A Record of the Rescue of Oz on the 16th of Mirtul, 1502 DR

This task was another unusual one. It was upon the request of one "Theodora Glintwick" that we were to rescue her familiar from the home of one "Erasmus" who had kidnapped the Pseudo dragon by the name of Oz. From my understanding, this was a relatively harmless prank meant to embarrass Miss Glintwick and through our rescue we were to retrieve both the familiar and a trophy that Erasmus apparently valued quite highly. After a description of the home and Erasmus' apprentice, as well as our objectives, we set out to investigate the home.

Upon finding the home, we found the apprentice relaxing outside. One of my comrades, Sylk, suggested speaking with the apprentice to attempt to negotiate entry. As soon as he set out, another employee of the syndicate by the name of Zaerius opted to sneak around behind the house, despite the heavy armor he wore. The apprentice was sufficiently distracted so he had not noticed Zaerius, nor did he notice our third member, Roteye, who decided to follow Zaerius. After a short time, I heard the sound of metal striking stone, which luckily did not alert the apprentice. Soon enough, Loderr, the final member of our group, opted to approach the apprentice and Sylk, joining the conversation. It seemed to go well, as the apprentice seemed happy to leave the premises soon after. After investigating the back of the home, we found that Zaerius had attempted to break through some illusion of a door, which was revealed to be simply a wall.

Approaching the front door, we found our way unbarred and upon entering I found a note that contained useful information: Firstly, we were to remain silent, secondly, we had to feed some kind of pet, thirdly, the "PW is Barty's full name". Upon speaking in the main room, people who spoke would be teleported outside. The main room was quite unusual, with a door on the ceiling and on the floor, chairs and tables on various walls and so forth. The ceiling door led to a bathroom, the floor was an alchemy room. Besides those two doors, there were a pair of doors on the back wall, the first was trapped and quite painful, but it only led to a store-room.

The final door lead to a trophy room, which contained the trophy that was the secondary objective of our job. Reading the trophy informed me of the full name of the pet, "Bartholomew" which I spoke aloud. Upon doing so, the trophy case clicked and was unlocked. Upon opening the case and taking said trophy, a pair of mimics came to life and attacked us. After dispatching them, we investigated a door in the trophy room which contained our last objectives, Bartholomew and Oz, the latter being trapped in a glass orb inside the former, who was a gelatinous cube. Upon feeding the former, we were able to free the latter. Some of my comrades then opted to enact some minor pranks as a form of revenge against Erasmus.

Finally, we returned to Miss Glintwick and gave her a report, handing over both the familiar and the trophy we took on her behalf. After a brief conversation, we received our pay and her gratitude.

Notes on the month of Tarsakh of the year 1502

I arrived at the Syndicate less than a fortnight ago, on the 18th of Tarsakh. I found the location to be quite well-selected, with a natural defense in the form of the river. I do have some concerns about potential floods, though I'm sure there are some contingencies for this. I was given a contract to sign which seemed quite generous, providing free rooms and board for their members. After a brief discussion with a Kobold member of staff by the name of Saturday, I moved in and got settled.

My first job of the month took place the very next day, which also included my first experience with teleportation magic. My full notes were recorded separately but I felt reassured as I already found leads on the empire of Netheril in the form of Netherese text at a cemetery. I have since started some basic research to see if anyone knew how to translate the text, but I have been unsuccessful thus far.

The second job involved more teleportation, this time on the behalf of the Lord's Alliance. I was allowed to visit the illustrious grounds of Candlekeep, though unfortunately we were not allowed to explore the library at our leisure. In this job, my companions and I met the illustrious Brass dragon, Felgolos. The job was successful and he was generous enough to reward us for our good cheer.

In future months, I hope to forge more connections to members of the Syndicate and continue to take on jobs. Perhaps I will even organize a small expedition towards the Anauroch desert to see if I can get a better sense of it now that I'm here.

The investigation of the Municipality of Felgolos was a bit of a strange experience. My companions today were Mimsy, who I'd worked with previously at the Gloomwood Cemetery, as well as Astraelis, a human, Salviron, a man I believe to be of elven descent and Tapioca, a Tabaxi. It seemed to be hosted entirely on a demiplane, which contained a court room as well as a very strange prison. The court room was quite fine and was presided over by a halfling judge, who was aided by a bailiff. We sat in on the sentencing of a halfling who had thrown a tomato at a bard before it was "legally" permissible to do so. The fine was a simple copper piece, which seemed to be a waste of everyone's time in all honesty.

The second trial was of a pair of friends who seemingly told bad jokes and were sentenced to be imprisoned in the highest tower. As they were escorted past us, they threw us a note in a balled up bit of paper. Mimsy read it out, which turned out to be a request for aid which we decided to oblige. We followed them out a different door, one that brought us to a stone hallway with glass constructs and bronze birds. With only one door at the other end of the hall, we headed over and tried to catch up to the pair and the bailiff but found ourselves inside a kitchen ran by two kobolds instead. It seemed like the punishment was that they would be forced to relive and repeat the joke that earned them their sentence, which seemed somewhat cruel. Thankfully, once someone told an appropriately bad, or perhaps a sufficiently good, joke it appeared to free us all from the cell. The Kobolds thanked us and promptly left the stone hallway through the exit behind us.

