Session 08: Trollskull Manor

The adventurers got involved with a menagerie of powerful figures during their exploits in Waterdeep, from the son of a disgraced ruler to a mythic baron. They were now given an opportunity to find respite in their new home, Trollskull Manor.

Trollskull Alley
The adventurers were enjoying a game of Three Dragon Ante in the dilapidated taproom of Trollskull Manor when a man burst into the tavern. The man thought that the group was squatting in the taproom but was happy to find that they were knew neighbors in Trollskull Alley.

The man introduced himself as Vincent Trench, a private investigator with an office in Trollskull Alley. Vincent invited the adventurers on a tour of the neighborhood.

Steam and Steel
The party was first led to the local smithy, Steam and Steel, which was owned an operated by a pair of genasi. Avi, the water genasi, was the armorsmith and their partner Embric, a fire genasi was the weaponsmith. They asked the adventurers if it was true that a ghost was haunting Trollskull Manor. Azir, Viego and Thrask admitted that they had strange experiences in the taproom, though Thrask was not convinced of the presence of a ghost.

Corellon's Crown
When asked if there was a ghost expert that Vincent knew he suggested the adventurers visit the herbalist in Trollskull Alley, Fala Lefaliir. Though Fala did not know how to communicate with spirits, they did mention that the last owner of Trollskull Manor was a half-elf named Lif. Lif was a bartender who saved enough money to renovate the tavern and it was his life's goal to open up Trollskull Tavern.

Viego purchased tea leaves and a scented candle from Fala before they moved on.

Book Wyrm's Treasure
The adventurers sought more information on dealing with ghosts, so Vincent Trench led them to the local bookstore, Book Wyrm's Treasure. Inside the bookstore, the group was met by Rishaal, a gold dragonborn. Azir purchased a book on communicating with spirits, Viego purchased a book on creating spirits and how to run a business in Waterdeep and Thrask purchased a children's book titled "How Many Bugbears."

The Bent Nail
Viego met Talisolvanar Fellbranch at The Bent Nail, the woodworking shop in Trollskull Alley across the street from Steam and Steel.

Communicating with Lif
Back at Trollskull Manor, the party read that the tavern was likely being haunted by a poltergeist. They set up the candle from Fala in an attempt to communicate with the spirit. After stating their intentions the party witnessed bar stools being tucked in and the front door slowly opening before words appeared in the dust against the walls behind the bar:"'LAST CALL BEFORE YOU NEED TO LEAVE.'"Viego obliged the message and asked for a drink. In response to Viego's request, a dusty tankard floated from the ground and filled it with a thick liquid that spilled out from the dusty casks behind the bar.

After offering to run the business with Lif, the poltergeist showed signs of wanting to negotiate. The spirit was able to communicate that it declared itself the owner of the tavern, though it was apparently open to the idea of the adventurers getting the tavern back into operation. The spirit was also particularly fond of Marmaduke staying at the tavern, fortunately Chomp was willing to stay wherever Marmaduke was.

Before negotiations between the spirit were concluded, the party was interrupted by J.B. who had stopped by the tavern in hopes of seeing the adventurers. J.B. gave the party advice on how to get their business started. They needed startup funds to open the tavern.

Reuniting With Renaer
The party needed funds to start the tavern so they headed towards the Yawning Portal to ask Renaer Neverember for assistance. Before making their way to the Castle Ward, the party stopped by Azir's home at the Hawkwood estate so that Azir could help Viego with his debt to Durnan at the Yawning Portal.

At the Yawning Portal, Thrask and Chomp retreated to the bar as Viego and Azir went to meet with Renaer Neverember. The young Neverember was overjoyed to see Viego and to meet Azir, it took very little effort for the duo to convince Renaer to invest in their business so long as Renaer could live and stay safe there.

At the bar, Thrask and Chomp became acquainted with a boy named Beal who spent his night lamenting his situation and attempting to impress the two adventurers with his skill as a bowman. Chomp and Thrask invited Beal to visit their tavern for drinks and to check out their bounty board as soon as it was renovated.

Fellowship Hall
The last task for the adventurers was to visit the Fellowship of Inkeepers at their headquarters, Fellowship Hall. At the headquarters the party met several guild members, one of which led them to Tawny Villageburns, a goblin financial advisor. With the information that the party acquired, they settled on 2,000 gold pieces of Renaer's investment to get their tavern open.

Player Characters

 * Azir the human swashbuckler
 * Benny the human arcane trickster
 * Chomp the shifter druid of the moon
 * Thrask the lizardfolk gloom stalker
 * Viego the human kensei of the open hand

Non-Player Characters

 * Avi, the male water genasi armorsmith of Steam and Steel.
 * Beal, a teenage male human bowman who was drinking with Chomp and Thrask at The Yawning Portal.
 * Durnan, the male human owner and bartender of The Yawning Portal.
 * Embric, the male fire genasi weaponsmith of Steam and Steel.
 * Fala Lefaliir, the wood elf owner of the herbalism shop, Corellon's Crown.
 * J.B., the male human liaison of the Bregan D'aerthe in Waterdeep.
 * Lif, the poltergeist of an elf who previously owned Trollskull Manor.
 * Marmaduke, the female tabby cat companion of Chomp.
 * Renaer Neverember, a male human noble of Waterdeep and son of the former Open Lord of Waterdeep, Dagult Neverember.
 * Rishaal, the male gold dragonborn owner of the book store Book Wyrm's Treasure.
 * Talisolvanar "Tally" Fellbranch, the male half-elf owner of the woodworking shop The Bent Nail.
 * Tawny Villageburns, a male goblin financial consultant with the Fellowship of Innkeepers.
 * Vincent Trench, the male human private investigator who operates out of his office, The Tiger's Eye.
 * Volothamp Geddarm, a male human traveler and storyteller.