Initially written to catch Shriver up on the main plot points, but might be a helpful refresher for anyone interested.

Whitecap’s founding turns violent; a vault-born substance is identified and begins appearing beyond the settlement.

The group first came together at the groundbreaking ceremony for Whitecap, a new surface settlement founded by settlers from a recently opened nearby vault.

During the ceremony, a man named Koret Ash, tied to a white-robed fringe group known as the Pale Offering, warned the settlement would fail without sacrifice. Moments later, black ichor erupted from stacked supply barrels, forming hostile creatures that attacked the crowd. The group fought them off, but Koret escaped in the chaos.

In the aftermath, they traced the outbreak to the barrels themselves. The containers were not natural wood, but a manufactured vault composite, and they had not come through official channels. Tracking Koret led them to other cultists and eventually back to Mira Dell, the vault’s former overseer. She admitted to staging what she believed would be a harmless scare using a black substance that had seeped into the vault, combined with unstable arcane crytsals. Her intent was to undermine the settlement’s new leadership and reassert control, but the reaction escalated beyond her control and people were harmed. The group agrees not to expose her if she tells them all she knows about the black substance and it's origins.

With samples of the black substance secured, the group set out for Dawnspire, the region’s largest settlement, seeking additional information.

Along the road, they discovered the substance was already circulating. A traveling vendor, Biscuit, had found some along the roadside and unknowingly used it in potions. Following that trail into Mosswater Vale, the group witnessed the substance affect the forest directly. A tree reacted violently, and the surrounding growth turned hostile before they withdrew.

By the time they reached Dawnspire, they had established a pattern: the substance reacts unpredictably with magic, and its effects extend beyond creatures into the environment itself. They provided a sample to Brezug, the local alchemist, for further analysis.

In Dawnspire, the group connected with patron Edrik Halver and his assistant Lysa Morren, both of whom had been present during the Whitecap incident. Halver granted them the "key to the city" and asked for their aid with several pressing issues, the most urgent being the disappearance of two Aegis Archive scholars at the Ravenfall ruins.

Missing scholars lead to a mountain pursuit, an influencing idol, and its containment at Headland Hold.

In search of the missing scholars, the group headed into the mountains south of Dawnspire, climbing for several days to the Ruins of Ravenfall, an ancient center of knowledge whose arcane defenses failed during the Scourge.

There, they met the self-appointed caretaker, Flynn Horne, who had already recovered one of the scholars, Lisa. She explained that she and her partner, Bob, had uncovered a red stone idol marked with eight eyes within the ruins. Soon after, Bob became fixated on it, attacked her, and fled into the mountains.

At the ruins, the group encountered both a ghost and a fast-moving aerial predator called a Flickerfly. Afterward, they tracked Bob upward through narrow cliffs and exposed ridges to a stone spire at the summit.

At the peak, under the constant threat of wyverns circling the spire, they confronted Bob. The idol exerted a strong influence, briefly taking hold of another member of the group and compelling them toward the same goal: returning it to the summit. The group separated the idol from its bearer and secured it before whatever outcome it was driving toward could be completed, successfully freeing Bob.

Within the mountain, they found remnants of an ancient arcane system linked to the ruins below, including runes and crystal conduits tied to elemental energy. They also recovered arcane shards similar to those involved in the Whitecap incident.

The idol remained dangerous even when contained. The group transported it south to Headland Hold, where the Aegis Archive secured it. During their debrief, the Archive confirmed the black substance likely originated from a vault beneath an offshore island near Whitecap, one that had previously been declared safe.

Brezug is taken, Voss transports the substance, a buyer intervenes, and part of the goo is lost.

On their return north, the group confirmed that Tatterbark Grove had been affected by the black goo. Using an Archive detection gem, they located and burned out pockets of corrupted growth tied to the substance.

Back in Dawnspire, they discovered that Brezug had disappeared. His shop had been ransacked, his research taken, and the note left behind was not his.

Following leads through contacts, Biscuit, and the docks, they learned that a man named Voss had taken Brezug south along with barrels of the substance. A fisherman confirmed transporting Voss and others to the offshore vault and returning with multiple barrels.

With support from the Archive and Benefactor Halver, the group pursued by sea and picked up the trail inland near the Dank Deeps. Finding the transport wagon, they found evidence that one barrel had already leaked, leaving contamination along the route and linking it directly to the corruption seen in Tatterbark Grove.

