After the Lyceans clean up the Ragesian remains in the Pyromancer's tomb, Cuin suggests that both the orb of storms and the teleport beacon could be used as a defense/offense mechanism for Seaquen and that the beacon should be placed in either the school's or the city's dungeon area. (who needs NPC to make good suggestions? Sometimes I suspect my players of having Crystin's foresight...)
After a short briefing with Simeonne and Kiernan, the party is invited to the "Spectacular Trials of Toteth Topec", but they decline the offer as they now really want to rescue Tharaleth. Both wizards understand their decision and agree to explain the whole matter to Giorgio, the wayfarer representative (they are heroes after all and just *have* to be on the list for honorary guests).
They (including Katrina, who had previously agreed to help save Tharaleth) then head towards Shalosha's yacht which is luckily still intact and lying in the harbor. Shalosha informs the party that she's ready to depart for Calanis, now that the storm is over and that she hopes to resolve the Seaquen-Shahalesti conflict. She, Mariel Shalandil and the crew are welcoming them on board, even if Cuin'halar is made target of some serious side-eyeings, being a Taranesti and all that.
On their journey to Naamis, Tinuviel declares to his aunt's surprise that he wants to end the engagement with Shealis. He explains that he made his promise under duress and that he knows he wouldn't be able to be the husband she deserves (oh you fork-tongued devil!). However, since he doesn't know how to end such a relationship without provoking an eclat in Calanis for both of them, he begs experienced Mariel for help. As she is a really kind and loving foster mother, she agrees to settle his scores with Shealis for him and advises him to be more level-headed in his future affairs. (guess who continued to be a notorious Don Juan? Tinu. As if he's ever taken advices to heart...)
One evenng, Shalosha and Mariel invite the party to a private dinner. Shalosha uses this occasion to ask both elves about their seeminly strange auras. Both are shocked as the elven princess reveals that her celestial sight allows her to see the auras of all living things and that 1) Tinuviel's aura seems to have a dual pattern and 2) Cuin'halar's aura seems to radiate a strange, golden shimmer. Cuin'halar explains that he doesn't really know what this could mean (bluff!) but that she really shouldn't tell Shaaladel because he might feel the need to examine both of them. Tinuviel then mutters that he propably should avoid meeting Lord Shaaladel at all cost. To get Shalosha off track, he offers to show her something even more remarkable: The Living Blade of Innotendar. Shalosha is surprised to see echoes of small, green auras emerge from the wooden sword and Cuin'halar explains that she's looking at the sword's ties to the First Tree which is also bound to all living Seela in the world.
Note: As written, celestial sight wouldn't allow a wielder to see that much. But I liked the flavour and having a reason to let Tinu fear a confrontation with Shaaladel even more added a sweet bit of spice
The whole story resonates well with Shalosha's romantic tendencies, but she's quickly brought back to reality when Cuin realized that it were the Shahalesti who burned down Innotendar forest, sheathes the blade and tells a surprised elven princess to hope that she'd never see the blade again.
From the crew they get the information that major partss of Naamis have already been occupied by the Ragesians and that they don't know whether Nacaan, the province's capital, is still free. Therefore they ask to leave the yacht a few miles before they pass the city, thank the elves for their hospitality and head off to gather more information. They find a small farm and are greeted by surprised human farmers who didn't expect that many elves in arms in a singe day. When they ask them what they mean by this, they are hailed by a previously-hidden, older elven freedom fighter called Aramil. The elf explains that he is a member of the Shahalesti resistance which has begun to work with and supply the resistance in Gate Pass. He also mentions an elven lady named Seryanna Fendofin whose family he's been serving for decades and who is the leader of a nearby resistance cell. After the party has introduces themselves, he mentions a "big fish" his team managed to catch over a week ago: A she-devil who managed to put up a good fight for them. The party is pleasantly surprised by this turn of events and they ask Aramil to accompany him to the cell's hideout.
During their journey, they are surprised by a sudden change of weather: Heavy snowfall sets in and the party barely manages it to get to the hideout which is hidden well in a cave behind some overgrowth. They are surprised to see that the Resistance fighters are actually a pretty mixed group with human, half-elven and elven members stemming from both Gate Pass and Shahalesti. The elves staart talking to the fighters about their captive and their mistress and Cuin manages to almost incite a swordfight to the death with Getris, one of the more arrogant Shahalesti over the matter of the Taranesti genocide.
