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Tereze hangs her head as she gives up on him for dead. Then she blesses his body to help was his spirts trip to the boneyard.
May Phrasma grant you ze full fate you earned in life.
Then she stands up and turns her back on the body.
We should Go. Even here standing around a dead body will raise some questions.
You're rather clueless on where to go next. Maybe asking around to gather information will help you find locate Pardu Pildapush and his office in the 'Pits'.
Pardu Pildapush keeps an office on Misery Row, the only street in Absalom on which slaves are legally bought or sold. Misery Row is a massive elevated platform running the length of the Coins’ eastern edge. The platform’s base forms a wall between the Coins and Merchant districts. The slavers sunk cages inside the walls, accessible only from the top of the Row and filled with languishing slaves. These are the windows through which a prospective buyer sizes up future chattel. Between the cage pits and the slave trade, all of Absalom knows Misery Row as the Slave Pits of Absalom.
To find Pildapush, you head toward Misery Row. Once you get there, you see the only way onto the platform is to cross one of several heavily guarded stairs placed every few hundred feet.
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While Ery goes about asking people about Pildapush, Locke heads for the nearest sewer drain.
Taking out one of many empty vials, Locke fills it with the polluted disease ridden fluid.
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Locke frowns upon the scene. The polar opposite of Locke's own dreams, Locke despises it.
"It is outrageous that such a practice can even exist, moreover be legal, in this world."
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"Slavery has many forms... Consider the labor working." He offers with a snide smirk. "He may not be whipped to maintain his work...but if he doesn't work, he doesn't get paid...which means he cant feed his family." He shrugs. "...So really, if the employer of our hypothetical labor worker wanted to enforce work...the threat of losing not only his income, but the health of his family and potentially his assets." Ery tapped his chin in thought before chuckling.
"Slaves have it easy." he said excited as he looked up the steps.
Looking to the group, Ery claps his hands together before steeping them at the fingers.
"So. Am I going to try and reason with them or is Urbar going to do what Urbar does best?"
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To Locke:
Every culture has zings zat others look down on as wrong. What is better, being seven years as a slave for a crime or a life time in prison? Killing all solders captured in war, or making some slaves and allowing zem to live and maybe earn zeir freedom?
We learned in the wagons not to judge others until we know all of zere reasons. Slavery is not good, but it may be the lesser of two evils.
To Ery she says:
Zere are enough guards around zat bashing people over ze head is a bad idea here. It looks like you and I need to talk us zrough.
Tereze walks up the closest guard and gives him a friendly smile.
Excuse me, I have some business to discuss with Mr Pildapush. Can you direct me to where he is?
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Gwen set her jaw and forced herself to stare straight ahead... a task not easy for the woman and her heart sank to see the deplorable conditions in which these poor folk languished. "I won't be talking to any of these scum. Save to issue a threat that I will break their necks if I ever see them on the streets without their guards."
Tereze sways one of the guards with her charm, and he escorts you to Pildapush's place. Above the door hangs a sign: "Pildapush Chattel: Absalom's Finest." The guard then returns to his post.
The strong wooden front door is locked, and a "Closed" sign swings from the latch. Locke doesn't care much and picks the lock in record time.
Pildapush Chattel is tastefully appointed: colorful Katapeshi rugs adorn the stone floor, while water trickles gently from a decorative, mosaic fountain. Simple rosewood chairs surround a round table through which the shiny top of a hookah pokes, one braided and ebony-tipped smoking arm per chair. Beyond stands a large, ornate mahogany desk. A middle-aged Vudrani man sits behind the desk, reviewing some papers. Two man-sized oval cages, bolted to the stone floor, sit behind the man. Each contains a single human.
The man behind the desk looks surprised to see you. "The heck are you doing in here?!"
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What my companion is trying to say is:
We are seeking this Chelish woman. While I personally would rather deal with you in a way that benefits all of us, zer do be some in zis group zat see your industry as an affront to all zat is good and right.
So if you choose to not cooperate and cause a fuss, some others may take a route zat is far less beneficial to all of us.
But zat is really not needed right?
We are all reasonable people who understand zat making sure we each benefit is by far ze best policy here.
Locke spots a backdoor, but the party's blocking the man's path to it. The windows are too small for the man to escape through.
The man looks at you with shifty eyes. "Perhaps someone of that description came through here. Lots of slaves come through here. I will check my records. Come back tomorrow. I may have an answer for you then."
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Tereze turns to Locke.
Now, now. We are all civilized people here. No need for zose zreats.
She turns back to the man:
I suppose we could come back tomorrow, if we were to have ironclad evidence zat you would cooperate, like say if you were too switch places with any slave of our choice for the next 24 hours. Zen I'm sure I could get zese fine fellows to walk away and return tomorrow.
No? Well zen I suggest, you stop wasting time and my companions few good graces with such obvious ploys.
"Oomph!" says Pildapush as the desk is pushed into him.
"Alright, alright!" He throws his hands up in the air. "I'll tell you!"
He shoots a glance at Locke as the latter moves over to the cages. "Just, you stop doing that! Then I will!"
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Gwen watches the rapidly deteriorating situation tensely. "Locke, stop. We need the information from this 'man' first. That is our most important task at hand." She shakes her head and the situation placed upon her by the Society. While she had done some questionable things, having to deal with slavers was at the top of her most loathsome activities; however, they had a job to do and freeing slaves was not it.
"Alright, I admit I bought and sold Lady Anilah, but I had no idea who she was at the time — I swear it!"
"I sold her to a Katapeshi slave ship in the docks called the No Return. No idea where it’s located, though."
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Ery nods, listening.
After a moment he smiles and looks to the rest of the group.
"Alrighty, now we need to find a ship. My turn to try and be useful! Woo!" The elf raises his arms to the air and makes his way out of the slave den.
"Imma find it before Urbar does!" He shouts on his way, thinking that human hunting would give ubar a tracking bonus of sorts. He could be wrong, but he doesn't know that.
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"I know of an alternative, if we don't sell him. I won't be part of slavery. We tie him, gag him, put him into a cage and lock it.
A sign of 'closed until further notice', and i fix the locks on the door. We let fate decide in that case."
Locke addresses the (freed, GM?) Prisoners.
"You two, what are your thoughts on his punishment?"
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Gwen narrows her eyes as she catches the man in a lie and has had enough of this weasel. She slams her fists into the desktop and leans in close. "Liar!" she snarls in his face. "You knew exactly who she was when you sold her. One more falsehood out of you and so help me I will start breaking limbs! Give us everything you know, NOW!"
When talk of his fate comes up Gwen stares into the man's eyes and speaks without breaking the gaze. "I say we give him over to Lady Anilah's family and they can decide his fate. After all, he did sell their family to a slave ship."
Locke successfully frees the two leaves, both of whom are human males.