C2 E6: A Nu Start Inn (continued)

The opening party ends and a new start truly begins. This episode starts on Ches 19th and ends on Ches 22nd.

* Current Secrets

## Last Time

Last time, the PCs threw a grand opening party for the A Nu Start Inn! Now, in the mid evening, the party is reaching its peak.

## Party Events

### Party Prep

* food service
	+ sausages and burgers
	+ Charcuterie
	+ mid tier beer and wine
	+ 15 barrels of "Waterdeep Blue Ribbon", a shitty beer (12g for the barrels) ("the one to have when you're having more than one")
* Invited people
	+ Volo
	+ Renaer
	+ Savra
	+ Vajra Safahr, the Blackstaff
	+ Fearless Frank!
	+ Yagra

### Notable Attendees

* Volothamp Geddarm, who is recognized by some people and asked to sign books (which he pretends to dislike)
* Renaer Neverember and friends
	+ All will toast to Floon Blagmaar with their drinks throughout the night
	+ **Osco Salibuck**, *who orders one of every single liquor available. He works his way through each of them and offers increasingly incoherent critiques as loud as possible.*
	+ **Lord Torlyn Wands**, who has acquired an alchemical concoction that supposedly counteracts the ill effects of alcohol. He orders a lot of zzar over the night, a fortified sherry with orange color and almond scent. The concoction does not work, and Torlyn gets very drunk.
	+ **Harug Shieldmaster**, a high ranking member of the Cellarers' & Plumbers' Guild (which recently announced a steep rate hike). He drinks dwarven ale.
	+ **Laraelra "Elra" Harsard**, the heir to the Blackstaff
		- *Mentions there is a "fiery-tempered temptress" playing with Renaer's heart, Lady Cragsmere*
		- *Worried about her friend Meloon Wardragon, who seems to be avoiding her recently*
* Yagra Stonefist of the Doom Raiders
* Davil Starsong of the Doom Raiders
* Mirt of The Harpers
	+ *has a specific mission for Ladro Lamora and Petunia during the Twin Parades on Ches 21st (Bregan D'earthe mission 1)*
* Esvele Roznar, the Black Viper. *Talked with Tovarish and Davil about the Enigma and the Dryad Mechanisms at length*
* Jarlaxle Baenre disguised as J.B. Nevercott, a haberdasher and tinkerer selling Nimblewrights "and other arcane curiosities"
* Mellannor Fellbranch of the Emerald Enclave (brother of Tally)
	+ asked for help with 3rd level Emerald Enclave mission

* Friends from Trollskull Alley
	+ Tally Fellbranch, the carpenter (brother of Mellannor).
		- *He just received a major commission: crafting an 8-foot-tall chess piece for the Cragsmere Estate*
	+ Embric and Avi, the fire & water genasi smiths.
		- *Squiddly has been shoplifting small metal trinkets. Embric has been leaving out small trinkets so that nothing of value is stolen*
		- stout supporters of Lord Dagult Neverember and want to meet Renaer
		- *Asked to make a number of strange weapons with excessive serrations, random spikes, similar.* They don't like to reveal their clients (it is the mad explorer Grinda Garloth).
	+ Fala Lefaliir, the apothecary. They try to offer a foreign tea sampler to become a supplier
	+ Vincent Trench, the detective.
		- *Talked about the Black Viper's identity*
	+ Rishaal the Page-Turner sits quietly in a corner, sipping a drink and reading
	+ Nat, Jenks, & Squiddly, the urchins
* Lif, the phantom, *who is happy to see the inn operating again*
* Meloon Wardragon, a troubled adventurer
	+ *Challenged Kaavu to an arm wrestling competition*
	+ Under the influence of an Intellect Devourer (see DH p ). High perception may see some purple fluid leaking from his nose
	+ Upset that his hometown, Loudwater, has come under tyrannical control of the Zhentarim. The current lord is a puppet and the cost of living has skyrocketed due to import taxes on non-Zhent goods.
	+ *Did not drink anything the whole night*
	+ *Returns to a Xanathar safehouse* *after the party*
* Broxley Fairkettle of the Fellowship of Innkeepers
* Mattrim "Threestrings" Mereg, a bard from the Yawning Portal
	+ *he has a crush on Bonnie, the barmaid at the Portal*
	+ *He looks for other bars to test out new material. He's trying to recompile the remains of an epic: The Tail of C. Biscuit. So far he has only found mention of the epic in the Bards' College library. Very grateful if the PCs could keep an eye out in their travels*
* Fearless Frank, *the operator of the knitting emporium and underground cage fighting ring.*
	+ *Told Kaavu to come by and fight "in the special circuit"*
* *Emmek Frewn came by to scope out the competition, introduced himself to Tom*
* *Vajra Safahr asks for help with the 3rd Force Grey mission*

### Topics of Conversation

* Return of the Black Viper
* PCs recent missions
	+ talking to the horse
	+ talking to the sage on top of the hill
	+ killing the scarecrows
	+ stopping the elf and half-elf murders in the Dock Ward, and starting a fire
* Neverember's enigma
	+ large war machine under the city
	+ cache of ancient weapons and devices
	+ big ol pile of money
* other mission hooks
* strange effects from one of the Brass Mechanisms
* The Fey Day festivities
* The Twin Parades in two days
* Lights have been seen in Kolat Towers, an abandoned wizard's complex in the Southern Ward
* Rumors still fly about the fire in the Dock Ward at the beginning of the month, but no evidence was found
	+ The murders ceased, though, so people assume vigilante justice happened
* Dasher Snobeedle, son of the richest halfling family in the city, has recently been reported missing. His family is offering a 500 dragon reward for information leading to the safe return.

