Ulkatel 18th, 989 IaC
- The party regrouped back in Cloverhall, catching up with Kel and discovering Steeve carrying the corpse of the rotting bullywug upstairs to place in his chest in the barracks
- The smell and crunching noise of the corpse being stuffed in the trunk horrified Oola Cocklehoot, who began to argue with Steeve before the tiefling used his Enigmatic Cube to summon a human being
- Meanwhile Glutagg continued to rest in Steeve's bed, refusing to eat anymore rotten confections
- The rest of the Initiates entered the room following the commotion, attempting to determine the nature of the man
- The man claimed to be a prisoner trapped in the Sufessian Dominion, disappearing just after beginning to cry tears of joy regarding his freedom
- The smell and crunching noise of the corpse being stuffed in the trunk horrified Oola Cocklehoot, who began to argue with Steeve before the tiefling used his Enigmatic Cube to summon a human being
- The party was summoned by Eliza Millheart, who congratulated the group on their recent accomplishments, tasking them to work with the mayor Tunban Fetterly to solve a local murder
- She also promised Steeve a personal chest in the basement if he stopped torturing Oola with his various scents in the barracks
- The group rested for the night, some members displaced by the various smells, some being forced to listen to Rorug Fletsworn
Ulkatel 19th, 989 IaC
- The party woke early, tending to various tasks before meeting with the mayor
- Merja visited the Slug Fisher for some breakfast and a mug of ale, making some conversation with Venora Graves
- Lambchop ventured to Ella's Deals, speaking with Ella for a bit before going off to the Potted Pig and purchasing a jug of wine and a jug of vodka from the tiefling merchant, later returning to buy two waterskins from Ella
- Steeve also patronized the Potted Pig, purchasing some wine
- The Initiates regrouped and met the mayor at Tummel Tower, after being escorted by a secretary into a meeting room and harassing her regarding her connections to the mayor
- The party entered the room, and Lambchop and Steeve began chewing on the fronds of the ferns in the corners
- The mayor eventually arrived about 20 minutes later, briefing the party regarding the murder victim
- Already a prickly person, the mayor was somewhat incensed at the antics of the group and the familiarity at which they spoke
- The group learned of Dunavar Lexhand, a former friend of the mayor's and a known drunkard. He was murdered at the Reedpicker Inn, and his body preserved by magic at the Fectern Temple of Reedenford.
- The mayor implored the party only to return with definitive proof, and if the group could discover a plot against his life or station, he would handsomely reward them
- On the flipside, if they failed, he would throw the party and the guild under the wagon for their incompetence and draw the ire of the people
- Steeve screwed with his cube and became obscured in mist, and almost made himself throw up before continuing to chew on the ferns and eventually throwing up in the pot
- The party chose to visit the Reedpicker Inn first, meeting Galdran Thunderfist as well as his two employees, Nuniel Masselby and Elias Luterhorn
- Resistant to questioning at first, Nuniel eventually broke down and confessed to poisoning Dunavar's drink in return for a generous tip, though she was unaware of its deathly nature
- Promising not to sell her out, the party took their leave, learning that a cloaked man in a goatee had supplied Nuniel with the poison
- The group ventured to the Fectern Temple, meeting the priest Father Kellar Zanweiss
- Father Zanweiss introduced himself and led the group to the corpse of Dunavar, which his autopsy had found nothing wrong with
- Lambchop looked through the pockets of Dunavar, finding a strange sheet of paper that Merja determined was a cipher, but was unable to crack it
- Finding 7 gold, Lambchop convinced the priest that he would deliver it to his next of kin, somehow
- Father Zanweiss approached Kel about her faith, and asked her to return if she was open to offering her services to the town
- The party began to head towards Serpent's End, but Kel soon noticed they were bein tailed
- The party ducked down into an alleyway, and the group hid as Cora and Kel acted out a dramatic scene of suffering, serenaded by Ilryn's bardic inspiration, to lower their follower's guard
- The tail, flanked by other hooded figures, approached the group menacingly until the party was attacked from above as Merja attacked with a Magic Missile
- The party engaged their assassins in combat, eventually routing the bandits after a bit of struggle
- One of the bandits escaped to the main street before being burnt by Merja, prompting a bit of a scene
- The party managed to capture the head assassin alive, finding him matching the minimal description given by Nuniel
