The session opened mid-crisis on the logging road outside Waymoot, with Gorlog and Wicket aboard the Greasy Spoon facing four of Silas's thugs — two flanking the wagon, two emerging from the treeline — while Silas himself lurked unseen in the forest. Julian Pendergast, the Gilded Ladle auditor who had just awarded the wagon a seal of adequacy, revealed himself as an unexpected ally when the thugs turned on the party, drawing his ornate silver greataxe — the Critic's Choice — and dispatching two thugs with lethal precision before the rest of the crew had even swung a meaningful blow. Silas made one cowardly stab at Wicket from the treeline, missed, and used a bonus action to disengage and retreat, disappearing into the woods. Gorlog grappled the final conscious thug, Wicket finished off another, and the surviving thug — having cried out fruitlessly for Silas and received only silence — attempted to flee before being tripped by Wicket and force-fed some of Gorlog's food. Harold the Kingsguard arrived with a dozen loggers just as the fight concluded, demanding an accounting of the 'treachery.'

Meanwhile, Skrit and Sanji had been in Silas's office at the Cupped Axe, where Sanji handed over her entire gold supply to Skrit after a deeply confused economics lesson that devolved into Skrit accidentally explaining the hide-tanning process and reducing Sanji to tears. The two then set off down the logging road to reunite with the rest of the crew, passing the time discussing soap and fur-care routines. Skrit rolled a 17 perception and faintly heard the sounds of fighting ahead, though Sanji was too distracted to notice anything.

When Skrit and Sanji arrived at the wagon, the scene was: one injured thug on the ground, Pendergast impeccable in white silk, and Wicket making a statement to Harold. Skrit, grown momentarily comfortable in his crew's company and forgetting his station in the world, reached up and rubbed Pendergast's pristine silken robes. Pendergast immediately struck him for six points of bludgeoning damage. Sanji, unfazed, then walked up and touched the robe herself — Pendergast swung at her, she used her monk deflection and redirected the force back into his own face. This enraged Pendergast entirely. He attacked Sanji twice with the Critic's Choice for a combined 19 points of damage, while Skrit responded with a Draconic Cry and a failed stab. Wicket used the distraction to pickpocket Pendergast's inspection ledger. As Harold and the loggers looked on in bewilderment, Pendergast used his action to activate a special ability called Cease and Desist, forcing Gorlog, Skrit, and Wicket to make DC 14 wisdom saves. All three failed and became restrained until the end of their next turns. The session ended on this cliffhanger, with three party members frozen, Sanji bloodied and holding her action, Harold approaching with the logging crew, and Silas having vanished into the King's Forest.

The party holds Silas's payment ledger from the Cupped Axe as physical evidence of his payments to Constable Plum, but they now face an injured, furious government auditor, a confused Kingsguard, and no obvious legal protection.