The party found themselves trapped inside [[Armara]]'s extradimensional mansion-wagon after the catastrophic release of Noctyss, an Ancient Shadow Dragon. With [[Sylvara Thornblight|Sylvara]] the dryad dying and her life force the only thing maintaining the pocket dimension prison that kept the dragon contained, the group desperately debated their options. [[Benguard]] proposed creating a fake portal or pocket dimension to trick Noctyss into imprisonment, exploiting the dragon's desire to escape. However, Zariheth's portal spell to the Feywild wouldn't work due to [[Anam]]'s spell engine blocking planar travel across Solare. [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]] confirmed that while pocket dimensions like [[Armara]]'s mansion functioned normally, true planar travel remained impossible under the current magical restrictions. The party cycled through alternative strategies—using bags of holding to create a dimensional implosion, redirecting the dragon to Hexa Landing (quickly rejected due to innocent casualties), or maintaining [[Sylvara Thornblight|Sylvara]]'s life while finding an escape route for themselves. The critical constraint remained clear: [[Sylvara Thornblight|Sylvara]]'s life equaled prison maintained, her death meant everyone would be trapped with a freed ancient dragon. After taking her rest standing motionless in a corner in her warforged manner, Zariheth sought out [[Armara]] to request bags of holding and portable holes for the implosion plan. She also made a personal request for [[Armara]] to investigate a pendant belonging to her lost wife to determine if she had survived "the fall." [[Armara]], exhausted from an eight-hour ritual helping [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]] create Fragment—a miniature AI construct with emerging consciousness—agreed to help despite her frustration with the party's refusal to take "the easy route" of simply killing [[Sylvara Thornblight|Sylvara]]. During this conversation, [[Armara]] revealed crucial information about the state of Solare. The spell engine created by [[Anam]] ([[Anam|The Withered One]]) was blocking teleportation and planar magic worldwide. The gods themselves were bound by the Concord of Perserphina and could not directly interfere in mortal affairs, which [[Anam]] exploited to wage war against them. Adventurers functioned as the "invisible hand" through which gods could act, with groups like the Heralds of Silver serving as chosen champions to fight [[Anam]]'s forces. [[Armara]] explained that she had once been part of these plans but was no longer aligned with "that idiot trying to destroy the world," and that her power to create portals that worked beyond the spell engine's restrictions had been lost. While [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]] worked with [[Armara]] on the Fragment creation, the other party members pursued individual activities during the eight-hour downtime period. [[Benguard]] practiced combat techniques with a whip in the magical armory, training in his developing paladin abilities while all the weapons around him hummed with magical power. [[Arin Veldrak|Arin]] meditated in the mansion's peaceful courtyard, communing with his deity [[Aria, Goddess of Birth and Death|Aria]]. Hermes stealthily explored the mansion, discovering the alchemy rooms without alerting anyone—even [[Nobuu]]'s keen senses barely detected his presence. Z'ul engaged in prayer and communion with his goddess. The most significant bonding occurred between [[Nobuu]] and Thorrag in the pocket dimension forge. As they worked together, Thorrag emotionally opened up about his family—his son taking over the family shop, his difficult first wife whom he mentioned only once, his wonderful second wife, his daughters, and his grandchildren. [[Nobuu]] crafted a masterwork bone claw contraption for Hermes, creating a specialized vial-rotation system for the rogue's toxins. Thorrag discovered that [[Nobuu]] already knew advanced forging techniques despite preferring to work with bone and stone over metal, revealing unexpected depths to the massive warrior's skillset. The relative peace shattered when violent shaking rocked the entire demiplane. Lights flickered in every chamber as Glyph's voice broadcast throughout the mansion: "WARNING: OUTSIDE DISTURBANCE. IMMINENT DANGER TO DEMIPLANE. PREPARE FOR IMMEDIATE EVACUATION." Noctyss had found [[Armara]]'s wagon and was attempting to bite through its magical defenses from outside. [[Armara]] emerged exhausted and angry, her arcane glyph sentinels already engaging the dragon, though Noctyss was proving more intelligent than she had anticipated. She repeated her pragmatic offer—the simplest solution was to kill [[Sylvara Thornblight|Sylvara]] and let everyone escape—but the party insisted on keeping the dryad alive. [[Armara]] begrudgingly agreed to maintain the mansion while they dealt with