In Harsk, Ayako also visits a few stores and a ramshackle cottage where an old woman peddles certain items.
Ayako calls Mushu over and places a small blanket over his back and secures it with straps before adding some small saddlebags that she puts two potions and a wand in. She seems to make soft squeaks at Mushu who oinks back. Ayako then ties what looks like a dried hand around Mushu's neck and pats him as the pig looks very proud to have been entrusted with such items.
After the pleasant and filling dinner, Jasan leads you, Neolandus, Vencarlo, and Trinia down into his basement, a place he uses to brew his own beer. His home-grown hooch is a bit rough, but the true reason he relocates down here is so he and the others can talk frankly without worrying his family. When Vencarlo introduces Neolandus by name, Jasan’s eyes widen and he whistles in admiration at the audacity of his home becoming the hideout of Korvosa’s seneschal.
Blackbird Ranch is a large place, but not large enough to comfortably accommodate an entire party of adventurers for long. Worse is the unspoken worry on Vencarlo’s and Neolandus’s minds—that they are known fugitives, and that Queen Ileosa will spare little expense in tracking them down. Her Red Mantis agents were close to discovering Neolandus in Old Korvosa, and it shouldn’t take them long to sift through the recent events there and to piece together what happened.
"The amulet of proof against detection and location will help hide Neolandus, but even then it is only a matter of time before the Red Mantis tracks us all down if we stay in one spot for too long. But first there is much to discuss." says Vencarlo.
Neolandus takes the stage and explains what he knows. "When I confronted Queen Ileosa about King Eodred II’s death, her response was to send Red Mantis assassins after me—proof enough of guilt to me. Through a combination of luck and knowledge about the castle’s layout, I barely managed to escape with his life and went into hiding with his friend Salvator Scream in Old Korvosa."
"After I recovered from the attack but before Salvator handed me over to the Arkonas, I spent much of my time in Old Korvosa researching the situation by interviewing key people, poring through records in Endrin Academy, and piecing together information and rumors I heard to try to determine what caused Queen Ileosa’s sudden personality change from a petulant spoiled queen to a scheming murderous tyrant."
"My suspicions grew, but until Queen Ileosa’s first public appearance after the plague, I tempered my suspicions with hope. I knew that Queen Ileosa had been “borrowing” the treasury key to look through Korvosa’s holdings. I was also familiar with several old and obscure legends about the chambers below Castle Korvosa—chambers, it was whispered, that were old even when the Shoanti dwelt here, and that used to hide something of great power or evil. There was little more information to go on, but I did uncover mention in some documents from Korvosa’s earliest days of something called Midnight’s Teeth, and that these teeth were believed to be some sort of sacred relic of great import to the Shoanti. Circumstantial evidence indicates that the Shoanti kept these teeth in the chambers inside the pyramid that now serves as Castle Korvosa’s foundation."
"My further research uncovered an old legend that chilled my soul. Several hundred years ago, a powerful blue dragon and agent of Zon-Kuthon named Kazavon brought the orcs of Belkzen to their knees and began conquering the neighboring nations of Ustalav and Lastwall, until he was finally defeated and his remains scattered. Some of these remains, according to certain Zon-Kuthonic scriptures, contained fragments of Kazavon’s essence. One of these relics was the Fangs of Kazavon."
"By piecing together my evidence, I suspect that Midnight’s Teeth were none other than the Fangs of Kazavon. The description of the queen’s new crown sounds to me as if she now wears the Fangs of Kazavon on her brow, the implications of which troubles me greatly."
"I wasn’t able to gather much more information before the Arkonas took me, but I don't suspect there was much more to learn. Hard facts about Midnight’s Teeth were sparse to begin with—Korvosa’s founders didn’t think it important to preserve much in the way of Shoanti culture. Yet there is still some hope. The Shoanti have very strong oral traditions, and if anyone knows the truth behind Midnight’s Teeth, that truth is doubtless hidden among their historians up in the Cinderlands."
Once Neolandus presents this information, Vencarlo chimes in. " Well, the next step should be clear. You must travel to the Cinderlands and establish a rapport with the Shoanti to discover what they know about Korvosa’s earliest days and what they kept so hidden deep inside the pyramid. Unfortunately, rumors that the Shoanti are preparing to launch an attack on Korvosa and her holdings seem to be true—emboldened by the news that Korvosa is buckling under the effects of riots and plagues, word from the Storval Rise is that the largest Shoanti tribe, the Sklar-Quah, is preparing for war."
"I have a bit of advice here on where to start—the Skoan-Quah, the Tribe of the Skull." says Neolandus. "Of all the Shoanti tribes, it has been the Skoan-Quah who have been most open to talk of peace between Korvosa and the tribes. Until recently, a large number of Skoan-Quah ambassadors dwelt near Korvosa, and peace talks between the two factions were slowly but surely heading in the right direction. I recall one old shaman in particular as being level-headed and friendly, a man named Thousand Bones. One of the last things I tried before the Arkonas got hold of him was to arrange a meeting with the old shaman, but unfortunately, shortly after an event involving one of the Shoanti braves during the riots, the Shoanti abandoned Korvosa. Thousand Bones and his people have returned to a place east of Kaer Maga in the Cinderlands known as the Kallow Mounds, and their reports on the tumult and chaos in Korvosa very likely fueled the neighboring tribe’s sudden need to strike while the enemy was wounded."
