The city of Padiskar near the northern tip of the Isle of Jalmeray is not so much a city as a ring of small villages surrounding a massive, howling ruin, from which terrifying screams of whatever the Vudrani Maharaja Khiben-Sald left there in ancient times can still be heard. The new Venture-Captain Vasuman Mihir maintains a small safe house for the Pathfinder Society here, taking over from Padiskar's longtime Venture-Captain Aamina Shahrazad, who was recently murdered by men loyal to Zamir, a bandit lord and rumored Aspis Consortium agent who operates out of the nearby jungles.
Venture-Captain Mihir's briefing was short and serious.
"This is a fake scepter of the arclords,” he said, hefting a bejeweled staff in his hands bearing glowing runes across its surface. “You will lead a caravan toward Niswan carrying this false relic and several crates of minor magical items. My porter, a young boy named Waman, will give you a detailed travel itinerary, which you must follow with care. Except that it is almost certain that you will be ambushed before you reach your destination, since young Waman is a spy for the Aspis Consortium and has sold out and murdered a dozen or more of our brethren and associates, including our former venture-captain—I'm sure of it. The scepter is bait in a trap, and you are the teeth. Do not let on to Waman that you know of his transgressions—we need him to lead us to his master, the bandit lord Zamir. We'll either make Zamir our man or disrupt his business permanently. I'll deal with Waman myself once this affair is resolved.”
Venture-Captain Mihir held up a second item, a plain-looking but easily recognizable wayfinder. “This wayfinder is also a fake, although unlike the scepter, it does have real power. The dial always points to the scepter.” Mihir demonstrated, moving the wayfinder in a circle around the scepter, the needle pointing unerringly at it.
“Waman gave Zamir information that enabled the bandit fool to steal artifacts from dozens of our caravans and even from safe houses such as this one. Zamir has a method of disassembling the artifacts so that he can smuggle them off the island with ease, bound for ports of call in Cheliax. What we do not know is where Zamir is, since he never attacks with his men.”
“I gave Waman the information about your journey, so at some point along the route, Zamir's bandits will ambush you. Previous experience indicates that his bandits will not kill if they don't have to. Let them steal the scepter. You must put up a small struggle, maybe even kill or injure several of his men, but most importantly you must let them escape and they must escape with the scepter."
“Give them a few hours after the ambush to escape and then use the wayfinder to track Zamir to his hideout. Zamir is an arrogant man whose loyalties lie with whoever can make him famous to the people of Jalmeray. Right now he believes the Aspis Consortium is the answer. You will either convince him that the Society is the answer—as he could be a very powerful ally in the region—or you'll end his operations for good. How you handle it, I leave to you. Good luck on your journey and may the gods guide your hand.”
|
A large man wearing a poorly-made and rusted Scale Mail rubs his chin. He speaks in a deep, emotionless voice:
"Sounds simple enough. Perhaps it would be good to capture some of the thieves, just in case the wayfinder do not work."
"Captain Mihir, can you tell us more about what the society has to offer him? Would be good to know more about the Jalmeray in order to better convince Zamir."
|
The gnome with the wild blue hair grins widely, and sparks rain on the floor as he rubs his hands with glee. "Oh, this will be a glorious trick!" He stops in mid-gloat, suddenly dismayed. "But how will I keep from killing too many of them? Perhaps..." He chokes on the words. "Perhaps I shouldn't use fire." There are few things that look sadder than a sad gnome, and right now Bendaxalon's crestfallen face is nearly hitting the floor.
“Zamir is a rebel and a bandit and the people of Padiskar know him from his youth as a fool who desires fame above all else. This is why I think his loyalty to the Aspis Consortium is thin at best and there’s a chance he can be brought to our side rather than simply slain. Play to his vanity...that should be all it takes to sway him.”
|
|
A tall Ulfen man looks awestruck by the gnome's words, but says nothing to him. His red hair stands in a mohawk, and he wears his beard long and braided. He is adorned in scale mail and caries a rapier at his side.
