We return to find out adventurers amidst a myriad of tasks; from searching from lost loved ones to avenging fallen comrades…

Back at the Five Fingers, while Nigel is busy doing his forensic work, neither Taiga nor Percival had interest in witnessing those tasks; however they did discuss Kyrthea. Percival, while not as well connected as his father, was able to use his father’s network to find out that Taiga’s sister was last seen with someone by the name of Trent Macy, a mercenary with the Black Hounds Company. Apparently they were seen with an east Cygnarian Garrison force; with this new info, Taiga prepared to depart immediately. Taiga and Nigel reconvene and talk further to Percival and garner more information on Trent Macy; he was last seen boarding a train out of Point Bourne heading south. Additionally, Percival mentions that the leader of Macy’s mercenary company, The Black Hounds, is a man named Marshall Reed. Nigel, now motivated by this new information, suggests that he and Taiga should travel together to Point Borne to find the mercenaries, alluding to the fact this may indeed help his investigation into the murder of the elder Winston. Percival provides Nigel with a mount and some gold to help cover expenses.

…

Back out to the Gnarls, a few days after Zebalon took over his new encampment, one of his Bogrin patrols did not come back. Angered at either their desertion or failure to repel invaders, he set out after them. He was ambushed by a gaggle of Trollkin, and was overrun by their numbers and sheer Toughness. Surrounded, wounded, and with his Boneswarm reduced to a harmless pile of debris, Zebalon offered the Trolls the opportunity to surrender! Fools that they were, the Trolls raised their axes rather than retreat from Zebalon’s sovereign domain. His fate is as of yet, is unknown.

…

Across the forest, the Tharn hunting band regrouped in the woods and waited for the next train to arrive with another garrison force while healing their wounds. They would have to try again to capture an informant. This time a new plan, more covert; when night fell Calder shadowed an overnight guard patrol and with a Force Bolts pulled the pair towards the woods and his fellow Tharn were able to apprehend one soldier for interrogation. The interrogations revealed that Cygnarians are extending the train tracks through the Deamon Head Pass and that they are reinforcing the area to discourage raiding parties or other potential problems. Satisfied with the information, they feed the soldier to the Rotterhorn accompanying them.

They return back to their tribe to inform the Chief only to find their village decimated and their Chief gravely wounded. They are informed by the bedraggled survivors that a Troll contingent descended on their tribe and ravaged it. Caldar immediately gathers those still able and sets out on the path after the invaders. With their intimate knowledge of the forest, they rush the through the woods and quickly come upon the warband. Calder orders the immediate strike and the Trollkin are caught completely off guard; a half dozen are struck down before they even know what is happening. The White Maw tore through the descendants of Dhunia with ferocity that was quick and viciously decisive. Calder ended the battle by separating the female troll Warlock’s head from her body to take back to his Chief.

…

While the scrum was happening in the Gnarls, Taiga and Nigel were a day and a half into their travels to Point Bourne when they were harassed by travelers on the road. The would-be bandits tried to shake them down for a fee to pass by on the road. Nigel and Taiga evaded the bandits by taking a fast gallop through the woods, disappearing behind a Blizzard before fleeing to the woods under the effects of Occultation.