"Yet I doubt that Thousand Bones has abandoned hopes for peace. I know that Thousand Bones’s tribe dwells in the southeastern portion of the Cinderlands; I believe the best course of action now is for someone to travel to this tribe, find Thousand Bones, and learn from him any information about what Midnight’s Teeth actually were. And if they do know more—perhaps they know how to fight against an evil that apparently grants Queen Ileosa the ability to survive a mortal wound."
Jasan takes the news pretty well, "Well it’s about time for a move anyway. I'll head upstairs and start getting the family packed."
"I thought we'd meet some Shoanti to talk to behind the next village. You really expect us to go to the Cinderlands?" Tyrandro shakes his head in disbelief.
I remember meeting Thousand Bones. Ayako recounts the mission to Tyrando. One of the Shoanti was killed in the riots that happened after the king's death and his body was taken to The Greys. We managed to recover it and root out some undead.
So these teeth and crown might be what is giving her so much power? If we can get that crown off of her, it could help quite a bit, or at least we could shoot her with so many arrows she can't get back up.
"We need to find a way to destroy the crown if we can. You have to admit no one will think to look there for us. I'm a city dweller. I know nothing about surviving outside a city."
"This shaman Thousand Bones? You know him Ayako and Sebastian? Does he owe you a favor? Perhaps enough of a favor they won't kill us on sight when we arrive unexpectedly."
We recovered the body of one of his kin. As for favors, he may very well be more apt to listen to us because we helpe din. I admit I am a city dweller through and through and the wilderness is a mystery to me.
"Suicide mission here we come!" Tyrandro tells hiding his face in his hands. "Sebastian, please tell me that at least you have some experience moving through the wilderness."
I am sure Fluffy has all the skills needed to guide us.
"I won't get lost, even in the Cinderlands. But this heroing stuff is seriously lacking in the servants and clean beds department. And the mutual dislike between my people and the Shoanti is also much easier to live with when they are in the wild and I am not."
Well I doubt there will be clean beds out in the Cinderlands. Is it true you have to shake your boots out before putting them on due to snakes getting in them?
"Not a bit," he replies to Tyrandro's query. "But how bad can it be? The road, some trees, maybe a bit of wind. After the things we've been through, I don't see that the outdoors is going to be what does us in." And what does he mean, 'my people'?
It's not so much the outdoors that worries Sebastian. Tyrandro's people may as well be most Korvosans, and Sebastian isn't much different. He had grown up hearing tales of the Shoanti's savagery, and he wasn't looking forward to having to go among them for an extended period of time. As if things weren't bad enough, it was beginning to look like they might also have to somehow stop a war along the way!
Well we have spent time in places that are less than ideal sleeping spots. I think we napped in the derro caverns in the graveyard and we also slept in that cursed labyrinth as well. So sleeping under the stars in the fresh air would be a very nice change, perhaps with some parasols to keep the sun off, or a tarp for the wagon.
"We'll see how 'nice' that gets. I'll help Jasan packing." Tyrandro replies and goes after the guy to see if he can help.
Ayako gets her things packed into the wagon and gives some aid to Jason's family as thanks for their hospitality.
After your basement meeting, you return upstairs and chat with Trinia for a bit. You share some of your stories with her and she tells you that she has grown consumed with wanderlust ever since coming to Blackbird Ranch, and for several weeks she even took up adventuring with a band of Varisians and halflings exploring several Shoanti cairns. But after a close call in a cairn infested with ettercaps she left the group.
By next morning, Jasan has his worried but trusting family packing up all of their belongings for a move west to Magnimar, while Vencarlo and Neolandus decide to seek asylum at the dwarven city of Janderhoff.
Jasan says "I can provide you with a few weeks’ worth of trail rations and enough light warhorses for each of you. Also a few pack horses if they need them. The easiest way to navigate the towering cliffs that separate Varisia from the Cinderlands is to pass through the anarchic city of Kaer Maga. Additionally, the City of Strangers is an excellent place to sell magic items, buy gear, and otherwise resupply and prepare, especially since Korvosa is under martial law and returning to that city is not advisable."
"We're heading to Janderhoff." says Vencarlo. " Rest assured, Neolandus will be safe with me there. I request you do not send word for me. But if you must, please use magical means so it cannot be traced. I still have friends in Korvosa, and will return when the time is right."
As you are packing up, Trinia approaches you decked out in her adventuring gear. "So when are we leaving? I'm coming with y'all of course. My interest in the Shoanti has bloomed after my experiences exploring their cairns, and I've recently picked up the language. Unless one of y'all speaks Shoanti, you'll need a translator."
Ayako packs some rations and gratefully accepts a warhorse.
Thank you for your generosity. I agree that a brief stop in Kaer Maga would be good for establishing a base in case we need to retreat.
She nods to Vencarlo. Keep safe, and we will be sure to keep any possible contact to a minimum. When Trinia makes her offer, Ayako turns to the others. She certainly has come a long way from when we first met her, having a translator and scholar would be very helpful.
"Finally someone with experience in the wild!" Tyrandro rejoices. About the travel through the city of criminals he is not so glad though.
