It's been about five days since the last episode, the team has met some new people and accomplished a great deal, but it's time to get back to work. Heading down into the main tavern floor, they are greeted with a number of new faces. First, they meet back up with Volo, Floon, and Renaer, along with a fourth person whom they haven't met yet, a rather tall and strong looking silver dragonborn. Volo explains that he has enlisted the help of this person, named Sigurd von Yevin, to aid the team in their efforts to deal with the spirit haunting the manor (Sigurd spills that the truth is Volo is too scared to do it himself). Sigurd is a budding artificer and a researcher of arcane lore, among other things, and apparently owes Volo a favor from some undisclosed prior incident, so he has agreed to this arrangement. He says he will meet them at Trollskull Manor later when they are ready to investigate. Second, Ray found his Musician's Guild contact, Marcellus Smokespeaker, hanging out with Threestrings. Marcellus usually doesn't hang out in the Yawning Portal, but he has taken a liking to the place. He was actually here on business, however, and after putting out his cigar in respect to Ray, he showed him a box containing his precious viol, which has been restored to its former glory! It took quite a bit of work and tuning, but he was able to get it to sound very well. He advises it was thanks to Renaer footing the bill and making sure it got done as the guild has a large amount of respect for Renaer and what he does. Third, Yuan met with Yagra and her friend, Davil Starsong, and they had a rather ambiguous discussion about some kind of agreement that was made prior. Yuan said that 'he's in' and this seemed to make Davil, a fancifully dressed sun elf bard, very pleased. He said he will deliver upon him his first job soon when he irons out a few more details - he'll "know it when he sees it". Lastly, Enigma met with Jalester and discussed the recent events. Jalester said he hasn't found much other information yet - yesterday was the Festival of Remembering, which is a dwarven holiday where dwarven clans gather and have reverence for the fallen. A somewhat somber occasion but also a celebration of life itself. Jalester mentions he'll have work lined up for Enigma soon, as well, and invites him to meet back with him tonight to discuss details. With that settled, the party sets off to Meiroth's Fine Silks, run by a fancifully dressed sun elf who apparently has received word of your arrival from Threestrings. Ray produces the note Threestrings made and the proprietor confirms his mark, and says he has prepared some outfits in advance for the lot of you - even Yuan, who is quite a big boy, and Ray, who is unusually tall. The shop is tailored for people of all sizes and builds, it seems! The team is able to pick out an outfit they like and the owner gives them a one-time discount for their association with Threestrings. Ray also inquires about even more cutting edge clothing, and the owner remarks that such bleeding-edge fashion can run from fifty dragons to upwards of a few hundred. Ray isn't quite prepared to pay that much, but makes a note of it and thanks him for the information. With that, the party heads north to Lightsinger Theatre, passing by the giant walking statues of the Hawk Man and the Great Drunkard on the way, marvelling at the crazy landmarks of Waterdeep. They arrive and present their tickets to the desk, and get to enjoy front row seats to the operatic tragic story that is the Curse of Strahd, lead by actress Ireena Kolyana. While Ray and Yuan enjoy themselves (mostly because Yuan feels a strange ping of familiarity with this story...) Enigma is bored to tears and dozes off during the performance. During the intermission, they leave the audience and go to the box seats to find Ray's contact. When the guard asks the reason why they have arrived, the man inside shoos him off and tells him to let them in as he's expecting visitors. The guard steps aside and the team meets Mirt, the leader of the Harpers within Waterdeep. The Harpers are a semi-secret organization that desire to promote good, preserve art and history and keep a balance of civilization and nature in check. He explains that there's a lot of strife in the city right now because of this gang war and things have become a mess, and he could use the party's help. While the primary invitation to the Harpers is to Ray, he also offers membership to the other two, though they politely decline due to having already made arrangements. Mirt says this is fine - there's many other respectable factions in Waterdeep who all have the city's interests at heart. Different banners, same cause. He does explain that the Zhentarim and Harpers have clashed for quite a long time. When Mirt mentions to Ray that he shows promise to be a good spy, Ray thinks about this and considers that spies tend to avoid aggression, which is his main goal. Mirt explains that, indeed, a spy is mainly needed to gather intel and watch out for trouble, but he can't guarantee that there won't be any violence due to the nature of the work - there's always a risk of getting caught. Also, he reveals the true name of Threestrings, which is Mattrim Mereg. Ray accepts the invitation to join the Harpers, and Mirt presents him with a silver pin of a harp within a crescent moon, much like the one he saw Threestrings carrying. Mirt invites the party to watch the rest of the performance with him from his box seat, and toasts to the party's future endeavors and good health with a glass of fancy wine called Champagne du le Stomp. Huzzah! They enjoy the rest of the dramatic performance, Mirt being brought to tears by the riveting