Searching the captured humans, they found four potions on the snake warrior as well as his finely made snakeskin armour, which Ke-Herram liberated. The darts and the gold coins that they found were distributed. The human that they had found on the floor, also seemed to be infected with the fungal growths that had affected the goblins nearby. The papers on the desk proved to be maps and shipping schedules of local trading groups. One map, however, stood out. It contained no details of any shipping routes as all of the others had done, and its only reference was to a Lake of Lost Voices. The only other marking was a symbol of a white circle in a black square, which stood at the western edge of this lake. Voern cured the wounds of the snake warrior sufficiently for interrogation. Migar led this effort and determined that the two were indeed the bandits that they had come looking for. Merril the snake warrior also revealed the powers of the potions that he had carried. Voern searched the chamber and found a chest under Den Rudigers bed. After the dart which trapped the chest had buried itself in Ke-Herrams arm, they could examine its contents, the most revealing of which was some correspondence that showed a tally chart, which seemed to show the disposition of the spoils. The three columns were labelled N; Rudiger & Yannis and Back to Lair. This last had an entry mentioning an old tome from Xavel. Salesat was not responding well to the poison that the snake had injected into him. Voern had to treat him with a tourniquet, as he made the litorian lie on the ground with his leg propped up against the wall. Examining the birds that they had found further, they saw that they each had rings around their legs with the same symbol that of the circle in the square. Voern left water and grain out for them before they headed off with their prizes to Gahanis.
Once they reached the town they handed over the two to Mynorath and obtained their reward. He offered them free accommodation for the rest of the festival as a further token of appreciation. Voern determined that Salesat required four more days of treatment to be rid of the venom, so Ke-Herram took the opportunity to order some climbing materials from a local merchant. When they were all prepared, Ke-Herram, Voern and Salesat performed rituals of thanksgiving for trials endured. Ke-Herram and Voern opted to improve their understanding of their own racial nature, while Voern continued in his devotion to the Green. That night while they rested from their endeavours, they were each visited in a dream by a Guildmaster of the Jaren who had spoken to them while wearing some elaborate costume, including a mask, asking them to come to the guild hall the following night, one hour after dusk to assist them in tracking down some property of theirs which had been taken in the caravan raids. Passing the day quietly, the group visited the Jaren and accepted their commission. They said that they would return to the Battlehome and look for clues as to where the item, which the Jaren said was a book, might have gone.
Three days later, after Ke-Herram had collected his kit, they all returned to the fortress. Here they methodically went through the areas that they had not reached, but only after determining that the pigeons had been taken, released or worse. Several natural twisting passages interconnected and seemed to run off into the bowels of the earth without limit. Of the more orderly passages, they eventually came upon a wide processional way, which was illuminated when they had reached the end and touched the huge giant mask, which hung at its end. Just off this lay a chamber with a fountain behind two doors that had faces, mirroring the huge one, carved in them. Here they found some rest and relaxation, for the waters of the fountain seemed to have some beneficial effect on them that they could not exactly determine.