Session 18 - Heart of the Mire

General Summary

The Radiants make their way through the Mire, emerging on the other side having overshot the center of the bubble.
After Some deliberation, the Radiants decide that they will travel back the way they came and let the center come to them.
After retracing their steps, the Radiants camp for the night.
Thog, being awake at the time, suddenly sees shades emerge from the edge of the campfire. He shouts to wake his companions and immediately dashes forward, destroying some of the shades, who offer no resistance.
As others wake up, the shades continue to move forward revealing that they are carrying a massive, pocked shard that immediately assaults the party with a mental barrage of insane gibbering, shaking some of them but not immediately frightening anyone.
A battle ensues, with the Radiants slaying all of the shades carrying the shard. The massive shard continues its mental assault, sending streamers of dark energy at anyone who strikes it or uses Radiance near or against it.
Garth is hit with a particularly nasty attack, frightening him to the point of sudden delusions.
Once the shard comes under concentrated attack, familiar faces arrive in the form of Egbart, Barleth and Quarte who immediately attack the party, showcasing new and unusual abilities.
In their attempt, Barleth appears to become stunned due to a potentially failed spell, and the large shard is broken, disintegrating into a pile of fine glassy powder.
The trio retreats, grabbing a handful of powder before departing.
Sov visits shortly after, confessing his surprise that it was indeed his Father who was the source, which explains how they were not aware that a shard had been stolen as the Father was not there at the time of the fall.
Sov admits that he still has much to learn, that his Father was supposed to teach him but, for reasons now obvious, the opportunity was not there.
Sov then states that there is one last thing to be taken care of, the Derashi. He says that the other tribes have gathered and that they are likely about to engage with the Derashi despite the warnings Toland provided. With this task delivered, he departs.
As the remainder of the night progresses, the Mire dissipates. Just before dawn, the Radiants see stars and Sätheal's moon for the first time.
The Radiants call the moon Sus.
The Radiants set out on flying insect mounts with all speed towards the Peak, eager to put an end to this conflict.
On approach of the mountains, they find the two forces appearing to be getting ready to launch themselves at one another, with another small mass of bodies swarming around where the entrance of Sov's cave must be.