Episode 17 Synopsis

In a memory of Norn, Ingrid relinquishes the chieftainship after becoming pregnant by a man from a rival clan. Her young brother Bjorn accepts the brambled axe of office, then must exile her according to custom. Skjold offers Ingrid shelter, but she refuses to marry him, and Dyre Nik'Vosh instead claims responsibility for her and her unborn child. Years later in New Norn, Dyre tells Bjorn that their now-grown niece Dalia is suffering from Walking Rot. Believing the Dreg'Damor may possess a cure at a northern outpost, he leaves with Bjorn's permission and a warning to return quickly.

In Gavra, Whisper sells part of the Felrick glister while Vyr watches Charlie's operation, Ernan spends his performance earnings on breakfast, and Normandy finally reveals that he has hidden evidence capable of destroying the Felricks. The company retrieves the ledger and letter from Fred Bathlamule, collects Vyr's completed silver-inlaid studded leather, and delivers the evidence to Selendra Cassiandros. Selendra declares it sufficient to force the Felricks and Velpins into submission, then offers Whisper the execution of a battered Silas Palligref. Silas sincerely remembers neither sending the fleet nor joining it, recalling only a green staff on the beach that he could not release. Whisper refuses to kill a helpless prisoner, and the company persuades Selendra to delay judgment.

Helena still senses the same unnatural presence, and the group realizes that something is wrong with Selendra. After sending the guards away, Whisper throws the Marquis from the dais, Bjorn restrains her, and Helena's silence drives a mass of shadow from her body. Alderian Titus emerges from the throne with the Dark Scepter, but three members of the Crystalline Order cross through the fountain to confront him with green, red, and blue Syphus Blades. Titus kills them and forms eight armored aspects from his shattered shell, while Torin, Bjorn, and Helena take up the Blades of Peace, Passion, and Will. The party and four returning Gavran knights destroy most of the aspects, but Titus nearly tears out Torin's soul, drops Vyr with a hellfire orb, and begins a destructive wave that breaks the castle's foundations. Water then gathers in the ruined fountain, and Titus recognizes the arriving figure as Mal'El.