Trollskull Manor at Night

We opted to spend the night at our newly acquired manor. I was ill at ease about the spirits that potentially haunted the place, but everyone else seemed to be in a good mood. After having a look through the place, we decided to go out into the city for supplies to pass the night. Considering the main thing I thought we would have to contend with was vengeful spirits, liquid courage was top priority on my shopping list. We visited the businesses close to Trollskull first.
 
We went to the bookstore. I'm sure Daara was pleased to acquaint herself with the proprietor who was also a dragonborn. Scorch was interested in finding some books to read during his boring hours in the ring. He wanted to know about the city and also the plane of fire. I suggested that he wanted to read a fine selection of steamy bodice-rippers. We all had a good laugh at that. Well, I don't know about everyone else, but I sure did. I apologized to the proprietor for sending him after smut and then truly relayed Scorch's request. He spent a lot of gold on books. I will try to endure his pouring over basic information that I already know about the city. Also, I'm not sure how interesting the plane of fire could be. Maybe we'll be able to find some way to free him from his ruby prison. Daara and the proprietor discussed entering into some kind of student/teacher relationship. Maybe she'll learn some useful skill that will save us in our most dire moment. Maybe she'll learn a different tune to play on her bagpipes. I would welcome either.
 
We went to the herbalist. The elvish herbalist happens to be decently good friends with Mr. Trench. They told me to relay their greetings, and later that evening, I did. I was appalled at the cost of their health potions. I think Marlaia was persuaded to purchase an herbalist's kit, so the trip wasn't a total waste.
 
We also went the the weaponsmiths'. They were genasi couple able to actually speak with Scorch in the language that he knows. Maybe they could help solve the mystery of the ring at some point? My attention was arrested by some caltrops. I've known them to be quite useful in my... past endeavors, so I bought some. I was amused to see Igris order the creation of some traps. I think he intends to use them on Tiger.
 
We went deeper into the city to gather supplies for Trollskull. Our trip was pretty uneventful. We returned with basic necessities like liquor and candles. When we returned, I was surprised to see that someone was having a drink at the bar. I crept ahead of everyone to see if perhaps some gangsters had broken into the manor to avenge their fallen comrades. I was relieved to see Mr. Trench and Reinar Neverember sitting at the bar. They were there to congratulate us on the new property. They brought wine that was way better than the stuff that I brought. Neverember offered to put us in contact with some of his people to get the place fixed up and running again. We stole some of Mr. Trench's time to present him with the mysterious ledger I found at the warehouse. He couldn't make sense of it immediately, but I know that it's in good hands. He also told me that the box I picked up was something called a bird box and could be used to magically send written messages to other people. It wiill surely come in handy. I also persuaded Igris to show Mr. Trench that eyeball thing he picked up in the sewers. Trench seemed to think it was some sort of key. I'm in no hurry to discover what it opens. Trench and Neverember took their leave shortly after we arrived.
 
As they left I polished off my glass of wine and put it on the counter, which, if I haven't mentioned it before, is always immaculately clean. I immediately learned why. A spirit began to materialize in front of me. At first, my muscles tensed and I grasped the hilt of my rapier. Soon I realized that this spirit looked innocent. It was the spirit of an elf man, a spirit who began to pour me another glass of wine and who complained that he never thought our company would leave. He was later joined by a cook spirit named Portia. Apparently, they exist to serve the living, and they want Trollskull Manor to be a functioning tavern again. I was a little baffled. Growing up in Dad's tavern, I knew the servers. I watched them die a little bit inside every time they had to deal with a rude customer or clean up someone's vomit, or deal with some other horrid eventuality of their job. These ghosts (Leif the bartender and Portia the cook), though, seemed to want to cook and serve drinks just because that's what they truly wanted to do. Considering their willingness to work with us, we discussed some of our plans for the tavern.
 
My original thought about the tavern was that it would be a place that would be welcoming to anyone, regardless of background. Everyone else managed to talk me down from that lofty ideal, though. If we want to get out from under our moneylenders, we need to serve the more elite clientèle. I just wish that Leif wasn't such a smug bastard. He was quick to denigrate the Field Ward and it's inhabitants. He was quick to imply that I was dressed like a bum. It made me quite angry, but if we are going to be serving the well to do, a wardrobe change may indeed be in order. I don't have the money for it at the moment, so no use worrying about it now.
 
After talking things out with the ghosts, we spent the rest of the evening wandering the manor. We discussed features and improvements we would like to see. We all, except Scorch, picked out rooms for ourselves.