The heroes decide to scout out the Black Goat before entering, suspecting that the patrons will be hostile. They see a collection of rough-looking individuals inside, one of them particularly large. Sredni and Kraygin enter once everyone else has readied themselves in case of attack. Sredni tries to bully the large man into giving up information about Isolde or the Mockers, but the man only laughs and tells the other men to attack. A brief scuffle takes place in the bar, during which an assassin attacks from the shadows but then tries to flee, covered by two large, reptilian-looking men with swords. He dives behind the bar and disappears.
After the scuffle, the heroes go behind the bar and discover a trap door, which they descend. The trap-door leads to a cellar, in which the heroes spot the assassin descending through another trap door. They give chase and wind up in the sewers. As they are getting their bearings, they are attacked again. This time their assailants include a group of thugs, a shadar-kai witch, and a dark one who flits in and out of the shadows. The thugs are easily felled, but the party has to contend with two opponents who create magical darkness, making it difficult to maneuver through the cramped sewers. Eventually they overcome their adversaries, but the assassin is nowhere to be seen; the heroes continue through the sewers until they come to a natural tunnel; Shava confirms that this is the way the assassin went, seeing tracks that she can follow.
The tunnel eventually comes to a body of water and a damaged-looking raft; they also see a canoe disappearing around the bend! They quickly get onto the raft, Silus making repairs along the way, and engage in pursuit. They navigate carefully through the darkened river until they come out into the open, where they are quickly met with churning rapids. The heroes try to stay aboard the raft, but Silus is thrown overboard. He quickly uses magic to trade places with Kraygin who, being a much stronger swimmer, manages to get back aboard the raft, a little resentful. Silus doesn't seem to care. As they near another tunnel, the party is surprised when time seems to freeze and their raft remains stationary in the water. What's more, just below the water's surface they can see dozens of corpses staring up at them. Two apparitions appear before the raft, both tiefllings.
“We are the guardians of Clan Vashtar! Tremble before the might of Bael Turath! Give us a token of passage, or go back the way you came.”
Silus begins working on a falsified token of passage, but Sredni stands up and proclaims himself a scion of Clan Vashtar and Bael Turath, and demands that the spirits let them pass. The spirits consider for a moment, then disappear, allowing the party to continue on their way. The raft enters the cavernous tunnel and the party manages to follow the tunnel until they enter a large cavern in which the canoe rests ashore, empty.
They climb ashore and look around the cavern. Sredni and Silus find a linked pair of teleportation circles, one on either side of the river; Sredni uses one to teleport to the far side to investigate. Silus remains by the second circle, while Chance, Kraygin, and Shava explore ahead. They hear the sounds of something large in the water, and Shava notices the signs of a large creature living in the area. Soon, they come face to face with the cave's occupant.
“Hello, prey,” comes a deep, sinister voice. The party turns and looks, only to see a large, black dragon, shadows clinging to its scales, its eyes pits of endless darkness. “Why have you come to Gloom's lair?”
Chance steps forward. “We're looking for a captive who came through here, and we're chasing an assassin. Have you seen either?”
The dragon tilts her head. “The one who came before you was delicious. How do you taste, I wonder?”
The party quickly tries to bargain with the dragon, hoping to avoid a fight and continue to find Isolde. The dragon offers them a deal.
“I will tell you which way your prisoner went, and I will release you to follow her. I require one thing as payment, though. One of you must stay behind, as a sacrifice.”
“We cannot agree to those terms,” says Chance.
“Then you cannot leave,” smiles the dragon.
The dragon bursts into a flurry of movement, summoning globes of darkness and unleashing its necrotic breath. The shadows of the cavern also seem to come alive, clawing at the party, pulling them into the water. The party fights tenaciously, and eventually the dragon falls, cursing in draconic with her last breath.
As the party regroups, they find the dragon's hoard, and they take it. Meanwhile, Kraygin hears a voice in his head; instinctively, he knows it comes from his halberd.
“I am Aecris, and I have slept long. I seek a worthy wielder. Are you he? We will have to wait and see.”
Disconcerted by this, Kraygin decides to keep quiet about it.
Shava uses her tracking skills to pick up the trail of some humanoids that passed through the area not long ago. The party follows the tracks and eventually comes to an area of worked stone, a hall of statues, and a door. As the party moves toward the door, a voice from the shadows says:
“Have you come to see my garden, or to join it?”
The party turns to see who is addressing them, only to see a female figure stepping out of the shadows, her hair a mass of writhing snakes.