Session B06 — Bonus Neverwinter Crown

Summary

A continuation of the same in-game day as B04. With Kavu and Kefkas elsewhere in the city, the remaining party — Roland, Kelvin, Othorion, and Haldak — spend the afternoon and evening navigating Neverwinter's social and political landscape. The session introduces Blazethorn Shadowdancer, a fairy sent by Queen Titania to observe Kelvin, and Caladorn, a disturbingly perceptive weapons merchant whose true nature remains opaque. A bar crawl through three Neverwinter establishments yields substantial intelligence on the Cloaked Ascendant and the political undercurrents surrounding Lord Neverember. The session ends with Kelvin learning to read and solving a puzzle he's been carrying for months — and Roland closing his door on the revelation.

Key Events

DMV — Kelvin's File

The party sent Kelvin through the Neverwinter DMV (Department of Magical Vehicles) with priority service via the Neverember fast-track. DMV specialist Cassandra produces Kelvin's file, which belongs in reality to Roland the Fox — the Fae entity who stole Kelvin's name and has been using it across the Sword Coast for 172+ years.

The file reads as a document of organised chaos:

• Debts: 875 platinum owed to nobles; 500 platinum owed to the Council of Silverymoon (specifically Highmage Turn Thunderspell Hornblade, Lady L'Oreal Silverhand, and Mitharamar Arasame)
• Properties: The ship The Seraph and Fairlight Manor in Luskan
• Unidentified magic items: 5
• Crimes (all committed under "Kelvin Fairlight"): The Shoe Bandit, the Azure Ale Heist, the Seaside Serenade Scandal, the Phantom Foodfighter, the Candlelight Conman, the Amnion Armor Affair, the Screeching Serenade, the River Racket, the Gilded Goose Gambit, the Stormy Songs Window, the Dancing Bard Deception, the Pudding Plunderer, the Brightblade Borrower, the Masked Mallard Mystery, the Shadow Sneak of Scornubel, the Perilous Peer Pirate, the Glass of Gold Grift, the Harp Harlot Hoax, the Gilded Gazer, The Thriller, the Seraphim Admiral, Orc Bane of Icewind, and the Orphanage Opportunist
• Known affiliates: Sienna Silvertongue Greywater (Baldur's Gate), Bram Thornfoot (Daggerford), Captain Idris Blacktooth-Ferrin (Luskan), Sergeant Elder Cross (Waterdeep)
• Children: 66+ across Sword Coast cities

The revelation: One of the listed children is from Daggerford, and the mother is recorded as Farayna Cloudgade — Kelvin's actual mother. This means Roland the Fox fathered a child with Kelvin's mother, making Kelvin and the DMV worker Cassandra (who is from Daggerford and whose father is listed as absent) potentially half-siblings. Kelvin keeps turning around every time Cassandra addresses someone as "daddy."

Cassandra provides Kelvin with a child support receipt the length of a CVS printout, to be presented to Roland the Fox. A sword from the shop has been reserved on layaway; Othorion goes to the ship to retrieve gold.

Kelvin Gets Lost — and Acquires a Noose

Following the DMV, the party splits temporarily. Kelvin heads in the wrong direction (east), wanders through Neverwinter, and eventually reaches Moscato's Maps and Legends shop. He casts Speak with Plants in the street. An elm on Merchant Street wants pigeons; the Elder Oak by the Lord's Manor fountain proves unhelpful. Kelvin wildshapes into a dog and promptly has a dog-catcher's noose placed around his neck by a stranger dangling jerky. He transforms back. The stranger, impressed by the ability to survive that situation, gives him directions to the House of Knowledge.

Upon arrival at the House of Knowledge, Kelvin is still wearing the noose — described as hanging like "the world's shittiest tie."

Blazethorn Shadowdancer — Titania's Observer

Outside the House of Knowledge, Kelvin encounters a tiny fairy: Blazethorn Shadowdancer. Purple wings. Blue and orange hair that moves impossibly when they turn their head. Androgynous — when asked for a title, they say "Agent" is fine.

