Trouble in Neomagi

The legionary commander (Flavius Carus) in Eburacom is very happy to have had his bandit trouble dealt with. He gladly pays the reward he had offered, and asks about the pay wagon. If he is shown the letter found in the lair, he will assume that the “wealth” mentioned in it is the pay-chest. He is unhappy at the implication the bandits were working with an organized force, but has no way to follow up on it. He will ask to keep the letter to send on to his superiors for follow-up. Otherwise he will simply write up the information and include it in his official report.

(This can happen after the library incident)

However, he has a personal problem he cannot handle officially, and he will ask either Arlyss or Maxima for help dealing with it. He has a wife and children living in Neomagi, near the legionary fort there (which is his actual duty station). His wife (Olivia) has just written him a very distressing piece of news. Their daughter, Flavia, is missing. She has apparently run away to follow some street preacher into a cult.

Carus is in a panic, as he knows that if he notifies the authorities of this cult, his daughter and the others will be seized and arrested by the church. It will be impossible for him to protect his daughter if this happens. So he wants to hire the party to investigate, rescue his daughter, and break up the cult.

He knows it will not be easy, and offers them any assistance he can in the process, and his undying gratitude as well. He has no monetary reward to offer, being a younger son of an impecunious patrician family.

In Neomagi:

Meeting Olivia Carus: she is a woman of about 35-38 years. She is attractive but not beautiful, and dresses in a practical matronly way. She has three children, the missing Flavia, her son Antony Flavius Carus, and her younger daughter Ilea Carus.

They live in an apartment house in a decent neighborhood, above a wine-shop of a good sort. It appears they have a comfortable lifestyle, with at least one or two servants or slaves, but no more.

Daughter Flavia is 16. About six months ago, she began slipping out during the day, losing her escort and coming back alone several hours later. Her mother tried talking with her, but received no answers. She tried locking her in her chamber, but the girl found ways to slip out. She was later discovered missing at night as well. However, she always came back. Sometimes she would apologize, and promise not to go out again. Questioning the girl revealed that she was seeing someone named Titus, who was a priest of some sort.

But she always did leave again. The servant girl who was her companion (Acca) will swear that she never knew where her mistress went. But if pressed, the girl admits that Flavia paid her a copper every time she let her get away, and always headed towards the south end of town, where the docks and markets lie. She knows nothing else.

Little Ilea knows more, but will only tell it if bribed - her sister once told her that she was in love! Apparently this young priest Titus had swept her off her feet, and she adored him. For a long time he would not allow her to leave her home, but the night before she left, Flavia told Ilea that she would never come back (DC 15). more pressure or a larger bribe will reveal that Flavia and Titus plan to leave Neomagi and travel the countryside spreading his faith among the poor (DC 20).

No one in the household knows any more than this.

Investigations in Neomagi will reveal the following clues:

DC 10; a small cult of sun-worshippers has always existed in this area; the cult dates back to ancient times, and has always been discouraged by the priests of Centarius. Some of the oldest families are reputed to be secret sun-worshippers.

DC 10; the worship of Elanora is also common in this region among the slaves and poorest folk.

DC 15; an active cell of this sun cult is known to exist in the older, poorer side of town - it has survived by doing good works and remaining very low-key. Despite this, it is hated and despised by the Centari, who view it as heretical and even traitorous.

DC 20; Neomagi has recently had a rash of disappearances; mostly slaves but a few people of other classes have become interested in the cult, and have then gone missing. In several cases those who went missing sold their shops and most of their belongings, and then left without a word. In others, slaves simply vanished without any sign of flight or trace of a path.

DC 25; the cult has a base behind an old wine-shop in a particular street. Those who wish to contact them should start looking there.

When PCs begin to investigate the priest Titus, they can find (DC 10) that he was known to live and work mostly in the southern end of town, where the poorer working class mostly live, and where the docks and warehouses are located.

Asking directly about Titus in that neighborhood has a DC 15 chance of turning up the streets where he often spends his afternoons.

DC 15; Titus is a priest of Elanora, who has no connection to any organized group or temple in the region

DC 20; Titus spoke recently to several of his small group of followers about leaving Neomagi to travel the roads in pilgrimage.

DC 25; Titus’ best friend John Corvinus is a leatherworker at a particular shop; he might know where Titus has gone.

When the PCs learn about the Sun Cult, they should use their religion knowledge to learn that the followers are probably worshipping KOL, the sun god, and father of Centarius in the godly order of things. Kol’s symbol is a sun-disk with rays shooting from it, and his colors are yellow and orange.

At some point the PCs will be in a tavern asking questions and a woman will sidle up to whoever is wearing the sun-enameled bracers from the tree-wizard. She will very softly ask “Do you believe in Kol the True-father?”

If the PC says No, or imples that he has no idea what she means, then she will briefly stay and indicate vague interest in the bracers, but leave as soon as politeness allows. She will admit to being an antiques collector if pressed. Her name is Antonia Fulvia.

If the PC says yes, or doesn’t answer clearly, she invites them to come to her husband’s antique shop and “see other similar merchandise”. Again, she leaves as soon as it is polite.

IF the PCs said no, then soon after leaving the tavern, they are set upon by four rogue/robbers. The robbers are interested only in subduing the person with the bracers, and may follow for a while hoping to isolate that person before attacking. They grab the bracers (or the person if they cannot spend the 2 rounds removing the bracers from him/her) and flee.

IF they said yes, then when they show up at the antique shop Antonia and her husband Lucius Fulvia are waiting. They greet the PCs and usher them through the shop and down the cellar stairs. They enter the cellar and pass through a door into a small antechamber with two other entrances. From there to a room about 30’ square. There are a dozen or so people waiting there, sitting on benches before an altar. Soon a priest in orange robes enters.