Party: Claudia De La Quinne, The Captain, Vholanthus Sumquaes, Daisy Dandeigh Deveraux
Shocked at the revelations of an upcoming Darktide (and some members of the party wondering what exactly that might be), the party decides to send Wenceslas to the Great Library in order to find out more.
As Wenceslas heads off, the corpse of the dryad is investigated and a small stone shard etched with an elven rune is found. When Vholanthus is asked about it, he explains how two millennia ago a powerful mage was defeated at the site of present-day Vertange by the druids after a titanic struggle. This mage used the power of an Ancestral Elven Runestone to drain the life of his surroundings and shape the husks that remained into his servants, thereby blighting the land in a way that lingers to this day.
Vholanthus has done what he can to realign the geomantic energies ever since he learned of this.
Claudia uses her power to ask questions of those who departed to gain more knowledge about the situation, but only discovers that the creatures twisted by the dark energies of the Runestone follow the Hunger.
The Captain tries to flick the shard of runestone embedded in the dead dryad with his blade, but Emiel absorbs the thing and gains a spectral runic inscription reading:
"Pierce with me the Veil of Night
Draw ever more to my side."
The inscription glows shortly and then fades from sight, unless one very closely examines the blade.
Keying off of the concept of hunger and considering the changes Vholanthus noted in the wildlife, the group starts thinking about mysterious disappearances around town. Claudia and Daisy note that they caught Sandre Benotti slipping 'something' to an orphan boy, and that this boy seemed dazed but glad to have been saved by their arrival as Sandre ran off when they showed up. Ever since, rumours have started that several other orphans had disappeared and children have started avoiding the candy shops that are run by Sandre.
The Captain wants to confront Sandre without delay, but Roberto Sumquaes arrives on the scene to proffer his assistance to his uncle, having heard that strange wildlife may endanger the man who graciously saved him from an ignoble canal-side death at the hands of some cutpurse.
Vholanthus and friends seem less than warm to the idea and suggest that Roberto stays behind and watches the area for further disturbances.
Daisy takes the time to query the local nightlife (in this case, a large bat) upon the situation, leading to a long chat where the bat reveals that one of his brood has been acting strange since finding an odd stone.
As Daisy is startled by this revelation, the bat also understands it has said too much and wings it.
Cornpone (Daisy's excellently trained animal companion) gives chase and comes back to report having found the bat's lair.
The party goes there (gently shoeing off two guardsmen who were sent to accompany 'Uncle Vholanthus') and get into a fight with the denizens of the Bat Building, a place dripping in guano. A large mutated bat arrives on the scene and causes havoc, so the party heads off after picking up a small black stone from the ground as the building catches fire.
They all get away safely, though Vholanthus (in owl form) still has a brief encounter with the large bat as it flees from the flames.
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