Gorok, Therani Woodlight, and Ilyan Durani decided to forge ahead through the mysterious portal while Dazzetaine Deepfury stayed behind to confer with the Heirarch of St. Cuthbert. The priest of Moradin needed to learn more details about Ishani’s mission in order to facilitate their search. Without her divine aid, the party was determined to be careful. They stepped through the portal and found themselves in an ancient crypt. It smelled of dust and acid. There was no apparent return portal, so they had no other options but to press on. And press on they did. Through nefarious traps, flooded hallways, blocked doorways, and violent sea creatures bent on their destruction. All the while, they were slowly being poisoned by the stale air. They eventually found a secret exit through a cleverly disguised tunnel hidden in a fresco. However, they were unable to escape their slow poisoning, and it was hard to tell if they were any closer to escape. They were also yet to find any sign of Ishani or his brethren. Things were looking grim, but the party persevered…

With the Urgathoan Cultists stopped, and the threat of the Blood Veil receding, the party was finally able to take a breather. For the next two months, while the Quarantine was still in effect, the party rested, relaxed, studied in the Acadamae, and honed their various skills. During the end-of-the-year feast at the Stoneforge Guildhall, they ate and drank their fill and shared what they had learned about the city and each other. It was a fine time.

And it was unfortunately interrupted by a courier carrying an urgent message.

In it, they learned that Ishani Dhatri had led an expedition through a portal found in a hidden room in the recently cleared-out temple. Seven days had passed, and the priests had yet to hear from the expedition. The Bank of St. Cuthbert needed the party’s help. And as usual, the party accepted the offer.

The new year would not be a quiet one…

With Ishani and his Cuthbertian guards acting as an escort, the party (Dazzetaine Deepfury, Therani Woodlight, Gorok, Miles Fairchild, and Ilyan Durani) made their way to The Hospice, hoping to finally find out who or what was behind the Blood Veil in Ghalt. They bluffed their way into the sick ward and searched around for a minute or two before Daze was involved in an altercation, which quickly escalated to an all-out battle amongst the dead and dying. The party struggled against a contingent of Queen’s Physicians and Grey Maidens. Just as the battle seemed to be turning to their favor, a black-armored hulk appeared in the catwalks above them. He identified himself as Payne Trayne before charging at the heroes with two fire-breathing hounds in tow and more Grey Maidens trailing behind him. A couple of Ishani’s guards and many Blood Veil patients died in the process, but the party eventually defeated the Hospice guardians. Payne Trayne fell under a hail of arrows from Therani. After the battle was over, the party interrogated a couple of the Physicians and did some investigating around The Hospice. They discovered that Dr. Davaulus was probably here, in the basements below. They also discovered that he had been conducting research on the patients that wasn’t necessarily focused on finding a cure. So, they took a freight elevator down, intent on finding some answers to their questions…

The party quickly fled the scene of the burning manor with their laughing prisoner in tow. Before leaving, Miles Fairchild ran back into the mansion, pulling out an unconscious and deathly ill gnome.

The next morning, they interrogated their female prisoner, learning that her name was Jolostina. She claimed to be the daughter of the Carowyns. She also claimed that she was to deliver the recovering gnome, who’s name was Grakar Foechuckle, to a warehouse in the West Docks the following day. For the second half of the day, Miles Fairchild, Therani Woodlight, Ilyan Durani, and Dazzetaine Deepfury decided to investigate the ship that had been recently sunk near the North Bridge.

With the help of an arcane spell of water breathing, the party spent a couple of hours investigating the wreckage, learning that the ship’s name was The Direption. They also discovered that it was being inhabited by some hags, whom they not-so-easily dispatched. Once inside, they found evidence of the plague boxes, the possible involvement of a cult of Nerull, and some paperwork naming an M. Blackweather as the owner of the boat.

Their naval investigations complete, they decided that their next stop would be the old Arkona Imports warehouse, which they knew was currently being used as a hospice by the Queen’s Physicians. They felt certain that this Mortimer Blackweather could be found there, and they had some questions for him. They even convinced Ishani Dhatri to join them.

It was a long day.

It started when the party decided to infiltrate Griggigz’ brother Ares’ hideout in North Point. For the first time since arriving in the city, everyone was healthy. Gorok, Dazzetaine Deepfury, Therani Woodlight, Miles Fairchild, and Ilyan Durani descended into the sewers beneath Ghalt to ask Ares some questions. They fought their way through a bunch of wererats to his hideout, only to discover that Ares, too, was a lycanthrope. They had a… tense… conversation and discovered that Ares was near North Bridge when the rogue ship was destroyed over a week ago. He still had one of the boxes he fished out of the water after it happened. It contained a dead rat, a coin, and a broken vial. It also stank of disease, and Ares guessed that this was the original source of the Blood Veil. The party grudgingly accepted this information and allowed Ares to live. They had places to go.

