Water laps steadily at the pier as sailors, laborers, and merchants rush busily around Absalom’s port. The venture-captain’s summons called for a meeting aboard the Sixwing Drake, a sleek sailing ship.
The Drake’s captain, a Varisian woman and fellow Pathfinder named Zarah Zendrani, stands at the helm of her vessel. “It’s not like Valsin to be late,” she mutters, furrowing her brow.
As if on cue, a tall and meticulously groomed man pushes his way through the crowd and up the gangplank, cursing audibly. “Whoever
supervises this mess of a port needs to be dumped in the sea!” he grumbles.
The tall man looks around at those gathered before him. “Just the
group I requested. Perfect. I’m Venture- Captain Ambrus Valsin, and I took great care in selecting just the right Pathfinders for this assignment.”
Valsin reaches into his belt pouch and withdraws a small, folded paper before continuing. “A few days ago, I received a curious note from a rather unexpected source. It’s not every day that I get a request from an agent of the Aspis Consortium.” Captain Zendrani’s eyes widen, and Valsin smiles knowingly. “But Magali Delroya does not appear to be your typical Aspis agent. As you surely know, the Aspis Consortium pursues a variety of activities across the Inner Sea that the Pathfinder Society finds abhorrent. It seems that Delroya has been working with them for some time, but can no longer stomach the snakes herself. She wants to stop a shipment of an experimental drug from leaving Diobel later this week. It’s bound for a number of locations across the Inner Sea region. According to Delroya, she can’t ask the local authorities for help, because the Aspis Consortium has already struck a deal with a faction of the Kortos Consortium, a powerful merchant collective. Her hands are tied, so she’s come to us for help. In this note, she outlines three different tasks that would help to disrupt the Aspis long enough for her to move the shipment to a secure location, out of the clutches of the consortium. Once you accomplish two of these tasks, she’s willing to meet with you, but not before.
“Normally, I wouldn’t trust an Aspis agent at any hour of the day. But our sources in Diobel have confirmed the Aspis and Kortos consortia’s activities. Everything checks out, so we are presented with a unique opportunity. If we help Delroya, we might not only strike a financial blow against the Aspis Consortium, but we could also reveal their dealings with the Kortos Consortium—and possibly prevent their arrangement from turning into a more formal alliance. Furthermore, we hope to stop this drug from spreading across the Inner Sea region, and if we—if all of you—do a good enough job, we might even convince Delroya to join the Society. A turncoat agent would be a valuable asset in our ongoing run-ins with the Aspis Consortium.
“Take some time to look over Delroya’s note and the tasks she has set for you. If you have any questions, now is the time to ask.
Remember, the Aspis Consortium is a long-time enemy of the society, but the Kortos Consortium, while certainly suspicious, is not our enemy. It is a complex organization with many factions, and we should avoid antagonizing any of them, except when necessary to oppose the Aspis Consortium.”
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"Undermining a rival entrepreneur? That is the mission? I love being part of the Pathfinder Society! Don't worry Venture-Captain Valsin, I'm your man!"
Rico's face then shows that he suddenly has a realization.
"But can we trust such information? I mean, it is the Aspis we're talking about here... Are we sure this isn't a trap?"
Ambrus Valsin strokes his impressive mustache. “I met Magali several years ago, when she was barely a grown woman. It must have been just before she joined the Aspis Consortium. She’s a wanderer, never comfortable in one place for long. I saw great potential in her as a Pathfinder, but she always preferred to work alone and felt that the society was a poor fit. Had I known that she would wind up with the Aspis Consortium, I would have put more effort into recruiting her.”
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It is certainly a task we must accept and try to fullfill! We have to think about which task we could do best. I would say that the third task would disrupt the flow of the illicit drug best in the long run and the first task would protect the aspis agent best. offers Araklifest his first thoughts on the matter.
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May looks around and glows with glee that her friend and herself are considered the best agents to deal with the mission. She holds out her wayfinder and looks at the backside where the names of her friends are edged in. after a sec she go's about hiding the wayfinder on her person.
As Araklifest speaks up she nods and concours. Bringing Nitoriu along for the second task would be impossible. With the third, she and Nitoriu could be usesfull, perhaps sniffing out the rat. The first seems perfect for Rico, leaving no evidence of sabotage will be difficult with all mission though so a carefull touch will be needed.
May thinks about the information and questions
"How can we contact miss Magali to let her know we succeeded? Or will she keep close watch and find us? And if she seems to be legitimate can we offer her a place and protection with the Pathfinders? And if we leave soon, on what day will we arrive (how much time is there before Oathday?)"
