You gather up what gear you don't wish to leave on the Mako and stride up the dock, taking a good long look at Orfallen by dusk light.
The town looks like a pile of blocks organized by a toddler. It is a series of undulating stacks of buildings from three to six stories high. The stacks nearest the water were clearly dropped by a child in a tantrum. They are stacked unevenly, leaning against other near-falling stacks. If there is a plumb building anywhere along the quayside you'd be surprised. Tight alleys carve through the disordered pile.
Further inland the child was clearly a bit calmer - the stacks are more organized, laid out in somewhat ordered (but still far from straight) rows. Wider cobblestone lanes crisscross the area and a large amount of traffic can be observed - on foot, horseback, and cart.
Still further inland, the blocks were placed carefully by an older child. The buildings are clean, neatly stacked, with clean, straight lanes separating them all. There is fresh paint, gardens, and the smell of money.
Ushari stares at the city of Orfallen, not quite sure what to expect. Perhaps she was thinking of her old haunting ground Lux. Orfallen doesn't elicit the same response in her soul.
"Hmmm. I think we can check with the customs people and see if we can find a decent place to stay. They probably know the best inns in the city."
“And let's keep an eye out for one with a few exits - maybe something near the docks? If there happens to be a repeat of the events in Shiv, I’d like to have options for strategic egress...”
"Good plan. I guess once we find a place to crash, we can begin looking for some places to research. Might also see what other conveniences this place has to offer. Merchants, eateries, whatever. Information can come from surprising sources."
Speaking with the Dockmaster, you find out that the tumbledown area closest to the docks and stretching a tendril or two into the heart of the city is a section called 'Old Towne'. It is what remains of the original village of Orfallen. It is seedy at the best of times and a little dangerous at night. Needless to say - cheap digs and low company can generally be found there.
He adds helpfully, "If you are looking for a decent place to stay in Old Towne, I'd head for the border with the Merchant's Quarter. The accommodations and locals are a bit more hospitable there. The Old Fish is a good choice."
His mention of the Fish triggers a memory of an agreement for three of you.
He continues to give you the lay of the land: For nautical information, you'll find the Harbor Master along the main road from the docks into the city. If you are heading to the Old Fish, you'll pass it. For libraries and other sorts of research, you'll need to head into the Merchant's Quarter (which is quite respectable) or beyond. In fact, most of the libraries serve as a border between the Merchant's Quarter and the richer sections of the city beyond.
Finally, he adds, with no discernible smile, "If you are looking for fair but not costly company there is the Brazen Strumpet - just a stone's throw from the Fish. The Jumping Stoat Tavern is also close-by. And if you want more well-heeled company, there is the Three Coins in the Merchant's Quarter as well. Finding food or drink in Orfallen won't be a problem. Just watch your purse-strings in Old Towne."
As they make their way to the Old Fish, Jayse tries to get a feel of the city. "I'm not sure what I expected to find here, but after all the difficulties we had in actually making it, I was kind of hoping it would be some awesome arrival. All topless women or something." He cuts his eyes at Ushari with an little grin. "Though, to be honest, I say we take a day to rest before we get to all the tasks we have set before us here."
Ushari shoots the monk a grin, ”I think a day of rest and relaxation sounds wonderful!” As she glances around the city taking in the various sights and sounds, her face grows clouded. ”Unfortunately, I don’t think we will be that fortunate…something exciting always seems to happen around us.”
Straehan pshaws at her conclusion. "What are you talking about? What could possibly go wrong? It's not like every time we enter a town a goblin army attacks led by nameless undead... or we inadvertently raid a pirate stronghold... or strange extraplanar worms start melting people's faces..."
Ushari rolls her eyes and gazes skyward. She wags her finger at him,"Now Strae, now you are just being rediculous."
The gnome grins. "Yes, I do have that tendency."
As you stroll down the main road from the wharf into the center of town, you pass the Harbor Master's building on the left. Among the older, bent, wooden structures it stands out. It is well-crafted of stone. A long stone's throw later, the cramp of wharf-side Old Towne abates somewhat. The road widens a bit and the alleys seem less ominous though the quality of the buildings is largely the same. The sound of laughter comes from the right. You see a 3-story gaudily painted pink building with a walled and well-appointed front patio. the laughter and light comes from within. Painted on the wall next to the front gate is the building's name - Brazen Strumpet. Below the title is a surprisingly good painting of a voluptuous woman, her assets coming out of her blouse while she chats up two men whose bulging eyes stare. All the while she fondles their... beltpouches.
