The Escape from Luskan

The Party had been split.  

After famous Bank robberies, Criminal Mastermind diplomacy, Surviving assassinations together and escaping a Kraken in mostly one piece, things finally came to a head deep under an old Dwarven Fort, Hidden in a secret dock long since sealed from the city.  Outside the combined armies of the Lords of Waterdeep bombarded the fort into rubble,  They were here on humanitarian grounds as the recent tsunami had devastated the city infrastructure and left thousands homeless, With many Pirate Lords simply boarding their ships and taking off to sea until things calmed down.  The Lords of Waterdeep had been honor bound to intervene with a combined army of 10,000.  If any Pirates wanted for crimes against their Lord's lands were found then that was just an added benefit for the citizens of Luskan.  Since the fort was known to belong to Chief Stroud, they were aggressively making sure that the ruin posed no threat to anyone, ever again.

Chief Stroud and his Wizard Birel had left Luskan through a teleport rune circle with a small contingent of Warriors.  He was intent on slaying the evil Duchess who had stolen his family’s wealth and assets.  He thought to go directly to the source and chopping off its head was a better solution to all this sneaking around that Elves do.  So Human off him.  They had vowed to return within a few hours, however, it was now a week later and there was still no sign the rune circle was about to activate and deposit them back into the secret dock.

With little alternatives available to them, Captain Jing, Matise the Wood-elf Ranger and the ragtag bunch of survivors left over from their adventures continued to repair and rebuild the ancient Elven ship they had uncovered months ago.  The Sapient Pearwood hull had been fixed and caulked.  The Intricate balustrade and scrollwork cleaned and polished.  Cabins furnished, Food supplies stocked, Sails sewn by Elven hands and mounted.  The Millpond Falcon was almost ready to sail upon the oceans once more, the first voyage it had made in centuries at least.

No vessel existed on the water in any existing fleet that could match the speed of the Falcon; It was designed as a courier ship, sleek and swift, cutting through the water with the minimum of disturbance, leaving a wake fine and thin.  Captain Jing was growing increasingly eager to test this ship, from everything he had heard, it should be the fastest ship he had ever sailed.  He was very proud to be its Captain and to have spent this time learning every curve of her hull.  There were still areas he did not understand, parts that were not included on the original plans and had obviously been retrofitted after, however, their purpose still eluded him.  He really needed to find an Elven shipbuilder to ask.

Only one thing remained their promise to the Tavern employees to help them flee this place.  Twice they had tried to rescue them, each time foiled by lack of Intelligence and poor planning, Stroud’s bad leadership or circumstance against them.  This time would be different; this time Matise had a plan.

A few days earlier he had managed to snatch a Generals Uniform from the garrison army of Duke Prometheus.  Who were in Luskan to secure it from Pirate threats and restore stability after the recent Tidal wave natural disaster.  With it he intends to order the Catapults and trebuchets which had destroyed the fort, to turn and fire at the Naval blockade which prevented the Elven ship from simply making a run for it.  The Naval ships would flee in disarray and may even return fire on the Artillery, making the situation chaotic and an ideal distraction for the Tavern employees to escape and the Elven ship to run the Blockade and escape Luskan.

Timing would be crucial and There could be no failures, for too much was at stake.  Interelf needed informing of the treachery of Jassant and the whole Luskan Interelf infrastructure being dismantled by the traitorous Drow agents.  The Enemy had the upper hand and advantage and was racing ahead to hidden places only they knew of.

A plan was made to arrange a Party at the tavern for the Officers of Duke Prometheus’s army, so that none could issue contra orders, not to fire when the moment came.  The army was relaxed, and in mop-up mode so this suggestion was met warmly and they agreed.  As they enjoyed the Tavern wenches and fine food, Matise would use the Generals uniform to order the barrage on the Naval blockade.

