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Session Five

Completing Volo's Quest

The following day, the party returned to the The Yawning Portal to collect their reward from Volo, who had been contacted and notified of Fleur's recovery.

Accompanying him was a short-middle-aged woman with whom he seemed to be having a ferocious argument, and the party's arrival gave him ample opportunity to end the disagreement. Sheepishly, he explained the nature of the argument; he had expected to have received royalties from his publisher with which to pay them, but had yet to receive the gold. As a result, he could not give them their promised payment.

Volo, however, was determined to fulfil his debt to the party and presented the party with a different reward: the deed to Trollskull Manor, a historic property in the North Ward of the city.

He was more than happy to offer a tour of the property before signing over the deed, and the party departed to Trollskull Alley for an impromptu inspection.


Trollskull Alley

As the party approached their would-be reward, it became clear that Trollskull Manor had been abandoned for some time. The building would need significant work to become livable but the allure of having a home base—and the prospect of gold earned from re-opening it as a tavern—was a lucrative enough prospect to hold their collective interest.

Said interest was further piqued when it became clear that the place was haunted. Upon entering the library, the door slammed shut behind them and they were sealed inside by Lif, the ghost of the Manor's last owner. Through talking with the spectre, the group discovered that this had been and remained their home, and that they wanted the tavern to be reopened. The ghost allowed them to leave the room unscathed, mollified by the idea of a grand opening. Nedria remained behind to have a private word with Lif but, after that, rejoined the others.

Haunting aside, the party had developed pretty good feelings about the place when they descended to the basement, the final area to inspect. A search of the cellars revealed an old and valuable bottle of wine in perfect condition, and an abandoned cloth doll. Unnerved, the party embarked on a more thorough investigation and discovered part of the wall had been sealed up; behind it, a pair of rusted manacles hung from the wall and on the ground below lay a crumpled heap of child-sized bones.

Shaken by the discovery, the group returned to the ground floor and after a final discussion, decided to accept the house and deal with the bones in the basement later.