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Tog is a big green half-orc with full plate, an overstuffed backpack and several large weapons strapped onto his back.
Tog scratches his head with one hand while he waves with the other.
"Tog wave at fellow Pathfinders. Tog is Protector of Great Vault, also Tog learn he good at new things recently, like goblin mowing."
Tog nods and beams, seeming a little dim but with a winning smile.
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A woman with an ageless face, wearing a practical (yet flattering) traveler's outfit joins the group. She carries a staff in one hand. She also fidgets with a ring, shaped like a serpent swallowing its own tail.
"My name is Althera. It is good to meet you both. You should know that I am a diplomat in training, and I have a talent for arcane magic."
The pathfinders have been set to sail to Diobel from Absalom aboard the Callous Lover. The travel will take a few days, during the time which they get to know each other.
The group is to meet an operative in a tavern called The Tails and receive further instructions.
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Pau remains mostly to himself during the voyage. At dinner, however, he sits and freely converses with the others. During the rest of the hours, a great deal of his time involves doing some sort of early precursor to yoga, involving stretching and meditation.
"I am Pau. This is my third mission for the Society. I hope to continue to prove myself a success."
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A dark haired elf accompanies the party. He is dressed in simple clothing, but has a finely crafted rapier on his belt along with a long bow on his back. He introduces himself as Lantorth and doesn't say to much, but can often be seen around the ship. His presence is usually accompanied by strange occurrences, like taps on the shoulder only to turn and find no one behind you. Or meals when the utensils get moved around, leaving Tog with two knifes which oddly does not seem to slow his eating.
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"My name is Evindal. It was not long ago when I rescued a Pathfinder in a tower called Fallen Fortress near Absalom. He invited us to become members of the Pathfinder Society and I joined. A few months later I already made my Confirmation and soon after that I had my first official mission to stop a tide of undead which was about to siege Absalom.
You arrive in Diobel from Absalom to meet a contact in a pub known as “The Tails”; a dingy, brine-soaked shack covered with swordfish tails located in a rundown section of town called South Reach. There, bitter longshoreman coming off the graveyard shifts pile in and slam rounds of a potent shark-fin liquor, cursing and complaining until they’re drunk enough to be carted home by noon. The disparaged scene has few prying eyes—the ideal place for Pathfinders to pass along their covert whispers. You enter early in the day, when the small crowd of older men is at its most drunk and rowdy, the revelry within barely contained by the boarded-up windows. You stand out like sore thumbs among the ruddy-faced dockworkers, most of whom have more ginblossoms than teeth. The crowd immediately heckles you for being up-scalers and gold-thumbers, demanding you spend some of your coin to buy the bar a round, but quickly fall silent when moments later, a dark, cloaked figure rises from the back of the bar. Then, eyes averted, everyone returns to their former conversations. Drawing back his cloak, your contact reveals himself—a man his late forties with obvious Chelaxian features and a faint beard. He introduces himself only as Osprey, then invites you to sit before he finally tells you why the Society dragged you to Diobel:
"We’ve word that the accursed Chelaxian pirate Darsielle Du Moire has anchored his much sought ship, the Hydra’s Fang, in the harbor. Everyone’s looking for that bastard. He carries with him some ancient tablets of extreme historical value to our organization. Unknown to most, Wittlestone, the small Andoren town Du Moire razed to the ground, was also home to Myraxus Threeshadows, a noted but aging sage and umber mystic supposedly of ancient Azlanti descent. Among Myraxus’s possessions he kept ancient forgeries of several tablets used in ancient rites during Old Azlant’s height. When Darsielle destroyed the village, he slew the wizard and took the tablets, hoping to pawn them to one of his buyers in Diobel. The tablets are a priceless archeological treasure, one greatly desired by the Pathfinder Society. In fact, just prior to the Azlanti’s death, we placed several bids to purchase the tablets and so naturally were the first to realize they’d gone missing. You must race to get Du Moire and recover the stolen tablets before his pursuers find him or he flees port."