Later that evening, as the sun set on Ghalt, the party took a carriage to the Carowyn Manor, to attend a masquerade ball that Miles had gotten them invited to. They were expecting an evening of hobnobbing with the upper crust of the city; a chance to talk their way into The Acadamae. Instead, they stumbled into a massacre days in the making. All of the guests appeared to be dead, either by claw, arrow, or disease. A few were even re-animated as walking corpses. The party investigated the manor and were eventually able to track down the only living creature that remained: a mischievous, spell-casting harlequin. After she nearly killed Ilyan, they cornered her in a room and set it alight, only to have her burst out and try to escape. However, with the help of Miles’ arcane restraints, they stopped her.

And so, they found themselves in the great ballroom of a manor that was slowly burning down around them, with a giggling, painted prisoner in their hands.

The party returned to the Stoneforge Guildhall with a sick prisoner in tow to find out that they had a message waiting for them from the Field Marshall. She wanted them to investigate a corpse dumping ground somewhere in Old Ghalt. They found out from their prisoner, a gangster named Griggigz, that Old Ghalt was under the “protection” of his brother, Ares. He even told the party where they could find him. That evening, the party (Dazzetaine Deepfury, Gorok, and Therani Woodlight) traveled to Racker’s Alley to investigate the dumping ground. They discovered a mound of disease-ridden corpses piled up against an old abandoned toy store. After exploring for a while, they were beset by a quartet of vampire spawn. This led to a drawn-out battle that ended in a tight crawlspace beneath the toy store. Despited being driven to exhausted and near death, they drove the spawn back to their coffins and staked them in their blackened hearts. Before destroying the final vampire, they managed to force out a name associated with the growing plague in the city: Dr. Mortimer Blackweather

Ilyan Durani awoke the next morning finally feeling well enough to join the party again, while Gorok and Therani Woodlight were laid low by the same symptoms afflicting the little girl. Miles Fairchild, Dazzetaine Deepfury, and Ilyan spent the day exploring and learning more about Ghalt. They also discovered signs of a disease spreading throughout the city.

The next day, they were invited to a meeting with Ishani Dhatri at The Grand Vault, where they discovered the true extent of the problem. They met with Field Marshall Cressida Kroft and the Queen’s Doctors, and were informed that there was an outbreak of Blood Veil in the city, and that a quarantine had been announced. No-one would be allowed in or out of Ghalt until the outbreak was resolved.

The party spent the next couple of days trying to help an overwhelmed Ishani with some of the city’s more pressing needs. This included a visit to a shop named Lavendar that was selling a supposed cure for the disease. They “procured” a sample for Ishani, and met with him to let him know. On their way out of that meeting, they were accosted by a seedy man and his thugs. He was clearly sick and looking for treatment from the party, and he wasn’t asking nicely. After a short battle amongst a panicking crowd, the man was lying unconscious at their feet.

The trip was long, and relatively uneventful. Besides the Chuul ambush near Lan’Gess, and some waterlogged hags who tried to sneak away with a few crewmen near Ghalt, The Roebuck made it to the great metropolis in a little over three months with a minimum of fuss. There was a bit of an issue with an unexpected river inspection, but the party (Dazzetaine Deepfury, Therani Woodlight, Gorok, and Miles Fairchild) managed to disembark and set foot on Ghaltian soil on the 27th of Eryth. They were heartily greeted there by the local Stoneforge representative, Grau Stoneforge, and were given decadent lodging in their guildhall. The next day, Miles and Gorok trawled around North Point, trying to find Noble connections who might help them get into The Acadamae, while Daze and Therani traveled with Grau to a humble home outside of the city were a little girl lay dying of an unexpected disease. Daze and Therani were able to help the little girl, gaining the admiration of one Ishani Dhatri, a local priest of St. Cuthbert.

… and they ran into more trouble. Ilyan Durani was overtaken by the unnatural stench below, and he returned to the surface. However, the rest of the party (Gorok, Therani Woodlight, Miles Fairchild, and Dazzetaine Deepfury) continued further underneath Old Man Zander’s home, eventually spilling out into an ancient cavern filled with the boiling stench of rotting peat. They found two haunting ghosts there, and put them to rest. The overpowering stench receded…

The party spent the next few days in Lan’Gess resting and searching for a few items of interest. Margrick Shortstone was able to translate their book, pointing them towards something called The Blind Path, which apparently led the way to Tondar’s Prophecy. He also recommended that they search out one Grakar Foechuckle in Ghalt, as he might be interested in the book.

After 4 days in Lan’Gess, the party secured passage on the Roebuck, captained by a Sayyid Al Hura. They set sail on the 15th of Pelor, heading northward on the river Ghaor. In a little over three months, they would hopefully be in Ghalt.