Brigitte's Perspective (22nd–23rd Leaffall)

22nd Leaffall — Evening: The street outside the Seahorse's Catch goes from ordinary to catastrophic in seconds. The dragonfolk coming at her has burned past fury entirely — he doesn't look at her like a person or an obstacle, just the nearest thing, and he hits like he means to end her. She gets out of the way. Barely. Around her: Ervin bleeding and still moving, Sir Everhard an immovable wall between three of them and a group of civilians, Grasha shielding children, Celica's barrier cracking faster than it can handle. The crazed go down and get back up. That's the thing nobody was prepared for. Brigitte shouts it across the street: "They're poisoned, tie them up!"

22nd Leaffall — Evening: Sonya arrives at a run, baubles already out, moving toward whoever needs them most — which is everyone, which means she's never in the right place. Wilt follows with his hood pulled low; the sun hasn't fully set. Then one blow catches Sir Everhard at exactly the wrong angle. A civilian dies before the scream is finished, and the sound of it stops everyone who hears it cold. His roar tears down the street — raw, furious, completely helpless. He gets up. He keeps fighting. When Sonya takes a hit, whatever composure Wilt had been holding goes with it. What comes out of his claws is the precise opposite of light. It drops the crazed fighter clean. Nobody comments. There isn't time.

22nd Leaffall — Evening: In the alley, the masked Theran is waiting in the shadows with a bottle already outstretched. Never stepping into the light. A voice in that language she half-recognizes. Come. Use this. She takes it. A memory hits without permission — flowers, that smell — and then it's gone and there's still a fight happening. Two doses. The first poured into a downed adventurer's throat, and something leaves their body with the blood. When the guards arrive, she looks at Sir Everhard and Grasha, makes a silent calculation about debts, and follows Wilt toward the alley.

22nd Leaffall — Evening: They press against alley walls waiting for guards to pass. Wilt keeps Sonya at arm's length, the black energy still not stopping the way it should. A guard passes close enough that Brigitte can hear him breathing. Nobody moves until he's gone. Then Branded finds the sewer entrance.

22nd Leaffall — Evening: Something is already down there. Metallic scraping, rhythmic, getting louder. A voice in that language again. The words meant nothing to the others. To Brigitte: Life form detected. She tells them to keep moving and splits off, drawing it down a different passage. It follows every turn with the patience of something that doesn't get tired. She finds a ladder, comes up through a grate into the Trader District, crouches and listens. Life form signal lost. She waits, doubles back. Sonya grabs her the moment she walks through the door.

22nd Leaffall — Late Evening: Wilt is at the bar looking worse than he'd let on, black energy still pulsing off his claws, asking for Gurak. Brigitte goes straight to the guest room. Vesper makes her say please. Say it in a full sentence. Gurak sets the box down without a word and leaves. On the way out, Vesper's eyes settle on the collar. Could be a little tighter. Brigitte tightens it herself and doesn't look away. I always get what I want.

22nd Leaffall — Late Evening: In Sonya's room, the three of them go over it. The fish, the water, the adventurers who wouldn't stay down. The masked Theran had the antidote before any of them knew there was a problem — which meant he'd either caused it or had been watching long enough to understand it. The bottle suggested it wasn't the former. Sonya says she needs more baubles and antidotes, then starts explaining the suspension process and membrane properties in considerable detail. Brigitte and Branded let her talk.

Reinald's Perspective (22nd–23rd Leaffall)

22nd Leaffall — Night: Röka manifested at the window sensing something familiar he couldn't place. A brief vision came through: the sewers, something mechanical moving through a corridor, life form detected, someone climbing out through a grate above it. His arm sparked when it ended. Röka's gemstone glowed in a way it hadn't before — Niðavellirian technology, he thought. Whatever was moving under the city ran on the same ancient mechanisms as the arm. Which left Reinald wondering how much older than his current stone Röka actually was.

22nd Leaffall — Night: Aveline's voice from downstairs, urgent. Ervin in the hallway with a massive wound across his back. Reinald used one of Sonya's baubles on it — the bleeding slowed, the flesh knitted faster than it should have. Ervin described the incident. Something cold settled over Reinald because he had seen this before. He told them about the dream. Same behavior, same pattern, poison that had to be cleared before the condition ended. The word we came out without him intending it to. Victoria's eyes moved to him and stayed there.

22nd Leaffall — Night: The conversation moved through everything they had — the fish, the water, the dam, the missing people, the flowers appearing across the city. Victoria wondered if the poisoning connected to The Good Stuff in the wrong quantity, and whether that explained Lewys cracking down on exactly the people most likely tied to its distribution. Whether he knew more than he was showing, or whether tightening his grip was simply the only response he had. Nobody arrived at an answer. Reinald gave up his room for Ervin without hesitation.

22nd Leaffall — Night: Victoria closed the living room door. You said 'we'. Who is we? He told her properly — the warehouse, the woman he'd fought alongside who felt like someone he'd known for years before they'd ever met. More than ten days ago and never faded. Victoria told him about Marco. Leonopolis, twenty-five years ago. A dream about an assassination that came true. She had always assumed it was just a good story. Now she wasn't sure. They agreed the dam was still the right move. She said carefully, in the way she said things she wanted heard: you never know what people's actual motives are. He said he'd keep his wits about him. She left. Röka stayed unusually quiet.