The Auction and the Plot

Valentine, Adira, Dewy, and Tiberius, still in tortoise form, travelled via a portal in a tree trunk created by Gwawr to Thaalond, an elven city built on top of three hills. After visiting a couple of temples, they found someone to exorcise Tiberius. Before the ritual started however, the priest informed them that their tortoise was undead. In order to end the polymorph spell on Tiberius, Adira smacked the tortoise with her greatsword to deal it some damage. As soon as he reverted to his normal form, he pulled out his rapier and stabbed Valentine. As the exorcism began, a cloud of midnight blue smoke was forced from Tiberius's body. It formed a humanoid shape around the same size as him and began to attack everyone in the temple. It was quickly defeated and dissolved into nothing. Tiberius suddenly found his mind quieter than it had been in a long time.

After the exorcism, Tiberius was shocked and disbelieving to find out that he was supposedly undead. He explained how he'd been feeling ever since his encounter with the night hag. Despite Valentine disbelief, he said that he was feeling better now and understood that he was hallucinating earlier. He said that they needed to get back to the Eagle's Valley and Adira explained that they weren't exactly welcome in the valley at the moment.

As they exited the temple, Tiberius realised where they were; his hometown, where his parents still lived. The four of them made their way to an inn where a musician duo were playing. Tiberius managed to scare them off the stage by threatening them by mentioning "Paelias" of the Kingsguard.

Meanwhile, in one of the rooms they paid for, Valentine meditated on Wayfinder. He found his consciousness slipping away somewhere else and found himself alone on a vast plain, a single, winding path laid out before him. In his hands was Wayfinder, its needle pointing straight ahead. After walking for a while, he found Penny, standing before a small shelter housing a large bell. Penny spoke but did not turn towards him, "Will you look for her? Will you find her?" He was pulled from behind and found himself flying up and away from her. He watched the landscape rush past in the growing darkness until he fell directly into the center of a huge city, lights twinkling in the darkness. He found himself in a bedroom, dimly lit by a single candle on the floor. A human girl in her early teens was sitting next to it, hunched over a book she was writing in. He heard a voice behind him ask the same question Penny did, "Will you find her?" and he turned around to see the last holder of Wayfinder. Valentine said that he promised he would and that he didn't break his promises.