To Nabila the old lady says, "Thank you as well fine lady. I am sorry but that knowledge falls out this poor woman's purview, you may need to go to the bazaar or maybe the souk."
She then turns and leaves the establishment.
The parchment the old woman gave you is an old map. Drawn before many of the current cities were founded, the parchment is yellowed and brittle, stained in several places, and torn off along one edge.
The group of you seem to stare at the parchment map for a fairly long time trying to get a handle on what landmass you are staring at and where it might be located.
A half-elven Rawun passes you by who looks like he was about to set up to play a set in the establishment with his zither, seeing the difficulty you are having with the map and says, "Salutations ladies, I am Kadin al-Zor al Faddi a humble musician and rawun and I am well versed in map reading, may I look at that map?"
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"Why thank you so much Kadin al-Zor al Faddi. Why yes, you may make the attempt, although I'm not sure what use it will do. All of us having been gazing at this old thing and none can make much sense of it.
Still, thy initiative should be rewarded. For the attempt," she takes another of her precious gold coins and passes it to the man, "consider yourself rewarded.
And if you can not make sense of the map, then just play Hands of Doom. It was a favorite with my F--at back home." she says, pleased the she caught herself, but chagrined that she can not escape him, even out here..
Upon acquiring permission to look at the map, he becomes enthralled by it and when Liath tries to put a gold dinar in his hand he swats it away, mumbling "not yet, hmmm, a huh..." he then takes his left hand as if doing a math problem in the air with his finger, "yeah, that's must be it. Yes..."
He says, "This is a map to the Golden River and I would like to join you in finding it."
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Loath racks her brain wondering if she's heard any tales of the Golden River. It certainly sounded exciting!
"I shall need to confer with my companions as to if your company would be accepted or not. Please leave us as we discuss matters."
She leans to the others and says, "Oh my this sounds like an adventure! I know not lay in store but it certainly seems worth finding out!
But what think you of the young musician that wishes to accompany us? He seemed nice enough, and we may need a guide, but do you think we can trust him?"
Liath
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Thinking quickly, Liath pulled out her copy of Alf Laylah wa-Laylah and thumbed through to a choice selection. Indeed! As she thought, there was a mention of interest.
"It says here that the The Golden River is said to possess vast, untold powers of curing and enhancement. It states that the water from the river has been greatly sought after but never discovered. Ideas as to where the river may be found are as numerous as the stars in the sky.
Oooo!
Were we to actually find this thing we would be not only rich but famous as well! That we might have a chance of finding this is the adventure of a lifetime!
I council that we take the musician with us, but not until we have slept on it, and found that which we came to this city first to do.
I propose we sleep on the ship this night, investigate the Artisan's quarters in the morning, and then perhaps we will have greater clarity as to the taking of the young man with us.
Agreed?"
If that is agreed, she will call over the young man and inform him of their intentions.
"He can be trusted until he gives us reason not to be," Nura nods. "We can follow the map after we finish our current quest, yes?"
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"So it's settled then!" Liath declares brightly. "We shall gain what we seek in this city, and then allow him to join us in our travels as many of the world's greatest secrets are revealed to us!"
That done Liath seeks out the young musician. "Good sirrah, your offer to accompany us in our quest is accepted! There are, of course, conditions.
Firstly, we have urgent business that must needs be completed by us upon the morrow. While you are not specifically excluded from joining us, 'tis on another errand entirely and you would be greatly bored by our mundane quest.
Secondly, upon completion of aforementioned errand, you may accompany us, but we might not head anon for the location discussed.
Thirdly, you shall conduct yourself as a perfect gentleman at all times, taking nothing that is not yours by right, and respecting all amongst you, especially those of the fairer sex!"
At this Liath's personality goes from soft cotton candy to fire-blackened stone as she leans closer, smiling grimly and revealing her orcish teeth.
"And if you break that last one I will not stop hitting you until my fist meets the floor."
