Tad the treasure hunter throws a dome over Hagen and seals him inside, which will protect him and stop him from infecting anything else.
The high priest walks out and shouts “Silence!” He explains that he’s spent two months trying to find a solution to the problem. He dismisses everyone except the main party and the group of treasure hunters.
The high priest says that he has been communing with the tree of life. Kabel brings up the fake leaves on the tree of life, and the high priest says he’s going to investigate. Tad and Valia begin quarreling, and Kabel casts Calm Emotions. He calms the group and heads off with the adventurers, while Artair stays with Mina, Valia, and Sarita. He sends a message to Artair and recommends that Artair invite Valia to the tree of life to see the leaves for herself.
Artair notices that Sarita rolls over the dead spot without being affected, and learns that Sarita’s wheelchair has a slight levitation spell on the wheels. He gathers supplies to perform a divination spell. Before performing the spell, Artair tries to convince Valia to take him to the tree of life.
Kabel enters the adventurers’ house. They lock the door and sweep for dead spots. They close all the windows except for the one that gives a view to Hagen’s sphere. Dion tells him that it’s a nice trick, because if anyone wants to spy, they’ll try to use the open window.
Tad shows his secret note to Kabel. It has a figure-eight written on it. Tad says that it was the final note from an adventurer friend, Theo, who came to the Meadow of Peace and disappeared. Peace and Meadow are actually right next to each other. After presenting all of their research, they show that the spiral staircase is probably where the secret entrance to the tree is.
They see a guard approaching Hagen, and Kabel steps in between. The guard does not want to let the team leave with Hagen, fearing that the darkness could spread further. Tad intimidates the guard into letting them leave, and Kabel casts Pass Without Trace on them so they can leave without issues. Kabel then notices two guards speaking and saying that a dark spot was found in the stables of the Ekwos tribe.
Artair speaks with Myrkul and Gaia, and Gaia tells him that the tree of life must be saved from the necromancer Jarad. Artair tells the girls that the tree of life is in danger, and Valia admits that her dad told her to kill Theo. Valia said that Theo was threatening to desecrate the tree of life, and her father told her to kill Theo to protect the tree and the village. Sarita comforts Valia as Kabel walks in.
Artair pulls Mina and Kabel outside to tell them about Jarad. Kabel recognizes the name from a fairy tale. Mina uses a scroll and opens a Gate to the Clan of Power, asking Calvin to gather as many members as possible.
Mina explains that the tree of life is probably dead and that eternal life is a lie, meaning that Jarad is at the tree manipulating it. She fears that the undead people at Peace will come to attack; Jarad can sense when someone speaks his name.
Undead begin to crawl over the wall between the cities, and Valia offers to take them to the real tree via a secret path in the high priest’s home. Mina offers them powerful potions that restore all of their stats, and they head with Valia into the high priest’s house.
Valia locks the door behind them and offers Artair and Kabel a choice of special, holy weapons that are displayed inside.
Kabel chooses the holy dagger, which has the following qualities:
- deals radiant damage
- damage is 2d4
- if an undead creature is dropped to 0 HP, the wielder can make another attack
- if the dagger is thrown at an undead creature, it immediately returns to the wielder, regardless if it hits or misses
When Kabel takes hold of the dagger, he feels a sudden warmth rush over him as though he were bathed in moonlight. He hears Gaia’s voice. She apologizes that Kabel was dragged into Artair’s fight, but offers him divine strength and protection.
Kabel responds: "“This isn’t just Artair’s fight, it’s a fight for the Under-Wilds. And even if I don’t make it back and can’t clear my name, I will do everything in my power to make this place safer for my daughter. I’ll gladly accept your help to do that.”
Kabel feels a necklace with a circular pendant form into place. Gaia says, “There’s so much that must be done, but the most important thing is for you and Valia to live. So be careful. and protect her.”
Kabel then pulls out the pendant from Skytower and immediately has a vision. As he looks at the rune on the pendant, he sees the rune connect to other runes and make connections that eventually turn into words in other languages. Then, all the connections flow back, the main rune begins spinning quicker and quicker until it turns into a sphere, and the vision ends.
This rune is a primordial power. Kabel can use it to cast Freezing Sphere at 9th level. It will eventually recharge, but for now he can consider it one use.