The evening of the seventeenth, Luna updates Ward about the message Mira received. Learning that Mira is in contact with people who are studying cross-shard travel, he hurries to her room to ask about it. Unfortunately, she is unsure how to get him in contact with the werewolves on the moon. Vera accosts Dorean with the idea of finding gems to use to fix Dorean's pocketwatch. Dorean agrees to this investigation, and the pair eventaully locate Flick's Tocks run by a gnome named Flicks Gumbutton. He is very interested in fixing the watch, but the person he knows to be good enough to make the gear to his specifications is Kuldar Kallaste of Kul's Jewels. He requests that he not be mentioned to Kuldar, which they agree to. At Kul's Jewels they find Kuldar Kallaste, a pale elf with a messy brown ponytail, making a very flirty sale to a customer. They present the details from Flicks, which Kuldar agrees to make, though he recognizes the handwriting. He agrees to make it, though it is clear from both men's reactions that they are most likely in some capacity exes.

The group invites Hobbes and Vinter to lunch to ask them about the Under Jarl. He confirms that the Roc's Chosen dislike the position of Under Jarl, but Hobbes points out that the current Under Jarl is different than previous Under Jarls. This one is using the trappings of the Under Jarl to fight corruption in the Roc's Chosen, though they do not know which of the Chosen are corrupt—he uses the word "we" when describing this point of view. Caught, he admits that Solicitor Gilgrim was the one who had given them the job to move the crates of potion to Kitheroc. In the end, Hobbes and Vinter admit to working with the Under Jarl and caution against mentioning Talthis Vim specifically to him should they meet him, though any official alliance between them and the Fourth Act is unlikely. They can claim Hobbes and Vinter as allies, however, both to the Under Jarl and if they are in opposition to any of the Roc's Chosen.

The morning of the 22nd, Ward wakes up to find Modrod nestled in bed with him. They were doing as Ward asked to find the hot goss, and learned that there were two badgers that were planning to come after him. Modrod pouts when told to please try to pass that sort of information faster, as they had done so as quickly as possible.

Vera's raven friend returns with a heavy ring etched with red veins in it. It says that the ring is cursed, so to be incredibly cautious with it, as while it may help protect her friends, it could very easily kill her. She accepts it and when she puts it on, the metal disappears into her skin, leaving behind just the red veins on the surface.

Eck reads the book containing mention of Schvargosa. There is no mention of kobolds that would have been in any way associated with Schvargosa. He was a ruthless and cruel red dragon that was felled during the dragon war, though there was no further details about by who or why. The book does mention that he would hunt weaker chromatic dragons as well as lesser metallic. The lack of mention of kobolds is explained by Abernathy as common, but inclusion would offer a lot of insight into a dragon's life. Abernathy offers to write to his former colleagues for information about Schvargosa.

Ward's book is a recount of a group of Gathering Light dispatched to an old castle on rumors of evil. Upon arrival, they are granted hospitality by a noble lady living there. There was an incident which results in her death—her death was an accident according to the surviving author—and all hell broke loose. "As her blood seeped into the floorboards, something broke loose and is coming for us all. Though this is his resting place, Gram Fulkin rests no more."

The evening of the 27th, Luna has a nightmare. She is wearing Meneldin's clothes, sitting on a throne, and her sister is serving her, tending to her needs. She refuses to look Luna in her face, no matter what Luna does. She eventually grabs her sister's face to turn it up to her, and her eyes are inky black. Mira also has a nightmare that night. She is training in the field where she trained with Edger. The sky splits open like an incursion, but instead it is a hole in space. A massive gloved hand adorned with a ring she recognizes reached through toward her. It grasps the earth around Mira, lifting her and the earth around her into the air.

Everyone gives Ward gifts for his birthday. That night, Ward finds an isolated location on the ship and puts the name of the troll woman they killed into the lantern, and watches it burn. The Apparition appears and questions what he's doing. Ward asks what happens if he keeps feeding the lantern names, which the Apparition seems hesitant to answer. It eventually offers that feeding it names will unlock its powers, giving him the same powers it had given the previous bearers. They say that nobody alive knows the history of the sword. It observes that none of the previous owners had met a kind end after feeding it many names. Ward requests a birthday gift, an honest answer to a single question. Ward asks what happened to his grandfather, prompting the Apparition's grin to nearly encircle its head. He says that his grandfather was slain by Ward's father, and then vanishes for dramatic effect.

