After finalizing the False Frog Gambit in Rearsgale, the party presented one of their exact duplicates to the Permafrost Jarl, demanding payment in exchange. The Jarl, only then realizing what had been hidden in the stasis box, expressed bafflement at the frog statuette and admitted he would need time to uncover its true nature, given the Darkwater Clan’s obsession with it. Payment came in the form of ownership certificates for warehouses of rare minerals bound for market, which the group quickly cashed out with the Trade Authority for a staggering 75,000 gold. With their coffers full and the con well underway, they set out for Hollesary‑Stoke.
There, they discovered the Carnival of Shadows had broken from its usual circuit and returned early to its off‑season camp north along the coast. Disguised as provisioners, the party sailed up with supplies and found the camp occupied. From Legerbeard, the dwarven quartermaster, they learned that Madame Leota had split off after BarrelHaven, and that Brother Ezekiel had announced “Management” had ordered the carnival back to camp despite prime performance season. The decision had unsettled the performers, but they complied. Ezekiel himself was absent, off on a personal errand. Lucious persuaded Legerbeard to restart performances at the camp, promising to arrange transport and accommodations for audiences from Hollesary‑Stoke.
Back in the city, Lucious was warned that someone had tried to break into his room at the temple of Sharess. The intruder left behind a crumpled map, stained and marked with a supposed path through the Underdark to a “Secret Mine.” With characteristic mischief, Lucious made multiple copies and scattered them around town, sowing confusion. Suspecting Ezekiel but avoiding direct confrontation, the group instead prepared to depart for the University excavation site at Guarrazar.
On the road, they felt the prickle of scrying attempts. Returning to Hollesary‑Stoke, they purchased Amulets of Proof against Detection and Location, but the scrying continued every eight hours. Frustrated, they acquired a scroll of Spell Reflection and turned the next attempt back on its caster. What they saw was a stark chamber of dark stone, a round table at its center, and six elderly dwarves bent over crystal balls, scribbling notes. Welsh translated one pad: “resisted.” Others were indecipherable, but the group surmised that Brother Ezekiel and the Jarl’s emissary were also under observation. To foil further attempts, they began stepping into their extradimensional tent whenever scrying was due, successfully disrupting the watchers. With their precautions in place, the party pressed on toward Guarrazar, the excavation site looming as their next stage.