Seizing the Orb

In the middle of the night, Roach prays to Iornas and is visited by him. The demigod, still aging and suffering from fatigue, now appears as a man in his early twenties. When Roach asks him if he should help Xauld or not, Iornas only tells the boy that he should seek guidance and wisdom from his friends before making a decision. He then vanishes from the room.

While Taigus oversees his new lumber business with Nimrya, the rest of the party reaches a conclusion to Xauld's proposal; they unanimously agree to prevent him from finding the Orb of Craving. Still, realizing the weight of this decision and the repercussions it may bring, they solicit the help of a wizard, a Goldsage named Ventra, and inform her of Xauld's return and his intentions. The party helps Ventra retrieve the Orb from Xantorin after deciding to give it to the Goldsages for safekeeping.

Along the way back to Riverdrown, however, their caravan is ambushed by Aramis and Alma Dobbs. In the ensuing fight, the party's wagon and Tingle's mastiff Doug are obliterated by a pillar of fire, Azak-si and Ventra are severely injured, Aramis is swallowed by a gaping, hellish maw summoned by Roach, and Lau lands the killing blow on Alma. Without a wagon, the party finishes the long trek to Riverdrown on foot. Roach keeps Alma's bones to craft a statuette, but they mysteriously dissolve into dust later in the day. As the Goldsages are given the Orb, Ventra tells the party that she's either going to be reprimanded or honored by the other wizards for bringing them an old, cursed artifact.

The next day, the party breaks into Aramis's townhouse. They notice that someone recently entered it before them. As Lau explores the second floor, he is headlocked by a resurrected, half-nude, and heavily scarred Alma. She tells the party that Xauld is willing to negotiate with them, in light of recent events. They accept this offering and subdue her, but Roach foregoes any mercy and murders Alma in the same grisly manner he murdered her brother. This elicits some concern from Hachiman, who fears that a darkness is growing within Roach. The party resumes their search of the house. After some time, they find the deed to Dracen Castle, the one that Aramis recently purchased, and a letter from a foreign mercenary army, called the Crimson Wolves, deployed around the castle on Aramis's orders.