At the top of the Shadow Clock, a monstrous demon begins to pour out of the clock face amidst a thick cloud of dark gray smoke. It is the same demon that the quasit saw during its reconnaissance mission when the party was back at the Sawmill.
But the demon isn’t alone.
Behind the smoke, hidden with an invisibility spell, Xanesha waits for the party to get within melee range before slashing out with her terrible spear. Barnaby and Fobias do their best to tank the massive blows that Xanesha is dealing out, while Theo and Krask rain down their physical and mental missiles from afar. Some particularly nasty hits leave Xanesha dazed, offering opportunities for the party to get in some blows without fear of retaliation.
The demon, on the other hand, doesn’t even seem to be real; it was merely the result of a conjuring of some kind – either by Xanesha or by the Shadow Clock itself. Either way, the illusion does nothing to impede the party from eliminating their prime target up to this point, and Xanesha is slain. A HUGE pile of loot explodes from her body, which the party is eager to explore.
After trying on their new gear, the party notices a crumpled up note in the corner of Xanesha’s hideout. It contains correspondence between Xanesha and her sister, Lucrecia, and their plan to harvest souls for a vila, grander purpose. It points the party in the direction of Fort Rannick, near the Storval Plateau, and Turtleback Ferry, which lies at the foot of the mountains. Curiously enough, there is also evidence that Xanesha was planning the assassination of the Lord-Mayor of Magnimar, but the party decides it better to leave Magnimar without divulging that information.
The trip to Turtleback Ferry, which is on the way to Fort Rannick, consists of a two-week journey on foot. In order to expedite the process, the party hires a simple bargeman named Opir to take them up the Yondabakari River until it meets up with the Skull River, at which point he will take them north to Turtleback Ferry.
The first four days of the trip are relatively uneventful. Theo loses himself in Justice Ironbriar’s journal in an attempt to decode the complex cipher. Fobias tries to improve Richard’s trick repertoire when the wolf isn’t alongside the oxen pulling the barge. He also begins brewing an adult beverage with the purest waters of the Yondabakari. Krask bonds with Barnaby over the loss (two-time loss) of their friend, Aldern. Barnaby isn’t convinced that Aldern was entirely evil, and that there was still at least a shred of good left in him when the disease took hold.
Everything is going fine until Barnaby spots a precarious tree swaying violently alongside the river bank. He warns Opir, who directs the oxen to slow down, turning the barge sideways along the flow. Unfortunately, the tree comes crashing to the ground, blocking the river and scaring the oxen into a panicked frenzy.
Four figures emerge from their hiding places in the brush – three hulking, shirtless men and a ferocious wolf. One of them speaks, threatening the group to hand over their belongings, along with their lives. Any children aboard the barge would be spared and brought up to understand the secrets of the forest under Garitran, a name that Fobias is acutely familiar with. The man also implies that Opir sold out the party for a pouch of gold and for a cut of the profits. Opir objects and looks genuinely worried.
TWANG! An arrow comes hurtling at the party.
What is Lucrecia doing up at Fort Rannick and Turtleback Ferry? Who are these barbaric men and what connection does Fobias have with them? Will Richard ever be anything more than a pack mule?