The Soul Survivors caught their breath in the street, battered and soaked in swamp muck. Aztlan Tuckoron said he was going back to the Sump to grab his gear. Forge cast Cure Wounds on him before he left, and Aztlan promised to meet them at the manor. Gemma held out her hand and the Dancing Shortsword slipped off the ground and returned to her grip. Still suffering from exhaustion, she downed two potions and told the others they had to save the governor. Anton stumbled over, leaving a trail of blood and fumbling for his own potions, and Gemma swatted away his concern. She was fine, she said, and a little annoyed about it. Willa chugged a Greater and a Superior Potion of Healing. Gemma admitted her magic was going haywire like it did in the Sump, but she wanted to talk about it later. With the fires trailing north toward the Craftsman's Ward, the adventurers headed toward the screams.

Anton volunteered to lead the group through the chaos and rolled poorly on his first Survival check. A piece of a collapsing building fell on the party, and everyone made a Dexterity save to avoid most of the damage. Willa failed and took eight fire damage and one bludgeoning. Forge cast Guidance for the next attempt, and the party pressed on.

Rounding a corner, they heard cries for help from beneath a collapsed, burning building. Each adventurer chose a different approach to clear the rubble. Gemma called out to rally the trapped survivors, Forge used his knowledge of structure and architecture to find the safest way in and out, Willa hauled timber out of the way with a 23 on Athletics, and Anton dodged flames and squeezed through tight spaces with Acrobatics. Together they pulled three dwarves from the wreckage. One of them held out her holy symbol of Moradin and thanked the party for saving them. The dwarves headed for the Roundhouse, hoping to find other survivors, and pointed the adventurers toward the governor’s manor.

A group of cornered children were found next. They were the same kids who had lit the fireworks, and two Cindersworn acolytes were demanding answers from them. Anton called out for the cultists to pick on someone their own size, and when the acolytes saw the party, they bolted. The children swore they never meant to cause any harm. Gemma told them to go to the Roundhouse, and they ran off to the northwest.

A panicked crowd came next, flooding the street in a stampede. Everyone made a Strength or Dexterity save, but Gemma was pushed away from the rest of the party. Anton tried to climb over people to find her, and the others called out, but she didn't hear them. Gemma, still exhausted, rolled Survival checks to find her way back, and she eventually caught up near the hill. She stormed up the road ahead of them without a word. The others agreed that her magic was getting stronger, and that they would talk with her once all this was over.

Lightning flashed overhead as the party climbed into the Craftsman's Ward. Ahead, the iron gate of the governor's property had been blown open by a magical blast, and the bodies of guards lay scattered in the rubble. Willa checked them over, sniffing and touching, but no one had survived. Anton said there should be no more needless bloodshed, and Forge said to be prepared for a lot more before the end.

Before opening the gate, Forge asked the party to steel themselves and cast Motivational Speech. He told them he was proud to be part of the team, that there was a reason they were all here at this moment, and that he knew their cause was just. Everyone gained five temporary hit points, advantage on Wisdom saves, and advantage on the next attack after taking a hit. Willa lifted Forge off the ground in a big, clanky hug.

A cobblestone path led to the manor, lit by flickering lampposts. Several Cindersworn were running toward the house, and one of them, wreathed in a Fire Shield, flung a bolt of blazing embers at a shape hovering in the air. "Ironhelm doesn't belong to you!" a man's voice shouted from above, followed by a blast of ice that struck a cultist in the shoulder. When the party approached, a woman's scream of rage echoed from somewhere beyond. Lightning flashed again, and on the manor's rooftop sat the silhouette of Spider Lily and her dragonnel, Nari.

"Why won't you die?" she shouted. "Kill them!" The Cindersworn turned to face the party. Rain began to fall.

Gemma opened the fight, rushing in and blasting a cultist with a blue-flamed Fire Bolt for 25 fire damage. As a bonus action she threw the Dancing Shortsword at another for three piercing damage. Forge ran up beside a statue, pointed at a cultist, and cast Sacred Flame. The target failed his Dexterity save and took 14 radiant damage, dying instantly. Forge also charged his steam fist to its full three charges and raised his shield. Willa ran at the nearest enemy and swung her maul, but the rain made the cobblestones slick. She slammed the weapon into the ground and shattered ice outward in all directions. She kept her grip on the maul, but her second swing missed too.

Spider Lily leapt from the rooftop on Nari and flew above the courtyard, thirty feet up. She summoned a spear of fire and hurled it down across the courtyard, hitting Forge for 31 fire damage. Anton ran up beside Willa, but with Lay on Hands already spent for the day, he broke the Moonblade in two and threw one half. His first throw hit for 15, and after catching the blade as it returned, his second clipped the cultist for 14.

