Arc 2: Within Endless Tunnels

**Within Endless Tunnels** is the second story arc in the main campaign of Kalatos. It follows the newly-formed party as they investigate a growing otherworldly threat beneath the town of Mellivald.

## Summary (by session)

### My Brother's Innkeeper

The party runs from the goblin encampment, carrying the body of Moss and leading the captured travellers to safety. Scathir leads in performing a burial ceremony for their fallen ally, who is then covered with a mass of plants. The group then sets up camp for the night and takes a rest. In the night, they are awoken by the ogre from earlier and they defend against its attack. After taking it down, they finish their rest and continue on their way to Mellivald.

The group arrives just as night is falling and are immediately greeted with the sound of church bells ringing. In the streets they find a curfew has been instituted and are then ushered to the Poured Pitcher inn. In the inn, they converse with a few patrons and the innkeeper, a balding man with some stringy white hair and a crazy demeanor. They rent two rooms for the four of them and take a rest. Partway through their rest, a few of them are awoken by tremors in the ground, and upon walking into the hall, they overhear a ruckus in another room. They head back to bed.

In the morning, they revisit the room and enter to find it completely overturned and unoccupied. In the wreckage, a broken finger made of stone and metal. When they ascend the steps and enter the tavern portion of the inn, they find that the innkeeper is missing. They speak to a few patrons waiting for him to arrive and find information on shepherds who have gone missing in the last few days. They head to the barracks, where they are able to talk their way into gaining access to the scenes of the disappearances, which are under watch by the Luminguard.

### The Streets of Mellivald

They speak to a few Luminguard, who inform them of a few of the missing people: a carpenter, the shepherds, and a worker at the Lawmaster's Estate. They then agree to split off and investigate the scenes in pairs.

Valarin and Elsi go outside of town to the shepherds' home. While there, they find the house undisturbed, but the sheep missing from their pen. In addition, they find a portion of the fence destroyed. Hoping to find the sheep, the two attempt to follow their trail into the woods but quickly lose track of it. Instead of going back, they continue walking deeper into the woods, where they find a bear who does not want to be pet. They scare the bear away and return to town.

Kali and Scathir locate the home of the carpenter and blast down the door to get in. Inside, they find a normal-looking home with a safe in the basement, which they leave. They go to the Lawmaster's Estate and find that the basement, where the kitchen appears to be, is a complete mess. They are unable to find any clues, but Kali does recall that some elementals are able to pass through stone and earth without a trace. After doing some light looting, they return to the main streets to meet up with the other two. Upon sharing information, the four of them begin walking to the church of Ara, where they heard the families of the missing and those who work in the estate are being temporarily housed.

### Facing the Unknown

In the church, the group finds the dirt floor covered by mats and cots, as well as people working and writing. They find lawmaster Beauregard Veolini collaborating with another official. They speak to him and find that two Luminguard were also taken in the earthquakes. They also find that a young man named Anden Chergoba was taken weeks ago, but has returned and is currently in a strange sleep. With few other leads in the mystery, they decide to take a look at this boy and see if they can gain any information from him.

When they reach the home of the boy, they find his mother, Beldia, who lets them into the house. She speaks with them for a few minutes and eventually leads them into a bedroom where Anden is asleep. They find he is breathing, but not responsive in any way. Scathir casts a *Protection from Evil and Good* spell on the boy. Upon doing so, Scathir has a vision of travelling through tunnels beneath Mellivald, though is unable to make out many details from the vision. The boy's eyes open and a mass of twisting black, red, and blue ribbons emerges and coalesces in a cloud above the bed. The mass flies into Scathir, who then attacks the party. Kali defends with her dragon's breath, which sets fire to a portion of the wall. The group knocks Scathir out, which pulls the spirit out of his body. It flies through the burning wall, and after Valarin runs out to spot it, it disappears into the forest.

