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Yndra isn't really comfortable in big crowds of strangers like the tavern, and it shows. She remembers being a labour working, several lifetimes ago. Before the spark of magic hit here. She orders something to drink and makes a few vain attempts to get in contact with the others patrons of the bar.
Tsschas makes for the bar. There he finds a tall, sinewy woman hunched over the bar, whose bare arms reveal the strong muscles that hold up the length of rope coiled over her shoulder. She looks up, and blinks at the nagaji. "Hello stranger. I recommend the Kelesh Firewater, especially the 15 year aged bottle."
Uncle Julius seems in his element amongst the rambunctious crowd. He spies a barrel-chested man with a long, coiled black beard and rosy cheeks that peak from his wide smile and generous laugh. The man is surrounded by a group of friend, celebrating with him. They shake his hands and embrace him: "Congratulations on your promotion Adur! Surely you are blessed by Sarenrae today!" Adur is drinking large quantities of ale and spirits, and playing dice.
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The Nagaji blinks as he comes to terms with what the woman actually says.
Drink? He wasn't particularly very strong in that department..
He looks around hoping o catch the eye of any of his companions...
"Greetings. I shall take your recommendations under due considerations and will likely invite my companions to join in. Would you perhaps grant me the pleasure of your name?"
Tsschas gets talkative at the bar. "My you are a strange one - we don't see many of your ilk here. I'm Samijda. I'm a miner. My husband sells dates. My son's doing his military service. What about you? You have family?"
Uncle Julius plays dice. Luck is with the gnome, as after losing his coin in early games he manages to win it all back again. "Ha-ha! Well played fellow! I can see you like a game! You're a gnome who likes to enjoy life! Come and join Adar."
The pathfinders have made friends - what do you ask of them?
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Uncle Julius uses some of his newly acquired coin to purchase the next round. "Congratulations, Adar! A fine lad ye be at your trade!" Getting a drunken song to chorus out of a bunch of people around the bar.
"Ah Adar, how can ye fancy such good business with all the fuss between the cult and church goin' on? Jus' where the hell are they comin from anyways?" Julius tries to get some info about the Roidirans.
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"Huzzah for Uncle Julius! ♫♫Let's all get drunk and go naked, and lie in a great big pile! ♫♫"
"You want to know about the Roidirans, Uncle J? They're bad news bears, fella! There’s a camp outside the city where these characters meet up with one another and spend the night before heading north towards the jungle. I don’t know where they go after that. But I got some work on the side on my day off escorting these folks to the camp, and they were just wrong. They were chanting or something, starting each new bit with ‘There is no meaning; there is the goddess,’ something like that. I asked the head guy what they meant. I’ll never forget what one of them said to me: ‘Only when your mind is empty will you hear the scream of a hundred mouths crying out the goddess’s word.’ You better believe I didn’t say two words to him after that.”
One of the Adur's friends chips in: "“A whole troop of these Roidiran cultists passed by our mine while we were on break and they started preaching to us about going to ‘find enlightenment,’ that there was a sacred place for their faith in the jungle and asked if any of us wanted to go with. Said they were on ‘Roidira’s Road,’ the path to total knowledge. This idiot here, Shareef, was actually thinking of doing it! ‘What else have I got to live for?’ he said, like a damned moron. But then the Roidirans started talking about their ‘fallen comrades’ in the jungle and something about how the Place of Enlightenment wasn’t for the faint of heart. Shareef got cold feet—and good for him too.” The miner gives his friend Shareef a soft cuff round the ears, followed by a hug and a cup of strong spirits.
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"Huzzah for Uncle Julius! ♫♫Let's all get drunk and go naked, and lie in a great big pile! ♫♫"
"Ah blessed merriment! Aha!" At the next opportunity, the jolly gnome finds a break from the party of drinking miners. He uses the Message spell to contact the others and let them know to meet him outside at the most opportune moment.
