The team met back up toward the end of the filler set being lead by Erystian Demarne (whom Ray was convinced that was a spy for the Bregan D'aerthe or even Jarlaxle himself), and Jalester immediately ushered the team into the guest house to discuss what had happened while the team was split up. The short version is below For Jalester and Enigma: They explored the house a bit (what little they could, anyway), but couldn't turn up any useful leads, although they got a good visual of Osvaldo and the other Cassalanters in their younger years from some paintings. Jalester did note that the entire house didn't have even an ounce of silver - he surmised that this might be because silver is offensive to some kinds of fiends, especially devils. They ran into the Cassalanter children, Elzerina and Terenzio, who were hiding in the library after giving their Nana the slip. They took an interest in Enigma who was all fluffy and wanted to play; it was pointed out that the children are never seen outside of the villa and are likely privately tutored, and thus probably don't have any friends that they can interact with regularly. The children told the pair many interesting things, such as hearing a howling sound coming from the attic sometimes, and thus began a bizarre quest to search for 'candy'. The pair found a secret door behind a painting in the library that lead into the pantry, and under a sack of potatoes was a lockbox containing Cult of Asmodeus regalia - robes and a golden mask and ceremonial dagger. In Victoro's reading room, they found a reading journal which mostly contained dry observations of various history books and atlases, but had a few notes unrelated to his reading concerning the Stone of Golorr, Emmek Frewn, and even the party. So indeed, the Cassalanters are after the stone for unclear reasons... They managed to slip through the ballroom with the children by causing a distraction, knocking over an elderly gentlemen through Enigma's Karnage powers and making a scene. Upstairs on the third floor, they ran into some trouble when they overheard the Nana rummaging around, presumably looking for the children. When they attempted to duck into a linen closet, they were attacked by animated rugs (who ignored the children) and ended up causing a ruckus, luring Nana over to investigate, whom they had to beat unconscious to avoid raising an alarm. They left her in the Playroom of the children and moved on. Inside the linen closet was another lockbox with more cult regalia. Apparently, a lot of cultists lived in this villa! Inside the Master Bedroom (which was ritually decorated to be as heinous looking as possible), the pair found a golden lockbox, though it was rigged with a poison gas trap which thankfully they did not succumb to. Inside however were cult leader regalia, signifying Victoro and Ammalia were the masterminds and leaders of the cult. Jalester took them as evidence. Inside Ammalia's study, a red grimoire was found on her desk. The pages were blank save for drops of blood. Dropping a speck of blood revealed the text, though it was in a language that could not be deciphered. Enigma took the book. Also in the desk were wax seals with the Cassalanter crest and ten vials of jet-black goo, though neither could discern what it was. Finally, the trapdoor revealed the worst of all, as opening it allowed them to hear muffled howlings of agony and despair. Further inward, past the attic landing, they found a fiendish figure bound in chain and screaming impotently into the air. Judging from their appearance based on paintings seen elsewhere in the villa, the pair assumed that this might be what was left of Osvaldo Cassalanter, trapped in some kind of devilish machination. Underneath him was a pentagram sigil, which Jalester thought might be what's holding him in place. Osvaldo can only writhe and scream in agony, and almost appeared to be begging for help, though his ability to form words seemed marred. One look at his eyes and Jalester only saw madness and despair, a thoroughly insane being that could not be reasoned with. It was at this time the pair decided to cut their losses and escape, though the children were thoroughly disappointed at not finding any candy. They headed back downstairs, where the children used themselves as a distraction to trick the guard into moving away and chasing them, allowing Jalester and Enigma to slip back into the party unnoticed... but not before tripping the elderly dancer up again. As for Yuan, Ray and Sigurd, their adventure was not nearly as exciting, but they did learn a few interesting things: Yuan used his Magic Awareness and found that the ravens have been transmuted in some way, and Victoro and Ammalia have various magic auras about them. Also, Erystian Demarne lit up like crazy with magical item auras, suggesting he is loaded with them. Now where have we seen this before? Solo, the leader of the Han family, was actually set up to stay at the Cassalanters in an arrangement by the Open Lord, since his family is visiting on an official city function as Iliana, his sister in law, is one of the judges for the garden party. He wonders if Laeral had planned this all along as the party seemed intent on investigating the Cassalanters, whom he has been suspicious of for a while. He says while his hands are tied on doing anything extreme like using magic, he and his family can help in more subtle ways like providing information and distractions. Ray apparently has a 'friend' who can offer some aid if the party requires it - someone named Lymeria Lhaurilstar is attending the party with her noble friends. She was quite taken with Yuan, apparently, who dubbed himself "Mr. Y" to try and avoid giving away his identity. WIllifort Crowelle, the head butler and main assistant to Lord Victoro Cassalanter, is not actually a tiefling, but a doppelganger as well! The party met back up and revealed their findings to one another. Quite the shocker - Osvaldo might have been sacrificed for the financial betterment of the family, and who knows what other nefarious dealings they might have made. Unfortunately, none of them speak Infernal to read the book, but as they begin planning