As the party rests, they discuss the moon in the sky. Mira recognizes it to be the planet Ares—or Pyroeis—which was near Old Terra in her shard.

The group splits up in an attempt to acquire friends, support, and information from the people of Hullbreach. Ward and Dorean return to Dihada's Parlour to ask Dihada some questions. Casitus is not omniscient or anything of the like, so something like a Sending spell would work normally. Dihada vaguely states that the nature of Casitus' origins is why he is a sort of magical black hole. They offer the example of encountering the fear of burning alive, and that it would probably be at least a little on fire and good at setting people on fire. As they depart, Ward is tripped into a large, muscular orcish woman. The woman, quite drunk, wraps an arm around him and calls for juice. Accepting his new calling, he takes a swig of the offered flask. He immediately passes out. The woman caps the flask, then hands both it and Ward to Dorean, whispering "Juuuuiiice" ominously as she does so. Dorean takes Ward back to the ship they had commondeered. Unwilling to disturb Vera's mission to make new friends, Dorean heads off in search of Luna and Mira for help.

Luna and Mira have been wandering around, attempting to listen for information. They are approached by a sahagin and two humans; the sahagin asks if they are the only survivors of their shipwreck. Learning that there are others from their crew around, it expresses sadness, as it had wished to recruit them. They ask if the two had been given a tour; Dihada's Parlour and Uncounted Shadows are two of the interesting spots, but others include the witch, Bruska's restaurant, the Admiral's for a good yarn. The sahagin asks if they are intending to participate in the tournament in the Pit, explaining that Hotha, most likely at the Pit, would be able to help them get set up if they wished to participate.

Vera and Eck have encountered and elder wood elf pirate named Gilmirie who is teaching them how to play 4D chess. It was brought to the ancient past by a time traveler, who taught it to others. The game was stolen by a time traveler, who took it into the ancient past—having stolen it from himself. Gilmirie was quartermaster of a merchant ship headed toward Thiemos, a small island near the Dragonlands, to get a load of special, incredibly rare wood—a deep ruby red with blue rings. She also explains that the Pit can involve fighting all sorts of things, from people to monsters, fae and nightmares who find themselves in Hullbreach. Vera and Eck request that she attend if they fight, which she agrees to do.

Dorean finds Luna and Mira, and that group finds Vera and Eck, who are in the middle of badly losing their third match against Gilmirie. Vera checks Ward over, finding him merely unconscious, but having a very pleasant dream. The juice is not poisoned, but it is unclear what it is actually. Gilmirie says it is probably from the Cult of the Juice, who pursue euphoria through their juice. Ward eventually jolts awake, startling some members of the party and prompting various levels of violence against him from others. He is scolded summarily before being introduced to Gilmirie. He plays her as well, spending two hours to eventually reach a draw. The group then heads off to the Pit to meet Hatha.

Along the way, Ward casts Sending, asking her for information about Casitus' heart and how she used it to defeat him.

Hatha explains the Pinacle Tournament, that they have to do a regular bout before they're allowed to enter the tournament. The tournament is generally groups of three, though fewer are allowed, and healing magic is not allowed.

Introduced

• Sahagin
• "Kekka" - knife-wielding crew of Sahagin
• Unnamed person - second crew of Sahagin
• Hotha - in charge at the Pit
• Gilmirie - elf pirate

Returning

Dihada
• Cecily Cardew
(via Sending)

Mentioned

• Casitus Jerrick
• Talthis Vim
• Narci - singing combatant