That evening, Oscar, Lily the Sprite, and Elro search through the summary journals on Unzadzir and Yenelas, looking for hints about Naomis the Cave Goddess, whose prime follower is somewhere in the city. In the journal for Yenelas, they find a passage recorded by one Jarin Darkdraft, a seeker from the College of Lanterns who found ancient writings to a goddess not mentioned anywhere else. Uncertain, they decide to visit Creios's library and compare the drawings copies from this journal to research about the imprisoned gods. The next morning, Neeral goes to report to Captain McKinnon on the strange new cult they are tracking, while Oscar uses his animal forms to try sneaking the books back into the records building. Despite run-ins with a cat (when he was a centipede) and some researchers (when he was a cat), he manages to leave the books behind, politely tied together with a blue ribbon he found in his pocket. After regrouping over breakfast, the party sets off toward Creios's clock tower. On the way, they are ambushed by four assailants wearing nondescript gray plaster masks, who attack them with oil and fire before attempting to retreat. Neeral knocks two out, while J.J. asks Lily to trail a third. Oscar and Elro ensnare the fourth with magic, but then Oscar, responding to the god's voice coming from his spear, executes the captured attacker with his new spear and is invigorated. Searching the two dead and one captured attackers, they discover odd pieces of shale, on which are scratched a symbol. Each attacker carried two, one enchanted to track the amulet Neeral is wearing, taken from the neck of Zonlos the Chosen of Ayk, and the other apparently mundane. On top of that, each attacker carried credentials as a member of the College of Lanterns. Neeral and J.J. take the prisoner back to the guard headquarters and report to the captain, while Oscar and Elro continue on to the clock tower. Though Creios is out, his assistant helps the druid and wizard find a record of the holy symbols of each of the imprisoned gods. There, they confirm that the symbols found by Jarin Darkdraft were related to Naomis, and additionally note that the symbol scratched into the piece of shale matches that same symbol. As a point of interest, they research the types of magic and general dispositions of Naomis and Ayk, and discover that Naomis was associated with secrets and illusion, while Ayk was associated with dynamic individuals and berzerkers. Oscar is disquieted by the knowledge, suspecting as he does that Ayk has a direct line on his brain. Meanwhile, McKinnon has accepted the prisoner, secured the amulet that the cultists were tracking in a lead-lined box, with plans to lock it up in a special magic-proof vault at the earliest opportunity, and planned to put the city Arcanists on alert for unusual magical activity, while sending mundane investigators to check out the College of Lanterns, seeing as it was a common connection between all the attackers. Neeral and J.J. leave with a promise that they will be informed if anything comes up. On the way out, J.J. overhears the captain telling her assistant to prepare a message for "Master Darkdraft" that investigators will need access to his school. The party then regroups to plan. Lily reports back that the attacker she tracked removed his mask and wandered erratically before eventually returning to the College's dormitory. J.J. repeated what he had overheard to the rest of them, and together they hatched a plan. Lily would invisibly watch the College, ready to report anything they tried to hide before the investigators would arrive. Neeral would request to be included on the investigation team, while J.J. waited near campus where Lily could contact him quickly if it became necessary. Oscar would refresh his animal forms before sneaking onto campus in beastly disguise and Elro reviewed his knowledge of magic, preparing himself for the challenges he expected to face within. Their plans were cut short in execution when the city became agitated. A great barrier, seemingly formed of translucent smoke but impervious to physical or magical entry, had formed around the College's campus. J.J. lost contact with Lily, the only one of the group who had made it inside before the barrier went up. The rest of them now must discover a way inside, both to answer their remaining questions and to rescue the lost Sprite.