During their tour of Trollskull Alley, the team met another individual, Correo Sky-Strider, who runs the Zephyr Post mail. He trains and uses hawk messengers to deliver letters all over the city for a small fee of two silver pieces. When questioned by Ray about why he doesn't use the seemingly more convenient paper birds, Sigurd points out that it is because they are made of magic, which is much harder to access and more expensive - not everybody has the gold or the talent to make or acquire such things. For those people, this is what the Zephyr Post is for. He also warns about allowing any harm to come to the birds - apparently, Correo has a nasty mean streak when it comes to that... Later, they visited Vincent Trench in person for the first time, intending to inquire to him about some matters regarding Lif. He welcomes them in, and explains that he had to drop the case due to a lack of leads; apparently, the carpenter Tally had asked him to investigate the case when the Watch and the Order gave up on the case, and Vincent called in a favor with Rishaal to aid in the effort; unfortunately, the Watch generally doesn't see eye to eye with Vincent as they view his work as generally intrusive... They were able to discern that a Teleportation Circle spell was used to vacate the premises (which they were able to later confirm with Rishaal), but other than that, had no possible leads since Lif didn't have any known family in Waterdeep and he didn't have any other known affiliations. Vincent had to drop the case and refund Tally his money because he was not able to uncover the identity of Lif's murderer. However, when the party presents him new clues thanks to Lif becoming cooperative, Vincent perks up, and thinks about re-opening the case. When the party inquires about this, he agrees and says he'll only charge half his usual fee - 25 gold versus 50 - as this murder hit a little too close to home for his tastes. The party agrees to this arrangement, and Vincent Trench says he'll look again into the murder of Lif, though he intimates he prefers to work alone, so if the party wants any updates, they can stop by his office in the evenings for information on his investigation. They do confirm with Rishaal later about the Teleportation Circle, and Rishaal confirms that kind of magic is hard to come by - not just anybody can do it, and this is why the people working in the Manor at the time of Lif's death were ruled out as suspects because none of them were inclined to magic and none of them had a sufficient motive. Rishaal also confirms that he didn't sell such magic to anyone at the time, either, and if he did, it would have been costly - a scroll of Teleportation Circle would have cost upwards of 1,500 dragons! Later, the team goes to Tally's shop, to inform him that they're reopening the case. While Tally is grateful, he feels that it is a dead end and if the Watch and Order couldn't turn up anything, what hope do a ragtag team of adventurers have? Still, he appreciates the effort and prays for their success, for some closure for his fallen friend. After this, Yuan takes the team aside to discuss recent... events, and explains his situation - that, yes, he was hired on by the Zhentarim, but the situation is much more complicated than it appears. Apparently, the Zhentarim is a split faction; Davil's Zhentarim tend to be more open and cleaner, working in more legal grey areas, while the 'bad' Zhentarim seem to engage in murder and chaos where ever they go. Yuan apologizes to Ray for concealing his partnership and thankfully he is forgiven. He explains the mission he was given - to investigate a string of recent murders of elves and half-elves in the Dock Ward. All decapitated with a blade... The party surmises a possible connection to Lif, but the method and sloppiness of the recent killings, not to mention the distance and time span, don't seem to suggest they are related. Yuan does surmise however there might be a potential motive depending on the race of the killer - he has heard that dark elves, commonly known as the drow, would have a reason to engage in such violence, as they were banished a long time ago to the Underdark as a result of some crime against elvenkind. Their primary deity, Lolth the Spider Queen, promotes violence against the surface elves... it's not much, but it's something to consider. Of course, now Sigurd knows about Yuan's connections - and he swears not to tell a soul. He also asks for a favor of his own; he grows tired of doing side work and odd jobs for people like Volo, who has a tendency to stretch the truth on how much money he can pay (which the party knows for a fact), and it doesn't really further his career path. An adventuring life would be much more suitable for him, and he explains some of the things he can do... supposedly. While the party is a bit skeptical that he might actually be useful for anything, Enigma seems to like him enough based on the fact that he's another dragonborn. With that said, the team hires him on full-time to assist them in any matters they need help with! Heading back to the Yawning Portal, the team meets up with their friends once more. Enigma sees Jalester chatting it up with a few new people. Ismark Kolyanovich and Ireena Kolyana, brother and sister, and members of the Lords' Alliance. Ireena works in the Lightsinger Theatre as an actress, while Ismark works as a watch captain like Jalester, though he doesn't have quite the same connections as Jalester does. Ismark carries a Badge of the Watch like Jalester does, signifying his position. Jalester gives Enigma his first mission, and unfortunately it isn't a glamourous one. The issue is that the whole situation with Renaer is kind of embarrassing and the Watch is trying to keep their failure to watch out for the warehouse where he was at on the down-low, so Jalester has to pretend that never happened and the party weren't involved, to keep them out of a potential legal issue. Having said that, his superiors want to test Enigma in the proper way and have assigned him to work with a team from the Dungsweepers' Guild while they work in the morning, once a day for a tenday. Jalester explains also that this mission has a double meaning - what he really wants Enigma to look out for are clues and information regarding the Xanathar's Guild, as the Dungsweepers often work in the sewers. Enigma