Anise, Rowan, Milo and I walk to the Secret Garden, past a fallow wheat field and a patch of moors.

"Why do farmers plant crops in hexagons in this world?" Milo wonders as we pass from slushy farmland to rolling wilderness. "I hadn't even realized until we saw it from above."

I carefully calculate the level of nerdiness to try to explain to the reincarnation of an elderly Canadian businessman who died before any video games more complicated than Pong had appeared. Oh, right, board games were a thing.

"Did you ever play Settlers of Catan, or was that after your time?" I ask.

Milo shakes his head. "Afraid not."

"Well, it was a strategy game with a hexagon grid about trading resources and things," I say. "There's various mathematical reasons why hexagons are a superior configuration for certain things, though, due to the way the edges line up."

"I'll take your word on that," Milo says. "I have been working on Enhanced Senses (Monetary Evaluation). It adds an estimate of the value of something in its identify screen. The Neferns are vastly underselling themselves."

"Don't you have literal magic business skills?" I ask.

Milo grunts. "I did not ask to see their ledgers. That would be rude."

"As opposed to looking at their dirt and magically knowing it's good dirt." I shrug. "Not like I really care about anyone's secrets. I could probably blackmail half the people in Tempest just from watching the emotions in their auras because most people just aren't that good at masking their auras and the ones who can do it would be trouble anyway. Aunt Savannah is probably listening in on our conversation from Corwen."

We reach the gates to the garden. Wrought iron, resembling the ones on the Hedge Maze and Spooky Grove and identical to the one we saw in Colt's sketch. A standard entrance option for garden-type dungeons, I guess. Though an odd choice in aesthetic considering you don't see much iron around here otherwise. Maybe that's the point? It might be an actual defensive improvement for the dungeon. I know I saw a lot of options in Hebron's interface

The gate creaks open to admit us, and we go inside. A mossy cobblestone path winds between weedy, overgrown flowerbeds. A handful of tenacious daffodils are just getting ready to open, undeterred by the thistles and tall grass. Scraggly trees extend branches overhead, just starting to put out tiny new leaves.

Milo critically scans the area, frowning. "I bet this place will look much nicer next month."

"We're here to find a lockbox, not look at pretty flowers," Rowan retorts.

Milo shrugs. "Yes, but we can always come back and do another run. I've lost track of how many times I've run the Hedge Maze and Wisteria Garden. You always get at least something."

After a bit of searching and a minor scuffle with a patch of carnivorous daffodils, we finally decipher what exact spot Colt meant on his enigmatic drawing. The fast-growing weeds had already reclaimed the small hole that had been dug. He probably knew how to get in here without disturbing the monsters.

Skills increased: Survival (Careful Step), Search (Digging)

Anise pulls an object out of the hole and holds it up. Even dirty, scorched, and battered, the small metal box is obviously magical. Glimmering sigils edge the corners and form a knot around the lock.

"She thought it was a good idea to try to pick this?" Rowan says incredulously.

"I bet Griffin would have done the same," I say with a sigh. "Which would be a good reason why he's not here."

We get the lockbox back to the Nefern guest house. Anise lays it on a table and everyone and their aunt crowds around it.

"I'm going to try to pick the lock," I say.

"But you'll get cursed too!" Poppy protests.

"Depends if it was a one-shot trap," I say. "I can't tell. And if it's not, I want to see if I can resist it. If I can't, then I know Milo can cure me. In any case, we all want to know what's in this box."

I pull some lockpicks out of my bag of holding and get to work on the lock. I never bothered to train [Lockpicking] very high, but I don't need to succeed at picking the lock to test the trap.

As soon as the pick is inside the lock, a wave of disorientation washes over me. I push back against it. I'm sure Poppy has pretty good Willpower, but she's not a psychic. I can see what is affecting me. And while I can't change the world on the outside, I can affect my own body, mind, and soul.