But then her lightness and air return and she smiles brightly. "So let us be best friends forever more! We shall seek thee out on the morrow!
Oh! Good sir! By what are you called?"
Once that answer is given she finishes off her meal and suggests, "Shall we now retire to the ship to begin our searching at first light?"
The half-elf says, "Well, why do those of the "fairer sex" deserve special treatment it sounds very archaic if you ask me."
He responds in kind, "I would hate to have to wear those teeth of yours as a souvenir." and then he chuckles to himself and says, "I will meet you here tomorrow evening and then we can shove off."
You go back to your ship where you go to bed.
Next Day
Fadilah is early to rise the next morning.
"So!" she says, "I suppose now is a good time to go into town - we have the entire day ahead of us."
You first pay the harbormaster for the birth you ship has taken and then Meleek
You ask around the city and eventually you make your way into the district which hold artisans. The most obvious feature of the city that is given to you is the crimson-colored Mosque of Blood, the largest temple in the Land of Fate to Vataqatal, a warrior-god worshipped by many mamluks. Though the walls are of sandstone, they receive a regular coating of henna to honor those men and women whose blood has been spilled in battle.
Continuing to follow the directions the people of the city give you is that you walk by one jewel that relieves the heavy, oppressive grey of the city: the Open Mosque of Qudra. Graceful and beautiful, this building features some of the most lovely shades of blue tile work to be found outside of Umara. Those who worship gods other than Vataqatal flock to this exquisite edifice. Nabila sees a large shrine dedicated to Najm with its walls.
The journey had been difficult. Unseasonably rough seas caught the young captain unprepared, and the crew was made miserable in the days-long effort to save the ship. The expedition was a total loss. Those that did not perish when waves crashed over the side were left exhausted and sickened. Divine Will spared Zaheed, of that he had no doubt.
The stout young man stepped heavily from the gangplank onto the pier; Qudra harbor had never looked so welcoming as it did now.
Those that did not know the sea failed to appreciate the transition of arriving on solid purchase. Buoyancy was merely the repetitive process of being lifted up and dropped over and over and over. Zaheed crouched while his stomach stabilized, his body refamiliarizing itself with the land.
With the loss of profit, the promise of payment was broken. The men settled for a last meal of bait fish, salted more to disguise spoilage than to improve the taste, though it served both purposes well enough. That such a pittance seemed below his station was not a concern for Zaheed. He was in danger of failing to meet his tithe for the month. He needed to find new work quickly.
Ascending the tile walkways to the upper tier of the city, Zaheed quickly found himself wandering toward the Mosque of Qudra. Prayer schedule must be kept, afterall. Brave Hajama expected no less.
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Liath awoke early and breakfasted mightily, attacking the salted fish and brick-tough hard tack with great vigor.
Sashaying out into the city with great, wide eyes, she takes in everything, gawking openly.
She appreciates the wondrous beauty of the religious sites, but Learned Zann was found in thick books and dusty tombs of little-known authors. She found greater solemnity in a book shop or well-stocked library than in some opulent site.
As their efforts meet a lack of progress, she begins asking random persons where the artisans quarter was, anxious to have their business done before the sun set.
The smell of salt air mixed with the steeping jasmine tea and a freshly baked ka'ak filled Nabila with a welcome morning energy. She walks calmly behind Liath with Fadilah and nibbles her breakfast and sips her tea. "She's a really odd one. But I thought you all were an odd lot when I met you in that well. Surely you thought I was odd as well following you down that well," she grins.
"Liath, sweetheart, we have time. The guardian is not going anywhere!" she giggles and takes a deep breath, letting the morning sun warm her face.
Zaheed is mildly surprised when a half-orc with soul-touching brown eyes approaches him, seemingly at random, and asks where the Artisans Quarter is. He looks around to make sure she's actually asking him and not someone else.
He can't help but laugh at himself for his dumbness. "My apologies. The Artisans Quarter, of course. Do you want to go there now? I have some time to spare. I can show you the way."
