The team witnessed Soluun Xibrindas getting nicked by a deftly quick woman in black leather, and dashing down the street, covered by her Zhentarim thugs. Soluun, absolutely incensed, swung his scimitar in a desperate bid to chase her, but to no avail. Enigma and Sigurd joined the chaos, with Enigma contemplating whether it was worth it to chase after the woman, but wary of being separated from his team, which would leave him vulnerable. It turned out to be the smart play not to chase her, as there were more thugs up ahead ready to strike. However, nearby, another drow, a mage, was waiting nearby, and he and Soluun had an exchange in Undercommon. The mage also threatened those present, stating that if they don't let them leave, they'll regret it. Sigurd thus focused his efforts on the Zhentarim thugs blocking their path instead, and Soluun withdrew as his partner cast a Fly spell on the two of them, allowing them to withdraw from the fight peacefully. It was a good thing too - Sigurd was able to identify the Fly spell as such, and being able to cast it at high enough power to affect two people meant that the mage definitely had some power to back up his words. Yuan and then Ray then joined the fracas, and the team fought the Zhentarim thugs who were doing everything they could to stop the characters from chasing the swashbuckler woman. Eventually, however, the thugs were felled by the team, but they wouldn't get much of a chance to do much else when suddenly Noska Ur'gray and a gang of thugs and kenku rumbled the scene. To complicate matters, Noska has one of the kenku take a nearby street urchin - a tiefling boy - hostage, telling the party that they must give up the stone or "the kid gets a bolt between the eyes!" Ray, coming up with a brilliant plan, digs deep into his memory to recall what the Stone looked like. Somehow, he is able to recall a moment in perfect clarity where he had one good glimpse at the stone, and is able to use his Prestidigitation spell to make a trinket looking like the stone appear in his hand, which he uses to show the thugs to show that he will comply with their demands. Noska is placated for the moment, ordering his men to stand down and have Ray hand over the stone, exclaiming that this was easier than he thought! Until he heard the fast clopping of galloping hooves behind him. Who should it be but none other than Renaer, saving the day, on the back of Maxeene the talking Harper horse! Like a blur, he snatches the boy out of the kenku's grasp, putting him on Maxeene and telling her to escape with the children while he fends off the Xanathar thugs! Noska, absolutely annoyed by this, orders his men to kill Renaer at once. He manages to deftly avoid their strikes for the most part, proving he's still a capable warrior. The rest of the team soon join in the fray, but Ray would have the last laugh when he takes the bundle holding the 'stone' and throws it into the harbor. This really pisses Noska off, to the point that he flips out and goes into a rage to kill everyone in his way! He proves to be a nuisance, using even his own soldiers to block attacks from the party to allow himself to survive along enough to reach the stone, but the attempts are in vain, as he is eventually felled by Yuan's axe and struck dead before he is able to take anyone out. The team incurred a few hits but everybody managed to survive the mess. The last remaining kenku gives up and surrenders. Renaer explains that what Marcellus had said about him going into hiding to escape his father's spies was only partially true - he had been keeping tabs on the party through the Harper's network of spies, and tried to catch up to them when he learned they were in Mistshore, but didn't arrive in time to stop the Zhentarim from making off with the stone. He also realizes that the team has been running around in filth, from their escapades in the sewers, with the exclamation "You all stink!" Fortunately, Ray is able to salvage this situation with his Prestidigitation spell. The woman was long gone, but Sigurd had an idea that the children might know at least what general direction she went. Renaer said that he told Maxeene to take the kids to Mirt's manor which is not too far from Mistshore, and the team headed there. Unreliable as always, Mirt wasn't home, but Renaer let himself in with his own key, stating he had a backup in case he needed to lay low and Mirt allowed him to use the place as his own. Letting the party, Maxeene and the children inside, the three urchins introduced themselves: Squiddly, a tiefling boy with an eyepatch, a toy bow and arrows, and a fancy hat. He rarely thinks before he speaks or acts. Jenks, a portly, bald Turami boy with a wand and a stuffed owlbear 'familiar', who is a bit shy but brave when it comes to helping his friends. Nat, a lanky Illuskan girl with a wooden sword, who is deaf and uses a home-made sign language to communicate with her friends. The children explain that they had seen the mean but pretty woman in black leather rush past them with some weird green rock, and were able to provide directions as to where she went, giving the team at least a place to start looking for her in the Dock Ward. Squiddly was sure he could have taken her, but Jenks has to tell him that maybe that's not such a good idea. Renaer said he'll handle the children from here and told the team they should go back to the tavern to try and link up with Marcellus, whom he hasn't heard back from yet. On the way, the team made it back to the Dandymops store, where the City Watch had cordoned off the area. Enigma got the report that the City Watch had witnesses stating that after a bunch of people (the party and Soluun) ran off across the rooftops, a bunch of skeletons barreled out of the building, terrorizing citizens. Fortunately, the Watch was able to stomp