Several well-armed guards patrol the perimeter of the Sandswept Hall of Sothis, watching passerby with suspicion. As they scan the crowd, the lodge’s front gates swing open, and Venture Captain Norden Balentiir steps out into the street, waving calmly to the guards. “It’s all right. They are Pathfinders.” Balentiir steps back inside the gates. “Please, follow me. We have much to discuss.”
Instead of leading the way into the lodge itself, he walks around the back of the building to a lush garden. Sycamore, tamarisk, and fig trees provide shade to cushioned benches, and trellises covered in grapes and flowering plants provide privacy. “Last night, a thief broke into our vault and fled with a pair of valuable items. While we were unable to stop her from escaping, a guard caught a glimpse of her as she fled. Our thief is a janni named Jamila al-Shafah. She has served as an ally to the Society in the past, but now we have to assume she might have been planning this theft for some time. She’s made her way southeast toward the Underdunes. We’re still figuring out if she had help, but in the meantime, I need you to find where she escaped to.”
Norden pauses and glances toward the sky before continuing. “In a way, this could be a blessing in disguise. The Underdunes have many hidden bits of lore. If you find something interesting along the way, be sure to take note of it for later. But don’t tarry too long—Jamila already has a lead of almost half a day.”
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Theophilus has slicked back oily hair, cold eyes, and clothes perpetually stained by food or travel. His rail-thin build rattles around in what clearly used to be someone else's coat before he crookedly stitched in some loops to hold his gear. While Norden explains matters he rolls a pair of coins across his fingers, and taps his foot impatiently, but to look at his face he's all focus.
Out of professional curiosity, Jamila have any uh... particular advantages to her thieving? Or does she do it the old fashioned way.
Oh, and what'd she steal?
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Thornberry was thinking that it was about time he stopped going to locations that were so barren and weird. Too many trips to Osirion and the Mana Wastes, not enough time in forests. He walked hand in hand with a small leafy soldier man wearing an orange rind helmet, acorn chest plate and twig spear.
Thornberry himself was a pale white druid, with pale seafoam colored hair and very light tattoos poking out from his make shift leather armor, all the result of an extended stay as a slave nearly causing him to bleach. He wore a pendant with a crumbling black tower on it and wore a melancholy half smile until it was time to begin the adventure. Anything to stave off the boredom and loneliness of solitude and drudgery.
Thornberry's ears perk up and some color returns to his features as he begins to see the mish mash of plant life in the Venture Captains courtyard. This was a man who knew how to live!
"Jamila? As in Jamila al-Shafah? I met her at a funeral recently. Real nice lady! Why would she steal from you she is filthy stinking rich already! That must mean whatever she stole is valuable in the 'needed it to accomplish a task' way and less the 'worth loads of money way'" Thornberry explained to everyone.
Why would she run to the Underdunes? Do you suspect its a hiding spot? Or maybe she has allies there. Are we being led into an ambush?
Balentiir smirks in a self-depreciating manner at the question of the theft. "We're still trying to piece together the details. She struck our vault on the second floor. She was able to retrieve items without fighting any of the guards, which means she knew where to go and how to bypass our defenses.
“As for what she took, we’ve identified two missing relics. The Sandstorm Codex is an ancient tome written in Osiriani, Aquan, Auran, Ignan, and Terran. It’s an elaborate text, and we haven’t yet fully deciphered it. The other is an abacus that supposedly belonged to the Pharaoh of Numbers.”
The Venture Captain shakes his head. "We do not know why Jamila would head into the Underdunes. It is a good hiding place, true, but beyond that we do not know. We only know that much because a few merchants that we asked had seen her pass in that direction. She and her bird are fairly distinctive."
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Thornberry eyes the venture captain dubiously. Are you sure you're a real venture captain? You don't seem to have much of an idea of what any of this is about. Oh well. Do you at least have a MAP. Surely you have a map of the area SURROUNDING YOUR LODGE right? Its hard to tell whether or not Thornberry is pranking the man or being serious, but one thing is clear - he really wants a map!