The Guard held up his hand to the approaching General indicating he should stop.
“Good evening General, I am surprised to see you here with the Party at the Tavern tonight for all Officers.  The Men are just relaxing tonight too, we have a skeleton crew on standby, However, all is quiet here.”

“Open the gate Corporal, this is an informal inspection.”

“Certainly sir, what is the password of the day?”

The General put his hands on his hips and adopted a pose of arrogance and impatience “I am a General, I do not need a password, open up!”

The Corporal shook his head slightly and raised one eyebrow as this was unusual behavior for a General. “Err Sir…General I would expect you to know the Kings regulations better than I, However, I believe Article 4, subsection (c), Paragraph 3, line 4, clearly states: No entry will be granted to any Military encampment without the Password of the day…Correct me If I am wrong sir?”

The General nodded his approval  “Yes, Your right, Good work Corporal.  You have passed the Inspection.  Carry on.”

The Corporal smiled and hooked both thumbs in his belt, his chest swelling with pride at confirmation he was correct and his duty had been done in the eyes of his superiors.  He watched the General walk away and wander in the direction of the Tavern.  Odd that he was so short for an officer he thought but decided not to question it.  Generals could be short arses if they wanted to be.


Matise cursed in Elvish, he had not expected a password to be required for a General.  He hurried in the direction of the Tavern to seek out the last Interelf field agent in Luskan, Elyce the Elven bar wench who worked at the Tavern had helped him mastermind this plan if anyone could get the password she could.

The Tavern was a chaotic jumble of purple cloaked officers of all ranks.  All of whom had their helmets off and were drinking and eating happily.  Matise was unable to take off his helmet as that would reveal his Elven ears and heritage, blowing his cover.  So he was not met warmly by the purple cloaks, some of whom muttered that he should remove his helmet.

Entering the tavern swiftly, he scanned the room, more purple cloaks sat at all the seats, girls danced on the tables, men gambled and a thin strata of smoke drifted across the room.  All the faces smiling, laughing, singing and talking.  In between a flash of a purple cloak and a golden breastplate covered in beer a face emerged.  Time slowed for Matise as he recognized this face.  He had not seen him for a few months, but his deeds had led Matise to this very spot, his actions had killed many of his friends and his legacy had severely damaged any career he had with Interelf. 

He was the wolf in Sheep’s clothing, the traitorous Drow spy called Jassant.  Also disguised in a purple cloak and armor like Matise was.  He was obviously undercover within Duke Prometheus’s army.  Were the Drow working with the lords of Waterdeep too?

Matise did not have time to think about it and he did not want to be spotted by Jassant, so he moved to the front desk to ask Jaq where Elyce was.  Jaq did not recognize Matise in his disguise and simply directed him upstairs.
After negotiating Bouncers and horny drunk purple cloaks, he managed to gain access to Elyce’s room.  It was dark inside and he could see a body in the bed, it was Elyce, she had been strangled with some kind of cord.  What was he to do now?  The plan was falling apart and he was running out of allies to ask for help.

He quickly recovered the body and left the room, heading downstairs he was unfortunate that Jassant took this moment to look up and recognize Matise. A chase ensued, but one hampered and assisted by the fact they were both in purple cloaks, surrounded by dozens of other purple cloaks. So it was easy to hide and arrange misdirection.  He was also able to glean the Password of the day from an inebriated old Colonel “Marmalade Sandwich”

However Jassant had allies where Matise did not and had it not been for some quick thinking on Matise part to start a small fire on the side of the Tavern, he may have never escaped.  Utilising this distraction he blended with the crowd who still had no idea there was a disruption to the party.  Pursued by Jassant and his assassins he double backed into the burning Tavern that had a steady stream of people fleeing out if it.

Coughing and spluttering he managed to get to the Kitchen, but Mung the Chef and Jaq were already gone with all of the utensils and equipment required for Mung to make his special meals.  Perhaps there was a chance they had made it to safety and way past time he got out of here too, the Tavern was ablaze.

