A week after having returned from their voyage, the party attends an Opera about The Wife. During an oratorio performed by The Husband, he is assassinated by a black-clad figure hired in the play by the step-son. The scene is set to end with The Husband’s death, the lights fading to black to end the scene. When the lights come back up, The Husband is still there. He’s been assassinated for real.

These facts were determined about the scenario
-The actress portraying the Wife is only pretending to be shocked at the death
-No signs of violence are present on the body
-Foam has formed on the corpse’s mouth
-This Opera had been advertised as the murdered actor’s final performance
-He is one of Praetor Valar’s close friends
-Amid great controversy the actor had decided to retire
-He did not want to do this performance and only agreed to it on the stipulation that it would be his last one
-The man who played the assassin had nothing to do with the actor’s demise
-He was killed because Sepheir Q’n thought it would be the greatest tribute to the actor’s career
-The actor was born Veth and managed to catch a Ven’s attention due to his talents as an actor and was Blooded because of this
-Sepheir wrote the Opera with the intention of it being this actor’s final, fatal performance
-He had a blood contract with the actor in regards to the on-stage death
-Tammel’s gauntlet is locked onto his arm

During the intermission, a woman’s scream is heard. The actress playing The Wife has been brutally murdered.
-Did not happen back stage
-Duke Alexandros Tammel, Blooded of the Fox and Zyll U’Saer are alone in a balcony together
-The actress was stabbed in her lower abdomen
-Audience members are wearing masks as if at a masquerade
-The Wife is not in costume and is wearing a mask
-The murder weapon is lying next to her
-Her murder had nothing to do with the previous one
-She was killed in the balcony next to wear Eschyr Ballan is seated
-The murder weapon is another of [[:the blacksmith|The Blacksmith’s]] daggers
-Vaderic’s husband was contracted by Zyll U’Saer to kidnap The Wife’s understudy for some purpose unknown to Zyll U’Saer
-The actress was murdered because she saw the understudy being kidnapped
-Tammel’s wife is a sorceress who knows a ritual to reattach limbs

The following was determined about Vaderic’s cult
-It is fairly new
-The members largely do not know one another’s identities
-There is a senior council with selective membership
-Less than ten people reside in the city with knowledge of the cult’s members
-Cassian Sheeda is one of those people
-The list he has is inaccurate
-Vaderic knows the list
-He got the ball rolling on the kidnapping because the understudy was penning play to expose his cult
-Sepheir Q’n is the work’s actual author
-His name is on the list
-He is Cass’s inside man
-The understudy is to be a blood sacrifice
-The cult has splintered, unbeknownst to Vaderic
-Sepheir is leading the splinter group

More goings-on involving the Opera House after Zyll U’Saer steals Tammel’s silver gauntlet.
-Tammel shows back up after the theft covered in blood
-He starts shouting “Where is he?!” and brandishing his sword at whomever gets in his way
-He is ultimately killed
-By Dalin’ar Adrente
-Tammel rises again later that night
-His wife is missing
-Most of Tammel’s personal guard is dead

A committee is formed regarding recent developments consisting of most of the characters. Vaderic’s husband has surfaced in Eschyr’s lands. The group heads off to stop the ritual before it can go off. They come across a grisly scene. All of the cultists are dead. The understudy sits on the altar, holding her knees to her chest and rocking back and forth, covered in blood. The following was determined with wagers to further define the scene.
-Vaderic’s husband is not among the dead
-Understudy keeps repeating “he said he did it for Vaderic”
-The building is hidden in caverns beneath the Mountains
-There is a pool of blood in the middle of the atrium with a drain
-The drains lead to ancient catacombs that no one knew existed
-In the catacombs sleeps Sora, the Suaven the cult venerates
-Tunnels lead out into the Winter Veil
-On an altar sits a leather-bound tome entitled “Sora: Lord of Nightmares”
-In the tome is a passage that leads Cassian Sheeda to suspect that the ritual is the first step to awakening Sora
-One set of Ven footprints and several sets of Ork footprints lead into ork lands
-Sora’s sleeping form is gone
-None of the dead have faces
-Their faces are simply blank, not cut off
-The nightmare-inducing chest is in the room
-It has been opened, its contents removed
-Unbeknownst to EVERYONE save for the person who performed the ritual, it was to prepare its target (the understudy) to be the vessel of Sora
-The chest appears to have once contained an eye
-Dalin’ar’s wife is among the dead
-She has been replaced with a spectre who mimics her form
-Yet another of the Blacksmith’s ritual knives is here
-There are six other bodies
-Each of the dead have been replaced with spectres

Vaderic’s husband shows up on the scene with four other people in tow. Two of them are the strangely tattooed men from the previous session. One of them is Basilious’s wayward grandmother.

The following information is what {{:cassian-sheeda]] gleaned from the tome he recovered.
-The ritual to make someone a vessel for Sora is not mentioned
-If the girl is killed Sora immediately awakens filled with rage
-The text indicates that it is possible to “cleanse” Sora of his darkness

Also determined about current events in general
-The The Black Widow is working against the cult

Vaderic calls a meeting of his senior council to see if any of them have word on where his husband has vanished to.
-Praetor Marcus Valar, Blooded of the Serpent knows
-Refuses to talk
-At least not without some sort of compensation
-Valar tells Sepheir Q’n