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Wulf hurries over to the gnome and takes her gag off, keeping his musket in his free hand.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Satisfied the trollhound is burnt to a crisp, she and Liam search the body of the kennel master finding keys to the trollhound's cage, but not the slaves.
Wulfren moves over to the gnome and removes her gag, excitedly the gnome starts talking: Ohmygoddesspathfinders!imsogladyouarehere!mynameisrillaimapathfindertoo!wat choutforcaptainwardakshesanastyb#%+@!Areyourfriendspathfinderstoo?ifyougetm eoutoftheseicanhealsomeone!" She nods her head toward the door across the hold on the starboard side. Liam notices a faint smell of smoke coming from behind that door.
The gnome blinks at Ic slowly. "Is he ok?" she asks Wulfren.
The door is locked!
As Liam sets to work on the lock of the captain's cabin, the door leading to the galley near Wulren opens and a Keleshite woman is dressed in studded leather, holding two ornately decorated kukris in her hands steps out! Her black hair is held out of her face by a faded yellow bandana. She has a dark mole on her left cheek just below her eye.
She steps forward and slashes at Wulfren but miss judges her strike!
Round 1
Wulfren
Anaristiel
Ic
Captain Wardak
Veviane
Liam
Wulfren, Anaristiel, and Ic may act!
Hoping to surprise the Pathfinders clearly didn't work out for the Captain as she goes down in a flurry of deadly attacks from the Orphans!
Acting quickly Liam rushes into the captain's cabin and tries to extinguish as much of the fire in the brazier bolted to the floor. Most everything is already burned beyond recognition, but a small bit of scorched paper flutters though the air and the tiefling reaches out to snatch it. He can make out a single word on the paper: Muhlia.
Searching the room and the captain turns up the keys to the manacles for the slaves as well as: potion of cure moderate wounds, potion of
invisibility, alchemist’s fire (3), tanglefoot bags (2), mwk studded leather, mwk kukris (2), pair of emerald earrings (75 gp), pair of
gold earrings (20 gp), 4 gp
Freeing the slaves and taking control of the ship, the Orphans are ready to have Zigil pilot them back to the Docks in Absalom.
The gnome introduces herself again, though more slowly this time, "I am soooooo happy to meet you guys! My name is Rilla and I'm a Pathfinder too! Did Venture-Captain Valsin send you to rescue me? I always knew he had a softsot for me. Say, do any of you know a woman named Sahar? Sahar Hasna? She's a Pathfinder too. She has a fox!" Rilla's eyes go wide with amazement when she says the word 'fox'. "She always wears a naqib though hiding that beautiful face of hers. Anyway, have any of you ever met her? She's a good friend of mine."
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Muhlia. Wasn't that the name of the head of the Qadiran faction before she assassinated Baron Jacquo Dalsine? We'll have to report and check that with Valsin, to be sure.
Snapping out of her reverie, she answers Rilla honestly.
"Well met Rilla! I think your rescue was a chance meeting, since we were investigating these matters of slavery even before we learned there was a Pathfinder on the ship. I'm afraid we don't know any Sahar. Why, is she involved in this?"
Rilla look at Veviane and shakes her head, "Sahar? No, I don't think she's involved in this. She's amazing! I mean, you guys are amazing too, but Sahar? She on, like, a whole other level! Always talking to that damn fox of hers. She told me she fought a dragon under Absalom once, in the sewers!"
Rilla bounces around excitedly, "Anyway, she was part of my last assignment. We got separated, and I got...umm, well. here. I just wondered if any of you knew her, or ran into her at the Grand Lodge maybe. So, before I ended up on this tub I was in the Okeno slave markets on Stonespire Island. A few different times I was taken from the market to a warehouse and a heavily veiled humanoid woman, who definitely wasn't Sahar, was really mean to me. Two of those times she even cut me and collected the blood in a fancy looking bowl!"
The harbor pilot, Zigil, dutifully navigates the ship through the Ship Graveyard safely to the docks, where city officials take custody of the vessel. Lady Darchana herself is present and authorizes payment of the bounty. She suggests that she will accompany you to the Grand Lodge so that information can be shared and reports given in a 'secure location.'
Everyone arrives in Skyreach at Venture-Captain Valsin's office, and despite the late hour he is there waiting. He stands as you enter, bowing to Lady Darchana. "My lady, you grace me with your presence again. I believe my team has satisfactory news to report to you." He gives a few of you a meaningful glance, as if to say you better.
Rilla cannot contain herself or be bothered with decorum, she rushes forward and hugs the Venture-Captain. "Venture-Captain Valsin, thank you, thank you, thank you! I am honored you sent these fine Pathfinders to rescue me! I never knew you cared!"
Venture-Captain Vilsin accepts the hug, but rolls his eyes at the gnome's exuberance. "Welcome back to the Grand Lodge Rilla" he manages. Looking at the rest of you he says, "Well? Report!"
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"Well, sir, it happened like this. After questioning the solicitor Solvius Salbus and the slave broker Mahjub Madhi, we learned that the slave used in the espionage scheme had been brought into town aboard a ship called the At Sea. We proceeded to Lady Darchana's residence with this information, and then with her help enlisted the aid of the harbormaster's guild. A pilot took us to the At Sea, where we boarded to investigate further. We were assaulted by the crew, who we disabled. Proceeding below decks, we located some more slaves and the ship's captain, one Waheeda Wardak. She was in a hurry to burn some papers, then assaulted us. After we defeated her, Liam located a piece of charred paper with what we think is a name written on it: Muhlia."
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Venture-Captain Valsin nods his head as Wulfren recounts the day's adventure, it is the closest thing to pride you've ever seen on this man's face. A look of pure surprise comes over his face at the mention of the name Muhlia.
"Pasha Muhlia Al-Jakri?" the Venture-Captain whistles. "Now, that's a name I've not heard in a long time. A long time."
Lady Darchana arches an eyebrow and looks at Valsin. "It's worse than I feared then."
Turning back to the Pathfinders, "It seems this may become an all too often greeting for awhile." She begins casting a spell* and then glances around the room carefully.
"Pathfinders, you have done a great service to Absalom today. The full extent, understandably, may never be widely known or recognized by the sleeping masses, but know that the Pathfinder Society can count on me as a friend and ally, and I hope that I may call upon you again in the future should the need arise." she says, satisfied with her magic.
Rilla recounts what she can to Venture-Captain Valsin about her time spent in the Okeno slave markets on Stonespire Island, confirming several interactions with a heavily veiled humanoid woman who forcibly took blood samples on two occasions. Finally Rilla asks, "What of Sahar? The others?"
Venture-Captain Valsin closes his eyes and slowly shakes his head. "No contact," is all he says on the matter.
Fin