As the Whistledrop Crew sailed the final stretch toward Farrozandmar, they had become stronger than before. Nessa noticed old sharpness returning to her limbs, and felt more like the master thief she had been decades prior. Mercy celebrated a newfound control over his spellcraft by pranking the crew of the Jolly Dodger. Punmiri, still shaken from the arrow barrage that should have killed her, found herself drawn deeper into devotion to Ixhis. Ellenor bonded further with Devona, and the spirit grew strong enough to reach into the physical world, together achieving a functional form of Telekinesis.
Arriving in Farrozandmar under cover of night, the crew made for the Plot and Hook, where they found Hollyhock in a private meeting with Sassafras Flashlashes, a fairy who went invisible the moment she spotted Nessa. Hollyhock vouched for the group, and they made genuine friendship with the affable Sassy, learning she was both a Glitterati member and the daughter of a Faeriefort leader. Privately, Merc informed Hollyhock that Prisoner 13 now knew she had been snitching on Don Coriander; the former captive was thankful that the Crew did not spill her secret, but was worried that the Fold knew she was an informant. Saving their goodbyes, the Crew then boarded the Jolly Dodger alongside Sassafras, deposited their four captives blindfolded and bound on a far shore, and set sail for Cliffsunder.
Five days later, they bid farewell to Captain Jolly and entered the Pixis Palace to get back Merben. After giving Don Coriander the "Key" to the Dwarf-Door, Ellenor shared her intelligence about Prisoner 13's information transmission, warning that a trap could be waiting for them in the Undermire. With their intentions now exposed to the Fold, the Glitterati were sitting ducks if they did not act quickly. Coriander abandoned his plan for a quiet infiltration, and spent the night calling in every operative on assignment until he had assembled a hundred-strong fairy force.
The only known path into the Deepways ran through Sprite's Hollow, and the crew grew uneasy at the thought of a hundred gangsters pressing through Faeriefort territory. Elle proposed that Sassafras's connection to the local mayor could secure safe passage among the fairies, which Coriander agreed with. Mercy did his level best to sabotage this by antagonizing the Don at every turn, nearly getting the group killed more than once; the others smoothed things over each time with fraying patience. The Crew, now including Merben, were put up for the night in human-sized bunk beds, and restocked on supplies the next morning. Guarded by Snapdragon and Sassafras, they secured paying work as temporary caravan hands through Mercy's contacts, and marched to the Murkmire.
After a day and a half travelling the Common Path, they split with the caravan to wade through the marshlands on foot while the fairies directed from above. Midway through their journey in the swamps, things got even less comfortable: two lizardfolk hunters came for them as they crossed a muddy land bridge. A warrior, bearing spear and spiked shield, rode toward them on a Giant Lizard while his shamanic companion, mounted on a Crocodile, slipped silently beneath the surrounding water. Ellenor approached in peace, removing a comical amount of weapons as she did so, but the group determined the lizardfolk intended to rob her. Before the tension fully broke, Mercy read the warrior's intentions and hurled a chromatic orb into him and his mount with brutal force.
The ensuing fight began badly, as the thieves were mired in the muck against opponents better-suited for open combat. Ellenor produced two hidden daggers and drew the warrior's attention while Snapdragon engaged; he proved himself a Paladin, and a capable one at that. Behind them, however, the crocodile lunged from the water and clamped its jaws around Nessa, while the shaman emerged on a distant isle and rained a spell of stones which nearly killed Sassafras outright. Poons caught the falling fairy and healed her, Sass retaliated by poisoning the crocodile, and Mercy fired scorching rays on the spellcaster, who responded by doubling the crocodile's size before retreating into the swamp. After taking a few hits, Ellenor managed to kill the giant lizard as Punmiri broke the warrior's brain.
Seeing the battle lost, the shaman whistled to their mount, indicating retreat. The now-enormous crocodile submerged with Nessa still in its jaws, but Mercy revealed its location with another rain of fire. Snapdragon flew forth and smited it with everything he had, and it was just enough to fell the creature. In the same moment, Ellenor sent Devona to help Nessa free from its maw. Though things had looked dire, everyone was seemingly OK.
But to seize the control he needed in that desperate moment, Mercy had pushed himself too far. He ran off before something terrible was unleashed on his companions, and was changed into a font of true wild magic.