He thinks over the information that has been shared. Who the heck was the Pharoah of Numbers? And a book written in all the elemental languages is an interesting hint. Do you have any idea what information was SUPPOSED to be in the Sandstorm Codex. I mean you owned the book surely you knew that much!
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As the group approaches the Sandswept Hall, Brutus visibly tenses as the guards move to stop the party. While he does not reach for his weapons, he carries himself with the look of one that doesn't necessarily need them.
As the Venture Captain vouches for them, Brutus relaxes again, mostly, and follows.
After listening to Balentiir's description of the problem, he steps up and asks, "I will follow Jamila and retrieve these artifacts. They sound like they may be very interesting to the more scholarly folks in the Sages. What can you tell us about the Underdunes, and how might we recognize these specific relics when we see them?"
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Thornberry was thinking that it was about time he stopped going to locations that were so barren and weird. Too many trips to Osirion and the Mana Wastes, not enough time in forests. He walked hand in hand with a small leafy soldier man wearing an orange rind helmet, acorn chest plate and twig spear.
"He'th cute." Igor says and smiles horribly at the little plant creature. Igor is pale and stooped and horrible to look upon for all the scars, and ascetically interesting (possibly self-inflicted) modifications that he seems to have undergone. He wears a black overcoat, trousers and shirt. Black which is and has been for quite sometime the new (and old) black in Ustalav. The hair from one side of his head has been dragged across the bare desert at the top in a vain attempt at covering it up.
"Ith it thentient? I've never been much for botany mythelf, even though I do have a green thumb." Igor begins searching his pockets. He pats the one that contains what he was looking for and moves to retrieve it to show....
"Jamila? As in Jamila al-Shafah? I met her at a funeral recently...." Thornberry explained to everyone.
"Thuch a wathte, funeralth." Igor replies.
A swordswoman shakes her head, "Why would she go to so much trouble to only steal an old book and a bead counter? I assume there were more valuable objects in the vault? Please give us her and her pet's description.
"Mathter. You are here. I hope that your trip wath a pleathant one and that you are prepared for the dayth ahead. I have brought my own gear of courthe, and am ready to leave at your command." He says to Lady Irodla and bows at the waist reminding folks of one of those perfectly balanced kinetic bird widgets that often provide a bit of color to otherwise drab-looking office desks. If he does have equipment he does not seem to have brought it with him.
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One guard emerges, escorting a woman with pale blue skin and jet black hair. Very distinctive tattoos cover her hands and face. She feels the sun against her face and smiles. The guard points her at the Venture Captain and the rest of the party before resuming his position.
<Oh, he looks cute. Recruit him to my court- Oh no! He's already bonded to the fencer! Quick, recruit her! Oh, and that little guy is so cute- and the Gnome too, I guess. Maybe we can->
The woman slowly exhales to push the cacophonous thoughts from her mind as she introduces herself. "Hello everyone, I am Corona. I am a fellow Pathfinder. Captain, you said you would inform me when everyone else arrived."
She nods thoughtfully as she hears the Venture Captain and the party discuss the mission at hand. "It sounds like we have little time to waste, then. Any information you can tell us about the Underdunes would be most useful."
"Somewhere in between," Balentiir answers Theophilus with an amused smile. "Jamila has pale skin, long red hair, gold-colored eyes, and angular brown tattoos. She typically travels with a bird with green and orange feathers whose talons crackle with electricity."
"We do have maps," the venture captain answers the gnome. "They will be of somewhat limited use as part of the value of the dunes to smugglers and those who wish to remain hidden is that the sands change continuously. However, there are more static paths, which legitimate merchants use. You may, of course, study the maps before you leave, but Jamila does already have a head start--or you may rent a copy of Osirion maps for a mere fifty gold."
"The Pharaoh of Numbers was one of the four Pharaohs of Ascension of ancient Osirion. He was an astrologer with a fascination with Aucturn and a numerologist specialized in sacred geometry," he begins, then furrows his brow and looks cross, though his eyes still sparkle with amusement, "And, no, I don't know what was supposed to be in the undeciphered ancient text." He looks to Brutus and gives you a brief description of the abacus and the codex.