After healing Scathir, collecting a few personal means, and making sure Anden is safe, they all escape the now burning home and lay the awakened boy on the ground. He tells the group he fell down a well and after wandering through tunnels looking for a way to escape he stumbled upon an ancient forgotten city. The city was entirely abandoned, save for a number of monsters. Somehow, he accidentally activated two dead robotic beings which nursed him back to health until they had to run from these monsters. They ran into a deeper tunnel, away from the city, and eventually came across a pool of some kind. Apparently, one of the robotic beings came in contact with the pool and attacked the other two. It was at this point that he lost consciousness. Thanking the Chergobas, the party gives them a high sum of gold to help rebuild their burning home and return to the Poured Pitcher for the night.

When they arrive, they find it has been taken under watch of the Luminguard, as the innkeeper is missing. They are redirected to the church, where those without a place to stay are being housed. On their way to the church, they feel the ground begin to shake. A few of them notice glass breaking down the street and they run over to investigate. They find that within a jeweler's shop, there is a xorn tethered to a spherical vessel and a robotic being threatening the shopkeeper. All of them except for Scathir jump in and attempt to speak to it, but discover it does not speak the same language, save for a few elvish words. After failing a diplomatic approach, Valarin proceeds to sever the binding between the vessel and the xorn, and the being attacks. In the fight, the jeweler escapes. The group defeats the being. After it is knocked unconscious, a similar mass of red, black, and blue ribbons leaves its body and flies up through the ceiling.

### All's Well that's... In a Well?

The group investigates the jeweler's shop. The xorn, who has continued to devour the shop's valuables, ignores them until Scathir makes a move. Fortunately, he is able to talk it into leaving in return for some of the jewels stolen from the Lawmaster's Estate. It disappears beneath the ground. They look at the spherical vessel, but are unable to find an entrance to it. Valarin begins to leave, and when she is in the street, she notices a group of Luminguard coming towards the shop. She ducks behind a cart on the side of the road as they approach. When they reach the shop, they take control of the shop and the party returns to the church. At the church, Valarin takes a moment to perform a solo on her mandolin. They all take a rest.

In the morning, they have a brief discussion with Veolini and head to the well mentioned by Anden the previous day. They are able to locate it fairly quickly, and decide to descend into it. Elsi and Valarin go in first and eventually the latter discovers an underwater passage that leads into a carved chamber. She returns, informs the group of her find, and after Scathir and Kali climb down into the well with a secured rope, she leads them all down through the passage. In this chamber, they leave the water and walk into a carved hall with unfamiliar inscriptions above the entrance. They find it leads to another constructed hall with holes embedded every ten feet. The group finds that when triggered by a pressure plate on the ground, these holes release a toxic gas. By holding their breath, they are able to make it to the other end. Past this point, they enter another, circular room with inscribed runes on the walls and two urns on either side of a door. They attempt to discern any purpose to these things but are unable to until Elsi decides to play a trick and cast a *minor illusion* spell. The magic causes the runes on the wall to glow for a few seconds and then fade. They all try various spells to open the door, but eventually they find that when a spell is cast into both urns and on the door simultaneously, the door opens.

### Another Door Opens

Upon stepping through the open door, the group finds a skeleton wearing armor, although they can't find anything of note on its person. They continue down some stairs for a while, until they enter a wider hallway. In this portion, they activate the release of a purplish cloud, which causes Kali to see a spider with a human head and a body made of molten rock barreling down the hallway, quickly coming closer. The rest do not see it and are able to pull her forward through the illusion.

The next room is a very large, high-ceiling entrance hall supported by massive columns, one of which has been knocked down. Closer to the opposite side of the chamber, there is an empty brazier bolted to the ground and two large statues of warriors flanking a set of tall, metal doors. When the group approaches, they find that the statues move and speak in an unfamiliar language, similar to the one that the robotic being from the jeweler's shop spoke. After a few minutes of attempting diplomacy, the carved snakes from around one set of columns appear slithering behind the group. They go on the defensive, and a fight ensues. After they destroy the constructs, they investigate the door and find it is sealed shut. They try to open it by taking the bolts of the hinges out but it remains in place. They gleam it is probably magical to some degree and search for another angle. Scathir recalls the previous door and casts a spell .They find the brazier reacts to the spell, and with more spells cast, the glow of the metal intensifies. Valarin lights a flame within the bowl and a green flame ignites, causing the doors to slowly open.

