What a Tangled Web

February 22, 2X26

We return to the park where we destroyed the tiger beetles and dragonflies to search for any evidence of cultist activity now that we know what to look for. We dig out a false wall that leads outside of the city and follow a trail into the countryside beyond.

February 23, 2X26

We bypass a copse of trees with giant flies and bees fighting over some pile of carcasses and arrive at a cabin in the woods. Guygiss scouts ahead, triggers a trap, and gets shot at by a crossbow. We get kinetic and secure the scene with 2 captives and several dead. The captives as usual claim ignorance, just following orders, etc.

We collect evidence, paperwork, and verify that the smuggling operation is similar to what we've already seen from this group. A small tributary has a loading area where they take on barrels of parts from dissected beetles and row it away on rafts bound for the ships docked in the city.

February 24, 2X26

We pack the confiscated wagon with everything we need to take back to the Temple and burn the rest of the parts as they have no value to real magic, only this weird cult. The giant flies and bees are dispatched by smoking them into docility and using magic to subdue them. We capture the giant bee queen and a bunch of larvae. Could be our own hive of jelly or valuable to sell. There's an unknown challenge with raising killer bees.

We return victorious to the Temple and turn in another batch of criminals and evidence. This cult is bigger than we realized and spans at least a few nearby ports. We'll have to consider our next moves to take them down.

God Forbid a Man has a Hobby

February 15, 2X26

My studies are interrupted by Slaid who attempts to draw me into the taverns and bars he is so comfortable in. I decline. I learn a short time later that there are strange blue lights seen from the sewers. Our party decides it is our duty to investigate.

February 16, 2X26

Jonathan of Turas does not have any reports of civic unrest due to the lights and gives his blessing to investigate on our own. We effectively have sanction to travel the sewers without being considered trespassers and that is good enough for us.

A massive nest of luminous beetles greets us, which we destroy with magic and sword. Beyond it is a revealed a poorly hidden passage leading into a proper basement. Curious.

Slaid subdues an old man working at his table on leathers or something. I remain behind with Elmo the Elemental, who is too large to effectively navigate the smaller corridors. Further inspection reveals Dimitri to be collecting and harvesting bugs for parts, but not the usual parts for sanctioned magical research. While weird, this is not necessarily criminal despite Slaid's aggressive tactics.

Unfortunately for Dimitri, schematics and formulae and other written materials are found implicating him in cross-breeding activities for bug-centric abominations. We had just last week dispatched two lairs of bugs in the local park. We had taken that to be pretty mundane but now we are not so sure.

There are many men in the building above who conveniently descend into the basement in twos and threes to be easily dispatched by Sloane and Slaid. I watch the rear with Elmo, only needing to drub a runner and a group investigating from beyond a locked door in the basement. Elmo is easily up to the task.

In short order we have the location under control, a pile of evidence, and some prisoners to interrogate. We learn a little about the operation, where the bug parts are transported by river to the docks to be shipped to parts unknown. We ambush and capture the rivermen when they arrive and cart the whole lot down to the Temple.

Jonathan is convinced the ship at harbor needs to be investigated. The ship captain complies and we uncover more evidence as to their ports of call. We also suspect another cell remains locally. It appears that a compartmentalized organization is secretly contributing various aspects of a cross-breeding operation to a central figure. Istreus reveals to me that the Captain is bewitched, adding another layer to the nefarious nature of our quarry.

We await the results of the Temple's questioning and further sanction to act in the Law's name, at least against the local cell. I am eager to uncover what knowledge is possessed by this cult and separate the wheat of the delicious secret power that is Istreus's purview from the chaff of the heinous Cthonic activities of chaos-worshipping madmen.

Musings:

We're low level so we catch low level hooks. There's a farmhouse with milk being overturned and bugs infesting the park and whatnot. I am excited that the seemingly mundane, tutorial level stuff is revealing bigger doin's. I'm ready to confiscate research and material from this cell and put it to proper use. It also looks like an opportunity to spread into the region beyond the city which will give the DM a chance to flesh out his world. Exciting things coming.

I don't typically play spellcasters so this Nobiran Wonderworker is a reach. He's both arcane and divine, levels very slowly, and has fingers dabbled in all the magic research mechanics. I'll have to force myself to engage with these things as we go. I even hired an apprentice.