As Envy and the Outcasts gathered outside the giants' camp in which Legion's brothers and the warforged Flendar were ensconced, a tall, slender figure emerged from the shadows and approached the group. Introducing himself as Laffa, the figure begged for the companions' assistance. Laffa was carrying a large blue tome, with elaborate leather and marble bindings and a sizable lock, which Laffa pressed into Yipping's hands. The tome, Laffa explained, contained a powerful djinn, who could grant wishes. Although the djinn had recruited Laffa to help to free him, Laffa was not up to the task, and Laffa begged the Outcasts to take on the task of freeing the djinn. With a little appeal to Yipping's ego as a brave hero, Laffa persuaded Yipping to accept the book. As Yipping examined the book's lock, it sprang open, while at the same moment Laffa disappeared. The book, which Lukar identified as a spellbook that had had its spells removed, opened, and the head of a djinn emerged. The djinn explained that a wizard named Zikran had trapped it in the book years ago, and that it had recruited its son--a genasi named Laffa--to help to free it. Nevertheless, it appeared that Laffa had abandoned the quest, and so the djinn appealed to the Outcasts to help it. If the Outcasts were able to free the djinn, it promised to cast a Wish spell at the party's bidding. The notion of obtaining a Wish was particularly appealing to Lukar in his quest to resurrect his long-deceased wife, and so--with the encouragement of Lukar, Envy, and Yipping--Sh'Nezz'Tar and Legion also agreed to assist. Something about a disembodied head in a book speaking to them all spooked Twitch, however--and as the shifter cleric of The Traveler pulled away from the others, the rest of the Outcasts placed their hands on the book and were immediately teleported away! As the teleportation spell took effect, the djinn told the Outcasts that--regrettably--utilizing the spell activated a defensive mechanism on the spellbook that would kill all of them in one day if they were unsuccessful in freeing the djinn within. The Outcasts found themselves somewhere along the coast of Xen'drik outside a sea cave nestled in a crevice among sheer, steep cliffs. In fact, the teleportation spell had landed the group atop an outcropping of coral that just emerged from the water's surface. As the group took stock of their surroundings, a group of wyverns swooped down from the clifftops and attacked! Springing into action, the Outcasts quickly overwhelmed the flying menace; and as the sounds of combat dissipated into the crash of waves along the coast, the companions entered the sea cave. Within, a series of tidal caves appeared to lead to a dry, constructed chamber. After Lukar inspected two corpses that lay in the tidal waters within the first cave--clearly seeking bodies to reanimate using his necromantic magic--the angry ghosts of the two deceased attacked. The Outcasts beat back the ghosts, left the corpses no further disturbed, and proceeded further within. The Outcasts discovered that the dry, constructed chamber inside the caves was the remains of a wizard's laboratory, where someone had collected an oddly colorful but otherwise valueless group of waterlogged books and scrolls seemingly pulled from the ocean. Beyond large double doors, the Outcasts found that the innermost chamber of the laboratory was occupied by a preening bronze dragon wearing a colorful coral crown. Even without Twitch to offer her typical counsel of a cautious approach, the Outcasts decided to choose discretion over valor, and elected to speak with the dragon. Appealing to the dragon's vanity--and with Envy's persuasive skills in full effect--the group persuaded the dragon to allow them to examine its collected "treasures" for clues to the wizard Zikran's current whereabouts in exchange for a song about the beauty of the dragon and its glittering hoard. The Outcasts soon discovered coordinates for a keep, high in a mountain range in the continent's interior, that appeared to be Zikran's latest domain. With thanks to the preening dragon, the group gathered around the djinn's tome once again and again were teleported away. From the tropical shore, the Outcasts suddenly found themselves within a freezing crag at the peak of a snowy, windswept mountaintop. Deep within the crag, the ruins of an ancient keep rose up to meet the sparkling swirls of snow dancing along the scattered light from above. As the group entered the crag, the local inhabitant, an abominable yeti, roared its presence and attacked. Despite taking some damage, the group vanquished the wild creature and proceeded forward to the ruined keep. As the group grew closer, it became clearer that the proportions of the keep itself were massive and sized for the ancient giants of Xen'drik. Indeed, as Legion and Yipping opened the keep's enormous double doors, within, the Outcasts saw the ghostly forms of ancient cloud giants still inhabiting the ruined keep's interior. Again choosing discretion, the Outcasts maneuvered their way carefully around the ghosts without disturbing them, and eventually made their way to the keep's basement. It was there that Zikran and his defenses lay in wait. Ice mephits and water elementals assaulted the group as they descended the massive, giant-sized steps that led to the basement, while Zikran--as it turned out, a portly water genasi--operated an arcane cannon from the far end of the room to fire upon the Outcasts. Zikran attempted to outsmart the group by hiding behind a hemispheric Wall of Force, but with Envy's mind-scorching spells and Lukar's unerring Magic Missiles evading the Force Wall's protection, Zikran was soon exposed to the might of the Outcasts. Facing his destruction, Zikran agreed to free the djinn, while using the opportunity to cast Time Stop and flee. The grateful djinn agreed to return the Outcasts to the giant outpost from which they had set forth, and further agreed to honor his promise to cast a Wish spell of the group's choosing. As the group returned, Twitch gazed with amazement at the group's success. Although folk lore was replete with stories of Wish spells that had unanticipated ends, it appeared as if Lukar could finally achieve what he had long sought--couldn't he?