"I've got a lead on the location of the Roidiran's base of operations." He whispers to his allies.
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Mr. Graves doesn't seem too interested in the social side of the Flaming Scimitar. He had spent most of his life alone in the Grey. That changed considerably once he decided to join the Society... but large crowds still tended to make him uncomfortable.
He kept a partial eye on Julias, as the gnome joined the dice game, knowing where such things could lead, and another on the rest of the party... but mostly he just listened to the conversation of the folks around him, trying to pick up a clue to who might know more.
"The Roidirans?" Samijda screws up her face and knocks back a drink. “Let me tell you something friend. One of these days Maharev is going to turn into a giant sink hole because of all the earth we’ve dug up. You think the mines and pits we work at were the only ones? No, there’s plenty of old mines out there— and good riddance to ‘em, too. My last mine was spooky as Hell, and I was the happiest damn pickaxe-wielder in Qadira when we picked the last bit of turquoise from it. There was writing on the walls from those Roidiran fanatics, our medic said it looked like it was written in blood! Stuff about emptiness and how ‘death is knowledge.’”
Samijda leans into whisper, “It wasn’t right, I’m telling you. We almost went on strike until management finally promised us they wouldn’t send us down at night no more. But after dark there were these…things. Wish we had a paladin there. Ain’t some things you can just fix with an axe, you hear?”
Samijda gives a location for the mine, which is in the southern portion of the Maharev Jungle.
Meanwhile Mr Graves eavesdrops, but does not learn anything more. Fate joins in the carousing, but lacks either the stamina to keep up with the hard-drinking miners or the wit of Uncle Julius' drinking songs to entertain them.
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Yndra is glad to be away from the tavern, with its crowd to which she could hardly connect. She compliments Tsschas on his efforts. "Well done getting to speak with that woman, and finding out what she did."
On what they've learned so far, she's clear. "I knew there was something up. It can't be all knowledge that has them so... out of their minds. I'm sure they've dug up something that's causing all this. Maybe it's monsters, deep from below. Or my guess, a magic artifact that's poisoning their minds. I'm telling you. Magic like that is to be left for the professionals!"
You leave the sons and daughters of toil behind at the Flaming Scimitar and follow al-Sahba's directions to the House of Two Rivers, a members-only high society club in a wealthy district of the city. There are burly but well-dressed staff on the door, who initially shake their heads at your approach. But once they see your brass signet rings they recognise your patron, and suddenly become most welcoming. They scramble to open the doors for you, and usher you inside.
Merchant princes and princesses, along with high-ranking officers and public officials, gather here for fine drinks in finer glasses, beneath a ceiling painted elegantly in gold leaf with stars. The stars are connected in fanciful depictions of the constellations of the summer sky. In one corner, a woman in a red dress croons to tipsy onlookers, and in another, an unusually ascetic woman in white holds court around people whose dress is far more elegantly ornamented than hers.
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Yndra scans the room on entering. More money, but just the same as the tavern. Too many people... She scans the room and notices the woman in white. Yndra isn't soo rude as to point, but nods her head in that direction. "That must be Vashti al-Amiyyah. Let's go."
The dwarven woman purposefully strides over to the corner with the woman in white, and positions herself in the circle around her. She doesn't speak for the moment, listening to the conversation that's going on.
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Graves is even more out of place in the House of Two Rivers.
He tries not to stand out as best he can, instead just listening to the people chatting all around, hoping to find a likely source of information, before getting too far into it.
Noticing the others focusing their attention on the woman in white, he tries to keep his ears and eyes elsewhere.
The Woman in Red: this section of the club is arranged for a cabaret, and the current performer is a Keleshite crooner. A beautiful woman with a sultry voice, she sings songs of love and intrigue for an appreciative audience.
The Woman in White: a small crowd has formed around the aesthete, who seems to be preaching."...perfection cannot be found in material sensation, all such is illusory and transient. It can only be found in the spiritual, which is eternal..." The wealthy clientele jostle for position, making it difficult to catch the speaker's eye.
