Black Sapphire

Once the PCs reach Waterdeep, they can easily access the jewlery shop where they will speak with a finely dressed, petite elvish lady named Qina. Their is two security guards posted at the door, bars on all the windows and the jewels are kept in locked, glass display cases. When they inquire about the black sapphire, Qina will respond that she just sold her last one to Balthazar Kerm, one of the local nobleman here in Waterdeep, a few days ago. She doesn't know when the next one will come in as she must wait until someone stops buy to offer to sell her one. She does have a large variety of other gemstones that are available for sale.

Balthazar's mansions is located on the east side of town. He lives in a large walled house with two gaurds posted at the gate, another at the two doors into the house along with an intricate alarm system. The PCs are told, if they ask, that Balthazar is seeing no visitors for the next while as he is getting ready for a boat ride to Baldur's Gate, even further in the south. If pressed/bribed, the boat leaves for Baldur's Gate tomorrow at noon. He wishes to marry a lady their and is bringing a dowry to the father.

Balthazar is accompanied by an armed escort onto the boat and guards are posted up on the boat during the trip as well. Their are fairly alert and well armed (although not overly) because pirates are not uncommon in this stretch of water. The head of security is a man named Gyush Gizek. His is an older dwarven man who doesn't enjoy working as a security person but sticks around because of the pay. He drinks often and is rarely seen without a flask and he gambles occasionally. During the escort, Gyush accompanies Balthazar along with 3 guards + 1 in the carriage. On the boat ride, their are 8 guards who rotate. 3 during the day for two shift and 2 at night. Their are alarm bells located periodically around the boat. See the boat layout for the boat layout. The jewel itself is hidden in a safe under the bed of the boat. It requires a key and moving the bed to open the trap door (or DC20 strength check) and moving the bed to open it. A set of keys are kept on both Gyush and Balthazar. Their are two lifeboats as well, one located at the back of the boat, the other at the front.