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A tall, lanky Taldan in a chain shirt slouches up the gangplank, idly tapping out a complex rhythm on his rapier hilt with one hand. He straightens up long enough to find his way to the cabin where the meeting is supposed to take place. Nodding in greeting to the sailors aboard, he knocks at the cabin door and enters. "Chamius Lune, reporting." He sets down a pack whose most prominent feature is a djembe lashed to one side, then sits down, leaning back in his chair. He glances at the drum and makes to reach for it, then looks back at the Venture-Captain, grins, and shakes his head. "Probably not the best thing to be doing now, hey?"
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Walking as a brisk pace, an elfin man in traveler's robes makes his way towards the docks of Absalom, followed by a tiny scorpion trying its best at matching his pace trough the crowded streets. "I swear to the Countess, that if this involves sand in my boots, she and I are going to have a talk. Sending me off during my research, and when I got a new delivery of reagents to boot!" Muttering a more disgreivences, he manages to make his way to the ship's cabin, throwing open the door. Eying at the two already in the room, Celstri speaks up, "It seems that at least one other seems to believe that being early is beneficial. Celstri Fredricks of the Dark Archives, at your acquaintance." Bowing slightly towards the venture captain, then turning towards Chamius, offers a hand to shake.
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A few hours before the meeting, Syl'las finished her make up and slips on a slightly revealing dress and her finest jewels. She attaches her wrist sheath and places a kukri inside of it. She places her armor inside of her back pack, in case the need arises, she would have it. Next she places a blowgun and a pouch full of darts inside of it. With a satisfying nod, she picks up her bag and heads to the pier.
Arriving at the ship, the tall female humanoid woman walks up the plank, not looking pleased about the current setting. She walks into the cabin to see it already occupied by two beings. She looks them both in the eyes and then sets her bag down.
"Well, hello there. Nice to see that I am not late." She adjust her dress one last time before taking a seat, and places both hands in her lap and quietly waits for the venture captain.
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The first thing the others notice is the *squishsquish* quality to the next arrival's footsteps...and another sound behind that, which sounds like nothing so much as one long, indefinitely drawn out *squish*.
After a few seconds of this, the door rattles as though the opener's having trouble with the knob. Finally she succeeds, though, and in steps a gangly human woman - Ulfen, from the looks of it - with fair skin, red hair, and if one looks closely, mismatched eyes, blue on the right and hazel on the left. She shivers slightly as she walks, despite the day's balmy temperature, and her clothes are horribly disheveled beneath a bizarre-looking suit of hide armor, and so dirty that moss and small flowers literally seem to be growing out of the folds and cracks.
Following her is an even more freakish sight: a bright blue slug as long as a human is tall.
The woman sits down - on the floor, and begins rifling through her pack for a fancy deck of metal cards, then turns to her companion, whose eystalks begin moving in opposite directions to each other - one toward her, the other to the others present. This finally alerts the strange woman to them.
"Hi," She says flatly. "Angrboda Fossey. This is Eniac," She gestures to the slug, then returns her attention to her deck of cards, dealing a hand to herself...and to her slug.
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Arriving late, an odd looking hulk of a oread bursts into the room. He is quite bald, and his skin is the complexion of stone, causing his head to resemble a small boulder. He is wearing very simple clothes (no jewelry or other accessories), and appears to be dusty.
He looks around, and leaves, closing the door. A moment later, he opens it again. When he speaks, his voice is low, gravelly, and sounds a touch angry. "Guess...er... guess this is right. Who are you? Pathfinders? Terrible place for a meeting. Hate boats."
He puts down a wrapped bundle he was carrying, which looks to be some shortspears and maybe a few axes as he briefly rolls it out and then back up again. "Guess I got everything."
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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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Scratching his chin as he reads the handouts, Celstri then looks at the Venture-Captain, "I assume that we'll be contacted by our target once we help out with some of her requests. How prominent are the Aspis in the town? Where would you suggest we start, and how do we handle ourselves if caught by the opposition?"
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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.
Venture-Captain Valsin responds to Celstri, "As I'm sure you know, the Aspis Consortium is a ruthless mercantile organization. While some of its operations are aboveboard, at the end of the day, profit is its only concern. It considers no business venture off limits, from the trafficking of slaves to war profiteering. The consortium storms through priceless historical sites, caring only for how it can translate their history into wealth."
"They've recently allied themselves with the Kortos Consortium in Diobel, though I don't believe that's a permanent arrangement ... yet. Let's see what you can do to make sure it doesn't become one."
"Magali Delroya's note should give you a pretty good starting point. As for getting caught, the best advice I can give you is don't."