### Areas of the Party

* Common room & den upstairs for close friends (wine)
* Upstairs balcony
* Bar area
* Table area
* outdoor dining

### Main Event Sequence

*when do interesting things happen?*

* Mirt gives Petunia and Ladro Lamora a job for the Twin Parades on Ches 21st
	+ "I need you to steal a silk handkerchief from Maester Roderick Bartlethorpe and deliver it to a girl in a crate at the corner of Net Street and Dock Street."
	+ Maester Roderick will be waiting on Bazaar Street "in the shadow of the Great Drunkard", as he has every year for the past few years
	+ Cannot give the reason why
* Yagra Stonefist challenges someone to arm wrestle. She takes a drink whenever she wins
* Someone tries to sell a PC Traveler's Dust (a drug)
* The urchins try to hire themselves out as an adventuring party
* Volo tries to do a book signing
* Drinking games

## Post-Party Events

### Zhent Mission: Skeemo Delivery

Skeemo Weirdbottle needs some potions delivered to a client. The client is Esvele Rosznar! What a coincidence. PCs only realized it was someone that they had talked to last night.

### Harper's Mission: The Twin Parades

Mirt asked the PCs to steal a silk handkerchief from Maester Roderick Bartlethorpe and deliver it to a girl in a crate at the corner of Net Street and Dock Street.

> CHES 21 – SELUNE SASHELAS: A celebration of Selûne, goddess of the moon and navigation, and Deep Sashelas of the Seldarine, elven god of the sea.
>
>
> * It is supposedly based on a mangled legend dating back to the time when the elven city of Aelinthaldaar stood where Waterdeep does today and telling of a time when the elves of the sea said farewell to their brethren upon the land and moved into the deep ocean.
> * The elves largely declare this to be a bunch of hogwash, but nevertheless the “historical event” is commemorated by the Twin Parades:
> 	+ A huge line of ships (varying greatly in size) proceeds from the harbor, loops up the coast, and returns.
> 	+ Simultaneously, a land-based parade proceeds from the Docks and through the streets of Waterdeep.
>

**Parade Events**

* **The March of the City Watch**: Marching eight abreast and fifteen ranks deep in their green-and-gold uniforms, the parade is led by an impressive phalanx of the City Watch.
* **Sea Maidens Faire**: Marshalled by the swashbuckling Captain Zardoz Zord, who leads from the back of a rainbow-feathered diatryma, the Sea Maidens Faire:
	+ Leads with a procession of exotic animals — a caged owlbear, a unicorn stamping its feet proudly, a woman with three legs leading leucrotta doing tricks.
	+ Jugglers and stilt-walkers. The latter lean out far over the crowd, handing out advertising bills for a carnival on the “Pier of Wonders” in the Dock Ward.
	+ They roll up a cannon, which shoots a dwarf forwards to be caught by two of the stiltwalkers holding a net.
* **A Pageant Wagon**: Performing *The Pirate Lovers*. This popular musical tells of a human woman who is, improbably, the daughter of a dwarf-king and, even more improbably, falls in love with a dark elf. Various ballads are sung from the “deck” of the ship which the pageant wagon opens to reveal.
* **The Mechanical Beholder**: It hovers over the crowd and glares about menacingly.
* **A Joint Presentation of Temple Gond and the House of Wonders**: Members of the Academy at the House of Wonders have summoned huge ribbons of water and are moving them down the street. Within the ribbons of water swim giant, clockwork fish of bronze.
	+ The fish appear to be controlled by a mechanical man made of both burnished copper and wood; its clockwork mechanisms visible constantly whirring and pistoning under its rune-etched skin-plating as it “commands” the fish to perform tricks – flipping from one stream to another.
	+ Eventually the mechanical man leaps up, perches atop the snout of one of the fish, and is launched high into the air, where he does a double-flip before splashing back down through one of the water ribbons.
* **Prancing Pegasi**: An aerial dance troop composed of avariels (winged elves) and pegasus riders.

## Todo / Happenings

*What did those fools get up to this time?*

* party
* convinced dragon to leave
* scoped out the great drunkard for the parade
* delivered potions for Skeemo
* fought at Fearless Frank's very well—Frank wants Kaavu & Ladro for the special high rollers circuit