Provided a cloak to cover his bits, Dorean tells Meneldin to leave. Instead of leaving, Meneldin realizes that he has access to some abilities he has been missing for some time. He summons a wicked scythe from nowhere in delight. He offers to let Luna come along with him, as he has a lot of new tricks he can teach her now. Talthis steps in, telling him to get lost, which Meneldin does without any concern. Teer confronts Akaros about losing his body again; Akaros assures him that it's fine, because his body is mostly just a manifestation of his will at this point. He's just tired now.

Evelynn brings the party some cake balls, which whisk them off to a labyrinth of Xelbari's creation. After answering a series of questions, many of which are incredibly targetted, the party acquires various class levels and features.

Luna hunts down Akaros, explaining the situation with Meneldin's body and the lich she sold his body to. She wants to know what's going on with his body. He explains that it's a new body. The curse is presumably still with the old body or wherever it was, and the lich might not come after her for ripping him off. Afterward, she finds Sheppherd, asking about when the package from RIGG is going to arrive. Shepherd has it with him, producing the manual for her arm from his chest compartment. She sits beside him and starts going through the manual. Shepherd attempts to commiserate with Luna, explaining that he had a difficult relationship with his creator, having been created as a tool of war, his personhood irrlevant to them. She is not defined by those who brought her into the world and choose her own path, and that sometimes you need people who can help choose and define that path.

Ward attempts to help clean the airship, before going to the stage and casting Tongues. He apologizes to the aiership for making the mistakes that resulted in it getting hurt. He promises to do his best to ensure it it doesn't happen again. The deck shifts subtly beneath him, a vaguely female humanoid torso growing out of the deck to give him a hug from behind.

On the fifth, the druids take their leave. The Fourth Act packs the provisions they have acquired onto the airship, and they continue their journey to Erewald. Along the way, Dorean gatheres the party to discuss the lack of trust some people have displayed lately. While privacy is certainly allowed, there are some secrets that can affect the party and their allies, so they should be shared for everyone's safety. She begins by sharing that Ward, with her permission, is in contact with Dr. Hayward. Luna says that she's actually 21, ten years younger than she usually claims. Ward admits that he has, for the last ten years, suffered from hallucinations. He sees what he calls the Hatman, who mostly just makes snarky comments. The Apparition appears, pestering him briefly in an attempt to distract him. Dorean, out of the corner of her bad eye, spies a barely-there figure with moth wings. The timing too coincidental, Dorean asks him about it. Shocked that she was able to see him, he realizes that Merely, who has a stronger connection with shard magic, might have seen him. They find her to ask, but she says she hasn't. He also asks Talthis to check to see if he could detect it, but he is unable to. He asks Dorean if she had ever seen someone from another person's perspective, and when she confirms she has, says that she might have seen it from his perspective.

Erewald has grown into a rather robust city in the six years since Dorean left; not a large city, but larger than she was familiar with. At the center of town is a tall shard incursion. A wall has been built around it, the adventurer's guild stationed outside of that. The airship docks on the southern side of town. Supplies and information are sought out by the crew. Dorean and the party head toward the Stitch shop. An oppulently dressed older woman dressed in a fur cape, dramatic eyeshadow, and a behive hairdo is in the doorway—the epitome of fashion; two goons flank her. She is attempting to convince the sisters to sell the shop; she is attempting to consolidate all of the businesses in town. She leaves, denied, and the group enters. The party is introduced to Beck; Cici is out with NAME, but should be back around supper. Dorean questions her about who Eri is. Beck says that it's Thumbs, a half-elf youth that Dorean was familiar with. Annoyed, Dorean admits that she doesn't have immediate cause to punch Cici's fiance; Beck muses that Cici likely forgot that Dorean didn't know Thumb's real name. Argosia has been taking control of the supply chain, making resources difficult to acquire. Dorean notes that she wants to bring Invicta and Merely by to meet them, but as Merely is quite skittish, Eri not coming by that night would be a good idea.

Dorean is assigned some tasks, which Vera and Ward join her on, and they head into town. As they pass by the shard, Vera hears a rumbling voice under the ground, counting. Heading into a nearby ally, Vera turns into an ankheg and burrows down into the ground and pursues the source of the sound. They find a giant six-legged mole, reaching 102 as they arrive. When questioned, the mole explains that he is digging 300 or 500 at the direction of the master. Vera leaves him, does math, and figures out that he had come from the shard and was headed toward either a nearby park or a nearby warehouse, depending on if it was 300 or 500 of his steps. The warehouse seems to be a normal warehouse, shipping milk and other goods. The shard contains a living dungeon of sorts, continually spawning monsters and treasure that adventurers come to gain adventuring experience. The entity in charge of the dungeon was defeated, so the dungeon itself has entered a passive farm state. The adventuring guild is there mostly to facilitate such adventures. It was why the town had become as large as it has.

Introduced

• Madame Argosia
• Beck
• Cici
• Eri "Thumbs" Pyxis

Returning

• Meneldin
• Evelynn
• Talthis Vim
• Teer
• Akaros
• Shepherd
• Merely

Mentioned

• RIGG
• Dr. Hayward
• Invicta