The Addison Edition

**TL;DR:** The party sailed back to Nikodranas with their newly renamed ship, consulted Yussa about Mervyn's vampiric surveillance problem, and met their reinforcements—four adventurers sent by Kristoff to help dismantle the House of Five.

The Second Wave

After three days of training and preparation on Skull Island, the party reconvened in the skull cave as Master Yugi confirmed his work was complete. Jack Sapphire announced the ship was ready to sail, prompting negotiations over command: Sapphire would captain the Second Wave until they reclaimed his original vessel from Scarbosa, at which point Phaedra would take command—though she warned him any damage to the ship would mean he owed her a replacement. Before departing, Kithri presented Master Yugi with a Druidcraft flower and carved "Shifting Paradigm was here" into the bar, leaving her mark on the island. The party boarded the Second Wave for the three-and-a-half-day voyage back to Nikodranas.

Roots and Weeds

During the voyage, Viktorin planted disinformation with Mervyn about checking job boards and visiting the alchemist, keeping him in the loop without revealing actual plans. Mervyn spent his days crafting potions and designing blueprints for gorgon gas ammunition, while Marnok studied his Marquesian phrasebook and practiced target shooting. On the second night, Viktorin prayed for guidance about Mervyn's condition and received a vision from the Moonweaver and the Arkard: "Get to the root of the problem. Eliminate the roots, eliminate the problem." The message was clear—to free Mervyn from Addison's surveillance, they would need to destroy the vampire herself. Kithri sent a message to Perry via her sending stone, and the party continued their careful dance of appearing normal while keeping critical information away from Mervyn's compromised senses.

The Tower and the Ball

The party arrived in Nikodranas on the nineteenth, greeted by the wharf master who asked after Kithri's father and the culprits who had threatened the Stoutbridge family. After selling nine pistols for fourteen hundred gold at the marketplace, the group split: Mervyn visited the alchemist Delilah while Marnok, Litton, Kithri, and Viktorin traveled to Yussa's tower. The archmage listened to their concerns about Mervyn's vampiric connection and confirmed his suspicions—Addison must be exceedingly powerful for her influence to persist after resurrection. Yussa explained that a Ring of Mind Shielding might block her surveillance but could also trigger her to turn Mervyn immediately, making it too dangerous to attempt. His advice was stark: focus on the House of Five threat first, as the orb remained safe in his possession and he could plane-shift away if necessary. Before they left, Yussa presented them with a magical ball—Yussa's Ball of Return—that would instantly teleport all five party members to his tower if thrown while they maintained contact, a single-use escape from dire straits. The party also warned the Targanas about potential compromise from the warehouse incident.

The Alchemist's Workshop

On the twentieth, Mervyn returned to Delilah's shop with his gorgon gas vial and detailed blueprints. She directed him to Dook's workshop, where the dwarf grudgingly admitted he didn't like Mervyn but respected the design and would help for the sake of Kithri's party. Working together with Dook's superior tools and supplies, Mervyn successfully crafted six pieces of specialized ammunition—gorgon bullets that would petrify targets on impact, each one a perfect marriage of alchemical component and mechanical casing designed to survive firing from his pepper box.

Ship Ramrod Assembles

That evening at the Withered Bird Inn, four strangers entered and made immediate eye contact with Viktorin, Marnok, and Litton: a red-haired elven woman with a greataxe, a black-furred Tabaxi, a dark-complexioned half-elf, and a platinum-armored young man bearing the symbol of Bahamut. Karl headed to the bar for drinks while Nova and Kaylin approached the table, Nova introducing herself as a cleric sent by Vinrin Stoutbridge to seek allies. Kithri warned them immediately that Mervyn's eyes and ears were not his own, prompting whispered warnings through Kaylin's message earrings. The nine adventurers retreated to Kithri's room, where Viktorin studied the others carefully and settled in to observe while the parties exchanged descriptions and began comparing notes.

Tales of Dragons and Butterflies

Marnok opened by asking what Gris's party knew about the House of Five. They had encountered Scarbosa outside the Stoutbridge fishery, met Kristoff aboard his airship, and been sent to Nikodranas as reinforcements—though they admitted Kithri's party had learned far more through their infiltration of the Lavish Chateau, their alliance with Yussa and the Targanas, and their recent destruction of Scarbosa's backup ship. When Mervyn asked about magical orbs, Gris's party confirmed they had none. To demonstrate trust, Mervyn distributed healing elixirs to each of the newcomers—potions that healed and granted temporary vitality. Litton handed Mervyn a random set of keys in return, which turned out to be from the pirate island. Then Gris drank a Potion of Countless Possibilities and grew a prehensile tail, prompting Litton to drink one as well—his produced only beautiful illusory butterflies that filled the room for a minute before dissipating. The conversation turned to strategy: Kristoff had instructed them to separate Scarbosa from his four dragonborn bodyguards, but the combined party debated whether to attack the Poison Jewel, lure targets from the Lavish Chateau, or strike the bodyguards individually. As midnight approached and the planning grew more detailed, the nine adventurers—now calling themselves the Parallel Tales of Wildemount—agreed to reconvene in the morning to finalize their assault on the House of Five.