Deep within the dangerous Sea of Trees, the Human Paladin Ghalwin Forrester was chopping wood alongside Pip, his loyal Mouse companion. He was relieved by Arbor the Woodswatcher, the captain of the Astralwood Enclave's Keepers, the head Paladin of Ilios, and Ghalwin's own father. Despite his best intentions, he was chastised by Arbor for not surveying the Vanishing Grove as he had been assigned to. As he had been many times before, the junior paladin was sent back to the Astralwood without a hint of fatherly love.
As Ghalwin was lost in his head, Jarmo Maulgrave was lost in his work. The trainee Blood Hunter largely did whatever the Enclave asked of him, and was somehow made responsible for fixing houses despite being unfamiliar with carpentry. The Giantborn was interrupted by his roommate Cormac Orcharder, who nervously relayed to Jarmo that he had to fix his handiwork: one of his tree-huts had tilted, nearly falling from of its branch. He dutifully went to work, righting the house through sheer muscle as Ghalwin waved him down. The two had been best friends for a long time, occupying the same space in the Eldertree, and were both initiate Keepers. As they walked away to prep for a dreaded family dinner, Jarmo did not notice that the tree-house behind him immediately tilted again.
Ghalwin's half-sister, the Wereborn Shakti of the Wildhunt, had no such responsibilities beyond "finding herself" as a Druid. While roaming near the Lake of Telyth as a Wildshaped Wolf, she was surrounded by a strange illusory mist that led her to a hill completely unknown to her. She turned to escape, but the mist seemed to prevent her passage, and after minutes of running and having a brief little cry, she steeled herself. Up the hill were a circle of cairns and a large dead tree, and from high up, she noticed that the mist surrounded the hill in a perfect circle.
Shakti found that one of the cairns was loose, and beneath it lay a blood-soaked, jagged spear. She reached for it and heard a deep voice carried on the wind. "Long have I waited for one who is worthy. My spear hungers for blood. Retrieve it, and rule these mountains in my stead, just like the mighty warriors from the early days of the Whispering Wall."
The spear burned to ashes, which blustered northeast beyond the mist, toward the Vanishing Grove; it left behind only leaving behind only a strange card bearing the visage of a Druid. The mist receded, revealing a brilliant white castle in the same direction, but Shakti turned back to the Astralwood. In the Eldertree, she spoke to her mother, but had second thoughts on reporting what she found; Ylyana the Starseer was quick to worry but eager to divine. The Speaker of the Astralwood told Shakti that she had had felt that today was a "day of prophecy", and they went down to an extremely awkward family dinner, where Jarmo had "helped" Ghalwin to prepare a beautiful stew.
As Arbor made disapproving remarks to his son, Ylyana demanded Shakti give her secret, and the young druid finally told the tale. Ylyana was immediately certain that the circle of stones represented the Curse of the Oregrove Goliaths, and insisted that Jarmo accompany Shakti to find the spear. Though her mind was set that Shakti must leave, she denied Ghalwin when he asked to join his half-sister, declaring that she could not lose both of her children.
After dinner, when his parents had retreated to the Eldertree's upper branches, Ghalwin declared his intention to escort Shakti. Jarmo tenderly confided that he needed Ghalwin around, and Shakti relented to her half-brother. He wrote a cryptic note for Cormac to find, and the three raced down to the ground floor. Shakti Wildshaped into a Riding Horse for Jarmo to ride, as Ghalwin stole his father's mare, Snickerdoodle; the young paladin claimed the horse always preferred him, anyway, as they galloped off towards the Vanishing Grove.