After the final raid on the hunters, Carl and Donut travel to Li-Na's settlement near the elven border, where everyone plans to regroup before the Butcher's Masquerade. Carl finds Signet alone and unusually vulnerable. Signet explains that her soldiers are already hidden in place and that they intend to attack Queen Imogen that night, after the brambles force the elves into a draining defense along the border.

Carl tells Signet her timing is doomed because the people controlling the world will not allow her rebellion to disrupt the main story at the party's opening. Zev immediately warns Carl to stop talking, but Carl presses on. When Signet insists this assault is the culmination of everything she has worked for and reveals she placed a spell on Carl and Donut long ago so she can track them, Carl lies and offers a revised plan: Signet should infiltrate the castle and wait for his signal so she can strike Imogen at the same moment Carl's group does. Carl's real goal is to keep Signet in reserve as a controlled distraction and avoid being dragged into a fatal side battle too early.

Several hours later, Carl and Mordecai examine a stack of benefactor boxes from the Apothecary. Multiple crawlers have received items, but nearly all of them were clearly meant to be handed to Donut. Katia is the only exception, receiving a knit beanie that boosts her stats and grants a dangerous knockback spell. As Carl and Mordecai sort through the gifts, the group also reviews the approach to the party: because they are bringing pets, dinosaurs, Samantha, and other attendants, they will be escorted in by caravan instead of teleported. Bomo has already identified three nearby stairwells, including one locked inside the castle basement that confirms Imogen is a boss, while other crawler groups guard the remaining exits.

Carl becomes increasingly disturbed by two strange items, a tiny enchanted hammer and a metal rod, both of which seem nearly useless on the surface. When he finds a hidden number seven marked on each of them, Carl starts to suspect the gifts are part of a longer plan he does not yet understand. More importantly, he realizes the sponsors may have routed all these resources to Donut because they expect everyone else to die and expect Donut to outlive them. With a stairwell nearby, Carl briefly considers abandoning the masquerade altogether, but he concludes that fleeing would only doom other crawlers to take their place and weaken everyone's chances on the ninth floor. Despite his dread, he gives Donut the items, gathers Samantha, and leads the group out to meet the escort and head for the party.