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Gorrec has obvious spend some of his wel earned money on his appearance, as he is now wearing some expensive looking rings and his clothes sport decorative trims.
He roughly pats Araklifest shoulder.
"Well thought of you Araklifest. I see that you have learned a lot from me during our last cooperation. Going after the source is the surest way to take out the whole operation.
Protecting the former Aspis agent would serve us more in the long run than just letting some papers disappear."
Gorrec directs his words to Ambrus: "Those agents meeting, do they know each other, or do they only have an appointment?"
"More important, lady Delroya speaks of secrecy and stealth, as an Aspis agent is used to, but don't you agree that letting the Aspis know who hurt the their precious operation will help to destroy their morale?"
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"I concur that the first and last tasks seem to be the more feasible ones of the three. Taking out the source of the drugs keeps my clientele sober and healthy, definitely something I want. And disturbing a business meeting, that does seem like my style. Don't want to many competitors."
Rico then frowns a bit.
"But that second one... Not only am I afraid I lack the skillset for something like that... It is also a criminal act, stealing something like that. We, and also the Society, could get some serious bad PR if that comes out. If only two of the three tasks are required, then let's skip the second one."
Ambrus Valsin gives Nitoriu a few pats on the head. He seems completely unbothered by the wolf.
"Good question May. To keep your identities hidden, I've let Magali know that she can contact you trough the crew of the Sixwing Drake. The drake will stay in Diobel as long as you. Her crew is more then capable enough in case the Aspis want to try something."
VC Valsin has no trouble giving a good, hard scratch at all the right spots.
"If you dont have any questions left, I will leave so you can set sail. With the winds being what they are at the moment, you will arrive in Diobel at sunrise. So plenty of time to choose what two tasks you want to complete."
Hard to say Gorrec. I personally dont know more then you do. Magali has kept her correspondence to these two letters out of fear of getting caught. But I would assume the two agents, if they know eachother at all, wouldnt be more then aquintances. If they knew eachother better, they would not meet up on neutral ground. The oyster is individually owned property."
Sadly there is no carnivorous feed aboard. All the rations are for the crew and its passengers.
But feed will be easy enough to aquire in the harbor.
The Sixwing Drake easily glides out of Absalom harbor. Turning into a steady headwind, the waves become choppier, and the ships rocks gently to and fro on the waves.
People can make a knowledge local check.
There is no formal alliance between the Kortos Consortium and Aspis Consortium, and the two groups are likely working together in a limited capacity—at least for the time being.
Although the Aspis Consortium seems to have an agreement with part of the Kortos Consortium, neither group is centralized enough for such an arrangement to be very stable. Causing a major disruption in their operation would very likely sever ties between the two groups.
House Locosta, the faction allied with the Aspis Consortium, claims that its major interest is in Qadiran spices, but the family derives most of its profit from buying and selling Qadiran slaves.
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Araklifest thinks aloud about possibilities to disrupt the meeting. "We could kill one of the agents on his way to the meeting, but we don't know them well to take a good chance. We could burn the meeting place down, but that would dupe innocent bystanders like the owner of he inn. We could start a massive brawl and call in the watch to break up the ruccus and send anyone home. Other ideas?" and he looks around to see if their friends had come with something workable.
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"That is far too violent my friend, sometimes, in cases like this is pays to be subtle and cunning. Luckily I come from a long line of cunning individuals."
"The first idea I have is to impersonate one of the parties.
Assuming that the agent of the Kortos Consortium is already at the meeting place, one of us pretends to be an Aspis Agent, and insults and disrespects the Kortos Consortium."
"The others should try to prevent the real Aspis agent from interfering, or depending how much time we have, one of us can also pretend to represent the Kortos Consortium towards the later arriving Aspis Agent, and blow the deal off this way on both sides."
He looks at the rest of the party to see if someone acknowledges his brilliant plan and continues. "Of course, a face like mine is far too recognisable, there are only a few unfortunate people that forget the Magnificence of Gorrec. So I suggest our excellent trader for that job, while we run interference. I of course have the spell 'message' to stay in contact without directly speaking to eachother."
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"For the disruption of the meeting, we run into the problem that we do not know either of the agent's names... Impersonation might be difficult. I also rather not burn down the entire tavern, way to flashy... That might not be so convincing towards our potential turncoat."
Rico furrows his brows.
"We do know that the owner of the tavern is creating fake pearls, and selling them too. If we can convince the local guards to inspect the tavern exactly at noon for these contrabands, the meet-up will run in big problems. Can't exactly discuss your drug runnings in the company of the local watch, now can you?"