Blazethorn produces a small scroll (fairy-scale — "the world's tiniest tic tac scroll") and delivers the following message:

"Wayward Keeper of Flame, Kelvin Fairlight... by luminous decree of Queen Titiana, I, Blazethorn Shadowdancer, have come to observe and determine you... she has sent me to sniff out the truth."

Blazethorn is from the Summer Court (Seelie Court), on official business, and is here to observe Kelvin and assess whether he should be punished for his dealings with the Fae. They decline to confirm how long they've been watching, how often they watch him sleep ("I don't watch that much"), or what they're looking for. When Kelvin asks if there's anything he can do to help: "One day, the sun will shine and all will be known."

Othorion and Haldak find Kelvin with the noose still dangling and the fairy buzzing. The party reunites.

Roland Almost Abjures the Fairy

Roland, arriving to find a tiny fae hovering around his companions, produces his holy symbol of Zeriel and begins preparing to banish the creature. Kelvin immediately: "Not this one." Othorion grabs Roland's wrist and waves Blazethorn's scroll at him: "This one's got papers. I don't think you can banish something that has papers."

Roland reads the scroll. His assessment: "I've had it up to here with the Fae messing with Kelvin." Kelvin: "I mean, I actually quite enjoy it." Othorion: "This is why your family tried to kill you last time."

Return to the Iron Flagon — Pip Meets Blazethorn

Back at the Iron Flagon Inn, Pip and Drizzle are mid-training session. Pip's training sword is nearly destroyed — hanging together by threads, the blade mangled like aluminum foil after weeks of absorbing Drizzle's magical weapon strikes.

Pip spots Blazethorn and immediately assumes she's been brought a magical flying doll. When informed it's a real fairy:

"What's your name, Mr. Fairy? Or Mrs. Fairy? I can't tell. It's kind of confusing."

Blazethorn receives the scroll-throwing treatment. Pip introduces herself: "My name is Pip and I'm the manager of these mooks. I keep them in line and keep them good." She reveals she's a member of House Baenre ("we're not allowed to talk about it outside this room, but we're inside the room") and lists herself as Othorion's squire-ward-knight-thing. She criticises Blazethorn for being "a boring ass fairy" and asks them to do her hair. Blazethorn declines. Pip: "Why are you such a shitty fairy?"

When Blazethorn mentions they don't watch everything ("I don't watch that much"), Pip immediately: "You know when he's been bad or good?"

Othorion does Pip's hair with a natural 20 Sleight of Hand roll. The result: seven-strand intricate elven braids with Targaryen-tier complexity, executed "without even looking like he's paying attention." When the rest of the party returns: "Do I have better hair than the fairy?" — "Of course you do, Pip."

Information at the Bar — Thaum Drannik's Three Leads

The party goes downstairs to the common room. Thaum Drannik — the burly half-orc bartender with a gentle demeanor — serves lunch and provides intelligence on the Cloaked Ascendant and Crown of Neverwinter:

Three recommended contacts:

1. Moonstone Mask (run by Lizette Sheldah) — high-end; if she owes you a favour, she can direct you. Getting that favour is difficult.
2. Driftwood Tavern (run by Madame Rosine Dupont) — "A little less uptight about things." Approachable. The recommendation.
3. Fallen Tower — an old wizard's tower that collapsed; the surviving bottom level is a tavern run by a full orc. Every night at 1830, the tower fully reappears as a ghostly image and falls again, with the mages visible inside. "They converted the remainder into a tavern." Good for rougher information.

Shining Knight Arms and Armor — Caladorn

The party visits the Shining Knight Arms and Armor to purchase a replacement sword for Pip. The proprietor is Caladorn: dark-haired, close-cropped beard, red eyes, composed and perceptive. Debonair. He describes himself as an adventurer who now sells magical items he finds during his travels, running the shop with his wife and his "steed."

Caladorn immediately identifies Roland's blade:

"That is Talon, is that the Tresendar crest I see on that blade? That blade has not seen the light of day for many a eon."

He knows Othorion owns the Forge of Spells at Wave Echo Cave. He knows the party owns Tresendar Manor. He identifies Haldak's surname as Tencloak — and mentions: "I've only ever known one other Tencloak. A rare name."

