8th of Eleint, 1502 DR

Myself, Srin, Torva, Alvin, Citrus

I'll be honest, I didn't fully understand this one, even though it was pretty simple.

We were to meet at the One Eye Jax with a bartender named Serena, in the city of Luskan. On our way there, a drow child snagged my Headband of Awareness right off my noggin. Obviously, we pursued after them, and were blocked by two drow adults. Their parents? Don't think so. We pacified the two and restrained the one, taking my work back. After some questioning, we found the bar! Apparently they were hired by someone at the bar to steal from us? Their boss or something? Weird.

When there, we were tasked with our mission: clear out spiders from a basement. Very tedious job. Took two days! The spiders were strangely smart and strangely dangerous, but still no match to us. The bandits were more difficult.

At the end was a big spider construct that was apparently attracting those spiders down there. Man-made construct, of course. Unfortunately for it, seems I'm pretty good at short-circuiting constructs, because it didn't get to do anything, and between my fists, Torva's storm and Alvin's stick, we made short work of it.

That's about all I remember very important there. I think Srin had more to talk about with the bartender, but I was done.

With resolve,

Snap

Eleint 8th, 1502 DR

I'm constantly put up with these jobs to initiate contact for a new location; I must be good at them. This time around, a lot of familiar faces came along for the job in the city of Luskan.

Nothing too unexpected of a port city full of roguish types, except for our lovely kobold being pocketed by a really slippery drow kid, which was a shocker in many ways. The problem was dealt with with decent speed, only to find out that quite a few drow live and work in this place. The sigil I found on one of them and the bar, One Eyed Jax, have a ring of familiarity that I can't yet put my finger on. Something to look into after the job.

The work given by Serena, the bartender, was simple: clear a basement full of spiders; ironic considering the major populace here. Only that it wasn't as simple as it sounded: a basement of spiders that was more like a trial den that would make even some of the high Houses of Menzoberranzan blush. We got rid of the problem within a day, aparrently some construct used by us to attract spiders was left inside the inner depths of that place. Still, there is no clear idea of the purpose of that place.

This city is full of secrets of the Underdark that I'm keen to find, so now with the job done, I'll stay for a few hours longer and see what I can find about this mysterious organization and maybe who's behind them... and maybe some lead towards the lost souls...

Mission Report: Spider Infestation at the One-Eyed Jax

Location: Luskan
Syndicate Members: Tova, Snap, Ssrin, Alvis, and Cyrus
Contact: Serena, bartender at the One-Eyed Jax

The Syndicate received an offer from someone identifying themselves only as “J,” who promised favorable standing in Luskan in exchange for completing a simple job. We were instructed to meet Serena at the One-Eyed Jax.

Luskan remains heavily fortified and in poor repair. Most of the people we encountered were armed and openly unfriendly. Gunshots could be heard in the distance without drawing much attention from anyone nearby.

On our way to the tavern, a young drow stole Snap’s helmet and fled. When we pursued, two adult drow confronted us. We subdued all three, and Cyrus restrained the child with his manacles. The child claimed they had been instructed by their employer to find our group. We brought him with us to the One-Eyed Jax, where Serena recognized the situation and the child identified us as the group they had been looking for.

Serena’s job involved clearing a spider infestation from the tavern’s basement. The infestation was far more extensive than she had indicated. We encountered large numbers of spiders and extensive clusters of sacs resembling eggs. We were eventually forced to withdraw, returning the following day to finish clearing the lower chambers.

In the final chamber, we discovered a mechanical spider carrying some form of substance that Ssrin identified as a spider attractant. We were unable to determine who placed it there or why someone deliberately drew so many spiders beneath the tavern.

The infestation was cleared, and we received the promised payment. I also recovered a worthwhile piece of treasure from the site.

Given the targeted theft, the child’s claim that someone had sent them to find us, and the mechanical device discovered below the tavern, I do not believe this matter is finished.

~Tova~

My companions have, no doubt, filled out the details of this adventure. I, Cyrus Sicarius, look back upon this days later. This is where I acquired the lichen which would plague me and, eventually, seemingly be spread to friends. I have brought this upon them.

In this mission of spiders and trials to prove our worth, we needed more breaks that perhaps rightfully we should have taken. Such is the cost of being in a party with so many magic users. They've no way but to engage but to burn themselves at both ends. It's not something for me to judge. We managed in the end, all the same, to clear the spiders which were attracted to the bait the the spider-golem had. Our job is done and we are paid, and now, we need only live with the repercussions.