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Anis nods warmly to Wertlos and stands up, bracing her hands on her knees.
Anis stands in the doorway, clearly pleased that although she was going to do her duty and help, she didn't have to speak to Mahdi any more than she had to.
Thank the goddess for Pearl and Pule! I think with this information we can finally leave this place and report back our findings...
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You are able to easily travel to Lady Darchana's estate in the Petal District. A tall wall of polished stone surrounds the three-story property and its gardens, and many of the plants have arcane or alchemical uses in addition to their aesthetic value. The doorwoman, a tall Tien woman with faintly orcish features, looks the group over with an amused expression. "I presume you are Lady Darchana's expected guests. If so, do you possess any manner by which I could confirm your identities?"
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The doorwoman looks over the wayfinder carefully. She gives a final nod of approval. "Very well. Welcome, Pathfinders." She allows you all inside but remains at her post at the door.
In the entryway, you see a red-headed Ulfen woman in a fine tailored suit and a librarian bun giving instructions to another servants. She waves the girl off and comes up to you. "Ah, the Pathfinders. The Lady has been expecting you. My name is Jemina, and I am her estate manager. I shall escort you to her study." She adjusts her glasses, then leads you up.
As you ascend, you all notice that the estate is absolutely filled with books, but in a curious way: they are meticulously integrated into the decor in ways that leave them accessible but aesthetically pleasing. Books with fine, detailed cover illustrations take the place of paintings on the walls, statues are posed holding books, and the light of everburning torches is filtered through illuminated scrolls, and so forth. Every book is nevertheless completely accessible, at least to a wizard of Lady Darchana's stature. Jemina turns back to you all, as if anticipating a question. She also appears to have noticed Wertlos's deafness and thus makes sure he can see to read her lips, which are in a self-satisfied smile. "The Lady rotates books out as she comes to use them. I have no idea how she keeps track of which text is where, but I have never heard of her misplacing a single one."
When you reach the third floor, she unlocks the study door and leads you in. The walls of the study are inset with bookshelves that are brimming with texts of all varieties. A large drawing table in the middle of the room bears an unrolled map of the Inner Sea region. At the far end of the study stands an impressive darkwood desk, and seated behind it is a woman dressed in midnight-blue robes. Her piercing gray eyes look expectantly at Jemina.
The estate manager softly clears her throat. "Senior Lesser Councilwoman, Archdean of the Arcanaimirium, Second Spell Lord of Absalom, Lady Darchana of House Madinani, please receive these agents of the Master of Spells Aram Zey of the Pathfinder Society."
Lady Darchana beckons with a short hand movement. "Pathfinders, join me. That is all, Jemina." She folds her hands together and waits for Jemina to close the door behind her, then continues. "After my conversation with Master Zey, he agreed by necessity to keep the details that were passed on to you to a minimum. I am keenly interested to hear what you were able to learn based on what you were provided."
As she utters that last sentence, Lady Darchana focuses all of her attention on Anis. She waits for you all to be seated, then speaks again, this time directly to Anis. "If you would be so kind as to relay to me what you know."
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Anis is momentarily flustered to have Lady Darchana's full intensity upon her, but she quickly resolves herself and gets to business.
"Lady Darchana, we intercepted an... incident at Mahdi's Chattel. Once things calmed down, Mahdi informed us that Atlag came from an Okeno pirate ship. The captain's name is Waheeda Wardak, and her ship should be docked here by this evening - there is a chance she's already here, in fact."
Anis's face reddens and she takes a deep breath - you get the sense that, though she sounded calm, she spit all of the information out at once, forgetting to breath. She continues, "Also, the slaves this Waheeda Wardak brings with her today are Pathfinders!"
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Lady Darchana nods sagely and politely as Anis finishes. "You seem to have found out much, including some particularly scandalous information."
Lady Darchana then turns her eyes towards Wertlos. As she speaks to him, she also signs with her hands. While many people would slow or even stumble when trying to speak in two languages at once, she betrays not even the slightest unease. "Now, if you would be so kind, I would now like to hear your account of what you have learned."
