Chapter 6: The Recall

Chapter 6 marks the climax of The Heir of Shadows - but not its end. The Main Story is ongoing, and the events here set the stage for what comes next. The party marches through corrupted wilderness to the shores of a drowned city, holds the line against the Void's forces, and descends into darkness so that one among them can perform the Recall - the ritual that will return Malcathir's stolen humanity and force Zarathen back beyond the barrier. What follows is a story of sacrifice, reunion, and the slow, quiet miracle of rebuilding. The tone shifts from the desperate tension of battle and ritual, through the bittersweet weight of what was lost, and finally into something rarer in adventures of this kind: hope.

Chapter 6 is divided into two major movements. The first - the March, the Battle, and the Recall - is the action climax. The second - Valbron, the diplomacy, and the Garden - is the emotional aftermath. Both are essential. Do not rush the second half. The players have earned it.

DM Guidance: This chapter works best when paced deliberately. The march should feel oppressive and dangerous. The battle at the shore should feel chaotic and uncertain - and every player should have a role in it. The Recall should feel sacred. And the aftermath should feel like exhaling after holding your breath for five chapters. Give your players room to breathe, to talk in character, and to decide what their characters do next. Remember: the story does not end here. The choices your players make in the aftermath set up everything that follows.

The March to the Sunken City

The chapter opens with the party stepping through the Brightwood portal. On the other side: corrupted forest, half a day's march from the northern wall of the Sunken City. The air is wrong here. The trees lean at angles that have nothing to do with wind. The ground is soft and dark, and things move in the canopy that are not birds.

Through the Brightwood

The portal light fades behind you, and the Brightwood closes in. The trees here are ancient, but something has gone wrong with them. Bark splits in patterns that almost form faces. Sap runs dark, the color of old blood. The canopy overhead is so thick that the sky is only a rumor, glimpsed in fragments through gaps that seem to close when you look directly at them. The path south is narrow, overgrown, and silent in the way that forests are silent when everything in them is listening.

The party is accompanied by two key NPCs for this leg of the journey:

Naia

Race: Elf | Role: Companion, Healer | Disposition: Devoted

Naia has been with the party since the earliest days. She is quiet, perceptive, and deeply loyal. She carries healing supplies and knows the old stories. During the march, she walks close to the Chosen and says little, but her presence is steady and grounding. She will not leave the Chosen's side during the descent.

Velarin

Race: Elf | Role: Elder Scholar, Auren's Former Student | Disposition: Resolute

Velarin is 289 years old and carries a battered staff that has seen more history than most libraries. He was Auren's student, and he has waited centuries for this moment. He can fight - not brilliantly, but competently - and his knowledge of the portal network and the Recall is irreplaceable. He speaks in short, precise sentences and does not waste words on comfort. "The Brightwood is worse than I remember," he says at one point. "Good. That means we are close."

DM Guidance: The march through the Brightwood is an opportunity to build tension before the climax. Use random encounters sparingly - one or two Void creature ambushes are enough. The goal is atmosphere, not attrition. The corrupted forest should feel like enemy territory: wrong sounds, wrong smells, shadows that move against the light. Let the players make Wisdom or Intelligence checks to notice details - the way the corruption thins as they approach the Sunken City, as if even the Void is pulling back toward the center. For a group of 3-5 players, the other party members provide the muscle on the march while the Chosen conserves strength for the Recall.

Arrival at the Lake of Shadows

By dusk, the Brightwood opens onto the northern shore. The Sunken City is visible: black water stretching south, broken towers and walls rising from the surface like the bones of something enormous. The lake is dark, utterly dark, reflecting nothing - not the sky, not the trees, not the fading light.

The trees fall away, and for the first time in hours you can see the sky. It is bruised with sunset, purple and orange above the black line of the southern forest. But below, where the lake should catch that color and throw it back, there is nothing. The Lake of Shadows swallows light. Its surface is flat and dark as ink, and from it rise the ruins of a city that was ancient before the oldest stories you know. Broken walls. Shattered domes. A bridge, half-collapsed, reaching out toward an island you cannot quite see. The air smells of wet stone and something else - something sharp and metallic, like the taste before a storm. And at the shore, firelight. Torches. The sound of boots on gravel, and Gunnar's voice, deep and steady, calling orders in Dwarvish.

The army has arrived ahead of the party. Gunnar marched his forces from Serexa, linking up with Tormund's 50 dwarves from Avenstoff and Aldric's riders from Castle Black along the way. The full complement waits at the northern shore.

The Army

The combined force at the Lake of Shadows consists of:

207 dwarves from Gunnar's contingent - hardened, disciplined, armed with axes and shields
Aldric's force from Castle Black - 41 riders and 8 paladins, led by Aldric, Flamewarden and High Priest of Taninsam
12 paladins from Avenstoff - heavy armor, blessed weapons, trained against Void creatures
Tormund - Gunnar's officer, commanding 50 dwarves from Avenstoff
5 cavalry under Draven - fast, mobile, serving as reserve and messengers
Eryn - staying above as witness and reserve healer

DM Guidance: The reunion with the army should feel like relief - the first moment of safety since the party entered the Brightwood. Let the players interact with Gunnar, Aldric, Draven, and any NPCs they have formed bonds with over the previous chapters. This is the last calm before the storm. Gunnar has set camp with military precision. Fires are small and shielded. Sentries watch the lake. The mood is grim but determined.

The Truth and the Plan

That evening, the Chosen addresses the entire army. This is the moment where every secret comes out: Auren, Malcathir, the portal network, the nature of the Recall, and what they are about to attempt. No one is ordered to stay. Every soldier present is a volunteer after this moment.

DM Guidance: This is a significant roleplay moment for the Chosen's player. Let them speak in character if they wish. If the player is uncomfortable with a long speech, let them summarize their points and narrate the army's reaction. The key beats are: the truth about what lies beneath the lake, the cost of the Recall, and the fact that everyone who fights at the shore is buying time for the descent team. No one deserts. These soldiers have followed the party this far for a reason. Aldric's paladins kneel and renew their oaths. Gunnar says nothing - just nods once, which from him is the equivalent of a standing ovation.

The battle plan is straightforward:

The Shore Line: Gunnar's dwarves, Aldric's riders, and the paladins form a defensive line along the northern shore. Their job is to hold back whatever the Void sends up from the water when the Recall begins. Eryn stays with this group as witness.
The Reserve: Draven and the cavalry serve as a mobile reserve, reinforcing wherever the line is weakest.
The Descent: The Chosen, Naia, and Velarin - three people only - descend through the ruins to the city's center, where the abyss is located. The Recall must be performed there.
Timing: Attack at dawn. The Void is weakest when the sun rises.

