Eternal Darkness (The Times of Trouble 3rd Cycle)

Following up on a previous lead about Davil Starsong the group watches the Morrell Manor and decides to enter at night. Inside the manor, the group finds the owners had been murdered. While searching the area, Valna hears a voice of an old friend she thought was dead. The party encounters the manor's butler which appears to be under someone's control. The butler tells the group his master is awaiting their arrival in the basement. The party goes to the basement and finds Davil with Valna's old friend Barley. Shackled to a table was Sneatcha who earlier was kidnapped as he entered Waterdeep. Davil offered the group money to walk away and leave Valna. Refusing the offer, the group attacks killing Davil and his bodyguard while Barley escapes. Valna has a vision that she is a key. Later at the Trollskull Manor Renaer tells Valna where he remembers her. Valna's father worked for Renaer's father. Renaer returns a necklace to Valna from her father. Valna finds a key to a safe box at the bank and retrieves it. It contains a map and a note telling Valna to find a sword called Tranquility.

The Trollskull Manor has it grand opening busy with patrons. Volo helps obtain a riding lizard for Nyx and a horse for Valna. Volo introduces Starzuild to Sneatcha who later goes to his room to polish his horn with Starzuild. Barnibus arrives at the Manor to question Valna about what happened last night at Gralhund Manor. Sneatcha shows Nyx some books he took from Gralhund Manor which details Lady Gralhund being an apprentice to Lady Ammalia Casslanter who is the high leader of the Cult of Asmodeus. Volo remarks the Casslanters has a mausoleum in the City of the Dead so the group decides to check out the mausoleum. Nyx using the device to find Nim’s creation gets a hit in the City of the Dead in the Casslanter’s mausoleum. The group enters the mausoleum and finds two dead cult members with the destroyed creature. They find a female cult member still alive. After healing the female she tells the group she is Vaelle Lurval and she was her with her boyfried to obtain the Stone of Glorr but was betrayed by two other cults. Vaelle knows where the cults are and will show the group if they will kill them for her. Valle takes the group to an old windmill where they find the cults passing the Stone of Golorr off to a bone demon. After killing the cultist and the bone demon Nyx obtains the Stone of Golorr. The group returns to the Trollskull Manor where Nyx asks the Stone of Golorr about the treasure. The Stone of Golorr tells Nyx where the trease is and how to open the door. The next day the group travels to the hidden vault and finds the guardian of the treasure. Valna appeal to the guardian’s to return the stolen treasure. The guardian allows the group to return the treasure only if it gets to get a pile of gemstones and a staff. The group agrees and the guardian transforms into a gold dragon and flies off. Valna sends a message to Renaer asking for help with the found treasure.

The party witnesses the gods falling from the sky and realizes that the time of troubles has begun. They decide to go to Fredrick’s Marvelous Carnival of Wonder and do some reconnaissance. Nyx discovers that the animals are controlled by magical collars and decides to go back to Waterdeep to retrieve dispel magic wands. Meanwhile, Friac goes to the carnival and gets a job helping with the first aid station. Cannella sees a strongman hand off something to a nobleman and Valna goes with him to shop in Saltmarsh. They learn about a haunted house and Friac buys some alchemical goods from the Alchemists’ Guildhall.
  Valna and Cannella follow a man they saw interacting with the strong man and an elderly woman matching their description. Cannella follows the woman to the orphanage while Valna follows the man, who introduces himself as Egan Lassiter, to the carnival. At the carnival, they witness children throwing stones at magical creatures and Egan talks to Frederick, the carnival owner, about the abuse. Frederick puts a collar on Valna and transforms her into an ettin with a polymorph spell. The rest of the party arrives at the carnival and engages in a fight with the strongman and clowns while Cora and Nyx use dispel wands on the magical creatures. They realize the creatures were people and find Valna in ettin form. They turn to leave but are attacked by Mag, who drains Cora's energy before being defeated by Nyx.

The group met back at their tents outside of Saltmarsh and discussed the unknown person Mazel Analith's father, Saevel Analith, had told him about. Chael Goldleaf, a member of the guardians, had helped Saevel overcome a curse that plagued their family. Mazel told the group he hadn't seen his father in years and that he was placed in Lady Lorelei Thalavar's care.
  While waiting for Nyx to return from Waterdeep with the children, Cora noticed a wolf pacing outside the tent with a note and a druid vestment attached to it from Darwin.
  The group decided to check out the old Gellen house outside of Saltmarsh, where they found the house in poor condition. They explored the area outside the house and discovered raised sections of a garden where some creature had burrowed underneath. Cora discovered that the burrow tracks were from weasels, and she explored the burrow in her weasel form, finding nothing of interest.
  Nyx found a trap door in the floor of the house and the group went down it where they encountered a human male who had information about a ship waiting for special cargo. The group also engaged in battle with blood skeletons in a room marked "danger."
  The party enters a cavern where they are attacked by green slime, but they are able to burn it off before it eats through their armor and flesh. They encounter smugglers in a sea cave and defeat them before finding a ship named Sea Ghost. Friac sneaks onto the ship but is caught by drow and put in a cell after being hit with a Feeblemind spell. The party sneaks aboard the ship and begins searching for Friac. They enter a cabin crew room and are about to enter the cargo hold when the session ends.

