With the introduction of our heroes, we learned their quests: Emmit Undercroft, a tiefling warlock, seeks to resurrect his wife and son; Jasper, a human paladin of Tyr, searches for faith and purpose after war; Mr. Jingles, a disfigured halfling-human rogue, longs for acceptance after decades of servitude; and Zera Fennec, a half-elf bard, yearns for adventure to add heft and truth to her lofty stories.

The adventure began with a flashback to several days prior in Ylraphon where Zera was performing. During her show, an unknown member of the audience stood and called her a fraud. Afterward, she spoke with Mr. Jingles about a string of accusations and disturbances that has been following her from city to city. That night, Mr. Jingles set out in secret to uncover what malevolent force was behind the events targeting Zera but came up empty. Zera later received a letter from her cousin Lunea suggesting she head north to Elmwood for some R&R.

Around that same time, Jasper received a sending from his old friend, Derric Stowman, requesting help verifying claims made by a prisoner named Kalidus Maw. Jasper and Emmit met Derric near Elmwood, where he had arrived by boat with Kalidus in tow. Derric explained Kalidus's claim of a horror supposedly trapped in an old Tyr outpost called Varenshade, put there by a branch of knights known as the Order of the Amethyst Claw. Jasper agreed to take the oathbreaker into his custody and follow him to Varenshade. Once the claims were verified or disproven, Jasper was instructed to use a sending scroll to alert Derric, who would then bring the matter to Tyr’s courts and leverage the full weight of the Church to destroy the beast.

Meeting up in Elmwood, the party agreed to pursue the quest. Taking Derric’s boat, they traveled across the Moonsea for two days before encountering thugs near Zhentil Keep. On the third day, they reached Varenshade, its entrance concealed by a holy illusion created by Kalidus and other former Amethyst Claw knights. After gaining entry, the party faced trials testing their understanding of Tyr’s principles of law, justice, and sacrifice. Beyond the trials waited an undead knight, who attacked. The party defeated it by destroying a nearby well filled with glowing blue wisps. As it crumbled, the knight uttered with its final breath, “It is free…”