Big Brother

The group receives a letter, delivered by an older elven man by the name of Archibald, from Grand Mistress Adelaide Wolfewood. It offers to pay them a sum of gold to go find a small group of imperial soldiers that have deserted, and bring them back to Wolfecrest. The staff sergeant Killian Hassan, which Kesra recognizes as the same last name of Realm's Justice Ever Hassan, who rules Westbourne.

Leona goes and tells Marshall and Aureo about the letter, and Aureo recognizes the name of the Staff Sergeant, as someone who used to serve under him. She also lets Deirdre and Maudit know about the new job.

As Maudit heads downstairs, Valwyn grabs him and tells him that he has a job to do, and they expect him to do it. She tells him to get ahold of her or someone else via the stone, and says her goodbye with a poof and an origami dragon.

At the bar downstairs, Kesra studies the letter, learning that the job is time-sensitive, as the soldiers may be in danger. Aureo tells her that the Staff Sergeant is the son of Ever Hassan. He and Marshall decide to come along, and Aureo says he does have one stop that he wants to make on his way out. The group goes looking for healing potions, finding themself in a magic shop called Gilmore's, run by two tieflings, who introduce themselves and Malamir (who also goes by Harmony) and Gilmore, who were recommended by Xytharia. The only thing they find of interest are a pair of bracers, which are out of their price range.

Meanwhile, Aureo and Leona stop at a house, where Aureo opens a hidden vault that is filled with treasure. Leona finds a letter addressed to "My Little Bird", which she recognizes as being from Roman. She also finds a locket, with a picture of Aureo and Ana, 2 more letters from Roman, a letter from Aureo, and a letter from the Empress. She takes the 3 letters from Roman and the locket.

The group joins back up, and Aureo hands Marshall a bag full of diamonds, telling him that these are not for him, they're for the others. They head out of the city toward the fort where the soldiers are hiding.

Kesra has a conversation with Red along the way, where Red admits that, when she's not serving Kesra as a horse, she's an angel on Mount Celestia, and she's currently serving something like a penance. She tells Kesra that the Veldahar, to which she's an heir, is actually a crown, which used to belong to Quan Mal Macierre.

Marshall finds some old tracks from the soldiers, and they follow them. Aureo tells Marshall that he grew up with Killian Hassan, and he feels responsible in some ways for the group deserting. They head into a valley called the Valley of the Fallen Lords, about which Leona regales the group about the history. They move stealthily into the mountain, bypassing several traps and finding another trap that was already set off and killed someone. They find a tall elven man, whose eyes fall on Maudit.

The elven man welcomes them, introducing himself as Adhab. He tells them that he heard the death of some of the soldiers a few days previously. He's been poking around in the lower parts of the caves for about a week, looking for relics or anything of interest. He tells them that he suspected he would run into Maudit, informing them that he is a blood relative, pulling up his sleeves to reveal scales on his arms. It turns out, his father is Zephaliar, and he and Maudit are half-brothers.

The group continues to look for the soldiers, with Adhab coming along. As they press on, they get attacked by a group of spiders. After dispatching the spiders, they find a second dead body, wrapped up in spider webs. They continue on, finding an ancient banshee. Killing the banshee, they find 3 people lying there, unconscious: a half-orc female, a human male, and a half-elf male.

Kesra quickly explains the situation to them, and Aureo encourages them to come along back to Wolfecrest. They agree, and the group has a quick look around before beginning to make their way out of the caves. As they head out, Aureo and Marshall try to help Kesra learn to use Lay on Hands, but she fails. Leona pulls Aureo aside and tells him about the "My Pally and Me" book, and they begin to plot how to give it to Kesra.

The group returns to Wolfecrest, and turn the soldiers over to the guards at the keep, where they are given their reward money. Aureo tells Leona that he and Marshall are probably going to go see Analena soon. Leona sends the book to Kesra, and Deirdre goes to take a nap.

Maudit and Adhab talk in Maudit's room. They discuss Zephaliar, and Adhab tells him that the two of them pose a great danger to Zephaliar, but he's not sure how. He tells Maudit a little about his own mother, and Maudit asks about what happens when his magic backfires, and about Adhab's motivations. One thing Adhab tells him is that he's looking for the sword of Kas.