Wepwawet Gunther and Vincent take a trip to Tangiers and thence to Leptis Magna.
Off the coast of Iberia a days sail from Seville, they are accosted by Pirates/Slavers. Gunther makes the sails of the other ship burn and they are troubled no more. Gunther makes sure to shout the names of the Ship to make sure that
the slavers know that it is protected.
The Tangiers leg is to Establish Ice trading to the City. Whilst there Gunther peruses the local bookshops. He acquires (through Vincent a copy of On the Dioptera by Someone called Heron of Alexandria. There was another book by the same author, but as it was in Arabic it wasn't purchased. Vincent can probably remember the title if pushed.
At Wepwawet's insistence they proceed on to the location of his imprisonment; at tower in the mountains near the ruins of Leptis Magna.
After three days trekking across the sand they reach a small tower on the pinnacle on a rocky spire.
The three-storied tower is in a very complicated Regio stack, with each level obtained by a pillar-sized mini regio, so they have to appear one-by one.
The Lowest tier covers the entire tower and is in ruins, there is a wreck of a Hermetic Laboratory on teh second floor, but nothing useful, and a giant bird's nest on the top floor, which s open to the sky.
The third Tier (accessed via the second tier mini regio) contains a Tomb on the ground floor and a slightly less disturbed Laboratory (containing a chest which they loot later). The upper floors nest is not so deserted, and Gunther snags a feather from the nest as a precaution.
The Precaution was amazingly justified on the Fifth Tier, as he (the one entering first) encounters a Giant Owl. The feather manages to allow him to cast Aura of Rightful Authority at the Great Beast and she is cowed for a few minutes. It is clear that she is not really all there, and they manage to loot the lab of a few scrolls.
On their way out Wepwawet's reluctance to loot the tomb evaporates as the intended recipient a bird upstairs. Alas this also means it is empty.
Outside the regio, Gunther manages (through judicious use of Muto Terram) to collapse the tower with the great beast still inside.
What intelligence they did get was that the Great Beast used to be a Bjornear Maga called Varinia, who shared the Place with a long deceased Tytalan Maga called Cruithne.
Cruithne was the one who bound Wepwawet, and had been playing with the local politics of Tripoli. There was also some notes about slaying a Seeker who had been prodding about the local ruins. Before being slain the seeker had let slip about a Regio within Leptis itself.
The party went to investigate, and found that a broken Archway in a weak level 1 magic Aura depicting (According to Gunther)
Vincent puts forth another interpretation: that it depicts the god Hermes( naked) waiting behind a Triumphal arch tat Augustus is entering. then Augustus (dressed as a General) receiving a Laural wreath from Hermes. The Third shows Augustus sacrificing a bull in front of the temple.
The temple is aligned with astrological significance, and so the group try and sacrifice to allow them to enter. Alas a bull is not handy, so they catch a rabbit and Muto it into a Bull the size of a Rabbit. The sacrifice happens but not much else. Afterwards they eat the rabbit.
Then it's a long sail home.
The Loot from the Lab was
2 Auram Tractatus
2 Spells: Opening the Tomb of the Animal's Mind, and Incantation of Lightning
Lots of Personal notes from Cruithne: (Acts as a Summa level 6 Quality 8 for Area Lore:Tripoli)
The Loot from the Chest contains a Will penned by a Magus called Herisson of Bjornear bequeathing the results of his research to Gypaetus of Bjornear "In the hope that the Secret of Hermetic creation of Vis will compensate him for the inconvenience of having to slay its discover"
Attached is description of how to reach a place in Germany.