You climb aboard the tiny boat and from there to Walren's ship and Tamran. There Reginar congratulates you on a heckuva job, and takes Dusan under his wing to get him some professional clerical attention to re-acclimate to the world. He listens to your tales and promises to send them along to the Decemvirate in Absalom.
Lastly he asks you if you'd like to return the Amulet to Kassen.
Reginar nods and breaks the amulet into its three components. Two he gives back to you to take to Asar and Kassen's final resting places and the third, Iramine's portion, he suggests sending to Absalom for study. "Perhaps it's best if this key were never rejoined, I think. Therefore I will omit the destination of the other two pieces from my official report. It will only be the lot of us who know and I think we all agree that the City of Golden Death need not be opened again, yes?"
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Ferabras is pleased and relieved with the outcome of the mission - they've returned a struggling soul to his home, thwarted a truly profound evil from spreading in the world, and all of his friends have survived the experience. He struggles a little with the notion of keeping information out of the official report, but can't help but agree that the goal of keeping the parts of the key as far from each other as possible is a worthy one.
"What will the Society have us do next, I wonder?" he asks his stalwart companions. Laying a powerful, clawed hand on Hoshiko and Mikail's shoulders, grinning a glittering, black-toothed smile, he says, "Whatever it is, I hope Soran is right, that they keep us as a team."
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"I wish we could reason more with false priests and guardians, but all too often power and greed corrupts their minds. Thanks to all of you for getting us out of that golden catastrophe in one piece. "
Zolarus wipes the sweat off his brow and takes a knee to catch his breath.
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Mikail nods eagerly to the Captain as he suggests that the key should be broken.. but he is too busy eating the first good meal in several days to be concerned with much of the talking. He shovels the stew into his gaping maw like he doesn't plan on eating again.. He begins to swipe Sorans bowl as he is distracted with the conversation before remembering a certain dragons demise.. his furry paw quickly recedes!
However, he does chime in with glee at the idea of going on another adventure together. "I can't see them splitting us up.. I mean, we work so well together! I can't imagine that they would break us up after this long!" With a last plaintive look and tone, he turns to Ferabras and asks in an undertone "Would they?!?!"
You board Walren's ship for the journey back to Kassen. Several days later you arrive and a feast is organized in your honor! After a day of drinking and eating and much "I remember you when..." moments, you head with a contingent of the town's notables to the Tomb of Kassen, where you lay the amulet fragments back in the tombs of Asar and Kassen. When you do, the ghost of Kassen appears before you.
"Thank you, my friends, for seeing to my rest. I go there now, to sleep the sleep eternal. Be well, my friends. I see great things in store for you...." With this he fades away.
You head back to Kassen from the tomb, content that this chapter of your life is now complete. But you sense that the Society, having gauged your skills, will not allow you much rest before they once again set you to work!
A week.
It takes a week for the Pathfinder Society to remember that you're not currently engaged in work for the Society and send a very tired looking wizard to seek you out.
"Listen, the Master of Swords has a mission for you lot. I don't know if you know Major Colson Maldris, he's a big-wig in Andoran, anyway, he's got contacts in a group called the Twilight Talons, which are some Eagle Knight fellows who fight slavers on their home turf. One of their deep cover agents has gone missing and he needs some agents with a history of getting the job done. That's you. Congratulations. I'm to teleport you to the city of Katapesh. You're to see an agent code-named Whispershade at a coffee house called the Dusty Rose there. You're to say 'It's dry this season,' and he'll respond with 'But the winds are bound to change.' He'll have a mission briefing for you then. If you lot are ready, hold hands or touch each other and I'll read this scroll. Good luck!"
He unfurls a scroll, whispers a few words and you feel a sick sense of motion as the world blurs around you, only to solidify moments later with a much brighter palette!
Katapesh is indeed dusty and hot, but oddly beautiful, stretched out before you. Tall buildings of stone and squat wooden shacks sit side by side and deep-voiced merchants loudly hawk their wares as you are shouldered aside suddenly by a man leading a laden camel into the city. "A thousand pardons, sirs and madam." He calls over his shoulder before being swallowed by the city's crowds.
It takes a few moments to orient yourselves, but a helpful young man (or was it a young woman? It's so hard to tell as the waif scoops up your silver and calls directions before racing off) points you in the right direction for the coffee house.
Inside, the air clears and you see a lovely cafe, set three feet into the ground which gives it a sense of space and a slightly cooler spot under the thick canvas roof. A woman wearing a veil hustles over with a silver tray upon which perches a carafe and several small ceramic cups. Before she can seat you, however, a robed man with a quick smile stops her. "I believe they will be joining me, Marsallah." You give the man the sign and he offers the countersign before smiling widely and leading you back to a private room in which a small table, chairs and a hookah waits.
