Keys from the Golden Vault Session 1 – The Murkmire Malevolence p1

Live streamed and uploaded every week on YouTube. Join us live on Fridays around 8pm Pacific/11pm Eastern!

Original character art by Jimmy McClure
Music by Kevin MacLeod.
Chat with us in the Official Discord Server.
Support the channel via Patreon!

Keys from the Golden Vault Session 1

Starring
Varrow, level 3 gnome Thief Rogue
Stayzie Diamondz, level 3 orc Champion Fighter
Elowen Fernwhisper, level 3 wood elf Circle of the Moon Druid
Chérie Powder, level 3 human Illusionist Wizard
Taveen, level 3 aasimar Warrior of Mercy Monk

Many campaigns start in a tavern. This one starts in a prison.

Well, a City Watch post holding cell, anyway.

As we learned in Session 0, this colorful cast of characters has run afoul of the law, from burglary and eco-terrorism to a nasty bar fight. Now they all find themselves in the middle of Waterdeep, staring down their consequences.

The PCs meet one another, sharing how they got in there and learning each other’s quirks; the zen-like, fanatical druid, the loud-mouthed orc, and the edgy rogue with a chip on his shoulder.

Suddenly, a voice begins speak from the back of the cell. Their heads turn and see a well-dressed, middle-age man with a smoking pipe. And he’s got a job offer.

The man introduces himself as Mr. Trench*, and alludes that he made sure they were all in this cell together at the same time, as he wants the entire group for his organization.

*Vincent Trench, a minor NPC from Waterdeep: Dragon Heist.

He plays coy with what this organization is, but describes it as a secretive group that helps people, and typically has to get its hands dirty to do it.

The jail cell isn’t the best place for a lengthy explanation, but the party is on board regardless, though Varrow has his suspicions. Mr. Trench seemingly makes a golden key appear in Chérie’s pocket, then he magically fades away.

Chérie takes this as a sign that he is to be the leader of this new group. The party uses the key on the cell door, and it magically opens, then disintegrates into dust.

As they head out in the hallway, Elowen wild shapes into a cat to explore the area. This causes a minor uproar (Stayzie doesn’t like cats), which draws a guard into the room.

After some bumbling attempts to grab and silence the guard, Chérie casts suggestion, charming him into helping them.

Elowen-cat explores the main office room, with a large desk, another two guards, and the font doors. She attempts to distract the guards, but gets thrown out instead.

The charmed guard unlocks the storage chest and the rest of the group retrieves their things while deciding what to do.

They finally decide to get back into the cell and pretend to still be there, with Varrow hiding by the door, and the charmed guard standing glumly.

Another guard walks into the cell block hallway and Varrow jumps him, putting a knife to his throat, and luring him into the cell, while the charmed one waves it all off as a big misunderstanding.

The captured guard is locked in the cell, while the charmed guard helps lead them out.

Meanwhile, Elowen-cat has returned and successfully distracted the last guard, allowing the party to escape out the front door.

Chérie goes last and involves the guard in one of his signature card-based magic tricks, but it’s simply a distraction to flee as the charmed spell wears off.

The party is free, and learned to work together!

Before he disappeared, Mr. Trench told them to meet him at his office, the Tiger’s Eye, in Trollskull Alley.

They head there and ring the bell. Mr. Trench is pleased to see them and invites them in to his little office apartment.

He’s a private detective by trade, and knows the city well. He explains that the organization he’s a part of, The Golden Vault, is far-ranging. Well beyond the city, and perhaps even this material plane. The group helps people who are in serious trouble, and whose problems would create larger consequences.

They don’t accept money from clients, but the Golden Vault does pay its associates, and keeps them well-stocked, should they prove effective agents.

After working as a solo act for some time, Mr. Trench chose this group to start his own franchise, realizing that many jobs require a full team to get done.

Speaking of which, their first case has just arrived!

A woman rings the doorbell and enters the agency. She’s wearing the robes of an academic, or a professor. She introduces herself as Dr. Dannell, and was given a mysterious golden key, and a note with the Tiger’s Eye address.

Mr. Trench places the key in the music box. It opens, displaying a miniature museum with a tiny spinning dinosaur. A melodic voice sings about Chult, an occult object, and unknown horrors.

Baffled, Dr. Dannell confirms she recently returned from an expedition to Chult on behalf of the Waterdeep Museum of Natural History, with several findings.

But after doing more research, she suspects one of their findings is actually quite dangerous: A glowing green stone called the Murkmire Stone. It caused nightmares and hallucinations to the crew, and she suspects it’s an eldritch object containing an evil entity, or perhaps a dangerous curse.

But the museum curator didn’t heed any warnings, and the stone is the prize showcase of the museum’s gala, which is tonight! After the gala, the stone will be open to the public, and Dr. Dannell is worried it could cause serious damage.

Mr. Trench quickly accepts the case, claiming his crew is the very best at these kinds of tasks.

Dr. Dannell provides a sketch map of the museum, with some notes about the security, including locked doors and alarm spells. She also hands over her bag of holding to contain the Murkmire Stone until she can finish building her containment vessel.

Mr. Trench helps forge some tickets for the gala, the perfect chance to scout out at the museum. The party decides its easier to attend the gala and attempt to stay after the museum closes, rather than break in afterward.

Sounds easy enough! I’m sure nothing will go wrong…

Live post-session discussion: