards were just here looking for you." He says, motioning for them to enter. The others quickly join them, and Callan leads them to the sitting room. The house is just the same as Rudiger remembers-- though it's a bit dusty and the halls are cluttered with what appear to be all a manner of half-finished inventions and knicknacks. Callan may have never been the son their father wanted, but he apparently never stopped trying--even after Alward's death.

The group explains everything--everything they know, everything they've done, everything that's happened--and Callan allows them to stay. They have a few drinks and talk for a while, and Callan seems to grow on the group. The more they learn, the more they realize that none of what happened between he and Rudiger was either of their faults, but the result of a neglectful father.

They spend the night--their first in a while spent safely tucked into real beds under a real roof. They all have a lot to reflect upon. Rudiger has a talk with Craig, who pulls him into the Hells to tend to his broken beak, sealing the cracks with infernal iron. He invites Rudiger to stay the night, but instead of catching his implication, Rudiger suggests they work on a new weapon--something that will allow him to defend himself in close quarters.

They use the workshop in the basement of the family home, and Callan ends up joining them. It's not a perfect reunion, but the two brothers manage to make something together--using a half-finished schematic from Callan's workbench, even. It's over this night that the gunblade, Trigger Warning, is created, and the brothers' relationship slowly begins to mend.

After breakfast the next morning, the group decides to leave. They have decided to prioritize finding the treasure of Waterdeep, which the cult is also after - but they need several keys to do so. They have leads on a few of them, so they decide to start with those. They thank Callan for his hospitality, apologize for assuming he was a douche, and take their leave.

⮞ Homecoming - Into the Fire

The party manages to get quite a bit done over the course of the next couple of days. They create a shaky alliance with Xanathar's Guild (and obtain one of the keys in the process!), and reconnect a local brass dragon with his long-lost mate, whom they met while doing island things. They also get into some shenanigans after asking the dragon to polymorph Loonkito into Guard Captain Commander Saddius, a white dragonborn. He promotes a random guard and they sneak back into the guard barracks while he uses Saddius' face to flirt with the receptionist.

They steal some intel on Resh from his currently empty office, and manage to steal a handful of papers from what they believe is Saddius' office. It's while they're rifling around in the Guard HQ that Rudiger receives a message from Callan asking them to come to the house when possible.

This immediately sets Rudiger on edge. Callan has never reached out to him before, and when he replies asking if everything was alright, he never gets a message back. The rest of the group agrees that it's suspect, and they hoof it across town once again. Loonkito still looks like Saddius - he's convinced he can use his rank to resolve whatever issue might be going on, as they all assume the guard came back looking for them again.

When they arrive back at the house, they initially don't spot anything amiss. Making their way inside, they find Callan seated at the dining room table--with Saddius and Resh standing at either side of him. They invite the party to take a seat, and inform them they're going to have a chat. Rudiger is focused on trying to figure out if Callan is okay--he looks pale, but from across the table it's hard to tell--and he's furious that they'd target his family. Loonkito's plan to use Saddius' face to disarm the situation is immediately thwarted, considering the real Saddius is... right there. All they can do is agree to hear out whatever it is they want to say.

As it turns out, Saddius is growing very tired of their meddling. He makes them an offer: join the Queen's Claw, and they'll be welcomed into the fold. No more wanted posters, no more sneaking around. Otherwise, he says, they die here. They, of course, refuse--and with a shrug, Saddius pulls the knife from Callan's back and the battle begins as he slumps forward onto the table.

By and large, this fight does not go well. Pyre focuses on Resh while Loonkito deals with another clearly higher-ranked dragon cultist. Ohnor scares a handful of Saddius' retinue into retreating by shifting into a crag cat. Rudiger goes straight for Callan, but isn't quick enough to do anything to save him--so he stands over him to face Saddius instead. Standing on the table, he and Saddius stand just about eye to eye, and it's very dramatic.

The tide of the fight begins to turn against the group. At some point, Resh uses fireball, and the whole place starts to burn. One of the guards has called for reinforcements, and they've hardly laid a scratch on Saddius. With how poorly things are going--seeing his friends bleeding all around him; his brother's body growing cold upon the table; flames spreading, smoke choking--Rudiger begins to panic. He realizes he's going to lose everything--his home, his family, his friends--within the next several moments if he doesn't do something.

So, he reaches out to Craig. Quietly, his voice lost among the ruckus, he says, "Craig, are you there? Please? Things are looking dire, I--please, can you get us out? All of us?"