He offers the party a discount in exchange for introducing him to Kavu — he wants a smooth inroad into Phandalin and describes Kavu as someone with influence there. He also offers to do the introduction as a personal favour to Kavu if Kavu meets with him.

Othorion rolls Insight and determines Caladorn is significantly more powerful than he presents — politically or otherwise — and that owing him a favour "can only lead to what your uncle would refer to as chaos in the future." Othorion turns down the favour offer and purchases the short sword for Pip directly with gold.

Caladorn on parting: "I tend to have... no doubts. I do intend to have much business to do with Phandalin."

The sword for Pip — a proper magical short sword — goes into inventory. The visit leaves the party unsettled.

Trip to the Ship — Winter Clothes

The party visits the ship docked in the harbour to retrieve gold from the wagon in the hold. Pip accompanies them and goes through the clothing boxes purchased for the northern journey. Finding they're all identical: "Did you really intend to go on an epic adventure to the frozen north? Twinsy style?" She immediately commandeers several boxes of winter clothes to take back to the inn for alterations.

Driftwood Tavern — Madame Rosine Dupont

The Driftwood Tavern is in the Black Lake District, on the docks: a historic establishment doubling as a museum, with stained glass windows, ornate knobs and knockers, repurposed tables, and chandeliers. Factions from across the Sword Coast come here; their banners hang on the walls. This is neutral ground — Zhentarim meet with Harpers here, Order of Gauntlet with followers of Asmodeus. Peace is kept.

Faction banners visible: Harpers, Order of the Gauntlet, Emerald Enclave, Greyhands (black), Seal of Fae (between the Enclave and Gauntlet), Lord's Alliance (crown and red), and the Seal of Neverwinter (an eye, apparently crying or bleeding). An unknown green banner with a circle was noted by Rosine as possibly belonging to an organisation that may no longer exist.

A barmaid escorts the party to Madame Rosine Dupont — a "shrewd and well-kept woman with an air of secrecy" who steps out from the shadows. She provides the following intelligence:

• The Cloaked Ascendant claims to be the rightful heir to Neverwinter's throne and believes Neverember is a pretender.
• The Crown of Neverwinter would give any finder an enormous claim — but even without it, the Cloaked Ascendant believes they have a better claim to rule.
• Neverember was run out of Waterdeep roughly eight or nine years prior for embezzlement — but Rosine believes the embezzlement was done for the city because the Lord's Alliance refused to aid Neverwinter. "Not the right way to go about it, but the attempts of a desperate man to save the city that he loved."
• Something has changed: the man who embezzled for the city is "not the man I see sitting on the seat in the Hall of Justice." After the Black Lake District explosion five years ago, Neverember reversed his tax policy and lowered common folk taxes, slowing reconstruction. "It doesn't make sense."
• The Cloaked Ascendant's graffiti: a cloaked figure holding a crown, appearing throughout the ruins and northern districts. Following the marks leads to hidden messages with locations where one can intercept information or make contact.
• Her recommendation: start in the northeast, around the Fallen Tower. "There's much roughhousing that occurs there... if I were running a shady organisation that needs to be kept in the underground, that would be as good a place as any to have some agents."
• Final advice: "One thing I suggest — maybe don't go around telling people who you work for." And: "I would very much appreciate it if you keep my name out of your mouth."

Rosine bids them farewell as "friends of the Greyhands" — referring to Roland's affiliation.

Graffiti Sighting — Phantom's Bridge

Walking toward the Fallen Tower, the party passes through Phantom's Bridge — the arch at the intersection of the main road into Castle Never's ruins and the southern route toward the Hall of Justice. Othorion and Haldak both make their perception checks and spot the graffiti: a cloaked figure holding a crown, carved into the stonework near the entrance to the ruins.

The party notes the location but elects not to investigate the ruins at night without the full group.

The Fallen Tower — Vagdru Vanir

The Fallen Tower is in the northeastern district: a tavern occupying the surviving bottom level of a collapsed wizard's tower. No roof — a hole was deliberately left. Packed with working-class patrons. At 1830 every night, the full ghostly tower reappears above and falls again in silence, with phantom wizards visible inside.

The proprietor: Vagdru Vanir, a full orc, missing one ear, passing out drinks with practiced efficiency. He owes his station to Lord Dagult Neverember — "anyone who would stand between him and his goals is now a friend of mine."

