While Estel is segregated in the catacombs of the Source to better comprehend the mysteries of Sun Magic, the PCs are on their way to the House of Records, looking for more information related to the possible location of the Alchemist's Lair.
While they're going there, they're approached by a winged serpent. The creature drops a scroll tube at their feet, and flies away. Inside the tube there's a message from the Alchemist himself, and a little pulsating orange crystal. The message is unsettling: the pulsating crystal is an explosive device of sorts, that will detonate in a few moments. Around the city, other seven crystals are hidden; if the PCs don't find them within 2 hours, they will explode and kill many innocents.
The party manages to throw the one crystal they found in the tube into the sea, and witness the power of its blast. The scroll contains riddles that will guide the party in the search of the other devices. To help them in the search, Nura el-Adara, Marshal of the Swords of Avani, offers the assistance of her men.
A race against time begins, as the party deciphers the riddles one by one, and manages to detonate several devices without any loss of life. Until the fateful moment when Bernard tries to remove one of the crystals from the ceiling of the College of Astronomy, but botches the attempt. The crystal explodes, killing Bernard and Tristan, and severely wounding Tuarim and Vladimir.
The two nobles awake a few days after, still bearing the scars of the explosion. But their efforts were not in vain, and thanks to their previous search the Swords of Avani, together with Malik's spies, have individuated a possible entrance to the Alchemist's lair, an abandoned tailor's shop near the docks.
Two new members join the party: Khalid, son of the Grand Vizier and brother of Jaheira, a monk trained by the desert hermits of Avani in the use of martial arts; and Rhys, a mysterious elven sorcerer introduced to the party by Malik. Together with a strike team of Swords of Avani, the four infiltrate the lair, facing off the minions of the Alchemist, and eventually arriving in the laboratory of the mastermind himself. After a dangerous battle they succeed in killing the villain, and secure his laboratory.
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