Ellu'kha and her group had breached the darkness of the cursed shadow lands and had found an inn protected by a great magic. Some of the tieflings she had saved from the goblins sat within, a woman she had rescued from the flames of a burning village loomed over a wartable guiding her forces, and Jaheira, a woman who appeared to be the leader of this one beacon of safety in the darkness, had asked them for help.
They were to infiltrate Moonrise Towers, disguised as True Souls by the parasites that lurked in their minds, and find a way to destroy the cult from the inside out.
Ellu'kha was more than happy to do so — after all, that was what they had planned to do anyway before coming across this inn.
First though, Ellu'kha wanted to explore the area and the region, speak to the people, and help however she could: often the smaller things were just as important as the larger things.
But there was something larger going on here. She spied the devil — Raphael, in his human form — playing a board game with one of the tiefling children. She doubted he was entertaining her out of the goodness of his heart.
They helped the child win the game, she ran off with glee, and then they had Raphael all to themselves to find out just what he was up to.
Just bargaining with the child, he smiled. It was none of their business. Snapping his fingers, he vanished in a puff of glowing smoke.
Ellu'kha hurried over to the child to warn her against the devil that was trying to manipulate her, but learning that the man was indeed a devil the child was happy. Maybe he did have the power to grant her all that she desired. She just wanted to get herself and the other children to Baldur's Gate, safely, aaaand become head of the Thieves Guild.
Warning her against Raphael one more time, the child snapped — she didn't care. She would make her own choices, good or bad. They were her choices to make. And turned her back to Ellu'kha and returned to her friends.
If the child wanted to lose her soul, that was her business. She was now aware of the risks and Ellu'kha had done what she could.
They continued around the inn and spoke to the tieflings scattered around. There were less than at the grove, and she soon discovered why. They had been attacked by the Absolute cultists. Many of them had fallen and many more had been dragged to Moonrise Towers. Now Ellu'kha had more reason to go there: to save the tieflings, again.
The councilor they had rescued from the burning buildings back in the wilds came over to speak with them. They had been preparing to rescue Duke Ravengard from Moonrise Towers, but with Ellu'kha and her people there and with the safety of having a guise to enter the Towers, perhaps they would be more likely to be the rescuers.
She said that she was seeking aid from Baldur's Gate, but to not expect the aid, do not count on her. They would have to be ready to rescue the Duke without any outside help on the off-chance it simply wasn't coming.
Ellu'kha said they'd set off soon; there was other business to take care of first but to never fear, they would rescue the Duke. They could be sure of it.
Since some of the tieflings had made it to safety here, Ellu'kha grabbed Karlach and together they looked around to see if perhaps the tiefling who was supposed to be a master engineer was here. And he was!
Having once been in the Hells himself, he sensed Karlach and her engine of a heart straight away and tuned it up for her. She felt much better now. Much better than the dude lying in a bed nearby, muttering to himself...
They walked over to the man, fast asleep on a bed, clearly affected by the shadow curse and yet... something was preventing the curse from fully taking him over. He muttered 'Thaniel' beneath his breath in a sing-song tune, and suddenly, Halsin strode towards them.
Thaniel was the name of the fae who lived in this land. The fae that had been imprisoned by the shadow. This was part of why Halsin had come with them — he believed that if they freed the fae named Thaniel, then the shadow curse would be powerless and the region would return to how it was before.
They needed to find out what had happened to this man, and how to communicate with Thaniel through him, somehow.
A letter in the man's pocket told them that he had spent some time in a place called the House of Healing, also in these cursed shadow lands... perhaps they would find answers there.
The way before them was clear: they would help Halsin and then they would go onwards towards Moonrise Towers.
Before setting out, they made camp at the back of the inn beneath the safety of the magical shield and prepared to rest and regain their strength — there were going to need it.
After eating but before falling asleep, Wyll's demon, Mizora, appeared before them and demanded Wyll rescue an asset from Moonrise Towers. By the pact they shared he would do as he was told and retrieve this devil that had been captured.
Ellu'kha butted in. The desperation reeked from Mizora, perhaps this was just what Wyll needed to break his pact. She told Mizora that they would free the asset as desired, but in exchange Wyll would be freed from his pact.
Mizora laughed and laughed, but agreed in her own way... all that was left was to save the "asset" and make sure she kept her word.
That night, in her dreams, the entity from within the artifact visited her once more. She could tell that they were close to Moonrise Towers, it was taking more and more to exert power over the Absolute and keep Ellu'kha and her companions safe and secure.
She would protect them with all of her might, however. They must be victorious against the Absolute.
When they awoke, it was time to traverse the cursed shadows once more. Torches at the ready, they left the magical protection around the inn and stepped back out into the darkness.
They soon came across where the tieflings had been attacked. A scene that was as evident as the corpses that lay strewn across the ground.
Plenty of enemies lurked in the shadows ready to ambush them, but Ellu'kha and her group were perceptive and able to spot any attackers. The ones who weren't mere shadows anyway.
It was exhausting creeping through the cursed shadows and they only traversed half the region before needing to rest and recuperate once more.
Not that Wyll seemed very exhausted. He spent the night dancing with himself, and even offered her his hand so that she could join him. Worried that he was getting the wrong idea about her friendliness, she declined his dance and walked away, his shocked and saddened gaze upon her back.
She only had eyes for Gale's charms.
Until next time! 😊
All screenshots in this post are courtesy of me, 