After a restful night spent in the Great Hall, the Coopers wake up and prepare a hearty breakfast. Now healed and ready for more adventure, they take the barricade apart and pursue their exploration of Tyar-Besil. They return to the marketplace, looking inside every doorway to make sure enemies are not waiting for them. Ruddy returns to one of the doors they haven't yet opened. He carefully listens, but hears nothing. Slowly, the gnome pushes the door open, revealing the forge. Rubble covers most of the floor, and all that remains are an anvil weighing over 800 pounds, and a set of large bellows broken beyond repair. In one of the corners, he spots Thorne covered in chains and gagged.
Having disappeared a few hours earlier, the rogue is bloodied and exhausted. After his long trip to the sacrificial stone where he last saw Dhukhean tied and left bleeding to death, Thorne was transported back to this room by several cultists who discussed among themselves Aerisi Kalinoth's plans to release an orb of destruction in Red Larch. Though the thugs were whispering among themselves, Thorne was fairly certain that this was all a performance directed at him.
Ruddy ungags the rogue. Thorne tells him about Aerisi Kalinoth's plans with the orb of destruction. The gnome is concerned, but, with Thorne's assessment, assumes the threat was made to get them to leave Tyar-Besil. Nevertheless, Ruddy shares this information with the rest of the Coopers. After a short conversation, the party decides to continue their exploration.
Entering a large room, they find that an enormous purple worm once chewed its way through the floor, but was felled by dwarves. The dead worm's skeleton remains lodged in the ground, providing access to a tunnel heading further underground. Earl and Naga climb down the tunnel, and walk for over six miles, slowly dropping deeper into the earth, until they make the decision to return back to Tyar-Besil.
Continuing their exploration, Daryle and Darelle come upon a djinni carving a stone pillar. He looks mightily displeased to be here, but appears to be performing an assigned task. He tells the sisters that finding the horn will grant him his freedom.
At the same time and pursuing by now a patented Cooper policy of exploring multiple areas with significant distances between them at once, Whalerider heads towards a tunnel heading north, only to stumble upon a patrol of bugbears wearing the livery of the Black Earth. He makes an expeditious retreat, meets up with Ruddy, and the two of them quickly dispatch the bugbears. Returning from their exploration, Daryle suggests building a barricade in the tunnel to prevent access to Black Earth patrols. The Coopers quickly do so, and proceed to return near their original entry point into Tyar-Besil.
Carefully walking into a hallway heading east, they arrive near another door. Ruddy listens to the door, hears nothing. Whalerider listens and hears stone on stone grinding. The catfolk opens the door quietly, and takes a look. Inside are two large wheels being spun by eight Howling Hatred initiates, who in turn are being whipped by two Howling Hatred priests. A quick conference among the Coopers, and they determine not to enter. Daryle spikes the spinning door shut, and the party moves on.
Returning from their escapade in the tunnel, Naga and Earl come across the body of Whalerider's dead cat. It has been slain by several arrows, and Naga recognizes the fletching as being Daryle's. They track the Coopers down, and encounter them as they stand by a heavy iron door barred on their side. Whalerider listens to the door, but he hears nothing. He attempts to pick the locks, but fails miserably. Thorne steps up and uses his great tools, but he too fails and breaks his favorite lockpick. Ruddy smashes the locks, but notices that there are traps placed on the door. Earl goes through the door and doesn't trigger the trap. On the other side are several signs displaying warnings that this is Howling Hatred territories, but they have been angrily defaced. Earl returns to his side and reports what he saw. Naga angrily returns the arrows to Daryle. The ranger is confused as to how her arrows could have killed the cat.
Returning to the Great Hall, they are confronted by none other than Thurl Merosska and his Howling Hatred accomplices. The battle begins in earnest, with a similar strategy once encountered by the Coopers on the previous day when the Howling Hatred priests used walls of forces to effectively split the party apart. Can the Coopers survive such a concentrated assault?
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