Quillary, who does not have a reverence for books, does not blink if any ale sloshes on books as she moves it out of the way of where Jorin might helpfully have put it in front of her. But she does look up at Jorin, her eyes a little glassy (she's in the zone), and then she goes back to her reading.

Feldspar is quiet but helpful during the trip back to the Citadel. She doesn’t quite know what to do with the celebration and congratulations. It seems she is more used to doing something difficult and then disappearing into the shadows never to be seen again. Whenever she feels eyes upon her she wipes at her forehead with one hand and then the other, quickly and spastically, blowing imaginary cobwebs away with her mouth and squeezing her eyes shut. 

She consumes a plate and a half of rations from the cooks without stopping, and then when Drusk takes out the parcels from Pascal (she’d eaten hers long ago), she has to be told explicitly not to eat all of Pascal’s cooking on her own. 

She drinks with Jorin, eyelids dropping but a goofy smile playing at the edges of her mouth. Her guard slowly drops and, near sleep, she stops wiping invisible webbing out of her face. She’s even stopped her usual mumbling to herself. She stumbles to bed, not even changing clothes before collapsing on her mattress. 

When she wakes up, she does so with her long knives in her hands, teeth grit, forehead shining with sweat. It takes her a while to realize that she was not the only one to have this dream.

Her extended breakfast turns to brunch with Jorin and Drusk. “So Quillary and Hildigrim, they chase their demons away with books? What do they find in them? If I see that woman again I’ll stake her heart. She does NOT get to play with my head. Crowded enough. Has anyone talked to the captain or the rescue squad survivors? Maybe they know something too. Are you going to finish that plate Drusk? No sense in wasting it. Ugh. Pascal should have packed us with more food. Jorin where are you taking those? Oh, right, I guess they would be hungry. I’ll bring them a couple plates too. Hold on.”

Feldspar arrives at the library with two suddenly empty plates, smacking her lips. She looks at them, shakes the crumbs off on the floor outside, stacks them, and joins the scholars with extra serving plates should they need them. 

The group discusses their unpleasant rest the last night, over breakfast in the dining hall.
(Go ahead and Long Rest to reset your character, and go to level 9 at your convenience.)

Even Quillary is shaken, as she also experienced the vivid dream/nightmare/vision, despite only needing a light trance overnight.

The elf cleric (that was ranting and seeing visions before you left) overhears your discussion. Although a bit uptight when Drusk starts to talk fluent Elvish, they discuss religious matters and brainstorm some thoughts. The elf cleric agrees with your suspicions that the woman in your vision is probably an avatar of Lloth, between the spider silk in your vision and the nature of the nightmares. The elf cleric hasn't encountered it before, but it matches the description of the Chaotic Blessing of the Queen of Spiders. She must have been pleased that you disposed of the ulitharid that was posing as one of her drider followers, but what a demon goddess finds pleasurable is quite disturbing to a mortal.

Your group heads to the Citadel's library. A few Lord's Alliance minor officers want to do the debriefing now, but they timidly agree it can wait for later, when you give them a stern glare.
Quillary mentions a particular book describing Eilistraee and Lloth and how their followers resist the opposing faction.
With that title in mind, Hildigrim skillfully navigates through the strange library, and finds the book you are looking for.

You skim through to the section on the Chaotic Blessing.
The bad news is that the visions will keep occurring, and the "Blessing" can only be removed with a Remove Curse cast at 9th level or a Wish spell.
Frustrated at that information, you continue reading and discover the good news. The magical connection is weaker during the first 24 hours after it was made. You still have time to sever the connection with a standard Remove Curse, or a Dispel Magic.
Both Drusk and Quillary have that spell prepared, so they can "cleanse" the party.

(It is unclear if this might upset Lloth, or if the goddess will even notice or care about the end of the Blessing.
But everyone agrees that this is a "gift" you do not want to keep.)

"Might it be useful for one of us to keep it?  As a way to speak to our enemy, should she return?" Jorin says.

