Summary
A captured mercenary confirms that the party was targeted for getting too close to the truth, and Salmaya Nordithis becomes the leading political suspect. Carrick Cinderforge explains the bridge between opposite-moving prime planes and helps turn a dangerous mystery into a concrete rescue expedition.
Detailed Narrative
The surviving mercenary from the Westbridge ambush is interrogated. He confirms that his group was hired to kill the party if they got too close to the answers. He knows little about the ultimate client, but his testimony proves that the post-murder conspiracy is active and monitoring the investigation.
The party continues working through official and underworld channels. The local killers associated with the first attack appear to be criminal muscle rather than ideological planners, pushing suspicion upward toward wealthier guild and political interests. The Architects Guild becomes a focus.
In Westbridge, the party encounters Salmaya Nordithis, a well-connected and heavily protected Architects Guild power broker. Her guarded behavior, elite connections, and the difficulty of reading her magically make her a major suspect, but the party still lacks proof strong enough to move openly against her. Baby scouts, the party follows Nordithis and her associates, and they gather circumstantial intelligence rather than a decisive confession.
Back at Rosenthorne, the strategic problem of Project Sunrise is finally explained in depth by Carrick Cinderforge. Naa is not merely a nearby demiplane. It is another prime plane moving in the opposite direction through time. Markus's machine created a bridge that gives the two otherwise disconnected timelines a common frame of reference. Simply smashing Rosenthorne's apparatus risks leaving the bridge problem unresolved or stranding anyone on the other side.
Carrick believes the safest solution requires action on both ends. He can provide the expedition with a one-use device/means to operate the connection from Naa, while he handles the Rosenthorne side. The party must locate the Naa-side bridge infrastructure, rescue the missing family/captives if possible, and then coordinate destruction.
Skumpy confirms that her resistance has attacked similar Nardic bridge infrastructure before. The mission shifts from “investigate whether to go” to concrete expedition planning.
A new household cook, Ginnipher/Jennifer, also becomes more visible. She is treated at first as a potentially untrusted new employee, but she will soon prove far more capable than her job title suggests.