Having determined to break into Eel’s End, kill Devargo Barvasi, and use his money to pay for Troska’s cure, the party decides to start by scoping out the place during the day. They run into Faunra, the Elf druid they rescued in the sewers. She has taken to protesting outside of Eel’s End, denouncing Devargo’s mistreatment of spiders as well as the sordid business that goes on in the hive of scum and villainy. The party also meets Faunra’s animal companion, Silver, a Jigsaw Shark.
Faunra tells them that the warship Eel’s End is propped up on several support pillars and is rotting below the waterline, with a hole in the forward cargo bay they could use to enter stealthily. Though she’s unwilling to directly involve herself in the fight, Faunra offers to have Silver accompany them on a swim to the ship that night.
It’s a long, cold journey to the ship, with Zandu in particular struggling to make headway in the strong river current, but eventually everyone is able to clamber inside the Eel’s End. Unfortunately, their sloshing around in the bilge attracts the attention of two guards, who sweep a bull’s eye lantern through the water-logged bottom deck, but fail to spot the party.
Once it’s safe, the four of them clamber up into the heart of the ship, where they discover an alchemy lab where Devargo is brewing large quantities of Shiver from a mixture that includes dream spider venom, alcohol and water. Carved into the wall is the phrase “Respect the Alchemy.”
The party then steps into what looks like a conference room, with doors on either side. They decide to barricade one of the doors and try to force open the other. After a bit of bashing, they get through and find Devargo impatiently waiting for them, his trademark bladed gauntlets glistening with poison.
In the ensuing fight, the party gets the better of things and Zandu tries to frighten Devargo into surrendering, telling him that they’re willing to sink the entire ship with him in it. Devargo calls out “Chittersnap, get your ass out here and help” before drinking a potion of invisibility and barreling past the party out into the hallway. Something starts pounding on the door they barricaded.
Rather than pursue the fleeing crime lord, the four of them lock themselves into the conference room and search Devargo’s room, bashing open his treasure chest to find a set of valuable documents along with other items. With those in hand, they confront the thing in the other room.
Behind the barricaded chamber is a room thick with strange cobwebs that glisten with rainbow colors whenever the light catches them. Inside they find an ettercap, Chittersnap, the true source of Devargo’s supposed power over spiders. They also find Chittersnap’s pets: an Ogre Spider and more than half a dozen Dream Spiders.
The fighting is complicated by the presence of the dream spider cobwebs, which not only hinder movement but also cloud thought. When Zandu breaks out his fire spells, they discover to their horror that burning the webs releases a noxious gas. Even so, the four of them eventually overcome the spiders and Chittersnap flees through a hatch in the ceiling.
By this point, the ship has begun to lurch beneath their feet. As they exit into the hallway, Devargo taunts them: “I like your idea about sinking the ship. It’s ballsy. But it doesn’t go far enough. Let me show you something I learned in the Land of the Linnorm Kings.”
The party chases after Devargo as he flees out of the heart of the ship, through his throne room, and onto the main deck. Along the way they notice that Chittersnap’s escape hatch was in fact a hidden trap door in the throne room for dispensing with unwanted guests. A few of Devargo’s guards delay them just long enough for him to get off the ship.
Once they get onto the main deck, they realize what has happened. Devargo has destroyed the support pillars holding up the Eel’s End and has cut all but one of the lines connecting it to the pier. The current is tugging the ship downriver, while it tilts to one side as its hold fills with water. Worse, Devargo’s men have covered the top deck in oil. As the party races towards him, Devargo—perched on the edge of the pier with a gang of thugs—starts tossing alchemist’s fire onto the ship.
Ashla and Arlynn managed to escape the flames and leap onto the pier before the burning, sinking warship drifts away. Egan transforms into an eagle to escape. Zandu, meanwhile, catches fire and then falls off the ship.
Devargo’s thugs manage to delay Arlynn and Ashla while the crimelord attempts to flee, but Eagle-Egan slings spells down at him. He dodges the herd of ponies the druid summons, shrugs off Egan’s acid darts, and seems to be in the clear as he staggers towards land.
Then Faunra conks him on the head and he collapses unconscious.
While Ser Arlynn convices the remaining thug to surrender, Ashla remembers that Devargo was keeping a pseudodragon named Majenko caged in his throne room. She dives into the river and is able to save the creature, who gratefully pledges to serve her for a year and a day. Zandu, meanwhile, is rescued from drowning by the shark Silver.
Meanwhile, Eagle-Egan chooses to execute the helpless Devargo, much to Faunra’s shock and horror. A group of Korvosan Guards arrive, poke the body, and leave with a shrug. A deeply conflicted Faunra says she will hunt down Chittersnap, who escaped into the city. Battered, singed, and soaking wet, the four heroes limp on home.
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