The Corruption of Divine Grace
A hero reveals the truth behind their feelings about the Blackshires. The party comes face to face with a corrupted celestial, while continuing to deny the protection of Nexus that may keep them safe from Divine punishment.
From the journal of the warrior Renatus
After our meeting with Lady Darthbyne, we take our leave for the evening and head to a nearby tavern known as the Bone and Blossom.
Once we arrive, we are met by a skeletal entity who informs us that accommodations had already been made for us. As everyone else orders their food and drinks, we are escorted to the penthouse where we settle in for the night.
The next morning, Sanasha is on edge about a dream she had, struggling to come to terms with the idea of potentially being reborn as she described. She also mentions a tree, which she admits to us is what grants her her power, although she doesn't fully understand it. She goes on to describe more of the experience, in particular a sea of stars and a silver light. Confused by their meanings, we decide our next travel location would be the Groves, where we might find Sanasha's mother to seek more answers.
We acquire special mounts provided to us by Thain, the head of La Maison Ossuaire, and set off toward the plains. Along the way, we discuss the challenge of fighting a corrupted angel. Was it possible to kill it? Or perhaps even save it? I attempt to communicate with Grevtria and Ielna seeking answers, but yet again I am only met with silence. My worry grows as it has been some time since I have been able to speak to either of them, but I cannot let my faith falter.
As the day draws to a close, we stop to rest for the night. As I stood watch with Sanasha, she...asks me things about myself that I'm not quite sure how to answer. Things about my faith, my past self, whether or not I have the ever known...love. Perhaps, I should do some self-reflecting, to better understand myself.
The next morning, it is revealed that the group, outside of Sanasha and obviously myself, shared a dream, the sight of a blacked out sun atop a mountain, with the trail of a passing comet seeming to cut through reality with thousands of eyes staring from the void, while bugs consume them, much like the ones that made up the entity that we set free from the Underground. The topic seems to se a split in the group as it is suggested that Naoki uses his powers to have a closer look at the dream.
We approach a bridge being guarded by two shadow giants, but they simply step aside to allow us to pass at the mention of Lady Darthbyne and the knife of the Blackshires. As we continue on our journey, we come into the Mournwood, where we get the idea of speaking to the trees to guide us on the right path. Unfortunately, the trees here appear to be petrified and cannot speak. As we discuss what we should do next, one of the corrupted angels we were warned of crashes down from the sky. I guess it is time to test our theory of whether it can be reasoned with or not...
The Vanguard opened combat against the corrupted Angel of Vengeance, enduring its fiery bursts while Diablo grappled the creature and Renatus brought it prone with an Eldritch Smite. Though resistant to magic, the angel was eventually cornered when Naoki summoned a thunderous cloud elemental to restrain it, allowing Emelyne to finish the beast by crushing it with a massive arcane hand. In its final moments, the angel warned that the elite angelic force known as the Avenari would endlessly hunt them down before its divine blade triggered a lethal trap that temporarily killed Renatus. Emelyne explained that while Nexus’s shadow protected them from divine scrying, the unblessed members faced ongoing pursuit, prompting tense debates over whether Sanasha, Diablo, and Renatus should accept Nexus's mark.
Pushing deep into the petrified Mourn Wood, the freezing, eerie atmosphere inflicted points of exhaustion on most of the Vanguard. During their watch, Diablo confessed his tragic past under the Blackshires—who had murdered his mother, the legendary performer "Banshee"—though he revealed a secret note proving she was still alive. Emelyne then showed Diablo that she still carried Valerie’s body, which had reverted to its pale, true changeling form. Later, during his own watch, Renatus desperately prayed for guidance to his goddesses; they coldly responded that he was merely an emotionless tool who must obey without question.
The following morning, Naoki used Commune with Nature to guide the party to the hidden lost grove. Passing through a boundary arch, they discovered a lush, thriving sanctuary trapped in a temporal stasis. When Emelyne attempted to cast Dispel Magic on a frozen druid, the spell backfired—knocking her unconscious and manifesting a shadow duplicate that hurled fireballs while echoing her deepest insecurities before Diablo and Sanasha destroyed it. After Naoki revived Percy and Emelyne recounted her dark vision of controlling "threads," the party inspected the stasis. Suddenly, the frozen druid elder briefly stood, puppeted by an unknown force, and pointed deeper into the grove before collapsing back into stillness.