The airship Willow is serving on, the Merryweather, sets down at Northern Shore in Sylvania. Willow evades the annoying Skreek Whitehead, and takes Morning-Mist (the doe from Bakanal) along to the town. There, Willow sees the wagon of the gypsy Korv fortune-teller, Madame Xanadu, and decides to go see what fate has in store for her.

Madame Xanadu plays out some cards to tell of Willow's past, present and future … but a card depicting Dagh shows up twice – though there should only be one Dagh in the deck. As Madame Xanadu tries to put the cards away, it is revealed that there was just a smudge of soot on the card that somehow made it look like another card of Dagh. In reality, the card was The Stranger.

Madame Xanadu's interpretation is vague at best … and her attempt to peer into Willow's future through a crystal ball only yields an apparently meaningless riddle that, once again, invokes the name of Dagh.

Disturbed by this, but trying her best to hide it, Willow heads out of the wagon, and takes Morning-Mist to get some breakfast at the local pub.