Lieutenant Frightengale and Wicklow arrive at the Salt of the Urth with their prisoner, Cycek. Frightengale dismisses the door guards and sends them down the street to assist with the surprise door-to-door household inspections. Cycek is dragged across the threshold, into the tavern, and is presented to the local hobgoblin leadership. Seated across the once-welcoming taproom, are a hulking, armored hobgoblin officer and a tiny, withered goblin. She is clad in a grey cloak festooned with decorative chains made of bones, claws, and teeth. Flanking them are two tall, hairy bugbears. The lieutenant allows his esteemed companion, Wicklow, to proffer their guest (prisoner), Cycek, to the officer, who introduces himself as Captain Skalp. Skalp calls to the serving wench to bring ale. Cycek recognizes that this “wench” is, in fact, constable Dara.
Wicklow extolls the virtues of his elf friend, trying to persuade the Captain that this would be a great addition to their team. Skalp mockingly thanks the “great warrior” Wicklow for his wisdom in bringing him such a worthy recruit. The hobgoblin captain turns to Cycek, and tells him that if he wishes to join the Impaled Heart Tribe, then he is going to have to make an oath and prove his commitment. The serving wench brings mugs of ale and sets them on the table. Before she turns to go, Skalp takes her by the arm and says, “Cycek Spytek, you have been honored with this opportunity to swear an oath of allegiance to the Impaled Heart Tribe. Now, prove yourself worthy. Take your dagger, and cut her throat!”
Cycek wants nothing to do with taking such an action and immediately counter offers. Wicklow turns to Dara, seeming to see her with freshly opened eyes. The tiny goblin shaman turns to him and utters a short, unintelligible phrase. His eyes seem to go glassy, and he turns away from Dara. Skalp insists, “Do it now! There is no place for squeamishness among us. Kill her now!” He holds Dara tightly as she thrashes, trying to escape. Cycek tries talking his way out of this situation, but Skalp quickly loses patience. “Enough!” he shouts, “Wicklow! Show him how it’s done. You slit her throat. Do it now!” The goblin interjects her own grim encouragement, “Yes… yes. Kill her now, boy. You’re not afraid to take a life!”
Wicklow pulls out a blade, and with only the slightest hesitation, slashes at her exposed neck. But Dara is fighting for freedom, and she is a skilled fighter at that. She thrashes in the grasp of her foes, and manages to shift her throat out of the path of the blade in the nick of time. She receives a flesh wound to her neck and begins to bleed profusely.
Cycek takes the opportunity to spring into action. He leaps across the table, and lands in between Dara and Skalp, knocking her out of the hobgoblin’s grasp and sending her staggering away from the fray.
Outside the bar, Davros has been listening and watching the developments. Now realizing that the situation has spiraled out of control, he calls to Sartan and Mishok, and fires an arrow through the window. He hits the tiny goblin. She lets out a hiss and withdraws from the combat, disappearing behind a chair. Mishok and Sartan run to join Davros at the tavern’s west wall, but the movement attracts attention from the hobgoblin guard who has been hassling the neighbors across the street. Soon, they are under attack by hobgoblins from the street, while trying to engage the enemies within and save Cycek from impossible odds. Mishok climbs through the window. Sartan slays a hobgoblin and then follows. The two bugbear guards rush them.
Wicklow, still trying to comply with the command to kill Dara, continues struggling with her, but finds himself no match for the combat-trained constable. She pulls out a kitchen knife she had secreted in her belt, and deals a couple of non-lethal wounds in an attempt to subdue her one-time crush.
Mishok conjures an ethereal club, and directs it to bash one of the bugbears, which it does quite soundly. But he is shortly thereafter dealt a shock. The goblin shaman steps out of hiding and with a wave of her gnarled hands and a hissed phrase, she sends a powerful bolt of lighting through both Cycek and Mishok. Captain Skalp presses the advantage and swings his great sword at the still-twitching elf. Blood spurts from a grievous wound, and Cycek crashes to the floor. The goblin shaman again ducks out of view.
More blows are traded and soon the two bugbears lie dead on the barroom floor, and another hobgoblin lies dead in the street. Lieutenant Frightengale enters the fray, attempting to bring down Dara, who is now clearly not the docile serving wench they had taken her for. The goblin shaman steps out of hiding one more time. She waves her hands, and speaks a few arcane words. A huge ball of fire erupts in the middle of the tavern, singeing Sartan, and setting the floor, ceiling, and furniture on fire. The goblin announces, “We don’t need this place. Not this bar, nor this town. Let it burn and you can burn with it!” She turns and nimbly leaps upon the sill of the eastern window, and exits the burning building.