Valerius and Vandoren visit the Lady of the Keep in order to learn more about the Shellycoat and the terrible curse that plagues the Frounter. The Lady claims that the legends of the Shellycoat are much older than the curse itself and that the entity responsible for the curse is an ancient evil, most hateful to men -- and that her children are almost as dangerous as she is.

After Valerius and Vandoren reunite in Upchurch with Sir Hamral, Mendelor, Dominic, Renton, St. James, and Owen, the group heads north to the Harpish border and the Tyrn River. The consortes return to the village of Dundren, but they receive a fairly cold reception from the peasants there. Dundren, it seems, has fallen on hard times: many homesteads have been abandoned by villagers fleeing from the curse. Further, the village priest has died and has yet to be replaced.

The villagers appear inordinately wary of strangers, and prove unreceptive even to the charms of Vandoren and Plucksome. This behavior only piques the consortes' curiosity, and that night St. James and Owen steal into Dundren and the little church, which had been abandoned. Inside the rectory the two sneaks find indications that the priest must have died abruptly: in his bedroom the priest's vestments are all laid out, ready to be worn. Later, while leaving the village, St. James and Owen overhear a nighttime gathering of villagers and decide to investigate. The villagers have secretly gathered inside a barn, where they are building a little boat just large enough to fit a small child -- and fashioned into the shape of a dragon.

The consortes suspect that the villagers, in dire straights, have reverted to some unsavory custom of yore. Noxumbra and Dominic (who can transform himself into a small bird) are deployed to closely monitor activities within Dundren. Meanwhile Mendelor finds a strange section of the riverbank where the land is shriveled and blasted.

The next night a scouting party attempts to further examine the little boat, which has an ominous, unsettling radiance. Valerius confirms that the boat's stylings seem to fit with a pagan ritual; Friar Sidrach attempts a warding prayer over the boat which fails. Meanwhile Mendelor and Owen make some hiding spots near the blasted area, and the group waits by the river for the first night of the new moon.

Sure enough, as the consortes watch, several villagers form a mournful procession down to the river, where they bear the little boat with a young boy laid within. Just as the weeping villagers place the boat into the swirling Tyrn, the consortes intervene.

Valerius summons up the water spirit Eudôrê, one of the Nerades, to retrieve the child. She quickly does so; the boy appears drugged but is otherwise fine. Valerius then commands Eudôrê to scout beneath the water's surface. Meanwhile the consortes begin using magics that will allow everyone to breathe and move easily under water.

Soon after Eudôrê returns to report that the river bank slopes down steeply below the water's edge, and that there a large underwater passage opens into a dismal, air-filled cavern. After a few quick prayers the group takes the plunge down into the dark, cold waters of the Tyrn. And after a short, anxious swim the group emerges in the cavern described by Eudôrê. Two unpromising passages exit from the cavern: one twists up toward higher ground, while the other winds downward. After a brief debate the group takes the path downward.

The passage opens into a slimy, pool-filled cavern where water drips. There they encounter a hideous monster with a dragon-like body and a huge toad-head crowned with a wreath of eight, writhing snake heads. The consortes attack the venomous beast, which proves to be a tough opponent. St. James reveals that he has a new sword made of a strange green metal and which displays wondrous powers. The beast attempts to swallow Hamral in its great toad maw, but Vandoren's protective magic allows the knight to escape unharmed.

After the beast is slain, the group returns to the entrance cave and then takes the upper passage. The group encounters a giant bloated snake with the head of a terrible lion. This creature also puts up a hard fight before it is slain. In the battle Mendelor receives a nasty wound to his shoulder that festers and refuses to respond to all healing.

Further into the complex the consortes find a great cave split by a huge, deep chasm. Only one narrow ledge around the chasm allows access. This cave is guarded by a strange, shrieking creature with the head of a wolf, the body of a dragon, and large bat-like wings. Fortunately the group is able to dispatch this monster without suffering additional casualties.

Pressing on, the group reaches a queer, luminescent cavern filled with a large pool of clear, still water; a narrow stone causeway threads through the pool to the other side. Cautiously, the group advances across the causeway, only wide enough to allow one man to pass at a time. While on the causeway the consortes notice that in the water's depths can be seen floating the images of dead, malformed babies: hundreds of these small, pale wretches. Soon after Friar Sidrach slips and falls into the water, which instantly dispels the fatal vision.

On the other end of the cavern is a great, stone archway and two huge doors of bronze. The aperture is formed into a grotesque and blasphemous female image.

Beyond the archway is another cavern on the edge of a great subterranean lake; the dismal space is illuminated by two great pits of flame. And sitting on the edge of the lake is a monster out of legend: above the waist, it has the form of a beautiful young woman with long, blond hair. Below the waist is the shape of a foul dragon with glittering scales.

The consortes spring into action, but the monster is terrible, fierce, and most cunning. Once glance from her is enough to blind St. James, and her tail ends in a terrible poisonous sting. The fight is bloody and difficult; despite the combined efforts of all the consortes, the monster appears undiminished. One last, desperate push gives the consortes just enough of a lull to make an escape, though St. James and Friar Sidrach both feel an inexplicable compulsions to stay behind. After some persuasion, the two holdouts also leave, and the groups flees beyond the bronze portals and out of the infernal caverns.

Once back in Dundren Friar Sidrach prays to the Five and is granted a vision of Marcus who explains that the curse is now lifted. Valerius conjures up a water elemental that indicates that the underwater entrance into the caverns is nowhere to be found.

The Roleplaying Award (RP) includes PBM responses as well as participation in the live session.