Assignment Report - CoOA-241023 (Kathairein Beast)

Michael DeBondt
May 24
5 min read

Assignment ID: CoOA-241023 Report Date: November 30th, 1907

Lightkeeper: Quinten Daalmans Circle Of: Obscurantist Actors

Report Filled By: Trigg Boodle

Assigned Circle Members

'Ol One Eyed Pete	Corleone Waters
Sebri Ploephonk	Trigg Boodle

Did you contain or destroy a source of Bleed? Yes: [ ] No: [X]

Did you provide comfort or support for those affected by a phenomenon? Yes: [X] No: [ ]

Did you bring something of importance back for Candela Obscura to protect or study? Yes: [ ] No: [X]

Assignment Summary

We moved quickly into Groundswell and met with Quinten's contact, Ms. Buchanan (not Mrs.) at her home. She seemed too pleasant; eerily so. We sprang into action as I (Trigg) saw an OUP vehicle approach from the road and stop in front of the house. Pete and Corleone made themselves scarce – our last run with OUP left the two of them in custody. The presence of OUP wasn't exactly alarming, but the two gentlemen answering the door with a gun in Ms. Buchanan's face was. Madame Ploephonk heard them ask her, "do you want to die?" and the two of us quickly barraged them at the entry. 

I could ramble on about the agents cockiness and the scuffle, but we ended up with two more guns than we started with, and one Ms. Buchanan less. OUP claimed that they were taking the affected persons across town to keep them safe, and that remained their story as much as we may or may not believe it. With their weapons in tow, we took further into Groundswell and looked over the neighborhood's water supply – a large well in the marketplace. 

Madame Ploephonk had seen the mucus, the eggs, in Ms. Buchanan's water jug at home. We tried to glean some information from the children wandering the market - Madame Ploephonk was able to exchange some candy for details about the well, and Corleon had a coin stolen. In the well below, the water was low from a lack of rain. We carefully propelled Madame Ploephonk down into the opening, and while she was able to see more mucus and the open caverns, we did not believe it was close enough to the source of the problem to send her down and in alone. 

We made our way to the cistern's entrance where I was lowered into the reservoir. More mucus lined the rocky walls, and before I got solid footing to look further, a beast swung at me. I tried to wriggle out of my trousers, and the buckle broke open easier than it should have – some sort of magick by Madame Ploephonk. (I am still a little alarmed by that.) The beast hit me, just enough to hurt, and I was pulled out of the cavern. 

Since the waterline was lower than it would be this time of year, the beast could not leap out us again, and we made the difficult decision to send a courier over to the Cannonball Brewery where the OUP agents were operating out of on the same assignment. (I was surprised they were actually there and did not give us false information.) We stood back and watched as OUP took over the closure of the well and the capture of the beast. It has been a few days now, but we have not heard of any further sightings of Ms. Buchanan.

Injuries (If Yes, Explain Below) Yes: [ ] No: [X]

Notes of Importance

Since we began, this has been our first failed assignment. Even though the task ended up being completed in general. OUP was able to take the findings back, and we were unable to submit anything back to Candela Obscura for research.

Items and/or People Recovered

Due to the nature of the affliction, no one affected was able to recover. We are unsure at this time if OUP was simply ending the lives of those affected or if they were all moved to the Grayslate Sanatorium.

Lightkeeper's Notes

While the issue of abnormally happy people disappearing was solved, it wasn't a clean assignment by any means. Though I can't fault my circle in the slightest. If anything, I am remarkably proud of them. They were able to circumvent outside inference, gather vital information under OUP's noses, and track the phenomenon to its source. 

Not only that, but they were able to assess the scope of the phenomenon and determine it was something outside of their abilities to handle. I can't list the amount of stories I've heard of circles getting themselves killed because of overconfidence. The Circle of Bonds and Barrels comes to mind. It takes strong people to face the dangers we do, and even stronger people to admit when they need help doing so.

While the involvement of OUP and the permanent closure of Groundswell's main source of water is far from ideal, letting this creature continue to corrode the citizen's minds is by far the worse scenario. But with the OUP now fully aware of this circle, it is clear I will need to take extra precautions to minimize our interactions with them. Reading their report, it's clear Trigg and the others have a severe distrust of OUP. Clashing with them regularly wouldn't be conducive to our mission. I won't say their feelings are misplaced, especially considering the treatment of Pete and Corleone during their arrest after the last assignment.

Pete's considerable knowledge on the history of the Kathairein Beast was remarkably helpful. Even though they couldn't retrieve any samples, he was able to provide enough information so I could pull up reports older reports of this creature. It apparently was a regular problem during the collapse of Oldfaire, with "Catharsis" shops selling the creature's ooze to "relieve stress". However, in larger or regular doses it completely scrubs the mind's ability to have "negative" emotions. Which also includes the ability to have any sense of self-preservation.

There haven't been any sightings since the Great War so its discovery is quite alarming. How it lived undetected for so long within Groundswell's central water supply I do not know. I might need to send the circle out at a later date to investigate the cistern. If there is any information we can glean, it is our responsibility to seek it so other circles can benefit from our experience. 

It also would be a good idea to check up on the thoroughness of OUP's clean-up operation. They are normally quite exhaustive, but if even a single egg remains we could be dealing with this issue all over again.