The woman on the left who initially spoke for the group speaks up first, "I'm Daisy. This is Malva and Crystal" she says, gesturing towards to the middle and right girls in turn as she spoke. Crystal, who is currently standing, says kinda snottily, "And what shall I call you, just master?"
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"Yes, until tonight." Duncan offers his hand once again to each of you in parting. With that, he turns to approach another customer who has entered in shop. "Can I help you find something?" he says in the direction of the new shopper.
Heading back the way you came, you exit back through the twilight gate just as twilight itself begins approaching. The sun is getting low on the horizon to the west as you return to the River Inn. A few guests rest comfortably in the large lobby area as you cross through to find the guest suite you rented. You enter to see Haleen lounging on the large couch with Bahir and Mah'ysa milling about.
Hazreem is glad to return to the Inn, but when he sees the others have not returned yet, a troubled look crosses his face.
"Bahir, did Pae and Efreat say when they are returning?"
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Pae raises an eyebrow.."I am Paelatt Silvertounge, Knight Protector of Kelmarane..and you can call me whatever you damn well want Crystal as long as you remember your manners in public."
He stands up and leads the girl out off the room to Amwyr.."Right I'm taking this one and I may be back for the other two. No need for shackles I'm certain she won't try to run, will you Crystal?"
"Right. Whatever you say." states Crystal as you lead her out of the room. At your pronouncement, Amwyr appears again from around the corner joining Pae and Efreat, who now has a barely noticeable shimmering field surround him.
"Great, I'll grab the paperwork." He glances at Crystal for a second before turning back around and heading away. Less than a minute passes before he returns with a document and a quill pen and ink in his hand. He heads over to a small table in the corridor and sets them down. "Now if you will just sign here, she'll be all yours." He points to a spot on the document. "This just specifies that I am transferring ownership of her to you and that you now have all rights to her. Here...", pointing to another spot, "...it states that no monetary value was exchanged in this ownership transfer and therefore no taxes are being assessed." He picks up the document to show another document under it. He points to a spot on the second document. "You also need to sign here. This is the City of Katapesh slave registration form. This document needs to be filed with the city within 5 days of transferring ownership. You just need to sign it and I can take care of submitting to the city for you and paying the registration fee." After a short pause, "If you want, I can get a member of the church of Abadar to oversee this transaction."
As you start looking over the documents, Amwyr leans towards you and whispers in your ear, "Are you sure you want this one? She's kinda a bad seed. A real problem child, rather difficult to train." The documents seem standard Katapesh documents written by the Abadar clergy and filled in as appropriate by the old man. He must of had it all prepared while you were in the room and just added Crystal's identification at the last minute.
Efreat: You witness Pae walking out of the room with another small Halfling women, one of the three you saw through the glass earlier. She is dressed rather provocatively, much different than most women you have seen here in Katapesh who are more conservative and tend to cover themselves from head to toe without showing any exposed skin below the neck. But then she is a Halfling and you haven't see any other Halfling women in Katapesh since you got here.
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Pae shakes his head as he signs.."I'm sure I can trust you Amwyr..and if it turns out that you are not trustworthy well I'm sure Bahir will just love to have a word with you" the halfling smiles wickedly at the old man "But I'll file the papers myself.I suppose that I have to take them to a Magistrate or will the Temple of Adabar notarise them?"
When Amwyr leans in he chuckles.."I like her..she's got spirit."he whispers back "and I'm sure I can deal with any trouble she might cause me"
He raises his voice again "Efreat this is my girl Crystal, Crystal this is my friend Efreat 'al Inferis, a Sorcerer so don't annoy him or he'll turn you into a toad."
He turns away from the girl and gives Efreat an exagerrated wink
"Right then..I think we are done here for the moment..so let's be off..Say goodbye to your friends Crystal"
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Answering Hazreem's question, "No, but I suspect they wish to take some time washing away the memories of the road." Being that some of the others are now back, "You'll have to excuse me as I have been recently informed that I am badly in need of a bath." With a smile and a wave as he leaves to go scrub.
