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You enter town and find it bustling with activity; pirates, sellswords, merchant caravans, and shopkeeps all going about there business. You seem to be moving around with out drawing much attention; a bold but cautious band of treasure hunters. You are looking for the caravan leader, Raimondo Scevola, but not knowing where to start you seek a few more reputable looking folks to ascertain the man's possible location.
And it seems Kamda takes the lead. The business-like, gruff dwarf seems to do the talking and soon enough you find out; if your looking for a caravan driver the best place is probably Free Trade Square. With some directions gathered your arrive at the square and find out that Scevola can be found at a small private club called the Wandering Way on the edge of the square.
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You enter the establishment, here the humid stink of Bloodcove mingles with the reek of sweat and the sickly-sweet odor of tropical plants and exotic tobaccos. The foyer of the guild house looks more like a tavern than a place of business, with tables carved from dark jungle woods and overstuffed cushions. Older men and women mingle or brood over their drinks, while strapping young toughs claim the area around the cold hearth.
Across the room, a swarthy, moustachioed man bellows in anger. He sweeps an arm across the tabletop shared with a redcheeked companion, spilling drinks and playing cards onto the carpet. “You bashterd,” he drunkenly shrieks, “You scheating bashterd, Elanzo! I need thoshe animalsh! I have a client whoshe paid fer my caravan!”
His companion wrings the remains of his drink out of his shirt. “No one cares, Scevola. Those were the stakes, and your horses will be chow for my men before we set sail in the morning!”
“You shlipped shomethin in mah drink! You’re taking my horshesh over mah dead body!”
Elanzo simply shrugs at this and snaps his fingers. The large brutes gathered by the hearth stand up and begin moving toward the pair.
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Kamda groans.
Ach! Tha lad done bet 'is horses inna game o' chance! If 'e lost fair an' square ain't much we kin do...
The dwarf stride up to the table and (for a dwarf...) politely speaks to the players.
Ah, I be Kamda Stoneheart, o' tha Five Kings Mountains. I be 'ere ta do some business wi' Mister Scevola. Wha' be goin' on 'ere?
The dwarf taps his foot impatiently, waiting for an answer.
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Seeing that Kulga and Kamda have engaged the leader of the thugs, Garduk stays close to the entrance, and calls out to Scevola in Varisian:
"Bucura-te, Raimondo! Noi suntem clienții dumneavoastră. Sunt aceste cai hoți te deranjeaza?"
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The slow and steady oread doesn't even make an effort in hiding his features that stand out. He makes quite an entrance with his flashy holy symbols.
"What's going on ere? I hope no one is trying to break laws here, especially in the eyes of a knight of Adabar."To show he means business, Oret positions himself between the two man, ready to put an end to whatever it is that might happen, drawing his morningstar and shield. Holding it out to stop signal the advances."Now explain yourselves!"
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Kulga calls out first and Elanzo stops, spins around and looks at the newcomers. He lost 'um fair and square, Lass. If you're doing business with this foolish drunk, I feel sorry fer ya.
As Kamda moves forward, one of the young toughs blocks his path, grinning like he's is itching for a fight. Elanzo grins as well, but you can see he considers Kamda's words carefully. But before he can respond Raimondo calls back to Garduck in slurred Varisian, Oh la naiba, ce-am făcut! Da, acești pirați ma inselat din caii mei.
Oh hell, what have I done! Yes, these pirates cheated me of my horses.
Elanzo laughs as if he completely understood Raimondo's words; and then speaks himself. Well look at this gaggle 3 dwarves, a rock dwarf, a bird, and an orc. Giving another chuckle.
Well, while I don't be owing you any type of explanation stone dwarf. But I don't want to be seen poorly in the eyes of Adabar either. Your friend here has the right of it. he points to Kamda. This dog lost fair in square and now the horses are mine to do as I please wit. Elanzo gives another chuckle and you get the feeling he is more than amused by the whole situation.
Now I'm a reasonable man, I don't care if me men have horse to eat or somethin' else. I own these horses and I seen um. Strong and sure-footed; surely a waste to slaughter. I could let ya buy um from me for 300 gold pieces. A more than fair price for such fine animals. Then you can sober this sad sack up and he can haul you to wherever your going. Now his smile is wide, as if he had somehow just made you the best offer ever.
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Ignoring Elanzo, Garduk translates the caravan master's words for the others, then switches back to Varisian to respond to Scevola:
"Se spune că ai pierdut într-un joc corect. Cum de te-a trișeze? Vorbi repede, înainte de sânge este vărsat."
Garduk hopes that the party can avoid getting into a pitched battle in the middle of this tavern/guild hall; it would seem to be a poor way to avoid attention. But he gets ready to fire an acid jet just in case.
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Kamda shrugs off the intended insults and continues to tap his foot.
So yer sayin' tha ye didn't cheat, er lie ta yer opponent? Cause iffen I fend out ye did, I'll make sure ye know wha' Torag thinks abou' tha kinna stuff by tha time I'm done with ye!