"The more the merrier, and we do need a translator. Let's all go. Never been to Kaer Maga. It should be interesting." Iolana studies the horse nervously. Nice horse.
"Hey Tyrando what did you mean by your people not liking the Shaonti? I'm Varsian. The Korvosans don't care for my people. They think we're all thieves."
"Is it true? shall I check my stuff if it's still complete?" Tyrandro jokes. "If you catch a thief, then it is probably someone who is poor stealing from someone who is not. And Varisians are not the rich in Korvosa. So what. Wait until you walk into Kaer Maga. If you're lucky you still have half of your stuff after you're past the poor district at the entrance to town."
"But I'm Chelaxian and Korvosa is a Chelaxian City built on top of a holy place of the Shoanti. And as Korvosa is not going away anytime soon there is no room to fix that. Which as I said is easy to live with if you're not in the Cinderlands." Tyrandro is well aware that most Korvosans would beg to differ about Korvosa being a Chelaxian town. But he doesn't care.
Given enough time, every culture starts to blend together. I am Tien Xia I suppose, but I don't speak the language and have never been outside the city so I'm just Korvosian.
"That maybe true. But I still don't feel like wearing colorful outfits or loincloth made of fur." Tyrandro replies. "Which way are we going now? I guess Vencarlo doesn't want us to come with him to Janderhoff, even though it would allow us to avoid Kaer Maga. So are we going along the Yondabakari river and climb the Storval Plateau at that melting pot of the outcast?"
In the evening, Sebastian finds a quiet moment to talk with his master between crossed swords. He had been eager to accept the opportunity to become Blackjack, but there was much he didn't know. Some things he would have to discover for himself, but he wanted to know more about the history of his new identity from the man himself. How had Vencarlo become Blackjack, and how many had come before?
The next day, Sebastian brightens at Trinia's enthusiasm to join them. From her stories, it seems that she's blossomed into quite the adventurer herself since escaping Korvosa. "You speak Shoanti? That's excellent!" If their goal was to mine the oral histories of the Shoanti for the information they needed, having someone who could actually understand that history would be key to their success.
Sebastian rolls his eyes at Tyrandro. He's Chelaxian. That explains everything. "Surely Kaer Maga can't be as bad as you fear. It may not be Korvosa, but will it be worse than the dreaded wilderness?"
"I guess we'll find out. Not that I really need to know first hand." Tyrandro replies.
In the evening, Sebastian finds a quiet moment to talk with his master between crossed swords. He had been eager to accept the opportunity to become Blackjack, but there was much he didn't know. Some things he would have to discover for himself, but he wanted to know more about the history of his new identity from the man himself. How had Vencarlo become Blackjack, and how many had come before?
"I don't know how many Blackjacks have come before me but my master was a lot like you and me. He was an adventurer and swordsman. He choose me because I exhibited the traits that embody the Blackjack spirit. A Blackjack but have a love for Korvosa but isn’t a “blind slave to the law and have the will to protect the city and her downtrodden. I began my training about thirty years ago and my master passed when you were still a babe so I don't expect you'd know him. Now as I pass the torch, you will become Korvosa's protector and during this time, you will keep an eye out for others who have these traits as well. In addition to protecting Korvosa, you should nurture and train this person. Whether directly or from the shadows, is up to you. And when the time comes, you'll be able to pass down the Blackjack name again to keep him alive for the Korvosan people." says Vencarlo.
"The more the merrier, and we do need a translator. Let's all go. Never been to Kaer Maga. It should be interesting."
"Yay! Thank you! I'm so excited. You won't regret this. Yes, I can lead you to Kaer Maga. There is a relatively straight path north to the city. We'll cross of the Runtash and follow the Yondabakari north. I have not been to Kaer Maga myself yet but I know a bit about it that I can share. The city scales the plateau cliff and we'll be able to travel into the Cinderlands from there. On the light horses Jasan provided, we can get to Kaer Maga in five days."
236.25 XP each
1000 XP each
600 XP each
600 XP each
303.75 XP each
Total XP gained = 2740 XP each
The journey north is plagued with wild creatures. On the first night, your camp is attacked by a small band of goblins. A display of magic quickly sends them fleeing. The following morning, you find your path blocked by a gang of ogres extracting tolls from travelers. You end their reign making the trail safer for all. On the third day, you need to chase off some more wolves and that night, some hungry ghouls try to make a meal of you. And then again, on the fourth day, goblins attack once more. Living in Korvosa your whole lives, you didn't realize how prevalent the goblin menace is but this journey is educating you.
You spend your fourth night in Sirathu and for the first time since Harse, you have a bed to sleep in. However, there is very little to say about Sirathu. Sirathu has long been overlooked by its ruling city of Korvosa, holding the undesirable honor of being both the poorest and farthest removed of the city-state's holdings. You have no remorse leaving the hamlet behind in the morning. Your last day of travel is uneventful and you finally arrive in Kaer Maga soon after.
I am beginning to appreciate people who manage to survive in such hostile areas. Ayako says after she freezes a sniveling goblin solid.Ogres,goblins and undead seem to be in an unending supply.
When they approach Kaer Maga, Ayako looks at the new city with some awe. An entirely new city and somewhere to have new experiences. I wonder what we will find there? More secret guilds, families who are actually monsters, or ancient shards that are part of a lost artifact just waiting to be foind.