Hazreen smiles in agreement, and cannot help but notice the fragrance of the various smells of Katapesh clinging to his own body. "Yes, maybe that would be a good idea. By the way..." His voice raises so the others can also hear the druid. "Daumari and I may have found a buyer for our extra equipment. He should be stopping by here later this evening to inspect the items."
Mah'ysa hugs Hazreem as well.
"I'm so glad you're back! I really missed you all, and you were only gone a few hours..." She wrinkles her nose.
"Yes. Bath for you too."
Hazreem's eyes twinkle in amusement, "Your wish is my command, O' Radiant One!" He then gives the priestess an exaggerated bow before he turns away and, still chucking to himself, heads off to the bath.
"Sure, just take it to the Immaculate Repository up near Dawn's Gate. The Abadaran temple towers over everything, you can't miss it." He digs in his pockets and pulls out a gold piece and a platinum piece, handing them over to Pae. "It's a 10 gold registration fee and one more for a filing fee. They are probably closed for today so just head over tomorrow or the next."
With the threat of toads, Crystal gives Efreat a look of disgust and wordlessly moves closer to Pae.
"Right then..I think we are done here for the moment..so let's be off..Say goodbye to your friends Crystal" Still keeping a careful eye on Efreat, Crystal replies with little emotion in her voice. "No, I'm good."
Documents in hand, you both head out with Crystal obediently following behind closely as you work through the busy streets to head back towards the Twilight gate. The crowds down here still worse now than they were when you arrived. Street lamps are being lit as darkness starts to creep over the sky. The slave girl doesn't try to escape and actually seems to be trying to keep up so that she doesn't get lost as the punishment for a slave escaping is probably worse than death. A pair of halflings moving through crowded streets filled with tallies is exceedingly difficult as you are constantly bumped and brushed past, people quickly stepping out of the way.
The crowds lightens up a bit as you cross back through Jackel Gate and further when you leave the walled city altogether. Things are much calmer when you finally get back to the River Inn, with no major injuries and little to no bumps and bruises. Crystals eyes scan the lobby area and its vaulted ceilings as you walk through, a look of awe on her face. But she quickly drops the expression if she sees you noticed.
You open the door to the suite to see Haleen sitting on the couch, leaning forward with her hands clasped. She looks up as you enter, a broad smile forming on her face. "Efreat!" Leaping to her feet, she rushes forward to embrace the sorcerer.
With a wave of his hand, Efreat causes fire to dance between his fingers. "Pleasure to meet you, Crystal."
Later on, Efreat smiles as he sees Haleen back at the inn. Embracing her, Efreat adds "I'm glad to see you too. I decided to get monies in lew of a servant. It would take too long to take the slave back to the store. Did you pay off everything?"
Daumari stops at the front desk after arriving back at the Inn, and informs the staff to bring Duncan to their suite upon his arrival. The inquisitor also arranges for a fairly extravagant evening meal to be delivered shortly after the merchant's arrival.
Upon returning to the room Daumari pauses at the door. He nods briefly to the halfling woman in greeting before allowing his gaze turn to Pae. "I'm guessing you've completed your business with the old man?"
Listening to Pae, Mah'ysa at first thinks "That is an odd thing to call your girlfriend." Then she stands stock still, her face white.
"Slave... Girl..."
You don't think you've ever seen Mah'ysa look at anyone in hatred before.
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Pae stares right back at her..."Yes..Amwyr's gift...oh don't be so straightlaced, Mah'ysa.I don't intend to keep her as a bond slave any longer than it takes to sign her manumission, I never did but I had to get her out of that place and this was the only way and theres two more halfling girls there I intend to buy and free in the same manner once I have got rid of this damned whip.Besides...as I asked Bahir ..have you ever actually talked to a slave?"
"Crystal come here and tell her Ladyship your story..how you ended up as a slave and the trials and tribulations you have gone through.It's time some eyes were opened. Oh and don't miss out what you told me you intend to do once you are freed."
