The next day, the group made their way back to town and were greeted pleasantly by the city guards at the gate. However, the soldiers on the walls eyed Gilby and Ethan with suspicion and disdain, causing Gilby to feel uneasy.
When they arrived at the hall of quests, they were met by Lucy, who was happy and greatly relieved to see them. ”I'm so glad you're all back safe and sound,” she said, giving them a warm smile. “The mayor was upset with me for sending such a new group on such a dangerous quest, but I knew you were up to the task. He'd like to speak with you, but he's currently in a meeting. Can you wait?”
The group nodded and took a seat in the waiting area, eager to hear what the mayor had to say. As the group waited in the hall of quests, they couldn't help but overhear the muffled shouting and arguing coming from the mayor's office. Suddenly, the door to the office slammed open and a large, armored man stormed out, leaving the building in a hurry.
The mayor then invited the group into his office and sat down at his desk, clearly flustered. “I apologize for the disruption,” he said, taking a deep breath to calm himself. “Another group of adventurers was sent to investigate the missing family, and they reported that they were killed by a possessed scarecrow. They managed to defeat it in the corn maze and said they found an offer to buy the property from the Commander of the city's fort. Then the commander of the fort comes in to my office and is now demanding the property, but we have procedures that need to be followed.”
As the mayor spoke, Reduzia noticed a map on the wall and realized that the portal hadn't sent her to another place on her world, but to another world altogether. She was surprised by this revelation and couldn't help but wonder how she was going to get back home.
The mayor, noticing Reduzia's interest in the map, walked over to join her. “It's a reproduction of an old map of the world from before the calamity. Now all we know are the five lands.” he said, gesturing to the map. Reduzia nodded. The mayor then turned his attention back to the group, his expression becoming serious. “I must confess, I have a suspicion that the commander may be behind the family's death,” he said. “But I have no proof and, for political reasons, I cannot make it a quest. I'm sorry, but I must ask you to keep this information to yourselves.” Reduzia nodded, understanding the delicate situation the mayor found himself in. They vowed to keep the mayor's suspicions to themselves, but couldn't help but wonder what other secrets and dangers lurked in the shadows. “Anyway, I personally wanted to hear about how your quest went.” the mayor continued.
Then Gilby reached into his bag and pulled out the stone head of one of the town's guards. “We found this in the woods,” he said, placing the head on the mayor's desk. “It was a couple of cockatrices that killed your guards. we thought you would want to know what happened to your guards so you could inform their families. It's all that we found of them.”
The mayor looked stunned and impressed as he picked up the stone head and examined it. “I'm just glad you all made it back alive,” he said. “I'd like to write up a letter of recommendation for you, to let other towns and cities know that you can be trusted with important and dangerous quests. And if you ever get the chance, I highly recommend seeking training at Paranor. It's the finest training facility for adventurers in the five lands. But getting in is not easy. Only a druid of Paranor or a high official from one of the kingdoms can do that.” With that, the mayor escorted them out of his office and instructed Lucy to take the cockatrices and pay the group their reward.
Meanwhile, Reduzia wanders out of the town hall and sees Digger sitting on a bench in the town square park feeding birds. Clandestinely, she wanders over and sits on the same bench while pretending to wait for her friends. ”Have you heard what happened to the nice dwarven family that was murdered?” Digger says. “They were well loved in the community and hosted the harvest festival for everyone every year.” Reduzia tells him that she just heard about it and that the commander is keen to get the property. “That racist bastard,” Digger scoffs. “Nobody likes him or would miss him if he were to suddenly drop dead. Did you know that he even has an expensive wine brought in from Dechtera just for himself. I think it is a hundred year old Womblenose white chardonnay.”
Reduzia feels Digger drop something into her pocket. “I might even celebrate by selling that old chest I have no key for to someone for a silver,” Digger continues. “That thing must weigh at least 500 gold.” She catches his meaning and says that she might go take a look at the farm belonging to the murdered dwarven family. “If you do,” Digger says, “you should check out the view.”
Reduzia gets up to rejoin her friends as they exit the city hall. Reaching in her pocket she finds the vial of poison that Digger had placed there.
As they stand outside the town hall, wondering what to do next. Ethan tells tells Reduzia that Lucy doesn't have any other good quests available. “Except for escorting an old elf back to his homeland, but that doesn't pay much. ” adds Irena. Gilby suggests they shouldn't stay in Culhaven forever and proposes they gather supplies, including a cart and a horse, before remembering that he needs to find his ancestor's grave so that he can claim his inheritance. Ethan suggests everyone goes shopping and meets up later tonight at the traveler's camp outside the city's west gate. Gilby agrees, adding that they shouldn't impose on his family any longer. The group splits up to go shopping, with plans to meet later at the camp.
That night at the travelers camp, Reduzia shares with the rest of the group the conversation she had with Digger, in which he expressed a desire for the Commander to be killed. Later, as everyone goes to sleep, Gilby has a dream where he is stranded on a raft in the middle of the Silver River, that runs next to Culhaven. In his hand is a puzzle box, and he can see the travelers camp on the river's shore, but as he tries to solve the puzzle, he finds himself drifting further and further away from the shore and the camp.