### The Looming City

On the other side of the doors, the group finds an immensely massive cavern dominated by a city enclosed by a wall and illuminated by a green river, rising upwards on a hill in the center of the cave. They see that they are a few hundred feet up and a path winds down the sloped wall of the cave downwards. At the bottom, they see a gate guarded by two of the same stone beings from the jeweler's shop. They stealth down and almost make it, with the beings only being alerted to their presence when Scathir fails to climb over a pile of fallen rocks. He steps out as they approach, followed by Valarin. The beings, brandishing blades on the end of their arm and hovering shields of green energy, stand off with them and speak in the same mysterious language until one of them steps forward and begins speaking in a broken common. Scathir speaks with them and finds they are indeed the ones taking people from Mellivald because ever since their original creators, the people of Cyroloth, died off long ago in a war, they need more people who know how to produce more of them. This will allow an entity known as Eixhos to expand and be free from its home.

While this is happening, Scathir signals to Kali to sneak down the slope to stand close behind the beings, hoping to get the jump on them. She does so, waits for a minute at the bottom, and attacks the one that is silent. They both begin to defend, and the rest of the party jumps into the fray. By use of a grapple and a rope, Kali and Valarin are able to bind the one that speaks common, and with a spell that causes a stalactite to fall from the ceiling, Scathir crushes the other. Its eyes briefly change from red to green and then extinguish altogether and a mass of red, blue, and black ribbons emerges from its skull. Upon the beings' and the spirit's defeat, Valarin investigates the remains of the crushed one and finds the stone is unfamiliar but filled with tiny green crystalline shards. She takes some shards, some gears, and the now inactive shield. She also investigates the remains of the spirit and finds the color has left the ribbons and they have become translucent.

The group intimidates the captured being and are able to extract the name of the stone is taiyghrock, and it is imbued with a magical force that propels them. Scathir then casts a *Protection from Evil and Good* spell on the being. Another mass of red, blue and black ribbons emerges from it and it knocks Scathir unconscious. They all defeat this one, too, and heal their fallen ally. They then speak to the stone being and find quite a bit of information:

Apparently, it had indeed been a part of this empty city, called Cyroloth. When its original people died off, the remaining stone beings were only able to sustain themselves for a little while, until they shut off. A few were then awoken by a lost child, whom they protected from monsters of the deep. They came across a pool of some sort that was in an area bordering on the Dark Plane and were corrupted by otherworldly powers that are extensions of a figure known as Eixhos. These corrupted beings then woke their sleeping allies in waves and brought them to the pool so that they could become vessels of Eixhos as well. Though Eixhos has not taken all of the beings yet, there are not many left, so they are emerging to find people who can make more. With the army of Eixhos growing larger, an invasion of the surface world is imminent, and Eixhos may soon be able to take control of the entire world. This would somehow allow it to escape its home world and enter into the Material Plane.

The being pledges an alliance to the group, promising to lead them to Eixhos. It is given by Valarin the name Jimik (which is quickly changed to Jimbob by the rest of the party).

### Off the Beaten Path

The group takes a rest. Kali and Valarin take first watch and notice that a new troop of three stone beings approaching the gate below. They watch as one of them remains at the gate and the other two return to the city. Valarin casts a *Disguise Self* spell to look like the being that Scathir killed previously, as well as a *Comprehend Languages* spell. She walks down the path and interacts with the solitary being. By communicating through gestures, she is able to convey that one being on patrol was killed by intruders who then took the body and left. She then returned to camp and Jimik took second watch.

During the night, Scathir has a vision. When the group wakes, he finds that one of his daggers had been replaced by a key made of a gray metal. He does not reveal the apparent importance of this, though he is clearly ecstatic.

