The team waited with bated breath for the results of Enigma's expedition... A few minutes of silence pass. Suddenly, a violent explosion rocks the Scarlet Marpenoth! A minute or two later, the team is greeted by... Jalester??? Ray was very suspicious, and had Yuan use his Magic Awareness on the man, only detecting his clothes were illusory in nature, but otherwise he seemed to be the real deal. Soon enough, though, Enigma and Patayan also made their presence known, and explained the situation... Somehow, Laeral Silverhand had been alerted to the situation regarding the Sea Maidens' Faire. As such, she sent Jalester and Patayan to go investigate. It was unclear how she knew, though, until it was revealed that Valetta had contacted Laeral via a Sending spell while the others were interrogating the dwarven brewer, Mr. Hatchett, earlier. She had kept this a secret because she didn't want to distract the team, and technically she wasn't supposed to talk about anything she and Laeral had discussed. In any case, Enigma retells the tale of his adventure, how the three of them snuck aboard the Hellraiser, managed to persuade the remaining carnies to evacuate the ship, and then proceed into the hold. Unfortunately, the hold was too well guarded and the gunslingers stationed had to be dispatched. Enigma was able to take them out with the help of Jalester and Patayan, but after lighting the smokepowder storage, they were accosted by more sailors who heard the fighting, and had to deal with them promptly before finally bailing the ship, choosing to simply jump off the boat and swim away before it exploded violently, shattering windows across the Dock Ward! Shortly thereafter, the City Watch and Griffon Cavalry rained down around the remaining ship, the Heartbreaker, raiding it and seizing the ship. Almost as if they knew ahead of time something was going to go down... it was very well orchestrated. No civilians were harmed in the affair, either, despite the fact that the Faire had been performing on the docks prior to the explosion - apparently, the Watch had managed to usher others away from the scene before something drastic happened. It looks like Jarlaxle isn't the only one who can weave a tangled plot - Laeral Silverhand looked just as capable of countering his shenanigans! With everybody safe, Patayan urged the team to vacate the premises immediately to avoid being implicated in the explosion. They left the docks posthaste, with Yuan piloting the Apparatus of Kwalish so they could return it to Grinda Garloth. Patayan guided the team back to the shore, so that she could petition aid from the House of the Even Handed, where she and Enigma would train as part of their role in the Order of the Even Handed. However, as they were contemplating their next steps from there, they were surprised to hear a voice... "I tried to play nice at first, and you rebuked me again and again, and you continue forcing my hand. We could have been good friends, you and I. But it seems it was not meant to be... ta-ta, gentlemen." With that, Yuan, easily the sturdiest character of the bunch, was cut down in a flash with a series of invisible blade strikes!! Looks like Jarlaxle caught up to them, and he was less than pleased!! The team quickly scrambled to try and regroup, but Jarlaxle's incredible skill and speed with a blade made itself apparent, as the instant Patayan tried to heal Yuan, Jarlaxle was there with a response to ensure he stayed on the ground. Then, as Valetta cast a Sending spell, she was instantly laid low by a rapid series of strikes. The party did their best to try and tag him with anything they could throw at him, but he was able to nimbly dodge and evade all of their attacks. Nothing seemed to be able to stick. Even so outnumbered, Jarlaxle was a formidable foe, and resilient to boot, as he managed to withstand Sigurd's metallic breath weapon attack, and then as the infuriated dragonborn tried to tangle with the drow in melee, he was also dropped down immediately. Could anyone stand a chance?? Just then, though, the team's luck would turn, as Jarlaxle missed a cue when Ray cast a Faerie Fire spell to break Jarlaxle's invisibility. Now he was revealed and vulnerable... sort of. As Ray went to put as much distance between Jarlaxle and himself as possible, the drow gave chase, but was caught by Enigma not wanting to waste the opportunity, and managed to catch Jarlaxle with a stunning strike! The swashbuckler was unable to evade all of the attacks, and was staggered from the blow rumbling his senses, and now it was the team's chance to beat him down. Even despite his vulnerable state, he was still able to dodge a good number of blows, but he could not evade them all, and soon found himself getting overwhelmed. When he finally recovered, he had been caught out by Ray's Blindness spell, and forced to stumble away from the team in a bid to try and escape back to his submarine, the gnomes inside looking on with shock and awe. As he ran, though, Jalester was able to catch up to him, and in a desperate gamble, swung his blade with all of his might and managed to clobber Jarlaxle upside the head with a crushing, precise blow, sending the two of them sprawling across the sandy shore. The drow lay motionless, as Jalester sat up and realized what had happened. They did it - Jarlaxle had been defeated! Enigma, furious with anger, attempted to charge the unconscious dark elf, but was stopped by Jalester and Patayan - Jalester said that while justice needs to be served, it needed to be done by the proper hand, and he wanted to leave Jalester to Laeral to deal with. Enigma begrudgingly accepted this, and soon enough the Griffon Cavalry made their way to investigate the scene. In addition, Mirt came bumbling and stumbling down the hill, having saw the whole thing, and expressed surprise at the team's victory. He stated that Jarlaxle should not be killed and he'd explain why back in his manor... but not before Ray and Mirt got to have a bit of fun drawing on Jarlaxle's face, to the annoyance of the Griffon Cavalry who were trying to process his arrest. They also escorted Mr. Hatchett away (who spent the entire combat hiding behind a rock), to question him about his involvement with the Bregan D'aerthe. Patayan escorted the team back to the House of the Even Handed first, though, to receive aid from the clerics and mend their injuries. She thanked Enigma on his help and congratulated him for his efforts, stating that she is proud of how well he has performed and that his skill might even surpass her own in some ways. He replied that this of course won't be the end, and she agreed, as the two exchanged bows. Patayan stated she needed to relay to Hlam, the grandmaster of the order, what has occurred, so she will remain behind at the House to eventually travel up Mount Waterdeep and relay the news, leaving the others to continue onto Mirt's place and regroup. It was here that Mirt revealed that this entire thing, for the most part, went all according to Laeral's plan - she has been busy working the political scene to sever the alliance between Luskan and Lantan, and this whole affair has helped her expose Jarlaxle on the political stage for his meddling. With the loss of the Scarlet Marpenoth and the Sea Maidens' Faire, he has been exposed as too chaotic and untrustworthy to Lantan to be allowed to use their technologies further. What wasn't expected was Jarlaxle's defeat at the hand of the party - this was a huge bonus. With this, Laeral can manipulate Jarlaxle politically, turning the tables on him. Unfortunately, as much as Mirt would love to off him, that isn't possible as it will cause too much political strife with Luskan. He's not sure exactly what Laeral has in store, but whatever it is, it won't be good for Jarlaxle. He thanked the team for their efforts, and stated that all obstacles have been cleared - with Manshoon, Xanathar, Jarlaxle, and the Cassalanters out of the picture, the way was clear for the team to finally unlock the Vault of Dragons. The team decided that Mirt could be trusted and informed him of where they needed to go - the Brandath family tomb. Mirt expressed surprised, as he realized that was Renaer's mother's family name. He expressed sorrow that Renaer would not be happy to learn that his father was potentially using his mother's burial place to hide his crimes against Waterdeep. Ray stated they would need Renaer's help to bypass some of the securities with the tomb as a treant who was friendly to Alethea, Renaer's mother, prevented outsiders from entering the tomb. Mirt stated he'd let Renaer know to meet the team where ever they needed him to be, likely at the tavern, and told them to rest and celebrate their victory for now. Heading back, Valetta thanked the team for their help - she was afraid that Jarlaxle might try and manipulate her somehow, or somehow get her in trouble with the church of Gond back on Lantan, due to her meddling in his affairs, but with Laeral taking care of everything in the background, she could rest assured that her reputation would be safe. She asked if she could stay at the tavern to join their celebration, which Sigurd immediately answered with yes... of course. Jalester, too, opted to tag along, eager to finally sit down and relax a little after a hard fought battle. Before heading back, though, they paid a visit to Zelifarn, the bronze dragon, to make good on a request that was made long ago. Confirming that the 'water sausage' was in fact a submarine, Zelifarn was pleased with the results and presented the team with the chest he had found. There wasn't much in it, save for a pile of silvers and a valuable octopus amulet made of gold, but there was at least one useful treasure hidden away, as in a compartment in the lid held a scroll of Revivify. A nice emergency tool for the last leg of the adventure, as it would suck immensely for someone to get killed now after coming all of this way! Heading back to the tavern to divvy up the spoils - including all of Jarlaxle's very fancy magical shit - the team was surprised when they heard a voice again. Fortunately, this time, it was a recording, but it was the voice of Jarlaxle, who apparently had left a surprise before attempting his little rendezvous with the team. He likely wasn't expecting to be bested by them, but he congratulated the team on beating him and his organization (while still subtly mocking them in some ways - including leaving a coloring book and magic marker for Yuan...) and claimed that his time in the City of Splendors was coming to an end. However, he ended the message with a warning - that someone had been watching this whole affair unfold. "Beware of the pale man with tinted glasses. He knows a lot more than you think." Could there still be someone who might be after the Vault...? What lay in store for the team within the Vault of Dragons? Find out next time, on Waterdeep: Dragon Heist!