The party heads to the guild hall to turn in their completed task as well as report the location of the fallen bugbear from the tunnels. On the way there, they pass a crossroads where a man is yelling on a corner, attracting a bit of a crowd. He is crying the end of the world, to abandon everything as the gods have abandoned the world, to reach for oblivion. When questioned about what to do about it, he says to embrace the coming destruction. Ward and Vera question him about what exactly he wants. He explains that he followed Xodea, goddess of civilization, and she left without a word. The cycle of souls has been broken, so the world is doomed. With her departure, he has been left empty; Vera suggests he try to fill that void with help from others and also go to therapy. The crowd loses interest in the lukewarm debate. He eventually departs, as does the party, Vera snagging his soapbox along the way.

The party turns in their various quests, learning of the Crocodile King Entelliark and the bounty for proof of his existence and/or death. There is a new quest available for retrieving an artifact in addition to the previous jobs. Vera stows her box at the guild, and they head to do some shopping and meet up with their client, Aloten. Ward and Mira divide off to do some shopping while the others head directly to the Moss and Stone to get the escort job set up.

Ward questions Mira about how she's doing after the previous day. Mira signifies that she's alright. Ward explains that Vera's birthday is coming up so he actually wants to get her a birthday gift. They all meet back up at the Moss and Stone and head out. As she gathers, Aloten explains what she's finding and their uses and such. Most of the party is listening, interested in the subject matter. While foraging, she finds a weird, gross mushroom that smells really bad. She explains that it's a greater rottshroom. It's a favored food of trolls, which seems to summon two trolls. Through some trial and error they manage to kill the pair, successfully protecting their client.

As the party returns, they pass a massive willow tree that wasn't there on the way in. As the sun sets, a pale white hand reaches up from the ground at the roots. Ward recognizes it to be a corpse willow, their roots looking like human limbs, travel during the day, and lay in wait for unsuspecting travelers. The party decides that their lack of ranged options limits their options, so they'll report back to the guild hall and perhaps deal with it later. They return Aloten to her shop, who says that in a few days she'll have some more potions. The group returns to the guild hall to get their payment and retrieve that notice for the guy who is haunted and so can't sleep.

Introduced

• Telectus - follower of Xodea turned doomsday cultist(?)
• Aloten - apothecary
• Ziatajie - troll attracted to a discovered rottshroom

Returning

• Old man
• Milicent

Mentioned

• Entelliark - Crocodile king

• 3gp 2sp 8cp (quest reward, given to Eck)
• turquoise (15g, quest reward, given to Eck)
• "The largest dust bunny [the kobolds] had" (quest reward, given to Vera)
• 20g recovery fee (quest? reward; 3gp each, 4gp to Eck)
• 1p (found on troll; Ward)
• 400gp (quest reward; 66gp each, 70gp to Eck)