Mountain of Mystery

***Mountain of Mystery*** is a *Dungeons & Dragons* campaign set on the Exandrian continent of Wildemount.

The story is DMed by TanisJr93 and hosted on his channel on Twitch.

## Party

* Fresh Prints (*N3rdyTeacher*) – Snow Leopard Tabaxi Wild Magic Sorcerer, Celestial Warlock (sessions 1-*onward*)
* Kahlan Karsus (*NimueOfAvalon*) – Tiefling Psi Warrior Fighter (sessions 1-*onward*)
* Cash Goldcrest (*Zack Faulkner*) – Air Genasi Tempest Domain Cleric, Storm Herald Barbarian (sessions 1-*onward*)
* Lazarus Oldman (*Capwithoutacountry*) – Aasimar Soulknife Rogue, Barbarian (sessions 1-*onward*)
* Sado Thuliaga (*FloodedBasement*) – Goliath Way of the Ascendant Dragon Monk, Barbarian (sessions 1-8, 11-*onward*)
* Trouble (*Megquins*) – Kenku (currently Halfling) Circle of the Shepherd Druid, Ranger (sessions 1-35)
* Aboukir Hogue (*Archaeowolf*) – Woolly Mammoth Loxodon Psi Warrior Fighter, War Cleric (sessions 9-22)

## Summary

### Session 1 (01/31/2023)

#### 15 Cuersaar 839 PD

A Tabaxi woman and her Kenku companion visit a tavern in The Tangles district of Rexxentrum and witness a series of pit-fighting matches. The first match features a Tiefling brawler who defeats a Dragonborn fighter, after which the competitors are healed by a Half-elf woman and a Genasi cleric; the second match features a Tiefling fighter who soundly defeats an Aasimar man; and the third match features a Goliath monk who challenges and defeats the tavern's previous champion.

After the matches are finished, the Tabaxi, Kenku, Genasi, Goliath, Aasimar, and Tiefling woman collect their winnings and share drinks at the bar before being approached by the fight coordinator, who indicates that a benefactor has an offer for them. The group is led to a private room where they meet a masked figure who informs them that a chest has been stolen from his employer; he offers the group 200 gold per person for the retrieval of the chest, as well as a favor from his employer if the group can determine who the thieves work for. The group agrees, then accompanies Kahlan back to The Crow's Nest, where they meet the Kenku chef Jingles and rent rooms of their own from Old Maggie.

#### 16 Cuersaar 839 PD

Lazarus uses a *potion of watchful rest* while the remainder of the group sleep off their fights, and they gather for breakfast the next morning before heading toward the city gates. On the way, they stop briefly at a shop where Kahlan buys a *potion of healing* for 80 gold, then leave the city and head north into the southern stretch of the Pearlbow Wilderness where Trouble successfully tracks what appear to be faint wheel markings. The party eventually reaches a clearing where they discover a massive elk, and Trouble speaks with the creature to discover that a group of bandits passed through the clearing and headed northeast a few days before. The elk also warns the group of owlbears in the area, after which Sado spots a pair of glowing golden eyes in the surrounding forest; he strikes the creature with a dart, instigating a brief skirmish that ends with the elk skewering the owlbear with its horns.

Following the elk's directions, the group heads further into the Wilderness, eventually spotting the smoke of campfires before approaching another clearing. Sado successfully disappears into the trees, while the remainder of the group are discovered by the bandits; they claim to be passing through, and the bandits' captain orders them to sit for lunch. The bandits search the party and strip them of their weapons, which one bandit carries to a chest behind one of the tents near the treeline; Sado stealthily approaches, catching the bandit off-guard and silently rendering him unconscious while the captain informs the rest of the group that they are free to go on their way after leaving all of their weapons and money.

Trouble instead approaches the captain, dexterously bypassing a bandit who tries to stop them, and casts *Thunderwave*, injuring the captain and three of the bandits and initiating another brief skirmish during which the Kenku wildshapes into an elk. Two more bandits emerge from tents as Sado rushes into the clearing, hurling the chest of weapons toward the party; Lazarus retrieves his daggers and kills two of the bandits injured by Trouble's *Thunderwave*, while Kahlan retrieves his scimitar and attacks the captain, who deploys a flash-powder bomb and attempts to flee before being skewered by Trouble's horns. Prints slashes one of the bandits to death, after which the final bandit drops his weapons and surrenders.

### Session 2 (02/07/2023)

Cash interrogates the man who surrendered to learn that the bandits had stolen a particular chest from a caravan approaching the city, while Lazarus discovers an encoded note on the body of the captain, and Kahlan decodes it to discover that the goods were being delivered to a winery outside the western wall of Rexxentrum. Sado then knocks the man unconscious, and the party rests shortly to recuperate before setting out.

After several hours of traveling through the forest north of the city, the group hears a thunderous crashing heading in their direction, and Trouble bellows out an owlbear roar that causes the noise to stop abruptly; a moment later, Eustace emerges from the trees along with his brother, and the two agree to lead the group to the winery while playing I Spy and discussing the nature of wine. Despite moving stealthily through the forest, Sado is spotted by Eustace, who charges at the Goliath; the monk manages to dodge the elk, and is almost immediately charged by Eugene as well, successfully dodging again.

As afternoon settles into evening, the group emerges from the Wilderness at the border of a vineyard surrounding the buildings of a winery, and approaches a cluster of abandoned worker housing before spotting lights in the main building not far away. Sado and Lazarus move stealthily through the fields as Cash, Kahlan, Prints, and Trouble approach the two men standing guard outside directly, pretending to be traveling evangelists of Moradin, the Allhammer. The guards insist that they've already been visited by Moradians, and Cash convinces them to write a letter indicating as much so they will not be visited again.

As one of the guards heads inside, Lazarus clandestinely kills the other guard and Sado nimbly climbs onto the roof of the building, spotting three more bandits in an upstairs room. When the first guard returns with an Enforcer, Kahlan decapitates the guard and Cash casts *Inflict Wounds* to injure the Enforcer, who Lazarus snipes with a crossbow bolt. Cash then pulls the door closed as Trouble ascends to the roof with Sado, and Cash knocks on the door; a few moments later, another bandit answers, spots the blood on Cash and Kahlan, and flees back into the building. Prints pursues, casting *Ray of Frost* at him as he reaches for a lever, and Lazarus approaches a window through which he fires a crossbow to kill the man immediately after he yells out, "Intruders!"

As the bandits upstairs scramble, Sado enters through a window, knocking one bandit down the stairs and killing him as Trouble wildshapes into a giant lizard and plummets through the roof, crushing another bandit. Sado throws the third bandit down the stairs, killing him as well, and Trouble begins chasing their own tail before the floor beneath them collapses and the Druid crashes to the first floor. Kahlan and Lazarus proceed down a corridor lined with casks of wine to a door that Lazarus opens, and the two continue around a corner, through a small room and into an office. Searching the desk, Kahlan finds a silver necklace and an iron key, and pockets both.

Trouble finds themself too large to traverse the hallway, and reaches ineffectually for one of the casks of wine until Prints opens it and Trouble drinks it, becoming immediately inebriated. Prints, Trouble, Cash, and Sado join Kahlan and Lazarus in the office, and Kahlan opens a door that triggers an explosive trap, injuring her and Lazarus; she and Prints are both struck by crossbow bolts from guards inside the next room, and Cash and Prints rush in to attack the men. Lazarus kills the second guard with a crossbow bolt before climbing through a window in the office and rushing around the outside of the building along with Sado, and Kahlan hurries into the room to kill the first guard with her scimitar.

Reaching an exterior window, Sado spots a mage inside the room and climbs back into the building, striking the man with a dart; the arcanist retaliates by firing three magic missiles at the monk and then *Misty Step*ping out of the building and attempting to flee. Cash is unable to see where the mage went, and Trouble attempts to fire a crossbow bolt out the window but misses; Prints rushes after the man, however, grappling him in the field outside as Lazarus kills him with another crossbow bolt.

### Session 3 (02/14/2023)

After defeating the arcanist and his crew of bandits at the Western Winery, Sado and Kahlan search the second-floor bedrooms, finding little of value. Outside, Lazarus inspects the body of the spellcaster to discover the hair on the man's arm freshly singed; he then quickly checks the fireplace in the dining room to find a partially-burned slip of paper with instructions on where to intercept the chest being delivered to the city, and he recognizes the insignia of the Truscan family at the bottom.

Cash recalls having heard a hollow sound when the first man that Sado threw down the stairs hit the floor, and the party returns to the main hall to discover a trapdoor to a cellar where they quickly find a chest matching the description given to them by the Masque. Sado approaches the box, and is promptly attacked by a Displacer Beast that knocks him prone and pins him to the floor; Trouble attempts to reason with the creature before realizing that it does not understand them, after which they wildshape into a panther themself. The Beast lashes out at Trouble, after which Lazarus successfully shoots it, disrupting its displacement ability; Sado then breaks free, allowing Cash, Prints, and Trouble to deliver attacks of their own.

The monstrosity lashes out again at the Druid and the Cleric, then attempts to flee the cellar and is pursued by Kahlan, Lazarus, and Sado, who succeed in killing the creature, which collapses on top of Lazarus. Heading back downstairs, Sado retrieves the chest, triggering another explosive trap that injures him and knocks Prints unconscious; Cash and Lazarus rush into the cellar, where the Cleric heals the Tabaxi before finding Trouble dead, and the team performs a desperate combination of magic to revive the Druid, including an unconventional casting of *Command* by the Genasi, a bit of Healing Hands by the Aasimar, and a trade of indeterminate nature by the Wild Magic Sorcerer.

Trouble's body becomes engulfed in black smoke as Sado discovers the bottom of the chest shattered to reveal a scaly, golden egg. He retrieves it, discovering that it grows hotter as he carries it closer to the Kenku, until eventually a blinding flash erupts, and both the Druid and the egg vanish. A moment later, a dark-haired Halfling woman appears at the top of the stairs behind Kahlan; when Lazarus asks her if she knows his name, she identifies him as "Old Man," after which Prints notices that her own fur is beginning to shed as she hugs Trouble. Cash spends an hour skinning the Displacer Beast and Lazarus retrieves a single fang, after which they cast *Mending* on the chest to repair the damage. The party then sets out from the Winery and returns to The Crow's Nest to recuperate for the night.

#### 17 Cuersaar 839 PD

The next morning over breakfast, Jingles does not initially recognize Trouble in her new form, and is surprised to discover that the Tabaxi has lost all of her fur. The Druid accompanies Prints and Cash to a tannery in the city where they pay to have the pelt of the Displacer Beast tanned, while Sado, Kahlan, and Lazarus deliver the chest back to The Brawlers Hall. They meet with The Masque in the private room and relinquish the chest, explaining that it had been stolen on the orders of the Truscan family, which owns the Western Winery itself; Sado also admits that while the chest is locked and intact, its contents are gone, describing an abbreviated version of the events that transpired at the winery.

The Masque retracts half of the group's payment but thanks them for their honesty, and implores them to keep the matter private. Moments later, a Gnomish man that Lazarus recognizes appears in the doorway: Oliver Schreiber, one of the King's retainers, reveals that he had entrusted the chest to his son, and surmises that once his son discovered that the chest had been stolen, he had hired a group of adventurers to recover it before Oliver learned of his incompetence. Sado confirms the hypothesis, and Oliver instructs the group to meet with him at the court in three days along with the rest of their party; they agree.

### Session 4 (02/21/2023)

Sado, Kahlan, and Lazarus return to the Crow's Nest to reunite with Cash, Prints, and Trouble as they return from the tannery. Kahlan reveals that the group has been ordered to meet with Oliver Schreiber at the palace in three days, and explains that the party's promised payment of 200 gold each was halved due to the chest missing its contents. Sado admits that he did not lie about what happened at the Western Winery, and Lazarus explains that the group will need to decide how to approach their meeting with Oliver given the nature of Trouble's appearance, though he suggests that Schreiber likely already has some idea what happened.

Old Maggie approaches the group as they lunch, and informs Lazarus that he owes her seven gold to pay for the drinks and meal of a friend of his that had stopped in and left not terribly long before the group returned from the Brawlers Hall. Lazarus does not recognize the description, but as the group deliberates what to do about the situation, the door opens and a finely-dressed silver-haired Elven woman with blue eyes and facial tattoos of vines and flowers enters and sits on Lazarus's knee, draping an arm around his shoulder. She acts as though she knows Lazarus well and asks who his friends are, and Sado corrects her that they are acquaintances; Lazarus identifies Trouble and Prints, but hesitates to give out anyone else's names without their permission, at which point Kahlan asks who the woman is.

Lazarus warns the woman that Kahlan knocked him out once already; the woman jokes that she'd pay to see that, to which Lazarus and Kahlan reply simultaneously that such a display could be arranged. The woman then claims to have heard that the group had been hired to do a job for the Masque and asks about the "little man" behind the Masque, at which point Kahlan demands to know why they should reveal anything at all. The woman responds with a tiny, unintentional smirk that Lazarus immediately recognizes, and the moment that she sees the recognition in his face, she shapeshifts back into the natural Changeling form of Pearce Leafspring.

He explains to the group that he and Lazarus are old friends with a history in the military, and commends their actions at the Western Winery, revealing that he had been assigned to retrieve the chest himself but had arrived as Kahlan and her group were approaching. Trouble wakes briefly beside Prints to declare: "ne'er-do-wells!" and then falls back asleep. Pearce then orders a drink and asks the group who they are and what has brought them to Rexxentrum; Lazarus claims that Pearce already knows why he's in the city, and Sado admits that he's looking for information, after which Pearce commends the monk's performance in the Brawlers Hall Pit Fights.

Cash claims to be in the city because he's "a ramblin' sort," and Pearce surmises by the lack of a visible holy symbol that the cleric follows a deity whose worship has been outlawed in the Empire; the Changeling admits that he follows a forbidden god himself, revealing a token of Avandra, the Changebringer. Lazarus offers Pearce five gold if he can correctly guess the Genasi's favorite color, and the Changeling immediately answers: "Black." He then surmises that Prints belongs to one of the nomadic Tabaxi tribes and guesses that she is traveling by choice; he then asks what happened in the cellar of the Western Winery, at which Prints becomes visibly agitated, and Pearce rescinds the question.

Lazarus suggests that Pearce never asks questions he doesn't already know the answers to, and Pearce responds that he is not the only one who does so: he admits that Schreiber is kinder than most people in the court, but that underestimating him would be disastrous. Pearce then admits that his only aim in visiting with the group is to ensure that the people that Lazarus is traveling with are safe to be around, and proposes a game of Truth or Dare; he sets an orb on the table and taps it, activating a *Zone of Truth* that only Sado and Cash are able to resist. Pearce first dares Sado to dance with Old Maggie, and both the Goliath and tavernkeeper agree, performing an excellent dance together that ends in a dip so wonderful that Maggie offers Sado the evening's dinner for free.

Sado then asks Pearce what other reason he has for visiting Lazarus, and the Changeling claims that he was sent by his employer to ascertain whether Lazarus's companions are good people, which Kahlan finds satisfactory. Pearce then asks Kahlan why there are two voices in her head, and she flatly refuses to answer as Lazarus tells the Changeling that reading minds without permission is rude; Kahlan allows Pearce to ask another question instead, and when he questions what her intentions with Lazarus are, she answers that: "He reminds me of an old friend, and I intend to keep him alive as long as he wishes to have me in his company."

Pearce accepts the answer, then asks Lazarus if he was lying when he claimed not to have kissed Maribeth during the Winter Festival when they were nineteen; Lazarus responds that he doesn't actually know, given that Pearce is a Changeling, and Pearce ultimately admits that he had, in fact, been Maribeth that day, and Lazarus had therefore not lied. Pearce then asks Cash what makes the Genasi loyal to the Stormlord, but the cleric merely comments on the quality of the stew; the Changeling finds it intriguing that Cash has chosen now to answer when he could easily lie instead, and Cash responds that it's simply not any of Pearce's business. Pearce reiterates that he is only attempting to ascertain the group's intentions and motives, and Cash counters that being assigned to ascertain their intentions does not make him qualified to do so.

Pearce then dares Prints to cast her most powerful spell on him, and she casts *Snilloc's Snowball Swarm* that pelts the Changeling with hail and snow; he magically melts the snow and deposits the water into a basin before daring Cash to heal with, which the cleric does . Pearce then retrieves the orb from the table and stows it away, declaring himself satisfied with the character of the group; he asks Lazarus to accompany him outside, where he admits that he feels most of the group can be trusted for now, and warns him that his meeting with Schreiber could go one of two ways. If the meeting goes poorly, Pearce advises Lazarus to ask: "Who is the Augen Trust?" but reminds him: "You didn't hear that from me."

Kahlan slams her dagger point-first into the table and heads to the bar to order a shot of liquor as Lazarus returns to the table and apologizes both retroactively and in advance for Pearce's behavior; Trouble sleepily snuggles into Prints's lap, and the Tabaxi lays her cloak over the Druid, altering the shiftweave to give it the appearance of black feathers. Cash joins Kahlan at the bar for a shot of whiskey, and Lazarus laments that Pearce's ability to trust the group more has come at the cost of the group now trusting Lazarus less. Kahlan eventually migrates toward the fireplace, where Prints joins her after checking on Trouble, and a light rain begins to fall outside.

Sado leaves the tavern to go for a run in the night rain, and Cash steps outside into the street as well. As some of the lights in the room are doused, Prints checks on Kahlan, who claims to be alright but concerned about the things that Pearce knew about all of them. Prints then notices a cloaked figure with red eyes staring out at her from a darkened corner of the room, and realizes that Kahlan cannot see it as it grins at her with sharp, white teeth. The figure's mouth moves, but Prints hears nothing as she explains to Kahlan what she's seeing; Kahlan beckons Lazarus over from the table, and the figure watches him cross the room before turning to Prints again.

The Tabaxi tries to focus on what the figure is saying, and is struck by a psychic disturbance that leaves her doubled over and clutching her ears; Trouble lurches awake as Kahlan explains to Lazarus what Prints was seeing and where, and Lazarus feels an energy coalesce into a psychic dagger that he throws into the corner. Outside, Cash hears calming music from the direction of The Two Tankards, but moments later hears a scream from Prints and rushes back into the The Crow's Nest in time to see Lazarus's ethereal blade vanish into the darkness of the corner. He casts *Detect Evil and Good* just in time to pick up a sense that feels reminiscent of but not quite Celestial an instant before the figure disappears.

Lazarus experiences a psychic disturbance that feels oddly familiar as well, and Prints hears a faint voice that whispers only: "Not ready." Still casting *Detect Evil and Good*, Cash senses another trace of Celestial presence, and realizes that it is emanating from Trouble.

### Session 5 (03/07/2023)

Kahlan checks on Prints as Trouble casts *Cure Wounds* on the Tabaxi, while Cash informs the Druid that she is radiating a Celestial aura. Old Maggie demands an explanation for the outburst, and Prints asks if the inn is haunted, describing what she saw; Maggie denies it, delivering a drink to the Sorcerer. During his run through the streets of Rexxentrum, Sado realizes that he is being followed by a figure running along the rooftops beside him; he stops, and the figure does as well, and the monk quickly scales the side of a nearby building, spotting the figure on a neighboring roof leaning on a staff. He waves to the figure, who nods back before leaping across the gap and over Sado's head, striking the Goliath with two attacks that knock him off the roof before laughing and running off.

Sado recovers and returns to The Crow's Nest, and learns about the entity that Prints saw; when he asks if it may have been a hallucination, Trouble vehemently denies the suggestion, communicate that the entity that the Tabaxi saw was the same one that Trouble saw while she was dead. Lazarus asks Prints to let him know if she sees the entity again, suggesting that there may be something he can do to see what it looks like as well, and Trouble steps away from the group to test her ability to speak, discovering that she can say her own name; she then rushes back to the group to reveal that she can speak on her own, after which she hears Jingles from behind the bar say: "It worked." The Kenku tells Trouble that her voice is beautiful, and the Druid assures him that she will help him find his own voice as well, after which she explains to the party that she saw the entity take something from inside Prints.

She also gives druidcrafted gifts to each member of the group: a brooch of white camellia, pink carnation, hydrangea and ivy for Prints, a brooch of valerian, coriander, gladiolas, and freesias for Kahlan, a brooch of willow, sweet William, chives, and columbine for Lazarus, a brooch of edelweiss, gladiolas, thyme, and valerian for Sado, and a brooch of alstroemeria, tiger lily, cosmos, and marigold for Cash. Lazarus then gives Trouble her share of the payment they received from the Masque, after which Sado retreats to his room to go to bed, and Prints gives Trouble a gift as well: a leather lanyard with two of Trouble's original feathers. Kahlan migrates toward the fireplace with her drink and Lazarus joins her, intending to apologize for Pearce's behavior, but she becomes incredibly intoxicated and he decides to wait until morning.

#### 18 Cuersaar 839 PD

The next day, Trouble wakes to find that Prints's fur has regrown, but that her spots have been replaced by three long stripes down her back; the Druid then reveals her true name to the Tabaxi before Prints's Sending Stone activates in her pack and her mother admonishes her for not calling the night before. Prints promises to call later in the day and deactivates the Stone as the two join the rest of the party. Downstairs, Lazarus apologizes to a Kahlan for Pearce's misbehavior, explaining that he's known soldiers who have dealt with what he thinks she might be dealing with; she assumes that he thinks she's crazy, but he assures her that he doesn't. After breakfast, a group of soldiers arrive at the inn to deliver a message to Lazarus from Oliver Schreiber indicating that: "Timetable has moved up. Important events have begun. Meet today."

The group then returns to the tannery where Cash pays extra for a rush order, requesting that the pelt be delivered to the stronghold of Ungebroch, before stopping at a nearby clothier; Trouble purchases several sets of clothes, Prints purchases a pair of gloves and a pair of mittens for Prints, and Kahlan purchases six dark gray cloaks and distributes them to the party, after which the group heads a few streets down to a salon run by a woman named Jezebelle who detangles and braids Trouble's hair. Nearing lunch, they then make their way through the city to the central castle, where they are met by guards and instructed to relinquish their weapons. Lazarus hands over his Kingsguard daggers reluctantly, and the group is led to the foyer outside Schreiber's office where they are approached by a guard who escorts them first to a storage closet where the guard reveals himself to be Pearce.

He reluctantly apologizes to the group for his behavior the previous day, and gives Lazarus an amulet with which to contact him in an emergency; he then shapeshifts back into his guard persona and leaves for an assignment that will lead him to Zadash, speaking in a voice that Trouble recognizes as one she'd previously heard Jingles use. The group is then led to the office of Oliver Schreiber, who commends their actions at the Western Winery and attempts to question Trouble about her experience before offering the group a job: travel to the town of Hupperdook to pick up the prisoner Skyn Zapras and transfer him to Zadash. Kahlan, Sado, Prints, and Trouble accept, and once Cash agrees, Lazarus does as well; the cleric also mentions that his Displacer Beast pelt will be delivered to the stronghold, and Oliver agrees to forward it to Trostenwald, where a seamstress that he and Lazarus know should have it tailored into a cloak by the time they arrive.

The group is led back to the gates of the stronghold, retrieving their weapons on the way out, and are approached near a fountain in a courtyard of The Candles just beyond the castle wall by a small, cloaked figure carrying a staff. Sado quickly recognizes him as the man he encountered on the rooftop, and the figure taunts the Goliath before assuming a combative stance and challenging him: "Show me what they taught you, boy."

### Session 6 (03/21/2023)

The monk taunts the group again, after which Trouble summons the Spirit Totem of the Hawk before wildshaping into an elk and advancing toward the Dragonborn, who assumes a Patient Defense; Lazarus activates his Radiant Soul, sprouting spectral wings and flying sixty feet up into the air. Prints casts *Enlarge* on Sado, who grows to nearly fourteen feet tall and attacks the monk with a Draconic Strike before Cash unsuccessfully attempts to *Levitate* the Dragonborn.

Trouble attempts to ram the monk, who deflects the attack as Kahlan throws a dagger at him; he catches the weapon and retaliates by throwing it back, striking the Tiefling before punching Sado, kicking Trouble hard enough to cause the Druid to drop her wildshape, and leaps into the air high enough to grapple Lazarus and drag him to the ground, crashing through the awning of a nearby building. Lazarus retaliates by striking the monk with a Psychic Blade and Prints hits him with a *Fire Bolt*, after which Sado attacks with a Flurry of Blows, landing three devastating punches. The monk then teleports above Sado, kicking him viciously as Cash strikes him with a *Thunderwave*.

Trouble unsuccessfully attempts to cast *Entangle* as Kahlan swings her scimitar before the Dragonborn tries to punch the Fighter and misses; he then strikes Cash and Prints with a pair of punches before Lazarus flies into position to attack with his Psychic Blade again. Prints retaliates with a *Thunderwave* of her own, after which the monk uses his Hour of Reaping to frighten everyone except for Trouble and Lazarus. Sado climbs to the roof of the building that the Dragonborn and Lazarus crashed through and unleashes a devastating Breath of the Dragon, bathing the monk in radiant energy. The Dragonborn ends his assault then, telling Sado: "Thava was right. You *were* ready."

