The party is suddenly surrounded in the woods by six figures. Moss quickly reacts, using his magic to transform Vesper into a giant ape to even the odds. During the chaos, Gimbol sends a frantic message to Durim, urging him to come to their aid.
A mysterious figure manages to steal the gauntlets—the transformed 🗝️ Scepter of Oaths—from Jin's hands. The thief vanishes, only to reappear beside Parsons. Moss attempts to invoke the Crown of Stars' “Mandate of Heaven” to stop Parsons, but the artifact remains cold and unresponsive. Parsons retaliates with a devastating Finger of Death on Moss. Moss narrowly survives the strike, and Parsons retreats with the stolen scepter. Durim arrives just as the dust settles, but the enemies are gone.
That night, Vesper takes the watch with Durim. Durim reveals that an Anchor can unlock specialized abilities when attuned to the correct artifact. He explains that the artifact tied to the God of Death, Valzeruun, is a cloak—the 🗝️ Mantle of the Silent Judge—which Parsons is currently using.
The following morning, Vesper shares this revelation with Sol. Curious, Sol communes with her own artifact, which responds with a display of raw power, firing beams of energy that cause a small explosion in a nearby tree.
The party continues their journey north, stopping at a small town halfway to House Marrow. At a local bar, Jin is approached by a man—the brother of a fallen comrade from Jin's old group. The man presses Jin for answers about his brother's fate. Sol notices Jin's distress and intervenes to distract the man.
The man shares grim news from the south: Lunaris has been completely taken over. He describes a city covered in ice, a dragon perched upon the manor, and the streets littered with bodies.
A stranger at the bar begins questioning Jin, demonstrating an unnerving ability to read minds. Jin admits to a past failure: his group had been tasked with protecting a town from a demonic presence, but the demon offered a wager instead. Jin's group put him in charge of the roll; he gambled their souls and lost.
The stranger chuckles, and Jin recognizes the voice—it is the same demon. As the stranger speaks of making another wager for the party's souls, the bar begins to wither and rot. The demon reveals it has already taken one of the party's sacred groves. Jin refuses to gamble again.
I'll be here if ever you decide to be brave.
The demon vanishes, leaving the bar in a state of advanced decay. The party decides to press on toward House Marrow. Sol speaks with Kaelen Cross, who promises to send scouts to investigate the situation in Lunaris.
As the party nears the gates of House Marrow, the vegetation dies away, replaced by grey, undead wildlife. The massive gates, usually sealed to contain the undead within, stand wide open.
A thick fog rolls in as they enter. The buildings are sagging and twisted at unnatural angles, and the streets are swarmed with undead. Deep within the city, a pulsing red glow emanates from the center. Gimbol spots a bandaged figure in armor diving into a building after cutting down several ghouls.
The party navigates the city using Moss's Pass Without Trace, narrowly avoiding giant undead constructs that seem to be herding the lesser ghouls. They encounter a group of survivors hiding in a building.
The group is led by Leara Marrow, the niece of Lord Corvin Marrow. After Sol is initially mistaken for an undead due to her spectral glow, the party convinces Leara of their alliance. She explains the dire situation:
The party sneaks toward the cathedral, finding the surrounding field choked with sentient, moving vines. Moss attempts to commune with the plants, and they seem to part for the party. However, as they reach the doors, the vines betray them, lashing out and wrapping around their legs.
Jin and Gimbol manage to force the locked doors open just in time. They descend into a fog-filled stairwell. At the bottom, they find a door slightly ajar, revealing Lord Corvin Marrow hunched over the Chalice of Concord.