Drusk gives Jorin a stern look, then waves his Wand of Smiles at Jorin.
Jorin CHA save vs. DC 10, or be forced to smile for a minute: 15

"I've heard that dreaming over and over about being eaten alive can drive someone insane. I don't think it would be good to risk that.
And you've been upset when we have encountered mind flayers and they plant suggestions in your head.
I don't think any of us should let a demon goddess poke around our brains every night."

"I would send her a message," Quillary says darkly, "But perhaps it would be better delivered in person someday."

(OOC > text color change!)

Jorin smiles haplessly and says, "Just a thought, I am not the best at those."

Feldspar raises her hand to be the first to be rid of the "blessing." She seems very unconvinced whether this will actually help her extricate herself from a divine anchor.

When the group has reunited, Quillary drops a bombshell.

”I will not return with you to Waterdeep. I wish to learn more about these dreams and Lloth, and I can do that best from here, with ready access to the Underdark. I am… finding connections where I did not expect them, to a goddess I was never told existed.”

She frowns, remembering her youth.

At the expected question she waves her hands, “No not Lloth, but Eilistraee, who opposes Lloth.”

“I will see you again, of that there is no doubt, so keep the Road’s End running, yes? And take care of Twigroot. And give my regards to Fanny and Lif and Pascal. And… well, life is changes, is it not?”

Jorin stares for a moment at Quillary before saying, "Travel well Quillary, if there is one among us who understands the need to hunt your own game, it is me.  Take this."  He pulls one of the handaxes off his belt.  The grip is well worn, but the axe head shines with the quality of the Jorin's blacksmithing skill. 

Quillary solemnly takes the axe. “You and I will hunt together again, Jorin of the Bodt. On both sides of the veil.” She clasps his forearm like she has seen warriors do, because that seems appropriate.

When Quillary finishes explaining her decision to remain at the citadel, and after taking the axe from Jorin, she looks down to see Hildigrim looking up at her with a mix of sadness and astonishment. He looks downright hurt. As their eyes meet, the halfling closes his dropped jaw and blinks several times. Clearing his throat, he reconfigures his face into that of a very forced smile. "Hainard's hairy toes," he says in almost a whisper, "we're going to miss you." He shakes a little, puffing out his thin chest, and squaring his shoulders. "But if it's one thing I understand, it's the pursuit of knowledge." His features warm. "I wish you good hunting in your quest and extend a perpetual invitation to return to your home in Waterdeep whenever you can." He makes a jerking motion toward Quillary, takes a half step, glances away and then back, and finally hurriedly walks up to her, embraces her legs, and then backs up, looking a little uncomfortable.

Sensing the seriousness of the moment for Hildi, Quillary lets him do what he needs to. “I will bring you what I learn, Hildigrim, that you might give me insights that escape me.”

"I like how you kill things with mushrooms. And you have a brutal sense of humor. Dead. Pan. Also if I see you again I hope we're fighting on the same side," Feldspar says, after she's watched the group react to Quillary's announcement. She seems confused that Quillary really doesn't seem interested in the reward promised at the end of the mission. She takes in a breath, eyes closed. "Life is changes, until things start to repeat and you feel like you're back where you started."

After the group finishes their goodbyes, she steps back and looks for one of the guards who have been lurking and waiting for the full debrief. She's happy to take point on that, or act as support for someone else to. She's also eager to get back to Waterdeep. She seems to have forgotten about the ask to remove the curse.

Drusk is sad to hear that Quillary is staying behind, but puts on a smile. "There will always be a spare room in the Manor for you, whether you decide to return or just feel like visiting for a bit."

Commander Naveen Behrouz of the Citadel is grateful enough for the safe return of the 9 survivors. Drusk convinces him to write up an open-ended round trip scroll for use of the portal back to Waterdeep, and it is handed to Quillary.

Drusk and Quillary cast the spells to remove Lolth's "blessing".
You still brush your forehead during the next few days, as it feels like there are still spiderwebs stuck from where the vision woman kissed your forehead, but that feeling goes away, and your dreams are back to normal.

The rest of the party returns safely to Waterdeep and the Road's End.
Pascal greets you on your return with a hot and tasty dinner. "Too bad, y'all missed the excitement here. The cooking contest was chaotic."
(Flavor text in the spoiler, but nothing important, only for fun.)

