Fenter arrives at the Docks on the Final Word, an airship owned by the Collegia Esoterica. (It is nicknamed the Last Chants by some.) Fenter is borne along by a bunch of Vykarin "worshipers", while Ibis returns to the care of the Magenta Lance … and Brishen, the Eeee courier, flies in, carrying a package for Fenter. The package turns out to be a new set of robes, along with a letter congratulating Fenter on his accomplishments.

Fenter persuades Brishen to show him the way from the Docks to the Temple. There, he pays a visit to Verdigris Nuttenboltschen, High Technopriest and Keeper of the Inner Mysteries, who is working in the Shrine of the Monitor. Verdigris' reaction to Fenter's proclamations about his accomplishments is decidedly negative … until he reaches the point where, with great reluctance (and much to-do), Verdigris finally does the unthinkable – He compliments Fenter on a job well done … and gives him permission to refer to him as "Grampy". After conceding this, Verdigris makes a hasty exit, leaving Brishen to muse over all the weird things she has just witnessed.