You see a few of the girls playing customers on the patio. They are pretty but not remarkable. You pass by, looking to settle in at the Fish before seeking an evening's adventure. Following the dockmaster's direction, you take a left turn on the next street, a busy thoroughfare. Half a block later, you stop in front of the Old Fish Inn. At least you assume its the Fish as there is no sign declaring its name. Rather, there is a carved wooden sign with the picture of a silver fish standing on its tail, stoop-shouldered, with a prodigious set of white moustaches that nearly reach the ground.
The building itself looks like a converted 4-story house. Unlike the structures around it which lean against each other, the Fish stands a little apart, surrounded by a fenced courtyard in the front which leads to the inn's private stablery in the back. You hesitate only a moment before entering the inn. The bottom floor is a modest tavern that does a brisk business.
Our heroes quickly make arrangements for lodgings for one week's time - 2 GP/week per room. You drop your gear in your respective rooms which are small and comfortable but not elaborate.
At length, you roam down to the common room. The crowd is lively and mixed - being on the edge of the Merchant Quarter and Old Towne - the Fish attracts clientele from both sides of the tracks, as it were.
All of the tables are taken but you manage to secure seats at the bar which sits near the back wall and runs the length of the building.
Ushari glances idly about her getting a sense of the ebb and flow of the crowd energy. Not sensing anything unusual or threatening in the other patrons, she relaxes and sips her wine, a rather fine vintage if she was any judge of wine vintages. Thoughts of the nature of her divine patron occupy her thoughts as time seems to slow for her.
Jayse sits across the table from Ushari, his back to the wall, idly pushing his food in an eternal counter-clockwise patrol around the edge of his plate. With his few moments of respite he thinks on the journey they've taken, the mysteries of their future, but - most importantly - he simply lets a few moments flow by without any immediate urgency.
Sometimes it's good to simply relax and recharge...
#1 AA
#2 DC:17
#2 AA
#3 DC:17 History
#3 AA
#4 DC:22 Local/History
#4 AA
#5 DC:17 Planes
#5 AA
#6 DC:12 Geog
#6 AA None
Our heroes spend the evening at the Fish keeping their ears open for rumors and interesting factoids, trying to get the lay of the land amid some light drinking, darts, and other leisure activities. The crowd is mixed - a conglomeration of low-end merchants, down-on-their-luck entrepreneurs, hustlers, cut-rate financiers, muckrakers, sharp-eyed carters, assorted grifters, and not a few seedy individuals.
You wouldn't call it an inherently dangerous crowd... but you wouldn't turn your back on many of them in a dark alley either.
Jayse and Jofram decide to try the local brew innocently called Dandelion Wine, or 'Dandy 188'. They incorrectly assume 188 refers to the vintage date when, in fact, it refers to the Proof of the yellowish, golden, floral elixir...
The drink renders them in a delightful mood but utterly useless at eavesdropping on conversations.
Amid all the carousing, and mostly due to Ushari's keen ears, you manage to catch interesting snippets of several conversations - some hushed, some boisterous:
A drunk merchant moans, "...Portage rates on goods out of Orfallen are up 8% due to the Reaver threat on merchant ships! My profits are down on every shipment."
Another drunk merchant replies, "...Dunderhead! There are no Reavers! It's a rumor spread by the merchant's guild so they can jack up the portage rates."
A wide-eyed merchant asks some locals, "...The price of exotic woods is up. I've heard tell it's because one of the larger lumber villages got taken by Reavers. They ate everyone... down to the dogs! Is that true?"
A salty sea-dog shares quietly with some attentive sailors, "...The Reavers haven't been spotted North of Long Lake Isle yet - shipping up there is still fair. Set your course in that direction, boys."
A bespectacled librarian drunkenly recites poetry and legends, saying most earnestly, "...The Isle of Wintermere is shrouded in eternal ice and snow, surrounded by fogs and treacherous icebergs. It is widely held that a powerful Witch-Queen rules there and the icebergs are hers to command."
A goggle-eyed merchant tries to convince a table of scoffing sailors "...Mermaids, I tell ya! Spotted them right off Talin Isle, along the trade route twixt it and Aamari - bold as you please!"
A crusty old sailor regales several younger seaman about the waters and currents in the Isles. "...The Iron Saw is called that 'cuz the seas there are so rough in winter that they will shred the hull of your ship like it was passed through a lumber-mill."
Another crusty sailor disagrees, "...B0ll0cks you cat-headed fishwife says I! There are Shrieking Eels there what gnaw on the underside of yur boat."
A group of business men, merchants, and sailors sharing a meal at a trestle table discuss, "...A foundered Mainland warship washed up on Landfall nearly a fortnight ago. Are they thinking to invade us?"
Ushari waits until the others have recovered somewhat from their hangover, before she recounts the various rumors she and Straehan overheard.
