|
After about two hours with Kardess upstairs, Rexus comes down from his lodgings. Laria looks at him with surprise, "You're up early this morning. What's the matter?"
Rexus grabs two croissants, shoving one in his mouth even before seating himself. With a smile on his face, he leans back on his chair, and eats. He points to Kardess with croissant number two, and with his mouth full, says, "Ashk him! thish guyzjad'geniush! shaved me at leasht a weekovv-work withch my... *GULP!* paperwork!"
Andor is really impressed by Rexus' and Kardess' work "Wow, Kardess, Rexus, really wow! These new information are great. Thanks for your hard work ... really great!!" he says beaming with joy.
Along the way, Andor and Red made quite the intel gathering duo, with a lot of children asking their ma or pa if they could 'touch the crocodile man.' Assuming Red agrees, within the hour the big skinwalker has already gathered quite the fan-base. This mirth and good humor has the effect of opening the flood...
Andor does not really know how to interpret the information they gathered. ""Red, first of all I want you with me any time we go to check the streets! The crowd loved you ..." Andor says with a sly smile. "But what do you think this woman ... the infamous Nox ... really is? A Tiefling maybe?"
|
|
* * * *
Sitting together in the afternoon Andor proposes to review the initial information we have gathered on
Shadowsquare: Kintargo’s second-largest temple is Shadowsquare, the local church of Zon-Kuthon. Shadowsquare actually has very few worshipers in Kintargo; its presence here is as more of a political nod to neighboring Nidal. Built over the ruins of the city’s previous church of Cayden Cailean (which burned to the ground early in the civil war 80 years ago), the building looks like a truncated pyramid, its sides sloped inward so its central courtyard is constantly draped in at least some amount of shadow. The temple has a relatively small number of priests in attendance, led by a grim woman named Aluceda Zhol who spends as much of her time in the church of Asmodeus as she does here. Rumors persist that she’s involved in an affair with that temple’s high priest. Shadowsquare augments its coffers by selling magic items and healing services, but generally has a fairly limited number of offerings.
House of Golden Veils: Once a Calistrian church called the House of Satin Veils, the worship of the Savored Sting was (as with many other chaotic churches) outlawed after the civil war. Yet unlike the temple of Cayden Cailean, the temple of Calistria was not razed or ruined or converted into a government building. Instead, the abandoned temple was claimed by the church of Abadar. Today, the House of Golden Veils functions more as a large bank than a temple, as the faith of Abadar has traditionally had difficulty gaining momentum and traction among Kintargans, who either fall in line with the worship of Asmodeus or seek deities of a less strict nature to venerate in private. Priest Mhelrem Gesteliel focuses largely on matters of mercantile interest, but eagerly accepts those of the faith into his flock. The House of Golden Veils has the largest supply of minor divine magic for sale in Kintargo.
Temple of Asmodeus: The Temple of Asmodeus in Kintargo, as with many other such temples throughout Cheliax, occupies a grand structure once devoted to Aroden. Today, the large central dome and facades of this structure have been reinforced with iron and magically transformed to be adorned with images of devils and Hell itself. Much of the upper floors are open to the public, but High Priest Corinstian Grivenner and his minions are swift to prevent access to the temple’s inner sanctum or the mysterious chambers below. A belfry atop the central dome rings out apparently at random, though none in Kintargo claim to know who or what rings the so-called Devil’s Bells, as access to the belfry without teleportation or flight seems difficult at best. There are those who believe that the bells ring according to some complex pattern or code, and that those who could break the code would learn a terrible secret, but to date the timing of the Devil’s Bells have proven frustratingly difficult to interpret. Spellcasting is available to paying customers at a 10% discount from prices offered by other churches in the city, but the temple does not do much trade in magic items..
Temple Hill Gardens: Although they’re called gardens, the only thing planted in these plots of land surrounding the Temple of Asmodeus are bones; these are Kintargo’s active graveyards. The church of Asmodeus does an excellent job patrolling and tending these grounds, as by honoring Kintargo’s dead they’ve helped to keep the good will of her living citizens.
Humbright House: While the central cathedral to Aroden served most of his faithful back in the day, numerous smaller shrines to the god of humanity stood throughout Temple Hill. Humbright House is one such shrine—a pair of buildings that served as a combination orphanage and boarding house for disadvantaged youth.
Songbird Hall is the church of Shelyn. The tireless work of her faithful have helped keep Kintargo steeped in both culture and creativity while simultaneously helping to preserve city peace and curb violent uprisings—be they from overly eager dottari or frustrated rebels. To many of Kintargo’s citizens, these priests of Shelyn are regarded unfairly as traitors who sold out their faith, but the wiser realize that these priests are in an impossible position and are doing the best they can to minimize the influence of House Thrune and the church of Asmodeus. The church brings in most of its money by tutoring young nobles in the way of art, courtship, music, and sculpture, then invests those funds into feeding the poor, sprucing up neighborhoods, and making large anonymous donations to the opera house. The current high priest is Zachrin Vhast. The church has a small amount of divine magic for sale—primarily healing potions and scrolls, but you’ve heard they might have a partially charged wand for healing as well.
----
Many of the Silver Ravens were adventurers or worshipers of Milani. Jackdaw, a swashbuckler, was the most powerful and influential of them all, but others who rose to particular prominence among the Silver Ravens were Amyreid (a female half-elf cleric of Milani), Ba (a male halfling enchanter), Kyda (a female human rogue/bard), and Brakisi (a male human urban ranger).