- The party interrogated the bandit, with Ilryn casting Charm Person to make him compliant
- Still resistant to give up the name of his employer beyond the fact that they were associated with Serpent's End, the party was only able to get minimal details about him and his murder of Dunavar
- At the least, the party learned the assassin was named Wellen Ordeck, and that he came into town only a couple months ago
- As the party piled up the bandit corpses, a guard from the Bronze Aegis arrived, summoned by some worried townsfolk
- Getting nothing more out of Wellen, they explained the situation, eventually carrying the corpses to the town mortuary and accompanying the Aegis guard back to her station
- Without hard evidence of the murder, she was resistant to lock up Wellen until Steeve began to torture him and he confessed
- After a bit of antagonism in the party, Wellen was locked up
- Steeve refused to leave Wellen, electing to sit and stare at him while the rest of the party headed towards Serpent's End
- Arriving at the shadowy pub, Ilryn adopted a disguise and headed into the bar alone while the others watched
- Coming up to the counter, Ilryn was greeted by Raldon Tarrod as she ordered a beer, not specifying what she wanted
- Raldon served her the house beer, and she soon began to experience symptoms of poisoning as Raldon revealed the antidote needed to be swallowed as a chaser
- Cora rushed into the bar, healing Ilryn of poisoning with her magic, as the rest of the party eventually filtered in, Lambchop immediately asking about his eel
- Raldon remained confident and noncommittal in his speech an manner, refusing to admit to anything until the phrase "how many rats can you fit in an adder" was mentioned, and he brought the group back into the storage room
- Raldon offered the group a number of pick-me-ups, and Lambchop bought some chuckling, a strange, shimmering shot of liquid
- The bartender continued to dodge questions about his involvement with the murder, but deducing the mayor was behind their hiring, he offered to cut a deal and give the mayor some of the evidence he wanted if the party takes care of a monster problem in his cellar
- Bringing the group down through a secret trapdoor into a small room filled with purple vials, Raldon revealed that he had been harvesting venom from a number of creatures living in a catacomb below his shop for some time, but they had recently become more numerous and aggressive, and he'd like them wiped out
- The group agreed rather hastily, especially after Raldon stated he'd throw in the eel for free in return
- Raldon rushed the group into the catacombs and shut a thick steel door behind them, the other side peppered with thick scratches as he locked it and informed the group to return with a syncopated knock
- The party began to explore the old passages, seemingly infested by large spiders that left large webs and dug tunnels in the ceilings
- Cora headed the party as they began to move through the halls, triggering a dark trap that was aimed too high to hit the tiny halfling
- Cora attempted to burn away some web, but found that its sticky coating was resistant to flame
- Arriving in another room, the party witnessed a number of humanoid spider-like creatures recede into the holes slowly as they approached
- Content with allowing that to happen, the party moved forwards into another room covered in webbing and lit by strange glowing crystals. At the center of the room sat a large, beastly spider being with a somewhat humanoid head that retreated into the shadows as the group entered, alongside more spider humanoids
- Again simply allowing this to happen, the group entered the room and began to investigate the crystals as the spider beasts boxed them in and mounted an attack
- The group began a long, arduous battle of attrition against the spider things
- Both sides appeared to have a bad time of it, resulting in a long, messy fight where the group was webbed up, poisoned, and nearly killed a few times
- The group finally managed to get the upper hand as Lambchop finally decided to start hitting things, through he soon succumbed to the poison as well
- In the end each member of the party brushed extremely close to death, but managed to finally overcome the beasts and slay the big boy, who was weak to radiant light
- The corpse of the large beast slammed down on the webbing suspended over a deep pit, snapping the threads as Cora and Merja began to fall
- Kel managed to grab Merja's hand as she in turn reached out to save Cora, making a deal with the Thin Man to influence her fate and barely catching the halfling's hand before she fell into the pit below
- Back out of the pit, Cora brought both Ilryn and Lambchop back to consciousness with her magic as the group looked over the aftermath of the battle