As the team took a moment to think about what to do next with their day, Sigurd decided to address the elephant in the room and asked Yuan about his magical explosions just now. Yuan revealed that he didn't think he had any magical talent, but apparently that was no longer the case - he exhibited some kind of semi-chaotic magic burst that inexplicably came about when he entered combat. Normally, for his people, magic is slanted toward an element, but he doesn't feel that way... It occurred to him and the team that his experiment he undertook with Skeemo Weirdbottle, the Doom Raider Zhentarim's Master of Magic, might have jarred something loose or acted as a catalyst for his latent magical ability. It also occurred to Yuan that Skeemo was experimenting on him for seemingly vague reasons, and it occurred to him that maybe he's not a very nice person! Sigurd warned that people with any magical ability whatsoever need to register with the Watchful Order, per Waterdeep law. Ray seemed against this, as he was worried that people who might be hunting Yuan might use that to their advantage, but Sigurd countered with that if something happens and it is found out that Yuan has been hiding the fact he can use magic, it will end badly for him. The team decided that they would eventually seek out a courthouse to help process their friend's magical recognition within the city. Before that, though, Fala, the alley's apothecary, waved the party down and asked for their help, after granting praise for their fierce battle with Mulaag while also commenting on the awesome magical prowess of Yuan (much to his chagrin). They stated that they have noticed the team seems to get on pretty well with Rishaal and was hoping to gain their assistance with a matter that's been bothering them. They've recently learned that Rishaal uses Duskwood paper for his scrolls and spellbooks. Unfortunately, that kind of paper comes from a tree sacred to elves and specifically to Corellon Larethian, the chief god of the elves whom Fala has named their shop, Corellon's Crown, after. They haven't been able to convince the dragonborn to change his supplier, so they were hoping the party might be able to step in and help him figure something else out instead of the drastic measures they were intending, which was protesting in front of their shop! Fala also revealed that Sigurd had been helping out in their shop for a while, at which point Enigma pointedly asked what other 'secrets' he's been hiding. Mildly offended, Sigurd says that he's been helping out the other businesses in the alley for a while on the side to help make ends meet before he started doing more adventurous tasks, and revealed that his 'secret' is that he's handy with a number of tools - smith's, herbalist's, alchemy, carpentry, tinker's, and even thieves' tools. Some of the team got the impression that Sigurd might be up to some indiscreet behavior! Which he flatly denied... Fala showed them the thing they would give if they helped them out, a Tear of Gaia, which was very useful in quickly bringing plants to full bloom or growing fertile topsoil in places where it normally could not. However, at the sight of this, Yuan became overwhelmed by a magical sensation - actually sensing the transmutation magic from within, as well as the magic items carried by his party members, and having his senses overloaded. Having never experienced this before, later he took the party aside and explained he had never felt this before. In any case, once that was settled, the party moved on to the Steam and Steel, where Avi and Embric greeted them. Enigma asked if he could procure some more javelins, to which Avi agreed and Embric went to fetch. While Embric was doing that, though, Avi confided in the team a concern of his - he states that Tally, the owner of the Bent Nail, has become increasingly distant and cold toward the couple. It all started with a business negotiation, where Avi thought the two shops could combine their talents to make items both of wood and metal for the betterment of both businesses. They had been discussing it over dinner, but Tally seemed more and more uncomfortable with the situation until he stormed off without even finishing the Calishite chocolate cake Embric had made! Avi thinks that maybe their displays of affection had been getting to Tally, but he isn't sure, and while Embric says he doesn't care, Avi knows he is hurt. Avi also doesn't think Tally is some kind of bigot, either, so he was hoping the party might ask Tally what offended him so much and hope to make amends. Embric came back with the requested javelins to finish Enigma's transaction, at which point Sigurd also asked if he might acquire a weapon for himself - surprisingly, a two-handed hammer. Embric gleefully nodded and said he's got just the thing, returning with a two handed maul for Sigurd to swing around. Now the team had two wielders of large weapons! The team made their way to the Bent Nail, before it occurred to Ray that he thinks Tally might be feeling lonely because of the whole Lif situation. It was hard to say, though, and Sigurd says he doesn't think the two were romantically involved, but they were close friends regardless. There might be more to it, so with that, they headed inside and greeted the half-elf carpenter. Ray asked some questions about how business was going, and could get a feel that all was not well with the carpenter. When he got to the point, Tally sighed and confessed that, indeed, the way Avi and Embric show affection toward one another was getting to him. He had been married previously to a woman named Isolla, and they had a many great years together, but while he just seemed to get a bit greyer at the temples, she eventually passed on due to age. Even half-elves are much longer lived than humans, it seems. He thought he had moved on, then there was the whole situation with Lif, and losing a close friend in such a devastatingly cruel way. Both of these situations were now eating at him, and he could not face Avi and Embric's affections for one another without guilt, though he knew this was wrong. With some encouraging and uplifting words from Ray and Yuan, and a suggestion from Sigurd to visit the temple of Sune for help on combatting his loneliness, Tally decided that he must move on with his life, for this is what the dearly departed would want as well, and he said that he would pay a visit to make amends to the genasi couple as soon as he could. He also asked if the party might accompany him some day to the temple of Sune to attend the widower's rites to mourn and perhaps find happiness in the arms of another. He also took an interest in Yuan's woodcarving and asked if he would help him at his shop. Yuan gave him a token