Session 1
While attending the annual treaty festival in Kraiton, we witnessed the assassination of Brekker, Kraiton’s Captain Of The Guards. Three of us pursued the assassin and Vasquez searched the body, discovering a curious letter that spoke of malfeasance involved with crystal mining, heavily favouring an unknown enterprise named Deepwell Holdings and mentioning that ‘The Illuminated will remember this’. The Illuminated are a common urban myth circulated mostly by conspiracy theorists. The letter suggests they may in fact be real. We interrogated the halfling assassin, discovering that he was hired by Wicket and that he believed the guard captain to be corrupt. Handing him over to detectives, Mulder and Watson, we decided it was best to investigate further before handing over the letter. We need to play both sides of this for as long as we can. Using a Syndicate contact well known for having his ear to the ground - codename The Mouth - we learned that Wicket isn’t Syndicate, he’s a crackpot conspiracy theorist. Moving on then to the address given to us by the assassin, we scoped out his apartment, watched him packing a bag to leave. Vasquez used his skills to pose as the captured assassin and gain entry. We saw a complicated mess of photographs, documents and string, learned that the Syndicate’s boss is Wicket’s next target, and after that Isaac Newt - a scholar highly placed in the university, apparently assisting in the treaty negotiations this year. When Wicket discovered the ruse, he locked himself in the rather fortified bathroom of his flat. Shortly after, a knock at the door sent the party into a panic and, thinking it was another cohort of Wicket’s, decided to reassume the assassin’s disguise to answer the door. Only after answering the door did we realise our mistake - the new visitor was in fact Detective Mulder, having just come from interrogating the very person Vasquez was impersonating. The door was slammed in his face. Vaelith Nen and Vasquez traded places and Vasquez hid under the bed while Sun attempted to enter the close bathroom as a mouse. Some fast talking by Vaelith Nen kept suspicion off us and Mulder hauled Wicket away for questioning after Vaelith Nen flooded the toilet to get him out of the bathroom. Further examination of Wicket’s wall of crazy revealed that what crystal has actually been mined this year far exceeds what’s been reported. Someone is embezzling crystal. Is the letter we found the actual amount mined or the official amount reported? We retired to Sun’s residence to long rest and prepare for the coming day. Sun researching Deepwell, Vasquez and Lirial discussing a possible assault on Red, the Syndicate leader, and Vaelith Nen pondering the grander implications of a conspiracy that may well plunder the world into chaos.
Session 2
In the middle of the night, we were attacked by assassins. When we defeated them, they carried no identification or other personal effects except our names, pictures and their attempts to pin down addresses for us all. After cleaning up the bodies, we contacted Mulder who came quickly. He shared his concerns about something wrong, mentioning that Brom and Wicket were both killed in custody by strange means that appear to be poisonous. Bluish skin, dark veins spidering out from the mouth. We decided to trust Mulder, telling him our info and showing him the letter. We then regrouped to chase down the various leads, dividing the work amongst Mulder, Lirial and Vasquez, Sun and Nen. Mulder would look into official sources for info on the current state of the treaty and any reports of crystal mining totals. Sun and Nen would visit the university library and records for information on Deepwell and visit Isaac Newt to confront him about the break in and the crystal conspiracy. Vasquez and Lirial would visit The Professor, a syndicate tech genius, for information on the Syndicate’s involvement in the treaty process and Red’s current whereabouts, focus and company he keeps. Sun and Nen discovered a registered listing for Deepwell Holdings, but little else except for two names Mara Brightwater and Brekker, the Guard Captain who was assassinated, associated with Deepwell. Vasquez and Lirial discovered that the Syndicate is typically very low on the totem pole in regards to crystal allocations and in the past has negotiated up from that position through clandestine meetings with the other shareholders, offering various services in exchange for under the table crystal payments. Red used these tactics in years past, but this year, seems to be doing something else and keeping his cards very close to the vest, secluding himself. The Professor overheard the mention of Deepwell Holdings on her last visit to him. She also gave some prototypes to Vasquez and Lirial to try. Nen and Sun then visited Isaac Newt and taking a bold, front-on approach, picked up on suspicious body language from Newt, leading them to believe that Newt had something hidden behind a bookcase and that he was also very likely complicit in the attack the previous night. Sun and Nen decided to keep surveillance on Newt until he left and then we would infiltrate. Returning to the University, Vasquez and Lirial spotted Nen hovering around one of the university buildings. Shortly after, Newt left his quarters and the party successfully broke in, investigating the suspicious bookcase. A hidden passageway behind it led to a room with a barely conscious man chained to the wall, a gag in his mouth and signs of the symptoms that killed the two halfling conspiracy theorists.