It's the first day of the three-day long Sornyn festival in Waterdeep, and spirits are high in the North Ward today as the opening of the Song and Spirit is quickly approaching. However, before the team can do that, they have some business to attend to... The first order of business was a meeting with Victoro Cassalanter, a known philanthropist and banker in Waterdeep and head of the Cassalanter noble house. Arriving with a few guards and his butler, Willifort (an aging-looking tiefling), Victoro greeted the party amicable and the team had a sit down to discuss the terms of the deal. The party hadn't planned on taking the deal, but they offered Victoro an alternative option by using the high-quality Song and Spirit, which word had spread that it had been turned around rather quickly, as a site for a charity auction. Victoro seemed to enjoy the idea but realized he had to go back to the drawing board to figure out the new deal. He put his butler Willifort in charge of contacting Ray when he could organize something and bid the team farewell for now. A pleasant meeting indeed! Unfortunately, the next meeting, with the Gralhund family, at the Bent Nail, promised to not be so nice. Tally was understandably nervous about the whole affair and begged the team to back him up during the meeting. Yuan was also not feeling sure of himself at first, opting to hide behind Ray as much as possible. Regardless, the team steeled themselves when Yalah and her entourage arrived to broker the deal. However, the team found her to be rather implacable on the terms, which she was quite adamant about, and offered a veiled threat that the deal was in the party's best interests. Not even Ray's amazing charms could help talk out of this one, it seems - it looks like Ziraj was right about the Gralhunds playing hardball when it came to making deals... In addition, their bodyguard, Hrabbaz, looked like he could match even Yuan's strength, and wasn't to be trifled with. The half-orc man gave Yuan a silent stare and made eye contact with him, and simply shook his head, as if he knew what Yuan was thinking... Tally seemed unsure and just wanted them to leave, but ultimately after much deliberation he left the choice to Yuan. With the pressure on, and after very careful consideration - taking into account that the Gralhunds could potentially be working with the 'bad' Zhentarim, and he didn't want them to have a potentially dangerous weapon in their hands - Yuan ultimately decided... No deal. With a look of shock on Orond's face, and Yalah almost exploding from outrage, she tritely said that their business is concluded, and sped off with her entourage, taking off down the street. The party reassured Tally that they would protect him and his business, and Ray organized a small meeting with the other neighbors to ask for their help to do the same, which they readily agreed. Standing up to Yalah Gralhund was a tall order and she had far more resources and connections, but they would do their best to try and prevent any sort of sabotage toward Tally's business. Speaking of sabotage, though... the party had begun setting up the final touches for the tavern, with Ray and Marcellus putting on a show outside and Yuan inviting some of his own Zhentarim friends to join the festivities. However, Enigma had noticed something peculiar on the outside walls of the tavern - someone had drilled holes into the walls from the outside! In addition, heading back inside, he found small morsels of food had been laid out strategically near the holes, probably to attract vermin. When this was discovered, Chef was absolutely furious!! He began looking all over the tavern in a panic to clear away the morsels of food and ensure no other sabotage had been taken. Sigurd offered up his carpentry skills to help cover up the holes, and assigned Io, his steel defender, to watch out for things outside. Fortunately, no other signs of sabotage was found. Enigma did note that some of the holes on the east side of the building lead to what seemed to be another building, but couldn't tell what was inside. They had suspected that Emmek Frewn, who was running his own pub, Frewn's Brews, nearby, might have been behind the attempted sabotage, but didn't have any evidence to support that idea. Still, an investigation would have to be carried out to find more information, and it certainly wasn't going to be the last time someone was going to attempt shenanigans against the establishment... At least the disaster was averted, and the opening of the tavern went off without a hitch. A good number of the party's friends (and frenemies) showed up to enjoy the celebration, and Phames, as promised, brought some of his own buddies from his adventuring days. Ireena and Ismark were there, and he also brought Callum Dilisnya (who almost went unnoticed, a ranger working in the Emerald Enclave, and Victor Vallakovich, a wizard working for Force Grey under Vajra Safahr. They both were charmed with Yuan (despite Victor's antisocial tendencies) and the table offered him words of wisdom and offers to work together some time in the future, as Phames spoke very highly of the wolfish barbarian. Meanwhile, Enigma noticed that both Jalester and Patayan had been speaking to one another and joined in the conversation, Patayan had been asking Jalester if he would consider joining the Order of the Even Handed, though Jalester declined... for now. However, she remarked that Enigma had been progressing well with his training and she expected great things, and as long as he continued to serve Waterdeep's interest and continue his devotion to the Order he would always have a place there. Ray had decided to join with his friends, Marcellus, Renaer and Three-Strings, who made a rare appearance outside of the Yawning Portal to come see the new tavern. They were very excited for this new endeavour and showed their support, both openly and subtly. During the conversation, they reminded Ray of their true allegiance, flashing their Harper pins under their sleeves, and let him know that Those Who Harp always watch out for one another... Lastly, Sigurd had spotted Valetta had made her way to the tavern with her nimblewright assistant and decided to spend the evening speaking with her, to the surprise of no one. Overall, it was a successful evening, though a certain air of unease still hung over the party, looming like a dark cloud. What will Yalah do in retaliation for the party's defiance? Who was behind the attempted sabotage of the tavern? What other dark events wait on the horizon for the party? Find out next time... on Waterdeep: Dragon Heist!!