A pyromancer on the stairs began casting Fireball over the courtyard, but Gemma's Counterspell turned it into harmless sparks. Spider Lily used a legendary action to command a cultist to attack Willa, but both of his longsword swings missed. Then Gillendane, still airborne, shouted that he'd had enough of her tyranny and cast Ice Storm. A hail of jagged ice poured down on Spider Lily, who took 23 damage. Two disciples closed in on Willa and swung their longswords at her, but she deflected and dodged every blow. Before the round ended, Spider Lily vanished in a burst of embers and reappeared a bit closer, higher in the air.

Gemma transmuted a Lightning Bolt into thunder damage and cast it at Spider Lily and Nari, which gave the dragonnel disadvantage on its save. Spider Lily failed hers, but she spent a Legendary Resistance and still took 14 damage. Nari took the full blast.

Forge ran to a pyromancer, cocked back his steam fist, and cast Searing Smite. He drove the fist into the pyromancer's chest, spending all three charges, for a total of 28 damage. A burst of flame and a cloud of steam launched the man into the stairs, where his bones cracked against the stone. Spider Lily answered with a second Flame Lance, but it went over Forge's shoulder. The steam fist still cost him three damage. Willa struck a disciple for 21 non-lethal damage, knocking him unconscious, and then ran up the stairs toward a pyromancer, but missed her swing.

Spider Lily's turn came next. She cast Fireball from above, and Gemma used Counterspell again, which triggered another wild magic surge. This one gave her an extra action. She used it to cast Hold Monster on Nari with a subtle cast. The dragonnel failed its Wisdom save and was paralyzed. Both it and Spider Lily came crashing out of the sky, taking seven bludgeoning damage from the fall. Spider Lily stood stunned in front of Anton.

Anton merged the Moonblade into a longsword, climbed onto the lip of the fountain, and swung at her. His first strike missed, deflected by her spear, but his second hit for 14. Spider Lily struck back with her spear as a legendary action, and Anton deflected it, but his riposte missed too.

The second pyromancer cast Dominate Person on Willa. She had advantage from the Motivational Speech, but she still rolled a nine and failed. Her eyes glazed over, and the pyromancer began to move away from her. Then Gillendane flew in close and cast Chill Touch at Spider Lily. A skeletal hand reached out and tore into her for 22 necrotic damage.

A shout came from the south. Aztlan arrived with his gear and joined the fight just in time. Gemma pulled out her Wand of Magic Missiles and fired six charges at the Dominate Person pyromancer for 22 damage. The pyromancer, who had a Fire Shield protecting him against cold, tried to cast Fireball to retaliate, but Gemma's missiles had shaken his concentration. He failed his check, and the Dominate Person spell broke. Gemma then quickened a Fire Bolt and burned him with another blue flame, leaving him barely standing. Spider Lily threw another spear at Anton, and his armor easily deflected it.

Forge spotted Spider Lily's metal armor and cast Heat Metal on it, yelling that this was for torturing his best friend. She made her Constitution save, but she suffered disadvantage on attacks and ability checks. Willa came to her senses, chased the fleeing pyromancer, and swung her maul. Her 23 cold damage dropped him unconscious. At the end of her turn, Spider Lily used a legendary action to teleport to Forge's side, her armor smoking.

When her turn came, she attacked Forge with her spear, Emberfang, three times. Two hit for 13 and 17 piercing damage, and Forge used the kinetic absorption of his full plate to reduce the damage by 18. Anton ran up and swung the Moonblade in its two-handed longsword form. He got a 29 on his first strike for a critical hit that dealt 35 damage. He followed with another for 24. Energized, he slapped his chest and used Second Wind. Aztlan stepped forward, wielding a strange spiked greatclub, and cast Mind Sliver on Spider Lily. She failed her Intelligence save, taking only one damage, but she suffered a d4 penalty on her next save.

Spider Lily slammed her spear into the cobblestones as a legendary action, spending three of them, and fire erupted outward in a ten-foot radius. Forge and Anton rolled a 20 and a 19 on their Dexterity saves and avoided the damage, but the ground became difficult terrain. Gillendane descended to the courtyard and landed five feet away from her. "Not in my house," he said. He fired a Ray of Frost at Spider Lily, but she dodged, and it missed by just a hair.

The episode ended there, with Spider Lily bleeding, burning, and surrounded, but still standing in the pouring rain. The battle for Ironhelm would have to be finished next time.