The monk unexpectedly invites the group to tea, and they retreat to a nearby tea house where Cash heals Kahlan as the monk introduces himself as Grandmaster Qhore, revealing that he also knows Prints's mother, who he calls "the Eversight." He realizes that his intuition about Trouble emerged from her discomfort in her new body, and she offers an abbreviated explanation of her death and rebirth involving the dragon, which Sado confirms was gold. The rest of the party share their names, and Qhore explains that he acquired his knowledge about their weaknesses while fighting them with his Extract Aspects ability, after which Sado explains that the group met at the Brawlers Hall pit fights.

Sado reveals that his mother was recently promoted to the position of a supervisory archaeologist, and Qhore assures him that she would have been proud of the Goliath's display of draconic power; Sado admits that he doesn't know how he used the Breath of the Dragon, and Qhore advises him to meditate on the changes to his ki. Sado suggests that Qhore speaks like Master Rhogar, and Trouble intuits extremely personal information from the Dragonborn's reaction to the accusation before the elder monk suggests that the team get to know each other better before leaving the tea house.

The group rests shortly to recuperate before heading to the eastern gates of Rexxentrum where they meet the guards Grump and Thorn and set out toward Nogvurot, eating lunch on the road before Prints falls asleep atop her horse. The party travels through the afternoon and into the evening as Sado stealthily shadows the group, and Lazarus finds two potions of healing packed in their rations with a note reading: "You didn't get these from me. O." The party eventually reaches a well-used campsite off the road and stops to rest for the night; Grump makes stew for dinner as Sado checks the surrounding area and finds nothing suspicious.

Kahlan watches Lazarus intently during dinner until Thorn tells her that she's being creepy, after which he comments on the diversity of the group. Prints uses her Sending Stone to speak with her mother, who admits that some of the clan's traveling wagons are being repaired; Prints describes the encounter with Qhore and explains that she and Trouble are traveling with a group toward Hupperdook, and her mother reveals that the clan is moving in that direction as well. Prints laments not knowing where places are in Wildemount, and her mother explains that put a map in her pack, asking Trouble to keep Prints safe; Trouble answers in her new voice, and Prints's mother begins demanding an explanation before the Sending Stone deactivates.

The party settles in to sleep as Kahlan and Lazarus take the first watch, during which she admits to him that Pearce was right and reveals her Ring of Mind Shielding, which Lazarus recognizes; she explains that the voice belongs to a man named Liam who has claimed her heart, and Lazarus hears a high-pitched noise that feels similar to the psychic static he's experienced for the last two years. He asks Kahlan if he can "share [his] thoughts" and she gives him permission, at which point Lazarus reaches out with his mind toward hers and hears a male voice inside her thoughts; Liam is surprised to interact with a mind other than Kahlan's, and confirms that he also sensed the mysterious entity that only Prints could see. He then spends the next two hours exchanging inconsequential banter with Lazarus out of excitement for having someone else to converse with, and before psychically disengaging, Lazarus thinks to Kahlan: "It's good to know you're not crazy. Now we just gotta make sure that I'm not."

During their watch, Sado follows Qhore's suggestion and meditates on his new abilities. At the same time, Cash experiences a dream in which he is listening to music in a tavern; at the table with him is a rugged-looking man whose years weigh heavily on him, with blue skin that matches Cash's. He tells the cleric: "I was traveling today. Hit a couple other taverns; made a couple gold. Just another day in the life, though I got a message. Something I buried long ago was found again, and I'm not sure what that means for this world. I know you never remember these, but someday I hope you will." The man then touches Cash's head to erase the memory of the dream, but the incantation fails, and the man tells him: "Well, shit. You've grown. That's gonna complicate some things. See ya `round, kid. I'm never far."

Cash wakes and sees the flap of his tent rustle, hearing footsteps outside and following to discover footprints as Kahlan and Lazarus are waking Trouble and Prints for their watch. Sado rouses from his meditation and identifies the footsteps as well, throwing a kunai knife that strikes an unseen target; Cash lunges in the direction of the attack, grabbing the intruder and yanking off its Cloak of Invisibility to reveal a figure with the tan skin and the same hair as the man in his dream. The man's pupils look like white clouds as he says: "Well, shit. This *really* complicates things."

### Session 7 (03/28/2023)

Cash recognizes the intruder and immediately attacks the man, brawling with him in the middle of the campsite before eventually overpowering him and demanding to know where "she" is; the man admits that he last knew the woman to be in Zadash about two weeks prior, and introduces himself as Cash's father, Jean Goldcrest, who Prints then recognizes as a famous bard she has seen perform before. He then indicates that Trouble isn't who she used to be, casting *Suggestion* to compel the Druid to explain what happened: Trouble launches into a rambling diatribe describing most of the events of her life from the time she lived in the Savalirwood, through her death and resurrection in the cellar of the Western Winery, up to and including the conversation she is currently having.

Jean confirms that the item was a dragon egg, and advises the group to lay low because of the residual energy that Trouble carries. He explains that he and a group of friends defeated an Abyssal monstrosity several years ago, tearing the source of its power from it, splitting it into five shards, and storing those shards in five dragon eggs that were subsequently buried; the egg that the group encountered had recently been excavated and transported to Rexxentrum before being stolen along the Amber Road and delivered to the Western Winery. He assures the group that he will work to find a way to remove the shard from Trouble, giving the group a Sending Stone before disappearing back into the night.

#### 19 Cuersaar 839 PD

Prints and Trouble take the final watch, and the party wakes the next morning, continuing eastward as Prints's Mother contacts her through her Sending Stone; Prints reveals Trouble's death and resurrection and explains that an egg was involved, after which the Stone deactivates, and Prints's uncle contacts her to tell her that "Mother is freaking out." Sado breaks from the group to scout ahead, and returns by midmorning to inform the party that he spotted several men up ahead at a ramshackle roadblock; Trouble, Cash, Grump, and Thorn drive the prison wagon ahead along the road while Prints and Sado stealth into the treeline along one side and Kahlan and Lazarus stealth into the treeline along the other.

The wagon approaches the barricade, where the bandit captain demands a payment of 50 gold to pass. As Cash speaks with the captain, Lazarus attempts to move into range to use his Psychic Blades, and is caught off-guard by a Rogue who places a poisoned shortsword to his throat; Lazarus uses his Psychic Whispers to relay his situation to Kahlan and to Trouble as Sado and Prints approach from the other side of the road. The captain pulls his blade against Cash, who promptly casts *Shatter* as Prints casts *Snilloc's Snowball Storm*. Lazarus and the assassin then watch as Trouble casts a *Moonbeam* that incinerates one of the bandits and severely injures two more; the Druid suggests that the captain accept 10 gold and let the party pass, and he accepts, ordering his men to stand down.

Lazarus disengages from the assassin, who sheaths her weapon and vanishes back into the woods while the captain and his remaining men open the barricade to allow the party through. Continuing eastward, the party spots a thunderstorm approaching and pulls off the road into a dense thicket of trees, and as they wait out the storm, Kahlan spots dozens of pairs of yellow eyes about 50 feet away; she telepathically notifies Lazarus, who telepathically notifies Trouble, who tells Prints before joining Kahlan and Lazarus. Prints recognizes the eyes as vaguely wolf-like, and Trouble calls out to the creatures before she and Lazarus both hear in their minds: "We are the Searchers, and we have found you. Come with us." Trouble refuses, and one creature steps forward to reveal itself as a shadowy cloud in wolf form, explaining that he was told to find and capture the Druid, to which Trouble responds: "And I was told to *live*, and live the way I choose, and that I shall do. And therefore: you may leave. You've found me. Congratulations! You win! Now *go*."

The yellow eyes in the forest begin to disappear as the closest creature's form sinks into the ground after warning Trouble: "You will not escape your fate." Lazarus hears Trouble think in response: "I do not believe in fate." Not long after, the storm abates and the party continues along the road, pushing into the evening in search of a campsite with Kahlan and Lazarus at the head of the group and Sado watching the rear. As darkness full falls, the Goliath advises the group to pick up the pace as he spots the yellow eyes approaching from behind them, and the party rushes forward, the prison wagon becoming momentarily stuck before Grump hauls it free; as they flee, Prints looses her footing in the mud and trips, nearly being overtaken by the wave of shadowy creatures as a javelin of light streaks past, exploding into hundreds of luminary arrows that drive back the darkness with a thunderous detonation.

Prints regains her footing and catches up with the group as a barrage of radiance assaults the wave of shadows, which slowly begins to recede as the party eventually reaches a campsite beside a large hill where they find a white-furred Tabaxi clad in green and black armor. She removes a pair of intricate goggles and approaches Prints, telling her: "I'm glad I caught up with y'all. What have you gotten into?"

### Session 8 (04/04/2023)

Prints's Mother chastises her for getting involved with The Searchers, while Kahlan explains that the shadowy creatures only recently appeared; the group then sets up camp while Prints's Mother introduces herself as Sound of Bells and speaks with Trouble, who recounts the same events she described to Jean with a few variations. Bells admits that she doesn't know what The Searchers actually are, and surmises that the party was informed about the creatures by Cash's father; she then informs Sado that he will have to accompany her north to train with Grandmaster Qhore, and though Sado is hesitant, he agrees to temporarily leave the party.

As Grump makes dinner, Lazarus and Cash learn that the orc once owned a tavern, and the group describes their encounter with Qhore before Bells speaks with Prints about her ability to control her wild magic; Prints admits that she hasn't had any luck finding her Uncle Phil, and Bells suggests that locating him is more important now. Bells agrees to wait until morning to leave, and Prints admits that Jean explained that the egg that resurrected Trouble is one of five; Bells confesses that she was once part of an adventuring group that included Jean and Prints's father, New Moon, and she advises Prints to be cautious of Jean.

Prints then reveals the new black stripes in her fur, and Bells immediately cries, explaining that New Moon's fur had been "midnight black all over." During their conversation, Trouble plays I Spy with Clipp and Clopp, and learns about a game called Boulder/Parchment/Shears. Kahlan spars to a draw with Lazarus, and when Thorn demonstrates how to throw a more powerful punch, Kahlan strikes Lazarus with a punch infused with Telekinetic Movement that knocks him ten feet back into a tree; Thorn gives Lazarus a shot of firewhisky that renders the Aasimar almost immediately inebriated, after which the gnome manages to nimbly flip the Rogue onto his back. Prints and Trouble take first watch, during which Bells goes on patrol, and Prints explains that she left her tribe six years prior after her wild magic caused an accident that injured several of her fellow Tabaxi; Trouble assures her that she is making progress, albeit slowly, and discusses some of her past in the Savalirwood prior to being summoned by Prints's wild magic.

#### 20 Cuersaar 839 PD

The next morning, the party bids farewell to Sado and Prints, and Trouble *druidcrafts* a snapdragon into the Goliath's beard before he heads north. The remainder of the group proceeds eastward toward Nogvurot, and Kahlan checks up on Lazarus, who explains that he once again had some of the best sleep he's had in years, and the group spends an hour explaining to Trouble what a "kink" is. As they continue along the Glory Run Road, Lazarus suggests that sticking to the roads is making the party moving targets, and that once they reach Nogvurot, they should consider not continuing with Grump and Thorn; as they travel, he also hears the sounds of wings and a roar, and spots a pair of manticore descending toward the group. The group fights off the monstrosities while taking limited damage due to a particularly effect casting of *Inflict Wounds* by Cash, collecting a tooth and three tail spikes from the corpses.

They then continue east, and for the next several hours, Kahlan cannot shake the feeling that they are being watched and followed by something that is aware of the group's presence. As night falls, the party arrives at another site where they set up camp and have reheated stew for dinner; while eating, Prints spots a pair of glowing red eyes near the edge of the firelight and alerts Lazarus, who uses his Psychic Whispers to look into the sorcerer's mind and see the faint image of the a figure cloaked in darkness. He then thinks to Prints: "I'm not going anywhere" before shifting his telepathic connection away from her to the entity in an attempt to communicate with it, and immediately falls unconscious; Trouble and Kahlan discover that his breathing and heartbeat are irregular, and Kahlan casts *Spare the Dying* while Cash casts *Cure Wounds*, neither of which have any effect. Prints then casts *Comprehend Languages* and demands to know what the entity wants, falling unconscious herself after it responds: "Are you ready then?"

Lazarus finds himself in an office with a man stamping paperwork at a desk, interrupting him to introduce himself, and the man opens a separate drawer and finds Lazarus's paperwork before telling him: "you are not the one that was supposed to be here. Not who I was expecting anyway. How did you get here?" Lazarus explains: "There's this weird thing: my brain's a little twitchy, and it's starting to do things it hasn't done before, and a friend of mine was having some trouble, and, uh, I was trying to help out." Before the man can respond, Lazarus hears a voice behind him: "He decided to be a dumbass again, is what happened." He then turns to find the man he had prevented from assassinating Prince Eidys two years earlier, and the two trade words until the man at the desk interrupts them: "That's enough. This is disturbing. You have messed with things that should not be able to be messed with. The two of you aren't scheduled to be here for some time. You will leave now. Do not try to come here again the way you have before. If you do, consequences will be made. Am I understood?" Lazarus promises to "take the long way `round," while the assassin tells the man to "go fuck [him]self."

The man snaps his fingers, and Lazarus regains consciousness, his eyes at first flooded with black that fades back to their normal color.

### Session 9 (04/11/2023)

Still disoriented, Lazarus regains consciousness to hear Kahlan sobbing, saying: "Stop crying, Pearce, I'm not dead... Go check on Aodhin; he got more fucked up than I did..." Prints remains unconscious, however, finding herself at a campfire with a white-furred wolven creature that reveals itself to be a Reaper, an ageless entity that collects souls on behalf of the various gods of death, including the Raven Queen and Kelemvor. In exchange for resurrecting Trouble, the entity expects Prints to take its place as a Reaper after proving herself in a series of trials; if she fails, both her and Trouble's souls will be forfeit.

The entity allows Prints to wake, and Trouble examines both her and Lazarus to find them in perfect health, after which Thorn offers her a drink. The party settles in for the night, and Kahlan and Lazarus agree to take the first watch, during which they hear the sound of horses and dogs along the road a hundred feet away. Communicating with Kahlan through Psychic Whispers, Lazarus sneaks stealthily through the trees and witnesses a man on horseback being surrounded by dogs; moments later, two Crownsguard approach accompanied by a Woolly Mammoth Loxodon, who yanks the man off the horse and manacles him, breaking his arm in the process.

Realizing that the man is an escaped criminal, Kahlan emerges from the trees and informs the Crownsguard that her party is camping off the road, that they are headed for Nogvurot in the morning, and that they have a prison wagon. Lazarus also emerges onto the road by manifesting his spectral wings, flying above the trees, and landing next to Kahlan. The Loxodon introduces himself as Aboukir Hogue, and the Crownsguard accompany Kahlan and Lazarus back to their camp, where Prints and Trouble have woken; as they prepare to take their watch, Kahlan takes Lazarus aside and reveals her identity by showing him her father's Kingsguard daggers. During their watch, Prints explains her encounter with the Reaper to Trouble, who insists that Prints sacrifice the Druid if she ever faces of a choice of saving herself or Trouble.

#### 21 Cuersaar 839 PD

The next morning, the party continues eastward toward Nogvurot; as they travel uneventfully through the day, Lazarus speaks with Thorn about his idea to hire a group of Crownsguard to complete the prisoner transfer, and Thorn agrees. Arriving at the city gates by early evening, the Crownsguard return the criminal to prison as Aboukir and the party visit the town's starosta, retired Righteous Brand general Brumae Luddie, who pays the mercenary 50 gold before agreeing to the party's request for a group of soldiers to accompany Grump on Thorn to pick up Skyn Zapras from Hupperdook. The party explains that they intend to head directly for Zadash through the Silberquel Ridge, and Luddie suggests hiring the Loxodon as a guide.

Catching up with Aboukir outside, Prints persuades him to lead the group across the mountain, and the group accompanies him to The Scalebound Inn, deciding to leave town the next morning. At the tavern, they witness a Dwarf and a human settling an argument in a brutal pit fighting match, and Trouble wins another bet before saving the life of the human fighter after he is struck down with an axe to the skull. Kahlan then challenges Aboukir to a fight to assess his skills, and the two trade blows, both exhibiting their psionic powers until Aboukir forfeits the match; the group shares a round of drinks afterwards, and the Loxodon suggests that he may be able to help the Tiefling learn to more effectively harness her abilities.

The group rents rooms at the Inn and settle in for the evening, and Cash is visited again in his dream by his father, who explains that he's notified the members of his former party about the situation though he has not heard back from any of them. He advises Cash to visit The Vulnerable Vagrant in Zadash, because the proprietor owes him a favor, and reveals that the memory of the bar in which the dream takes place is the bar where he first met his original team; Cash sees the silhouette of a woman step out of the kitchen, waking before he can see her face.

### Session 10 (04/25/2023)

#### 22 Cuersaar 839 PD

The party wakes at The Scalebound Inn in Nogvurot and eats breakfast before preparing for the journey to Zadash: Trouble purchases a heavy coat for the trip, and Kahlan buys a dice set from a soldier after being unable to find a Ring of Warmth. The group leaves the town and heads south as Aboukir leads them along a trail through the Silber Plains as Trouble asks Kahlan how to control her own facial expressions; Kahlan explains emotions, and gives the Druid a hand-mirror so that she can see what her face looks like when she experiences certain feelings. The group travels 37 miles before finding a small clearing in which they set up their own campsite, and Kahlan joins Aboukir as the two Fighters venture into the nearby forest to hunt; Aboukir quickly kills and field-dresses a deer while describing to Kahlan the devastating moment forty years prior when he first discovered his psionic abilities.

At camp, Lazarus briefly tries to teach Trouble how to play Marbles before the Druid finds the biggest tree in the campsite and repeatedly casts *Mold Earth* to create a burrow for herself beneath the roots, and Prints tries unsuccessfully to ask Cash to help her learn how to control her magic. As Aboukir cooks the deer, Trouble questions why the group continues traveling together; Kahlan explains that they'll be safer together, and Lazarus invokes the first tenet of Erathis by claiming that "it is best to utilize the company and aid of others." As they talk, Prints notices that the Reaper is sitting beside her again, and as the rest of the group realizes that the psychopomp has returned, Trouble discovers that it calls itself Endless; Cash casts *Detect Evil and Good* and determines that the while entity is supernatural, and realizes that the Celestial spark within Trouble is marginally more noticeable.

The Reaper speaks briefly with Prints before wishing her luck and vanishing, after which Kahlan is struck in the back with a dagger as a squad of goblins attacks. Kahlan heals herself as Lazarus attacks the goblin who struck her, hitting it with a psychic dagger; Aboukir then uses his telekinesis to impale another attacker on the branches of the tree it's hiding under, before throwing the decapitated deer skull at a third goblin and approaching it. Kahlan casts *Sanctuary* on Lazarus before throwing a dagger at the attacker that struck her, killing it as Prints casts *Catapult*, killing another attacker with a smoldering ember from the fire; Trouble wildshapes into a wolf and attacks another goblin, while Cash casts *Inflict Wounds* to kill a sixth attacker. Aboukir catches one goblin as it attempts to flee and hurls it at the one grappled by the Druid, killing both goblins as one last attacker attempts to flee; Lazarus steadies himself and shoots the goblin with his crossbow, killing it in one shot before healing Kahlan as he removes the dagger from her back, keeping the crude weapon as a memento.

After the goblin platoon is defeated, the party settles in for the evening, and the rest of the night passes uneventfully.

#### 23 Cuersaar 839 PD

Aboukir leads the group further southwest toward the Silberquel Ridge; while they travel, Trouble asks if Prints wants to ask her any questions now that she can speak freely, and the Sorcerer asks only if the Druid is happy. Trouble doesn't initially know how to answer, but explains that she wants to be as far away from the group as possible in order to keep them safe, but admits that she won't leave because she knows that the group would try to follow. The party enters the Wertvoll Woods shortly before midday, and another hour later discovers a clearing containing a large nest that reeks of death and decay. They briefly consider how to proceed before hearing a blood-chilling roar that renders both Kahlan and Prints paralyzed with fear as a massive monstrosity lands in the clearing, and Trouble, Aboukir, and Cash recognize the creature as a Liondrake.

### Session 11 (05/02/2023)

The monstrosity descends, attacking Aboukir and Kahlan before biting Prints and picking her up; as it attempts to fly away again, Aboukir strikes it with his warhammer, knocking it to the ground, and Lazarus instinctually reaches out with his mind and telepathically connects with it. The creature growls at the Rogue, who tells it: "We did not mean to intrude upon your territory... we are trying to get to Zadash by the clearest route. We will leave you in peace unless there is something that we can do to help you in exchange for safe passage." The creature responds: "You have intruded on my land, and for that, the price is blood." Prints breaks free of her paralysis and tells the Liondrake in Draconic: "We mean you no harm! We just want to leave! Please don't make us hurt you." The creature responds: "Leave one as sacrifice, then, and the rest may leave."

Trouble responds by casting *Summon Beast* to conjure the corporeal form of a sheep that Aboukir telekinetically hurls away from the group; the Liondrake chases the sheep as Cash casts *Lesser Restoration* on Kahlan, who conjures a psionic protective field around the sheep to make it more durable as the party flees the clearing. Prints casts *Misty Step*, after which her skin begins to glow a vibrant shade of blue as the party runs for several minutes before hearing the Liondrake roar and spotting it flying after them, having realized that the sheep was illusory. Moments later, Aboukir and Trouble spot two bolts of light – one a vibrant white; the other a greyish cobalt blue – that streak through the sky and strike the Liondrake in the back before all three crash to the ground near the party, who realize that Sado and Grandmaster Qhore have returned.

Qhore releases a concentrated beam of ki energy into the body of the Liondrake, killing it as Aboukir recognizes the monk, having seen him telling stories at a tavern in Skelinaire; Trouble and Qhore discuss the philosophical nature of being old as the monk makes tea and Aboukir breaks down the Liondrake and prepares the meat to perfection. Prints declines the meal over concerns that eating the creature may constitute cannibalism, though Lazarus claims that lions and snow leopards are only very distant cousins since they are the same genus but not the same species. Over dinner, Sado recounts his activities since parting ways with the group: traveling with Qhore to the island of Frostbogen in Eiselcross, he completed his martial training at the Shrine of Chronurgic Studies, a location where time itself flows differently, allowing him to train for months within the Shrine as only three days passed in the outside world.

Qhore shows Trouble a vision of a sphere of pulsating darkness that causes her to feel as though her body is ripping itself apart; after she recovers, he advises her to let someone know if she feels a similar sensation, which will mean that she is too close to another Abyssal shard. He assures her that he is working with a group to find a solution, and Lazarus asks the monk to give the group's regards to Jean; Trouble then recounts to Sado the group's activities since he left, after which Qhore explains that Jean is negotiating "with a wizard friend of his." He advises the party to avoid the shadows as much as possible, and reiterates to Trouble the danger of allowing two Abyssal shards to come back into contact, after which he reads from a scroll and departs in a flash of light. The party then rests shortly to recuperate, and Trouble *druidcraft*s a floral bracelet of amaryllis and chrysanthemum for Sado, who admits that his training was not as productive or helpful as he'd hoped it would be.

The party then continues on into the Wertvoll Woods along the foothills of the Silberquel Ridge, and Aboukir leads the group along the trail he remembers as being the faster way across the mountain. The forest gradually grows more dense around the path as Sado shadows the group, and Aboukir eventually detects other movement in the trees ahead and to the side of the path, stopping the party to inform them that they are being stalked by a cluster of wolf spiders. Lazarus stealths into the forest on the opposite side of the trail and spots two spiders advancing toward the group, telepathically reaching out to Kahlan and Aboukir to warn them as Sado spots two more approaching from his side of the trail. Lazarus surreptitiously kills the first spider as Trouble casts *Produce Flame* at the second, which Cash kills by casting *Toll the Dead*; Prints kills the third by casting *Catapult* to hurl a rock at it, after which the fourth scurries past Sado, who kills it with a pair of ki-empowered punches.

Shortly after, Lazarus spots a draconic arachnid approaching Sado's position and telepathically alerts Aboukir, who uses his trunk to hurl a bundle of rocks and a dagger at the creature. Trouble summons the Spirit Totem of the Bear before casting *Mage Armor*, after which the Spiderdrake attacks Sado and Aboukir with its poison breath weapon; moments later, a second Spiderdrake attacks the group with its poison breath weapon, knocking Trouble unconscious and severely injuring Kahlan and Cash. Prints casts *Scorching Ray* and Cash casts *Guiding Bolt* at the second creature as Sado attacks the first with his Breath of the Dragon, lighting its oily secretions fire. Kahlan casts *Spare the Dying* to temporarily stabilize Trouble as Lazarus strikes the second Spiderdrake with a crossbow bolt, after which three more wolf spiders emerge from the forest, restraining the Rogue with webbing and biting him. With Sado's assistance, Aboukir delivers a devastating blow to the burning Spiderdrake with his warhammer, which adheres to the creature and drags it toward the ground.

