Back at Wolpertinger Caves, George suggested they take the diary to Evy Ashwood and check in on her. She'd been tasked with finding out where the gnolls came from and it had been almost a month since anyone had heard from her. The party traveled for a few days and reached her keep. Inside it was a mess with no sign of Evy anywhere, although they did find her cat but its whiskers were very odd, almost like tentacles. Dúne detected some residual energy from a portal that had been opened within the last week. Checking the area thoroughly they found a hidden door that led to the basement.
A lab of sorts was in the basement. The first section had water tanks, one held an octopus that had way too many teeth instead of a beak. The next area was empty except for workbenches. The last section had four large cages and Evy was hunkered down in one trying to hide. She'd made herself a necklace that looked like a beard of tentacles. While trying to coax her out, three spider-like creatures attacked.
The spiders had tentacles that lashed out and attacked, along with a more typical spider bite and slash. Swarms of tiny versions of these spiders came out and began webbing almost all of the party members, making it increasingly difficult to move. And on top of all that, the octopus climbed out of its water tank and blasted the party with psychic energy.
It was a difficult battle for the party. Some of them became fully restrained by the spider swarms, a few went unconscious and were healed by Amaichi mid battle, but the party finally prevailed. They coaxed Evy out of the cage she was hiding in tried talking to her. All she did was babble in an odd language that the party recognized as the same that Dak spoke.
They also found a journal that documented Evy's attempts at finding the homeworld of the gnolls. She felt she'd found their world, but then became obsessed with discovering what the other creature was the party had brought her. They'd found it (in chapter 02: Goodwill to Glenhaven) among the rubble of the gnolls in Wolpertinger Caves. Evy felt she'd discovered the world this creature came from too, but that it might be the same world as the gnolls. After that her journal became increasingly erratic, changing to a language they couldn't read.
The party took Evy, her weird cat, and the journal back to the resistance headquarters. They introduced her to Yoda and when she spoke he recognized the language. He appeared very concerned about her and they talked but it was hard to tell if it was each of them rambling or if there was an actual conversation. When Cyrus showed him Evy's cat he looked it over very carefully and took it back to his quarters where, out of sight of Evy, he snapped its neck.