Of a Flower's Bloom and a Dragon's Breath

The Uninvited peered into the Medallion of Records. A vision began to unfold before them from Poem #9 (Shou Ho Experience): Song of Capes (Raijin). Sha Shou Ho was set to marry an aristocrat in Waterdeep, but she only agreed to the arrangement because it provided passage from Kara-Tur to the Sword Coast. Her true purpose for this journey was to find her brother, Raijin. The Calamity of Memories struck just as Sha arrived in Waterdeep. She had initially planned to murder her fiance and continue her search alone. However, upon meeting Seung Wen, she found herself disarmed by his kindness. She told him about her quest. Seung Wen, without hesitation, agreed to help her. He suggested their marriage could be a mere facade for their adventure. They married and, instead of a honeymoon, immediately began their investigation. They traveled to the Candlekeep Library, where they gathered enough information to learn that Raijin had been part of an adventuring party called The Leaves. He had also founded the White Lotus, an order dedicated to training monks. They eventually spoke with Torrent Nemesh, Raijin's former student and the current leader of the White Lotus. Seung Wen then decided to stay there and become a monk himself. Sha agreed to this new path, and for the first time, they consummated their marriage, making it clear that their union was no longer just a facade. Sha later encountered Adona Lonewalker, who asked her to form the new Leaves. Adona was the daughter of Darius, another member of the original Leaves who had fought alongside Raijin. As the new Leaves investigated the Soulmonger, Elminster approached them. He presented them with artifacts known as Cape of Leaves. Sha received the Cape of Leaves that imbued her with Raijin's power, allowing her to appear in multiple places at once and deliver fatal unarmed blows. They confronted and fought the Soulmonger, but the victory came at a price. Sha was mortally wounded internally during the battle. She returned to Seung Wen at the White Lotus. Torrent Nemesh immediately noticed her dying condition but could not bring himself to tell Seung Wen. A few days passed with Sha and Seung Wen living within the White Lotus monastery. Sha later described these as the best days of her life. She then passed away from her wounds. In the afterlife, she found her brother Raijin. He waited for her under a cherry tree, dressed in traditional Kara-Tur gowns. "I knew you would find me, sis!" he said as she approached. They hugged. After losing Sha, Seung Wen was heartbroken. He chose to liquidate all of his family's fortune and dedicate himself to spreading the White Lotus philosophy throughout the world. He proudly wore his late wife's Cape of Leaves. Torrent Nemesh fought valiantly at Seung Wen's side for decades, training and mentoring generations of White Lotus warriors to ensure the flame of the order would continue to burn.

Manasa excused himself during the short rest, moving away from the others to collect his thoughts. He spent a few moments in contemplation, remembering how he visited Melcior's grave at Almenarch after the fight against Vates. Valryss, his red dragon companion, spoke to him there, pronouncing Manasa a worthy dragon rider, before Valryss returned to the Medallion of Almenarch. Manasa then saw Tamil approach the gravestone. Tamil returned Melcior’s shield to its place on the marker. Manasa had crafted both the shield and Melcior’s armor as remembrances for the gravestone. Tamil and Manasa spoke by the grave. Tamil, a fifteen-year-old dragonborn shieldbearer, told Manasa she was impressed by Melcior’s resilience while she was alive. Tamil then asked Manasa, with whom she was seeing each other, if Melcior had been too radical in her actions. Manasa explained that sometimes radicalism was necessary to make changes in the world. Tamil informed Manasa that he decided to join him and the rest of The Uninvited on the material plane once they completed their work in the Feywild. Shortly after that conversation, Manasa remembered the brief last night he spent with Melcior in Revilon, the night before she died.

Back in Lesnina, the living forest the Uninvited found themselves in, they still stood before Amidor, the humanoid dandelion, and beneath Melcior, who was tied to a tree trunk and nailed to it. Sagiatto approached Amidor when he observed that Amidor's hand, which held Mycha's cursed sword, was withering. Sagiatto told Amidor to sheath the sword, but Amidor showed clear fear. Kilijan then approached Amidor and grabbed the sword. Kilijan threw the sword to Sagiatto and subsequently took Amidor into an embrace. Kilijan's hand began to wither even more, indicating the nature of the cursed item: one could not simply get rid of it without dying. Kilijan told Amidor he would be alright and soon with his loved ones. Amidor was afraid and tried to escape Kilijan's grapple, but without success. Amidor withered and died, but not before looking at Melcior and stating, "Sorry that I brought you back. Sorry that you had to be born out of..." He could not finish the sentence before his death. Kilijan immediately summoned a dandelion where Amidor's ashes fell to the ground. Melcior cried unbearably.

