After slaying the gnolls, the party decides to split up. Mystic will turn into a horse, and Dare will ride her South to the Sword Mountains while the others start back towards the abandoned wagon. This way, they figure, they’ll save time. The wagon can be checked more thoroughly and the berries can be reached more quickly.

Dare and Mystic head off. After about thirty minutes of fast galloping, they reach the rocky plains at the base of the mountains. Bushes begin to appear, dotting the landscape. Dare and Mystic, still in horse form, check them all. While they look like the Biseechee bushes described by Isolde, none of them have berries. After checking several bushes, Mystic takes a closer look and finds boot prints leading away from the bushes, heading towards the mountains. They follow them the best they can though doing so is difficult on the rocky soil. Eventually they lose them but find more bushes, some with berries still on them. Dare dismounts Mystic and starts to pick them. In all, he’s gathered five berries, when he feels something sharp on the swell of his back. A deep, grumbly voice tells him to stop what he’s doing and hand over those berries.

Dare turns. Standing behind them are several dwarven warriors, one of which was the one holding a longsword to Dare’s back. They’re accompanied by four younger female dwarves, dressed in golden robes. Dare’s told to hand the berries over, but he refuses. Telling them that they’re needed to save a life. The dwarf doesn’t seem to care. There’s something about him. There’s something about all of them. They all seem pale, tired and have black circles under their eyes — like they’re dead men standing. All of warriors are dressed in fine armor and carry shields and a mixture of battle axes. The four woman have satchels but no weapons of any kind.

Dare, decides to try a quick escape and hops on Mystic. Before he can ride away, one of the dwarves reaches up and pulls him from Mystic’s saddle. He pins Dare to the ground with his battle axe pressing down on his neck. “I don’t want to kill you,” the dwarf says, “but I will if I have to.”

They need the berries. Every single one. Their clan is dying. Another dwarf approaches. She’s on in years, has gray hair and is dressed in elegant robes. She interrupts and tells the one dwarf to let Dare get to his feet. “Why do you need the berries,” she asks him.

He tells them about Nilsa. While she feels bad, she also insists that the dwarfs cannot spare a single berry. When Dare presses them for more information, she tell him of an evil that is killing their clan — The Gold Dwarves of Clan Silvertarn.  Its dwarves are dying. Their crops are turning black and their livestock is going mad. “The berries,” she says, “are the only way we’re able to effects at bay. At least for now.”

Dare does his best to plead his case for the berries, and in the end, she allows him and Mystic to leave with a single berry. They hope its enough.

Meanwhile, as soon as Dare and Mystic had left the others, Lilvari, Droop and Mercarri check the gnolls for anything of worth. They don’t find much besides what’s on the leader — some chainmail. Though it’s in bad shape, it still gives them the sense that there’s something special about it. They decide to keep it and bring it to someone who can perhaps identify what that something special is. They start to head back. Droop mentions gnoll ears. “Didn’t I hear you mention that the knight man will pay you for gnoll ears?” And with that, they cut off the ears and stow them in Lilvari’s dungeoneer’s pack. For good measure, they take the hyenas’ ears as well.

They head back and reach the abandoned wagon after a little more than an hour. This time they check it a bit more thoroughly and find blood. Lilvari and Droop find a trail of it to some rocks in the nearby field. Behind the rocks is a dead female gnome with a large gash across her chest. While they are looking her over, Mercarri in investigating the inside of the wagon. She finds a barrel of apples that seem to be tainted with midnight tears. It’s about then that Dare and Mystic catch up. They discuss what to do next and decide that Dare and Mystic should hurry on towards Phandalin with the berry. The others will pull the wagon back so it can be checked out further.

Dare and Mystic get to Last Rites shortly before midnight. Isolde does her best to make a potion with the single berry. Nilsa is there with her mom and brother. She drinks the potion. Then there’s nothing to do but wait for midnight. The time comes and Nilsa is still alive. Dare and Mystic are thanked profusely for their efforts.

After telling Isolde of the dwarves (something she finds most interesting, since those Silvertarn dwarves are usually known for their kindness), they decide to head to Stonehill in for a drink. On their way, they notice a commotion further north. A cluster guards are headed their way. In the mix is Halia. They’re escorting her to the Townmaster Hall. Lilvari, Mercarri and Droop arrive pulling the wagon several hours later. They leave it with Isolde before heading home.

The next morning, they’re met by Sildar who tells them Halia wants a word with them. They follow him to the Townmaster’s hall. Halia yells at them for the party idea, telling them if it wasn’t for the party, Grista wouldn’t have gone off the deep end. They argue and at one point Dare starts making accusations about Halia having a hand in what happened. She looks amused and asks for details. Unfortunately they don’t have any to give. She tells them to watch their step, that she’s not a push over like Harbin and plans on doing what’s best for the town, no matter what the cost. They leave. It’s on the way out that they see the posters affixed outside. It reads, “Swearing in of Halia Thorton — 4th Townmaster of Phanadlin”. It says its to take place tomorrow. 

They go see Isolde who has had time to check out the wagon and the dead gnome. From a locket she’s found, it appear the gnome’s name was Breena. There’s also another named inscribed upon it — Jebeddo. She says that Sister Garaele described the gnome to others in town, and it appears that the apples were purchased in the market the day of the party. Isolde has discovered something else — a secret compartment in the wagon containing valuables. Not knowing what else to do with them, she gives them to Dare, Lilvari, Mystic, Mercarri and Droop. 

They head home. They get a visit from Efi — one of the former waitresses at The Sleeping Giant who professes Grista’s innocence. She tells them that she remembers something about the day of the party. She says that she went to the Sleeping Giant around 4am that morning (sometimes she shows up early to clean up from the night before, something Grista pays her extra for). She noticed the door wasn’t locked. She went in, figuring that Grista must have left it open the night before. Inside, asleep at one of the tables is a man she’s never seen before. She screamed, and he woke up. He seemed super drunk. He gave her no problems and left immediately, apologizing for being there. He gave her an apple that he had with him. When asked what she did with the apple, she says she threw it away. She doesn’t like apples. 

After she leaves, it isn’t long before someone else knocks on the door. It’s Sildar. Halia wants to see Mystic. She goes. At the Townmaster’s Hall, Halia tells her that she’s aware of her musical ability and wants to know if she’ll perform at the ceremony tomorrow. Mystic agrees. 

She arrives at the town green early the next morning. A stage has been erected for the ceremony. It’s there that she meets the other musicians who will play. While practicing she overhears a few guards discussing the town’s messenger service. What catches her ear is that they mention Halia’s name — that Narth, who works for Barthen, was seen a few days ago leaving town like a bat out of the nine hells. Apparently he had an urgent telegram that had something to do with Halia.

The villagers slowly gather in the town green, as do the rest of the party — Dare, Lilvari, Mercarri and Droop. The ceremony begins. Music is played, small speeches are given (through most of it, there are boos and goat noises made by Dare and Lilvari) and Halia is officially sworn in as the 4th Townmaster of Phandalin.