Important: The Chosen should enter this chapter at or near full strength: HP 20/20, Arcana 18/18, Willpower 2/3 (one point burned on Sawwell in earlier chapters), Worthiness 10. If your campaign has varied from these numbers, adjust accordingly, but the Chosen needs substantial reserves for the Recall. The ritual will drain them completely.

Dawn at the Shore

The battle at the shore is the action set piece of Chapter 6 - the moment where every player at the table has something vital to do. While the Chosen must descend to perform the Recall, the rest of the party can choose: go with the descent team, or stay and lead the defense. Either choice matters.

The Assault Begins

Dawn comes slowly to the Lake of Shadows. The eastern sky lightens by degrees, grey to pale gold, but the lake does not reflect it. The water stays black. For a long moment, there is nothing - just the sound of breathing, the creak of armor, and the distant, rhythmic drip of water from the ruins. Then the lake moves. Not waves. Not current. It heaves, like something enormous turning over beneath the surface. The first shapes break the waterline a hundred yards out - dark, glistening, wrong. They do not walk so much as flow toward the shore, and there are many of them. Gunnar raises his axe. "Shields!" The line locks. The shore battle has begun.

DM Guidance: The shore battle should be run as a dynamic backdrop rather than a full tactical encounter (unless your group enjoys large-scale combat). The key is to convey three things: the dwarves and paladins are holding, but barely; the Void creatures keep coming; and every minute the descent team spends below is a minute the shore defenders pay for in blood. Use occasional cuts back to the shore - a messenger arrives gasping that the eastern flank is buckling, or the party hears Gunnar's war cry echoing down through the ruins - to maintain tension.

For players who stay at the shore, run 2-3 combat encounters with Void creatures (shadow crawlers, drowned ones, or similar enemies from earlier chapters). These players are heroes of the battle and should feel it. Aldric fights beside them. Tormund holds the center. Draven's cavalry charges at the critical moment. Make it feel earned.

For the full party, you can abstract the battle: it rages above while the descent team pushes deeper. The sounds fade. The world narrows to wet stone and darkness.

The Shore Defenders

The key NPCs at the shore during the battle:

Gunnar: Commands the dwarven line. Immovable. His voice carries over the chaos like a drumbeat. He will not yield a single step.
Aldric: Leads the paladins on the western flank. His blessed blade burns Void creatures on contact. He prays between strikes.
Tormund: Holds the center. The most experienced soldier present. Calm, efficient, deadly.
Draven: Commands the cavalry reserve. Watches for breaches and charges to fill them. Fast, decisive, exactly where he needs to be.
Eryn: Stays back from the line, tending wounded, recording what she sees. She is the witness - if the descent team does not return, she will carry the story.

The Descent

While the shore holds, the descent team enters the ruins of the Sunken City. The path leads down through shattered streets, flooded corridors, and collapsed chambers, deeper and deeper toward the city's heart - the abyss where Zarathen's power is anchored.

Into the Ruins

The bridge is half-collapsed, but enough remains to cross single file. Below, the water is utterly still and utterly black. You cannot see the bottom. You cannot see your reflection. The ruins on the other side are vast - a city built for thousands, now empty and broken, every surface slick with moisture that catches your torchlight and throws it back in oily rainbows. The streets slope downward. Everything slopes downward. The architecture changes as you descend: newer stone gives way to older, carved blocks to shaped rock to something that might be natural cave, and then to something that is neither natural nor carved but grown, as if the stone itself was shaped by will alone. The air grows colder. The sounds of battle fade. And ahead, far below, you feel it - a pull, like gravity but sideways, drawing you toward the center. Toward the abyss.

DM Guidance: The descent should take 2-3 encounters or challenges, enough to feel dangerous without exhausting the party before the Recall. Consider: a flooded chamber where the water rises and something moves beneath it; a collapsed stairway requiring creative problem-solving; a Void guardian at the entrance to the abyss chamber - powerful but alone, a last sentinel. Velarin knows the way. He has studied the city's layout from Auren's notes. Naia stays close to the Chosen. The other party members provide protection, solve obstacles, and fight what needs fighting. Everyone has a role.

The Abyss Chamber

At the bottom of the descent, the ruins open into a vast circular chamber. The ceiling is lost in darkness above. The walls are lined with eight alcoves, each containing a node - a point where the portal network's energy converges. In the center of the chamber, the floor drops away into nothingness. This is the abyss: the wound where Zarathen tore through the barrier and consumed Malcathir's humanity, thread by thread, over a thousand years.

The chamber opens before you like the inside of a cathedral, if a cathedral were built by something that had only heard descriptions of worship and understood none of it. Eight alcoves ring the walls, evenly spaced, each holding a pillar of dark stone shot through with veins of fading silver - the nodes. The portal network's anchors. Between them, the floor is smooth and slightly concave, sloping inward toward the center, where it simply ends. The abyss. It is not a hole. It is an absence. Light stops at its edge. Sound stops. You can feel it pulling at something deeper than your body - at your will, your sense of self, the threads that make you who you are. The air above it shimmers with a heat that is not heat. And from somewhere far, far below, you hear breathing.

The Recall

This is the climax of the entire adventure. Everything has led to this moment: the Chosen standing at the edge of the abyss, reaching across the barrier to pull Malcathir's humanity back from Zarathen's grip.

The Ritual

DM Guidance: The Recall is not a combat encounter. It is a ritual, and it should be played as one - deliberate, solemn, and deeply personal. The Chosen performs it alone at the abyss. The rest of the party guards the chamber, holds the nodes, or simply bears witness. Every player should have a role, even if that role is standing at a node and holding the line against the pressure of the Void. But the Chosen is the heart of this moment.

Mechanically, the Recall proceeds in stages. The Chosen must open all eight nodes (Arcana checks, difficulty increasing with each node), use a blood sacrifice - freely given, powered by the First Seal - to break Zarathen's sigil on the abyss, and then call to the divine powers for aid. Each stage costs resources. The full cost by the end: all remaining Willpower (2 points, from 2 to 0), significant Arcana (from 18 to approximately 8), and half the Chosen's HP (from 20 to 10). Adjust these numbers to your table, but the Recall should leave the Chosen utterly spent.

