At Last, Some Rest
After the departure of Gregory and Dakka, the party head back to the town center for a drink. Coincidentally, one of the patrons in the pub they head into was an old, traveling companion of Naoki, Thalia. She joins the party, and after a short rest, the group splits to do varies tasks before heading up to the 5th level to see where to go next.
After burning the Architect's remains using a fuel source to prevent her resurrection, the party exited the warehouse district toward the town center to take the elevator up to a higher level.
Desiring a drink, Emelyne and Naoki led the group to the Silver Lining, an inn run by a pug-faced man with partial canine lineage named Prince Beasley. Inside, Naoki reunited with his ranger traveling companion, Thalia. Seeking a buyer for the organs harvested from the Architect, Emelyne enlisted Valerie's help; after a short rest restored Valerie and Diablo's drained Charisma, Valerie guided her to a Drow black market organ seller, securing 44 aurals for the haul. Meanwhile, the rest of the party visited the Watchers to report on Gregory. The cult gifted them twenty rations, two healing potions, and a bottle of Dust of Disappearance—a single-use item granting invisibility in a 10-foot area for $2\text{d}4$ minutes.
Regrouping on the 5th level, the party met with Sergeant Matthias, where Emelyne presented detailed charts of the Architect's mechanisms and monsters. Her findings aligned with reports of missing citizens and skinwalkers emerging through interdimensional portals. Matthias rewarded them with 50 aurals each, along with a scroll granting free travel across all city trains, elevators, and gates. Learning that the innkeeper Marie had been resurrected by a cleric, the party visited the Prancing Tabby—noting Marie now bore a white streak in her hair—and spent the evening helping her mend damage and scrub blood from the premises. Valerie also purchased poisoner's supplies on the black market for 30 gold.
By morning, Valerie's disease worsened, inflicting the poisoned condition and reducing her maximum HP by an additional seven. Craum cast Lesser Restoration to remove the poison and suppress the disease's effects for the day. Reaching the upper level, they visited a hospital dedicated to Dasus—the goddess of medicine—where a doctor cured Valerie's affliction via divine blessing for 400 gold (25 platinum paid by Valerie, 15 from party funds). Fully restored, the party departed the city to hunt the rare beast in the northern forest, guided safely along the road by Thalia.
Setting up a sheltered camp for the night, the group split watch duties, during which Diablo proposed naming their troupe the "Veiled Vanguard." On the first watch, Craum and Naoki bonded over shared memory loss and Craum's inability to dream. On the second watch, Diablo conversed with Thalia about her youth and her deceased parents while she questioned Renatus's unusual lack of sleep. On the third watch, Emelyne and Valerie attempted to open the skin-bound book taken from the Architect, triggering a violent surge of raw information that dealt 23 psychic damage to both.
As they recovered, an elderly woman named Zara entered the camp. Though initially suspicious, the party quickly realized she possessed immense power—revealing herself as the "Witch of the Woods to the North" from Diablo's earlier warning. Sharing muffins as she roused the rest of the group, Zara explained she was drawn to their camp by the smell of death lingering on them, warning them to draw their weapons as their targeted creature approached.