Sariel is silent for a moment, seemingly trying to decipher what she just heard. At last, she responds. "That would explain why the shield and sword were taken from The Keep. But how...over two centuries later...has he returned to trouble Syndaris?"

"And why?" adds Thoradin.

"Two centuries is a matter of hours to a kaegro...an undead," comments the dragon. Looking at Sariel, the dragon says, "Syndaris?" Then turning slowly to Frandal, "Fragments?"

“You aren’t natural from Syndaris, are you? “ replies Frandal “ This undead is seeking som pieces of stones that will give him more power and they he would destroy this place, Syndaris, wich is a peaceful place. We try to stop him from doing it. “

Eagle-Ozum will transform back to his Gnomish self. "I don't think we should stay here any longer than we have to." Turning to the dragon, "I sensed a lone individual nearby, do you know who that may be?"

Looking at Frandal, the dragon replies, "I know Syndaris, but you are correct, elf. I am not from there."

Then, after a long pause, "This kaegro, this Kubrithani, seeks the Fragments of Aeris, does he? That explains the gathering of his army. Wights and skeletons. And things worse." 

Turning its attention to Ozum, the dragon answers, "I am that lone one, gnome." 

And, then, as if the dragon knew that everyone would demand an explanation, the giant creature suddenly changes shape. What was, moments ago, a terrifying dragon, is now a rather plain-looking, plain-dressed, old woman. Long silver hair with a prominent streak of white falls over her shoulders, and bright silvery-blue eyes peer from her wrinkled face. In her right hand, she wields a thin walking stick. 

"Yes, you are right, Ozum. We should not stay here much longer. A short walk will lead us to a place that serves as my home." 

"Lead us " says Frandal after looking at the others looking for their agreement. "We will follow you and together we could find a solution... "

The two Windhovers and the four adventurers then follow the old woman across a mostly featureless stretch of Shadowfell for the next thirty minutes. A few stunted, misshapen trees are the only things that provide any scenery. In the distant north and east, impossibly steep mountains can be seen jutting into the sky, but it would likely take a two or three day journey to reach them. Eventually, the old woman's destination comes into view; it is a small house made partially of stones and partially of the oddly-shaped trees that have dotted the landscape.The trees are rooted in the ground, however, and the stones have been used to build walls between the trees. Many bunches of old branches have been tied together and serve as a roof. 

The interior of the woman's home is tidy and strangely welcoming, especially considering its location. Even more strange is some of the items that have been used to decorate the home. A wicked-looking but incredibly ornate scimitar hangs over the front door. A wide variety of sparkling gemstones is displayed on the one small table in the room. In one of the corners lean two wizard staves. And a large iron pot filled with copper, silver, electrum, gold, and platinum coins sits in another corner. 

As the members of the party are taking all of this in, Xellos unexpectedly breaks the silence. "'I've just been contacted by Oda Waywocket, friends. Via a sending spell she has told me that she is in dire need of help. Hundreds of undead have entered Syndaris through the shadow crossing on Grimshard. She asks for two of us to aid her."

Sariel, deeply troubled, responds, "I will go. Thoradin, what do you say?"

"We cannot leave these friends of ours to face Kubrithani on our behalf," responds Thoradin. 

"No, we cannot. So, you must stay and continue this journey," Sariel replies. 

"Then I will return to Syndaris as well," says Xellos. "Oda asked for two of us." Xellos then looks at Arissa, Frandal, and Ozum, and smiles and says, "A temporary parting, friends! Temporary!"  

Xellos then hands a small vial of the Wine of the Wyrwood to Sariel and takes another vial in his own hand. He then hands the bottle with the remaining magical liquid to Arissa. "Take only as needed!" he says with a grin.

And, then, after saying their quick but sincere goodbyes, Sariel Sunshimmer and Xellos Mazoku tip their heads back, drink the magic elixir, and vanish. 

"Temporary my friend " replies Frandal and shakes Ozzum's forearm. 

"Please take care " he says to Sariel  " And make them regret the day they decided to enter Syndaris... " adds with a smile " ... well, they are mindless undead but... well you know what I mean.. " 

After they had departed he says. 

"I would have went with them, for they are going to face great dangers, but we must focus on stop Kubrithani. That will help them more than killing the undead. If we stop Kubrithani we stop the army. Are they too far? Time is of the essence " he asks to the dragon in woman form.. 

"Farewell for now, friends." Arissa waves at where Xellos and Sariel were. She turns to the old woman. "It is kind of you to welcome us into your home."

Clearly fascinated with the circumstances surrounding the departure of Xellos and Sariel, the old woman stares, almost as if she were in a trance, at the bottle of wine in Arissa's hand. For a moment it seems as if she did not hear Frandal's or Arissa's question. She then breaks the silence, saying, "You seek the whereabouts of Kubrithani's tower? Interesting."

She then looks at each member of the party, and as she does so, her silvery-blue eyes seem to pierce the thoughts of everyone in the room. "I also seek something, two-leggers. Yes." 

Thoradin interjects, "Release from this place."

"Indeed, dwarf. Indeed. And after all these haunting, fruitless years of searching, here stands a bard before me holding some sort of conjuration that whisks people away and returns them to the Material Plane," she replies. "Do we understand one another?" 

