40 minutes

Have the characters each roll a Wisdom Saving Throw. To the character who rolls the highest result, read the following:

Your dreams this night seem to be invaded by a sweet, melodious music. Yet you feel strongly that something is amiss. It takes a great strength of willpower for you to do so, but you force yourself awake, only to find that the music you heard in your dreams, can still be heard in waking - albeit ever-so-faintly and coming from outside the house. The music itself seems to be almost beckoning you to return to sleep, but glancing out the window of your accommodations and seeing the first hints of daylight appearing in the sky, you know - in your core - that something is wrong.

What has happened

In the early hours of the morning, the Company of the Gilded Banner set out a magical item: a single-use item which is a music box which - when played - puts everyone who hears it to sleep (unless their name is written on a piece of paper and placed inside the music box. The Company of the Gilded Banner used this item to put the people of Fort Daylight to sleep, while they stole the Elderstone, sabotaged the horses and then fled (in a horse and cart, headed towards the mountains).

The awakened player MAY choose to wake the other members of the party, or they may not. Whenever anyone ventures outside the house (whether alone or with the party) proceed to the next section:

Shadows

Read or paraphrase the following (note, if the characters specifically stated that they were being stealthy and passed a DC 15 stealth check, then do not read the second part):

As you emerge from your accommodations you see, in the street, a group of six dark figures, some 50 feet away from you, skulking from one house to another.

One of their number sees you immediately and letting out an unearthly "hiss", charges in your direction.

If the character(s) is/are observed, then roll for initiative and commence combat. If they were successfully stealthy, then allow them to choose how they deal with the shadows. Depending on the strength of the party, you may increase or decrease the number of shadows in the battle. If the party appears to be struggling to defeat the shadows, then at an appropriate moment, state that the sun rises above the walls of Fort Daylight, and either gives the Shadows disadvantage on all their attacks, or causes them to flee (depending on how dire the situation is).

Once the party have defeated the shadows, the sun rises (if it hasn't already) and they find Fort Daylight in disarray.

Learning what has happened

The party find Captain De'Lion standing near the mess hall giving orders to troops running this way and that. He explains to the party:

• In the night, someone used a magic item to put the people in the fort to sleep, so they could steal the Elderstone
• We found the item, it's a music box, inside is three names (Ebkas Firstrom, Branmil Halfanvil, Jaben Krieg), he suspects that these names are the people who weren't affected by the item.
• He has deduced that the Company of the Gilded Banner has stolen the Elderstone and has made away with it.
• He has sent a tracker to try to determine which direction they have fled.

Whilst talking to the party, he gets two additional pieces of information:

• A solider comes over and informs the Captain that the horses in the stable have been given poisoned feed, and are sick and unable to give pursuit.
• The tracker returns and informs the Captain that the Company of the Gilded Banner fled in the direction of the mountains.

While the horses in the stable are unable to pursue, Sergeant Major McCreadie has a small stable of horses, just enough for himself and each member of the party. Captain De'Lion wants his garrison to remain in position to prepare to defend Fort Daylight in case night falls before the Elderstone returns, but he asks the party to go with Sergeant McCreadie, intercept the Company of the Gilded Banner, retrieve the Elderstone and return it to Fort Daylight.

Once the party sets off, proceed to Chapter 3.