Kettle Croquet Flank Korabi of Gilderncage III

A member of House Aviary. Played by Ethan Rath.

#### Response:

You travel to **Bastion** and immediately head to the merchant district to maybe see if you can gather some info about some illegal substances. You at first just slowly go from shop stall to shop stall trying to overhear conversation and see if there is anything that catches your attention. You hear some small talk about the food supply being low but that is about the best of it.

Your first actual 3 days in Bastion gets you really nowhere. So you decide on the 4th day to try and go to the **Gloom Guards** district and hear what the soldiers have to say instead. At first you get nothing but the normal small talk and complaints about how training was and how tired they are. But after about a while, you finally hear something that perks your attention. You overhear some soldiers talking about a get-together of some sorts in the **Red Dew Tavern** where they are supposed to be having a special drink tonight for all. They state that this is the drink that they get every now and again from the mysterious person in the white hood. You get excited as this brings back memories and that you may have found what you are looking for.

You head over to the **Red Dew Tavern** and see what this is all about. It's a nicer tavern and really busy. It seems like the info was correct. You make your way in and to the bar. The human bartender asks what you'll be having and you respond with the special. He nods and reaches under the counter and pores you a drink. You thank him and head off to drink it. As soon as it hits your tongue a rush of familiar tastes come back. This is unbelievably delicious. You down it as fast as possible. You head to the counter for more. The bartender tells you that unfortunately it's only 1 per customer. You look more annoyed than anything. You stare at the glass and start to smell the few drops left. This is definitely something special. It's almost like you want more, but are not compelled to do so. (Basically it is an LCO Euphoria where you do drink a Euphoria but there are no side effects or negatives. You do not need an antidote and will not lose any body per the rules. Let us know at the game if you're ok with this please.)

You ask the bartender if he knows who dropped off this supply. He points as you see a **white hooded figure** walk out the tavern. By the time you get outside you only just manage to catch a glimpse of him causally dipping down an alleyway which are are not terribly surprised to find is empty when you arrive at it yourself moments later. You know that there is someone out there selling this and you want to know more. You sleep through the night and head back in the morning.

### June IBGA

#### Response:

While you are unable to reach the **Guildmistress Ivorhook**, who is currently busy overseeing **House Gnosis**’ preparations for the launch of the Bastion Expeditionary Force in the coming fall, you are invited to the House's tower within the capitol city to speak with one of their members. You are greeted by a female dwarf who introduces herself as **Nyra Ivorhook**, in her words, “the chief head hunter for House Gnosis.” Nyra is a blunt woman who is very enthusiastic about meeting with you, especially as citizens of New Zenith almost never speak with any of the major Houses of Bastion, aside from their political negotiations with **House Toiracsi**. She is quite open about how excited **House Gnosis** would be to combine their alchemical knowledge with that of **New Zenith** and makes it quite clear that sharing those secretes would see you advancing up the house hierarchy significantly faster than the more traditional paths.

When you make it clear that you are, at the moment at least, simply looking to see what you might be able to assist with for the good of both Bastion and New Zenith and the general political niceties that you are so familar with. Nyra does not seem surprised and shows you too an area where several of their latest house prospects, individuals that have shown enough talent to catch the eye of the house but who have yet to be officially sponsored, where they have been set the task of researching and experimenting with the preservation of food and says you are welcome to join them. While definitely not the opportunity to smooze with the head of the house as you had hoped, you recognize a challenge when you see one and set about giving a proper showing of your skills. The prospects are nice enough, and while only a couple of them would qualify as anything beyond a basic apprentice within New Zenith, they are all competent enough as to not be a hindrance. Plus they love to gossip.

During your time working with them you learn the following bit of information.

* The Major Houses of Bastion are using the upcoming expedition as a way of showing their influence and to curry favor with the crown

* The High Arcanist has always been a bit on the odd side, as most folks who reach that level of understanding tend to be, but he’s gotten significantly more erratic in recent months. Rumor is that he hasn’t slept in weeks and is staying awake with simulants from House Gnosis, or that he’s been getting Euphoria from House Gnosis to help him sleep. Nobody has a concrete source but it is clear that the High Arcanist is getting regular deliveries of some sort from the highest levels of the House Gnosis Alchemists.

By the end of your time working with the prospects you’ve made several connections with them, as well as identified several more you you’re fairly sure can hardly stand you. You’ve also found that they are actually making progress on their assignment and you are fairly sure you could crack it, given some more time working on it