Session 39

The group retired to the lounge with Alustriel, Malaina, and Tiny to debrief.

Alustriel grew visibly shaken as Ebyn explained how Kas’s shapeshifting had defeated his scrying and fooled a pit fiend’s true sight. But she looked even more alarmed when they admitted to purchasing magic items from a devil‑run merchant.

“You simply cannot trust anything you acquired in such a place,” she said sharply.

Ebyn nodded, wearing a self‑satisfied grin. “I told them the same thing.”

“Why would you risk your souls by using such items?” Alustriel pressed. “My advice is to destroy them immediately.”

“Fine,” Brabara said. “I’ll bow to your wisdom in this, Ebyn, Alustriel. Destroy the armour.”

“And the rest?” Ebyn asked.

“I’ll claim the necklace,” Xalen said. “I feel its utility will be worth it.”

“I’ll take the shield,” Seknafret added. “Like Xalen, I think the benefits outweigh any potential downsides.”

Ebyn’s shoulders slumped. “I believe this is a mistake. I just hope we don’t all end up paying for it.”

“Tomorrow I’ll configure the portal to the Elemental Plane of Fire,” Alustriel said. “We can toss the remaining items through. Now, onto a different matter. Malaina?”

Malaina nodded. “While you were away, we did more digging into Tiny’s abduction. We had another dabus use their recall power to look further back. They couldn’t see beyond ten days, but we’re confident the false Mordenkainen – sorry, Kas – was responsible.”

“How so?” Seknafret asked.

“We saw him change into Brabara before leaving the sanctuary while the rest of you were on Oerth,” Malaina explained. “And when we showed that image to Tiny, he confirmed that’s what ‘you’ were wearing when he left in the carriage that night.”

“I am really going to enjoy killing that smug bastard,” Brabara growled.

“We’ve also been looking into those bald, tattooed priests you fought during the rescue,” Alustriel added. “They’re known as Priests of Osybus. They have a long, tangled history involving Vecna and the Raven Queen.”

“The Raven Queen,” Ebyn and Secondus said together.

Malaina continued. “Centuries ago, Vecna challenged the Raven Queen in the Shadowfell. The war was brutal. Vecna was winning. The Raven Queen knew she had to take drastic steps or lose her realm. She created an order of necromancer‑priests led by her faithful servant, Osybus.”

“Necromancy is anathema to the Raven Queen,” Ebyn said.

Alustriel nodded. “Yes, she abhors undeath. To anoint necromancers in her name was an enormous sacrifice.”

“This order infiltrated Vecna’s forces,” Malaina said. “They remained loyal to the Raven Queen even as they helped Vecna gain ground. At the final battle, they turned on him. Their undead legions attacked Vecna’s from within, decimating his army. The Raven Queen’s shadar‑kai swooped in, and Vecna’s attempt to seize the Shadowfell was thwarted.”

“We saw this event play out in one of our shared nightmares,” Seknafret said.

“I remember the vision,” Ebyn said, “but I’ve never heard this story. All shadar‑kai are required to know our history. This isn’t part of it.”

“I’m not surprised,” Alustriel said. “It was a dark period in The Raven Queen’s rule – and one where she abandoned a core belief to defeat an enemy who nearly usurped her. Once she secured victory, she withdrew her patronage, forbade any mention of the priests, and tried to have them all killed.”

Malaina picked up the thread. “Some escaped, Osybus among them, but they were powerless without a patron. Eventually they fell in with the Dark Powers. And now that we know Kas is involved, it seems a parallel scheme has been running far longer than your involvement.”

“Why would these Dark Powers care about any of this?” Seknafret asked.

“They hate Vecna,” Alustriel said. “He is the only one of their prisoners who managed to free himself from their realms.”

“Vecna sure does have a long list of enemies,” Xalen said. “I can almost understand why he wants to reset the multiverse and start again.”

The others stared at him flatly.

“What?” he said, all innocence.

Brabara rolled her eyes. “If these Dark Powers want to defeat Vecna too, why not just work with us?”

Ebyn scratched his chin. “A good question. Logic suggests our goals aren’t aligned. We want to defeat Vecna and trap him forever with the Rod of Law. Their plan must differ in some significant way.”

Alustriel stood and clapped her hands. “Whatever the case, let’s make that tomorrow’s problem. You’ve been on the go for a long time. You need rest.”