For the rest of the party: As each node opens, the Void pushes back. Shadow creatures claw up from the abyss. The other players must defend the Chosen and keep the nodes from being disrupted. This is their battle - smaller in scale than the shore, but no less critical. If a node is disrupted, the Chosen takes additional damage and must re-open it.

Opening the Nodes

The Chosen approaches the first node and reaches out with their Arcana. The silver veins in the stone respond, flickering, brightening. One by one, the eight nodes must be activated. Velarin calls guidance from behind, reciting Auren's instructions from memory. Naia watches, hands clenched, ready to heal if needed.

With each node that opens, the chamber changes. Light returns - silver-white, cold, clean. The pull of the abyss intensifies. The Void resists. Shadows pour from the edges of the chamber, and the rest of the party must fight to keep them back.

The fourth node flares to life, and the chamber screams. Not the stone - the air itself, vibrating at a frequency that bypasses your ears and strikes directly at your chest. The silver light is bright enough now to cast shadows, and the shadows are moving on their own, pulling away from the walls, sliding toward the abyss like water running downhill. Something is fighting this. Something below does not want these nodes open. The fifth node resists. The Chosen presses both hands against the stone, and you see blood on their palms - not from a wound, but from the stone itself, drawing it out, drinking it in. The silver veins turn red for a heartbeat. Then white. Then blinding.

Breaking the Sigil

With all eight nodes open, the Chosen stands at the edge of the abyss. The final step requires a blood sacrifice - not taken by force, but given freely. This is the power of the First Seal - Blood: sacrifice freely given. The Chosen offers their blood willingly, and the seal's power shatters Zarathen's sigil, the mark that has kept the abyss open and Malcathir's threads imprisoned for a thousand years.

DM Guidance: The blood sacrifice is symbolic and mechanical. The Chosen gives blood willingly - a cut palm, a deliberate offering. This is not self-harm played for shock; it is a sacred act, the completion of a covenant. The Blood seal's power activates because the sacrifice is freely given, not taken. Make this distinction clear. Zarathen's sigil - a burning mark visible in the air above the abyss - cracks and dissolves. The Chosen takes 5 HP damage from the effort (HP drops from approximately 15 to 10 at this point, depending on how the node-opening went).

The Divine Answer

With the sigil broken, the Chosen calls out - not to the Void, but upward. To Taninsam. To Tohu. To Tatsu. The three divine powers who shaped the Covenant and set this moment in motion centuries ago.

They answer.

The Chosen's voice echoes in the chamber, and for a moment nothing happens. The abyss is silent. The nodes hum. The silver light holds steady. Then - fire. Not from below. From above. White flames pour down through the ceiling of the chamber as if the stone were not there, as if the sky itself had opened its hands. Taninsam's fire - divine, purifying, without heat but with a weight that presses you to your knees. The Weave tightens. You can feel it, even if you have never felt it before: the invisible threads that connect every living thing, every place of power, every prayer ever spoken, pulling taut like the strings of an instrument about to be played. Tohu's dream - the great pattern, the shape of what was meant to be - strengthens the network. The eight nodes blaze. And somewhere, watching, judging, Tatsu witnesses the free choice. The Chosen chose this. No one forced their hand. No prophecy compelled them. They stood at the edge of an abyss and chose to reach across it.

The Chosen burns their last reserves of will. Everything they have left. And calls.

"Come back."

Malcathir Returns

The Recall burns the Chosen's remaining Willpower to zero. For a terrible moment, the abyss resists. Zarathen's presence surges - a pressure, a scream, a weight of ancient malice pressing against the barrier. Then, thread by thread, eight strands of light rise from the darkness. Eight threads of Malcathir's humanity, stolen a thousand years ago, returning.

Eight threads of light rise from the abyss. They are not bright - they are gentle, the color of dawn through morning mist, pale gold and silver and the faintest blue. They twist as they rise, reaching, searching, and then they converge on a point above the abyss, and a shape forms. A figure. Tall, thin, elven, with hands that tremble and eyes that hold a thousand years of darkness and the first moment of light after it. Malcathir stands in the air above the place that was his prison, and he is weeping.

The abyss collapses. Not violently - it simply closes, like a wound finally healing, the edges drawing together until the floor is whole again. Smooth stone where the nothingness was. Zarathen is forced back - not destroyed, not ended, but pushed beyond the barrier, limited, contained. The breathing from below stops. The pull stops. The wrongness that has saturated this place for a millennium fades like smoke in wind.

And Elowen Miriel, somewhere above, gasps and opens her eyes, free of the Void's control for the first time in longer than she can remember.

The Chosen collapses.

Important: The Chosen's final state after the Recall: HP 10/20, Arcana 8/18, Willpower 0/3. They are conscious for only a few moments after the ritual completes before collapsing. Zarathen is forced back but not destroyed - this is critical for future adventures. The ninth thread, lost with Nortaq, is gone permanently. Malcathir has eight of nine threads of his humanity. He is whole enough to live, to feel, to choose - but there is a wound that will never fully heal. This cost matters.

DM Guidance: Let this moment breathe. Do not rush past the Recall's completion. Give the players time to react. Some may cheer. Some may be silent. The Chosen's player may want to describe their character's collapse, or they may want you to narrate it. Follow their lead. The other party members can catch the Chosen as they fall, can watch Malcathir materialize, can feel the abyss close. Everyone in the chamber witnesses something that will define the rest of their lives. Above, at the shore, the Void creatures falter, thin, and dissolve. The battle ends not with a final charge but with a sudden, bewildering peace. Gunnar lowers his axe and stares at the lake, where, for the first time in a thousand years, the water reflects the sky.

Aftermath

The Chosen sleeps for three days. Their body is healing, but so is something deeper - the Willpower they burned, the connection to the Weave they strained to its limit. They do not dream, or if they do, they do not remember. Naia does not leave their side. But the rest of the party does not stand idle - they have an army to manage, ruins to secure, and a world that is suddenly, startlingly, changing around them.

Three Days of Unconsciousness

Three days. The army makes camp in the ruins. The dwarves, being dwarves, immediately begin assessing the structural integrity of the nearest buildings and arguing about load-bearing walls. Aldric's paladins take turns standing vigil outside the room where the Chosen sleeps. The lake is changing - the black water is clearing, slowly, from the edges inward, as if the corruption is draining out of it. By the second day, you can see fish. By the third, the water near the shore is clear enough to drink. Birds return. Small ones at first, then larger - a heron lands on the broken bridge and watches the camp with one yellow eye, unafraid. The world is healing.