"If our sources are correct, we’ve learned that he owes a substantial amount of money to one of the Consortium’s more ambitious Enforcers, an importer named Lubor Staizkal. Likely he needs to settle with him at some point. Go to Lubor’s shop on Meldon Lane, near the docks, and see if you can pick up Du Moire’s trail from there, then do whatever you can to get those tablets. May the Gods speed you in this task."
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Tog scratches his head "Many Pathfinder missions seem to start in taverns, maybe not the best cover. Tog not sure though."
Tog scratches head a bit more "You mean Aspis Consortium? Tog told they bad news. Tog good at recovering lost treasure, Abadar much prefer it found."
Tog takes a moment to polish the silver key hanging from his neck.
Diobel stands upon the flooded ruins of a former siege town on the western coast of the Isle of Kortos. The inner harbor is fortified by a gigantic maze of derelict war-barges, crumbling break walls, and haphazard jetties constructed from the rubble and iron of ancient fortifications. Only smaller vessels can fit through the maze, so warships and large merchant galleys must anchor further out in the open waters off Kortos. As a formal display, any ships seeking to moor in port must first send ashore representatives to register with local officials. Registered boats receive a temporary harbormaster’s pass, after which they can ship in goods in flat-bottomed barges or rowboats. These crafts are led into the maze, pulled along a series of dock-lined canals that weave through the twisted passages. The maze enters first into the Shallows, a wide bay sheltered from the main harbor. The Shallows then flows beneath the main docks into the Underdocks, a shadowy series of walkways that traverses shoals along the rocky shoreline. Scattered through at various intervals are barnacle-and-algaecrusted stone bunkers and small floating docks concealing rowboats, barges, and other small transports. The bunkers provide shelters to many of the port’s seedier denizens, storage facilities, and on occasion structural stability to the town itself. Ladders and pylons connect the Underdocks to the rest of the port above.
"Actually, no," Osprey interrupts Tog, "the consortium I'm speaking of is an offshoot from the Aspis Consortium. What I'm talking about is known as the Kortos Consortium, which is just a regular crime syndicate focusing on smuggling illegal contraband in and out of the Kortos island, using Diobel as their main port due to its, well, environment."
"And as far as I know, no mission briefing has been conducted in Diobel before. There are more prying eyes and ears in Absalom's taverns."
"But I drivel. Half the Inner Sea is hunting Darsielle Du Moire, and the Society needs ou to get to him first. Keep delays to a minimum."
"Some want revenge," Osprey elaborates, "he did, after all, raid an Andoran village, burn it to the ground, and kill all opposition. That sort of stuff tend to create enmity."
"And believe it or not the bastard's a chelish nobleman, born the third son of a wealthy count. Long story short, his family hates his guts and gave him a ship so he would sink, but that plan didn't go so well. He has been attacking Andoren ships and villages, which constitutes as an act of war. To avoid a retaliation from Andoren Gray Corsairs, the admiral of the Chelish fleet struck a deal that they would find and destroy Darsielle Du Moire."
"In essence you're doing a favor to the world if you get rid of Darsielle Du Moire, in any way you wish."
The group of Pathfinders leave from the inhospitable run-down bar followed soon by your employer, Osprey, who immediately turns into a mighty bird and flies away, gathering some looks from passers-by who mainly ignore the sight, blaming booze for their hallucinations.
On your contact’s advice, you arrive at the shop of one of Du Moire’s supposed connections. A sign over the door reads “Lubor’s Imports.” The door hangs slightly ajar. All is dark within, and eerily silent. As you peer inside, you witness the scene of a recent brawl. Furniture lies smashed and strewn about. Near a closed door at the back of the shop, two bodies slump upon the floor, their blood pooling slowly beneath them.
Pau quickly notices the two dead men are stripped clean of valuables, and their bodytypes suggest they weren't fighters by profession.
Tog's attempts to save them is in vain as his wand refuses to work on them. They appear to be irreversably dead.
The second door doesn't budge; it must be bolted shut.
As the team searches the room, both Jarlaxle and Evindal hear some odd rummaging—sound of sliding boxes and slight banging—on the other side of the door.
As Pau attempts to smash the door down he slips slightly on the fresh blood and lands a meek blow on the door, almost a knock. It is enough to cause the rummaging behind the door to stop abruptly.