“She’s right, Brabs,” Tiny said, squeezing her hand. “You’re not yourself. A solid night’s sleep will do you good.”

Brabara smiled and let herself be led away. The others filed into their shared guest quarters, settling in for what they knew would be anything but a peaceful night.

The nightmare took them again, as it always did.

 

Vecna sits at the top of his tower; head bowed over a scrying pool as he watches three adventurers ascend toward his sanctum. He has tested them along the way, probing their strengths, their weaknesses, their resolve. He knows their measure now. So, he waits. Alone in the cold hush of anticipation, the silence broken only by the whisper of secrets swirling in the darkness around him.

It has been a long time since anyone dared challenge him directly. A long time since he felt the thrill of combat. He welcomes it, a hunger gnawing at the hollow place where his heart once beat.

The door to his sanctum opens, and the three adventurers step inside: Nikhizi, the yuan-ti barbarian. Talmar, the dragonborn paladin. Torrell, the human wizard. All three will face his wrath today. All three will die.

Vecna stands atop a short flight of stairs at the far end of the chamber. “I congratulate you on your perseverance,” he says, his voice a velvet blade. “But you won’t live long enough to savour what a privilege that is.”

The battle erupts.

He moves with the grace of a dancer and the speed of a striking serpent. Spell or dagger, shadow or steel, he slips between the outmatched adventurers, dismantling them piece by piece. The wizard falls first. The paladin follows soon after. The barbarian refuses to die easily – but inevitability is a force Vecna commands as surely as death itself.

When the last warrior collapses, Vecna whispers vile, twisting syllables of arcane power. The bodies jerk, shudder, and rise again – hollow-eyed, enslaved, bound to serve him in undeath for eternity. In the cold, echoing silence, Vecna stands triumphant, the shadows at his feet deeper than ever before.

 

Ebyn and Seknafret woke to find Xalen still trapped in the nightmare. He tossed and turned, muttering oaths in an ancient tongue. Seknafret shook him gently, and the young rogue jolted awake, sitting up haggard and hollow‑eyed, as though sleep had offered him nothing.

“How are we meant to defeat something like that?” he gasped. “So strong, so confident, so powerful.”

“It is a sobering realisation,” Seknafret said. “The dream showed us his strengths, yes, but it also revealed his weaknesses.”

Ebyn nodded. “Those three unfortunates died, but their deaths gave us valuable insight into Vecna’s abilities. We’ll face him with better readiness than we would have before.”

They left their room and headed down to the lounge, where Tiny sat alone eating a freshly baked muffin. Seknafret made a beeline for the pastry table, stuffing one into her mouth and grabbing two more.

“I love these things,” she said around a mouthful.

“Where’s Brabara?” Ebyn asked.

“She had something to do in the city,” Tiny replied. “Left about half an hour ago.”

“Alone?” Ebyn said sharply.

Tiny shrugged. “I think so.”

“Of all the stupid—” Ebyn began, but Seknafret’s hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“Relax,” she said. “Brabara knows the risks. Whatever her reasons, I’m sure it’s important.”

---

Brabara climbed the steps to the temple of Shiallia and ducked under the low arch marking the entrance.

The interior always surprised her. The illusion of a forest glade was so complete she could almost smell sap and soil. Warm, dappled light filtered down from a cleverly enchanted ceiling, mimicking sunlight through leaves. For a moment, she felt as though she’d stepped out of Sigil entirely.

She spotted Trystal, the priestess she’d met on her first visit, and gave a small wave. The green‑clad woman returned it warmly.

“Hello again, Brabara,” Trystal said as she approached. “May the blessings of Shiallia be upon you.”

“And to you,” Brabara replied with a nod. “I have an unusual request, and I’m hoping you and your order might be able to help.”

Trystal’s smile turned curious. “This sounds interesting. Come, sit.”

She placed a gentle hand on Brabara’s arm and guided her to a stone seat carved to resemble a fallen log. Brabara set a portable hole on the ground and reached inside, withdrawing a crystal container holding Sterling’s growing clone.

Trystal’s eyes widened. “What is this?”

Brabara set the container beside her and folded the portable hole away. “This is Sterling. A unicorn we encountered on our travels. We couldn’t save his original body, so my companion Ebyn used his magic to create this clone.”

“Ingenious,” Trystal murmured. “And you’d like us to care for it until it quickens?”

Brabara nodded. “Exactly.”