He listens intently to the questions of the other Pathfinders. Then, "Let us be off then, aye? Seems to me we're wastin' time chattin' here."
|
|
"If you will forgive me, my brothers, I don't think that we should really kill this thieves, since we were told they usually don't kill the guards of the items. Nevertheless, my first swing will be with full strength, to bring some adrenaline in their veins. It helps in removing their attention from the details of our stage, but if my sword strikes true the bandit will be beyond salvation." He pauses for a bit and exhales heavily. "Anyway, the capture option is quite a good one, so does any of you have any spell to knock some of them unconscious?"
|
|
A short mousy man wearing a green cloak with an iron clasp of a down turned bow and arrow comes up as you are disembarking. He carries a longbow, wears studded leather armor, and has a boar spear strapped to his back. You get a general woodsman vibe from him. He comes up after speaking with the Venture-Captain a short bit and then heads in your direction. "Hello fellow Pathfinders! I am Hiram, I will be helping out on this mission. It is my first and while I wear green I assure you that I am not." Turning towards the large man asking about capture, "Yes, I am taught in the ways of capture and interrogation, I have blunt arrows which I can use to slowly whittle away at a hereti--I mean--bad guys."
After some last minute preparation you find Waman in the safe house and get the map and instructions from him regarding how to guide the caravan to Niswan. It is a long way to your destination, as the coastal route is blocked by floods and are therefore forced to go through the jungle.”
At the end of the second long day of travel through rough hills, a campsite comes into view. Smoke curls upward from a small fire, where a man is tending a roast on a spit. Three more men are setting out bedrolls and four mules are picketed beside a pile of sacks and bundles nearby. They are camped exactly on the ambush site described in Waman’s itinerary.
|
|
Bendaxalon approaches the camp openly, not at all bothered by any stares he might receive; he's used to it, and generally assumes that it's just because gnomes are so interesting to look at. (Sometimes he's even right.)
Smiling widely, he waves a greeting. "Hello and well met!" Given the chance, he introduces himself and inquires about other good campsites nearby, since the men chose so well that it was in fact the exact same one that the caravan had been planning on.
"Well met fellow travelers! We weren't expecting to come across anyone on our way to Padiskar...but you are welcome to share our food and fire if you wish to do so."
The men appear to be traveling merchants and are setting up camp for the night. They seem cautious but polite and friendly, and claim they are traveling to Padiskar with cloth and carpets to sell. One of the men greets you warmly as he introduces himself. "I am called Samarjit; and these lads are Phalgun, Talose and Dmitir."
Bendax senses that Samarjit means no harm to the party...yet he isn't being truthful about his purpose.
The Pathfinders make camp next to the traveling merchants; some small amount of camaraderie takes place particularly as the ale begins to flow. Judging by the quality of weapons that they carry it is becomes increasingly apparent that these are no mere merchants; but it is clear that they mean the Pathfinders no harm.
Suddenly several arrows rain down upon the campsite; some from the south and some from the north. {b]"Bandits!"[/b] the merchant who was introduced as Phalgun exclaims. Samarjit retrieves his longbow from one of the supply wagons before declaring "Zamir's men are upon us. Take at least one alive if you can!" With that he quickly fires his bow deep into the woods...and the remaining travelers follow suit. The sounds of men screaming in agony is heard seconds later.
Hiram always keeps his bow close for occasions such as this. Knocking an arrow he fires at one of the bandits towards the north and takes one clean in the shoulder. "Mind the package gentlemen!" he says to no one in particular.
,
|
|
Bendaxalon looks over at Samarjit with surprise. "What, you too?" Chafing under the need to allow the ambush rather than defeat the foes, the gnome who thinks he's a brass dragon casts a defensive spell instead of killing three with one blow.
The clever sorcerer thinks about what he would do if he were actually trying to defend the caravan, and just wasn't very good at it. Jogging five yards toward the bandits, he grabs a cute little morningstar from his belt and waves it menacingly. "You. Shall. Not. Pass!"