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"Huh. Some way to read us one at a time? Fine, I got nothin' to hide. We learned that the slavin' piece of....that Mahdi was in trouble with someone--he was gettin' worked over pretty good when we showed up. We eventually put a stop to it, and that got him talkin'. As Anis said, he gets his 'merchendise'" (the air quotes are decidedly not left to implication) "from some Okeno bastards that're pullin' in to dock today sometime. He said he didn't know anything about the scrying buisiness, and as much as I hate to say so, I believe him. He also said that the next batch of slaves comin' in on that ship are Pathfinders, as if that would make them more important than any other person being held in the horrors of bondage."
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Lady Darchana remains completely inscrutable, making no reaction to the Pathfinders' passionate responses. "Thank you for telling me your account." She looks to the Ms.'s and Suma. "Please feel free to add more if you think of anything important."
She folds her hands in front of her on the table. "An Okeno pirate captain? Captain Wardak of the At Sea." She nods her head, a brief smile. "Yes, that would stand to reason." She flips open a ledger sitting on her desk that bears the seal of the harbormaster and begins scanning the pages. "When I became aware of the eavesdropping handmaiden, I used my own magic to follow the arcane trail back to it's origin. I only got a brief glimpse of the heavily veiled perpetrator, but based on the distance and direction, I knew the culprit was on Stonespire Island--somewhere underground on the island at any rate--with a powerfully enchanted mirror. The Oken pirates' base of operations is a city on that island, and the Fleshfairs may be the largest slave markets on all of Golarion. It is a cunning place through which to move these sensored slaves." Her hand finally comes to rest in the ledger. "At Sea, here we are. It has been to Absalom two other times in the last three months. According to this, however, it has been marked with a bounty. 'Failure to declare cargo value for taxation.'" She clicks her tongue loudly. "Excellent. You said Mahjub Mahdi was expecting another shipment from the At Sea tomorrow? If it hasn't already docked, it'll be anchored outside the Ship's Graveyard, waiting for a pilot. We cannot allow those slaves to make it to the Docks unaccompanied! I trust I can count on you to help?"
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"Excellent." She stands up from her desk. "If you will excuse me, I will go follow up on this information privately." She leaves you all alone in the room.
She returns fifteen minutes later and returns to her desk, an amused smile on her face. "I have spoken with a contact at the Harbormaster's Grange. There is an outstanding docking request for a ship called..." She rolls her eyes. "...Kat Season, which is likely our ship with a--shall we say--flimsy disguise." She writes out a letter, seals it in wax with her seal, and hands it to Suna. "Carry this note to the Harbormaster's Grange--it authorizes the inspector to provide you with a rowboat and a pilot. So long as you can confirm the ship's identity, you are legally free to claim the bounty yourselves. A fine 725 gold for your society. Any questions?"
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"I am not familiar with her personally. I was merely thinking out loud. That it would be an Okeno pirate captain corroborates with my own investigations. Thus, it stands to reason."
"As for the people on board her ship, I am certain there will be no need to keep them in captivity. We will want to question them for any possible info on the person pulling the strings, but then they will be free to go."
"If there is nothing else, you are free to go." When you do start to leave, she motions for Suna to stay behind. "A word, if you may."
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She calmly waits for the others to depart fully, then focuses all of her attention on Suna. "I have spoken at length with one Lady Gloriana Morilla, who has demonstrated considerable ambition in Absalom and abroad. Among her strengths is her dedicated and talented corps of agents whose virtues she has praised at length. I have had few opportunities to see these agents in action, but consider me tentatively impressed. I would request a favor while you are at the Harbormaster's Grange, and I trust you might complete it for me with discretion as a sign of good faith between your patron and us. Find and remove the docking certificate for the At Sea, then destroy it when you have the chance. It is perhaps not the easiest of feats, but you have proven your resourcefulness."
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The Inspection and Pilots’ Office at the Harbormaster’s Grange is cramped and perfumed by a particularly smelly bowl of salted fish stew that’s cooling on one of its several desks. Ledgers and loose papers occupy most of the horizontal surfaces in the office, and a bookshelf on the southern wall sags under the weight of its heavy files.
At present, only one inspector is on duty. The sleepy-looking halfling woman sits up and covers a yawn. ”Welcome to the Harbormaster’s Grange. I’m Inspector Second Class Lilia Ginsi. How may I be of service?”
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Inspector Ginsi takes the note and begins reading it over. She confirms something in her book then nods with an official gravity before switching to a different binder. "Just let me get a boat signed out and locate who is available on the pilot roster so I can go get them."