He then turns towards Araklifest.
"Causing a brawl might also be a good idea, but that is something we only can do at the moment supreme. It is a fairly good back-up plan, if we're running out of time. As for the disturbance itself, I stocked up on some more of theses Vomit Capsules. We could try slipping them into the drinks or food. Serving rotten stuff is usually a good reason to start a brawl. I'm also capable of getting someone to fall to sleep, without them knowing how. By infusing some time into an object, if I hand it to someone else, the will fall asleep after a couple of minutes. This last one is more of a gamble though, some people are true insomniacs..."
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Gorrec thinks for a bit.
"Involving the guards is not that disrupting. In the worst case they meet half an hour later in a for us unknown location. My plan, which is a bit more risky and needs some additional investigation I admit, could lead to a severely damaged relation between the two groups, which will help the Pathfinders in the long run."
Gorrec, still convinced his plan is better continues:
"I bet the owner can help us, he probably knows the name of the Kortos Consortium agent. It is very likely that the Consortium has regular business meetings in that tavern."
He starts going into the details. "If one of us simply tells the bartender that we want to meet the Kortos Consortium for a trade deal, I am certain he will tell us which of his patrons is the person we need."
"We can always resort to threatening the bartender and involving the guards if necessary."
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"I understand your view, Gorrec. But the idea is that neither party must get suspicion that a third party is behind all this. The less we are in sight, the better. I mean, asking the bartender about the two people who are planning to conduct business in his bar, and then him seeing that those two patrons are getting in large arguments. He will put 1 and 1 together. And he will tell his "customers" if they inquire with him."
"And that part about the guards not being disrupting? Have you ever been part of one of those searches? It takes HOURS! No one present is allowed to leave, everyone is suspect. If those two are present in the tavern at the time of the raid, there will be no meeting that day. Exactly what is required. They can meet later, but then the descicion making is delayed to such a point that our "friend" has enough time to make her move."
Then Rico gives a wry smile.
"Or aren't you confident in your ability to get the guards to perform such a massive investigation? Would you rather perform second fiddle, running interference for the main players?"
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Gorrec scowls: "You doubt my skills, little man? You are lucky that we must cooperate. The last person who insulted me like that still regrets his words." Rico hears a second voice whispering from Gorrec's mouth. "With those reckless words you have sealed your fate."
His lips move up a bit to form a smile, but you still see the daggers in his eyes.
"Very well, we shall try your plan. I hope for you it works" he comminates the impertinent halfling.
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May smiles at the display of manliness.
"Perhaps a woman's take on the matters at hand? Isn't fulfilling this mission on itself perhaps enough to sever their ties? 'Losing' their supply of snuff will probably anger the Aspis, if we also makes sure the rats in the sewers are not able to produce more anytime soon Than that will be it for this trade deal.
If there reputation needs an extra blow than we can make it public that House Locosta's incomes actually comes from snuff rather than spice. That might force the city guards to take a closer look at their ledgers and restrain their business deals.
So I propose not to impersonate one of them or set the guards into the bar. Pathfinders do so often end up 'looking' like the bad guy's, I rather avoid them.
I'm also inclined to think that our info on the bartender's fake pearls might buy us the info we need to identify the agents, the threat of exposure should be enough compulsion to shut him up afterwards. I don't minds manipulating people like that, but if it does wind down to a bar fight than we should compensate the man for damages.
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"I agree that the drug production has to be stopped, no matter what. My future clientele needs to be lucid when they buy stuff from me, you see? But the timing of our own raid at this laboratory, that totaly depends on when we make land. We know that the the meeting takes place at noon, so if we make land at, let's say, ten o'clock, we might need to prioratize the meet-up. We're not finding this guy and stop his entire lab in a mere 2 hours" Rico says, raising two fingers to emphasize his point.
"Furthermore, let's not forget that the meeting between the two agents has a second nature: to reveil our "friend" to the Aspis. Now, she knows this is inevitable. But if the Aspis agent is held in the tavern long enough, he cannot act on his new information on time, granting our "friend" enough time to do her business."
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"Captain Zendrani told us that we are to arrive at sunrise. Still, finding the Alchemist, scouting the area, and obtaining evidence of him producing drugs will take time. We disrupt the meeting first, that one has an earlier deadline."
"What is the plan to stop the meeting, the plan of our little salesman to involve the guards, my brilliant plan to impersonate one of them to drive a big gap between them, or are we going to threaten to reveal some of their plans? If anyone else has another plan that does not involve bloodshed, feel free to speak up, otherwise I propose we vote."
