Infernal Invasion: Shadowfall Darkness Rising
Darkness Rising: A Fortress Under Siege
The Hero reaches Shadowfall to warn Gravelyn about the Infernals moving through Lore. They stole Celestial energy, armed themselves with it, and drove Darkovia's peoples from their homes. Gravelyn already knows. Her scouts have reported the devastation, and she refuses to abandon the fortress. The Hero presses her to evacuate before the weapons that overwhelmed Darkovia reach her walls, but she has been preparing to face them.
Victoria has helped fortify the castle and its surrounding wall, physically and magically. Archers and catapults are ready for the flying attackers. Gravelyn draws on a lifetime of fighting Paladins and the forces of Good: Celestial energy is different from their light magic, she says, but similar enough for her defenses to matter. Victoria stands beside her because the alliance between Good and Evil still holds, and this threat requires them to act together.
The Hero joins Commander Tibias on the wall. Most attackers are being held back, but imps and knights have slipped past the ranged defenses. After clearing them, the Hero brings enchanted projectiles from the enchanters below to reload the ballistas. Arrows recovered from fallen attackers are returned to the archers, and weak spots inside the fortress are reinforced. Tibias is satisfied for the moment and sends the Hero back to Gravelyn.
Holding the wall is only the first part of Gravelyn's plan. She and Victoria intend to let the attackers exhaust themselves or seek an easier target, then pursue them in Sepulchure's Flying Fortress. It is not airborne yet. The Hero is uneasy about bringing that power back into play, but agrees to help if it gives them a way to resist the invasion. Gravelyn also has another matter to discuss: the scattered soul of her father.
Darkness Rising: The Pieces of a Father
Gravelyn has heard that a mysterious stranger is trying to bring Sepulchure back from the dead. She misses him, but fears what might return. So much of his soul has lain in the Queen of Monsters' shadow that a resurrection could produce a corrupted servant instead of the father she remembers. The Hero shares that fear and has been trying to prevent it. Gravelyn wonders whether there might be another way.
She explains that the part the stranger hopes to restore is not all that remains of Sepulchure. A fragment sheltered in the Doomblade has escaped the Queen's corruption, and other pieces are still scattered. If they gather enough of those untainted fragments, perhaps they can overcome the corrupted portion. The Hero cannot promise that it will work, but agrees to help keep Sepulchure's power from becoming another weapon in the Queen's hands.
The fragment in the Doomblade senses another in Shadowfall's tower. Undead outside Gravelyn's control guard that particular piece, ignoring the one in the sword. The Hero fights through them and reaches the third-floor library, where a concealed passage leads higher into the tower. Beyond it waits the Bone Guardian. Defeating the guardian allows the Hero to retrieve the soul fragment Gravelyn has been unable to reach.
The invasion breaks through before she has the time she wanted. On the wall, Tibias's soldiers report enemies returning to life and too many attackers to contain. Infernals breach the defenses, threatening the fortress from within. Gravelyn must get it airborne much sooner than planned. Recovering the fragment has helped her purpose, but there is still a damaged fortress to repair and an enemy army to hold back while everyone works.
Darkness Rising: Shadowfall Takes Flight
The Hero cuts down invading nethermages, scryers and fallen knights so the others can prepare to leave. The damage inside must also be repaired: the fortress cannot simply lift away while its structure is being torn apart. With the attackers thinned and nine damaged areas patched, Gravelyn sends the Hero to Dage. One more part of their preparations remains.
Dage needs a soul crystal, which he can make in the forge he has been building at Shadowfall. The invading mages and scryers provide twelve Infernal souls to fuel its creation. His brief cooperation with the Queen of Monsters in the Mirror Realm is over; attacking Shadowfall has turned their temporary alignment into hostility. Once the crystal is forged, the Hero carries it to Gravelyn in the throne room.
Lord Balax'el is waiting there. The Hero recognizes the Infernal driven back in Darkovia, but he has returned for a rematch. Revealing his wings, Balax'el claims that his Queen has made him stronger since their last encounter. The Hero faces him again and defeats him, clearing the immediate obstacle to departure. Gravelyn demands the crystal. She powers it with Sepulchure's soul fragment, and the room begins to shake.
Shadowfall rises from the ground and takes to the sky. Gravelyn, Victoria, Dage and the Hero have succeeded in making the fortress mobile again. They have not ended the war, and Gravelyn had hoped for more time before launching. For now, she intends to watch the Infernal forces from the air and land to assist their next target. The fortress that stood its ground has become a way to carry the resistance beyond its breached walls.