He knows Boulders for Muscles. "Are you the people who took him in and the ones he sings about?" Learning that they are: "I apologize for the harshness of my previous words. I didn't know I was among friends."

He confirms the Cloaked Ascendant is "a right gobshite" causing stir in the city. He implies he can fence goods and operate under the table: "If you ever need something, you know, soldering under the table, let me know. I can bench just about anything." — Kelvin does not understand what this means.

The ghost show at 1830: The bar falls silent. Above the open ceiling, a 300-foot wizard tower reconstructs itself brick by brick in silence, then crumbles in reverse. Silent images of mages fall through the hole:

• Two Arcane Brotherhood mages, limbs on fire, falling like ragdolls
• A wizard whose limbs are turning into eels that dive down his throat
• "Lomnavel" — identified by patrons — who falls upright as flesh and robes dissolve into spiraling lightning, leaving only a grinning skull with an "exultant but horrible" expression as he passes through the floor

When the skull passes through, the bar erupts into cheers and music resumes.

Evening Return — Pip's Alterations

The party returns to the Iron Flagon at approximately 1941. Pip and Drizzle are asleep by the fireplace, both magical swords lying on the floor in pristine condition. Pip is snoring loudly and periodically punches Drizzle in the side of the head in her sleep.

Kelvin carries Pip to her room. Roland returns to his room to find winter clothes laid out on his bed — Pip has spent the afternoon altering the entire party's winter gear. His fit perfectly. They have pockets. The DM: "Pip has fully decked you out for winter travel on the Sea of Moving Ice."

Othorion attunes to the Bloodwell Vial +1 (10 minutes).

Kelvin Learns to Read — The Word Puzzle

At session close, Kelvin is informed that his ongoing literacy efforts have paid off — he can now read. The DM issues a DC 7 Intelligence check. Kelvin rolls 9 and succeeds.

He wakes at 3 AM in a cold sweat, having solved a word puzzle he's been carrying since early in the campaign. He runs to Roland's room:

"Roland! You know that puzzle? The word puzzle you guys had? It's Haldak! It's Haldak's name!"

Roland closes the door and goes back to sleep. The session ends on the one-year anniversary of the campaign.

NPCs Encountered

Loot / Discoveries

Threads Opened / Advanced

• Blazethorn Shadowdancer: Titania has sent an observer to assess Kelvin. The conditions for Kelvin's judgment — or vindication — remain unstated. Blazethorn is staying with the party.
• Caladorn (Shining Knight): Powerful, mysterious, knows another Tencloak. Wants to be introduced to Kavu to secure a Phandalin connection. His red eyes and unsettling knowledge base have the party wary of making deals with him.
• Cloaked Ascendant Graffiti: Located at Phantom's Bridge near the castle ruins. Tracing the symbols leads to hidden messages. Investigation postponed until full group is present.
• Neverember — Something Has Changed: Rosine notes a personality/policy shift in Neverember since the Black Lake explosion. The man who embezzled for the city's benefit is not the same man now sitting in the Hall of Justice. Possible influence or manipulation.
• Vagdru Vanir — Fallen Tower: Potential underground contact. Loyal to Neverember, friends with Boulders for Muscles, willing to fence.
• Kelvin's Word Puzzle: Kelvin can now read. He solved the long-standing word puzzle in the night — the answer is "TENCLOAK" (Haldak's name). Roland closed the door on this information.
• Castle Never Ruins: Party identified the graffiti; deferred entry to ruins until Kavu and Kefkas are present. Investigation planned for the next day.
• Cassandra / Roland the Fox Bloodline: Kelvin's mother Farayna Cloudgade appears in Roland the Fox's records as the mother of one of his 66+ Sword Coast children. Cassandra (Daggerford, absent father) may be Kelvin's half-sibling.
• Pip and Drizzle — Departure: Pip and Drizzle will return to Phandalin when the party sails north. Pip is now outfitted with a magical short sword.
• Driftwood Tavern as Faction Nexus: Neutral ground where all factions meet. Potential location to make Harper, Emerald Enclave, or other faction connections in the future.