In preparation for the journey to the northern corners of the Zeantis Empire, the Inconvenience Removal Agency hires a young elven cleric named Clerica (for 5gp per day).
The first stop on their quest takes them to the Northern Temple of the Ravenmother near the town of Sterlingshire. The journey is relatively quiet for the coming days. Only the occasional aftermaths of creature attacks can be found, but one of them peaks the interest of the group, that investigates a destroyed dwarven convoy, tracking the ambushers to a small cave in a hill. The Gnolls responsible are wiped out and a container of dust with the ability to revive a dead one was claimed as loot.
Getting closer to the temple, the group has to endure a heavy snow storm, then finds signs of roaming basilisks that turned travelers into stone. Shortly before the temple, Syllas parts from the group, leaving for Sterlingshire to attend to some personal business while the others ascend the winding staircase to the peak of the mountain that holds the holy site. They quickly find out that the priests have fallen to mind manipulations, letting them forget crucial things and enslaving them into performing a ritual to revive the corrupted son of the Ravenmother - the Crowfather. After teleporting a group of imprisoned and exhausted priests to Zeantis, the ritual is disrupted by a fireball sent by Ken. The creature responsible for the problems turns out to be the same slimey thing that Jeff and Flo already encountered a while ago in the village of Izlope.
But the battle falls short, as the collapsing underground structure forces everyone to flee. While the group manages to escape the temple, apparently none of the remaining priests could make it, yet the slimey creature could somehow finish the ritual on its own, summoning a giant quadrupedal bird creature - the Crowfather - that flies south while thousands of ravens circling the temple fall dead to the ground.
The IRA decides to rest a while in the nearby town of Sterlingshire, where they are warmly welcomed. Drinks and food are consumed, a restful night of sleep is slept, until their journay takes them towards the grave of Horas - with a small stop on the way. A watchtower that is tormented by some "giant bat thingy".