In the morning, Chelnadatilar sends the party on their way by opening a portal to resume their interrupted journey from the cavern under Castle Naerytar. They emerge in a forest in a mountain valley, near to several standing stones that are etched with draconic runes. Studying these is not enlightening, so they copy down the symbols and proceed toward a nearby hunting lodge. This simple journey is interrupted when two trolls and a pack of guard drakes happens by and spots the adventurers! Not wishing to engage in a pitched battle, they run for the lodge and quickly duck inside. The trolls and drakes follow to the door, but do not enter. The lodge is an older building, which for the most part has been well maintained. Cautious exploration, mostly led by Malkior's familiar in the form of a rat, reveals that the first floor is largely empty. They spot several kitchen workers and a group of kobolds, but do not confront either. Some less-than-stealthy movement alerts the kobolds, though, and the party is forced to hide in an empty room while the kobolds alert someone from upstairs and begin a search. Fortunately, they start their investigation in the opposite corner of the lodge, allowing the adventurers to sneak upstairs and continue onward. Once upstairs, the party quickly discovers the mistress of the lodge, a cleric named Talis the White. She openly acknowledges that she belongs to the Cult of the Dragon, but greets the adventurers politely and proposes a deal. Talis has rivals in the cult, specifically the dragonspeaker Varram the White, and wishes to harm his standing so that she might take his place. Varram is working with Rezmir, the black dragonspeaker, to gather wealth for the cult - one such shipment of plunder has recently passed by the lodge, headed for the village of Parnast and Skyreach Castle. Talis proposes that the adventurers follow this shipment and take it away from the cult, thus advancing Talis' agenda and enriching themselves in one stroke. She will provide help in accessing the castle to aid their cause. After some discussion, the party chooses to accept Talis' offer, though they do not tell her that they intend to do more harm to the cult than just stopping one shipment of loot. Talis is pleased by this and provides not only useful information, but also the services of one of her soldiers, the bronze dragonborn Wessic. He leads them through the woods to the village of Parnast. Along the way, Lariat engages him in conversation, hoping to convince him to turn against the cult. It takes some doing, but eventually she is able to sway him to her point of view. He promises not only to help them, but afterward to leave the cult and do his best to return home to Murghôm. In Parnast, the party arrives near sundown. A bellowing roar reveals the presence of dangerous wyverns in a large barn, which is closed up tight. Jamna pokes around but is unable to find any sign of the loot transports, which must be in the barn. Choosing not to make a scene, the adventurers take rooms at the village inn for the night. Ulrik heals a few locals of minor wounds, a rare evening of entertainment for the isolated village. For both the healing and the entertainment, most of the villagers are grateful, though a few still show reservations - particularly when the cleric openly praises Helm. There are no lasting ill feelings on either side, though, and the night passes uneventfully. The next morning, the local guard captain comes to the inn. With Wessic to vouch for them, the party is able to join the captain in escorting the loot transport wagons from the barn to the south end of the village. Here they wait, until out of the sky a cloud descends toward them. As it approaches, it becomes clear that the cloud is concealing a giant iceberg, with a castle built on it! This lands at the village, and the loot is taken inside. Around this time, Rezmir and her bodyguards also arrive, overseeing the loot transfer. The loot is taken a short way inside the castle, then carried by hand down a stairway and given over to kobolds in an ice tunnel. The party is unable determine where the kobolds took the loot crates, since they don't wish to start a suicidal battle with so many cult members nearby. Shortly thereafter, the transport wagons leave the castle, taking the guard captain and Wessic with them. With no immediate way to pursue the treasure, the adventurers turn their attention to exploring other portions of the castle. Many cultists of all races are present, as well as a large number of ogres, so another small group wandering around draws little attention as long as they are circumspect. They are able to track Rezmir to a suite of rooms near the largest castle tower.