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Tsschas finds the crowd strange.. they were all jostling for position for tales on the Eternal Material? They must all be merchants of one type or the other. He hoped that his companion would have better luck.
He didn't think that this woman in white had any thing that could be interesting if all she's doing was a sales pitch.
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Fate listens to the 'Lady in White', following along as best as he can.
Talking over the crowd , the shaman respectfully offers, "Much of what you say is true. Material possessions can often become a trap. Pursuit of them can lead us down dangerous paths. However, no matter how ardent one's faith, mortals such as we cannot attain perfection. It is beyond us. To teach otherwise is folly. Otherwise, we could challenge the very gods we venerate."
"Yes, indeed! Perfection is divine. Enlightenment is found in the journey towards perfection. Come friend; I am Vashti al-Amiyyah of the White Feather. But I think you already knew that."
Fate has gained al-Amiyyah's attention. She waves away her audience.
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Yndra stays quiet for a moment. She thinks the woman speaks nonsense, and possibly dangerous as well. Striving for perfection could only get people to reach too high. But she knows enough not to say as much outright. Her skepticism shows, even if she's glad that her Mwangi companion has drawn the White Feather's attention without offending her.
Vashti addresses Fate: "The path of the White Feather is the road to enlightenment, Mkono wa Hatima. I am a student on the path. Do you wish to walk it also?"
"Then let us start with the first step. Cast off your attachment to the material world. Obsession over the accumulation of wealth and status is poison to the soul. Nobody who spends their life pursuing such things is truly rich. True wealth is not possession. This first step is, for most students, the hardest. For it may seem a reversal of what we are taught by the societies we are born into. But those societies thrust brother against sister for arbitrary and unjustified reasons. Therefore I say, cast off those attachments! For you cannot be free whilst they bind you."
al-Amiyyah watches Fate closely.
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Fate looks down at his rather spartan appearance. "Unlike many others, I have already given up the collection of these anchors. I can see where this would be a barrier to some. Yet, as you can see, this is a choice I have made long ago. This breastplate serves to protect me from the unenlightened, this cudgel no more than a walking stick." He pulls out his lump of clay. "Indeed, this earthen clump demonstrates my dedication to emptiness, as it is what I hold most dear. It is an extension of my will, of my connection to something greater than myself."
He slides the malleable stone back into his bag, "For decades I have trod this land in nothing more than sandals and a loin cloth. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of miles have I walked with little more than this. I have been kept safe. Sometimes by my own action or wit, other times by some power. I have learned from this, been toughened by it. So you see, I am well along the path to enlightenment."
"So, if all you have is for me to retrace my steps, I am not certain yours is the path I seek. What more can you tell me? How is your direction decided? For all these years, I have been guided by an indistinct feeling. No voice, no command. Yet, I know where I am supposed to be, because I have learned to listen. Maybe you can tell me more of how you know what course to set for yourself."
al-Amiyyah nods approvingly at Fate's attire. She listens attentively, and frowns. "You have indeed already taken the first step. But there are pitfalls ahead of you still. Beware of Emptiness, Mkono was Hatima! You sound almost like a Roidiran. And they are lost."
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Now that the ice has broken, Yndra also joins the conversation. She nods solemnly as al-Amiyyah mentions the Roidirans. "Yes, we've heard about them. Indeed, they seem to be on a dark path. Converging somewhere in the jungle near here?" She looks carefully whether this sparks any reaction from the woman. "Is it coincidence that they seem to have found something, and that the White Feathers are in the city in such great numbers?"
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Fate listens to al-Amiyyah's concerns. "I think it not of emptiness, but more of a 'oneness' with the universe. I am not certain what to think about the Roidirans. They may indeed be lost. Worse, they are being led by a charlatan seeking to take advantage in some way. But it is not my place to judge them. Thus, I seek knowledge."
