Manithan Vaanam

After the the destructive plans of a violet raatchi were overheard under the moonlight, the party wakes up to a calm rain. They quickly hatch a plan to rescue their yaans: Shwari, Haavani, and Nila go in disguise to the stables, while Aadhi and Bhavannan wait.

Shwari, Haavani, and Nila leave the campsite and set forth for the gates of Kaverinaadu. The gates, however, are closed, and Nila transforms into a raven to circle the air above the city and gather information. It seems that the citizenry has gathered in the town square around the funeral pyres of Alagan and Machaandi. Nila returns to convey that its relatively safe and Shwari starts to scale the gate walls with Haavani following after, using rope tied by Shwari. They make it over and quietly proceed to the yaan stables, and release the yaans from their tied ropes. As the yaans are set free, Shwari leaves to find the metal wheel that controls the gates while Haavani leads the yaans towards the gates; Nila keeps watch of both of them from the skies. Shwari finds the guard room that contains the wheel, and she starts turning it but struggles to do it quickly. As the gates open slowly, the guards at the funeral notice and start sprinting towards the gates. Shwari finally finishes and dashes to help Haavani lead the yaans out. After a few minutes of pulling and pushing, the yaans are finally out. Shwari and Haavani mount their respective yaans and Nila follows suit after shapeshifting back to her normal self. However, the guards are now chasing them and Shwari,hanging from the side of Sulayman, sings "Yaans Here, Yaans There, Yaans Everywhere"[1] in an operatic belt, charging the yaans into an energetic sprint that the guards in a trail of dust. Shwari leads the horde all the way to the campsite, singing the entire way. Aadhi and Bhavannan, who were playing rounds of Dragon Dice, are circled by the energized yaans and the party is united with their yaans once more. After a moment of reunion, the group start their trip towards Lagaab.

Bhavannan notices a flying object above him and curiosity wins when he begins to follow the streak. He passes through the rest of the group, who watch as he discards his armor and jumps into the freezing river. He finally makes it to the other side and keeps following the streak above. As Bhavannan disappears into the woods, Aadhi, Haavani, and Shwari, out of worry, jump into the river as well. Bhavannan watches the object some feet ahead of him, and, as he approaches nearer, he hears the unholiest sounds creatures could make. He quickly hides behind a bush and watches as two mirughams, one wolf-like and the other beetle-like, communicate with a deep-violet-colored raatchi. The mirughams speak in their own language, but the raatchi speaks intelligibly, and Bhavannan learns that the raatchi wants to raid Lagaab, a village northeast of Kaverinaadu, because of a rumor of an old gnome with a divine weapon. The raatchi and the mirughams walk away and Bhavannan quietly leaves the bush, sneaking back to the river, where Aadhi, Shwari and Haavani emerged from the waters. The four swim their way back to Nila and Bhavannan describes what he overheard. The group agrees that they must go to Lagaab, but then the realization that their yaans were in Kaverinaadu dawns on them and they quickly plan to get their yaans back before traveling to Lagaab. The party then falls asleep under the moonlight, awaiting their travels tomorrow.

After a day and a half of travel, the town of Lagaab is in their sights. However, the town is covered in a peculiar layer of colored dust; Aadhi feels the ground vibrating from dance. They enter the town rather apprehensively, but are suddenly pulled into a crowd of jubilation. The air is filled with resplendent powder and all the residents are celebrating thereunder, dancing, singing, and throwing the colored powder at each other. Immediately, Aadhi and Shwari jump off their yaans, and join the crowds, Aadhi joining a dance circle and Shwari drumming along. Bhavannan joins the crowd and an old lady proceeds to unload a tray of blue powder upon him. He takes it in stride and joins the dancing. Nila is grabbed from her yaan and placed upon someone's shoulder, jostling her around while dancing. Haavani takes a few seconds to observe before getting off her yaan to reach the periphery, watching everything from the sidelines. The group engages in the party; Aadhi and Shwari create a dance circle, and perform in the center together, Nila dances atop an earth genasi's shoulders (making various attempts to hit Bhavannan with color bombs), Bhavannan enjoys the crowds and dances along, and Haavani glances at the crowds with a small smile on her face. Eventually, a speaker atop a raised platform silences the crowd. She introduces herself as Ilanka and welcomes all to the annual celebration of Kamacolor. Afterwards she enters the crowd, Aadhi splashes her with a wave of dust and Ilanka returns the favor tenfold. Ilanka then invites the party to her hut. While Aadhi grabs everyone, Nila is placed upon a windowsill and learns the name of her partner: Vash. Haavani also manages to hit Bhavannan, who had been managing to avoid every projectile from Nila, with a color bomb. After Aadhi corrals everyone, they make their way to this hut and wait for Ilanka.

In the hut, introductions are made and Haavani tells Ilanka that the village is in danger, due to the rumor that Ashitham was seen in the village with the Dharma Villu.[2] Ilanka validates the rumor, but explains that Ashitham's presence here was months ago. However, due to the somber manner of the group, she leaves the hut and then returns with the old lady that covered Bhavannan in blue powder. Ilanka introduces the old lady as Thooli, a mute warlock of Mun Mugham. Ilanka asks for the party's permission for Thooli to decipher truths about the group. They agree and sit upon the ground as Thooli meditates. After a few uncomfortable minutes, Thooli lets out an unnatural male voice, saying:

The Sun and Moon prevails in the air amongst you. But their presence is shrouded by evil. Fire! The strength of the Sun must exist in the Moon for the Evil to stop its consume.

After Thooli stops, the group sits in shock as the kondattam roars outside.