Trystal studied the crystal vessel. “How long until the process completes?”

“A little under a hundred and twenty days.”

The priestess turned back to her. “Such creatures aren’t typically aligned with my goddess… but I will never turn away an animal in need. We will care for him for as long as he requires.”

“Thank you,” Brabara said softly. “That means a lot.”

Trystal smiled, then her expression shifted. “And how is your pregnancy going?”

Brabara’s face fell. “I… don’t know. That’s the other reason I’m here.”

She told Trystal about the fight with Casimor – the wounds, the pain, the moment of death. Trystal listened in silence, her expression calm until Brabara reached the part where her heart had stopped. Then the priestess gasped.

Tears welled in Brabara’s eyes. “I need to know if my babies are okay.”

Trystal knelt before her, placing warm hands on Brabara’s belly. She closed her eyes and whispered a prayer, her voice barely audible.

Brabara held still, barely breathing, praying silently that Casimor – no, Kas – hadn’t taken her children from her.

When Trystal finally withdrew her hands, she looked up with a steady, sorrowful expression.

“One of your babies has died,” she said gently. “But the other is healthy. You should avoid placing yourself, and the unborn, in danger.”

Brabara didn’t speak. She simply stood and walked away.

She moved through Sigil in a daze, her body navigating the streets on instinct while her mind spiralled inward. By the time she reached Alustriel’s sanctum, she wasn’t sure how she’d gotten there.

She pushed open the doors and saw Seknafret sitting alone at the table, chewing on another muffin.

Seknafret looked up, immediately noticing the grief in Brabara’s eyes. “Are you alright?”

“No,” Brabara said, pulling out a chair. “I lost one.”

“You lost…” Seknafret began, then understood. “I’m sorry, Brabara.”

Brabara opened her mouth to speak, but Seknafret raised a hand.

“Listen,” she said. “I understand what you’re feeling. I can’t imagine the disappointment or the pain. But unless the next words out of your mouth are that you’re staying here and keeping yourself safe, I don’t want to talk about this.”

“You know I can’t do that,” Brabara whispered.

“Then please don’t involve me in it anymore,” Seknafret said, standing. “You know my position, and you’re choosing to ignore it. There’s nothing more for us to discuss.”

Brabara nodded. “I understand.”

“Good. Now, if you don’t mind… I haven’t seen an actual sun in a long time. Alustriel opened a portal to a secluded glade in Toril, and I intend to spend a few hours there in peace.”

Seknafret walked away, leaving Brabara alone at the table.

She glanced at the half‑eaten muffin beside her – and the tears came in a sudden, overwhelming wave.

---

“We believe we know where Kas will be,” Alustriel told the group.

“That is excellent news,” Ebyn said. “How did you determine it?”

“The plans you recovered from Kas’s fortress in Tovag,” she replied. “They show the disposition of armies at a location in Pandesmos. The battle appears to be between forces loyal to Kas and forces loyal to Lolth. We never understood why Lolth would oppose him, but now that we know Kas sought the rod, and the rod can be used to free Miska, it makes perfect sense.”

“I see,” Ebyn said. “The goddess of spiders would not wish for an even older spider god to be released.”

“Exactly,” Alustriel said. “These maps pinpoint where in Pandesmos the battle is taking place. I can have the portal configured to take you there in a couple of hours.”

Seknafret turned to Brabara, her expression tight. “Is there anything you want to say, Brabara?”

Brabara met her gaze evenly. “Only that I’m looking forward to kicking that bastard’s arse.”

Seknafret’s shoulders sagged, and she let out a long, weary sigh. “Alright then. We should make ready.”

Alustriel reached into her robe and withdrew a small circular wind chime. “Take this with you,” she said, handing it to Ebyn. “It is a Chime of Exile. Use it on a badly wounded creature and it will be forced back to its home plane.”

“I already have spells that can do this,” Seknafret said.

Alustriel nodded. “Perhaps. But a weakened foe cannot resist the chime’s magic, and once banished, they will be bound to their home plane for at least a year. Against a creature like Kas, it will send him back to Tovag… and keep him there.”

“I see,” Ebyn said, tucking the chime away. “That may prove very useful. Thank you.”

Brabara gave Alustriel a hopeful smile. “You don’t happen to have any powerful magic armour tucked away under there, do you?”

“I’m afraid not, Brabara,” Alustriel said. “You’ll have to make do with what you have.”

