(August to September 2018)
After returning from Semuanya's Bog, where they had slain the Black Dragon, the Planeswalkers met Perry, the Halfling Bard from the church of Pelor, for breakfast. He told them of a heist he would like their help with: to get a copy of a letter regarding a weapon of mass destruction (the Ship of Chaos) from the office of Ely Cromlich, the Cambion in charge of weapon production, storage, and sale at the Armory. Perry did not want the Doomguard to know, because the news of the Church meddling in a faction's business would cause problems. The Party had mere days to pull off the heist, but in exchange, he agreed to share intel with them ( to help the Party learn more about the Black Lotus citadel, if possible).
The Bishop went to Savrin, at the Fated's secret library, and gave her the scoop on both upcoming missions (Breaking into the Armory and delivering the letter to Donat Sanp (27)). Savrin wanted a copy of the letter as well; she gave the Party a set of blueprints of the Armory to help them out.
The Party began to prepare for the heist, as well as dealing with other business around Sigil. The Bishop talked to the Tiger's Claw, and learned that the guards in front of Ely Cromlich's office were Warblades with the Scent Stance. Inspection of the blueprints from Savrin showed that near the offices there was a room where guards keep watch, which would be difficult to get by.
Savrin had intel that the guards there had a special lantern that revealed those under an Invisibility spell. As well, the blueprints showed that on the second floor balconies, there were Secret Doorways that acted as emergency exits from the offices.
Dash-A meanwhile went to Torch to get money from Giovanni, but learned they were having trouble with another gang (26)
Reinhalt, Balbito and Cal went to the Armory to stake it out. Cal changed into a raven, and examined the latticework, gated roof– he found that touching the lattice would electrocute a person, and even for a small character it would be a tight squeeze to get through. The three caballeros headed into the Armory factory and, upon asking about supplies for the Army in Ysgard, were told that they would give them a 3% discount on weapon orders under 100, 5% for over a hundred, and more discounts for more weapons after that. (At the time the army only had 30-some recruits).
Helga bought some scrolls that were needed for the heist. She also found an accountant for the Army (Tyvold Lestermaine). After that. she headed to Torch for a couple of days with the Army to help Giovanni against Tiamat's Chosen (26).
Dash-A did some research and discovered that the Foundry used to have a deal with the Armoury back when they were both common enemies of the Harmonium. While they no longer do business, they are still cautiously neutral. He got permission from Factor Ombidias, to send excess iron bars to the Foundry, in exchange for non-magical swords.
Balbito talked to a Rogue friend of his (Marcus Helion of the Holy Shadow) who said he would help for a fee (although the Party ended up not needing him).
The Bishop, Cal, and Reinhalt went to investigate the Armory. The Bishop, Invisible and Flying, cast Clairvoyance and was able to see inside the corner tower near Ely's office, which had offices and workers in it, making it a poor choice to break into. He checked the Secret Door, and discovered it is mostly disused and cobwebby. He used Clairvoyance on Ely's office, but it was warded from scrying attempts.
Cal, as a bird, observed the changing of the guards. They changed every 4 hours, and the ones on the balcony were flown up by Wizards (so they didn't use the secret door). He flew over the top of the armory, and saw that it was unguarded, but covered in Razorvine. Reinhalt, Invisible and Flying, cast Detect Magic and Detect Secret Door. He discovered that the Secret Door was not magical, and located where we had heard, but that the guards patrolling the base of the Armoury and the guards on the balconies had Anti-Invisibility lanterns. This made sneaking into the Secret Door a less likely plan.
The Bishop, disguised as a Godsman, then went in and talked to a clerk, Spragg, who was Ely's personal assistant. He secured an appointment for Dash-A, the other Modrons and Balbito to go and talk to Ely Cromlich as representatives of the Godsmen to try to set up trade with them again. He also got the voice, appearance, name, and scent of a high ranking clerk so that he could attempt to enter Ely's office in disguise (getting the Scent spell from Cal beforehand). He later bought a suit of clothes similar to the ones Spragg was wearing.
Later that day, Cal visited his father and had him create a masterwork staff and a wooden scimitar. Balbito went and gave bread to orphans in the hive. The Modrons worked in the foundry and Bishop went out to dinner with Savryn.
The party decided that going in through the ceiling seemed like the best option. Balbito, Dash-A, and the other Modrons went to their meeting with Ely arranged by the Bishop the day before. Helga and Toby were hanging out in a nearby pub in case they were needed (with a Ring of Communication). The rest of the Party began the heist.
Eagle Cal cast Diminish Plants to make the Razorvine less dangerous on the roof just above Ely's office in a 5 foot square. Reinhalt. the Bishop and Skippy, Flying and Invisible, and with Zone of Silence on the Bishop, went up to the hole - with Prestidigitation to cover their scent. Reinhalt Stone Shaped the 5 foot square open. Skippy cast Detect Magic, and found an Alarm Spell using Spellcraft. Bishop cast Silence on a thorn while Reinhalt alerted Dash-A in case it was a mental Alarm connected to Ely or his clerk, and then they headed in, producing no sound. They covered the thorn so they could hear each other and cast spells.
In the room, Skippy detected no other magic. Reinhalt used an Instant Search Scroll to find out what was in the desk. He found a letter in a left bottom unlocked drawer, and also a scroll of some sort in the upper right drawer, which was locked. They checked the letter in the unlocked drawer, after checking for traps, and found it was the correct one. Reinhalt used 2 scrolls of Amaneueses, and made 2 copies.
The Bishop was curious about the scroll in the other drawer; he cast Clairvoyance to get a closer look, then carefully opened the drawer using the Keyring of Olidamara. Another Spellcraft check from Skippy showed that it had an Illusory Script Command on it, so they decided to put it back.
Inside the Armoury, the meeting with Ely was going well. He seemed to like how knowledgeable Dash-A was about metal, and enjoyed showing them around and showing off their weapons. A couple of times, he was going to send his clerk to the office to get a contract, or to check a price, but was successfully diverted, once by a checklist that Dash-A had brought along, and wanted to the clerk to go over with the other Dashes before he signed a contract. They successfully made a contract to supply iron and receive weapons.
The infiltrators put everything back as they found it, closed up the roof, and used Plant Growth to cover it up with Razorvine again. The Party regrouped, went and met with Perry, had a beer, gave him the letter, and were asked by him to do another favour: to go to the Abyss and destroy the Ship of Chaos (the weapon mentioned in the letter, which according to Ely had been stolen, and was now somewhere between Raazorforge and Broken Reach in Pazunia, the Abyss), which we said we'd do in a few days. He said if the Party did that. he would lend them a team of adventurers who could do missions for them.
He said that for his favour for retrieving the letter, he would try to get more information on the Black Lotus's citadel, as he had agreed earlier.