Rival tribes of elementals lay claim to both the Underdunes and the surrounding area. Ancient Osirian pharaohs once bound many of these elementals into service.
One of the primary reasons that desert travelers must frequently change their paths is to avoid the desert’s two most prominent elemental clans: the Goanron Triumvirate, comprised of air, earth, and fire elementals, and the Ainsi, a splinter faction of air elementals.
The lost city of Tumen serves as the focal point of the conflict between the Goanron and the Ainsi. The Goanron strive to keep the city buried under the desert sands, while the Ainsi believe that uncovering it can advance the desert to its true glory.
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<Oh, NOW you want my help. Well, there are two rival elemental clans...>
Corona stands up, rigid, as her voice seems to gain a life of its own.
"Well, there are two rival elemental clans, the Goanron Triumvirate, comprised of air, earth, and fire elementals, and the Ainsi, a splinter faction of air elementals. They often fight in the lost city of Tumen, where the Goanron want to keep it buried beneath the desert sands while the Ainsi want to uncover the city to advance the desert to its true glory! Oh, the constant bloodshed is beautiful, isn't it? No wonder the pharaohs of old would bind them to service- unleashed all they can do is quibble over some ruins!"
Like you would swat a bee who stung you while sleeping, Corona's body animates again as she clutches the collar around her neck. She takes several short breaths to regain her composure. "My apologies... the constant bloodshed is terrible. We must be ready to deal with the tribes- no doubt we will run into them. I wonder if the theft targeted something that will tilt the balance of Tumen..."
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Brutus nods to Corona, "Much more to the point than I could have explained it. I wonder if we may find allies in the Ainsi clan? However, wouldn't Triumvirate imply that there may be a third side in the mix?"
He pauses for a bit, looking at his fists and arms. "I've not much experience with elementals. What's the best way to subdue them should the need arise? Do they hurt to touch?"
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"Triumverate may reply to the Earth, Fire and Air elementals."
Focusing for a moment, she adds: "I would suggest you do not directly touch the Fire Elementals with your fists. Some kind of weapon like a cestus or metallic knuckles may benefit you. The smaller ones don't have any particular resistances, but let us hope we do not face larger creatures."
Corona turns to Theophilus. "A curse from a previous lifetime grants me vast power, but at quite a cost. I will keep it under control once we are on the move. She likes observations."
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In then lurches a small aberration of some sort, overburdened with packs, and boxes, and vials of liquid and a cast iron cauldron. The thing lets the weight fall to the ground with a terrific crash and an admonishing shout from Igor. The thing seems to be a crudely sewn together pastiche of every creature ever put in a bestiary (and some that were so horrible the editor of the book hoped they might go extinct before he was forced to include them). As a sort of collected crib-note of fauna-kind, if ever a person needed a remembrance of some mammal, insect, reptile, or cephalopod they need only look at this thing for a hint.
"Pbbpt." it squelches wetly between wheezes. Scraps staggers forward its paws, and feelers reaching out, searching for something to lean upon.
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Thornberry thinks hard on the question of how he might deal with the warring factions. I dont know about all this enthusiasm for slavery....that's a little creepy. Buuuuuut....I say if we have a chance we side with the Ainsi. Their goals sound way more fun and interesting NOT TO MENTION historically significant. Restoring an ancient magical city to its former glory sounds like the kind of thing that gets you made into a Venture-Captain! A real one. Thornberry gives Norden the derisive side eye.
He then studies the map for an hour to better guide people.
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"Mathter. You are here. I hope that your trip wath a pleathant one and that you are prepared for the dayth ahead. I have brought my own gear of courthe, and am ready to leave at your command." He says to Lady Irodla and bows at the waist ...
Having been lost in her own thoughts for a moment while the others chatted, Keelee nods to the odd Igor, "We serve for the greater good at the pathfinder command."
"Jamila? As in Jamila al-Shafah? I met her at a funeral recently. Real nice lady! Why would she steal from you she is filthy stinking rich already! That must mean whatever she stole is valuable in the 'needed it to accomplish a task' way and less the 'worth loads of money way'" Thornberry explained to everyone.