---

The five of them stepped through the portal into chaos.

The gateway opened onto a tiered cliff carved into dull grey stone. A hundred and fifty feet below, geysers erupted in violent, unpredictable bursts. Howling winds tore at the jets of boiling liquid, shredding them into mist and flinging debris in every direction.

The roar of the wind was so loud they had to shout to be heard.

“We need to reach that point over there!” Xalen yelled, pointing northwest. “But we have to get down first!”

A second ledge, wider than the one they stood on, lay fifty feet below. The rocky ground was another hundred feet beneath that.

“This wind is going to make climbing difficult,” Xalen said. “I’ll fly down first and check it’s safe.”

He activated the magic in his boots and lifted off the ground, only to be slammed sideways into the cliff by a sudden gust. He righted himself, tried again, made it a few feet farther… and was buffeted back once more.

He landed almost exactly where he’d started. “That wasn’t much fun.”

“We’ll have to climb,” Brabara said. “Do we have enough rope for all that?”

“Probably not,” Xalen said. “I’ll start with what we’ve got. Maybe Secondus can go back through the portal and get more?”

“Tertius,” Ebyn corrected.

Seknafret cupped a hand to her ear. “What?”

“That’s not Secondus,” Ebyn said. “I spent the day casting another ritual while you were enjoying the sunlight. This is Tertius.”

“You replaced him?” Seknafret said.

Ebyn nodded. “I did. I felt he would benefit from the knowledge we gained in the dream and our experience in Avernus.”

“But Secondus was with us in Avernus,” Xalen pointed out.

“Be that as it may,” Ebyn said. “He did not experience our dream.”

Xalen blinked, shook his head, and turned back to the cliff edge.

He hammered a piton into the rock, tied off a rope, and dropped it over the side. The wind made the descent treacherous, but the rope helped. At several points he drove in additional pitons to keep the line from whipping away in the gale.

He waited on the lower tier while the others climbed down one by one.

The second descent would be far longer.

Xalen approached the edge to place the next piton and froze. Two large skeletal creatures were climbing up the cliff toward them with unnerving agility. He turned to shout a warning just as two more creatures, these blue‑skinned with massive horns, burst from the rock behind the group.

Brabara intercepted the first blue beast before it could reach Seknafret, Ebyn, or Tertius.

The second charged from the opposite side. Seknafret raised her black dragon‑scale shield and braced herself while Xalen darted in, striking the creature solidly with his magical blade.

Brabara swelled in size, larger than she had ever grown before, and seized one of the skeletal climbers. Now towering over it, she muscled it into her grip and hurled it into its companion. Both tumbled a hundred feet down the cliff.

She spun, grabbed the nearest blue beast, lifted it overhead, and flung it off the ledge. It struck several jagged outcroppings on the way down.

Xalen, Ebyn, Seknafret, and Tertius focused on the remaining creature. Their combined assault overwhelmed it before it could harm anyone.

Brabara peered over the edge. The monsters she’d thrown down were already scrambling to their feet, shaking off the fall before running in opposite directions.

“That was invigorating,” Brabara said, still towering over the others.

With the fight over, Ebyn and Tertius moved to the cliff’s edge to study the field of geysers between them and their destination, a rise overlooking what appeared to be a vast, churning ocean. The two worked for several minutes, noting the location, frequency, and size of each eruption, trying to chart a safe path through the chaos.

“There really is no pattern to it,” Tertius shouted, raising his voice over the relentless wind. “It pains me to witness such disorder.”

“This truly is a realm of pure chaos,” Ebyn intoned. “We’ll have to bypass it magically. Tertius, if you would.”

“Of course,” Tertius said with a nod.

They gathered close, and Tertius teleported them beyond the field of geysers, well clear of the boiling spray. From there, they made their way toward the point marked on the stolen maps. The place where Kas’s forces were meant to be.

Every so often the wind dipped just enough for distant sounds of battle to reach them. Webbing flew in ragged, wind‑snatched arcs toward winged fiends who fought to stay aloft, their missile volleys scattering wide as the gusts shoved them off course.

Cresting a rise, they saw four wolf‑headed spider fiends tearing into the exposed underside of a gargantuan upturned spider in a circular depression. Corpses littered the ground, evidence of a battle not long past. The largest fiend lifted its head, sniffed the air, and turned toward them.

“We’re downwind!” Xalen yelled. “How could it have smelled us?”

