Party: The Captain, Vholanthus Sumquaes, Wenceslas, Claudia De La Quinne
As the guards usher Wenceslas and Claudia out of the Library, the Captain is pulled aside into a shadowy alcove by a former companion of his army days, the chronicler and historian Malin. The elderly dwarven lady has received word that the Captain should not spend too much time on defending Vholanthus if trouble strikes and may walk away a richer person if he then visits the Three Cups Down Salon. Additionally, she passes on to him a map containing the information also received by Wenceslas about the basement level of the Library, which she happened to see the desk clerk draw up.
When pressed for the source of her information as the pair makes their way out of the Library through some highly unused passages, she can only give vague answers, implying that saying too much could cost her relatives.
Vholanthus, meanwhile, has been out in owl-form traversing the city, eventually settling on going to miss Daisy's house. As he approaches the location, a massive migraine builds up and eventually forces him to crash into the roof of the estate, where he spends a lot of time in stupor, until waking up from a dark sensation. Upon waking, a pull from the direction of the Library serves as a marker for where to go next.
Approaching over the back-alleys, Vholantus spies the Captain and Malin walking out of the Library and makes to meet up with them.
The Captain, not one to keep a secret such as he has just been told, takes Vholanthus into his confidence, aligning the pair of them in the purpose of not getting the elf killed. Malin looks unhappy about this turn and makes her way back into the Library after bidding farewell.
When the Captain and Vholanthus get to the main street, they are halted by the captain of the guard (Florian Lejeun), who engages in some rules-lawyering in order to keep the newcomers away from the rift in the street where one of his men is gathering him some treasure... a party of brave adventurers under the guidance of his handpicked escort is exploring the newfound ruins. The Captain eventually convinces Florian to let him pass, while Vholanthus simply shapeshifts back into an owl and gains entry that way.
Following the other group down into the labyrinthian structure underground, using the clever markings from Wenceslas and common sense to navigate away from most of the dangers, the pair meets up with the rest of the party outside of the grounds where the battle has just taken place against the Mortal Hunter.
Quite around the same time, Cornpone flies in to warn of noon and the group decides to regroup and rest up topside, all the while sharing information as they walk.
Knowing that only an adventuring party enlisted at the Adventuring Guild can claim a mysterious ruin for exploration and exploitation, Vholanthus shifts again into his owlish form and heads to the Jardin's Adventuring Guild to register his 5-strong party as 'the Fifth Eclipse', which allowed the group to properly leave the dungeon and have it safeguarded against other intruders.
Based on pooled knowledge, the party now knows the name of five Vertangian Elfhames:
Tir Tairngire, Tir fo Thuinn, Mag Meli, Emain Ablach and Dun Scaith.
A letter, once received from a wounded elf, is produced by Claudia and offered to Wenceslas reading:
"They are loose. The Haven has fallen. It is off the Leash."
After reading the letter aloud, Wenceslas confesses to the party that he used to be a member of an elven raiding party, which sought to alleviate the suffering of his people (due to bad harvests, a lack of offerings for the protection of the lands and a constant war against the denizens of the Dark), but which saw the leader of their band become corrupted by bloodlust. As this proved to be strongly against Wenceslas's own moral code of conduct, he left to seek out other Elfhames, arriving in Vertange as he heard that one of the lost ones could be found here.
In a shadowed hall, a kneeling individual asks a man with a silver arm for the right to exact revenge on the Captain. The request is denied ... for now.
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