A Dance is with Death
After a long night in the catacombs, the party makes their way to a tavern to rest for the night. With the day of the ball upon them, they speak with the Archmage and convince him to take them along after advising him of their conversation with the Goddess in the crypt. While the ball was bustling with information and members of the continent's upper class, the party finds that it was truly the after party that was one to die for
Notes recovered from the journal of CraumGaCu discussing recent events:
We stand in a great hall, a place where magical arts and vast knowledge is collected. we speak to amaral tamlish and he tells us the creature we fought is called a skinchanger. a horrible creature that feed on tiny parts of there victims, this feeding changes the creature into that person for a small amount of time before needing to refeed on the victim. we also show him the strange amulet we found. Amaral tells us its from some infernal origin and he wishes to destroy it. for this we are gifted a powerful item that makes the user harder to hit. there are more prizes of his to get but for them Amaral wishes for us to travel into the woods to the north and kill a beast lurking there. before we leave i think how this place could have more information about my kind as bless him by his hammer Ornar has been no help on this subject as of late, i am told of a place called Xoraxan and how it is now a great ruin and nothing more then a wasteland. we wish to battle to stop the corruption of the demon of madness and decided our best course of action to try and find missing dead bodies as these would be needed for the skin changers. we find a catacombs where renataus starts speaking to the dead, apparently this ghost is leading us deeper, not knowing what this could mean we follow. we find what seems to be someone preparing a dead body but all is not what it seems as we are attacked by another skinchanger. after the battle a god speaks to renatus telling him that the city is under deep threat to demons. it seems the corruption runs deep in this place. we are asked to attended a ball in 3 days. but after a fresh fight first we need rest, we find the prancing tabby and this will be our resting grounds for the night
Starting in a crypt, the party chose to head to the 3rd level and check in at The Watering Hole—an upper-class tavern and hot spring run by a red dragonborn named One-Eyed Bill, which was recovering its reputation after a recent poisoning incident. Renting three rooms, they overheard off-duty Sunkeepers discussing emissaries from the Sanguisian Empire, while Diablo cautioned Dakka against pursuing necromancy. After soaking in the springs to gain temporary physical resilience, they tipped Bill and stopped by The Dew Drop to confirm their tea delivery, only to leave a card when they found Sophia missing.
Arriving at the Mages Guild, they learned that Myriel Delesande—the Archmage who received the tea—had mysteriously died. After Valerie shed a single tear, they informed Amoral Tamlish of the Goddesses' warning regarding the impending doom of the city. Tamlish agreed to escort them to the upcoming ball to investigate, providing 15 aurals each for formal attire, while Craum and Dakka spent the rest of their time researching the Xarahian Empire and the Demon Princes of Madness and War.
The next day, dressed in high fashion—including Valerie in a gem-like, high-slit red gown—the party attended the ball alongside various regional leaders: black dragonborn Governor Ordgith, half-elf Governor Marlessa, and dwarven Governor Hangrobela, who expressed concern that the Archmage's death might stem from a plague. They met Hangrobela’s silver-armored bodyguard, Sunkeeper Captain Ser Narphon, and wealthy shipping magnate Rudibert Goold. Tension filled the room as the Sanguisian Empire delegation arrived, guarded by the grimly armored Ser Dorian Iglorean and led by Baron Angus Blackshire—whose eyes glowed red—and Baroness Gloria Blackshire.
When the Baron pulled Tamlish and the Governors aside for private talks, Valerie feigned overheating, tricked a staff member into a broom closet using her Words of Terror, and eavesdropped on the meeting. She overheard a heated discussion about a spreading plague affecting those who were "death-touched" before disguising herself as a drunken dwarf to blend in. Meanwhile, Dakka inspected guests like Head Priest Skeburi Mortif for signs of decay, though he found no proof of skinchangers. Before departing, the Baron requested a private meeting with Tamlish. Valerie quietly reunited with her allies, and Tamlish teleported the group back to the Prancing Tabby for late-night drinks and music before bed.
During the night, the sleepless Renatus spotted a four-armed creature lurking above a sleeping Diablo. When the entity lamented that it would have to kill Renatus for opposing its plans, combat erupted. Renatus summoned his echo to engage, but fell alongside Ornnar, Diablo, and Craum under the creature's long-range harpoon arms and brutal grapple attacks. To their horror, the innkeeper Marie transformed into another monstrosity, having been corrupted long ago; Valerie ducked into a room and confirmed the real Marie's rotting corpse was stuffed beneath a bed.
In a desperate gambit, Valerie used Disguise Self to take the form of one of the monsters, but Dakka was cut down attempting to flee. As Valerie was stabbed through the back and lay bleeding alongside her fallen companions, a dark voice ordered their bodies brought to the temple to be turned into flesh golems as her vision faded into darkness.