Suna is unable to pick out anything from a distance. She gets the feeling from the massive amounts of papers spread out throughout the office, it would likely take several minutes to have any chance of noticing a specific docking certificate.
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Anis, ever a child of the temple, feels her ears perk up at the chance to help her companions.
Pearl and Pule are rather odd, but they do seem rather worked up about this issue of boats and canoes... Perhaps I can aid them in their request to Inspector Ginsi...
" Inspector Ginsi, I apologize for our odd request, but Pearl and Pule have been nothing but steadfast companions to me, so I'm sure the mater of seeing the boats must be important if they would request it. Would you be so kind as to help us?"
She gives a sweet and charming smile to the inspector.
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The situation is tense as Suna dives into the massive amount of papers. Especially when she's not entirely sure what a docking certificate is even supposed to look like. After a couple minutes of searching, she finds a docking certificate that isn't what she's looking for, but at least can provide a good example. With that exemplar, she's able to close in on a cache of recently-filed certificates, finding the one for the "Kat Season" nestled between the cache and the back of a chest of drawers.
Your walkabout with Inspector Ginsi is a bit longer than she expected, as the pilot, a female dwarf named Zigil, is not in her usual spot at a nearby bar that the pilots take their downtime. You both end up looking there briefly, leaving for the pilot's quarters, then come back to find Zigil, learning that you had been missing each other by mere moments. By the time they started heading back with you, pointing out boats along the way, they are clearly frustrated and ready to get back to the office.
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Pearl, Pule, Inspector Ginsi, and the pilot—a female dwarf named Zigil—all arrive back about eight minutes after the former three left, leaving Suna, Wertlos, and Anis plenty of time to rest after Suna’s quick searching.
Ginsi and Zigil look particularly ready to get this show on the road, but they pause for a second as Zigil addresses the group. ”We’re just gonna mosey on right up to the boat if y’all don’t mind. They’d only be expecting me, so y’all might wanna figure how to convince ‘em you’re supposed to be there. Unless y’all just wanna go in swinging, in which case I’d like the warnin’ so I can know to duck.”
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Zigil gives a thumbs up then strides on to the rowboat. "Fine by me. The good thing about being short's makes it easier to duck. On we go then." She glances back. "Y'all will be doing the rowing to get us there."
Absalom's harbor is an inky, shifting landscape of shadows at night, illuminated only by the city's lights, the waxing moon, and the distant blaze of the Absalom Lighthouse on Pilot's Island. Eventually, a three-masted ship with white sails comes into view. It's just over one hundred feet in length, and its bowsprit is a weatherworn representation of a canine-headed mermaid. The crew is busy as they await an escort through the Ship's Graveyard. A rope ladder hangs from the rail of its starboard to a foot above the waterline.
Suna and Anis can tell that the ship's name has been sloppily altered from At Sea. The rowboat pulls up to the rope ladder and ties on to the side of the boat before each of you are able to climb up. Zigil stays below, letting all of you go first, knowing a fight was likely coming. Once you all get topside, you see a surly looking half-orc leaning on a greatsword and his gnoll buddy looking you over. The half-orc scowls. "Way too many of you and way too well armed to just be the pilot. We'll have to fix that by cutting some of you down." He whistles sharply and readies his greatsword. "Repel the boarders!"
Suna's intuition towards battle is sharp and she immediately recognizes the beginning of conflict, managing to usurp the first move from the defending slavers.
Suna
Curtzog
Pearl/Pule
Gnoll
Anis
Wertlos/Zahnlos
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The half-orc is slow to react, but lucky for him, the naginata clinks off his scale armor. He sneers at Suna. "That the best you can do? You really think you can stand a chance against me?"
His words and bearing strike at some deeper insecurity in Suna, and she finds her confidence wavering.
Suna
Curtzog
Pearl/Pule
Gnoll
Anis
Wertlos/Zahnlos
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Curtzog has no idea whatever the heck Wertlos did, and as nobody has hit him yet, he decides to keep going after the closest target with the biggest, meanest looking weapon.
As he swings, he just randomly happens to lose his balance, and a more than proficient swing turns into a wild thunk against the deck. He shakes it off and rights his stance.
Suna (Shaken) (round 3 action)
Curtzog
Pearl/Pule
Gnoll
Anis
Wertlos/Zahnlos