Session 16: Conspiracy! Report

Following the fight with Scesso in the Stonelord's Palace, the Menagerie was approached by members of the Doge's council, who thanked them for apprehending the treasonous former general. The Doge awarded them 20,000gp for their bravery and Nightwind offered them the deed to Scesso's estate, as she wanted to move back in with her family after being away from them for so long. The Doge declared there would be a feast the following day and had his servants prepare special meals for each of the members of the Menagerie.   General Thalorin thanked the party for clearing his name, before Akari and Twilight the Spymaster pulled the party aside to discuss more secretive matters. Twilight was curious how the group had managed to gain an audience with the leader of the Silent Blade, prodding them for additional information. Akari asked the party to meet her in her quarters following the feast to discuss matters in private.   In the midst of this conversation, Deleth Yorkiras strode into the Grand Hall, curious about the commotion flooding the palace. He approached the party and congratulated them on their victory, feigning ignorance that he knew any of them in spite of Skreech telepathically asking if he remembered the Thri-kreen. He probed them for information, asking where they all came from and who they were working with, before he departed to handle other matters.   Nightwind departed with her family, inviting the Menagerie to visit her family's estate anytime. The party was warned by Akari not to leave the palace grounds, so the members of the Menagerie agreed to stay within the guest rooms in the palace.   Later that evening, Droknar attempted to send his echo outside the palace grounds, testing the reach of his powers. Unable to make it past the gates of the keep, he approached Akari to ask if she could get a hold of Beradin Glimdrak. She sent two Violet Brigade soldiers to bring Beradin to the palace grounds, where he met with Droknar in the palace's foyer. During their conversation, Beradin confirmed that it was Deleth who had contracted him to excavate near Kubukiiya, and that the Thaumium he had uncovered was supposedly to power Deleth's war golems meant for city defense. The dwarf had little information outside of what he needed to know to complete his job.   That night, Droknar had another vision of Adanzu's past in Arathoxia, but this time was able to take control of the vision and attempted to have Adanzu destroy the Thaumic Animus Accelerator to no avail. Within the vision, a confused Deleth confirmed that the device was Xiraxian in origin and impervious to normal magic.   At the same time, Skreech was pulled into Mekhane's sanctum. The goddess was curious about Skreech's meeting with Deleth, whom she referred to as her acolyte. She offered Skreech the opportunity to become her acolyte, which he accepted, and tasked the Thri-kreen with recovering her heart and returning it to her. When he awoke the next morning, he found his metallic affliction had receded.   Following the feast the next day, the party met with Akari in her quarters. She dropped her disguise to reveal her kitsune form, and seemed extremely curious when the party said they had met kitsune before. Putting that discussion aside, the High Intoner dispelled the arcane cipher enchanting the Obscuris Cosmology, allowing everyone to read its contents. Within the tome, they found descriptions of the many deities of the Higher and Lower Planes, as well as the theories of the Archmage Petrarch Vitroni. Within the margins of the tome they also found annotations from Deleth Yorkiras, which painted the picture of a fanatic of Mekhane hell-bent on re-activating the Thaumic Animus Accelerator to recover the Heart of Mekhane and restore the Broken God to power, so that she might bring order to the world. Akari, disturbed by what she was reading, told the party to return to the Silent Blade to find the location of Bartholomew Morrow, a former researcher of the Institute of the Intangible who had dealt with the Cult of the Broken God before.   Akari also let Rinrin know that she had located the mouseling's brothers and needed her to return to Quilport with the Doge so that she could have them freed. She also explained that Rinrin would be able to take part in an operation to free her father from the Bonelord, but needed to do so away from the Menagerie, who had attracted too much attention from the Pale Corsairs. Rinrin said her goodbyes to the party, embracing each of them before they departed for the Silent Blade.   Their meeting with the Kingfisher yielded information as to the location of Bartholomew "Mad" Morrow and the group headed for the warehouses at the end of the northern docks, where through some investigation they managed to uncover a hidden courtyard. Unsure where Morrow was hiding, they simply shouted out that Akari had sent them and that they had information that would prove the Cult of the Broken God was still around, which prompted Morrow to send his imp familiar, Quin, out to invite the party inside.   They were led into the basement of a shack, which was a cave connected to the city's sewer system. There they found a middle-aged, extremely unkempt elven man, Bartholomew Morrow, who proceeded to splash each of them with holy water, explaining that he needed to make sure they weren't vampires. Presenting the Obscuris Cosmology to Morrow, the paranoid elf exclaimed that it confirmed everything he had believed and showed the party the murderboard he had been compiling during his time in Mekkisir.   They also handed the elf a letter from Akari explaining the situation with Deleth and the Cult. She advised Morrow to join the party as they followed Osrick Riverhands, who was searching for a Xiraxian Godkiller weapon somewhere in the jungles of Zandrazil.   In the middle of their conversation, the group was interrupted by a pair of large golems landing near the entrance to the cave. The golems resembled Francis and Gerald, except they were much larger and outfitted with deadly lasers and constricting tendrils. The group engaged the war golems in combat, during which they were also attacked by a tabaxi and dwarf, sent by Deleth to capture both the Menagerie and Bartholomew. The party managed to destroy the war golems and kill the tabaxi before Quin tore down the barrier blocking their escape, allowing the party to dash into the sewers just before the imp activated a self-destruct spell that collapsed Morrow's hideout.   The party emerged from the sewers near the Mage's Guild, seeing people shouting and rushing around, talking about a huge explosion that had just happened on the other end of the District. The group offered for Morrow to join them; he was hesitant to accept, until they mentioned they had just been gifted a large mansion with a sizeable basement.