“Nothing in this place obeys logic,” Ebyn replied. “Stop trying to make sense of it before it drives you mad.”

The large fiend chittered a warning, and all four skittered to face them.

Brabara moved first, charging down into the depression to stand between the fiends and her companions. She hefted her hammer, ready.

The largest fiend lunged and stopped short as Brabara’s hammer smashed into its swollen abdomen with a sickening crunch. It howled, the sound nearly swallowed by the wind, and its furious red eyes locked onto her.

Seknafret stepped clear of the others, tracing a line of fire with her fingers. A wall of flame roared to life behind Brabara, twenty feet high, cutting off three of the fiends.

One smaller fiend scuttled around the edge of the flames and spat a glob of sticky web at Brabara. She dodged aside just in time.

Ebyn climbed onto a boulder for a better vantage point. He pointed a straight piece of iron at the two fiends that had made it through and touched the Weave.

Magic pulsed outward, striking both. The smaller froze mid‑movement, paralysed. The larger shook off the spell.

“Damn it,” Ebyn hissed. “Careful, Brabara, that one is no mere minion.”

Encouraged by his sword, Xalen flew at the paralysed fiend. He struck again and again, each blow precise and devastating. His final thrust drove through the wolf‑head’s eye and deep into its brain. The creature stiffened and collapsed.

Another smaller fiend burst through the wall of fire, flames rippling across its body before dying out. It leapt at Brabara, its fangs sinking deep into her arm. She tore herself free and smashed it aside with her hammer.

The third fiend rounded the wall and spat a web at Xalen, who twisted easily out of its path.

The large fiend scuttled around Brabara, reared up, and unleashed a massive spray of acid‑soaked webbing. The burning liquid drenched the entire group, Tertius worst of all.

Seknafret staggered as the acid seared her skin, but she held her concentration on the wall of fire. She thrust out a hand and blasted the largest fiend with eldritch force, knocking it backward through the flames. It shrieked as fire and acid burned across its body.

The fiend leapt back out of the flames and lunged toward Seknafret. She slammed her staff into the ground, conjuring a blinding cloud of sand. The wind tore at the edges, but sheltered behind a rock, she slipped away unseen.

The fiend howled in frustration, spinning until it spotted Ebyn and Tertius. It charged.

The pair fled, hurling spells over their shoulders, as Xalen, having dispatched the second smaller fiend, intercepted the creature.

Brabara crushed the last of the smaller fiends, then joined Xalen. Together, with support from Seknafret, Ebyn, and Tertius, they overwhelmed the massive spider‑fiend. It collapsed under their combined assault.

With the battle over, the group approached the gargantuan corpse the wolf-headed fiends had been tearing apart when they arrived.

“Have you ever seen a spider this big before?” Xalen asked, tentatively placing a hand on the gargantuan corpse.

Brabara shuddered. “No, and I wouldn’t want to be this close to a living one either. Look at the size of these mandibles.”

“Heads up. We have company,” Seknafret said, pointing toward a humanoid figure approaching from between a cluster of boulders.

As the newcomer drew closer, they saw she was a shadar‑kai woman dressed in black leather armour, long white hair framing a narrow, sharp‑eyed face.

“Ebyn Soulward?” she called. “I must speak with Ebyn Soulward.”

Ebyn and Tertius exchanged a glance. Tertius stepped forward. “I am Ebyn,” he said.

The shadar‑kai looked him up and down, unimpressed. “Not you,” she snapped, turning her gaze to the real Ebyn. “I have a message for him.”

“What message?” Ebyn asked, stepping beside Tertius.

“I am Vaeve,” she said. “The Raven Queen bid my sister Naxa and me to come here and await your arrival.”

“The Raven Queen?” Ebyn gasped. “She knows who I am?”

Vaeve nodded. “She understands how important your quest is… to everyone and everything. She bade us bring you a gift.”

“A gift?” Ebyn said, flushing. “From the Raven Queen herself?”

“Indeed.” Vaeve bowed her head. “But there has been a complication. My sister and I became separated… and she is the one who carries it.”

Xalen burst into laughter. “Of course she does.”

Ebyn shot him a glare. “What happened?”

“It’s easier if I show you,” Vaeve said. “Follow me.”

She led them up the opposite side of the depression, dropping to her belly before reaching the top and motioning for them to do the same. They crawled forward and peered over the ridge.

The scene below was pure chaos.

