The episode begins with DU.EE at the Candlekeep gates, awaiting instruction from Gatekeeper Fentrixil Greymist. Greymist is discussing the merits of a book that has been presented to him by a Seeker – a young woman named Bella Wend. He beckons to DU.EE and kindly asks him to take the book to the Great Readers for further evaluation. DU.EE takes the book and proceeds across the Court of Air. His innate curiosity prompts him to examine it on the way to the Emerald Door. He finds that the book, entitled Mazfroth’s Mighty Digressions is an odd mess of a book. The brown leather cover is worn from time and use. The name of the book and its author, Mazfroth Gethur, are elegantly written in cursive with black ink on the first page. The care put into the front page, however, does not apply to the rest of the book’s contents. Mazfroth’s handwriting is messy and hasty, as if he couldn’t write down their thoughts fast enough. Furthermore, the book’s pages don’t all match, indicating that the author kept adding more pages. It contains a collection of eclectic essays on such subjects as divinity, the denizens of the multiverse, and the nature of magic. The book’s stitching is haphazard, and looks like it could come undone at any moment. DU.EE helpful casts Mending on the book, and several frayed threads re-knit, securing the binding more firmly.
DU.EE passes through the Emerald Door into the Inner Ward. He traverses the familiar corridors and staircases and arrives at the desk of Daral Yashenti (this name is new to you, because I could not remember the actual name of this NPC during the game). Yashenti is a master sage, and one of the Great Readers. He welcomes DU.EE and reaches for the presented book. The book abruptly bursts into a luminous sphere of ectoplasm, taking both DU.EE and the master sage by surprise. It reaches out toward DU.EE with a lashing tendril of energy. Yashenti shouts, “Egad! It’s a Gingwatzim!” He speaks an incantation and gestures toward the glowing orb, which busts with a flash and disappears into nothingness. “Confound it!” Yashenti roars, “That’s the second time that has happened this month! We need to find out why this happening! Come with me!” With that, Yashenti storms out the door and across the Court of Air with DU.EE in tow. While they walk, Yashenti explains that a Gingwatzim s a peculiar form of life created by a spell or a ritual. A Gingwatzim natural form, which they just encountered, is an amorphous sphere of ectoplasm. But it can be assigned a specific form by its creator, replicating a small nonmagical object held or worn by the creator. Whoever made this Gingwatzim must possess the original book. But why did they send this dangerous creature to the library?
Meanwhile, back in the Hearth, the rest of the group has returned to see if Lis has concluded his business with the bartender. Upon entering, they see that Little One still sits reading beside the fire in the company of Sprig. Ferdinand naps in a comfy chair nearby. At the bar, Winslow Wolcott is “in his cups,” swaying over a nearly empty “Bloody Scale.” He nods at them blearily in a vague, inebriated welcome. Momentarily, the door to the back office opens, and out steps the bartender. “Where’s Lis?” they ask, but it quickly becomes clear that this is in fact Lis himself, bearing the bartender’s likeness. Lis assures them that the bartender “Quae” is safe, and has gone “on vacation.” He suggests that masquerading as Quae, a well-known individual around the library campus, he should be able to move around freely and gain some information without arousing suspicions. He informs them that Quae has a maritime background, and a pronounced love/hate interest in sharks. The real Quae had informed Lis that Matreous was a kind, studious, individual who was studying methods to diagnose and treat curses. He had a sister in Baldur’s Gate, and Quae had suggested that Lis and his friends should find a way to notify her of her brother’s passing.
The group discusses the concerning presence of an interloper within the library grounds with an unsettling interest in DU.EE. They decide that they had better find their friend. They leave the Hearth and arrive at the gate in time to see DU.EE and a tall, grey-haired sage in conversation with Fentrixil. They approach the group, and Lis, in full Quae mode, makes himself part of the discussion. Daral Yashenti is angry about the Gingwatzims and wants to know why Fentrixil didn’t give the book a closer look. He also interrogates the seeker, Bella Wend, who stands baffled, clearly not understanding the trouble her offering has caused. The sages conclude that the girl most likely had no idea what she carried, but they want to know where she got it. She states that she purchased it from a stand in Baldur’s Gate, but she can’t remember the name… something with the word “dune” in the name? She is upset that she spent a good deal of money on the book, only to find that it is a fraud. The sages sympathize, and decide to grant her admission anyway, as they did for another seeker who found herself in a similar circumstance just a few weeks ago. A mercenary by the name of “Valor” brought in a book that turned out to be a Gingwatzim. She is still within the Candlekeep grounds, working off her admission by performing some repair work on the roof of the House of Rest.
Luvalin suggests to them that this might be the very ploy to get DU.EE out of the keep, and away from the mysterious stranger who seeks him. He encourages them to go to Baldur’s Gate and find the source of these frauds, or even better, retrieve the original books that had served as the models for these Gingwatzims. Should they prove successful, they will be rewarded for their efforts. In the meantime, he will investigate the mysterious intruder, while running interference with Zor. He feels that her interest in the death of Matreous is outside her jurisdiction and exhibits poor judgment.
They decide to leave immediately, before Zor can return. Lis drops his disguise as Quae, and instead takes on the form of Bella Wend. He makes do with what he can piece together from the spare articles of clothing he carries, trying his best to emulate the garb of a young woman from a rural, farming background. They dress DU.EE in a cloak and head east on the Lion’s Way.
DU.EE is fascinated by the outside world, especially the sights and sounds of the woods where they hunker down during the night. After a few days of travel, they come to the Coast Way. There, they turn south, and duck into the woods. This course of action is designed to put any pursuers off their track. They travel through the woods back to the north, and eventually get back on the road, headed toward Baldur’s Gate.
Along the way, they are accosted by an aggressive ratlike humanoid, and his giant rat minions. Blades are drawn and battle ensues. Grabnar is badly bitten in the thigh by a rat, but the rest of the party fares better. They dispatch one rat (it’s head becomes a gruesome hat for DU.EE.) and disarm their leader. The ratman, one Mushika, surrenders, agreesing to leave and trouble them no more. He claims to have once been a member of the Thieves’ Guild in Baldur’s Gate, but they ultimately shunned him, perhaps due to his “condition.” They take what little coin he has (Mushika is apparently a very poor bandit) and they send him on his way. He takes off running north up the road with one of his rat companions. The group subdues the remaining injured rat, healing it and trying to turn it into a steed capable of carrying a gnome.