They secured the remaining barrel, but before they could contain it, a powerful spellcaster intercepted them. The attacker forced a confrontation atop the wagon and attempted to take the barrel through a portal. The group disrupted the attempt, but the attacker escaped with a portion of the black goo. Through the portal, they glimpsed dark stonework above a desolate shoreline.

The group pushed into the caverns and confronted Voss. The fight was brief and chaotic. Voss attempted to weaponize the environment, but was killed before he could be questioned. They recovered Brezug, who confirmed he had been coerced and had delayed his work where possible.

He also clarified the nature of the substance: it is not inherently evil, but acts as a catalyst, amplifying whatever it interacts with.

The group returned north with what remained, but part of the substance is now in unknown hands, and the intended buyer remains unidentified.

Corruption in the Vale is traced to a sentient tree; the source is destroyed at a cost.

With the immediate threat contained, the group returned to Mosswater Vale, where conditions had worsened. In Fhino’s village, faerie elders pointed to the northeastern forest, while a nearby druid circle offered no answers. Furthermore, their leader was missing.

Following the corruption itself, the group moved deeper into the Vale. Trees marked with eye-like growths watched them and ultimately guided them to a clearing, where a sentient tree stood at the center. It claimed humanoids were the source of imbalance and that the forest was correcting itself, even suggesting the druids be brought to it and destroyed.

The exchange broke down and the tree attacked. The fight was intense: tendrils lashed out, the surrounding growth turned hostile, and a wall of fire slowed but did not stop it as it forced its reach through the flames.

A coordinated strike split the trunk. From within emerged a second form, a humanoid figure of bark and ash, moving with unnatural speed. The group fought and brought it down.

Only afterward did they learn the truth. The figure had been the missing druid leader, who had confronted the corruption alone and been overtaken. With the immediate threat ended, the Vale began to settle, and the group set aside their previous name, becoming the Ember Enclave.

Reports of smoke lead north, where Eirik is met, a larger Flickerfly is identified, and a kaer begins to open.

After leaving the Vale, the group traveled to Shepherds Table, where they learned of smoke far to the north, near the Maw, in a region where no settlement should exist. They set out to investigate and soon met Eirik, a giant who had only recently reached the surface.

Eirik explained that he came from a still-sealed kaer and had only recently reached the surface. The group shared what they knew of the world and, when they described the reported smoke, suspected it might be tied to his campfires. Eirik agreed to guide them north.

Eirik explained that he came from a still-sealed kaer and had left on his own. The group shared what they knew of the world and, when they described the reported smoke, suspected it might be tied to his campfires. Eirik agreed to guide them north.

Traveling together, they passed through a familiar forest and found a clearing where a group of Pale Offering cultists had been massacred. A wagon lay broken. A mule had been cleanly severed in a single cut, half missing. Bodies were dismembered with precision, and there were no tracks beyond those of the victims. Magical questioning of the dead produced conflicting accounts, none of which matched the physical evidence.

The group found a translucent scale and a blood trail leading north, with no sign of how the attacker had moved. They connected the attack to a creature they had encountered before near Ravenfall: a Flickerfly. That one had been a juvenile. This attacker was not.

At the clearing, they encountered Kaelis, a self-proclaimed “witch” following the cultists. He warned that the threat might not be singular, then continued on his own path.

They continued north with Eirik, crossing a river using a felled tree now called Eirik’s Bridge, and heard the creature overhead as it returned to claim what remained of its kill. The next day, they encountered scouts from Eirik’s people. The kaer has begun to open. Some have emerged, while others remain inside, uncertain whether the surface world is safe. The group shared what they know and proposed a meeting, two weeks from now at the bridge.

With that, they turned south. As they crossed the river again, a fully grown Flickerfly attacked the group while they were spread across the narrow span. Despite limited footing and the threat of the river below, they managed to anchor the creature in place using a combination of chain, magic, and positioning. The fight was sustained and costly, with several members thrown into the river and others badly injured, but the group held together and brought the creature down.

They recovered parts of the body, including its wings and internal organs, and returned south to Whitecap. There, Bram confronted local leadership regarding possible support for the Pale Offering, but found no confirmation.

The group asked that word of the giant kaer be passed quietly to Dawnspire and the Aegis Archive, then split briefly to handle other matters. Reuniting in Dawnspire, they were informed that Benefactor Halver is aware of the planned meeting and wants them present.

The meeting remains ahead.