Back in Waterdeep, more exactly in Undermountain Volo found us again. This time he'd lost a key that's supposed to open another door to another vault with another treasure. But tracking the key proofed to be difficult. On the way we came across a series of murders. The traces lead to a heavily trapped house (we found every trap). At the end of the hallway waited a mindflayer's private tea party. After a pleasant conversation, he pointed us to a half-drow courier Cory’bant’ex, who currently delivers the key to the Zhents on the surface

Cost for Transcribing "Ray of Sickness" from Talanna's Spellbook

On my way back to the Moonshaes we came across an idyllic elven village. We spent some time there, learning about their tradition called "Reflection", which refers to the first 100 years in the life of an elf, where they are still vividly remembering their past life. The local sage, an elderly elf called "Starsinger" is helping those young elves overcome the ensuing conflicts. Sadly, as of late, the village had been the target of increasingly violent attacks by Drow. First they stole just weapons, but only a few days ago they slaughtered all the acolytes at the Starsinger's temple. The town's council is becoming increasingly desperate and asked us for help defending their settlement when we heard the news about the Starsinger's dissapearance.
We investigated her tower and found traces of a battle in the sage's private quarters and numerous crow feathers scattered on the floor, which pointed us in the direction of the Shadar Kai - rather than the Drow - who came from the Shadowfell where they serve the Raven Queen.
Outside the tower, tracks led us deeper into the woods and to an old castle that was guarded by two golems - though they were pretty docile once they saw the Drow lady Talanna in our company. Entering the Drow hideout we snooped around a bit and came across a Drow torturing a Shadar Kai. We dispatched of the Drow and were able to stabilize the Shadar Kai - who later introduced himself as Bart Alloit. But the noises of the battle soon drew a lot of Drow recruits and another fight in the narrow tunnels ensued.

Cost for Scroll and Transcription of "Absorb Elements"

Downtime added for DM-Reward: Advancement

Back home again in Waterdeep we were contacted by the Baron of Blood because some other Vampire clan called the "Undertakers" settled here. Since they are a potential danger to the city (and the Baron needs a new lair) we should find a way to get them out. Sadly, they settled down in Undermountain. In order to find an backdoor entrance to Undermountain, we asked Durnan, who, of course, would not part with that information for cheap. He wanted us to find some blue root to make a new ale. So we set out to find the entrance to a mine, coming across an old dwarven "archeologist" that gave us some hints and some blue skeletons, before stumbling into a chamber full of of blue dyed, dwarven skeletons. Following the advice from the dwarf, I consumed some of the root and - oof - I learned so much about the dwarven history. There are about 10 arias in there just waiting to be written. All lost to history... And almost completly lost, since the whole mine was about to collapse, due to a golem, deployed by the Undertakers to drill a way into Undermountain. In a hushed attempet we were able to stabilize the structure and after a short breather we were looking for the golem. A though, but doable fight full of fireballs and counterspells later, a dead sorcerer and a disassembled golem lay at out feet. Back at the Yawning Portal, Durnan was more than happy about the supply of blue root and started his new recipie.

Story Award: Endless Bluetooth Ale
If a way was discovered to set up a supply of the blue lichen to the Yawning Portal, Durnan provides all the Bluetooth Ale the characters can drink whenever they visit. Brewed from the blue lichen grown on the skeletons of dwarves left for dead in the Stonebone Mines, bluetooth ale is a truly unique beverage.
The strong dwarven-style ale is a rich sapphire color and has a faint earthy taste. While the ale lacks most of the special properties of the blue lichen, it still can turn the imbibers teeth (and bones) temporarily blue.
The ale functions as an ingested poison. The drinker must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw, or their skeleton turns a dark shade of blue for 24 hours.

