Before they can speak with the Lord, they overhear him having a conversation with the same deep voice that was speaking to Brizalla through the crystal ball in her tower. When Lord Cravern tries to play the ignorant fool and requests more reinforcements, the voice calls Cravern out for stealing the crown from his people, and promises to punish him by way of death. Zola and Scram also play the fool when they’re finally invited in for their meeting, pretending not to have found the crown at all and digging for more intel. Scram’s nosiness almost gets him killed by Munu Brighthorn, but Lord Cravern offers them their sole option: skipping town— forever. Now exiled from her hometown for good, Zola gets frustrated with Scram for endangering her father and Prya with his line of questioning. Agreeing to still continue on their journey but with better communication, the two head tavern-side to meet up with Prya.
Chapter Ten: A Hero’s Welcome
After a successful romp in the sewers, everyone emerges back into Paddlewick. Zola and Scram chat with Gio and Miranda about the danger of having a villainous organization hidden beneath a city unbeknownst to its citizens. Scram also does some very unsuccessful flirting with the hotty guards. Gio and Miranda, realizing that an Orc and Goblin have just saved their lives, deem the two as heroes and begin to question what the Empire has told them about others.
Zola and Scram bring Prya back to the temple for healing and to reunite her with her adoptive father, Father Bartulli. While Prya washes off, Zola and Scram review the documents they stole from Brizalla’s office. They discover that Lord Cravern has been paying this underground organization a portion of the town’s taxes, but has been skipping out on the payments for a few months; and that Cravern had used his bodyguard, Munu Brighthorn, to steal the crown from the organization while it was on its journey from Balderheim to the capital, Aurealia.
Zola and Scram keep this information to themselves, not knowing who to trust or if that knowledge would endanger Prya. Leaving their things with Prya and promising to meet her at the tavern later, Zola and Scram sneak through the town (past the farmer’s market where Gianni Parma, Zola’s father, is working) to Lord Cravern’s mansion.