The party hopes they can take to air and escape from the city that has turned on them and placed them under state surveillance.
The party rests within the dubious ring of piled of metal that they hope will fly as the dead Rutterkin are attended to. Mages are casting spells on pillars of metal, workers are pushing together parts with long poles they've pushed into the rocky soil for leverage.
The party has a big choice to make. There are two Fortresses and a growing number of ways to board. The minnow could help with boarding of either.
Ahead of them, the following approximate timeline:
Looking at the work around them, they decide to help with construction. Tormgar says that he knows a little bit about building. He feels like he's absorbed second-hand knowledge from his dad's complaints about work.
He wishes that he had some of his father's original notebooks. He knows where many of them are locked away, in a secure archive building in the Government District. The party decides to scope out the area. They head back to the city.
The party walks to the Gathela HV20 (heated vault) Administrative Building, watches the entrance, and gathers intelligence. Marnos thinks he can work his way inside without being caught. Tormgar gives him careful instructions.
Marnos slips in, behind a worker. He hides and moves down the main hall and out of sight. Tormgar provided good instructions, and Marnos navigates his way to the building interior to the outside of a glass archival room. Inside are bound, tall, engineering notebooks. The room is secured but the lock is easy to bypass.
He knows he only has a few minutes to grab books of interest. He finds two books that satisfy Tormgar's instructions, shoves them in a small knapsack and begins the equally tricky backtrack. He escapes without being seen or heard (he believes). He meets up with the party at a safe point several blocks away and hands over the books.
While Adrazel and Tormgar rest in the hotel and try to decipher the engineering jargon and diagrams, the rest of the party wanders around, filling their unstructured time. On one walk, the party notices they have a trail. They return to their current inn. The trail follows. They next day, they notice a second pair of eyes, a block away, trying to keep track of the inn entrance. It looks as though the party is under 24 hour surveillance.
Orryn is the first to notice a group of four armed guards and officials heading up the street towards the hotel. Looking to his left he notices a second group, holding back and waiting. The party gathers at the threshold of the hotel entrance, and Selene opts to be the voice of the party. As they approach, she asks what they want. They reply that they would like everyone in the party, all six, to come with them. They're not placing anyone under arrest, but they have a few questions they would like answered.
The party tries to convince the authorities to leave them alone, but it doesn't work. Frustration turns to anger, a fight breaks out, and everyone is quickly drawn into battle. Edwyn and Selene and Adrazel take position at the front of the Inn. Marnos and Tormgar head left, up the street, to catch the second party. They don't want to kill anyone, but have been forced into a bad situation.
All of the officials are killed.
Post-battle, Orryn, under stress, feels suddenly twisted. He realizes that he is changing back to his original body. He fights the change but fails, and is abruptly a gnome.
They party needs to leave, now. Selene, to ensure Orryn isn't noticed as the infamous agent of Ferran chaos, casts polymorph and transforms Orryn into a donkey. Orryn, expecting something less humiliating is angry. He runs off into the city and doesn't return. The remainder of the party watch him leave.