Vaulting onto the back of a nearby unattended Horse, he galloped away from the Tavern at high speed.  He was quick to use the Password of the Day and order an immediate Barrage on the ships claiming that Pirates had killed most of the Senior staff and had taken over their ships.  The Corporal and few crews that were available believed every word and did exactly as they were told.

As the Trebuchets started to creak round to the new bearing a concerned Sergeant approached Matise in his Generals uniform.  “Sir this is most unorthodox, I suggest we send a runner to Duke Prometheus to confirm these orders to fire on our own ships.
Before Matise could object a runner was sent on his way, but got no further than the perimeter fence before an arrow slew him and he toppled to the ground.  A call went up from the gate guards as they too started to duck for cover.

Matise took advantage of this distraction to duck behind a crate with the Sergeant.  “See the Pirates are attacking us, we must fire now, load fire ammo! Prepare to fire!”

The Sergeant needed no more convincing as men started to fall around him to the devastating accuracy of the archer. Matise knew this Archer was Ranger 5, he had almost forgotten about him, he was part of his backup and one of the few remaining allies he had in this city.

A few minutes later the Sergeant reported back that they were ready to fire.

Matise raised his arm and dropped it swiftly “Fire!”

There was a second as the order was given and the pins removed where nothing happened at all.  Then they started to move, thousands of tonnes of pent up energy being released at the same time as machines of war hurl huge glowing orbs towards the Fleet.  Arcing high up into the air they travel far, clustered together like a swarm, the orbs start to flare as the air rushes past them.

Somebody on one of the ships had enough time to sound a horn seconds before they impacted, crashing into the deck and masts, breaking into pieces and igniting golden yellow flames over ship and crew alike.  Cascading fire down on the ships resulted in one sinking almost immediately, and two or three others taking serious fire damage.  All hell broke loose, Ship cannons started returning fire on the artillery emplacements, Ships weighed anchor and set sail for the horizon as fast as they could or just milled about unsure of what to do.

As a second salvo was being loaded, Matise turned towards the gate and started to leave, but had to duck into cover when Duke Prometheus and his Royal Guard rode into the encampment.  His bald shiny head revealed a stern face riding swiftly towards the Sergeant in charge of the Artillery.  Matise pulled his purple cloak and breastplate off, quickly shrugged out of his uniform and pulled his hood up, vanishing from sight he used his Ranger ability to sneak out of the camp undetected.

Heading back to the rally point he passed the now engulfed tavern and waved goodbye to it as the roof collapsed into the fiery inferno, Elyce would be missed but she had given her life so that Matise and the other Elves could escape.

At the rally point, he met Ranger 5 and 6 who were carrying Ranger Brinn their leader towards the small harbor jetty.  Jaq and Mung were also there, everybody was soot smeared and tired, but they quickly boarded their ride back home.

Steve the modified sea snail and his Tortoise tow trailer surfaced nearby and together they headed away from Luskan, chasing after the Elven ship they hoped had made the break for freedom in all the chaos.  Surfacing several miles offshore, they evaded the Navy and made good time.  An hour or so later they caught up with the Millpond Falcon. 

Bobbing across the wake of the ship, a small ramp lowered from the stern and Steve slid into the hold.  They had made it out of Luskan alive and the ship worked.  There were tears and laughter, celebrations and commiserations.  So much had been endured to get this far and so much more lay ahead of this small group.  However, there was a feeling of solidarity within the ship, no hatred or fear that had been policy number one under Stroud’s regime.  Everybody was happy to be together and to have escaped Luskan alive after Tidal waves, Pirate Lords and Traitors.

Now they just had to contact the Elven Alliance, clear their names of whatever treachery Jassant had implied, re-forge the Alliance between Dwarven, Human and Elven realms. Before the Duchess and her allies managed to secure the artifacts of the gods, activate the Evership and destroy this world and many others.  Also, Chief Stroud and Birel were still out there too.  So no pressure at all.

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