A Test of Loyalty

Hachiman learns from Azak-si that those who die on the Typhoon Isles do not truly die; rather, their spirits linger for a time before eventually fading and becoming one with the land. Azak-si herself is a spirit, but only Hachiman can see her. She tells the samurai that she may only have a few days left before she permanently vanishes and that Vesh-kel is not to be trusted.

For two days, she travels with the party and Vesh-kel to the orochi capital of Sketh. Reaching the city, the party is placed within lavish slave pens and promised an audience with the Fanged Emperor the next day.

Elsewhere, an orochi artificer named Borat-shi is scolded by the emperor for his lack of progress in studying the technology recovered from the shogun's territory. He is told that he will undergo the Trial of Nightmares the next day to prove his loyalty and worth to the empire. Afterwards, he is escorted back to his pens across from the party's. They introduce themselves to the orochi, who goes by the nickname Bo, and quickly notice that he is more empathetic than the rest of his kind. That night, Hachiman says his final farewell to Azak-shi before she disappears.

Roach, Hachiman, and Borat-shi wake up the next morning to find themselves trapped in a surreal dreamscape. Borat-shi determines that they are currently undergoing the Trial of Nightmares and that they must pass a series of test in order to escape it. The tests draw from the fears, hopes, and memories of each party member: Roach confronts the reality that his hometown of Aklier might be destroyed, Hachiman challenges his uncle to a duel and wins, and Borat-shi, along with his new allies, slay a group of oni pillaging the Fanged Emperor's palace, rather than partake in its desecration.

Having proven their worth in the Trial, the party is thrust back into reality, with Vesh-kel and the Oracle of Nightmares looming over them. It becomes clear that Aryed and Tingle were also participants in the Trial, but Tingle is the only one to not survive the Trial's foes and wake up, saddening Roach and Hachiman. Vesh-kel escorts the remaining party members to meet with the Fanged Emperor, where they are officially designated as agents of the orochi. As an early reward for choosing to serve the empire, the Emperor gives each of the party members their own concubine to do with as they please. For the first time in his life, Roach makes love to a woman.