Finishing his morning prayers, asking the gods to guide his path, Than bin Assad steps back into the street. He walks in a haze, eyes still bleary from sand and tears, and unsure what he needed to do next, save that he did have to receive his camel from the stable near the artisan quarter, when he nearly stumbled into the human and the half orc speaking. . .
"My apologies, sir, ma'am, I meant no offense." used to the simple society of the desert clan and tribe, Uthman seemed to linger awkwardly as he took in the total of the assembled people around him.
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"OoofmphfF!" Liath utters in an un-ladylike way as her electron-like energy cascades her into a well-bulit desert rider that she swore seemed to appear at random.
"A thousand apologies, kind sir. Peradventure such a city as this can do all one can take to stir one's senses!" she tosses out before returning to her conversation with the warrior with the great-sword.
"Oh yes kind sir," she articulates in a rush, "yes we wish to go there now. We have, ah, such business to attend to there of such an odd and unusual nature 'twill be another quest just to find a suitable blacksmith capable of such a task that 'twould take another day just to find a person of good capacity once we do manage to find the place!"
Of a sudden she turns back to Nabila to address something she brought up but did not have time to answer, so busy was she with her necessitated questing for directions.
"Dear Nabila every moment we make in haste is another moment that we might either find some new sojourn to divert us, or another moment of leisure that we might enjoy like the juices of some sweet fruit as truest reward for good works done!
Peradventure, we did not give the tower a thorough goings-over, so one can not know what chaos or randomness might befall the kind Djinn to de-rail our plans. Our only defense is in haste!"
"Right this way." Unless there are objections, Zaheed leads the group to the Artisans Quarter to find... whatever it is they're looking for, and possibly a blacksmith.
Nabila blanches when Liath loudly brings up the tower and djinn in front of the whole city, and especially two strangers who are paying close attention. She then forces a laugh, "Liath! You are too funny. My apologies sirs, we are actually seeking a...gift for our...village elder?" She does not mean to hesitate or add the rising inflection at the end. She suddenly understood how her father always caught her lying. She nudges her companion, hoping she might be a better liar.
You walk deeper into the city and move closer to what would be considered the bazaar and then there is the souk.
Zaheed picks up on the group's collective discomfort and poor attempt at obfuscation. He does not judge, however. Their reasons are there own until such time as they would consider sharing them. Nevertheless, the subterfuge increases the intrigue.
Your group splits up to canvas the artisan's quarter looking for what you think the group needs: Nura, Nabila, Fadilah and Liath are asking for either gold or coppersmiths and Zaheed and Uthman ask around for a blacksmith.
Zaheed
Nura
"You are a fine craftsman," Zaheed observes when looking over Machmud's wares. The warrior doesn't have a copper to his name, however, but he needs no more than what he has acquired in his journeys. He whistles for Uthman, and then returns to the others with the news.
Deciding Liath is the most forthcoming, he points the way to Machmud's shop. "For whatever your purpose, this man is a highly skilled." Then he waits around to see what they do, because they are definitely doing something.
Liath charisma
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"Blessings unto you, good Zaheed, for bringing us this grand news," Liath says, putting a hand gently on the man's broad shoulder.
'Not bad...for a human.'
'Not helping dad!'
"Peradventure allow me a moment to see if this man will suffice for our quandary, though anon we shall see if greater resources are required."
Turning back to Suleiman she says, "We required it destroyed."
Liath uncharacteristically ceases speaking, though the tension from her is palpable, as if a dam was suddenly dropped into a raging river and strains in mighty battle to hold back the tide.
"For personal reasons," she adds.
Suleiman says, "Destroying a piece of gold or tumbago or copper is not very difficult, so you may want to tell me what you want done exactly. It may need some extra work."
"This is no mere decoration. Its destruction will not be an easy task, I suspect." Nura says.