them out and nobody was injured. It turned out that Valetta, the Gondar priestess, had used her clerical abilities to Turn Undead and drove some of the skeletons away. The full story was that Jalester and co. had managed to defeat the drow warrior,, who didn't survive the encounter, but suddenly Losser Mirklav, the necromancer, turned the tables by sending his horde of skeletons at the team. It turns out he had no spell slots left since he had been using them to maintain his skeletal army and deal with the Bregan D'aerthe breakin. Valetta saved the day by turning the undead and making it easier for the team to pick them off and eventually knock Losser out, who is now in Watch custody. It turns out that Losser didn't know what the stone was, but was forced to give it up by the drow in exchange for his life, then the drow attacked him anyway to silence him as a witness after killing his apprentices. Jalester gave a full report to the Watch on what had happened, as a member of the Lord's Alliance, and cleared the team of any wrongdoing, before heading back to the tavern to recuperate as they had sustained some injuries. Back at the tavern, the teams were reunited, and information was exchanged. While most weren't familiar with the woman who managed to make off with the stone, with the description of her (provided by the urchins earlier), Marcellus was able to recall that he had in fact heard of such a person. The person was Vevette Blackwater, a notorious swashbuckler, spy and assassin working for the Zhentarim. She had some secret hiding place in the city from where she would conduct her operations, but when she was brought out, she got results, and could even give Renaer a challenge in a straight on duel, he surmises. Jalester also adds that he tried to get a hold of Hyustus Staget - the captain who watches over the Dock Ward in the Watch - to try and track down the characters, but he wasn't able to reach him. He assumes that Staget is likely busy dealing with the crackdown on the Black Network after what's been going on recently and might simply too busy. He recommends that the team put their boots on the ground in the Dock Ward and try to investigate what happened to Vevette. Looks like the stone's just slipped through their fingers... Yagra, meanwhile, notes to Yuan that it looks like the Bregan D'aerthe are now after the stone, too, adding yet another side to this whole mess. Things are getting complicated fast! So far, the known entities chasing after the stone are... The Cult of Asmodeus, the archdevil of indulgence. What their angle is right now is unknown, but their being in the Cassalanter Mausoleum where the stone was hidden away by Yalah Gralhund's nimblewrong is suspicious... The Zhentarim (or the Zhentiwrong as Ray has taken to calling them). It looks like they're still out in force, being lead by a mysterious hand, and they want in on the action as much as anybody else. They certainly have plenty of talent to do so, if Vevette Blackwater is anything to go by. Xanathar's Thieves Guild. Xanathar was the one who originally nicked the stone from Dagult Neverember in the first place, so it makes sense that it wants the stone. However, with Noska, the leading enforcer for the guild, now out of action, it would sow chaos into the ranks of the Xanathar for a while as they try to get re-organized, so it might buy the team some time. Bregan D'aerthe, a faction of disenfranchised male drow lead by the famous drow iconoclast Jarlaxle Baenre (Jar-LAX=le BANE-ray). Their angle for the stone is also unclear, but it's been made evident that they're after the thing now too. Marcellus urged the team to catch their breath and rest a little, as they've been through a lot, but that they definitely need to get back to it as soon as possible and told them that they might be able to pick up some leads by questioning witnesses in the area near the Dock Ward. Such a spectacular escape couldn't have gone totally unnoticed, and some smooth words, bribes, and keen investigative skills could go a long way... Valetta was spending her time chatting it up with Sigurd and having a lovely time, though. He was fascinated with her story of bravery in the face of such odds and thanked her for helping out his friends with this situation. Soon enough, though, Jalester, Yagra and Valetta would depart the tavern to check some leads and report in to their allies, leaving the team to their own devices. Speaking of keen investigative skills... Ray was worried about spies. Earlier, he was a bit wary of Renaer, though it was for naught, but he couldn't keep thinking that anybody could be a spy for one of their many enemies right now. He asked the team to help look around for anything that might seem off and Sigurd offered his services, able to cast Detect Magic easily enough as a ritual and case the place to look for anything suspicious. Before that, though, Yuan would receive a message, handed to him by Xalvador, the tavern supervisor. He said it was from the Tiger's Eye and he had not opened it, as the letter remained sealed. Inside was a letter from Vincent Trench, detailing his findings on one Esloon Bezant! The information was quite extensive: Vincent was able to get a trace on Esloon's gang. He does a good job of covering up his head tattoos to conceal his identity, but Vincent was able to sniff him out. He and his gang like to hang out frequently at the Three Pearls Nightclub. They also prowl the Dock Ward from time to time and visit various taverns, but seem to be careful in getting caught doing anything illegal. He commands a gang of at least a dozen men, plus a warrior lieutenant who follows him around almost everywhere. The thugs seem local, but the warrior and Esloon are definitely from Thay. Despite Esloon's caution, Vincent reported that after watching him for some time he