Running a Dungeons & Dragons campaign is always a balance between guiding the story forward and savoring the smaller character beats that make the world feel alive. Session 16 of our Waterdeep: Dragon Heist campaign — which I’ve titled “Ink, Eggs, and Expectations” — was a quieter chapter, but no less important for laying the groundwork of Trollskull Manor’s future.

This session had two major beats I wanted to hit:

• The Urchins continuing to grow into their role as the “soul” of the tavern.
• Broxley Fairkettle’s return, bringing bureaucracy, guild politics, and a glimpse of what “running a business” in Waterdeep truly means.

What follows is how I prepared these threads and how they unfolded at the table.

Preparing the Session

Coming off the spectral combat and riddles of Session 15, I wanted this week to shift the tone back toward everyday life. Not everything in Trollskull Manor is ghosts and curses; some of it is eggs that are slightly less burnt than last tenday.

• The Urchins’ Breakfast: I planned for Nat, Jenks, and Squiddly to surprise the party with a morning meal. It wasn’t about mechanics or rolls — just a chance to show the urchins growing, trying, and beginning to act like family.
• Clover’s Errand: To keep the world outside the manor breathing, I set up a short shopping trip to Appleton’s Fine Comestibles. Meeting Artis Appleton and his twin sons gave Clover a spotlight moment and let us color in more of Trollskull Alley.
• Broxley’s Return: The main beat of the night. Broxley is all charm, ink-stains, and relentless halfling energy. My prep focused on three clear options for the party: the Fellowship package, à la carte guild memberships, or the long and painful independent route. I also prepped quick quips and responses so his patter would feel mile-a-minute and hard to derail.

The goal was simple: remind the party that adventuring is only half the story. Owning a tavern in Waterdeep means contracts, neighbors, and choices that will ripple forward.

How It Played Out

The opening landed exactly as I hoped. The smell of food roused the party, and the players laughed at how “less burnt” became the urchins’ measure of success. It was a small but heartwarming scene, and one that cemented Nat, Jenks, and Squiddly as more than comic relief.

Clover’s trip to Appleton’s was a highlight. The player leaned into roleplay with Artis and his boys, and the interaction gave the alley more texture. It also helped show Clover’s growing role in preparing the tavern to welcome guests someday.

Then came the knock on the door.

Broxley Fairkettle swept in like a storm in a waistcoat. Just as planned, he rattled off the news from the broadsheets, praised the party for staying out of scandal, and launched into his guild pitch before anyone could stop him. The players pushed back, asked tough questions, and tried to haggle. Broxley never wavered — his cheer was genuine but unrelenting. The exchange felt like a duel of words, with the party circling around a choice they weren’t ready to make.

By the end of the conversation, no contracts were signed, but the party understood what was at stake: legitimacy, protection, and speed on one side; freedom, risk, and red tape on the other. Broxley clicked his heels, left humming a jaunty tune, and the manor fell quiet again — the silence of expectations now pressing on the walls.

Reflections for DMs and Players

This session worked because it leaned into character and world-building:

• The Urchins got to shine as more than NPC background noise. Their cooking was imperfect but heartfelt — and the players loved it.
• Broxley brought levity and pressure at the same time. His presence reminded everyone that the tavern’s future isn’t just about fighting ghosts but about facing Waterdeep’s bureaucracy.
• The smaller beats — Clover’s errand, the banter about tavern themes, the back-and-forth haggling — built texture and gave the players ownership of the setting.

For DMs: don’t underestimate the quieter sessions. After combat-heavy arcs, lighter social beats can be just as memorable — and they set up bigger conflicts to come.

For players: lean into the “small talk.” Asking Broxley about tavern décor or joking about going independent created some of the night’s best laughs and gave depth to what could have been a dry negotiation.

Closing Thoughts

Ink, Eggs, and Expectations may not have had the fireworks of spectral combat, but it carried the story forward in essential ways. The manor feels more alive now, with the Urchins in the kitchen, neighbors down the street, and Broxley forever circling with papers in hand.

Next time, the party will face the consequences of their choices in Undercliff and the creeping shadow of the scarecrows. But for now, Trollskull Manor has reminded us that sometimes the hardest battles are fought with ink and words, not steel and spells.