"Ill have the mercenaries keep a guard, for now rest. I'll need you to make progress tomorrow or tonight, whenever you decide to go out."
"It seems he was not the charlatan that so many thought him to be," says Alem. "I would spend some time in further study with that map when we are finished."
"I'll check it out with you Al! Maybe my more sorcerous ways will provide insights into it your wizarding ones miss."
She frowns a little.
"Damn I wish I'd brought some pesh from the city. It'd be just the boost I need. Contact highs are really all I can conjure at the moment, and that's nothing like the real thing."
Alem smiles wryly at the purple-haired gnome. "I find a cup of coffee fortifies my mind for studying. Would you care to join me for a cup?"
Alem smiles wryly at the purple-haired gnome. "I find a cup of coffee fortifies my mind for studying. Would you care to join me for a cup?"
”Eugh! The last thing I want is something that’ll keep me up all night! How’m I supposed to spin spells out of my dreams if I’m too hopped up to dream?!” she replies with a mock look of disgust on her face.
"I'll have a little kahve," says Arian. "I need to give my glaive a good cleaning anyway, get the furry bits out."
You all gather round the fire, nice to have a 'safe' spot so close to hostile environments.
After helping Alem look at the map, Zoisa takes to her bedroll, sleeping out under the stars and staring up at them until she drifts into sleep and dreams of the day to come.
"No sense trying to go in at night," says Arian. "Gnolls can see in the dark, right? We'd just be hampering ourselves. Let's get some rest."
She sets her glaive-guisarme to one side and sits down near the campfire, pulls out her setar, and starts tuning it. Then she plucks on the strings a bit while waiting for Alem to make the kahve.
Zoisa tosses and turns in her sleep, her dream starting to shift into a nightmare about Haleen...
Thr group settles in for a nice quiet night, the sitar notes drifting in the air as you drift off to sleep. The crackling of the fire is as comforting as the heat it provides. Still, the desert air is chilly as it slips through the flaps of you bedrolls.
The morning sun is bright, though the air is cold as you clamber from your bedrolls. Breakfast is short and curt, bread halfway to being stale and a boiled pot of vegetable porridge with some jerky. only some jerky though.
"There's been a development." Almah tells you all as you arrive to her tent before setting off for the day.
"Morning, Almah," says Arian. "What's happened?"
In the morning Faffnyr cooks a pot of hot coffee.
"Like my master said coffee should be as hot as the kiss of young girl, as sweet as the night with her, and as black as her mothers curses should she find out."
Arian cranes her head over toward the familiar scent from the pot and says, "Ohhhh Faffnyr, if I may have some of the coffee I will be your best friend forever. I mean I was already going to but this would really seal the deal. Also, that's a funny saying, seems to imply that coffee should be sweet for men but for women it might make you feel a little uncomfortable?"
Alem does his best not to wrinkle his nose at Faffnyr's coffee. Both too bitter and too sweet, it scalds his tongue and his throat. Without even being prompted, she's more than happy to answer his unasked questions. That would certainly explain it, he thinks to himself. He sips politely on his beverage, determined to appreciate the effort if not the results. Such a sad waste of precious beans... Instead, he steers the conversation to more neutral territory. "Who is your master?" he asks instead. Such conversation would cause much less fuss than the lecture on proper coffee extraction he sorely wishes to deliver. If he had access to his full library, he might have offered the half-orc a look at Qawah: Proper Preparations for Uses Mystical and Mundane, his favorite treatise on the subject.
Zoisa springs awake as soon as the first rays of dawn tickle her nose, hopping up and getting her things packed away. She takes out her small khanda and gives it a few test swings, feeling much more confident with it now than she'd been yesterday, before sheathing it. Soon she's all ready, but she turns down the offer of morning coffee as she eagerly munches on the pottage and jerky.
When she hears Faffnyr mention the word "master" however, and when Alem inquires further, she leans in to listen. Sounded like slaver talk to her, and she couldn't imagine a nice lady like Faffnyr being involved in such a horrible practice.
"The best way to put the situation, is that I'm sending you into the lions den." Almah says.
"We've received a missive from The Battle Market within Kelmarane. Or its leader, if I am to be more precise. He wishes to invite you all to the visit, and has instructed all patrols to let you into the market for today only. It may be a trap...it could a great chance for information. What do you all think?"
Zoisa snorts.
"Oh, it's obviously a trap! But it'd be a waste if we didn't trigger it! And it's a Battle Market! What better place for a battle?"
She gets a disturbing grin on her face.
"But seriously, if we take this leader out, we'll stand a much better chance of retaking the town, especially if we secure this Battle Market. It's a central feature of the town, right? We set up in there, the gnolls won't be able to dislodge us!"
"There is the old saying with snake and head. I would think that this should aid us alot in clearing this town of all filth!"
"Or it will be that easier to surround us and deplete our resources," Alem replies to Zoisa. "If there is a leader, the creatures inhabiting Kelmerane are far more organized than we had suspected. It would not do well to take such an invitation lightly."
