City of Decay

Having begun their mission to destroy Zerua's growing plague engine, the team headed down to coast to investigate the quarantined cities. After some time on the seas, the Gods arrived in the city of Elorta - city of breweries, workshops, weavers, and, now, decay. 

Entering the City

The port of Elorta was open for business and for resupplying ships, even if the gates of the city were locked. The guards didn't move to open the gates despite the Gods arriving on an imperial warship bearing the emperor's crest, and the Gods didn't make any moves to throw around their imperial authority. Instead, Potha went to check out the portside district and fishing suburbs that were outside the gate area while Makar investigated the local aquatic settlement. 
Makar found a beleaguered Squiddle trading camp, that reported that an octoperson warlock had attacked and infected their settlement - costing them many lives. Potha found that a warlock temple that Zofara had warned her about, run by an antagonistic master warlock named Mibora. Mibora ran the temple in dedication to Elder Leviathan known as the Scarred One, and worked to convince her followers that they depended on her for their connection to the leviathan. Potha and Makar converged on the temple and had some immediate conflict with the power-hungry and abusive warlock, but Mibora didn't seem particularly apocalypse-aligned so the matter was dropped.
While Makar and Potha explored portside, Kipilu and Arzet used magic to silently spirit past the city walls to scout ahead. The pair found that the city guard were enforcing a strict curfew, and things seemed to be tense with people chafing against the new restrictions. Further into the city, they also found symbols of the Eketari Circles proudly displayed by gang enforcers who controlled the streets. In the no-man's land between the gangs and the guards, a masked cult was burning possessions and was demanding penance for people to be spared the wrath of Isari the Stormlord, a god in Kamada. 
Kipilu went searching for a place to stay in the city, and found both a hedonistic party tavern and a covert inn catering to smugglers. He paid for the covert inn, while Arzet went to go talk with a random gang enforcer he'd run into. After Arzet introduced the topic of weird cats, the relatively friendly enforcer introduced Arzet to his weird friend and co-worker, Zelten. Zelten was a Circle enforcer who had become obsessed with conspiracy theories that cats were not only sentient, but may be controlling current events behind the scenes. Zelten and Arzet quickly became friendly, and Arzet got a city map off of him. 

Building Leads

The next day, the team quickly began gathering leads. Makar and Potha used magic to slip into the city as well, and began investigating the Isari cult - which seemed to be organizing in large numbers and preaching extreme penance to avoid the plague. Kipilu went to check out the hedonist inn again and found a merchant named Adolli there who was buying up the possessions of the desperate and despairing for cheap. Kipilu went to Adolli's shop and purchased a few interesting things include a vial of dragon's blood and blueprints for a water drill. 
As the team swept through the city asking into leads, they managed to russle up a few threads:

• The Quarantine districts of Lobsterport, Blackwater, and the Fringe all seemed quite bad
• The Isari cult was organizing and militarizing for an unknown purpose
• The Circles and city guard seemed to be having some kind of dispute
• The Cats of the city were divided between religiously radicalizing warriors, a small group of the The Scourge, and corrupted Jellicles in Ambertown
• A strange shadow creature was assaulting Windweavers in the Brightwater district

The team decided to go after the shadow creature first, and staged an ambush at the Windweaving Center. They talked with the manager and some of the local windweavers, had Makar pose as bait, and stationed the rest of the party below. When the creature came, manifesting out of pollution itself to drag Makar into the air, the group's trap flew into action. Potha summoned an air elemental to freeze it in place, Makar dragged it down the tower onto the cobblestone below, and Arzet teleported Makar out before they took damage - effectively smashing the demon into the ground at high speeds. It seemed to dissolve and a splinter of it drifted off with its incorporeal form, but they were able to capture and destroy that splinter. The body of the beast had a fungal Divine Contact sigil, indicating that this is likely a Safia entity.
That night, Kipilu and Dina talked, and Dina warned Kipilu against going by sea to their next destination - a terrible storm was headed towards them.

