The Case of the Missing Sapphire. Sapphire the Agency's monkish Sambian operative is late back. Harn says she was on a simple mission to deliver a box (assumed to contain a magic item) to a priest in an outlying village. A jackdaw has turned up, however, which keeps repeating the message 'Help, captured, follow!'. A rescue
party is formed which includes Elwin's new signing Arlan Russet, said to be handy in combat with his two short swords, and Isadora from the
Sisters of Mercy.
The bird is duly followed to a remote cottage which has a cellar and some recently used manacles which are puzzingly empty although a strand of Sapphire's hair is
present at the scene. Further footprints which may be Sapphire's lead away from the cottage and further sets of footprints seem to follow hers. The party
follow the trail for a time but then double back to investigate the village priest's house where Sapphire should have delivered her package. A local layabout confirms she did pass through the village heading for thr priests house.
Since the priest is neither in his house or the church the party break in. Hidden in a secret
compartment in the floor is a book suggesting he had an unusual interest in demonology and had found an ancient temple on a nearby hill. The party proceed to the hill as dusk falls and see an eerie light emanating from its summit. Two cultists guarding a ruined temple are swiftly overpowered but the party quickly realise that more are on their way.
An ambush is prepared but the cultists are numerous and they have with them a female sacrifice who thankfully is not Sapphire. The party begin to realise that
Sapphire is not far away when one of the cultists reports his friend seems to have gone missing on the way up the hill and then fails to return himself. Milo
makes contact with Sapphire and the party set up an ambush as the cultists start their ritual with the priest their chief target. Despite the odds the priest
is overcome before he can use any spells and his followers (who are all from the local village) don't show too much bottle as a result.
Sister Isadora stays in the village for a while to oversee their penance for their crimes.
The Case of The Lost Child. A distraught mother comes to the Agency. Her child has gone missing while playing in the cellar. Examining the scene of the crime
the party can't help noticing a large hole in the floor (big enough for a small child or an expendable halfling if you happen to have one). The sides of the hole
suggest that the rock has been melted although it seems to have cooled now. Before the party can just push him down the hole to see how deep it is Milo volunteers to
explore where it goes under more controlled circumstances. Meanwhile the mother's story starts to unravel and she confesses that her son had strange powers
with regard to animals and her husband who was a member of the
King's Men used to get very irate about it and lock him in the cellar. Manacles which have been melted through seem to confirm
this new disturbing detail. The party then remember the group of dwarves who have been secretly digging in the Agency's basement and use their expertise to both work out where
the hole goes to (Milo reckons it is 150' deep) and to get them there via their newly excavated tunnel.
Tracking in the Undercity tunnels from where the hole broke into those passages leads to another hole which is seemingly bottomless. The party, however, work out that if the child summoned the creature (which they are beginning to believe) he might have parted company with it. Finding some small passages off the main tunnels
the party find the child who is holed up with some giant weasels and persuade him to talk to his mother who they then fetch. The child does not want to return
home and after consulting Elwin and using the good graces of Medalric the party wangle a place for him at the Order of the Golden Light monastery.
The Case of The Ghostly Guardian. Elwin has an acquaintance called Artie 'The Fence' Fox who Elwin unconvincingly explains gets his name from the fact he used to run a small business selling garden boundaries. Artie needs help
recovering his 'inheritance' which he buried in his old home before coming to the City. He has attempted this
once before but was chased away by an evil spirit that seems to have taken over his old house which is situated in some
foothills some way northwest of the City. The party is supplemented by Isadora who knows how to deal with restless spirits.
As the journey is a long one they camp for the night by the side of the Feywood in the comforting knowledge that nobody believes
that fey exist apart from a few country bumpkins. Unaccountably the watch the party set fall fast asleep although everyone has peaceful dreams and Beorthric in particular seems to be happy with his.
Following some little-used trails into the foothills the party eventually find Artie's old house and make their way into
the backgarden which is surrounded by a tall thorn hedge. Unfortunately things get weird as first Nameless attacks Milo and then the spirit possesses Artie who cries 'Mother, No'. Meanwhile the more practical members of the party are digging
up Artie's treasure leaving Isadora to deal with the possession of Nameless and Artie. Happily she is competent enough
to cause the spirit to retreat but once the hoard has been dug up she decides she can no longer hold the spirit and the
party beat a hasty retreat. Artie confesses to Isadora that his mother was a witch who preyed on travellers and made him
help her until one day he rebelled, killed her and ran away to Pell's Hold. The experience of being 'reunited' with his mother has horrified him and he donates all the hoard to the Sisters of Mercy.
On the way back the party again camp by the Feywood thinking it might be a good place to avoid any bandits who may have
heard about Artie's hoard. In the morning they are surprised to find that their camp is surrounded by eight horses who
appear to have mislaid their riders. When they get back to Pell's Hold Artie shows his gratitude by giving the party
a discount on several items in his shop. Meanwhile Isadora contacts her superiors with a view to putting the ghost to
rest permanently.
A Quiet Night In With The Watch. The Watch have had to second some of their men to quell a riot in a nearby village. The Agency are approached to supply temporary
staff overnight for the Watch HQ. The party are 'volunteered' for this duty and Og and his son think it will be cool to be in the Watch so come along too. The party are sworn
in as deputies and used to do some admin work which Arlan interprets as a chance to snoop around in the Watch's files.
In the early morning many of the party have lapsed into playing cards when the City's church bells start to sound the alarm and a Watch patrolman, Kennard, bursts
in and says a large party of Orcs are heading down the street towards them.
The Orcs seem to have deliberately targeted the Watch HQ and even though Captain Roric
orders the thick doors barred and bolted things look bad because the Orcs have brought a battering ram. Many of the party take to the Watch's balcony to thin
the Orcs out with missile fire while Ogson guards the back door and Og and Roric create a barricade of chairs and tables to defend should the Orcs break through
the door. Despite the numbers of the Orcs Og and Roric form a formidable pair of fighters to rally round and the Watch are victorious even though the Orcs managed to
force their way in. Watchmen Kennard is however
grievously wounded and has to healed by Nameless. The night's action leads to firm friendships been developed between the Agency members and the watchmen,
particularly between Nameless and Kennard who are often seen drinking together afterwards.