Session B10 — Crown Found

Summary

The party wakes to find Kefkas transformed into a goblin by a mysterious curse. After meeting Renaer Neverember — the true heir to Neverwinter's throne, who reveals his father has been unconscious for years and the current Lord is an imposter — the party pushes deeper into the ruins. They overcome a kobold-designed collapsing ceiling trap, intimidate a hobgoblin patrol into fleeing, and discover the Crown Vault itself: a grand arched doorway protected by abjuration wards, inscribed with unknown runes, and guarded by six invisible undead. Late in the session, Haldak discovers the party is infested with parasitic transmutation worms that are gradually transforming them into goblins.

Key Events

Kefkas Gobified

The party wakes to discover Kefkas has been transformed into a goblin — three feet tall, with his shield nearly as large as his body. He rolled a natural 20 on the mishap table, triggering the "Gobified" effect: disadvantage on Strength saves and Charisma checks (though Silvertongue prevents rolling below 10 on Charisma).

"The shield is, like, almost as large as I am. This is fucked."

Meeting Renaer Neverember

Kefkas cast Daylight to reveal six armed figures sneaking around the camp. Their leader stepped forward and identified himself as Renaer Neverember — the true son of the current Lord of Neverwinter, who has been unconscious since the castle explosion years ago. He bore a scar down one side of his face, one milky-white eye, and close-cropped red hair with a beard.

Renaer explained: the current "Lord Neverember" is an imposter, likely using draconic or magical disguise. He needs the Crown of Neverwinter to legitimize his claim. Renaer's goal is the opposite:

"I would see it hidden away for all time. If possible."

He has been gathering supporters quietly for five years and plans to expose the imposter at an upcoming festival. He mentioned a mysterious contact — Caladorn — who is "at least Elminster's equal" in power but "exists in the shadow."

Renaer also mentioned that a flamekeeping sect of kobolds in the Dragonspine Mountains has been having trouble — which Kavu recognized as his own clan, learning of strife with a red dragon named Volcathar.

Roland revealed she is a member of Force Grey and knows Greyhand (the Black Staff). The party suggested throwing the crown into the sea in a weighted chest.

Renaer departed, instructing the party to mark his supporters' safe houses with hobo-code graffiti to the right of doors.

The Kobold Ceiling Trap

The party entered a 100-pace arched tunnel and Kavu identified loose, discolored stones in the floor — a kobold-designed trap where magical stones hold up the ceiling. One wrong step would collapse the entire structure.

"This is a fiendishly kobold trap... One false move and it could all come tumbling down on us."

The party was already a third of the way through. Kefkas's flying ability (boosted to 50 feet with Long Strider) solved the problem — he ferried party members across one or two at a time, bypassing the trap entirely with minimal resource expenditure.

Hobgoblin Intimidation

After two hours of travel, Othorion scouted ahead with Pass Without Trace, rolling a 40 (natural 20 on the stealth check). He found a group of hobgoblins eating and resting. The hobgoblin leader spotted his glowing red eyes in the darkness.

Othorion said nothing. He simply mimed cutting his own throat.

"You creepy pair of eyes in the darkness."

He rolled an 18 on Intimidation. The hobgoblins packed up, climbed their ropes, and fled upward out of the ruins without a word.

The Crown Vault — Discovery

The party reached a courtyard with a sunken depression: stairs descending 20 feet to a landing, then another 10 feet to a grand 30-foot-wide, 20-foot-tall arched doorway adorned with faded runes. Roland's Divine Sense detected six invisible undead: two occupying the same space as party members, two flanking, and two in the pit below.

Kavu cast Detect Magic (10-minute ritual) and found conjuration magic at the bottom of the first stairs (possibly maintaining the undead) and abjuration magic on the door itself. The door had no handholds or keyholes — only glowing blue runes in an unknown language and a large protrusion with a singular blue jewel. The jewel was positioned like a dial at 7 o'clock, with cardinal directions marked around it.

Othorion rolled a 30 with advantage on Arcana and confirmed: "This is not a language that I know... they were put here long after my empire fell. So they're not common and they're not Netherese."

