As the adventurers catch their breath in the storeroom, Shazz'm falls into a light trance and is once again contacted by his god, Aerdrie Faenya: “The castle master stands above the cold flame.” When the others hear this, they are encouraged and begin the long trek upward into the castle tower. The rooms they investigate on the way are mostly sized to fit giants, but empty of occupants. Eventually they find a floor with four ogres, each wearing a fancy helm and clearly acting as guards. The group attempts to sneak past them, but the cleric drops his mace and the guards are instantly alert. Some quick talking by Induris and Bron convince the slow-witted ogres that the party is here for an audience with their master, and they are allowed to pass. The next floor is the home of Blagothkus, the cloud giant master of the castle. They find him at his ease in his bedroom with two ogre attendants, and are able to convince him that they are here to oppose the cult, not the giants. Blagothkus has been using his castle to assist the cult in ferrying treasure, not because he believes in the cult's aims, but in order to strengthen dragons in the area to the point where quarreling giant clans would be forced to unite against the threat. With the arrogance typical of cloud giants, Blagothkus tells the party that he will not interfere with them, but neither will he provide assistance. If they manage to defeat the cult's vampire, dragon, and Red Wizard allies, then he would deign to allow them to join his anti-cult giant army. As servants, of course. Silence follows this condescending speech, until... The cleric’s eyes close, a cloud gathers around his feet, and he floats into the air! Small lightning bolts flash through the cloud as he floats up to eye level with the giant, and he speaks, but his voice is not his own: “Do you know me, child of Memnor?” Clear surprise and not a little awe shows on the face of Blagothkus as he replies, “My lady Aerdrie! Bringer of Rain and Storms! I had not thought you to be involved with such small, ground-bound creatures.” “My ways are not for you to question, cloud-walker. I have tolerated your questionable activities using this castle, for I delight in all that flies. But my forbearance is not infinite. My servant will accomplish the defeat of the remaining cultists here in the castle, for that also is my will. But once the castle is secured, it is not you who will be the master, but I. You, your servants, and your allies will coordinate with my servant to defeat the Cult of Dragons, for the return of Tiamat is an evil that cannot be allowed.” The cloud giant bows, all arrogance gone. “It shall be as you say, Lady of the Air and Wind.” With that the cloud lowers the cleric to the ground and disappears. He slumps to the ground, unconscious. After this intervention by Aerdrie Faenya, Blagothkus is much more helpful. He provides the party with maps of the castle, and describes where they can find the vampire, the white dragon who guards the stolen treasure, and the cult's Red Wizard allies. He also gives them circlets which identify them as his allies, so none of the ogre guards will interfere with their movements. And he promises to take them wherever they wish after the castle has been purged of the cult's influence. It is a three-day trip to the cult's stronghold, and half of the first has already passed since the party entered the castle. They choose to confront the vampire while the sun is still shining, and make their way to the run-down tower where she resides in daytime. The afternoon grows late, and by the time they enter, the vampire Sandesyl Morgia has already risen from her crypt. A battle ensues, in which the adventurers are victorious with little difficulty besides a bite on Bron. The vampire does manage to escape to her crypt, but the party follows and is able to finish her for good with a stake before she can recover. Encouraged by this quick success, the adventurers decide to confront the Red Wizards. They make their way across the castle to another tower, and Induris engages one of the two wizards in conversation. When the rogue asks to come in, the wizard turns to consult his fellow...and the party strikes ruthlessly, killing the first wizard almost instantly and wounding the other. Seeing the situation was hopeless, the second wizard uses a teleportation spell to exit the castle and a fly spell to flee. A quick search of the wizards' room turns up documents indicating that the wizard who fled was Rath Modar, a high-ranking Red Wizard who is helping the cult to perfect the ritual needed to return Tiamat from hell to the physical world! The party returns to Blagothkus to report on their victories, and he provides them with rooms and refreshment so they can rest for the night (and Bron can recover from that vampire bite). The next morning, they make their way down to the ice cave under the castle to confront the final cult power: the white dragon Glazhael. Knowing that conversation will be useless, the adventurers carefully position themselves to launch a surprise attack from maximum range. This works to perfection, and several hits are scored before the dragon can rouse himself and fly to the attack. A wounded dragon is dangerous, though, and he scores several hits on Bron and nearly devastates the party with his freezing breath. But uncanny reflexes save Induris, Bron's rage allows him to keep fighting through grievous injury, the wizard's magic grants the monk the ability to fly up and unleash his powerful fists, and the cleric manages some healing despite being frightened and later knocked flat by mighty wings. This teamwork proves too much for Glazhael, and the dragon turns to flee, only to be struck down by Bron's blood axe even as he attempts to fly away. Frozen in the cavern lies a great amount of stolen wealth. The wizard's fire is able to melt the ice, revealing 500000 cp, 100000 sp, 5000 gp, 800 pp, 21 sapphires worth 300 gp each, and several magic items: potion of gaseous form, +1 longsword, +1 longbow, +1 leather armor, and bracers of defense. The party gathers the items, leaving the currency to be transported later, and return to the giant tower. There they report to Blagothkus, rest, and determine their next steps.