Jean-Pierre will of course go to see what is the matter!
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The Guild continues its business as usual as though nothing were the matter, but when you ask to meet with the guildmaster, several professionals lead you to meet with their leader while insisting this is your fault and scolding you for getting involved with the Scarlet Triad. The guildmaster is very ill, suffering intermittent hallucinations, and is being attended to by a stern halfling woman known as Doctor Remie. The guildmaster is in the middle of a waking nightmare when you arrive, shortly after which they regain their senses and can speak.
The guildmaster can convey how they first fell ill earlier that day and hadn’t done anything particularly out of the ordinary that might have exposed them to disease or toxins. Their dinner the previous night consisted of djamet, a stew of chicken, tomatoes, onion, and strong spices, served with salted flatbread.
They slept poorly and awoke suddenly from a nightmare in which a dragon had set the bedroom on fire. Nightmares since have consistently involved deserts, heat shimmers, fire, and dangerous beasts. Doctor Remie hasn’t managed to identify the condition’s cause, and while she has been treating the symptoms as best she can, its potency is beyond her skill to effectively combat. She can describe what the guildmaster has experienced over the last few hours, and at this point she’s desperate enough to agree to let anyone who seems capable of handling poison try to cure or at least treat the guildmaster’s affliction.
Jean-Pierre pulls out his tools, and does what he can to ID what is going on...
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Jean-Pierre measures key vital signs and procures small samples that confirm the affliction is a poison of unknown type; it’s slow-acting
yet deadly, and it will be extremely difficult for the guildmaster to recover without a cure... in fact, death will likely occur within a matter of days, as the poison burns through their system.
With that revelation, Remie recommends you contact the Poison Makers’ Guild for assistance.
Jean-Pierre nods.
"That seems reasonable."
He then goes to do just that!
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Although considered part of the Nightstalls, whose storefronts tend to be hidden, the Poison Makers’ Guild is an influential fixture of Katapesh that operates fairly openly and isn’t difficult to find.
By this point, you are well enough known in Katapesh that you can quickly secure a meeting with the guildmaster Hahcuss Hrann. He welcomes
you and invites you to share a drink, wryly laughing off any reticence about accepting beverages from a known poisoner. The wiry Garundi man swirls his own beverage—a fruity mixed drink in a salt-rimmed glass—while listening to your report and grievances with concern.
He insists that he’s not responsible for his fellow guildmaster’s unfortunate state, admits that he doesn’t recognize the poison from the description, and volunteers to help research the toxin and its cure. He requests that you provide him whatever additional information you can and give him a day to investigate, after which he expects he’ll have better information.
A little disappointed, but understanding, Jean-Pierre heads off for the night.
Jean-Pierre holds another double party, trying to finish swaying the Carpenters' Guild.
Jean-Pierre of course rushes over!
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When he arrives, the Guildmaster greets him with a wry smiles.
"So, I have some good news, and some bad news..."
True to his word, Hahcuss and several assistants dutifully researched poisons, toxins, and reagents that might replicate the reported symptoms, all while running tests on any samples that you provided.
However, Hahcuss is has now been exposed to the same poison - and he has identified the source in this case to be salt that he ingested from his salt-rimmed glass when he took an early break. One of his assistants remembers seeing an unfamiliar Garundi woman working in a nearby lab, which at the time, didn't seem suspicious; they can describe her, however, and particularly remember her hands being speckled with tiny scars, as if from handling poisons or alchemy for years.
Taking a look at the glass, Jean-Pierre notes traces of nightmare vapor, indicating that this more common toxin may have been used as a base for whatever exceptionally potent poison afflicts the guildmaster!
"Damn..."
Jean-Pierre will of course do his best to 'Gather Information'...
Jean-Pierre sends in a Prying Eye.
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Inside, shelves are loaded with slabs of rock salt and thick bags filled with salt crystals. Four piles of more common salt are waiting to be bagged, and a few offices to the northwest contain simple desks and cabinets. The ceiling is 15 feet high, and a 10-foot-by- 10-foot section of roof in the middle of the warehouse has been propped open to release the day’s heat.
