After making a success growing trade out of a little known fishing village in Ladrothel named Stonecombe, Notol Bodi of Skyspire has hatched a scheme to repair the road between the village and inland producers, but he can't afford to foot the bill alone. Leveraging his aristocratic connections, he's commissioned a 'Thorn' of the Council of Rosescepter to help him make the case to several notable investors. Meanwhile, a refugee and self described scholar from the land of Qitte arrives in Stonecombe seeking help from the Mystics there to help him identify a granite riddle box he found in an underground cistern in the desert. ...