The dinner is held in the Blacktail formal dining room, where the town council also meets most of the time, but only a few of the council members are present for this. Erik shows up to get things started, and Amelia surprises everyone with her new dress and look. Erik asks her to pour some wine, which also surprises everyone by how unique it is – especially when Erik reveals it's from pre-swamp Stonebarrow.

This is the key to trade with the outside world, according the Poodle: resurrect the Stonebarrow vineyards. This involves talk about draining parts of the swamp, dredging up soil and the dangers of trade, with Morgan and Jonas Chalk being the voices of tradition and caution, especially when it comes to drawing attention to the town. Erik also points out that a new kind of airship that can handle Sylvanian weather would be needed, which gets Zahn's interest. He's cautious about it though.

The debate eventually settles on the idea of dredging up some soil from beneath the sediment for testing. After dinner, while people break into groups and Amelia helps clear things, her father Achilles takes Zahn out onto the porch for a little talk. Mainly, regarding Zahn's intentions towards Amelia, and Achilles' own admissions of failure as a good father to her.