----
Sitting in Long Roads Coffeehouse, Kardess also realizes that a lot of the patrons are not only students... they are actually memorizing the contents of their spellbooks for the day... The Long Roads Coffeehouse is... for the lack of better words, full of wizards!
----
"I hear that bodyguard of Thrune’s, that woman Nox, is half devil. She’s too ugly to be just human, that’s for sure!"
----
"Guys, we need to formulate a plan to continue. I think we should understand a little more about the religion of Milani as the leader and another prominent member of the Silver Ravens were worshippers of Milani." Andor proposes.
"Do you have any further ideas? It is important to formulate and discuss the next steps." Andor says.
|
|
"Do not worry Bennybeck! This guy deserves some pain and he will receive it when we Pathfinders have supported this small rebellion here." Andor says smiling.
Andor would ask Rexus and Laria to join their meeting.
"Do you guys have any idea what we could do? I read through the reports and ... and I do not want to open wounds but did you check out your burnt home Rexus for any remains that could be useful to us? After all your mother and father are lost and there may be a hint where they are and what happened to them."
Rexus says, "I have not returned, Andor... and I'm not planning to do so. The wounds are too fresh, and I don't trust what I'd do upon seeing the manse burnt down. Anger and emotion can only blow my cover and expose me at this point. Let them think my whole family is dead... that I'm dead. If you want to do it, go ahead. It's in the noble's district though, which has its own gate. It's loosely guarded in the daytime, but if you don't look like nobles or servants you may be questioned if the guards do their job."
Rexus hesitates, and seems to be deep in thoughts for a moment.
"Bah! don't worry Andor. Perhaps not a dead end if you can find something there. Now that I think of it, my home wasn't the only thing that burned down that night. Two other places got hit: the Thrashing Badger tavern, and a music store called the Silver Star. I can confirm that my parents were part of the Sacred Order of Archivists, and I suspect that they were targeted by Thrune’s agents for this reason. Maybe there's something back there the dottari couldn't find..."
"To tell the truth... I tried going back to the ruined Victocora Estate, but had to flee from dottari patrols each time before he was able to get far..."
|
Roldala sympathizes with Bennybeck's trouble, it had taken more than one hairy fight-and-flee before she'd been willing to lie low with any grace in the face of tyrannical Chels.
Tell us more about these patrols. If The Shadow's not enough to keep us out of trouble, how quickly will they have reinforcements?
"Reinforcements could arrive in mere minutes if they sound the alarm. I don't recommend you take on the dottari patrols - you should try to blend in if you head to The Greens."
"Wise course of action, Slitheren. Avoiding detection means you can come back to here to a warm bed without dragging the city guard here with you! I'll need weeks to decode these documents and I was hoping to stay here while I do it... seeing that I am now homeless... if you do find anything at these three sites please do come here and let me know. I'll try to help with that. Which site do you plan to search first?"
"Dunno... I haven't been to the other sites. My family's burnt estate was patrolled regularly, but that probably was true about the entire city in the days that followed the Night of Ashes. Your main worry about The Greens district is to come up with an excuse why you're going there when you pass the gatehouse. Or as I said, you could look like servants... you are quite the diverse group however... now that I think of it, perhaps a long-term cover or reason would be best in your case, to prevent such daily worries about simple movements within the city. A troupe of entertainers, perhaps? traveling merchants from Kaer-Maga? or simply declare your affiliations with the Pathfinder Society and your interests in local archaeological finds due to the city's vast underground chambers which were built over..."
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Rexus, that is a very good idea! We are well armed so what about saying that we are mercenaries that are just waiting for the next big request for our services and that we wanted to stay here just enjoying this town with Casinos, Opera etc. ... after a while they will ask why we are still here with the curfew but for now it could work! What do you think?" Andor say with a smile.
"To accommodate Red, let us go to the Thrashing Badger. It is right next to the water directly by the Vashnarstill Shipyard, Kintargo’s busy shipyard. So we could approach the place together from land but Red would first check out the place from the water?"
On your way to the Thrashing Badger, after a five minute walk you arrive from the west at an intersection with a large signpost. Pointing north, the sign bears the inscription "The Newt Market"; to the east, "The Greens"; and to the south, "Vashnarstill Shipyard" and "Bleakbridge."
After turning right at the intersection towards the south, another ten minute walk brings you to your destination. The Thrashing Badger’s ruins are almost entirely gone however; the building burned through the boardwalk and collapsed into the water below.
|
Kardess waits until the street clears a little, and no strangers are within earshot. Still, he speaks softly, "The Thrashing Badger was supposedly a hangout for local worshippers of a certain goddess, and The Silver Star may have actually sat above a secret shrine to another goddess."
The wayang looks around again, then pauses while a passerby moves in and walks past. "Unless they suddenly sobered up, I imagine the Badger's patrons will be looking for a new place to drink."
@Kardess: Clenchjaw's the new hangout for many of the Thrashing Badger's patrons.
Red spends a bit of time in the underwater wreckage and finds nothing.
|
"Red bring more fish next time..rrr." The werecrocodile-kin utters with booming confidence, grinning slyly. And he responds favourably to Andor's suggestions, "Red want go tavern..Rrr."
Picking himself out of the water, he doesn't make an effort to dry himself and just continues to follow Andor towards the Tavern making wet squishy noises with every step along the way.