"Give me just a moment; I will do my best."

And because Craig is a devil, and devils have to adhere to certain rules, he asks each of them, individually, for permission to teleport them. Loonkito is the only one who gives him trouble about it, but ultimately agrees. With a crack and a large explosion, the party is pulled to Craig's home in Avernus.

Rudiger immediately looks around for his brother. Knows he was dead, but also knows that that can be fixed; asks Craig if he managed to grab Callan, too. Desperate, pleading. "There was no soul left to grab." Craig responds, sounding as genuinely sorry as a devil probably can.

And then a cold, metallic hand grasps onto Rudiger, and looking down, they spot one of Callan's half-finished automatons clutching to the hem of his shirt. It's buzzing as though trying to communicate, and seems to manage a word every so often, but connecting the dots takes the group a few moments in lieu of an actual explanation. It would seem that Callan was so devoted to his work that his soul managed to anchor itself into his most precious project.

An immensely painful half-existence, for now, but with the possibility of at least being functional, with some work.

⮞ Hell's Not So Bad

A devil does nothing for free. In return for pulling them from the battle, Craig asks them to look into some rumors for him. He's concerned that a group is plotting to assassinate him, and asks the party to seek them out and figure out what they're up to. Clubbing, a test of the heart, and being stalked by abishai. Being captured, almost dying, and meeting Draconeer again.

⮞ The Treasure of Waterdeep

Back on the material plane, it's time to find this treasure. In a tomb in the city of the dead, where they meet the treasure's caretaker and then find themselves under siege. They try fighting through, but are outnumbered and outmatched. Retreat. Spend a while trying to figure out an alternate exit. Rudiger suggests the ol' temporal disturbance route, since they have an extra bag of holding and the treasure's guardian has a portable hole....

⮞ Sailing on the Astral Sea

They are transported to the astral sea! This time, though, Craig cannot help them escape. He's busy fighting in the blood war, he says; he'll be back in touch later. While trying to find somewhere to rest, they end up taken prisoner by some githzerai travelers. Once they're deemed to be no threat, they are released--just in time to help fight off a mindflayer nautiloid. This proves their worth to the crew, and the group agrees to help them get through an unfriendly checkpoint by acting as bait - it turns out the stupid dragon cult is functioning here, too.

⮞ The Blood War

Once they've freed Okwilina from her imprisonment, they finally have the chance to look into Craig's ailment. Turns out it's a poison he picked up while fighting in the Abyss, and if they don't find a way to heal it, he will die. And when he dies, a portal will open from his corpse, allowing demons to flood just about as deep behind enemy lines as they can possibly get. There's a meeting with Lady Zariel, where Rudiger goes full HOA bitch on Arkhan for diverting his troops just to fuck with them and allowing this to happen. Zariel concedes that they must get rid of the demon lord who caused this in order to restore Craig and keep the portal from opening. They do that.

⮞ Debris

When they return to Waterdeep, it is in the wake of the collapse of one of the city's giant statues. The debris is extensive, and the city is under martial law. Despite this, there are no guards helping those injured beneath the rubble. It, along with another explosion in the North Ward (where Rudiger's family home was) is being blamed on our group. We are incredibly wanted now, and moving through the city at all is difficult. We find out we have a sympathetic ally in the Blackstaff and her Force Grey. We also meet up with Lady Silverhand, who has apparently been hidden away in the lair of the dracolich Daurgothoth - another of Mystra's chosen. Oh, and also the creator/dad of Draconeer. :|

⮞ Gathering Allies

With the time of the ritual drawing near, we scramble to organize our allies, calling in favors from just about everyone we possibly can - from devils to harpies. We give Resh one final chance to remember who he was before the cult sunk its claws into him, but he's too far gone and we have to kill him. A group of Zhentarim, once contracted with the cult but now sour about having been used to do a 9/11 join us and help us kill him. As we head back into the city for our final stand, Ohnor accepts Lady Zariel as his patron and becomes a warlock - in exchange for restoring us to full health and restoring all the skills we used up during the fight with Resh. However, she's been lied to by Arkhan and believes that he's making a play to deliver the citizenry of Waterdeep to the Hells as soldiers for the blood war - and forbids Ohnor to interfere. Unless he can somehow prove Arkhan's a dirty liar.

⮞ Saving the City

Arkhan's a dirty liar. We bomb the council chambers, then fight Saddius in the wreckage. Our allies are engaged in battles all over the city. It's very heroic. And we win. :)