The entire party emerges from the dungeon at noon. They have used resources and many of their max HP is reduced. They have journeyed with Ashley to retrieve something, and they have met the mole family, had tea with them, and left amicably. The party does not remember meeting Ashley, but she was with them the entire time. Nobody remembers how any of the fights went, though they remember they happened. The mole Vera met was digging the tunnel to build character. Ward, used to being beguiled in fey situations, and Vera and Eck, having experienced memory shenanigans recently, register all of this as very strange. Unable to reconcile the inconsistencies in their memories, they decide to ask the dungeon staff if this is a normal occurance. On the way to the guild, Ward attempts to extract Ashley's name, discovering that he already has it.

When asked about the memory issues, the worker Vera asks freaks out, unwilling to talk about this in front of the rest of the staff, and meets them off to the side. She retrieves a thick folder filled with the mad ramblings of a conspiracy believer. Once or twice a year when people go to the basement, they come back with inconsistencies in their memory. Usually they have an item they don't remember picking up or wounds inconsistent with the enemies they fought. It is a rare enough occurence—eight reports have been taken total—that the guild has not been looking into it. The regular basement level has rats and some skeletons; the most beginner of beginners go to the basement. There was a single case from five years prior, shortly after the dungeon was pacified, where an adventurer, a druid named Baden Gilford, went to the basement and vanished. The party remembers fighting skeletons, more and stronger rats than expected, and a big lizard, plus their own injuries are inconsistent with even those. She offers to make copies of the reports for the group.

Their questions as answered as they're going to get, they leave Aira to her lunch. Ashley doesn't remember meeting the party any more than they remember meeting her. She does have knowledge of a second floor to the basement, and suspects that she would have traveled with the party while searching for it. With the guild only knowing about the first floor, it seems likely that only the occasional adventurer stumbles upon the second floor, resulting in their memories being rewritten when they do. They decide that they should take notes about what they remember so they can compare them and possibly turn them into the guild. When comparing them, they find that the facts of the memories line up, but the version of events has each person as the Main Character of the encounters. The Apparition appears, mocking Ward for his failure in the dungeon, and also for the potential future failure of doing recon on Madame Argosia. He does tell him that the creature that bested them was a "two bit fiend" from the shard, though Ward only kind of believes him. Wrath remembers what happened; it tells the group that the party descended into the basement level, encountered inconsequential enemies and Ashley. Ashley requests assistance in finding the object for her, and in exchange for helping her, would show them into the second floor. They further traversed the third and fourth floors as well, encountering an archfiend, who cast a powerful spell, rewriting their memories and sending them on their ways.

Meanwhile, Vera learns that there is not a Life is Pain. They also ask about if there are any new fountains in town; there is one in the new town square, the memorial fountain. Returning to the group, the group discusses their chances of taking on an archfiend. They decide to meet up with Talthis to discuss options; Vera states that they're going to spy on Eri. Ashley protests, not being given information about their other purposes. She explains that she wanted a spellbook from the dungeon; Dorean explains that they don't care much for how Argosia is interacting with the town.

Merely stole a book from a nearby bookstore because "Ward" was on the cover; it is a smut novel with a hobgoblin on the cover. She built a book fort in a bookstore, but she forgot money so she stole the book instead of buying it. Dorean takes her back to the bookstore to purchase it or perhaps a new book. Ashley inquires about Merely; Ward explains that she was caught in a shard incursion. Vera, upset about the sharing of secrets, leaves with Luna to talk to Talthis. Ward apologizes for their protective aggression, explaining that they have been through a lot as a group. He questions her about her connection to the dungeon, as it is stronger for her than it is for the party. She remembered finding the book she was looking for, but it isn't on her person.

On the way to the bookstore, Merely asks the person was who was with Ashley. She saw someone red and tall and floating beside her. He was wearing a wide-brimmed, short hat.

Vera and Luna update Talthis on the archfiend in the dungeon basement. He gives them a rundown on how to deal with fiends from this shard, though he is unsure whether those rules would apply to other shards' fiends. With the active mole burrowing, everyone is concerned that there is some sort of intent of action. Talthis offers to keep an eye topside in case anything does get out while the group potentially deals with the fiend.

The party reconveines at the guild at the appointed time. Aira has the redacted copies of the reports. All of the adventurers are low ranked, not including the druid who went missing previously. The reports weren't considered memory problems at the time, so nobody has attempted to resolve the memory issues. They let her know about their information about the fiend. She explains that originally, adventurers defeated a demon lord, which seemed to subdue the dungeon. She theorizes that maybe the aventurers who defeated the dungeon might have had their memories changed as well, so the fiend might simply be hiding and biding their time. Luna brings up that the monsters have been getting stronger, which bodes ill. After some incredibly awkward conversation, the group prepares to part ways for the night.

Dorean asks Ashley in private if she's haunted by a floating red man in a sunhat. She says she does. Dorean apologizes for threatening her for potentially judging Ward earlier. Ashley makes her hatman appear, introducing him as Mr. Red.

Introduced

• Ashley - played by Mia
• Aira - human woman - adventuer's guild worker

Returning

• Chassath - silver dragonborn - adventurer's guild worker
• The Apparition
• Merely
• Talthis Vim

Mentioned

• Phaeddic "Sly" Sligh
• Madame Abigail Argosia
• Eri "Thumbs" Pyxis

• Remove Curse (by Ward, from the Library)