Note: This time it was Tinuviel's widsom and the intervention of Aramil and lady veteral Mielis that prevented a bloody massacre as I made it clear that the fighters, despite their diverse backgrounds, would have all stood up for another if Cuin'halar had really performed lethal violence on Getris.
Lady Seryanna endofin introduces herself and her Bralani servant Hazred shortly after that incident in an eerily formal way. She greets her fellow resistance fighters and asks them to not feel too much disturbed by the grunts and the smell of the goblinoid prisoners. She also mentions a she-devil named Asura which she had captured after the devil had abducted her fiancee Lylaneth. She tells them that she has unsuccessfully tried to gain knowledge on Lylaneth's whereabouts and she also thinks that the devil has stolen his soul and imprisoned it in a soul-gem. She promises to further discuss the matter of Asura during "the banquet" this evening and heads back towards her room.
Tinuviel is curious about the "goblinoids" and sneaks into the prison area of the cave, just to find some hobgoblins who are in a really bad condition, almost starved, but still as bad-mouthed as ever. Just when Tinu starts feeling sympathy for the Ragesians, offers them some of his rations and thinks about ways to free them, Torrent joins him and is greeted in a very foul and hateful language and their self-proclaimed leader even suggests making her (or that nasty elf Seryanna) his mate/slave. Infuriated, she snaps back at them and leaves the prison. Aterwards, Tinuviel discusses the fate of the hobgoblins with both Torrent and Cuin'halar. Tinu fears that the prisoners will soon die from neglect and unfair treatment and still wants to free them, while Torrent objects heavily. Cuin is undecided and after risking a look himself and asking Aramil about the prisoners, he decides that he'd rather let "evil rapists" suffer from inhumane conditions than give them the chance to harm innocents again. Tinuviel still disagrees and both agree that the matter of freeing Tharaleth should be their top priority, so they push the goblinoid matter aside.
Note: I didn't really understand why Tinuviel still felt that sympathethic for the hobgobs after he'd seen what they suggested doing with Torrent (who is his dearest friend besides his brother Cuin). I know that the whole matter is set up to be a big moral dilemma and I wanted them to feel like every choice was somehow wrong, but that didn't seem to be the case with Tinu. Hm.
During the "banquet" (which is really just a pretty normal dinner performed by maid-for-everything Hazred), the party formally asks Seryanna to gain the permission to speak with Asura. Seryanna agrees and Hazred warns them of her silvered tongue. Tinuviel tries to negotiate better treatment for the other prisoners, but he is harshly rebuffed by Seryanna who speaks of them as if they were cattle. She explains that after what they've done they deserve nothing better and tells them that only the rules of war prevent her from executing them on the spot. The elves recognize this statement as a lie, but can do very little about it.
After dinner, they finally get the chance to talk to Asura. She's more than happy that Guthwulf's adversaries finally found her and tries to negotiate her freedom as a first sign of good will. Clever Cuin doesn't fall for her tricks and states that she already has her demands made by her master: Katrina or the book. She agrees and says that yes, she only needs one of the two to hand over "Tharaleth and his prison". She then explains that this does not include the key, which will be only given to them once she recieves the second demand as well. After a bit of negotiation, Cuin suggests that they could also parley for her freedom instead of giving her both demands, since she wouldn't be able to bring them to Guthwulf if she stayed Seryanna's prisoner forever. But then she'd better tell her about her fiancee's whereabouts as well.
Asura agreed and the party proposes this idea to Seryanna who does not object.
