The morning of 12 Erastus, 4708

Having defeated Mistress Kayltanya and rendered her unconscious, the party determines what to do with her.

Arlynn asks Kyra to give the Red Mantis Commander a thorough searching. She does a surprisingly fast and thorough search. She turns up no hidden items but does find some odd discolorations and ridges on the woman’s arms.

Egan recognizes them as telltale vestiges of shapeshifting. The druid thinks she has been transforming into a giant mantis. The party agrees to keep her tightly bound up and unconscious until they can deal with her.

Zandu and Kyra invisibly carry the prisoner over to a makeshift cell in the Cathedral of Pharasma, where Zandu has some of his cousins keep an eye on her. Meanwhile, Arlynn’s Sworn Swords have been working to make the Gray District a refuge point for civilians trying to escape the violence.

Back in the Castle, Arlynn, Flint, and Nox discuss their next steps. While Arlynn wants to confront the monster below to put Ishani Dhatri’s soul to rest, she believes it is imperative to first clear out the rest of the Castle and ensure that the Queen is not lurking somewhere up above.

First, Bat-Egan flutters out onto the third floor battlements to investigate. He hears strange war horns going off in the direction of West Dock along the river. Flint can tell that there are two sets of horns involved, one used by the rebels and one that is unfamiliar. Alarmed, Nox goes to investigate in person.

The adventurers slowly come to realize that Korvosa is under attack from a new source: an army of boggards is swarming out of the river!

While gathering his followers at Citadel Volshyenek, Zandu pauses to cast a bolt of chain lightning into the river, killing a squad of boggards and their sea troll ally. Bat-Egan goes to rally the Druid Circle and his treants, sending them off against the boggards. Noting that the river is giving the aquatic creatures cover, the gnome druid then uses earthquake to temporarily drain the river, leaving the amphibious army exposed to fire from the Citadel’s siege engines.

Down below, Nox organizes a counterattack. Seeing this, Egan returns to the Castle, where the adventurers decide to press on.

First, they investigate the game room on the third floor, which a mysterious voice had directed them to earlier. There is a faint necromantic aura to the room, which makes them approach it cautiously.

Once Zandu enters, a strange gust of wind picks up the deck of Harrow cards lying on the game room table. The cards are lifted up in a vortex towards a corner of the ceiling and then fall down to the floor, where only one lies face up: the Midwife, representing the revelation of new life or information.

After this strange experience, the party decides to investigate the fourth floor of the Castle. Much of the level seems to be dominated by the ill-used Castle attics. The party searches these rooms thoroughly, but finds little of value. They discover the roost of the slain black dragon, but no treasure.

Then, in an attic chamber crowded with junk, they realize that there is a hidden room beyond. Rather than clear the junk by hand, Egan uses shape wood to tilt the floor into a big ramp to slide the trash away.

The hidden chambers appear to be a small apartment, located directly above the game room. Egan recognizes it as the room from his dream, but notes that the trap door appears to have been buried with melted stone.

In the room, the ghost of Venster Arabasti briefly manifests, telling the party “I can help you if you bring me my bones.”

Zandu can feel a psychic tug from Zellara, informing him that the tiefling’s remains lie on a level below the castle.

Before venturing straight into the deep dungeons, however, the party decides to confront the monster lurking on the first floor—the Akaruzug empowered by Ishani Dhatri’s soul. Having gleaned much information about the creature and its weaknesses, they arrive prepared to defeat it. The monster is quickly brought down by their coordinated attacks.

The creature’s reinforcements—a torturer with supernatural powers—arrives too late, and gets a faceful of Zandu’s lightning breath. She, too, is swiftly dispatched.

Arlynn then has Ishani’s body brought up to the second floor, where she hands it over to the rebels for proper burial.