Now that the team had disposed of Nihiloor, that was one less obstacle for them to deal with. With Hyustus Staget joining the group, he said to Enigma that he needs to recover his equipment, but it's not just for his armor and weapons - as a Watch Captain, he also had many important keys and other items on his possession that could prove to be a security risk if it fell into the Xanathar guild's hands. Enigma agreed, and added that objective to the list of things that needed to be accomplished before the team could leave the lair. Zaibon, the drow who was freed from captivity, also reminded the team that his superior is being held somewhere else. Marcellus thought about the arena prison that Flutterfoot the clown had mentioned previously, and thought that would be a good place to start if they could find it. Making their way up through the promenade, they found a door which lead to an unfamiliar area. Entering it, they indeed found the Pit of Blood and Fortune, the coliseum of the Xanathar's guild, whose ceiling rose forty feet high. In the middle, they saw a trail of blood leading from the middle of the arena into a passage that went under the bleachers. There was also a raised platform that was neatly decorated with Xanathar's colors and banners - likely where Xanathar and his lieutenants would watch the blood sports. However, Yuan managed to uncover something else nearby - a secret door on the south end of the Arena that blended in neatly with the wall! The team opted to see where this might lead, and saw it lead downstairs. However, they would immediately become disappointed with their findings when they found it lead into a strange area - a crypt looking area with urns and vats of dead beholders... and Xanathar, pondering somberly at a nearby urn on the opposite side!! Yuan, Ray, Enigma and Marcellus froze in their tracks - it was lucky Enigma's Pass Without Trace was active! They also noticed an unusual mural on the wall, a picture of a scowling beholder flanked by two hooded wizards. Beneath each wizard's cowl, one glaring eye is visible. An interesting design for sure - but the characters weren't exactly in a position to investigate further. Sigurd planted the explosives behind the closest altar and then the team quickly left the area, hoping not to attract the attention of Xanathar. Heading back, Marcellus decides that they needed to act quickly - being so close to Xanathar could mean that he might pop out at any moment. They elected to go visit the prisoners in the holding area... The first one was a halfling woman wearing tattered black leather armor. She reacted to Yuan's presence rather negatively, almost surprised to see him there, and it was quickly deduced that this person was a Zhentarim spy - one for Manshoon, no less. She had been operating in Skullport and keeping an eye on the Xanathar's guild when her cover was blown and she was captured. The team revealed that Manshoon's Zhentarim operation on the surface had been disbanded. Seeing she was cornered and with no way out, she said that she's had enough - if Manshoon's operation is done, then she is too, and she simply wants to leave and go back to Skullport. Making peace with the spy, Enigma unlocks the cell door and they let her go, but not before Yuan made her flinch and run away down the arena and out the eastern exit. Next up was a female drow captive, who introduced herself as Raelyn Auvryndar. She recognized Zaibon, the male drow captive, immediately, and explained she was captured during a scouting mission, and the two became separated. With Zaibon able to confirm that this is indeed his (weirdly similar looking) superior, the team allows them leave and they escape as well into Undermountain. Next up was a trio of civilians, a swashbuckling dockworker by the name of Arthright Grayfalcon, a noble by the name of Claudio Benzreck, and a bard by the name of Xia Chung. Claudio was a little too excited as he begged the adventurers to let him free, but Arthright calmed him and explained the situation, that they had been individually plucked from Waterdeep by the guild and were going to be made to fight in the arena within the hour. Xia revealed she was with the Musician's Guild as well and bore their insignia, though Ray couldn't remember her precisely due to his small brain. Unfortunately, they were not willing to go through the extremely dangerous Undermountain exit to Skullport and asked for another exit, although without any gear (which had been taken by Noska several days prior), they wouldn't be much help in a fight, but promised to stay out of the way. It was at that moment that a minotaur peered his head through the bars of the last cell and pleaded to be freed, looking very sad. In his cell was himself (Umpok), a female orog named Charworl, and a half-ogre named Groz, all very large tough looking beings. However, Umpok looked a little cleaner than the rest - Charworl explained that the dwarf Ahmaergo had some kind of weird fixation with Umpok and treated him better than the other prisoners, and Umpok complained that the dwarf was giving him funny looks... yikes. Charworl also explained they had been participating in Skullport's various fighting arenas when they ended up losing a match and getting caught by the Xanathar's guild to be used as pit fighters for Xanathar's amusement. Like the others, the team let them free and allowed them to escape into Skullport, for which they were very grateful. Shortly after that, though, when the team began planning their next move, they heard a door opening from the arena and a voice shouting for Nar'l's presence, complaining that his meal wasn't prepared and this was greatly upsetting! Grumbling, the voice floated away southward... only to be followed by anguished raging screams coming from the promenade. Looks like Xanathar's found the carnage the party has left behind! Now the clock was no longer on their side... The team decided it was time to sow some chaos! Rushing back down to the secret crypt entrance from the arena, they set the explosives off there and then went into the kobold kitchen to detonate the bombs there. They thought that by detonating these bombs first. they would distract the enemies long enough for them to run back upstairs and continue their bombing run. Sure