Dungeons and Dragons Day 20: Dinner Party Part 1
Aftermath:
After the party left Antoinette’s lair, they returned to the Dwarven City. Fearful that they would be arrested despite self defense, they walked the streets warily. As it turned out, only the invitations to the upcoming dinner party kept them out of jail.
Daznock of House Runebrewer was the one to break the bad news. He pointed out that even if the houses decided to favor the adventurers, they needed a scapegoat to blame for the death of the head of house Minebuckle. The party was devastated by this turn of events and furious for the sudden betrayal of Antoinette. The party debated whether they had earned this fate, but ultimately rejected that idea. They also were haunted by rumors that Gonk was a Wereboar.
Trapped:
The Barbarian Warlock could no longer hide the fact that he wanted to get the hell out of the Dwarven City. Things only became worse when it turned out that there was no leaving the City. The group had to see this through to the end now.
Unsure what to do, Rose once again made things even more complicated. She warned the party that Queen Hespith was connected to Nihilin. Even worse, she noted that Fodrin was in league with Kranaak. Enemies would be all around and the party had no means to escape. Strangely enough, the Sorceress said she would aid the party how she could. Admitting that Ourabaras had abandoned any ambitions of conquering the Dwarves, she had been left behind to see the final results of her foes. This temporary alliance was just what the party needed and they began to formulate a plan.
Outside the Party:
Entering the dinner party with Fodrin, the group acted as if they had no idea about his dangerous allegiances. As soon as they could, they sought out Rose. She was in a provocative red dress that everyone could not help but take notice of. However, she needed the groups attention for a more serious purpose. She warned the group that Vampires were all over the palace and that they needed to tread carefully.
Wanting to not be too visible at a dinner party surrounded by nobles and dangerous people, the group dispersed and decided to mingle. The Rogue started some trouble as he tended to. He found a pair of Dwarves who despite being from rival houses in this Succession Crisis, had maintained their friendship. The Rogue decided he was going to put a stop to that. Slipping a toxin into a drink and planting evidence of the crime on the other, he sought to sow some discord. Content in his work, the Rogue left the party to observe from afar.
Important Information:
The Death Knight spoke with Rose about the brand she had placed on him. She reminded him that it was through Ourabaras and not her own power that it was derived from. She could not remove it. And the upset Death Knight almost stormed away then, but remembered that he could not make a scene and looked for the rest of the group before trying to figure out how to proceed.
The Monk sought out House Windmaul wondering what their thoughts on what had happened recently. The battle-maiden informed him that even if the house chose to favor the group, they could not protect from imprisonment. Only the queen was capable of making such a change in legal proceedings. Frustrated, the Monk sought out a quiet place to sit and found an open bar.
The Barbarian Warlock sought to find any signs of Vampires. To that end he walked to the heads of House Trollbreaker with the Paladin alongside him. Both discussed this turn of events with Lomduck, the head of the house. Sadly, they collectively came to a conclusion that there were few ways to prevent their arrest. Surprisingly, it seemed that House Trollbreaker was aware of the Vampire problem. This hinted that other factions might be as well.
Final Preperations
The Death Knight continued to scan for Vampires, but found none. Eventually he sat down at a bar near the Monk. Said Monk was not pleased when Rose joined them. However, even more folks joined the growing group at the bar. Notably the head of House Windmaul himself, Jakhim and the Blacksmith from his house sat down and talked with the three.Making jokes at the Monk’s expense about how he avoided Rose, despite her beauty, they quickly turned to more serious talk. Vampires were in the palace and Windmaul as a house would love nothing more than to slaughter them all. However, they had to keep up appearances for the sake of reputation.
Before the group could enter the palace, they needed to wait for others to enter first. As the Monk went to go inside, Rose approached him once more. Groaning and preparing for more jokes at his expense, he was surprised when the Sorceress said something shocking. She would agree to stop teasing him on the condition that they put aside their differences and work together. As he never wanted to see a banana ever again, the Monk agreed to those terms. Though he only trusted Rose slightly more than the nest of important people he was walking into.
The dinner party has only begun. Only two days remain until something catastrophic occurs. Just what fate awaits this band of heroes and their increasingly bad luck.