As they begin to glide into the lake, they notice a distant rippling and a dark shape emerge from the water before disappearing below...
The party, in the middle of the lake, has seen a suspicious ripping in the distance and a dark shape emerging from the water. In the less-than-intact Pronged Goat are Lanin "Bones" Emsbaltriforte, Mr. Mistoffelees, and Meryn Anteos, while in the structurally sound Burly Ram, Kirottu, Amber Forgeson and Tali the researcher row cautiously.
Ice floes clustered around the dock prove only a slight navigational challenge, resulting in a small hit on the Pronged Goat, but they manage to reach the middle of the lake without further incident. The rippling seems to have disappeared, and to bide some time (and fulfill Tali's obligation to the grumpy fisherman Grynsk Berylbore), a few cast their lines onto the water. There's a good variety of fish it seems, but the first of the famed knucklehead trout goes to Lanin, with help from Meryn to wrangle the 70lb beast into the boat, where Mr. Mistoffelees promptly turns it into an ex-knucklehead trout with a precision stab through the eye.
Overburdened with fish, the Pronged Goat heads to shore to deposit their catch before resuming the hunt for whatever is in the lake.
Probably a good thing, too, because whatever is there makes its presence known, and it wants to play...
Circling both boats now, the creature manages to herd them into the middle of the lake, where the group speculates as to its motives. Does it want to eat them? Scared, the party heads back to shore, but before they can make it the... something.... breaches the surface in a manner not unlike a whale, with a large fin almost - waving? - and a deep low voice that sounds almost like a "helloooooooo" of some sort, before it submerges again with a splash.
Kirottu is first to react, with a shout of "Hello!" that results in the creature popping up before diving again. Lanin, transfixed, starts taking her own notes on the encounter. Finally the group realizes that whatever this may be, it appears to be capable of speech, and an interview of sorts results with the monster of the lake in its sad, Eeyore-like voice.
What is it doing? Attacking the boats from Bremen. Why? They have to help the Frostmaiden, or they'll be stupid again, and that would make them sad.
The party manages to persuade the monster - now affectionately named Lisa - that the one who gave them the power of speech, someone named Ravisin, was lying to them. Lisa can stop attacking boats and still have their speech, and most importantly, has made a new friend, Tali!
Relieved, the group engages in some celebratory fishing with their new friend, Lisa. And good thing, too, because Meryn was headed for the icy lake after another battle with a trout - but Lisa gently caught and deposited him back in the rowboat, averting disaster.
As the noon hour draws closer it's time to head for shore with their catch and say goodbye to Lisa. Tensions flare when Kirottu interrogates the group's motives on helping Lisa, rather than treating her like the murderer that she is given her history with the fishermen of Bremen. But there's not much time for moral discussions as Grynsk confronts them all dockside, with news of a terrible crime!
He requests firmly that the group follow him back to the Buried Treasures Inn for interrogation, as they're new to town and he's been tasked with investigating them. Amber vociferously disagrees and harangues the dwarf over his strategies, especially for a town that's trying to promote tourism, making the valid point that interrogating visitors is not a good way to accomplish that.
Grynsk relents, asking the group for what they might know, to which Mr. Mistoffelees relates their sighting of five figures in the moonlight by the Shaengarne River the previous night as they looked for the Speaker. Curious, because only three bodies were found...
Kirottu, impatient for the antics of the party and the town, leaves in a huff, and the rest of the party is asked to stay around town while the crime is investigated.
As they sit in the inn, a dwarven woman approaches their table with a proposition. "If it's answers you're looking for, we have some things to discuss."