The party ultimately decided that they would put Driette through the wringer to figure out if she was worth the risk of having Manshoon's spellbook. Valetta ultimately agreed to the party's idea to have her cast Zone of Truth, although she hoped that in return, the party might help her with her own problem in the future - that is, driving Jarlaxle Baenre and the Bregan D'aerthe out of Waterdeep! That was a tall order and might need to wait while the party makes other arrangements, but it was true that the pesky drow was turning into a massive headache for the party... he'd need to be dealt with sooner or later. In the meantime, the next morning, the party waited for Driette to arrive. Soon enough, she did, with little fanfare - however, perhaps surprisingly, she was joined by another face, albeit a familiar one. Phames Goodhill, the farmer halfling who helped save the valley of Barovia and Yuan's close friend, had come along as well. As it turns out, Yuan had requested his presence, as Phames was a non-Zhentarim individual who had dealt with Driette before and would be able to attest to her motivations and character. For her part, Valetta was a bit freaked out by Driette's nature, but she remained calm and went along with the plan as instructed. Driette was not fazed by the situation, and agreed to the arrangements on the condition that the meeting be kept as brief as possible, as there were many a great deal requiring her attention, including ensuring Manshoon stays out of Waterdeep. She subjected herself to the Zone spell, as did most others (either willingly or unwillingly), though peculiarly Ray opted to resist and was successful, which piqued Valetta's curiosity, but she stayed silent. Phames first clarified what he knew about Driette, in that she was the one responsible for a lot of the aid the party received while he was there. She had helped his friend, Cajun, by granting him power connected to the Shadowfell, saved the party on a few occasions, and helped them escape from Barovia once Strahd was finally defeated. She also used an elder magic to bring Barovia into the Material Plane, out of its spot in the Domains of Dread within the Shadowfell. He's not sure about what she does regarding the Zhentarim (as that's more of Arrigal's shtick), but he says that as far as he can tell, she's a lady of her word. He also confirmed that his being here was Yuan's idea. From there on, Driette withstood a barrage of questions aimed at her by her interrogators. Through this line of questioning, they were able to ascertain the following: Driette's plan with the book was the main point of contention, as they were worried it might fall into the hands of someone they don't want to have it. She planned on scribing the spells from the book and then trading it off to another unknown individual, mostly to annoy Manshoon. To placate the party, she agreed that once she was done picking the spells she wanted out of the book, she would make a trade specifically to Laeral Silverhand, whom she has dealt with before and considers an 'ally' of sorts - Laeral had assisted in bringing aid to Barovia and putting it under Lord's Alliance jurisdiction. Barovia was, of course, the original home of those like Ismark Kolyanovich, now an annointed member of the City Watch and Lord's Alliance, and Ireena Kolyana, now a well liked actress and talented stage performer, among many others. As for her main agenda, that consisted of many things, from ripping the Zhentarim out of the clutches of Manshoon's control and assuming control for herself (hence the splinter faction with Davil), to leading a strike force into the Domains of Dread to attack the Dark Lords residing there, and going up against the fearsome Szass Tam, a lich who resided in the nation of Thay and lead the Red Wizards, the group who had persecuted Yuan's people. All these matters required a great deal of her attention, so once she was assured Manshoon was driven out from Waterdeep and his plans lay to ruins, she would be vacating the city and leaving Davil in charge of handling things while she pursued her other goals and ensured Manshoon wouldn't be making a return appearance. Driette is of a deathless nature, specifically a 'reborn' - someone who is not quite alive nor dead. She clarified that she is NOT a lich. She has been this way for over eight hundred years. Nero, a victim of the Shadowfell she stumbled across and one of Yuan's fellow tribesman (the son of the chief, in fact), ended up the same way after she tried to revive him, but due to the dark influences there, it didn't quite go as planned, so now he too exists in a deathless state like she does. Driette apparently prefers music in the minor key ... especially when it shouldn't be. After much debate, however, it seems the team was able to finally come to an agreement with the deathless theurge. Driette turned to the spirit of Lif, and stated that she was able to complete the spell here and now after confirming the book was indeed in the party's possession. Once everything was set, she began to intone the ritual of the True Resurrection spell, which Sigurd was able to confirm through his knowledge of magic that was indeed what she was doing. The drawing forth of such elder magic was quite scary to behold, causing the room to dim unnaturally and the tableware to clatter as a ball of energy formed over the table, slowly taking a humanoid form. Soon, Lif's spirit would find itself drawn into this coalescence of energy as she finished the spell an hour later, calling Lif Starsong - his true name - back from the dead. Sure enough, atop the table sat a man who looked much like Lif, except... alive! A rather handsome half-elf man took the place of the specter that was once Lif. He seemed surprised, as if waking from a dream, gently touching Ray's face and realizing that he was, in fact, not dreaming. He was alive, once again, brought back to the mortal coil. Ray offered him a costume to keep him decent (as resurrection only supplied a body, but not pants), and he dressed himself after collecting his wits again. Once he was back in the room, Driette acquired the book from Ray, who apologized for putting her through so much trouble. She agreed in that Ray is indeed an irritating creature. But first, she turned to Lif once again, the living man, and offered him a parting gift for the tavern - an Alchemy Jug, which once