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You gather into the familiar cramp room at the Pathfinder Lodge of Absalom. Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin rushes into his office and drops a small stack of papers on his desk. “Agents, I appreciate your willingness to meet with me on such short notice.” He takes a moment to reorganize the papers into a neat pile and catch his breath before continuing. “Now then, we recently acquired what may or may not be the relic known as the Inheritor’s Clasp—or rather, one of our agents infiltrated a cult of Rovagug worshipers and stole it. History tells that Iomedae dropped the Inheritor’s Clasp on the day she entered the Starstone Cathedral. According to old Arodenite accounts, the clasp might function as a powerful holy relic, though that theory has yet to be proven conclusively.
"I received word from our infiltrator’s handler, an alchemist by the name of Inisa Ardaali, that she was preparing to take the clasp from Katapesh and deliver it to the Grand Lodge for further study. Inisa is a cautious sort by nature. Considering the manner in which she acquired the clasp and the potential interest of the church of Iomedae, Inisa determined that it was best to use discretion in regards to bringing the clasp to the Grand Lodge. As such, she traveled to Diobel, where she hired a caravan for the final stretch of the journey to Absalom. However, we recently received a missive from Inisa sent from a safe house in Diobel. Take a look.”
A,
Ambush on the path.
Lost package.
Survivors safe.
Will recover package.
-I
After a brief pause, Valsin chimes in. “You can see what’s wrong, then? Inisa must have been worried about the message being intercepted; and to be fair, the Aspis Consortium and other rivals are strong in Diobel. It seems to me that after thieves ambushed the caravan, she helped the survivors back to one of our safe houses in Diobel and then set out to recover the stolen clasp. But which safe house, and where is she searching? In denying any interlopers the information, she’s also made this a lot harder for us,” a sigh escapes from between Valsin’s lips.
He hands over a sheet from his stack. “I’ve just secured passage for you on the next ship to Diobel. I need you make your way there, locate the caravan, and retrieve the clasp from these thieves. If you are able to track down Inisa, all the better. She should have much more information than appears in this letter. If she hasn’t met her end searching for the clasp on her own, make sure she makes it safely back to Absalom. Now, there isn’t much time, so are there any questions?”
Sitting with her feet kicked up on Valsin's desk, Merisiel yawns "So we are to find the missing caravan, missing clasp and the missing Inisa. Ambrus you do misplace a lot of stuff. On the plus side, we may get to knock a few Aspis around! Hum..., Ambrus how sure are you that Inisa isn't a double agent and that we are not walking into a trap?"
"Diobel? I hate that place. There are no good salons there. But if one of my sisters is in trouble, I must help her out."
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Ambrus eyes Merisiel funnily, and responds to each of your queries. “The Pathfinder Society owns various buildings and other locations that are used as safe houses. Each of these is marked with our current set of markings, though we use different buildings over time, as we clear out safe houses and buy and sell them at roughly the normal rate of transfer to avoid suspicions. And regarding Inisa, I handpicked her and she is one of my trusted agents, however, we can never be too careful.”
"So long as there's beer at the end when we get this relic back, I'm good. Just point me in the direction of the bad guy."
Merisiel rolls her eyes, "Well if you handpicked her I'm sure she can be trusted. What's next?"
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He hands you a sealed letter of passage, slightly heavy with coins in the envelop "You depart immediately in search for Inisa and the clasp. The ship's name is the Running Swan, use this as means for payment to get you to Diobel Proper. If there's no more questions, I suggest you immediately head out."
Before you depart, he imparts one bit of knowledge. “Luckily, Diobel is a small town, and it shouldn’t take much work to locate the safe house. I can give you the current markings if you’ve forgotten them.” And he roughly draws a crude scribble on a piece of paper.