display, and Yuan feeling a strange sense of familiarity when he hears the name of one of the characters in the play... either way, it's an excellent stage performance and it receives the standing ovation it deserves. With that, Mirt excuses himself as he has business elsewhere but also says that if the party needs to talk to him directly, they can visit him at his villa in the Dock Ward. The party leaves the theater, getting back into their standard clothes, and heads off to their new home, Trollskull Manor, to meet up with Sigurd. Being a local of the area, he offers to give them a tour of the place so they can meet their new neighbors. They agree, and they meet the various people living there: Emmek Frewn, a somewhat salty owner of the recently opened Frewn's Brews pub. He seems to regard the party with disdain and annoyance. It is later learned this is because he was trying to obtain the Manor for himself when Volo outbid him for it, and he had to settle for a much less impressive building nearby. Fala Lefaliir, owner of Corellon's Crown, who prefers gender neutral pronouns. They are happy to meet the party and explain they offer herbal remedies and potions of all kinds, as they run an apothecary. They operate a greenhouse on the third floor of their establishment. Rishaal the Page-Turner, an unusually short golden dragonborn and owner of Book Wyrm's Treasure, a repository of books, both mundane and magical, along with scroll scribing services. He is a proficient wizard and a member of the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors, the primary mage's guild of Waterdeep. Embric and Avi, fire and water genasi proprietors of Steam and Steel, and a married couple at that. Embric handles the weapons and forge, while Avi manages armorsmithing. Embric has a fiery countenance, true to his nature, and is prone to moodswings, while Avi is much calmer and has a disarming, cool demeanor. They are both happy to meet their new neighbors and offer their services whenever it is needed. Talisolvanar "Tally" Fellbranch, who operates the Bent Nail, and is an expert carpenter and woodcarver. He was once friends with Lif, the man who owned the Manor previously and died under mysterious circumstances. Regardless, he is happy to meet the party and agrees to help them fix up the manor when they are ready to begin that project. Vincent Trench, owner of The Tiger's Eye, a detective agency. While they don't get to meet him directly, Sigurd explains that Vincent's detective work is second to none. He's a bit of an oddball, but he has remarkable taste and is quite professional in his work. With that settled, the party has now met their new neighbors! Sigurd is ready to investigate the manor, and the party follows him in. It's a bit eerie, but the silence is broken when Yuan manages to duck a plate being thrown at his head, which shatters against the wall nearby. The party begins to investigate to figure out what happened to Lif, and they discover he was apparently murdered in quite a grisly fashion in the cellar. When the party seems open to the idea of fixing up the tavern, the assaults seem to cease - which is good, as Ray was about to have a knife thrown at him. The specter slowly becomes more amicable to the party until it finally materializes in front of them! Lif, the half-elf poltergeist of Trollskull Manor, has finally appeared in the... ectoplasm? The party begins to ask him several questions about the circumstances of his death, and they discover that he was murdered by a man with a claw for a left hand. It doesn't seem Lif had any known enemies or anything especially valuable, but it was clear that the crime was an expert job and it is possible that magic might have been involved due to the lack of evidence. The party has found that the case happened about a year ago and went cold due to the lack of evidence pointing to a killer. Sigurd suggests that since it might have been a crime involving magic, they might ask the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors, and he explains Rishaal is a member of that group and might have some information. Enigma also mentions that Jalester might be able to access some records to help investigate the crime, as he is a member of the City Watch. Lif, for his party, is happy to hear that the party wishes to help him out and seems cooperative. While he cannot speak, he is eager to see what the party does next in getting Trollskull back up and running. As they're exiting, Ray asks Sigurd if he's ever heard of the Stone of Golorr, the mysterious object that seems to be the key to the treasure (though he doesn't reveal this) and Sigurd doesn't know anything about it. It is an obscure object it seems... As the party begins to leave, a few bizarre circumstances occur... a flying snake of some sort is seen flying over head, and a rolled parchment lands next to Yuan, who opens the note and reads it, but doesn't immediately disclose the contents. Ray is concerned that this means Yuan has connections with the Zhentarim and is immediately upset as he jumps to this conclusion, but is interrupted a moment later when a paper bird lands in his hands, and also contains some kind of instructions. Unfortunately, Enigma gets no such treatment brick to the head , but he learns of a job Jalester has for him when the party retires for the evening back at the Yawning Portal. It looks like the party has their work cut out for them... and someone has some explaining to do... Who murdered Lif? What will become of the potential rivalry between the group and Emmek Frewn? Has friction begun to develop in the party due to assumed associations? Find out next time... in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist!