A Requiem Forgotten

The gala collapsed into an absolute bloodbath as the owl-headed Archfey, Darthys, Lord of the Silent Hunt, was unleashed upon the room. While the disguised shapeshifter "Gildergully"—revealed to be Ex, who had taken on the persona of Erik Blackshield—feigned cowardly bumbling by firing off crossbow bolts and hiding behind tables, Darthys turned invisible and brutally tore a party-goer in half as the crowd shuffled around looking for an escape. Sanasha was quickly snared by the creature's leathery wings, but managed to break free using her Blessing of the Tree while begging it to leave. Diablo and Naoki traded punches and moonlight magic with the monster, while Percy put a hand on Sanasha's shoulder to heal her before using shadow swap to trade places with Diablo. The chaos reached its peak when Emelyne burst through the doors; Darthys unleashed a thunderous, deafening blast that killed the remaining party-goers attempting to flee. Before the Archfey could inflict any further carnage, Emelyne successfully cast Banishment, sending Darthys away and restoring quiet.

With the threat banished, Sanasha dismantled and mangled Gildergully's siphoning machine. The disguised Lord led the Vanguard to his private study, where Sanasha discovered the real Gildergully's corpse. Pushed into a corner, Ex melted away their disguise to reveal their true form: a changeling. Emelyne ran away, becoming stark white upon the realization. After the party spent three minutes looting the study—prying open the desk and triggering a dart trap that struck Sanasha (though she felt nothing initially), and knocking over an oil lantern on the desk causing fire to spread as guards swept in—they escaped through a window just as the city's power grid began to flicker out.

Regrouping under Naoki's Mirror Grove at the Twin Hounds Tavern, the party confronted Ex about their identity. Ex revealed they are family to Valerie, shifting briefly into her likeness to prove the connection. Emelyne and Eggy laid out Valerie's body, and the party shared memories of her, exchanging guitar strings and leaving a wisteria flower in her hair as parting gifts. Ex agreed to take Valerie’s body home to rest with family, disappearing in a flash of sparkles and smoke after declining their invitation to join them at the tower.

As midnight struck, the delayed poison from the study's dart hit Sanasha (Tears of Midnight), causing her to cough up blood and necrotic tears before being healed. The party then examined and identified the loot recovered from Gildergully’s vault:

• 450 platinum pieces

• 3 blood rubies

• Gem-encrusted Ring: Ring of Protection (+1 bonus to AC and saving throws)

• Amulet with an emerald suspended in floating crystal: Peridot of Proof Against Poison (Rare, requires attunement; grants immunity to the poisoned condition and poison damage)

• Vial of a silvery grey dust: Dust of Disappearance (Uncommon; powder resembling sand that grants you and each creature within 10 feet the Invisible condition for 10 minutes, or until an attack/spell is cast)

• A very fine well-crafted crystal vial with a speck of light floating within it: Essence of Dawn (Part of the first moment light touched the Feywild; extremely potent magical ingredient, acts as a powerful lantern warding off concentrated evil energy; potentially negates the fog obscuring the Godscar)

• Collection of letters and documents: Documents revealing the participation of other wealthy nobles and merchants from Mysteria in Gildergully's experiments

Following the identification of the items, a melancholic, reality-warping bardic melody echoed through the room before fading, and the party toasted to Valerie's final bow before settling down to sleep. However, their rest was short-lived: as they fell asleep, the entire party was pulled into a shared, terrifying dream of fraying realities, frozen people in stasis, tolling bells, and two mysterious crying and laughing faces before waking in unison.