24-01-23: Descent into Avernus Part 2

We make our way through the Upper City to the Wide, the market place of the city. There's a statue of Minsc the Ranger, who previously defended Baldur's Gate from Balspawn. We take a short rest in a food stall; Coin plays a song of rest for us. Coin's performance gets us our drinks on the house.

We find somewhere to sell the gold necklaces that we got off Dead-Eye; Coin pulls the wool over the vendor's eye that they're worth 50 gold a piece, and the vendor pays 100 gp for the necklaces.

We find a potions shop that sells 'premium' health potions for 55gp each, and cheaper health potions for 20 gp each. Orinthia can tell that the premium health potions are basic health potions and the subpar 20 gp potions may or may not heal. Orinthia ritually casts identify on a subpar potion, it's essentially the same as a normal potion of healing. Together Coin and Orinthia identify four potions that are potions of healing, and we buy them; two of the subpar potions are actually poisons, and the vendor puts them back behind the counter.

Double Tapp looks for a stall that sells games and dice. She's looking for trick dice; the vendor offers a set for 100 gp. Double Tapp can't afford it.

We decide to go scope out the bathhouse by going inside and observing. There are three baths, two of which are currently in use. The bathhouse offers two masseuses. A bath is 5 sp, a bath with a massage is 8 sp. Double Tapp pays for a massage and a bath. Orinthia pays for a bath. Solana pays for a massage. Coin pays for a massage and a bath. Solana does some investigating, talking to thee proprietor. Orinthia commands her homunculus to float around the bathhouse and investigate; it finds a hidden door in the northern room of the northern massage room. Double Tapp learns from their masseuse that Duke VanThampur built the bathhouse. Orinthia tells Coin before his massage about the hidden door that her homunculus found. Coin finds the door when he goes in for his massage. Solana is able to get a read on the assistant for the bathhouse; she's not involved in the cult, although she might be aware of it. Coin intimidates the assistant into letting Orinthia's homunculus servant stay overnight for observation and 'security.' Double Tapp tries to pickpocket the assistant, fails.

We head to the Elf Song Tavern, running into another squadron of Flaming Fists along the way. We make a plan to rest tonight, go back tomorrow to get the intel from our homunculus. We go home/to the barracks, and have a long rest.

We meet up in the morning at the Elf Song tavern. Coin treats us all to breakfast. We head out to the bathhouse; along the way, Coin steps on a crack and it shrieks. Double Tapp steps on it, but nothing happens. Coin steps on it again, and it shrieks again. The crack is very lengthy, and leads to the docks. Solana has heard of a shrieking crack that leads people to Mandor Cry's mansion. The mansion appeared out of nowhere in a vacant lot, there were lavish parties that were thrown, and then the owner disappeared from the public eye. Apparently people get invitations to the mansion and are never seen again; a group of Flaming Fists broke in, only two survived and babbled about shifting rooms and blood.

We head to the bathhouse. The homunculus is disabled in the courtyard; Orinthia casts mending on it, fixing it for +9 hit points. The homunculus says it saw a human and three others come out of the hidden door, and was attacked and disabled. The figures were covered in black cloaks. We head into the bathhouse;  new assistant is working, and tells us the other assistant took an extended leave of absence. She claims the masseuses are off for the day. Double Tapp is convinced that everyone's dead and the new assistant is not on the level. Double Tapp tries to drag the 'assistant' into the middle of us, but the assistant pulls away. Double Tapp calls the 'assistant' on all the workers being dead, and admits the homunculus is ours.

-Double Tapp attacks cultist, hits for -14 damage, killing them. Attacks another cultist, hits for -5 damage.
-Coin casts vicious mockery on cultist, hits for -2 damage, killing them.
-Orinthia opens the door to the northern room. Attacks the cultist behind the door, hits for -9 damage. Commands her homunculus to move to flank the cultist; the homunculus attacks, hits for -6 damage, killing it.
-Solana opens the door to the southern room. Attacks the cultist on the other side of the door, hits for -5 damage. Attacks again, misses.
-Cultist attacks Solana, hits for -8 damage. Attacks again, hits for -8 damage.
-Double Tapp shoots the cultist, hits for -13 damage, killing him.


Coin casts healing word on Solana, healing her for +6 health. Orinthia casts cure wounds on Solana, healing her for +9 health. We loot the bodies. Three of the cultists are carrying red handkerchiefs, signaling that they're worshippers of Bal. The cultists in the northern room has a fist sized skull with a symbol carved in it, signifying that he's a follower of Myrkle. Coin take the skull, the rest of us take handkerchiefs. We take the cultists' robes and disguise ourselves as cultists. We lock the bathhouse, put all the bodies in the baths.

We head through the secret door; it's dark, we all casts spells to produce light, or light lanterns, or produce flame. Orinthia uses her homunculus servant as a scout as we move through the tunnels. We find a hidden door that leads to a hidden room with a dead body in it, and an altar to Myrkle. The body has nothing on it, and has been dead for days. We find a tapestry depicting our faceless figures ripping apart a screaming fifth figure. There's a door at the end of the hall.