Darelle and Daryle discover Gerald meandering the forest early in the morning, following his ill-fated encounter with Greenhide. After a few hours of rest and healing, Gerald reveals that he sat at the table with Greenhide and the goblin revealed to him that his informant inside the Hellknight compound thought that there was to be a civil war soon. The goblin chief is planning to sit this one out and take on the winners of this bloody and debilitating conflict. After that, he remembers that Greenhide had him escorted away from the Spire and he spent the night in the forest, with wolves howling all around him.
Strangely, Gerald does not recall how he received the large scar on his breastbone. The scar looks angry but it does not appear to have been infected.
Roscoe is summoned to Lady Commander Drovust's office. There he is met by the Commander as well as all of the high-ranking Hellknight officers. Roscoe is officially granted all rights to carry the title of Hellknight, due to his slaughtering the demon Sartoss. He is also appointed as the warden of the Citadel's goal, a series of twelve cells in the second basement where criminals and enemies of the Hellknights are kept.
Roscoe overhears a conversation between the Lady Commander Drovust and Maralictor Wirt concerning the arrival of Duke Mosley and a few thousands Hellknights, who are heading to the Wound of the World. Drovust expresses her worries that the Duke may be making a power play to remove her from her office, so the guard must be deployed to protect Fort Inevitable. Hellknight soldiers loyal to Drovust will remain inside the walls, while newly arrived soldiers will not be permitted inside Fort Inevitable.
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Duke Mosley and his troops arrive, as well as a large merchants' caravan. The merchants set up by the commons outside the gates, while the newly arrived Helknights pitch camp in a crescent formation around the southeastern section of Fort Inevitable. With over 4,000 troops, this camp is huge.
A siege mentality quickly spreads through Fort Inevitable. Local citizens are allowed in and out of the Fort, but newly arrived Hellknights must remain outside the walls. Local Hellknights provide as an excuse that the town is overcrowded with the merchants' arrival and that, to maintain law and order, the number of soldiers inside the walls must be kept to a minimum.
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With the New Year only hours away, the Hellknights deliver golden embossed invitations to each of the Coopers at their residences, except for Thorne. Each of them is invited to attend the celebration at the Citadel. Darelle and Gerald are inclined to go, but Daryle remembers the last time she participated in a Hellknight celebration and does not want to go. She tells the Hellknights delivering the invitation that she's not feeling well and will most likely not be there.
A few minutes later, someone knocks on Gerald's door in Fort Inevitable. He answers in his bathrobe, and is greeted by a messenger boy who's delivering a letter from his mother, Gertrude.
Meanwhile, six burly Hellknights come to Tom Braddon's General Store shortly after it opens. Thorne is the only employee there. A Hellknight hands him an arrest warrant with Thorne's name on it. The rogue quickly thinks about fleeing, but he realizes he is hopelessly outnumbered, so he accompanies them to the Citadel.
Darelle, meanwhile, goes to Dr. Mordel's house and meets the four patients currently under the doctor's care. It is clear that two of them are under palliative care and do not have long left to live. But the other two have exotic diseases. The first one, a woman, has strange purple plaques on most of her body. These plaques appear to move randomly, and sometimes angry blue dots appear and disappear in the middle. Her chart's information informs Darelle that Dr. Mordel believes the woman to suffer from papura tohu disease, a disease common on the elemental plane of water but that generally only affects amphibian species. Mordel speculates that she came in contact with the frogmen during the most recent green storm. The second patient appears to be a dwarf whose right side has been transformed and looks like a scaly lobster. Even his arm has been changed into a claw. Mordel has not arrived at a diagnostic but he recorded that the claw arm can be cut and it regrows. She begins to take care of them.
Arriving at Dr. Mordel, Gerald instead meets Erynna, who tells him it looks like the good doctor has been detained by the Hellknights. Darelle returns upstairs, and she tells Gerald what she knows about Mordel's arrest.
Thorne lucks out and is locked into the same cell as Mordel. A quick verbal exchange between prisoners on this level indicate that many of the leading citizens are currently housed here, and most have been arrested since sundown. Thorne tells Mordel he plans on escaping, but Mordel tells him he will remain behind. Mordel appears dejected and seems to have lost the will to live. He reveals to Thorne that he is sort of a vampire, but he believes in facing justice, even the harsh judgment of the Hellknights.
Meanwhile, Roscoe reads the prisoners' report, and realizes that Thorne is now a resident of his facility. He takes a walk down to the second basement, and finds his younger brother spending quality time with Dr. Mordel. According to the gaol's roster, Thorne has not currently been scheduled for execution. Nevertheless, he decides he must somehow arrange to free his brother. Roscoe thus returns and passes a note and a key to Thorne to escape.
Eventually, Daryle enters Fort Inevitable and locates Darelle and Gerald. She decides to call a family meeting. Gerald tells her he saw Thorne being hauled away to the Citadel. Daryle decides to ignore that for now, and a message is sent to Roscoe. About an hour later, the four Coopers are reunited. After a quick conversation, it is clear that the Coopers are in danger. They agree that the assassination attempt must take place, but the course of action is to reveal this attempt to the Lady Commander Drovust so she can fake her own death. Duke Mosley will then spring his plan into action, and the Lady Commander with her trusted guard can thwart him. Roscoe says he will approach Drovust and share this information with her.
Thorne unlocks the door and discovers that the other prisoners are willing to attempt an escape. He comes up with a quick plan. They will overpower the night guard, when the staff is reduced inside the Citadel's lower levels, and make their way to the sewer system.
Roscoe returns to the Citadel and talks to the Lady Commander Drovust alone in her office, and reveals his information. Drovust eventually agrees to fake her own death, and tells Roscoe to tell no one else about this subject.
Darelle and Gerald try to visit Dr. Mordel in the gaol, but are turned away. The Hellknights are on edge and will not let anyone in, even if they appear sick.
So the plan is set. Daryle will fake being ill and will shake the Lady Commander's hand after using a dose of the calamby poison from Daggermark. An hour later, the Lady Commander will convulse and will apparently die. The trap will be set.
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