This morning, the siren call of the newspaper boy wakes the party. Who knew that Caladan Town had a newspaper? Must be a weekly gazette. The party acquires a newspaper from the passing paperboy.
Sign of the Times - weekly bulletin and verified gossip
EXTRA EXTRA! ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT GONE AWRY!
Wizards Guild outlaw one of their own! Noted conjurist Probabilitor condemned by Wizard’s Guild for attempted assassination of Grand Vantage, his own teacher and department head of the Conjuring school!
Younger son of the Duke, Gideon Excalion is missing again! What sort of mischief is he getting into now? Gideon against latest arranged marriage arrangements!?
Orphanage in southwest Tradesman District rocked by grisly murders in the sewers! Are there dark forces beneath us in the sewers? Or do such dark deeds live among us?!
Gang wars in southwest Tradesman District rock the community! Noted Citizen Beckett Sunfounder steps in with personal forces to maintain the peace! Beckett claims that local law enforcement is doing their best but just isn’t the right fit for the job. Beckett blames local revolutionaries and offers help and protection to any who help root out these dissidents! Our Duke’s representatives silent when asked for commentary.
Road to Kith town becoming more dangerous? Mysterious sightings and disappearances? What will the Duke’s guard do about it? Duke’s eldest son says appropriate measures will be taken to protect travelers in this realm!
The party also discovers that Frogface the Enlightened has been kidnapped. There is a ransom note on her pallet on the rooftop of the plumber's guild. The ransom is the death of Beckett Sunfounder. The party seems to believe this note is from remnants of the same revolutionaries mentioned in the newspaper above.
The party resolves to rescue Frogface, but meanwhile decides to follow the head. Agnes wraps Mike's rolling head in the taxidermy opossum originally taken from the deceased Probabilitor's apartments. Belor casts light on this stuffed opossum and then the opossum is leashed. The party hopes that the cult "Church of the Ethereal Opossum" will arise from a glowing, rolling opossum.
Mike's rolling head is infused with fey magic and leads them to a fountain in the Inner City. The head rolls through a mirror fey portal in the fountain into the same swamp that they found the Hall of Mirrors in. Grasping hands reach after the head when the party pulls the head out of the portal. The fey portal path is not taken.
Looking around, Cletus finds a shop "Scuttle's herbs and poisons... for pest control." Cletus buys some healing potion components for 15 gold each, which is cheaper than actual healing potions. Scuttle also says that healing potions are a controlled substance, and "would you just sign here saying that you got actual healing potions?", which Pawpaw signs with his left paw to disguise his footwriting.
The party also stops by townhall where Anselm Rodric speaks to them and the party learns that Beckett Sunfounder is using the Plumber's guild financial records for illicit purposes. Rodric's office has a statue of a large horse for an unknown reason. Being a small gnome with a small-ish office, Rodric's desk is placed under the horse since there's enough headroom for a gnome, apart from some hanging objects providing obstacles. The giant horse statue's name is "Sebastian". The misrepresentation of revenue is for 948 gold, and the claimed taxes is 110 gold.
Meeting with Undersecretary Balsam of Accounts Payable of the Secretary's Office, the party is paid for the job in clearing up the orphanage's sewage problem.
Back at the guild, the party waits until Beckett Sunfounder shows up. Beckett is in a great mood and addresses the party as "his friends". Beckett thanks the guild and claims that they've more than paid off their indentured servant fee, especially after they gutted the strength of the Church of Martial Equality. Beckett has taken a strong foothold in this Tradesman district thanks to them. Beckett agrees to remove the tracing spell, and a messenger will tell the guild after Beckett's servants have removed the trace.
When Beckett is leaving, Belor asks if Beckett has any knowledge of where Gideon is. Beckett denies any knowledge, but Belor knows the lie.
Ecstatic with joy at the prospect of freedom, Cletus starts talking about how he has to get home and solve some issues.
The time is just past midday.