The Sting of the Dragonfly

 The morning after the incident in the Menagerie, Sgt. Ollo brought the squad to the office of Lieutenant Lavarsus. “Ollo’s report says you didn’t screw up the menagerie call too badly, but we have bigger problems than that - someone has stolen the device called the Gravedigger, a magical excavator." The Lieutenant shook his head in disgust. “I’ve got my best people—no, not you—pulling double shifts until we figure out who took it and how in the hells they pulled it off." 

"You have you reported some missing persons—a wandering wizard and some randy zookeepers. Well, half the reports on my desk are about the same thing. Now, I can’t have my top detectives chasing down every runt who didn’t hold mommy’s hand at the fair. So instead I’m putting you on it. Track down these strays and see if there’s more here than just a bunch of drunks and runaways. And for Abadar’s sake, don’t mess it up, or I’ll have you investigating the latrines in the holding cells."

Sgt Ello suggested that the squad start with the missing Minkaian stonemasons and give us directions to the Dragonfly Pagoda.

The Dragonfly Pagoda was still under construction, and is sponsored by the Minakai to highlight the  majestic culture of the Empire of Dawn. Crews have been rushing to finish the structure, and the crews, foreign and domestic, are often at odds from the pressure and hared conditions.

Upon arrival at the construction site, the squad discovered that the workers have been ejected from the structure by a band of worker Kobolds. Hostages have been taken, so technically the masons are not missing as such. 

The squad seems out and speaks with the head architect Ama Uomi. The site hired a gang from Absalom’s Undercity called the Stonescales.They have barricaded themselves inside the half-completed temple, refusing to leave or release their prisoners until their demands are met.  Ama Uomi provides a useful blueprint of the structure and asks the squad to rescue the hostages while causing minimal damage, emphasising how flammable the structure is.

Kobold Warrior

The squad splits into two teams. Valcos and Simi are sent to scout and infiltrate the structure while the rest of the squad try a peaceful approach by the front door.

The main group heads up the stairs and into the hall, encountering a scalding steam trap that they leap over.  They encounter Kobold crossbow snipers, who they capture. and proceed through the Atrium to the Antechamber, where they discover a dart trap, triggered by the sigil in the floor. 

While that is going on, Simi and Valcos capture a kobold after jimmying a shuttered window, capturing him  and slaying the guardian giant spider. The chamber is dominated by a raised dais bearing a smaller version of the red gate-arch that marked the temple’s front doors. Three bronze bells of varying sizes hang from the arch’s crossbar. The whole room is crisscrossed with strands of webbing.  

Both groups found themselves on different sides of the area leading to the stairs upwards. Simi and Valcos headed up the stairs and opened one of the double doors at the end while the others made their way across weak areas of flooring and uncertain ground. Thye Kobolds inside the room at the top of the stairs attacked; Simi had discovered the Battle Leader of the Stonescales and his band of elite warriors. Simi and Valcos fought the Kobolds while the others supported them with spell and longbow. Once the battle leader was down, the others surrendered to Simi.

Simi negotiated the safe return of the hostages in exchange for conditional amnesty for the Stonescales. Their dragonblood sorcerer claimed that the Battle Leader had been responsible for the deaths, and as such was taken into custody for trial. 

Ama tells the squad that the person who won the bid to provide local labor to the Dragonfly Pagoda project as well as to arrange building materials, housing for the foreign workers, etc., is notoriously corrupt. He arranged for the Stonescales to work as a way of expediting construction. She urges the squad to pursue the lead.

Hoff resides in an elite social club called the House of the Planes, an exclusive Underworld place in the Undercity ruins. The Kobold mage tells the squad of  a secret back door that Hoff used to bring her in for the initial meeting.  

 List of the Missing Persons

• Anastatia Corvis: A human merchant who came to Absalom to sell ice wine.
• Archibald Knight and Minera Frum: The halfling menagerie owner and his human veterinarian lover.
• Dragonfly Masons: Minkaian stonemasons working on the Dragonfly Pagoda.
• Elama Mohaso: A dwarven scholar who came to the city to study.
• Kemeneles: A human wizard originally from Taldor who trained at the Arcanamirium decades ago. His apprentice is staying with Simi's mom while we find his master..
• Lyrma Swampwalker: A gnome ranger from Vidrian who came to Absalom to see the fair.
• The Sachta Family: A family of Jalmeri tourists.

Note: All the missing persons were looking for lodging when they disappeared.