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"I second the proposal to talk to the owner first. Based on the knowledge of the false pearls, we could lean on him to tell us more about the men we are looking for. With that knowledge we can adjust our plans," gives Araklifest his opinion, not willing to choose sides yet in the discussion between Gorrec and Rico.
The journey trough the night is uneventfull
Captain Zendrani and the crew of the sleek Sixwing Drake steer the ship up to the massive barrier of broken war-barges, crumbling walls, and jetties of iron and wood that protect the port of Diobel. “Well, here we are,” says the captain. “I’ll make sure everything is in order with Diobel’s inspectors and charter you a barge to the port. You aren’t carrying anything particularly valuable, so you shouldn’t draw much attention from the inspectors or pilots, so long as you don’t run your mouth. My crew and I will wait here with the ship. You can return here to rest, if you need to, but remember—there isn’t much time!”
Zendrani slips a barge captain several gold pieces as a sign of good faith. She asks him if he could do her the favor of sticking around on shore for the day in case the the group need to return to the ship.
The barge captain is a stocky middle-aged man with weather-beaten skin and calloused hands. His name is Markus Karbie, and he accepts Zendrani’s deal.
The barge journey from the barrier to the coast is uneventful; the barge captain respects Zendrani’s gold and doesn’t ask you questions. If you try to talk to him, he politely but firmly insists that he “isn’t being paid to make conversation.”
He drops you off at Diobels main docks, also called the Bristles.
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"It seems we'll be talking to the bartender instead, Gorrec... So neither of our plans is being chosen."
Although Rico is a bit dissapointed that his "Guards ruin everything" plan didn't make the cut, at least Gorrec's one didn't either. So it's not a loss, mearly a compromise. He can live with that.
"Well then, let us be off then! To the Tavern!"
Rico suddenly stops and looks back towards the boat.
"And weren't there five of us when we boarded? Where is he, anyway? It's like he slept through everything..."
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Gorrec turns towards Markus: "Can you tell us the easiest way to the Overflowing Oyster?"
Gorrec hands Markus a gold piece for the trouble.
Then he turns towards the halfling and scoffs:
"That is where you are wrong, mister Fink. Talking to the bartender was the first step of my plan. I am certain they will follow the rest of my brilliant plan as well."
"And for your second question, I bet he was busy writing a book about some bug he found aboard the ship, he still looks like he has bugs on his mind."
Markus scratches behind an ear for a moment. "Yeah guv. Think somewhere here in the bristles. Dockside establishment. Let me give ya some directions."
He gives you directions to the general area where the Oyster should be.
"Ya probably need to ask again there abouts, but you'll be close."
There's also a fourth person on the boat with the rest of the group. He seems almost hesitant to speak.
"I, er, have no real preference for which tasks we're going to perform. I'm a decent speaker, but not really quick-witted, so don't expect me to fast-talk us out of stuff. I'm also pretty good at hand-to-hand combat, if it comes to that."
He realises this is the first time he's spoken up, and with a start he extends a hand. He seems to have more battle-scars than you'd think such a timid guy would have. Either he was heavily bullied as a child, or he simply gets in fights a lot. Possibly both.
"The name's Rawlins, by the way. I'm, uh, generally not really at ease around people, I prefer to be by myself. I also have an, erm, how do you say it? A propensity to lose myself in the moment when I'm stressed, so don't get scared if I suddenly start yelling in a language you don't understand. But yeah, if a fight breaks out, I tend to lash out with anything I can think of, so be prepared for that. Sorry in advance."
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May takes a good look at Rawlin now that he has spoken up. (Mental note to herself: Approved :), those are some damn fine muscles and a cute face to boot). She also appreciate people that can be content to be silent while in company with others. May is sometimes silent herself to but somehow appreciates this quality more and more lately.
"Nitoriu is good with gestures, if we can't seems to understand you give him a try. and I kinda understand him :)"
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"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Rawlins!" Eagerly taking his hand, and completely ignoring Gorrec. "The name is "Lucky" Rico Fink, of Honest Fink Enterprises. In contrary to you, my tall friend, quick talking is what I do best! In the case you need to pantomime something in your stressed state, I can provide you with props as well. So don't worry, my new friend! You'll fit right in!" shaking his hand vigorously.
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"Ah, the strong, silent type!" Rico states while letting go of Rawlins hand.
"Nothing to worry about, my friend. Feeling the need to speak Celestial every once in a while is nothing to be ashamed of. It is a wonderful language! Now if it was some language from down below, we might have had to make up a convincing story to keep people from staring."
Rico then turns around and starts walking.
"But enough lollygagging, we should make haste towards the Overflowing Oyster."