Party: Declan the human barbarian, Ghilanna the elf Sorceress, Gileas the human bard, and Kelderrin a gnome rogue.
Not present (exploring Waterdeep and carousing): Ilidan Hunzin the drow rogue, Pancoril the human rogue,
After saving Floon, the party takes possession of Troll Skull Manor from Volo. The manor is quite run down and will require 1000gp in repairs and another 250gp in guild fees to open for business. The party hires a contractor with a 600gp depost (each member puts up 100gp with Ilidan and Declan fronting 100gp Pancoril and Kelderrin.
While inspecting the Manor, the group experiences some spooky incidents. Initially just unexplained noises, the group is caught off guard while in the basement. The door inexplicably slams shut and traps them in. Only Declan’s superior strength is able to free open the door. Once freed the party attempts to search for the unknown assailant but finds nothing.
The next day the group sets off to earn some money as they understand that their 600gp deposit for improvements will only take them through a week. They seek out an introduction to Mirt, who agrees to meet Gileas and Ghilanna at the Opera. Impressed with their effort to rescue his friend Neverember, Mirt asks for help in finding Maxeene, a missing Harpers agent. Mirt explains that Maxeen is a talking horse who works in the castle ward and is past due in checking in.
The group (along with a giant boar, giant goat, and owl compliments of Gileas) heads to the castle ward and identifies the Dray and horse the believe to be Maxeene. They attempt to engage with Maxeene but are rebuffed. The concoct a scheme to distract the driver by sending him home in an emergency. Ultimately the realize that they have the wrong horse and the Dray driver points them in the direction of Ms Horseman, Maxeene’s owner, in the dockward. There they find her apartment ransacked and start to suspect something is amiss when they realize the stable is unused and the intruders have left behind a fair amount of silver and 2 silver daggers. They follow a lead to New Olamn bard college near BlackStaff Tower where Ms Horseman teaches and catch two sketchy bandits in the act of tearing up her office. A confrontation with Kelderrin posing as a janitor leads to a fight as the bandits turn out to be were rats. The party defeats the rats and their prisoner cooperates until Declan decapitates his unconscious partner. After seeing the were rats, and learning that a slaver along with more were rats captured Ms Horsemen, the group heads back and picks up the silver daggers from Ms Horseman’s apartment. They also use the owl to send a message to the Zephyr post to alert Mirt to their findings.
Following another lead, the party stakes out a potion shop in the dock ward. They see an attractive elf woman enter the shop but never come out. Fearing for the safety of Ms Horseman, Kelderrin explores the shop using a small holes revealed by the were rats and lets the party in. Declan, Gileas, and Ghillana follow signs downstairs to a ‘brewing sphere’ while Kelderrin climbs down the crawl space to the lower level. There he sees a were rat standing near a silver cage. Meanwhile, the ‘brewing sphere’ turns out to be a trap. After sending a giant boar into the trap and watching the boar get shocked and the spherical room spin and drop the board through a hole below, Declan and the rest of the party jump in. Taking some damage, they end up following through the hole and land in the caged cell in the room below that Kilderrin is watching. The were rat panics and runs into an adjacent room. The giant goat goes wild and breaks through the door on the cage. In another part of the room the party sees the missing elf woman along with another older woman they presume to be Ms Horesman. The party engages with the wererat while also opening the other cage. They see the Gathgaer the slaver prepping spells in the next room, but he escapes before they can stop him.
The party helps the two women escape and encounter Mirt and a few heavyweights on their way out of the shop. The elf woman is Tess Adarbrent of House Aderbrent. Mirt is very appreciative and rewards the party with 200gp.
Renown: +1 with Harpers
XP: 750 each
Treasure: 200gp (total) and 2 Silver daggers.