enough, they could hear Xanathar furiously screaming at Noska from the room nearby that there are intruders and Noska mobilizing his men. This initiated a wild goose chase of the adventurers running around the dungeon detonating explosives while trying to avoid Noska's men and Xanathar's wrath! Taking the ladder up into the audience chamber from downstairs, the team decided that acquiring Sylgar was a priority. They raced to Xanathar's sanctum, finding a strange room covered in purple spores while a nervous-looking dwarf with a beholder-styled skullcap tended to a goldfish in a massive fishbowl, featuring a life-like shipwreck and treasure chest. The fishkeeper, Ott Steeltoes, looked ready for trouble with a dagger in his other hand, but he stood no chance against the determined adventurers, as Yuan stormed into the room and drove two handaxes into him. His final words were apologizing to Xanathar before collapsing to the ground... Yuan began to feel a bit funny breathing the same air with these spores, so Ray cleared them away using a well planned Gust of Wind spell. It would keep the spores out of the way long enough for the team to do their work, though the spores would eventually re-distribute across the room given enough time, so they had to work fast. Searching the room, the team found something peculiar - a mirror with "Xoblob" inscribed on it! Marcellus approached the mirror and was puzzled at this, saying "Xoblob?" outloud, causing the mirror to reveal an image of a somewhat familiar street corner, looking out of a window from a purple shop of oddities... The team recalled seeing a beholder plush hanging from the window of Xoblob's shop, all those months ago when their adventure first kicked off... the guy was a Xanathar spy this whole time! Figures. In any case, the team searched the room. They found a ledger belonging to Ott Steeltoes detailing his caretaking of the fish, and a map of Skullport, which Enigma took. However, he also noticed a glint coming from the fishbowl while Ray was removing Sylgar from it and putting it into a waterskin - the treasure chest inside the fishbowl was real! Meloon hefted the thing out of the bowl and inside sat thirty glittering gemstones worth one hundred gold a piece. The secret stash of Xanathar! Yoink! The team was turning up quite a massive haul from looting this place, but they still needed to escape. Sigurd had already planted the bombs in the nearby room with the dream nullifier - a strange device, a 6-foot-diameter bowl made of crystal lattice pulsates with multicolored light as it floats 10 feet off the floor. Ray recalled the device was made to prevent Xanathar from dreaming another beholder into existence. While it might have made an interesting study, the team unfortunately lacked the time for such leisure activities and had to move! Noska was hot on their trail, too, and sensing they would be caught if they didn't move, the team found a secret door in the nearby wall that lead to an escape tunnel, likely used by Xanathar in case he was besieged in his sanctum. It lead to a stone plug in the floor, which Yuan pulled with ease and lead down into the hall between Nihiloor's lair and the promenade. Filtering on through carefully, the team helped each other get down safely and managed to elude Noska's men, for now. The team continued back through the promenade, setting off bombs as they went. Ray decided to save some time and go set off more explosives in the pillar room... when he had an extremely close encounter with Xanathar hunting around in the nearby room! Ray managed to beat feet at the last second before being spotted, but Xanathar might have sensed the team was nearby, and they quickly escaped westward to link up with Thorvin Twinbeard the engineer, who had definitely heard the explosions and was prepared for trouble with his wrench when the team busted down his door and explained the situation. He didn't waste any time, joining up with the party. Hyustus asked if the rooms nearby belonged to anyone, and Thorvin confirmed that Noska and Ahmaergo's room was nearby, though he had never been into the latter. Heading into Noska's room first, they found his personal quarters, complete with a disgusting rust monster pet trapped in a wooden cage, and a pile of rusted weapons, armors and other gear scattered against the wall. Searching Noska's desk, Enigma found a peculiar note written from Ahmaergo to Noska, essentially threatening him with a terrible fate if he failed once again and confirming that he had indeed put forth the effort to bring him back from the dead. It looks like the plan to capture Staget was here as well, and a further plan to disrupt 'the interlopers' - that could be referring to none other but the party... Ray managed to only find some basic supplies and weapons, while Yuan, scattering the rusted materials about, found a chest buried underneath. Inside was Noska's personal stash of coins and gems, which he quickly took and added to the collection of loot thus far. However, Staget's equipment wasn't found in here. He surmised the only other place it could be, if anywhere, would be Ahmaergo's room, being Noska's superior. Heading next door, they found an odd room - a table with a stone maze set into it and a stuffed minotaur with a greataxe sitting on a table. No containers... there was a room to the south which lead into what looked like some kind of maze. The team decided they would try and recover Staget's gear here while Enigma would split off and deal with the rest of the explosives, as he could move the fastest and was under the effects of the Pass Without Trace spell. Ray sprinkled him with a Dust of Disappearance, handed him the remaining packet of the stuff, and after Sigurd handed the Bag of Holding with the remaining bombs, off Eni went to engage in his shadow op. Staget, Meloon, Sigurd and Marcellus would go forth to get Staget's stuff, but the second they went forth, a minotaur skeleton ripped itself out from the stuffing on the wall, grabbing the greataxe from the floor and surprising the characters! Things just never seem to be so simple, do they? Can the team defeat the minotaur skeleton without casualties? What will Enigma encounter on his way to finish the bombing run? Find out next time... on Waterdeep: Dragon Heist!