“I’ve called you here to request your assistance in a delicate operation involving a missing field agent named Othine Dalanse. She has a flawless track record of infiltrating and dismantling slave rings, and her successes have saved many lives. Over the past year, she’s been working deep cover assignments throughout Katapesh, and I’ve had less and less contact with her. It’s now been over two months since her last message."
“Early last week, we recovered a body along the banks of the River Scorpius. At first, my agents feared it was Othine’s, for it was wearing her armor and had similar tattoos. Thankfully, when clerics interrogated the body, the corpse proved to be nothing more than a vagrant with a passing resemblance to Othine, the tattoos obvious forgeries."
“This situation doesn’t bode well for Othine. I believe the slavers have captured her and may be torturing her for information, or worse. If she’s been caught, the slavers certainly suspect we’re investigating them, and will be on the lookout for undercover Eagle Knights. I need someone not directly affiliated with our organization to get into the slavers’ base, discover Othine’s true fate, and finish what she started by dismantling the operation."
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Soran looks up from fletching an arrow, a new creation of his that looks to everyone as though it's meant to explode from inside an enemy, to address the man.
You'll find no arguments from me. Slavers are... despicable, at the very least. I'm sure my friend Ferabras agrees, and I've found that those who don't agree with him tend to not stay on this plane of existence for very long. Mikail can get us us in to anyplace that wants us out, and Hoshiko gives me the willies when she starts throwing her magic around like some kind of arcane tornado of blade and fire. We'll find your agent. We just need more information. Where was the group she was infiltrating? How did she get in?
"I know very little, as secrecy is our shield and sword." He sighs and shares what he does know: he informs you that Othine made reference to the Garden of Chains in her last message, a relatively new slave auction house located in the Twilight Gate district, a mere stone’s throw from the River Scorpius. He notes that the place always seems to have more slaves than it ought to, leading him to believe that the slavers are hiding some of their stock to avoid paying the full tariffs leveled by the city.
"The Garden of Chains is where I would start, if I could investigate without blowing my cover. If you discover anything, come back here and tell Marsallah you're interested in the day's special, the one from yesterday. She'll contact me. She's trustworthy."
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”Soran has the right of it,” Ferabras agrees, suppressing a grin at the archer’s words of praise, ”I’ve no love for those who would buy and sell others. It will be a pleasure to stop their foul trade, and recover your friend.” He considers a moment, then adds, ”That’s a grim tale indeed, of the slavers tattooing a corpse to make you think Othine had been slain. We’ll take on your task – and it’ll be a pleasure to fight someone who’s not wearing a mask. They don’t wear masks, these slavers, do they?”
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"Perhapssss we could use a cover of pretending to be buyers or sellerssss of slavessss. As despicable as that soundsss, it may grant us more information. Besidessss, who wouldn't want to buy Mikail? He such a darling fellow. He'd fetch more than a fair price"
With a huge grin, Zolarus gestures toward his fox friend and gives him a playful scratch behinds his ears.
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"I've just come from the training yard after being summoned for a briefing...Katepesh you say... what language do the speak there? Regardless though for any slavers found will speak my language of black steel! When do we depart for this noble mission? I was hoping for a warm bath and some shopping time before I go." Hoshiko adds to the conversation.
Whispershade smiles. "In Katapesh, they speak the language of money, my dear. If you have it, they'll speak whatever language you speak. But be aware, many of the slavers are gnolls and gnolls are afforded all rights due to citizens here. Don't make the mistake of attacking them in public or the guards will come down on you hard. Commerce is king here. As for when, that's up to you. Obviously we'd like Othine found, but a day won't hurt and if you'd seen purchasing at the markets, that might build your reputation a bit anyway."
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Fera's beady, yellow eyes widen in alarm at Zolarus' suggestion, before he realizes they're not actually planning to sell Mikail into slavery to achieve the goals of their mission. "If we're to look like slavers, or at least someone buying slaves, we'll need money," he remarks to Whispershade. "Perhaps you can provide us with some gold - and we can all take pleasure in freeing the slaves we purchase."
Whispershade nods and pulls forth a fat purse. Inside are 150 platinum pieces. "This should help."
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Mikail listens intently to the briefing, his normally smiling muzzle wearing a snarl of hatred at the idea of the slavers capturing an ally. "We've been through similar gauntlets.. we can do it again" he says steadfastly.
As the others chime in, he looks away in embarrassment as Soran praises the individuals of the party.. although he fully agrees with his assessment of the rest of the team. As Zolarus chips in though, he gives a squeak of indignation before he realizes the Nagaji is joking. "Carefull.. Ill sneak into your room with a mongoose some time!" he threatens with a mock glare.
"That sounds like the best plan, Hoshiko! We can move around the markets and try and learn as much as we can before we get into this. Its a shame about the Gnolls though.. horrible creatures!! I am used to moving around the underground markets, that is where I got my start, after all!"