While the Chosen recovers, the rest of the party fills the vacuum. These three days are an opportunity for every player character to step into a leadership role:

Managing the army: Someone must coordinate with Gunnar and Tormund on camp logistics, patrols, and supply lines. The dwarves respect strength and decisiveness - a player character who takes charge earns their loyalty.
Securing the ruins: The Sunken City is vast, and not everything below the waterline is safe. Party members can lead scouting expeditions into the upper ruins, mapping safe areas and marking hazards for the dwarves to clear.
Tending the wounded: The shore battle left casualties. Aldric's paladins handle the dead with proper rites, but the injured need care. A healer in the party has meaningful work. Eryn coordinates but welcomes help.
Speaking with Malcathir: The newly recalled king is disoriented, grateful, and deeply uncertain. He gravitates toward anyone who treats him as a person rather than a legend. Party members who sit with him, ask questions, or simply offer companionship help anchor him to the present.
Watching over the Chosen: Naia keeps vigil, but she cannot do it alone for three days. Party members who take shifts, bring food, or simply sit in silence beside their fallen companion deepen the bonds forged over the entire adventure.

DM Guidance: These three days are prime roleplaying time for every player at the table - not just the Chosen's. Ask each player directly: "What does your character do during these three days?" Let them narrate their own scenes. A fighter might spar with Gunnar's dwarves and earn a grudging nod. A rogue might map the upper ruins and find something interesting. A cleric might lead a vigil for the fallen. Give each player at least one spotlight moment. The Chosen's player can watch, plan their character's waking scene, or play a temporary NPC. If your players want to skip ahead, that is fine - but offer the space first.

Meeting Malcathir

When the Chosen wakes, they find the camp transformed. The party has kept things running - patrols are set, the wounded are healing, and the dwarves have already cleared two city blocks. The Chosen makes their way to the lakeside, guided by whichever party member was on watch. Malcathir is there, standing at the water's edge, looking out at the city he once ruled and the lake that was his prison's mirror.

Malcathir

Race: Elf | Role: The Recalled, Former King of the Sunken City | Disposition: Grateful, Burdened

Malcathir is tall and gaunt, with the look of someone who has been somewhere very far away for a very long time. His eyes are ancient - not in the way of elves, who age gracefully, but in the way of someone who has seen things that no living being should see. He remembers everything: a thousand years in the Void, every thread of his humanity torn away, the slow dissolution of self. He carries that weight visibly. But there is something else in him now - eight threads of who he was, returned. Kindness. Sorrow. The capacity for wonder. He looks at the clear water of the lake and his expression is that of a man seeing color for the first time after a lifetime of grey.

Malcathir stands at the water's edge, and the lake - clear now, impossibly clear - reflects him perfectly. He is still for a long moment. Then he speaks, without turning. "I remember all of it. Every year. Every thread they took. I remember what it felt like to lose the capacity for mercy, and then compassion, and then sorrow, until all that remained was function without feeling. A thousand years." He turns. His eyes are wet but steady. "And I remember what you did. What it cost you. I do not have words large enough for what I owe." He pauses. "I do not wish to be king again. I was not a good one the first time. But this place - these ruins - I would like to rebuild them. Not as a throne. As a garden. Something that grows."

DM Guidance: This conversation between the Chosen and Malcathir is one of the most important roleplay moments in the adventure. Let it happen naturally. The key emotional beats: Malcathir remembers everything and carries the guilt. The Chosen affirms his right to choose - "Everyone has the right to choose. Auren said that." Malcathir does not want power; he wants to grow something. If the Chosen's player wants to say something different, let them. This is their moment as much as Malcathir's. The other party members can be present or can give the two privacy - follow your players' instincts.

The Lake Reborn

The Lake of Shadows is the Lake of Shadows no longer. The water is clear to its bed, the ruins beneath visible for the first time in a millennium. Fish dart through submerged streets. The dwarves have already begun repairing the broken bridge, and the sound of hammers on stone - steady, purposeful, alive - echoes across the water.

A Wedding at the Water's Edge

DM Guidance: In the original campaign, the Chosen proposed to Naia at the lakeside, and Aldric married them before the entire army. This is a beautiful narrative endpoint, but it is specific to a solo campaign where the Chosen's romance with Naia developed naturally over many sessions. For a group of players, present this as optional. If the Chosen's player has developed a romantic connection with Naia (or another NPC), this is the perfect moment for it. If not, you can narrate the wedding as something that happens "in the weeks that follow" in the background, or skip it entirely. The emotional weight of the chapter does not depend on it. What matters is the sense of new beginnings - the war is over, the lake is clear, and people are choosing to build something instead of destroying something. A wedding is one expression of that. It is not the only one.

The army gathers at the lakeside as the sun sets. Aldric stands at the water's edge in his paladin's white, his blessed blade planted point-down in the gravel beside him. The Chosen and Naia face each other, and for a moment neither speaks. They do not need to. The dwarves are silent - two hundred and seven dwarves, silent, which may be the greatest miracle of the day. Aldric speaks the words of the old rite, and the lake catches the last light of the sun and holds it, golden, on water that was black three days ago. When the vows are finished and the army cheers, Gunnar blows his nose loudly and claims it is the dust.

In the days that follow, the party discusses what comes next. The Chosen proposes that Gunnar's dwarves stay to rebuild the Sunken City alongside Malcathir - but it is the whole group's decision, shaped by what each member wants from this new beginning. Gunnar accepts without hesitation. Malcathir promises a garden. Draven is sent riding with messages to Alfwyld, Lorenzia, Avenstoff, and Stenhöjen, carrying the news: the Recall is complete, the lake is cleansed, and a new city is rising.

DM Guidance: This is a crucial moment for the whole party, not just the Chosen. Ask each player: does your character stay in Valbron? Take on a role in the new settlement? Or do they have somewhere else to be? Some characters may want to return home, carry messages, or pursue personal goals. Others may claim a role in Valbron's leadership. Every answer is valid and creates hooks for future sessions. The party's choices here shape the world going forward.

Malcathir names the city Valbron.

"Valbron," Malcathir says, tasting the word. He is standing on the broken bridge, watching the dwarves work, and there is something in his expression that was not there a week ago - something like joy, careful and new, a plant pushing through cracked stone. "It means 'bridge of choosing' in the old tongue. Because that is what this place is now. Not a monument to what was lost. A bridge to what we choose to build."

