At Kaelen Cross's manor, Moss attempts to place the severed head of Bartholomew onto the Scepter of Oaths, but the scepter reacts with violent rejection. The party retires to their rooms, but Vesper is soon jolted awake by the clanging of battle and tormented screams echoing from the 🗝️ Soul Vault. Vesper panics and seeks help from Moss and the Scepter, but neither can provide a solution. In a moment of desperation, Vesper shakes the vault upside down. The motion knocks Bullog off balance, allowing Gimbol to put him to sleep. The party gathers in Sol's room and calls upon The Flame. The Flame advises that they must all enter the vault to resolve the crisis, and with a snap of its fingers, the party is transported inside.
Entering from the manor, inside the 🗝️ Soul Vault, the party finds themselves in a series of floating islands surrounded by magical shields. Gimbol is locked in a fierce battle with Bullog on one of the distant islands. In the center island, a massive crystalline hand begins to dig its way up through the ground.
The party lands on the center platform of the Soul Vault. They are surrounded by three massive gates:
From a distance, they see Durim in agony as energy pulses through him, trapped in a waking nightmare. A silhouette of a robed man laughs, his voice echoing:
More than I bargained for.
The party splits up to tackle the gates:
As the defenses are triggered, a massive construct in the center begins to move, attempting to grab Sol before Jin intervenes.
At the last gate, Moss finds three crystalline rings fused together. Moss, Jin, and Vesper work in unison to turn the rings simultaneously. The gate deactivates, and the shields around the floating islands finally vanish.
The broken portal begins to rebuild itself. Gimbol convinces Bullog to join him, and they jump down to the main platform together. As the construct begins to self-destruct, Vesper teleports Durim next to the portal. Durim wakes and casts a stabilizing spell, giving the party 60 seconds to escape.
The party returns to their bodies at the manor. Their artifacts are missing, but Gran reveals she has them for safekeeping. Gimbol notices his hands and clothes are covered in soot and smell of ash.
Kaelen Cross arrives at Sol's door, covered in ash. He reports that Blackreef has been overrun by ashen creatures and masked figures tearing the town apart. He claims to have stopped them from reaching the manor.
Durim arrives at the manor, having been the one messaging Gimbol. He warns that Parsons has become significantly stronger. He reveals a devastating truth:
The other anchors are identified as:
Sol agrees to be bound to Kaelen, accepting his vampire bite. The following morning, Durim prepares a ritual to make Moss and Sol anchors. Moss and Sol lie in ritual circles while Vesper stands. Durim transforms into a cloud of ash, chanting.
Kaelen interrupts to threaten Durim, ensuring the ritual doesn't harm Sol. The energy release knocks Sol and Vesper unconscious. Moss has a vision of his grove in ashes and hears a final message about Bartholomew:
He didn't beg for his life; he begged for yours.
The party wakes the next morning. The Crown of Stars has gone cold, and Moss's staff no longer answers him. When Moss places the crown on his head, vines grow around it, though the artifact seems to resist. He hands his staff to Jin, and it transforms into a pair of gauntlets.
As they travel toward House Marrow, the scepter (now gauntlets) tells Jin that the orb is close. Suddenly, they are surrounded in the woods by six figures. One wears skeletal armor, and another is the man Moss saw holding Bartholomew.
The leader issues a cold ultimatum:
We'll let you go if you hand us the anchors and the artifacts.