The topiary dogs attack the party, a topiary bear joining soon after. Vera attempts to request that the druid stop and have a conversation with them. The druid, a dark-skinned tiefling with poofy hair points her sickle—made of the same metal as Vera's hairbow—at Vera and informs her that it is time for her to return home. Unswayed by Vera's request, they continue the assault. Cecily calls, stating that they are being encased in vines. Finding out about the druid kicking their butts, she agrees to send a group to help the party. The party manages to break the druid's concentration on their spells, making a comeback. Ward extracts the druid's name, learning their name is Thorn. On the ropes, Thorn tells Vera to return home, that her companions will betray her, and all will be lost. They then use the foliage to create a T-rex, spins the sickle, and quickly casts Tree Stride to leave. The thorns on the airship and the T-rex both fall apart and wither.

As they head back, Talthis Vim catches up with them on a skybike, offering them healing and an escort back to the airship. Luna and Ward separate to write up a report for Salassae, while Eck, Vera, Dorean, and Mira update Cecily on the barrier, tower, and Thorn. After the update, Dorean remains with Cecily. Coffee made, the two discuss Merely's survival. They are both surprised because they had not found any evidence of survivors from the lab. Cecily reminds Dorean that Cecily and the Fourth Act are firmly on Dorean's side of her conflict. Dorean explains that Merely's journal indicates that she is incredibly unstable. Cecily remarks that Dorean has recovered immensely since finding her, and she can't imagine how badly Merely must be doing having been alone for the past six years. She also expresses that while she doesn't want to see Dorean slip back toward where she had been previously, everyone will be there to help her stand back up. After playing checkers for a while, Dorean returns to her room for the night. Vera attempts to stay up to talk to Dorean, but Sapphire and the raven bully her into bed.

Ward and Luna send Salassae their report; Salassae thanks them, but will have to wait a while before a group can get into the area. The night of the first, while the moon is full, Ward and Vera hear a distant singing reverberating through the ship that nobody else can hear, something like whalesong. Neither of them can find the source of the sound. The next day, Hobbes and Talthis work together to lose dramatically to Vinter on the second of Sazsenth. Ward is also trounced. The next day, the clouds are thick and low, but at mid-morning Kitheroc appears in the distance. The city is shaped like a spiral, circling up to a spire in the center. At the top of the spire is the statue of a very large bird; the bird's head turns to follow them, revealing it to actually be a very large bird of prey. The airship dock is on a separate tower. A large warship, bright red with golden filigree painted on the side, is already docked there. The party has finally arrived in Kitheroc.

Returning

• Mystery Druid - Thorn
• Cecily Cardew
• Talthis Vim
• Suspicious as Heck Raven
• Sapphire
• Salassae