their next move, they hear the sound of a violin being played in the next room over of the guest house. It happens to be Bureidi and Māku, the offspring of Solo and Maria. It turns out 'Burdy' as his sister calls him is quite good at the instrument but he doesn't seem too proud of this fact. In any case, the siblings asked the adventurers what they were up to and while they said they couldn't say too much, the conversation eventually got around to the book Enigma had found. When asked if either of them could speak Infernal, Māku confirmed she could, and with the help of Enigma making another blood sacrifice, was able to translate the book. Apparently, it is a ritual that could be learned by anybody with a ritual casting ability, that would allow them to cast the Commune spell to contact an aspect of Asmodeus, the archfiend of indulgence. While it didn't detail any actual deal the Cassalanters might have made, Māku stated this was likely used as a gateway to allow the Cassalanters to reach out to Asmodeus and form some kind of deal with him... Enigma also stated he knew what happened to Osvaldo, and described it to the young adult children of the Han family. Bureidi said that it would explain why "Ozzy" has never written back these past few years, and that the tale he was out learning at a military academy is a lie. He formed a request for the party - if they could somehow expose Osvaldo to the world, thus shedding a light on the Cassalanters' evil deeds, he wants the privilege of putting Osvaldo to rest, as it seems his soul was already sold to the devil... he also said that they would inform their father when the party had left the area, as he'd know what to do. However, on the way out to do this deed, the party hit a snag. It turns out Willifort Crowelle, the doppelganger butler, was watching out for them, as he was eyeing the doorway. The team managed to seize an opportunity to escape, as it was during Victor and Chewy's performance, and as they hit a particularly thrilling part of their act, WIllifort was distracted momentarily, which allowed the team to slip by. Good timing! Heading into the ballroom from the balcony, the party found another obstacle - bypassing the guard at the staircase. While the strength of the guard wasn't really an issue, bypassing him without making a huge scene was a challenge. It was at this time that "Lymeria" asked Ray for a dance, and he revealed his need for some help. She didn't mind revealing her affiliation and identity to the party privately, though, revealing herself to be Bonnie from the Yawning Portal (which caught Yuan by surprise!), and she said she had a great idea, quickly gliding through the ballroom to address her friends. After a moment, she approached the guard, and stated she needed a handsome strong man to sweep her off her feet! The guard wasn't sure what to do and suddenly was swept off his feet by the dazzling "Lymeria", who pulled him away into the crowd as her friends used their dance partners to create a sort of wall between the guard and the party, allowing them to slip past easily unnoticed. Making their way upstairs, they went into the playroom and found the still unconscious Nana there sitting in her chair. Sigurd opted to stuff her into a bag of holding for 'safekeeping', confirming the theory to Yuan that those things are only good for storing bodies... Heading back into Ammalia's study, the party searched the desk again, and Sigurd was able to confirm that the vials of the icky black stuff were actually a poison called Midnight Tears, a unique ingested poison which laid dormant until the stroke of midnight. With the amount uncovered, he estimated it could easily do in about a hundred people if used in a stew or soup! Maybe it was part of the deal the Cassalanters had struck? Combining this with the need for the gold, perhaps they were seeking some kind of 'out' with Asmodeus, but it was hard to say without knowing the specific details. Sigurd decided to take the poison, stating that if Ammalia was allowed to keep this, many people would likely die. There were some concerns she might have used it during the party, but he said that it was unlikely as such an act would be too obvious, since this was a nobles-only gathering. Some lesser unfortunates who wouldn't be missed would be a more likely target... They headed through to the trapdoor, where Yuan, Sigurd and Ray heard the cries of Osvaldo for the first time, and revealed his hideous, fiendish form. A chain devil... the poor young man was twisted and driven insane by his incarceration. Jalester pointed out that the rune under Osvaldo was holding him in place and could maybe be dispelled. The team tried to interact with Osvaldo, at first conjuring an illusion of Bureidi, his childhood friend, which generated a reaction. However, an even stronger and violent reaction was gained when an illusion of Ammalia was used, and the team decided to use this as bait for Osvaldo to chase after once he had been freed. Using a Dispel Magic, and some aid from Sigurd in the form of a Guidance spell, Ray managed to undo the sigil binding Osvaldo in place, with predictable results. Enigma planted his Oil of Slipperiness at the lone window to the attic, and Osvaldo predictably charged forth straight into the illusion of Ammalia, slipping on the oil and flinging himself out the window, right smack dab into the middle of the party, which caused an enormous uproar outside! Hopefully the Hans would be able to contain Osvaldo before anybody was harmed... Yuan searched about the attic, and only found a storage closet with some gloomy-looking discard furniture dressed in dark cloth. At that point, though, there was an interruption, as Willifort Crowelle had figured out their ruse and was in the attic with them from the trapdoor, exclaiming "No! What have you done!?" It was at this point also that some spiderwebs revealed a secret - spiders turned into imps and revealed their true form, and it looks like they were going to have to fight it out! Will the party be able to overpower Willifort? What will happen in the garden below with Osvaldo on the loose? Find out next time, in Waterdfeep: Dragon Heist!!