Date: 1st Midspring, 4E 1396
Location: Port Kibbe — the residential quarter, specifically Scrawble’s house, which had fallen into disrepair and been overtaken by squatters. the docks.
Party Goals:

• Fulfill the task of reclaiming Mr. Scrawble’s home from the squatters.
• Investigate signs of magical interference in the city (linking back to strange cart sabotage and ghostly rumors).
• Continue following threads that might connect these disturbances to larger arcane corruption.

The adventurers made their way to Scrawble’s residence, a house that bore all the signs of abandonment and misuse. The yard was neglected, firewood left uncut, and the front door battered. Before they could step inside, the party was met at the threshold by a thug claiming to be Jordan Baines, though his awkward delivery and clumsy handwriting betrayed him. He attempted to shoo them away, insisting there was nothing worth seeing inside.

Unconvinced, the party pressed further. Soon they spotted Cranky Frank, the gruff leader of the squatters, who barked orders and tried to maintain control of his makeshift gang. Through the windows and side doors, other figures revealed themselves:

• Mikey, whose brief, eerie exchange with Lash—palms meeting on opposite sides of a glass pane before Lash’s hand ignited with flame—left him startled.
• Sleepy Gene, found dozing in a side room with a pistol tucked under his bed.
• Drunky, half-unconscious and surrounded by bottles, stumbling through attempts to defend himself.

Attempts at negotiation gave way to chaos when Magra Greysong smashed through a window, triggering the first real clash. The group split to cover multiple rooms at once. Thalia Blackthorn used thorned magic to drag Frank off balance, while Fenric Vale cornered and battered foes into submission. Lash offered one squatter gold—and even a “patio stone” from the yard—in exchange for abandoning the fight.

Amid the skirmish, the house itself betrayed its inhabitants. A bedframe shuddered, then kicked to life as an animated object, thrashing wildly at Kain the Blessed. Not long after, a rug peeled itself off the floor, tossing burning debris before escaping out a window into the street. The strangest threat, however, was the giant spider lurking in a webbed chamber. Ashlyn Blackwood engaged it with her dark Soulbind magic, deliberately harming herself to wound the beast before draining its essence to heal. The display unnerved her allies but ended the fight in a blaze of grim efficiency.

By the time the smoke cleared—both figuratively and literally, since Kain’s flames had spread through half the house—the squatters were subdued, the magical furniture destroyed, and the house secured. The party sifted through the basement, uncovering scattered goods: bottles of Blood of the Vine wine, a music repair kit, ropes, and odds and ends that hinted at Scrawble’s eccentric life. Thalia Blackthorn also quietly pocketed a spy training manual, keeping her find to herself.

The victory was short-lived. Striding into the scene came Taximus Maximus, a flamboyant Varia tax collector whose holofoil badge glinted almost as brightly as his smile. He questioned the adventurers, quickly seizing on claims that Scrawble had not been paying his dues. In a rare moment of unity, the party piled evidence into his hands—wine, tools, scraps—painting the picture of a tax-dodger’s den. Taximus, delighted by their cooperation, summoned the city guard to haul away the surviving squatters and left with the promise of further investigation.

The house was technically cleared, but its walls were scarred by fire and its future uncertain. More pressing, the adventurers were left with the uneasy realization that ordinary homes now hid magical corruption, and stranger threats might lurk deeper in the city’s shadows.