Valbron

The aftermath of The Heir of Shadows takes place over approximately two months following the Recall. Valbron grows from a ruin into a settlement, then into something that begins to look like a city. This section is quieter than everything that came before - and it should be. The party has earned this breathing room before the next chapter of the Main Story begins.

The Morning Kitchen

Three days after the wedding, the Chosen wakes in Valbron to the sound of hammers and the smell of bread. The morning kitchen is one of the first spaces the dwarves finished - a vaulted room with a great fireplace at one end, long tables, and windows that look out over the lake. Malcathir and Gunnar sit at the same table, arguing over a set of plans. Malcathir wants an arboretum. Gunnar wants a forge. They have been arguing about this since dawn and show no signs of stopping. Naia brings the Chosen a bowl of porridge and sits down beside them. "They have been like this for an hour," she says. "I think they are enjoying it."

Growth and Rebuilding

Over the weeks that follow, Valbron transforms. The key developments:

Population: The settlement grows from the original 207 dwarves to a thriving community of 207 original dwarves, 70 new dwarven arrivals, 30 elves, and a handful of humans - over 300 souls in total.
Infrastructure: The dwarves repair the bridge, shore up the old walls, and begin constructing new buildings. The Morning Kitchen becomes the settlement's social center. A tavern - The Sunken Crown - opens, serving dwarven ale and increasingly creative meals.
The Brightwood Trade Road: Secured by Brokk Stonehand's 40 axemen and Hilde Stonehand's 30 mountain rangers, creating a safe corridor through the corrupted forest south toward civilized lands.
The Chosen and Naia's House: Built personally by Gunnar. Four rooms, a kitchen, a balcony facing the lake. Limestone and light wood. A dwarven fireplace that could heat a cathedral. Climbing plants already growing at the entrance, as if the land itself is welcoming them.

Item: House Key - Valbron

A hand-forged iron key with an inset amber stone. The key to the Chosen and Naia's house in Valbron. Dwarven craftsmanship by Gunnar himself. He hands it over with characteristic gruffness: "Lasts a thousand years. Longer than most marriages." Then, quieter: "May yours be the exception."

New Arrivals

Word of Valbron spreads, and people come. Some out of curiosity, some out of hope, some because they have nowhere else to go. The new NPCs who arrive during this period:

Brokk Stonehand

Race: Dwarf | Role: Road Commander, Gunnar's Cousin | Disposition: Friendly, Blunt

Red-bearded and broad-shouldered, Brokk leads 40 axemen from Ironhearth. His job is to secure the Brightwood trade road - the vital corridor connecting Valbron to the outside world. He takes to the task with relentless enthusiasm, clearing brush, posting sentries, and personally intimidating anything in the forest that looks hostile. He has Gunnar's stubbornness but none of his restraint, and he greets every problem with the same solution: "More axes."

Hilde Stonehand

Race: Dwarf | Role: Ranger Commander, Gunnar's Sister | Disposition: Warm but Fierce

Shorter than Gunnar but broader, with braided black hair and a voice that carries across mountain valleys. Hilde leads 30 mountain rangers from Greycliff. Where Brokk is a hammer, Hilde is a scalpel - her rangers scout the Brightwood's deeper reaches, map its dangers, and ensure that no Void remnant goes unnoticed. She and Gunnar communicate through a series of grunts and single-word exchanges that somehow convey entire strategic briefings. She has not hugged her brother in public since they were children, but she makes an exception when she arrives in Valbron.

Caelith

Race: Elf | Role: Architect | Disposition: Quiet, Thoughtful

Caelith arrives from Lorenzia with the first wave of elven specialists. She is quiet to the point of near-silence, communicating primarily through detailed architectural drawings and the occasional nod. Her genius lies in fusion: she designs buildings that blend dwarven solidity with elven grace, structures that are both fortress and forest. The buildings she designs for Valbron look as if they grew from the stone and the trees simultaneously. Gunnar respects her, which he shows by arguing with her constantly about foundation depths.

Runa

Race: Dwarf | Role: Mountain Ranger | Disposition: Cheerful, Easily Amused

One of Hilde's mountain rangers. Runa is notable primarily for laughing at everything Draven says, whether or not it is funny. Draven, who is not accustomed to being found amusing, does not know what to do with this. Something is developing between them - the rest of the rangers have started a betting pool. Runa is an excellent scout and a terrible cook, and she does not seem to care about either of these facts equally.

DM Guidance: The Valbron section is where every player character leaves their mark on the world. Ask each player: "What does your character build in Valbron during these two months?" This is not flavor text - their answers become canon. A fighter who trains the militia creates Valbron's first standing guard. A rogue who maps the deeper ruins discovers chambers no one has seen in a thousand years. A cleric who establishes a shrine creates a place of worship that will outlast them all. Let each player have a personal project, and narrate its results. The new NPCs - Brokk, Hilde, Caelith, Runa - should interact with party members, not just with established NPCs. Pair them up based on shared interests. These relationships create hooks for future sessions.

Diplomacy: The Star Council

Approximately two weeks after the Recall, the party travels to Lorenzia to secure formal recognition and a trade deal for Valbron. This is a different kind of challenge - political rather than martial - and while the Chosen speaks as the Covenant's living voice, the rest of the party brings their own weight to the negotiating table: military credibility, firsthand testimony, and the trust of allies across the continent.

The Journey Through Holywell

The party, along with Naia and Elowen Miriel (freed from Void control during the Recall), travel to Lorenzia via the Holywell portal - a round stone platform with crumbling white marble pillars, located southeast of Lorenzia, on the coast. The portal has been dormant for centuries, but the Chosen's connection to the network reawakens it.

The Holywell portal activates with a sound like a bell struck underwater - deep, resonant, felt in the bones more than heard. The crumbling marble pillars tremble, and for a moment light pours from them, white and silver, filling the old stone platform. The Chosen steps through, and the divine manifests. It is not subtle. White flames flicker in the Chosen's eyes. The air around them crackles with Arcana. Tohu and Taninsam answer the passage, and the Weave sings. Holywell lives again. The old stones steady. The cracks in the marble glow with renewed silver. And every elf within a mile feels it - a pulse through the Weave like a heartbeat restored after a long silence.