belonged to his father, Sevalis. She apologizes to him that she was not able to do the same for him, as it seemed Manshoon had done something to his spirit to place it even outside of her reach... for now. Lif was grateful for the offer and accepted Driette's condolences. Now that her business was concluded, Driette opted to quickly make her exit, and Phames thanked the group for their wisdom and let Yuan know he'd be seeing him again soon enough. It looked like Lif Starsong was alive once again! It's time to celebrate! Indeed, the majority of Trollskull Alley - even some of the anti-socials like Vincent Trench - made an appearance to greet their old friend once again back to the world of the living in an emotional and tearful reunion. Plus one more... Davil Starsong - Lif's uncle - came to visit him as well, having not actually met him as a live person, since Sevalis had only formed his family after splitting off with his brother. It turned out that Davil and Sevalis had a falling out of sorts in their younger years and went their separate ways, with Sevalis pursuing a career under Driette and Davil pursuing his bard abilities and adventuring. It wouldn't be until a few years ago that Davil tried to reconnect with his brother, but by then it was too late and Lif had already moved on and did not get to meet his uncle. The two family members greeted each other warmly, though, glad to be united through this extraordinary circumstance. The rest of the day was a jubilant one as the alley celebrated the return of Lif in the flesh. Although it looked like Lif would have to get used to having a body again as he had a few incidents where he would try and move things with his mind and fail, or walk through walls and also fail. Being incorporeal for a year does funny things to your head! Aside from that, things were looking up for the tavern as Ray and Yuan put themselves to work to help their friend keep the place in shape. Xalvador tried to ward off Lif from doing too much work but he seemed to insist on helping out whenever he could. Surely his revival would spread across town and provide the tavern a boon in business! It did, in some ways. For starters, there was a bunch of rumors being spread about the tavern's change of appearance and Lif's revival. Ray was able to get out there and put a positive spin on these stories, ensuring that they would bolster the tavern's reputation and bring more business in. However, disaster struck as it appears there was an infestation of vermin in the cellar! While there was a small amount of damage and complaints, Yuan was able to get the situation under control quickly and get rid of the infestation before it became too big of a problem. Lastly, some kind of shenanigans occurred at the tavern - no doubt a result of the interesting new musical talent there, in the form of Mr. Frostfur the foxy ranger. Not even Ray was able to salvage this situation - Yuan didn't seem particularly pleased at someone flirting with the musician. Maybe a bit of jealousy is at play, but fortunately the situation only turned into a missed oppportunity to bring in more business and no fallout occurred. For his part, Enigma was off at the House of the Even-Handed, participating in rites and vigils on behalf of Tyr. Thanks to his outstanding performance at a recent celebration of the life of Lady Gabriella Gondafrey, it went very well and he could see a chance to pull in Tyr's favor on his behalf once again in the near future. Sigurd, meanwhile, devoted his time to crafting supplies for the party for their adventure, including some potions of healing and a scroll of Aid, to give the party a small boost of stamina for the penultimate leg of their journey. Also, the party noticed that a presence in the alley was missing... Emmek Frewn was nowhere to be found. It seems that at some point, he was forced out by the Vintners', Distillers', & Brewers' Guild after a tough dispute that saw a magister get involved and officially declare the guild the rightful owners of the land, leaving Emmek to sulk and pack up! It was quite a surprise, but seemed like it would be a good thing, as the new owners, branding the place 'Hatchett Brewery', is planning on opening a... well, a brewery, in association with the guild. This same guild is where the tavern gets its alcohol from, so it looks like it could be yet another positive development, especially with Frewn no longer around to challenge the party. It's a bit unclear how someone else got the rights to build on the land, though... The oddities didn't end there, though, as Ray and Yuan happened upon an unusual visitor... Gai, or "Supamu Gai Supamu", as he was actually known by, made an unfortunate appearance near the tavern by standing up from a pile of trash and making his presence known. It seemed like he was interested in something the party had - referring vaguely to Manshoon's spellbook - and was interested in making a deal! Except... Ray told Gai that they no longer had the book, which he seemed displeased by, but shrugged it off. He revealed that he's been keeping a close eye on the party... though on further reflection, it made sense he wouldn't know about the book, due to Driette placing a ward on the tavern during the negotiations. Apparently Manshoon might not be the only one looking for his valuable tome after all... In any case, Gai made several bizarre statements, including that the party still has something he wants (he seemed disappointed when he found Enigma wasn't actually present), but alluded that there would be a time and place for such things, and that the story was coming to a close, before laughing madly and racing off down the street. Even though Ray summoned for the Watch immediately, the elusive Gai was of course nowhere to be found. What exactly was his deal and what was he after...? Those questions would have to wait, as a few days later, the party would be summoned to Blackstaff Tower by Vajra Safahr using a Sending spell to contact Sigurd. It looks like she was ready to start making a move on Xanathar, and there would be no time to waste. The final key to the Vault of Dragons would soon be in hand, and the mysteries behind it would finally be revealed to all. What will the party find in Xanathar's Hideout? What exactly is Gai's endgame? Will Driette stay true to her word to deal with Laeral fairly? Find out next time, on Waterdeep: Dragon Heist!!