The party sleeps at the inn that evening.
Syrvelse’s sleep is interrupted by a knocking at her door. She answers it to find Alyia standing there. Alyia says she had been waiting on Syrvelse to come to knock on her door and had gotten tired of waiting. She asks if Syrvelse was interested in some company for the evening. Syrvelse, slightly surprised as she had apparently missed some of the subtext going on during their time at the bar, hesitates slightly then invites her in.
Meanwhile, Mortimer is awoken by a light. He wakes up to see the room brightly illuminated by a fire in the fireplace, which had been cold when he went to sleep, and with a gnome woman sitting in a chair and facing him.
“Do you want salvation?” she asks him.
Mortimer yells, throws his pillow at Johann (with whom he is sharing a room), and throws a bedside candlestick at the woman. She vanishes, along with the fire in the fireplace. Johann groggily asks what is going on, and Mortimer tells him that he was just having a nightmare. They both go back to sleep.
—-
The next morning the party gets back together to decide what to do during their week. They decide to check out some local sites, starting with someplace called “The Rusted Hand,” apparently a popular place for first dates. After that, they will go to the Crystal Forest, where glowing crystals supposedly valuable to the Satraps grow on strange metallic trees.
But first, they decide to go to a local bazaar that has set up outside. They purchase the usual items–supplies, healing potions, and the like–but Johann finds a weird pair of goggles on one of the dealers’ display. They have almost-black lenses but wearing them, he can see clearly. Additionally, he can see the movement that he realizes is air currents. The goggles make the flow of the air visible. He decides to purchase them.
The party then heads to the Rusted Hand. Most of their followers remain behind, but Alyia decides to come along with them.
—-
They see numerous couples and larger groups around at the Hand, many engaged in “intimate activities.” The characters begin to feel somewhat amorous and adventurous themselves. Syrvelse and Alyia wander off for some “personal time,” while the others attempt to resist the effects and look around.
They investigate the Hand itself. With his goggles, Johann can determine that the Hand is emitting some kind of gas and is apparently the source of the area’s effect. Torinn collects some of the gas emanating from the Hand in some glass vials, while Mortimer simply chops off one of the Hand’s fingers. It appears to be of a soft, lead-like metal but riddled with almost-microscopic holes. He then proceeds to carve the finger into a phallic shape and begins to wield it as a club.
Johann spends some “alone time” to stave off the gas’s effects and then begins his concert. He attracts a great deal of attention and has quite an audience when he is done. One, an orc woman named Gtharsis, seems especially interested in him. He tells her of his journey to the Black City, and she immediately requests to join him. He agrees, and she tells him that she will get her equipment and meet the party back at the Low Road and the High.
—-
The party, some in much better spirits, then heads to the Crystal Forest. The trees with the crystals are soon found, and they spend some time collecting as many crystals as they can. They prepare for a final camp before leaving in the morning to return to the Low Road and the High when they notice movement around them in the darkness. Six vome emerge, all with massive toothed beaks and a body covered with metallic hair. The vome charge at them as the party prepares for battle.