The band of adventurers hides out in a crevasse that opens onto the west side of the Shadowfurst Stoneyard. They plan to wait until nightfall to sneak into the city under the cover of darkness, possibly to seek out Lolly Oxcart, Carver’s mother, as a safe haven and ally in their quest to free the Strongbows and reunite Wendella with her parents. They maintain a watch on the goings on of the Stoneyard. A bell sounds, signaling the end of the lunch hour, and workers reluctantly pick up their tools and return to their labors. A handful of men shovel gravel into carts, others chisel slabs of stone from large standing blocks of granite and marble, while yet others bore holes into the bedrock at the bottom of open pits. Every so often they catch sight of a town guard patrolling among the piles of stone. The guards appear lackadaisical and not particularly alert.

Hours pass. In the late afternoon, a group of men enters the Stoneyard through the main gate. The party of newcomers consists of six town guards led by a tall man with black hair bound by a silver circlet. He is dressed in a long white coat with a high collar, along with a shiny silver belt and high black boots. The guards follow in the wake of his brisk, confident stride. He leads them to the entrance of the main business office. Several of the guards enter the building and soon emerge with another agitated man. Sartan asks Wendella if she recognizes any of those men. She replies, “Yes. Yes, that’s Donnwald. Councilman Donnwald. What’s he doing here? And that other man, that’s Carver’s boss. Carver worked here, you know. That’s his boss, the foreman. What are they up to?” 

Sartan, seeking clarification asks, “He’s the guy that’s in charge of the guards?” Wendella replies, “Yes. My father has his own personal guard, but the chairman of the city council is officially in charge of the guards. Back on the road, that fisherman said that martial law had been imposed. That must be Donnwald’s doing. He does not legally have that authority, but with his influence over the guards, who are corrupt anyway, he could make it happen. After all, it was he and his guards who have enabled the smuggling and racketeering in this town. They didn’t just turn a blind eye, but also took part in the profits. They made sure the law never interfered with the activities of the gangs, and people like Hack, and well, frankly my friends, and me.”

Donnwald, the foreman, and the guards move around to the back of the main building and are obscured from view by the large standing stones occupying the northern end of the Stoneyard. In their preoccupation with Donnwald, the party has let down their guard. They notice a bit too late that a pair of guards is approaching and so they scramble to hide themselves in the crevasse. Mishok, unfortunately knocks loose some stones, and the sound draws the guards’ attention. They rush forward, demanding “Who’s there? Show yourself!” They move into the opening in the cliff wall and catch sight of Mishok, still clad in town guard apparel. They question him immediately, “Oy, who are you, then!? One of the new recruits, are you?” Mishok plays along, replying, “Oh, yeah, yeah. First day on the job. And they assigned me here to the Stoneyard.” One of the guards laughs, “Of course, they send a dwarf to be among the rocks. Is that what you’re doing back there? Having a little fun with the rocks?” Mishok laughs along and says, “Well, you know, I had to pee, and this seemed like a good out-of-the-way spot.” The trio banter a bit more, and the guards warm up to him. They ask him to come along on their rounds, and they can go get a drink later at the Yur Inn. Mishok agrees, and heads off with his newfound “friends.” As they walk, the more talkative guard mentions that there are lots of new recruits to the town guard. “Ever since they locked down the city, Donnwald has signed up every bandit, smuggler, and gangster he could put a uniform on. Not a lot of training, so it’s a good thing you met a couple veterans like us. We can show you the ropes.” He goes on to mention the mysterious “Shadowfurst Four” that Donnwald seeks, scoffing at the notion, but disclosing that, “they did supposedly spot some mysterious guys lurking around the North Gate this morning,” but that “sighting” amounted to nothing.

Mishok and the guard pass among the standing stones and come upon a curious sight. Donnwald’s contingent of guards are clustered around a twenty-five foot tall statue, closely resembling the one in the town square. Two workers are pulling away ropes and a tarp that lie tangled around its stony feet. Donnwald stands atop a metal stairway that has been wheeled up to the back of the granite figure. Mishok and his two companions move to join Donnwald’s guards, who shuffle their feet and gaze about them in boredom and impatience. Donnwald is cursing and shouting seemingly random statements, such as “Donnwald! Strongbow! Champion! Shadowfurst!” The guards chat in hushed tones. “What’s he doing?” asks one of Mishok’s friends. One of Donnwald’s guards replies “I don’t know, but he’s pissed! he came all the way out here expecting that he could wake up this lump of rock, I guess. But it’s sure not working.”

Shortly, Donnwald has had enough. He gives up on whatever he is attempting, and storms down the stairs. He orders two of the guards to stay and watch the “Champion” and he marches off with four of the others. The foreman eyes Mishok with curiosity and strikes up a conversation. He acknowledges the legendary aptitude for stonework so prevalent in the dwarven race. The Stoneyard recently lost their previous gem cutting specialist, a dwarf named Berniece, who was an unpleasant sort but extremely talented. He invites Mishok to stop by the office after his shift to fill out a job application, and discuss the possibility of coming to work for the Stoneyard. Mishok agrees that he would like to learn more about the opportunity. Satisfied, the foreman takes his leave and heads back his office. Mishok and his guard companions decide the time has come for them to continue on their own rounds. They part ways to cover more ground, but agree to meet later for a drink.