We were investigating a rise in undead-attacks in the border kingdoms that was said to be related to an organisation called the "Great Oak Mercenary Company". And, would you know it, right away we were attacked by a army of undead. After a hard fight and a deserved rest we investigated further and found the base of the mercenaries, where their leader was... not really himself. Sadly, he didn't want to let his condition be further identified and consistently sent us to the nearby lake to see what's wrong there. And found an aboleth. The abberation convinced one of us to follow them into the waters, but we were able to kill the beast before it could do further harm. After returning to the headquarters, we found the leader's brain missing. Soon after, a stunning blast hit us from above. This was followed by a tense battle against a mind flayer, that was influencing the leader to find someone to eliminate the aboleth living in the lake. Seems like the Great Oak Mercenary Company was subterfuged by an organisation called the Black Wyvern

Traded with Laská Tatuq https://www.adventurersleaguelog.com/users/23273/characters/57035

Sold: Leather Armor (starting equipment) (new: 10gp) = 5gp
Bought: Holy Water (25gp)

Traded with Gorm https://www.adventurersleaguelog.com/users/16808/characters/58053

When travelling to Hillsfar, we encountered a caravan that was being slaughtered by undead, proclaiming their vengance. After an admittably difficult encounter, we were able to fight them back, but seeing their undead nature as Revenants, we knew we only had so long until they eventually came back.
Turns out the caravan has plundered the ancient grave of an order of paladins under the leadership of Solina. Most of them died in a battle againts the ice giant Vornjolnir, servant to the Harrowed King. Though it was strange that a order of paladins would fall victim to necromantic magic, we chose to investigate. Upon finding the second caravan slaughtered as well, we followed the tracks to a nearby farmstead, where the owner informed us of the grave nearby. Inside the tomb, the restless spirits and Solina held court over what they believed to be the thieves. We could convince them to let them go, but Solina had another request. Since their tomb was now opened, Vornjolnir's henchmen hand placed runes in here, that made the former warriors rise as undead. We agreed to destroy the runes and even defeated Vornjolnir's lakay.

Story Award: Solina’s Blessing
In the event that you come across Vornjolnir's machinations or the Harrowed King's relics, know that Solina’s blessing is upon you.

Cost for transcribing "Suggestion" from Ixusata's Spellbook
Cost for 50gp Pearl

We were approached by a member of the Black Fist to find the source of the corruption within their organisation, when suddenly, Phlan was attacked. A dragon sweeped over the city, leaving a poisonous trail in its wake. On the streets people were kidnapped and attacked. We rushed to action, killing as many attackers as we could. But the chaos was too big.
After assessing the situation, the captain of the guard approached us once more and asked us to free the imprisioned Lord of the city, while also finding out what was going on with the Black Fist and freeing as much civilians as possible.
Turns out, the Black Fist was undermined by the Dragon Cult and was now turning against each other. Some of the traiters could be identified while many others are still pretending to be a member of the guard.
The Lord was kept prisoner alongside over 100 civilians in the heavily guarded castle. The captives were about to be shipped off to work as slaves, digging to find an ancient artifact of sorts. After the guard captain thought about the situation, she proposed to attack with the remaining Black Fist to draw attention while we could surprise them from behind and free the Lord. The plan was sucessfull, sadly the captain died during the attack.
After some negotiation, the Welcomers (local smugglers) lead us and the nearly 150 civilians through the sewers out of the city where we were attacked by a high ranking cult member and her constructs. After a tough battle, we pressed on to seek refugee in the neighboring city.

Cost for transcribing "Identify" from Lady Fio of Daggerford

A wanted thief was the newest talk in the town of Phlan. Knowing the incompetence of the local police force, we went and investigated. The thief had worked as a scibe in the library, but had copied some of the books with the intent to hide certain passages about an old druidic circle, that wanted to control dragons. After finding some robes we linked the thieves to the cult of dragons, a newer organisation that follows in the footsteps of this old circle.
After a longer hike through the forest we found the old stone circle and were amushed by a handful of kobolds. After defeating the, we found a bunch of zombies were also doing that job for us. A bit of fighting later, we found the thief. Afraid we would hand him over to the cult, he told us about his mission to plunder the dungeon and bring the scale of a red dragon back to them.
After getting the keys we unlocked the door to the artifact, that was guarded by a wright. After an intense conversation with the wright, we decided to hide the keys in Phlan and securing the door once more

