Lemon Pound Cake

With the last of the apparent wererat menace exterminated, we were left with a few options. We knew a little about the shipping details of the shadow organization the Assemblage, which was shaping up to be the BBEG of the campaign. We also had the Stargazers' Sextant and the hook to figure out the temple/constellation/???? mystery for the Naurivus monks. Top that off with some seemingly minor local hooks like haunted farms and several treasure maps and we were flush with things to do.

We decided to point ourselves at the Sextant hook in the mountains and knock over anything on the way, like treasure maps or one of these farms. The farmhouse and barn were on a big piece of land with a dry gully alongside, which we discovered late in the day. We pulled back and camped to be fresh on the approach.

Overnight some beetles showed up, big ole things probably let loose by whatever was at the farm and intent on doing us harm. We harmed them instead. But that encounter confirmed our suspicions that the farm was connected with the Assemblage's weird ass beetle project.

I held overwatch with the wardogs and my new henchman Gilfandel while the rest of the party engaged the house. After some tense chatter with the denizens, somehow Sloane was pulled into the back door and it was barred against entry. About this time some chuckleheads were creepin' from the barn nearby to outflank the party. We cut them off while the group dealt with the gomers in the building, a bunch of armed men who really didn't like random guys showing up on their doorstep looking for pound cake.

Two concurrent fights happened, with Sloane just dogwalking the guys who thought to kidnap her while me and the hounds wiped out the flankers. Guygiss slid down the chimney like Krampus and ruined the remaining guys' day. After all was said and done we had a secret passage under the barn and a bunch of dead cultists.

The passage led to a beetle feeding lair like we'd seen before, and then beyond to the guys doing the feeding. They weren't ready. We found a preparation and shipping operation just like before along with a little treasure. We set an ambush to capture the guys who showed up. We also found a note that named a specific island city as an important spot for the Assemblage.