The group continues to repair Trollskull Manor, and explore the surrounding neighborhood. They receive a followup task from Mirt, and an opportunity…
During the week, Shazuu continues to sleep in the basement and the disturbing dreams continue. The repairs on the roof and the stonework conclude. One morning, there is a loud noise on the street, followed by an intense smell of axle grease. Several shouts of “SHUT UP!” follow from the neigboring buildings, so it seems to be a regular occurance.
At one point Shining Brow sees a short man standing down the street, scowling at the Manor. Once noticed, he takes off, and the tabaxi follows. While he loses his target, he does find a store named Odds and Ends. He meets the owner, and after a brief discussion in thieves’ cant, finds out that the junk shop is more than it appears… it’s also a fence.
Back at the manor that night, Shazuu continues to have nightmares. That morning, Mantis wakes to find a paper crane fluttering around the common room. In side is a message that reads, “Locate Maxine the Dray at the roadhouse, find out if she learned the identity of any Zhent operatives.” It’s well known that the Roadhouse is the Guildhall of Carters and Coachmen, and the group decides to go out into the city to take care of some business along the way. First, they go to the Elfstone Tavern, and when they arrive, it seems that there is a pretty severe bias against non-elves. Shazuu explains to the doorman that he is here to meet Althon Dalzor, and eventually they are allowed in under Mantis’ watchful eye. Once inside, Shazuu finds his contact and asks about his dreams. According to the sage, the spirits are trying to contact him, and are giving him glimpses of what he must do to interact. They suggest hiring a priest.
Next, they proceed to the Roadhouse. The big round cart switching station and it’s surrounding complex take up the whole block. The teamsters there are rude, but direct the group to the stables. There, they learn that Maxine is a horse, who is currently out on rounds. The carter is named Morgan, and he drives a green, open backed sledge. The group backtracks along his delivery route, and find the them at the market. Mantis talks to the carter who does little except grumble. Shining Brow, taking their task very literally, talks to the horse, who quickly replies. Between bribes off carrots, and the Harper pin that Mantis carries, they gain the trust of the horse. Maxine speaks of a sun elf and half orc who were dropped off at the Yawning Portal. Maxine is sure they are Zhentarim.
They head back to the Manor, and talk to Vandar about Yagra. He confirms Yagra’s identity, but says that she’s not one of the crazy Zhents that are terrorizing Waterdeep. An argumment follows about the morals of sending the information that they have learned to the birds’ sender. Eventually, it’s decided to send a message without descriptions to the Harpers.
The next day, Shazuu asks around at the Plinth, and finds a priest who will agree to come to the manor and help with their ghost problem. That night, using the priest’s magic, they attempt to ask the spirits the following questions:
Do you want help? The spirits response to this question is yes.
Is it OK if we live here? The spirits seem unsure.
Can a priest free you? The answer is a resounding “NO”, and the picture of the former staff falls by the bar, breaking the glass.
The priest quickly departs, obviously shaken by the ordeal. Shining Brow checks the basement to find a trail of bloody footsteps leading down the stairs. There is a pool at the top of the stairs from blood dripping from the ceiling, but nothing on the ceiling above it. Shazuu reaches out with his senses, and detects an undead presence nearby, likely inside Trollskull Manor. The party follows the footprints down to the basement fresco. The children are now all frozen screaming, and the words “Release me” are written in blood. Shining Brow is dragged by a strong dark force into the darkness behind him, but manages to escape. Upon examination, they don’t see anything that could have attacked him. Mantis investigates, and finds a marble hand under the wine rack. Upon examination, it’s a perfect fit for the missing limb in the fresco. The party searches the rest of the Manor, but doesn’t find any more of the mural.
As they search, another paper bird arrives, demanding the names of the Zhents.
That night, they return to the Yawning Portal to continue the investigation. Shortly after arriving, they notice a sun elf bard playing a lute in the common room. Tang Kamma Wu approaches, and tosses a few coins into the bard’s case, which causes him to pause for a moment and speak with the monk. The elf speaks with a foreign accent, and he introduces himself as Davil Starsong. With a name and description, they return home, and Mantis sends a bird with the name of the sun elf, and description. That night, Shazuu has another basement dream in which he sees his reflection in a mirror, but the reflection is not his own face… it’s the elf in the picture above the bar. The face in the reflection speaks, and says “Repair. Serve. Rest.” If this dream means “restore the inn to working order and free the spirits”, we still have about a half a thousand gold worth of repairs left.
Mantis heads to the “Font of Knowledge” to look for info about the Manor. Shazuu knows someone there, and they speak with another sage, Illegast. He works deep inside the building, and directs them to another sage, Ibryth. They meet Ibryth, who fills them in on what he knows about Trollskull Manor: It was an orphanage run by an old woman, who was killing children. The Grey Hands and Red Sashes were involved in ending her evil. The next owner disappeared, and it remained vacant for 30 years, until it was bought by Volo.
They front Ibryth 5gp, and hire him to get more information from his archives. When they return to the manor, we find another message for Mantis with Mirt’s address, apparently as a request to meet face to face. Mantis goes to Mirt’s mansion alone, and, after some discussion, officially joins the Harpers.
Reward:
The Harpers +1 Rep Point