Three armies clashed across multiple fronts. Lolth’s forces – drow, driders, and spiders in disciplined formations – battled against wolf‑headed spider fiends that surged in a frenzied, swirling melee. Only Lolth’s superior numbers kept them from being overrun.

Gargantuan spiders, living counterparts to the corpse behind them, hurled massive balls of burning sticky web into the air at many‑legged winged bird‑fiends, who countered with cones of dark, blood‑like fluid spewing from their beaks.

On the far side of the valley, a third army of humanoid soldiers fought in perfectly ordered ranks against more of Lolth’s troops. Their battle was less chaotic, but no less deadly.

“Lolth’s forces fight on two fronts,” Vaeve explained. “The valley below is their main objective. Before yesterday, the humanoid forces were positioned down there to keep Lolth’s army from reaching that citadel on the beach.”

She pointed to a tall, precarious tower perched on the cliff’s edge.

“That’s where Lolth’s general coordinates the battle.”

“Doesn’t look very safe,” Xalen said.

“Probably isn’t,” Vaeve replied. “Those four thick strands of web are likely the only things holding it up. But it gives a commanding view.”

Seknafret pointed toward the shimmering water beyond the citadel. “What is that?”

“The headwaters of the River Styx,” Vaeve said. “Pandemonium is where the river of the dead begins its journey.”

“I must get some of that water,” Seknafret said. “It’s vital to maintaining the veil. Whatever else we do, we cannot leave without it.”

“Of course,” Brabara said. “We know how important that is. Now, Vaeve, you said something changed yesterday?”

Vaeve nodded. “The humanoid forces were down on the beach surrounding the citadel. It looked like a long‑standing standoff.”

“How do you know?” Brabara asked.

“No bodies,” Vaeve said. “Look now, corpses everywhere. When we arrived, there were none. Just two armies staring each other down. Then he arrived. A tall humanoid in black armour. He flew down from the cliffs and entered the citadel.”

“That must have been Kas,” Seknafret said.

“Whoever he was, his arrival changed everything,” Vaeve said. “He stayed inside for half an hour, then flew to that small building in the distance. Soon after, the wolf‑headed fiends began appearing. A handful at first… then hundreds. Thousands. Even now they stream along the beach from both directions.”

Brabara scanned the battlefield. “Any idea who controls them?”

Vaeve snorted. “Control isn’t the word I’d use. The humanoid forces held the line for an hour after the fiends arrived, but once there were enough of them to keep Lolth’s troops from taking the citadel, everything fell apart. That’s when Naxa and I got separated.”

“How?” Ebyn asked.

“The fiends attacked,” Vaeve said. “No plan. No tactics. Just raw violence. The first wave caught the drow off guard. They pushed them back and wide across the valley. The fighting reached the spot where Naxa and I were hiding. We ran. We lost each other.”

“Was she killed or captured?” Seknafret asked.

“I don’t know,” Vaeve said quietly. “But I ask that you keep an eye out for her.”

Ebyn placed a hand on her shoulder. “You have my word.”

“So,” Xalen said, “what’s the plan?”

“Three options,” Brabara said. “One: the rickety tower and Lolth’s general. Two: the citadel and probably where Miska was imprisoned, and Kas may have freed him. Three: that small building where Vaeve saw Kas go. We find him, we find the rod.”

“We are here to recover the rod,” Ebyn said. “That is our priority.”

Brabara rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes, yes, we know. Which is why we go to the building.”

“I agree,” Ebyn said. “I can teleport us close. Vaeve, will you accompany us?”

Vaeve shook her head. “I’ll stay here. If Naxa escapes, this is where she’ll return. And I doubt I’d be much help in your fight.”

“I understand,” Ebyn said. “We’ll watch for her.”

“Thank you,” Vaeve said.

Ebyn gathered everyone close and cast his spell, instantly transporting the five of them to a point roughly a hundred paces beyond the small stone structure Vaeve had indicated.

They appeared among a cluster of narrow, windswept stone spires and immediately took cover. From here they were well clear of the main clash between the humanoid army and Lolth’s drow and spiders, but not clear enough. A small party of driders, accompanied by one of the gargantuan spiders, had broken away from the larger battle and were now assaulting the tiny building.

The massive arachnid slammed its bulk against the structure again and again, but the stone held firm despite the onslaught.

“Nope,” Brabara said flatly. “I am not going anywhere near that.”