Another journey down the same hallway saw us in a garden this time, with a tiefling gardener forced to relive their joke as well. Once again, a joke was all that was required to free them, and this pattern continued with the trio of bards we encountered in a tavern cell as well. It was after this that we appeared in an empty cell, though we could hear the two prisoner's joke and complaints. One more joke brought us all back to the hallway once again, though the end of this one had us in another, cozier hallway. Upon knocking on the door to the judge's office, she seemed to take umbrage at the thought that we might have been attempting to make a knock-knock joke. She seemed to dislike the idea of us attempting to free her prisoners with unsanctioned jokes and so set upon us a trio of clockwork drakes, as well as a pair of porcelain dolls. After dispatching them swiftly enough, she activated some strange magical device that encased her in a protective bubble, though once again, a joke was sufficient to make her crack. It was then that we were graced by the presence of the dragon, Felgolos, who approved of our humour and rewarded us with some small treasures and trinkets before returning us back to the material plane. We agreed to simply return to Candlekeep to submit our findings and then we were promptly teleported back to the Syndicate.

All in all, a strange experience but a profitable one.

A record of the investigation at the Gloomwood Cemetery on the nineteenth of Tarsakh, in the year 1502

My first job as a part of the Glassfang Syndicate was a strange one. It began with the Syndicate's leader performing some higher circle magic that teleported myself, some sort of imp goblin hybrid by the name of Desky, a dragonborn by the name of Mimsy and a strange, animated construct by the name of Vernal. I'd always been aware that there were all kinds of races that took up adventuring, so I suppose that rumor was truer than I expected.

The main object was to investigate strange occurrences at a cemetery, which had me feeling somewhat confident as I anticipated it would be somewhat similar to my experiences with archaeology with my father. Upon our arrival, we saw a sorry sight. The graves were overgrown, having fallen to the rigors of time. We discovered ancient Draconic writing that I believe may have been Loross or Netherese. After exploring for a few minutes, we heard the meows of a cat. Desky seemed to be disturbed, making some very strange comments that led me to believe he has a deep hatred or fear of felines, perhaps both. We found the cat trapped in a particularly deep grave that seemed unstable. Thankfully, Mimsy and Vernal were capable of casting mage hand and were able to work together to free the cat, which we later discovered was named Obsidian. After some strange discussions regarding both cats and cadavers, we decided to follow Obsidian who seemed to have a destination it wanted to lead us to.

Upon following Obsidian, we found what appeared to be a mausoleum in relatively good condition, when compared to the rest of the graveyard. As we entered, our attention was caught by a pristine statue of an older incarnation of Mystra, one that I believe was created during the reign of the Netheril, which supports my earlier conclusion about the language being used on some of the graves. We did not have much time to investigate before we were assaulted by three ghostly apparitions. Their touch was cold and draining, though I managed to find a small door in the altar under the statue of Mystra, which contained an orb that seemed to solidify their forms enough for my companions' magic to affect them. My weapons were ineffective, unsurprisingly. We managed to dispel the ghosts, and I offered a prayer to Mystra to see them through to their true afterlife. We took a break to relax and recuperate somewhat, where we also found some potions. Mimsy was able to identify them as being greater potions of healing, which was a relief to have on hand.

Obsidian took the lead once more, leading us to a secret passage underground. Our path was blocked by a portcullis, though with a good application of leverage I was able to lift it out of the way before getting it stuck overhead to allow us to proceed. We maanged to spot a trap as well, which Vernal disable with some forceful application of magic until it was triggered safely. Proceeding deeper into the catacombs, we found a sarcophagus and some papers, one of which featured a map of the cemetery and the second I have transcribed below:

"To the Disciple of Shadows, The time draws near when the veil between life and death will tear asunder. The ritual must be completed beneath the blood moon, within the cursed grounds of Gloomwood Cemetery. Gather the bones of the restless, those who cannot find peace, and bind them with the threads of the abyss. The Obsidian Spire awaits, shrouded in the eternal night of Neverwinter Wood. Within its ancient walls, the key to unholy power resides. The dead shall rise at your command, an army of shadows to sweep across the land. But beware—forces linger within the Spire, remnants of a forgotten age, and they do not slumber lightly. You must proceed with caution, for those who would stand against you draw near. They may seek to unravel our plans, but they cannot stop what has already begun. The darkness will claim what is rightfully ours. Do not fail me.
—Your Master of the Black Flame"

We were uncertain of when the letter was sent but with the map in hand we felt it best to investigate the area. Approaching the so called Obsidian spire, we found a necromancer in the middle of some kind of ritual, supported by two skeletons. He spotted us and a battle erupted. I managed to remove one of the gems that appeared to empower the necromancer, though it still seemed like he was somehow empowered by the other three. It was a bit of a blur, I was hit by some kind of necromantic ray and I lost consciousness briefly. Thankfully, the rest of my companions were able to finish him and Mimsy fed me one of my potions of healing. After some more investigation, the leader of the Syndicate opened another portal to allow us to return.

I believe I need some more practice with my bow, and I will be training to scale structures somewhat more effectively, as if I had been faster I may have been able to disrupt the ritual more effectively, given the gems powering the ritual were placed atop fifteen foot tall pillars. We were rewarded well for what we found and I plan to spend the gold I've earned to purchase some useful tools and equipment.

- Luckyfoot