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You find yourself once more in a familiar place, the hallway outside of the office of Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin in Skyreach, located on the grounds of the Grand Lodge in Absalom’s Foreign Quarter. For some of you it's been only a few days since you last graced these halls. For others it's been much longer.
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Sitting before you is a pale nagaji male. Spread out, rather out of place, in front of him is a black velvet cloth adorned with multiple dishes. This pot luck looks to be full of delectibles from all over the region able to placate most if not all palettes. As you approach he looks up at you with pink eyes and beckons, 'Come and eat, feed until you can eat no more.' He then continues to tear into the flesh of what would be assumed a natural source, with his mouth full he remembers as an afterthought, 'Teradach, Necromancssser.'
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Sitting in the corner is a human of Chellish origin with a cloak pulled over his head hiding a bright red scar across his face. He switches between reading his spell book and sharpening his rapier not being able to decide which he prefers at the moment. Eventually noticing the spread and says Hello I am Ethir. Then proceeds to take part in some cheese and wine.
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As a clock chimes the hour, Ambrus Valsin opens the door to admit his guests. Giving a strange look to the makeshift picnic in the hallway outside his office. He turns and resumes his seat next to a grey-eyed woman wearing the robes of an academic.
Please seat yourselves quickly so we can begin. As most of you know this is Lady Darchana Madinani, archdean of Absalom’s premier school of the arcane, the Arcanamirium. She’s has come to the Pathfinder Society on delicate business.
Lady Darchana takes a moment to greet you:
Onix, Teradach, Ozak so good to see you again.
Turning to Ethir and extending her hand, Ethir, I am Lady Darchana, pleased to make your acquaintance.
Taking her seat again.
Many of you know much of what I'm about to tell, but just so we are all clear I'll go over the details of why we are here. As Second Spell Lord of Absalom, I continually investigate magical attempts to attack our home. The Pathfinder Society recently aided one of my investigations by capturing a disguised Okeno slave ship used for several months to transport various unfortunates to Absalom for sale as slaves to the city’s noble families. Normally this would be legal, yet it seems someone has marked each of these slaves for use as divination foci. I can’t ignore the threat posed by such an insidious spy network. With the capture of that ship, we’re now in an excellent position to strike back at the hidden mastermind behind the slave-scrying.
Know that I do not come to the Pathfinder Society lightly. I am taking on a calculated political risk by asking you to handle this investigation for me. But my long friendship with your master of spells Aram Zey has given me confidence in the abilities—and discretion—of Pathfinder agents.
Using my own spells, I acquired an image of the slaver: a humanoid woman wearing a heavy veil and peering into a mirror. Her clothing is common in Kelish fashion, and I could sense her location was somewhere underground on Stonespine Island.
Although we could pursue conventional means of tracking down the slavers, I have taken measures to ensure our quarry does not see you coming, and I would appreciate a similar effort from you. I propose disguising yourselves either as slaves for sale or possibly the slavers selling them. If successful, you need only allow our enemy’s agents to escort you to their hidden stronghold. Once inside, it should be a modest challenge for you to escape and take their leader by surprise.
Lady Darchana pauses for emphasis. Your goals are to capture the veiled spymaster and to bring the scrying mirror I observed back to Absalom for further study. If the spymaster dies before she is brought here, that would be regrettable but also understandable.
Before you get too concerned, Ambrus adds quickly, it isn’t the Society’s practice to sell our field agents into slavery. We’re sending you with a reliable cover story and a magical edge we can discuss in a moment. This isn’t just because it’s a dangerous assignment; we also found the name ‘Muhlia’ associated with the captured Okeno ship. It’s not a common name, but if haven’t kept up with recent history, I can understand why you may not remember her. Pasha Muhlia al’Jakri was an associate of ours who represented Qadira’s interests to the Pathfinder Society. Three years ago, she departed following very ugly circumstances in Taldor and hasn’t been seen since. If it’s true that she’s building a spy network in Absalom, we need to head off the threat she poses to the society before she can strike.
Valsin pauses expecting the questions that will be no doubt be forthcoming.
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Nods to the Second as she addresses him in respect and offers a seldom seen and subtle smile, 'Lady.'
Returning his attention to the VC, 'Pleassse tell me more of this plan.... You exsspect me to possse asss a ssslaver.. You have more faith in my essspionage abilitiesss than I do.' His tongue flicks out to taste the air in anticipation of the reply.