### Session 12 (05/09/2023)

After having been dragged to the ground by a devastating blow from Aboukir, the Spiderdrake struggles to free itself from the Fighter's warhammer and attempts to flee while engulfed in flames, suffering a crippling strike from the Mammothari. The second Spiderdrake fails to restrain Prints with webbing before striking at her with a claw attack, missing as it strikes Cash with a second claw attack; the Cleric retaliates with a lightning bolt that ignites the creature's oily secretions. Prints then delivers necrotic damage by casting *Wither and Bloom*, in the process of which she heals Trouble, who regains consciousness as Cash delivers necrotic damage by casting *Inflict Wounds* and further heals Trouble by casting *Healing Word*. Sado delivers three unarmed strikes, taking fire damage from the creature as he connects, after which Kahlan strikes the creature with her scimitar and dagger, taking some fire damage as well.

The three spiders converge on Lazarus, attempting to attack him as he struggles with the webbing restraining him; he accidentally grabs the amulet that Pearce gave him as only one of the spiders manages to bite him, after which he *Misty Step*s away from them and hurls a Psychic Dagger at the remaining Spiderdrake, killing it as it hears Lazarus's voice in its mind, telling it: "I'm going to take your skull back to a bar in Trostenwald, and every time I look at it, I'm going to remember the day that you made the dumbest and last mistake you would ever make." From the ground, Trouble summons a *Moonbeam*, killing two of the spiders on the ledge overhead, and Prints casts a *Fire Bolt* that kills the third as the group hears the other Spiderdrake screech as it crashes into the forest and dies. The group reconvenes in the middle of the path to guard Trouble, at which point, Lazarus hears a voice behind him ask: "What are we looking at? Oh, my: that thing smells terrible."

He turns to find Pearce in a blue-haired male elven form, wearing diplomatic armor, after which Trouble instinctively hits the Changeling with her *Moonbeam* for an instant before deactivating the spell; Pearce recovers from the injury and helps the party clean up the mess of the battle while Sado tracks the creature that fled and recovers both mandibles and a vial of its oily secretion. Cash heals Kahlan and Lazarus as Pearce gives Trouble a *potion of greater healing* as Lazarus explains how Aboukir joined the group in Nogvurot before they headed south to cross the Silberquel Ridge; the Mammothari mentions the many unexpected elements of the trip, and Trouble offers to pay him more money, though Kahlan suggests that Pearce can pay their guide. Pearce refuses, and Cash casts *Command*, ordering the Changeling to pay, but Pearce only answers: "Come by my room tonight, and I'll pay just fine." He jokingly chastises Lazarus for using the amulet frivolously, though Lazarus insists that he did so accidentally, and Pearce admits that he'd rather have called and not needed than needed and not called.

Realizing that the group is also headed to Zadash, Pearce uses his Helm of Teleportation to instantly transport the entire party to the city, arriving back in his quarters in a military barracks. Lazarus is momentarily sick as Pearce departs to return to work and Kahlan slumps into Pearce's bed; the party rests shortly to recuperate, and Aboukir indicates that he sees no reason to remain with the group now that they have successfully delivered the group to Zadash. Kahlan counters that she will pay him if he agrees to stay and teach her how to control her psionic abilities, and he agrees, after which the group leaves the barracks and follows the Changeling's directions to find The Hearth Inn seven blocks to the west; Lazarus notices that Kahlan bristles as the group passes a brothel along the way. Arriving at the tavern, the party immediately recognizes most of the other patrons as fellow adventurers, and Trouble spots three Kenku conversing with each other between different tables; as she breaks away from the group to speak with the them, Cash spots an elven woman serving food and approaches her, and she drops the tray she's carrying the moment she recognizes the Cleric, hugging him.

Trouble describes to the Kenku the story of how she became a Halfling and then teaches them several useful phrases while Cash and the rest of the group speak with Cash's mother, who laments having spent so much time away from her son; soon after, Trouble returns to the group, which is shocked when the Druid recognizes Cash's mother as Elowynn, a woman who had lived with Trouble's family for several years, and whose voice Trouble has been using. Elowynn explains that she had gone on the run several years ago when people searching for her husband found her, and that those people later found her living with Trouble's family, who were killed because of it; Trouble becomes enraged by the realization that her family was murdered by people looking for Elowynn, who reveals that Trouble's father was still alive the last she knew. Elowynn explains that she was tortured but refused to speak, and Trouble reveals that her "mind is broken beyond repair" by her time alone in the Savalirwood. Elowynn assures the party they will have rooms for the night, then leaves to collect her thoughts.

Kahlan walks Trouble outside to console her, and the two discuss the nature of friendship before Kahlan reveals to the Druid that the ring she wears contains the soul of her oldest friend, explaining that, as a Tiefling, she understands the feeling of being an outcast; Pearce arrives at the tavern shortly after, and Kahlan and Trouble rejoin the party inside as the Changeling shifts into his natural form, which Aboukir immediately recognizes him as someone he has served with on several missions. They drink as they reminisce and trade stories, and Pearce becomes quickly inebriated, after which he and Trouble sing a startingly impeccable duet; Trouble continues singing as Pearce returns to the table, where Kahlan reveals her father's daggers to him, at which point Pearce realizes that the Tiefling is the daughter of Aodhin Karsus. With her permission, he then uses his shapeshifting ability to show her the face of her father again, after which she thanks him and departs the common room to head upstairs.

Pearce, Aboukir, Lazarus, and Cash continue drinking and reminiscing while Trouble and Prints head up to their room as well, and the Druid describes what she recalls of the madness she experienced in the Savalirwood before the two settle in and fall asleep. During the night, Prints is visited in a dream by Endless, who explains that the Tabaxi is ready for her first trial, assuring her that she will not have to face it alone.

### Session 13 (05/16/2023)

#### 24 Cuersaar 839 PD

The party wakes the next morning and convenes for breakfast, during which Elowynn requests to speak with Cash and Trouble; the three retreat to a private room where she offers to answer any questions the two may have, and Cash reveals that his father has been magically visiting his dreams and erasing his memories of it. Trouble accuses her of trading one innocence for another, and Elowynn confesses that she regrets what happened, but is still glad that she expanded her family in a way she never expected. She tells Trouble and Cash that she is proud of them, and Trouble laughs, after which Elowynn leaves and Cash admits that this is the first time he's seen his mother in almost three years.

Cash tells Trouble about some of his childhood before the two return to the common room, where they find Pearce. Cash mentions his Cloak of Displacement, and Pearce agrees to check on its progress before heading for the door, where Kahlan hugs and thanks him again; he hugs her back for a moment before flinging a marble at Lazarus and hitting him in the head, then leaves. The party finishes breakfast and heads out into the city shortly after, finding the shop that Cash's father had directed them to and meeting the Firbolg proprietor, Pumat Sol, who reminds Trouble of a friend of hers.

Invoking the favor that Pumat owes his father, Cash secures the group a discount on supplies, and Kahlan purchases an herbalism kit and a bag of holding, while Lazarus learns that the shopkeeper has a Ring of Feather Falling in stock, and Trouble inquires what it would cost to have her scarf enchanted to shield her from detection; he explains that he can do so for 400 gold, and when she and Lazarus mention being unable to afford the items at the moment, Pumat recommends visiting the Adventurers Guildhall in the city for paying work. Prints also mentions her Uncle Phil, who Pumat knows, and though he hasn't seen him in years and doesn't know where he currently is, he assures her that he'll let her uncle know that she's looking for him if he happens to see him again.

Pumat directs Kahlan to the Grace of the Wilds for herbalism ingredients, and advises Sado to research information on the goliath herds of Wildemount at the Valley Archive of the Cobalt Soul; the monk ventures there on his own as the rest of the group accompanies Kahlan to Sparkhammer Smithing, where she sells her ordinary daggers and Aboukir buys a battle axe, after which they visit a culinary shop where Trouble purchases a chef's kit and Heward's Handy Spice Pouch for the Mammothari. At the Valley Archive, Sado learns about Grog Strongjaw and the Herd of Storms in Tal'Dorei, but finds no information about Clan Thuliaga. After leaving the Archive, he visits a gladiatorial arena and witnesses three fights: one between a human and a Displacer Beast that the human lost, one between a Half-orc and three humans that the humans lost, and one between the Half-orc and a Halfling Monk that the Halfling won. He meets with the fightmaster afterwards to learn that the arena will hosting open fights in two days.

As evening settles, the party reconvenes at the inn, where Trouble pays for the party's lodging for the next three days. Pearce arrives shortly after and informs Cash that his Cloak of Displacement will be delivered the next day, mentioning to Lazarus that the item is being delivered by "both"; Lazarus tenses briefly before he and Pearce explain that the Rogue's parents will be visiting from Trostenwald, and after a night of drinking, the group heads to their rooms.

#### 25 Cuersaar 839 PD

Lazarus wakes early the next morning to find Pearce downstairs with his father and his mother; he then introduces the rest of the party as they arrive for breakfast, and his father briefly accosts Cash in a rage before Siobhan intervenes, reminding Shiloh that Cash is not his father. Siobhan gives Cash a package containing the Cloak of Displacement, which bears the symbol of Kord, and the two reveal that they were both part of the team that defeated the Abyssal monstrosity twenty years prior.

Prints's Mother arrives soon after, followed by Sado's adoptive mother Thava, at which point Kahlan sits with Pearce and Aboukir at a separate table while Siobhan explains that after their party shattered the being's power, Jean used part of it to erase the world's memories of the incident; the spell was incomplete, however, due to the magnitude of the task and Jean's unfamiliarity with the entity's power, and some people retained their knowledge of the being, continuing to follow and worship it. Thava explains that Cash's father is still negotiating with the mage he knows to find a way to disentangle Trouble from the shard she carries, after which she advises Cash's group to take some time to explore the city. Bells, Thava, Shiloh, and Pearce leave the inn, after which the party makes their way to the Adventurers Guildhall, where Prints locates three job posting boards; as she approaches, she notices the figure of Endless near the central board, and asks if her trial is one of the postings.

He looks to the board and disappears as Prints blinks, and she finds herself holding a flyer offering a reward of "15,000 GOLD: THE HEAD OF A DRAGON." The back of the flyer features a map leading to the Labenda Swamp northeast of the town of Berleben.

### Session 14 (06/06/2023)

The party discovers that the reward being offered for the capture of the dragon in the Labenda Swamp had been 20,000 gold before being reduced to 15,000 gold. Aboukir questions one of the guildhall clerks, and learns that the reward is being offered by the town of Berleben; the clerk advises the party to consult with either Starosta Carliyle Vesperwind or Idolmaster Julienne Droogba for more information, and recommends heading to the town themselves. Aboukir asks where he might acquire a dragon skull, and the clerk directs him to an eccentric collector known only as the Bone Lady who lives near the edge of the Innerstead Sprawl. The party accepts the quest, listing themselves as The Ne'er-Do-Wells and learning that a previous party calling themselves The Brothers in Arms had accepted the job but failed to complete it.

Aboukir parts ways with the group to search for the home of the Bone Lady, and Cash breaks away to visit the other taverns that his mother might be working at while Kahlan, Lazarus, Trouble, Prints, and Sado return to the inn for lunch with Lazarus's mother and Prints's mother. Siobhan offers Kahlan a potion of lesser restoration to cure her hangover, and Lazarus explains to his mother that Kahlan is the daughter of his former commander; Kahlan also reveals that the group has accepted a contract to hunt a dragon, which makes Bells incredibly anxious. The group admits that they have never fought a dragon, though they did survive an encounter with a pair of Spiderdrakes, and Siobhan advises them not to fight the creature in its lair if possible and never to cluster in a group, recommending that they research dragons at the Valley Archive of the Cobalt Soul.

She then explains the dynamic of their original group: she was their inquisitive, quiet planner, Bells was their Ranger and tracker, Shiloh was their front-line combatant, Thava was extremely fast and could punch harder than anyone, Jean was the face and surprisingly good at healing, and New Moon was very good with magic though a bit unpredictable at times. She then reveals that their team had once fought a blue dragon, which Bells had killed by climbing on its back in midair, shooting it in the head at point-blank range, and then riding the body to the ground as it fell from the sky.

After an hour, Aboukir locates the hut of the Bone Lady, asking if she has a partially-cleaned dragon skull available for a short-term rental for the purposes of "mischief and mayhem"; she confirms that she does, and Aboukir offers to pay 20 gold to borrow it temporarily as well as returning any additional dragon bones that the party collects along with it. She accepts the deal, and Aboukir leaves with the skull, noticing as he does the horrified looks of several pedestrians who see him emerge from the hut; he admonishes them for not being kinder to their elders, then heads back toward the inn.

Cash visits several taverns in the city and discovers that his mother did not arrive at any of them; making his way toward the inn again, he notices a block ahead as a man is thrown through a window into the street before Pearce rushes out of the alleyway beside the building and darts inside. Cash follows to find another battered man unconscious on the floor of the tavern while Shiloh stands over a third man; he spots Cash, attempting to attack the Cleric but missing with a succession of punches as Cash attempts and fails to cast *Levitate* and *Gust of Wind* on the older man.

Pearce and Cash work together to subdue Shiloh so that the Cleric can cast *Lesser Restoration*, curing the older man of his inebriation and helping the Changeling to lead Shiloh out of the tavern. The three head back toward the inn, and Pearce apologizes to Cash for the altercation, admitting that he's dealt with Shiloh during times like this before, but that he's done his best to shield Lazarus from his father's outbursts. He then surmises that Cash was looking for his mother, and explains that while she does work at the tavern where the altercation occurred, she hadn't arrived that morning; he offers to help try to find her if needed, stopping at a bench with Shiloh as Cash heads back to the tavern to speak with the barkeep, who confirms that while Elowynn has a room there as well as at two other taverns, he has not seen her in two days.

Thava arrives at the inn to deliver a new set of robes to Sado, who explains that the team will be hunting a dragon, and his mother advises him that the most important element of the job will be the group's ability to trust each other; she also recommends avoiding the creature's mouth, trying to get on the creature's back, and focusing on disabling the creature's wings. Siobhan comments on the rarity of Thava spending money on someone else, and Sado nearly reacts as both Siobhan and Bells laugh, after which he notices his adoptive mother smiling at the camaraderie as well. Sado inquires about his original Goliath tribe, confirming that he was unable to find any information while in Rexxentrum, and Thava recommends returning to the Valley Archive of the Cobalt Soul, and suggests researching dragons there as well; Bells mentions that their original group once fought and defeated a black dragon, but Thava interrupts the Tabaxi, insisting that Sado's group must learn for themselves.

At the Valley Archive, Sado discovers partial records concerning a small Goliath tribe that once lived in the region of the Ashkeeper Peaks where he was found as an infant, and learns that while they had been reclusive, the tribe had maintained a cordial relationship with the kingdom of Draconia. He also locates information about black dragons, which he learns have acidic breath weapons and live predominantly in swamps, and that while they are also reclusive, they often use Lizardfolk and Kobolds as spies and servants; they also tend to hoard ancient artefacts, some of them magical, from extinct civilizations, and their lairs are commonly infested with centipedes, scorpions, and snakes. Sado compiles his findings and returns to the inn to share the information with the rest of the team.

As Lazarus begins formulating a plan, Trouble leaves the inn to take a walk through the city and Kahlan follows at a respectful distance. Bells falls back to sleep, and Lazarus asks his mother if he and Prints are effectively step-cousins-in-law; she assures them that they aren't, and explains that she and Shiloh ended up fostering Pearce after they rescued an important figure of the Feywild court. Lazarus mentions an incident in which he believed Pearce had died after falling out of a tree, but cannot explain further as Aboukir returns to the inn with the blue dragon skull he acquired from the Bone Lady. The Mammothari describes his plan to present the skull to the government officials of Berleben in order to collect the reward, and Siobhan reveals that Shiloh had devised a nearly identical plan when their team faced a black dragon, explaining that they were thereafter prohibited from returning to that town for their attempted deception.

Shortly after, Pearce and Shiloh return to the inn and Shiloh retreats immediately to his room. Searching another tavern, Cash casts *Locate Object* on his mother's necklace, but does not detect its presence; he then returns to the inn at the same time that Trouble returns from her walk with Kahlan following behind her. Cash confirms that no one in his group has knows his mother's whereabouts, and Trouble suggests looking for any housefires or orphaned children before Aboukir attempts to calm her down. Trouble then asks Aboukir why he acquired the skull of a blue dragon when the group will be hunting a black dragon, and he admits that he was under the impression that the dragon they were hunting was blue; Kahlan casts *Minor Illusion* to make the skull look like that of a black dragon.

Bells wakes and learns that the group will be leaving for Berleben in the morning; Trouble asks if anyone intends to search for Elowynn, and Siobhan promises to contact a few of her connections throughout the city. Lazarus then asks what his mother's group called themselves, and she reveals that they were eventually given the name The Protectors of the Scales, though they originally called themselves The Super High Intensity Team. Kahlan reveals that her team called itself The Ne'er-Do-Wells, at which Thava audibly laughs, though Lazarus admits that they nearly called themselves The Afterparty and Trouble calls them The Fallout. Siobhan and Bells then retreat to their rooms while Kahlan meets privately with Pearce to request that he show her the face of her mother, and after he does, she hugs him and thanks him, to which he answers: "It was a pleasure."

### Session 15 (06/09/2023)

Pearce leaves as Kahlan, Sado, Cash, Trouble, Prints, Lazarus, and Thava visit the Empyrean Arena's open fight night; Kahlan initially tries to challenge Sado to a fight, but finds the Goliath occupied in conversation with his mother, and instead challenges Lazarus to a rematch; the Rogue accepts, shedding his leather armor and his shirt as he enters the ring, and Kahlan leaves her chain mail and her shield with Prints. Trouble bets ten gold on Kahlan before the fight begins, at which point Lazarus activates his Radiant Soul to create a massive pair of spectral owl wings as he casts *Hex* on Kahlan.

He flies toward her, hearing in his mind as she thinks: "Do it. Hurt me." She strikes him with two punches, and he retaliates with an uppercut that disorients her so badly that both of her next two attacks miss; the two trade strikes until one of the two water pools in the arena erupts in a surge that drags Kahlan in. Lazarus hovers over the water to pull the Fighter out of the pool before disengaging from her and moving away; she gives chase, after which the Aasimar connects with another uppercut that knocks the Tiefling unconscious. As the arena healers move in to carry Kahlan back to the sidelines, Lazarus brushes her forehead and cheek, bringing her back to consciousness with his Healing Hands.

Trouble then challenges Cash to a fight and they enter the arena, where the Druid immediately summons her Spirit Totem of the Bear before wildshaping into a Black Bear herself. The Cleric plants his warhammer in the dirt and waits, at which point Trouble strikes him with a claw attack and the two trade blows until the pylons in the arena erupt with electrical energy, returning Trouble to her Halfling form, at which point she casts *Heat Metal* on Cash's armor. He retaliates by invoking the *Wrath of the Storm* and casting *Inflict Wounds* on the Druid, after which the arena trembles with a localized earthquake; Trouble then casts *Thunderwave* against the Genasi, who retaliates with the *Wrath of the Storm* again before casting *Call Lightning* to render the Druid unconscious. Before the arena healers can approach, Cash casts *Cure Wounds* on Trouble, who instinctively punches him upon waking, nearly knocking him unconscious in return.

Having been fully healed by the arena clerics, Kahlan ignores Lazarus's advice and once again challenges Sado to a fight. The Monk reluctantly accepts, and the Fighter dons her chain mail again as Prints and Lazarus notice Thava paying closer attention. Trouble wagers twenty gold on Sado; the two trade a vicious succession of punches, with Kahlan using her Protective Field and Sado using his Stone's Endurance to deflect some of the damage, until the Goliath delivers a devastating Flurry of Blows that knock the Tiefling unconscious once more. Sado catches Kahlan as she crumples and carries her back to the sideline as Trouble collects fourteen additional gold as her winnings, and the three victors are offered the chance to challenge the champion of the Empyrean Arena for the title.

Cash and Lazarus agree that Sado should take the opportunity to demonstrate his abilities for his mother, and Trouble bets thirty gold on the Goliath as he enters the arena once more. The champion is then revealed to be the Gnomish War Domain Cleric Pike Trickfoot, who encourages Sado not to hold back, and the fight commences as the Monk strikes the Gnome with a rapid successive of four punches; she retaliates with a pair of attacks with her Mace of Disruption, and the Monk deflects some of the damage with his Stone's Endurance before connecting with three more punches before the Cleric manages to block his last attack with the Shield of Sarenrae, injuring his hand. She delivers another blow with her Mace amplified by her *Divine Smite* and then heals herself before Sado delivers four more devastating punches; battered, she casts *Flame Strike* to summon a forty-foot column of divine fire that consumes the Goliath and knocks him unconscious.

After catching her breath, Pike casts *Cure Wounds* to bring Sado back to consciousness as the crowd cheers them both; she thanks him for "one of the best fights [she's] had in years" and tells him that he reminds her of a buddy of hers before watching him return to Thava, who gives him a rare congratulatory pat on the arm. Following the fights, the party returns to the inn and retire for the evening.

#### 26 Cuersaar 839 PD

After taking an elixir of alert repose following the fights at the Arena, Lazarus remains downstairs in the dining room of The Hearth Inn reading his copy of *In the Belly of Dragons*. Around two o'clock in the morning, his father ventures downstairs from his room , and Lazarus orders two shots and a tankard of water, drinking the two shots himself and delivering the water to his father. They discuss Shiloh's team's original name before Lazarus manifests his wings, and Shiloh explains that his son's Aasimar heritage was likely a result of his service to the Stormlord.

Lazarus then asks what had happened with Cash's father and Prints's father, and learns that the means by which their team defeated the multiversal monstrosity required New Moon to sacrifice himself; Shiloh had agreed to strike the killing blow, but Jean had interfered, stabbing the Tabaxi in the back instead. Lazarus marvels at his father's strength, and promises to walk with his team through the gates of the hells if that is what is required to keep them safe; Shiloh then returns to bed, after which Lazarus and the barkeeper jokingly discuss how much of *In the Belly of Dragons* actually happened.

In a dream, Trouble finds herself in her burrow beneath the tree in the Savalirwood; as darkess descends, she spots movement and a pair of emerald eyes near the edge of the woods, and she addresses the figure, which forms from the shadows into a tall, thin figure. Trouble asks what the figure is, and it calls itself Everything-and-Nothing before claiming that she is lost; she agrees, and it reaches its hand out to her, offering to help. Trouble explains that her family is coming and asks if the creature is lying; it admits that it doesn't know, claiming that Trouble is sad, and she agrees again as she spots another figure near the edge of the woods, recognizing Jean though his face is contorted with fear. Trouble tries to approach Jean, who is suddenly pulled toward the forest, and the figure tries to attack Jean as tears stream down his face.

In her own dream, Prints finds herself alone at a campfire before Endless appears, ordering her: "Wake up! Now! Get to Trouble! Now! Move, move! Go!" She wakes abruptly and promptly rouses Trouble from her dream.

### Session 16 (06/20/2023)

Having been woken from her dream by Prints, Trouble explains that the party needs to find Jean Goldcrest and describes her encounter with the multiversal monstrosity attached to the Abyssal shard she carries; the two visit Cash's room, waking him and persuading him to use the Sending Stone his father had given to him. He transmits the message: "You alive, old man?" Several moments later, he receives on "Ca– –other– –side– –get–" in response, and realizes that his father is likely on another plane of reality at the moment. Trouble confirms that Cash had been unable to find his mother the previous day, and suggests that Siobhan might be able to locate both of the Cleric's parents.

Cash dons his armor and steps into the hallway, banging his warhammer against his shield to wake the rest of the party; Aboukir accidentally tears the door to his room off its hinges and emerges dressed in a full-length flannel sleeping gown and holding his own warhammer, and Kahlan emerges half-dressed from her room holding her scimitar. Both return to their rooms to get dressed after learning that everyone is uninjured, and the party convenes downstairs in the common room ten minutes later, finding Sado and Thava drinking tea, having already completed their morning run, and Lazarus reading a book, having used an potion of watchful rest to stay up through the night.

Trouble describes her dream to the collected parties, after which Siobhan suggests that she and Thava will locate Jean and Sound of Bells will locate Elowynn, while Trouble's party confronts the dragon in the Labenda Swamp. Kahlan questions the advisability of splitting the group, and Siobhan reminds her that The Searchers only know to pursue Trouble, since most of the world was made to forget that the Protectors of the Scales ever existed. She also suggests that Shiloh return to Trostenwald after finishing his business in Zadash, and requests that Trouble's party meet with her again at Shiloh's tavern when their contract is complete. Bells also gives Prints three potions of acid resistance that she was able to brew the previous day.

Both parties have breakfast together before Shiloh and Siobhan head upstairs to pack and Thava and Bells head out into the city. Prints then discusses her concerns with the group over the fact that they will be hunting a dragon because of a deal she made, and the rest of the party confirms that they understand the risks and choose to accompany her anyway; Pearce briefly interrupts the conversation to inform Lazarus that he will be away from Zadash for several weeks on assignment. Sado also pledges his aid to the Tabaxi, and the group leaves the tavern, stopping at The Vulnerable Vagrant to buy a Cloak of Elvenkind for 200 gold and a Cloak of Billowing for 50 gold; Kahlan and Prints also break away from the group to visit Sparkhammer Smithing, where the Sorcerer purchases studded leather armor for 45 gold, after which the party reconvenes and departs the city toward the north.

