Manithan Vaanam

In-Game Time	30th Day of the 5th Dharan Cycle
Played On	25th of July, 2025

As morning dawns on the cave-abode of the snowy hermit, the party stirs to life. Bhavannan rises first, but he sees a strange sight in the corner: a small figure, shrouded in peculiar darkness, sitting and facing away from the rest. After the figure turns and reveals itself to be Nila, a deeply unsettled Bhavannan rouses the party, which questions Nila as to her waking. She reveals that her sleep was forced upon her by a malevolent entity: Rithul, the manifestation of a family curse. They had made an agreement—Rithul would feed upon Nila's life-force as long as she lived in exchange for him never afflicting her sister. Vexed by the questions, Nila soon stalks into the snow. She is followed by Aadhi and Haavani.

In the cave, Shwari and Bhavannan speak for a moment; Bhavannan reveals that he does not believe Nila has fully returned to life, but suspects that she is partially or fully under the control of this entity. He appears disturbed, but resigned, that the others have attempted to go reason with her. Shwari, upset, ponders this. Outside, Aadhi tries to sympathize with Nila, relating her experiences with Bodhi; Nila rejects this and observes that their situations are different. Nila soon returns indoors; still in the snow, Aadhi asks Haavani about the fate of Haavani's sister.

Later in the day, Rambunayan gives the party instructions on reaching the summit. They set out, though Shwari first attempts to lead them astray for fear of what might happen at the summit; she is talked out of this by Haavani. They reach the summit together amid the mist and snow of the apex of Malai Hill, forced for the whole journey to ponder Rithul's mark.