Arrival at Lorenzia

The party arrives at Lorenzia's South Gate - an arch of white marble opening onto a morning market. Fifty elves have gathered, having felt the Holywell pulse. Elowen's return causes a stir; she was believed lost. The party is escorted to the Star Council Tower: seven spires surrounding a round audience hall with seven tall chairs and a glass dome that fills the chamber with light.

The Star Council

The Star Council of Lorenzia is the governing body of the elven city. For this negotiation, the Chosen faces six council members:

Thalric Dawnveil

Race: Elf | Role: Star Council Chairman | Disposition: Open-minded, Diplomatic

Thalric is the chairman of the Star Council and an old study companion of Malcathir's from their years at Rivermount. He has waited a long time for news of his friend. Thalric is a careful politician but a genuine person underneath, and the Chosen's testimony moves him. He leads the council with measured authority but does not hide his personal investment in the outcome.

Syra Windsong

Race: Elf | Role: Reformist Council Member | Disposition: Enthusiastic Ally

Syra is the council's reformist voice. She is the first to support the trade deal with Valbron, seeing it as an opportunity for Lorenzia to engage with the wider world. She speaks passionately and occasionally too quickly, but her instincts are sound.

Arin Goldleaf

Race: Elf | Role: Trade Minister | Disposition: Pragmatic

Arin cares about economics. The emotional weight of the Recall matters less to him than the trade routes, the resource exchange, and the long-term financial benefits of an alliance with a city that sits on the Brightwood trade road. He is not cold - he simply speaks a different language than the rest of the council, and that language is logistics.

Maeven Starfall

Race: Elf | Role: Military Advisor | Disposition: Cautious but Fair

Maeven thinks in terms of strategic value. She is initially skeptical - another settlement to defend, another border to watch - but the Chosen's account of the Recall and the closing of the abyss changes her calculus. A stable Valbron means a buffer against whatever remains in the Brightwood. She votes in favor and sends 20 engineers to aid construction.

Dorien Ashwood

Race: Elf | Role: Creed's Representative | Disposition: Skeptical, then Awed

Dorien represents the Creed - the elven order devoted to arcane study and measurement. He is the hardest sell on the council. He does not trust testimony; he trusts data. He demands that the Chosen submit to verification in the Creed's test chamber - an obsidian room designed to measure arcane resonance. The Chosen agrees. The result breaks the scale. Auren, the greatest arcanist in recorded history, measured at 200. The Chosen exceeds 300. Dorien sits in silence for thirty seconds afterward, then votes in favor. He subsequently leads the twelve-week restoration of Holywell.

The Negotiation

DM Guidance: The Star Council negotiation is a roleplay encounter, not a combat one. While the Chosen invokes the Covenant's Pact as spiritual precedent, the other party members can and should contribute. A warrior who fought at the shore can testify to the battle. A scholar can speak to the portal network's significance. A healer who tended the wounded can speak to the cost paid. Give every player a moment before the council - let them address the member whose priorities match their strengths. Arin Goldleaf wants logistics? The party's quartermaster can deliver. Maeven Starfall wants military assessment? The party's fighter has firsthand intelligence.

Dorien's demand for test chamber verification is the turning point. If the Chosen agrees, the result is unambiguous: their arcane resonance exceeds anything in recorded history. This is not a check that can be failed - it is a narrative reveal. The Chosen is what they claim to be, and the Creed's own instruments confirm it.

The vote is 6-0 in favor. The Star Council recognizes Valbron as an ally and the Chosen as the Covenant's living voice. This is a significant political achievement - one the whole party made possible - and should feel like one.

The test chamber is a room of black obsidian, smooth as glass, cold as deep water. Dorien leads you inside and closes the door. "Stand in the center," he says. "Do nothing. The chamber reads what is there." You stand. The obsidian hums. And then it sings - a rising tone that passes through audible into something felt, something that vibrates in the Weave itself. Dorien's instruments - delicate crystalline devices mounted on the walls - flare and crack. One shatters. Another spins past its maximum reading and keeps going. Dorien stares at the numbers. His expression goes from skepticism to confusion to something that might be awe, if awe were the kind of thing Dorien Ashwood allowed himself to feel. "Auren measured two hundred," he says quietly. "You are above three hundred. The scale does not go higher." He is silent for a long time. Then: "I will vote in favor."

The Vote

The Star Council votes unanimously: six in favor, none opposed. The terms of the agreement:

Lorenzia formally recognizes Valbron as an allied settlement
A trade deal is established, with Arin Goldleaf overseeing the economic terms
Maeven Starfall dispatches 20 engineers to assist with Valbron's reconstruction
Dorien Ashwood takes personal charge of restoring the Holywell portal to full, permanent operation
The Chosen is recognized as the Covenant's living voice - a title of immense spiritual and political weight

Holywell Restored

Under Dorien Ashwood's direction, with the help of two young elf researchers - Serin and Yara, who become permanent assistants at the site - the Holywell portal is fully restored over twelve weeks. The crumbling marble pillars are rebuilt with silver and new stone. Eight white pillars stand where ruins were. The portal is permanently open, connecting Valbron to the region southeast of Lorenzia and making trade, travel, and communication possible on a scale that the Sunken City never achieved in its original life.

Serin and Yara

Race: Elf | Role: Researchers, Holywell Permanent Staff | Disposition: Eager, Dedicated

Two young elf scholars assigned to Holywell by Dorien. They approach their work with the particular intensity of academics who have been given access to something they only read about in textbooks. Serin is methodical; Yara is intuitive. Together they maintain the portal, study its resonance patterns, and send regular reports to both the Creed and Valbron. They are the first permanent link between the two cities.

Thalric's Visit

After the Holywell portal is functional, Thalric Dawnveil - chairman of the Star Council - travels through it to Valbron. He does not come as a politician. He comes as a friend.

Thalric steps through the portal and onto Valbron's lakeside. He is dressed simply - no council robes, no insignia. Just an elf in traveling clothes, looking for someone he thought he had lost three hundred years ago. Malcathir is standing by the water, watching the dwarven masons work on the new quay. He turns, and for a long moment the two of them simply look at each other. They were students together at Rivermount. They argued about theory and shared meals and stayed up too late debating the nature of the Weave. That was three hundred years ago. Thalric speaks first. "You look older." Malcathir's laugh is hoarse and startled, as if he has not used it in a very long time. "A thousand years in the Void does that." Thalric crosses the distance between them. They embrace. The dwarven masons pretend not to notice, which is the dwarven equivalent of deep respect.