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The bard idly pages through the two notes. "Sounds as though we've got a choice--break up a meeting 'tween two people whom we don't know, or steal some papers from a ship. I'm not one for sneaking around, but--" He taps his drum once. "--I do know a bit about people. So I'd prefer the meeting. If any of you are particularly stealthy, though, we can try the ship before we go haring off after this alchemist."
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A female half-orc sits with the others and looks them over. She has short dark hair and form-fitting armor.
"Ecum Secum," she says. "That's my name. Anyway, I think I'm here for my muscle, but don't think for a second that's all I'm good for. 'Oh, she's swinging an earth-breaker...she must be pretty one-dimensional!'" she says, as if someone had said it to her before.
"Well I'm not! So let's get on with this!"
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If nobody has any further questions for Venture-Captain Valsin, he wishes you godspeed and leaves the ship, which departs immediately for Diobel. The ship arrives at its destination right at sunrise on Oathday morning.
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!”
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Playing more with his scorpion, Celstri follows the two onto the docks. Absentmindedly the Elf coos as his familiar, "Who's a sneaky little boy? You are, yes you are! Looking up, he then looks at the others with sudden realization of his location. "Oh, we're here already? So what are we going to do?"
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Captain Zendrani just shrugs. "The best advice I can give you is just don't stand out. If you're dealing with the crew of a ship or the port workers, they're all probably going to be busy with their business. They won't notice another few people wandering around, as long as you look like you have a purpose and know what you're doing."
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Before heading off the ship, Sylas thinks up a disguise and removes her armor once more and stows it in the back pack she carries and pulls out her atisan out fit(which comes with a tool belt) and fastens it on. She messes up her hair and just rubs some dirt on her face.
With an approving nod she makes her way off the ship and towards the docks. On the way over she talks stratgey with her companions.
"I can try and slip onto the ship as a laborer. A distraction would be nice to draw some attention off of me. I can then get to the captains cabin and get off the ship as soon as I can. If I am questioned, I will tell a little lie and hopefully they buy it enough to give me enough time to get off the ship. But be ready to come running if I start screaming.
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"I could send Fred in, so as while you distract them, he could sneak in and take the documents, although it may be a bit off depending on how many of these documents there are. Things may get snipped a bit..... the elf's voice trails off as he begins to tug at an ear while thinking.
If he were caught, it would be a bad thing for me. He's quite sneaky, but if caught, could be thrown into the bay, and he can't swim. What to do.....?
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"Oh, that is fine." Syl'las says while placing a hand on the Oread's shoulder.
Grinning up at him "You can help with the distraction. Or better yet, if things go terribly, you can always rescue the damsel in distress" She suddenly places her hand on her head and pretends to faint.
After she regains her composure. She looks to the elf. "That could work too, but what happens if it is a complete ledger. I do not think he could carry the whole thing on his lonesome.
Now looking to the rest of the party. "Well, whatever we do, we need to make a decision and stick with it.
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"How about this? Celstri, Ecum Secum, Angrboda, and Durm, you move in first and find a place to watch from in case things go off badly. I'll follow--take my time walking down the docks, then set up near Blue Dragon's Bite and start playing. Once I've started, Syl'las will make her move while I have the crowd's attention. Fortunately, I'm a pretty good drummer. How's that for a plan?"
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Laughing a Syl'las' flair for the dramatic, Celstri perks up from his thoughts, "That's fine Angrboda, it seems we may not be going with sending Fred in. I can stand by the edge of the dock prepared for, say, a misty diversion if need be. I've never been the best at evocation if a fight is needed though."
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You make your way from the Sixwing Drake, planning and scheming as you walk along the harbor. A maze of broken ships forms an artificial reef blocking Diobel’s harbor. This treacherous and erratic terrain teems with laborers, barge masters, pilots, and port inspectors, who busily conduct their business ferrying goods to and from the Bristles. Beyond the Trawl, seagoing ships wait their turn to offload cargo or pick up new goods. One ship stands out among the others—the freshly touched-up paint on its hull, blue with streaks of white lightning along the hull, marks it as the Blue Dragon’s Bite. It sits moored to a dock jutting from the Trawl, with several crates already offloaded nearby, and many more waiting piled on its deck.
There is a gang plank leading up to the ship's deck, and several people can be seen standing there, along with the voices of conversation. Oddly, nobody seems to be moving crates at the present time.
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As Chamius starts playing, the others make their way up the gang plank.
On deck, they see a man and woman engaged in conversation, with several dock workers standing around watching. They seem to be talking about customs fees. There are several dock workers standing around watching, as if waiting to see the outcome of the discussion before continuing their work.