Day 48. The Swift Arrow makes Port Balifor around midday. They are warned to leave the ship quickly and make their way to the Hopes End Inn - the town is under the control of Dark Knights who will not be particularly welcoming to the party. The Inn is owned by Mintra Seabreeze, she agrees to find a cleric for Shiloh and the remains of Hildegard. In the evening they are approached by a kender, Sheriff Harlowe Barstool who warns them to quickly leave and travel to an address in Gloom Town (a local suburb) - the Dark Knights are looking for them.

After some discussion the party decide to spend the night in the Hopes End Inn.

Day 49. In the early morning the party are woken by Mintra, she warns them that the Dark Knights are searching the inn for them and they must leave. They leap through the window to the alley behind the inn, here they are met by a group of gray cloaked kender. The party agrees to follow them and are lead deep into Gloom Town. Here they find that many of the streets are cunningly trapped by the kender and would be death to anyone not welcome. They are taken to the beached wreck of the Peryton, a once great merchant ship. It is here that they are met by the kender Kronn Thistleknot, a grizzled veteran of the War of the Lance and survivor of Kendermore - now he is leader of the kender resistance here in Port Balifor.

Tales of the party and their escape from Pashin have already reached his ears. Perhaps the tales are slightly exaggerated but nonetheless he is vastly impressed with their exploits in slaughtering half the Dark Knights in Pashin, leaving the garrison burning as they rode through the Dark Knight gauntlet to flee the city…. Kronn is keen for such worthy people to join his resistance, when the party agree he makes them all honorary kender, Grog is promoted to General and the others to Special Field Agents. They are introduced to Elijayess, a Kagonesti elf who can lead them to the ruins of Kendermore.

The party sleep in through the morning, when they wake they are met by Thanator "Shroud" Grave-Eyes, an unusually serious kender who can raise the dead. He agrees to raise Hildegard and restore Shiloh for the special discount price of 25000 St. As the party can not pay this sum he agrees to perform the service for payment in kind. He has had a small figurine of a woman taken from him by the Dark Knights, it is very precious to him but now it is in the personal possession of Knight Commander Ulric Kes-Morn. The party agree to retrieve this artefact for Shroud, in return Hildegard is raised. Moon is given a bracelet that has been constructed with great effort by Shroud, it has not been tested but when activated it should recall all those in proximity of the bracelet to a warehouse next to the Peryton.

The party plan for the rest of the day and then sleep.

Day 50. The party plan all day and then make their assault in the evening. They are lead to a deep cave, swimming through a nearby underground stream takes them to the bottom of the Dark Knight well. They climb the well and use the darkness to infiltrate the nearby command building. It stands three floors high, Knight Commander Ulric is known to have his bedroom in a corner on the third floor, the figurine should be with him there. A fight occurs on the second floor with three Dark Knight Guards, the party cast silence on them to stop the alarm going out and then kill them with some difficulty.

On the third floor they encounter six guards, here they attempt a ruse to get close to the guards then use hold person, sleep and silence to lower the odds. The party are eventually victorious but the alarm has gone out to the compound, and a fire is set by Pecan to distract and confuse.

The party move quickly down the corridor to a locked door, it is eventually opened by Shiloh and his knock spell. Inside is a sumptuously furnished bedroom and a very angry Knight Commander. Ulric is tall and humanoid, however his skin is dark and somewhat scaly - he welcomes the party by breathing acid over them. As the party move into the room, Ulric calls for assistance from his lieutenants - then he unfurls wings and continues the fight from the ceiling.

The first lieutenant to appear seems to be some sort of mage, the second excels at sneaky attacks. Much damage is done on both sides, critically Moon is knocked unconscious and the bracelet responsibilities taken over by Pecan. Eventually Ulric and his lieutenants are forced to retreat, however the sound of reinforcements can be heard assembling in the corridor.

The party concentrate their search on a chest found at the foot of the bed, grabbing it and preparing to leave. Luckily it is decided to open the chest before they go, it appears to be the Knight Commander's foot locker and contains little of interest. A frantic search around the room finally finds the figurine in a locked drawer in the commanders desk, it is collected and again the party prepare to leave.

Pecan however decides to splash some oil around, throwing it everywhere but the places she intends - her attempts to light the oil are similarly spectacular but unsuccessful. After some strenuous urging from the party (even from those who are otherwise unconscious) she attempts to use the bracelet and depart. Unfortunately she has not been taught how to use the device and its workings remain unfathomable to her. After some debate it is decided to awaken Moon, an unidentified potion is selected at random and poured down her throat.

Amazingly the potion heals Moon to a point where she can awaken, she begins to activate the bracelet - it starts humming ominously. After an agonisingly long wait (about 24 seconds) it transports the party to a warehouse in Gloom Town - along with a few surprised and rather angry guards who had managed to break into the room just before the party left. In the ensuing fight only Hildegard is left standing before the remains of the party are rescued by Kender troops.

Shroud is extremely relieved to get the figurine back, he activates a hidden device at its base and speaks some secret words and the figurine transforms into a young woman. Her name is Odessa and she is the wife of Shroud, it is explained that she was transformed into a figurine for the express purpose of spying on the dark knights, a charm being placed upon her so that Ulric would keep her close to him. Unfortunately Odessa now seems less than impressed with the plan and takes out her frustrations on Shroud - it is clear that he will be lucky to survive the encounter.

Before they leave Shroud manages to complete his service to Shiloh, a difficult spell is cast and the gods appear to take pity on Shroud. This time Shiloh is restored to full working order and is now the same level as the rest of the party.

Day 51. Shroud heals the members of the party that require it, bags are quickly packed and the party leave under the guidance of Elijayess the elf. The town of Port Balifor is in uproar and they slip through the confusion to the wilderness beyond.

The party travel through the Goodlund Mountains following a faint trail that will lead them to the Desolation. That night they camp in the mountains.