The party picks up right where they left off last, back in Dara and Asha's house. With the Duke's banquet only a few hours away, they scramble to find a gift for the Duke in the liquor cabinet. The group settles on a bottle of mid-tier wine, which Yenvalor stashes.
On the way out the door, an old man drunkenly shouts a riddle at the adventurers. After brief confusion, Allium moves the man aside and the party continues to the Shadowfax Estate.
Heavy guard surrounds the estate, boulstered due to the attacks at the tournament grounds. The party crosses the royal lawns to the main entrance, surrounded by a decorating operation of immense scale. Inside, they call on the help of Laura, a legacy butler of the Shadowfax household. Laura summons Duke Joran from his study, and with open arms, the Duke descends to greet them. Although they are early, the Duke warmly invites them into his study. Out of earshot, at the top of the stairs, the Duke checks with the party to gauge their wellness. Severen hopes to continue the conversation in the full privacy of the study.
Once settled behind closed doors, amidst the study's vast bookshelves, Joran and the heroes share wine of a humble vintage (glasses of which were thoroughly inspected by Sylceran and Yenvalor for poisoning). The group gives a general recounting of the events that transpired on the tournament grounds. The Duke begins to probe for more information, but Severen cuts to the chase and asks about the meaning of the Duke's moon ring. Duke Joran, startled to notice the ring missing from his hand, looks up at the group, weighs something in his mind, then instructs them all to follow.
A trigger on a statue opens a bookshelf in the wall, which continues down the tunnel. Sylceran lights a torch, and the party follows the Duke down the passage. The passage is not what it seems. The adventurers find themselves teleported to a secret room under the Moss End Library. Around a large, luminescent table, Princess Norba, Duke Braun, and Lady Collazo lift their heads from their work.
Much is revealed in this hidden war room. The Duke explains the alterior motives behind the tournament: the event served as an innocuous guise for these Disciples of the Moon to meet. Duke Joran retells the War of the Sisters, adding new information, like the name of the chronomancer (Sibylla), and that the ancestors of those in this room where part of the summoning of the Moon Goddess. The party asks about the Eldritch marks on their arms, and Lady Collazo reveals that she herself carries the same mark. She was struck by the same necrotic energy during the War of the Sisters, inferring her age to be over 800 years.
The party shifts their attention to current events, and what evils they might be up against. All of them agree that Katerin and Sibylla must have returned. Duke Joran and Princess Norba seem concerned with the South, where the Solaris faith is gaining military traction with the southern governments. Lady Collazo expresses her concern that the Eldritch King might be a target of the sisters- a figure who lies dormant in the Crystal Frostlands, under constant supervision by the Utecan people. The ghostly image of the frozen Eldritch King is enough to crack the mettle of Duke Braun.
Duke Joran notices the time, and announces to the room that they should continue this business later, as the banquet will begin soon.