The group descends the remaining part of the path and is able to sneak around the being guarding the gate by climbing on top of the rock surrounding it. They pass over the bridge that crosses over the river and enter the city. Within it, they find that it is a city bigger than any that some of them had seen before. They find that the architecture is archaic, but somewhat derivative of that of the Corvistan Republic. Jimik leads them through the city for quite a while. Scathir notices that they are being followed by some sort of bluish-grey furred creature. He blindly attacks with a dagger, and the creature responds by pouncing on him from the rooftops. They all defend against it. Valarin is knocked out in one hit, and Elsi destroys it with a *Scorching Ray* spell. Kali tastes a bit of the partially cooked flesh from the creature and promptly vomits. Valarin is healed, Scathir performs a *Ceremony* spell on the creature, and they all take a brief rest before continuing on. After a little more walking, they come across a hole in the city, about 20 feet in diameter, descending at an angle into the ground. Jimik steps in, followed shortly by the rest of the party.

### In Deep

Before travelling farther into the tunnel, the group decides it may be best to travel in darkness and without any loud armor. So, no torch is lit, Elsi doffs their armor, and they all tie themselves together so that those without darkvision do not get lost. Upon entering, they find the path is dotted with the remains of collapsed buildings, presumably from the ground that used to sit on the mouth of the tunnel. They make their way down an uneven vertical descent and end up falling, but are alright and continue on in the dark.

After a few hours of walking, the path opens into a cylindrical chamber with a wide path spiralling downwards along each wall. Every few feet, a similar tunnel branches off from the main path. They traverse the spiralling path and eventually spot a light and voices from lower in the chamber. They hide and watch as a group of four reptilian humanoids enter the chamber, carrying a torch and speaking in an unfamiliar language. The creatures travel downwards, and the group follows. They see the creatures take from a pile of pearly spherical objects and return upwards, coming towards the party. They attempt to hide but do not do so and they come face to face with these creatures. With the use of a number of spells, Scathir masquerades a vessel of Gorem and they are able to pass by without issue. Jimik eventually takes them out of the chamber through one of the offshoot tunnels and they carry on.

The rest of the day goes by without issue. The taiyghrock that composed the earlier parts of cavern fades and is replaced by other sorts of rock. Valarin makes a point to collect as many crystals and gemstones as possible. They group rests, and Valarin and Scathir take a watch to converse about their pasts. Scathir reveals that his two-faced worship of multiple gods is useful for him to find a place in society where one may not necessarily be available for someone of his identity. Valarin speaks of the folktale of house Grenjon, around which the society of her home is based. They sleep.

Nothing of interest happens the next day. When the group beds town to rest, Valarin takes watch. She spots a light coming around the corner and hears a voice singing:

*Through winding caves I make my way,*

*Dorem keeth al-barriee.*

*And though I have no path to lay,*

*Dorem keeth al-barriee.*

*So 'til the sun shines its last ray,*

*Dorem keeth al-barriee.*

*It's on this path I'm cursed to stay,*

*Dorem keeth al-barriee.*

She wakes the rest of the group and they prepare for what is coming. The light rounds the corner and they all see it is a torch mounted on a cart, pushed by a hunched woman. She sees the group and rushes over excitedly. She pulls a bottle out of the cart and uncorks it, resulting in a rush of cloth and canvass to swirl around the tunnel and create a crude living space, including a round table and a few chairs. They sit at the table and the woman gives them tea as they discuss a number of things through divination magic:

* As she makes tea, she makes a comment about how Kali's people "don't want her".
* She mentions a "father" or "sire" as well as a "son" in relation to Scathir that want him to return soon.
* She tells Elsi all they need is the mask and it will lead them to their goal.
* When Valarin asks about a being known as "the Lord of the Gods" , she says there have been many with this title, but the current holder is from deep within the Lethnass Wood.
* She tells them that Eixhos is a weapon, created by a child of the Aeroloth from a piece of the fallen Hysha. She says to quell the threat, the group must "destroy the ring" and "retrieve the piece".

Upon this last comment, she stands up and corks on the bottle in a panic, send all of the fabrics and furniture to inside of it. She then says a goodbye and pushes her cart into the darkness at a near run, vanishing into the shadows.

