The basement and its secrets are revealed! Also, a surprise appearance from a particular keep from way back!
Henk Bloodrune gets a glimpse of his m̸̲̤͛̾͒̐̕ó̴̡̗͈͍̠͔̰̙̱̝̝̠͓͍̘̣͚̝͇̣͈̙̤̲͉̥́̀͑̊͂̇̾̄͛͊̋̆̀̌́̀̎͌͝ͅţ̵̡̛̲͔̳̳̲͉̳̫͇̬̩̼͇̬͑͐́̓̈̏̇̐͛͗̐̾̂͋́̾͗̆͂̐͂̇̚͘͘̕͜͝ḣ̵̢̜͖͎͕͚͕̘̱͖̳̟͔̹̈́̾̂̔̕é̷͖̤̹̈́̓̊̈́͛̏̊̓͗̔̂̍͋́̿̕̚͘͘͝͝͝͠r̶̢̢͍͖̗͍͚̩͈͓̭̭̝̭̖̠̼̬̿͒̀̅̊̔̆̋̀̏̇̈̓̄͋͌͗̈͑̇͐͗̅̚͝?
Red Birel starts blasting indiscriminately..
Peregrine Softstride gets PTSD.
Zurik Norixius meets the Stormfront brothers.
Ara Nailo is no longer royalty...
"I can make you very effective in killing, but you might not like what the cost entails."
"Do it."
- Alberus to Red Birel, and her reply - during the Primordial confrontation at Elaine's Manor.
"The truth shall set you free!"
- Fortuna Domina, to Henk Bloodrune - during the Primordial confrontation at Elaine's Manor.
"...I renounce my status as Royalty."
- Ara Nailo - after his decision to join his friends in Falkenwrath Keep.
Red phased into the Ethereal Realm to scout ahead of the party. As she descended the stairs, she came across a gruesome scene. A middle-aged dwarven researcher lay dead, documents scattered haphazardly around his lifeless form. It appeared as though he had been injured only moments before, but had struggled to make it up the stairs before succumbing to his wounds. The party's scout also observed a massive vampire and three of its spawns, seemingly in a state of disarray as the ground trembled beneath them.
In addition to the gruesome scene, Red noticed large prison cells lining the walls of the room, each filled with lifeless corpses - a failed aftermath of some experiment, perhaps. But her focus was soon pulled towards a floating Elaine, who was situated in front of a pentagram. Three spellcasters were casting a ritual, and Asek was in a glassy-eyed state in the middle of the pentagram.
Without hesitation, the party rushed to save Asek. Henk and Isildur worked together to execute a hypnotic pattern, but their efforts were hindered by a powerful magic barrier. The situation quickly took a turn for the worse as Henk collapsed, with Elaine holding up his slumped body. It was up to Peregrin to bring down the barrier, which he managed to do with a successful Wisdom save. However, his actions triggered a flashback, revealing a hooded figure standing before a chanting pentagram.
"Peregrin observed the hooded figure, and spotted the edges of a dragon mask that peeked out. The man asked a trembling child in a similar magical circle what they wanted most, encouraging them to pray with all their might while holding their desire close to their heart. There were three mages present, chanting an ominous spell.
An explosion ensued before the child crumpled over.
'Another failure, clean this up.' the hooded figure remarked before turning away."
Despite Red's efforts to disrupt the spell by striking one of the spellcasters, the ritual continued. Asek began to levitate off the ground, adding to the chaos in the room.
But Peregrin once again proved to be the hero of the day, planting a healing totem in the ground that brought everyone back from death's door. Mikes managed to blind Ara, but that didn't stop him from landing a critical hit on the enemy. Suddenly, a crack appeared above Asek, and two hands emerged from the opening, ripping the crack wider. Although Ara was able to break the last spellcaster's concentration, the crack and hands remained.
The party soon discovered that the magic circle on the ground was the same pentagram they had seen on their journey to Shadowgrange. Zurick took it upon himself to finish off the remaining spellcasters and destroy the pentagram. Peregrin teleported next to Asek and was able to successfully convince her to return to consciousness.
The party sailed back towards Presh's harbour, relieved to have Ara's family, Asek, and the boys safe by their side. Peregrin approached Sebastien the pegasus, thanking him for his aid and gifting him his freedom in exchange for a magical jet black feather. With the feather tucked away, the party headed back towards Presh. During the ride, Ara had a heart-to-heart with Asek, discussing their current situation and plans for the future.
Red, on the other hand, eavesdropped on the conversation between the elves at the back of the boat. She overheard Falen Greenshard's overconfident remark about being able to take them down, which sent a chill down her spine. The city was not too far away when screams and the sound of Calsitro's voice echoed across the waters, rallying the rebels. Arrows flew towards the boat, and the party was commanded to disembark upon reaching the docks.
Henk, however, started trouble he couldn't finish, and the party was almost killed. They made a hasty retreat, sailing back to Valdore Island, where the elves put everyone except for Red and Ara to sleep, as ordered by Ara's mother. Red attempted to strike, but was knocked out by Faren.
After a conversation with his mother, Ara demanded to know what she had been keeping from him. She, in turn, demanded to know everything. Ara's mother wanted the party to return to Evermeet and put the blame on Team ARRC, but Ara refused. Suddenly, a hooded figure emerged from the Valdore Mansion, accusing them of wrecking his island and blasting Ara into unconsciousness.
While Ara had a private conversation with his mother, the rest of the party grew tired and handcuffed. The Jailor, Zandesh Valdore, walked in, revealing that Ara's mother had cut a deal for his diplomatic immunity. Ara, however, revoked his immunity and gave up his royalty status, an ancient magic leaving him as his mother fainted.
The Jailor loaded the mostly unconscious Team ARRC onto prison wagons and shortly left Presh. When they woke up, Ara relayed the series of events to his party. The Jailor's true identity shocked them all - he was Zendash Valdore.