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CHES 21 – SELUNE SASHELAS: A celebration of Selûne, goddess of the moon and navigation, and Deep Sashelas of the Seldarine, elven god of the sea. It is supposedly based on a mangled legend dating back to the time when the elven city of Aelinthaldaar stood where Waterdeep does today and telling of a time when the elves of the sea said farewell to their brethren upon the land and moved into the deep ocean. The elves largely declare this to be a bunch of hogwash, but nevertheless the “historical event” is commemorated by the Twin Parades: A huge line of ships (varying greatly in size) proceeds from the harbor, loops up the coast, and returns. Simultaneously, a land-based parade proceeds from the Docks and through the streets of Waterdeep.

As described in Part 4 of the remix, I’m setting Dragon Heist during the back-to-back festivals of Fleetswake and Waukeentide. This prolonged festival season more or less kicks off with Selûne Sashelas, a holiday most notable in Waterdeep for the Twin Parades. (Although there’s also the Fey Day celebration of the Spring Equinox on Ches 19^th.)

I used the parade to more or less signal the end of Chapter 2: On the 22^nd, the fireball explodes and the Nimblewright Investigation beings. As noted in the remix of that investigation, the Temple of Gond’s nimblewright can be seen performing during the Twin Parades. Furthermore, rather than simply having some NPC say, “Hey! I remember seeing an automaton like that at the parade yesterday!” it can be much more effective if the PCs actually attend the parade themselves.

One simple way of doing that: Route the parade past Trollskull Manor. The PCs (and their neighbors) can simply watch the parade literally pass them by.

Unfortunately, it’s rather difficult to justify why the parade route would go past Trollskull Manor. So it may make more sense to bring the PCs to the parade rather than vice versa.

THE FACTION MISSION

The solution is to simply set a faction mission to take place during the parade. For this I selected the 2^nd level Bregan D’Aerthe mission (Dragon Heist, p. 34): The PCs need to steal a perfumed handkerchief from Maester Roderick Bartlethorpe in the audience at the parade and deliver it to a tiefling girl who lives in a crate at the corner of Net Street and Dock Street.

My players weren’t members of Bregan D’Aerthe, but the mission was easily reassigned to the Harpers: In this context, rather than being a test of loyalty, the mission became simply an opaque inexplicability. Whatever higher purpose is being served by this odd mission is completely obscured by the compartmentalization and secrecy of the Harpers.

The mission itself is not particularly laborsome: The PCs’ contact can even tell them roughly where on the parade route it is expected that Maester Roderick will be standing. All they need to do is zero in and pick his pocket.

PARADE ROUTE

The parade starts at the docks and then goes:

• Up Spices Street.
• Turns left on The Way of the Dragon.
• Heads north to the High Road.
• Turns left on Bazaar Street.
• Enters the Market and circles in a grand promenade before coming to rest.

I placed Maester Roderick on Bazaar Street in the “shadow of the Great Drunkard.” It’s a location that gives the PCs a variety of options: The market. A wide street. Tall, tightly packed buildings on the south side of the street. Mostly single-storey structures on the north side (lining the Market). The courtyard surrounding the Great Drunkard. The Great Drunkard itself. This gives the PCs a lot of options coming up with a plan for their op: How is the surveillance going to work? How will they make their approach? How will they escape after the handkerchief has been taken?

(If you’re thinking: Hey! That makes it sound like a heist in miniature! You’re correct. For a new group that hasn’t played together before, beats like this also let them get a feel for how they’re going to collaborate, plan, and take action before the big, complicated heists with the extremely high stakes start happening.)

This location also requires the PCs to journey back down towards the wharfs in order to deliver the handkerchief. As they do so (or shortly thereafter), they’ll be able to see the ships of the other half of the Twin Parades circle back into the docks, providing a nice button on the mini-scenario.

SEEN AT THE PARADE

Okay, this is the meat of the scenario: The displays and pageantry of the parade openly serves as the backdrop for the faction mission, but also lays two important pieces of pipe (cleverly disguised amidst other moments of beauty or wonder without additional significance).

The March of the City Watch: Marching eight abreast and fifteen ranks deep in their green-and-gold uniforms, the parade is led by an impressive phalanx of the City Watch.

Sea Maidens Faire: Marshalled by the swashbuckling Captain Zardoz Zord, who leads from the back of a rainbow-feathered diatryma, the Sea Maidens Faire:

• Leads with a procession of exotic animals — a caged owlbear, a unicorn stamping its feet proudly, a woman with three legs leading leucrotta doing tricks.
• Jugglers and stilt-walkers. The latter lean out far over the crowd, handing out advertising bills for a carnival on the “Pier of Wonders” in the Dock Ward.
• They roll up a cannon, which shoots a dwarf forwards to be caught by two of the stiltwalkers holding a net.

A Pageant Wagon: Performing The Pirate Lovers. This popular musical tells of a human woman who is, improbably, the daughter of a dwarf-king and, even more improbably, falls in love with a dark elf. Various ballads are sung from the “deck” of the ship which the pageant wagon opens to reveal.

The Mechanical Beholder: It hovers over the crowd and glares about menacingly.

A Joint Presentation of Temple Gond and the House of Wonders: Members of the Academy at the House of Wonders have summoned huge ribbons of water and are moving them down the street. Within the ribbons of water swim giant, clockwork fish of bronze. The fish appear to be controlled by a mechanical man made of both burnished copper and wood; its clockwork mechanisms visible constantly whirring and pistoning under its rune-etched skin-plating as it “commands” the fish to perform tricks – flipping from one stream to another. Eventually the mechanical man leaps up, perches atop the snout of one of the fish, and is launched high into the air, where he does a double-flip before splashing back down through one of the water ribbons.

Prancing Pegasi: An aerial dance troop composed of avariels (winged elves) and pegasus riders.

If the PCs have moved away from the parade (having seized the handkerchief and wanting to leave the scene), they might see the Prancing Pegasi twirling above the roofs of the buildings behind them as they make their way south to make the rendezvous.

When I ran this mini-scenario in my campaign, the PCs ended up leaving before the nimblewright’s display actually reached them. C’est la vie. They enjoyed the parade nevertheless, and smacked themselves in the head later when they learned what they’d missed by ducking out early.

Dragon Heist Remix – Part 3D: Other Response Teams Dragon Heist Remix – Part 5: Clues and Timelines Dragon Heist Remix – Addendum: First Impressions