As you approach, you discover that Kaer Maga sits on the top of the Storval Plateau rather than at its base.
Towering 3,000 feet high in places and never dipping below a thousand, carved with the faces and forms of vanished kings and gods, the Storval Rise neatly bisects the frontier land of Varisia along a massive tectonic fault line, separating the lush lowlands of the coast from the arid and pitiless badlands of the Storval Plateau. Stark and forbidding, these rocky bluffs are unclimbable by all but the most daring, leading those who seek passage out of the civilized lands to ascend carefully along the edge of the Yondabakari River, which cuts a channel through the stone, or else to turn north and head straight for Kaer Maga itself, hoping to brave the legendary Halflight Path.
This Halflight Path is the route you take.
Wide enough to accommodate entire caravans in single file, the trail begins at the foot of the cliff directly beneath Kaer Maga, where a small but well-maintained wagon trail splits off from the river road and terminates at a bronze gate known as the Twisted Door. Ancient beyond reckoning, these immense double-doors are covered in runes of an unknown language and take their name from a strange and subtle warping of their edges, which seem to rotate at strange angles yet still fit together without a gap. In a phenomenon frequently studied by visiting scholars, any given edge on the gate appears perfectly straight, yet as the observer follows it with his gaze, he finds his eyes have somehow turned, and what was once an outside edge is now inside. Apparently constructed by the same unknown race that founded the city itself, the Twisted Door remains a subject of curiosity even after millennia. Yet despite its strange nature, the Twisted Door is also a working gate, and the Duskwardens who guide travelers through it have little patience for sages whose experiments interfere with their regular operations.
At dawn, the Twisted Door cracks open and gives you your first look at the tunnel behind it, disgorging several Duskwardens who immediately set to work tending to whatever travelers have gathered since the doors were closed at sunset the prior evening. You are each charged 2 gp and are issued a small magical charm designed to provide light and help the rangers keep track of their charges. From there, the Duskwardens split those gathered up into small, more manageable chunks with no more than a dozen travelers in each; these smaller groups are then allowed to proceed into the tunnel at measured intervals. The five of you are put into your own group to be led up. The Duskwardens maintain that the small groups make it easier to keep track of stragglers, give them space to fight any predators that might have broken through onto the path, and are hopefully quiet enough to keep from attracting undue attention.
Passage through the Half light Path takes about 2 hours. The trek is a grueling hike, steep and claustrophobic except for those brief and terrifying intervals at which it emerges onto the cliff face itself, becoming a sheer-edged goat path constantly doubling back on itself or wrapping around one of the great stone faces of forgotten god-kings that protrude from the rock.
Inside the tunnels, the path’s terrain changes regularly. Just beyond the Twisted Door, the tunnel appears to be natural stone, worked in places to widen it but otherwise the sort of thing subterranean water flow might carve anywhere. As it climbs, however, this impression quickly gives way to regions clearly influenced by man or beast. Crudely carved corridors bearing primitive cave paintings, ornate masonry with elaborate frescoes, labyrinthine passages with all but the appropriate corridors blocked by rock falls, mirror-smooth tubes where only sand spread on the floor by the path’s guardians allows enough traction to move—the composition of the regions the path passes through seems to change like strata in the rock. At one point the path even opens up and passes through what appears to be a section of an ornate and abandoned city filled with doors, each carefully locked and barred. One thing, however, unifies every section of the path: the careful brickwork of the Duskwardens, closing off side passages and heavily reinforcing those existing natural barriers between the Halflight Path and the rest of the subterranean realm. Even with their defenses in place, your guide still demands complete silence when passing such junctures, at first you scoff at this extreme precaution but you are quickly cowed by the far-off screams of dying prey and the sounds of snuffling and scraping just beyond such barriers.
When at last you emerge, sweating and out of breath, you do so in a bunker-like structure of stone and mortar just a stone’s throw outside the Warren, allowing easy entrance to the city. His work complete, the Duskwarden in charge of the group collects the ensorcelled pendants from each of you and bids you good day, then immediately prepares to ferry any amassed travelers looking to make the reverse trip down to the cliff’s foot.
From a distance, Kaer Maga appears to be an enormous outcropping of gleaming, white stone extending straight up from the cliff ’s edge, its 80-foot-high walls forming a seamless, six-sided ring and its squared-off skyline broken only by a cluster of towers and minarets at the south end. Upon closer inspection, however, the great walls are revealed to be riddled with holes at every level, doors and windows carved by its residents. From these random entrances hang knotted ropes and ladders, cargo nets and winch-operated dumbwaiters, which residents use to come and go without a second thought—even children swing stories above the ground and scamper carelessly across makeshift landings. While several gated entrances at ground level are big enough for carts to pass through unhindered, most newcomers enter through the Warren, a vast break in the walls where some unknown force shattered the stone in ages past. Here a highrise of wooden scaffolding and temporary structures towers almost as tall as the walls themselves, and Kaer Maga’s poorest citizens live arboreally on planks and nets in a shantytown of vast proportions.
Once you pass through the madness of the Warren, you quickly realize the true strangeness of the city’s construction, for rather than being bordered externally by stout defensive walls, most of Kaer Maga lies literally inside its walls. Hundreds of feet thick, these vast stone bulwarks are mostly hollow, riddled through with chambers large and small and housing most of the city’s population in the twilight beneath their roof. In places the chambers are large enough that structures rise up the sides or stand free like those of a conventional city, while in others its interior is split into distinct floors, with entire neighborhoods stacked one on top of each other. These areas are collectively known as the Ring and are generally avoided by outside merchant caravans, which instead move swiftly into the bustling open-air commercial districts known as the Core, pausing only to hire one of the countless Warren children who work as guides.
Trinia explains, "As the only area of the city to receive natural light and the source of the population’s water, the Core is considered neutral ground by most of the gangs and organizations vying for control of the city. Here a thousand sounds and smells war with each other in a raucous cacophony, and those with ready cash and strong stomachs can find anything their hearts desire, from obscure magical items and exotic pleasures to occult knowledge and human chattel. In theory all traders are welcome in Kaer Maga, and the complete lack of moralizing and taboos means that the markets—like the rest of the city—are a haven for outcasts and those who cannot find acceptance anywhere else."
"Kaer Maga is roughly organized into 11 districts, eight in the Ring and three in the Core. Though many of the districts are controlled primarily by one faction or the other, the borders between them are not political but rather geographical—simply names for neighborhoods that may date back thousands of years. Regardless of their personal allegiances, all residents of Kaer Maga can pass freely through the various districts, though gangs in active opposition are wise to avoid flaunting their presence on each other’s home turf. Most of the city’s citizens bear only nominal affiliations with the various organizations and as a result simply keep their heads down and do as they please, trusting to the balance of power and spirit of laissez-faire to keep them safe."
Since you are all unfamiliar with the city, you hire a guide to lead you to an inn where you can stay while you buy and sell your supplies in preparation of your trip into the Cinderlands.
The guide hurries you through the Warren and into the district called the Hospice. The writhing, glistening center of Kaer Maga’s commercial zone, the district known as Hospice advertises itself to anyone who’ll listen as the district with something for everyone. And in fact, that statement isn’t far from the truth—for between the wealth brought in by traveling traders and the city’s notorious lack of scruples and boundaries, Kaer Maga’s Hospice is the most lavish and degraded red-light district in Varisia—and perhaps in all of Avistan.
Being one of the two Core districts catering to visitors, Hospice is more than just a conglomeration of cathouses and cabarets. With the highest concentration of inns, stables, and hostels in the city, Hospice is responsible for housing, feeding, and entertaining all those itinerants and traveling merchants who conduct their business in Downmarket during the day, or who are too new to the city to have made friends and contacts in other districts. Its nightlife is second only to Oriat, and lacks the manic edge of youth and danger that the artists’ sector invites. Instead, Hospice has an old, firmly seated decadence with the weight of history and the smoothness of a well-oiled machine. Far from catering solely to tourists, the numerous restaurants, gaming halls, back-alley theaters, and wine shops are a powerful draw for locals and newcomers alike, and prime real estate in Hospice is worth enough that many of the finer establishments have been there for centuries, their ownership changing hands but their marquees remaining untouched.
Yet no matter how hard other businesses in the district might try to distinguish themselves—the hostlers and off beat temples, the farriers and caravan outfitters—there’s still no question among any who visit as to Hospice’s primary trade. Lascivious catamites and lithe streetwalkers catcall from every window and alley, making passersby flush pink and red with their illicit suggestions and strategically bared flesh. In Hospice, it’s said, you can find anything you want, but you’d better be sure you want it—for few cities can offer the same extreme selection in their pleasure houses, and several of the darker establishments here have been known to turn seasoned warriors and slavers into mewling babes and send them running for the nearest priest or confessor.
The guide drops you off at an inn called the Sorry Excuse and quickly runs off with your coin before you can change your mind. The Sorry Excuse lives up to its name in almost every way. It is a rat hole with seemingly reasonable base rates, but you soon realize that you are being had as the prices quickly mount with extra fees for things like windows, candles, mattresses, and bathing basins.
Ayako keeps Mushu close as they travel up the dark paths to the main city of Kaer Maga, she tries listening to the whispers from the dark but they seem to have foreign lilts to them and speak of things from the city that she has no context for. Mother had since gone quiet, perhaps back to the shadows of Korsova.
Entering the mass of buildings, Ayako realizes that the shingles that Korsova boasts of pale in comparison to the collection of homes lashed together. The crush of people and noise is familiar but even Korsova didn't have such a collection of vice in one area.
After getting dumped in front of what might be considered an inn if you squint enough, Ayako sighs. Shall we subject ourselves to this place or try for better accommodations?
Iolana is shocked at her first sight of the city. This place looks evil. She tries to keep her mouth shut, and her eyes in her head as she moves through the various parts of the city following their guide. She makes sure she stays close to her companions. "Trinia have you been here before?"
"I don't intend to be taken for a ride . Either you give us a legitimate price or we go elsewhere." Iolana's hair is waving in the chilly wind that has suddenly come up in the common room of the "inn". She glares at the innkeeper.
Come come, Iolana, I am certain that we can come to an arrangement with the innkeeper on a good price. After all, they know that the smart travelers know how to ask for the proper rooms. So, no doubt you have some rooms all set up for customers, good inkeep.
