Sinkholes and Syndicates

General Summary

Lethe followed the the cleric back to the Odelion Priory, where he saw Prior Confessio waiting outside. Upon his approach a careless misstep alerted the two clerics to him, and after a tense standoff Lethe was able to convince the prior that they did not need to be enemies. Prior Confessio revealed to Lethe that the church was indeed behind the assassination attempt on Queen Harriet; her efforts of centralization and moves to restore the Empire of Räsgard were taking power away from the Einarian Pontificate, which had gotten used to a certain level of control in the decades since the Empire fell. To that end, some within the church sought to remove the Queen and other certain nobles and replace them with candidates who were easier to manipulate. The use of New Dawn he said was a simultaneous effort to hide the church's involvement and to discredit the concept of imperial reunification. He also told Lethe that the reason he wanted the Margrave dead was to gain access to his liege Prince Devon. Prior Confessio said that he had no problem revealing this plan because he knew no one would trust Lethe's word over his, and offered the party the chance to work together directly. As Lethe began to reply, their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a massive crash and a rumbling in the earth.
Meanwhile, Precision and Erevan who were on their way to meet up with Lethe were stopped in their tracks as a huge sinkhole appeared in the streets. While Precision was able to get to safety, Erevan was not as quick and fell down 40 feet into the chasm. Looking around, he found himself in a caved-in section of the underground Volarian ruins, and could see tunnels criss-crossing through the walls in the area. Nearby two people were pinned below a fallen pillar and shouted for help, as a torrent from a broken water pipe threatened to drown them. As Precision leapt into the hole to help them and Erevan, a scuttling sound alerted the group to a large creature emerging from one of the tunnels; an umber hulk that had been attracted by the noise. The party fought hard against the creature, and while Erevan was knocked unconscious they were able to defeat it thanks to the timely arrival of Lethe.
With the creature killed, Precision ran over to the two trapped people who by now were completely submerged. As the stone was lifted one of them was found to be unresponsive, but regained consciousness after being given a health potion by Precision. As the party clambered out of the sinkhole they found a crowd had gathered to see what had happened as several guards went down into the sinkhole to secure the area. The party was approached by Margrave Thornsby, who thanked them for their assistance and asked them to come by his manor tomorrow morning to be debriefed.
Afterwards, Lethe headed to the Crow & Hornet for his scheduled meeting with Drogath Goldworthy. He was accompanied by Precision, while Erevan went back to the inn to recover from his injuries. At the Crow & Hornet Drogath revealed to Lethe that he was second-in-command of the local criminal underground, a group that called itself the Black Rose Crew. He told Lethe that he could put him in touch with the black market in exchange for working together in the future on creating enchanted arcaltium items, and after making the deal the three headed to the black market. While shopping in the market they were approached by the head of the Black Rose Crew, a morbidly obese dwarf named Filster. He had seen the work the party had been doing in town and was impressed with their skillset, and offered them 1500GP to steal a painting from the margrave's manor—The Voyage of King Tsauni by Kinrith Whitesea. The party accepted, and soon left the market to head back to the inn.

Chapter Eighteen

"Sinkholes and Syndicates"

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Previous Chapter: Prior Knowledge

Next Chapter: Planar Theory 101 

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Ingame Date: 12-13^th of Rainseed, 1855
Real-Life Date: September 20, 2020
Protagonists:

• Precision
• Lethe Argie
• Erevan

Featured NPCs:

• Prior Confessio
• Anton Thornsby
• Drogath Goldworthy
• Filster
• Samson Killarby

Locations:

• Roselawn