During the journey, Prints sends out a thought of appreciation to Endless. The weather becomes stormy as the party travels through the day, and as evening descends, they find that the only location that might have been suitable for a campsite has been flooded; they continue onward, and Lazarus casts *Light* on Aboukir's keffiyeh, pushing into the night in search of a place to make camp. Nearing midnight, the group remains surprisingly energetic as they travel, and Sado finally spots the light of a farmstead and a barn as the rain lessens slightly. The rest of the party catches up to him shortly as an older half-elven man exits the barn and spots them, beckoning them toward the house, introducing himself as Viktor, and asking if any of them know any healing magic.

Cash confirms that he's a cleric, and Viktor explains that there are a couple of men in his barn who are injured from a confrontation with a creature; as he leads Cash, Prints, and Lazarus across the property to the barn, the Tabaxi spots the figure of Endless near the door. Viktor explains that the men are all that remains of a party that had previously passed his farm going in the other direction on their way to hunt a dragon. Inside the barn, the group is struck by the acrid smell of dissolved human flesh, and finds two men: one wearing heavy armor that has been severely dented, gouged, and melted, and the other wearing light armor with acid burns on his face. The more heavily armored man is missing one arm and bears a massive gash across his chest from one shoulder to the opposite hip, and Prints quickly spots the figure of Endless standing above him before telling her: "This is the first part of your test."

The Reaper explains that the dying man is afraid, and instructs her to comfort him and convince him to move on. Prints suggests that Cash help the lightly-armored man while she kneels beside the heavily-armored man and takes his hand, at which point the world around them freezes and Prints sees a nearly transparent figure standing above the lightly-armored man. She realizes after a moment that the transparent figure is the spirit of the heavily-armored man, who explains that he can't leave because he promised his brother that he would survive the mission; they had confronted the dragon, but been overwhelmed by it, after which the man had to leave their teammate Eoin behind in order to deliver his brother to the safety of the farmstead.

Prints learns that the man's name is Jarrek and his brother is Josef, and she assures the man that he did the best he could have done, promising that the party will do everything they can to help his brother. Josef admits that he's afraid because he doesn't know what will come next, and Prints reveals that not even the reapers of souls know what happens after they die, assuring him that the psychopomps actually look forward to the next great journey. Josef asks if Prints is afraid, and she admits that she is more fearful of what Jarrek will experience having to live after the rest of his party died; Josef asks Prints to tell Jarrek "that if anyone of [them] should make it, it would be him. It *should* be him," and she promises that his brother will hear those words.

A moment later, a glow emanates from the spirit's hand as he reaches toward Prints, and she hears Endless instruct her: "Now reach out, and lead him to the other side, Prints." She takes the hand of Josef's spirit, feeling an icy sensation that is soon replaced by a radiating warmth more comfortable than she has ever experienced; the silhouette shines briefly, and then fades away, and the world around the two of them begins to move again as Cash cast's *Cure Wounds* on Jarrek, healing the worst of the man's wounds. Prints then spots Endless in a corner of the barn, and hears him assure her: "Well done." She nods as Cash casts another healing spell, after which Trouble casts her own healing magic as well.

Viktor returns to the barn with water and food, thanking the party for their help and offering them the use of the barn for the night; he assures them that he will see to whatever Jarrek wants to do, and gives blankets to Cash and Kahlan to wrap Josef's body. The party retires for the night, and Prints again finds herself sitting at a campfire in her dream as she is visited by Endless, who admits that the task might not have been as easy as Prints had imagined. He tells her that helping Josef to accept his death was the first part of her task, and that the next will be coming, after which he sits with Prints and places a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. He assures her that he was right about her, and she admits that she wasn't sure if she could trust him; he explains that there are many things in the world that are not as they seem, and admits that he is one of those things.

#### 27 Cuersaar 839 PD

Having taken watch along with Kahlan, Cash notices that the rain eventually stops around the farmhouse about thirty seconds before it stops everywhere else. Around dawn, Viktor delivers breakfast to the barn, and by the time the party finishes eating, Jarrek wakes and joins them; Viktor assures the man that he can stay until he's healed enough to travel, and that he will lend him a wagon to transport his brother, and Jarrek asks the party to help the remaining two members of his party – Luka and Eoinn – if they find them alive, or to lay them to rest if they find them dead. Jarrek explains that the dragon has quite a few underlings that like to set traps, and reveals that the creature calls itself Umbrah; he then returns to the barn, and Prints follows to pass along Josef's message, after which Jarrek hugs her and thanks her for helping to ease Josef's passing.

The party resumes their travel after breakfast, reaching the southern border of the Labenda Swamp by midmorning and finding it choked with mud after the rainstorm, continue into the forested wetland and fending off swarms of mosquitos along the way.

### Session 17 (06/27/2023)

The party proceeds through the wetlands for two hours with little difficulty, as Trouble walks nimbly across the surface of the mud; she and Aboukir guide the group while Sado surreptitiously flanks them and Kahlan and Lazarus guard the rear. As they continue, Lazarus notices a hissing sound to the group's left, and spots ripples on the surface of the water moments before Aboukir hears a nearly imperceptible shift in the water to the group's right; he grabs Trouble and pulls her out of the way immediately before a crocodile emerges from the swamp, and the Druid attempts to negotiate with the creature, offering it her breakfast leftovers which Aboukir flavors with seasoning from his spice pouch. The crocodile accepts the food before calling out to another crocodile, which emerges from the swamp and advances toward the group, passing Sado without noticing him; Kahlan offers her breakfast leftovers as well as Prints and Lazarus offer some of their rations, and after feeding the crocodiles for ten minutes, the creatures retreat into the swamp, leaving the party to pass unharmed.

The group reaches Berleben shortly after midday, finding the town half-sunken into the surrounding marsh and swarming with insects, and they head to The Drowned Nest inn to rent four rooms for the night from innkeeper Uma Cole. She asks if the party has come to Berleben looking for trouble, and Lazarus jokes that they brought Trouble with them, after which Aboukir picks up the Druid by the back of her collar; Trouble furiously demands to be put down, and the Mammothari eventually obliges as the innkeeper explains that Starosta Carliyle Vesperwind has left most of the governance of the town to Idolmaster Julienne Droogba, who can be found near one of the shrines.

The group wanders the town for about an hour before finding the Idolmaster at the temple of the Dawnfather; she identifies them as adventurers, and they confirm that they have come to confront the dragon, having followed a flyer posted in Zadash. She explains that the reward for slaying the dragon keeps decreasing because the town has less to offer the longer the creature lairs nearby; Aboukir hypothesizes that the flyer might instead be a way of luring in adventurers as an offering to the dragon, and Trouble agrees that such a plan would actually be smart. The Idolmaster questions whether anyone in the group has ever killed a dragon before, and they realize that Aboukir is the only one among them who has; she assures them that they will be paid the 15,000 gold that their flyer offered if they succeed in killing the dragon, and may keep a portion of the creature's hoard.

Julienne confirms that the dragon is not old enough to be considered ancient, and offers the group a hand-drawn map with X's indicating areas that have been attacked as well as a circle with a question mark; she explains that the dragon has been seen burrowing into the marsh, and admits that much of the town sits on top of swampy tunnels. Aboukir then requests eleven goats and is granted six by the Idolmaster, who also confirms that she has neither a political rival in Berleben nor a nephew that she doesn't like. Trouble reminds Aboukir that she can both summon goats and turn into one, at which point the Mammothari cups the Druid's chin and tells her that she won't want to be a goat for his plan, after which Trouble threatens to attack Aboukir if he touches her again.

Lazarus interposes himself between them as Kahlan announces that the group needs food, drink, and sleep after their time on the road, and Aboukir retreats to the inn as Kahlan, Trouble, and Lazarus visit The Fungal Fount apothecary to shop for supplies. They encounter Smithe Durban, who offers them two potions of healing for 100 gold each, but they decline, instead purchasing the supplies to brew their own potions for 75 gold; Kahlan also trades the Owlbear feather she recovered in the Pearlbow Wilderness for a 6 gold discount, giving the money to Trouble. Smithe also requests that the group collect some of the dragon's acid after defeating it, offering them three enchanted vials to hold it and promising a good price for the material; they agree, and return to the inn to eat dinner, after which Lazarus, Prints, Kahlan, and Trouble settle into one room, Sado takes another, and Cash retires to a third.

Kahlan prays to Kord for safety and guidance, after which Trouble demonstrates how to use an herbalism kit, and the two of them successfully brew three more potions of healing: they give one to Prints and one to Lazarus, after which Kahlan visits Aboukir's room to give him the third potion and a large tankard of ale. She assures him that he does not need to seclude himself from the rest of the group, but advises him not to touch or pick up Trouble without her permission anymore; he agrees, and Kahlan invites him downstairs for another drink.

Reading his copy of *In the Belly of Dragons*, Lazarus recalls the conversation he had with his father the night before the team left Zadash. While Trouble sleeps, she experiences a dream of her warren beneath the tree in the Savalirwood; she feels the presence of the fragment of the multiversal consciousness, and realizes that it is lost and disoriented within the fractured labyrinth of her mind. Surmising that her mind is the safest place for the shard of the entity to inhabit, she wakes up laughing hysterically.

#### 28 Cuersaar 839 PD

The next morning, the party eats breakfast before meeting a middle-aged Halfling man who delivers the six goats that Aboukir requested, explaining that he briefly saw the dragon once. The group precedes back into the Swamp north of the town with little difficulty, reaching the banks of the River Ounterloch by midmorning to arrive at the location of the most recent attack; Lazarus soon notices a small black cat sitting on an exposed root, and watches as it fades briefly before reforming. He manages to connect telepathically with the cat, and hears the word: "Follow." Trouble then attempts to communicate with the creature, and notices that the creature is exerting a great amount of effort to maintain itself as she hears it say in Sylvan: "Follow. Help."

The group follows the cat while remaining cautious, and are eventually led to a muddy clearing where the cat almost completely fades before Trouble notices the dead body of a half-elven man wearing robes; the cat thanks the Druid in Sylvan before disappearing entirely. Aboukir notices the remains of a spellbook that appears to have been destroyed by acid, as well as a set of deep footprints leading to the body and then leading away from it. Prints then notices the transparent figure of the dead man nearby as the spirit of the cat leaps into his arms; the figure approaches her and extends his hand, and she takes it, feeling the same icy sensation and radiating warmth as the spirit and the cat disappear and the fur of her paw and foreleg turns black. The party gathers the man's body, which bears the markings of a dragon bite, and Aboukir surmises that the dragon is large enough to pick up someone of his own size. Prints and Trouble cast the *Mold Earth* to create a grave on an elevated patch of ground, and Kahlan notices a necklace bearing the symbol of Kord as the body is laid to rest; Trouble recovers three gold, seven silver, and a pouch of components from the body as Cash performs funerary rites, and Lazarus confirms that the necklace should be left on the body rather than taken.

Moments after burying the man, the group is attacked by a squad of kobolds: Lazarus kills one immediately with a psychic dagger, and Aboukir telekinetically pulls one that appears to be their leader toward him, striking him with his trunk. Trouble *wildshape*s into a crocodile, and Prints unexpectedly fires a pair of *Eldritch Blast*s, killing a second kobold and injuring a third; another kobold attacks Aboukir as Cash casts *Toll the Dead* on the leader, who retaliates by casting *Burning Hands* against the Genasi, the Mammothari, and the Goliath. Sado then leaps from his hidden position, attacking and grappling the leader before another kobold manages to strike him.

Lazarus strikes the kobold who attacked the monk with a pair of psychic daggers as Aboukir uses Cash as a bludgeon to attack one kobold, grapples another with his trunk, and kills a third with a devastating blow from his warhammer; Trouble bites the kobold that had attacked Aboukir and drags it into the water, prompting another kobold to flee the fight as Prints casts *Aganazzar's Scorcher*, killing two more kobolds. Cash attempts to cast *Toll the Dead* on the leader again, but the creature *Counterspell*s it before *Misty Step*ping out of Sado's grasp and casting a brutal *Fireball* that strikes Prints, Kahlan, Cash, Lazarus, and Aboukir, as well as one of his own kobolds. Kahlan then advances on the injured kobold, killing it with a pair of devastating scimitar attacks.

Sado then manages to grapple the leader again and deliver a headbutt that disorients the kobold.

### Session 18 (07/11/2023)

After Sado prevents the spellcasting Kobold from escaping the skirmish, Lazarus kills the Kobold that attempted to flee the fight with a crossbow bolt and Aboukir kills the leader with his warhammer; Prints then strikes the remaining Kobold soldier with two *magic missile*s, and her spell creates a surge of wild magic that causes skeletal hands to emerge from the swamp around her. Cash hits the remaining Kobold with his warhammer, after which Kahlan strikes it with her father's Kingsguard dagger; as the blade pierces the Kobold's heart, Kahlan and Cash both hear an excruciating psychic screech, after which the Kobold's body folds in on itself as if being swallowed by a black hole, collapsing completely into the dagger, which then falls to the ground.

Kahlan retrieves her dagger, finding it slightly war, while Sado searches the remains of the spellcasting Kobold, discovering a ledger written in Draconic listing what appears to be the contents of a hoard. Lazarus attempts to help Prints escape the skeletal hands dragging her into the swamp, and the two are carried back to land by Trouble in her crocodile form; the group rests shortly to recuperate, during which a bask of crocodiles are drawn to the location by the scent of blood, and Trouble convinces them to eat the dead while staying away from the living. Kahlan confirms that no one in the party can cast *Identify*, and one of the crocodiles approaches Trouble to ask if the group is searching for a "big black scaly thing that fucks shit up.

She confirms that they are, and the crocodile reveals that he and his kin can no longer enter a particular area of the Swamp that has been corrupted, indicating that he would be grateful if the party eliminated the dragon; he leads the group through the marsh for about an hour, during which Kahlan is swarmed by mosquitos until Trouble speaks with the insects and persuades them not to bite the Tiefling. The party eventually reaches the border of an inhospitable area where the insects thin out and the air smells acrid, and the crocodile indicates that the dragon is lairing somewhere in the region. The group continues into the area, and Lazarus uses his Psychic Whispers to connect with Sado, Kahlan, and Prints as both Sado and Lazarus scout stealthily ahead and notice pools of bubbling green liquid.

Aboukir drops a broken branch into the liquid and watches it dissolve, confirming that the pools are filled with acid; Trouble instinctually casts *Mage Armor* on herself, and the group proceeds through the thick overgrowth and fog before eventually hearing the sounds of grinding gears not too far distant. Sado and Lazarus both spot a pair of mechanized draconic warwagons, hearing the frenetic echoing of Kobolds arguing with each other in Draconic from within the clockwork constructs as they remain stuck in the mud of the Swamp. Everyone in the party manages to hide except for Cash, who is promptly struck by a Spitfire attack from one of the warwagons, after which Trouble summons the Spirit Totem of the Unicorn and a *Moonbeam*, damaging the wagon; Kahlan casts *Sanctuary* on Prints and *Invisibility* on herself, after which the second wagon attempts to make a Spitfire attack that misfires, damaging the wagon itself instead.

Prints then casts *Puppet* on the gunner of the first wagon, causing him to leap to his death in a pool of acid, and Lazarus strikes the wheel of the second wagon with a crossbow bolt before hiding again. Remaining stuck, the first wagon makes another Spitfire attack on Cash, missing him and shattering a boulder instead, after which he casts *Sacred Flame* to damage the machine, at which point both wagons issue a resounding alarm. Another wagon operator is killed by Trouble's *Moonbeam* as Kahlan drinks her potion of acid resistance, after which the black dragon Umbrah emerges from the nearest pool of acid and unleashes a devastating breath weapon that severely injures Cash; Trouble attacks the second wagon with her *Moonbeam*, killing another operator as Prints takes her own potion of acid resistance before casting *Wither and Bloom* to heal the Cleric and injure the dragon.

Lazarus then moves and attempts to hide again, not realizing that black dragons possess blindsight, and fires a crossbow bolt that the dragon smacks out of the air. Sado then uses his *Step of the Wind* to leap onto the first warwagon, knocking another operator from the machine into a pool of acid and commandeering the construct, successfully striking the dragon with a Spitfire attack; the final two operators attempt to flee the machine, but obey the Monk when he orders them to stay inside. Cash casts *Call Lightning* to destroy the other wagon and kill the rest of its operators, after which Aboukir delivers a series of psionically-amplified attacks to the dragon with his warhammer before taking his own potion of acid resistance. The dragon then grapples the Mammothari in its claws and unleashes its breath weapon again, injuring him as well as Trouble and Cash before dropping Aboukir into a pool of acid.

The dragon then flees back into the acidic pits, and Aboukir spots it heading toward the northeast as the group rests long enough to cast *Cure Wounds* on Trouble before resolving to pursue the dragon and finish the fight. Sado orders the two surviving Kobolds to lead the party to their master, and they do so, piloting the remaining warwagon through the swamps and avoiding the dragon's traps as Trouble watches them operate the machine. The Kobolds deliver the group to the mouth of a cave, then flee into the swamp themselves as the party prepares to confront the dragon in its lair.

### Session 19 (07/18/2023)

After having navigated through the Labenda Swamp to the cavern at the center of Ätzend Moor, Cash casts *Cure Wounds* on himself and Aboukir before the party proceeds down a fifty-foot tunnel into the sprawling cavern of a newly-formed dragon's lair, finding a squad of ten Kobold soldiers. One steps forward, identifying himself as the inventor and constructor of the warwagon, which he demands the party return to him; instead, Sado drives the machine into the cavern and fires a Spitfire attack, killing the Kobold as Lazarus attempts to move stealthily into the darkness. Distracted by memories of the horrific Brokenveil Tunnel Battle fourteen years prior, the Aasimar misteps and triggers a trap that catapults him into a pit of acid, causing him to misfire his crossbow as the string snaps.

The Rogue scurries back toward the group, deftly restringing the crossbow as Aboukir slams the ground with a psionically-amplified blow from his warhammer, triggering all of the hidden traps within a twenty-foot range. Trouble reloads the cannon of the warwagon as one of the Kobold soldiers pulls a lever, opening a gate that allows one of the pools of acid to spill across the cavern floor toward the party; another Kobold soldiers shoots Aboukir with a crossbow bolt while two more fire at Cash and miss, after which Sado fires another Spitfire attack, killing another soldier. Still invisible, Kahlan maneuvers between the two soldiers who shot at Cash and swiftly decapitates both with her scimitar as Prints conjures a sword of shadow and kills the soldier that shot Aboukir, after which Cash casts *Toll the Dead* to kill another soldier.

Successfully restringing his crossbow, Lazarus shoots one of the Kobold soldiers guarding the hoard just moments before the ebony dragon Umbrah emerges from the acidic pit in the center of the cavern and unleashes its devastating breath weapon; the attack injures Sado, who reduces the injury with his *Stone's Endurance*, as well as Cash, who is protected by Kahlan's *Psionic Protective Field*, and Trouble, who is largely shielded by the body of the warwagon. Aboukir retrieves the crossbow from the Kobold that shot him and fires a bolt at the dragon as Trouble casts *Healing Word* on Sado while reloading the cannon; the same Kobold soldier then pulls another lever, opening a gate that allows another of the pools of acid to spill across the floor around the warwagon.

Sado deploys the machine's Fire Breath weapon before piloting the tank out of the acid; the dragon strikes it with its claws before signaling one of the remaining Kobolds guarding the hoard. The soldier answers: "Understood! I'll get it!" and dashes into the hoard as Prints casts *Misty Step* to teleport onto the dragon's shoulders, delivering a devastating blow to the creature's neck with her shadow blade as Cash casts *Guiding Bolt* to channel a blast of radiant energy through the sword, decapitating the dragon. The creature's body tumbles toward the central pit of acid as Prints dexterously leaps to the ground nearby, spotting the Kobold soldier emerging from the hoard with a small box; the soldier discovers that the dragon is dead, and begins unwrapping the box as Lazarus kills the Kobold pulling the levers and Aboukir kills the other Kobold guarding the hoard.

Trouble casts *Entangle* to secure the body of the dragon as Sado fires one last Spitfire attack, obliterating the final Kobold; the soldier drops the box, which opens to allow a small bead of pure blackness to roll out onto the cavern floor. The party freezes, and Trouble is overcome by an insatiable connection to the bead. She climbs out of the warwagon and advises the group not to touch the item, approaching it herself as Prints follows; Kahlan attempts to use her Telekinetic Movement to place the bead back inside the box, but her effort has no effect. Prints then spots the figure of Endless behind Trouble, and the psychopomp instructs her to "pick it up, and put it in the box"; she attempts to do so with *Mage Hand*, which also has no effect.

Prints explains to Trouble what Endless has instructed her to do, and then picks up the bead, falling almost immediately unconscious; Kahlan catches the Sorcerer, instructing Trouble to retrieve the box, but the Druid reaches for Prints's free hand instead, at which point Lazarus manifests his spectral wings and flies across the cavern to get to the box. As he does, Trouble falls unconscious as well, finding herself with Prints in a vision of the empty cavern, where they both spot a small shadowy figure that stands and approaches them. It recognizes Trouble, and asks which of the two of them wants its power, but when Trouble suggests shattering back into the pieces it came from, it reaches out and touches her hand, at which point both of them awake in the cavern.

Lazarus reaches the box and gets it open for Prints to drop the bead inside just as they both realize that the bead is now gone; Trouble apologizes profusely as Prints spots Endless, and the psychopomp explains that the Sorcerer has failed her test. Prints insists that they were attacked, and that Trouble can not be made to pay for one failure, and the Reaper offers the Tabaxi one more chance: he instructs her to reach into Trouble's soul and rip out the piece of the multiversal monstrosity attempting to further infect the Druid. The Reaper then touches Prints's forehead, at which point the Sorcerer discovers that she can see the white-blue aura surrounding each member of her party. She then sees two black spots within Trouble's aura: a large one in the Druid's chest, and a small one in her hand, slowly moving along her arm.

Without hesitating, Prints grabs for Trouble's hand, her own hand passing through it as Trouble shrieks from the sensation of her soul being torn; Kahlan catches Trouble as she collapses, and Prints finds the small black bead in her hand, clutching it briefly before depositing it into the box that Lazarus is holding, which he then slams shut and ties off securely. The Reaper commends Prints on her unconventional success before vanishing, and Kahlan gives the bag of holding to Lazarus before consoling Trouble and carrying her out of the cavern as she continues apologizing almost incoherently; Sado climbs off of the warwagon as the wheels disintegrate in the acidic pit, and the Monk salvages one of the dragon's claws and four pounds of its scales while Lazarus successfully collects three vials of its acidic breath weapon. Gathering up the remainder of the hoard, they also recover twelve star rose quartz, potion of supreme healing, and a spell scroll containing an unidentified incantation. They also discover the body of the final member of the previous adventuring party in the stomach of the dragon, along with a lute in suspiciously good condition, and Aboukir collects half-a-dozen Kobold skulls before the party evacuates the cavern.

Cash attempts to cast *Sleep* on Trouble, but the incantation fails, and Kahlan unsuccessfully performs the somatic gestures of *Calm Emotions*, a spell she does not know; Lazarus gingerly attempts to use his Psychic Whispers to connect with Trouble's mind in order to use his Healing Hands mentally, but she refuses to allow the telepathically connection. The party makes its way through the Swamp into the early evening, finding a sufficiently dry location to make camp for the evening, and Aboukir cooks a portion of dragon meat for dinner; Prints and Kahlan remain with Trouble, and the Tiefling recites a poem in Celestial that Lazarus immediately recognizes. Trouble thanks Kahlan for her concern, but insists they need to be more worried about Prints, though Kahlan counters that she worries about everyone, which she admits can be exhausting. Cash attempts to cast *Calm Emotions* on Trouble, but the incantation fails.

Prints sits with Trouble as Kahlan joins Lazarus, who tells her that she almost sounded like his mother when she recited the poem. Trouble apologizes to Prints again, and the Sorcerer insists that she has nothing to be sorry for; moments later, Endless appears at the fire to both the Druid and the Tabaxi, explaining that he was only able to give Prints a second chance because of Trouble's actions. He explains that the party must return the box and the bead back to Zadash to determine what to do with it, after which the Reaper makes himself visible to the entire party, commending all of them for the part they played in helping Prints to succeed in her test. Trouble asks how to deal with the fragment of the being inside her head, and the Reaper explains that the entity is confused, suggesting that she keep it that way.

Kahlan then reveals her father's dagger, describes what it did to the Kobold she killed with it, and the Reaper reveals that the blade of the weapon is an ancient item that was created prior to the Cataclysm, having "been passed down and reforged and remade into different daggers" over time. He borrows the dagger and throws it at a tree, at which point the Kobold that Kahlan stabbed reemerges from it; Lazarus points his crossbow at it, but Endless snaps his fingers and the Kobold crumples to the ground, after which Prints sees its soul leave its body and evaporate into the moonlight. He then returns the dagger to Kahlan, he notices that the weapon is no longer warm to the touch.