He looks toward Garduk, trusting that, with his languages and tact, he'll be able to get to the root of the matter.
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The inebriated Raimondo can only muster,
El ma înșelat. Am pierdut caii ... acum aici! Ia-le înapoi voi face lucrurile.
He cheated me. I lost the horses...now your here! Get them back I'll make it things right.
While almost falling to the floor trying to get up. Before slumping back in his chair. You notice there are a couple glasses each for both Raimondo and the Captain; and that seems inline with the other tables you see. A couple of barmaids have a decent amount of hustle, so it's conceivable they pick up any empties.
You think Elanzo's likely is telling the truth.
There is a measure of truth to Elanzo as you don't think he did anything overt like spiking the man's drink; but he certainly didn't encourage him to slow down, and definitely knew the man was too drunk to pay with all his senses. Still he seems more opportunist, than outright cheat.
Look, Elanzo replies Who ya going to believe a man so drunk he can't even stand or a good reliable sea capt'n.
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Garduk looks back at Kamda and licks his lips nervously, realizing that the paladin actually seems to be taking his contributions seriously. He translates Scevola's latest answer for the group, but is himself becoming skeptical - even drunk, Raimondo should have been able to give some basis for thinking he was cheated. Taking another tack, Garduk asks him, "Cati cai ai pierdut? Și ce a pariat Elanzo? Ce-ai fi ajuns dacă ai fi câștigat?"
Garduk translates Scevola's answer into Terran for Oret, and adds: "'oH SoH jotlhmeH toH qul naQmey bets yIlo', joSbogh. neHqu' suit 'IH 'ay', yIDIl qIlmeH pIj. vajMatlh latlh De' Suq 'e' nID pol vIja'."
Finally, in Common, Garduk asks Elanzo: "Captain, do you really have time to get the horses to your camp, slaughter them, skin them, dress them, and cook them in time to feed them to your men tonight? How many men will it take just to accomplish all of that, when they should be preparing for departure at first light tomorrow? How many men do you have to feed with these animals, anyway?"
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Oret considers the arguments carefully both ways, and replies calmly in Terran.
While maintaining the peace by continually keeping himself between both men.
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To Elanzo, Oret calmly speaks but also with a firm intonation. "I shall believe those who can provide me reliable evidence, how I see it is each words against the other but no one has been able to prove if the legitimacy of each own claims, if you had won it and can prove it, so be it." He waits to see what happens next.
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Raimondo answers in Varisian Patru, așteptați cinci, nu patru. Um monedă, aș primi monede.
Four wait five, no four. Um, Coin, I receive coins.
Stonegrin tries to move to exam the cups but the young toughs don't intent to let you near there Captain.
Elanzo responds, My men here are itching for a fight, but what good does it do a Capt'n to have a bunch of tore up sailors trying make way in the morning. And yer right it's a hassle to get that meat butchered. Tell ya what, give me 150. I'll go away quietly; we don't gotta scrap. You keep the horses and sober yer man up. I'll take some more of his coin another time and mind my own business today. Ain't no fighting and no mess, ain't no reason to exam evidence or nothin'. Everyone's happy...whether ya think I cheated him or not, don't really matter; gotta admit, this way is just easier on all of us.
Elanzo seems like the fun as worn out and he's ready to move one.
That's the best I'll offer, now pay up for my horses and I'll leave you to yer business.
Awareness Points = 2
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One of the barmaids, a young mwangi lass, speaks up once the pirates leave, Raimondo is not always like this, he's been extra nervous about some job he's been hired to do. I guess he hasn't heard from his contact and he spent a good bit of his coin on his new horse team. I guess he and that Captain are old rivals. When the Captain showed up he challenged Raimondo to a drinking contest, then they started in on the cards.
She shakes her head.
He has a room upstairs, if you care to help him up there.
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After putting Raimondo Scevola to bed. You find out rooms are available at the Wandering Way to guild members, which they will be glad to let you join for 5 gold a piece or 25gp if you sign up as trading house or company (and it would cover all of you). After that the rooms are 2 gp a night per person.
The barmaid directs Garduk to a nearby general type store, where you can procedure mundane equipment, like rations, for the going rate.
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Once you conclude your side business you make your way to House Cartahegn trading post, which is easy to find but clear on the other side of Bloodcove.
As you arrive, surrounding a sprawling, two-story trading post is a mass of citizens and merchants alike. Some wear worried expressions and wring their hands, while others shout angrily at a well-dressed young woman by the entrance.
As I said, shouts the Cartahegn spokesperson from atop a wooden crate, all Cartahegn resources are needed to deal with this emergency with our sugarpress, and our storefront is closed for the
remainder of the day or until management resolves the situation. We apologize for the inconvenience, but for now please return to your homes and places of business.
As she climbs down, most of the grumbling mob begins to disperse.
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Hearing the agent's dismissal of the crowd, Garduk swears under his breath in Skald.
We're going to be stuck here, or have to walk back to Absalom! he thinks. The archaeologists are going to die, starved or slaughtered by an army of talking apes, and my first mission as a Pathfinder is going to be my last.
