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You see a tall nagaji with blue markings over her eyes, with her breastplate gleaming and a shiny wayfinder proudly displayed.
"Hello, My name is Suna Shima, and I am here on behalf of Nagajor. I am sssso pleased to see several of you again, and to meet some new Pathfinders. May Nalinivati blessss our mission."
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A rather plain woman, dark of hair and well-groomed, sidles into the room. A pristine crossbow and a holy symbol of Abadar gleam at her belt and she wears the heavy-looking brown garb of a traveling priest. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance. Most call me Ms. Molravi, and I enact the divine justice of Abadar, when it is needed. I have been recalled from field work for some time on business for the Master of the First Vault, more specifically his church, my return should be a nice change of pace."
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Pasha nods in acknowledgment to Suna and those she's adventured with before. To those she does not yet know, she utters a brisk introduction. "I am Pasha Oret. I like exploding things."
Being and oread, she wasn't exactly comfortable on the Sixwing Drake, but it wasn't the worst thing in the world. At least they hadn't yet left the port - if that was the plan, anyways.
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A lithe undine woman bursts onto the deck with a chaotic yet graceful fashion. Her beauty did not match her deep voice.
"AYY! So this is the group they directed me to? I was told they could use someone used to the grimy docks and rickety ships around here! What a pleasure...call me Sinaryn." practically yelling at the group.
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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 (although I could have sworn I sent for six). 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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Meletus scans the letters with the unnerving speed of someone who knows her way around documents. "I'd rather not have to steal anything, I've done it before but it is not an action one does to curry favor with Abadar. Think we could locate this Leper before noon? It seems as if time is of the essence, after that we could break up the meeting, leaving hours to spare."
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A diminutive fellow strides in... "It seems I'm a tad late. Sorry. I have no real excuses... at least none I'm willing to divulge." He winks, then looks around at the agents surrounding him and grins. "Arshea has blessed me with a fine pulchritudinous team to work with... I think I could get used to this, ladies! I am Gneau Effingway... G-N-E-A-U but the G is silent."
He looks over the documents, perhaps not as efficiently as Meletus, but thoroughly nonetheless. "As for the tasks set before us, I concur, Miss.. what IS your name, I do believe I missed introductions due to my tardiness. We could deal with the alchemist and then the disrupt the meeting and be finished by lunchtime!"
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"Oh come on Ambrus! You mean to tell me you don't love the chaos of these docks? It's like weathering a storm before you even get out to sea and storms are the best part of sailing unless you are more chicken than man!" Sinaryn prods at the Venture-Captain and gives a little wink before abruptly snatching a copy of the letters. Before she can start to read the gnome boards the ship.
"They say flattery can get you anywhere..." she smiles sweetly before switching her expression to a teasing grimace "...but they didn't say anything about getting you there on time. Better late than floating in the bay, Gneau!" she finished with a guttural laugh.
While reading the letters her brow furrows and she runs her hand violently through her hair showing an anger building up. "The bastard making the drugs seems like a great place to start and hopefully we get to rough him up. The real villain here. Should be easy enough to find his ugly mug too. Easier than sneaking aboard a Consortium ship planning to haul a valuable haul like that...not that I couldn't pull it off." she scoffs as she finishes her rant tossing the letters away.
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Pasha nods, her distaste for this... Laszo very obvious in her normally stoic expression. "I am in agreement. Let us put the Leper down and move onto interrupting the meeting."
The idea that someone would continue their disgusting way of life, damning the consequences, annoys her at best and, mostly, just aggravates her. How stupid. How disgusting. How utterly beneath someone with the skills to have tried making something of themselves.
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Valsin listens to your discussion with a smile. "Well, sounds like you have a plan and are ready to get going, which is good because your ship here leaves port in minutes. Any last questions?"
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"Ms. Molravi, Mr. Gneau, good to meet you," Meletus says absently as she racks her brain for anything she's heard relating to this place and its goings-on. "From what I recall, neither Consortium is very well connected to the other. At least for now. It would be problematic if they further cemented an alliance, but disrupting them now could make them part ways entirely."
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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!”
You arrive in port early in the morning on Oathday, and the barge hired by Captain Zendrani drops you off at the docks at dawn. The pilot of the barge, having been paid to do so by Zendrani, says he will wait here all day should you wish to return to the Drake.
Delroya’s directions lead to an isolated alley in the Bristles, and then down into the sewers beneath Diobel. The stench of sewage mixes with the sharper odors of chemical fumes and decay and permeates the damp tunnels. From this intersection, tunnels lead west and south into the darkness. A third tunnel heading east is filled with detritus, filthy beddings, food scraps, broken glass, and rotting furniture. An alcove lies beyond a collapsed portion of the tunnel’s southern wall, and further east, a statue of a giant rat rests in the dead-end passage. Countless empty flasks and discarded alchemical ingredients lie on the floor around the statue. On a nearby workbench sit several organized but empty flasks and jars.
In the alcove you find several people in various states of delirium or outright unconsciousness. They don't seem to notice you much, except to halfheartedly clutch at any flasks or vials visible on your person.