Thalric stays for a full day. He does not inspect the settlement or evaluate its strategic value. He picks up a trowel and works beside the masons for an hour, shoulder to shoulder with his old friend. When he leaves, he promises to return - not as chairman, just as Thalric. Regular correspondence begins between them: letters carried through Holywell, full of the kind of half-arguments and shared references that only old friends can sustain.

DM Guidance: The Thalric-Malcathir reunion is a powerful roleplay moment. Play it gently. These are two very old elves who have been separated for three hundred years by something monstrous, and they are feeling their way back to a friendship that predates the separation. If your players are present for this scene, let them watch. Do not rush it. The trowel detail - the chairman of the Star Council picking up a mason's tool and working in silence beside a man who was lost for three centuries - says more than any speech could.

The Garden of Forgiveness

At the center of Valbron, where the abyss once gaped, Malcathir plants a garden. He and Naia work it together - she has a gift for growing things, and he has a need to put something alive where so much death once lived. They plant white night-blooming flowers that open at dusk and fill the air with a scent like clean rain. A stone bench sits at the garden's heart, facing the place where the abyss was and the flowers now grow.

It is here, in the Garden of Forgiveness, that Malcathir reveals Auren's diary.

Auren's Diary

Item: Auren's Diary

A thin book bound in pale blue leather with silver clasps. The pages are old but preserved, written in Auren's precise hand. It contains her notes about the portals, the Tenth Filterer, the fall of Nortaq, and - most shockingly - the Chosen's name, written three hundred years before their birth. This is not prophecy in the traditional sense. Auren did not see the future. She read the Weave, traced the patterns of resonance forward through time, and found the signature of the person who would one day complete the Recall. She knew their name before they existed. The diary also contains entries that have not yet been fully decoded - more secrets remain.

Malcathir sits on the stone bench in the Garden of Forgiveness, and in his hands is a book. Pale blue leather. Silver clasps. He holds it as if it might break, or as if it might burn him. "Auren left this," he says. "I kept it. Even in the Void, even when I could not remember why, I kept it." He opens it to a marked page and hands it to the Chosen. Three truths are written there in Auren's hand.

First: the Tenth Portal is not a place. It is a person. The Filterer. The living anchor of the entire network.

Second: Nortaq was always meant to be temporary. It was built on judgment's ground, a stopgap, not a foundation. Its fall was not a failure of the system but a consequence of building on ground that was never meant to hold.

Third: On a page dated three hundred years before the Chosen's birth, Auren wrote their name. Not a title. Not a description. Their name. She found their signature in the Weave and recognized what they would become, centuries before they drew their first breath.

The Chosen's reaction to this revelation is one of the most emotionally raw moments in the adventure.

The Chosen closes the book. Their hands are shaking. "I am not worthy," they say. The words come out broken, the way words do when they carry more weight than a voice can hold. "She knew. Three hundred years. She planned all of this. She chose me before I existed, and I am not - I am not what she thought I would be."

Malcathir is quiet for a moment. The garden is quiet. The white flowers are opening in the dusk, and their scent drifts through the stillness. Then he speaks, and his voice is gentle in the way that only someone who has known absolute darkness can be gentle with someone else's pain.

"Auren did not choose a hero," he says. "She chose an elf who cries in a garden because they think they are not enough. And that is exactly why you are."

DM Guidance: This scene is the emotional climax of the aftermath. The Recall was the mechanical climax - the ritual, the cost, the triumph. This is the human climax - the moment where the Chosen confronts the weight of what they have been and wonders if it was enough. Malcathir's response - "Auren did not choose a hero. She chose an elf who cries in a garden because they think they are not enough." - is the thematic thesis of The Heir of Shadows. Worthiness is not about power or perfection. It is about choosing to try when you do not believe you are enough.

The other party members can be present at the garden's edge, or arrive afterward and see the aftermath on the Chosen's face. Either way, give them a moment to respond. A party member who puts a hand on the Chosen's shoulder, or says "You were enough for us," carries as much weight as Malcathir's words. This is their story too. They walked every step of it. Let the Chosen's player react however they need to - and let the other players react in turn.

Valbron's Council

With the settlement growing and alliances forming, Valbron needs governance. The party gathers with their allies to hammer out its shape - this is a group decision, not a decree.

The Structure

The proposed council has three pillars:

Malcathir as "Light's Gardener": Not a king. Never a king. A servant-leader at the top, guiding the city's growth with the wisdom of someone who has seen the worst of what power can become and chooses to hold it differently.
Dwarven Anchoring: The dwarves are the foundation - builders, defenders, the practical spine of the settlement. Their voice in the council is structural and logistical.
Human Drive: The humans provide energy, ambition, and the outward-facing connections that a new city needs to survive.

Malcathir listens to the proposal in silence. When it is finished, he nods slowly. "I accept. Not as king. I was a king once, and I was not good at it. As servant to this council and this city. As gardener." He pauses. "But I have one condition." He looks at the Chosen. "Promise me that if the darkness returns - if you see it in me, if I begin to become what I was - you will stop me. However you must."

Gunnar, who has been leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, straightens. "I hit harder than Zarathen," he says.

It is not entirely clear whether this is a joke.

DM Guidance: The council scene works best as a genuine group discussion where every player has a voice. Let each player character weigh in on the structure. A dwarf character might advocate for stronger dwarven representation. A human might push for trade rights. An elf might raise concerns about Malcathir's role. These disagreements are healthy - they make the council feel real. Gunnar demands veto right on construction matters - "Nobody builds load-bearing walls without my approval" - and this should be granted with appropriate good humor.

The key emotional beat is Malcathir's request: he asks the whole party - not just the Chosen - to stop him if the darkness comes back. He addresses each person by name. This is not paranoia; it is accountability. He knows what he was, and he does not trust himself entirely. The party's collective promise - and Gunnar's characteristically dwarven addition - should feel like the foundation of something real.

Consider offering party members specific roles on the council: defense advisor, trade liaison, diplomatic envoy, exploration lead. These roles create hooks for future sessions and give every player a stake in Valbron's future.

Loose Ends and Farewells

The Party

Each party member reaches this moment carrying their own arc. Some may stay in Valbron permanently. Others may have homes, families, or obligations elsewhere. Some may take on formal roles - ambassador to Lorenzia, captain of the Brightwood patrols, keeper of the portal network. Others may simply need to go home and sit in a quiet room for a while.

