Fate is a Bitch

The Uninvited begin their battle against the fusion drake. The creature teleports from room to room, but the party manages to corner it in a corridor and overwhelm it. As Weneon lands the final shot, the drake explodes with a thunderous boom. The Almenarch dungeon begins to crumble, and the ceiling starts caving in. Manasa grabs Tamil and rescues him. Meanwhile, Melcior runs toward the southernmost room, where the rest of the party has gathered. Kilijan waits for her in the corridor and attempts to teleport her to safety, but before his spell can take hold, a falling boulder strikes her, burying her under the rubble.

Kilijan is beside himself with grief and zones out as the party regroups in the southern room. Lost in thought, he recalls his escape from Garresh’s crew and how he reclaimed the orb from his village. He remembers jumping into the river to escape, accidentally breaking the orb and revealing a hidden message inside: “In times of trouble, call forth Omihi Duskwalker.” Snapping back to reality, Kilijan joins the others in mourning Melcior’s death. Greg attempts divine intervention to save her but fails. Manasa carves a message of remembrance into the stones marking her grave. He hears the voice of his patron, Darius, say: “The hole you feel will grow smaller over time, but it will never be filled.” Tamil vows to honor Melcior by becoming a great warrior and defeating Baba Yaga. Mycha encourages him to channel his anger and pain into strength. Tamil sits down to sketch Melcior’s face in his journal. The party notices his drawing and is reminded of something they’ve seen before: a figure endlessly drawing in a journal. Suddenly, the portal in the southern room begins to close. Tamil tells the party he cannot follow them further. As the party steps through the portal, they begin to ascend a staircase into the unknown.

The party emerges into an infinite void, with only a staircase stretching endlessly before them. The voices of Almenarch’s dragon guardians—Valryss the Verdant, Mythralith the Obscured, and Aurevax the Tempest—echo around them. As they climb, visions of Almenarch’s history play out: the dragons’ oath to protect the Feywild and the betrayal of an eladrin, whose name is now lost to time, in his quest for power. This betrayal doomed the Feywild. Valryss Fight At the top of the staircase, they witness a fierce battle between Valryss the Verdant and the eladrin atop Almenarch. The party joins the fray, fighting alongside Valryss against the eladrin forces. Valryss protects them as they battle. Finally, the gate to Almenarch opens, and the party steps into the halls of the past. As they descend to the southern chamber, they interrupt the moment when the unnamed eladrin archmage is about to curse Valryss. Mycha intervenes, standing before the eladrin. The archmage sneers: “You are not supposed to be here. You are not invited.” Mycha raises his sword and replies: “Sudbina je kučka, a mi smo Nepozvani.” (Translation: “Fate is a bitch, and we are The Uninvited.”) With a swift strike, he ends the archmage’s life. Valryss unleashes her breath weapon, enveloping the party. They witness 1,500 years pass in a flash, seeing the fate of Almenarch unfold until they return to the moment Tamil finishes sketching Melcior’s face. Tamil warns the party to step aside. Moments later, the hand of the Colossus Guardian crashes through the roof, grabbing the party and carrying them to the Almenarch plateau. The Guardian tosses them the Medallion of Almenarch, which Manasa catches. Realizing its power, he knows he can now summon Valryss to aid them. Amidor arrives with a hundred rebels from the nearby woods. The rebels reveal they were waiting for scouts to find a way into the dungeon. Learning of Melcior’s fate, the group departs for Revillon.

Back in Revillon, the party takes time to recover. Amidor asks Mycha to return his sword and leaves for the north, saying he will wait there after they clear Southern Hither. Tamil heads to the hideout, awaiting further instructions. Kilijan and Greg visit Frul’s house, spending quality time with his children before Kilijan volunteers to cook dinner. Weneon visits the Small Thieves' Guild and witnesses Skočko’s funeral. Afterward, he orders the guild to steal healing potions. Manasa returns to his boat the SS Melcior, where an elderly eladrin named Sergei Babkin offers to help with repairs. Mycha visits the armory and speaks with Haba the Jut and Zuzu, a ten-handed blacksmith. Zuzu warns him that the harengon may confiscate her weapons soon. She offers a quick dagger in exchange for enchantment stones from Ceminevera.

The party reunites at Frul’s house for dinner. Greg goes to the treehouse to fetch the children but finds Tamil there with his back turned. When Greg approaches, he suddenly finds himself standing with Frul outside the house. Frul explains what happened, though the details remain vague. Kilijan, puzzled by a note he found in his tinker tools, asks Frul about it. Satisfied with the answer, he lets it go. The party then retires for the night.

Manasa wakes early and returns to his boat. Finding two fishing rods, he questions Babkin, who tells him who used them. The memory strikes a chord in Manasa. The party regroups at the eastern gate and sets out toward the Temple of the Broken Flame. After traveling for half an hour, Manasa hears Valryss complaining about the slow journey. He summons her, and she offers to fly them to their destination. They soar over the woods and feather-fall to the temple gates. There, two fire knights confront them, declaring: “If you are not here to kill us all, then leave now.”