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Darchana responds. We have considered other options, but posing as slaves gives you the best chance of taking the spymaster we seek by surprise. Besides, if you fail, we have every reason to believe you’ll simply be shipped back to Absalom where it’s convenient to retrieve you.
She means this to be reassuring, but fails to come off as so.
Lady Darchana nods her approval to Osak and adds, I can also shrink one essential tool or weapon for each of you. It should provide you enough of an edge in breaking out and recovering the rest of your gear.
At which Valsin interjects with excitement, rubbing his hands together as a proud grin cracks his businesslike expression.
I’ve also brought one of our experiments out of development for a field test, he explains while planting a boot on an unremarkable cedar chest.
This is a magic chest warded in much the same way as our craftspeople sometimes enchant small pouches. From the outside, it’s nonmagical and holds whatever you put in it as expected. However, if you speak the right command word before it’s opened, it instead accesses a secret, extradimensional space that can hold several hundred pounds of gear. It’s yours to use on this trip and should help smuggle most of your gear through Okeno. The forged paperwork we’re sending with you notes the chest is part of the shipment.
Valsin demonstrates the chest’s use and command word.
Open Road
With that the chest opens similar to a giant bag of holding.
Shutting the chest Valsin asks. What other questions do you have.
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Teradach also knows the following about Stonespine Island. Named for the spine of stony peaks that crosses its length. The island sits in the northern reaches of the Obari Ocean between Katapesh and Qadira. Its main settlement, the port city called Okeno, is known for its fleets of yellow-sailed ships and the Fleshfair, one of Golarion’s largest slave markets.
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Valsin replies to Farg: Well if any other slavers get in your way outside of Okeno, feel free to deal with the problem as you like. Trust your training. The veiled woman, Pasha Muhlia al’Jakri, is the only one we care to recover with her mirror. Once you make it back to Okeno their will be a ship ready to make way upon your arrival; there will also be 'friends' in the city if anything goes sideways there.
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Those posing as slaves don cheap tunics or loincloths and must also don a slave collar, a metal band outfitted with a keyed lock. The collars must remain strong enough to pass casual inspection, but can be rigged to open without needing tools or keys as a full-round action.
Once you are ready, a Pathfinder agent leads you into the Coins district, where a nervous Kelishite slave trader some of you recognize, named Mahjub Mahdi who writes up the appropriate paperwork to identify you as slaves bound for Stonespine Island. He then transports you to the impounded Okeno slave ship the 'At Sea', which is already outfitted with a new crew loyal to Lady Darchana and additional cargo bound for southern coasts. The voyage south is fairly uneventful.
As you near Okeno:
Sharks casually feed on cast-off corpses that float like buoys marking the channel into Yellow Harbor. This close to Okeno, the rocky mountain range that gives Stonespine Island its name is a blur against the sky, hidden by the city’s haze of smoke and dust. Each pier is crowded with yellow-sailed slave galleys, pirate clippers, and the occasional, heavily armed merchant ship. Past a row of taverns, the slave markets are smelly and crowded, packed with auction blocks and pens.
Farg, Ozak, and a couple other Pathfinder agents disguised as slavers lead those disguised as slaves into the Fleshfairs, Okeno’s slave market. The group is met at the pier by one of the harbormasters, and given directions to a specific pen in the Fleshfair. There another fat, sweaty looking harbormaster consults a logbook.
Looking to Farg:
You are right on time; your client should arrive to pick these up later in the day. Licking his lips and wiping his brow with a dirty cloth, he eyes Onix and Teradach. Aye, you got some exotics in this batch, them'll fetch a good amount of gold. How'd ya come by them? You get the impression he is making more small talk, than actually making an official inquiry.
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Before the harbormaster can reply, as if on cue, a pair of gnolls ambles toward the group and inquires about their shipment. The harbormaster grins, and points to Ethir, Teradach, and Onix, as well as, a female halfling, a Kelishite man, and a Kellid women also in the pen with you.
Here's your cargo he says, and calls over several assistants to finalize the transaction. The gnoll's sign some paperwork.
Then turning to the slaves one of the gnolls speaks:
Listen up slaves:
I am Master Hargur, this is Master Vangru, this ball of fun is Snapper, pointing to the hyena by his side. and we are your guards for this trip.