Oh boy. The rumors of the Ghost Ship perveiled in Phlan and the local gravekeeper asked us to further investigate. A lot of settlements along the shoreline have been raided, burnt down and in its wake the attackers left peciuliarly goblin bones.
So we set out to a small island village that is suspected to be next in the raiders path while a storm cut off our way back to Phlan. The villagers were extremly cold toward us. Only one wanted to actually talk, and that man had clearly lost his mind when the ghost ship "Audacity" attacked his village and a dracolich burnt it down. I spent the night in his shack, since the only other possibility seemed to be the stable - where we uncovered planks from the original "Audacity", swept ashore years ago.
The next day we followed the warnings of the village's old crones and went to find the monsters in the forest. We found a hole in the ground and in it a turly terrifying altar. It was there when I left. The others later informed me that is was an altar to Tiamat and that someone within the village had forged a contract with her to protect her against the attacks of the ghost ship. Since my comrads quickly destroyed everything in there, the crones were not too happy. And sure enough - came nightfall the village was attacked. But peculiarly enough, not by ghosts and undead - there was way to much blood spilling when they were once again laid to rest.
When we rushed to the bay, we saw a ship by the name of "Audacity", ghostly yes, but not really otherworldy patrolling the shore. We jumped into a rowing boat and while we were on our way there, from the depths of the ocean came a truly ghostly sight: The apparition of a ship, long sunken, bearing the name "Audacity" and now engaging in combat with the other ship. When we rowed there, a healty brawl on deck had broken out. An intense battle later, all two crews lay dead. One part of them truly ghosts, the others mostly human, but covered in illusions to make them look like ghosts. Turns out the human pirate crew had borrowed the name "Audacity" and, with the help of a lot of illusions and goblin-bones, created these otherworldly raids. Yet when we broke the contract with Tiamat, the real Audacity sprung back to unlife and took revenge on the imposters

Back in Waterdeep, more exactly in Undermountain Volo found us again. This time he'd lost a key that's supposed to open another door to another vault with another treasure. But tracking the key proofed to be difficult. On the way we came across a series of murders. The traces lead to a heavily trapped house (we found every trap). At the end of the hallway waited a mindflayer's private tea party. After a pleasant conversation, he pointed us to a half-drow courier Cory’bant’ex, who currently delivers the key to the Zhents on the surface

Cost for Transcribing "Ray of Sickness" from Talanna's Spellbook

On my way back to the Moonshaes we came across an idyllic elven village. We spent some time there, learning about their tradition called "Reflection", which refers to the first 100 years in the life of an elf, where they are still vividly remembering their past life. The local sage, an elderly elf called "Starsinger" is helping those young elves overcome the ensuing conflicts. Sadly, as of late, the village had been the target of increasingly violent attacks by Drow. First they stole just weapons, but only a few days ago they slaughtered all the acolytes at the Starsinger's temple. The town's council is becoming increasingly desperate and asked us for help defending their settlement when we heard the news about the Starsinger's dissapearance.
We investigated her tower and found traces of a battle in the sage's private quarters and numerous crow feathers scattered on the floor, which pointed us in the direction of the Shadar Kai - rather than the Drow - who came from the Shadowfell where they serve the Raven Queen.
Outside the tower, tracks led us deeper into the woods and to an old castle that was guarded by two golems - though they were pretty docile once they saw the Drow lady Talanna in our company. Entering the Drow hideout we snooped around a bit and came across a Drow torturing a Shadar Kai. We dispatched of the Drow and were able to stabilize the Shadar Kai - who later introduced himself as Bart Alloit. But the noises of the battle soon drew a lot of Drow recruits and another fight in the narrow tunnels ensued.

