Wagner yawns and says "Is that the best you got?" 

Insight 14 to read the spoiler.

Oriace stands still for a moment, visibly moved by Toser's performance. His deep, resonant voice carries a hint of emotion as he finally speaks, "Toser, that was truly enchanting. Your talent is a rare gift, and the depth of emotion in your song was profound. You've touched our hearts." He looks at Mana, noticing the tears on his cheeks, and gives a reassuring nod before turning to Wagner with a raised eyebrow.

Oriace says, "We each have our unique strengths. Toser's storytelling and the atmosphere he created are exceptional. His talent could bring something extraordinary to our troupe. What do you all say? I think he's a mighty good match for us. With him joining us, and Mana,” he adds compassionately, “and our new tavern, I say we’re set for greatness!”

Quote from RodTheBard >>

 

(( @DM: Sterling needs to do some basic shopping, if that's alright. If mundane equipment is available at normal prices, I'll just provide a list of purchases in the private thread so we don't need to roleplay it. ))

 Sounds good. Mundane equipment is available at the standard phb prices.

Quote from cyreon >>

 

With this he heads back to the tavern, curious whether he will find something else damaged.

 Nothing else is damaged. But you do see a few chairs upside down that were definitely the right way when you locked up.

Quote from Charwoman_Gene >>

Wagner yawns and says "Is that the best you got?"  

Mana is shocked back into reality with this comment. Tough crowd. He thinks. And tough act to follow.

He wipes his face and clears his throat while he flexes his hand on his flute. He steps away from the group to a location where he can imagine a stage being someday and lets out a soft yet extended note. Just a single perfect controlled note emanating from his voice box, slowly filling the room. His ears waver and his head shifts slightly as he listens to the resonances returning to him. The acoustics are pretty good in this old building.

He looks back to the troupe and meekly smiles. His hands begin to mildly shake while bringing the flute to his lips. His eyes close momentarily as he draws in a deep breath and regains his composure.

For the next 3 and a half minutes, Mana weaves a chaotic, yet entertaining, medley of Barn Dance/Sea Shanty/Tavern Anthem that’s intended to completely upend the mood in the room. He even snuck in a few bars from a project song he has been working on for some time. It just felt right, squeezed in between a couple of his samples. At the end he flourishes an extravagant bow that he holds until you hear a disgruntled squeak from one of his pockets.

Oriace watches Mana closely, his deep-set eyes reflecting both curiosity and anticipation. As Mana begins to play, weaving a chaotic yet mesmerizing medley of tunes, Oriace finds himself caught up in the energetic performance. The young Verdan's talent shines through, his fingers dancing over the flute with surprising skill and confidence. When Mana finishes with an extravagant bow, Oriace claps enthusiastically, his rumbling voice filled with genuine praise. "Bravo, Mana! That was a wonderful performance. Your versatility and energy are truly impressive. You have a unique style that will undoubtedly add a lively spark to our troupe."

After the applause dies down, Oriace's expression becomes more serious as he considers the disturbance they found earlier. "Mana, I need to ask you a favor. Something—or someone—has been moving things around here when we're not around. Just now, there are chairs turned upside down that had been definitely the right way up when we locked up." He gestures to the chairs, then looks back at Mana, his voice lowering slightly. "Your little friend there," he nods towards the pocket where Yersinia is hiding, "could be very helpful in figuring out what's going on. Would you be willing to let your mouse keep an eye on things for us? It might help us uncover who or what is behind these disturbances." Oriace's tone is both earnest and hopeful, clearly valuing Mana's potential contribution to solving the mystery in their new home. "Meanwhile, we could follow Sterling to buy a few essentials and leave the place quite for a little while," he proposes while arranging the chairs back to normal. 

Toser bowed at the applause and smiled as he accepted the praise.  This felt good, really good.  Not just the applause of an appreciative crowd, but of fellow musicians.  His smile faltered for a moment at the comment from Wagner.

"One of my best yes.  I will strive to do better if it is not enough." he replies to Wagner.

As Mana finishes his set he claps loudly with the others. "That was amazing Mana!  You truly know how to work a room. That was just the type of song that should follow my part.  Move the crowd but then bring them back to the fun.  The quick change of style bolsters the crowds enjoyment even more. Bravo!"

Toser finally gets a chance to look around at the old tavern. He grins as he does as he likes what he sees.

"This place has good bones, what an opportunity to be able to clean up such a place and bring it back to its glory.  And you say you just took possession of it?  So much opportunity." He says as he looks around.

"Can we get a quick tour, are there bedrooms and the like upstairs? This place is amazing." He says excitedly

Quote from cyreon >>

 "Your little friend there," he nods towards the pocket where Yersinia is hiding, "could be very helpful in figuring out what's going on. Would you be willing to let your mouse keep an eye on things for us? It might help us uncover who or what is behind these disturbances." Oriace's tone is both earnest and hopeful, clearly valuing Mana's potential contribution to solving the mystery in their new home. "Meanwhile, we could follow Sterling to buy a few essentials and leave the place quite for a little while," he proposes while arranging the chairs back to normal. 

 “Of course. Just give me a few minutes to convey what we need from her.”

Mana sits on the floor in a corner, retrieves Yersinia, and sets her down. He digs into a different pocket and extracts a few crumbs to scatter next to her. While she nibbles, and the team is uprighting the chairs, he begins to ritually cast Speak with Animals.

