"Agreed," Abby says as she pays up. "Not to mention, it provides us with a mobile defensive point."
Jarha pulls out 5 gp, 2 for him and 3 for a share of the carriage, and gives it to the Duskwarden. "Here's my payment and 3 of the 10 gp for the carriage."
"We keep the carriage, then," Melianthe says. She smirks. "I wasn't hired on for my tactics. Wait, did anyone actually hire us? Ah yes, good sir, your payment."
She hands the Duskwarden her share.
I thought I understood that the carriage was to be used only to get to this "fair" city. Did I misunderstand?
”No one told me it would be this comfortable. It can’t hurt to keep it longer. Maybe we should name it?”
You pay the duskwarden and he leads you through the Twisted Door. Your guide is joined by a second duskwarden, a dwarf who looks like he ate a particularly sour lemon. "I'm Paisch, and this is Nobu. I won't bore you with the usual diatribe... just stick together, and if I tell you to do something, do it."
Beyond the Twisted Door, the Halflight Path is a roughly 15-foot-wide, 15-foot-tall tunnel that winds up through the cliff at a steep but manageable slope. The tunnel begins as a natural-looking cave, with minimal work done to widen it, but as it climbs, it passes through numerous distinct regions—places where the tunnel has been painted with crude pictographs or decorated with elaborately carved pillars and frescoes, or where it becomes a mirror-smooth tube or a square-walled path filled with right angles, like a labyrinth in which every wrong turn has been blocked off.
Sometimes it emerges briefly onto narrow ledges along the cliff face, and at one point the tunnel even opens up into a larger chamber where both walls are carved with elaborate porticos and balconies, its many doors and archways all carefully locked and barred or bricked up completely. The duskwardens check each of the doors before you pass, ensuring the seals are intact.
After some time in the heavy silence, Paisch coughs and speaks up. "You lot might find the Path the least dangerous part of your stay in Kaer Maga. Korvosan refugees have a big target on their back."
Perhaps you can help us in recommending a guide for the city?
"Why would that be?" Abby asks of the Duskwardens, one eyebrow raised.
Segang starts to answer but chooses to let the duskwardens respond. He has already expressed his opinion of this vile city.
Jarha thinks to himself, "I pity those that might target us," but he awaits the duskwarden's response.
Melianthe merely shrugs. How bad can it be? she wonders.
"What are behind the seals?" she asks quietly.
Paisch replies as he chews on a piece of jerky. "For the past couple months, refugees from your city have been trickling in. At first it was just a few small groups and families, then a great, massive stampede. You had some kind of plague?"
Nobu gives the man a sour look as he continues to talk. Paisch continues, unabashed.
"Anyway, a bunch of people come into Kaer Maga, carrying their only valuables and looking desperate -- makes a tempting mark for all the cut-purses and con men. So, after a few bad incidents, the Korvosans have carved out a small corner of the Warrens for themselves. Its not much, but its living, I guess. Some loon leads them, calls himself The King of Spiders or some such nonsense."
"So, anyway, if y'er looking for a place to stay..."
To Melianthe's query, he says, "Oh, mostly nothing. Miles and miles of tunnels, labyrinths and caverns, haunted by silence and dust."
Nobu sighs heavily.
"Yes, I tend to like to seal up 'mostly nothing', myself," says Melianthe with an arched brow and a smile. "Indeed, there was an illness upon the city, but as you can see, we're not ragged refugees, and I doubt we'll be mistaken as such." Melianthe puts her hands on her hips for emphasis.
"As for the King of Spiders, well. He's the type who likes to enslave pseudodragons. If he were to fall off the Storval Plateau, I wouldn't shed any tears. Suffice to say, we'll seek lodging elsewhere, in all likelihood."
"As for arachnids crawling all over his person--" Melianthe lets Hloire wander up her arm--"That's nothing I'm concerned about. If he crosses our path or we cross his, so be it.
"
Paisch gives Melianthe a sidelong glance and grunts. "Yeah, you 'adventurers' are the real trouble... probably your biggest enemy is yourselves. See, these seals keep some downright nasty things from preying on those not so capable as you like to think you are. And they work just fine until one of you lot comes along thinking, 'How bad could it be?' and 'There must be treasure in there!' and such rot. You break the seals, endangering everyone else who uses the Paths, then get your brain melted by some floating monstrosity who eats the rest of you alive while you blissfully drool."
"So, yeah... miles and miles of mostly nothing. Don't get any cute ideas."
"I've no desire to break your seals, and will advise my comrades not to do so, either," Abby says. Then her eyes narrow, and baleful red sparks dance in their cores. "The King of Spiders, though… Would it be a great blow to Kaer Maga's civil order if he fetched up on a length of steel? Enslaving pseudodragons is only one of his crimes. He sold drugs and peddled in flesh, back in Korvosa. I'd not like to see him have leadership over a band of refugees with nowhere else to turn."
"You all have met this King of Spiders? Did you know he had left Korvosa?"
"To be honest, I'd hoped he was dead," Absinthe says, bluntly.
"Yes, when we weren't gallivanting about releasing unnamed horrors behind flimsy barricades and plundering ancient tombs for loot, we happened upon the King of Spiders," says Melianthe with a chuckle. "Maggots like him tend to survive."
Pausing at a seal Segang studies it for a moment and asks How do the seals work?
Paisch eyes Segang for a second before responding, wide-eyed. "Magic!" He chuckles, shaking his head. "Join the Duskwardens. Maybe they'll tell you."
The rest of the ascent passes over a few hours, mostly quiet but occasionally interrupted by Paisch's crude rants or attempts at humor. The path ends in a stone bunker, manned with several Duskwardens on break or preparing to head back down.