agrees, and Jalester is satisfied. He also says that expenses will be paid for by the Lord's Alliance for he and any others who assist him in the work - this includes room and board, and appropriate clothing for the job. Enigma and any who assist him will be compensated at the end of the tenday for their work, even if nothing comes of it. Enigma takes the opportunity to ask Jalester about Lif, and while Jalester isn't intimately familiar with the case, he does recall the important details. He says while he wasn't personally involved, he can have someone look into the records to see if they can find any information about Lif himself, though he doesn't make any promises, and assigns Ismark to aid in the task. Ismark agrees and says he'll relay anything he finds out through Jalester. Meanwhile, Yuan takes a moment to confront Davil about the unfortunate circumstance which lead to him being outed as a Zhentarim agent to his party. Davil is annoyed by this, as this wasn't intentional and apologizes for the error, but says it might be for the best anyway, because he wants to work more openly and it's probably better for Yuan that his friends know now rather than later. Davil invites Yuan for a drink, and has him meet a friend of his, Tashlyn Yafeera. She's in charge of arms and mercenaries for Davil's Zhentarim. She looks like a fierce fighter, and says that if Yuan needs anything from hired help to weapons, she's the one to talk to. Yuan explains that he thinks that he might have an idea of who might be causing issues in the Dock Ward and conveys his theory of a drow assassin to Davil. Davil doesn't take this lightly, and it confirms his own suspicions - that members of a faction called Bregan D'aerthe may have infiltrated Waterdeep. They're a team of drow renegades lead by an unusually flamboyant and eccentric drow man named Jarlaxe Baenre, who is an acclaimed adventurer and deadly opponent. Davil thinks this kind of work is beneath Jarlaxle, though, who usually doesn't kill people, but if the Bregan D'aerthe ARE involved, he cautions Yuan to watch his back. Davil provides some additional intel; that the murders all happened in front of taverns, in the dead of night. Taverns that are frequented by sailors, elves, and are open late - that seems to be the pattern thus far... Meanwhile, Ray chats it up with his good buddy Renaer, and meets a friend of Renaer's, Meloon Wardragon. He says he is a member of Force Grey, which is a team dedicated to protecting Waterdeep. However, their work is different from the Watch and Guard; Force Grey is called in as a 'last resort' against outstanding threats to the city, so minor crimes are generally beneath their notice. He also shows off his axe, Azuredge, a finely crafted axe that was made by the first Open Lord of Waterdeep, Ahghairon himself, in defense of the city, and it is especially enchanted to deal extra damage to fiends and undead. When Ray asks how he got a hold of this weapon, he says it was granted to him by the current Blackstaff, and his boss, Vajra Safahr, who is the High Wizard of Waterdeep. She's in charge of using her magic to defend the city in times of great need, but she also runs Force Grey, and the lesser Grey Hands as a whole, as a sort of private army. Meloon also warns Ray to stay out of Undermountain; leave that stuff to the professionals... When Ray asks if Meloon can help with the situation about Lif, Meloon says that unfortunately he's got other things he needs to work on, but since Lif's murder had magic involved, he says he could pay the Blackstaff a visit and provides an address to the Blackstaff Tower where Vajra is usually located. Ray speaks with Renaer a bit, saying that they're going to investigate Lif's murder and also try to renovate the tavern. Renaer is excited at the prospect - he definitely wants to see this happen and makes it a point to promise that he will visit there if they manage to pull it off, which is exciting for Ray! Renaer also talks about Harper business for a bit, and intimates that a few people do know of his connections - Meloon, Jalester, Ismark and Ireena, and Threestrings, obviously. Durnan also knows, but he usually isn't the talkative type anyway. It makes sense he would know as he is a friend of Mirt's as well... Renaer also asks if Ray enjoyed the opera of the Curse of Strahd, and Ray acknowledges this, saying it was amazing. Renaer points out also that Ireena was the star of the Curse of Strahd play, and Ray is starstruck! He definitely plans to pay her a visit and chat it up a bit, but he has some other business to attend to first, and goes to talk to Threestrings about his current job. Threestrings says that he knows about Maxeene, the talking horse, and a lot of other people know that she talks as well, but what they don't know is that she is actually a Harper spy. However, she's quite stubborn and won't give up her information to just anyone, so it will take some convincing on Ray's part to get her to spill the beans on anything she's heard - Ray's harper symbol might be of some help. Maxeene pulls drays across the city and her unique nature is quite a draw, so she sees a lot of clients and has almost definitely heard of some things. Ray also asks Threestrings on his opinion regarding the Zhentarim's dual nature. Threestrings says that he hasn't heard anything about it and has no evidence to back it up, but he suggests that the current gang war seems too violent even for the Zhentarim, who usually prefer to work in the shadows. While the Zhents are certainly not averse to a spot of violence, this kind of open bloody warfare doesn't seem to paint them in a good light, so while he has no evidence to support that the Zhentarim are a split faction, he thinks Ray might be onto something. He points out that he's sure Yagra Stonefist, the half-orc mercenary, is a Zhentarim agent and sees her talking to that sun elf all the time, so it might be worth keeping an eye on them. The Zhentarim, Harpers and Lord's Alliance... all three guilds would seem to be in at least some opposition to one another, but in a time of great need, perhaps these groups need to band together to bring peace back to Waterdeep once again... What will become of these intertwined relations? Who really murdered Lif? Will Sigurd actually roll higher than a 3 on anything? Find out all of this and more, next time, on Waterdeep: Dragon Heist!!