Mushu starts haggling with the innkeep, making note of how the 'pay for a secure door' rooms are clearly traps for unwary travelers and there are certainly a few fully outfitted rooms for those with a keen eye.
Oink!
Tyrandro follows in silence with the 'told you so' look on his face. But it is no smug face. It is the horror. No matter how beautiful the exposed flesh, the ugly mindset behind that city is disgusting. "Can we get our business done and leave? I don't want to spend a single night in this hell hole. I suddenly have an unquenchable craving to sleep in the wilderness again."
We should be done soon. Just selling and purchasing some and then sweet blessed grass and sky.
"Yes, but if we actually have to stay for the night, then let's go back to the Canary House we came past. That looked like something of quality. Not like this sorry excuse for an inn. And none of you is still in the situation that you need to count every copper." Tyrandro objects to the selection of abode.
Sebastian is awe-struck by the city in every way. Even from the moment they set foot on the Halflight Path, everything about Kaer Maga had been a grand yet grotesque experience. Those times the path had opened up to the exposed cliffside gave marvelous views of looming death and the remnants of a civilization long gone, likely because they were too insane for this world. Making the city proper, Trinia delivers an excellent introduction to the city, almost poetic in the way it glossed over how utterly frightening the overwhelming madhouse that called itself a city truly was. One thing was certain - they weren't in Korvosa anymore.
As they pass through Hospice, he glances sidelong at Tyrandro almost accusatorily. "There's a little more to be said for Kaer Maga than just its outcasts and cutpurses," he says, his eyes constantly tracking and lighting on new displays of... well, displays. He thought himself immune by now to bawdy come-ons and solicitations, but Hospice threatened to drive a man mad.
At the inn, Sebastian stays quiet, marveling at how his companions can seem so unfazed by Kaer Maga that they could calmly bargain room prices to stay in such an insane place. "Trinia, you talk like you know this place well. How long have you dwelt here?" She had once seemed like such a harmless an innocent girl (after, of course, she was cleared for the murder of King Eodred II). But in just a few months, she had blossomed into something else entirely. What sort of things were there for her in Hospice, he couldn't help but wonder.
As they bargain, Sebastian finds himself agreeing with Tyrandro. "Yes, it did seem more inviting. But I keep most of my money with the Abadarans, and it's not as though we had time to prepare for this trip," he laments.
You decide to forgo the Sorry Excuse and search for a more upscale establishment.
While wandering, Ayako spots a cart of corpses being pushed through the streets, with the cries of the corpse collector making it clear that he’s in both the business of burying corpses for a fee and of selling unclaimed bodies for unspecified purposes. The cart pusher spots Ayako back and calls out, "You look like a woman who knows how to raise the dead. What are you in the market for? This one here died of poisoning. It'd make a great zombie. If you're going to be shopping around Kaer Maga, they make unparalleled baggage carriers. Or if you're more a skeleton kind of gal, I know a guy who strips flesh from the bones for a great rate."
While Ayako deals with the peddler, Iolana is startled by a shopkeep bursting out of her storefront swatting with a broom at a skittering, spider-shaped golem the size of his head. "Out, out, out!"
As for Sebastian, he comes across a crowd of children and adults betting on a fight between two large snakes. The snakes are clearly poisonous and not in any kind of enclosure except for the circle of people.
After a little bit of wandering, you find another inn within the same area called the Canary House.
The epitome of class, this five-story inn and bistro contains the most expensive and exclusive accommodations in town—an irresistible experience for those with means, and a simultaneously opulent and discreet place for the covert assignations of the wealthy. Inside Canary House, pheasant is a specialty of the kitchen’s famed culinary artistes and the walls are elegantly decorated in avian themes representing the birds of A’kaan’s native Garund, yet these are not what give the inn its name. Rather, the moniker comes from his famed Songbirds—slave girls chosen for their talent and trained from the time they could speak to sing in unbelievable harmonies, each word a chord with a dozen voices spanning several octaves.
With Ayako's diplomacy you secure a room guaranteed not to be bothered by any other guests for a mere 5 gold each.
"Trinia, you talk like you know this place well. How long have you dwelt here?"
"I've never been to Kaer Maga, but a few of the adventurers I briefly traveled with had been and I learned some information from them. Some of the stories they told of this place are fascinating."
You manage to get a good night sleep and in the morning, you head out to explore and purchase your supplies.
Don't tell me you are broke, Sebastion. Foolish as it may be, I keep my money on me for the times I need to be on the move.
Ayako looks up at the caged singers. Distasteful as it may be, I seem to have built up a tolerance for strange sights. After so long facing undead creating derros, wererats, cultists of death and disease and deadly labyrinths, this seems almost mundane.
Ayako turns to the corpse selling man selling corpses. Thank you my good man, but I don't have the ability to raise the dead. Iolana, are you handy with necromancy?
"Carrying shopping bags my ass. With the depravation of this town I wouldn't be surprised to find such a corpse in a row with all those baring their flesh for coin." Tyrandro spits out.
In the Canary House he relaxes a bit. It offers the standard he is used too. And even a bit more. The singing of the girls is beautiful, the food is delicious and the rooms are tastefully decorated and clean.
