Emerging from the dungeon, the heroes met with Lady Talbalt.  She asked them what they had uncovered, and got their permission to send troops in to double-check that everything was secure (and to make sure an armed guard was kept on the caves).  The group agreed.  Lady Talbalt, in turn, promised to support William's claim to the abandoned temple of Denithae.

The group then returned to their lodgings at the Inn of the Slumbering Drake, where they discussed books with Lady Chauntessa and alcohol with Ixnay.  The latter also made passing reference to a 'potion merchant' who was visiting the Inn, though the group were more interested in informing the faerie dragon of the intoxicating effects of its own breath.  As a consequence, Ixnay and Bob got completely hammered.  Bob, for once, not actually willingly!

In the morning, the group sold off the loot they had recovered from the cultists, then set off on the three-day journey to Castle Whiterock.  Their initial plan was to meet with the monks who had reportedly taken over the surface ruins.  This was purportedly the Order of the Dawning Sun, the group from which the teachings of Mei Ling's martial arts had originated.

As it turned out, the monks were imposters, being in fact a group of slavers who were kidnapping people and selling them to the Orcs within the mountain.  The heroes battled the slavers and defeated them relatively easily.  However, one notable thing that happened in the battle was that Zook attempted to summon a celestial creature to aid him, but the creature did not appear.

After the battle, the group encountered Melchin, a member of the Order of the Waxing Moon; rivals to the Dawning Sun.  Melchin challenged Mei Ling to a duel.  If he won, he would be allowed to leave undisturbed.  If he lost, he would answer their questions about the Castle.

Mei Ling won handily, as it turned out.  Melchin then filled in some much needed information:

• He had come to Castle Whiterock in search of a hidden library belonging to the Dawning Sun
• Due to the presence of highly territorial orcs in the tunnels beneath the ruins, he hadn't made much progress on this quest
• Melchin believed there was at least two tribes of orcs in the mountain
• It was Melchin who confirmed that Zook's cousins, the Glimers, had been sold to the Orcs.  He said that he had heard the Glimers had come to the castle in search of a lost Gnomish institution known as the "Clockwork Academy"
• Someone "powerful" had passed through the slavers camp recently, and gone below
• The slavers had a contact in Cillamar, with whom they communicated by messenger bird
• The birds came and went from a tower, the path to which was concealed - Melchin showed them where it was
• He confirmed that a secret tunnel the group had discovered was the route the slavers used to visit the orcs

Amongst the possessions of the dead slaver leader, the group found two things of note:

• A pot of burned documents.  The only scrap of paper that was still legible bore the words "Umberwood Coffins".
• A key, the purpose of which Melchin did not know

After answering the groups questions, Melchin left peaceably.