Governer Gashesh waits irritably before the southern gate of Kuljak. Beside him are Millicent and Mr Gurgle Golorok, as well as a company of soldiers. When Magister Oregati arrives, he does so in two great black metal wagons, pulled by fine horses. He exchanges unpleasentries with the Governor, who bequeaths (much to Oregatis chagrine) Mr Gurgle Golorok as his ward. Magister Oregati relucantly accepts the gift. Oregati is joined by his own company of magisters, as well as four prominent expeditioners, armed to the teeth. His own trusted force. Mr Gurgle Golorok hears a servant fill Oregati in on recent details, who then talks to Millicent. He ensures her continued loyalty to the magistrate, then gives her a “reward” - a kobold (basically Palico from Monster Hunter) called Prawn.
After introductions at The Expeditionary Hall, the expeditioners split into two groups. Edwina, Millicent and Prawn move to investigate the two other marked positions on the Gaian map. Teala, Maddox, Prold and B.S.P. go to scout the forest, looking for signs of Gaian. Before they leave, they meet Edat Leej, the paladin of Magister Oregati’s personal force - The Blades of Beth. He asks about the forest and promises cooperation between them and the expeditioners. He then journeys - by himself - to the broken statue of Teosh Rishkar. Teala uses divine magic to read his fate, and finds the word Prayer prominently written in his future.
The first marked location is an old trade-caravan turned market stall. With Millicent’s help, Prawn easily picks the lock and they gain access to the goods within: ropes, rations, arrow shafts. A blood charm next to a shrine of Radni the Journeyed invokes the interest of the group, but they do not take. They do take several rations before Millicent infects the food with a divine rot. The second location is a boarded-up storefront squeezed between more permanent buildings. Edwina keeps watch while the other two break in and find an abandoned store room of nothing but armor stands - the same make as was found at the Gaian Hollow.
Meanwhile, the forest scouts trudge through the woods. Teala and Maddox spot The Skink peeking at them from behind a tree. They escort him back to town, but do not manage to figure out what he is doing in the trees. Maybe he wasn’t lying about going for a stroll. They take him back to his sleeping spot by The Temple of Terror, passing a strange figure on Shatrya’s Pass, staring up at the statue of elephant-headed Ikkish.
While the rest of the expeditioners head back home, Maddox talks to the figure. The starlight-eyed Bolov Grondy speaks mostly in riddles, and Maddox doesn’t get much out of their conversation except vague notions towards truth buried in the ground. So called Cave Wisdom. Without elucidating much, Bolov strides away into the Veiled Dark.
The next day, the expeditioners catch wind of a new notice on the board - a request for information regarding the second burglary of a merchant caravan stall. The expeditioners go to help out, even though three of them are responsible. When they learn the merchant just so happened to be robbed around the same time the Gaian were spotted in town, a picture starts to form. Edwina talks to the potter Penata Oriva and learns that the 200 royals recovered in Gaians Hollow were hers. That all but proves it - the Gaian have been robbing Kuljak. But why?
The Expeditioners head outside to find out. They journey back to the Gaians Hollow (now devoid of Gaian) and keep watch a few days, but see no signs of life. Some sort of animal tracks are spotted heading North-West, but Edwina cannot identify them. Instead, the expeditioners pursue a bull-headed totem pole spotted with Millicents spyglass. Three grueling days of uphill travel later and they arrive. Seeing the red-dirt trail leading to the pole, Teala recalls a spirit deity called The Blood Bull, but recalls no more. The expeditioners head down the trail and spill out back into the forest proper. They have a loose idea of where they are.
One night while resting, B.S.P hears a low buzzing, rapidly growing in volume. He wakes the others as it gets deafening, and then like bullets, countless giant mosquitos start baraging the camp!
Rumors Learned:
New Guildhall Notices:
Hexes Explored: 4