The Coopers enter the great hall and find no trace of the enemy they sought to surprise. Instead, they find carbon scoring on the ground and the outline of a toasted dwarf, but no trace of their dwarf friend Dhukhean or of the rogue Thorne can be found. Ruddy scoops up some of the ashes on the ground and bottles them with the hope that he can eventually return them to Dhukhean's dwarven clan. He then urinates on what' left of the ashes. Regrouping, the Coopers say a short prayer for the fallen dwarf, and after an appropriate moment of silence, they exit the great hall and continue their exploration of the Howling Hatred's underground lair.
Returning to the statue of Moradin where Ruddy and Darelle were attacked, the party take the opportunity to explore the area. They find themselves in what were previously shops, but now stand only as ruined spaces that have been thoroughly looted. The party splits up, and search various of the shops. Naga enters what once was a jewelry store and finds a large dwarven golden brooch the size of a fist with an inlaid sapphire the size of a large egg. Daryle enters the bakery and discovers a cast iron bread pan among the rubble. The pan is surprising light and appears to be in excellent condition despite the years since the collapse of Tyar-Besil. Ruddy opens the door to what was the tailor's shop. He is immediately surprised to see a cloaker rising from a fresh cadaver. The cloaker launches itself at the gnome and attempts to affect him with stupor, but Ruddy runs out of the room and takes position by the door, ready to ambush the creature as it comes out. More interested in feeding, however, the cloaker returns to his victim and continues to feed.
Heading west, Naga enters a large cavern with numerous above-ground stone graves, all of them inscribed with elaborate dwarven relief carvings showing scenes of daily life and heroic deeds. His arrival attracts the attention of seven very hungry ghouls and rush the tiefling. To defend himself, he casts fireball and incinerates all of them, leaving only ashes behind. Quickly searching the area, he finds the mostly devoured corpse of a Howling Hatred cultist.
Exiting the cemetery, Naga retraces his steps and finds Ruddy in a fighting stance. Ruddy explains what he found inside the tailor's shop, and it takes very little convincing for Naga to follow the gnome back inside, making quick work of the cloaker. Ruddy then examines the dead corpse, which is dressed like a pirate and not like any of the cultists they have encountered so far. He finds a finely crafted purple wood tobacco box, with very fine smelling tobacco inside of it. He pockets it. Then both he and Naga notice heavy purring coming from above.
Watching through a large hole in the upper wall, Surmont Whalerider and his cat observe the scene carefully. Whalerider and his acquaintance Paul, both of them sailors, found themselves in Red Larch when they ran into the Coopers at the Swinging Sword Inn. Recognizing the Cooper sisters from a previous trip they had taken aboard his ship, the Last Song a few years back in the River Kingdom, he decided to follow them around and see what they were up to. Tracking them to the Shrine of the Tender Oath, they sneaked inside the monastery a few minutes behind the Coopers, located the secret access point to the staircase descending to Tyar-Besil, managed to follow the Coopers through it before it closed and without any of them noticing, then down the stairs and through through the first battle with the featherbeaks, only splitting away when the wyvern and its rider came out to battle. Paul and Whalerider ran in the opposite direction, managed to avoid all of the cultists guarding the dungeon and the other members of the Coopers, and sneaked into the tailor's shop, only to be ambushed by a hungry cloaker. Paul was immediately stunned, but Whalerider and his cat managed to escape and climb up to the second floor of the leather goods shop next door. He'd been pondering what to do when Naga and Ruddy showed up. Now his cat has betrayed him by purring loudly.
In the hallway next to the leather goods shop, Daryle also hears the purring. The entire facade of this store has collapsed in a pile of rubble, revealing the interior. The ranger pulls out some jerky from her backpack and calls the cat to her. The kitty jumps from the second floor and comes to the ranger. It bats at the jerky once, before taking it in his mouth. Realizing that he is in a precarious position as Naga climbs the wall in the tailor's shop, Whalerider hides in a corner. Naga walks right by him and reaches the edge of the shop's second floor. Spotting Daryle, Naga comes down and pets the kitty. Ruddy also climbs the wall, but he is more perceptive than the tiefling and he spots a humanoid cloaked in darkness in the corner. He throws three daggers in the stranger's direction. Hiding his face behind a cloak, and with his eyes glowing, Whalerider performs a panache by blocking Ruddy's attack, and lands in the hallway a floor below. The Coopers pull their weapons out and assume a fighting stance.
Whalerider removes his cloak and reveals he's a catfolk, triggering Ruddy's cat allergy. Whalerider explains that he acquired his name because his family were fresh water fishermen. When he was old enough he joined a fishing crew, but he wanted to explore more than the region around their home. He joined a seawater fishing crew and headed out to sea. On one of those voyages, he spotted a whale, swam to it, and rode it by grabbing on to it with his catfolk claws, thus acquiring his name. The pirate explains that he and his friend Paul were following the party because they wanted to join them.
Reluctantly, the Coopers agree to let the swashbuckler join them in their exploration of the Howling Hatred's base. Looking into the remaining shops, Whalerider finds a magical loom which has clearly not been affected by the passage of time. Large piles of broken weapons and debris indicate that many have attempted to break it apart but have all failed.
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