With Tulani's treatment finished, the group leaves the Secret Temple and Arkold and Alptraum shed their female disguises as soon as they safely can, and with great relief.

They then travel on to Scabies, a small town that has seen better days. Inhabited by older folk now, it was once a thriving town with an iron mine. But the mine dried up and the young people left. Those that remained seem stuck in a rut, and the whole place seems to have an air of timelessness.

After getting rooms and a meal, Alptraum decides to look around more, and everyone goes along. They find the town square, and notice that the place is clean even though long abandoned. Lilith sees something out of the corner of her eye, and during her investigation triggers what seems to be an illusion of the town's past, when it was flourishing. The illusion breaks once Alptraum tries to touch one of the townsfolk.

In a rather distracting manner, the buildings begin to speak, and explain that they are remembering the people who lived there, and keeping the remaining people alive by 'living slow'. The ability seems to be from the iron nails from the mine, and Alptraum speculates that the Light of Nala may have seeped into the land just as the Shadow has, and brought about the enchantment.

The travelers decide to send any people they meet towards the town, in hopes of repopulating it.