Noctyss, with Glyph promising to protect [[Sylvara Thornblight|Sylvara]] and evacuate her if the demiplane collapsed. [[Armara]]'s parting words carried weight: "I would be more thankful if you keep my wagon safe." The party spent their final moments before combat extensively preparing. [[Benguard]] called upon divine blessings for [[Nobuu]], Thorrag, and Hermes. [[Arin Veldrak|Arin]] invoked protective magic on himself and [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]]. Z'ul channeled accelerating magic into [[Nobuu]] while Thorrag activated his divine forge blessing. [[Arin Veldrak|Arin]] summoned a spiritual weapon to fight alongside them. The plan centered on transforming [[Nobuu]] into a gargantuan-sized combatant capable of physically grappling the dragon—he drank a potion of enlargement and prepared to activate his wild shape transformation to increase his size multiple times. The party emerged from [[Armara]]'s wagon to find Noctyss flying one hundred feet above them, a massive shadow dragon silhouetted against the dark, prismatic sky. [[Armara]]'s arcane glyph sentinels were already engaged in combat below while night had fallen during their time inside the mansion. The battlefield was set, and the confrontation with the ancient evil they had inadvertently released was about to begin. Combat opened with devastating efficiency. [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]] conjured crackling electrical energy, connecting herself to Noctyss with a sustained arc of lightning that dealt immediate damage. Hermes moved with supernatural agility, climbing up [[Nobuu]]'s massive form to get within range, then cursed the dragon with magic that would weaken his strength—critical preparation for the upcoming grapple attempts. Then came [[Nobuu]]'s turn, which would become the defining moment of the entire battle. With magical enhancements active and stacked size increases transforming him into a fifty-foot-tall gargantuan creature, [[Nobuu]] launched himself skyward with incredible speed. He flew straight up one hundred fifty feet, positioned himself directly above the unsuspecting dragon, and slammed down on Noctyss with devastating force. The impact was catastrophic—a massive strike that dealt tremendous radiant damage and caught the Ancient Shadow Dragon completely off-guard. [[Nobuu]] immediately grappled the stunned dragon. Despite Noctyss's immense strength, the curse Hermes had placed gave [[Nobuu]] the decisive edge. The entire battlefield watched in awe as the gargantuan [[Nobuu]] seized the Ancient Shadow Dragon mid-air and drove him into the ground like a falling star. The impact created a massive dust cloud that exploded outward, obscuring the battlefield momentarily. Both combatants suffered from the tremendous fall, though [[Nobuu]]'s position atop the dragon and his battle rage protected him from the worst of it. [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]] and Hermes, clinging to [[Nobuu]]'s back during the descent, were shielded by his massive bulk. Standing atop the prone dragon, [[Nobuu]] attempted something audacious—he tried to tear off Noctyss's wings. He gripped the dragon's wings and pulled with immense force, tearing through muscle and cracking bone. Though the wings didn't fully tear free, the party heard a sickening crack as something broke inside, and Noctyss roared in agony. The dragon's ability to fly had been severely compromised. [[Nobuu]] pressed his advantage, attacking again in an attempt to finish tearing the wings off. He dealt massive damage, leaving the wings hanging by threads, clearly crippled and useless. With a final savage motion, [[Nobuu]] bit down on the damaged wings, his teeth sinking deep into dragon flesh. In a single devastating sequence, [[Nobuu]] had dealt catastrophic damage to the Ancient Shadow Dragon, leaving him grounded, grappled, and severely wounded. The massive warrior let out a bestial roar while standing atop Noctyss, having delivered one of the most devastating opening attacks imaginable. The session ended with [[Sylvara Thornblight|Sylvara]] safely inside the wagon under Glyph's protection, [[Armara]] maintaining the demiplane while watching events unfold, and the party ready to press their advantage. Most of the party had yet to take their turns, and while Noctyss was badly injured, he remained an incredibly dangerous Ancient Shadow Dragon who now understood the caliber of opponents he faced. The confrontation had begun with overwhelming force from the party, but they knew the dragon would not go down easily. With [[Sylvara Thornblight|Sylvara]]'s life hanging in the balance and the pocket dimension at risk of collapse, their ability to finish Noctyss quickly would determine whether they could save both the dryad and themselves from the consequences of their earlier decision to free the ancient evil. The battle for survival had only just begun.