The normally astute fox completely misses Fera's suggestion and the passing of the purse while lost in reminiscing of "good old times" with the Sczarni Faction. "Reputations is key to everything out there.." he says, motioning towards the market. "Better prices, hidden wares not for the general public.. if we can make a bit of a stir, then we can do well for our mission. But it is a fine line between attracting the right attention, and "attracting attention". Whispershade, do you have any suggestions that would get these peoples attention without creating too big of a stir?"
After a bit of shopping you head for the Garden of Chains. It turns out to be some sort of former water-garden turned slave market. An enormous dry cistern dominates the center of the pit area, where buyers mill around listening to the Barker as he calls out the attributes of each slave. The man is a vile looking sort, who ends every purchase with a barked "CLOSED!" and is constantly guarded by two hardened looking gnoll bodyguards.
The clientele of this place looks to be mostly men, but a few hard-eyed women walk among them.
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"We should gather some information from the clientelle first to find out about where the slaves are kept, what the is the fair market price, how they were captured and who the suppliers are ." If we don't, we may be spotted as outsiders.
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Discreet inquiries are made and you discover the slaves are kept in pens on the second story, though only buyers with a receipt are allowed up there. You discover that most slaves are brought in from the docks, but that the Garden has a reputation for getting its stock in through less conspicuous channels, though no one seems to know (or wants to share) how that channel works. You also note that the going rate for slaves ranges from 50 gold for a worker, non-skilled to upwards of 500 gold for a skilled slave or particularly pleasant looking slave. By the end of the hours you spend talking to the locals, you're thoroughly disgusted by the process.
You also notice that you're being watched closely by the gnoll guards.
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Ferabras manages to conceal his disgust at the slave market, even as he makes a mental list – which grows by the minute – of slavers he’ll bring to some form of justice if given the opportunity. He decides to try to learn more about the operation of the Garden of Chains, starting with any information about the vile auctioneer. He throws out a description of Othine once or twice, describing her as a slave girl he had his eye on a bit ago and wondering if she’s back on the market by chance.
Though he’s cursed his infernal blood for much of his life, Fera finds that his devilish appearance does allow him to hid his true nature in this hive of scum and villainy.
Ferabras' questions reveal much the same information, though he also discovers the Garden is run by an obese gnoll called Fat Aghurr, who oversees the place from the overseer's office on the first floor. He's constantly flanked by two human guards who are impressive fighters, but word is that he's not above a little bribe to "see the stock in advance" of the auctions.
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Mikail moves through the market, asking questions and listening to conversations. Its not hard for the little fox man to over hear things, and people seem to like talking to him. Despite this, but the end of the time, his fake smile is a rictus of pain as the suffering around him pummels his soft heart. He meets back up with the group, pointedly but subtly letting them know that they also are being watched. "There do seem to be an awful lot of birds in this desert!"
Mikail finds a talkative human guard who takes a shine to him. The guard tells him "This place is a frickin' coup, kid. They got a way to get slaves in here that ain't taxes by the Pactmasters. Frickin' ingenious and in plain sight. Every night they bring more in and no one's the wiser!"
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"I would also like to investigate unpaid taxessss. Everyone should pay their fair sssshare. How should we go about our ssssearch?"
Zolarus hands Mikail a scroll of Glitterdust with 5 castings.
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"Obviously the best plan would be to sell Mikail as a slave so he can get into the slave pens and take a look-see around then have him sneak out and brief us.... other than that option I say we stake out the place from a safe distance and observe for any movements or oddities... I could make myself invisible and enter to look around as well but the invisibility time is limited. Just some thoughts. I do like plan 1 though." Hoshiko says and jabs Mikail in the side as a jest.
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Fera's eyes widen again in alarm at the suggestion of selling Mika, but he settles down as he recognizes the jest. "I'm not very effective at sneaking or hiding, so I should certainly not try to be inside. But perhaps there's a spot we could hide unobserved outside. Mika, could you scout around near the entrance and see if there's an empty market stall or a stable door or something that might conceal me, as one of the larger Pathfinders involved in this mission?"
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Mikail gratefully takes the scroll of Glitterdust with a smile. "This could really come in handy! Thanks, Zolarus!" he says, stuffing it into his new bag. "By the way, Look what I found!" he exclaims, brimming with enthusiasm. "Anything I need, its right on top, and it can carry almost anything and still weigh nothing!"
As the conversation turns back to the plans, he scowls fiercely but playfully at another mention of being sold as a slave. "I think that it might be a good way to make money though, now that I think of it. Sell me off, and I can almost guarantee that they will pay you to take me back!!" His mischievous smile is a mile wide.
"I can scout around, and I also have this. I bought it before we infiltrated Fangwood Keep.." he says, pulling a vial out of his belt pouch. "Its a vial of Invisibility if you want to carry it in case you need it."
Once that is settled and the markets begin to close up, Mikail scurries away looking for someplace for everyone to hide in.
Mikail discovers a low roof near the Garden that seems to be abandoned. Picking a simple lock gets him on the roof and a secluded spot where you can see the Garden well enough.