5 & 6 Flamerule, 1493
❧Note
Oh! I totally forgot to tell you that I did take up Frume on his offer to join the Order of the Gauntlet. While T-Bone joined the Harpers, Lhel didn’t.
❧The Road to Baldur’s Gate
Before we got to Baldur’s Gate, my mind started to wander and I suddenly remembered that Dragonborn are attacked on sight in most port cities of Swordcoast, you know, like Baldur’s Gate! T-Bone immediately started working on a disguise for Kalama. When he was done, you definitely couldn’t tell she was Dragonborn!
So, we knew that wagons weren’t allowed within the city limits, but when we reached the gates, we discovered that dogs and horses were similarly banned. Luckily, we were able to sell the horses for 60 gold. What do you want to bet that they just sell them to other travelers that are leaving the city, having sold their horses when they entered? Anyway, after selling the horses we needed to find our contact, Atkins Sellerburn. His store is on the north side of the city, near the Blackgate area. It wasn’t hard to find him and he immediately took T-Bone and me into a room with anti-listening magic and started debriefing us.
Basically, in 3 days the cultists will be leaving with a caravan. Sellerburn is the one who outfits the various caravans and could help us get in as guards, but he had no idea which caravan the cultists would be joining. He did know that the cult was entering the city from the south and leaving through the north. Today is Fifthday and the caravan leaves on Eighthday.
We checked into the very busy Splurging Sturgeon Inn. A whopping 3gp for 2 nights in 1 room! At least we each got a separate bed. We each kind of went our separate ways to check out the city.
It was just after this that I happened to notice Cyanwrath go by in one of those palanquin things. What a snob! Anyway, I did my best to tail him as discretely as possible. In fact, I followed him all the way to a compound not too far from the Black Gate itself. He disappeared into a courtyard of a larger merchant and warehouse. There were no signs but there were 2 guards standing watch at the gate. I made a mental note of nearby warehouses so I could see if Sellerburn might recognize whose courtyard it was. In case you’re wondering, it was near Akbar’s and Johnson & Johnson.
While I was following that idiot around, Kalama went for alchemy supplies, T-Bone went drinking, and guess what the monk did? Yep, he meditated. We need to loosen him up.
Morning, 6 Flamerule
The next morning, T-bone got up early to check out the warehouse. While he was there, a carrier group entered the gate. They had an insignia on their carriage. He waited around for 4 hours, but they never left. We all met up about noon, reset our gems, and shared our intel with Sellerburn. He told us to meet with Charlie over at the Chocolate factory to apply for some caravan jobs.
T-Bone and I went directly to meet with Charlie. We were hired on as private bodyguards for a man named Lasfelro. We’re getting 10g per day plus food. We’ll be working in shifts with 2 others, so at least we’re not on duty constantly.
Afterward, Lhel went to a money changer, and Kalama and I headed to Sorcerous Sundries to look for a magic deception charm. She really needed something that could disguise her long-term. Luckily, the shop had a Mask of Deception that can make you appear like 4 different people (a dwarf, an elf, a human, or a halfling). How hard is that for someone that needs to be able to get around undetected?!
We also found a set of exquisite Elven Chain Mail! It doesn’t weigh as much as regular chain mail which means T-Bone can wear it and not be hampered at all! I grabbed a shield that attracts arrows within 5 feet, perfect to keep my group safe! We also snatched up a Cloak of Displacement that lets you appear in different places and a Ring of Spelling Storing that stores up to 5 levels of spells. They wanted 200gp for the mask, 800gp for the shield, 600gp for the armor, 500gp for the cloak, and 400gp for the ring. We didn’t have that kind of coin on us, so we had to negotiate a bit. Eventually, Kalama coughed up 2 of our purdy little diamonds out of our group funds. The merchant agreed to give us the lot for the 2 diamonds and two hundred gold. So we both pitched in a hundred gold each. Done deal!
Even better, before we left, he etched my new armor symbol into the shield so that it’ll match. I’m actually starting to look like a right badass if you ask me! I sold my old shield for a solid 20gp. After all of this buying and selling, I’m starting to wonder if there is a book or something I could get to help ensure we’re not getting raked over the coals.
After Kalama investigated her new mask a little bit she realized that it can make you look like anyone. There are 4 “slots” available, that obviously are currently full. The great thing is that she can replace any of the slots with anyone! She called it the Mask of Many Faces. I have no idea if she named it or if that’s just what it’s called.