Daumari finds him smiling slightly at the halfling's words. He addresses Crystal as she begins walking toward Mah'ysa. "Please, select your words with purpose but speak with care; our priestess' heart is one of the purest you'll find, and she is kind to a fault."
The inquisitor takes a seat next to Pae and leans toward the halfling, his voice low so that no one else can hear. "I can't say I disapprove with providing a more worldly education, but what are you planning next? If you intend to take Bahir to a House of Calistria, you should give me some warning first; you may need someone to step in and prevent him from cutting you down on the spot." Daumari's grin grows even wider. "If nothing else, I'd hate to miss such an eventful outing."
Hazreem exits the baths and immediately notes the tension in the room between the pair of halflings and the priestess. By the Gods, could she wear anything more revealing?
Not wishing to see any more conflict, he walks over to Mah'ysa and says quietly, "Remember why we are here, Mah'ysa. I find slavery abhorrent as well, but we cannot change the fact it exists."
He turns his attention to the halfling newcomer. Averting his gaze in an effort to be modest, he greets Pae's girl, "It is nice to meet you, miss. I am sure Pae will take good care of you."
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Having caught the latest conversation as he enters the room clothed only from the waist down and quite refreshed from his bath, Bahir can't help but roll his eyes in exasperation but his earlier anger is completely gone as he says, "You have quite the way with words Pae. As I recall both Mah'ysa and I have spoken with former slaves at great length or do you not recall Derik?" He waves off any immediate response, "I think I understand what you are trying to do and quite appreciate it actually. I think I perhaps got caught up in my own prejudices and for that I apologize....and yes I would like very much to hear Crystal's story." He turns to face the halfling woman and bows, "I am Bahir al-Asim Abdul Shihab and it is a pleasure to meet you, may the light guide you." His omission of his titles seems intentional.
Crystal doesn't seems intimidated by the crowd of people staring at her and talking about her. Her gaze moves from person to person as they speak. But when Bahir walks in undressed from the waist up, her gaze locks in on him. A brief smile forms on her face as she stares at his muscular chest. But her fascination is broken when Pae directly speaks to her causing her attention to turn back to him, the smile gone. She turns back and looks at the cleric before turning back towards Pae with a slight smirk on her face. "This is your Sarenrae friend?" says Crystal after all the commotion has died down. She gestures briefly with her hand upwards towards Mah'ysa and remarks, "Seriously, you bought me and brought me here for this?" With everyone looking upon her expectantly, she turns towards Mah'ysa, "No offense, but you look like pristine little school girl, completely naive and gullible. I bet your probably still a virgin as well." The sound of venom is apparent in her voice.
But then turning back to Pae, her voice calms. "But I guess I'm stuck with you now, so I should make the most of it." Looking around the room, she walks over to the wet bar as she continues, "My story. You want to know my story. Well, there's not that much to say. My mother was a addict, screwed her way to her next fix." she says as she makes herself a drink. "I just got in her way, so she sold me off to some tallie she was with who got his jollies off touching short, young girls. So I got to be his little toy for the next few years until he got bored with me and needed gold, so he started renting me out to some of the friends." She pauses to take a long drink. Setting her glass down, she sighs for a moment before resuming. "When I wasn't being used, the prick locked me in a dark room. He loved to beat me whenever he just felt like it. He'd slam me into the wall when he was getting his trills." Her voice is beginning to rise as she speaks, obviously agitated by the subject. "He actually tied me down and put me on display while all his friends ..." she lowers her head as her voice cracks, as if tears might be forming. Slamming her drink down with a loud bang, she turns back to the group and screams, "I'm gonna find that dirt bag and cut that thing off! Then I'm gonna slit his frickin throat and watch him bleed!" She plops down on one of the chairs and drops her head into the palms of her hands, sobbing.