Trouble then asks the Reaper how her father died, and after a few moments of thought, he claims: "I cannot tell you that." The Druid initially accepts the response, though she gradually realizes from the expression on his face that the reason he cannot tell her is because he does not know, and that he does not know because her father has not died. The moment that he realizes that she understands, he vanishes, and Lazarus offers Trouble a potion of watchful rest that she declines, knowing that she isn't going to be able to sleep. As the party settles in for the night, Cash removes his armor to reveal a discolored burn scar in the location where Trouble had cast *Heat Metal* during the fight at the Empyrean Arena; he casts *Mending* to repair the armor before going to sleep and experiencing a dream in which a man in the clouds offers his hand, showing him a vision of his father trapped in the hells and surrounded by creatures of shadow before Lazarus's mother and Sado's mother arrive and obliterate the beings of darkness to extricate him, *Plane Shift*ing back to the Material Plane as Cash wakes shortly before midnight.

### Session 20 (07/25/2023)

#### 29 Cuersaar 839 PD

As the party keeps watch through the night, they notice wildlife returning to the area now that the ebony dragon has been defeated. Cash wakes after the rest of the party after sunrise and describes his dream of his father being rescued from a horde of shadowy creatures; Prints is unable to contact her mother by Sending Stone, implying that Bells is on another plane of reality, and the Sorcerer confirms that Cash didn't see her mother in his vision. The party finishes breakfast, and Lazarus does not don his armor as the group continues south through the Swamp toward Berleben; approaching the Eisfus River, Cash casts *Levitate* on Aboukir to allow the Mammothari to cross, and Trouble *wildshape*s into a dolphin to carry Kahlan, Lazarus, and Prints across, though the Tabaxi slips and falls into the water, swimming to the southern bank.

The party returns to Berleben by midday and meet with Idolmaster Julienne Droogba, who pays the group the original 20,000 gold piece reward for the completion of the contract; they then visit The Fungal Fount to deliver the vials of black dragon acid to Smithe Durban, who also examines Kahlan's father's dagger, which he recognizes as predating the Cataclysm before recommending that she take it to a more experienced wizard. Kahlan buys a block of tea for calming meditation and Trouble buys a block of tea for headaches. The party is thanked profusely by the townguard and treated to lunch at The Drowned Nest, after which they depart the town and continue south along the Bromkiln Byway toward Zadash.

After traveling for about six hours, they approach the farmhouse they had previous stopped at three days prior, finding it ablaze; Sado promptly manifests a set of blue and gold Celestial dragon wings and lifts off into the sky, discovering that the house, the barn, and the shed are all on fire, spotting a massive figure and two smaller figures in front of the house as well as several dark figures rushing around the destruction. Aboukir uses his keen sense of smell to detect the scent of the farmer, as well as an unsettling smell that he's never encountered before Trouble rushes past him, *wildshape*s into a deer, and sprints toward the house; the group follows her, with Lazarus moving with nearly-impossible stealth through the field.

Trouble reaches the fence at the front of the house long before the rest of the party and returns to her Halfling form, spotting three figures near the porch: the farmer surrounded by two men – a taller, armored man and a shorter man in a cloak – that she last saw dragging her own parents and Elowynn out of their flaming house five years prior. Trouble immediately attempts to strike the armored man with a *Moonbeam* that he successfully *Counterspell*s before shoving the farmer toward the cloaked man, who strikes the farmer through the chest, killing him instantly; the cloaked man then shifts from an amorphous figure of shadows into a humanoid wearing Monk's robes. The armored man advises the Monk that the effect won't last long before signaling to the dark figures rushing around the house as all of them but the Monk vanish.

Aboukir instinctually casts *Toll the Dead* on the man immediately before the Monk strikes him with a vicious punch, after which Cash unleashes the *Wrath of the Storm*; the Monk then delivers a ferocious punch and a Lightning Knuckle strike to Sado that shatters through Kahlan's Psionic Protective Field, though the Goliath reduces some of the injury with his Stone's Endurance. The Monk then takes a defensive stance that Sado faintly recognizes as Prints casts *Haste* on the Goliath, after which Trouble summons her Spirit Totem of the hawk before *wildshap*ing into a Hadrosaurus and striking the Monk with her tail. Cash attempts to cast a *Guiding Bolt* at the Monk, only barely managing to complete the incantation as the man strikes him with a fierce punch, though Sado is able to respond quickly enough to strike the Monk with a roundhouse kick as he passes.

Aboukir then delivers a devastating strike to the Monk with his warhammer, causing the man to begin shifting back to its form as the Mammothari hits him with the eye of the ebony dragon; Lazarus lunges at the Monk to attempt to strike him, but stumbles through the space where the man had been as the Monk fades and vanishes. A few moments later, rain begins to fall as the farmhouse continues burning; Lazarus rushes to the farmer's body to use Healing Hands on him, but finds him fully dead, while Sado lays down in the field as Kahlan and Cash approach him and the Cleric casts *Cure Wounds*. Endless appears to Prints and instructs her to help the farmer, at which point she sees the man's soul standing beside his body; he apologizes that the team had to witness his death, and explains that he had once agreed to trade his soul in exchange for his land being made fertile enough to provide for his family.

Prints sees a spot of darkness attached to the man's soul and reaches out to him, tearing the darkness from him with an extraordinary effort and watching it crumble to ash in her hands; shocked, the man thanks her and she offers her hand, enabling his soul to pass into the afterlife, after which Endless gives her a nod and disappears as well. As the rain continues, Prints casts *Sleet Storm* and uses it to douse the fire, after which Lazarus enters the burned-out house to confirm that no one else was inside, determining that Jarrek had already left before the attack. He remains in the living room for several minutes, reminded of the destruction of his father's tavern the previous year.

Outside, Trouble returns to her Halfling form and wordlessly casts *Cure Wounds* on Cash before walking away to stare at the destroyed house for a few minutes, after which she joins Sado with her back to the house; Kahlan acknowledges the Druid's need for revenge, but advises her not to rush into unknown danger. Prints discovers a small family cemetery near the edge of the property and uses *Mold Earth* to create a grave for the farmer, while Lazarus carries the body to lay the man to rest. They make camp on the property for the night, and Cash takes the first watch, during which he notices that Trouble is sleeping poorly; Lazarus takes second watch, Aboukir takes third watch, and Sado takes fourth watch, during which the rain lets up as the sun rises.

#### 1 Duscar 839 PD

Kahlan wakes to discover a black cat sitting on her chest, and recognizes it as the familiar of the dead adventurer they found in the Swamp; Trouble uses Beast Speech to talk to the creature, which does not understand her until she switches to Sylvan, at which point the Druid discerns that the cat is magically connected to Kahlan, and Aboukir explains that the creature is a familiar. The party finishes breakfast and travels through the day to reach Zadash by late afternoon, encountering a pair of identical men and a contingent of Crownsguard soldiers; the men shatter a large vase, releasing a massive four-armed Greater Demon that they quickly destroy as the man in gleaming armor severs its hand and the other man summons a flaming sword of shadow and decapitates the fiend. In the aftermath, the men greet the party and accompany them back into the city, explaining that they had just completed a contract they had taken after joining the Adventurers Guildhall.

Prints, Trouble, Sado, Lazarus, and Cash accompany the men to the Guildhall to turn in their respective contracts, and Trouble advises Barren against being so talkative before Cash casts *Command* and tells the man to "hush"; Lazarus notices that the twins collect 18,000 gold for their completed contract, while Cash asks one of the guildhall clerks where to find a jeweler and is given directions to a gemstone merchant across town. Sado also departs the Guildhall to return tot he Valley Archive of the Cobalt Soul and continue his research into the Goliath clans of Exandria. Kahlan and Aboukir deliver the black dragon skull to the Bone Lady, who the Mammothari pays an additional 100 gold for the destruction of the blue dragon skull and gives her the dozen Kobold skulls he collected; Kahlan also purchases an item made of bone and sinew designed to ward against evil beings and energy for six gold.

Cash locates the jeweler and purchases a single uncut diamond for 300 gold, after which he makes his way back to The Vulnerable Vagrant, where he meets back up with Kahlan and Aboukir returning from the Bone Lady's cottage, as well as Prints, Trouble, and Lazarus as they left the Guildhall. Lazarus buys the Ring of Feather Falling that Pumat had set aside for 1,600 gold, while Trouble declines to have her scarf enchanted as an Amulet of Proof Against Detection and Location, and Aboukir buys a Cloak of Protection for 600 gold and a pair of Daggers of Returning for 500 gold. Kahlan purchases an introductory book on spellcasting for 50 gold, while Trouble and Cash both commission magical enchantments to increase the durability of their armor at a total cost of 475 gold, which Trouble pays in full.

Lazarus visits Sparkhammer Smithing to purchase a heater shield for 30 gold, then returns to The Hearth Inn where he challenges his father to an arm-wrestling match, feeling a rush of Celestial Intensity flood him for the first time; he loses the first match so badly that his right shoulder is dislocated, but he uses his Healing Hands to repair it and challenges his father again, only narrowly losing a second match with his left arm. He continues drinking heavily, and is approached by Kahlan and Prints a few minutes later, eventually confessing to them that the battle against the ebony dragon Umbrah in the cavern in the Labenda Swamp brought back memories of a disastrous mission beneath the Brokenveil Bluffs twelve years prior.

### Session 21 (08/01/2023)

#### 2 Duscar 839 PD: Barren Eve

Spending the night conducting research at the Valley Archive of the Cobalt Soul, Sado finds no new information regarding Clan Thuliaga though he looks over the books with the pages torn out again, and he discovers records referring to the unique stance that the Eldritch Monk took during the skirmish at the farmhouse; examining the illustrations of the stance, he recalls seeing his mother practicing the posture during her private training. He returns to The Hearth Inn in the early hours of the next morning, finding Shiloh asleep at a table in the common room.

While dreaming of a space that shifts between a tavern and a shop, Trouble hears a thumping at a door in the far wall. Listening closely, she hears a scratching against the wood and a voice say: "I don't know where you are, but I'm going to find you..." She quickly flees into another adjacent room containing and finds herself beside a pond in a forest as the voice calls out behind her: "It's only a matter of time... until I find you." Moments before she wakes, Trouble calls back: "Good luck!" The party makes their way down to the dining room for breakfast, finding Shiloh in the same place he fell asleep the night before, and the older man regards Cash with a hint of remorse.

Kahlan notices that Sado's skin is not its usual cobalt blue color, but an ashen gray, against which his tattoos are a nearly obsidian black, and the Goliath explains that the color of his skin changes with the temperature, though he has never known why. Prints is again unable to contact her mother by Sending Stone, implying that Bells is still on another plane of reality. Kahlan, Cash, and Lazarus return to The Vulnerable Vagrant, where they encounter a group of four dissatisfied adventurers leaving the shop; the three meet in a private room with Pumat, who examines the Tiefling's father's dagger, confirming that the artefact is infused with magic from the Age of Arcanum.

He also explains that the dagger can only contain one creature at a time, and that the creature must be deliberately released by the wielder; he offers to embed a pair of rubies into the eyes of the hawk crossguards to indicate when the dagger contains a creature, and Kahlan agrees to leave the dagger for him to study for a few days. She also inquires about the availability of a mithral chain shirt, which Pumat does not have as such armor is rare, and Kahlan purchases a spellbook and components instead, which Lazarus pays for; Cash also commissions additional magical enchantments to his warhammer, which will take nine days to complete and cost 2,000 gold. The three then head back to Sparkhammer Smithing so that the Cleric can buy another warhammer for 15 gold.

While the three shop, Trouble and Prints explore Zadash, making their way to the western district of the city and having ice cream for lunch before Trouble feels a sharp pain on the back of her neck; the Druid's legs become weak as she seems immediately drunk, and Prints picks her up to start back toward The Hearth Inn, encountering two figures in black cloaks that quickly approach them. One of the figures throws another knife at the Tabaxi, who casts *Flame Stride* and flees into the alleys with the figures in pursuit; dodging thrown knives, Prints gets several blocks away before one of the figures emerges in front of her, pulls a knife, and orders her to duck, throwing the knife past her. A moment later, the second figure turns the corner behind Prints and is struck in the forehead by the knife, falling dead in the alleyway.

The remaining figure removes his cloak and shapeshifts back into his natural form, revealing himself to be Pearce before giving Prints a small potion bottle to cure the toxin affecting Trouble. Pearce explains that he has infiltrated the cult that has been pursuing Trouble, confirming that while other members of the cult are still in Zadash, he and the dead figure were the "last ditch effort" to capture the Druid and reclaim the Abyssal shard she carries. He explains that he is working to determine who leads the cult, having learned that three unidentified individuals share the role, and describes one as "damn-near a ghost" and another as "one big, scary bastard."

He reveals that with the mission to capture Trouble thwarted, the cult is turning its attention elsewhere, presumably to finding the remaining eggs. As Prints thinks of the container the team recovered from Umbrah's hoard, Pearce detects her thoughts, and she explains the bead of darkness that Trouble calls Lil Bastard; Pearce tells her that the cult refer to the multiversal monstrosity as The Great One, and gives her a note that looks like a shopping list with instructions to deliver it to Oliver Schreiber on his behalf, as well as advising her to tell Lazarus not to use the amulet he gave him for fear that it would expose him while undercover. He also reveals that the magic protecting the location of the eggs is fading, enabling the cult to narrow down their positions. Pearce then asks Prints to hit him, at which point a small barrel strikes the Changeling from down the street, having been thrown by Aboukir; he also knicks Prints's paw to get her blood and his dagger, wishes the group luck, and vanishes back into the city.

As Kahlan, Cash, and Lazarus return from Sparkhammer Smithing, the Cleric receives a telepathic message from Siobhan: "Cash, this is Siobhan. We found him; it's not that good. He's alive, and so are we. We're headed to Trostenwald, and we'll be there soon. Tell Shiloh to get his butt there quickly, and if you’ve been in contact with Bells... Sorry. Extra casting. Tell the rest to meet us in Trostenwald as soon as possible. If your group can as well, all the better." Cash responds simply: "Alright. Will do." The three return to The Hearth Inn, arriving just as Prints, Trouble, and Aboukir return from the western district, and the six find Shiloh freshly shaved and wearing a new set of clothes.

Sado joins the group as Prints describes her interaction with Pearce, at which point Lazarus puts the amulet the Changeling gave him into Kahlan's Bag of Holding as a precaution, and Cash informs the party of the message he received from Siobhan. Shiloh surmises that his team will be teleporting to Trostenwald, which is 200 miles from Zadash, and Prints suggests finding someone in the city capable of teleporting the group; Kahlan mentions the items that have been left to be enchanted, including both Trouble and Cash's armor and the Genasi's warhammer, and Prints confirms that she has not been able to contact her mother, who was last known to be searching for Cash's mother. Shiloh advises Prints and Sado to visit Schreiber, Trouble and Cash to buy replacements for the items being enchanted, Kahlan

Prints and Sado talk their way into Castle Ungebroch to meet with Schreiber, delivering Pearce's note as well as selling him the potion of superior healing for 425 gold; Kahlan returns to Pumat's shop to pick up her father's dagger, promising to return with it to so that the Firbolg can study it further; Trouble and Cash visit Sparkhammer Smithing to buy additional armor, after which they rejoin Lazarus, who accompanies his father and Aboukir to The Evening Nip, which the Aasimar knows to house "less-than-reputable people." Shiloh approaches the bartender and asks for "the house special"; the bartender asks if the older man is looking for "business or pleasure," and Shiloh answers, "possible business," before passing through a door behind the bar.

He leads the group to an underground barroom where they meet with Babenon Dosal, otherwise known as The Gentleman, who arranges teleportation for the group for the price of 1,000 gold, which Trouble agrees to pay; the Gentleman indicates that he'll be in touch with Shiloh at some point later, after which his associate Mira leads the group back up to the first floor just as Sado and Prints arrive. Shiloh tells Mira that someone else may be coming through soon, after which she proceeds to teleport the group to a road along the edge of a barley field in Trostenwald. In the moment they arrive, Kahlan gasps: "Fuck. My cat." Sado fights off the nausea, but Shiloh immediately steps to the side of the road and throws up, after which Laz uses his *Healing Hands* to settle his father's stomach.

Mira teleports back to Zadash, and the group proceeds down the road into town, eventually reaching a two-story wooden tavern where they find Siobhan and Thava waiting on the porch; Siobhan indicates that Jean is alone inside the building, and Shiloh heads into the bar while Lazarus explains that Cash bought a diamond worth 300 gold. Moments later, the large window at the front of the building shatters as a chair is hurled through it, after which the glass mends itself and the chair breaks across the ground. Lazarus collects the pieces of the chair and Cash casts *Mending* on it, taking it and heading into the bar to join the brawl, helping Shiloh pummel Jean.

While the three fight, Aboukir finds a drunk in the alleyway beside the building and helps him to one of the chairs on the porch, handing him a banjo and a gold piece and instructing him to keep playing under the fight is finished; Kahlan enters the bar, dodging casually between the brawlers to retrieve a bottle of liquor from behind the bar and leaving again without incident. Five minutes later, the group enters the bar to find Cash casting *Mending* on the furniture, and Trouble approaches Jean as if to attack him before casting *Cure Wounds* on the Bard instead. Jean explains that he may have a solution to Trouble's situation, at which point Siobhan and Lazarus head into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

After repairing the furniture, Cash pours out drinks for himself, Shiloh, and Jean, and Prints explains that the magic concealing the locations of the eggs is weakening, while Jean reveals that he learned as much from the Searchers during his time in captivity. Siobhan and Lazarus serve dinner, and as the eleven members of both parties eat and converse over dinner, Sado recalls a conversation he had with Lazarus the previous morning after they returned to the Adventurers Guildhall in Zadash to turn in their contract; having met the twins Barren and Aron, the Monk inquired about the nature of adventuring, which the Aasimar suggested is a search that looks different for everyone because everyone is looking for something different. Lazarus also learned from a guild clerk that the one surviving member of the Brothers in Arms is somewhere in the city, though she doesn't know the man's specific location.

Trouble apologizes to Aboukir for her outburst toward him in Berleben, and the Mammothari forgives her "animositous" behavior, after which the two debate whether "animositous" is a word or not, with Lazarus suggesting that it might be a protologism until more people use it, at which point it will become a neologism. Recalling the moment that Prints looked into the Druid's aura and removed the bead of darkness from her soul, Lazarus asks if the Sorcerer can examine his aura, explaining that when he fell unconscious after attempting to psychically connect with Endless, he encountered the memory of a man that seems to be lingering inside his mind.

Prints opens her awareness to Lazarus's spirit, and is confused to see what she realizes is the energy of a second soul in what appears to be an evenly-matched conflict for control of the Aasimar's mind. He explains that, two years prior, an assassin had attempted to murder Prince Eidys at a wedding reception on the Menagerie Coast, but was thwarted by Lazarus, who was struck by the assassin's blade instead and blacked out; while unconscious, he battled against the phantasm of the assassin within a mental recreation of The Bar Barian in his own mind, until with one final thought, he reached into the assassin's mind and tore out his power, burying it beneath his own mind before waking three days later with no accent and the worst migraine of his life.

Lazarus then takes a plate out to Jagger on the porch as a hawk-owl arrives at the bar, having been summoned by Kahlan using the *Find Familiar* spell. Jean begins to explain the problem they're facing, but before he can continue, he, Thava, Siobhan, and Shiloh sit upright, their eyes glowing blue, and Cash feels an overwhelming presence identical to the one that reached out to him in his dream. After several moments, the glow fades from their eyes and they regain their senses, at which point the group discovers that Thava is holding a large blue sphere, and all four say simultaneously: "Well, shit."

### Session 22 (08/08/2023)

Shiloh leaves the table and retreats to an office behind the bar, slamming the door as Siobhan and Jean explain that they had been telepathically contacted by Kord, who gave the sphere to the group with instructions to transfer all of their power into it, rendering them "next to useless." They explain that Sound of Bells was present during the telepathic gathering, and moments later, a surge of heat spills through the room as the Tabaxi Ranger appears, having teleported from Avernus, where she had spent nearly a month despite having left Zadash just five days earlier. She explains that she had been tracking Elowynn, who was being pursued, and following a combat, she found herself in the first layer of the Hells. She then asks the group to give her and Jean five minutes alone; Lazarus telepathically asks if the Bard wants him to remain psychically connected, but Jean declines, though Kahlan mentally instructs Mazikeen to remain in the room.

Through her familiar, the Tiefling watches Bells look at Jean for nearly two minutes before the Tabaxi approaches and hugs the Bard, telling him: "I learned some things when I was down there. I learned the way you messed with the memories, and I learned why you did what you did. You're going to need to tell them eventually. You can't hold this forever." Jean responds: "I'll hold it as long as he needs me to, and longer still. `Cause that's the promise I made. And I have been, and always will be, a man of my word." Bells invites the rest of the group back inside, and Jean reveals that he learned that his team had been unable to fully destroy the monstrosity 22 years prior because the ritual required all of the scattered fragments of its essence to be collected together; he has since learned that at least five pearls of the entity's energy exist across Exandria, one of the which the party already recovered from the hoard of the ebony dragon Umbrah.

He also suggests that successfully destroying the gathered splinters of the creature may require that Trouble temporarily confine the shards within her fractured mind, which will become more difficult as more of the entity's consciousness is reassembled. Jean explains that the group will need to retrieve the remaining four eggs before The Searchers can track them down, and that the sphere will maintain the magic that conceals their location. Lazarus learns from his mother that the Cult has been embedded in the Dwendalian government for "quite a few years," and Siobhan explains that her team cannot confront the monstrosity again as Thava admits that she has never been more afraid of anything in her life than she was when she first saw the being in its entirety.

Prints questions the advisability of her mother sacrificing her powers given that Bells is her clan's fiercest protector, and Trouble questions the logic of any of them giving up their powers at all to hide something that they intend to retrieve anyway; Jean explains that if the magical concealment collapses, the Cult will reach the eggs long before the group can given their greater resources and numbers, but suggests that the group has a chance to destroy the multiversal monstrosity for good if they're willing. Prints responds that the decision belongs to Trouble, and Jean admits that there is a likelihood that the Druid will not survive; Trouble accepts the risk, conceding that she does not expect to make it through the ordeal alive, and Bells observes that the Druid sounds "a lot like someone [she] used to know." Jean assures Trouble that he will continue to search for a way to prevent her from dying.

Siobhan mentions that retrieving the egg she hid will take the group to a beach, and Trouble suggests not revealing their locations to her so that the information is not in her mind. The group agrees, and Prints remarks that killing a dragon seems easy in comparison, at which point the party excitedly describes their battle in the Shadow Cavern; a few minutes later, the parents gather around the sphere and place their hands on it, leaving a space where Prints's father would have stood; the sphere glows a bright, electric blue as the energy of their powers is absorbed into the glass, forming into a maelstrom of lightning at the center.

Exhausted by the ritual, Bells informs the group that she will be summoning her Tabaxi clan to Trostenwald, and Thava agrees to summon Qhore. Prints nervously holds her tail, and is comforted by Lazarus.

### Session 23 (08/15/2023)

Having retired for the evening, Sado, Prints, Trouble, Kahlan, Cash, and Lazarus experience a shared dream in which they find themselves in the common room of The Bar Barian at a single circular table in the company of the thunder god Kord, who explains some of the nature of the multiversal monstrosity before revealing that Elowynn is currently imprisoned at the Vergesson Sanatorium in the Pearlbow Wilderness, along with Trouble's father. He also explains that he did not send Mazikeen to Kahlan, but that the fey-spirit forced itself to remain on the Material Plane in order to find help for its former master, and then chose the Tiefling as its new companion.

#### 3 Duscar 839 PD

Waking the next morning, the party meets in the hallway, and Trouble explains to Sado what a "ne'er-do-well" is; the Goliath is interrupted by the sensation of "a deeply powerful presence" approaching the building from the west. He immediately descends to the first floor to join Siobhan, Shiloh, Jean, Thava, and Bells as a ten-year-old boy in a well-made suit enters the tavern; all of the parents stand and nod deferentially, and Siobhan introduces the visitor as Gideon as Sado realizes instinctually that the young boy is actually a dragon. With the deep voice of an older man, Gideon indicates that the Council has learned that one of the eggs has gone missing, and Jean admits that the egg he hid was discovered by a cult intent on resurrecting the multiversal monstrosity, but that they were prevented from acquiring it by "these lovely young'uns."

While Shiloh and Siobhan prepare breakfast, Sado describes the stances and maneuvers used by the Eldritch Monk the party had faced along the Bromkiln Byway to Thava, who reveals that the man they fought was the legendary monk Dyamak, a former, fallen champion of the Stormlord; she then gives the Wraps of Dyamak to the Goliath, and he puts them on with her help, explaining that they were given to her by Grandmaster Qhore. Kahlan invites Trouble to join her outside, after which Gideon confirms that the group intends to retrieve the infused dragon eggs to absorb the power out of them, and instructs them to contact the Council so that they can be present for each extraction in order to maintain the viability of the eggs afterward.

