1st day of Gather, Sun Descending, Year of Priest’s Defiance
Six months have past since the Obsidian Storm, and the city of Tyr has all but recovered from the attacks of the Wastewalker. Alfred, Garook, and Skander have been working with the Veiled Alliance cell in Tyr supporting its efforts to train arcanists as perservers or protect those who already are. Cato and Grrr’ik’tik have been sharing a small apartment with Cato working in the Merchant’s Ward while Grrr’ik’tik has been spending time at the Arena betting on the matches. Ysabel has kept to herself and has not been seen in some time, although a few members of the group know that she was investigating something in Tyr.
The cell leader called Alfred, Garook, and Skander into a meeting and asked if they could look into the disappearance of a research team, and a previous investigation team that had been sent to a small settlement in Under-Tyr, in an area called Tembo’s Teeth. The area is a sprawling network of natural caverns. There are rumors that years ago Kalak had some of the areas sealed off because the caverns lead to a ruined city-complex beneath the sands of Athas. However with the death of the Sorcerer-King it is possible that any of the wards tied to his magics might have failed.
The colony was said to have a water supply that didn’t draw upon any of Tyr’s aquifer and it was thought that maybe there was an arcane artifact involved. The first group was sent down four days ago, and should have reported back so a second team was sent to look for them, neither has returned.
The trio was given a small stipend with which they could hire any they thought could be trusted, and so Catp amd Grrr’ik’tik were brought with them.
When the group reached the settlement, named Hadley’s Hope, they found a disturbing stillness. No one seemed to be around, however when the group started to investigate the homes of the settlers they found that they had all been slaughtered. Many were found in bed, while others still were found posed in strange or disturbing positions. When the party investigated the main house, which also served as a small fortification, they found the remains of the second group sent by the Veiled Alliance and the settlement’s children. The four adults had been killed and posed to look like they were in fighting positions and the children had been slaughtered, torn apart by some wild beast. The party found several odd tracks that seemed to indicate some kind of beast, but they also found some indications that what ever it was it wasn’t entirely animalistic.
The group moved to the settlement’s water source and found a large basin of water with a strange obelisk. As the group approached the obelisk, Skander and Grrr’ik’tik became fatigued and their movements slowed. Grrr’ik’tik scaled the obelisk and found that the top, which looked just like an iron orb, was in fact modeled like an eye with its lid closed. There were signs that the lid had been closed recently and that seemed to activate the magics.
However before the group could investigate further they were attacked by a group of giant ants that had moved into the area recently, and who were perhaps responsible for the first team’s disappearance. The party fought the ants until only the soldier remained, and it scurried back into the nest, calling for its allies.
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