Hazreem stares at Crystal intently, watching her sob into the pillow, while saying nothing. A look of compassion crosses his face as he thinks to himself, She is like a wounded desert cheetah, her paw caught in the claw-trap, lashing out at those who seek to free her and help her because pain is all she knows. The trap is gone, yet the pain lingers...time is needed here. I hope Pae is up to the task.
He turns his gaze to Mah'ysa and holds his hand up, cautioning her to hold her tongue here, while hoping the willfull priestess, who he thought as his younger sister, would follow his advice.
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Pae looks grim as Crystal tells her tale.."..and I'll hold her coat while she does it" he remarks to the group before walking over to the girl and laying a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Crystal..I know this is hard but earlier you referred to the Church of Sarenrae as bunch of Hypocrites..can you tell us what you meant by that?"
You can see Mah'ysa's face go through a rainbow of color shifts; the white of shock, furious purple, red embarassment... In fact, it looked like she was going to physically pummel Pae with something heavy before Bahir came out and physically interposed himself between them.
She seems to calm a little, hearing Crystal's story, but you can see she has her teeth clamped down on her tongue.
Crystal wipes the water from her eyes and looks up at Pae standing next to her before glancing around at everyone else staring at her. She regains her composure and hops off the chair. Reaching up, she grabs her glass and refills it. After taking a long drink, she finally speaks again in a calm voice.
"Many in Katapesh claim they follow the teachings of the Dawnflower. They attend sunrise worship service and have the church's holy book next to their beds." As she continues, there is a noticeable bitterness that forms in her voice. "But when the sun is not shining, these same tallies will pay a stranger to force themselves upon a bound and gagged woman, each taking their turn with me. I could do nothing but lay there and stare at that book sitting next to the bed. I read the title on the binding over and over again, trying to numb myself as they continued to force themselves into me. The book of light and truth. The book of light and truth! Oh I saw the light alright and can tell you what truth there is. Those that claim to follow Sarenrae are nothing but a bunch of depraved bastards!" Her voice peaks at the end as she loudly accents the last two words.
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Pae glances at Mah'ysa and Bahir with a look that tells them not to interrupt his line of questioning..
"Do many of the other slaves feel the same way as you do." He asks her his tone sympathetic.."and were the men who abused you merely lay members or.." he pauses waiting for the girl to fill in the blanks.
He knows this may anger his comrades but he has to make them see the consequences of their intentions.
She stares down into her drink, her voice much softer. "No, I was probably just the unlucky one. Their past was much simpler compared to mine. It's hard to hear the talk about their problems, a life I could only have dreamed of." To Pae's second question, she delays a bit as if thinking. "I don't know. One of them might of actually been a priest, but I think he was just pretending for fun. I think they were all just members of the church."
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Pae nods slowly.."Tomorrow Crystal, I am going to free you.After that you will have a choice..you might stay with us though our path is a hard one and might be very dangerous.You could travel to Kelmarane where you would be under the protection of our employer or I could send you and the other girls to my mother in Osirion.My sisters have all married and moved out and she could do with some female companionship....and in Osirion our people are respected Crystal. No-one would know what you were, you could all get a fresh start.
As she looks up from her drink and looks at Pae, you notice her eyes are wet and red. A brief smile forms on her face, a genuine smile that you haven't seen before. It looks good on her, despite that she's a wreck right now.
Her voice is low, almost a whisper, as she speaks. "Thank you. First the Amwyr family, and now you. No one has ever been nice to me before." She stands and slowly moves to embrace Pae, though it is awkward and she quickly steps back. Not from anything Pae did, but she is obviously uncomfortable with physical contact. She turns around and sits back down, quiet in her self-reflection.
With the uncomfortable scene over with, the conversation tends to move towards more mundane topics. About an hour goes by when there is a knock at the door. Opening the door, you find two men standing there. Closer to the opening, the man is dressed as one of the inn's staff, while the other Daumari and Hazreem would recognize as the Duncan. "Sir, your guest has arrived. I will go see to your order." The inn worker remains standing there in the doorway as Duncan lets himself in.
Duncan looks around, glancing at the pile of stuff in the middle of the room, but then spies Hazreem and walks up to him. He carries a sheathed scimitar in his hand. "Mr. Hazreem. I've got great news. I was able to send a messenger off and got your blade looked at right away. He was able to identify your sword's ability. And he showed me how to activate it." Drawing the blade, he mutters something quietly. Suddenly the long, curved blade is covered in an icy, blue coating. The air nearby cools forming wisps of fog that fall downward from the blade. "Ya like?" With another muttering, the ice disappears and Duncan sheathes the blade once more. "Let me show you how to do that before I leave. Unless of course you want to sell it. Then I'll gladly give you four grand for it." He hands the scimitar to Hazreem.
He glances back at the pile in the room. "That's quite a collection you have there. I'm assuming this is the pile for sale?" He looks up at everything there looking at him. "Oh, my apologies. I'm Duncan Landis. Mr. Hazreem and his friend there", gesturing in Daumari's direction, "stopped into my shop today. They indicated you had some weapons for sale."
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Pae gets up from where he is teaching Crystal a simple board game...her missing childhood having not allowed to to learn such things.
"Just the Man," he says.."I have this whip for sale."
He retrieves the weapon from his pack and drops it into the pile.
"I'm sure you can find someone with a use for it..it has a viscious enchantment on it and I'm not into damaging myself thank you."
Hazreem takes the scimitar almost reverently and buckles it around his waist. He smiles, "No thank you, Duncan, but I do appreciate the quick response time. As a matter of fact, I do have a couple of additional items I wish to sell though..." He points to the pile of gear where his old hide armor and wooden shield lay admidst the other gear. "I also want to give you some extra for your great service."
Taking the offered gold, Duncan nods in appreciation. "Thank you sir, you are most kind. I am here to serve your needs." As Hazreem goes and gets his extra armor and shield, Duncan turns to Pae.
"Viscous you say? That's a necromantic enchantment if I'm not mistaken. Let me take a look." He mutters something and his eyes glow for about 20 seconds as he examines the whip. Lowering the whip, his eyes return to normal. "Yes, definitely necromantic." He sets the whip to the side and pulls out a bound book and an ink pen and begins jotting something down. As Hazreem brings out his equipment, Duncan turns to similarly examine them, making addtional notations in his journal.
Turning to the pile. "You guys have quite a pile of stuff here." He kneels down and visual inspects some of the items. As he picks through, "Some of these designs are typical of those forged in the brazen peaks. Many of the gnoll tribes in the mountains have these. If you don't mind me asking, where did you obtain this stuff? Are you a group of adventurers? Some of the armor has been pierced or burned and not yet cleaned, like the previous owner was unlucky in battle and it was taken straight of the dead body of a gnoll." He looks back at the pile, "I'll need to go through all of this stuff and catalog everything. It might take a little while."
There is another knock at the door. Opening the door once again, you find the same hotel staffer is there with another man, his skin darker in complexion, clean-cut, and wearing a long white robe more common to those in Katapesh. "Sir, you have another guest." Duncan turns around. "Great, you got my message." He turns back to face Daumari, a smile on his face. "This is Kiran. He can help you with any custom weapons that you may need." The dark skined man walks into the room and nods in greeting.
Duncan turns back to the stuff on the floor, picking each item up in turn, examining it, muttering something to cause his eye to glow, and after studying the item further, jots something down in his journal. After a few of the items, a broad smile forms across his face. "Nice." When he picks up one of the four large flails. He looks up at you and says, "I don't even want to know how you got these." But then proceeds to examine them as normal.
When he examines the large GreatAxe, his glowing eyes widen brightly. "Amazing, do you realize that this..." He looks up at the group watching him, but he stops cold mid-sentence. He eyes turn and lock onto Bahir. He mouth drops open for a couple of seconds before it switches to a look of pain and agony. He cries out and quickly covers his eyes, bellowing over onto the ground as if something had just stabbed him in the eyes. His cries of pain continue for a few seconds before he regains his composure. "By the light of the Dawnflower, what was that?" He looks back up, his eyes are no longer glowing but instead they are red like Crystals were an hour ago. He looks right at Bahir. "There was a magical aura coming from you like none I've ever experienced."