Parasitic Worm Infestation

Haldak used Detect Magic and noticed transmutation auras on Kefkas. Closer inspection revealed tiny magical ethereal worms crawling in and out of his orifices, each radiating transmutation magic. Investigation revealed everyone except Haldak, Roland, and Blazethorn was infested.

Cure attempts:

• Roland used Lay on Hands (5 points, cure disease) on Kavu: "Millions of tiny worms begin to fall out of you... out of all of your orifices, pores, the cracks in your fingernails, out of your eyes." Kavu breathed fire at the expelled worms.
• Haldak cast Purge on Kelvin — Kelvin rolled a 20 on the save but still transformed into "an adorable goblin."
• Roland used Lay on Hands on Kefkas — worms fell away but he remained a goblin.
• Haldak cast Lesser Restoration on Kelvin — worms purged but goblin form persisted.

The goblin transformations appear to require more powerful magic to reverse. The worms' origin is unknown — the party suspects the "nobles" they met previously or a spreading plague the innkeeper mentioned.

NPCs Encountered

Loot / Discoveries

Combat & Encounters

Encounter 1 — Kobold Ceiling Trap (Non-Combat)

• Threat: Magical stones hold up 100-pace tunnel ceiling; stepping on trigger stones collapses everything
• Resolution: Kefkas flew party members across individually using Long Strider-boosted flight speed (50 ft)
• Resources used: Long Strider spell

Encounter 2 — Hobgoblin Patrol (Social/Intimidation)

• Enemies: Group of hobgoblins with heavily armored captain
• Resolution: Othorion scouted with Pass Without Trace (rolled 40); intimidated the leader by miming throat-cutting in darkness (Intimidation 18); hobgoblins fled upward via ropes
• Resources used: Pass Without Trace

Encounter 3 — Crown Vault (Unresolved)

• Threats: 6 invisible undead, conjuration ward on stairs, abjuration ward on door
• Status: Detected and assessed but not engaged; session ended during investigation

Party Notes

• Roland: Detected invisible undead via Divine Sense; used Lay on Hands to cure disease on Kavu and Kefkas (5 points each); revealed Force Grey membership to Renaer
• Kavu: Identified the kobold ceiling trap; cast Detect Magic on the vault (conjuration + abjuration); learned his clan in the Dragonspine Mountains faces trouble from Volcathar; breathed fire on the expelled worms
• Othorion: Scouted with Pass Without Trace (stealth 40, nat 20); intimidated hobgoblins into fleeing without a word; rolled 30 on Arcana for the vault runes but couldn't identify the language
• Kelvin Fairlight: Transformed into an "adorable goblin" after Haldak's Purge spell; Lesser Restoration removed worms but did not reverse the transformation
• Haldak Tencloak: Discovered the parasitic transmutation worms via Detect Magic; cast Purge and Lesser Restoration (both failed to reverse goblin form); confirmed the runes are not Netherese
• Kefkas: Session began as a goblin (Gobified effect); ferried the entire party across the ceiling trap using flight; worms removed by Lay on Hands but goblin form persists

Threads Opened / Advanced

• Crown of Neverwinter (ADVANCED): Vault located; door sealed with abjuration magic and unknown runes; jewel-dial mechanism with cardinal directions; six invisible undead guard the approach
• Renaer Neverember (OPENED): True heir revealed; plans to expose imposter Lord at upcoming festival; party is now allied with his cause
• The Imposter Lord (ADVANCED): Confirmed by Renaer as using draconic or magical disguise; needs the Crown to legitimize his rule
• Parasitic Worms (OPENED): Transmutation worms infesting multiple party members; cause gradual goblin transformation; standard healing removes worms but not the transformation; source unknown
• Caladorn (OPENED): Mysterious mage of Elminster-level power operating in shadow; allied with Renaer
• Volcathar (OPENED): Red dragon threatening Kavu's clan in the Dragonspine Mountains; first mentioned by Renaer
• Ship Deadline: The party's ship departs on the 20th — approximately 3 days remaining