Campaign 1 • Chapter 02

"*The Dread Prince Salakai is hellbent on his purpose. He has worked towards it tirelessly for a long time, and it will take a lot more than a simple setback to stop him. You have dealt him a blow, this is true, but there is much to be done, and he knows you to be a threat now. He will not underestimate you again. Fear not, you are well suited to the task; after all, this is why I chose you. This is your purpose.*"
 ― The White Lady

## A Looming Shadow

The party spends the night at Eboncaer. They are advised by Dormund Bharron to report their findings in the temple to the queen, and they therefore decide to head towards Silverthorne City, the capital of the Elven Empire and the Northern Alliance. They set out the following morning, following the road west.

A couple of days into their travel, they come across a stranger waiting for them on the path. The stranger, a pale elf-like woman with white skin and strange markings on her face, reveals herself to be the one that sent the party the visions that brought them to Hedgewood. Calling herself only as The White Lady, she talks with them about the threat the dreadborn pose, in particular about Salakai and his goal to bring his people back from exile. She urges them to rest, and says she will contact them again when the time was right.

After The White Lady leaves, the party continues towards Silverthorne. Along the way, they are ambushed by a pack of goblins who they promptly dispatch, sparing only one. The goblin, Zugzug, swears a life debt to Custos and vows never to leave his side. With their new companion in tow, they continue onward eventually reaching the sprawling metropolis. They are stopped at the gate by the guards, who refuse to let Castiel, a human, into the city. Fortunately, Alyssa Lynnwel steps in and takes them to the citadel in the middle of the city, where they meet Queen Cassandra. When they enter the royal hall, the queen is in the middle of a heated debate with a number of high-ranking earls and advisors, discussing the Separatists and the ill-timed attacks by the dreadborn.

After the council is ended, Cassandra greets the party and discusses the events near Eboncaer with them. Also present is Evan Cairne, Grandmaster of the Crimson Veil, who informs them about rumours of a deadly plague spreading through the coastal villages, known as the Wither. The queen asks them to investigate the plague as a favour to her, and also tells them to visit Aldred Dwent, High Arcanist of the Iron Stylus, for more information about the dreadborn and the rifts.

When they visit Aldred, he informs them that the barrier between the material plane and The Slip was beginning to crack, and that Salakai had only accelerated the process. Rifts were beginning to open up across the region, letting through small bands of dreadborn. Aldred warns them that the barrier would only continue to deteriorate, and that a large enough rift like the one Salakai had attempted to open would collapse it entirely. He inspects the soulstone, the device used by Elias to close the first rift near Eboncaer, and tells them he will try to reproduce improved versions from the notes that the deceased arcanist had left behind.

The party spends some time resting in Silverthorne and purchasing new supplies, until eventually they recieve a new set of visions from The White Lady, directing them northeast to an abandoned keep in the mountains.