These are the rules and I won't repeat myself so listen up.
Number 1: You do what we say, when we say it.
Number 2: If you don’t follow orders - you get a beating.
Number 3: Any talk of freedom or escape - you get a beating.
Next: Any disrespect, if you even look at us wrong - you get a beating.
Number 2: Any of that magic funny business - you get a long hard beating.
Number Last: Don't run. Ever!
Take note Master Vangru here likes to tenderize the meat so much, sometimes he doesn’t know when to stop. So don't give him reason and Snapper here likes to chase things and chasing things makes him hungry and that can lead to unfortunate accidents.
Tasty eating, but bad for business. Don’t run.
I trust I made myself clear. I won’t be taking any questions.
Now line up scum, Vangru check and make sure them collars are secure before we leave.
Hargur turns to Farg and Ozak. Now what have we got here?
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Farg notices the Gnoll's scrutiny and begins a speech in the hopes of being able to distract him from his task.
A truly marvelous selection of grade A slaves if I dare say so myself! Farg boasts in his deep raspy voice as he yanks Onix away from the Gnoll. This one is a truly marvelous specimen. A stone man. A rare breed and you guessed it: Tough as rock... He'd be the attraction of any arena or fighting pit! I heard word that he slew a giant with his bare hands! So better not get too touchy. I was on the receiving end of a head butt and got this for my troubles.
The tiefling flashes his fangs and points to a cracked front tooth, in reality it had been a Shoanti maiden unwilling to mate but that's a story Farg would prefer not to retell...
Bluff
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Vangru checks Teradach's collar and doesn't notice a thing wrong. Just as he moves to check Onix's collar, Farg makes his move.
Hargur laughs at Farg's comment. Will be interesting to see if this one will take to the training the Mistress likes to put these slaves through, and then laughs some more, a nervous hyena like laugh.
Addressing Farg again.
Do you have business with the Mistress friend, or have you just grown to attached to this ravel.
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Ozak's quick slight of hand on the collar distracts Vangru enough that he doesn't notice it is rigged.
Hargur gives Farg a quizzical look but doesn't want to appear stupid so replies. I guess you'll need to take that up with the mistress.
Vangru links the 6 slave's collars together on a rope leash. And barks at Onix in broken common. Carry box, scum! Laughing as he says it. Directing Onix to carry the chest that is part of the cargo.
With that you leave Okeno and head out into the wilds of Stonespine Island, the travel is not overly difficult. And the two gnolls seem to particularly enjoy harassing the slaves. Hargur consistently speculates aloud about which slave he thinks would taste the best and why. While Vangru’s who's common is not as good, prefers to repeat Hargur’s punch lines back to him or simply break into barking laughter. While the hyena, Snapper, only echoes Vangru’s laughter, but otherwise tends to remain quiet and leaves the slaves alone.
During the trip, Hargur and Vangru tend to overlook small amounts of chatter among their chattel. More than that brings the gnolls ire. But you are able to discover the names of the other slaves. Gima is the female halfling; Talmin is a bitter Kelishite man; and the Kellid woman is Epanas.
Mid morning of the 2nd day after marching most of the night, Hargur and Vangru lead their tiny caravan northeast past cultivated fields of pesh cacti that surround Okeno and to a small ruin near the road with just enough of a superstructure left to provide some shade. Preferring to travel at night the gnolls who seem to know the spot well call for a halt.
Hargur barks at Vangru to keep the watch but it isn't long before both gnolls have their tongues hanging from their mouths and are hard breathing heavy.
Gima the halfling takes advantage of the gnolls’ drowsiness to attempt an escape. She's gathered small animal bones and pesh cactus spines to remove her slave collar as improvised lockpicks.
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Perception
Farg himself is oblivious to the escaping halfling but when the snake man points it out to him the Tiefling smirks and shakes his head.
Could kept that to yourself...
Ey Hargur! One o your charges is making a run for it! the Tiefling himself didn't make a move however as he had to look after this own charges.
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The halfling completes her lockpicking and starts to run just as Farg calls out to Hargur, who suddenly awakens. Jumping to his feet...
Snapper! The hyena rouses and set to begin to chase down the halfling. Vargru also rouses at the sound of Hargur's voice, as he stands Hargur smashes him with his greatclub. Check the others, you fool!