Coming upon the clearing where two cloaked figures waited with Kradva, the party surrounded the figures, eventually engaging them when the tall figure began to torture Kradva.
The party focused on the taller man, who Journey identified to be Mardyth the Shade. Despite displaying some extraordinary abilities, Mardyth took heavy damage after being grappled by Seamus' screwed up arm. The team chased after him as he attempted to escape, beating him to an inch of his life. Leadbelly recognized his son, Leadbelly Balnar, as the other cloaked figure. As Journey began to stab him repeatedly, both him and Balnar began to sink into the ground. As Journey lost her target, Mardyth smiled, with light like the sun shining from his eyes and mouth. Unwilling to lose his son, Leadbelly, along with the help of the party, was able to pull Balnar out of the shadows.
Balnar told his father about the strange turn his life had taken recently, detailing how he became involved with such awful people. After working in Tevari Port Town for a while, he met Mardyth, who treated him kindly, for a time, at least. The two moved up to Vardev where they took odd jobs, until one day, the were charged with finding a small, orange, wrinkled stone. A strange lady apparently stole his and Mardyth's shadows, and they began mugging people around the area for the stone. Balnar accidentally killed a man during this time. He began to see Mardyth's true face, a cruel, evil man who was simply using Balnar as muscle. They took Kradva, deducing he must have had the stone. There is a strange group of people working together for some goal he doesn't know, including a tree man (likely Abrax), a "fleshy" lady, Mardyth, and the shadow lady. Balnar claimed that if he touched solid ground, he could be taken by the shadows.
As the group talked to Balnar, they heard the sound of rushing water approaching. Carrying Balnar with them, the party rushed back to their things and began to go up the road, but were trapped by a familiar face, the "water witch" that had attacked Eugene Wormtail some time ago. Claiming that they were "ruining the game", she demanded that they hand Balnar over to her. Refusing, she made a few swipes at the party, but soon became frustrated and left in a huff. The party eventually took time to rest, with Grognock sleeping with Balnar, tied up in a tree.
Making their way up to the city of Kerakoss, Seamus realized Mange was missing. Arriving in the evening, they entered the city, getting some directions from the guard at the gate. Entering the inns district - a strange, three tiered structure containing many different taverns and pubs - the group settled on staying at Durven's Cellar, a decent establishment run by a younger dwarf with no beard. While the others took a well needed rest after a long journey on the road, Wander led Grognock and Seamus down to the lower level, into the establishment known as "MY HOUSE". A bizarre space seemingly run by a gigantic, less than intelligent ogre who spent most of his time just laughing at everything around him, Wander left Grognock and Seamus to their own devices to find "companionship".
On the morning of the 10th, the group spent some time shopping around Kerakoss. Journey mailed a package out, while Wander went and purchased some paper from a reclusive magic shop. Phaelnah also received a mysterious letter.
Staying the night in Kerakoss again, the group stayed at the Hellhound, a chill environment with a dark interior and soft, red lighting. In the morning of the 11th, Journey received a chilling magical message, and her crystal, as well as all the crystals the group collected from the ogres they encountered before, began to glow. While the group was meeting in the tavern, a blue tiefling walked in to deliver a package. Upon seeing Wander, he addressed him as Etarus, speaking to him in private about various strange things involving associations, portals, and possessions.
Deciding to move quickly, the group left Kerakoss with haste, carrying Balnar with them. Making good time, the group found a tree to rest by at night, tying Balnar up into it. While keeping watch, Leadbelly spotted the crystals that Grognock kept with him trailing out of his bag and towards Journey. He put the crystals into the bag and tied them to the tree, waking up Journey. As they noticed that Elevara was a chaos moon that night, a crystal from the bag flew suddenly at Journey, which she barely dodged. As Leadbelly stopped the rest of the crystals from smashing into Journey with his shield, the crystal that already flew by came back, hitting Journey. The crystal entered her crystal, fusing the two together. Grognock helped to remove the other crystals from the area.
In the morning, the group noticed the tree Grognock and Balnar sleeping in closing up like a giant flower. Leadbelly climbed the tree and cut the branch they were in off, as the tree sank into a shadow on the ground. As they made haste to Madrioc, the party fought off a hand-shaped tree, and a cage made of thick roots from taking Balnar away. Nearly making it to the town of Hazerhorn, yet another shadow portal appeared, and a small woman stepped out. Greeting the party, she twisted her form into a large, fleshy monstrosity, and rushed towards them.