### Dangerous Pursuers

The group finishes their rest. Upon waking, they continue deeper into the tunnels. After walking for a few hours, the path starts to gradually decline. Eventually, they are able to make out a small light further down the slope. As soon as they see it, they feel the tunnel start to shake. Scathir then notices the mouth of what he assumes to be the worm that made the tunnel approaching from the path they came, not fast, but steadily gaining. The group then takes off in a full sprint down the shaft. Jimik directs them to go towards the light. They all barely make it to the light, where they find a small hole that leads to a separate dimly-lit chamber.

They cross through the hole and find it is a cavern filled with crystals, mostly in some shade of bluish-green, ranging in size from a few inches to more than a dozen feet in length. They see it is lit by small, drifting masses of water emitting a low glow. Valarin spends a while breaking off a sizable crystal. They then travel onwards into the cave for about an hour, until they come across an apparent end to the crystal vein. At this end, there is an opening into a massive chasm, about 20 feet across and at least 200 feet down. At the bottom, a glowing river of lava illuminates the space, bringing into view a slow trickle of water along the opposite wall. They see that every few seconds, a mass of water collects in a crevice and then drifts up, giving off a faint glow. A rope is tied around a large crystal and extends all the way down to the base of the tunnel. The group takes off the rope that ties them together and descend to the bottom safely.

The bottom of the chasm has a narrow stone pathway a few feet above the surface of the lava. Jimik leads the group forward, opposite the lava flow. The party continues on this path for two hours, with a few of them suffering exhaustion from the heat. Occasionally, they see a lizard-like creature made of molten rock peek out from beneath the lava and quickly retreat back under. It becomes more and more frequent as time goes on, with groups of around ten or so surfacing simultaneously to create a sort of wave. They pick up pace, hoping to escape any possible danger, only to find the creatures keeping pace. They pass by a vertical downward flow of lava, where this river presumably begins, and step onto a wider stone path. They see the lava rise behind them in a massive wave of these lizards, but luckily they are out of reach and are thus not harmed. They travel farther into the cave for a few hours and decide to stop and take a rest. Scathir uses his watch to examine the key that appeared in his possession a few days ago and seems to attune to it.

When they finish their rest, the group walks further into the cave. As they progress, they find the flat-bottomed passage gives way to a forest of stalagmites and stalactites, which somewhat. As they progress, they begin to hear sounds of marching. They hide behind stalagmites and wait for the source to approach. They see, with the light of the torches they carry, that it is a group of the stone beings, marching from the direction the party is heading towards. Amongst them is also the tavern keeper from Mellivald that the party met during their first night in town. Kali makes a sound as they pass and they stop. What seems to be the leader shouts some orders. They continue on their way, leaving behind six beings that investigate the cavern. In a panic, Valarin transforms into a flimsy and unconvincing illusory roper disguise. She calls attention to herself, and after a few moments all six beings come to surround her. Through clever use of a *Cloud of Daggers* spell, she harms all of them simultaneously and escapes from within their circle. The party fights these beings and quickly defeats them, only to find that one of the spirits exits from each of the unconscious bodies. These are also quickly destroyed. They stabilize each of the beings (which they assume to no longer be possessed) and walk deeper.

The forest of stalagmites and stalactites gives way to what seems to be a carved passage, about ten feet wide and almost entirely straight. Every dozen feet or so, there are torches bearing green flame mounted on the walls. Jimik suggests they take one more rest before they head into Eixhos' chamber, which they are closing in on. They do so, and during Elsi's watch, Valarin receives a (magical) message from Beauregard Veolini, asking for an update on the investigation.

The group wakes and immediately see that from the direction they came, there is a large group of stone beings quickly approaching. Jimik shouts for the group to run and they do so, barreling down the chamber towards their goal. After a few minutes, a set of stone doors guarded by two stone beings comes into view. They ready their shields (which are identical to the ones the beings in Cyroloth had) and prepare to stop, but the group charges past without taking any attacks. As soon as the party crosses the threshold, they work together to close the door. They are able to shut it without any of the stone beings passing through.