The group agrees and Gideon leaves, approaching Kahlan and Trouble outside to ask if the Council should trust their group; the Druid asserts unequivocally that they should not, but Kahlan assures him that they will do their very best to succeed. Kahlan and Trouble head back inside, and Siobhan suggests that her team will work on locating the knots of nothingness while the Ne'er Do Wells retrieve the eggs; Thava suggests collecting her egg first, explaining that she hid it within an altar on one of the Eyes of the Lake, a pair of islands in the Fevergulf Lake on the eastern side of the Ashkeeper Peaks in the southern region of the country of Xhorhas within the Kryn Dynasty. She also warns that the island is populated by a local, isolated cult "mourning the loss of some long-forgotten god."

Cash suggests heading north first in order to extricate his mother from Vergesson, and Jean agrees, as does the rest of the group, though Lazarus suggests starting a rumor that a band of adventurers are leaving Trostenwald toward Xhorhas; Aboukir then informs the group that he intends to remain in Trostenwald in order "to watch over the now-weakened set of parents." Before allowing the group to leave, Siobhan gives Lazarus the Kiss of the Changebringer, Bells gives Prints Danoth's Visor, and Jean gives Cash the Necklace of Curing; Shiloh then gives a bottle of alcohol to Kahlan before leading Cash to a storage room where he gives the Genasi the Armor of the Valiant Soul that once belonged to New Moon.

While his father and Cash are out of the room, Lazarus telepathically connects with Jean and asks him: "I was curious why you did what you did." When Jean asks why he wants to know, Lazarus responds: "Because it's... made a lot of people hurt really bad for a long time." Jean answers that if Lazarus can give him a better reason the next time they meet, he'll answer the question, and Lazarus thanks him for not lying. The group packs their supplies and stops at a stable to buy four horses, then sets out northward along the Amber Road, traveling through the rest of the day before setting up camp that evening at the base of the Kupferrot Hill; settling in for the evening, Kahlan casts *Identify* on the bottle that Shiloh gave her, discovering that it is a potion of recuperation.

#### 4 Duscar 839 PD

While traveling the next day, the group discusses unconventional tactics including the Kahlan's Bag of Holding, Trouble's wildshaping ability, Prints's various incantations, and Lazarus's flying and stealthing powers; they reach the town of Alfield by early evening, renting rooms at the Candleglow Inn, where they overhear patrons discussing a recent attack on the town by a roving band of violent gnolls; settling in for the evening, Kahlan attunes to her father's dagger and casts *Identify* on it, learning only that they are infused with conjuration magic.

#### 5 Duscar 839 PD: Embertide

The party departs Alfield the next morning and continues north, traveling through the day to reach the fringes of the Strahlend Fields by early evening, at which point Mazikeen telepathically relays a message to Kahlan: "Danger ahead." The Tiefling sees an abandoned farmhouse through the owl's perspective for a moment before the creature is struck with an arrow and vanishes; Kahlan alerts the rest of the group, at which point Lazarus links up telepathically with her, Sado, and Prints, and both the Monk and the Rogue stealth into the darkness to approach the encampment.

### Session 24 (08/22/2023)

Debating whether to clandestinely circumvent the encampment of gnolls or confront the pack directly, Lazarus is ambushed by a scout who strikes him with a pair of spear attacks as a dozen creatures rush from the abandoned farmhouse. Prints casts *Haste* on Trouble in her warhorse form, allowing the Druid to race 120 feet to meet the gnolls in the roadway; the Gnoll Packlord strikes the Sorcerer with his glaive as another gnoll attacks Trouble with his spear and two archers strike Prints with arrows. Two more gnolls attempt to bite Trouble while the Gnoll Fang attacks the Druid, after which Sado attacks the Fang with his Breath of the Dragon.

An archer shoots two arrows at Lazarus as the scout attacks him with his spear, but the Rogue dodges all four attacks with a series of defensive maneuvers he learned from his former Commander, becoming infused with Celestial Intensity as he strikes the scout with a vicious uppercut that stuns the creature. Kahlan then hits the archer with a *Fire Bolt* as Cash casts *Call Lightning*, killing two of the gnolls before Prints casts a devastating *Fireball* that kills five more gnolls and severely injures the Packlord and the Fang. Trouble strikes another gnoll with a pair of hoof attacks, killing it as five of the remaining gnolls attempt to flee toward their den.

Sado delivers a flying kick that stuns the fleeing Fang, then uses the gnoll's unconscious body to strike the Packlord before killing the creature with a devastating punch. The remaining scout attacks Lazarus with his spear again, striking him with one attack that the Aasimar does not even bother to dodge as he retaliates with a pair of punches that kill the creature; Kahlan then strikes the fleeing archer with a pair of *Fire Bolts* that kill it as well, at which point Sado follows the last two gnolls into their nearby den, killing them and discovering a gruesome nest of bones; he recovers 78 gold pieces and a silver locket containing a drawing of a young Elven girl.

While Sado searches the den, an Elven woman cautiously approaches the property carrying a pair of daggers, and Trouble, still in her warhorse form, approaches her; the girl explains that she was attempting to rescue some of her family who were taken when the gnolls attacked Alfield. Soon after, the Goliath rejoins the group and telepathically informs Lazarus that everyone in the den is dead, handing the locket to the Aasimar, who immediately recognizes the drawing as the woman and informs her that none of the captives taken by the gnolls are alive. The woman asks if all the gnolls are dead, and Sado reveals that the Gnoll Fang is alive but unconscious, offering to let her take her revenge but advising her against it.

The woman considers for a long moment before dropping her dagger and taking the locket, asking only that Sado: "Make it hurt. Whatever you do: make it hurt." She then starts southward along the Amber Road back toward Alfield as Sado drags the unconscious Gnoll Fang into the den and beats it the rest of the way to death. The party rests shortly to recuperate before continuing northward, traveling another 25 miles before reaching the camping sites at the base of the Vierling Hills by the early evening and bedding down for the night; Sado takes the first watch, spotting two parties camped near an outcropping across the Amber Road, after which Kahlan and Prints take the second watch, discussing the Tiefling's unexpected use of magic.

#### 6 Duscar 839 PD

Endless appears in the midst of their conversation, startling Kahlan, who accidentally hurls a *Fire Bolt* at the Reaper, who catches it. Prints indicates that she needs to speak with Endless, and Kahlan steps away to keep watch; the Sorcerer expresses her concerns over Trouble's safety during their upcoming mission, and describes the lengths to which she is willing to go to keep the Druid alive. During their conversation, Kahlan resummons Mazikeen, who immediately lands on Lazarus's chest as he sleeps; Endless does his best to reassure the Tabaxi of his intentions, after which Kahlan asks about the death of her parents, which the Reaper admits was not quick, though "they gave as good as they got." Kahlan then asks about the likelihood of resurrecting Liam's soul from her ring, and though he warns that such a ritual can sometimes go badly wrong, he promises to "see what [he] can do" before leaving to visit one of the campsites across the road, where an elderly man has died.

Shortly after, Trouble and Lazarus wake to take the third watch, and Lazarus returns Mazikeen to Kahlan, who offers her Ring of Mind Shielding to the Aasimar. He puts on the ring, experiencing a headache before realizing that he is already attuned to a magical ring, and removes the Ring of Feather Falling as Kahlan heads back to sleep; about forty minutes later, Endless returns to speak with Trouble, who asks if Endless will try to stop the team from assembling the fragments of the multiversal monstrosity inside her mind. The Reaper responds by holding out the box containing the bead of darkness, and offers to make a separate deal with Trouble: to allow her to try to contain both pieces in order to prove that she can. Lazarus offers to telepathically connect with her in order to help, but she declines, taking hold of the bead.

The darkness absorbs into Trouble's hand and travels toward her heart, finding and merging with the shard already within her; the Druid's vision goes black, and she sees hundreds of doors moments before hearing the entity dangerously nearby. She flees through doors, passing through a succession of rooms from her recent past until eventually reaching the end of a long hallway and finding an older door that she recognizes with a handle that feels warm to the touch. Opening the door, she finds a young Kenku wearing a green dress inside a small bedroom, and without thinking, she whispers the child's name: "Aja."

### Session 25 (08/29/2023)

Lazarus watches Endless and Trouble sit face-to-face, both of their eyes open and black. The Aasimar sighs, drops to a knee, and unsheathes his Kingsguard daggers in preparation for the worst; he admits to the Reaper that his faith in the Druid is unshakeable, and while he doesn't know if he has the strength to help her do what she will have to do yet, but believes that the rest of the group will help him find it. Endless then takes Trouble's hands as the Druid finds herself in the childhood bedroom of the Kenku she used to be, Aja, spotting the red scarf she had recently received from her mother, and realizes that if the multiversal monstrosity finds her here, there will be nowhere else to run. She convinces her to hide under the bed by describing the memory of their mother making sandalwood soap, then leaves the room and closes the door, spotting another door further down the hallway that is engulfed in flames and rushing toward it, crashing through it to find herself at the campfire with Endless and Lazarus. The Reaper assures Trouble that he will do his best to find a way to help her succeed, then vanishes into the shadows.

Trouble confesses her concerns about allowing anyone into her the fiery labyrinth of her mind, but admits that she trusts him and will allow him to help her on the condition that he avoid encountering Aja. He agrees, and asks permission to be the one to "finish what we started" if that is "what is required." The two then watch the sun rise as the rest of the team wakes for breakfast, packs up camp, and continues northward after realizing that a member of the party at the camp across the Road had died overnight; while they travel, Lazarus mentally converses with the soul confined to Kahlan's Ring of Mind Shielding before falling in beside Cash and admitting that he hadn't been in Rexxentrum by accident on the day the group first met: he had instead been following reliable information that a group of Kryn mercenaries were on their way to the capital because of a rumor that there was a Genasi in the city. He confesses that Cash's safety not initially been his first priority, but that recent events had changed that, and apologizes for waiting so long to tell the Cleric.

The party reaches the city of Zadash by late afternoon and visits The Vulnerable Vagrant to pick up Trouble's armor and Cash's warhammer, while Pumat refunds the money for Cash's armor after recognizing the legendary chestplate he now wears. Shortly after, Barren arrives to pick up a black and crimson cloak, explaining that he will be traveling to the Seventh Level of Hell to rescue his brother, who was captured by an associate of the demon they previously killed outside the city. The group decides to stay in Zadash for the night, and Kahlan gives her father's dagger to Pumat for him to study again, while Lazarus gives the Firbolg one of his remaining potions of watchful rest so that he can examine the weapon.

Prints requests an item that can help improve her wisdom, and Pumat promises to do what he can, after which Trouble explains the nature of puns to Sado; Lazarus asks about potions of lightning resistance, and Pumat recommends the apothecary across town, after which Prints buys a potion of greater healing for 80 gold. The group returns to The Hearth Inn to rent rooms, and Sado ventures off alone to visit the Valley Archive of the Cobalt Soul, spending the evening researching puns with the help of a guide who recognizes his legendary handwraps; his guide then directs him to resources about the weapon's former owner, where conflicting sources suggesting both that Dyamak created them himself and that they were given to him by the Stormlord, but agreeing that he used them to slay dozens of demigods in the War of the Gods. In Dyamak's lust for battle, he is said to have vanished after the war in search of worthy opponents.

Sado returns to the Hearth Inn and joins the rest of the party for dinner, after which they are approached by an Elven woman from the Adventurers Guildhall, who informs them that the head of the guild would like to speak with them; leery of the summons, the group arranges to meet with the man at dawn the next morning, and most of the party retires for the evening. Lazarus uses another potion of watchful rest and leaves the Inn, making his way back across the city to The Evening Nip and asking the bartender for "the house special," indicating that he is definitively there for "business"; he is allowed entry to the underground barroom, which he finds crowded with a myriad of patrons, and quickly spots the Gentleman, telepathically requesting an audience with him.

The Genasi agrees, leading the Aasimar to his private table where Lazarus offers to repay any services of favors that his father owes to the Gentleman, who questions why he would trade a favor from someone as powerful as Shiloh Oldman; he ultimately agrees to consider calling upon the Rogue to repay his father's debt, and Lazarus accepts before asking about the identity of the assassin who had attempted to kill Prince Eidys two years prior. The Gentleman suggests that the name of the assassin is not as important as why he was trying to kill Lazarus's brother, and questions what the Aasimar knows about his mother; Lazarus admits that he knows less than he ever thought he did, and the Gentlemen encourages him to ask her about The Night of a Thousand Needles before calling him "the Son of the Storm; the Son of the Seamstress."

#### 7 Duscar 839 PD

They share another drink before Lazarus leaves, returning to the Hearth Inn where he spends the evening awake in the common room, gradually putting together the Gentleman's insinuations to deduce that Pearce had posed as a double for Eidys two years prior, and that the assassin had known as much because he had been targeting the Changeling rather than the Prince. As dawn breaks, he accompanies Sado and Prints to the Adventurers Guildhall to meet with the guildmaster, who congratulates the team on the successful completion of the Labenda Swamp Mission, and offers the team the opportunity to join a prospective dragon-hunting expedition to the distant continent Marquet. They admit that they are in the middle of a pressing matter, but agree to consider the offer, and the guildmaster thanks them for meeting with him on short notice.

Leaving the guildhall, Sado and Lazarus return to the Hearth Inn while Prints heads to the Vulnerable Vagrant to pick up the item that Pumat created for her, the Armlet of Isminitis; while he explains how it works, Kahlan arrives to retrieve her father's dagger, to which Pumat has added a ruby that will glow when a soul is confined within the blade. The two then rejoin the group at the Inn, Lazarus returns Kahlan's Ring of Mind Shielding, mentioning that "he did say that your cottage is absolutely lovely"; the group eventually decides to meet with Oliver Schreiber again, learning that he has been unable to place any agents within the Vergesson Sanatorium, which is under the jurisdiction of the Cerberus Assembly and controlled by Archmage Trent Ikithon.

Lazarus asks whether the Augen Trust can be counted as a friend or a foe, admitting that he heard the name from "someone who had too much to drink in a bar," and Oliver claims that the organization will not be an enemy of the group. Kahlan asks who might be able to help, and Oliver reveals that an agent of the Myriad is also confirmed inside the Sanatorium, suggesting that the group seek the aid of the Gentlemen. Leaving the Castle, the party returns to the Evening Nip and meets with the Gentlemen, who agrees to assist them in exchange for their help either extricating or killing one of his agents; he explains that the Sanatorium is run by Director Gertrude Wagner and Doctor Volson, and that the team will be attempting to infiltrate a laboratory in the basement, for which there are no schematics, as well as warning that that the Sanatorium is rumored to be creating arcane diseases of mass destruction.

The Gentleman explains that he will contact one of his associates in the capital to assist the party once they arrive, after which he arranges for Mira to teleport the group to Rexxentrum, where the party notices that Kahlan's demeanor has shifted sharply.

### Session 26 (09/12/2023)

Having teleported back to the capital city of Rexxentrum, the party finds themselves in a warehouse and offer to buy Mira a drink before heading across the city to Callista's Fight Pit for the tavern's weekly fight night. They arrive during a fight between two Dwarven men, one of whom is the bartender who promptly knocks the other man unconscious, after which one of the house clerics heals him and he returns to the bar; Cash orders a whiskey, Kahlan orders water, and Trouble smokes from her Pipe of Smoke Monsters, breathing the smoke into the fight pit and shaping it into a stunning recreation of the team's battle against the ebony dragon Umbrah, earning 4 gold in tips.

The proprietor approaches the team and invites them to sign up for the fights; Kahlan and Sado agree, and the Tiefling enters the ring to face a Dragonborn as Trouble bets 20 gold on Kahlan. The two trade punches until the Tiefling knocks the Dragonborn unconscious with an uppercut, and Trouble collects 25 gold as Sado congratulations Kahlan, after which she buys the Dragonborn a drink as he hands her a tooth she knocked out with her final punch. Sado then enters the ring to face an Elf, a Drow, and a Triton as Trouble bets 100 gold on Sado and Kahlan bets 50 on the Goliath; while the four man trade blows, Trouble starts a rumor that booping Sado's nose disorients him, after which the Monk successfully defeats all three challenges to retain his title of champion.

Trouble collects 500 gold and Kahlan collects 250, after which Callista flirtatiously congratulates an oblivious Sado. The Monk orders tea as Cash and Graelle heal the other three men, who thank the Monk for the fight before discussing the possibility of forming an adventuring party of their own as Trouble and Lazarus give them advice. An hour later, the party returns to The Crow's Nest and Trouble pays for the group's rooms for the night before speaking privately with Jingles in the kitchen, expressing her concern over the fact that she can no longer properly pronounce her father's name; he is also unable to mimic the sound that she describes, and instead offers her one of her own feathers that she had shed at the tavern twenty-one days prior. She then returns to the group, as they retire for the evening.

#### 8 Duscar 839 PD

The party wakes the next morning for breakfast, during which a commotion outside draws them out to the street where they discover a Tabaxi man being detained by townguard for shoplifting fruit from a vendor's cart. Prints immediately recognizes her uncle, Smoke on the Water, as Lazarus wordlessly pays the vendor 10 gold and Prints leads her uncle back toward The Crow's Nest; Smoke explains that the Bell-Air Tribe was passing by Rexxentrum on their way toward Trostenwald, and that Prints's Mama is also in town; Prints uses Danoth's Visor to quickly locate her mother's mate a quarter-mile down the road. Trouble continues leading Smoke into the tavern as Prints quickly darts down the street to hug her Mama before leading her back to The Crow's Nest as well and introducing her to the rest of the party.

The group briefly describes their recent adventures to Smoke and Mama, who then explains the difficulties that the caravan dealt with while traveling, but though she assures Prints that the tribe will reach Trostenwald on schedule, and the two discuss Sound of Bells's reluctance to reveal the truth of her past to her daughter. Smoke offers Sado and Cash some of his own "baked goods," promising that eating them will help the Monk and the Cleric feel "right as rain"; the two decline, after which Trouble trades pipes with Smoke and both of them become quickly delirious before discussing the nature of clouds, after which Smoke casts *Gaseous Form* and transforms into a cloud.

Not long after, a man arrives at the tavern accompanied by an orange tabby cat and introduces himself to the party as Caleb Widogast, an associate of the Gentleman who recently arrived from the Menagerie Coast, to which he will be returning later that evening; Trouble recognizes the man's name from conversations from her past, immediately speaking Sylvan to the cat before introducing the members of the Ne'er Do Wells. Caleb requests a cup of water and a saucer of milk, and begins sketching rudimentary blueprints on a large sheet of parchment, apologizing for the incompleteness of the schematic; as he does, Lazarus delivers his water, thanking him for reliving what are surely uncomfortable pieces of his past.

The Rogue then invites Kahlan "to go meet [her] dad's old boss," and the two leave the tavern to visit Castle Ungebroch where they gain entrance through a Kingsguard station and quickly find the Prince in his study. Lazarus and Eidys catch up briefly, having not seen each other in two years, after which the Aasimar informs the Prince that he is working with a group that intends to visit the Vergesson Sanatorium to extract certain patients; Eidys assures Lazarus that if he does not return in person within a week, the Prince will visit Vergesson personally, though he admits that he cannot provide any resources for the extraction. He invites Lazarus and his group to return to Castle Ungebroch after their mission and join the Prince on a trip to the Menagerie Coast, and laments his inability to produce an heir to whom he could abdicate the throne, after which Lazarus promises to "put in a good word" with Kord the next time he speaks with the Stormlord.

At The Crow's Nest, Prints discusses her Uncle Phil with Mama, learning that he named Prints on the day she was born and that he blamed New Moon's adventuring companions for his brother's death, and Wisp suggests trying to get the full story from about what happened twenty-two years prior the next time the two parties meet. Kahlan and Lazarus stop at the street vendor that Smoke had previously shoplifted from and Lazarus picks up another apple before they return to the tavern; Caleb finishes his schematic, warning Trouble that her father may no longer be the man he once was, but assuring her that the love of a parent often runs deeper than appearances. The group heads out to the alley beside the building, where Caleb draws the runs of a teleportation circle as Prints says goodbye to Smoke and Mama, giving her a pouch containing 3,000 gold for the families of the people she hurt in her initial magical accident.

As the group begins to teleport, Laz tosses the apple to Smoke, who catches it as the party vanishes.

### Session 27 (09/19/2023)

Emerging near a river in a stretch of the Pearlbow Wilderness at the foot of the Dunrock Mountains, the group follows Caleb through the forest for several hours as he explains that the route he used to escape the asylum included a bladed sewer system designed to destroy the bodies of the hospital's victims, and night falls as they approach the dark and ominous structure of the Vergesson Sanatorium.

Discussing the possibility of a surreptitious entry, Trouble mentions her ability to cast a spell to create 24-hour globes filled with fresh air around the heads of everyone in the party, suggesting that one person could carry Kahlan's Bag of Holding while the rest of the group hides inside it, and Cash explains that, as an Air Genasi, he can hold his breath for an hour on his own. Sado volunteers to carry the Bag, and Lazarus gives him the Cloak of Elvenkind, which the Monk attunes to as the group reaches the border of the property.

Caleb apologizes for his inability to accompany the party inside, and retreats to the treeline to begin preparing an incantation as Trouble *Druidcraft*s a sprig of edelweiss into the wizard's hair before casting *Air Bubble* on herself, Prints, Kahlan, and Lazarus; Kahlan then instructs Mazikeen to keep watch over the Sanatorium during the infiltration before casting *Invisibility* on Sado, and Lazarus secretly establishes a telepathic connection with Caleb before the party climbs into the Bag of Holding, which vanishes as the invisible Monk holds it.

Sado briefly considers the subterranean entrance before climbing the fifteen-foot-tall gate and approaching the front of the building to find two guards stationed at the latched front doors; he nimbly climbs a tree near the entryway and leaps to a balcony on the second floor, finding a glass-pane door through which he spots a half-orc and a halfling who in animated conversation. Waiting for the argument to increase, the Monk silently opens the door and slips inside; one of the men insists that they need another week, while the other insists that they have three days, and Sado recognizes torture implements next to a chair with restraints.

He crosses the office to a staircase that leads back down to an unnervingly quiet room on the ground floor; moments later, a guard enters from an adjacent hallway and sits at a desk, and Sado realizes that he has reached a cellblock. He moves to the far end of the hall and places a tinderbox on the floor, tapping on a metal door to draw lure the guard away from the desk; Sado then passes the guard and approaches the door beside the desk, smears grease on its hinges, and summons Lazarus out of the Bag of Holding. The Rogue quickly picks the lock and returns to the Bag as Sado passes through the door into another hallway.

He moves to the eastern end of the corridor and passes through an unlocked door into a room that he realized is staged lounge room; he spots a man in red robes filling out paperwork through a window into an adjacent room, and crosses the lounge as the door he entered through opens and a man steps inside and enters the adjacent room. Sado passes through another unlocked door just moments before another guard enters the room immediately nearby, and the Monk traverse another hallway to another locked door, summoning Lazarus from the Bag again; the Rogue quickly picks the lock and passes through the door with Sado into another hallway where they find one more locked door that Lazarus expertly picks. The two enter entering a small room with a table, and follow Caleb's map to a small closet where they find a trap door in the floor, opening it to discover a dark spiral staircase leading downward.

Lazarus returns to the Bag, and Sado descends the staircase to an underground level where he hears the clanking of metal, the hissing of steam, and the cackling of unseen inmates. Finding a pair of large double doors and two smaller doors, the Monk opens an unlocked door to the left and enters a stone hallway that leads to a corridor with windowless steel doors marked SUBJECT 4, SUBJECT 3, SUBJECT 2, SUBJECT 1, and SUBJECT 0. He summons Kahlan, Prints, and Lazarus from the Bag, and while the Rogue sees no way to open the doors, the Tabaxi discovers a panel near the entrance with five unlabeled buttons; Lazarus suggests attempting to verbally confirm the identities of the inmates without opening any doors, while Prints suggests opening all of the doors and collecting the people they came for while allowing the rest to attack the guards.

Kahlan, Prints, and Lazarus then return to the Bag as Sado taps on Subject 1's door without receiving a response; he then presses the button to open Subject 1's door, finding a Tiefling woman with vibrant blue hair and pure white eyes sitting crosslegged on a cot. He manages to close the door before the prisoner can escape, then presses the button to open Subject 2's door, finding a gaunt Kenku man inside tattered rags; he summons Trouble from the Bag, and she immediately recognizes her father. As she confirms his identity, he reacts to the sound of her voice by asking: "Elowynn?" He smiles briefly before lashing out and grabbing Trouble by the throat, draining a bit of her strength; the Druid responds by successfully casting *Hold Person* on her father and instructing Sado to close the door, after which she binds her father.

Sado summons Cash from the Bag before opening Subject 3's door, and the Cleric finds a human woman wearing a mask and holding a sharped piece of broken metal; she remains suspicious of the two until Sado summons Prints and Lazarus from the Bag, and the Aasimar telepathically connects with the woman to confirm that she works for the Gentleman. Prints casts *Air Bubble* on Reign, who climbs into the Bag as Lazarus tells Sado to summon him if the situation goes entirely awry. Before he, Prints, or Cash can return to the Bag, however, they all hear a echoing voice say: "Well, well, well. Today got quite interesting, didn't it?" Lazarus immediately recognizes the voice as belonging to Syndock Truscan, who he last encountered at the Court of the King, and the man demands to know why the party has infiltrated the Sanatorium.