Note: Clever Cuin strikes again. I was really curious about how they would handle the Katrina-dilemma. I was pretty sure that handing her over to Guthwulf would be a no-go for them since they feared he could act out really cruel retribution on her. Kat was on the verge of going with Asura as her "heroic tendencies" started to show after saving Seaquen with the party and she believed that Guthwulf wouldn't really harm her. Of course that would have lead to her re-appearing in adventure #7 (and to be honest would have saved me from gaining grey hair from deciding on what she'd do then)
After having the Okay from Lady Seryanna, they all meet at the magic circle that has kept the devil bound until now. Tinuviel hands over the Tome to Asura. The devil then insists to hand over the soul-gem to Katrina alone. Cuin and Tinu fear a trap and warn both Katrina and Asura to not try and tricks or the deal will be for naught. Katrina is a bit pissed about that level of distrust after all she's done for them, but keeps up with the plan, enters the circle and gets a gem and a kiss on the cheek from Asura. The latter triggers a magical illusion of Guthwulf who whispers a message to a surprised Katrina: "Use this chance. You know what I want. I'm really looking forward to seeing you again."
Note: BAM. And suddenly all doubts about Katrina re-appeared. Which is... kind of Guthwulf's plan: Separating her from her "friends" in order to make her loyal again. Not necessarily to Ragesia, but to him. In this case, I've had Guthwulf make a very self-centered and not overly clever decision which will add up to his downfall. I guess this characterization of our most favourite inquisitor (besides Leska, of course!) is a bit non-canonical, but... I like it.
After the first exchange, Seryanna formally declares that she will set her free if she tells them where she has imprisoned Lylaneth and how to free the brother's father from the gem. Without blinking an eye, the devil tells a horrified Seryanna that she had much fun torturing and killing the elf and that she has deposited him somewhere in the forest. As for Tharaleth, she explains that the prison and prisoner have to be bathed in the blood of his kin so the prison can be entered and the prisoner set free. As this part of the agreement is fulfilled as well, Hazred dispels the magic holding Asura and the devil grins in triumph.
However... Tinuviel states that Seryanna only agreed to free her, not to spare her and quickly casts dimensional anchor to keep her from teleporting away. Seryanna then orders her fellow fighters and Hazred to strike the beast down. The devil manages to almost kill Seryanna, but, with the help of the party, she is finally slain.
Torrent heals Seryanna and Cuin'halar asks Hazred to start being an emotional guardian for his Lady since she will need serious help to recuperate from her loss. The elves then hastily search for a bowl, cut themselves open with a knife and let it pour into it. They throw the gem into their combined blood and are both sucked into what seems like a black nothingness. Tinuviel is utterly lost, but Cuin starts sensing his father after a while and... gains momentum when suddenly golden wings seem to appear on his back. Tinu grabs his hand and together they fly towards the hovering body of Tharaleth, who's looking just like they've seen in their vision before. They both embrace him and drag him back into reality.
When the golden-haired elf opens his eyes, he whispers something strange: "This time, it is you who's saved me, Eshânii", only to realize it is his son Cuin who's looking back at him. They celebrate their re-union with a big embrace and cries of relief. Tharaleth then explains that he has been abducted when he had been heading towards a negotiation with General Danava and that he had been in blackness until he thought that his late wife came to rescue him. He believes that his delusion came from the fact that Cuin'halar now tries to follow in her footsteps and he says that he's very proud of what has become of both of them.
When they ask him about Trilla, he silently drags them to a secure area and explains that no one, especially no Shahalesti should ever find out where the dragon went. He says that Trilla had developed strange powers of the mind and secluded herself in the solitude of the old drow (or, as he calls them, droalesti) caverns and was accompanied only by a few elders. He also mentions that Shaaladel wanted to know where Trilla was when he started his genocide, so this whole matter is really, really sensitive. Both of them agree to keep this knowledge safe.
After their extended fater-sons-talk, Tinuviel brings up the matter of the goblinoids again. Cuin'halar proposes that the only thing they can offer them is a quick death which would be better than their slow succumbing to starvation and disease. They discuss this matter with Hazred, who states that he has been very uncomfortable with the whole hobgoblin situation and who agrees to let them "free" and take the blame on himself. The elves head over to the prison area, declare their intention, give a stack of confiscated weapons back to the goblinoids and kill them all.
Note: A really grim ending. And yes, every single choice they could have imagined would have felt wrong. I'm happy that in the end my players talked about all possible consequences of all their possible "solutions" for the goblinoid problem. And I'm more than happy that they were not angry at me for giving them a problem with no "right" or "happy" solution.