He asks the group anxiously:
"What do we do now? Should we go look for the alchemist? What kind of machine takes all of the resources of a big trading organization to fix?"
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Bokkah says to the group, "Perhaps signing up as a trading company will aid in our cover story. I will pitch in for that."
At the trading post, she says, "Nuts to that. We can't afford to delay." She quickly invokes the guidance of her Grandmother and approaches the spokeswoman.
"My associates and I have an enormous order we need filled urgently. I understand if you can't provide sugar but surely you don't want to miss out on all this business. Isn't there some way to come to an agreement?"
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Oh yes, says the well-dressed woman of barely twenty summers. She lowers here voice so that the whole town doesn't hear. This ant situation in the sugarpress is dire! We’re losing thousands of pounds of sugarloaf an hour, and frankly I doubt we’ll be able to turn these clicky beasts back. We expended all the available sword arms just chasing the monsters back into the basement. If more giant ants show, we’ll surely lose the entire mill. If that happens expect food prices around Bloodcove to triple overnight!
Looking over the group.
So your handy with you axe master dwarf? If so, I have an idea that came to me while I was standing out here telling people the bad news, you see—my housekeeper makes a sort of lotion that frightens bugs away, some jungle concoction and I bet if someone dumped a load of it in the ants’ tunnel, it would keep them away until we could brick it up! If you think you are up to the task of fighting off the menace and then spreading the lotion. I promise you quite a discount in exchange for your services once we’re open again.
She looks at excitedly at the prospect.
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By the iris of the All-Seeing Eye, is there anything about this mission that is going to be simple? Why would you need a battleaxe to deal with an ant problem? Garduk wonders. Do you smash them with the flat side?
Mopping sweat from his face with his sleeve, he says, "Anything would be better than waiting around. I don't have an axe, but I've got big feet." He points down at his huge, thick boots. "Let's go solve your vermin problem so we can all get back to business."
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Excellent! Wait here. She leads you inside House Cartahegn to a smartly furnished waiting room, it provides a break from the heat outside, but is still rather warm.
After about 30 minutes she returns hauling a large, stinking sack of goo. Here's the repellant. She then leads you too the basement.
The entry point is through there. Make sure to coat their hole as best you can, so we can get some masons down here ASAP. She points the way, then leaving you to your task.
After the humidity above, the stark dryness of the basement stands out as unsettling, almost as unsettling as the acrid smell and constant, methodical clicking emanating from the darkness. The remains of bags and crates lie scattered across the floor amid a sea of grayish dust.
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Oret chunkily moves with the group, surprised his armour doesn't rattle as much as he thought it would.
"Ants! Now that's a lawless mess that I would be happy to help me. We can't have ordinary citizen's like you feel the pinch from insect infestation." Oret walks through in the dark, cautiously with his shield in front of him, and Morningstar in his other hand. "Who's got that repellent?" He says as he tries to peer through the door of the next room.
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During the half-hour wait for the ant repellant, Garduk reads his little book, but listens to the others' chatter with half an ear. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees the others checking their weapons and tightening the straps on their armor. After a bit, he starts to get the idea that maybe he should have taken the woman's reference to "giant ants" a bit more literally.
As soon as the Cartahegn agent leaves them at the basement stairs, Garduk mutters something under his breath, gestures with one hand while rubbing a piece of old leather with the other. A soft white glow appears at his feet, and quickly rises to cover his entire body, then fades.
As they creep down the stairs and the mysterious clicking sound becomes louder, Garduk senses the moment the attitude of the experienced warriors turns from cocky to cautious, and it chills him. Facing down a few thugs in a tavern, that was nothing new; he had faced worse odds in uglier dives during his long journey to Absalom after running away from his apprenticeship. Facing an unnatural enemy in a strange place would be an entirely different situation.
Garduk unhooks the truncheon from his belt, and grasps the handle so hard his knuckles turn white; until this moment, he has never regretted his choice not to carry one of the weighty greataxes or deadly falchions so revered by the warriors of his clan. With his other hand, he pats his pouch of spell components, and in his head, he rehearses the mental trigger he uses to unleash a jet of acid. He strains to see through the darkness, seeking any hint of the vermin they are about to face, scarcely daring to breathe.
If I survive long enough to leave this basement, I swear I will never again go into a dark place to face an unknown enemy without a blade on my belt or on my back, no matter how strong in the arcane arts I become.
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Pulling back the curtain dividing the rooms, the clicking increases. This large chamber contains a maze of pipes and air ducts near the ceiling, but the floor remains clear aside from coal scattered from the chute along the far eastern wall. The ants broke through the flagstone floor in the northeast corner where a large tunnel now enters the room.
Two dwarf sized giant black ants seemed whipped into a frenzy at your arrival.
Initiative
Round 1
map
Kamda
Garduk
Stonegrin
Bokkah
Oret
Ants
Kulga
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"Burn and die, you disgusting aberrant horror!"