Darkness at Harkness

Radislav White Falcon has asked the party to look into rumors that a group within Harkness (University) is delving into dark magic, poisons, and so on. He is unable to do anything on his own as he is opposed by Reginald Cuffrey and Tsetseg, creating a tie in the Provost Council that Valyry Deyne refuses to break in his favor for fear of fracturing the provosts.
Specifically, White Falcon wants the party to determine who has been bankrolling this research. He is confident it's some outside group, and if he can determine which, he can force the Provost Council to act, as non-interference by outsiders is a sacred tenet of Quedran rule. He may also be able to push for the ouster of Cuffrey, whom he suspects is involved.
Behind it is the Praisegood family, led by Praisegood, Mehitabel. The Praisegoods are halfling builders and landlords who have a near-monopoly over construction in the city of Harkness. (This is helped by the fact that Cuffrey is a Praisegood cousin.) Through her contacts in the university (such as Henrietta and Cuffrey himself) Mehitabel set up a secret research facility on an island a few miles out to sea. From there, her pet wizards sell their research to all comers, including the elves of Aniara. Meanwhile, Henrietta has grown disillusioned and is now supplying her sister Lizbeth's Reform Extremist movement in Volscia Mera.
Immediately after the Congress of Volscia Mera, Mehitabel demanded more money from the elves, threatening to blackmail them with evidence of their purchasing poisons, curses, etc. in violation of the peace agreement signed at the Congress. In response, Aniara sent Aquila to destroy the research facility. He succeeded almost completely, but his force was weakened by the skeleton beach.

• Cuffrey's middle name is Praisegood
• Domina Agallis is fiercely opposed to dishonorable warfare