Reeling from the battle beneath Charmed Cove, the party emerged from the Raven Queen’s ruined temple only to find a grim scene: the bodies of the Children of the Vanguard and their allies, strewn across the stone. It became clear that Wix wasn’t just raising undead—he was targeting those who had once been closest to him in life. Each death another twisted thread in a cruel tapestry of revenge against his former guild.
With little time to mourn and Saratauc’s infection worsening, the group made haste to the docks, chartering a boat bound for the College of Ioun. Upon arrival, they stepped into the middle of a tense confrontation between Headmistress Antigone and the rebellious young warlock Seldanna—the latter caught defying the former’s strict rules yet again.
To make matters worse, Antigone had a shared history with Saratauc. Both were once part of the Order of the Gauntlet, and their reunion was anything but friendly. Antigone, clearly exasperated, accused Saratauc of always getting into disastrous situations and leaving others—most often her—to clean up the mess and “save the world alone.” Her frustrations simmered beneath every word.
Yet, in a moment of cunning, Seldanna manipulated her former mentor into relenting. With thinly veiled contempt, Antigone allowed the group access to the condemned Necromancer’s Tower, an off-limits ruin on the campus grounds, said to be crawling with lingering horrors.
Within its decaying halls, the party sought out the rare Corpse Flower, rumored to bloom only near sites of great death. Its petals were the key—a potential cure for Saratauc’s affliction, if they could survive long enough to claim it.