Triäsa -- The cloak is definitely Matreous' In fact, as you look at it you notice a stain on the front that you saw when you passed him in the hallway just as you were leaving for Temple with Fistandia. This would appear to be what he was wearing the day you all left. As for Maria Yellowcrest you don't know the family or person but the name seems like one from some sort of a noble or perhaps merchant family. 

Ludolf -- You do not recognize the name at all.

(You did change the password to the mansion. Would you have kept it from Matreous? He was part of the team and would have spent some time there during your down times with the books and labs and observatory.)

(I suppose if Matreous has been helping us he would have had the password then. So, no mystery there.) 

"If Matreous was the one that took the necklace, then he might also have taken Fistandia's books.  He may have done more than just use magic on Davy!" Triäsa says. "Maybe Ludolf and I go quickly and check if Matreous was seen at the gate. You two can start to see if you can track him down if he's still here."

Ludolf nods firmly to Triäsa. "Yes, we can meet back at the mansion later. Good hunting." Ludolf says to Daventry and Pardot, and turns to leave for the gate, holding the door for Triäsa. "And I'm sorry but I haven't heard of this Maria Yellowcrest. We should try to find out who she is though, maybe it is her Matreous have left for."

Handing the necklace to Fistandia, Pardot then replies to Ludolf saying, "I'm not sure I could find a whole library... though perhaps. It would be worth trying. Let's see if they've been seen first. It certainly wouldn't be easy to disappear with that many books. If there is no word, then I'll see if Elune can help us again." Looking around the room again he says to Daventry, "Shall we check the mansion to see if there are signs of Matreous there?"

Daventry seemingly snaps out of a thought, her eyes focused on a far away place. "Hmm? Oh, of course. Sorry. I've been a bit... distracted."

She tucks a lock of hair behind her ear and nods to Ludolf and Triasa. "Meet in the Hearth in, say, an hour?"

As she begins walking back with Pardot, she notes, "We should ask the spice twins and the faerie dragons if they've seen Matreous about the mansion since we left. The dragons in particular would likely have seen it as a game and been sneaky..." She ponders. "Though his research... the connections with the flayers and devourers... it strikes me as odd. And worrying. I also wonder what was up with the note with the black fan. Seems like the sort of thing some secret organization would mark a paper with."

As they walk, Daventry keeps an eye out for anything resembling the black fan icon, as well as considering if she'd seen anything like it before.

Perception: 18

Intelligence: 2... nope

Fistandia seems eager to check-in on the library, "I am going back to the mansion with you. I should have looked in on the books as soon as we got back... Careless.. careless." She stomps off at a quicken pace toward the mansion.

OK let's try this in DMs. I will send each group a message in a bit.

"Yes, the Hearth in one hour." Ludolf confirms to Daventry before the two investigative groups part ways.

Just over an hour passes the group of you separated for your investigations. Ludolf and Triäsa find their way to the Hearth first about 20 minutes later Daventry, Pardot and Fistandia enter the scholarly tavern. Ludolf and Triäsa are standing near the bar speaking with a familiar appearing barmaid who looks a bit anxious. 

Overall, the mood in the Hearth is a bit more subdued than you have grown accustom to. It is late morning and perhaps two dozen patorns are eating a bland broth with vegetables accompanied by the usual ale, wine or water. There is a light tune playing softly in the background and the magical lights dance brightly across the floor. 

Fistandia interrupts the conversation Ludolf and Triäsa are having with the barmaid, "Please tell me you two found my books. All we found were empty shelves and a ghost..." She drops herself into the nearest chair and looks at the barmaid, "A glass of Champagne du le Stomp my dear. It's been a long day already."

"We haven't I'm afraid..." Ludolf says, taking a seat by Fistandia. "...but we have a decently good idea where they are. Apparently Matreous left Candlekeep recently carrying a mysterious bag, possibly magical just as Thavol's, possibly holding your books. I believe he might have gone to the old Yellowcrest manor in Waterdeep but I admit I'm not at all sure about that. Now please tell me about this ghost, was it poor Davy that haven't come to rest yet?" 

“It was.” Pardot replies solemnly. “The poor soul had had his tongue removed, so wasn’t able to communicate much. But he did seem to hold some animosity towards Matreous, and perhaps to Bookwyrm as well. We couldn’t get much before his energy faded…”

"Yellowcrest Manor? Why would he go there? Waterdeep is pretty damn far...." You can see the wheels turning in her mind as she taps her fingers quickly on the table. "If he left on foot it'll take him a month to get there... A bit less if he has a horse. Course he might not stay on land the whole way, could hop a ship at Baldur's Gate... The possibilities are highly varied..."

