The party left for the nearest city of any size, Marv Dashlam, hoping to be cured. There they visited the Mages' Guild, but the cost of a cure was beyond their means. The next morning they were visited by old, shabbily dressed man who informed them that if they wished freed of their curse they could visit a particular house that evening. During the day they spoke with the merchants of the city to fulfill their geas, but the merchants were not interested in trade along such a risky route as through the Gatar Shey. The merchants seemed very complacent and unaggressive.

That night they visited the house, where a mysterious man (who told them to call him Albad, though this was obviously not his real name) of obvious authority offered to have them cured if they would kidnap a certain holy man named Hajj and take him back with them to their homeland, under no circumstances allowing him to come to harm. Albad said they had until the next evening to consider. The next day they were approached by a priest of the local religion, who spoke of an evil heretic, a fiend in human form, and asked them to rid the city of this menace. They did not accept, and the priest left angrily, hoping the gods would send them their reward.

That night they returned to the house and accepted the mysterious man's offer; he had them cured by a master mage, then Geased to kidnap the holy man. They were joined the next day by Jubad, who somehow knew of their errand and offered to help them find Hajj. With his help they did find Hajj, who was hidden in the magic garden of one of his followers, but when they went to abduct Hajj, Jubad attacked them and attempted to kill Hajj. Hajj was injured, but they managed to save him. Jubad escaped, and soon the city was up in arms, looking for the villains who had attacked their holy man, and perhaps killed him in the process.

The priests, of course, still wanted Hajj dead.

Magic.  Albad gave the characters some magic items to assist them with their task and to pay them for doing it. They received a knobed cane three feet long that was invested with Enchanted Sleep, a chain one-and-a-half feet long invested with Binding, and Winther, Basgoot, Cormac, Jamie, and Gim received scrolls, each with two spells.