You return the other prisoners to their homes and go with Jardeth toward Demast, soon reaching the forest outside of town. As you walk along the road under the trees, the fields of Chelnadatilar’s domain come into view ahead. You hear the rush of mighty wings from above, but the trees hide their source from view. Moments later, you see Chelnadatilar standing on the road ahead. He motions you forward, but his attention is behind you. Looking back, you see that another powerful-looking older man stands on the road just outside the forest. You recognize him as the man who first plucked you from your daily life and set you on this course of events. As you move past Chelnadatilar, the other man disappears and you catch a glimpse of a sapphire-blue dragon flying away before the trees obscure your view. Chelnadatilar explains how Domborcojh raided his lands and captured Jardeth, and tells you of the dragon prince council session that was called to discuss this matter. He had been getting nowhere with his complaint, but suddenly Domborcojh made excuses and left the meeting. Suspicious, Chelnadatilar did the same and followed, which is how the two dragon princes arrived at the forest at the same time. Having heard your story of the portal experience, the dragon prince recognizes the hand of Bahamut. Clearly the favor of the dragon god of justice is with you, having both shown you the involvement of the Red Wizards and saved you from being pulled into the hellscape of Avernus. Chelnadatilar also relays to you that the subject of the Cult of the Dragon was brought up at the dragon prince council. Their leader, Skalnaedyr, is a blue dragon and thus somewhat sympathetic to the cult. However, Skalnaedyr has spent many years ruling over human lands and is loath to give up his position even for the dragon goddess, so as of yet he has not openly supported the cult. The other princes, Domborcojh and the emerald dragon Astanalan, are thus far neutral on the subject. He will continue to try to convince them to take action against the cult. The dragon prince rewards the party and provides a place for rest. The next morning, he sends them back along their interrupted portal journey. They emerge in a forest in a mountain valley, near to several standing stones that are etched with draconic runes. Mella finds these to be cryptic references to locations - a swamp, the frozen north, a "land of red sun" - but does not uncover any way to activate the portals. Meanwhile, Luna spots two trolls and a pack of guard drakes coming through the woods! Leaving the stones before they are discovered, the adventurers proceed toward a nearby hunting lodge. The lodge is an older building, which for the most part has been well maintained. Several of the party is caught in a freezing rune trap, but no serious harm is done. Cautious exploration, mostly led by Jamna and Tom, reveals that the first floor is largely empty. Following his nose, Noram discovers the kitchen and several cultists. While Noram keeps them engaged in conversation, Jamna sneaks around behind and knocks two of them out! The rest of the party overcomes the others quickly. From the cultist kitchen workers, they learn that this lodge is under the control of the cult leader Talis the White. They know little of her plans, but are able to direct the adventurers in how to avoid several traps and other pitfalls around the lodge. With a bit of persuasion from the very intimidating bard, they also reveal that there are prisoners in the basement! Here they find a dwarf and two humans, who are freed and left in the kitchen to watch the cultist prisoners. Moving upstairs, the party searches several rooms before Jamna hears movement behind a door. The adventurers line up for battle and Noram kicks the door down! The party rushes in and overwhelms the three cultists inside. One of these is Talis herself, and after the initial assault she sees no hope for victory and chooses to surrender. Luna's giant bear form growling in her ear certainly encouraged her quick capitulation. 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. The adventurers go back downstairs to collect the freed prisoners, but find the two humans dead and the dwarf gone...he was a cultist himself! He seems to have fled the lodge, but there is no obvious trail. Perhaps he will be seen again... Wessic leads them through the woods to the village of Parnast. Along the way, Mella 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.