The episode opened following Molokai through the wreckage of Sutter Gaol. Passing graffiti reading "IN THE MIND", he was led to Charlie, one of the guards Vessinger was close with and who was left behind during the escape. Molokai demanded to know where Constance was, and struck Charlie when he claimed ignorance. After this brief introduction, we returned to the pirates, sailing on their stolen ship: Lord Austenwald's Revenge. After a brief discussion and with a recommendation from Kelly, they decide to go to the academy town Illund, where they impersonate imperial soldiers in order to make their way through customs. Albert, Constance, and Kelly went to market to gather supplies for the ship before setting course for Sanctuary. Kelly attempted to slip away, but was caught by Vessinger and confronted. She did her best to avoid answering his questions, but a man stepped out of an alleyway and revealed himself to be Roderick O'Dare — Kelly's husband. He explained that he and Kelly had be speaking by way of a pair of magitech Sending Stones that the two had invented, and thanked Albert for helping her escape. Meanwhile, back at the shop, Constance was refamiliarizing herself with the market prices of various piratable goods. She got into a brief altercation with the merchant when she tried to take his gold, but Albert defused the situation with a bribe and the two departed. On their way out, they saw a body being removed from a nearby home and chose to investigate. The attending guards explained that the dead man, Clarence, had been found in the home by is sister Margot. The deceased's remains were half decayed, but he had been alive that morning. Investigation of the home revealed a humanoid outline where the body was found surrounded by mold and fungus, along with a trail of further decay leading to the window. The two followed the fungoid tracks to the Sir Terry College of Alchemy and Design's natural sciences department where the trail was lost in the garden. They questioned a professor in the department who revealed to them that one of his graduate students, Percy, was studying fungus. Upon arriving at his work station, they were greeted by fellow student Mabel Pennyweather, who had been working with Percy on a collaborative term project. Wishing to track Percy down, Albert left Constance with Mabel to wait at the student's work station, and got Percy's home address from the admissions department before returning to find Constance had revealed her true identity to Mable. An irate Captain Vessinger argued with Constance about keeping things under wraps, before insisting Mabel be impressed into their crew and leaving for Percy's dormitory. On the way, Mabel explained that she, an arcanomancy student studying under professor Roderick O'Dare, had been working with Percy to develop a serum that would cause mold and other household disruptants to consume themselves. The three of them found Percy dead in his room, his entire body subsumed by fungus, before hearing a scream from outside and rushing to address it. They encountered an enormous humanoid fungus monster, the result of Percy and Mabel's failed work, and engaged it in combat. The O'Dares rushed to Albert and Constance's aid when they heard sounds of combat, but not before the two had sustained significant injuries. They attempted to put the creature down, but in the course of combat Albert was absorbed by the monster. In a desparate moment, Albert called upon his righteous power and burned his adversary from the inside, revealing himself covered in sulfurous hellfire and sporting demonic horns before his power faded. The creature defeated, the O'Dares agreed to stay on with the crew, Roderick offering to teach Mabel during their travels, and the five of them rushed away from the scene of battle after Constance used the monster's smoldering remains to write "IN THE MIND" on the side of one of the buildings. Looking to make off from Illund with more than they'd paid for, the pirates stole a student's yacht from the skyport, and left the small college town with quite a bit to talk about. They spent the next few days off the coast of Mulland before capturing another skiff and setting sail for the pirate city of Sanctuary.