"What's distasteful about that? The slavery? In this city I'd say this cage is a pretty protection against the life they could have instead." Tyrandro doesn't care about slavery. If a servant is a slave or a wage slave isn't much of a difference to him.
The next day he pays one of the kids waiting in front of the inn to lead him to a mage's shop. There he gets his bow enchanted and buys some bracers that the mage praises as perfectly matching his skills. Also they look badass.
Iolana starts suddenly from the sight of the golem being chased by a broom. "Did you see that? What? Necromancy? No that isn't my specialty. I'm more a freeze you out kind of a girl. They look like lovely corpses though." She doesn't really know what to do. No one has ever offered to sell her a corpse before.
Perhaps it does shopping for it's creator. Just send a drone out to do shopping...Hmm...That might be something, Iolana's Korsovian Express.
Ayako will visit a forge where her armor and shield can have the enchantments reinforced and a made-weaver that can strengthen her cloak.
The singing is nice and they can keep singing for quite some time. Hmmm.can you imagine it? It would the song that never ends
It just goes on and on my friends Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was And they'll continue singing it forever just because
it would be the song that never ends...
After you complete your shopping, you have no desire to stay in Kaer Maga any longer than necessary and leave that same day.
Trinia speaks up, "Before we left, Neolandus informed me that Thousand Bones lives at a place called the Kallow Mounds in the heart of Skoan-Quah territory. The Kallow Mounds are located about 50 miles east of Kaer Maga."
"The Skoan-Quah, otherwise known as the Clan of the Skull, dwell in the easternmost regions of the Cinderlands. Many of their shamans, including Thousand Bones, have worked with Korvosa to try to build peace between their peoples; as a result the Skoan-Quah have been increasingly shunned by the other Shoanti. Yet since the Shoanti believe that the Skoan-Quah have the closest connection to the land of the dead and guard Shoanti ancestors from evil spirits, the other clans have grudgingly refrained from truly ostracizing the tribe."
"There are two other clans of Shoanti living in the Cinderlands: the Lyrune-Quah or Clan of the Moon and the Sklar-Quah or Clan of the Sun. The Lyrune-Quah are nomadic worshipers of Desna and the Sklar-Quah are the largest and most warlike of the Cinderlands Shoanti tribes."
"The Cinderlands are by far the least hospitable landscape in Varisia. In addition to a host of dangerous monsters and wildlife, the environs themselves are perilous. We need to watch out for cinder cones and emberstorms. I suggest we leave the cart and just take the light horses so we can traverse the Cinderlands as quickly as possible. If we do so, we can reach the Kallow Mound in two days."
Your journey east is hot but uneventful.
On the second day, as soon as you get within half a mile of the Kallow Mounds, you are intercepted by a patrol of four Skoan-Quah Shoanti also mounted on light horses. They are dressed in animal hides and their faces are painted with white paint to imitate a skull.
Trinia whispers, "These are Skoan-Quah boneslayers—women and men who patrol Shoanti burial mounds and are trained from an early age to be particularly effective against the undead."
The four boneslayers are somewhat surprised to you, but greet you nonetheless. They speak in Shoanti and Trinia translates for you.
"They say we are tshamek (outsiders). They demand to know why we are approaching their campsite." says Trinia. "Do you want me to explain that we'd like to meet with Thousand Bones?"
Although you don't understand the Shoanti language, their body language indicates that they aren’t being completely rude or hostile.
Tyrandro listens to Trinia's elucidations. While riding through the wasteland he moves his steed besides Trinia's to talk to her. "Your lecturing about the country is really impressive. Admit it - if it wasn't for the circumstances you would have become a scholar about Varisia and it's history. Or are you living your dream as a tour guide through the country?" he asks with a roguish smile.
Once the Shoanti come into sight Tyrandro stays in the background. At least they didn't come shouting screaming and shooting. And they wear reasonably decent clothes.
Ayako was slightly disapointed that they left the city so soon, perhaps if she got the chance she would return to explore the city and it's secrets. Mushu was very disapointed that he couldn't ride in piggy comfort in the wagon and was reduced to trotting beside Ayako's horse with the occasional retreat into her pouch. Life is hard for a noble pig.
When the Shoanti appeared Ayako suddenly remembered that she could draw upon a spell that would allow them to speak and understand Shoanti perfectly, but knew that Trinia would be heartbroken if she couldn't show off her new skills.
Please do, Trinia, we must make a good impression.
Iolana finishes her shopping, and climbs on the horse for the ride into he Cinderlands. She sighs with relief as they leave the city. "That is not a good place. Good shopping though."
Iolana is particularly miserable on the ride through the Cinderlands. She's fading in the heat. "I hate hot weather. It's not good for me." When the warriors arrive she nods to Trinia. "Please do let them know why we are here."
Trinia speaks to the Shoanti again and her words seem to put them at ease. Trinia gives a triumphant smile as they lead you into the quah's camp.
The Kallow Mounds are a collection of hundreds of cairns, the burial sites for all three Cinderlands Shoanti tribes. The Skoan-Quah are camped at a small dale on the westernmost edge of the mounds. You estimate from the number of tents you count that the camp can probably hold around 75 Shoanti. As you approach the camp, a ruckus quickly spreads among the nomads who tense up and stare. A gaunt and highly decorated man, steps out from the largest tent, who must be the quah's chieftain but he simply stares like the rest. Sunning atop a cairn near the tent is a creature with the features of a lion but the wings and scales of a brass dragon. It yawns lazily and rolls over for a nap.