Lazarus suggests collecting the last of the prisoners they came for and getting everyone back into the Bag, and Sado opens the doors marked Subject 2 and Subject 4; he and Cash place Trouble's father in the Bag as Lazarus spots a pale woman in the fourth cell immediately before she cackles, inflicting psychic damage on everyone in the hallway. Sado closes Subject 4's door and opens Subject 0's door to find a lycanthropic man sitting on his cot; the man does not react, and Sado closes his door as the door he entered through and the double doors open. Prints suggests that Truscan knows they've come for Elowynn and therefore has the Cleric's mother with him, and Truscan confirms it, inviting the party to the central laboratory.

Inside the Bag of Holding, Kahlan draws her scimitar as Reign appears inside with her, demanding to know the woman's name; Reign initially refuses, accusing Kahlan of being "willing to kill [her] own Guild members," but the Tiefling assures her that the Gentleman did not send the party to kill her, and the woman confirms her identity. Kahlan then sheaths her scimitar, though Reign does not lower her improvised weapon as Trouble's father appears inside the Bag with them.

In the cellblock, Cash tells Sado to find his mother and then returns to the Bag, after which Trouble wildshapes into a spider, and Sado, Prints, and Lazarus resolve to confront Truscan; they exit the corridor and pass through the double doors into a wide room with six tanks of green gas in a hexagonal formation around a pool of arcane liquid in the center of which they find Syndock Truscan and Elowynn standing. He chastizes the group for attempting to liberate his "hard-earned subjects," and claims to have been waiting for some time; Lazarus claims that the party is merely conducting "a prisoner transfer," and Truscan responds by threatening to make them all "permanent guests" of the Sanatorium. He then addresses Trouble, asking if she feels the power of the multiversal monstrosity, admiring the fact that the entity has not yet overtaken her, claiming that Dyamak has a bet regarding how long the Druid can maintain control.

Elowynn remains unreactive when Truscan asks if she'd like to leave with the party, claiming that she would not, and both Sado and Prints sense that the Cleric's mother is not charmed or possessed. Truscan then offers to allow the party to leave with everyone they have in the Bag if Trouble agrees to stay, but Lazarus refuses, and Prints instead threatens to kill Truscan, which he agrees that he'd stand no chance against them; as he steps toward the group, Trouble transforms back into her Halfling form and furtively casts *Water Walk* on Sado, who then surreptitiously approaches Elowynn. Truscan insists that the Druid is more special than she knows, but as Sado steps on the surface of the liquid, each of the six tanks begins releasing gas into the room, and Lazarus responds by conjuring a psychic dagger and stabbing Truscan in the throat.

The blade passes through the man, who promptly vanishes, and Lazarus instructs everyone to get into the Bag moments before the doors to the laboratory seal shut and Elowynn shifts into a monstrosity of fluid shadows. Prints casts *Cure Wounds* on Trouble, who casts *Hunter's Mark* on the creature that she knows to be Elowynn and begs the woman to leave with them; Sado attempts to physically coerce Elowynn into the Bag, only to discover that she is impossible to grasp, and he responds by assuming a Patient Defense as the creature lashes out at him with its shadowy tendrils and misses; Lazarus activates his Radiant Soul and his Celestial Intensity, flying to Elowynn and pleads with her to let the group help her. Prints considers casting *Warding Wind*, but yells at Elowynn in frustration instead, and Trouble sees confusion in the creature's face as it reacts to the word "mother."

As the gas continues to expand into the chamber, the Druid passionately appeals to Elowynn as Sado summons Cash from the Bag of Holding, and Truscan's voice tells them: "Oh. This is not going exactly how I'd hoped. Let's make things a little more interesting." A pulse ricochets through the room, and Elowynn transforms back into her natural elven form, Trouble and Prints's *Air Bubbles* vanish, and Lazarus's wings begin to flicker. The Aasimar orders everyone to get into the Bag, only to discover that it has become an ordinary satchel with no extradimensional space inside, and Truscan's voice tells them: "There we are. Let's see how we handle *this*."

The gas expands further as Lazarus draws Elowynn's attention to Cash, who she recognizes with some confusion, and the Rogue flies back to the door they entered through, attempt to break it open and jostling it, after which Prints smashes though it with a swirling surge of wild magic; Trouble then wildshapes into a warhorse and charges at the second door, smashing through it as well. Cash carries Elowynn as the party rushes from the laboratory back into the vestibule where Lazarus casts *Light* to confirm that they have escaped the anti-magic field, and Sado tests the Bag of Holding to find the portal to its extradimensional space restored.

Prints casts *Warding Wind* to push back the gas and Trouble casts *Air Bubble* on Prints and Elowynn as the four climb into the Bag along with the rest of the group, leaving Sado and Lazarus in the vestibule. They then hear a scream as the doors in the cellblock open and the voice of Truscan tells them: "Don't think getting away is going to be *that* easy."

### Session 28 (09/26/2023)

Lazarus desperately digs into the Bag and improbably manages to summon a potion of *Invisibility*, taking a degree of psychic damage from his unconventional manipulation of the extradimensional space within the Bag. Lazarus gives the Bag and the potion to Sado before scouting the downward staircase that Caleb's map indicated was the route he used to escape; as he reaches the poorly-lit hallway at the bottom of the stairs, a heavy steel door slams shut, injuring Sado and separating the two on opposite sides as the voice of Syndock Truscan tells them: "Didn't I tell you this would be more difficult than you expect? What will you do now?"

Inside the Bag of Holding, Trouble's father continues struggling to break out of his bindings, watching Elowynn as Trouble watches him. Moments later, the party sees Lazarus's hand reach into the space and unweave itself as it unexpectedly pushes its way through the fabric of the Bag and emerge with a vial before retracting again. Cash examines his mother, discovering new markings from the treatment she suffered at the Sanatorium and realizing that she is having trouble recognizing him as her mind struggles to cling to a single reality.

As he prepares to cast *Lesser Restoration* on her, Prints notices an unnatural shadow crawl through the fissure where Lazarus's hand punctured the space of the Bag, and immediately strikes the terrifying aberration with a *Guiding Bolt* as Cash casts *Shatter* and Trouble casts a *Flaming Sphere*; the Bagman then attacks Cash and attempts to strangle the Cleric, who retaliates with the Wrath of the Storm, after which Reign stabs the creature with her shiv and Kahlan strikes it once with her father's dagger and kills it with two successive strikes of her scimitar.

In the staircase, Lazarus resolves to venture further underground alone as Sado drinks the potion of *Invisibility* and heads back upward; the Rogue descends to a dimly-lit hallway to find a distracted guard, stealthily darting through the patches of darkness to successfully bypass the man undetected. Following the route on Caleb's map, he moves quickly through a series of hallways for another minute before reaching the room that should contain the chute to the facility's sewers, but instead finds a remodeled storage room with solid wooden floors. Searching frantically, he realizes a hollow sound as he steps over a certain section of the floor, and realizes that the chute has merely been covered over.

Passing invisibly through the vestibule, Sado suffers a small degree of psychic damage as one of the escaped patients unleashes another cackle; he darts up the stairs, ascending again into the small closet and returning to the adjacent room to find three guards who do not seem to notice his presence. The Monk drinks a healing potion, throwing the glass vial into the opposite corner of the room where it shatters, distracting the guards enough to slip out the door, darting down the hallway and passing through a southern door into a stairwell and sprinting further upward as he begins to hear the sounds of guards approaching.

Alone in the remodeled storage room, Lazarus is knocked unconscious by an invisible Doppelganger, who takes on his appearance and collects his equipment. She then expertly pries up the floorboards using his Kingsguard daggers, dropping through the narrow space into the chute as she hears guards approaching in the hallway outside. She skids down the tunnel briefly before coming to a stop just short of a rusted, stationary blade. Upstairs, Sado emerges into another hallway as a guard steps out of a bathroom; the Monk spots a panel of switches and activates them, opening eight cell doors and releasing the inmates, who swarm the guard as Sado slips out through a door at the end of the hall. Entering another hallway, he approaches another glass-pane door to discover the half-orc and a halfling still arguing, and silently sneaks through the office to exit back onto the balcony where he activates his Wings Unfurled and flies invisibly from the building, being joined by Mazikeen as he returns to Caleb's location.

In the sewers below the facility, the Doppelganger suffers a minimal degree of damage as she deftly navigates her way through the rusted blades, reaching the end of the tunnel to find that the exit has been sealed; searching the earthen wall, she manages to find a single fissure through which she can see trees and the night sky outside, and she casts *Misty Step* to teleport out into a pool of stagnant water. Quickly orienting herself, she races through the forest to rejoin Caleb as Sado arrives with Mazikeen, after which the Wizard inscribes the final rune to cast *Teleport* and transports the group back to the Valley Archive of the Cobalt Soul in Zadash. After being briefly chastised by a frustrated Monk for their unannounced arrival, the three leave the building and return to The Evening Nip.

Inside the Bag of Holding, Kahlan and Reign recover as Cash casts *Mending* on the tear to repair the fabric of the Bag, while Trouble examines her father and realizes something off about his eyes as she begins to feel the pull of a sliver of the entity within him. Prints then uses her soulsight to find the knot of darkness deep inside his heart, and Trouble approaches her father and casts *Druidcraft* to recreate the smell of their former house, at which point the entity asserts itself to speak through the man: "You're becoming a bit of a nuisance." Trouble taunts the creature until her father regains control, recognizing her and pleading with her to run, but the Druid refuses, insisting that they have friends to help them.

Moments later, the group is summoned out of the Bag to rejoin Sado, Lazarus, and Caleb at the Gentleman's bar; Reign is led away by two bodyguards, and the party are paid 500 gold each for the completion of the mission as the Gentleman commends their success. As the group finally relaxes, Kahlan feeds Trouble's father while Cash completes his casting of *Lesser Restoration* on his mother and discovers that it has no effect; Prints is visited by the Reaper calling itself Endless, who suggests that the Tabaxi has two problems to solve and offers to help with both. He then guides the Sorcerer over the course of an hour in the painstaking process of successfully knitting back together the tattered patches of Elowynn's soul.

Cash helps his mother to an upstairs bedroom as Prints offers to cast *Comprehend Languages* on Trouble's father so that the party can understand him, but the Druid declines, instead asking Endless to take care of her father is the procedure fails. Prints uses her soulsight to locate the sliver of darkness in the man's heart, but as she reaches through his corporeal form and takes hold of it, the fragment shatters within him, killing him instantly; Trouble catches him as he falls, and Prints races upstairs to find Cash as Endless approaches Trouble's father to collect the Kenku's soul and carry it into the shadows.

Caleb consoles the Druid moments before Prints and Cash rush back downstairs, and the Cleric casts *Revivify* with contributions from Kahlan, Trouble, and the Doppelganger posing as Lazarus: the Fighter offers her father's Kingsguard dagger, the Druid *druidcraft*s a flower and places it on her father's chest, and the Doppelganger offers her own blood after shattering a tumbler in her anger. A burst of lightning erupts in the room, and Trouble's father awakens, alive; exhausted, Cash heads back upstairs, where he is approached by Endless and admits that he feels vindicated. The Reaper suggests that though Cash may resent where he came from, he believes the past will no longer hold the Genasi back. Downstairs, Trouble's father regains consciousness, freed from the darkness that had previously plagued him.

### Session 29 (10/03/2023)

After Trouble's father is *Revivifi*ed by Cash, the Druid recounts many of the events that have transpired since she last saw him, including most of the party's adventures while omitting certain parts of the story. She admits to carrying a piece of the multiversal monstrosity that she merged with after dying in the basement of the Western Winery, and her father explains that he and Cash's mother had been captured, after which he had been tortured in an attempt to coerce information out of Elowynn before an arcanist had injected the shard of darkness into his heart and he lost track of himself. He remembers only that the people torturing him were trying to get information from Elowynn about a man and an egg, and Trouble admits that most people who meet Jean hit him, after which he suggests that the rest of the team can call him Saul.

Trouble promises to introduce her father to the rest of the team in the morning, and the two discuss important customer-service phrases until Saul falls asleep, after which Trouble remains awake to watch over him. While they converse, The Doppleganger posing as Lazarus informs the Gentleman that the Cult of the Great One is led by three figures, only one of which the Myriad was previously aware of: the heavily-armored man that the team encountered at the farmstead on the road back from Berleben. The Gentleman admits that a member of the Cult was discovered within the Myriad about a month ago and that their information is limited, after which he agrees to keep his mind open to allowing Lazarus to repay Shiloh's debt.

The Doppleganger then learns from one of the bodyguards that Kahlan left the tavern an hour ago and headed southward, and she stealthily navigates the city for nearly an hour before finding the Tiefling at The Bloody Knuckles, intensely drunk and battered after a string of pit fights and demanding another challenger. The Doppelganger attempts to convince her to return to the Evening Nip, but the Tiefling mocks her into fighting instead, attacking as soon as she steps into the ring; the Fighter subsequently manages to land just three of her nine punches, further taunting the Rogue and spitting blood at her until she delivers two brutal hooks and a vicious uppercut before knocking her unconscious with a devastating headbutt.

The Doppelganger takes a curative shot before carrying Kahlan back half-a-mile north to the Evening Nip, and Trouble immediately casts *Cure Wounds* on the Fighter despite the Rogue's suggestion that they let her sleep it off, and the party finally retires for the night.

#### 9 Duscar 839 PD

The next morning, Trouble introduces her father to the group over breakfast, and Prints casts *Tongues* on him, enabling him to thank her, Cash, and Sado for their efforts the previous evening. Leaving the bar, the party returns to The Hearth Inn, where they are approached by one of the clerks from the Adventurers Guildhall; accompanying the woman, the group visits the Guildhall, where the Doppelganger quickly spots Jarrek sitting alone at a table. The Rogue retrieves Luka's lute from the Bag of Holding and approaches the man, setting the instrument down on the table and suggesting: "Tell their story."

The party heads upstairs, encountering Aron on the second floor and discovering Barren severely injured from a battle in the hells; half of the Warlock's face is scarred and wrapped and he is missing his left arm, and the Paladin explains that he had been captured by an Archdevil in retaliation for destroying the Greater Demon, after which Barren ventured into the Lower Planes alone, fighting and narrowly defeating the champion of Asmodeus to win his brother back. Cash casts *Cure Wounds* on the Warlock, who mentions having interacted with Prints's mother in the hells.

The group proceeds up to Razielle's office on the third floor, where they are each given a brass teleportation token designed to instantaneously transport the members of the team to Marquet in order to confront the dragon there, and the guildmaster explains that the team he is attempting to build will potentially include about 200 fighters because reports indicate that the dragon is building an army that includes "a couple of [its] children, along with a bunch of drakes, and a shit-ton of lizardmen and kobolds. He also asks if the group was "up north recently," and they quickly and unanimously deny it.

Leaving the Guildhall, the group deliberates before deciding to deliver Elowenn and Saul to their parents at The Bar Barian; returning to The Evening Nip, they meet with Caleb, who agrees to *Teleport* them to Trostenwald, and Cash, Elowynn, Trouble, and Saul climb into the the Bag of Holding so that the entire party can be transported together. Sado becomes immediately sick upon arriving, after which the group returns to The Bar Barian, where Cash carries his mother upstairs to return her to his father and updates the elder Goldcrest on the rescue mission. Saul and Bells bond over their children's friendship, and Thava congratulates Sado on their successful completion of the mission using a minimal degree of violence.

Cash heads back downstairs to rejoin the groups as they discuss the effectiveness of creating and adhering to plans, after which Siobhan asks Trouble about the incantation the Druid used to subdue her father at the Sanatorium; as Trouble explains the *Hold Person* spell, Siobhan suggests that the incantation would have been useful with her sons, and the Druid infers that the woman wants her to cast the spell on Lazarus. She does, after which Siobhan removes a dagger from her belt and drives it into the Rogue's back, demanding to know where her son is; Kahlan draws her scimitar as the individual impersonating Lazarus calmly admits that the Aasimar is in Rexxentrum, that her name is Nerium Seneca, and that she was sent by Syndock Truscan.

Shiloh binds Nerium's arms as Trouble releases her *Hold Person* spell to prepare a *Moonbeam*, and Kahlan demands to know how long the imposter has been posing as Lazarus; Siobhan allows the Tiefling to join her as she leads Nerium to an interrogation room at the back of the building, and Shiloh places Nerium in a chair that magically holds her in place before returning to the common room. The imposter repeats that her name is "Nerium Seneca, terminarch of the House of Dusk, and last of her name," and shifts back into her natural Doppelganger form to reveal her true face; she admits that she took Lazarus's place during the escape in the basement of the Sanatorium, having been waiting invisibly in the remodeled storage room.

She further explains that her employer is looking for information about the Cult of the Great One, and confirms that Lazarus is alive in Rexxentrum; Siobhan asks if Nerium can contact Truscan, placing the point of her dagger to the Doppelganger's kneecap when the woman doesn't immediately answer. Nerium recognizes the daggers then, realizing that Siobhan is The Seamstress, and explains that she has telepathically communicated the situation to Lazarus, who has informed Truscan. Siobhan questions why Nerium isn't bothering to lie, and the Doppelganger explains that her employer is trying to determine the identity of the Cult's leader because he does not want the organization to succeed in their apocalyptic objectives, making them all temporary, unlikely accomplices for the moment.

Satisfied with the information, Kahlan confirms that Siobhan does not intend to kill the Doppelganger before stepping out and returning to the common room; finding Jean there now as well, she informs the groups of what she learned, and Trouble helps her father to a room upstairs. Fifty-eight minutes later, the group hears footsteps approaching the front of the building, and Shiloh removes the maul from the wall behind the bar as Kaylan draws her scimitar; Sado crosses to the door, spotting a black-cloaked figure leading a barely-conscious Lazarus to the tavern, and signaling to the group before opening the door. The figure passes Lazarus off to Sado, who helps the Aasimar into a seat at a nearby table where Prints and Cash are sitting and Kahlan interposes herself between Lazarus and the cloaked figure.

Siobhan returns, and the figure apologizes to her before she demands that the person who injured Lazarus be delivered to The Bar Barian by the next day; the figure agrees and leaves, and Cash casts *Cure Wounds* on Lazarus as the Rogue regains consciousness before Kahlan hugs him and he hugs her back. Bells suggests that the global memory modification spell that Jean used to make the world forget the battle against the multiversal monstrosity 22 years prior seems to be fading, and Siobhan passes out several rounds of drinks before agreeing to answer any questions the group may have. Lazarus hesitates a moment before asking how he's been alive for 42 years when he was actually born 26 years ago.

Shiloh and Siobhan explain that Lazarus had been born a few months before their final confrontation with the multiversal monstrosity, and fearing the possibility of failure, they entrusted him into the care of family of their friends in the Feywild; after surviving their encounter with the entity, they returned to retrieve their infant son, discovering instead that sixteen years had passed and Lazarus was now nearly an adult. Returning to Wildemount along with Pearce, they requested that Jean modify Lazarus's memories so that he remembered having grown up in Trostenwald, which he did before also modifying Shiloh and Siobhan's memories so that they remembered Lazarus's childhood as well. Jean admits that he merely did what his friends asked him to do, and Lazarus thanks him for it.

Bells then offers to explain how their party met, recounting where they came from, how they met, and the nature of the first job they were hired for; she also explains that the last time they faced the multiversal monstrosity, the battle spanned half the continent of Wildemount, and that their eventual victory came at the cost of a great many lives. Jean explains that he used his fragment of the entity's consciousness to erase the memory of its presence and impact in Exandria, and Trouble demands to know what the Bard is withholding from the groups; Jean suggests that Sado and Cash join Shiloh at the bar, after which he explains that the plan to destroy the entity had involved trapping it within New Moon's soul and allowing Shiloh to kill the Tabaxi, shattering the being's consciousness.

He admits that Shiloh had done exactly that, but that the act had broken his oath, his mind, and his soul, and that Jean had been unable to watch his friend suffer, deciding instead to alter the party's memories so that they believed that Jean had killed New Moon instead of Shiloh. The Bard then heads back upstairs, after which Shiloh retreats to a back office of the tavern, and Lazarus asks if the Doppelganger is still alive; Siobhan reveals that she is, and that she had been the assassin who had intercepted Lazarus when the group had been waylaid by bandits along the road to Nogvurot. Lazarus also explains that the Doppelganger had told him that she didn't understand why Aboukir had asked for the goats in Berleben, revealing that had been masquerading as the halfling shepherd Beau Peep during their time in the Labenda Swamp.

Kahlan retreats from the building, and Lazarus follows her into the alleyway, finding her collapsed and suffering an intense panic attack; he uses his Psychic Whispers to connect with her telepathically, applying a degree of curative energy within her mind as the uncontrollable whirlwind of her traumatic memories rekindle images from his own painful past. He focuses specifically on Kahlan's memory of her parents' deaths, and psychically pulls her mind out of the flashback and into his own mental recreation of a tavern in Bladegarden, where she discovers memories of many of Lazarus's dead friends, including her own father.

He explains that the space is one that he constructed from his memory and reinforced with the energy of his own pain as a place for the people he's lost, and Kahlan is shocked to discover that she can interact with the memory of Aodhin, who explains that he is an echo with a degree of self-awareness: less than a ghost, but more than a memory. Overwhelmed by the sight of her father after so long, Kahlan collapses under the intensity of her pain, and Lazarus attempts to guide her in a strategy to convert and reshape the energy of the pain: instructing her to focus on it, take hold of it, and compress it, he watches her very nearly succeed on her first attempt at a technique that took him months to learn.

Exhausted by the effort but feeling somehow more at ease than she has in years, Kahlan admits to being tired, and Aodhin encourages Lazarus to let her rest; the Aasimar releases his hold on the mental space, returning to the alleyway beside The Bar Barian as Kahlan briefly hears her father's voice on the breeze. Lazarus discovers Kahlan gripping the blade of her father's dagger and removes it, helping her back into the building as he explains that all of the things that Nerium had said the previous night had been accurate because the Doppelganger had a psychic connection to him that had allowed her to pick through the information in his mind.

The two return to the common room shortly before Shiloh and Jean rejoin the group for dinner.

### Session 30 (10/17/2023)

Helping Kahlan back into the common room of The Bar Barian, Lazarus leads the Tiefling to Trouble to have her palm healed; the Fighter hugs the Druid first, apologizing for previously having been unable to express her happiness over the fact that Trouble's father had been revivified, and the Druid casts *Cure Wounds* to heal the Tiefling's hand. Thava admits to Sado that she grew to feel more herself around the members of her party, and the groups eat dinner while Siobhan recounts the story of her party's confrontation with the ebony dragon Varilax in the swamps north of Odessloe.

As the evening grows late, she offers rooms at the tavern to anyone who needs to rest, and promises to continue the story in the morning over breakfast. Cash retreats to his mother's room to find Jean and Shiloh and realizes that the two are in the midst of a calm and profound conversation; he leaves the room as Trouble arrives, quickly comes to the same realization, and leaves as well. Lazarus begins to retreat to his own room as well before Kahlan asks him to stay with her, and he joins her instead; while dreaming, Kahlan finds herself in a familiar tavern, and after several minutes, an intricate clockwork hummingbird zips past her and lands on the shoulder of a man behind the bar.

She immediately recognizes him as Kord as he asks about her concerns, and Kahlan questions her purpose, suggesting that it feels like she is only meant to feel pain; Kord admits that strength and pain are never far apart, and claims that her purpose is to use her strength in whatever way she chooses. He also reveals that he did not answer when she called out to him when she was attacked as a child, nor did he give her anything in that moment, explaining instead that her strength alone was so powerful that it caught his attention, and he merely waited to see if she would access it on her own or not; he admits that he wouldn't have saved her and acknowledges that his admission is truly awful, but that he was impressed that she found the strength to survive.

He then offers her a perspective on her pain, revealing another person within the dreamscape of the tavern that he introduces as a younger incarnation of Shiloh; making Kahlan invisible, he shifts his attention to the Paladin, congratulating the man on his team's recent defeat of the ebony dragon Varilax. Shiloh then surmises that the Stormlord is visiting for reasons other than commending his performance, and Kord admits that another of his followers, whose arrangement differs from the Paladin's, has abandoned his pact in order to seek more power elsewhere. Shiloh requests to complete the mission with his new team, and Kord encourages his to do so; he tells the Paladin that the man he's looking for is named Orison Moore, shares one more drink, and then wishes Shiloh a happy birthday before tapping him on the forehead.

### Session 38 (12/19/2023)

#### 10 Duscar 839 PD

The next morning, Prints wakes with a sense of profound joy, though she does not remember the specific details of her dream; she also realizes that the fur of her right arm has turned completely black. Cash finds his mother asleep but improving, and his father promises to let the Cleric know if when she wakes; the party congregates for breakfast, during which a small adventuring party including a human Sorcerer, a Gold Dragonborn Monk, and the Elven woman they encountered after defeating the gnolls outside Alfield arrives at the tavern. Sado immediately recognizes the Dragonborn as a fellow student from his monastery as Kahlan notices a floating disc carrying a large decapitated ogre head, and the Dragonborn condescendingly congratulates the Goliath for finding a team while the Elven woman thanks the party for allowing her to collect the reward for dealing with the gnolls.