“I agree,” Seknafret said, eyeing the cluster of arachnids with deep suspicion. “We should wait until they either succeed or give up.”

“Or,” Xalen said, peering over the cliff’s edge, “we find a way in from down there.”

The others joined him. Three hundred feet below, on the black sand beach, a short, broken colonnade led into an opening at the base of the cliff, directly beneath the building the gargantuan spider was battering.

“Fair chance that’ll take us to the same place without all the fuss,” Xalen said.

“There’s someone down there,” Seknafret added. “White‑haired humanoid leaning against the rock.”

“I see them,” Brabara said. “I reckon we can take one guy. Much better than fighting one of those enormous things. Even if I made myself big, they’d still tower over me.”

“Oh, come on, Brabara,” Ebyn said. “With your growth magic and the right spells, we could get you at least that big.”

Brabara’s eyes widened. “You can?”

“Well… yes. But not today,” Ebyn admitted. “I don’t have the spell prepared.”

“Bugger,” Brabara said, punching him playfully in the arm. “Don’t tease me like that. Just promise you’ll have it tomorrow.”

“Fine, fine,” Ebyn said, rubbing his arm.

“How do we get down?” Xalen asked.

Seknafret considered the cliff face, the wind, the distance. “I can get us down,” she said at last. “But some of you will need to go in the portable hole.”

---

The rip in space sealed behind Seknafret as she stepped out from her dimension door and onto the black sand beach with Brabara in tow. She set the portable hole down and opened it, allowing Xalen, Ebyn, and Tertius to climb out.

“Wait here a moment while I fill these,” Seknafret said, holding up her waterskins. She strode to the river’s edge, submerged both skins in the shimmering waters of the Styx, then tucked them safely into the portable hole before folding it away. “Right then. Let’s go.”

They walked the short stretch of beach between the cliff and the river. Brabara hefted her hammer, ready for trouble, but Seknafret reached out and stopped her about twenty paces from the white‑haired man standing guard at the lower entrance.

“Wait,” she hissed. “Everything is not as it appears.”

“State your business,” the man shouted in Common.

“We’re here to replace you,” Seknafret lied smoothly. “You and your four fellows can rejoin the fight.” She gestured toward the four small crabs scuttling among the ruined columns.

The man’s eyes narrowed. “You’re relieving me?”

“That’s right,” Seknafret said, praying he didn’t hear the faint tremor in her voice.

A long, tense moment passed as he studied each of them. Then his lips curled into a cruel smile.

“Finally,” he said. “My punishment has been served. What is next for Kalzak?”

“You’re to rejoin the others by that building there,” Seknafret said, waving vaguely toward the distant citadel on the beach.

Kalzak tilted his head. “The citadel of our master?”

Seknafret swallowed. “Yes. Miska’s citadel. Unless you’d prefer to stay here?” she snapped.

Kalzak nodded, apparently satisfied. He barked something guttural and began walking away.

The four crabs scuttled after him, and as they moved, their bodies warped and stretched, transforming into the same massive wolf‑headed spider fiends the group had fought earlier. Kalzak himself shifted into a larger variant, its abdomen bristling with sharp spikes.

The five fiends marched off down the beach.

Xalen clapped Seknafret on the shoulder. “That was some mighty smooth talking. We might have been paste if that went wrong.”

“Yes,” Ebyn agreed. “A fight out here would have weakened us badly. If Kas is inside, you may have saved us all.”

They waited until Kalzak and his squad were little more than distant specks before entering the cave at the cliff’s base.

Inside, a steep spiral staircase wound upward into darkness.

Brabara led the climb, followed by Seknafret, Ebyn, Tertius, and Xalen bringing up the rear. After perhaps two hundred steps, the stairs opened into a wide chamber. Another staircase on the far wall likely led up to the stone building perched atop the cliff.

Shrunken, bloodless corpses – four drow and two driders – lay strewn around a stone throne in the centre of the room. A series of tiny holes in one wall let in the wailing winds of Pandemonium, their shrieks echoing through the chamber.

Upon the throne sat a man in dark steel armour. Long black hair framed a sharp, angular face and a pointed goatee. As Brabara entered, he rose, scowling, fangs glinting in the dim light.

Kas, the Betrayer.

“I thought I was done with you,” Kas snarled, drawing his sword.

