The party meets up with Hobbs and Vinter at the adventurer's league hall, and they all head out to find the corpsewillow. The fight goes very badly, but they do successfully kill it. Upon its death, the tree makes a final grasp at Dorean and hisses, "It calls."

Hobbs explains that his sister was an adventurer who was killed by a similar creature. The corpsewillow was powerful, nearly evolved into a hecatonqueres. Hobbs says that there is a rumor that the undead have been congregating, perhaps a sign of the Undead King marshaling his forces. He also explains that the bark of the tree would make a good alchemical material, which Eck successfully harvests. Vera also takes a stick for later experimentation purposes. Hobbs offers a small knife of Anya's to Eck, useful for harvesting creatures in the field.

The stop by Aloten's apothecary to sell the bark and branches from the corpsewillow. She isn't sure what to do with the heart, so the party decides to ask Versilla the next day if she knows what to do with it. They go to the adventurer's guildhall to officially complete the bounty on the corpsewillow; everyone's adventurer league rank increaes by one. Most of the party returns to the Velvet Amphithere for the rest of the night. Ward scribes Hold Person and resummons Henrietta.

Dorean hangs back and talks to Hobbs. Hobbs laments to Dorean about how days like that are both easier and harder. He comments that Anya's crew had been good until the incident. He observes that Dorean seems to be with a good crew as well. A good ally, he says, is very important. They part ways.

On her way back, as Dorean passes an alley, she spies someone walking the other direction on a parallel street. There is a color out of space, a hexagonal pattern that she recognizes. She follows in pursuit, finding herself in a trap immediately. A dingy half-elf in front of her, a kobold and a leonid behind her. Dorean refuses their demands to give up her belongings. She takes out the half-elf and goes through the other side in search of the person she spied. Unable to find them, she returns the way she came. There is a body in the alley that she passed earlier, unrelated to the muggers, which has a bottle with a small slip of paper in it. She examines the paper, recognizing the handwriting to match the "Find" paper, this paper reading "Help." She does not find any identifying things on the body, but the crates next to him are marked with the symbol from the Lab. Each crates has eight bottles filled with a shimmering liquid, clear with an oil slick sheen. She calls Mira for assistance to retrieve the crates. They are deposited in her room among the other crates stored there.

Vera is standing in a not-ancient ruin of a clocktower. The wild has reclaimed most of the city. She holds a fragment of chronotizem, freshly acquired, and a voice calls from the darkness: "Granddaughter." A large creature paces around her just beyond the edge of sight. "What you seek to do is foolish. Will you still go?" She cannot return the way she is now. She says she'll go regardless. The entity looks at the crow on her shoulder, observing that the advice that has led her here may be misleading her. She is determined to continue, she will succeed, and she will fix things if they don't work. The entity considers this, then states that they will not question her three times and offers to help. They tell her to close her eyes and let the darkness guide her. She closes her eyes, and she senses a golden glow envelope her and is transported. She falls off the bed.

Introduced

• Three muggers

Returning

• Hobbs
• Vinter
• Aloten

Mentioned

• Versilla

• 40 pounds corpsewillow bark (harvested from corpsewillow; sold to Aloten)
• 20 corpsewillow branches (harvested from corpsewillow; sold to Aloten)
• corpsewillow heart (harvested from corpsewillow; sold to Aloten)
• Anya's Hunting Knife (given to Eck by Hobbs)
• Necrotic Resist potion (3; sold to Aloten)
• 60gp (from Aloten; 10gp each)
• Tea (from Aloten)
• Find Familiar components (purchased by Ward from Aloten)
• 3000gp (payment for corpsewillow; 375gp each, shared with Hobbs and Vinter)
• Copper rank for the party (except Dorean who is now Bronze)