After watching the Black Riders parade openly through the city, bearing the great canopy above their heads, the Company reconviened inside the tavern to discuss their next move. Kal'Arden was anxious to investigate the Zentaruum's arrival and motives, so she left the others to their planning which was focused on entering the Temple of Gond.

Using maps provided by the halfling Mouse, the Company entered the tunnels below the upper city, eventually winding their way to a bridge that crossed a vast underground chasm. Far below, a river flowed through the falen remains of a once-great city, now swallowed by the earth. Continuing on, they discovered a concealed entrance up into the formal gardens of the Upper City. There, they encountered (and charmed a priest named Holstaff, who had once served as an archivist for the nearby temple.

Approaching the Temple, they found the entrance blocked by the spectral guardians of elven warriors, bound by an ancient covenant to prevent any from entering within. After much deduction and debate, it was decided that the fire burning atop the Temple's Flametower - the same fire used years ago by Leif Treadwell to summon the elven spirits - was the source of the force binding the ghosts to this world; by extinguishing the flame, the way ahead would be opened. Holstaff was able to inform the party that the flame was not magical but mechanical in nature - a vast underground mechanism fueled the flame, as well as many other things within the Temple. The party decided to attempt to reach this mechanism via the underground river they had passed earlier. Fashioning a raft out of deadwood, Thomasin, Eriumir, and Monty lowered themselves down to the water and headed downstream, eventually reaching a large cavern filled with steam. There, Monty used his magic to approach a massive iron mechanism that belched fire and scalding water; on one side, the mage found and closed a valve wheel, which cut off the flow of fuel to the Flametower above. Topside, the flames were extinguished, only to be replaced by an illusionary flame cast by the illusionist Meri. But the purpose had been served - the elven ghosts were released, and the Temple now stood unguarded.

Making their way back up to the garden, Thomasin, Eriumir, and Monty proceeded to investigate the sanctuary insode the Temple of Gond. There, the bard discovered a concealed mechanism which opened a passage into a series of hidden lower chambers. As they returned for their other companions, however, the party was attacked in the garden by the three wraith-spirits that had attacked Cedric a few nights earlier. Though they were either destroyed or driven off by Monty's fireball, the priest Holstaff died during the attack. Their mood solemn, they proceeded into the Temple's lower halls...

The first chamber reached was a temple to Gond as the Forger, and was decorated with all manner of weapon and armament. Eriumir quickly discovered, to his chagrin, that the weapons were trapped to magically attack anyone who handled them; after a fight with a pole-axe, the party bgan to search for a way to proceed. Eventually, the self-same ranger discovered the key - a smith's hammer, concealed in plain sight among the other weapons. A light pull and the floor opened up, revealing a descending staircase...