Bard and former thief out of Waterdeep.
Background
Born in Waterdeep to a poor family, Cisco’s parents passed at a very young age. Forgotten with no family to take care of him, he found himself out on the street until some members of a local thieves guild took pity and brought him in. With them he learned how to make quick cash, running scams or pickpocketing unwitting people.
In his free time he eventually learned the lute, and into adulthood parlayed it into a legitimate career — gaining minor celebrity status among Waterdeep’s “less classy” taverns, still mixing in plenty of ill-gotten gains between performances. Always yearning to be part of the city’s upper class, he wanted more and more until finally some gambles didn’t pay off, and with too many debts owed he was forced to flee with the money in his pocket. Eventually found work and passage to a new land, far away from those looking for trouble.
In the campaign
- Met Captain Stormeye aboard the Harrow’s Wake and noticed his arcane prosthetic eye early in Session 02.
- Maintains a working relationship (mostly cordial, sometimes adversarial) with Lyle, the general-store owner with the secret magical inventory.
- Revived Alicia (his former manager) at the boss fight against the Forest Hag in Session 09.
- Tried to scam Lyle with Distort Value on the opal ring in Session 12 — Lyle reached for a seeing glass right as the spell dropped, and the ring lost its luster in front of him. Played it off and settled for an honest trade: the ring for healing potions and 150gp.
- Bought Lyle’s expandable tent in Session 13, trading away the bugbear chief’s necklace — then robbed the register while Lyle was locked away in the cellar, finding only a lockbox his mystery key couldn’t open.
- Roused the bribed guards with a variation of the “four or five moments” speech during the standoff with Lord Alric in Session 14, and cast Suggestion on Garron Drex — the Suggestion failed, but the Persuasion on the rest of the guards landed.
- Recovered the Ring of the Phantom Carriage off Lord Alric’s body in Session 15.
- Secretly pocketed the five coins bearing the party’s silently-screaming faces from the manor game room in Session 18.
- Pocketed half of Alric’s gold from the false-bottom foot locker on the way out of the manor in Session 21.
- Paid the guards the rest of their owed money in Session 22 and made sure they knew “we own them.”
- Talked the eye out of Stormeye’s skull in Session 28 — then, after Lyle refused to take it, convinced it to go back to Stormeye.
- Hat of rats reveal outside Greyhaven in Session 29 (Gregory forgery scam) and again as illusion+actual-throw at Warehouse 17 in Session 32.
- Forged the Greyhaven gate document in Session 30 — the whole party’s names built on Ruasar’s academy papers and stamped with Alric’s seal — then cast Prestidigitation to clean everyone up and talked the clerk past his suspicion of the Alric endorsement. Capped the day at the Gilded Ledger, flashing his cash at the doorman and purposefully mispronouncing Dorian’s name.
- Took disadvantage Persuasion in Session 31 to misdirect Vaerix Thalos toward the lower banks.
- In Session 32 secretly cast Minor Illusion to give Lorien’s sermon angelic sounds — Lorien doesn’t know. Later cast Minor Illusion to make Seris’s ledger entries vanish in front of her.
- In Session 33 proposed intercepting the courier to Thrain. Cautioned about the guards. Activated his Mustard Tunic at The Boutique and rolled 31 on style to get The Boutique Mistress to take Elijah seriously.
- Session 35 — wrote a catch-up letter to Yort Li (full text in the session). Took Elijah and Fernie into the Lower Ward to find a safe house. Failed to charm the Slums Tavern Barkeep. Tailed The Tannery Dwarf back to his shop, dropped his armor for repairs, and put down a downpayment on discreet housing — pitched Elijah and Fernie as “James and his dog Ella” on the way in.
- Session 36 — picked up his modified studded-leather armor from The Tannery Dwarf (six hidden pockets, drop-pockets, looks like regular leather). Tipped 5gp. Took possession of the The Eel Lane Safehouse and gave Elijah the key. Tied string to the door as a tampering tripwire. Late that night at Warehouse 17, stepped out of the dark and posed as The Letter Maker to bluff Drogon. Cast Unsettling Words and Suggestion on Drogon during the fight. Bluff failed; Drogon dispersed his crew with a smoke bomb and escaped.
- Session 37 — disarmed Kell’s metal cylinder mid-fight. Ran the interrogation of Seris: posed as a Grey Warden (she demanded a writ of permission), threatened her under Fernie’s fire-drool, cast Suggestion, and cut a deal — extracting Drogon’s address and her cooperation. Took friction from Lorien, who accused him of having no conscience. Opened the Lockbox’s drawer (reality warped), then wrapped the cube in a hat — not the Hat of Rats — to snap Lorien out of his trance.
Notable items
- Ring of the Phantom Carriage (looted from Lord Alric)
- Mustard Tunic — silk tunic from Lyle (Session 04), grants +1d4 on Charisma checks when activated
- Hat of Rats — used to scatter crowds and weaponize against guards