He blurred forward with the same impossible speed Brabara remembered from the arena. Before she could react, he was beside her, blade flashing in precise, brutal cuts. For a heartbeat she was back there – the roar of the crowd, the sting of his blade, the moment her heart stopped.

What was she doing here? She’d already lost one child to this monster. And now she was risking the other.

Her resolve wavered, until Seknafret stepped out from the staircase and pointed.

A skeletal hand materialised above Kas’s shoulder and clamped down. Kas winced at the pain, trivial for a warrior of his stamina, but his eyes widened when he felt his regeneration falter.

“What have you done, bitch?” he roared, red eyes blazing at Seknafret.

And in that moment, Brabara understood.

This wasn’t the arena.

She wasn’t alone.

She had her companions.

She dragged herself back from the edge of panic and swung her hammer with renewed fury.

Xalen darted in, landing two clean strikes. Kas twisted, delivering a vicious riposte, but not fast enough to stop Xalen’s thin blade from driving deep into his flesh.

Ebyn stepped around the corner… and froze.

The man he had known as Mordenkainen – mentor, ally, almost father figure – stood locked in bloody combat with his friends. This should have been a moment of decisive action, but all strategy, all training, all thought evaporated.

This deceiver had lived beside him for months. Had soothed every doubt. Had offered to take him on as an apprentice. The joy Ebyn had felt at that acceptance was real – and that made the betrayal cut deeper than any blade.

He searched his mind for a spell – anything – and found nothing.

He glanced at Tertius, still lingering at the edge of the fight, equally paralysed.

He couldn’t let them both freeze.

“Do something!” Ebyn shouted.

Tertius blinked, startled by the intensity in Ebyn’s eyes.

Do something? Of course he would do something. How absurd to think otherwise.

Tertius stepped into the room. Brabara and Xalen were bleeding, pressed hard by Kas’s darting blade. He moved around the melee, trying to find the right angle, the right spell, the right…

Nothing.

His mind was as blank as Ebyn’s.

“Do something!” Ebyn yelled again.

Yes, Tertius thought. I must do… something.

“I wish,” he began, feeling the Weave surge violently around him, “I wish for this room – and all the halls and passages of this complex – to be bathed in sunlight.”

Reality tore.

The dim chamber erupted into the brilliance of midday.

Kas screamed – a raw, animal sound – as his flesh blistered and burned. His composure shattered. He darted past Brabara and Xalen with frantic speed and fled down the stairs.

Tertius staggered, the power of the wish ripping through him. “I. Did. Something,” he gasped before collapsing.

Seknafret rushed to him, potion in hand.

“Don’t bother,” Tertius croaked. “I cannot be healed that way. I just… need time. Save it for Brabara.”

Seknafret squeezed his hand, then passed the potion to Brabara, who downed it in one gulp. Her wounds closed, her breathing eased.

Xalen sifted through the corpses around the throne, collecting valuables and a spell scroll, which he handed to Ebyn.

Ebyn unrolled it. “This may prove useful for what comes next.”

“And what’s that?” Seknafret asked.

“Infiltrating Miska’s citadel,” Xalen said. “Kas didn’t have the rod on him, and it’s not here.”

“Quite right,” Ebyn said. “This scroll will let us disguise ourselves as the fiends gathering to protect their leader. Fortuitous that it was here.”

“One of the drow had it,” Xalen said. “Maybe that was their plan before Kas got to them.”

“Hmm,” Ebyn murmured. “We should remember that some fiends can pierce illusions. We’ll need to be cautious.”

“We almost had him,” Brabara said quietly. “We almost had him.”

Seknafret shook her head. “I’m not sure that’s true. Even without Tertius’s spell, he wouldn’t have stayed. He’d have fled the moment things turned against him.”

“Seknafret’s right,” Xalen said. “He can regenerate. He can hit us again and again, retreat, recover, and return. We can’t sustain that forever.”

“We must hope he hasn’t accounted for the Chime of Exile,” Ebyn said. “With it, we can remove him from the field without killing him, assuming he waits too long to flee.”

“But I have to kill him,” Brabara said, venom in her voice. “Kas has to pay for what he’s done.”

Ebyn shook his head. “Kas is the Dark Lord of Tovag. Killing him only sends him back there to reform. He’ll return again and again. Only the chime can keep him away long enough for us to focus on Vecna.”

Brabara’s knuckles whitened around her hammer.

“Fine,” she said at last. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t hurt that fucker along the way.”