Inside, the group finds a tall-ceilinged chamber supported by sets of stone columns. There are multiple levels that descend, somewhat like a theatre, until coalescing in a corner at the far end of the chamber. In this corner, there is a pool of some sort of red, blue, and purple liquid. The pool gives off a low light that illuminates most of the chamber. Cracks extend from within it and stretch all the way up the wall and the nearest columns. The group approaches the pool, and after Valarin sticks her head under and Scathir casts a *Protection from Evil and Good* spell on Kali (the most martially effective member of their group), they all descend into the liquid.

### Eixhos

The group finds that under the surface of the pool, there is no liquid, but rather a descending slope that eventually levels out on a small platform. Around the platform and the slope, there is no visible ground, like the ground is a plateau in an endless sea of black. On the platform, they see a large tablet with a message carved into it, in Elvish:

> Until the time is right, my means are sealed away. I bid the world knowledge's recompense for the sins my home has wrought. The bastille of Eixhos will stand until I beckon its return. Upon this calling, the betrayers will fall.
>
>

They step around the tablet and find two separate, curving slopes that both connect to a common lower platform. They see that this platform is faintly illuminated by glowing runes, inscribed in the floor in geometric patterns and on the sides of four stone obelisks that form a ring around the center of the platform. Within these obelisks, they see a mass of floating stones orbiting a single point of flickering blue and red light in a loose line. Kali and Valarin are compelled by a presumably supernatural thrawl to move as close to it as possible. They walk forward and step right in front of it, followed by the rest of the group. They see the point of light is actually a miniscule ristle that twinkles as it spins around. A few of the spirits they have seen before emerge from this cloud of rock and crystal. One enters Valarin and another enters Scathir. One of the latter's many talismans, a carved wooden doglike creature, lights up with the dark energy he has demonstrated before and the spirit is ejected. They all immediately hear a voice in their minds, asking them of their intent. The group converses with the voice for a few minutes with their emotions becoming progressively intense, and all the while more spirits are being conjured by the cloud (one of which possesses Elsi). Valarin begins defending the voice (which at this point they know to be Eixhos), and as a result Scathir becomes intensely furious. The two start throwing spells at each other, which initiates combat.

Jimik defends against spirits, Scathir faces off with Valarin, and Kali fights with Eixhos. After a few minutes, Scathir is knocked unconcious and then possessed by a spirit. Kali then is able to deal enough damage to Eixhos to diminish the cloud of rocks. The crystal in its center drops to the ground. They remaining spirits then are destroyed and everyone who is possessed regains their own volition. However, after a few seconds, the obelisks light up in a much brighter fashion than before, and stone from around the platform flies to coalesce around the crystal that has begun floating again. The fight continues.

A few of the party members attempt to knock the obelisks into the pits but are unsuccessful. The group is able to yet again deal enough damage to it to destroy the cloud of rock and the crystal falls to the ground. Valarin attempts to destroy some of the runes on the floor that from a circular pattern, but is unable to damage them at all. Eixhos rises to life again. After a few more seconds of combat, the crystal falls again. The piece is then picked up and moved outside of the ring of obelisks, which disables its ability to regenerate.

The group collapses on the ground in exhaustion. They take a few minutes to rest, but are soon interrupted by the swarm of stone beings that were chasing them before. None of this group is possessed anymore, and neither is the Mellivald innkeeper from their first night in town, who is with them. There is an atmosphere of celebration and attempted conversation (despite the language barrier), until the party and the group of stone beings all head back through the tunnels, making the days-long journey back to Cyroloth.

### Conversation and Consequences

The party emerges from the tunnels and enters the city of Cyroloth. The beings they had been travelling with split off to go into the city's center, and Jimik invites the main group to accompany them. They follow the beings to the very center of the city, where they find a small colosseum-like forum, where around 150 beings are congregating. They take a seat and listen in on a conversation about what is next for the remaining beings of the city. The discussion eventually comes to a close with the decision that some will ascend to the surface and the remainder will stay in the city to reawaken the rest of the beings and let them have the choice as well.It is also decided that the main party will ascend first to warn the people of Mellivald that the beings that have previously been hostile will be coming through and mean no harm.

