Hooflepoof and Elbolin go back to where Jamna Gleamsilver had been left hiding. She is still there, and they tell her about what just happened. She says she knows, she heard the noise and snuck up closer to watch, but didn't get involved since they seemed to be doing fine, lest she blow her cover as an inconspicuous traveler.

"Do you want to join up with us?" Hooflepoof asks.

"I don't think we're on the same team," says Jamna, "but I think we have a common quest. I'm tracking the cultists too, but I want to stay anonymous for now. Perhaps we can connect again in Waterdeep?"

"Who are you working for?" Elbolin asks.

"Have you heard of the Zhentarim?" says Jamna.

"No."

"Good, let's keep it that way. It's for your own good. Who are you working for?"

"Nobody," says Elbolin. "We're just independent adventurers. Is there anything else we should know about this dragon cult?"

Jamna ponders this for a minute. "No, not really. Just watch your back, they seem to be real zealots for whatever it is they are working on, and quite vicious to anyone who gets in their way. They seem to know you as an enemy, and be aware, this cult is much bigger than you."

"What do you think of the Harpers?" asks Hooflepoof.

Jamna laughs in a faintly condescending way. "They're good people," she says.

"Are the Zhentarim trying to stop the dragon cult?" asks Elbolin.

"Well, let's just say, we're very interested in what they're up to."

"But you're not against them?"

"Well, we don't know exactly what they're doing. That's why I'm following them."

"Ok, let's meet up again in Waterdeep. How can we find you?"

"Don't worry, I'll find you. It'll be pretty easy."

"Ok, we'll see you there, then."

"Yep, for sure," and Jamna sneaks off into the woods.

The adventurers settle down for the rest of the night, and it passes without incident. In the morning, as they are having their breakfast, word passes through the caravan that they should be arriving in Waterdeep today, probably before lunchtime.

Hooflepoof is concerned that he may still be recognized by the cultists, so he asks Noohar if he can hide inside the cart. "Sure," says Noohar coldly, still bitter at Hooflepoof about their fractured working relationship, "for 100 gold pieces."

Hooflepoof declines, but when Noohar isn't looking, he ties himself under the cart. It's not a comfortable ride, but he figures he can bear it for a few hours.

There's one more thing they need to deal with before coming into Waterdeep: Erras the Golden Stag. He is quite concerned that he will be harassed, perhaps killed, in the crowded city for his glorious coat and horns. The adventurers discuss hiding him or disguising him somehow, and ultimately settle on having Elfo turn him invisible as they come into the city.

Late in the morning, they arrive at Waterdeep. The road opens into an expansive courtyard, bordered on all sides by shops and warehouses. Buyers and vendors mingle with the arriving carts, asking to see the newest goods, bartering for deals in bulk. Some carts unload, others load. Most of the carts in the caravan disappear into the crowd.

"Your job is done," Noohar says to his guards, "we're safe here in the city." He pays what he owes them for their services, and mingles in with the other caravans. The adventurers, not sure what to do next, stand around in a loose group, taking in their surroundings.

Leosin appears out of the crowd, rushing. "C'mon guys!" he says, "I know which ones are the cult wagons, we need to follow them!"

"We have one thing to do first," says Hooflepoof, considering the stag.

"There's no time! See those wagons?" He points across the courtyard to the north. Now that he points them out, it wouldn't take a genius to notice that they aren't behaving at all like the other carts; where the others are mingling and bargaining, those carts are moving with purpose across the courtyard toward the center of the city. "What is it you have to do?"

Hooflepoof starts to explain, but Leosin interrupts, almost pulling them along. "Can't it wait? We can't lose those wagons!"

So they decide to deal with the stag problem later - Erras is still invisible for now, and Elfo can keep him invisible for a while - and follow the cultist carts.

The adventurers spread out, so as not to be too conspicuous, but the carts are clumsy in the crowded city, so they move slowly, and are not too difficult to follow. They track them until they arrive at a huge warehouse, where the cultists' carts disappear inside, behind a huge locked door.

At that point Jamna Gleamsilver shows up and greets the party. She has apparently been inconspicuously following them following the carts. They were too busy following to notice that they had been followed. Being least likely to be recognized, she volunteers to snoop around the warehouse and see what she can figure out. Leosin knows an inn nearby where they can stay for the night, so they agree to meet there later.

After dinner, Leosin arranges for Erras to be delivered in the darkness to someone that he knows who can hide him and get him in touch with a wizard. Later Jamna arrives, and reports on what she found by asking around at the warehouse.

The warehouse is apparently a legitimate business, although perhaps compromised by cultists. It is owned by the High Road Charter Company, a consortium of noble houses who are rebuilding the High Road that connects Waterdeep to Neverwinter. The High Road has always been difficult to maintain because it continually gets flooded by the Mere of Dead Men, and has been abandoned for many years, but now the consortium is trying to rebuild it. At this warehouse, supplies are gathered, and repackaged onto Charter carts for transportation up to the edge of the road-building project. The only reason for the cult carts to be going in there would be to mingle their goods with the construction materials to smuggle them further north.

The High Road Charter Company is always looking for laborers and guards, so in the morning, the adventurers go around and get themselves hired on the next group going out, along with Leosin and Jamna, and by midday they are heading north again, this time with different wagons, and a somewhat more professional organization.