The heroes gather in the town of Torch, some on a job, some at the request of friends, and some passing through. They all find themselves speaking with Dolga Freddert, an eldery dwarf woman who is one of the founders of Torch and now a Councilor. She repeats the standing offer of 4,000 GP if anyone can find Khonnir Baine, along with a Scroll of Resurection if he is found alive. Dolga also offers them a writ for 20% of the price of goods in the town, and contact with a local cleric who can cast Water Breathing on the heroes so they can explore the caves beyond the Weaping Pond, where Khonnir Baine was last seen.

The party heads to Khonnir's laboratory/tavern/home, where they find his adopted daughter, Val, being attacked by a steel automaton that Khonnir recovered from the caves beneath the Black Hill. After stopping the threat, Val offers to let the group stay in the tavern, where she will provide them food, if they are looking for her adopted father.

Next, the group heads to the top of the Black Hill to investigate the dissapearance of Torch's namesake flame, and Blue Tusk and Micah get into trouble as they attempt to sample the strange fluids pooling in the burnt-out crater. Blue Tusk's fingers grow larger and armored, but he is rendered unconcisous when he slips and falls into the puddle, while Micah takes a sample in a glass vial and gains telepathy from second-hand contact with Blue Tusk.

The party ends by taking the unconsious half-orc to Joram Kyte, the cleric mentioned by Dolga.