For weeks, you’ve been on Duster’s trail, desperate to learn the truth. Is she an enemy of Obendar or its secret ally? Are her forewarnings against the Gearloc Council accurate, or she just a crank -- or worse still, a rogue agent trying to sow dissension in the Gearloc public?

The problem with tracking a skilled shadow-dweller, though, is the whole “she dwells in the shadows” thing. You see a sign here, hear a whisper there, but by the time you arrive at the place you think she might be, she’s gone -- if she was ever there to begin with.

Still, today you think you’re on the right track. A musty-smelling Gearloc with a missing incisor told you he’d seen Duster slinking near these caverns only recently. They seem like a good place to hide a Gearloc who doesn’t want to be found: deserted, spooky, and right near the Sibron River in case you need to make a speedy getaway.

You’ve made your way around the rock face and are nearing the riverside cavern opening when you hear a noise from behind you. You whip around, but there’s nothing there -- and then you realize you’ve been had when a pair of weathered hands shoves you hard from behind, plunging you into the Sibron.

You resurface moments later, sputtering for air and flailing around to find purchase on any solid outcropping. Your hand finds a root from a shoreline tree and you grab on tight, pulling yourself back to shore. You’re upset, both at yourself for falling for such a ruse and at your assailant (probably Duster) for their cruel trick. However, your fuming is interrupted when you spot a soggy leatherbound tome that appears recently placed near the base of the tree. Could this have been left here for you?

Opening the book, you read a few lines and see that this may hold the answers you seek…