"Waitwaitwait! I can sweeten the deal. I'll take the artifacts and in exchange I offer my services and those of my network to help you and whatever company you mercenaries come from."
Seeing that no one is willing to parlay with her Ungala backs down. It doesn't take long for your team to remove the blockage from the road and continue on your way. The shipment makes its way to Warehouse Row and is out of your hands. When you return to Novaria she congratulates you on a job well done and promises Ungala will make it to the proper authorities.
You know where to go after deciphering the clue from Malika's fake bounty. Free Trade Square is the busiest part of Bloodcove. The streets swarm with merchants and wagons buying, selling, and transporting food, spices, and antiquities. Lot number 342 sits on the southeastern edge of the market, bordering the fringes of Warehouse Row. A run-down-looking stall dealing in lamps and oil occupies the space, though the poor quality of the lamps may be an indicator of why no customers are anywhere near the stall. The owner, a thoroughly bored middle aged Mwangi man, sits behind the counter making fishing lures.
The man barely acknowledges you, far too focused on his lure.
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Ensuring his mystic defenses are in place, Fethril approaches the man with his traditional courteous aplomb.
"Your stall may be busier if you carried higher quality wares, perhaps something elven. Unless your true objective is to spend your time preparing to 'fish'. My aunt Malika used to enjoy that pass time."
The name draws the man from his craft. He looks around worriedly before shooting an angry glare at Fethril. He motions for your group to head around to the back of a shop. As you head back there someone motions to Aura to get a new lookout on the roof.
The man emerges from the back of the stall with a small clay oil lamp in one hand. He once again checks the area no one else is watching before handing the lamp over to you and saying “This will lead you to what you seek. Only one of your number can use it, but keep it protected and out of sight as much as you can. Good luck.” He slips back to his position at the front of the stall, working on his lures.
The clay lamp is unremarkable, but it rattles slightly when handled, as though there were a broken piece of clay inside.
When you find a quiet location you examine the lamp again. Pulling off the lid you discover a small sphere of hematite. You're not sure how it got in there, but it becomes apparent the only way to get it out is to break the lamp. Once that is accomplished Fethril and Sabert are able to examine it closer. You discover it is an ioun stone, and it has some form of connection with a Wayfinder.
You travel back to Novaria and acquire a Wayfinder to use with the ioun stone. Slotting it into the Wayfinder you realize the needle spins wildly for a moment before pointing northwest. As you move about you realize the needle is pointing to something.
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Sabert shakes his head as the rest of the party decides against treating with Ungala. Quietly, he follows the team back, and acts as Fethril's shadow for the conversation with the merchant. He is surely and grumpy, dropping random comments about "Standing up for whats right", and "Protecting the weak".. trying to remind the group that although they are playing mercenaries, it doesn't mean that they have to abandon all tenants of being Pathfinders.
Finally, the group clusters up around the hematite looking to each other as they play a game of mental hot potato.
The wayfinder directs you to a section of Bloodcove that occupies dry land. There, a fountain stands in a small plaza, and the needle points to an unoccupied storefront. There is little of interest inside the building beyond its cellar door, which is sealed with an imposing iron padlock.
The door seems safe, lacking anything that looks like a trap. The cellar beyond is a small, square room with walls made of irregular stone cobbles.
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Casting a quick spell to enhance Aura's abilities, the arcanist tries to point out the trouble. "See...its about....just look...right behind that rock there...do you see it now? You've totally got this. Here, why don't I ask the All-Seeing Eye of Nethys to help guide you, just until you're sure of yourself again. Nothing to be ashamed of, even for an elf. I mean, an elf being completely fooled by a basic and simple spell like that is a rarity. Still, it apparently does happen from time to time. Don't worry, I won't use your name in the report to the Venture-Captain. I will list the event has happening to an 'unnamed elf, female'. It could literally be anyone on the team. None will be the wiser. Now, about looking for any of those nasty ole traps..."
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Aura sighs but says nothing, clearly used to dealing with Elves like Fethril. She does accept his magical guidance, which she uses on to disable the trap on the compartment.
Once it's disabled, Aura turns to Fethril and says "You know, I'm not sure I got it, what with my flagging confidence and all. Since you seem to be a master trapsmith, why don't you go ahead and double-check my work? I'm sure there isn't a poison needle trap or anything, but not too sure. I'm sure with your skill level you'll be able to tell me if the Fenderose tumbler set is quarter-inch turned correctly or not, and that I set the Tenser bar to the first position without issue. I await your guidance master."
Her years of training at deception are on display, as she doesn't even crack the hint of a smile at Fethril. She does, however, gesture towards the disabled trap expectantly.
After opening the hidden panel, you discover a second ioun stone as well as a broad, wax-sealed scroll case that contains dozens of pages detailing Aspis activities in Bloodcove, qualitative data about the upcoming expedition, and even dossiers on several of the agents involved. Some entries stand out from the others, including Pahwoki the Blade, a murderous Bekyar who wears a necklace of ears and is believed able to make the trees walk; Lilianna Alazzario, an agent relocated to Bloodcove after she burned down an Isgeri village just to collect a small debt; Yola Hask, a one-handed smuggler banished from Rahadoum for “crimes against the state;” Micky Threetoes, an Andoren exile with a history of aiding slave traders; Zamil Namoth, an Ustalav aristocrat known both for his charm and his claiming trophies from his macabre hunts; and “Fiveknives” Kalim, a seasoned explorer of the Mwangi Expanse infamous for his callous treatment of the native people. Malika also suspects that the mission’s primary purpose is looting, and she reports that the Consortium is particularly interested in a giant golden statue of some type. Finally, her report suggests the Consortium knows about Venture-Captain Nieford Sharrowsmith’s expedition to the Bandu Hills, though it seems the Aspis are merely planning to attack him but have not actually done so yet.
After the exciting day you have, and the relative inattention brought to yourselves, you decide it would be safe to rest in the city for the rest of the day before heading out of Bloodcove altogether. The next morning, exiting Bloodcove is relatively easy, but less than a mile from the city the road leads to a narrow bridge crossing a small tributary of the Vanji River. On the other side of the bridge stands the Consortium agent, Na’alu, accompanied by a strange, artificial looking humanoid. “I’ll be taking those documents back now.” he says smugly, “My employer would very much like to know their contents.”
Na'alu gives the same grin and laugh that you remember from the inn. "Why the ones that your fellow Pathfinder agent left you of course! We knew that some team or another would be sent to retrieve them. All I had to do was wait until a strange and eclectic group showed up and keep tabs on them."