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Somewhat confused by what the man means, "Hmmmm.....you must mean my scimitar. It is indeed a fairly powerful wea...." Then another thought suddenly occurs to him and he pauses, for once quite uncertain as to what to do. He gives Efreat a questioning look as if he hopes the man will pick up where he left off.
Daumari rises to greet Kiran. "Welcome, I am pleased you could come. I am Daumari. My weapon of choice is not as common as some, but I am hoping to find a replacement nonetheless."
The inquisitor begins asking what meteor hammers Kiran may have, as well as what he is capable of locating or crafting. The discussion pauses, however, as Duncan is overcome. Daumari looks to Bahir with concern, and lets his eyes follow the paladin's gaze to Efreat.
Kiran briefly glances at Daumari's meteor hammers. "Oh, I personally know a seller that makes these, excellent quality I can assure you. He usually keeps a few in stock. But are you looking for any kind of magical enchantment?" As he finishes that question, Duncan collapses and all eyes turn to see what has happened.
Duncan stares at Bahir as he mentions his scimitar, his face no longer that of agony but of wonder at the idea of such a powerful blade. But when Bahir stops mid-sentence and looks at Efreat, Duncan turns to look at Efreat as well. His expression changing to that of confusion.
Hazreem watches the interplay between Bahir and the merchants. He guesses, Duncan must have sensed the Scrolls aura! We cannot let him learn about it!
"Yeah, that blade is a powerful one, is it not Efreat? It certainly is more powerful than my own blade, right?"
As Hazreem and Pae draw the merchant's attention away from Efreat, Duncan simply smiles and says back towards Bahir, "With an aura like that, it must be a thing of legends. Maybe when I'm done here, I could take a look at your blade." He puts the GreatAxe in the assessed pile and makes an entry in his journal. He then proceeds to the next item...
Thud, Thud, Thud. For the third time tonight, someone is knocking at the door. Opening, you find several of the inn staff greeting you with trays of food and drink on several carts. "The food your ordered, sir." As they enter and remove the covers, you find a buffet of several dishes including both plain white and fried rice with vegetables and nuts, some spiced potatoes, and several curries along with a basket of flat-breads. Something round floats in one of the curries which the staffers indicates is an boiled egg curry. He states that the others are non-vegetarian with some kind of local meat or fish in each. There are also some crispy deep-fried triangle shaped pastries and dough looking balls floating in a thick syrup. The food is carried from the carts to the dining tables in your room along with a large flagon of ale, and the staff transport the carts back out the door. One man stays behind and asks, "Is there anything else I can get you?"
About this time, Duncan finishes the last item in the pile and moves over to Hazreem, showing him the itemized list he has created in his journal. "Sir Hazreem. I'd be able to offer you... lets say rounding up, twenty-nine thousand for all this. Is that good?"
Hazreem glances at the rest of the party.
He smiles at Duncan, "Yes, that is quite acceptable to us. Thank you again for your service!"
Efreat takes the cue from Bahir and Hazreem, "It is quite a powerful blade. Taken from a mote of sun upon the desert and bound to the very soul of Bahir. Should he pass the power will return to the sun. Sadly, this makes it utterly worthless to anyone else." Moving on, Efreat considers the offer, "That sounds about right Pae."
Hearing Efreat's remark on Bahir's scimitar, a strange expression forms across Duncan's face. "That sounds like a cursed weapon if you ask me." Turning back to Bahir, "On second thought, I think I'll pass on looking at it."
With the acceptance of the purchase list prices, Duncan nods happily. "Great. But naturally I don't carry that kind of gold on me, so I'll have to come back in the morning after the depository opens. Plus, I'll need to bring some help to carry it all away as well. Is that acceptable?"
