Lysander Moorgrave offers Trustin tasks that appear benign, but further involves him in his activities and brings him closer to becoming a trusted ally. Lysander sees potential in him, and is starting to position him for future influence.
Thorne Greycloak begins speaking out about the rising costs of caravan guards after the recent increase in attacks by raiders, arguing that the major house should be providing better support for the supply convoys or at the brewery least, offsetting the cost to the local merchants. Large merchants like himself and Lysander can bear the increased costs but it is seriously hurting the smaller organisations and individuals that he so fervently supports. Thorne organises wagon convoys and attempts to break down the shared cost of protection equitably, whereas Lysander actively employs more mercenaries than are strictly needed, reducing the number available and further driving up prices to affect his competition and increase the demand on his own supplies, which he is then able to sell at a higher price. Greycloak continues to bring new customers to Antioch, expanding his network of stable customers.
Lysander invites Trustin to meet him at his townhouse in the wealthier district of Fairstead. The townhouse is well-kept, with a warm fire, fine furnishings, and a library full of rare books. Lysander's private study is where they have their conversations, and where Trustin is subtly tested throughout their meetings with other merchants and members of the township. He carefully broaches the topic of Thornes recent orations and surprisingly, seems to agree with the rival merchants ideas. He backs Trustin's proposal to write a petition to Mayor Alric Eldrin to request assistance and funding from House Tur’Meric. He makes it clear that he cannot possibly sign such a petition, but he puts Trustin on a path to meet half a dozen local notables to have them sign instead. He sends sealed instructions with Trustin for each of these people to explain himself so that they are receptive to Trustin's request. One notable that he meets is Hilda Brandt, An ancient, matriarchal crone with deep roots in Fairstead, Hilda is known for her beloved apples and quiet influence. Having cared for generations of townsfolk, Hilda Brandt is a force to be reckoned with and holds unspoken sway over many long-term residents, although she appears to care for little more than her apples. Maeve strikes up a friendship with the crone.
The hunters have had no success tracking the large elk spotted near town recently, so Maeve, Trustin and Cedric decide to return to the south west tour to investigate. At the ritual site under the tower, they discovered that there was a new set of scrapes on the passage walls heading inside. They appeared to match the elk's antler scratches that they had witnessed previously. Encouraged, they descended past the tunnels security traps to the main ritual chamber, where they find that the signs of their previous encounter have been removed, some bodies appearing to have been dragged away.
They explore some of the tunnels that branch off from the main chamber and discover that each tunnel turns exactly twice (cutting off the view of the doorway that they entered) before ending in a dead end. They discovered that there was always a stone "button" hidden somewhere on the frame that would open the dead ends like a doorway. As the new door opened, the old one closed, and the pattern of the labyrinth repeated. The buttons triggering the doors were in different places and required sometimes difficult searches to find. The turns of the passageways were not consistent and sometimes felt that they looped back on themselves. They eventually realised that there were also hidden doors at the bends of some tunnels which further complicated the maze.
They backtracked to the main chamber and reinvestigated, discovering marks that appeared to match the elks antlers heading off into one of the unexplored tunnels. Following the marks, they came across a decades-old corpse wearing the cloak in the style of a member of House Tur'meric's guards. On the body they found the remains of a messengers kit and an amulet pinned to the inside of the collar, engraved with a turmeric flower overlaid with a scroll and sword. His side knife was missing, although the party later recovered it from Eryndor and found it engraved with the initials "K.V"
Continuing, the eventually entered a chamber where a small puddle of water was collecting, and the room was littered with the bodies of shadow rats. Some of the rats were desiccated and looked drained as a result of having had their essence 'reabsorbed' to the sleeper, while others looked to have been bludgeoned and devoured, some killed by knife, and some looked ripped apart as if by talons.
Eryndor, after fleeing the encounter with the party, had become lost in the pitch blackness of the catacombs. In desperation to survive, He began to consume some of the manifested creatures (rat folk) that made their way towards the still active conduit that the party had left open after disrupting the ritual previously. Something inside him changed as a result and he began transforming, absorbing some of the creatures’ characteristics and becoming more monstrous, driven by an unnatural hunger. He missed his opportunity to escape while the other cultists returned to disable the traps and allow the elk the be drawn in to the conduit and reabsorbed. He came across the discarded remains of the elk and dragged it back, attempting to gain what little sustenance he could from it. When the trio returned, he slipped by them and escaped, taking the gemstones that they had used to disarm the traps in the tunnels.
When the party left, they discovered this and were fortunate to have bought spare gemstones. They followed Eryndors tracks and encountered two charcoalers who had been set upon by Eryndor. They stabilised the wounded man and redoubled their efforts, eventually catching up with the misshapen man. After a short tussle, they were able to retrain him although he was incoherent and babbling about feeling the pull of the sleeper from the north and needing to get to it. They allowed him to walk at the end of a rope and he led them to the north east tower, although he was able to communicate they he did not feel the pull at the present moment. Trustin then dispatched him and left his body in the woods.
Word count: 1,078