When last we left our heroes, they were in the midst of panic as Wander and Ryker watched a void open up, sucking in Kane’s mechanical wyvern and their friend Nahtan, who flys back with an “Ooooooh noooooo.” Kane managed to hold his ground against the driving wind. Ryker yells for Reg to bring the ship around while sprinting to the deck, unleashing an arrow over the bow as the ship moves to face Kane. Iris uses the last of the bullets trying to drive Kane back as he begins to work his way through the event horizon, preparing spells as he goes.
Meanwhile, Havayla, Yevin, Arunak, Dorza, and Aurora continue their struggle against the animated darkness. Both Havayla and Yevin had taken to the sky. Havayla brought a moonbeam down on one shadowed mass while Dorza struck down another, aided by Aurora. Arunak’s attacks the moon-bathed blackness was the last straw and combat is finished. Yevin continues his flight away, seeing fireworks shoot up from the airfield on one side of the city, and a massive airship rising from the castle.
Back at the airfield, Wander hits Kane with a guiding bolt, giving Ryker an extra edge on his attack. Ryker runs back to the helm, discussing the possibility of using the ships engines to push Kane back. But before they set their plan into action, Kane slips and is pulled into the crushing void himself. In the center of the void, buffeted by whirling cosmic energy. The victory cheer from the airship is cut short as Kane strains and casts a spell, pulling the energy into his hand, dispelling the crushing sphere. Spell dissipated, a battered and bleeding Kane stands up, defiantly staring down the airship.
Ryker changes tactics and orders Reg to punch it as he runs to the bow of the ship, leaping off to shoot as the ship runs into the ground and Kane. But the arrow is unneeded as automaton and human parts are separated across the front of the airship, a head flying over the bow. Kane is dead.
Reg brings the damaged airship to ground as Wander slides down to sit against the ship rail in shock. Ryker explores the crater for remains of their friend, finding a ring, the knuckle dusters, and Azuke’s hammer. Yevin flies in, asking what happened. Ryker starts to fill him in as the rest of the group rushes in, taking in the destruction and the news of their friend’s death. Wander silently steps down from the ship, goes into the crater, and scrapes up what she can of Nahtan’s ashes. Coming out, she asks Havayla if her sister has a spot in her garden that Wander could plant a tree. She wants to bury Nahtan honorably in the tradition of her clan.
But everything will need to wait for the morning, for now they need rest. Havayla casts her improved hut — now large enough to hold everyone, including Iris and Reg — within the war room on the Windwalker. During the night, there’s a knock at the door. Ryker cautiously answers it, backed by Arunak, meeting a perturbed Syrin. He briefly explains what happened and she hands him a notebook that her men found on the remains. Seeing that they’re in desperate need of sleep, she promises to be back in 10 hours.
Ryker hands Arunak the notebook who flips through it and is struck with the similarities to the book he and Yevin found with Azuke. He hold onto it to study with Yevin in the morning. Everyone settles back down for a long needed rest.
In the morning, there is heated discussion between Havayla and Ryker. It seems they shared a dream with Moonbow and there is a change in who Sehanine’s vessel is. And Havayla’s left eye is not the right color… She reveals about the dream, how she is no longer the vessel, Ryker is. But she now has the responsibility to hod what Sehanine was protecting. Wander digs through her notes and books and puts things together: Havayla now bears they eye of Tharizdun.
While this is being discussed, Arunak and Yevin are pouring over Kane’s notes, comparing it to their sketches of the notebook of Azuke Sure. There’s a description of discovery in the Noilif mines, a group of creatures called Illithid and an Elder Brain. Skulldrinker was working with Kane to create a machine to drain Carvacus’ brain into the Elder Brain, leaving him vulnerable to control, if done properly. The machine is complete, all that is missing is the Feeblemind stone. Once Skulldrinker has that in place, all he needs is two minutes to control and raise Carvacus as a dracolitch to do his bidding.
But their discoveries are overshadowed as Havayla and Ryker struggle with their sudden swap in responsibilities. Additionally, Havayla reveals her interaction with the Queen; to initiate Havayla into her court, she was bestowed a gift, as only a vampire gives, through a bite. Not transmitting vampirism, but a boon, the experience still shook Havayla and she was unsure how to handle all the changes. Ryker turns the discussion to their next steps. He wants to take advantage of Syrin’s offer of a second ship, but is unsure of what they’re to do now. Wander pipes in and recommends to Ryker that they shouldn’t attack Riverband, they should distract from it. Get Skulldrinker away from there, break his teleportation circle, and protect the king. as there is another knock at the door. Syrin has arrived with crew and supplies.