Skills increased: Enhanced Soul (Salubrity, Mystic Inspiration, Gentle Soul), Discipline (Self-Awareness)

I resist the curse but fail to pick the lock before I run out of Inspiration several minutes later. I keep pushing until I can't move any longer. I flop over placidly.

Milo speaks my name and breaks the effect. "Well, what it worth it?"

"Oh yeah," I say. "Lots of skill levels. I need to recharge my Inspiration. Who wants to try it next?"

"I must rest as well," Milo says. "It may look like I simply spoke a few words, but it feels like I just ran a kilometer in my brain."

We take turns trying to open the box, resting in between to give Milo a chance to drink some tea and recharge. None of us manage to get the lockbox open, but our actual Rogue hasn't taken a shot at it yet.

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I notice another small problem. In addition to the curse, the lockbox is also spreading around a sort of psychic paint. It's essentially depositing markers in our auras that we've handled this box. It's subtle, but someone with access to Clairvoyance who knew what to look for would absolutely recognize that we've been monkeying about with the captain's lockbox.

The kid might be in big trouble if the pirates have a psychic on hand. And I'd bet that they probably do.

Come morning, as the Heroic party is presumably still out investigating Amroth, my party heads for Hebron. Leaving the skyboat docked at Nefern, we cross the barren fields on foot and head down into the cave at the foot of the giant oak tree.

Skills increased: Enhanced Soul (Fractal Consciousness), Enhanced Mind (Fantastic Inspiration)

Apparently the Bard in my head is finding this very inspiring too. It's still not enough to push Inspiration generated above the cost for keeping the fractal active, though. I've been maintaining it with Inspiration that's Celestial and Mystic. The way I see it, I can't have too much Inspiration.

We head down into the caves and make our way to Hebron. It seems like the trip gets easier every time, though I wouldn't mind shaving off some of the tunnel navigation. It's like a highway cloverleaf with a chance of swamp monsters.

"I brought beer!" Anise annouces when we see the Hebrons.

"This wasn't our main reason for coming, but yes, beer," I say with a chuckle.

"I don't have the Brewer statue done yet, so I'm tempted to just drink this delivery," Basalt says with a much heartier chuckle than me. More of a chortle, really.

"Jade, have you seen one of these before?" I ask, putting the lockbox on the table.

"Oh wow," Jade says. "Who did you filch this from?"

"A kid from the neighboring village found it in the wreckage before our salvage crew got there. His sister tried to open it but she got cursed and Milo broke it."

"She tried to pick that?" Jade says. "Very brave. Stupid, but brave."

"Well, she is eight years old," Anise says.

"I wouldn't have tried it at eight years old," Jade points out. "I do have some common sense."

"So you don't think you can do it?" I ask. "I guess we'll just have to ask Belladonna once she gets back, if you don't want to give it a shot."

"Give it a… are you crazy?" Jade says. "There's no way I'd be able to get that open without getting cursed."

"Yeah, but Milo can break it and you can resist it if your skills are good enough. I held out against it for several minutes, but my [Lockpicking] skill isn't good enough."

Jade looks at me skeptically. "Are you serious? Man, you're crazy."

I shrug. "Got lots of skill levels for it. Milo made sure I was okay and I haven't had any lingering effects. It looks like the curse is just to paralyze someone who is trying to mess with your stuff but not to actually hurt them. Just keep them frozen in the act red-handed. That would be a problem if we were burglarizing someone's house, but we have the box right here."

"I see your point," Jade says with a sigh. "Alright, you're right, now I'm kind of curious too about what's in it."

"This had better be something cool," Basalt says.

Jade brings out some lockpicking equipment and gets into position. "Here goes nothing." She slides the bit of metal into the hole. The sigils flare and Jade slumps over, bliss radiating from her aura.

Huh. I hadn't really felt the bliss effect when I tried myself. I think my soul was too busy going "NOPE" on a deep, spiritual level to even realize that it was supposed to be feeling artificially happy. Why in the Void would someone make a happiness trap, anyway? I guess it makes a certain amount of sense that they'd be less likely to try to resist it than an unpleasant feeling.

