The party began by decoding Lyrian Brightwind’s hidden message: “We are resisting. Fighting. Tell Velara I love her. Tell Ferinthria I found Leonard.” They relayed this to Velara before stepping through the portal into Shael’Nareth, The Grove of Twilight.
Inside, they found druids locked in a desperate battle against wights, who guarded eerie black crystals. Lirielle was the first to notice that the crystals were forming a portal. Ferinthria and Lirielle unleashed devastating chromatic orbs, chaining blasts across multiple targets to shatter the crystals. Dravencoles, feeling ineffective at range, charged headlong into melee with his hammer. Meanwhile, Momeline glimpsed the outline of a dragon beyond the portal and rallied the druids to target the crystals directly.
The battle was brutal: wights drained the druids’ life essence, and the portal continued to widen. Ferinthria’s wild magic surged at the perfect moment, restoring health and resources to herself and her allies. Together, the party broke the crystals just as a juvenile shadow dragon slipped through. Momeline thought quickly, casting sleep, and against all odds the dragon collapsed unconscious. With the crystals shattered and the last wights defeated, the druids bound the dragon in roots, thanking the party for saving the grove.
The adventurers returned through the portal and stepped into the fiery domain of Telor’Augus, The Grove of Fire. There, they found Archdruid Thalwen Myr and her druids already victorious over most of the cultists, leaving only a few steam mephits for the party to dispatch. Thalwen, stern and direct, demanded to know who they were. Upon hearing they were sent by Queen Aelra, she promised to question captured cultists and “find out what the hell is going on.”
Back at the reliquary, the Queen had regained consciousness. She thanked the party before retiring to her chambers, and the group arranged for Talan Windfern to be taken in for questioning. She also agreed to pardon Irielle Duskwhisper on the strict condition that she join a nunnery within the Church of Elandria, where she would undergo re-education.
The evening ended in the familiar Scarlet Shield Tavern, where Finn and Tilly shared new findings on Momeline’s crown. They revealed its origin lay in Khasim’s Crown, the capital of a fallen desert empire. The artifact, known as the Crown of Judgement, was forged in secret by high magisters during the first war. Crucially, it cannot be fully awakened or attuned by just anyone. It requires someone with a natural connection to fate. Before the night was over, Tilly and Finn passed along a sealed parchment from the royal court: an invitation to a grand celebration in the Queen’s palace at the end of the week, held in the adventurers’ honor.