Okay!
So there's a Black Tongue called Delicieu, who has developed a new kind of weapon using First Silver and an unusual kind of non-pymary magic probably derived from the largely unknown magic two-toed lizards do. He attempted to sell his research to the Queen of Cresce, but she refused, so instead he's selling it to Alderode, but Crescian officials seem to also be involved one way or another. The Red Berry Boys have been smuggling the weaponized First Silver inside comatose slaves, from Nary Frummagem (Sette's father) in Sharteshane to Stockyard Frummagem (Sette's cousin) in Ethelmik, Cresce; Stockyard has now loaded it onto a boat and is going to take it to the buyer in Alderode. However, Toma and Elka have been after the Red Berry Boys and know about the silver, and to stop them, Toma has blocked the underground river that is to be Stockyard's smuggling route.
Almost definitely related to the First Silver smuggling, though we don't know precisely how yet: Lord Winalils (who either is or works with Delicieu) made a deal with Nary to get Duane to Stockyard as well, making use of Sette's desperation to prove herself and Duane's weakness for little green-eyed girls to get them to travel together to Ethelmik under the pretense of collecting thief-tax from Stockyard - a plan that obviously succeeded brilliantly. Stockyard has captured both Sette and Duane and given Duane a special plod mask that causes excruciating pain in the hope that it will prevent him from engineering his own escape once he returns to his senses in the morning, and he plans to take him into Alderode to Lord Winalils as well.
Before being captured, Sette had retrieved Swarm (Quigley's bug summon pymaric cloak) and arranged through Matty and Jivi to meet with him at a temple, hoping to hire him to take out Stockyard, after reasoning (with Duane's help) that her dad would finally be impressed with her if she took charge and completed the deal with Lord Winalils herself. When Quigley got there, however, he found Elka instead, and they traded information. Then Elan got there and informed them Toma was trapped down in the tunnels, having been attacked by Anadyne, Knock-Me-Down and some townspeople after blocking the river. Elka sent him and Quigley to find Toma and help him.
Meanwhile Matty and Jivi are still at Iori's house, as far as we know; Toby is possibly about to attempt to kill Stockyard so that he and Anadyne can escape and have their own life; and the silver on Stockyard's boat beneath the Deadly Nevergreen is pupating into something incredibly horrifying that feeds on pain and attracts smoke eels en masse. Cutter, the Red Berry Boys' two-toe, was apparently sent to accompany the silver by Nary and is disturbingly gleeful about the whole thing. SOMETHING VERY HORRIBLE IS GOING TO HAPPEN.
Aaand meanwhile the captive Sette and Duane have been having trippy dream sequences about their many issues.
Okay maybe it's not that short.