Smiley serves the hooded Southern visitor some soup, which Lucius pays for. Wendell murmurs to Lucius that he’s displeased to see a stick-eater here, revealing a level of prejudice towards Southern folk. In a later chapter, we will learn that stick-eater is a derogatory term for the Disciples of Venu, an order of Ven-Yan monks. Lucius defends the visitor, who he says is a holy man. He also insists that he’ll sell beer to whomever he wishes. When Lucius leaves, Wendell grumbles that he will only buy beer from Smiley in the future.

Grandma, Fone, and Thorn are days into their trip to Barrelhaven. They’ve been traveling off the road to avoid being detected, which requires them to scale piles of rocks.

The tavern’s customers swap dragon-sighting stories. They refuse service from Lucius and order only from the Bone Cousins. Lucius continues to dismiss the dragon sightings as children’s stories. Phoney blames the dragons for the Valley’s unrelated ills, such as poor harvests. He knows that the dragons are not dangerous and has no real intention of harming them.

Lucius pulls Phoney into the dish room and attempts to call off the bet. He’s uncomfortable with the lies Phoney is spinning about the dragons and tells him that he’s dealing with forces he doesn’t understand.