Cost for Scroll and Transcription of "Absorb Elements"

Downtime added for DM-Reward: Advancement

Back home again in Waterdeep we were contacted by the Baron of Blood because some other Vampire clan called the "Undertakers" settled here. Since they are a potential danger to the city (and the Baron needs a new lair) we should find a way to get them out. Sadly, they settled down in Undermountain. In order to find an backdoor entrance to Undermountain, we asked Durnan, who, of course, would not part with that information for cheap. He wanted us to find some blue root to make a new ale. So we set out to find the entrance to a mine, coming across an old dwarven "archeologist" that gave us some hints and some blue skeletons, before stumbling into a chamber full of of blue dyed, dwarven skeletons. Following the advice from the dwarf, I consumed some of the root and - oof - I learned so much about the dwarven history. There are about 10 arias in there just waiting to be written. All lost to history... And almost completly lost, since the whole mine was about to collapse, due to a golem, deployed by the Undertakers to drill a way into Undermountain. In a hushed attempet we were able to stabilize the structure and after a short breather we were looking for the golem. A though, but doable fight full of fireballs and counterspells later, a dead sorcerer and a disassembled golem lay at out feet. Back at the Yawning Portal, Durnan was more than happy about the supply of blue root and started his new recipie.

Story Award: Endless Bluetooth Ale
If a way was discovered to set up a supply of the blue lichen to the Yawning Portal, Durnan provides all the Bluetooth Ale the characters can drink whenever they visit. Brewed from the blue lichen grown on the skeletons of dwarves left for dead in the Stonebone Mines, bluetooth ale is a truly unique beverage.
The strong dwarven-style ale is a rich sapphire color and has a faint earthy taste. While the ale lacks most of the special properties of the blue lichen, it still can turn the imbibers teeth (and bones) temporarily blue.
The ale functions as an ingested poison. The drinker must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw, or their skeleton turns a dark shade of blue for 24 hours.

We were investigating a rise in undead-attacks in the border kingdoms that was said to be related to an organisation called the "Great Oak Mercenary Company". And, would you know it, right away we were attacked by a army of undead. After a hard fight and a deserved rest we investigated further and found the base of the mercenaries, where their leader was... not really himself. Sadly, he didn't want to let his condition be further identified and consistently sent us to the nearby lake to see what's wrong there. And found an aboleth. The abberation convinced one of us to follow them into the waters, but we were able to kill the beast before it could do further harm. After returning to the headquarters, we found the leader's brain missing. Soon after, a stunning blast hit us from above. This was followed by a tense battle against a mind flayer, that was influencing the leader to find someone to eliminate the aboleth living in the lake. Seems like the Great Oak Mercenary Company was subterfuged by an organisation called the Black Wyvern

Traded with Laská Tatuq https://www.adventurersleaguelog.com/users/23273/characters/57035

Sold: Leather Armor (starting equipment) (new: 10gp) = 5gp
Bought: Holy Water (25gp)

Traded with Gorm https://www.adventurersleaguelog.com/users/16808/characters/58053

When travelling to Hillsfar, we encountered a caravan that was being slaughtered by undead, proclaiming their vengance. After an admittably difficult encounter, we were able to fight them back, but seeing their undead nature as Revenants, we knew we only had so long until they eventually came back.
Turns out the caravan has plundered the ancient grave of an order of paladins under the leadership of Solina. Most of them died in a battle againts the ice giant Vornjolnir, servant to the Harrowed King. Though it was strange that a order of paladins would fall victim to necromantic magic, we chose to investigate. Upon finding the second caravan slaughtered as well, we followed the tracks to a nearby farmstead, where the owner informed us of the grave nearby. Inside the tomb, the restless spirits and Solina held court over what they believed to be the thieves. We could convince them to let them go, but Solina had another request. Since their tomb was now opened, Vornjolnir's henchmen hand placed runes in here, that made the former warriors rise as undead. We agreed to destroy the runes and even defeated Vornjolnir's lakay.

Story Award: Solina’s Blessing
In the event that you come across Vornjolnir's machinations or the Harrowed King's relics, know that Solina’s blessing is upon you.