~~~
Your journey on the supply vessel named Running Swan is uneventful and as boring as you would imagine a slow boat ride would be. But it does it's intended job and carries you unharmed to Diobel in the late afternoon, a small fishing town and smugglers’ haven on the western coast of the Isle of Kortos. At this hour, clusters of small boats are returning from the ocean to the Trawl with large nets filled with fish and oysters. The inner harbor is bustling, and food, drink, and gambling are plentiful. The cries of merchants at their stalls in the dockside Pikapell Market rise over the din.
Merisiel smiles at the smugglers’ haven, ”Feels almost like home! Now If I were a safe house where would I be?” Using her understanding of Society Merisiel picks a likely direction to begin and finds some talkative people to hear the latest going-on in the city.
Valeros takes a really informal approach. Rather than a coherent body of knowledge, he draws on whatever facts he remembers from overheard conversations. He doesn't remember much, but he's pretty good at approaching people and striking up easy conversation:
Seoni will use her Diplomacy and Society skills in an effort to learn more about Diobel and where this safe house might be.
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Seoni's previous time in Diobel was too little for her to recall anything useful to the Pathfinder's operation, or of the in and outs of the city. Merisiel on the other hand, is pretty sure that most Merchants travel in and out of Diobel towards Absalom via the Harpy’s Gate on the east side of town.
Roaming around the streets and spending time with the locals, the group learns a substantial amount regarding the what could possibly have been Inisa and the Pathfinder's caravan. To your discovery, the caravan with the description belonging to the Pathfinders set off to the east from Diobel via the main exit through the Harpy Gate. Additionally she knows that Several trade routes head east towards Absalom, some having seen less use over the years. The caravan was seen taking the route that traveled closer inland. However they also learn of some conflicting information regarding that same route. Inland trade routes are becoming increasingly popular. Regular patrols from Diobel’s local guard have made them a safer and more affordable option for travelers without the means for ocean voyages. But some say that the route is rarely used and is avoided whenever possible due possibly dangers of the forest. However some people grow tired of the constant bothering of Valeros and Merisiel.
Amiri goes around the town scouting every single area where she knows of a possible pathfinder safehouse. However, she is without luck as she all of the safehouses scouted are empty.
However, by the time all that has occurred, night time has fallen.
"I need a beer and a bed. Adventuring is hard on an empty stomach and heavy eyes."
Kyra nods as she listens to the briefing, preferring to keep her counsel to herself over idle talk. She sticks with Merisiel, both to keep an eye on the elf and to take advantage of her skill at, well, cities.
"I agree with Valeros and Kyra. A good night's rest will see us able to find more information tomorrow as well as to find a good salon to get my hair fixed up after that horrid sea voyage."
Merisiel smiles at Kyra, complaining about her day ”Thies people are so rude, ask them a few dozen questions and they clam up claiming they have work to do! Puff..”
Agreeing with the group ”I think the people may be less cranky tomorrow. So we might as well eat drink and rest.”
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The Pathfinders settle the night in our of the safehouses closer to the centre of the city after a good hearty meal and drink at one of Diobel's best taverns, the Hungry Jacks. The night goes by without incident as the group gets a good rest. As morning comes, they immediately set out again in search of Inisa and the missing clasp.
Seoni keeps looking for a good hair salon and wonders if any do nails at the same time. She also keeps asking people questions about Diobel and the inland route. The salon search is just a cover for the information search.
Valeros shakes off sleep thinking that maybe he already picked something up in the past:
But then decides that action is best and heads after Amiri:
With a fresh start in the morning, Merisiel methodically cases the town for the pathfinder gliph that marks a safe house.
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Majority of the Pathfinders immediately take to the streets in search of the safe house, although a small town, the Society is not short of safe houses. Eventually your efforts of searching high and low all over town lead you to find the safehouse house likely used by Inisa. Amiri finds a safehouse that's likely occupied, door locked, and with signs that there are possibly injured men. (Bloodstained handle, trail of blood on leading to the safe house...etc)
Seoni in the meantime is the only Pathfinder that successfully learns more about the trail while the others have a hard time making chatter with the cold folk of Diobel. Seoni learns that the hills that the road travels through have seen a number of minotaur attacks over the years, leading to the road’s eventual abandonment.
