23rd Leaffall — Late Morning: Aveline calls an early stop halfway to the dam. The bag she produces keeps producing items well past what its dimensions should allow. She asks Brigitte what she'd like. Old cheese, new cheese, Concordian cheese? Brigitte says just cheese is fine. Aveline squints slightly and pivots to the plan. Reinald lays out the dam's layout. Their cover is a De Ragnaisse stonework inspection — the letter of notice, they'll claim, simply never arrived. Aveline's prepared documents look convincingly official. She hands Brigitte her bracelet before they leave — two gemstones, useful in the dark. She wants it back.

23rd Leaffall — Late Morning: While Reinald handles a nature call, Brigitte helps Aveline pack. She notices Aveline can fit her entire arm into the bag. The Beast Within speaks, directed and cold: Push her in. Suffocate her. Brigitte drops what she's holding and walks to the horses. She grips the reins and focuses on that until her heartbeat returns to something recognizable.

23rd Leaffall — Late Morning: Reinald finds a small elderly deerfolk in the treeline, arguing with a squirrel, convinced he's on his farm. Massive moose antlers, bright pink umbrella, and absolute certainty about everything. His name is Bromm Needlethorne. Reinald introduces himself four times. Bromm asks who he is each time. They walk him to the road, then spend twenty minutes steering him away from the dam at the crossroads, until his granddaughter Roswyn appears — relieved, apologetic, aware that a Peryton has been spotted in the area. Aveline mentions they may need somewhere to stay. Roswyn offers the barn without hesitation.

23rd Leaffall — Midday: The dam comes into view and it is genuinely impressive. Aveline's paperwork holds well enough that the guards redirect them to the visitor's offices rather than turning them away. On the upper walkway, both Reinald and Brigitte spot Pascal on the far side — separately acquainted with him, apparently. Reinald says something odd under his breath and keeps moving. Inside, Zinri is behind the counter — foxfolk, keys sorted by size, professionally warm. When she hears Reinald's voice, she looks up and recognizes the Novelington name. She asks about the seventh book. He tells her he can neither confirm nor deny. She accepts this with disappointment and goes to find Soren.

23rd Leaffall — Midday: Soren arrives reading something and has the expression of a man perpetually interrupted. He confirms the De Ragnaisse stonework, assigns Zinri to escort them, and tries to leave. Aveline catches him before he does, pivoting immediately to warranties and contract extensions. She glances back once — you got this — and walks away with him.

23rd Leaffall — Afternoon: Zinri is a thorough guide. She points out the telescope, the best views, the great wall separating three territories. When Reinald mentions Rink, she softens — someone has to pay for all those trinkets — and then closes the subject. The fishing docks on the far side are completely empty. The closure notice looks recent, plastered over the original sign in the last few days. Zinri calls it a seasonal measure. Reinald and Brigitte know it's a studied line.

23rd Leaffall — Afternoon: Zinri leaves them to their investigation. In the first storage room: cheap alcohol, nothing useful. Behind a barrel, Reinald finds a single protruding stone. Behind it, contraband Concordian rum. He pockets it without explaining why. Brigitte stares at him. The second storage holds a locked drawer marked confiscated — something arcanically active inside, a jug with deer-like engravings that Brigitte half-recognizes and can't place. A guard walks in before they can do anything with it. They examine walls with professional interest until he leaves.

23rd Leaffall — Afternoon: They knock on the Arcanist's Office. A younger deerfolk assumes they have business and goes back to her work. Reinald nearly gets her to confirm private scroll sales before she thinks better of it. On the way out, Brigitte spots Aveline and Soren coming down the hallway — they are in a room they have no business being in. She says, very calmly, oh, we wandered in thinking this was the next room, and they walk directly into the corridor where they bump into both of them. Aveline covers without missing a beat. Soren wants Zinri back on escort duty immediately.

