We meet our adventurers as they regroup, victorious, after their initial fight in the Lion’s Den. Unbeknownst to the group, Vyranys has fallen under possession by the spirit of one of the elves whose urn he disturbed in the crypt of Cleftshade. As the young woman gains control of her new form, she will seek information that can help her regain her standing with Tiana, her mistress.
The party travels into the noble district for the first time, discovering the vast differences between the poorer areas of the capital and what rich nobility of Lionsheart experience. They make their way to the University, a dominating structure that stands over the domed houses and walled gardens of the wealthy.
They are greeted inside the building by a disgruntled woman who goes by the name Madam Tussan and who appears to decide those worthy of entry into the famed Library. After a terse conversation, Grugg, the half-orc, decides to wait outside and bide his time with a rhythmic performance using the newly-acquired spyglass.
As the party takes the spiral staircase up through the levels of books, parchments, and the scholars who care for the ancient texts, they take notice of the beautiful paintings that span the ceiling of the building, as well as the strangely superior placement of the army of the Darkness. After pondering artistic license, they found themselves at the uppermost level of the building.
Down a corridor, they were greeted by Cyadar; a short, pudgy human with small horns and very sharp teeth. He seemed surprised at the size of the party, claiming to have sensed at least three more individuals outside his door…
After giving the group a bag of three hundred gold as promised by Lady Ashevale, Rift gave him the dark tome. He read through it very quickly, immediately surmised it’s danger, and locked it into a special black chest. The group discussed the origins of the chest, as well as discovering that the Gallant Sword was actually the sword of Gladius, an ancient general in the army of the Light, and the sword had actually struck a blow to Tiamet, queen of the chromatic dragons. A shard of Gladius’ soul had become embedded in the sword, and taken on its own personality.
During the conversation, a strange three-dimensional compass in the corner continued to point towards Rift. Upon realizing that the reason may be the amulet she was wearing, the compass suddenly stopped pointing at Rift and begain pointing at Vyranys. After a brief back-and-forth, the possessing spirit sprung out of Vyranys and entered Cyadar.
Immediately, the possessed Cyadar knocked over one of the large unlocked chests on the floor of the office, and a twelve foot demon emerged from a wreath of red flame. Cyadar did not pause to watch, however, as he grabbed the closed chest with the tome and dove through the window in an attempt to escape. Vyranys chased after the ghost, Rift left out the office door, while Spiphy and Drubb remained to handle the fiend in the room.
Grugg, noticing a series of bright lights and noises, had begun to run up towards the office, bringing a train of guards along the way. He just missed the body of Cyadar crashing into the ground behind him, immediately killing the poor older man. The ghost possessed the nearest scholar and tried to run as Vyranys landed near Cyadar’s body.
Back in the office, the demon laughed as he flexed long-restrained muscles, and summoned four skeletons around the room. Drubb let out a yell for help, bringing Rift back into the office just in time to take a mighty series of blows from the demon. Grugg dove into the office, swinging the spyglass to no avail.
The situation appeared dire, and the sword of Gladius offered “one final trick”. Rift accepted, and a bright figure of light took form. He spoke to Rift, “This is for giving me a second chance.” He spoke to Grugg, “I’m sorry I did not see you for what you are, my brother.” He healed the party, and struck three tremendous blows to the demon before saying, “I wish we could have gone further together,” and disappearing with a sense of finality.
Vyranys discovered the fleeing form of the ghost, reclaimed the chest with the tome, and began to carry Cyadar’s corpse back up to the library while the ghost began flying upwards and fighting guards.
Between Grugg, Rift, Drubb, and Spiphy, the party was able to destroy the demon right before he dematerialized, and the skeletons disappeared shortly thereafter. After regrouping with Vyranys, three guards came rushing into the room. The ghost possessed Grugg, attempted to negotiate, then ultimately fled again by dropping Spiphy onto a Bag of Reaving.
The party rescued Spiphy and decided to take Cyadar to the nearby temple of Pelor for resurrection. There, they encountered Prince Lucas, the twin brother of the king, who shared with them the secret that Cyadar was actually a member of the Guardians, a secret society sworn to defend the central kingdoms from arcane and fiendish threats. He promised to see what could be done for the man, even though resurrection was an expensive and failure-prone process, and asked that they continue to investigate both the mysterious disease affecting Lionsheart livestock as well as the black market slavery ring that afflicts the kingdom.
The party then briefly stopped by the temple of Bahamut, where Drubb found a number of star-struck clerics who offered help and sanctuary if necessary. Spiphy was finally able to discover the nature of her gloves, in addition to the spyglass the Grugg carried, and the group returned to the tavern to rest off the day’s encounters.
Grugg, however, finally made his way to Cosmo’s House of Flesh, only to discover that it was in fact largely populated by male escorts. Sitting in the common room, becoming quite inebriated and enjoying the fine food, he was faced with a decision that might well reveal a fundamental truth about himself.
We end the chapter with our brave half-orc friend, surrounded by the patrons of Cosmo’s both noble and common, clouded by drink and self-awareness, with an important personal choice to make.