After a night’s rest, the group has breakfast with their hosts, and then set on to do the Trials. The group enters the first trial, at the behest of Zuri. After wandering through the jungle, they find themselves lost. Goomy and Sin pause a moment to compare notes on Ubtao, and decide that perhaps offering praise to Ubtao by tracing the maze of their lives might help them find their way through the jungle. They reach a clearing with a shrine to Ubtao, where Goomy offers unanswered prayers to Ubtao. Sindy, an acolyte, relies on her training and beseeches Ubtao in Primordial. It rains slightly into the bowl atop the shrine, and the jungle behind it recedes to reveal a cramped path. The path beyond leads to another clearing, beyond which it smells of flowers. A wall of deadly brambles blocks the way forward. Doz struggles to force his way through the brambles, and Sin scours the area for clues. She discovers what might be the tracks of a large dinosaur leading into the brambles. In an inspired moment, Simon charges into the brambles and passes through unharmed. The group follows in turn, and arrives at a grove of orchids.
The party returns to Orolunga. Abebi tells them an old Chultan fable before sending the group onto the second trial. Shortly after entering, the group finds some berry bushes. Therdek decides to pluck a few, and then is swallowed by the jungle.
After freeing Therdek from the carnivorous jungle, the group takes a moment to recuperate, and all but Musharib and Doz snack on some sinda berries. As they finish their meal, under Musharib’s supervision, the jungle attempts to make a meal out of Musharib. A frantic fight erupts, and then Doz nearly succumbs to the poisonous attacks of the vines. After pummeling the vines and freeing themselves, the group flees, finding themselves in a small grove of trees.
One appears to bear wukka nuts, so the group decides to climb the tree. Before they can cross into the grove, a pair of large snakes launch at them, and one nearly topples Doz. The group splits into two, with one group attempting to grab the wukka nuts, and the other attempting to fend off the snakes. Goomy searches for some divine inspiration and climbs one of the trees to send some wukka nuts down below. As they are shaken to emit light, the snakes snatch the wukka nuts and disappear into the jungle. Now that they are no longer worried about giant snakes, the group notices a path leading beyond the grove.
After hustling down the path, the group meets an abrupt dead end at a sheer rock cliff, rising some 30 feet. Atop the cliff, a red parrot perches. After some coaxing from Goomy, it flutters down to lap up some freshly squeezed monkey fruits. After a few failed attempts to pluck a feather from it, Goomy asks it for a feather. The parrot cocks its head, then finishes the dancing monkey fruit juice, and flies away, leaving a single red feather for each adventurer in its wake.
Once Goomy gathers up the last of the feathers, a thunderclap booms overhead.
The group enjoys a short respite with the Chultans of Orolunga. After recovering and eating lunch, they prepare themselves for a third trial: to swallow their fear as they face the yuan-ti of Dendar the Night Serpent. The group presses onward to find themselves in a clearing in which the walls themselves are made of writhing snakes–snakes that slither over one another and nearly blot out the sun above. Soon, a several yuan-ti erupt from the earth and assault the group. As each hero faces their deepest fears, they press onward. Darkness slowly consumes them. As the group drops one by one, they finally slay the snake woman, and turn their attention on the remaining snakefolk. As their last foe falls, the group hurriedly attempts to treat their fallen companions. As they do, the snake woman’s corpse transforms and shrinks into a much smaller snake.
Reluctantly, Simon cooks and eats the snake’s corpse. As he finishes his meal, the wall of snakes surrounding the party disperses, and they return to Matata et al. to recuperate.