Being a curious bunch, the first thing that the party did upon awakening was to go downstairs and try to figure out why the town seemed to be shut down the night before. As they walked down the stairs, the party became aware of multiple conversations taking place in hushed tones around the room. Andina and Bran decided to go speak with the innkeeper while the rest of the group found a table. While hunting for a table, Zarek happened to overhear a couple of merchants discussing the apparent lack of information and goods leaving the town of Riverfell these days. Nothing has been heard from the town in a couple of weeks.

Andina and Bran learn that the royal party arrived yesterday and that an attempt was made on the prince's life last night. A city-wide curfew was enforced immediately. Supposedly, a dwarfish conspiracy was behind the assassination attempt. The innkeeper points them to Frank, an older city guard who fancies himself a bit of an adventurer, as the source of his information. Andina and Nerantha try to get more out of Frank, but his despair at being put on administrative leave has driven him to drinking early this morning. All of Frank's tales appear to be exaggerated; he mentions dozens of goblins attacking the keep with air support from multiple dragons. The party decides that Frank may not be the most reliable source of information, so they decide to pay a visit to the local magistrate.

Our heroes find city hall a much different place than the last time they were here. The normal town guards have been replaced with large, half-orc bruisers all decked out in black. At first, the guards do not seem willing to show the group in to see the magistrate, but they eventually relent due to some fast-talk from Nerantha. They are led back to an interrogation room and, shortly, the magistrate is forcibly led into the room. It seems obvious that he is no longer in charge. He explains a more reasonable accounting of the events of the previous night. Only a dozen goblins attacked, half being used as a diversion and the other half headed for the prince's quarters. The town guards took care of the diversion, with some heavy losses, and the prince's "elite" guards took care of the assassins. The party offered any help that they could and the magistrate said that, while he could not officially request or accept their assistance, unofficially, anything they could do would be helpful. The magistrate also let the party know about the execution of the conspirators at dusk that evening.

To gather more intelligence, the group tracked down some of the weaponry and armor used in the attack that had been sold on the black market. Some markings on the armor showed that these goblins were from a related clan to the ones in the goblin stronghold that the party had invaded a few months before. Finally, the group checked out the infirmary and spoke with the members of the town guard that were involved in the fighting the night before. The guards that were conscious were able to back up the magistrate's story, although one did mention seeing a shadowy figure flying overhead.

With time rapidly running out, our heroes decided to try and recruit as many town guards as possible to help police the prince's speech, since the group is suspicious of another assassination attempt tonight. As the hour approached, our heroes took up positions near the front of the crowd and settled in to listen to the speech. As the young prince took the stage, Zarek and Andina noticed the regent, a tall, striking Eladrin with long golden hair, hanging back near the accused instead of taking his rightful place near the prince.

The prince calmly explained to the people about the attempt on his life and carefully laid out all of the evidence against the dwarf conspirators and the dwarfish kingdom itself. The longer he spoke, the more and more agitated the crowd became. Even the members of the party began to get agitated; Bran, Nerantha, and Iliyana all shared a glance as they remembered hearing of rituals that could sway emotions. As his speech crescendoed, the prince announced the latest plans -- in five days time, the kingdom of Aldus would go to war against the dwarfs in Craggy Bastion. At this, the crowd erupted in a wave of violence and emotion.