You are led to the center of the camp and these tensions fall away once Thousand Bones arrives on the scene. His ready smile and welcoming calls do much to set the other Shoanti at ease, and their initial hostility gives way to curiosity, as many of the Skoan-Quah have never actually seen an honest-to-goodness tshamek before.
Thousand Bones greets you, "Greetings friends. I thank you again for recovering my grandson, Gaekhen's body. For this deed, you are welcome among my people. I sense that something important must have brought you this far from Korvosa. However, there is a time and place for such a discussion. I suggest a good time would be during this evening’s Bone Council Fire. For now, let me arrange for a guest yurt for you to rest in."
Thousand Bones leans heavily on his walking stick, a reinforced length of wood and polished femur from some giant beast crowned with an imposing skull. While the Shoanti’s eyes are milky as if he were blind, he sees better than most men half his age. He has a crow familiar named Eats-Eyes that perches nearby.
Thousand Bones walks you to the guest yurt and leaves you to rest by yourselves for a short time. He arranges for plenty of food and water to be delivered to the tent and later he visits with you for some time.
"I am only going to visit for a brief moment for now. We can talk in depth tonight. I am eager to hear about your adventures since we last met."
Tyrandro is quite uncomfortable being gawked at. Neither the hostile checking them out not the curiosity like they are zoo animal is to his liking. "A little more not caring about us from their side would be much appreciated." he mumbles. But he leaves the talking to his companions who seem to ave strong bonds to that Thousand Bones. Who looks really creepy by the way.
Aako gazes around the Kallow Mounds as they are brought in. So many above ground graves is very new to her and the odd winged creature is puzzling.
When Thousand Bones emerges, she smiles and gives a polite bow. Greetings Thousand Bones, it is good to see you again and I hope your grandson rests well. Thank you for your hospitality.
When the party is settled in their yurt, Ayako fills Tyrando in with a quick history of their dealings with Thousand Bones. The riots that led to the death of his grandson, and the theft of the body and expedition under Korsova to find the necromancer that stole it.
Iolna nods to the dragonne as they pass by. "Beautiful creature. It's a dragonne."
"Thank you for your hospitality. My name is Iolana. I'm so sorry for the loss of your grandson. I'm glad my friends were able to help." She steps back to allow Ayako and Sebastian tell of their adventures. She drinks lots of water, and is very happy to get out of the sun.
Thousand Bones listens to your stories and nods in appreciation of justice upon hearing that you dealt with the necromancer Rolth. "Would you like me to guide you to the cairn in which Gaekhen’s ashes now rest?" After a brief somber moment at the cairn, you return to the camp.
Upon your return, another visitor arrives. A brash young hero of the Sklar-Quah, along with an honor guard of a half-dozen thundercallers (Sklar-Quah skalds who use weapons called totem spears in battle), arrives at the Kallow Mounds for the same reason every other Shoanti visits—someone important has died.
The Skoan-Quah silently accept the man's body and begin preparing it for interment. The Sklar-Quah leader has little interest in staying for the ceremony, but before he leaves, he notices that the Skoan-Quah have other visitors—you. He quickly seeks out the chief and demands to know who visits; After a few angry words, he seeks you out, his rage and indignation growing.
Thousand Bones is quick to come to your side before the man confronts you. "That man is named Krojun Eats-What-He-Kills. He is a hero to the Sklar-Quah. He does not like outsiders but be very careful; blood spilled here would undermine the already shaky relations between the tribes. The Thundercallers bring the body of Berak, a Sklar-Quah hero known for leading many successful attacks against orc aggressors from Urglin. They bring Berak’s body to the Kallow Mounds to join the other heroes. It is known that Krojun was no friend of Berak's and the journey seems to have left him extra bitter and cranky."
Krojun spends a few moments sizing you up with a sneer, and as he turns to the chief, he says, "Why do the Skoan-Quah harbor tshamek trespassers?"
As the chief struggles to find an explanation that won’t further enrage the towering visitor, Thousand Bones inclines his head as though considering Krojun’s words carefully, but then responds sharply. “Tell me, Krojun, when did the Sklar-Quah become judges of who trespasses upon the Kallow Mounds where the ashes of our fathers lie?”
“Your words change the question, Thousand Bones,” answers the Shoanti hero with a snort. “These ones bring trouble to the Cinderlands, and you know it. The coming days shall reveal to us all who is right about them.”
“Perhaps,” says Thousand Bones. “But not today, and not here. Would you have word that Berak’s burial was tainted by bloodshed get back to your Sun Shaman?”
Krojun pauses, the cords in his neck straining, but then he exhales and grins. “You misunderstand me, Thousand Bones. My grief has wounded my words. But see to it that no tshamek defiles our memories here.” His smile broadens as he pulls a thin leather loop from one of his packs. “Certainly, though, guests of the Skoan-Quah must be brave to come this far. You wouldn’t mind if I tested the courage and strength of your guests, would you?”
Thousand Bones looks to you with a shrug, indicating that this choice is yours. "Krojun wishes to challenge one of you to a game of sredna. The choice is yours but accepting may help you earn respect among our people."