At the conclusion, he explains that while he and the team are away, she has the run of the ground floor but that she should strive to stay hidden or at least as inconspicuous as possible and watch for intruders. She is not to confront them, just report back to us upon our return.

When he is sure she understands, he strokes her back and pats her rump urging her to scurry off to begin her explorations.

Oriace grins, clearly pleased by Toser's enthusiasm and appreciation for the tavern. "Thank you, Toser," he says warmly. "It's indeed a place with great potential, and we're excited to bring it back to life." 

Oriace watches Mana with appreciation as he takes the time to communicate with Yersinia. Once Mana completes the ritual and the mouse scurries off to begin her surveillance, Oriace nods approvingly. "Thank you, Mana. That's exactly the kind of ingenuity we need. Hopefully, Yersinia will uncover what's been causing this ruckus."

Turning to the rest of the group, Oriace's deep voice rumbles with renewed enthusiasm. "Now, let's get you all familiar with the place. Toser, you asked for a tour, and I'd be more than happy to show you around. It seems to me that this tavern has a lot of history, and we're eager to make it a lively, welcoming space again." He gestures towards the staircase, inviting everyone to follow. "Let's start upstairs with the bedrooms. This way, please." With that, Oriace leads out and upstairs. He'll make sure to lock the main door to the tavern behind them hoping that Yersinia will find out something that explains what is going on during their absence. 

(Here's the floor plan: #303)

During the tour of, what seems to Mana, this palatial estate, Mana is confused by the speculative talk of renovations. He just can’t wrap his mind around removing/replacing walls, running new plumbing, contemplating body count for future staffing, etc.. This is all quite foreign to him. He’s just appreciative that he and Yersinia will get to sleep with a roof over their heads tonight.

"Wow, so much potential to grow and fill this place!" Toser says as they look about the place. "I'll take this bedroom up in the attic if no one else has claimed it yet." 

He also takes a look in the storage room to see what may have been left behind.

Nothing was left behind. It was cleaned out prior to it coming into the possession of the party. 

"New guy wasn't there when we fought off a mine flayer for the deed to this place, and he claims a bedroom," mutters Wagner to no one in partucular but preferably out of Toser's earshot.

Quote from Paladin54 >>

"Wow, so much potential to grow and fill this place!" Toser says as they look about the place. "I'll take this bedroom up in the attic if no one else has claimed it yet." 

He also takes a look in the storage room to see what may have been left behind.

 "Yeah, isn't it great? My mind goes rampage with all the possibilities," replies Oriace to Toser's statement. "We haven't really discussed yet who takes which room. I don't want to speak for the others, but if it were up to me, you can have the attic room. I, for one, wouldn't mind sharing. I feel that the sheer size of the place is still a little bit intimidating. I thought, the chamber next to the tower would be nice, if someone wants to share it with me." 

"Yeah, I'm not calling dibs or anything.  But if you are going to let me join the troupe and this is where we will be staying then I figured if you original three have already picked out rooms then I'll take one that is left." Toser says a bit shame faced.  "Maybe I'm just getting ahead of myself but I'm with you, this place is amazing and filled with so much potential I guess I'm just getting too excited and a bit ahead of things."

Toser fidgets a bit and then continues.  "When you three have come up with room assignments you let me know.  I'm just happy to be here."

“I would be happy to room with you, Oriace! Yersinia and I don’t take up much room. Or we can sleep wherever the group assigns us. Just please don’t have us quarter in the cellar. We’d rather sleep in the streets.” He hints at an aversion to being underground.

Quote from PlotArmored >>

“I would be happy to room with you, Oriace! Yersinia and I don’t take up much room. Or we can sleep wherever the group assigns us. Just please don’t have us quarter in the cellar. We’d rather sleep in the streets.” He hints at an aversion to being underground.

"Absolutely! These rooms are enormous, we will have plenty of space. And the room I mentioned has access to the tower to look at the stars and it even has its very own bathroom!"

When they finish the tour of the tavern, Oriace proposes, "Why don't we do a quick tour through the alley and see what neighbours we have? Before we met Tally the woodworker, he seemed to be an agreeable fellow. We'll meet him again later today to get a quote on tavern renovations. But anyway, I'm curious what else is of interest here. Who's with me?" 

Then, Oriace takes a quick tour through the neighbourhood (at least to learn what T2 to T7 are on the map), partly wanting to give Yersinia more time to find out something about their mysterious vandal. 

Wagner will join Oriace on the tour. He specifically plays lookout, looking around for hidden or non obvious details. (Perception 16)

"I'm in." Toser says as he follows Wagner and Oriace outside.

“I’m with you.” Mana exclaims enthusiastically.

He’s hoping that today is the beginning of his social makeover. Shedding his urchin mannerisms, now that he is in the company of these upstanding professionals.

"Oh!"

Sterling, carrying a surprisingly stylish new leather backpack, stopped as he saw his companions.

"I suppose you've shown them around the place already, then?" he continued with a casual smile, seeming much more relaxed that he'd appeared when the newcomers first arrived. (Had it been the time he spent alone shopping, thinking things over? It wasn't clear.)

"Well, I've made my purchases, but if you're all going out on the town, I might as well join you."

"At the very least, I can try to steer them away from that gaudy purple nightmare," he silently finished before stepping in with the party.