Lady Ana leads the group out of the banquet hall, towards the entrance of the estate. She seems panicked, and begins to cast another piece of ritual magic as she hurries towards the door. She implores the Duke and the party to leave with her immediately, but the Duke refuses to leave until he finds his wife and daughter.
No servers, no cooks, no guards - the Shadowfax estate is silent, and only the light of the moon in the windows breaks up the eerie midnight hour.
Severen recommends they make use of the portal in the Duke's study. Back upstairs on the landing, party decides to split to help Lady Ana and Duke Joran.
Severen and Allium help ready the portal in the study, as Lady Ana hurredly closes the curtains, still unable to fully explain the negative energy she is feeling. She continues to shield herself with the icy magic of her people.
Murray and the Duke sprint towards the bedroom chambers, as Sylceran and Yenvalor try their best to keep up. As we follow Sylceran and Yenvalor around a corner, a new enemy stands in their way.
Murray stands in emotional shock, next to a gasping, levitating Duke Joran. Further away, at the end of the long corridor, a figure wearing dark robes and a golden mask stands over the outstretched bodies of Lady Leera and Marigold.
Such a creature was never supposed to exist, not outside of old books and grim bedtime stories. That kind of magic was immoral: an obimination to the material realm. And yet here one stands. A soul so dark and tormented, all identity was stripped in their service of Solaris, the god of fear and pennance. The Faceless.
Sylceran and Yenvalor move in to attack. A crossbolt from Sylceran impacts the form, but seems to affect it little. Yenvalor restrains The Faceless for a moment, but it quickly breaks the magical binds. Murray charges and spins a wall transluscent purple glass, but the wall is broken by the gloved hands of the figure. However all of these actions leave the spell on the Duke broken too, and so he drops to the floor, catching his breath.
The Faceless takes an interest in Yenvalor's casting, and reciprocates. A coil of cold, black smoke erupts from its hand, and plantds directly in Yenvalor's chest. The sensation of death and nothingness fills Yenvalor, but his resolve keeps the better of him.
Back in the study, Severen makes out the sounds of distant combat. As he tells the group, Lady Ana casts a flying spell on the dragonborn, who immediately cannonballs down the hallway towards the fray. Lady Ana begins to exit the study. Allium turns over the Bag of Holding, and a bloody Braxis tumbles out, alongside 300 pieces of gold. Allium attempts to rationalize with Braxis, but the General merely sneers and returns with insult.
In the hallway, Severen fires off magical missiles at the Faceless. The figure jolts at the impact of the projectiles, and the bodies of Lady Leera and Marigold dissolve, revelaing themselves to be only an illusion.
Back in the study, a thundering crash sends the large glass windows exploding inward. Pulling itself up into the study is another Faceless creature.
Lady Ana weighs the combat and sprints back into the study, just in time to catch the Faceless off its gaurd and impale it with a handful of icy knives. But the Faceless is not slowed, and continues to push forward.
Allium powerfully lifts Braxis over his shoulder, grabs the bag, and sprints into portal. He stands back in the secret war room, untouched from earlier in the night. However a torchlit staircase now winds down from the library, as Ludwin the librarian pointedly comes bounding down. Allium begins to explain the night's encounters, but Ludwin informs him he is already quite aware of what sort of events are transpiring. He strides over to the large moonlight table and spins the tabletop counter-clockwise. Telescoping open, the table reveals a weapon not of this realm.