The party is still in the Shadowfell, but closer than ever to the Shifting Library which may be our only hope of a way out. We emerge from the sewers at the entrance of a huge botanical garden. Elden, the human noble from Neverwinter who's been following us under our protection, thinks it's the Raven Queen's Garden.
We start making our way through the garden paths so we can get to the rest of the city on the other side. After a short walk, Fell and Skygge notice garden gnomes lurking in the hedges. Once the party spreads out to investigate, the gnomes attack! They're vicious berserkers, aiming their oversized jackboots for low blows on anyone they can reach. Skygge's knives, Fell's arrows, Gnarls' blasts of rock, and Jain's whirlwind of blades put them down.
The group continues on through the garden and spots a ghostly figure in the distance. Curious, we follow it towards an enclosed garden with pools of glowing lilies. Jain, ever bold, strides forward and plucks a lily from a pool, which unsurprisingly is guarded by shambling mounds that were hiding the water. The party is careful not to be pulled into the water and drowned by the monsters, and emerges victorious again, but slightly battered.
Further into the enclosed lily garden, we find the ghostly figure again. She demands to know if we're picking lilies for "The Lady". Gnarls is able to defuse the situation by claiming that we're the new groundskeepers (perhaps true with the gnomes dispatched). Appeased, the ghostly woman introduces herself as Lady Trist von Kestel. She believes it to be the year 1140. We left Neverwinter in 1149!
We follow Lady Trist into the tea house just beyond the lily pools and she takes us through a winding system of underground pathways. At the end we find ourselves in a large cavern with a magical lily pool reminiscent of a Roman bath, and a retinue of ghosts! There are riches everywhere. We learn that the ghosts are attending Lady Linore von Kestel, former Queen of Neverwinter. She demands to know where her royal children are, thinking we're from the city guard. Gnarls's quick words get us out of this bind as well, and we manage to walk away even with Skygge's eyes glued to a beautiful emerald necklace around the Queen's neck.
The group makes their way through the rest of the garden without incident and finally arrives where the Shifting Library should be. Luckily for us, there are street signs to point the rest of the way there. The library itself is huge, and per its namesake constantly changing and reforming. Fell's quick feet and sense for traps gets us to and through the door.
Once inside, we find scores of bookshelves reaching to infinity upwards, with more and more distant ghostly figures gliding between shelves high above us. On the ground there's a receptionist's desk and an expectant looking skeletal hand. Fell gives the hand the letter of recommendation we received from Sangora, the vampire, and it leads us away in the library.
Passing evil tomes such as a The Book of Vile Darkness and Codex Trynannis, we eventually make it to pallid human presenting woman. This is Kiona, a researcher in the library, and one capable of teleporting us out of the Shadowfell for good. She wants information in exchange, so Skygge and Fell fill her in on the details of our adventure so far. A particular painting catches Fell's interest during the conversation; he's seen it before. Fell and Skygge deduce the two men are none other than young Vecna and his friend & vassal Kas. Kiona will only say that she acquired it for an unidentified patron from two elven siblings passing through the Shadowfell. Fell and Skygge vividly remember that it was a pair of elven siblings that destroyed Skygge's goblin village.
Satisfied, Kiona teleports us back to the material plane! We arrive in Neverwinter, but something is wrong. It's winter for one and the once bustling streets are empty. Some nearby guards give us a strange greeting. We ask for directions to Lord Neverember and they say to follow Vecna Ave to Traitor's Square! Neverwinter has been conquered in our absence and Lord Neverember crucified in the city square! Elden suggests we go to his manor's safe house to figure out what's happened.
At Elden's safe house we deduce that we're 2 years in the future, the year 1151, compared to when we left, but on the same timeline. Elden says he knows of just one person who might be able to help us, Lady Silverhand in Sigil, the City of Doors. Without delay, he summons a portal between the planes and we jump through. In front of us are Tasha, Mordenkainen, and Alustriel Silverhand! Will they be allies against Vecna, or have they too fallen under his evil sway?