By dawn, the sky lightens to a dull grey and a sprinkling of mist hangs in the cool air. Edward, Sturloch, Gemond and Vara row on into the afternoon in their little boat, following the coastline. Presently, the cliffs to the north recede, forming a small curtain about twenty feet in diameter. Gremond points to a glittering object halfway up the cliff, in the mouth of a small cave. Edward and Sturloch row the party over to the foot of the cliff wall.
After a brief discussion, Gremond the scoundrel ties a rope about his waist and deftly scales the cliff, finding handholds where no normal man would have found any. At the top he discovers the object of his pursuit - a glimmering ruby the size of a man's fist, sitting atop an oddly-shaped boulder. Excitedly he moves to fasten the rope about the boulder so that his companions can join him, but suddenly it gives, shedding flakes of rock and spreading a pair of massive stone wings. From the creature's stony mouth it lets forth an ear shattering blast of sound, and Gremond is immediately deafened.
The creature leaps from the cliffs and dives at the rowboat, thirty feet below. Edward fires his pistol, striking it in the wing. As it swoops past it buffets Sturloch, but the party manages to score a few hits on the thing. From above, Gremond drops the ruby into the boat, and the creature, which the party realizes is a cliff bat, a coastal creature that hoards shiny objects, swoops around and dives for it, alighting on the edge of the rowboat. Sturloch scores a decent hit on it by launching his pike as it approaches.
Sturloch repeatedly attempts to chuck the ruby overboard in an attempt to pacify the cliff bat, but Edward is loath to part with such treasure and desperately tries to stop him from succeeding. The serpenteer hurls the gem out over the sea, but Edward miraculously snatches it from the air just before it floats out of reach. As the cliff bat rears up for another attack, the wench Vara surprises everybody and unleashes a blast of purple magic from her hands, shattering the creature and reducing it to rubble. The pieces scatter into the sea like drops of rain.
With the ruby intact, the party weighs anchor and sets out again, following the coast southward. Sadly, Gremond still hears nothing, deafened by the cliff bat's shriek. The sky dumps sheets of rain onto the earth and the party seeks shelter for the night. Vara peels some potatoes. Edward hears a strangely pleasant wailing resounding from the cliffs during his watch. "Sirens..." By morning, Sturloch's wounds are healed and to his joy, Gremond is awoken by the sound of crying gulls. For the rest of the day and night, the rain is relentless, but the party makes the most of it and fill their waterskins with the fresh liquid.
On the second night, they stumble upon the remains of a wrecked ship. They pause briefly to explore it, and Edward recognizes it as a merchant vessel. Sturloch and Gremond climb aboard and begin a search. The hull is flooded, and Sturloch lowers Gremond by a rope to peer into the water. He sees a massive hole in the bottom of the hull, and a large chest sitting precariously at its edge. He swims over for a closer look, but a long, dangerous shadow appears in the dark. Frantically picking the lock avails nothing, and a hammerhead shark lashes out at Gremond, who barely dodges, driving his dagger into its thick cartilage. Sturloch feels the rope twitching spasmodically and gives a great heave, pulling Gremond from the water in one powerful motion. The party reluctantly leaves the ship and its treasure behind. They have no luck finding shelter for the night.
Mist rolls along the water the next morning. The cliffs change, growing dark and impossibly high, marred with pockmarks where some gulls nest. Rain still hammers the world, on through the afternoon and into the evening. It is during the early evening that the party hears a chorus of male voices singing. They spot a vague ship in the distance to the east, but keep silent, fearing pirates. They slip by without incident.
The next morning, the sun shows itself at last, glittering on the waves. A rocky beach opens up to the west, revealing a crumbling stone staircase cut into the cliffs that rises up and up into mist. High above the beach, a shining blue spire disappears into the clouds. On the beach they find a galley with red sails, its crew absent. A quick search identifies it as a war galley belonging to The Arm of the North. It doesn't take long for Edward and Sturloch to devise a plan that involves stealing the ship and hunting down the sea serpent that killed Sturloch's wife. But where is the crew, and what lies within the blue spire at the top of the stone stair?
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