Jynx, Scarlet, Born-in-Shame and the foppish fox are taken into a swamp by the hunch-backed Skreek, Ysnor. They reach Blackshire Keep … but instead of finding a great castle, all they see is a tower poking up out of the bog.

They head inside to dry off, and find a few mementos that give Jynx a better picture of his father's side of the family. They also learn that there's a lot in the "basement", though Ysnor himself has never been there, having been forbidden to venture down there.

Jynx is given a brass lantern, and the others are given candles. So armed, they head down the stairs through the tower, and into what turns out to be a submerged castle beneath the swamp – thankfully sealed against the murky waters outside. The main room adjoining the tower's base is a glassed-in dome, one half containing a balcony and five rooms that branch off, the other half containing an overgrown garden.

Exploring the rooms, Jynx happens upon a fuff'nar, which latches itself onto the foppish fox's tail. Scarlet is alarmed by another fuff'nar in the room she flees into. Jynx takes out the first fuff'nar, while Born-in-Shame takes out the second … and smashes down a door in the process. Born-in-Shame finds a couple more fuff'nars, and sticks these in a trunk.

The adventurers head downstairs into the Garden Hall, but some of the plants are carnivorous and attack. They retreat, and Scarlet uses her magic to conjure up soap suds to kill all the plants. They resume exploration, finding some statues, some rooms, and an armory.

In the armory, among other things, they find a pink-glowing Aelfin blade, a wave-board-sized "surf-sword", a cursed blade that once belonged to a Necromancer King, and some chewing gum stuck under a work-table (which the foppish fox finds still retains its flavor after all these years). Will wonders never cease?

Upon further exploration, they find a magician's laboratory. Scarlet is, of course, quite interested. She looks at some books, and discovers a strange magical wand, while Jynx is alarmed by the presence of a crystal artifact that resembles the Artifact of Calderas.

As they explore further, the fox heads back to the surface … and then gets his head stuck in one of the air-pipes leading down to the submerged castle. Our heroes rush up there, where they find the fox stuck up there, with a "vorpal bunny" latched onto his tail. Scarlet uses a spell to get the barge to drift back within reach, and Jynx then poles over, dispatches the evil bunny, and rescues the fox – again.

Back below the surface, they find some other odd rooms, including a play-room full of toys, a study with a trophy case full of curios, and a conservatory with a magical harp and singing statues of the Mewses.

Our heroes, having had their fill of adventure for the evening, make their way back up to Ysnor's room in the tower, with intentions to continue exploring later.