"Hmmm, sounds like the typical talk coming from drunken fools, but there was one I heard which sounded intriguing." She brings up the rumor of the Mainland warship which wrecked earlier. "What do you make of that rumor? Do you think it is possible it is related to our...situation?"
Jayse nurses only a minor headache from the Dandy 188 and Jofram seems blissfully unaffected by it the next day... as the team settles down for a large breakfast and to decide on their next course of action.
Straehan regards to slender cleric. "I really don't know. Is there something in that rumor that strikes a chord with you?"
Ushari shrugs, "I am not sure...but the fact it is a shipwreck from the Mainland ...could be nothing, yet it could be related to our situation." After a moment's thought she adds, "Although the timing is not right for what happened to us."
The gnome nods. "Well, we ARE all from the Mainland, although not all from this Mainland, so I suppose it is a possible connection. As you say, the timing isn't quite right - and the distance is pretty far. I haven't checked a map but I believe Landfall Isle is the Northern-most and Western-most island in the archipelago. It's gotta be 3000 miles from here at a minimum."
Ushari nods, "Yeah, I had not realized it was so far away. It could be nothing but I just wanted to call attention to that fact. Plus, if there was an invasion coming from the Mainland, they would not announce it openly, I would say." She takes another drink of fruit juice. "I wonder if the increased Reaver activity and the Mainland ship are connected in some way."
He gives her a devilish smile, "What Reaver activity? Didn't you hear? That's just a ploy by the guild to increase shipping prices. I'm guessing it was supply-side economics that ran that pirate ship aground on the reef near Coal Slide village."
Straehan pushes his chair back after the filling breakfast and ruminates on your To-Do list.
"So, lady and gentlemen, we have a few things to accomplish in town... aside from you lads determining who can bag the largest number of comely females in one evening." He gives you an amused wink. "First, we have questions we want answered and it seems we'll have to conduct research at buildings around the city to gather the information. I'm best suited for that task and Ushari has expressed an interest in assisting. I propose we take that job on."
"Second, it would be nice to sell off any excess equipment and magical items we have as well as scoping out the best places for buying new items of interest. Would you gentlemen be averse to taking on that job while Ushari and I are locked in the library?"
"Third... unless we want to conveniently forget our agreement with Bitiborium, we are supposed to leave word with the stable-boy here of our arrival and hopefully we'll hear from Bit on some sort of job that will square our debt with him."
Ushari shudders at the thought of the betrayed and angry gnome merchant unleashing terrible furies against her and her companions. There is no telling what sort of creatures he has stored away in his cart! It would not surprise me if he even had access to a tarrasque!
"I think we should leave the message for him right away..."
"I agree. I believe in paying my debts... and we probably want to stay on the 'good side' of any fellow who can cause an earthquake with an ensorcelled arbalest bolt.
I'm still not sure how he pulled that one off."
After breakfast, the team splits up to take on their various tasks. Jofram and Jayse wander through the Merchant Quarter hunting down the best deals on the equipment they have to sell while Ushari and Straehan throw themselves into the search for information among Orfallen's various libraries and institutions. As evening falls, they reconvene at a private table in the Old Fish and discuss what they learned that day...
Naladoria - the Boat
"We're pretty much convinced the boat didn't exist. No part of the name registers for a large passenger vessel built in the Isles. While these folks play fast and loose with some rules, they are scrupulous with their shipping records and manifests. We all came from a boat or boats that were never built or were magically transported from elsewhere and dropped here."
Tenebrous Worms/Gloomwings
"Those creatures that attacked us in Shiv are rare anywhere. They have been seen in the Isles in very small numbers. The best information we can find says they come from one or two small, isolated islands. The nearest is Roce Isle which is about 1000 miles Northeast of Orfallen. It is reasonably 'close' if we consider the full size of the GSI but still quite a distance away." He shrugs, "It's remotely possible that we crossed paths accidentally, but I wouldn't bet on it."
Ushari sips her wine, enjoying the warmth the liquid spread through her body. Careful, or you will grow to like it TOO much...
"Yeah, so concerning the nonexistent boat, the only place I could imagine where a ship could have originated is from the Mainland, either Crux or some other port city."
She follows up on the second point Straehan brought up, "The appearance of those worms pretty much guarantees they were sent by somebody. Of course we have made several enemies so it is pretty much 'take your pick' here."
The gnome runs a claw idly across the table, scarring the surface of the wood.
"Well... the Dweller is the only enemy we have that we can be reasonably sure has a connection to the Shadow Plane. So I'm assuming, for the moment, that he sent the Worms. I think we should try to find out more about him tomorrow. We're on the defensive with him... and that is no way to win the war."