10. Kissed by Darkness

In Theogonia, the party rented a room for the night and a place to store their cart and their horses. While eating lunch, it became apparent that Thor had a bit of a reputation there, as he had gotten into a huge brawl during his previous visit; he was also insulted by some of the patrons who despised his race, and his companions had to work hard to keep him calm.
There was a lot to do in the city; their first stop was Darkness Rise, the district where the dead are buried and where the living may pay their respects. Isabelle, Strider and Nero prayed for Delvin’s soul, while Thor did the same for his comrades that had fallen at Fromel Post. Thor left first, returning to the inn and awaiting the others there. The other three wished to do some research in Justice Rise, so they headed that way.
On the bridge connecting the two districts, Isabelle was suddenly overcome by the darkness in her body, which climbed up to her head, enveloped it, and made her lose consciousness. After a few tense seconds, she awakened in Nero’s arms, confused but otherwise unharmed. The local guards, who witnessed the whole ordeal, approached the group and escorted them to their superior.
The man, Jhori Bhemad, interrogated them on what had just happened. The party managed to speak half-truths, making no mention of the darkness but admitting they have some kind of affliction that they were hoping to cure. Ultimately, the man recommended to visit the Sorcerers Rise as soon as possible to seek help there, then he sent them on their way.
Shook, but free, the three of them proceeded to Justice Rise and entered the library, where they were free to seek any information they wanted. Nero tried to translate the writing he had seen in the dungeon underneath Fromel Post, though he was unable to translate it, then he helped Isabelle with much of her work.
Isabelle was able to learn a bit more about Chthon, the old world. She learned that creatures “kissed by darkness” are referred to as Darklings; unfortunately, there wasn’t much more information about them, and she assumed that this kind of knowledge was not publicly available and likely was hidden in a private part of the library. She found nothing about the black ring in the sky.
She also did a bit of research in Nero’s past. While researching his wings, she learned of an ancient race of Sky Elves who were born with wings, and also account of angels and demons having children with humans and creating lineages with angelic/demonic blood and with wings; as those wings were permanent, however, Isabelle concluded that Nero’s were but the result of a spell he knew innately. She was also able to link his magic to the green faith.
The three of them finally returned to the inn, finding a bloodied Thor waiting for them in their room. Unbeknownst to them, he had gotten into a fight with the very same people who had mocked him earlier that day, teaching them a lesson. He refused to let Nero heal him. During the night, Nero, Isabelle and Strider were all tormented by a similar nightmare. They all relived a terrible memory from their own past, but in the dream they saw themselves in a mirror and realized their bodies had been entirely overtaken by darkness; the darkness forced them to commit terrible atrocities, then faded away, leaving them to witness the gore and destruction they had brought. All three ultimately woke up screaming before a perplexed Thor forced to calm them down however he could.
The group was shaken by what had just happened and shared bits and pieces of their respective dreams and fears; with tensions so high, Isabelle and Nero ended up having an argument, with her telling Nero plainly that his mother had been abusive towards him. Nero refused to accept it and stopped talking to her.
The following day, the Guardians, more quiet than usual, did a bit of minimal shopping and finally headed for the Sorcerers Rise. There, they spoke with a group of wizards about their affliction. Though it seemed to be going well at first, the four of them were suddenly ambushed and captured in a magical cage, as the wizards knew they were kissed by darkness and had plans to deal with them.