The day started off with a message from Jalester that Gai, the weirdo from the festival, had given him the slip somehow and escaped. Although he's convinced the man probably doesn't work for the Zhentarim, given his lack of insignia or illegal substance, Jalester claimed he's definitely mentally disturbed in some way and to be careful. He identified him as a 'person of interest' and asked the party to let the Watch know if they spot him again so they can bring him in for questioning for potential leads, though he seems skeptical of any potential results. With Sornyn and the opening of the tavern right around the corner, the team was busy in making preparations for the time ahead. The team went over what they have been up to, starting with Ray making some good final deals for supplies and discounts personally with the various guilds the team will be working with, reducing the overall cost on the tavern. Enigma talked about how he has been spending time at the House of Two Hands, which is a monastery run by the Order of the Even Hand, a monastic order devoted to Tyr. He also mentions he ran into his old trainer, Patayan, who initiated him into the order and helped him become successful in teaching Enigma the ways of Tyr and his dogma, ensuring he'll gain the favor of the order's leaders. Lastly, Sigurd did some research on the Gralhund family, revealing that their tiefling members claim to be descended from Gargauth, a former archdevil and a current Faerunian demigod of betrayal and political corruption, potentially speaking much to the Gralhund's character. He also revealed that Yalah Gralhund had been jockeying for a position on the Lord's Council shortly after the Death Mask incident, but was passed over despite her flaunting of wealth and station, and this made the family extremely bitter, to the point of emphasizing discretion in their actions and travels, even hiring extra guards around their estate to ensure privacy. Lastly, he learned some personality quirks of the Gralhund leadership - Yalah is a shrewd, calculating woman who stays on top of current events and has her eyes on political power, and will do anything to make it happen, while her husband, Orond, has an air of charm that immediately vaporizes the second he opens his mouth, and is something of a boot-licker when Yalah is around and a boastful boor when she isn't. Charming. Ray asked Lif for some of his life history details, and using his new chalkboard, was happy to illustrate it from the beginning. In short, he grew up on a farm in the Dalelands with his mother Julia (a human) and his father Sevalis (a sun elf), and he stayed on the family farm to help run things. Julia eventually got old and died from old age, and then shortly after Sevalis disappeared to parts unknown, leaving Lif to fend for himself. One day, he acquired a large sum of gold from his father, thinking it was an inheritance. He headed west to the Sword Coast afterward to look for trails of his father, but came up empty handed, and decided instead to settle in Waterdeep by buying hte Trollskull Manor and continuing its existence as a tavern. He spent much of his wealth running the tavern and did not keep much personal wealth on himself, but was happy and successful. Then, he was killed that fateful day a little more than a year ago, by the man with the claw hand... Ray wonders about the motivation for Lif's murder, although it ties in with some previous incidents where people mysteriously disappeared, so it was likely motivated by the Zhentarim's M.O.. Who could have done such a foul deed, indeed. Moving on, though, as the opening of the tavern was tomorrow, the team got to thinking about a name finally, and Ray came up with "The Song and Spirit", as it represented so much about the tavern in so few words. The team loved it and set on that as their new tavern name! However, their cheer was interrupted when one of the Dungsweepers patrolling the neighborhood, Dorrick the dwarf, got spooked by something he found in a pile of trash outside. It was a person rising out of the garbage - the very bizarre man Gai, from the Founder's Festival incident! The team headed out to question him in full now and struck up a conversation... well, as best they could, anyway. The man rambled about things like the Deepwater holding secrets, being a Big Shot in the Big House once but now only has a Burning for the Unburned Man, and losing everything because of a Dagger in the Back, among other things. Ray noticed the man had a ring on that had a peculiar blue gem set in it. Pointing it out to Sigurd, he identified it as a common design for something called a Ring of Mind Shielding, which warded the target's thoughts and made it impossible to communicate with them telepathically unless they allowed it. When Ray asked Gai about it, Gai hid the ring away (as it could be made invisible) and denied its existence. Annoyed, Enigma looked for a Watch patrol to turn him in but Sigurd mentioned that if they bring up the Watch now, they'll likely lose their chance to question Gai while they have him - while also acknowledging that he too might give them the slip if they wait too long. Gai proposed that he'll tell them everything about [Divination Blocked] for [Four Easy Payments of 500 Platinum], but Ray managed to talk him into a [Stroll on the Beach] instead. The team took an uncomfortable trip in a carriage with Gai, who smelt of garbage, to the west gate, and headed out into the Mud Flats outside Waterdeep. On the way, Gai mentioned something about a Stick and Stone breaking his bones but the Flying Gold will hurt you. Ray managed to eventually figure out that 'Flying Gold' possibly referred to dragons, which is also the name for gold pieces here in Waterdeep. Gai basically told the party that the secrets are all held by the Deepwater, whatever that is, and it wasn't clear what exactly he was talking about. Sigurd mentioned all the underwater creatures the team has discussed in recent days, including dragons and aboleths, but it still wasn't clear what the man was going on about. He said that he can hear it 'calling' and that they're calling for you too, before literally walking into the ocean and disappearing, despite Ray's best efforts - though Ray did notice that Gai seemed to have been intoning a spell of some kind before doing so. Enigma, having already lost his patience with this psycho, had gone to fetch the Watch, and alerted the Griffon Cavalry, showing his Lord's Alliance credentials to show he's working for the city and helping get a search underway for the mysterious Gai. Unfortunately, he was nowhere to be found, even with the Cavalry's assistance, who departed after taking the team's report. The team was left alone on the beach, wondering what the strange, delusional man could have meant with his bizarre words. Clearly, he is insane, but a thread of logic was behind it, and it was up to the party to figure out what it all meant. What could Gai have been alluding to? Is he important in some way, or just a raving lunatic? What other secrets could be hiding? Aside from that, what lies in store for the opening of The Song and Spirit? Maybe you'll find out next time... on Waterdeep: Dragon Heist!!