The party prepares for their journey to the Halls of Heroes. Sneatcha plants beans, causing a foul-smelling gas bubble and a well. Friac and Valna go shopping and visit a tavern, where Friac is propositioned by the bartender. The tavern explodes, and Valna is taken to see the town council member for questioning. She gets into a confrontation with Lord Egan Lassiter and is allowed to leave on the condition of reporting any new information. Valna returns to the camp.
  Sneatcha, Cannella, and Cora return to camp and find Darwin, Lady Thalavar, and Jorg waiting. Valna meets Bjorn, the head of the ship crew. Nyx and Valna interrogate Jorg while Sneatcha is attacked by a Night Mask assassin. The party gains information from Jorg and decides to punish him by cutting out his tongue and hands. Darwin takes Lady Thalavar back to safety. Nyx sneaks into Egan's office and discovers he put a hit on the party. A shadow creature kills Egan, and Nyx takes his ledgers. Friac breaks into Egan's house and is attacked by a shadow demon. The demon teleports Friac to a cabin where he meets Karla. Nyx returns to camp and informs the party about Egan's murder. The party decides to rest before heading to the Halls of Heroes.
  The party arrives in the abandoned village of Grimhollow and seeks entrance to the cemetery to find a relic of Valna's family. They encounter Doombringer Grimhollow, who allows them to enter and directs them to the Halls of Heroes. They are given sun rods to light Sacred Braziers of Balance in the crypt to weaken the undead. They encounter undead in a chamber and use the brazier to defeat them before moving on to encounter wolf spiders in the main corridor. They eventually find another chamber with undead, which they defeat using the brazier.

Valna's trial for multiple crimes, including tomb robbing, murder, stolen goods, and false prophecies is held. The High Order of Torm presents evidence against Valna and her party. Barnibus defends Valna, providing evidence that pokes holes in the prosecution's case. The magistrate ultimately rules in Valna's favor, dismissing all charges against her and the party. Star later arrives at the Trollskull Manor, panicked and looking for Sneatcha. She tells Sneatcha that two men broke into her room and beat her up, looking for him. The party helps Sneatcha fight the men and two mind flayers that emerge from the room. They then hear battle sounds coming from the House of Heroes and rush over to find the High Order of Torm fighting demons. Sneatcha witnesses High Sword Bloodhelm being fatally injured by a demon and vows to find out who the false god is and stop it.

Cora that Emory Woods, an elder forest connected to the great tree spirit, is sick and there is a darkness spreading. She requests Cora's help in finding the cause and stopping it. The party agrees to help and takes the Legendary Valor to the forest. On the way, they encounter some mishaps, including Valna's inexperience causing a sick passenger to vomit on a farmer. Upon arrival, they notice sickly animals fleeing the woods and a swirl of dark clouds above. They land the ship and meet Evelyn, the last druid of the Emory tree, who explains that the woods are cursed and dying. Evelyn asks the party to join her to find an ancient treant named Silvebark who may know how to lift the curse.
  Evelyn takes the party to the Emory Woods' heart where they meet a group of sickly treants. All attempts to help them fail until they turn to Cora and say that the Grandfather Tree speaks of her and how she will help. Nyx asks Evelyn if there is anyone who can assist the party once they arrive in Silverbark’s Forest, and Evelyn tells her about her friend Frick. The party encounters a dangerous tree and fights it, and after they win, they camp for the night. They meet Frick the next day, who tells them that Silverbark has been asleep for 150 years and will be grumpy when they wake him up. The party finds mistletoe and sets off to meet Silverbark. During their journey, Sneatcha encounters two pixies who bless him with the gift of invisibility in exchange for some pine cones.
  The party arrives at Silverbark's Grove and meets with Silverbark who tells Cora the only way to remove the curse from the forest is to cleanse it of evil and plant a rare Silver Pine tree. Frick's friends help Cora and Sneatcha find the Silver Pine cone, while Nyx, Valna, and Galrik fight and kill the evil creature and its shadows, and later a dark naga who was seeking a gemstone. The party regroups in the grove, and with Cora's help, the ritual to cleanse the woods is completed, and life returns to the forest. The spirits of the trees reward Cora with the Sling of Dire Wind, and Sneatcha invites Jixie and Prite to join him on his travels.