As the Dragonborn mentions a gathering outside the tavern, Lazarus and Kahlan spot Prints's tribe, though the Tabaxi is unexpectedly hesitant about seeing her family. Joining the party for breakfast, Alistair and his team also reveal teleportation tokens given to them by Razielle, explaining that they will be assisting in the Marquesian dragon hunt; when Sado voices his displeasure at the idea, the Dragonborn assures him that it shouldn't be too dangerous, after which Prints explains that the Goliath has already killed a dragon. Alistair admits that he is relieved to know that there will be experienced dragon-hunters on the expedition, after which Sado leaves the tavern to go on his morning run; while exercising in the fields around Trostenwald, the Goliath hears footsteps behind him and picks up his pace, after which he discovers Qhore following him. Winded, the Dragonborn admits that he was trying to startle Sado before walking back to town.

Qhore returns to the tavern fifteen minutes later, as Bells, Wisp of Air, and Smoke on the Water break away from the tribe to join the group for breakfast; Lazarus gives Smoke an apple, and the Tabaxi notices Trouble's exhaustion before giving the Druid a potion of *Greater Restoration*. Another ten minutes later, each member of the team feels a thought within their mind as Razielle tells them: "Everyone. This is Razielle. You have one hour to prepare yourselves." Lazarus asks how much bacon they can make in an hour, after which Trouble announces that she won't be going, explaining to Prints that her presence will put the group in more danger; she also insists that she cannot leave her her father again so soon after rescuing him.

Realizing that she cannot talk Trouble out of her intention, Prints retrieves the Sending Stone from Mama and gives it to the Druid, and Caleb offers to teleport them both to the Menagerie Coast where The Mighty Nein will provide protection until it is safe for the Druid to rejoin the group; Trouble agrees, and Aboukir offers to accompany them as well. The Druid then speaks with Kahlan, assuring her that the group needs her and asking the Tiefling to watch Prints's back before suggesting that the two get tea after she rejoins the party. Trouble's father collects several more pieces of bacon, then heads outside with Caleb, Frumpkin, Aboukir, and Trouble, and the Wizard inscribes the runes of a teleportation circle before the five of them vanish.

Shortly after, the group feels another thought within their minds as Razielle indicates that his previous communication was a test, and that the dragon-hunt to Marquet is still about a week out. Siobhan then approaches the group, suggesting that they need to collect the next egg, which is hidden in an ancient tree on one of the two islands in the Fevergulf Lake in southern Xhorhas, not far from Sado's monastery. Thava explains that the tree is worshipped by a cult that believes it to be the burial site of a dead god, and Lazarus suggests that the party could attempt to gain the trust of the cult in order to acquire the egg. Arriving at the Menagerie Coast, Trouble approaches a lavish chateau outside the city of Nicodranas to find Caduceus Clay, introducing herself as Aja Ka.

### Session 39 (12/26/2023)

Having decided to recover the next egg from one of the islands in Fevergulf Lake, Lazarus suggests that the team could travel by river from the Ustaloch, east through the Gehen Basin and the Ashkeeper Peaks into southern Xhorhas, or south through the Wuyun Gorge to Nicodranas, and then by boat around the southern shore of the continent and up into the Lake; Siobhan suggests that the ocean might be safer but the river would be faster, and Prints and Kahlan both agree that speed is more important than safety at the moment. Sado asks if Qhore has any remaining *Flight* spell scrolls, and the Dragonborn admits that he has about half-a-dozen, which Thava compels him to give to the party; the group decides to save the scrolls for a potential escape, and Qhore suggests that the team can visit Sado's monastery in the Ashkeeper Peaks to acquire more resources.

Siobhan questions the likelihood of finding a boat with a captain willing to transport the group into Xhorhas, and Jean heads outside before returning several minutes later with Jagger, who admits that he has successfully sailed the waters of the Ustaloch and the Gehem Basin many times; Jean also admits that he has known Jagger for a long time, and tasked the man with keeping an eye on Shiloh, Siobhan, and the Bar Barian while the Bard was away from Trostenwald. Jean offers to pay Jagger to transport the group; the captain explains that he is currently unable to set sail due to a swarm of undead aquatic creatures along the shoreline, and the party agrees to handle the situation. As the group begins preparing to leave, Qhore gives Sado an enchanted teapot before Kahlan gives the Goliath a tea weird that she purchased from Pumat while the team was in Zadash.

Siobhan then steps behind the bar and retrieves the rapier she used to defeat Orison Moore, passing the weapon on to Kahlan; Lazarus then explains to Jean that he and Kahlan had arranged to speak with Prince Eidys after the completion of their Vergesson rescue, and the Bard agrees to cast *Sending*: "*Your Highest, Prince Eidys. I have a message from Lazarus Oldman. He requests your presence in The Bar Barian of Trostenwald at your earliest convenience*." Jean receives a reply: "All the way in Trostenwald? I have meetings; I have business. I'm a very busy man; I just can't– well, for Lazarus, I suppose I'll just have to cancel them all." Siobhan recruits both parties to help rapidly clean the tavern, and about twenty minutes later, three people materialize in the center of the dining room: the Prince, a royal spellcaster, and an Heirsguard.

Lazarus, Kahlan and Eidys step into an office, where they explain the details of the asylum breakout and learn that Syndock Truscan had successfully covered up the fact that any patients had escaped; Eidys confirms that the team is heading to Xhorhas to recover the next egg, and suggests that he should personally head to the Menagerie Coast to check on Trouble and her father, and Lazarus recommends that he start at the northern end of the coast and work his way south. The three then leave the office as Alistair and his team arrive in the dining room for breakfast, and at the Aasimar's telepathic request, Eidys personally congratulates Sado in front of the Monk's fellow student for his part in the team's successful escape: "I hear you went on a interesting mission recently, and due to your immense efforts, you were able to get an entire team of people in and our of a very dangerous place, almost single-handedly. ... I would like to humbly thank you, Sado, for your service to the empire and its people."

Lazarus notices the astonished look on Alistair's face, after which the Prince, the spellcaster, and the Heirsguard depart the tavern for Port Damali, and Siobhan admits that she used the visit as an excuse to get the bar cleaned. The team finishes packing by early afternoon and leaves the bar as well, discovering the caravan of Prints's tribe scattered throughout the town and the nearby fields and hills, and Prints changes her Cloak of Many Fashions from bright pink cloak to solid black with dark feathers and the hood pulled up to hide her face; as the group proceeds along the roadway, Sado notices members of the caravan watching them with distrust, until the Sorcerer finds her way blocked by an older Tabaxi man who is barely controlling his own hatred. Prints recognizes the man, and insists that she's leaving town, while Sado stands guard behind her and Lazarus positions himself roughly between the two Tabaxi.

The man ultimately just watches as the group passes, warning them: "You should keep your eyes on *that* one. *That* is where the danger lies." Lazarus assures the man that the group will keep an eye on Prints, and the team continues through the eastern fields for the next several hours, approaching the western shore of the Ustaloch by dusk and noticing five Giant Crabs and half a dozen undead Kuo-Toa along the water's edge. The group coordinates their attacks before Prints casts a *Fireball*, destroying eight of the creatures at once, after which Cash casts *Shatter* to kill another Crab and injure a fourth, Kahlan casts *Fire Bolt* to kill the fifth Crab, and Lazarus kills the final Crab with a crossbow bolt.

Having cleared the shore so quickly, Prints tries to call out to the team, but her wild magic surges, and pink bubbles spill out of her mouth instead of words; six seconds later, she grows two inches, and six seconds after that, she vanishes as she is physically teleported to the Astral Plane. There, she spots a Planar Raider populated with a large crew of figures, including the armored knight and the monk that the team faced at the farmhouse along the Bromkiln Byway as well as a third man wearing a cloak the color of midnight and grinning at her as it spots her. She then returns to the shore of the Ustaloch, where Lazarus catches her by the arms and nothing happens for the next six seconds, after which she transforms into a massive sunflower in a pot; six seconds later, she momentarily transforms back into her natural form before immediately transforming into a sunflower in a pot for another six seconds, after which she transforms back into her natural form again and begins to *Levitate*.

Six seconds later, a spectral shield materializes in front of Prints, forcing Lazarus several feet back from her, after which nothing appears to happen for the next six seconds; after that, the Sorcerer vanishes again as she is once more physically teleported to the Astral Plane, appearing on the deck of the Planar Raider next to the armored knight and the monk. She spots Pearce in the disguise she last saw him in among the figures on the ship, and the armored knight tells her: "It's only a matter of time. Live while you can, before your world burns." The Tabaxi then returns to the shore of the Ustaloch, where Lazarus catches her in the air and sets her down on the ground moments before a Death Slaad bursts out of the creek and attempts to attack Sado.

The Rogue shoots the creature with a crossbow bolt and casts *Hex* on it before Prints casts *Haste* on Sado, after which Kahlan misses with a pair of *Fire Bolts* and Cash misses with a *Guiding Bolt*; Sado then unleashes his Breath of the Dragon and punches the creature before going into a rage, after which the creature casts *Cloudkill*, hitting the entire party with a burst of necrotic gas and attempting to flee. Lazarus darts along the creekline and shoots the creature again, after which Prints strikes it with a *Lightning Bolt* and a pair of *Eldritch Blast*s, and Kahlan strikes the Slaad three times with her new rapier, delivering a devastating blow that she infuses with a degree of her psionic energy. Cash strikes the creature with his warhammer, after which Sado kills it with a pair of punches.

Having cast *Lightning Bolt*, Prints's wild magic surges again, and she becomes invisible; Lazarus telepathically suggests that she hold onto his arm, and she reappears after another minute. Jagger uses *Prestidigitation* to clean the viscera off of Kahlan before leading the party along the shoreline to a dock where they board his boat, the *Windbreeze*; while launching, Prints notices Endless sitting on the bow of the ship, learning from him that the undead creatures afflicting the loch at the result of a magical artefact submerged somewhere in the water. He explains that the Raven Queen wants the item removed and indicates the direction that Jagger should head; when Lazarus admits that Endless is part of the team, Prints notices a reaction from the Reaper.

Kahlan offers to resummon Mazikeen in the form of an octopuss in order for the familiar to search underwater, but the boat arrives at its destination off the southern coast of the island of Crookedstone in ten minutes, and Prints casts *Air Bubble* on herself, Kahlan, and Sado; they and Cash dive into the loch while Lazarus waits on the boat with Jagger, and the Cleric casts *Light* on his armor to illuminate the murky waters. The Tabaxi notices that her Visor is whirring and clicking as it zooms and focuses, quickly locating a glimmering amulet on the floor of the lake; the Sorcerer casts *Mage Hand*, retrieving a box that she realizes the Visor is allowing her to see through. She then notices that she can also see the ethereal echoes of creatures swimming through the water, as well as Endless's more complete form, and the Reaper smiles at her before saying: "Look who just awakened their Vestige."

The group returns to the surface and climbs aboard the boat, and Prints realizes as she does that the Visor is now allowing her to see into the Ethereal Plane; she also sees a ghostly woman along the southern shoreline of the nearby island, looking out across the water with an angered expression. Endless explains that the spirit returned to the Material Plane after death because something was stolen from it, and Prints opens the chest to reveal a faded heartstone inside. Jagger angles the boat close enough to the shore that Prints is able to use her *Mage Hand* to deliver the chest and its contents to the woman, whose previously-scarlet aura visibility lightens and settles as she calms.

Receiving the heartstone, the woman walks back into the forest and returns to a dilapidated hut, entering before disappearing; from the shoreline, Endless waves to the group and disappears as well.

### Session 40 (01/02/2023)

As the party sails across the Ustaloch toward the Nachosten River, Prints describes what happened during the moments that she vanished from the Material Plane, and Lazarus retrieves the amulet that Pearce gave him from Kahlan's bag of holding; Prints advises him not to use it at the moment but to keep it handy, and the Aasimar ties the item to his upper arm. Sado takes a position near the prow of the ship while Cash casts *Gust of Wind* to propel The *Windbreeze* along its course, and Kahlan joins Sado to allow Liam to experience the sensations of the water.

As the boat continues across the lake, Prints recounts for the party the tragic incident that led to her voluntary self-imposed exile from her tribe six years prior; Kahlan insists that the event was not the Sorcerer's fault, and Sado suggests the key to betterment is a willingness to ask for and accept help. Jagger suggests that the Goliath could have been a bard, and gives bottles of alcohol to Prints and Kahlan, who toast before drinking while Lazarus attempts to mop the deck. As the ship approaches the mouth of the River, Prints and Lazarus retire to the sleeping quarters in the aft section while Sado and Cash sleep on the deck above them; Jagger remains awake playing his lute and Kahlan keeps a brief watch, noticing a flock of oddly-shaped birds but no threats.

#### 11 Duscar 839 PD

The next morning, the party wakes as the ship enters the eastern foothills of the Ashkeeper Peaks, and Jagger informs the group that they are passing to the north of the Vesterglade. The water picks up speed as the boat enters a winding section of jagged stone, and Cash casts a *Gust of Wind* to slow the vessel as the party works the rigging to keep from colliding with the rocky protrusions, though Prints nearly loses her grip on the rope she's trying to hold. Sado also spots a creature in the distance in the direction of the Vesterglade with an odd number of heads and an uncertain number of legs, and around midday, the ship completes the length of the Nachosten River and reaches the Gehen Basin, which Sado recognizes as a place that his monastery sends its students to train; specifically, he knows of three monks from his temple who have swam the width of the Basin, and seven other monks who died while attempting to do so.

As the boat makes its way across the Basin, Kahlan and Lazarus notice a bulge in the water to the starboard side ahead of the ship, and the Aasimar alerts the rest of the party before spotting a second bulge of movement to the port side as well; Sado then locates both creatures and surmises that the ship is being circled as one of the creatures approaches the prow of the ship. The Goliath unleashes a breath weapon attack infused with lightning, after which the creature and two more like it emerge from the water and attack the ship; Liam informs Kahlan that the monstrosities are basilisks, and the Kahlan informs the rest of the party as Lazarus activates his Radiant Soul to manifest his spectral wings.

Prints promptly casts *Haste* on Cash before a basilisk unsuccessfully attempts to bite the Sorcerer and bludgeons Lazarus with its tail, though it is unable to grapple the Aasimar due to his attunement to the Kiss of the Changebringer; Cash casts *Thunderwave* at a third basilisk that emerges near the aft of the ship, knocking it back into the water before striking the second creature with a crossbow bolt. Sado delivers a devastating punch infused with lightning and two more strikes that stun the first basilisk, after which Jagger angles the prow of the ship into the injured creature; Kahlan then kills the stunned basilisk with her new rapier before striking the one that Cash shot, after which the secretions from the creatures' skin begins turning the Tiefling to stone.

The third basilisk dives beneath the aft of the ship and emerges from the port side, biting the Cleric twice before he retaliates with the *Wrath of the Storm*; Lazarus then strikes it with a psionically-infused punch, after which Prints casts a vicious *Lightning Bolt* that destroys both remaining basilisks. Kahlan attempts to pull the ring of mind shielding off her finger as she finishes turning to stone, and Lazarus deftly catches her to prevent her from toppling to the deck, lowering the two of them back to the ship before Jagger rushes to administer a potion of *Greater Restoration* to the petrified Fighter. Kahlan slowly returns to her natural form, after which she and Sado each manage to harvest a jar of basilisk oil; as she recovers, Lazarus jokes with her until she threatens to stab him with her father's dagger, which he playfully encourages her to do.

She does, absorbing him into the dagger and placing the weapon in its sheath. As the effects of *Haste* wear off, Cash retreats to the stern of the ship and takes a nap while the ship continues across the Basin; as evening descends half-a-dozen hours later, the party reaches the mouth of the Salzwelle River that cuts through the western stretch of the Ashkeeper Peaks, and Kahlan releases Lazarus from the dagger as the party settles in for dinner. Sado spots a group of eleven Monks, mostly Dragonborns and mostly children, camping near the northern bank of the River during one of their training sojourns, and recounts his own time being led on such an excursion by Thava along with Alistair; the group discusses the Goliath's surprising eloquence before retiring for the evening, while Kahlan and Lazarus compare the odd sensations of being petrified and trapped inside the dagger.

#### 12 Duscar 839 PD

The next morning, the party wakes to find the ship stopped along the riverbank, and Jagger warns the group that the final leg of the Salzwelle River will be the most dangerous before pulling up anchor and continuing onward. The boat soon enters a stretch of twisting whitewater rapids, and Cash casts a *Gust of Wind* again to slow the vessel as the party works the rigging to keep from colliding or capsizing; Prints nearly loses her grip on the rope she's trying to hold again, but Jagger pilots the boat expertly, spinning it across the water to avoid the rocks. As the intensity of the rapids increases, the team's resolve strengthens, and they successfully navigate the treacherous waters through the final bend out into Fevergulf Lake, where Lazarus finally becomes sick as the adrenaline wears off.

In the distance, Sado, Kahlan, and Cash spot the islands comprising the Eyes of the Lake, and the party realizes that they have fully entered Xhorhas within the Kryn Dynasty; Lazarus removes his Kingsguard daggers and places them in Kahlan's bag of holding. Within a few hours, Jagger pulls the boat within two hundred yards of the smaller southeastern island, at the center of which the group spots an ancient, towering tree; Kahlan sends Mazikeen to scout the island, but the owl sees only that the massive tree is surrounded by what looks like a natural moat. The group formulates a method of crossing the water without swimming – Prints casts *Fly* on herself and Cash casts *Levitate* on himself, Jagger casts *Levitate* on Lazarus, while Sado uses his Wings Unfurled and carries Kahlan.

Landing on the shore of the island, the party begins hiking into the lush forest toward the center of the island.

### Session 41 (01/16/2023)

Lazarus connects telepathically with Kahlan, Prints, and Sado before he and the Monk stealth into the trees, and the party makes its way toward a massive, ancient tree standing above the rest of the forest; Kahlan sends Mazikeen ahead to scout again, and the owl spots the natural moat surrounding the smaller stone island from which the ancient tree grows, as well as more than a dozen people standing around the tree in prayer. As the party approaches the edge of the moat and spots the collection of people on the stone island, Cash notices that the leaves of the tree are pure white and feels nearly overcome by the beauty of the island. Scouting the tree from above, Mazikeen spots a hollow at the point where the trunk branches about 25 feet from the ground and attempts to land among the top branches, but the moment she touches the bark of the tree, she dissipates, severing her connection to Kahlan.

The team attempts to retreat and regroup, but Cash refuses to move; as Lazarus suggests that he back away from the tree, the Cleric hears the Rogue telling him to move toward the tree. The Cleric remains stationary, confused as to how to approach the tree, and as the party watches the people on the island, four large stones rise up from the water of the moat to form a footbridge. Sado is unable to stop Cash as the Cleric approaches the moat and begins crossing the bridge, at which point Kahlan casts *Mind Sliver*, breaking the Cleric out of his trance with a minor degree of psychic damage. Cash's reaction draws the attention of an older man in elaborate robes who approaches the bridge; the Cleric asks how the tree goes from the stone, and the man politely explains that the tree has stood on the island for thousands of years, having been planted there by an ancient god who remains there still.

Lazarus surmises that whatever has the cult of the tree enthralled is unrelated to the egg, suggesting that they may be able to remove the egg with the cult's permission, and Prints speaks with the man to learn that the cult is merely basking in the aura of happiness generated by the tree. The Sorcerer asks if the party may approach, and the man invites them across the bridge; Prints, Sado, and Cash cross the moat, and the man leads the Tabaxi to the tree, where she casts *Mage Hand*. The moment that the spectral hand touches the tree, it vanishes, and the man laughs gently as he places his hand to the trunk with no reaction; Prints then places her palm to the tree, which feels almost like stone rather than wood, and gets the sense that the tree is also something more than a tree.

Prints then asks if she can climb the tree, and the man suggests that she ask the tree's permission; she does, and is overwhelmed by a sense of safety and a desire to climb. Lazarus suggests that he could attempt to telepathically connect with the tree, but the Tabaxi quickly ascends the branches, which shift to catch and help her, until she reaches the hollow, where she feels a familiar cold sensation; reaching into the hollow, she finds nothing, and proceeds to dive into the opening instead, falling into absolute darkness for what feels like more than a minute before landing on what appears to be the ground. Within the extradimensional space contained inside the tree, she finds a glowing copper dragon egg floating amidst a featureless void, and activates her visor to spot hundreds of ethereal tendrils emerging from the object.

Outside, the rest of the party watches the tree shake and rumble, and the older man returns to his position in the circle surrounding the tree. Lazarus questions if Prints was just sacrificed to the tree, and Kahlan suggests that the must have faith that Endless is with the Sorcerer, at which point the Reaper appears behind the two, reminding them that the tasks before them can only be completed if the team works together. Lazarus asks if they need to enter the tree along with Prints, but Endless insists that he isn't saying anything directly, dropping a stone instead that the Aasimar recovers to find the words THAT WOULD BE AGAINST THE RULES carved into it; agreeing to approach the tree, Kahlan casts *Invisibility* on herself and makes her way precariously across the footbridge while Lazarus attempts to telepathically call out to the older man in order to let him know that they are not attempting to ambush anyone.

The Rogue immediately suffers a massive psychic injury as a cacophony of voices shriek within his mind simultaneously; as Kahlan invisibly joins Sado, Cash begins climbing the tree to help Prints and is brutally attacked by the spiked branches, but makes his way to the hollow and dives inside as well. Lazarus heals himself and enters a rage before crossing the bridge, passing a cultist who swings his scimitar at the Aasimar and misses; the man follows and swings again as Kahlan briefly manifests metallic protective wings in an attempt to shield Lazarus, but the attack strikes the Rogue, who calls back that the team does not intend to damage the tree or any of the people on the island. The older man, however, announces: "We will protect our tree beyond any means necessary. Too many have approached, and you will *stop here!*"

He casts a devastating *Inflict Wounds* on Lazarus, who barely remains conscious, before instructing the rest of the cult to "Lay down your lives for the Ancient, and defend the tree!" Sado immediately shoves one acolyte into the water of the moat, approaching another cultist and shoving him off the stone island as well, then killing a third with a single punch and injuring a fourth; Kahlan casts *Sanctuary* on Lazarus before attacking one of the fanatics and killing him with a pair of rapier strikes, after which the remaining nine cultists surround and attack Kahlan and Sado while Lazarus *Misty Step*s back to the opposite side of the moat and drinks a healing potion.

The older man casts *Command* on Kahlan and orders her to jump into the moat, but she resists the spell and strikes the man with a pair of devastating rapier attacks, killing him; moments later, his mouth opens as an oozing black shade crawls out, and Kahlan continues to attack it before killing another acolyte as Sado goes into a rage and hurls two more cultists off the island into the water. From his vantage on the opposite side of the moat, Lazarus sees movement in the water as a creature lurks beneath the surface, devouring the bodies falling from the stone island, and he telepathically informs Kahlan and Sado of his observation. The remaining six cultists attack the Tiefling and the Goliath as Lazarus drops to a knee, steadies his aim, and fires a devastating crossbow shot that strikes the shade in the throat; it attempts to attack Kahlan but misses as the Fighter strikes and destroys it with a pair of rapier attacks, and Sado kills four more cultists with unarmed attacks.

Inside the extradimensional space within the tree, Prints approaches the egg as the ethereal tendrils lash out at her, dodging them nimbly with the assistance of the Visor; moments later, Cash appears from the darkness as well, casting *Levitate* on himself to slow his descent and taking a healing potion as he approaches the egg as well. He then casts *Light* on his warhammer as he feels his armor being struck, and he surmises that Prints is more experienced and better equipped to handle the situation; the Sorcerer then takes hold of the egg, suffering a small degree of necrotic damage as her eyes turn black and a massive creature in the shape of a tree emerges from the darkness, struggling to hold onto the egg. Prints insists: "You have guarded and held onto this egg for many years, but it is time for us to take it so that we can put an end to the threat once and for all." The creature releases the egg, answering: "What you hold can spell the end of this entire existence. I entrust it to you as it was entrusted to me."

Prints takes Cash's arm as the Cleric casts *Gust of Wind* to propel the pair out of the void; they emerge from the hollow in the tree, at which point Cash casts *Sacred Flame* and Prints casts two beams of *Eldritch Blast* at a fanatic attacking Kahlan, after which the Tiefling stabs and kills the man with her rapier; she and Sado then attack the final man simultaneously, killing him with a rapier attack and a devastating punch before Kahlan warns the Tabaxi and the Genasi that something is prowling the waters of the moat. Cash *Levitate*s himself and Prints across the moat as Sado lifts Kahlan and the Fighter uses her Telekinetic Movement to propel the Monk across the water, where she hugs Lazarus and casts *Cure Wounds* on him; Sado also approaches the Rogue and tells him that he did well, to which Lazarus nods and says nothing.