The Archangel drops its own anchor, and the sails blow without wind, and the sea is eerily calm. Fletcher Gilt climbs to take a look and sees Lazarus leaving the ship and coming towards them. Lazarus starts doing spooky incantations on the beach in his spooky voice, but nothing seems to happen. He keeps waving his hands and tries again, then turns to his companion and comments that lots of things usually happen when he does that. His manservant shambles up to the mine shaft to take a look, and Lazarus returns to the ship.

The manservant, Jeremiah encounters Beurk and asks him if he knows anything about the banshee; Beurk says no, he is just passing through. Jeremiah invites them to dinner, and everyone comes out of hiding to chat. Jeremiah introduces himself, and explains that this is the port of call for the Archangel. He asks after a bit if the party is here to kill Jack, and they answer "oh my, goodness, no." The party makes its way to the Archangel for a cursed meal. Jeremiah does an extravagant rendition of Be Our Guest.

Everyone enters the captain's quarters, which is appropriately dramatic and spooky. Jack Lazarus is there, but without his mask and gauntlet and spooky armour, so he just looks like a guy. Jack makes sure that they are not here to kill him, and sets the table for guests. The table walks and groans and extends itself. The party gets Jack Lazarus' origin story; he is mostly just a cursed guy on an indefinite pleasure cruise.

Just as Jack asks what brings them to the mine, Jeremiah appears with platters of cursed food and drink. Jack asks for the news of the world, since he has been out of touch for years now. They talk about the Maelstrom being gone, but they don't know why it's gone; they don't go out there because it's dangerous. Ant peppers Jack and Jeremiah with questions about their ship and history to try and suss out whether they can be trusted.

They talk about the map; the thumbprint belongs to Jeremiah! He regales the party with the tale of being up to their eyes in pies, with Smee. Smee told Jeremiah about the old abandoned hideout of James Duncan's, as a potential place that the Archangel could use as a port of call, which is the source of the gravy stain. The X on the map, however, DOES represent a huge treasure, and he takes some cajoling to tell the story. He reveals his backstory and the backstory of the Maelstrom; the Maelstrom protects the accumulated treasures of humanity from the Age of Dragons. He warns the party that they will likely get turned inside out if they go there. Jack observes that they are DEFINITELY going to go there, and the more Jeremiah talks about it the more likely they are to go.

Ant, Helga and Beurk go back to the Unsinkable II to try and retrieve a radio for Jack Lazarus. As they tell the crew where they have been, they become increasingly alarmed. They go into the cabin to discuss the radio with the rangers. Nicholas really wants to go over to the Archangel but is dissuaded by a death glare from Jacqueline, but they give them a radio.

Alistair comes over to talk to them as they try to leave for the Archangel; he tries to dissuade them from going back, and tells them that the crew thinks that they have been "bewitched, and exposed to certain things that make the crew uncomfortable". They try to agree on a plan to get the radio back to the ship that minimally freaks out the crew. Ultimately they send Beurk back on his own, since he seems the least susceptible to cursy shenanigans.

Beurk drops off the radio and tells the captain about the crew's disconcert. Fletcher rolls his eyes and says "it's fine, we'll rub the horseshoe when we get back". They head back to the ship, and convince the crew that they braved the cursed ship and got information because they are BADASSES. Mickey the Drink tattoos an anti-curse sigil on Beurk's chest.

Helga opens up the lunchbox full of infernal gunpowder in the powder hold; it opens itself and singes a sigil into the floor, through which Gnat King Cole can now communicate.