After their retreat from the great battle with Marutuk and Ezekiel under the Grave of Horas, the remaining members of the Inconvenience Removal Agency barely manage to teleport themselves to Zeantis to escape the wrath of the dragon whose lair they have trespassed.
Back in the IRA headquaters, some letters from the 10 days absence are read, updates from their employees are received, and a good night of sleep is had...
- Ken received a letter from his old contact Darius, reporting him of some secret workings inside the Triones
- Silent Pete wrote, that he is now a member of the Creed of the Ravenmother that left Zeantis for a crusade against the Crowfather, together with the priests the IRA has rescued from their northern temple
- Several citizens of Zeantis are interested in joining the IRA, based on the recruiting Syllas did a while ago, but as no member was present the last days, the guard told them to watch out for a red notice letter that will be pinned to the gate as soon as their training could begin
- General Reilgar replies to a sending that the IRA should join an open council meeting up the candlekeep in the morning
- Lorekeeper Amón is unavailable for "some time"
The morning greets the rested group together with a mysterious stranger - Drem Greenglen, a halfling ranger, apparently sent by Amon, to help out with the IRA's important business. Suspicions aside, they all leave for the candlekeep to join the open council meeting and after some arguing with the guards at the entrance to surpass the crowd of council spectators, they enter the big hall.
General Reilgar is informed of the looming thread of the Iron Army that the Hand of Morlin sent towards Zeantis and the recently discovered weaknesses of their members. After taking his leave, the group sits through the open council meeting, nervously experiencing the politics of the ministers they wait to finish. But then Abraxas enters the public speaking arena. The IRA storms to the rescue, but Abraxas ensures he is won't harm anyone but is in fact here to sell his army in exchange for the freedom of Ajasi and the rest of the Hand of Morlin. Accusations and chaos fill the air and in the end, Prime Minister Yennas Zinjeon initiates the arrest of Abraxas and the IRA, bringing them into a magically secured prison near the congress hall.
Sharp comments and questions are being thrown between Abraxas and the IRA. Abraxas only wants peace and to make the world whole again, he claims. But before the IRA can decide whether to kill him now to take their best chance so far, General Reilgar gets them out of the cell, leaving the grinning Abraxas behind, who willingly stays there until the Iron Army arrives in four days, giving the congress time to decide on his offer.
In Reilgars office, he assures the others that he would also like to kill the prisoner as soon as possible, but that the attempt on his life could result in a worse fate for Zeantis without more knowledge of the situation. In the end, no decision on how to proceed is formulated but the IRA gets redirected towards the other ministers of the Congregation of Unity that currently hold a smaller meeting in private. Together with them, a proposal is made to teleport the IRA back to the Grave of Horas to find the controls of the Iron Army, that is suspected to be behind the secret door the IRA found and is responsible for Bruri's absence. Pastries are gathered and Archmage Khelem is recruited to execute the transportation. While Archmage Cassius Caecilianus - the one holding the amulet imprisoning Ajasi - is being guarded into a saferoom, the IRA enters the Halls of Arcana, a magical school down in Zeantis.
Khelem lends the IRA a Snoozing Fork (a magical tuning fork to temporarily disable arcane enchantments) and some spell components and healing potions, then initiates the teleportation to the Grave of Horas. While the group starts their infiltration of the dragon's lair, Khelem helps them with a big distraction to lead the guarding creatures out of the premises. Inside, the infiltrators head for the titan heart chamber, where they but a day ago fought against the fingers of morlin and lost two companions. But this time, the hall is filled with Guard Drakes and a blue wyrmling. Another distraction and some invisibility on Drem, and the mysterious door is in reach, but as the Snoozing Fork audibly hits the door, the last remaining Guard Drake may have noticed the intruders ...