Zola and her half-elf infatuation find themselves in the center of a bar brawl! Surprisingly able to convince Bailiss that their faux pas was a mistake, they fight their way through the bar and flee to the third tier to find Captain Styx.

And find Captain Styx they do, though she is occupied, speaking in the corner of the bar with a stranger, very average in appearance with the exception of their cavalier hat and raccoon familiar. Zola attempts to eavesdrop on the conversation, but is only able to decipher a little about the nature of their relationship. Complicated. Business… and pleasure, perhaps?

Once the stranger departs, Zola and Cici join Captain Styx for food and drinks (fritter gang rise up) before Zola is sent off on a courier errand to bring a tribute to the Watchwoman in the tower on the sixth tier. Zola solves the Watchwoman’s door puzzle with style and ease (read: no, she doesn’t) and enters into the home of the Watchwoman herself: Tethysia, the sea elf who founded Driftin with her human paramour and leader of several hundred years. Tethysia warns Zola of Captain Styx’s shady methods, then grants her a small blue stone, a blessing to protect her and the crew.

Zola returns to the Grotto to let the good times roll, but the rolling comes to a sudden halt when the bell in the watchtower begins to ring, signalling the approach of the Golden Fleet, the Imperial Navy. In a flash, Zola finds herself charging down the stairs of the city in an attempt to get off the floating city before the Empire closes in…