Chapter 20

Carl infiltrates the floating gnomish house to retrieve the Commandant's pocket watch piece of the Gate artifact. After learning from Juice Box about the Principals' plan to obtain Quetzalcoatlus's plant-altering spell to cure compression sickness in her people—and the catastrophic backup plan involving opening the Gate of the Feral Gods—Carl prepares an aerial assault using an abandoned gnomish biplane. Upon reaching the house suspended high above the bowl, he and Donut discover that Commandant Kane is already dead, and his young daughter greets them at the door covered in blood.

Juice Box reveals that her brother Henrik is a Principal seeking Quetzalcoatlus, a ghost-like creature whose plant-altering spell could cure compression sickness afflicting her people. She explains the Principals took the gnome hostage to force Wynne to make Quetzalcoatlus temporarily corporeal. She also discloses the true nature of the Gate of the Feral Gods—not a myth but a dangerous artifact composed of three pieces held by Henrik, Commandant Kane, and the mad mage. Opening the gate allows passage between worlds but tears a hole into the Nothing, releasing an ancient, maddened feral god into the opening world. A new quest appears to collect all three pieces. During a sandstorm that buries Hump Town, Carl assigns teams various tasks: Louis, Firas, and Langley search for deflated balloons for shelter while Gwen's team attempts to breach the land quadrant castle. The tomb raiders remain trapped in water-filled catacombs, and Chris/Maggie remain entombed in darkness. Katia and Carl discuss having children while surveying the sky, where the gnomish house floats high above. After a defective robot Donut self-destructs, Carl prepares the stolen gnomish biplane 'Death Trap' (renamed Nightmare II) for launch. Rising via emergency recovery balloons to the top of the bubble, Carl pilots the plane toward the floating house with Donut as gunner. They land on the massive magical balloon suspending the structure and descend via its net. Approaching the porch cautiously, they find the front door opens to reveal Commandant Kane's young daughter, covered in blood, asking if they've come to kill her father and offering to make lemonade—revealing the Commandant is already dead.