did notice a few things: during his time at the nightclub, Esloon was seen speaking with the proprietor and asking questions about 'large burly blue wolfmen'. The proprietor only said that he had hired such an individual through a contractor several tendays ago, hasn't seen him since, and wouldn't divulge any further details. The proprietor was well protected by his own collection of bodyguards, which seemed to dissuade Esloon from pursuing the matter. At some point, Vincent witnessed Esloon receiving a Paper Bird messenger. He caught it, opened it and read it, then proceeded to head to the Trades Ward with only his warrior lieutenant and stopped at an alley near Theln Lane in the Trades Ward. Theln Lane is located near Weirdbottle's Concoctions. At Theln Lane, Vincent witnessed Esloon speaking with someone. The only features he could make out of the other person was that the person seemed a bit on the short side, and was wearing goggles or spectacles of some kind. They sounded female. Esloon demanded that the other person provide him five hundred gold and the wolf in return for his allegiance. The other person stated that they'll be able to provide that once their "Lord" gets access to the 'grand prize'. Esloon didn't seem terribly impressed and wasn't sure what they were referring to. He mentioned that he was displeased with the happenings at the villa and remarked how their gang was apparently wiped out by a noble lord and his guards. The other party responded by saying they know for a fact that isn't true, as they saw their enemies leaving the scene. Esloon said if they could capture his target alive and bring it to him, he'll reconsider the offer. The other party remarked that they already gave Esloon a chance to capture the target once before and he blew it, to which Esloon quipped back that he was given bad information, as drow gunslingers and even some half-orc assassin with a bow showed up to ruin everything, and he lost one of his Thayan comrades to that catastrophe. After a stony, cold silence, the two soon parted ways. The last thing Vincent witnessed was that Esloon ordered one of his men to go somewhere, handing them a written note with instructions, and not to draw attention to themselves. Speaking with his lieutenant privately (or so he thought), Esloon said he's a little concerned about allying himself to someone like the leader of the Zhentarim, and is worried that they might 'hoard the target for themselves' and if perhaps he can just cut the middle man out, cut his losses and capture the target himself, then go back to Thay with the prisoner in hand, that might be for the best - he seemed worried about being betrayed. Still, if the Zhentarim are willing to pay him a lot of money, it might prove useful in the long run... After reviewing this information, Yuan noted it was very suspicious that Esloon Bezant was in a lot of locations that Yuan had also been previously... what could it all mean? While Yuan was stewing on that mystery, Sigurd was uncovering a mystery of his own. During his search of the tavern with Detect Magic, he found something... very off about Ray. While the tavern itself, as far as he could tell, was clean, he noted that Ray's fancy new magical cloak had two magic auras. One of Abjuration, the school of wards and protection (which is expected), and Divination, the school of learning information and knowledge (which is out of place). He asked Ray to lay out his cloak for him on a table, and after this was done, searched the garment carefully. His examination proved fruitful - tucked under cloak and hidden away very cleverly was a small blinking metal device, no more than a couple of inches around. Sigurd identified the object immediately as Lantanese technology - the same place where the drow gunslinger Soluun's gun was made from, and the same place where a lot of the technology in the House of Inspired Hands originates from, as Gond is the primary deity of Lantan. Further investigating the object with an Identify spell, he identified it as a Lantanese Tracker, which is a tracking device that provides data to a user who is holding a linked receiving device similar to that of the Locate Object spell... meaning that anybody with the linked device could have tracked Ray's movements all across the city! Sigurd questioned where Ray had gotten the cloak from, and Ray recalled that while Nevercott, the clothing store owner in Trollskull, pointed him to a series of contacts that would get him what he wanted, the ultimate final sale came from an elf wearing a wide-brimmed hat. Sigurd then also realized that the Bregan D'aerthe - who he knew were in possession of Lantanese technology, due to his ownership of one of their pistols - were a little bit too prepared, and were able to jump Losser the same instant that they tried to, but from another angle. The team had realized that they had been duped, and Ray was extremely upset by this revelation. While the cloak itself was still valid, the whole thing had apparently been a set up from the beginning, and they inadvertently lead the drow right to the Stone of Golorr without even realizing it. It's only a small consolation that they didn't end up with the Stone in the end, but now it's in the possession of a Zhentiwrong agent and is once again, lost - for now. Sigurd smashes the tracking device, bringing an end to any more subterfuge from the Bregan D'aerthe at least on that front. They would know that they had been busted, but the damage had already been done. It looks like this time the villains were one step ahead, despite clashing with one another the entire time. Just who exactly is behind all of these schemes? Where did Vevette Blackwater get off to? Will the team be able to track her down and recover the Stone once and for all? Find out next time... on Waterdeep: Dragon Heist!!