Early in the month of Slyphian, the residents of Spinesreach were alerted to a series of strange occurrences taking place beneath their very feet, deep in the heart of their newly refurbished sewers. Sibilant hissing, the rasp of something enormous slithering against stone - these, paired with the finding of enormous piles of feces and goo-infested eggs made it very clear that the Northern City had been made home to some new, grisly occupant.

With pooper-scoopers in hands, the comrades of the North quickly set to work, efficiently working to remove the monstrously sized piles of poo. The sole question in their minds as they tirelessly worked to remove the offending piles was this; what manner of creature had made its home beneath their feet? It would not be long until the next piece of the puzzle revealed itself in the form of the heart-wrenching cry of their Assistant Engineer, Burkhart. Citizens scrambled to his side, finding there the distraught engineer kneeling beside the frozen, petrified form of his beloved cat, Mrs. Dorris. Vowing to find the cure, the citizens set back to their dirty work, cleaning and patrolling the sewers in an attempt to find the culprit.

The middle of Slyphian marked the claiming of yet another victim; Greg, an aqueduct worker beloved by many. With a renewed effort, the sewers were once more taken to in an attempt to flush out the assailant. This time, however, it wasn't just poop and eggshells the citizenry found.

Holbrook was first on the scene, finding a monstrous basilisk ready to descend upon another hapless and loved victim. As Legyn arrived immediately after, so too did Burkhart with a terror-stricken rooster in his grasp that immediately offended the basilisk. It turned on its tail and dove into the tunnel it had punched through the walls of the aqueducts. The Spirean citizens courageously - or foolishly - set foot into the poison riddled tunnel that the beast had created.

At the core of the serpent's new home they found a nest of decomposing bones. Egg clutches were scattered amidst the grisly bowl, some near hatching while others appeared freshly laid. All of them fell under the watchful eye of their mother, the dangerously cornered basilisk.

In this moment, Burkhart's rooster that had protected them until this point decided that this was not the place it wanted to be. It made short work of the Engineer's hands and as it made its quick escape, Holbrook dashed after it. With one less Spirean to defend against the increasingly agitated basilisk, Burkhart suggested that the Senator Legyn find more food to add to the growing pile of corpses in an attempt to placate the beast. He obliged and returned with enough to appease the brooding mother.

Seeing an opportunity that he couldn't let go, Burkhart stole some eggs and made off like a bandit until he exited the confines of the basilisk's tunnel and although they were not pursued for now, the citizens of Spinesreach were warned to continue feeding the beast.

Holbrook did eventually return with the rooster, wooed by his calming voice, the bird decided his head was an attractive perch in more than one sense. In exchange for the service, Burkhart promised to deliver a vial of venom from his newly acquired hatchlings to the Archivists in an attempt to find a cure for poor, poor Mrs. Dorris.

Penned by my hand on Gosday, the 14th of Slyphian, in the year 502 MA.
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