Midnight Brunch may have rescued many people, including Nular, the only child of the Empress Nula Ulfasdain, but they also left a mess of a sewer system in the city. They also managed to capture the attention of the Costyrian Government; Madame Malcimae, High Lady of the House of Discovery, Mage Premier of Ilsyrian; the terrifying purifiers of the Agmar’nodal, and Empress Nula herself.

Such attention brings many benefits with it, though, and to thank them for rescuing her only child, the empress summoned Midnight Brunch to the palace, gave them a room to stay, and access to the potent resources of the crown. The group also meets with Volodomyr, Nines brother, who was sent to find Nines by their mother and has done so rather behind schedule, by several weeks. Further happy reunions occur as Xoria sees that her family is living safely at the Furven Research Campus on the palace grounds, assisting with the work of the engineers there. In the most shocking turn yet, Midnight Brunch discovered that their old friend, The Captain, is actually a Commodore in the Glindrengan navy and had escaped the attack on the high seas the offered Midnight Brunch up to the Grotfel forces.

Despite their fortune with these events, Nines could not help but be angered, once again, by The Voice. Nines’ nemesis invited him to attend a charity concert he was holding to benefit the city of Drogmara after the events in the sewers, which caused widespread problems in the city. Nines attended and discovered that the Voice wanted to make a public apology for his past actions. In a backstage event, The Voice apologized directly to Nines in front of many of Drogmara’s elite.

The hatchet wouldn’t truly be buried until Nines had his grandfather’s lute back though. When he demanded its return from The Voice, the pop-star informed him that he had already promised the lute to the Costyrian Museum of the Arts, but promised to make it right, financially speaking, for Nines. The Voice offered Nines 500,000 gold to, “live a long and comfortable life”, which he promised would be here by the time the concert ended.

Nines didn’t care about the money, he wanted the lute back. He decided to steal it before the concert finished and embarrass The Voice. The group set about planning a heist and set it on motion. Unfortunately, it became all too clear that this is exactly what The Voice wanted. As soon as Nines touched the lute, conveniently stored under the stage, a trap was sprung. A powerful curse was placed on him, transforming him into a Drogmaran Vanishing Badger, and a cage surrounded him. Just a moment later, the cage was raised onto the stage for all the concert goes to see and The Voice, triumphantly, announced he was giving this vanishing badger to the Drogmara Zoo. He wasn’t done there, though, he was also donating 500,000 gold to the zoo to ensure that this badger and all the others that lived there would, “live a long and comfortable life.”

Nines’ friends sprang into action after realizing they had been played and were able top free Nines, but the damage was done and, worse yet, Nines failed to claim the lute. As they slept that night, the deity of arts, passion, and performance, Samyrn visited Nines’ dreams and instructed him to let go of the rivalry and focus on his art, his music, and that through that, he would rid himself of the curse and grow in power. Nines promised to do just that.

Once again, working together, Midnight Brunch got themselves involved in the opening festivities to the very exhibit Nines was meant to be a part of. Nines would be the opener for the Iron Kidz, another pop group, and he would show the world his immense talents, free from the bitterness of vengeance. The performance was spectacular and Samyrn was pleased, telling Nines as much in another dream.

Following this life-changing event, in what is surely a shining example of good timing, their friend The Captain, otherwise known as Commodore Archibald Perrington, summoned Midnight Brunch to a meeting. Joining them at the meeting was Commander Sol’ath who, working with Commodore Perrington, told Midnight Brunch of how the Grotfels are believed to have committed a heinous act in the city of Tzizitztan, in the Free States of Kormerzhan, and are trying to blame it on Glindreng.

The act that devastated the city was an earthquake ang there are traces of Furven energy in the area. Glindreng believes that the Grotfels used other means to create the earthquake and are trying to cover it up. To prove that, a group of mercenaries are to be sent in to observe, report, and discover what really happened. Midnight Brunch will be dispatched to Tzizitztan, along with two other groups and Commander Sol’ath, to do just that.

Midnight Brunch spent some time wrapping up their affairs in the city before boarding a ship to leave the capital. On board they met the groups they would be working with, the Divorcés and The Serpentous Six. Together they sailed upriver briefly, before being covertly teleported to Costyria, hopefully confusing any nefarious agents from their enemies, to begin their travels toward Tzizitztan.