The Public Works Department is seeking adventurers to assist with a matter of public safety relating to the sewers of Acryn. Pay will be 20R. Applicants should provide their own equipment and should not be averse to sewers.

• Aaeon Fairway - James W
• Geoffrey Graves - Michael S
• Andrea Graves - Jasper
• Karlos Farblade - Matthew

The crocodile anomaly in the sewers proves too dangerous for the party to handle. Thankfully, they are saved just in time by a group from the Department of Public Works who assign them a new mission: to investigate a murder. While Karlos voices confusion over how that’s the jurisdiction of sewer workers, they end up embroiled in the investigation which points to a Valydian god, Samaya the Vengeful and her followers who seek revenge against Acryn’s diplomatic delegation to Valydd for the killing of Lomek and the betrayal of Valydd.

They discover that Samaya intends to attack the Council Building where Samuel Skye and Jimmy Hoskins are in session. They defeat Samaya in the foyer with the assistance of Councilman White but Samaya’s body fades away. However, a search of one of her acolytes shows that the threat is not yet over… it appears that a bomb has been planted beneath the council.

The party fight their way through a group they assume are leader-incarnate cultists and catch up with Samaya’s high priest just as he lights the fuse. A pitched battle ensues. There is hope as the fuse is snuffed out but while the party are engaged, the priest relights it. The battle becomes desperate. Badly injured and seeing defeat, Aaron flees. Andrea and Geoffrey fall. Karlos turns to goo and in one last bid to save the council, splatters himself over the fuse as it burns inches from the barrels of black powder.

The few minutes he buys gives Councilman White the time he needs to warn the councillors but before they can be evacuated, the fuse is lit and the barrels explode.

For those in the sewers, there is a rush of light and sound, followed by a gaping nothingness.

Andrea and Geoffrey, each alone, find themselves communing with shadowy figures and each offered a choice and a second chance. They accept but Geoffrey finds his choice may have severe consequences as he feels a part of the power within him be torn away.

At street level, Aaron has just climbed out of the sewer when he hears the explosion. There is confusion everywhere. People shout, calling for aid. Smoke billows from the Council Building and a cloud of ash and dust falls, blanketing the surrounding streets like burnt snow. Aaron staggers away to the nearest Tender Church where priests and acolytes push past him, running toward the scenes of the devastation. Finally, one junior priest spots him and heals his wounds before she too heads toward the Council Building.

Hours later, the dust has settled and Karlos oozes up through the paving stones to reform on the street. The Tender Church has set up rows of tents outside the Council Building. The square has become an emergency hospital, tending to the victims of the blast. Councilman White is there, doing what he can to help – he and Vincenzo Cargan were saved by the grace of the Tender and together they were able to save many of the lives that would otherwise have been lost.

Karlos reports to Councilman White about Samaya and the leader cultists. White is able to update him about the situation; 17 people died, 6 of whom were councillors, including Lukas Vedetti the Wayfinder Guild Representative. Jimmy Hoskins was pulled from the rubble, miraculously still alive, his hand grasping the hilt of his Star Mirror rapier. Samuel Skye was found half a street away, impaled by a large shard of glass but is expected to make a full recovery.

Thanks to Karlos’ report, a search party is put together to excavate the collapsed sewer tunnels and recover the remains of Andrea and Geoffrey. For two days and nights, the teams work, digging through the rubble until, on dawn of the third day, they find two bodies. It seems impossible but not only are they not vaporised but they’re both still alive and even semi-conscious.

Meanwhile, Karlos returns to the Department of Public Works to make his report. He is paid a token sum on 10 riel for trying to stop the bomb. It’s there that he realises that the whole situation was one big case of mistaken identity so he heads to the Public Works Department who pay him 20 riel just to get him to stop asking questions that they don’t want to answer in case they get into trouble with the Civil Service.

Days later, Andrea and Geoffrey awake in separate private rooms in the Tender Temple. They seem to have broken nearly every bone in their bodies and they’re badly burnt but under the priests’ ministrations, they are making swift recoveries, save for one notable exception. They both have a wound that just won’t heal… a stab wound over their hearts. It doesn’t seem to be negatively affecting them but no matter what the priests do, it stays fresh and unhealed.

Andrea discharges himself from their care and heads to the Graves estate to deliver the sad news that Geoffrey Graves is dead. He then reports to the Department of Public Works who pay him 10 riel for his efforts and the Public Works Department who take pity on him and give him 10 riel for trying to kill the croc.

A couple of days pass and Geoffrey leaves the Church, and returns to his family who are surprised to see him alive. They also pass on to him 10 riel that was delivered to his next of kin by the Public Works Department.

Aaron gets his 10 riel from the Public Works Department, buys a drink and reflects on his failures…

Andrea and Geoffrey are aware that they were saved for a reason. They must live for Acryn and one day, they will give their lives for the city. In the meantime, they will be watched very closely by the one who saved them and if they waver in their devotion to Acryn, she will judge them very harshly.

Andrea has gained Divine Favour of the Traitor.

Geoffrey has switched class from a Leader Priest to a Traitor Priest. Any XP spent on skills/miracles that are no longer available to him are refunded and may be reallocated.

Both have the stigmata of the Traitor – a stab wound over the heart that will not heal.

Acryn is in chaos. In the days that follow the Council Bombing, Mayor Hoskins appeals for calm. An emergency council meeting is held at an estate outside the city where a State of Emergency is declared in response not only to the bombing but also to the threats of Andrinavana the Untamed, the draconic forest growing from the rift in the sky and the black-eyed people murdering and kidnapping mages.

An Emergency Powers Bill is quickly drafted and passed by the council, though not without a fair amount of contention. The final bill gives the City Watch and their deputies additional powers of arrest and detention without trial in cases where the security of the city is at stake. Extra restrictions and checks are placed on foreigners entering Acryn, both by road and via the Dragon Gate. Within the Council a number of measures are put in place to expedite the passing of legislature.

The Wayfinder’s Guild is moving quickly to elect a new Council Representative, though the decision is causing the various factions within the Guild to become more and more argumentative.

The Church of the Builder has been commissioned to build a new Council Building with better security. It’s not certain yet whether it will be built where the ruins of the old building currently stand or if a new site will be chosen.

For those in the know, there is a major restructuring of the Civil Service. An inquest is launched to discover how highly trained spies managed to mistake adventurers employed to clean out a sewer for fellow agents. Most involved in the fiasco have been reassigned to “quieter” desks. A couple have vanished but they’ve probably just been moved somewhere remote… probably…