“The Roidirans also say they seek knowledge. They ache for something meaningful, though they don’t know it. There is a fundamental contradiction at the heart of their faith. They embrace meaninglessness, yet that quest in and of itself is meaningful to them."
Al-Amiyyah smiles sadly at Yndra. "You’ve heard the rumours, no doubt, about how we White Feathers and the Roidirans are two sides of the same coin, yes? I am not sure how much I credit that. But the hearsay sticks to us all like tar. I embrace the Roidirans as sister outsiders who understand our lot. That is why I weep for them. They are finding something in the jungle that is tearing them apart, making them unbalanced and enraged. They seem to be grieving, though for what, I do not know. What I do know is that some claim that Roidira’s secret lies in the Maharev Jungle."
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"Yes, we've heard that," Yndra replies, relieved to find that Al-Amiyyah seems to be above the conflict, or at least understanding of the Roidirans. "I don't know enough about the White Feather to weigh the truth of those rumours. Still, those rumours must be founded - at least partially - on the fact that both the Roidirans and the White Feathers are new here, and seemingly both drawn to Qaharid. You don't suppose that's coincidence? What brough you and your fellows here?"
"Our motives are very different. The Roidirans are here because of their pilgrimage to the jungle.
We White Feather have come to show the Qaharidis that there is another way to live, free from bondage to money and temporality. Whilst we are forbidden to proselytise in public by an agreement with the satrap, places such as this are private meeting spaces where we may speak, and preach to those who wish to listen."
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"I see," Yndra answers. "I personally don't see the appeal of such a path, but it seems like you White Feathers are being reasonable about it. No need for alarm, for those in power of for innocent bystanders. So, as far as you're concerned it's just the Roidirans making trouble in Qaharid, driven mad by whatever answers they found. If we were to investigate the jungle, would you have any advise for us? Or knowledge that would aid us? Perhaps in helping the Roidirans come to terms with what they've found?" Yndra isn't quite convinced yet that it's just knowledge that has driven them mad - although the teachings of Nethys show that such a thing is possible. She considers it more likely they've found something that's been effecting their minds.
"If you wish to investigate, go with care. But try not to hurt the Roidirans, for they are lost. This passphrase may prove useful: if you are asked ‘Where does brotherhood lie?’ answer, ‘At peace beneath her black wings.’"
With that, and what you learned from the miners in the Flaming Scimitar, you have more than enough to be able to find the site of the Roidirans' pilgrimage in the Maharev jungle. It will be about a day's trek across the desert. Perhaps now is a good time to call it a night, so that you can get sufficient rest for the journey ahead.
You may also stock up on last-minute supplies at the dawn markets. Not only has the egregious 'sales tax' disappeared, but also merchants who recognise your patron fall over themselves to offer you special "one-time only!" discounts.
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Graves is more than happy to leave the fancy pub behind... and head out in search of the cause of the Roidiran's crisis of faith.
He prefers the idea of going right now... though realizes it might be easier to find their destination in the light of day.
"Evening travel is usually preferable across the desert." He offers. "Though less so in a jungle, I suppose."
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"If you wish to investigate, go with care. But try not to hurt the Roidirans, for they are lost. This passphrase may prove useful: if you are asked ‘Where does brotherhood lie?’ answer, ‘At peace beneath her black wings.’"
Tsschas bows as he takes his leave.
"Your wordsss has illuminated us and given us a lead. That is valuable indeed. We shall investigate what hasss riled the Roidirans so."|
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"Thank you," Yndra answers likewise with a nod of her head. "We'll tread with care. It seems like the Roidirans had no malicious intent, dark as their path me be. If they're victims of something beyond their control, we won't hold it against them."
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Yndra prefers to call it a night and start their trek well-rested. She notices the merchant's one-time offer with some regret: she'd just spent most of her savings on the entwined serpent staff. Maybe later, some magical trinket as a souvenir wouldn't hurt anyone...