Since starting a crew—and a relationship—with Cyra and Trish, Stern was hopeful…and nervous. They’d officially registered their crew, Pawsitively Irregular, with their icon depicting a polydactyl cat’s paw.

Leaving Darkstone behind, they arrived in Waterrock, settling in to find more crew members. A lucky encounter introduced them to Cammie and Vulk, dwarven siblings. The two were hesitant, but agreed to a trial run through the local dungeon. That first run went well, and Cammie and Vulk signed on permanently with Stern’s crew; however, the camaraderie was a little lacking, so they spent time in the city, training and getting to know one another.

By the time they’d reached the town of Whitewater, they’d started to gel as a unit both inside and out of the dungeons. During their time together, Cammie and Vulk admitted that they were running dungeons to save their mother, who had been fractured when they were children.

It was after a night out that Vulk met his future wife...and an old enemy came back into Stern’s life. Victor Bloodcoin hadn’t forgiven Stern for his son’s death and, by using Vulk as a hostage, the old mayor forced a confrontation. Once the dust settled, Victor was dead, Vulk had been freed, and Stern had a goal: calling on his family, he had the dwarves’ mother retrieved and reborn, then brought her to the city. The happy reunion allowed Vulk and his lover to settle down and marry.

Cammie stayed on even though her brother had given up running, and the crew headed north toward Mistwood. The writing was nearly on the wall, and emotions were running high. They needed to find more crew members and see how that would affect them—they’d find out when they reached the next city.