Ashen Cabaret spends more time in Argosia, with Jadeth investigating more of the lake and nearly being pulled down by a siren. Juno and Slender manage to snap her out of her trance, but wonder where Olaf and Shade ran off to.
Shade slips away into the mist at the request of Teneborous, and acquires a small magical box that the devil requests he deliver to Argos as a tradeoff for the tabaxi’s new powers. Olaf waits to ambush him, but to his worry, Shade spends a couple hours in the mist. The others follow Juno as she tracks the two of them down, and notices Olaf hiding in a bush. Time feels like it was only a few minutes for the tabaxi, but that creates even more questions when he returns.
Olaf tackles him to the ground and demands answers, but Shade proves slippery and determined to avoid giving any answers. Juno, Olaf, and Slender begin pressing, so Shade lashes out– injuring Juno. That causes Jadeth to banish him into his room of the house, and when he comes back he’s as frustrated with Ashen Cabaret as ever. Olaf and Slender attack, but Matanza and Henry defend Shade from their attacks.
Shade slips away and darts towards Argos’ tower with Juno hot on his tail. Slender grabs Jadeth and pulls her through a dimensional door to intercept him, but Shade is too quick. He climbs up to the top of the tower and tosses the box at Argos. It works like a vacuum and sucks him into the box, only for Argos to turn into a ring and fall on the floor.
The others get to the top of the tower and begin scolding Shade and questioning him about Argos’ disappearance. As they argue, Argos is released from his ring prison, feeling as though he spent centuries locked away. Shade sees Argos come back and immediately dives out the open window. Everyone else apologies and leaves, and they find Shade’s body laying on the ground outside the tower with burn marks like he was struck by magic.
Jadeth gets knocked out with a blast of lightning when she tries to revive Shade, so the group drags the two of them into the magical mansion. Jadeth snarls her frustrations, so she, Juno, Henry, and Matanza part to head to their bedrooms. Slender continuously tries to fight Shade for causing a problem, but Shade continuously gets the best of him before heading to his own room. Insulted, Slender chases him, but the tabaxi still gets the drop on him. Curious as to what’s going on, Olaf slams Talon repeatedly into Shade’s door, causing enough noise to keep the whole house awake.
Jadeth and Juno depart from where they were trying to nap and begin scolding Olaf. Olaf apologies, then hits the door one last time to take it off its hinge. Satisfied with what he’s done, he takes the metal door into his room to smelt it down. Jadeth and Juno peek into Shade’s room to see him bloodied and standing over the bard’s body. He pulls his claws back like he’s getting ready to finish Slender off, but he purposefully misses his final blow and asks Juno and Jadeth to get Slender away from him. They stabilize Slender, but leave him tied up to spend the night on the floor outside Shade’s room.
In the morning, they check in on Slender’s kobold kingdom and have a party that Slender has a hard time enjoying with his frustrations with Shade gnawing at the back of his mind. Even the offerings of fermented dragon piss kegs seem not to lift Slender’s mood.
Once the party is over, they head to Argos’ tower and depart through a teleportation spell towards Yama’s Light. Unfortunately, an old enemy is ready to intercept them instead. The spell warps them into separate prison cells, and Krosis demands his mask back from Olaf.
Juno ignores the lich’s taunts and begins rapidly working on freeing herself from her cell, but the mages find that their magic is being blocked. The lich lashes out with various attacks and insults to get under the group’s skin, and for a long moment: it seems that death is inescapable. As they regroup, Ashen Cabaret feels cornered and afraid. Hardly able to stay conscious from her injuries, Jadeth throws the magic neutralizing crystal into a corner of the prison, interrupting the spell’s hold over the group. She screams out to her god that she found the lich Lucienne was hunting, then collapses again on the floor next to a dead Henry.
Juno and Slender try to hold their own and keep Jadeth and Olaf alive, but their healing reserves begin to thin. As hope seems to be lost, a rip in reality tears apart next to Juno, and she looks in to see the gargantuan skull of The Aeon. Lucienne and Yore rush in through the portal, ready for a fight. With the new backup, they are able to trap Krosis and kill him once and for all. After their victory, Lucienne notes the fortunate timing, as her and Yore have also located Vesk for Ashen Cabaret.