 Some more wrap-up.

Everyone add 300 GP and a Potion of Healing (Greater) to your inventory.
(The extra 200 GP per person is for the scouts returning alive. Hildigrim already got the Bag of Holding at the start.)
Feldspar received a bonus for the successful mission: a Ring of Spell Storing

The extra loot during the Underdark trip has been added to the communal funds.
The chest currently holds: 1647 GP, 30 PP, and 3 diamonds (250 GP each)
You found 2 diamonds, and the 3rd is from Captain Brannigan as a reward for returning his ring.
(Reminder that I am just doing the bookkeeping, and the communal funds are for any large purchases the party wants to do.)

In post 5763, I listed some of the spells in the book that Hildigrim is studying.
These are the remaining spells (in case I forget later):

• 3rd level - counterspell, fear, fly
• 4th level - greater invisibility, ice storm, polymorph
• 5th level - cone of cold, contact other plane, modify memory

Feldspar should decide if she wants to move into the Road's End (better housing and food compared to a Waterdeep traveler's hotel) or not.
She would have to help with restaurant tasks and the continuing renovation work on the manor, but there would still be plenty of time for personal errands.

You are free to do shopping (standard PHB stuff), or downtime activities.
For example, Drusk spends 50 GP to buy a double set of brewer's supplies (to set up the brewing and distillery in the basement), and paid for a party to celebrate the joy of Lliira.

(OOC - Just a note to  mark the handoff of DM duties from Quasimodal (may his fortunes never fail) to Mingofaust, with gratefulness from me to him for his amazing stewardship of our ongoing shared world. Also, yes, the URL changed when I edited the thread to take out the outdated "Dragon Heist" part, so this is also to see if y'all who are "subscribed" to the thread still get notifications when it is updated.)

(The notification showed up for me.)

I got the notification as well, huzzah!

Jorin grumbles about cheaters when he hears the story of the chilli cook off and how, in his home, such a display of cowardly ambition would have seen you thrown to a crag cat den. 

Jorin would like spend some time working in the forge making a set of fine dinner and flatware for roads in.  Something nice to use for special guests/events, rather than day to day operation.  Slender knives made from high carbon steel, each with a unique handle of animal bone or a hard, local wood species.  Heavy plates, bowls, and goblets of dark iron with inlayed bands of shining steel, with matching flatware.

Drusk is excited about a new cleric spell he has acquired, but he will need Jorin's help with some of the components.
(OOC: Not really, the spell has simple material components. I'm making this object for role-playing reasons.)

Jorin would need to make a bronze sphere, perfectly round, larger than a billiard ball but smaller than the palm of a normal person's hand.
A cylinder is hollowed out into the sphere, to make it lighter and so it can hold a reservoir of water. (The sphere is bronze to make it rust-resistant.)
A clear circle of quartz will be used to seal the reservoir later.
Drusk also needs three pyramids (d4 shaped) of bronze that will fit easily inside the reservoir, each slightly different in design so they can be distinguished.

Drusk will take care of the painting, rune-etching, and assembly later. (A half-pound steel mirror is 5 gp, so I've subtracted that for the materials.)

In return for the labor, Drusk will help with Guidance and blessings while Jorin makes his fancy dinnerware.
(If Jorin would like some other type of assistance or a direct GP payment for labor, that is acceptable.)

Hildigrim doesn't have any spells to transcribe, so he spends time in various bookshops around down buying books to fill out his personal library. He spends 50 gp on various books — mainly history and science. One of the shops he visits is The Charred Remains. While there, he checks with Reelum to see if there are any new developments concerning the contents of the red leather diary written in Elvish and full of codes and gibberish. When he had picked it up, she had suggested checking back.

He will also inquire about the Fellowship of Innkeepers to find out what needs to happen for one of the Road's Enders to become a member. (I can't find that that ever happened.)

He will also visit Waterdhavian cartographers to show them the map Quillary gave him at Wintershield to see if any might know what it is a map of. He knows it's a long shot with it appearing to be not drawn to scale (clearly not the work of a skilled craftsman) and utilizing symbols the halfling has never seen in any of his books, but there's always a chance.