Introductions are made of the 10… 11? Crew members? An extra crewman is sent away, confused at why his orders were changed. 8 are sent out to start repairs while Syrin keeps two on guard as plans are discussed. Ryker admits that they haven’t come up with a target yet. Syrin reminds him of the ticking clock and they discuss how long it will take to repair the ship.
Yevin reaches the end of Kane’s book and sees his name, or a name he’s been called in his dreams. He’s referenced as the reason Kane is a Revenant. And as the one who will take Tiamat’s place, trapped forever, letting Kane also live forever. Yevin passes the book to Wander who starts to read, fitting things together with her own notes, while he asks for privacy to share his discoveries. Syrin leaves with the two other crew members, one of whom is surprisingly tall for a half elf.
As Yevin starts to talk about the dragons, Wander realizes that their newer members may not understand the whole of the situation and retells her part of the story, from discovering the cave, Skulldrinker’s arrival, the sacrifices, her mission, joining the Derailers, their discovery of the orc incursion and how that led to drawing Skulldrinker’s ire. How they traveled to the Council of Draconum, were sworn to defeat Kane, and discovered the location of the final piece in Skulldrinker’s puzzle; the Feeblemind stone.
Yevin, Arunak, and Wander realize that with Kane gone, the dragons will be willing to participate agains Skulldrinker’s schemes. Yevin asks Wander to contact the council. She sends a message to Skatha, one of the elder dragons, and is told that they will send Mordrometh to confirm and then will plain their attack against Skulldrinker’s machine. Dragons informed, Yevin turns back to the group to explain what he and Arunak found, when there’s another knock at the door.
In comes the tall half-elf, introduced earlier as Nathan. He has a box and says it’s from Octavius, of Octavius’ Outrageous Oddities. He was instructed to bring it to them. Interrogation follows, and it is revealed that he was taken in by Octavius when he was 12. The strings of his story are teased out and unraveled as Wander and Ryker tag-team a pat-down and ensure that Skulldrinker has no hold on him. Wander discovers that his left arm is not made of skin and bone, but metal and gears, while Ryker finds an odd shaped item in his pocket.
Strings pulled, Nathan quickly spills the rest of his story: He is not a half-elf, he’s a Shifter. He was raised by the Falchion, a race of wooden war forged that called themselves the protectors of the Simulacrum. They were wiped out by Kane and he was found, half-dead and missing his arm, by Octavius. Octavius took Nathan to an artificer named Emmet Summers to replace his arm, and them brought him home to care for him. The item is what the Falchion were protecting. It talks to him, calls itself a Verger of the Dawn, and now calls him its protector. Memory pinged once again, Wander takes to her notes, reading off the story of the Vergers from the beginning of creation. She also compares the shape to Kane’s notes, pointing it out to Arunak and Yevin; this, or another thing like it, was what Kane wanted to research next.
Ryker takes a shine to Nathan, Havayla is unsure. She takes a moment to speak with Moonbow and then asks Ryker to join her on the deck for some fresh air, followed by Aurora and Donkey. They have a moment of discussion with an uncharacteristic silent Donkey before he sadly takes his leave.
The remaining group, and Nathan, engage in further small talk and note-taking before Wander states that she would like to put Nahtan to rest, but doesn’t want to go anywhere alone for fear of Skulldrinker. Everyone agrees to walk to Havayla’s sister’s garden and they go up to get Ryker and Havayla.
On the deck, they’re told about Donkey’s departure and they solemnly walk through the streets of Hearthollow to the gardens they’d rushed through only 24 hours before. Wander digs a hole, places Nahtan’s ashes, a feywild seed, followed by some dirt they’d found on the ship, a jar labeled “Nathan’s dirt” that he’d apparently taken from the base of the feywild tree. She explains how burials are handled in her clan; the body is burned, the ashes collected and buried with a seed. From the dirt they come and to dirt they return, to grow and seed again, so stewarding the land and building the clan. Memories are shared along with bittersweet laughter, when lastly Havayla stands over his grave and tearfully says “who’s short now?”
With that, we close the session. What comes next for the Derailers? Will they be able to stop Skulldrinker’s plans? What is going on with Yevin? Who is Nathan Falchion? We’ll find out next time…