[Major Plot] Through The Valley

Epilogue

It is an early morning after Beltane, on the edge of North Las Vegas and Downtown, Local Gravewight of Autumn, Bonnie Hill reveals that she has a tome from untold sources. She was able to decode a ritual that she felt would give them access to measuring spiritual activity around the Freehold, so they would have data to start untangling the mystery around how the wards are maintained. It is only something that can be ignited every three years, so the opportunity wasn't to be taken lightly as something they could simply try again or repeat with allies.

For Autumn, the clock on Baron Samedi's lifespan is running out, and his death potentially spells disaster if his knowledge is not passed on. Summer was swayed on the fact that this research was essential for the future of the Freehold, and the lone Spring Helldiver was simply Desired the experience.

Linden, Firebringer, Agrippa and Rowan agree to a Pledge that forbids them from sharing the ritual events unless responding to a Knight's question. Bonnie worded it as "unless absolutely necessary" which indicates the extreme that the Changeling is about to break their vassalage Oath by violating a direct order. She was operating off the hope that after the ritual, courtiers would not know about their actions and spread panic after the events of the Revenant Crisis.

Linden and Firebringer took measurements on one plane of reality, while Rowan and Agrippa physically stepped into the deathly echo of Twilight with an astral tether. Their Kith blessings were altered in a fashion not entirely known, only that Bonnie assumed from her readings that Agrippa could stop the ritual if they faded back while still attached to the anchor. Linden and Firebringer had to defend the anchor, because if it was messed with, they had no way of knowing what it would result in.

The goal was to get to the graveyard, where Bonnie calculated that a gate to the underworld would open with the ritual. Ghosts would escape, and be attracted to the Losts' glamour. Any physical interference would be stopped by Firebringer and Linden, and the assumption was that Rowan would be able to use his borrowed Kith gifts to remove a particularly dangerous haunting (or perhaps speak with the dead).

Rowan and Agrippa found themselves surrounded by bodies standing vigil, blocking their path and forcing a purposeful direction to avoid detection. Had they been herded? The first instance of possession came with a driver on the highway, swerving to almost hit Linden and Firebringer. She was mysteriously dragged halfway into Twilight (almost hitting Agrippa and Rowan simultaneously), as more spirits inhabited her body in an unholy frenzy.

Unsure what was going on, Firebringer proceeded to yell into the driver's side, shocked at what she was witnessing as the woman was morphed into a painful monstrosity while the Elemental felt her body freeze in psychic injury. Rowan and Agrippa watched a storm forming around the point of possession, unsure and what they were to do without a knowledge of spirits. Linden felt the same, filming the transformation with their phone in hopes to contact Bonnie Hill, while Firebringer flared in hopes to stun before the victim's necrotic claws score her flesh. Its true target is the anchor, turning towards Linden as Firebringer tries to block the advance with a swing. The same psychic pulse is felt between both planes, putting the Elemental further in danger as her organs bruise and veins collapse with cold.

One more blast like that and Firebringer would have likely died.

Linden chooses to run before more vehicles arrived to put the situation into chaos, leaping across the highway in a supernatural arch as Rowan and Agrippa feel the tug to move. The larger monster pursues with ease, barreling after the weaving Lost as they struggle to manage the astral tether dragging each other down. Rowan is thrown from the weight of the anchor, twisting his ankle in a manner that forces a limp, while Linden tries to lose the beast in alleyway to no avail. Knocked down, a mauling ensues as Linden protects the anchor with their body, returning the slashing in kind as Firebringer tries to assist. Agrippa learns they can distract the entity by overwhelming speed and baiting, while Rowan tries to cut tethers of the possession to diminish the storm. It's too late, with Linden sustaining massive injuries on the ground with the entity reigning blows from above. Firebringer or Rowan cause the monster to finally collapse—subsequently pinning Linden underneath in the tight quarters as necrotic energy starts to leak. Firebringer does everything she can to try and free them, as Linden dies in the struggle.

As the storm dissipates, Rowan and Agrippa realize they cannot continue. Rowan tries to cut the tether, while Agrippa goes off of Bonnie's advice in the hopes the ritual had not met any corruption. As Agrippa fades, they find themselves only fading within the plane they stood as usual, rather than ending the ritual. The tether breaks, Rowan's glamour burning at full force to attract hungry spirits in a living nightmare.

Agrippa realizes they have to complete the ritual by getting the divination mirror to the gate. Originally, Rowan was meant to use his Gravewight gifts to open it, but they would have to step through with their Helldiver capabilities. Promising Rowan he would get out alive no matter the cost, they leave with all the supernatural speed they can muster to outrun the hordes, and Agrippa is never seen again. Rowan cannot run with his injuries, and thus uses every trick the Darkling knows when evading predators, before finding himself being pinned and torn apart in a tunnel like a trapped rat. Accepting death, he finds himself alone in the dark and returned to the real world.

Rowan would eventually drag himself to open air, catching Firebringer with phone calls as she madly searched for survivors. They would later learn that Bonnie Hill received exactly six seconds of Linden's recording, of a woman emerging and changing before a streak of shaky movement. Firebringer and Linden didn't respond, obviously engaged in something dangerous, but rather than call for help she had to obey the confines of her own Pledge. Baiting The She-Wolf into asking her the right questions, the Legate of Mists quickly notified the Sun Banisher Roger, as well as Lucky Jack and then the Queen of Summer. 

The highway incident had the dash cam footage removed from the victim's vehicle, though Roger is still nowhere to be seen. The area was blocked off as a major road hazard, traffic redirected from the site of incident. Streaks of a massive animal churning the gravel and dirt were tracked back to Linden's body, recovered once it was confirmed that their Fetch would cause massive complications for the hospital.

Reports come in from the graveyard from other Winter courtiers that Fawkes was down—a behemoth of a monster overtaking their party still guarding the site. It had been taken down, but their second Sun Banisher was in shaky condition. Firebringer and Rowan are soon found, bringing collective relief.

A Spring doctor named Aisling had come, rushing to treat the injured, though to everyone's collective disquiet the spells of Spring's healing either failed or provided minimal relief.