Cost for transcribing "Suggestion" from Ixusata's Spellbook
Cost for 50gp Pearl

We were approached by a member of the Black Fist to find the source of the corruption within their organisation, when suddenly, Phlan was attacked. A dragon sweeped over the city, leaving a poisonous trail in its wake. On the streets people were kidnapped and attacked. We rushed to action, killing as many attackers as we could. But the chaos was too big.
After assessing the situation, the captain of the guard approached us once more and asked us to free the imprisioned Lord of the city, while also finding out what was going on with the Black Fist and freeing as much civilians as possible.
Turns out, the Black Fist was undermined by the Dragon Cult and was now turning against each other. Some of the traiters could be identified while many others are still pretending to be a member of the guard.
The Lord was kept prisoner alongside over 100 civilians in the heavily guarded castle. The captives were about to be shipped off to work as slaves, digging to find an ancient artifact of sorts. After the guard captain thought about the situation, she proposed to attack with the remaining Black Fist to draw attention while we could surprise them from behind and free the Lord. The plan was sucessfull, sadly the captain died during the attack.
After some negotiation, the Welcomers (local smugglers) lead us and the nearly 150 civilians through the sewers out of the city where we were attacked by a high ranking cult member and her constructs. After a tough battle, we pressed on to seek refugee in the neighboring city.

Cost for transcribing "Identify" from Lady Fio of Daggerford

A wanted thief was the newest talk in the town of Phlan. Knowing the incompetence of the local police force, we went and investigated. The thief had worked as a scibe in the library, but had copied some of the books with the intent to hide certain passages about an old druidic circle, that wanted to control dragons. After finding some robes we linked the thieves to the cult of dragons, a newer organisation that follows in the footsteps of this old circle.
After a longer hike through the forest we found the old stone circle and were amushed by a handful of kobolds. After defeating the, we found a bunch of zombies were also doing that job for us. A bit of fighting later, we found the thief. Afraid we would hand him over to the cult, he told us about his mission to plunder the dungeon and bring the scale of a red dragon back to them.
After getting the keys we unlocked the door to the artifact, that was guarded by a wright. After an intense conversation with the wright, we decided to hide the keys in Phlan and securing the door once more

Oh boy. The rumors of the Ghost Ship perveiled in Phlan and the local gravekeeper asked us to further investigate. A lot of settlements along the shoreline have been raided, burnt down and in its wake the attackers left peciuliarly goblin bones.
So we set out to a small island village that is suspected to be next in the raiders path while a storm cut off our way back to Phlan. The villagers were extremly cold toward us. Only one wanted to actually talk, and that man had clearly lost his mind when the ghost ship "Audacity" attacked his village and a dracolich burnt it down. I spent the night in his shack, since the only other possibility seemed to be the stable - where we uncovered planks from the original "Audacity", swept ashore years ago.
The next day we followed the warnings of the village's old crones and went to find the monsters in the forest. We found a hole in the ground and in it a turly terrifying altar. It was there when I left. The others later informed me that is was an altar to Tiamat and that someone within the village had forged a contract with her to protect her against the attacks of the ghost ship. Since my comrads quickly destroyed everything in there, the crones were not too happy. And sure enough - came nightfall the village was attacked. But peculiarly enough, not by ghosts and undead - there was way to much blood spilling when they were once again laid to rest.
When we rushed to the bay, we saw a ship by the name of "Audacity", ghostly yes, but not really otherworldy patrolling the shore. We jumped into a rowing boat and while we were on our way there, from the depths of the ocean came a truly ghostly sight: The apparition of a ship, long sunken, bearing the name "Audacity" and now engaging in combat with the other ship. When we rowed there, a healty brawl on deck had broken out. An intense battle later, all two crews lay dead. One part of them truly ghosts, the others mostly human, but covered in illusions to make them look like ghosts. Turns out the human pirate crew had borrowed the name "Audacity" and, with the help of a lot of illusions and goblin-bones, created these otherworldly raids. Yet when we broke the contract with Tiamat, the real Audacity sprung back to unlife and took revenge on the imposters