|
Jiro bows to the priest. "Thank you for your gracious boon and for the aid to our investigation."
With a nod to the rest of the clergy, Jiro tells the party that he is ready to venture to Amenira's house. "I believe that it is time to examine her housing for any signs or indications of her whereabouts."
"Thank you friend. If you don't mind my asking, what are your thoughts on Sheriff Molume?"
"He is a good man and he helps keep our town safe and secure."
---
You head across town to Amenira's house with a few quick directions from the priest. The well-kept wooden building is painted in festive shades of orange and is the only painted structure you have seen in the town so far. A pair of cashew trees flanks its front entrance.
The door has no lock and the inside is a mess of workbenches, tools, toys, and dolls in variation stages of completion.
A search of her bedroom reveals her spellbook and journal. She has not written in the journal for some time but the bed is messy as if slept in and even has a few twigs sitting atop it.
The people of Mercy are rather secretive, even about their social norms. I have deduced the following unspoken rules.
1) No meat. Everyone in Mercy is strictly vegetarian, but the opposition to the presence of meat goes beyond dietary choices and seems to have a religious significance.
2) No cursing. They have a broad sense of what constitutes a curse word, and even polite words said in a rude tone are taboo.
3) No blue clothing.
4) No unleashed dogs.
5) No gambling. This includes benign references such as, “I bet” as an affirmative.
6) No spreading of false gospel. The townsfolk refuse to even acknowledge the existence of deities other than their own.
She has also left tucked inside a scroll of make whole (CL 12) and nearby a a jar of defoliant polish.
|
|
"Well, she appears to have vacated the premises quite quickly. Perhaps she was in trouble here at the town or maybe she was on to the gnolls?" he says as he pulls a doll from the cave out of his pack and compares it to the ones in the room.
"This can't be a coincidence, can it?" he asks of everyone.
|
Old Iron nods with a grumble at Jiro's assessment, but doesn't say anything.
The nagaji absent-mindedly flips through her journal. His eyes pop as he spies something.
"What in Kurgess' name...."
He turns the book around, holding it up with one hand and pointing at a list of six items with his other.
"Looks like worshipping a tree ain't the only crazy thing these people do."
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Tin dons his gloves and begins to rummage through the house like a man on a mission.
Tin grunts as he flips through the rules of Mercy.
"Son of a b****... no cursing? What kind of crazy a$$ town is this?"
Closing the book, he passes it along.
"What are the odds our girl broke some of these laws? ... 'course the sheriff would've probably sweat a little more when we shook him down..."
As you examine the house, you note that the sun is getting quite low in the sky and it would behoove you to abide by the town's curfew. You had best search for lodging but luckily there are a few places with rooms available to choose from.
|
|
It takes all of Tin's concentration to exercise the self-restraint he requires to not swear as they make their way through the town.
Once Tin is certain they aren't being watched.
"Yea... sometimes when a lizard like us goes around turnin' up rocks, a big bird takes notice and swoops in t' eat the lizard."
Tin adjusts his collar and gestures awkwardly before realizing his spear isn't in his hand. Reaching into his pocket, he finds comfort in the brass within.
"So... everyone keep their eyes open for angry birds."
The night is uneventful and you wake the next morning to another sunny day in Mercy where the people are starting to bustle about, some heading out to harvest a few crops and others strolling towards the market to buy new food and wares for their families.
Jiro heads to the square where much of the business is done. As he approaches, he hears a heated argument between two groups.
A representative from the first group says, "We're your best customers, no sense or decency in driving the prices up like you've been for the past few months. You don't have any competitors, we buy every nail you make."
A strong burly blacksmith from the second group calls back, "But that's just the point. We can't make enough nails to keep you happy. If you're going to strain us that hard so that we're working through the night to keep up, we're going to charge extra. That's our right."
The man from the first group responds, "Without us the walls don't get repaired and the homes don't get built. This town relies on its carpenters."
"And the carpenters rely on the blacksmiths!" The second man shouts to applause from his group.
----
Meanwhile at the temple there are still a few priests praying quietly around the tree or doing some minor cleaning chores nearby.
|
|
Tin sorts through his notebook the next morning, going over all the facts he's recorded thus far.
Gnolls. Azathoth. Twig-dolls. Mercy. Tree God. Sheriff seems reliable enough, although not really worshipping the Tree God. Bunch of weird a$$ rules and regulations. Trail growing colder every day.
As the group readies themselves, he reports the most likely outcome.
"Chances are Amenira ain't gonna be found. Once someone disappears, you get like maybe forty-eight hours before a trail goes cold... course them's the rules for a big city like Absalom."
Tin follows along as the others seem interested in the market and the tree, but he does go down his list of other potential leads.