When the conversation concludes, the party is led outside of town to a sort of paddock containing a number of xorns and the spherical vessels that the beings use to travel to the surface. They take two and travel upwards with Jimik and another being operating the vessels. They emerge in the center of town in the midafternoon, scaring the denizens that are in the streets. When they emerge from the vessels, they are surrounded by a group of Luminguard, which apprehend Jimik and the other being and take them to the town's prison. A few of the Luminguard escort the party to the the Lawmaster's estate, where they fill in Veolini on what they found and how they defeated Eixhos. He gives them a small amount of gold as thanks and says the beings being held in the prison will be released. The group leaves the house and heads back into town to enjoy a night of relaxation.

Ready to spend some gold on an enjoyable evening, the group heads to the Hollowed Heart, a higher-quality tavern compared to the Poured Pitcher. They get food and drinks, Kali has an arm-wrestling bout with a goliath named Terry, Scathir attempts to teach Roksani's Gambit to Elsi and Valarin until he passes out from intoxication. Valarin eventually leaves to wander the streets and finds a band performing. She jumps in and people walking by start to dance along in celebration. Afterwards, she walks into the forest and beds down to rest there. Elsi and Kali head back to the Poured Pitcher to spend the night, and Scathir wakes after they leave. He heads into the street and walks somewhat northwards out of town and says a prayer.

During the night, Kali has a vision. She is awoken by a hand of shadow stabbing her chest, which she sees is the hand of the creature that was disguising itself as Baldwin Haffler.

### Return to Zellivath

Kali defends herself from the shadow demon, but is quickly struck down. Scathir walks into the building and hears her yell out. He rushes downstairs to the rooms and knocks on the door, waking Elsi. Elsi then sees Kali bleeding out on the floor and quickly administers a healing spell, stabilizing her and bringing her back to consciousness. However, by this time, the demon has vanished. Elsi and Kali return to an uneasy sleep, but Scathir elects to stay awake and guard the room. He spends the night meditating and praying. In the morning, he leaves the room to find someone to deliver a package to a person named Grimm, who supposedly resides in the Silver Raven in Lanis Del. Valarin, who spent the night in the woods, spends the morning gathering materials for healing potions.

Eventually, the party meets up again. Kali fills the other three in on the attack she experienced, which leads to a discussion of revivification and what it would take to bring someone back from the dead. The topic then turns to their next course of action. They decide it would be best to return to Zellivath to claim their reward from the Craft and then take it from there.

They set off from Mellivald. On the first day of travel, they come to where Scathir performed the death rites for Moss but find the body is missing. After poking around the site for a few minutes, they find some footprints that belonged to a large, reptilian entity, but no other hints as to what took her. They continue on and take a rest. The next day, they cross by the trail left by the goblins and ogre and find the fallen trees have been for the most part cleared off the path. That night, when Kali is on watch, she notices rustling in the bushes. She wakes the rest of the group. They all watch as a raccoon emerges from the brush. They attempt to befriend it, but are startled when a grey tendril grabs it and pulls it back into the bushes. A puddle of gray ooze seeps out, with the skeleton of a raccoon now floating within it. Kali completely destroys it in one turn, avenging the raccoon's death. Valarin takes the skull.

The next day goes by without issue. The day after that, the party arrives in Zellivath, where they immediately head towards the Silver Archives to speak with the Craft. They meet with the Chief. They briefly discuss the Hafflers, but then turn to Eixhos. Scathir tells him what went down in Mellivald, but leaves out the part about the piece of Hysha. However, the Chief asks to have the piece of Hysha. They avoid giving it to him for a while, saying they don't have it or that it is somewhere else safe, but the Chief eventually takes it. The group is paid and then sent out, without chance of future cooperation. They head to an alley outside of the Archives, where Scathir throws up.