"We can't just leave potential Pathfinders dying! I say we bust on in and crack some non-Pathfinder heads!" Valeros seems very excited.
Merisiel shrugs ”I’m with Valeros, we should explore the Safe house.”
The elf rouge will select a back or side door check it for traps or alarms an attempts to pick the lock after disarming any traps or alarms.
Kyra smiles at Merisiel and shrugs at Amiri. "It's better to let her check. Traps are nothing to ignore, especially when the acid is eating your face."
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Merisial spends a few minutes with her thieves' tools to manipulate the door's lock and manages to unlock it with relative ease.
As she peeks inside, she observes two men, dressed in simple outfits, tending to the wounds of a couple severely injure men, albeit inadequately as bloodied bandages litter all over the room.
Seoni arrives with the rest of the party with a new coiffure and says it is the latest Diobel style.
She will use Diplomacy to find out what is going on in the safehouse and who these people are. Her modifier is +10 and she is Expert in it.
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Seoni steps forward with one hand out in greeting and the other one petting her brand new hairdo and says, "Hello! Sorry to barge in like that, but we've been looking for Inisa Ardaali all over Diobel. We were told by a mutual friend at the lodge in Absalom that she might be here."
Seoni sees the inept attempts to heal the wounded men and blanches at the sight of the blood.
"Goodness! These poor men need help! Kyra, be a dear and tend to them, please. They need your expert care." She then looks to the men who had been tending the wounded. "Kyra is an expert healer. I'm sure she will have them fixed up quite soon although it may be a bit before they able to resume regular activities. How did these poor dears come to this? Is Inisa tied up in all of this?"
She then looks back and sees her party standing around outside.
"Don't dawdle, dears. Come in, we have much to discuss with these friends of ours and not a lot of time. Valeros, why don't you see to getting a pot of water boiling for tea? We might as well be comfy while we talk."
She turns back to the two men and smiles most charmingly.
Valeros is certainly no stranger to getting patched up. He, perhaps incorrectly, assumes that all agents are like him, and that a wound is a good story. He begins Carousing with the group. "Well now, I've been there before. Gimme some gauze. Even I can wrap that well! HA!"
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The two men turn around, looking a bit shocked to see you. But they immediately welcome you when they realise you aren't hostile and approach any assistance to the situation at hand. "What happened to this men? I cannot say for sure although one of the men had slipped into consciousness momentarily to shout out "Minotaur! Minotaur!". I am a medic of this town, I was hired to look after the injured and not leave their sight until Inisa comes back. Do you know of her?" He explains. He and his helper, clearly looks exhausted, but are doing their best with whatever limited supplies they have in hand.
As far as Amiri can tell, they seem to be honest and are just trying to tend to the men's wounds.
From the looks of their injuries, it looks to be mostly wounds of an accident, but some deep gore marks are also observe. It would take days for a full recovery, but perhaps you can gather momentary consciousness if you see to their injuries in the right way.
Kyra moves forward to help! She will cast Heal with three actions to start!
Merisiel stands back ”Kyra will have you fixed up in no time!”
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The men look clearly relieved as Kyra assist them tending to the wounds of the victims. "Unfortunately we just met her as she came into the hiring of our services. She left immediately, I can't say for sure where but I don' think she could have gone very far as she seemed to be slightly wounded."
Unable to aid Kyra to bring the men back to consciousness, Merisiel shakes her head, "I think its time to explore the inland route follow Inisa trail."
"Well, we're not making progress just hanging out trying to untie our bellybuttons. Let's get a move on!"
"Inland it is I suppose. Shall we walk or get some horses?"
She sighs as she just knows riding a horse will mess up her hair.