Ward eats a proper breakfast instead of toast, confusing the crew about this change in habit. While preparing that morning, Vera talks to her raven friend about her plans to talk to Talthis about getting better at protecting her friends. He says there is an item nearby that he thinks might be helpful, and heads off to retrieve it. Vera then talks to Talthis about potentially teaching her something to help, which he agrees to. After breakfast, the group splits up to accomplish their tasks for the day. Vera, Ward, and Dorean prepare to head out to retrieve the hired chocobos and Abernathy's cart of books. Luna calls Bazan to make sure he knows that he isn't in debt to the lich, which is news to Bazan, though Luna does not explain the exact details. She asks about the hair clip they found on Meneldin, which Bazan says was likely a gift for Beryn.

Ward, Vera, and Dorean encounter and travel with Hobbes and Vinter heading out of the north gate. They talk about how the bandits in the area are rather strange compared to other bandits. After traveling for some distance, the two groups part ways.

Mira, Luna, and Eck go to the adventurer's guild to see if there are any jobs on the board that can be done quickly enough to earn enough money to help Abernathy pay his debts. After some discussion, they decide to contact Solicitor Gilgrim to ask about options for dealing with Abernathy's house. They begin by going to Abernathy's to check on him and find out where to find Gilgrim. He questions them about the Panther Lady and who the Aina they were talking about was. Eck gives vague answers, but they otherwise agree wtih him that the trip was beneficial. On the way to Gilgrim's office, Mira's black box screeches and comes out of her pocket, opening and emitting a flickering light that looks like a wolfish individual. There was a shard distortion in the upper atmosphere over the eastern continent, similar to the black box Mira came from. It broke up on entry, and the distortion closed. Its entrance can be used to help triangulate the location of several things of interest, including specifically something Mira is looking for, as well as the potential for shard-to-shard travel. He reminds Mira that theythey can contact each other with the box, and hangs up. Eck realizes that the person they saw was one of the werewolves who live on Yumia, though they typically don't interact with people on the planet. Mira is unable to convey what it is she is looking for. The group continues on, finding Gilgrim in his office. When told why they are there, he offers to give them first access to a job that was to be posted, as secrecy would be better. A criminal called the Under Jarl has accrued a following that they fear might insight chaos if the Roc's Chosen officially went after him. It would help all parties involved, helping the Roc's Chosen with a criminal and potential riot, Abernathy with his house issues, and the party's standing with the Roc's Chosen after using their teleportation circle without permission. The three agree to his deal. He describes the Under Jarl as having many appearances, but always bearing an axe. After leaving, the three let Abernathy not to do anything drastic, and agree to talk to Cecily about any information she might have on the Under Jarl.

Two days out of the city, Ward and Dorean decide to attempt science. Offering what help they can, Vera and Ward back away and allow Dorean to make her attempt. She recalls what Merely did, drawing her own shard essence from her, and attempts to replicate that with one of the weapons from Fulkin's soldiers. The blade shatters into nothing, absorbing the shardness into herself. She is invigorated and gains a bit of power for a short time afterwards; the pupil of her damaged eye glows slightly. They do some experiments to see what all absorbing the weapon did, finding no immediate negative effects. The chocobos and cart are recovered. Later that night, Yumia is dark and Meyrin is a sliver. Vera hears their name being called from the hill nearby. Wanting to not be stopped, she turns into a mouse and attempts to sneak out of camp. She successfully gets away, but Dorean spies her going and wakes Ward to find her. Ward attempts to cast Detect Magic to find her bow and thus her, and only gets the Northern Lights. They can see Vera talking to a figure, difficult to see in the light, at the top of the hill. The figure and the lights then vanish, and Ward and Dorean join her at the top of the hill. She explains only that the figure was someone from home who she hadn't seen in a long time. She apologizes for causing them to worry, and the three return to the camp to sleep. Vera is lulled back to sleep by a song only she can hear coming from the sky. Upon returning to the city, Vera requests that they check on Gavin and make sure he is doing okay; he is, having begun cleaning the house and tending to the grounds. When she tries to return the money he left at Meander's, he tells her it was the payment for the last job he and Aleria earned, and he wants Vera to keep it after helping him.

While They were gone, Eck and Luna spend their time trying to locate information about the Under Jarl. There is a former underground fortress beneath the roc's nest where the Under Jarl might be found. Luna in particular learns that the Under Jarl is vocally opposed to the Roc's Chosen, claiming them to be frauds and usurpers. Mira attempts to locate someone who can help her get better at combat, finding some among the crew who might be able to help her.

The party meets back up and catches each other up on what transpired. They speak with Cecily to make sure that they weren't going to mess up anything that she had going on or otherwise had reason to stop them. She explains that in the early days of the city, the jarl of the area acted as an overseer of the tribes in the area. Sunholme forced a consolidation, with the Roc's Chosen acting as a governing body. Those who support the Under Jarl prefer the old ways, though some are more extreme, thinking the Chosen are corrupt and controlled by shadowy forces. Ultimately, it is a political assassination that has been requested of them. They have a discussion about perhaps bringing Abernathy on board or finding alternate lodgings for him; she agrees to meet with him on the 19th as an interview to see if she's willing to put in the resources and trust to help him directly. Cecily realizes during the conversation that she hadn't shown them the library on board the ship. A broomcloset is actually a moderately-sized, very expensive library with a six-armed puppet named Hanna. When asked, Hanna explains that her mother of sorts made her to tend to the library, and that her sister takes care of Cecily outside of the library. She does not give a solid answer about who the mother or sister are. Cecily also recalls that they had asked about Fulkin, requesting any books about him; there is a journal by a knight about an ill-fated attempt to raid a castle. Cecily leaves them to their discussions. Luna asks if there are any books that mention Holgrim Talashtar. There is a single books describing archmages listing him among them, calling him the Phantom-Eyes. An illustration of him shows a human man with pitch-black eyes, a line of maids behind him. Eck requests anything on Schvargosa, getting a single book. There is also all of Star Walk.

Introduced

• Romus - werewolf in Mira's box

Returning

• Suspicious as Heck Raven
• Talthis Vim
• Bazan - Goliath Barbarian
• Hobbes
• Vinter
• Professor Abernathy
• Solicitor Gilgrim
• Gavin

Mentioned

• Meneldin
• "Beryn" Berynneth - Succubus
• The Under Jarl
• Cecily Cardew
• Aleria - Gavin's Sister
• Gram Fulkin
• Schvargosa