The end of the work day draws near and the light begins to fade. A worker ignites oil lamps in strategic locations, and most of the other weary workers shuffle away through the gates and out into the streets.

Cycek takes the opportunity to move stealthily closer to the statue for a better look. He throws a stone as far as he can, and the two bored guards, eager for something to do, move off to investigate. Cycek silently climbs the metal stairs and finds a metal hatch left standing open in the broad back of the statue. Inside is a stone chair, upon which rests a silver helmet attached to a cable. Cycek takes a seat and places the helmet upon his head. The helmet covers his eyes completely, and after a moment he hears a deep voice in the darkness, “Password.” Cycek ascertains the meaning of this statement, and immediately begins speaking a litany of random words and statements, “ABC, 123, change password,” hoping to hit upon one that might fulfill the request and yield some result. He is so engrossed in what he is doing, that he does not hear the footsteps climbing the metal stairs behind him. A rough hand grasps him by the shoulder and an angry voice demands, “Get out of there, you! You are under arrest!” The guard drags him out of the opening and down the stairs. Before the other guard can assist, Cycek commands his loyal weasel companion to attack. Fuzzidohng leaps at the the startled guard and delivers a painful bite to his grasping hand. The guard lets go, and Cycek makes a break for it. Mishok sees this from across the yard, and eager to maintain his cover, runs at Cycek at full bore. The sturdy dwarf collides with the fleeing elf and tackles him to the ground. He whispers to him desperately, “Play along, just play along!” Cycek does so, thrashing about as Mishok shouts in mock triumph, “I got him! I got it handled, guys!” The pursuing guard, Herb, assists in the apprehension of Cycek, while the other returns to guard the “Champion.” Herb suggests they take Cycek and lock him up in the stable. Mishok agrees and as they begin to drag him to the makeshift jail, Cycek lashes out at Herb, physically and verbally. His kicks fail to connect, but his taunting words sting, earning Cycek a hard slap across the face.

During this fracas, Davros has moved to a hidden location, and Sartan has moved into the open with Wendella. The two other patrolling guards see the commotion from across the yard and break into a dead run. One charges to confront Sartan, while the other guard, Mishok’s talkative friend, runs to assist with Cycek. The “friend” excitedly says, “Wow! You got him! good job! I knew you had what it takes!” Mishok plays along, “Yeah, I caught one of these radicals trying to sabotage the ‘Champion’ statue.” The guard expounds on this, “Yeah, this is crazy what’s going on in the city. People are rebelling, wanting to defend Strongbow. I’ve never had anything against the mayor, but the boss says he was involved in killing some guys, and even his daughter. So the boss arrests him and locks down the city while they try to find his accomplices, and people don’t like it. But the boss is the boss and we gotta do what he says right? But, we have ‘radicals’ like this who just can’t accept it. Good job, Mishok, stopping this guy!”

The other guard approaches Sartan, and yells at him, “Stop right there! Who do you think you are? You don’t belong here! You’re gonna have to come with me!” Sartan puts on an act, pretending that he is drunk and that he and Wendella were engaging in some hanky-panky back behind the Stoneyard. Wendella plays along with the ruse. The guard couldn’t care less, and moves to grab Sartan. The two grapple at each other and it looks like blood will be spilled, but at that moment Wendella casts a Charm spell. The guard falls under the enchantment and looks at her with recognition and benevolence. He says “Wendella! Hi, how are you! Wow, it’s so good to see you! Who’s your friend?” She passes Sartan off as her boyfriend, and the guard is fully accepting of this pretense. Davros comes over to join the group, and the guard placidly accepts his presence as well. The guard agrees to knock off early, play hooky from his rounds, so they can all go to the Yur Inn for a drink. They turn to saunter away together across the Stoneyard, and Sartan suddenly throws a punch that drops the guard in an unconscious heap. Wendella, Sartan, and Davros drag the guard away into the shadows of the standing blocks of stone at the north end of the yard.

Mishok and the two guards drag Cycek into the stable. They find an empty stall. Mishok whispers to Cycek as he ties him up, “Listen, these knots are meant to be loosened easily. Give us a little time to get out of sight, but then work at these knots and you should be able to get free.” He and the guards bolt the stall door and leave through the main barn door, shutting it behind them.

In the dim light of the stable, Cycek, with the help of Fuzzindohng, quickly gets free from his bonds. He is in a large building divided into about a dozen stalls, eight of which are occupied by horses. A couple of empty wagons are parked here, and on the walls hang ropes, harnesses, and other implements used in the upkeep of horses and their use as draft animals. He is surprised to see a familiar face among his equine cellmates. Most of the horses stabled here are heavy draft horses employed in the hauling of stone wagons. But one is a riding mare that looks familiar. It is none other than Sylvester, the horse lent to them by Bontelan Wright, and which was subsequently stolen from Avita Plouman’s barn more than a week ago.