Whispers of Despair
The Veiled Vanguard battles creatures corrupted by a red aura, struggling against confusion and deadly strikes before emerging victorious. As they navigate deeper into the mines, they witness haunting visions of Ruebalon’s fall and a mysterious voice tempting Craum with promises of salvation. Reaching the ancient castle untouched by the collapse, they encounter a being of maggots and despair—an ancient fragment of chaos imprisoned for ages—offering power in exchange for freedom, as a massive worm-like entity looms at the heart of the ruins.
A bards song "Veiled in Shadow"
A letter from Valerie to her Uncle Louis
Dear Uncle Louis,
It has been too long since I have heard from you. I hope mother is well… merde… I know she is not or you would have sent word. If she wakes, please tell her that I love her dearly and will be home safely to see her.
My journey of discovery has taken me to the Dwarven Kingdom of Rubaelon. There is much I could speak of our journey together, but I know that you would prefer to have a more in depth debriefing. Trust that Diablo Dorado is keeping us safe as we venture away from Illnerya. Danger looms at every corner, but I believe that what you’ve taught me will find me safely to our next meeting.
Je suppose que les instructions arrivent bientôt. Je me sens égaré sans direction. C'était merveilleux de voir Sophie, comme toujours, sa performance était incroyable. Life in service, service until death.
Love,
Valerie
Moving deeper down the pathway, the party encountered a creature with a cracked shell radiating a corrupted red aura. Combat began as the beast's mind-scrambling presence confused Diablo, causing him to mistake Craum for an enemy and attack him before charging the monster. The creature swiftly knocked Diablo unconscious and advanced, while Naoki restored Craum and revived Diablo with Healing Word. After Valerie healed Diablo, both she and Emelyne succumbed to confusion and were temporarily paralyzed, allowing a second burrowing creature to erupt from behind and maul Valerie.
Rejoining the party, Renatus entered the fray as Diablo landed a stunning blow on the first monster, breaking its mental hold over the group. Realizing they needed to avert their eyes, the Vanguard unleashed a coordinated barrage; Diablo stunned the creature a second time, Valerie hurled vicious insults to damage the second beast, and Thalia delivered a fatal arrow shot to the first. Upon death, the creature exploded into a cloud of toxic red mist that poisoned the party, imposing a penalty on their attack rolls. As Valerie retreated to safety, the second creature burrowed to a new location where Diablo tracked it down and Craum finished it with a Firebolt, sustaining minor blast damage as it exploded.
Regrouping, the party noticed Emelyne muttering continuously to herself as they descended further into tunnels lined with glowing red corruption veins, while Thalia officially named her dragonling "Kevin." Arriving at a 50-foot chasm where the rail tracks had collapsed, the group devised a crossing strategy: Craum removed wheels from a minecart to use as counterweights, allowing Renatus to teleport his echo across and catch the weighted rope on his fourth attempt so the party could cross using Thalia’s rope as a safety harness.
Reentering Old Rubealon from the opposite side, they encountered an oppressive red mist that reduced visibility to 20 feet and radiated a palpable sense of dread. Panicked cries echoed through the fog, manifesting spectral visions of the city's final moments during the Tears of Toumas, when the collapse of magic brought down civilizations as new gods rose. Emelyne hummed a soothing melody to keep the group focused, establishing "Kevin" as a safe word in case anyone was separated.
As physical illusions tested their resolve—including a crumbling stone structure that Thalia dodged and a mysterious voice tempting Craum—Renatus tapped into memories from a past life, realizing he had walked these streets before. He guided them through illusory carnage to the ruins of the original castle, an octagonal, domed structure built from solid stone that remained entirely intact.
Entering the hollow, pillar-filled interior, they passed through an unresisting magical barrier into a courtyard surrounded by a pulsing red glow. Valerie observed that the surrounding corpses were all reaching toward a central point, while Emelyne felt a powerful drive to push forward. When Renatus sent his echo ahead, a mass of maggots coalesced into a vague humanoid shape that spoke to them. Claiming to be older than demons, the entity revealed it was a fragment of primal despair—an eldritch chaos predating creation that had been imprisoned when a rift opened during the calamity.
Promising immense power if they shattered the pillars holding its magical prison, the entity revealed that one of its ancient siblings had already been freed elsewhere in the realm. At the center of the pile of corpses, a worm-like tentacle bearing a single eye emerged, exposing the party to an otherworldly presence from the realm in-between.