The somber moment of Amidor's death was not long-lived. Manasa ran towards the party, followed by nightmare beings which had attacked him while he was daydreaming. Upon reaching the party, Manasa saw Melcior and could not believe his eyes, though the imminent threat of Feyrs attacking them superseded any questions about Melcior’s survival. The party engaged the aberrations, while Greg focused on keeping Melcior alive. During the fight, Manasa found himself grappled. Kilijan rode his bear, Memphis, directly into the fray. Sagiatto sniped the hovering aberrations out of the sky with precise arrows, while Weneon deployed the mechanical vulture Kilijan had built for him. As the aberrations were being fought off, a beam of moonlight suddenly cut through the battlefield. A moonstone dragon emerged from the dark, assisting the aberrations. The party managed to defeat the Feyrs. During Manasa's final killing blow against the last Feyr with his flail, he moved directly into the crosshair of the moon dragon's breath weapon. The breath weapon not only disintegrated matter, but also souls, which would prevent any possibility of resurrection. In the exact moment Manasa was struck by the moonbeam, Valryss emerged from Manasa's amulet. Valryss spoke to Manasa, saying, "Thank you for being someone worth dying for, Manasa." Valryss then took the killing blow meant for Manasa. Valryss and his Medallion of Almenarch both disintegrated.

After Valryss died, a humanoid figure emerged from behind the moonstone dragon. A frustrated male voice spoke, asking, "How is it possible that people like you always find others willing to die for you, while I need to threaten others to give their lives to me?" It was Gambino, who stepped out from behind the dragon. Gambino then summoned a second dragon, much larger and seemingly ancient compared to the first adult dragon. The party remained still and allowed Gambino to speak. Gambino asked who had killed Amidor, stating he wanted to thank them. He accused Amidor of having stolen something from him earlier. Gambino explained he had tracked Amidor to this location and stumbled upon the party, who Amidor had lured with Melcior. Kilijan then asked Gambino about Marla. Gambino seemed unfamiliar with the name. Kilijan reminded him that it was the friend of the skelleton Silis who had blown Gambino up as a distraction, allowing Marla to escape. A brief glimpse of Gambino’s facial expression indicated he remembered the encounter and was not pleased by the recollection. Gambino then declared that his Two Moons would bring back a normal world by destroying the current one, which he described as allowing anyone and anything to live without consequences. He added that the only obstacles standing in his way were people like the party, who always seemed to have luck on their side. Gambino then ordered his ancient dragon to shoot at Kilijan and Weneon. However, the beams bypassed Kilijan and Weneon instead of hitting them. Gambino implied that Elminster, who had created the Cape of Leaves Weneon and Kilijan were wearing, possessed more power than Elminster let others believe. Gambino then stated that his connection to this plane was fading and that a new day would rise soon. Weneon interjected, saying, "Before a new day comes, first a new dawn will arise, and we shall see whose memories will prevail in that new dawn." Gambino was not intimidated by Weneon’s words and smirked. The smirk vanished from Gambino’s face when he saw Lorilon's silhouette hovering above Weneon, and he teleported away.

After Gambino vanished from their sight, the party directed their attention to Melcior. Manasa realized quickly that this was not the Melcior Manasa knew. Manasa observed as Greg attempted to heal Melcior, working to keep her alive. Greg, however, had reached the limits of his clerical abilities. Manasa then understood something crucial, stating that Melcior was a Sorrowsworn, identical to the Corrupted Leaves. Upon Manasa's declaration, Greg turned to Melcior, who was pleading to be released. Greg then rammed his fingers into Melcior's abdomen, extracting a pulsating orb from within her body. As Greg rotated the translucent orb in his hands, the party could see a coin suspended inside it. The coin carried a seal marked with the inscription "Vecna."