Exiting the stone building, you emerge on the northwest side of the enclosed city. Immediately visible is a massive break in the ring of Kaer Maga's walls, called the Gap, where an ancient explosion tore away thousands of pounds of stone. The rubble has been filled with a manystory shantytown of rickety scaffolding and makeshift shacks, yet a wide corridor runs through the center and plays host to a constant stream of traffic in and out of the city. A throng of beggars and urchins loiter in the area.
Segang eyes the throng before them. Guard well your purses and small items of value my friends. he warns as he put his purse deeper into his clothing and better secures small objects. He settles his Mask of the Mantis firmly onto his face, hoping to deter the urchins with its visage. Now remind me why we are here again? And how soon can we leave?
"Libraries, stoolies, item shops," Absinthe lists the benefits of a town -- even this one. "Seren, we'll need your subtle tongue to get information without attracting poachers."
"Let's find an inn of some repute, with a livery for our horses," suggests Melianthe. "This looks like a city one should traverse on foot."
Melianthe perks up at the word library. "Information on the Shoanti artifact might be found here."
Melianthe tries to remember the ruling families of Kaer Maga.
Jarha nods at Seren's advice and secures his belongings and tucks his valuables deep in his robes. He tugs on his sleeves of many garments and makes his robes appear shabbier, to make it appear he is unlikely to have anything of value.
Abby shrugs, and tucks her amulet into her collar. Her other more shiny belongings are already covered by cloth and leather; a Rogue rarely leaves glittery treasures open to avaricious eyes.
"If there's a thieves' guild in this burg, maybe I should try to contact them," she suggests to Melianthe. "You never know where information might lurk."
"I may try to offer my healing services to some of the Korvosan refugees in town, and perhaps I will learn some information of use in the process."
Melianthe knows that Kaer Maga has no nobility. The city has no real government either. Its mostly an anarchist collective of various factions and free people. The most powerful groups maintain a relative balance and peace even though many of the factions despise each other.
Segang does not like this city. He knows too much about.
"Hmmm, we want to be unmolested?"
Seren casts a quick spell and a large, greenish-gray troll wearing a blood-smattered smock with a slit in the middle wanders out of the crowd and beckons the party to follow.
Seren makes a 'who me' gesture before nodding sagely and waltzing after his illusion, leading them into the city.
"Let's find an inn in a savory part of town ... you know, where the money is."
Melianthe mock-gags. ”Seren, you grow prettier by the day.”
"The money, and private security patrols to make sure it doesn't go anywhere in strangers' pockets," Abby notes with mild sarcasm.
"Just follow the nice Troll, sister Mel. I'm dead on my hooves after all that travelling. Let's see about getting something to eat and drink."
Seren the Augur leads the group through the throng and into the strange city's streets. People give way to him with great respect and a bit of awe.
Seren ponders for a moment, "Inside the city through the outer wall and into the inner area is where we want to be. A left to go clockwise should take us through Widdershins, where most travelers stay at the Itinerant House, but I hear there are some higher end places further in in Hospice. Perhaps we could offload the carriage there?"
Seren has the illusionary Augur continue to move along, growling at folks that get in its way, although if his studies are accurate, they should move out of the way for the respected troll oracles.
"Let's to Hospice, Augur," says Melianthe, eyes on the crowds. "I've heard it has more inns. More wealth means a little more protection and less likelihood of random knives in backs."
"That's fine with me."
Seren leads the way through the Widdershins to Hospice.
"We will ask around for a place of repute when we get there."
After taking a moment to get his bearings -- based upon a Pathfinder's written travel journal read years before -- Seren leads you away from Duskwarden Guildhouse, skirting the edge of the Warren while headed towards Widdershins. In his Augur troll guise, he commands an instant level of respect from the locals, who make way even on some of the most densely-packed streets. It makes guiding your horses and the carriage much easier.
While the Warren sits in the massive breach in the ancient citadel's walls, Widdershins lies in the open air center section, known as the Core. It is also perhaps the most orderly, clean and well-maintained neighborhoods in the city. The contrast from the destitute, maze-like Warren is stark. The streets leading into Widdershins are also gated and guarded by the well-organized and equipped Constabulary.
As you near the gate, one of these uniformed constables steps forward, holding up a hand to stop. "State your names, business and destination."
Melianthe gets a tingling in the hairs on the back of her neck, again.
"Tshamek, it is I, Walks with Spirit, and my contracted guards who are escorting me to return to my lands to bury my mentor and grandfather, chief of the Shundar-Quar. We are simply looking for a safe place to rest for the night. Can you point us to the right place?"
Abby stands at Seren's side, one hand on her rapier's hilt, her expression carefully neutral but alert. The very image of a professional bodyguard keeping watch over the customer; not unnecessarily hostile, but alert to the possibility of violence.
The constable gives Seren a sour look but lowers his hand. "You looked more like Korvosan refugees looking for a handout."
"Continue on your way through Widdershins, but do not tarry. No guests after the evening curfew... which starts in about half an hour." He hands Seren a small copper token marked with a rune. "Give this to the constable on the far side when you depart, and to any in the district who ask for it. Without it, you'll be arrested and charged for trespassing." He then nods to his fellows and they open a gap for your carriage to pass through.
Seren leads the party through, "We want to get to Hospics but keep an eye out for something decent here as well in case we cant get through"
"For a rough and tumble town, they sure do have plenty of laws," says Melianthe.
More quietly, she says, "Another scry attempt upon me. We're going to get caught eventually, by whatever it may be. We can try to purchase some non-detection items, but it won't help for too long."