The meal is good, cuisine local to the area and very filling. After finishing up with Duncan and agreeing on the sale of the equipment, the man thanks you for your business and departs, promising to return as soon as he can in the morning.
As you settle in for the night, there is yet another knock at the door. This time it is the familiar face of Garavel. "The prisoners have been placed in local custody. I have asked them to delay processing as long as possible." he says without entering your suite. "I'll stop by tomorrow morning to take you to Rayhan's villa if you need me to. And I will be heading back to Kelmarane in two days, taking the next rotation of guards back."
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Nodding to Garavel, "Thank you. Yes, your company would be very welcome on the way to the villa."
After it is just the Band of the Frozen Scimitar Bahir will ask, "Is there any better way of keeping my burden from being detected? That and since it has been detected on me perhaps it would be better if someone else carried it for now?"
Mah'ysa give Crystal a bright smile and pulls her into the room.
"Of course! Come on in! Say, I was thinking of learning 'Bestow Curse'; maybe you can help me..."
She SLAMs the door in Pae's face.
The rest of the evening and night goes by without incident. Crystal joins Mah'ysa in her room, which is spacious enough to give them both plenty of room. It is good to finally be able to sleep in comfort after five days of trekking through the desert.
Morning comes soon enough as you rise for the day, the warm sun shining brightly through the room's decorative windows. The Inn serves a hearty breakfast near the lobby of the Inn. About the time you are ready for the day, there is a knock at the door. Opening, you find both Garavel and Duncan standing before you. Several other men stand behind the merchant who is holding an envelope in his hand. Garavel stands back and gestures for the others to do their business first.
"Here's the payment for the items." he says as he hands one of you the envelope. Inside you find a piece of thick parchment from the Katapesh Abadar Depository indicating it is good for withdrawal of funds in the amount of 29,000 gold pieces. It has been signed and sealed by a cleric of Abadar. "Is that acceptable? I have a cart outside ready to carry everything away." With your approval, the two additional men following Duncan into the room and begin collecting the pile of gear and carrying it out of the room, Duncan checking off a list as they do so. Quickly, the room is emptied and you realize just how big this room really is now that all the stuff is gone. Before leaving, Duncan turns and shaking Hazreem's hand. "Thank you for your business. If there is anything else you find yourself in need of, you know where to find me." After a final exchange of niceties, Duncan departs leaving Garavel standing by the door.
"Are you ready?" asks Garavel. As you grab your things, you head out on foot and head further east across the sprawl. Crystal decides to stay back and hold down the fort. You cross the bridge next to the Twilight Gate, but you don't enter. You keep heading east outside the city wall, following the major path city outside the city. Things continue as you head another 2000 feet where the road turns south and you find at yet another bridge known as the Grand Arch, the river flowing quickly here from right to left and heading out towards the sea which is clearly visible from here to your left (east).
After crossing, the road turns east you find that you have left civilization. Well, at least for the next 1500 feet where you approach an area that seems to have been recently built, at least compared to the rest of the city. On the left side of the road you are following, several paths wind down steeply, switch backs heading down to nice looking houses with great views of the water off in the distance. Garavel turns down the first path, carefully watching his footing. You pass several nice houses, many with privacy walls surrounding them and front gates.
Far off to the right, you catch sight of what looks like a small castle sticking up above the roof tops. Garavel sees your interest and comments, "That's Castle Clarion. Lord Clarion is a retired explorer and his family maintains private docks for their own fleet of shipping vessels. Their cargo is generally slaves being brought into Katapesh, one of the largest suppliers of slaves to the city."
At the bottom of the hill, you turn left and arrive at the gate of another walled-in home. "This is Rayhan's villa." says Garavel as you approach. Looking through the front gate, you see a modest, three-story structure built from heavy clay bricks. There are several smaller out-buildings within the privacy wall as well as a well-kept garden. There is no back wall to the residence as the home appears to sit on the edge of the cliff over looking the Obari Ocean. Grass grows thick on the grounds, a strange sight in this desert land. You see someone apparently tending to the garden.