Aboard the Rocking Seal, the thieves sought information from crew and recruits. Early tensions arose when a guard harassed "Mica" for his Devilborn heritage, but despite his open racism and obvious incompetence, Mercy defused the situation. Voss the Goss quickly reframed himself as a “reformed racist” and befriended the cook when Mica promised him extra portions and flattered him as a "good guard".
When Breakbleak Rock was in sight, Ellenor discreetly cast an Unseen Servant to hide the party’s bag of holding in an alcove near the dock, copying Rasmus O'Dranith's trick from A Stygian Gambit. They were scanned by the Warden Ramos Stormforged, who detected no magical items as he greeted the recruits; notably, he had received word that Mica was a chef of great renown. During intake, Ellenor noticed interesting supplies in the hospital room, and deliberately lingered in the panopticon to make eye contact with Prisoner 13, trying to project romantic interest in the beardless dwarf while tying her shoe. Ramos gave a full tour of the hexagonal prison, and Elle inferred that the warden regularly took smoke breaks from the top of the surveillance tower.
In the kitchens, "Mica" and "Keke" met Chef Tiny Tulvrak, a loud and trusting Orc. Relying on Dee’s training, Elle was confident in her cooking skill, but absolutely sewered Merc by declaring that Mica was a brilliant chef. The devilborn convincingly conned Tulvrak into believing he was indeed a genius, but his hands were destroyed and in need of reconditioning. Meanwhile, in the guard's meeting room, "Yula" and "Persimmon" met Placidia Liepina, a first-year and overworked Captain with a rigid adherence to rules. Yula made a good first impression with Placidia, though seemingly everyone mistrusted Persimmon's ability as a guard. Luckily, both women been assigned to the same shift, which occurred in twelve-hour intervals.
The fake cooks decided to raid the hospital. They persuaded Tiny Tulvrak to cover for them if discovered, claiming that they had spotted ingredients that would allow Mica to pursue his genius. They were indeed caught by a roving patrol, but Elle improvised by cutting her finger on a hidden knife, giving the guards a reason to escort them to the hospital. Under the pretense of creating an emergency kit for the kitchen, she quietly gathered ingredients for a poison, but kept her list broad enough to avoid obvious suspicion. This included dry Fire Lichen; the stalks had been stocked as a cure for an extremely-rare poison, but Dee knew it was a delicacy in dwarven cuisine. Somehow, they had actually found an ingredient that would genuinely improve the prison's meals.
Up high in their barracks, "Persimmon" invited other guards to a low-stakes game of Three-Dragon Ante, where she and "Yula" won a few unsuspicious silver pieces. They learned from the veterans that assigned shifts could often be volunteered for or traded amongst the guards, provided that Placidia or Ramos did not take note. The two fake guards met the fake cooks during mess hall, and devised a plan to communicate with Prisoner 13 through food service and assigned chores. Punmiri realized that Elle’s poison would be lethal to some weaker inmates and guards, but not to the dwarven prisoner; by poisoning her, they could send her to the hospital, and Nessa and Punmiri could volunteer to watch.
As Yula and Persimmon watched from the surveillance tower, Mica and Keke served regular fare to Prisoner 13, hiding a note within; they also memorized some other inmates, including Prisoner 76, a Dark Elf spellcaster. That evening, Elle stealthily approached the front gate to see if she could get her Bag of Holding. She found that the front gate guards were neglecting their watch, engrossed by an intense card game. She returned to tell Mercy, and the sorcerer capitalized by magically disguising himself as Warden Ramos. He intimidated the guards into lowering the crane without question, and searched until he found the unseen servant’s hiding place. Knowing that the guards were watching, he pocketed the Bag of Holding, but also inspected several keelboats to disguise his intentions. However, in a disastrous stroke of luck, the real Ramos had ascended the tower for a smoke break, and looked down to see “himself” re-entering his prison.
Without hesitation, Mercy put the crane operator to sleep and re-disguised himself as Prisoner 76. As he dashed inside, a wild magic surge granted him the ability to speak any language at exactly the right time, and he shouted Slurs in Undercommon while using magic to project his voice in the opposite direction. At the same time, Ramos ordered a total lockdown of Bleak End, and its blue continual flames turned red as alarms blared. Nessa and Punmiri suddenly gained the ability to see through invisibility, but slowly donned their splint armor as they had been instructed, and joined the guard response. Mercy dropped his disguise as he re-entered the kitchen, claiming he had been attacked by a dark elf while gathering ingredients from the hospital. Despite telling Mica not to wander, Tiny Tulvrak had been impressed by his new chefs, so gathered the kitchen staff. They all agreed to protect their own, keeping silent about Mica's late-evening jaunt.
A full inquisition followed where every staff and inmate were interviewed. However, aside from their new cook's somewhat-justified first trip to the hospital, nothing incriminating had surfaced. Ramos and Placidia learned nothing of the party’s actions. Tiny Tulvrak was on their side without knowing their true intentions. The bag of holding was safely stashed under a sack of potatoes. And Prisoner 76 was never seen again.