At this point the waitress returns with a very full and very heavy tray balanced precariously on one hand. She leans forward to set the food and wine down but catches her foot on an uneven board. She stumbles forward and sideways trying desperately balance the tray of wine and soup.

5

6

She twists and turns with an odd grace and just as she looks like she is about to lose control she drops to a knee and steadies the trey, a single drop of deep red wine lands on Ludolf's coat.

Two tables away you hear some not so subtle laughter erupt from a very familiar red headed scholar, "Didn't know they teach ballet in the insane asylum. What an elegant display of grace!" The sarcasm is thick as Parmak takes a swig of wine. Her gang laugh earnestly at her shitty joke.

The waitress gets to her feet apologizing profusely. She sets a pitcher of wine and glasses on the table along with bowls and a big kettle of a very thin looking soup.

"It is quite okay." Ludolf quickly says to the waitress, seeing his chance to be polite for once, removing the drop of wine with a swift motion of his hand. (Prestidigitation) "I hope you're okay though, if you're feeling dizzy you might allow yourself a break. I fear some people over there are trying to play a rather childish prank on us and unfortunately they were using you for it. I apologize for you being mixed up in their animosity towards us. They are simply a bunch of schoolyard bullies and not worth any of our attention." He says as politely as he can.

Persusion to be polite to the waitress and possibly regain some of her trust: 28

Ludolf ignores the redhead instead turning back to Fistandia. "Yes, we are not at all sure he went to Waterdeep but it is the only lead we have. Whatever he might have left for on his horse it has likely something to do with a Maria Yellowcrest who might be related to a tragic story at a manor in Waterdeep. It is clearly not much to go on so perhaps we should look into that name some more here at Candlekeep before going off on any long journey. Maybe we will turn up a better lead on where Matreous have been taking the books. We've been warned of some enemy close to us by some Vistani, perhaps it was Matreous all along." He says with a sigh.

Heh, lucky reroll with the persuasion: 14

"It seems we'll be on the road sooner than we thought." Pardot says, looking over at Parmak joking he adds, "At least we'll be away from those skunks..." and while he points their table suddenly notices a distinct skunky odor surround them. Looking back to Ludolf he adds, "Though I would like to be able to get the farming under way here if possible..."

"How long would it take you to get the farming going do you think Pardot? The rest of us could perhaps use some more time for research anyway. Also we should perhaps ask Bookwyrm why Davy would be angry with him. We should of course keep in mind that it could be a creature appearing as Bookwyrm that wronged Davy in some way." Ludolf says. "Should we get something to eat while we're here?" He asks those at the table.

"Food is always welcome." Pardot says with a smile. "As for the farming, it really depends on how much help I can get digging. If we can get things even just simply planted I can ensure it will grow well. But it still takes some time to get the seeds into the ground..."

The snickering from the table continues as the foul odor arises and the misfits wrinkle their noses and their eyes water just a bit. "He who smelt it dealt it..." And a stiff, unexpected wind stirs the air pushing the odor back over your table filling your nostrils with the putrid smell. More laughter erupts from the table. 

Fistandia coughs and rubs her eyes. "Ahem, well mid summer is a good time to plant corn, beans, melons, cucumbers, squash, peppers and tomatoes.... We'd need to get enough seed and prepare the land... We can get a reasonable amount of manure from the stables. I don't think there are any farm hands here but I am sure there are some of the Avowed that can learn, how hard can it be?" Fistandia snaps her fingers and a quill appears out of thin air. Grasping it delicately she quickly starts scribbling details of a make shift farm outside the Candlekeep Gates. She mutters under her breath as she works out the math. "Two weeks! Focusing just on corn in about an acre of land. According to Cornelius's Guide to Corn Production we would want to plant about 32,000 seeds. If the weather holds and we get about 5 people to help I think we prepare the land and plant the seed in about two weeks. We'd have to get seed from somewhere... Baulder's Gate probably our best bet no telling the cost...." She seems to consider something before continuing, "but it might be wise to diversify, wouldn't want to get everything to be destroyed by some blight. So if we add 2 more crops..." She goes back to her notes lost in thought...

"Please ignore them." Ludolf says calmly to the others at his table while creating a series of puffs of wind to disperse the foul odor (Prestidigitation). "So, the agricultural project, two weeks seems a long time, Matreous already has a few days lead on us." He says, looking at Pardot and then to Triäsa and  Daventry. 

Triäsa watches Ludolf with interest after the waitress gets the drop of wine on him. Seeming satisfied with the response, she completely ignores the voices from the other table. "I believe if we wish to have any chance of finding Matreous we should go sooner than later." She glances around at the others. "If there are other tasks to attend to here, then they should stay while some of us go."