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"I would never run my mouth!" Sinaryn pleads knowing she was one of the people he was referencing. Having said her peace she enjoyed the wind in her hair and the cooling sea spray.
After reaching the sewers without the open air and waves around her she was on edge.
Quieter than expected Sinaryn says "Hey, over there on the sleeping pallets. Looks like it could be some of the poison they are slinging down here. I say we shove it down his throat when we find him. He has to be close." Her fist were clenched around her pistol, Tempest, and she was ready for a fight.
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Pasha nods at the captain, disembarking with the others. First things first - they had to get their hands on the pestilent alchemist so they could put him down, perhaps even permanently. Bah. She wasn't too concerned over the whole drug trade, seeing as it was just a matter of making money and, well. She'd seen a lot. Not everyone could make their money in the best of ways.
But it was the malice of how his work had been described that drew her ire.
As it is, she grimaces as the conscious, delirious people dragged at her things. Happily, her gear was well-secured, but all the same, it was... disconcerting at best. It's this desperation that causes her to agree with Sinaryn.
"But, first, the evidence."
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Meletus, crossbow drawn and loaded, is busy looking about for potential threats while the others deconstruct the workbench and its contents. Her eyes then follow Suna to the wasted people, and she grimaces in a combination of sadness and disapproval. "I doubt they know much of this, even if they got whatever they have from Laszo himself," she whispers to the nagaji. "Best to leave them be, I say. We should have time to alert some local authorities to their presence later, hopefully to lend aid." Having said her piece, she continues to look for security complications.
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Seidr spends her own time examining the poor souls that litter this place.
Is there anything that can be done for these poor people?
She speaks to them comfortingly, trying to find any of them that are at all lucid to speak of what troubles them, and where Laszo has hidden themselves.
Would that I could take your woes upon myself!
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"As refreshing as putting him down might be, there is always a chance for such wayward souls. Still, my intuition tells me if that we meet him, we will end up coming to blows. In the heat of battle, mistakes can be made." Meletus starts off strong, but near the end seems to be talking more to herself than Sinaryn. "Still, no need to wait here until dusk. Shall we go for now and see what we can do about that meeting?"
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You leave the sewers for now, and head to the waterfront in search of The Overflowing Oyster. You find a dirty, broken-looking building that barely fits between the fishing tackle shop to its north and the junk shop to its south. Hanging over the door is a creaky sign that shows a painted oyster with pearls spilling from its gaping shell. The interior of the Overflowing Oyster, visible through windows, displays a mix of rickety furniture and gaudy decorations, from strands of obviously fake pearls hanging over the kitchen’s entrance to wooden carvings of sultry mermaids and cheap paintings of ships at sea.
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"Hullo there, and thanks. My brother and me're pretty fond of it. My name's Pal, and that's me brother Gregon back in the kitchen. He ain't much of a talker, though, on accounta he can't talk. What wazzat you wanted, green tea? Hm...I probably got some tea around here somewhere...." He rummages around for a bit and pulls out a dusty box from under the counter. He retreats to the kitchen with a mug and the box, and returns having filled the mug with steaming liquid of some sort. "Here you go. Not much call for tea 'round these parts. Not much call for much of anything beyond cheap beer, if I'm bein' honest." What's in the mug he hands you is a substance almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea.
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"I'm not sure, especially given that we don't know what either agent looks like," Meletus ponders aloud in response. "Perhaps we could get Pal to close down early, but that's a rather shoddy plan. A well-organized meeting would have a secondary location should the first be compromised. There are probably better ideas."
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We know that this place sells fraudulent pearls, maybe we just need to turn the guard loose on this place.
We would have to convince them to make the raid right around the time of the meeting, that way they wouldn't have time to reschedule in advance, and they might even suspect each other of trying to get them arrested.
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"I agree with Seidr," Pasha says simply, stepping closer to keep from being overheard by unfriendly ears. She glances around the room to make sure they're not getting any undue attention and returns to the conversation, paying attention to what the others have to say.
It seems to her a better plan to use what they know rather than to try and stage something themselves - better to get someone else to intervene, right?
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Sinaryn finishes up a few rounds before coming over to the group.
"These agents probably have some eyes and ears or at least a good knowledge of this joint. Without a face the guards are only going to cause a problem. On the other hand the bartender probably wants to keep his business on wraps so a shakedown might make him help us out." she states frankly while nursing another beer.
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"Perhaps we don't even need to call out the guard... a simple word to the wise proprietor that we know about the pearls and COULD call the guard should be enough leverage to convince him to take the rest of the day off and close up. The alternative would be that we call the guard and ruin everyone's day... He'll probably take the easy way out and close the bar for the day. We can find someplace inobtrusive to watch from and if necessary, follow anyone who comes alone and leaves around the meeting time, splitting up to do so, if necessary, to make sure they don't meet elsewhere." After being a bit longwinded but speaking softly so as not to be overheard, Gneau takes a deep breath and waits for the group's opinion of his plan.
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"Our job is to disturb the meeting," Pasha says. "I don't care how we go about it as long as we get the job done." Despite the blunt speech, it's obvious that her attention isn't all there. She's still thinking about what they saw earlier and what to do about it.
Kill the man responsible? Bring him to justice? What would happen to those people?