Well into summer, Jerusalem has been languishing in heat. The churches and the Allegron family have done their best to keep the people fed and safe, but nerves have been wearing thin. With the arrival of Mars and the destruction of Io, the populace is very cautious. Many of those who had been followers of Mars and who had begun to question his motives have returned to the fold after he punished the church leadership for his poor decisions. Just the same, the rhetoric has changed little and the churches of Darvek Quickroot and Kakookamak the Strong have been concerned about their future.
A group called the Divine Shades has been operating under the radar, most of them followers of the two diminutive gods. Forwaith has been speaking with Darvek personally and has agreed to help him and his allies. After sending his harbingers to warn her, he appeared before Talaraesae and some of her acquaintances in a deserted brown field in West Golgotha. After a jubilant meeting, he gave them a task to find a magical recipe for an oil which can make any common man into a trained warrior for an extended time. Forwaith showed them an emergency exit from Primordial Ascension laboratories, which he was able to open. He told them that they had seven days to get the oil recipe and, hopefully, take out any Primordial Ascension leadership that existed there in the process.
The party delved into the place and found themselves instantly locked in combat with recently-unearthed zombies. The shouting and crashing of revolvers filled the corridors outside the room and even thought the zombies had been defeated, a group of Primordial Ascensionists, including a powerful caster, broke in and began attacking the party. Guy's stone angel blocked a pair of warriors from entering while the caster rained Flamestrikes down in the room. Several charges were loosed from Virgil's staff. More gunfire. Several more individuals arrived on the scene, attacking the PCs with fire magic and harm spells, as well as melee. Exhausted, the PCs eventually had time to rest.
They searched around a but, and came up with little except a couple men in their quarters who had either slept through the affair or who were donning their armor. Again, the sound of gunfire drew more people to their location. A long and protracted corridor battle was waged for several minutes. In the mean-time, they found a large store of general wares, found a secret room full of alchemical supplies, and released a Mind Flayer which had been barriacaded in a small room. Guy left the place with a coffin full of coins and a single guard to help reinforcements find where the true entrance to the place was.
In the end, the Primordial Ascensionists were forced to retreat with as much of their stores as they could, and left many of the Gnome craftsmen behind. The PCs questioned the Gnomes, and one stepped forward, admitting that the Expertise Oil recipe was all in his head. They decided to send him and the rest of the Gnomes out with Marshall to take the recipe to the Church of Forwaith and to tell Balthizaad to make his way to the entrance, because the group has faced some resistance and requires help that doesn't involve high-caliber firearms.