Arissa smiles. "I believe we do. And indeed, I too wish it were so easy. Yet it is not. For if we all fled from this place by drinking from this bottle, the Material Plane itself would soon be no better than this place, or perhaps even worse. Truly, though the trial may seem impossible now, we must continue on our path, to bring an end to a great evil."

"Bard, why do you say 'we'? It is not WE who seek to leave Shadowfell; it is only I. Can we not help one another?" 

Arissa continues to talk. "Of course we can help each other, but if you flee now to the Material, then that shall soon be overrun. And if then you fly to the Astral Seas, the great evil will already be snapping at your heels. Then where shall you run? It must be defeated now, while it still can be. Is that not a worthy enough cause to remain here a little longer? If truly, despite your greatness, you cannot bear to spend even a day more in this place, then perhaps you could do some good, even if it is but for yourself, by combatting the armies which our friends have gone to ward off while we fight the snake's head here."

Frandal nods at Arissa's words.

"We could also tell your were we came into this plane and a stable portal to Syndaris. But it would be of great help if you fight alongside our friends. You are not from Syndaris, but perhaps if you help it's people in this hour of need you could find a home there once all of this is finished. " The elf looks around to the objects the dragon has on its cottage. 

"Curious collection you have here by the way. How did you get this one?" he says pointing to the scimitar. ( Or another one that makes snes taking into account his actual position in the house... ) 

The old woman listens to Arissa and Frandal and then sits in a chair near the small table. Lost in thought, she picks up a large star sapphire and rolls it around in her hand for several seconds before she responds. "I ache to leave this place, bard. But as much as this realm of shadows has changed me, I lack the disposition to kill you and take that bottle of wine by force. What assistance I offer must be rewarded with my freedom."

Then, focusing on Frandal, she says with a hard-to-interpret smile,  "To be a dragon is to have a hoard, archer."

She then stands and walks to the door, where she reaches up and takes hold of the scimitar. "Cruel and wicked its owner was. She earned her destruction. Her blade did not." 

Turning and facing everyone in the room, she says, "Fighting for the good and against the evil has been my salvation here, but I had hoped that fight had ended." 

 "Just one more fight," remarks Thoradin. "And as Arissa has pointed out, you'll be doing more than helping the four of us. The entire realm of Syndaris may now hang in the balance."

The dwarf watches the old woman as she returns the strange-looking scimitar to its place above the door. "Seems only right that we offer you the courtesy of calling you by your name, if you don't mind my asking," says Thoradin. 

"Veraveznik," she replies. "Song of silver."  Then, making eye contact with each member of the party, she asks, "How do you wish to proceed?"

"A beautiful name. You have a resiliant and brave soul. Once this last fight has ended I offer you shelter in the lands of my clan. You always be welcome there. " he turns to the others. " Use the wine and go directly to help Sariel and Xellos? Or direct Veraveznik to the portals? "

Thoradin, as is his habit when deep in thought, strokes his long dwarven beard for a little while before saying, "Oda, Xellos, and Sariel must wage war in Syndaris without us, I believe. We must continue our hunt for Kubrithani here in Shadowfell."

He then looks at Veraveznik. "You know the location of Kubrithani's tower? Lead us there, and your freedom is yours. Even if it must cost me my own sip of the wine."

Thoradin stands and takes hold of his warhammer and then asks, "Frandal? Arissa? Ozum? Are we ready to continue?" 

Arissa sighs. "It is indeed time for us to continue on this arduous journey. Let us go forth valiantly, to face that most nefarious villain!"

"There are others who may go with us," says Veraveznik cryptically.

She then returns to the small table with the scattered array of gemstones on it. Once again, she picks up the star sapphire and holds it in her left hand. In her right hand, she takes hold of a large black pearl. Setting both gems on the floor in the center of the room, she begins to quietly utter an incantation in Draconic.

"Arcaniss aurux earank boradhai, arcannis aurux irthos grah. Zerenath loreat! Loreat nahsh!"

The room seems to grow dim--even for Shadowfell--and the sapphire and pearl begin to glow as her words fill the air. An inexplicable wind rushes into the room and the two gems begin to glow brighter and brighter, nearly blinding everyone who is watching. Then, as suddenly as the commotion began, it ends. And standing in the room are two creatures who, moments ago, were not there. The star sapphire is gone, but in its place stands an Aasimar sorcerer. The black pearl is gone, but in its place stands a Kenku ranger. 

"Welcome back, Ysander," says Veraveznik as she touches the Aasimar on the shoulder. Then, touching the Kenku, she says, "Welcome back, Slasher."

Slasher instinctively draws his two blades when released from the black pearl, only to be quickly calmed by Veraveznik. "How... long... trapped?" Slasher says breathing heavily.

Standing before you, you see a 5'0 105 lbs Kenku, raven black feathers, and face. He has on simple brown leather armor, with a finely made black cloak hood down. In his hands, you see two shortswords one appears to be in much better condition than the other, with a beautiful silver handle and a raven skull attached to the pommel, unclear if it's real or not.

Sensing no immediate danger on the account of no one else's weapons being drawn, Slasher puts away his blades and before Veraveznik can answer turns to everyone else and says "Name.. is... *mimics the sound of a blade cutting into flesh* some call... Slasher."