Joining the current conversation, The Swashbuckler comments, "I do recall hearing about Jamila, she was a silk merchant from Qadira. A companion of the late Venture-Captain Targos Min-Katheer. I assume it the same Jamila that Thornberry meet at the funeral."
"Uncovering a lost city does sound like fun, but we have a thief to catch, and time is not on our side." Keelee is ready to move out.
"It is good that you are eager. Do you have any additional questions?" Balentiir asks, then watches as Thornberry heads out in search of the lodge's library. "No? Well, then, I do suggest that you speak to merchants on the road to see if they have caught sight of Jamilia."
He scratches his chin as he stares at the mish-mash of flesh that is Igor's homunculus.
Balentiir hands you a simple map, outlining the commonly used trade route between Sothis and El-Shelad. "I have outlined the most common path that merchants travel, here," the venture-captain says, pointing at the solid brown line. Several dotted lines branch and reconnect to the main line along the path. "The branches provide alternative routes in case of sandstorms or other desert hazards. You should speak to a desert merchant either here in Sothis before you leave or along the way to learn which paths are safest."
The Underdunes is a portion of desert comprised of long, canyon-like trenches. The paths wind through a labyrinth of sandblasted stone cliffs and windswept dunes, some of which tower as high as a hundred feet over your head.
While the canyons appear naturally made, the manner in which the rocks have been worn runs counter to the region’s wind patterns. Some recent sand slides seem to have occurred in areas that should be stable enough to avoid such disasters.
The wear on the rocks in the area and the formation of sand dunes is arranged in a pattern—one that can likely only be viewed in full from high in the air.
The altered areas make a pattern of five circles nested within each other, like an archery target. These circles surround four triangles, each of which points toward the center of the target.
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Scraps sighs heavily and holds up one hand and four of its six digits. Then Scraps hold up one finger, reiterating the gesture. Then Scraps tugged on one of its ears. The small homunculus then took a deep breath and blew it out, odd considering it doesn't normally need to. Scraps looks about expectantly with big (probably) puppy-dog eyes.
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Hey Pretty Boy, Theophilus asks Igor, Is your pet-thing in the habit of drawing strange shapes, or is it trying to tell us something?
"Yeth, Theophiluth." Igor replies dabbing at the sudden moisture on Flinks face. Then he turns to consider Scraps and after a moment shrugs. "It might be the rethult of the new formula I have been feeding him."
The road indicated on the map does not lead near the center of the symbol.
The magic from Theophilus' wand provides protection from the desert heat. Even Igor, dressed all in black, feels no ill effects from the sun's unceasing glare.
Shortly after departing the gate, you begin to encounter merchants traveling to Sothis from El-Shelad. Some are men, some are women, all of them are Osirani.
Brutus approaches several of the traveling merchants, asking about the safest routes through the Underdunes and if anyone has seen the colorful and distinctive thief. All of them are familiar with the routes and can point out which of the branches to avoid due to bandits or shifts in the sand. However, none of the bandits discussed match Jamila's description.
Most of the merchants regretfully inform you that they have not seen anyone matching the suli's description. However, one woman, Shirana, has.
"Good day to you," she begins in Common, "I am Shirana. How can I be of service? You need desert cloaks? Divining rods? Waterskins? Oh, you speak Osiriani."
She listens to Brutus.
"بله من چنین زنی را دیده ام. او شش ساعت پیش در عبور از پل سنگی دیدم. شما یک نقشه دارید؟ اگر نه، من می توانم شما را به فروش برسانم و به شما کجا نشان بدهم."
She marks the location where she saw the woman matching Jamilia's description on the map that Balentiir provided for you. She seems a little disappointed that you didn't need to buy one from her, but otherwise seems like an earnest merchant.
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"Perhaps Scraps is onto a lead. We should prepare to travel there." Corona casts Endure Elements on herself.
You continue onward.
After only a few hours of traveling, the road diverges into two paths. A steep downward trail leads to a trench that provides shade from the desert heat. The other path leads upward toward a series of ledges that eventually lead to the top of the canyon. This higher path provides less protection from the sun, but its high vantage point could allow a better view of the surrounding area.