After a well-deserved night of rest in Greenest, the adventurers meet with Governor Nighthill and dragon prince Chelnadatilar the next morning. The dragon prince is very happy to hear that two of the black dragon eggs were destroyed, and takes the third egg and dead dragon embryo to be destroyed as well. He also is grateful for the information about cult activities that the party has obtained. As a reward, he provides gold and also grants a minor magic item to each party member. Lariat and Ulrik gain magical weapons, and Malkior is granted a flying broom. Leosin also asks for Chelnadatilar's help in tracking the monk's stolen items that are part of the cultist loot, and he obliges. The loot has moved all the way to Waterdeep on the Sword Coast, which must have been accomplished in such a short time through magical means. The dragon prince does the same for the party, providing a portal leading to Waterdeep. He also asks that Lariat keep an eye out for bronze dragonborn who have fallen under the sway of the cult, who Chelnadatilar believes can be redeemed. The paladin Ontharr Thume receives them gladly in Waterdeep, on Chelnadatilar's recommendation. He also knows Leosin, since both Leosin's Harpers and Thume's Order of the Gauntlet have been concerned about Cult of the Dragon activities. Both organizations are willing to help anyone that is working against the cult. Leosin also tracks the loot further to a warehouse in the north part of Waterdeep. The group heads to the warehouse to investigate, and are soon joined by the gnome Jamna Quicksilver who is also investigating the cult. They find that it stores building supplies for the repair of the road to Neverwinter, and a supply caravan is leaving shortly to head north to the Carnath Roadhouse. The three cultist wagons are here as well, with a dozen cult members as escort, and will be traveling with the supply caravan. The party hires on as guards to travel with the caravan, keeping an eye on the cultists along the way. The rest of the day is spent resting, shopping, and otherwise taking care of business in Waterdeep. Both Malkior and Ulrik have eventful meetings. The Harpers ask Malkior to investigate rumors of a black dragon in the Mere of Dead Men, a wide and dangerous swampy area they will encounter during their journey. Ulrik is approached by the Order of Delvers, a dwarven adventuring society who is keeping tabs on dwarven cult members. They're particularly interested in news of Varram the White, who is high in the cult's councils. The caravan leaves the next morning. A few nights into the journey, Jamna asks the party for help in investigating the cultist wagons, which they do with great flair by providing a distraction using illusion, misdirection, and even a staged injury for realism. Jamna succeeds in investigating the wagons, but is unable to learn anything more than that they contain looted valuables. Shortly thereafter the caravan spots the Mere of Dead Men in the distance. The caravan's destination, the Carnath Roadhouse, is on the edge of the swamp. This is a waypoint camp used to stage road-building supplies. The caravan leader pays the party 100 gold each for their service as guards, and introduces them to camp manager, a half-orc called Bog Luck. He assigns everyone rooms and then oversees unloading the caravan wagons. Lariat and Ulrik help with the unloading, and in the process notice that the crates unloaded from the cultist wagons are put into a locked secure storage room by the cultists. Only Bog Luck has the key. With help from Jamna's lock-picking skills, Lariat and Malkior are able to gain access to the room while Ulrik keeps a lookout. Malkior finds a hidden trapdoor, but then Ulrik spots Bog Luck heading their way, so they are forced to abandon the investigation. Bog Luck goes into the locked room and spends the rest of the day there. The party chooses to lay low until nightfall. This plan is briefly interrupted by a cultist challenging Lariat to a duel, but that ends inconclusively when the caravan master breaks it up. After night falls and activity in the roadhouse ceases, the group sneaks out of their room. Unfortunately, sneaking is not Ulrik's best skill, and he falls with a great clattering noise that wakes Bog Luck. The half-orc is not willing to listen to their excuses and attacks, calling for help from the caravan guards. But Ulrik is able to convince the guards that Bog Luck is the one at fault, while the rest of the party takes him down. After the roadhouse settles back down, Jamna opens the locked storage room, but finds that most of the cultist crates are gone and a group of lizardfolk are taking the rest! The party defeats the lizardfolk handily and investigates a tunnel under the trapdoor, which leads to the nearby swamp. An obvious trail leading eastward shows where the lizardfolk have taken the other crates, and after a short rest they follow it. Thanks to Malkior scouting ahead on his flying broom, they are able to avoid any encounters with dangerous swamp creatures and reach a camping spot near nightfall. The adventurers light a fire and prepare to settle in for the night, but with the last light they see a group of three canoes approaching from the east. Each contains three lizardfolk, and the party quickly decides to set an ambush. This works almost perfectly, leading most of the lizardfolk away from the canoes and defeating them, while simultaneously capturing the others near the canoes. One of the captured lizardfolk is named Snapjaw and offers to assist the adventurers, citing his dissatisfaction with the "dragon kneeler" cultist overlords and their insistence that the lizardfolk cooperate with the hated bullywugs. He tells them of a castle to the east, where the cultists take their loot. The other captured lizardfolk are less cooperative, but after Ulrik heals their wounds, they are at least no longer hostile. With the area now secured, the party rests for the night.