"Waaaaait... is this leader of the Battle Market by any chance about seven feet tall, furry, and hyena-faced?"
"Alem, I'm a gnome. I take everything lightly!" Zoisa replies with a smirk.
"I do not know the leader, or what they stand to gain by this invitation. I try and minimize risk best I can...but I am a gambling woman, and one who knows how her bet stacks against the rest."
She looks at you all with a smirk of determination.
"So my honed and powerful chips, shall we make our wager?"
"I say "Let's roll the dice," Almah!" Zoisa says, her smirk breaking into a grin.
Rising to his feet and drawing himself up to his full height, Alem bows deeply. "Lady Almah, my master's debt is my debt. Your wish is my command. Let us not delay a moment longer!"
"I don't know how I feel about being a wager, specifically, but if we're going to cut our way through the gnolls and liberate Kelmarane, fine."
"And maybe we'll save a few more people like Felliped!"
Almah nods as the party comes to an agreement, and she sends you off to see the carvan's alchemist before leaving. With a writ in hand, the old man grumbles as he hands you a total of three potions of minor healing. With the emergency healing received, you set off back to Kelmarane.
The city is as it was when you first scouted it the day before. From here you can return to one of the places you went yesterday, explore a bit more, or head directly to the battle market. Also, a decision must be made if you boldly stride through the city or move from shadow to shadow?
"So, I'm all for sneaking back in, if you folks think we can manage to do so without getting caught."
"We have been invited into the city. I see no reason that we should skulk about like thieves. But I would sorely hate to waste such an opportunity as this. Perhaps we might split our forces? One delegation may stride boldly in while a second party continues to learn what they can of the the city?"
"Splitting up is generally unsafe. I'm just concerned because after our run-in with those gnolls, there's no telling who's actually in charge of the town. I don't want us to wind up fighting our way through two dozen of the beasts just to reach the house of some guy who's under house arrest by the gnolls and can't do anything for us, or something like that."
"Our mistress Almah is a gambling woman. What say we consult the Coin of Fate?"
Producing a silver coin, he holds it up for Arian to see. Far from being a typical piece of silver currency, it is decorated with the two faces of Nethys, one on each side. "I presume you know the game. Heads," he says, showing the half of a (presumably) white mask and one side of Nethys's mortal face, "we go with honor in full view of the city, hiding nothing. Tails," he says, turning the coin around to show the black half-mask on the opposite side and the magic-blighted visage of Nethys the immortal God-King, "we seek our advantage by stealth and cunning. Kaspar, would you do the honors?"
The monkey scampers over from his now-customary place near Zoisa and takes the coin from his master. Seemingly familiar with his role, he grasps the coin between two paws and spins it on the table.
The coin spins on its edge for what seems an interminably long time before it slows, wobbles, and eventually comes to rest. When it does, the black-masked face stares all-knowingly up from the table.
"And so it shall be. Arian, will you lead us as we take Kelmerane from the long cast of its shadows?"
The young half-orc woman smiles."Well if the coin has spoken, we can work this out. Faith manages!"
"I don't know about leading," says Arian dubiously, "but I'll do my best to keep us unseen."
Zoisa smirks as Alem flips the Coin of Fate. He wasn't as straight-laced as he sometimes wanted to project himself as...
"The only thing more fun than being surprised by someone is being the someone doing the surprising," Zoisa replies.
"Let's get going!"
Zoisa gives Arian a quizzical look.
"They're gonna think it suspicious if we sneak in either way, so you wanna do this during the day or under cover of darkness? I'm a gnome, so I can see fine either way, and so can Faffnyr, but it may be trickier for you humans, especially if the gnolls can see in the dark too."
"That's why I said daytime earlier. Since I can't see in the dark but they can, it gives them an advantage if we go at night."
"Oh, okay. I may have been staring at a bug when you said that. Sorry!" Zoisa replies cheerfully.
Faffnyr ponders for a long moment. "Saranrae smiles upon those that walk in the light."
With the decision to approach under stealth during the day, the group heads out. With knowledge of the terrain and the buildings already scouted, you make it to the B4 building, a relatively safe outpost in the middle of enemy territory.
Where to now? Any other exploration will require stealth checks.
The party sat around the perceived safe house, discussing and sharing ideas about what would be the best plan of attack. With the available arcana and divine tolls at their disposal, it seemed they decided on the plan of action.
Casting his staff out before him, Alem chants in the tongue of marids and thin streams of vapor arise slowly from the sands. Slowly, it coalesces into a thick haze, suitable to cloak their approach to the Battle Market. It should suffice for a suitably dramatic entrance.
Once the mist is in place, Zoisa begins slipping through the fog towards the Battle Market.
Arian, likewise, moves cautiously through the fog toward the central building.
The party moves to the battle market as a small blanket of mist rolls along with them.