Jellicle Fights

The next day, the group went to investigate the cat situation in Ambertown. Along the way, they hunted for gifts and trinkets to give to their friends, and Potha bought a pearl necklace as a gift. They were able to locate an abandoned theater that was heavily trapped; they carefully infiltrated it to find a macabre Jellicle performance with a cast of infected mindless cats. The Octoperson warlock from the port was also there in the audience, watching the spectacle in a machine suit. The group ambushed the warlock, shattering its vessel and initiating combat. 
Massive swarms of pests swarmed from under the stage across the lower seats, as the Gods magically fortified the upper rows with greasefires. Potha launched into action, cleaving through enemies on-stage while her compatriots launched volleys of magical attacks from the audience. They were able to slay a number of corrupted Jellicles and their 'Hand of God' magical construct that they summoned, but they were bloodied in the fray and the Jellicle leader escaped with a number of followers.
After the fight, the Gods investigated the theater and found a lot of trapped doors, and finally a secret passage to an underground canal that seemed to be where the Jellicles fled. Nearby, the Gods found a cat left behind: Bucefalis the fancy cat, who claimed to be the Jellicles' prisoner. They offered the pathetic mew mew a place aboard their ship. 
Rather than pursue the Jellicles, the team decided to rest and prepare to pursue other leads. They had defeated a number of monsters lurking in the city's shadows - it seemed that, with enough time, they could cleanse Elorta entirely.

Components

Goals

QUEST:

• Destroy the nascent Zeruan Plague Engine, to prevent a new Plague Variant
• Scout out the powers and weaknesses of the Nemeses
• Make connections and allies
• Marshal resources

Relations

Protagonists

Makar: The Masked One reborn, from Etekamo . Divine Soul Sorcerer, Courtier Background (?)
Potha: Halcyon reborn, from the Sarana Tribe . Beastmaster Ranger, Outlander Background

• Coco: a friendly moa with a sweet tooth, Potha's bonded companion
• Cobi: a determined falcon loyal to Potha
• The Prison Rat: a rat with a sense of style, loyal to Potha

Kipilu: The Hidden One reborn, from Tezitkal . Glamour Bard, Acolyte Background.
Arzet: The Chimera reborn, from Adov . Conjuration Wizard, Sage Background.

• Darana, a Nefkan Vesper priest who can speak with dead and resist fear, but requires burial of the dead
• Kiji, a Calazan Kobold explorer who can help Arzet super-leap, returns thrown weapons, but requires curiosity
• Sarwen, an Inasan dryad scholar who can see disease auras and helps with research, but requires everything to be recorded
• Siru, a Bilgazan Healing Church alchemist who can help Arzet make healing potions and increases Arzet's speed by 10 ft/round, but requires that the secrets of alchemy be kept guarded
• Thuma, a Nafenan squiddle blackguard who can help Arzet turn invisible underwater (when not attacking or casting) and increases swim speed by 30 ft/round, but requires Arzet to take no quarter against any foes

Allies

Zofara: A fatalistic warlock who presents as hyper-goth. Sworn to the Scarred One.
Eada the Sellsword: A mercenary and shapeshifter experimented upon by a strange magician
Ezia: A dryad childhood friend of Makar. Studying wizardry under Arzet
Topin: A Guardian of Hokzin, a child-soldier with a long rifle, a pious idealist
Imora: A Sunekan Fox Priest, a Sunekan secret police officer who has become hopelessly cynical

Neutrals/Bystanders

Mibora, The Master of Secrets: A narcissistic and power-hungry warlock who runs a cult devoted to the Elder Leviathan known as the Scarred One in Elorta. 
Bucefalis, the Coward Cat: A pathetic little mew-mew. 
Zelten, the Cat Sleuth: A gang enforcer aligned with the The Circles obsessed with conspiracies that cats are not only sentient, but secretly involved in orchestrating events

A Map of Elorta's districts

Plot type

QUEST

Parent Plot

The Prodigal Child Returns

Subplots

• Sunk Cost

Related Organizations

• Empire of Zerua
• Vice-Kingdom of Mikena