Grenak GoateaterDemon-skull seeker
Valen SilverpalmWandering protector
Mruno BarsBard, fugitive, public menace
Roland BlackstoneInfernal hunter
Captain Rhogar SkyscaleSkyship captain
Krivahn the Verdant FangChampion and guardian of Mireholm
TowerheartDemon knight and keeper of bargainsTranscript-supported reconstruction
What happened
The party leaves the shrine after Reese's disappearance and Valen's collapse. Rhogar brings the party to Mireholm, where Krivahn warns that the red crystal corruption is spreading across Sunspire. She directs them to the Shell of Many Dreams.
During the flight, Roland reveals nightmares involving Towerheart and a broken horn. At the Shell, the party enters a Spirit Realm governed by truth and lies. They speak truths to free Valen's spirit, but Towerheart appears and offers Roland a bargain.
Roland chooses to mark a companion rather than break the horn or surrender his future. Towerheart marks Billy Bumbler with a red sigil. The party returns to Mireholm with Valen alive, Billy marked, and the corruption deepened.
Leaving the shrine
The party is badly injured after the mimic fight. Valen's body is alive, but his spirit is absent or unreachable. Healing does not restore him normally.
Reese is gone through the red portal. Grenak proposes drinking in his honor. Mruno considers writing a sad but danceable song. Rhogar now travels with the party and helps take responsibility for the group after the loss.
The party returns to the Storm Wraith and travels toward Mireholm. Valen's condition remains the immediate concern.
“A sad yet danceable song.”
— Mruno
Krivahn's warning
The party reaches Gravenhollow and meets Krivahn, Champion of Mireholm. She examines the red-crystal corruption and explains that it is not local or isolated. It is spreading across Sunspire and poisoning the Weave.
Krivahn says the crystals awaken old demons and strengthen a tether to something deeper. She identifies Elyndor Faelithil in Sylvara as a possible scholar who understands arcane barriers and abjurations.
Roland asks whether demons can see through people's eyes. Krivahn studies him but cannot confirm it. Mruno watches Roland closely and becomes convinced that Roland sincerely believes what he is saying.
Krivahn directs the group to the Shell of Many Dreams, an ancient shaman who may be able to mend soul wounds and locate Valen's missing spirit.
Roland's nightmare
During the flight, the group drinks red-crystal moonshine in honor of Reese and Valen. Roland finally explains that his recurring nightmares involve Towerheart and the fractured warhorn he has carried since Ashreach Hill.
Roland believes the relic and the dreams are connected, but he does not know how. The jokes stop being quite as funny when the party realizes how badly the visions are shaking him.
The Shell of Many Dreams
The Shell is a colossal turtle covered in moss and runes, half-sunk in Mireholm's marshes. When Roland climbs onto the shell, the shaman awakens.
The Shell tells Roland that his eyes mirror something that should not exist in this world. She says the horn is the echo of a broken promise and cannot be repaired, but Valen's spirit still lingers and can be followed.
The Shell begins a ritual using smoke, song, and old magic. The party collapses into a shared dream and enters the Spirit Realm.
“Your eyes are mirrors of something that should not exist in this world.”
— The Shell of Many Dreams
The Spirit Realm and the Trial of Truth
The party awakens on a glass field beneath a sky the color of bruised fire. A voice announces that truth strengthens and lies weaken.
Valen is bound to a tree of silver and crimson thorns. His body is fading, and the party realizes they must speak truths to free him.
Mruno admits that his charm hides emptiness.
Grenak declares that Bertha is his anchor.
Rhogar confesses that freedom is the only law he follows.
Roland admits that he left courage and honor behind on Ashreach Hill.
Each truth creates a silver crystal. The party presses the crystals into the vines, and Valen's chains dissolve. Valen returns to consciousness, but the act awakens something else.
“Truth strengthens. Lies weaken.”
— The Spirit Realm
Towerheart's bargain
Towerheart rises from the cracked horizon. He offers Roland one truth in exchange for a price. Roland is given three choices:
1. Break the horn and sever the shared echo. 2. Mark a companion with corruption. 3. Surrender the future when the final chain falls.
Roland tries to avoid the companion option by claiming that the party members are not his friends. Towerheart accepts the loophole in a cruel way and marks Billy Bumbler instead.
A red, eye-shaped sigil flares in Billy's fur. It resembles the Crimson Kings' sign from The Dark Tower, but it is a symbol in his fur rather than a mark on his physical eye. Towerheart tells Roland that everyone he knew had to die so Roland could find him. The Spirit Realm collapses around the party.
“They’re all dead, Roland. They had to die so you could find me.”
— Towerheart
Return to Mireholm
The party awakens beside the Shell's fire. Valen is alive again. Billy trembles beside Roland, and the red glow of the eye-shaped sigil in his fur does not fade.
Roland turns away in shame, but Billy remains with him. The Shell warns that one chain has been cut and many remain.