"So we know Amenira was checkin' into the town weaver's home for some ointment and that our girl was gettin' sick. We should go check out this weaver, could be she got wise on our girl and decided to strike back. Could be she was one of these twig-peeps... if we go back to the church, we should ask if anyone there knew Amenira was sick..."
|
|
Having heard about this in the missive, Jiro moves closer to see if he can gain any information on the blacksmith and carpenter feud, knowing that his compatriots will be glad that he stumbled upon such a lucky outburst.
As he moves closer, a few fruit stands catch his eye. "Hmm... perhaps a couple kiwis for a breakfast will go with whatever else I can find..." he thinks aloud.
|
|
Old Iron lingers at the sight of the carpenters and blacksmiths.
"That doesn't look good. Labor disputes have got a tendency to turn into riots. Ain't interested in fighting a buncha working men."
Old Iron pats Tin on the shoulder, while pointing with his thumb back towarss the crowd.
"Yo, smart guy! You think this mess got anything to do with our missing person?"
Over at the temple, the tree certainly still looks like a tree.
----
Meanwhile, things are heating up in the Artisan's Square. "You raise your prices one more time and maybe we'll have to ship our nails in! What'll you do then?"
"Good luck transporting nails all this way or finding someone to put up with your s+!$! We might just have to go on strike after all!" the blacksmith yells back.
A man nearby responds to Cade, "All sorts! Houses need repairing and rebuilding and of course there's the wall, that's one hell of a construction project, I'd say!"
|
|
Old Iron's fist clenches tighter as the argument continues. He looks at Tin, and back at the crowd again, then at his ohter companions, then back again. He finally grits his teeth.
"STOP YOUR WHINING."
Old Iron pushes forward into the crowd.
"Where I grew up, we didn't have the luxury of setting prices for each other. You made what the matrons wanted, when they wanted it, or you lose a body part. You lot have this nice village all to yourselves, living free with your--" he twists his mouth as he tries to force out the word "'god' right there to look out for ya. And you all are fightin over the stupidest sh--" he chokes down the word "Anyways, you keep up like this and someone is gonna do something stupid and draw. Fights between neighbors are the worst. I've been hired for a few of them. Trust this old lizard: you don't want that."
|
|
Tin, anxious to give the weaver's the "glove treatment", taps his foot impatiently as the other members of the party chat it up with the carpenters and smiths.
He scowls, sizing up each person, looking for someone who seems suspicious or ready to bolt when they realize Tin is observing them.
"Yea... you alls need to knock this shhh.. "
Tin struggles with the next word.
"...shhtuff off before it comes to blows."
|
|
Jasmine, as been okay with words, but that is more to get out of trouble than to diffuse a potential fist-fight. She steps in trying to chose her words to have the best impact possible.
Gentleman, gentleman. I am an outsider and visitor. Why don't the two of you calm down, and take a few deep breaths. You wouldn't want me to think of your quaint little town here as nothing than hospitable and a nice place, would you?
The men are a bit too brusque to effect any change in the guilds' attitudes but Jasmine then steps up to save the day and calms the crowds down so they can discuss a reasonable price and terms without causing a strike or material shortage.
|
|
Old Iron's brow scrunches tight as he tries to confirm he saw what he thinks he saw.
"Hmm...I see it, too, Tin."
He scratches along his jawline at the edge of the scar across his face. He uses the motion to disguise the movement of his mouth as he turns and discretely speaks to Tin.
"Come to think of it, have we seen any kids since we got here?"
Necress stops one of the tree cultists.
"What can you tell me of this tree?" she asks. "How was it discovered it was divine?" she asks. "What does it do for its followers?" she adds.
"You will have to talk to High Priestess Zuri if you want to learn more." The follower then goes into the temple to find the High Priestess, who does her best to answer Necress' questions. "It was grandfather," Zuri begins, "who discovered the divinity of Robori and his protecting powers. Robori is selective in his blessings but he grants our town protection and has given me the highest among blessings, the ability to weaves magics. I save these for times of dire need though."
The children have gone but a few of the adult villagers still linger about and don't immediately turn away as you approach. "I'm sorry about that," one man says, clearly not referencing the guild fight but the children. "It's our fault for letting them linger outside for too long. Don't worry though, we've moved them back inside and you don't need to worry."
|
"What is the protection that Robori offers the town?" Necress asks.
Once her curiosity has been satisfied about the tree, Necress asks "There has been an outsider that has gone missing...do you know anything that might be useful in helping me find her?" The oracle goes on to explain everything they know to the priestess.
The high priestess evades answering Necress' questions by responding, "Robori protections all of the citizens of Mercy from whatever ails them. I have not heard of any missing person but if they were an outsider like yourself they must not have had the protection of Robori or something like that would not have happened."
"Yes, exactly," the man says before breaking off the conversation and moving away.