The goldsmith closes the door to his shop with Liath and Nura inside and says conspiratorilly "Ok, now we are alone, I need you to be completely candid with me or it may have disastrous consequences for all of us in the shop and depending on what we are dealing with people in my neighborhood as well."
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"We require it destroyed in such a fashion that it would free a Djinn...were it fettered by it.
It...it was our village elder's dying wish. All his life he thought a spirit plagued us, but so valued was the item that we laughed him off.
Alas, his last words were to see his life's want followed through.
Such a fanciful notion, to a worldy and civilized man of the world such as yourself, I'm sure, but we are oath-bound to see it through to the spirit," Liath states stoically, firmly.
When father heaped empty praise on a citizen it meant they could do something for him, or they were about to die.
She was still wondering which one was this.
He looks at Liath and says, "So a powerful Djinn is bound to this item and bound to a piece of Maztican Tumbago. I am really intrigued how the elders of your village were able to get their hands on this piece. Considering Maztica was "discovered" by Cordell about five years ago. You are dressed like a sailor but speak like a history book. Irrelevant. Do you have a Pyromancer sorceror available or should I need to find one?"
Nabila waits outside hoping things go well inside. She was not particularly interested in the minutiae of the exchange and in truth was not the sort to over-think the entire situation. Instead she watched the world go by with an external passivity. Internally she simply tried to be with the city and the air around her. Attune herself, in a sense.
The young men she'd encountered had obviously piqued her interest, but she chose to push such thoughts out her mind. Still, they tugged at her, not letting go fully. It was that curious foreigner who first brought my attention to that well. An obvious sign, to be sure. Perhaps Liath's running bodily into that man will be just as obvious in hindsight.
She turned her head slightly and looked at the helpful strangers. Not staring at them, but with them in her periphery. A crashing sound of breaking ceramics from elsewhere in the city snaps her head around, but when she realizes it was an accident that had nothing to do with her and was no threat she turns back around and closes her eyes. Nabila stretches her back and cracks her neck.
"I saw that look," she says out loud to Zaheed, affixing her stare directly on the young human. "I grew up on a horse farm. There were a significant number of prideful, assertive men who worked for my father or who conducted business with them. They would describe her as having, 'the crazy eyes.' Of course, they would also say that the crazy ones are the most...satisfying romantically. My words, not theirs. She could probably use a nice man. But she could possibly use a nice man. Do you understand?" She withholds any judgment from her voice, intending only to inform rather than deter or encourage.
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"Tra la la, peradventure, one may as well wish for the moon and the treasures of Aladin as to conjure the details of the past. But as for an expert in the mystic realm...."
Loath looks to Fadilah, thinking this would be her realm.
She makes a mental note to find a book on Maztica as it sounds intriguing.
Uthman followed the strange group to the Artisan's Quarters, still walking almost in a haze. Once there, he retrieved his camel, and found himself again on the street unsure of where to go, but listening to the strange group converse.
"Pardons again, I didn't properly introduce myself before. I'm Uthman bin Assad. I don't mean to pry, but you all don't seem to be from here? Might I ask what business you're about?"
"Is that so?" Zaheed replies to Nabila, amused by the inference of intimacy with this stranger. He bows. "You have misread me in this regard. I merely seek to understand your group's purpose here, as it is surrounded by intrigue, and you are doing a very poor job disguising it. As for that one," he nods in the direction of the half-orc, "I understand her well enough. Whatever her objective in this quarter, her true desire is something none of us - man or woman - can satisfy."
Suleiman says, "Have you met this Djinn before? Is he large or small? Unless he is tiny, I would suggest we conduct this bit of dismantling outside the city walls. I would require 30 Dinars to do this. Shall we be underway or do I need to fetch a sorceror?
"I believe you believe that," the dark haired elf grins. "Now intrigue might be a strong word. We merely do not wish to be loud about our business. I don't really understand it either except that we are hopefully releasing someone from a tiresome responsibility."
Nura looks slightly concerned. "We will need a sorcerer," she says at last. "And the djinn was rather large."