In any case, she's not managing to resist it on her first attempt, and Milo breaks the curse after a minute.

"Well, that wasn't as bad as I was afraid of, I suppose," Jade says. "Still not something I'd have wanted to get hit with while out on a job, but we're safe here for the moment. I'm not sure if I'm going to manage to resist this enough to get the lock open, but I can keep trying."

"Believe in yourself," Milo says.

Jade grins. "Sure, I'll take whatever buffs you can offer."

"Your Incantations are in English?" Basalt laughs heartily.

"Would you have preferred French?" Milo asks.

While Jade (with Milo's assistance) continues to try to get the lockbox open, I help out a bit around the hearth and get in some practice that involves pillows. The most intense sort of skill grinding, really.

Skills increased: Crafting (Cooking), Maintenance (Cleaning), Enhanced Hands (Gentle Touch)

By the time I'm done with absorbing the concept of softness into my napping, Jade has finally gotten the lockbox open.

"I've never gotten so many levels off of doing just one thing before," Jade says.

"What was in it?" I ask.

"We haven't opened it yet," Milo says. "After the triggers on handling it and trying to pick the lock, I feared that there may also be something that triggers on opening the box."

"Good thinking, yeah," I say.

"As the box was kept aboard a skyship, I do not believe that whatever results would involve fiery explosions. The captain would not have wanted to risk their possessions and transportation, after all. It is likely that any repercussions will fall solely upon the would-be thief."

"So, who wants to try?" Anise asks.

"I shall do it," Milo says. "If I die, I will be reborn in Grubwick. It will be annoying as I haven't even reached adulthood yet and will cost Grubwick some essence, but you lot won't get another shot."

"That's not quite true," Basalt says. "Garnet and I are also tied to Hebron. We just don't have spare statues made of ourselves yet."

"Well, it's good that you know that before you die the first time," Milo says. "I didn't. I was terrified and panicking, and then I was suddenly a baby."

"Do we need to have someone open it at all?" Rowan asks. "Would we be affected by it if we weren't even in the room when it's opened?"

"These two latches need to be held down at the same time to open it the box," Jade points out. "That might be tricky to rig."

We spend an absolutely excessive amount of time and twine trying to get the lockbox open while not being physically present in the room for it. And then, when we finally get Nessie the Newt to pull open the box with the perfect setup, nothing happens. We celebrate, because "nothing happens" was the hoped-for result here regardless of whether there was another trap on the box or not. Milo still goes in first to retrieve it, just in case.

With the open box brought to the hearth, we spread out the objects within across the table.

Jade stares at a small pile of coins. "I've never seen so much gold in my life. And this was just the amount he felt necessary to keep on hand."

Milo, on the other hand, is more interested in a number of pieces of paper. Some of them look like official documents of some sort, while others are hastily scrawled notes.

Additionally, the lockbox contained a locket with a tiny painting of a young woman, a small scroll tied with a black ribbon, and a small iron key.

"So, it looks like the pirate captain was named Lance Tresco Flux Tiganna," Milo says. "He owned a flat in Flux, which we now have the key to."

"Oh, man, that's both exciting and terrifying," Jade says. "And considering the security on just the box, it will probably be very hard to take advantage of that."

Milo nods and sets the deed aside. "Agreed. There is also some illicit correspondence with some named Carter Maligar Flux Tiganna."

"The sort of illicit correspondence that includes someone's full name?" I wonder.

"Apparently," Milo says, holding up a neatly printed sheet. "Their organization has a front known as the 'Honest Order of Aethernauts'."

"Never trust anyone with 'honest' in their name," I comment.

"I've heard of them," Jade says. "Haven't dealt with them directly before. I always tried to keep out of the sights of the bigger players. Well, I don't mind so much now that I have a hole to hide in that they have no way to easily reach."

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