The next morning, Ward is summoned to the Adventurer's Guild to straighten out some paperwork; he accepts Dorean going with him to satisfy the buddy system. Cricket presents whim with four forms, because she doesn't know which one it's supposed to be. Eventually Kinomine is able to help, finding the correct form—which is none of the ones Cricket presented—which is for Henrietta, declaring her to be a normal familiar. Kinomine complains about how it's not going to actually help and is just annoying. While he's filling out the form, he notices the man who vouched for them at the teleportation circle is looking at the job board. He is apparently a bronze rank adventurer officially. Ward thanks him for his help in the council chambers, and the man introduces himself as Edwin. He explains that he's trying out the adventuring life as a change of pace, and that his subordinates are along to make fun of him. He is hesitant to take any of the jobs of his rank, unused to the sort of jobs available to him. They tell him that it's a good way to help people, and he requests the chance to do a job with the party. While looking at some options, Hobbes and Vinter arrive. Edwin finds a notice for killing an unknown monster that is knocking over caravans outside town, but it is a silver rank quest so cannot be given out without a gold ranked adventurer was willing to vouch for their skill. On the condition that the whole group goes, Hobbes is willing to sign off on the group going.

When informed about the job, Mira leaves and obtains a disguise. It is figured out that the Red Prince seems to be like someone she knew from her shard. After some discussions, she agrees to go on the mission with him. The group offers some suggestions for disguises that might be less obstructive. The group then purchases some gear and supplies in preparation for the next day.

Meeting with the Red Prince, the group introduces themself. He offers them some of the numerous healing potions he was given by his crew, which they gladly take. He talks at length with Ward about things, as well as sharing stories with Eck and Vera. The stories he tells don't seem to match up with the stories that have gone around about him. He explains that he has intentionally bred a reputation of ruthlessness in order to prevent the need to wipe out his enemies. He's recruited some of his enemies, as well as dueled enemy commanders to prevent the need to actually send their men against each other in bloody battle. This was in line with Hobbes and Vinter's experience with him, of him being incredibly willing to not wipe out a town as he had been hired to do. Shortly after noon they encounter a small caravan that has been wrecked. There are the remains of two guards and two merchants, but no beasts, merchandise, survivors, or signs of a monster that might have attacked. Eck is able to find tracks leading into the woods, a number of people with prisoners. Edwin points out that the people who attacked were skilled. Following the tracks, they locate the camp, but on approach discover that the camp has been attacked. The beasts from the caravan and any people there have been torn apart. Two children and several women are in steel cages. Vera begins to attempt picking the lock to the cages while Eck looks for the key on the remains of bodies in camp. As Vera releases the first cage and Eck finds the key, a great monster emerges from the woods.

Introduced

• Flicks Gumbutton
• Kuldar Kallaste

Returning

• Hobbes
• Vinter
• Modrod - Modrod
• Suspicious as Heck Raven
• Professor Abernathy
• Cecily Cardew
• Talthis Vim
• Alibi
• The Apparition
• Cricket
• Kinomine
• Red Prince
• Subordinate 1
• Subordinate 2

Mentioned

• Under Jarl
• The Under Jarl
• Solicitor Gilgrim
• Schvargosa
• Gram Fulkin
• Luna's sister
• Sapphire

• Ruby Gear (200gp by Vera for Dorean)
• Fountain pen and ink set (from Dorean to Ward)
• Matching journal (from Luna to Ward)
• Chicken bauble (from Eck to Ward)
• Stack of "Hello, My Name Is" stickers (from Mira to Ward)
• Label maker (from Vera to Ward)
• Silver teacup (from Cecily to Ward)
• A pretty neat bookmark (from Talthis to Ward)
• Three Henrietta summons (from the crew to Ward)
• Trashy romance novel (from Alibi to Ward)
• Misc healing potions (the party)
• Regular healing potions (4, from the Red Prince to the party)

• Had the party decided to attack the Under Jarl, they would have killed him only for Hobbes and Vinter to arrive on the scene. It would have been revealed that the reason the Under Jarl seems to be a lot of different people is because people keep killing him, and Vinter keeps reincarnating him.