When we last ventured to the Great Basin,
It was the 5th of Shimmerfall, 1763 and the members of the task force had just had an emergency meeting with the Forum, which did not end well.
After a day of downtime, you started to look towards the next thing on your agenda, the Niven Lantern Festival as well as the creation of more magic items using the funds recovered from the bottom of the canal in Daquin. During this time, Dr. Luna announced that one of her research grants with the Arendelle government was approved, and that she would be leaving the task force to peruse that. The Arendelle form delegates said that they would be searching for a replacement member but did not have any candidates in mind at the moment.
Wil travled back to Taerwyn to talk to his father Foalan Ragnory about the Sanguine Ravager. He learned that during its last attack it sunk the Brilliant Jewel, which was the flagship of the Ragnory trading fleet and that the most unusual thing that it was carrying was a small parcel under contract from the Church of the Principality of Vi and the shipping route was from the Commune of Atrxous back to the Principality. He does not know that the item was, only that it weighted about 1 pound and that the Church of Kroina paid 500,000 gold pieces to transport it.
On the 7th, news finally broke that the Sword of Divinity had been stolen. The Truthspeaker for Kerkard, Steven Hertzler, announced its disappearance to the assembled crowd waiting for the daily news. While he was correct that the sword had been stolen during the bombing of the Founder’s Gala two months ago, that appeared to the the extent of his knowledge, and he did not mention the task force, any of your work or the League Against Koncord Eminence.
Oisin wanted to know how he learned of this information, and attempted to use detect thoughts and suggestion to get Steven to reveal his source, but neither were successful. He then sulked into an ally to use Akashic Communion to learn how Steven found out about the sword. In the reflections of his mirror, he saw a face with a black mask over the eyes and nose, two figures outlined by a fireplace and a parchment letter slipped into a front pocket.
He also asked where Vicious was an saw a plume of steam, a body in a hot spring and the entrance of a cave, visible on a small island over rough blue surf.
On the eighth, you traveled to Daitoshi, the capital of the Niven Imperium for the first time to find the Midnight Lotus and talk to Takayama as directed by Niwa in her letter. Takayama is an old Niven man and excellent tailor who was able to get everyone a fine silken kimono for 250 gp and a spacial order for Blue Eyes which will be ready on 13 Shimmerfall. While fitting everybody, he talked extensively about the history of the Imperium and a collection of artifacts from before the shattering that are housed inside the palace. In particular, he mentioned Raifusutīrā, the life stealing katana, multiple times before talking about how much it would mean to Niwa if you would help her change the leadership of the Syndicate.
After two more days of downtime, on the night of the 10th, you assembled in the courtyard of the Forum to attend the Lantern Festival. When greeted by Ikoma, the Niven forum delegate whom gave permission for you to attend in the first place, she revealed that after the outburst in the Forum on the 4th her government felt that you needed extra supervision and placed her personally responsible for you.
We now resume in the courtyard of the Imperial Palace, a large square space with two rows of cherry trees, a large koi pond and small stream running through it. Around the edges are food vendors and a stage has been erected at the far end where various performing arts groups can be seen preparing for their performances. In the center of the courtyard is a sparring ring.