he had carved the night before of a wolf head and gave it to Tally to keep, who said he would put it on display in his shop, and hoped that Yuan would make more artwork for his shop, as he wanted to see his unique vision and creativity which cannot be found in Waterdeep! After consoling Tally and getting him to make amends with his neighbors, the party moved on to Rishaal's shop to discuss his issue. He is aware of Fala's complaint, but doesn't know what to do as he has no other suppliers for his paper that are affordable. The party comes to the conclusion that they have a few options; to seek out Skeemo Weirdbottle, a fellow wizard, but a Zhentarim at that; to ask Vajra Safahr, the Blackstaff and the High Wizard of Waterdeep, which seemed a bit too petty in Ray's eyes; or to ask Mirt and see if he knows someone who might be able to set Rishaal up. However, before they could leave to check out prospective suppliers, Correo the mail-bird approached the team with a letter addressed to them. It was from someone named Captain Zardoz Zord, of the Sea Maidens Faire, a traveling carnival of boats, who wanted to hire them out for a job - with the promise of good pay. Though the job wasn't detailed in the letter, it sounded promising, especially to Yuan, who recalled many details about this travelling carnival from some stories he recalled from an old friend, and that the name of the current year, "Three Ships Sailing" is so named because of the Sea Maidens Faire, which was precisely that - three ships sailing! The Eyecatcher, the Hellraiser, and the Heartbreaker... Intrigued by this, the party decided to visit the Dock Ward to visit this Zord. Approaching the guard and presenting the letter, they apparently were able to use some kind of spell to get approval from the captain for the team to board, placing them on a dinghy to transport them to the main flagship, the Eyecatcher. Meeting them there in the dining cabin was the fleet commander, Zardoz Zord - although his dress apparel was rather peculiar, choosing a scantilty clad outfit while standing in front of a lavish lunch feast laid out for the party, attended to by nimblewrights. What an jarringly bizarre fellow! It occurred to Enigma and Ray that they had seen this fellow before, although not quite dressed this way, in the Muleskull Tavern standing near an old acquaintance, Solomil Silverfingers, talking with a large tortle. In any case, he explained over drinks and food that he wanted some help acquiring a creature that has recently escaped into the streets of the Dock Ward, something called a Displacer Beast. Some of the party recalled that such a creature was native to the feywild and was particularly sinister and evil, hunting for sport as much as it did for food. A nasty piece of work! While Zord said that the creature needed to be dealt with, he had an additional request to have it captured alive so he could tame it for his parades. Ray recalled seeing animals in cages aboard one of the other ships on the way, though they were well taken care of. The party agreed and Zord said to a very skeptical Enigma that he would pay 50 gold a piece to the party if they pulled this off - and showed the goods right then and there to prove his point to show he had no intention of cheating them out of their deal. Bring the creature back alive and intact and the gold is theirs, plain and simple. With that, the party left the bizarre captain and his ship to head back to the mainland. They went to a courthouse to process Yuan's entry into the Watchful Order, which was to simply acknowledge his up and coming magical powers. After some questions, a magister and an Order rep concluded that Yuan was experiencing what was known as wild magic, told him it was okay and it happens sometimes, and to sign here and here. Done deal! Enigma also snuck off to go get his own acknowledgement done in secret, which the party had no knowledge of... After that, they decided to pursue their options of getting new paper suppliers for Rishaal, first paying a visit to Skeemo Weirdbottle in his shop, Weirdbottle's Concoctions in the Trades Ward. However, Ray was not impressed and a bit put off by Skeemo's sketchiness. When Yuan went to negotiate, Skeemo said that while normally he specializes in potions, he does have a supplier for shadowtop paper for his own personal use and said he'd be willing to hook Rishaal up with it - if he was willing to part with some of his spells knowledge, basically allowing Skeemo to copy from RIshaal's spellbook. The party didn't seem too amicable about this, particularly Ray, who did not like anything related to the Zhentarim, despite Yuan's assurance that Davil wouldn't cause issues even if Rishaal didn't take the deal - he wants less violence, not more. Still, Ray wasn't having it, and the party left the shop to see their other options. Ray tried to pay a visit to Mirt, but unfortunately found that the man wasn't home. Stumped, he thought to a contact he made during his carousing time and mentioned to the party that he met a wizard named Ulkoria Stonemarrow who worked in the Watchful Order as well, and she might have an idea as she's a mage of some report who typically had a Shield Guardian following her around. They would visit the Hall of Justice, the temple of Tyr and a high court of the city, where she often stayed. Getting help from the receptionist, Ulkoria, a shield dwarf, teleported in front of the party and greeted Ray warmly. When Ray explained the problem, she stated she'd be more than happy to hook a fellow Order member with her zalantar supplier, a paper she gets from the east and is accessible to her thanks to her clan connections from home. She also mentioned that she actually used to own Trollskull Manor some hundred years ago, before selling it off to another shield dwarf family and mentioning it later got picked up by a hag. Yikes! With that, she said she'd send Rishaal a message to get him set up and wished the party well, and success with their tavern, hoping they'll do something good with it, before departing with another teleport. With that, the party went back to the Alley to report their success to Rishaal, who granted the party a chance to buy one book or scroll each at half price, and then Fala gave them their Tear of Gaia, for Ray to hold onto. Also, Avi, Embric and Tally offered a 20% discount on all future purchases at their respective shops for helping them with Tally's issue! With the night getting late the party decided to turn in for the evening and decide their next move. Can they catch the Displacer Beast? What is up with Zardoz Zord? How sketchy is Skeemo, really? Will Ray ever stop being paranoid of literally fucking everyone? Find out next time, on Waterdeep: Dragon Heist!!