Upon returning to the Inn, the ladies turn over their presents and then learn that Ben has actually known where the lost mage was the whole time and, having decided that the group is at least not actively going to murder the man, leads them to him. He recognizes the ring at once; the Blighted Ring of the Pendaghasts. Ben then directs Lawren to conscript Firbolg, his friend, to protect him from rebuttal for departure. Once this is arranged, Firbolg offers his advice: It is all but impossible to redeem the ring, but it is entirely possible to craft a fake and enchant it to seem like the true ring long enough to fool the Carta for at least a few days.

While the party waits for that to be accomplished, they hear of a force of Tevinter north of the city and decide to investigate more fully. They find the camp but no sign of the people, even scouts. Made suspicious by this fact, the party decides to investigate the area and find a place which had been blasted open. Once inside, they find their first bodies: two fallen scouts and an odd creature covered in slime and rags, wielding an ancient Tevinter dagger. Further in, they find all of the classic signs of a Dragon temple but one unlike those they had seen before: It had eight dragons. Moreover, instead of being entirely abandoned, the eighth dragon had been actively defaced. An altar in the main chamber bears the words in Ancient Tevinter, “Hail to Tobek, Dragon of the Deep.”

A lever opens a path to a room with a massive hole. Fifty feet below, the remnants of old boats float in a slow-moving stream. The boats, when Mavi goes down to investigate, are made of a strange material that is between wood and stone yet which is light enough to maneuver. After carefully tying off their climbing rope what is hopefully well out of reach of the mysterious creatures, the party loads into boats and sets off down the river…