Following Ashila’s advice, the group now heads back to Malwander to face the Council of Seven. Marlos has been defending them against the accusations Councilman Irithan has been leveling at them. He wants the group banished from the city, citing them as a menace to the safety of the town as evidenced by a Bonesnapper attack that occurred while they were in Naerie. Knowing that Marlos will suffer their fate should the Council make a decision before they return, they hurry back to defend their honor against this assault.

Upon reaching Malwander the group heads straight to the temple where they are greeted by Carstos. He tells them that Marlos is currently before the Council now, arguing their case. They make haste over to the council hall to join Marlos in the debate against Irithan. Jumping directly into the fray, the group soon discovers that Irithan’s key piece of evidence is a journal that supposedly belongs to Nori. The Council apparently confiscated it from the temple. He sites several instances from within the pages of this book as damning evidence against the group, “It says here that you’ve robbed tombs, carried around desecrated bodies, fled a city under siege, possibly released a dreaded demilich, and are wanted for the death of one of the King’s advisors.”

The group instantly disputes the book being Nori’s journal as some of those events occurred after Nori left for Pontylver. Unfazed, the Councilman reminds them that Nori is a powerful wizard and could be inscribing the book magically, even while in Pontylver. The debate rages on with Irithan countering every point the group makes and vice versa. Luckily from what Marlos has told them, and from what they can see, the Council appears to be undecided. However, they remain curiously quiet throughout the exchange between the group and Irithan. Perhaps they have noticed that the group has not really denied the contents of the journal, only it’s validity? Are they all siding with Irithan, or simply undecided? Only their comments about Irithan’s past duty to the city give any indications of their thoughts on the matter. However, this alone may not be enough to definitively say they are against the group.

When it becomes obvious that the Council is not quite convinced either way, Irithan offers up a remedy, “Since you say that the journal is not really Nori’s, why not prove it? We’ll give you three weeks to travel to Pontylver to find Nori and bring him back. If the journal is a fake, he should be able to determine that for us once and for all.” Not exactly keen on the idea, but with no other real options, the group agrees. Hoping that Irithan is not able to pull off whatever he has planned while they are gone, the group readies for the trip. Why else would he want the group out of Malwander so badly?

The group confers with Ashila, Marlos, and Carstos to try and figure out how they can get into Pontylver to find Nori without succumbing to the madness inflicted by the city. Discovering that holy vestments are reputed to slow the onset of the madness, Marlos gives the group several vials of blessed oil, as well as any other sacred items he can spare. Luck would have it that rumors have been flying around the past few weeks about a group of adventurers having returned from Pontylver without suffering from the effects of the madness. Little is known of how they accomplished this, but the survivors are apparently quite wealthy from the bounty they returned with. One of them is a man named Sul, who lives in Pardue, a town about a day’s ride west of Pontylver. The group decides to stop there on their way to find Nori and see if this Sul can give them any information that may be of use on their journey into Pontylver.

Once in Pardue, the group has little trouble tracking down Sul. He’s known to frequent the Velvet Fist tavern, a notorious den of thieves. The bartender points Sul out to the group once they find the tavern. Apparently he has bee quite a busy man lately, with many groups of adventurers coming to find out how he escaped Pontylver with his sanity. He tells the group that he’ll answer any questions they may have as long as they buy him a few drinks. He proceeds to the group about how his group of eight adventurers entered the city and slowly went mad with the exception of him and two others. Trying to discern if race or class had any bearing on them retaining their sanity, the group can find no steadfast links that would indicate one race or class was more or less likely to suffer from the madness. Even Sul himself seems unable to explain why he was spared from the infliction. Judging his story to be sound, the group debates how to approach the problem.

As their conversation begins to wind down, another party enters the tavern and asks for Sul. He perks up as the group walks over, expecting there to be a bidding war for his services. Our heroes however, have no intention of entering into such a futile exercise and leave Sul to the newcomers. As they walk away, Sul turns to them and says, “Pontylver was once considered a cultural jewel in this part of the world, known for it’s exquisite art as well as for it’s scholars and sages. Be sure to enjoy the beauty of the remaining pieces while you can.” The group then attempts to find a cleric suitable for their purposes to accompany them on their journey with little luck. Deciding they are prepared as they can be, the group heads off for the City of Madness, Pontylver.

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Chapters - Find out what's happened so far.

Chapter One – Shapeshifters in Our Midst

Chapter Two – A Prophecy Fulfilled?

Chapter Three – The City of Black Crystal

Chapter Four – Poachers? No, Murderers!

Chapter Five – The Vast Swamp

Chapter Six – Delivery for Quarion

Chapter Seven – Evil Afoot in the Menowood

Chapter Eight – An Item in Naerie

Chapter Nine – Back in Malwander…

Chapter Ten – A Journey Into Madness

Chapter Eleven - Serpent Isle

Chapter Twelve – The Return of Maj

Chapter Thirteen – The Hestmark Highlands

Chapter Fourteen – A Spy Among Us?

Chapter Fifteen – The Bonewood

Chapter Sixteen – Return to Rook's Roost