Parameters Change, But Duty Remains

Fate's Chosen find(16:02) the heart of the Grimm, and, at the base of the heart, a man, who turns out to be Atlas. He asks what they're doing there, whether they were sent by McGrath to mock him. When they assure him they're not, he tells them that McGrath and several of his men came for Lorekeeper, and he's been tasked to guard it. Several of the men are dead, but they did get the gem. McGrath also told Atlas that he could find him in Talira if he wanted.

They discuss Lorekeeper(23:21), and the group tells Atlas that they are seeking it in order to save the world. He asks them to take him with them to Talira. He also tells them that they can't safely teleport from inside the hopeless garden, so they arrange for Captain Burke to meet them in Wolfecrest in a few days.

They decide to bed down(40:18) for the night in Atlas' treehouse. When Kesra sees that the treehouse is 200 feet off the ground, she and Alexander decide to camp out on the ground. However, when they are unable to magically create a protective place to sleep, they wind up coming up anyway.

Meanwhile(50:17), Leona asks Atlas about the attack. Alexander and Kesra arrive, with Kesra already quite drunk. Elden and Atlas take the first watch. Elden commiserates with Atlas' sense of duty to Lorekeeper. On the second watch, Leona goes through Alexander's bag, digging out the Bloodstone and attuning to it.

She gets a horrible headache(1:06:57), then gets a vision of a man and his wife. She also gets a view of a map of the continent with two faint pin-pricks of light representing her and Kesra, and an extremely bright dot of light in the capital.

Leona wakes up Alexander(1:13:43) for his watch, and tells him that she thinks her mother and someone named Azarkai may be looking for Leona and Kesra. Alexander has heard of Azarkai, and tells Leona that he works with the Mad Lich King. She also tells Alexander that this McGrath that Atlas mentioned is the one who had Kesra investigated.

Atlas wakes up(1:26:25) in a cold sweat. Leona pries a little, and learns that he had a nightmare of being defeated by the same half-orc fighter that McGrath had with him. He tells Leona that the woman had a tattoo of a bird on her arm.

Before she goes to bed(1:38:13), Leona asks what kind of weapon the or was wielding, and he tells her that it was a great sword. In the morning, The 5 adventurers pack up and head back out, guided by Atlas. On their way out, Alexander examines the book that Lorekeeper was in, but finds it to be gibberish. They return to the elven sanctuary to pick up their horses. Alexander then teleports them to Wolfecrest.

In Wolfecrest(1:51:02), Atlas meets Xytharia, and they all quickly head to a bath to get cleaned up. Leona contacts Aureo to check in. Xytharia asks Atlas where he's from, and recognizes him as "light-speaker", since she is from I'olynne too. She also gets to know Elden. Atlas reveals to her that they just came from the place where the Raven Queen ascended.

The grand mistress finds them there(2:12:38), welcoming them to Wolfecrest. She asks Xytharia for her assistance with something, and leaves again. The group discusses their plan for going to Talira. Atlas and Alexander go to find Atlas some warmer clothes, while Elden, Kesra, and Leona go on a quick shopping trip.

Leona tells Kesra(2:26:22) that she believes that the half-orc fighter was Kesra's former lover. Kesra tells her she's quite sure that it's not the case. Leona also goes and has a conversation with Atlas, asking him to show this woman mercy if she's being controlled, and he agrees to allow her to try to break the control, if possible.

Leona returns to her room(2:38:05) and tries for a vision, which she succeeds in. Afterwards, however, she pays the price for having achieved the vision - 3 days of her soul trapped, floating, in the abyss.