DM Guidance: Give every player a farewell scene - or a "staying" scene. Ask them where their character is at the end of these two months. What do they want? What are they afraid of? What has changed in them since Chapter 1? If a character leaves Valbron, narrate their departure with the same weight you give to the Chosen's moments. If they stay, describe what they have built. Every party member who survived this adventure has earned a closing beat. These decisions also set up each character's starting position for future sessions.

Elowen Miriel

Freed from Void control during the Recall, Elowen has returned to Lorenzia. She is physically intact but psychologically damaged - the experience of being controlled by an entity from beyond the barrier has left marks that will take time to heal. The Star Council treats her return with public celebration and private concern. Her presence on the council is a political complication that will need to be addressed.

Velarin

The ancient scholar's mission is complete. He was Auren's student, and he carried her knowledge for 289 years so that it would be there when the Chosen needed it. With the Recall finished and Holywell restored, Velarin's purpose is fulfilled. He disappears quietly one morning, without farewell or explanation. A note is found in his quarters: "The seeds have been planted. The garden grows. I am going to see if the eastern forests remember me." No one sees him leave.

DM Guidance: Velarin's departure should feel bittersweet but right. He is not dying; he is simply done. His arc is complete. If the players want to find him and say goodbye, they cannot - he is already gone. This is deliberate. Not every story ends with a farewell. Some end with a note and an empty room and the understanding that some people are only meant to walk with you for part of the journey.

The Wedding Night

If the wedding occurred at the lakeside, the chapter's final personal scene is the wedding night. The Chosen and Naia sit on the balcony of their new house - Gunnar's gift, four rooms and a fireplace and climbing plants - and look out at the lake. The water is silver under the stars. The sounds of the settlement drift up: laughter from The Sunken Crown, the distant ring of a late-working smith, Brokk arguing with someone about axe maintenance. It is the sound of a city being born.

The stars are out over Valbron. The lake catches them and holds them, perfect mirrors in water that was black a month ago and now reflects every point of light in the sky. The Chosen and Naia sit on the balcony of their house - their house, with its dwarven fireplace and its climbing plants and its key that will last a thousand years - and they do not speak for a long time. They do not need to. Below, the city breathes. Hammers have stopped for the night, but voices carry: Gunnar's laugh, deep as a mine shaft; the melody of an elven song from somewhere near the garden; Brokk's voice, raised in cheerful argument with someone who is probably losing. The Garden of Forgiveness is a pale shape in the moonlight, its white flowers open and glowing. Somewhere in the city, Malcathir is awake, walking the streets he is rebuilding, touching the walls with hands that remember a thousand years of darkness and have chosen, finally, to build. The war is over. The abyss is closed. The lake reflects the stars. And tomorrow, there will be work to do, and arguments to have, and bread to bake in the Morning Kitchen, and the slow, patient, extraordinary miracle of ordinary days. But tonight, there is this: two people on a balcony, a city being born beneath them, and the sky full of light.

What Lies Ahead

The Recall is complete, the abyss is closed, and Valbron is growing. But the Main Story continues. The following threads are active and unresolved - not optional hooks, but the living edges of an ongoing narrative.

1. Zarathen Endures

Zarathen was forced back beyond the barrier, not destroyed. The entity is diminished, limited, contained - but it is ancient, patient, and malevolent. The barrier holds, but it held before Malcathir fell. The question is not whether Zarathen will try again, but when, and from what angle. The Void does not forget.

2. The Ninth Thread

Malcathir was recalled with eight of nine threads of his humanity. The ninth, lost with Nortaq, is gone permanently. This is a wound in Malcathir and a wound in the barrier. What does that absence mean? Can the barrier be fully restored without it? Is there a way to recover what was lost, or must the world learn to live with a scar?

3. Elowen Miriel's Recovery

Elowen is free but damaged. Her experience under Void control has political consequences - what did she do while controlled? What decisions did she make on the Star Council that were not truly hers? Her recovery is personal, but the fallout is political, and Lorenzia will have to reckon with both.

4. Malcathir's Place in the World

Malcathir lives, but the wider world does not yet know what to make of him. To the elves, he is a figure from ancient history who returned from the Void. To the dwarves, he is Gunnar's strange, quiet friend who builds gardens. To the humans, he is a rumor becoming legend. His guilt toward the elves - for what Zarathen did through him, using his stolen identity - is a weight he carries every day. How the world responds to his existence will shape the politics of the region for generations.

5. The Party's Future

The Recall is complete, but the party's journey is not over. The Chosen's arcane resonance exceeds 300 - higher than Auren herself - and the Weave still sings in them. Auren's diary suggests more secrets remain. But the other party members carry their own unfinished business: alliances forged, enemies left standing, personal quests sparked by the events of the past six chapters. Each character has been changed by what they survived. What they do with that change - together or apart - drives the story forward.

6. Velarin's Disappearance

The ancient scholar left for the eastern forests without explanation. He completed his mission, but 289 years of accumulated knowledge does not simply vanish because its bearer has retired. Where did he go? What does he know that he did not share? And what is in the eastern forests that called him there?

7. Valbron's Growth

The city is young and vulnerable. Over 300 souls depend on the Brightwood trade road, the Holywell portal, and the goodwill of Lorenzia. Political, military, and economic challenges will arise. Brokk and Hilde secure the road, but the Brightwood is still corrupted territory. New settlers bring new conflicts. Caelith's beautiful buildings need defending. The Sunken Crown needs a steady supply of ale. A living city generates living problems.

8. Auren's Remaining Secrets

The diary contained three truths, but it also contains entries that have not been decoded. Auren saw further into the Weave than anyone before or since. What else did she find? What else did she plan for? The Chosen's name was written three hundred years before their birth. What other names might be in that book?

9. The Whispered Word

In an earlier chapter, Auren whispered a word to the Chosen in a dream. That word has never been explained. It sits in the story like a seed in dark soil, waiting. What was the word? What does it mean? And what grows from it?

DM Guidance: These threads are not optional epilogue hooks - they are the foundation of what comes next. The Heir of Shadows is the first arc of an ongoing Main Story. The Recall marks a turning point, not an ending. Zarathen endures. The ninth thread is lost. Auren's diary holds undecoded secrets. Valbron is fragile and young. The party has earned a moment of peace, but the world they saved is not finished needing them. When you are ready to continue, the roads are waiting.

End of Chapter 6: The Recall
The story continues.