In Obsidian's Shadow

Late at night on the road to Zandaria, Aureo and Elden have a conversation. He tells Elden he's been thinking about how to get Zanelor and Analena both safely out of the castle. Elden tells him he understands how difficult the situation is for him. He also admits to Aureo his fraternization with his captain. They discuss duty and what it requires of them.

That night, Leona prays to Sarenrae for a vision, wishing for wisdom to do the right thing in what's ahead. She gets a vision of a large obsian building within Zandaria, heavily guarded. She pushes deeper, into the Great Hall, seeing a great black throne, before her vision shifts, and she finds herself in the abyss for 6 minutes. She finally gets slammed back into her body, feeling impossibly cold.

Kesra calls in Aureo for some emergency cuddling, and he tells her she shouldn't have risked a vision, because he knows all about Zandaria, having grown up there.

Later, Aureo pulls them all into a strategy discussion about the process of getting into Zandaria. He walks them through all the various checkpoints and how they will get through them, and then the secret entrances into the castle, and where they need to get to within the castle. They decide to rescue Zanelor first, then Analena. Aureo tells them that they don't have to go with him to do this, but they all say they won't back down. Kesra does, however complain loudly about what a stupid plan it is.

After their discussion, Kesra asks the others how to figure out what a magic item is. Aureo shows her how to activate the 1-inch metal cube, which turns out to be an instant fortress. They all settle down for the night inside of it. Elden calls Val before going to sleep.

Leona casts sending to Alexander, asking if he would be interested in joining them. She also tries to contact Zanelor and Analena to tell them that they're coming for them, but they don't seem to connect. She then tries to contact Soren, but he seems to be on another plane, and her message gets lost along the way. Then, finally she contacts Salix to ask her about a flower. Alexander replies, saying that he will meet them there.

Leona also hears back from Salix, who tells her that someone was looking for her, and had her picture. She casts another sending, asking her for more details. Salix gives a brief description, but says that he seemed quite forgettable. They meet up with Alexander and brief him on their plan.

They work their way through the city of Zandaria. They get several rooms at an inn for the night, and the following day they can hear festivities starting. They see an impressive display of military force, so much so that they must have been drawn in from the war. They head into the inner castle district, and then into the castle itself. They run into their first guard, but a quick Hold Person from Leona, and Mute from Alexander quickly incapacitate him.

They continue on, but quickly come across another 8 guards - Aureo recognizes the leader of this group, though, as a man named Valentin. Valentin quickly tells his men to hold, and he and Aureo pretend to have planned to meet. Valentin offers to escort Aureo to wherever he needs to go, catching up quickly under their breaths as they go. Aureo tells the others that Valentin has been one of his guards since he was born.

With Valentin escorting them, they are able to easily make it through the great halls of the castle. Along the way, they see a painting of Quan'Mal on what is very clearly Kesra's horse. The group charges into the dungeon.