23rd Leaffall — Afternoon: In the second guard quarters, Reinald finds water seeping through a crack in the corner wall — recent, possibly that day. De Ragnaisse stonework, which neatly supports their cover. The water smells wrong. Not obviously, but wrong in a way Brigitte registers in her chest before her nose. She collects a sample. Zinri reappears, snaps her fingers, and reveals a floating scrying eye. She's seen everything. She names the rum, the investigation, and demands an explanation. Brigitte points out that Zinri has been lying about the fishing. Zinri says she doesn't owe them answers. Reinald points out that if she'd wanted to report them, she already would have. People are getting sick in the city. The crack leads toward something causing it. Zinri thinks it over, and agrees.

23rd Leaffall — Afternoon: Zinri confirms that a few days ago they noticed contamination in the fish — that's why fishing was shut down. She doesn't know if something is wrong before the Purification Chamber or within it. She says what she's told to say; until a few minutes ago, they were simply civilians. Getting to the Purification Chamber means waiting until evening, when the arcane system cycles down and the arcanists are gone. Zinri has a key — but she can't simply hand it over. Outside, she theatrically trips on a rock. Her keys drop. She doesn't pick them up. A guard rushes over to help her. She thanks him with motherly flirtatiousness and promises him a cake.

23rd Leaffall — Afternoon: They walk the lakeshore while waiting for Aveline. The fishing docks are empty. One large bearfolk has built himself a lounge chair and is fishing with complete contentment, unaware of or unbothered by the prohibition. Reinald tells him helpfully that contaminated fish from near the dam has been making people sick and go violent. The bearfolk's eyes go wide. He packs up at considerable speed, leaves ten gold coins and all his fish on the ground, and is gone within minutes. Brigitte picks up the gold. Neither of them comments.

23rd Leaffall — Afternoon: Walking back, Brigitte mentions the green glow she saw in the sewers. Reinald realizes she was the one he saw climbing out through the grate. He pushes up his sleeve and shows her the gem in the Niðavellirian arm. She looks at it for a long moment before looking away. The Beast Within murmurs something about betrayal.

23rd Leaffall — Afternoon: Aveline finds them leaning on the upper railing like tourists. Reinald tells her about the crack, the water, Zinri, and the key. Aveline tells them what she got from Soren — under the pressure of contract negotiations, he let slip that the dam has been producing irregular noises. Not mechanical, not the water. Something else. He described it the way someone describes a thing they've decided not to fully think about. She didn't push. She didn't need to. Aveline says she'll return to the city tonight and come back in two days as a follow-up. She tells them not to do anything that can't be explained away, which is the closest she gets to saying be careful.

23rd Leaffall — Early Evening: Roswyn has supper ready when they arrive at Needlethorne Farm — warm, plentiful, nothing elaborate. Bromm is already at the table with his tea. Brigitte asks about the water level. Roswyn says it's been rising slowly for decades, but the last few weeks have been different — the small farm dam has been working harder than usual, the sluice checked twice in ten days instead of once a month. Bromm says the water talks more now. Roswyn tries to redirect, assuming he's confused. Reinald asks what he means. More voices, Bromm says. It used to be quiet at night. Now it isn't.

23rd Leaffall — Early Evening: Reinald asks if it's the metal men coming from the water. Bromm goes briefly, suddenly clear — yes. They come up from the water, go toward the big stone wall, then go back under. He's watched from the porch three times. The family thinks he's confused. Roswyn doesn't dismiss it this time. She says she's heard it too — not voices, a low resonance in the ground, felt in the boots before it reaches the ears. Always at night. Always toward the dam. She thought it was in her head.

23rd Leaffall — Evening: Aveline says her goodbyes and rides back toward the city. The barn is dry, swept, lantern hung, bedrolls prepared with some care. The sun is gone by the time Brigitte and Reinald saddle up. The farm quiet behind them. Not much said between them on the road back down toward the dam. Reinald checks the key in his pocket. Brigitte keeps her eyes on the road.