The consortes accept the mission to Caxbrill, and decide that Coric should have the enchanted ring. They are outfitted by the Seekers' own quartermaster and then given an escort to Gelton—the last town south of Caxbrill not controlled by Black-blade rucks.

The next morning, the party crosses to the east side of the icy Corin and marches north through a rough, frozen bog. That night the party makes camp; later they hear ruckish drums and horns sounding in the night.

In the morning the party finds a frozen corpse floating near the riverbank: a dead villager. Before noon the party catches sight of Vesay on the other side of the Corin; the consortes give wide berth to the captured village. It begins snowing, but the group presses on and makes camp.

After another night, the party avoids a ruckish patrol and finally spies Caxbrill. A large force of ruck-men surrounds the village: mostly Black-blade rucks, but also some conscripts from other tribes. The rucks regularly patrol the perimeter of the town, and they seem rather tired and nervous. Further, the rucks are building three timber watchtowers on the edge of Caxbrill, and the party observes a Black-blade convoy arrive, bearing many casks of ruckish fire. Mendelor then notes that Caxbrill itself is entirely empty: the rucks are not trying to keep anything outside from entering Caxbrill: they are trying to keep something inside Caxbrill, within!

This touches off an intense debate among the consortes. What to do? Should a single scout be sent into the town? A couple of scouts? Or the entire party? A vote is taken, and it is decided that the entire group should go.

Using the magical powder, the entire party is made invisible and passes into Caxbrill unnoticed by all of the ruckish patrols. The streets of Caxbrill are eerily empty, but Mendelor soon finds tracks in the snow: a well-worn path leading from the ruck-men into the center of town, right up to a large well near the parish church. Mendelor also notes that while there are many tracks leading up to the well, far fewer tracks lead away from it. Could this be where all of the prisoners brought to Caxbrill have been taken?

Using the magical ring, Coric can tell that the well is dry, and that there seems to be a large, open area at the bottom. The well itself stinks a foul, evil stink. Nevertheless, the party drops a rope down and descends. At the bottom is a dark, slimy room, with several tunnel exiting. The ground is filthy, littered with odd coins and small shards of teeth and bone. The party presses on through a twisting maze of reeking, slimy tunnels, coming upon a chamber filled with dirty bones, piled waist high. The party then hears a terrible moaning, coming from somewhere deeper in the tunnels.

Following the cries, the party reaches a large room, filled with offal and bones: submerged in the filth is a wretched person, partially eaten and more dead than alive. Suddenly, a large, horrible figure rises out of the shadows: nearly nine feet tall, ghastly thin, with green, slimy skin and black, emotionless eyes. The thing babbles as it strides forward to attack.

The creature is very strong, but the entire party is still invisible, giving them a vital edge. The fight that follows is a tough one: the monster's wounds heal themselves of their own accord, and even after it is hacked to pieces its dismembered bits still writhe with life. The party does not have time to savor the victory, for two more similar monsters appear!

Again, invisibility helps the party greatly—though it does make coordinating attacks difficult. Renton is struck down, grievously wounded, before the two things are also hacked to pieces. Valerius calls forth a flaming arrow, and a flask of ruckish fire is used to utterly destroy the remains of the monsters. With Renton hurt so badly, the party debates whether to press on or no. They decide to head back for the well—but investigate some unexplored corridors along the way. The party soon hears more hissing and babbling, and they arrive at the well shaft just as the invisibility wears off.

Party members begin scrambling up the rope, but when almost everyone is out of the well another monster attacks, with Hamral and Friar Sidrach alone at the bottom of the shaft. The Friar calls upon the Five, and They shield the two comrades long enough to make their escape up and out of the shaft. Before leaving, Hamral glimpses a half dozen or more of the horrible monsters advancing.

Above ground and visible, the party runs for the abandoned church to attend to Renton. The consortes find themselves in a very difficult situation: saddled with a sorely wounded comrade, many horrible monsters below them, a small army of rucks around them, and the daylight waning. Soon, they speculate, the monsters will emerge from the well.

The party makes its break. Vandoren casts a charm to divert the rucks: sounds like the monsters under Caxbrill appear in the ruck-men ranks, throwing the rucks into just enough confusion to allow the party to dash through the perimeter and make for the woods. After a long, hard run the consortes make camp and draw up plans. The consortes agree that something needs to be done, and an assault on the rucks is planned and carried out the next day.

The attack begins at dawn with Vandoren using his charm to again make monstrous noises, drawing off ruckish guards from one of the towers. Valerius then hurls a fiery bolt into the abandoned structure, which ignites the casks of stored oil: the tower explodes in roiling flame. As the rucks rush back to put out the fire, St. James and Renton launch flaming arrows at a second tower, and Valerius and a second team rush to the third tower. As Valerius runs past the ruckish positions, unseen forces tip over casks of ruckish fire and drop torches into the spilled oil. Valerius then blasts the third tower with fire, and the third tower erupts in flame. Rucks pursue, but several stumble while others are held fast by the power of the Five. Over his comrade's protests, Hamral dashes back to kill all of the hapless rucks.

In the chaos that follows, the party slips away and heads back for Heremac.