Angels and Demons

Meanwhile, Kvothe the ranger was waylaid from the group by a strange omen in the wider woods. He came upon a remote homestead, its married occupants fighting each other for control of an ax.

Between the husband and wife lay a horned red child, a wailing tiefling infant born to human parents. The mother, crazed to murderous intent by an unknown magic, insisted on killing her own "cursed" child. As a tiefling himself, Kvothe knew the truth of the babe's nature: Whenever an angel dies, a tiefling is soon born nearby.

The ranger temporarily blinded the woman, then helped the father and child get away, sending them in the direction of the nearest tiefling sanctuary.

Kvothe then rejoined the other adventurers, and together they confronted the golden-eyed halfling and his enthralled entourage. It was he and his minions who built the dam -- not to preserve the river, but to store and then unleash the built-up corruption all at once. The halfling seemed to thrive on misery; indeed, as he commanded his followers to hurt each other, his body grew, empowered by the suffering around him.

Rowan and Kvothe attacked, while Ivellios held back the minions from breaking the dam. The halfling finally shed his disguise, emerging as an eight-eyed, four-armed, winged demon who named himself Misery Loves Company. He was not the originator of the river's blight, but he was attracted to the suffering and used it to advance his namesake.

The paladin and ranger dealt Misery massive damage, however, so he fled, but not before overseeing the final destruction of the dam. Ivellios watched, horrified, as land and sea were further despoiled.

Misery's minions, freed from his control, told the party of a bloody waterfall in the mountains where the blight seemed to originate. They headed in its direction, keeping an eye out for evidence of dragonborn vandals along the way.

The dragonborn turned out to be a pack of land surveyors making camp in the foothills. They claimed they'd come to the continent to serve the geological curiosity of their "owner", the dragon lord Azgrah. The foreigners were outwardly friendly and shared their food and wine, then bid the party farewell.

Later, Ivellios secretly spied on the dragonborn camp, and witnessed them burying a gigantic corpse. One with white feathered wings -- the body of a dead angel.