December 1220 (Autumn)
That evening, Don Diego held a banquet for his knights and guests. During this the magi had the opportunity to have a conversation with Don Jose, who had clearly taken a shine to Sutton. It emerged that Don Diego's brother, Don Rodrigo, had little love for his brother, primarily due to his resentment at being the younger brother, and hence the one with the inferior inheritance. However, he had not shown any inclination to turn this resentment into action.

The following day the hunt began, with Diego's knights, his wife (the snooty Dona Urraca), several hunters and Sutton, Naif and Iwan taking part. Sutton soon found the child, stuck in a tree and unharmed. However, Don Diego insisted that the party continue their hunt for the beast. After breaking for a picnic lunch, Don Diego led the three magi from the picnic site into the forest. There the quartet were set upon by what appeared to be bandits. A fierce fight ensued, during which the magi were injured, seriously in the case of Iwan and Naif, and three of the enemy were incapacitated, with the fourth being driven off. Diego, apparently incensed with rage, insisted on killing all the prisoners before they could be questioned, but it soon emerged from the bodies that they wore the livery of Don Rodrigo under their bandit disguises. Diego took this opportunity to voice fear of possible treachery from his brother and requested that the magi provide him with magical protection, in return for his turning a blind eye to their silver mine. Apparently a similar arrangement had existed between the former inhabitants of Falcon's Reach and Don Diego, and it was clear that he set great store by an amulet the other magi had given him. The magi agreed to consider the arrangement.

The group returned to the picnic, with the exception of Sutton, who took the opportunity magically to question the corpses while Don Diego's back was turned. It emerged that they had been hired by Don Diego to stage a fake attack, though they had not been told why they were required to do so. It seems that Don Diego sought to manipulate the magi into helping him, and used some of Don Rodrigo's followers to make the danger seem more immediate!

The remainder of the hunt proved fruitless, although Sutton did spot the leopard at one point but chose not to reveal its presence to the party. In the evening Don Diego held another feast to celebrate his finding of the missing child, and during this feast the magi agreed to Don Diego's offer, requesting that he provide them with Arcane Connections to himself and his brother to help them with their efforts on his behalf. In this way they obtained a lock of Diego's hair and, the following morning, a letter signed by Don Rodrigo.

The magi then returned to the covenant to nurse their wounds, to ponder what had happened and to prepare for the tribunal meeting of 1221.