We found ourselves in the space behind the waterfall. We try to come up with a plan on how to get near the shard to investigate it further. We come up with a plan to have Glittr walk inside and say hello. He does this and the 3 ghostly figures turn to look at him. They welcome him in, stating that they have not seen mortals in a long-time. They start combat and begin incanting.
They quickly use Eyebite on Glittr and bestow curse on him. Due to this, he is unable to throw the light-up rock in his hand, which they originally planned to be a signal to come into the room. The battle ensues with the rest of the party throwing attacks at the ghosts across the room.
As the last witch dies, we see the figure on the slab cough up seawater and scream out in agony for a moment. Around him, we see an aura of hideous purple energy that we know so well as Beshaba. The shard on the wall above him are still glowing the colors of Lliira.
We decided to call out to him and try to get his attention. He rotates his head slowly towards Caulkin who speaks to him first. He utters out a hoarse “help!”
Caulkin asks how we can help and he responds “I can feel Beshaba’s influence taking hold, but after all of these years I can’t hold on much longer. Help!” He then says “I have fought her off for so very long. I can sense Mystra on you (Caulkin)...” “I told the Lord of Waterdeep to activate this shard, by sacrificing my soul and her memory… I fear Beshaba's influence …” as he screams out in pain once again. “You have to defeat what I’m about to become! Please tell Larael that I love her until the stars themselves extinguish. Please, WIN!” As he says this, purple explodes out from him.
This new, giant creature erupts from his body. Battle begins again!
The fight with the demon as she hits us with his sword, whip, and fire aura. Pearl lands the final blow by landing two eldritch blasts at the back of his head. As this happens he turns his head towards Pearl and says, “You’re all going to rot in hell with Beshaba.” As he screams away, he explodes, taking down half of the party. Brylwynn is able to use mass cure wounds and revive us.
We find ourselves at the base of the altar, with the body of the man who was screaming before the battle began. The shadow shard remains unchanged and it still appears activated.
Pearl casts identify on him and we find out that there are no spells affecting The Blackstaff. She then casts detect magic to see if there’s anything magical here within the cave. He is wearing two bracelets that are magical. These bracelets have small music notes carved into them. We then decide to take the corpse of Larael’s late-husband back to her so she can decide what she would like to do with it. We place his body in the bag of holding and make our way back to Waterdeep.
We discovered the knowledge about this shard and what it takes to activate it. At this time we have:
Destroyed 1 shard, activated 4 shards, and 2 shards remain. Of these two, 1 is with Grazet and 1 is the Lich’s phylactery, and 2 scepters to go.
We now need to move on and fight Clauth., in the hopes that we won’t need to fight Claug. After that, we will go to Avernus to fight Zariel and then Grazet.
Ghostly Guardians and a Cursed Signal:
We explored the cavern behind the waterfall and sent Glittr in to investigate the shard. Three ghostly witches greeted him, then attacked—cursing and incapacitating him before he could signal the group. Combat broke out as we rushed to support.
Beshaba Awakens:
Upon defeating the witches, the man on the altar—Blackstaff—momentarily regained clarity, pleading for help and warning that Beshaba’s influence was overtaking him. He asked us to tell Larael he loved her… before transforming into a monstrous demon.
Another Brutal Fight:
The demon struck with terrifying force. Pearl dealt the final blow, only for the creature to explode, knocking out half the party. Brylwynn revived us with mass cure wounds.
Aftermath and Magical Clues:
The Shadow Shard remained active. Pearl identified that no spells lingered on the Blackstaff’s body, but his twin bracelets—engraved with musical notes—held magic. We placed his body in the bag of holding to return to Larael.
The Bigger Picture:
We’ve now destroyed 1 shard, activated 4, and 2 remain—one with Graz’zt and one as the Lich’s phylactery. Only two scepters are left. Next up: confront Clauth, avoid Claug if possible, then head to Avernus to face Zariel and finally Graz’zt.