(How dare Beast kick ‘Belle’!)

Jirel will snarl in the girls defence and lash out with her axe, unloading on the beast. 

Sentinel reaction if it applies: 25 Damage: 10

Attack 1: 26 Damage: 7

Attack 2: 27 Damage: 14 

Wisdom:  8

Nadya(23),Zaf(20),BeastofGelgast(19)(25),Jirel(13),Rose(13),Jasun(11),Seraphina(9)

Zaf breaks out the star map again and waves it threateningly at the Beast. "You only have yourself to blame for this one!" If one star bolt isn't enough to end the beast, Zaf promptly follows it up with an arrow for the skull.

Action: Cast from Star Map a Star Bolt at Gelgastone.
Attack: 16 Damage: 16 Radiant.

Bonus Action: Starboy Archery on Beast of Geigast.
Attack: 25 Damage: 7 of Radiant.

Nadya(23),Zaf(20),BeastofGelgast(19)(10),Jirel(13),Rose(13),Jasun(11),Seraphina(9)

Nadya takes two shots at the boar.

Attack: 15 Damage: 7

Attack: 21 Damage: 6

1

The boar dies!

With the boar dead, you're able to successfully remove its tusks and return to the previous room. As you enter, the raven flies from its spot on the light over to you, allowing you to collect the amulet while it makes off with the tusks.  “This amulet holds only one of the three clues you seek. It reveals the first ingredient for Baba Yaga’s kettle. Look for this key where time catches up to us all.”

Clutching a boar’s tusk in each talon, the raven lifts himself atop the glowing orb in the nest. As he lands, the orb’s light winks out and the raven disappears, but not before he caws one last mysterious phrase: “Look for the Mother when the moon is full!” The amulet bears a rune on it that resembles a dragon. It also functions as a Brooch of Shielding when worn.

Area A5

Wavering darkness devours everything that lies beyond the threshold. Thick stone columns and wooden beams, entangled with pale moonflower blossoms, support the room’s high vaulted ceiling. A faintly glowing blood-red orb dangles from a black iron chain in the center of the room.   A hideous albino raven with red eyes perches in the rafters, hidden amid the moonflower blossoms. Shortly after you arrive, he hops forth along the beams before fluttering to rest atop the orb. 

Sera looks up at the raven. "I guess you have a riddle for us too?"

Rose claps happily at the prospect of having to solve another riddle, then realizes what she’s doing and stops immediately as she feels heat creep up onto her cheeks in embarrassment.

“While you have convinced me of your intentions, you have yet to convince me of your wit. To prove your cleverness, you must find the answer to my riddle."

I mark night’s coming,
I will mark your end.
I run not in fear,
I have not a friend.

“The answer to the riddle lies within the passage of night. To find the path to what you seek, drink from the silver chalice within the grotto. Go now and do not return to me unless you can prove your worth.”

Area A6

Hundreds of tangled roots dangle from the raw earthen ceiling of this rough-hewn, circular grotto, which is filled with dark, placid water. A narrow stone walkway leads to a circular platform in the center of the room upon which rests a stone table set with five silver chalices. About the perimeter of the grotto, a few feet above the waterline, five deep alcoves have been dug into the grotto walls. Though shadowed by darkness, a faint glitter sparkles from deep within each alcove.

"Oh, good...I guess the question now is which chalice," Sera observes. "First, does anyone know the answer to the riddle?"

"Hell if I know." Zaf admits briskly and with arms crossed in frustration. "If I had to bloody guess, and mind you, it is a GUESS, I'd probably say the answer is darkness or shadows. Both mark night's coming.. sort of.. and are the first thing to greet you before you die. That said, some people say they see a light at the end of some tunnel, but eh?" They shrug.

Rose could be seen getting a closer look at the chalices, noting down the runes on them while she repeats the riddle under her breath. After a minute, she picks up the hourglass chalice and holds it out. “This one... Um... I-I’ll drink it, if no one else wants to...”

Zaf cocks their head to the side, then rights it into a casual shrug. "I sure as hell ain't, thats fo' shore." They stat dryly. "So, by all means. I'll be ready to patch anyone up that try it."

Without hesitation Jirel will help herself to the chalice Rose chose, taking it gently but firmly from her grip. The goliath will chug it back. 

As Jirel drinks from the chalice, a flash of moonlight illuminates an hourglass on an alcove on the other side of the pool, just long enough for you to identify it. Three stepping stones appear in the water, allowing you to cross over to the other side. The stones will remain for 2 rounds.

Rose releases a breath she hadn't realized she was holding seeing Jirel come out okay after drinking from the chalice she chose. She feared what consequence the barbarian might have endured had she picked the incorrect one, would have most definitely sent the firbolg into spiralling despair of perhaps accidentally hurting one of her friends. Since Jirel had taken one for the team, regardless of outcome, she gestures her to be the first one to take the steps to the other side.

Rose is easily able to hop across the stones to retrieve the hourglass and then hop back before the stones sink back into the pool.

You then return back to the albino raven, who like his counterpart, gives you the amulet as he takes the hourglass, which is inscribed with a rune that represents gold. “You have taken upon yourselves a great burden,” Rozum caws, “for that which you desire, the changeling holds. Know this as well—you will find the Crone only when the moon wanes.” He says before vanishing. 

Jirel will give Rose a gentle squeeze on the shoulder. A small smile would be evident at the corner of her lips. She trusted in Rose. The barbarian was prepared for what would come next.

Area A7 

Flowering vines drape the walls of this chamber. Winding, pebble-strewn pathways weave through a magnificent garden of honeysuckle and lilac. A pale, warm light fills the room, emanating from a stone-lined pool of water in the center. The purple and orange reflection of the early morning sky glitters upon the pool’s surface. As you would expect, a raven flies down and lands in front of the pool of water. 

“Before I aid you, you must first convince me you have the resolve to fulfill your desire. To prove your mental fortitude, you must face what I, the herald of the coming day, cannot.

Each night it visits—
Sometimes horror,
Sometimes wonder,
Sometimes prophet,
When dawn wakes, it flees.

“When you face this thing, you shall know its desire. In its desire, you shall find your own. Only by sharing this desire with me can I bind your fates. Once they are bound, I will be able to see your destiny.”

Zaf at least the decency to look guilty seeing Rose's reaction to Jirel taking one for the team. But only for a moment, and then they were back to following quietly and looking eager to get through the trials. At the next  trial, they are pensive. So much so, that they startle at the question to come at last. "... That could only be one of two things... a dream or the future." They sigh and rub at their back of their neck.  "**** it. I got nothing." They state, leaving it to others to figure out. In the meantime, they go over to at least a have a proper look into the pool and its sunlight.