Teren went to the market and bought some herbs and amber. At the stall there was a man (wearing an odd hat) arguing with the attendant. Teren asked about the man and was told he is in a new gang called the Snake Brothers. Later Teren applied for a job at the snake brothers temple but was refused. The temple nextdoor hired him and gave him a room in a high tower. He woke during the night and hear chanting. He could see into the Snake Brothers' courtyard. There were figures carrying boxes and several wizards. Suddenly all of the box carriers sat, stayed for several minutes, and resumed work. Teren went downstairs twice before the guard fell asleep. The tower stairway led into the sewer and Teren braved the smell until he could hear a conversation. Someone was giving orders and then laughingly refered to zombies, (a legendary creature). He returned to his room. The next day he performed his duties as a healer for the temple and was allowed a night out. He headed for a popular inn.

Pell went to the market and began to sing and play his lute. His deep voice attracted the attention of a richly dressed couple and they hired him to play at their house that evening. At the house Pell was ushered through the cloak room, and noticed a long low of odd pointed hats. His playing that evening was excellent but it seemed to go unnoticed as the party disolved into the type of drinking party seen only at the crudest inns. Suddenly the sound of a hundred screams flooded the chamber. Several of the men ran out, and soon the sound stopped. When all of the nobles had fallen asleep, Pell was given a room in an unused pantry. Fearing for his life he searched the room and discovered a secret door in the rear. He followed a ladder and explored an attic bedroom. He couldn't get through the elven lock on the staircase down, (the only other exit). The next day he returned to town. That evening he decided to visit an inn.

Grown hung around the marketplace until he spotted a chance to ply his trade. He managed to steal 4 silver coins, then headed to a popular inn.

Shakara went to a popular inn and was hired as a bouncer. Soon everyone was there, talking, arguing about battle tactics, soon Pell and Teren began flirting with Shakara. Teren began to feel the effects of the grog and left the bar, Grown following silently. Teren sat for a while, thinking about Shakara, then heard the chanting from the night before. He searched until he decided it was coming from below ground. He rounded a boulder and was confronted by two silent men sitting alone among the rocks. Suddenly one of the rocks moved and out stepped two men. one promptly sat down and the other returned into the tunnel mouth. Grown stepped out of the shadows and the two men examined the corpses, one of which they had just seen walking. The corpses wore amulets, a ring with two snakes coiled in opposite directions. They took the amulets back to the inn and showed them to everyone. Shakara recognised that they were coated with a rare contact poison and Teren healed everyone who had touched it. He could not heal himself though, and grimly announced that he would die within a month without magical treatment. Pell knew of legends of such treatment, but they were unclear as to where they may be. When Teren went back to the tunnel entrance with Pell. Instead of bodies, there were two heaps of writhing snakes.

Teren seemed to resign to his fate, and Grown fell into a sound sleep, but Pell and Shakara set out to find the magic which could save Teren's life and boarded a ship headed for the Temple of the Dragon. The ship was caught in a dreamstorm and wrecked on the shore of Celestia, the starshape continent of Dragons.

After being drawn deep into a maze built by forgotten Eldar magics, the ship was thrown onto a broad boulder and rode out the storm. The next day, the captain of the ship set his men to the task of repairing the storm damaged craft. He was carrying a cargo of rare woods, from the Pegasus Pine forest. Within days they were afloat and ready to attempt the maze.

They met several monsters in the maze. A snake-like serpent killed one of the crew before being slain by Pell's well thrown daggers. Several giant Razorbeaks killed more until they were driven off by Shakara's sword.

Then they met a large, well armed ship in an open area and bartered for their freedom. One of the other ship's crew met Shakara and fell instantly in love. He begged to change ships and was accepted. He was soon disliked by both Pell and Shakara, who it seems have a thing going... :)

Later, a slime tried to engulf the ship but Shakara and Pell worked together to agonize it with fire without igniting the deck. Not long after, a whirlpool caught the ship and Pell nearly fell off, but was saved by the new crewman. In escaping the whirlpool, the captain chose a rapid current which threw them free of the maze. Days later they arrived back at Corum harbor.

The pair headed for Teren's grave, but met him at the temple... their adventures had taken less than a month! He had been busy while they were away. He had discovered that the Snakebrothers were a splinter group of the Brotherhood of Blood, a nationwide cult of warrior mages. He also found out that the secret to his illness had been in Corum the whole time, in the mansion of the Snakebrothers.

Shakara went to the Brotherhood guildhouse and asked for help but was told to mind her own business. Then Pell went to the mansion and was got a gig for the evening. Everyone in the temple seemed morose and soon went to bed. Once they left, he was taken to the same pantry but this time he was not guarded. He sneaked through the hallways and let his friends in.

Once everyone was inside they heard a door open quietly and a voice whistled quietly, "I've been expecting you." They decided to trust him and he took them to the magic crucible. Teren healed himself and then they decided to steal the crucible. They ran to a mansion down the hill and hid inside until the snakebrothers passed by. The servant at the new mansion insisted that they leave the crucible behind, but promised a great treasure so they followed the whistling doorman.

The doorman took them through tunnels and rain to an inn on the outskirts of town. During the night Greyears, a great hero of the empire, came into the room and presented Pell and Shakara with a magic ring of unknown powers and advised them to leave town ASAP. Teren could stay and decided he wasn't cut out for adventuring.

They left the next day and after a few days on trails came to a fortress called Northbow, whose main function is keeping the monster population of the area to a minimum.