In one of the offices, a severe-looking Garundi female, with acid-pocked hands, is carefully measuring out minutes samples of salt, and blending them with other, identical-looking salts...
Jean-Pierre unleashes the fury!
Jean-Pierre tries exactly the same tactic again, hoping to 'drop' her before she can react.
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This time, only a single arrow hits, but the force missile barrage has its usual effect.
The woman hisses, and concentrates; her form warps, twists, and enlarges, her legs twinning together, and becoming the back end of a snake, as she swells to giant-sized proportions!
She then Seeks Jean-Pierre...
..and draws a dagger that drips acid.
Jean-Pierre (-)
I (-196)
Huh. Not what I was expecting!
Jean-Pierre tries to 'end' the snake-woman!
A little intimidated, Jean-Pierre goes for a final push!
"Oh, no you don't!"
Jean-Pierre chases after her, then fires a volley of force missiles!
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Jean-Pierre's force missile barrage drops the creature!
+2 corrosive greater striking dagger, nightmare salt poison (2), oblivion essence poison, weeping midnight poison (3).
Jean-Pierre realises that, with the set-up here, he could try to create an antidote from salt samples he has here (with a Medicine check)...
...or he could turn it over to the Poisoners' Guild.
Jean-Pierre tries to concoct a cure...
...and then hurries back to the Guild.
Startled by his success, Jean-Pierre keeps trying.
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Jean-Pierre manages to concoct two doses of antidote.
Once administered to a poisoned character, they recover completely over the course of a day. This not only saves a vital guild ally, but could also save the life of Hahcuss Hrann and shift the stance of the Poisoners’ Guild to anti–Scarlet Triad!
For your inspired work concocting a cure, Hahcuss gives you two doses of weeping midnight, and offers you access to the guild’s... specialized techniques, and preferred customer status.
Jean-Pierre throws another ridiculous pair of parties, this time hoping to influence the Federation...
Jean-Pierre will of course go to the meeting...
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A scruffy, gold-toothed dwarf raises a mug in greeting as Jean-Pierre enters the bar, and waves him over.
Whahar gives a few pleasantries before making his case in a hushed voice:
“Word is that you’re looking for guild support to appeal to the Pactmasters against the Scarlet Triad, yeah? But here, you’re going about it all wrong, see? Why beg for the Pactmasters’ mercy when you could force their hand? I, ah, represent a consortium of esteemed operatives that has more pull with the guilds than your bogeyman, the Scarlet Triad, and that’s help you need. My boss is willing to negotiate the details. Interested?”
Jean-Pierre intuits that Whahar’s referencing the Unseen Hand, a clandestine network of provocateurs led by “Ghost,” an anonymous mastermind. Although not a formal guild, the Unseen Hand nonetheless influences guild activity and even the Council of Guilds through blackmail, bribery, threats, and outright terrorism.
Jean-Pierre frowns.
Am I just trading one devil, for another?
"Maybe. What will it cost me?"
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Whahar smiles amicably.
"Oh, we wouldn't dream of taking your money! Call it civic duty. However, the Boss doesn't meet with just anyone; that’s too
dangerous. Instead, you need to prove you’re trustworthy, and that means helping out with a quick job: You need to retrieve a package from a merchant called the Seer, and then drop off that package at a local landmark: the Marble Sphinx. If you accomplish this in the next 24
hours, I can secure a meeting with the Boss..."
Jean-Pierre raises an eyebrow.
"That seems... disturbingly simple, but alright."
Jean-Pierre follows them, to the letter.
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The marketplace known as the Nightstalls encompasses scores of shops that specialize in deadly, ill-gotten, or morally corrupt wares. Among the merchants there with the longest tenure is the Seer, a spell component merchant who keeps covered in a heavy red robe.
When you arrive at his spiralling tower, and the proprietor politely welcomes you into the combination library and shop. Once you inquire about the delivery for Whahar, the Seer tersely asserts that the package arrived but the deal is off. If pressed for more detail, he admits the contents threaten his livelihood and business—a point that seems almost absurd, considering his role in the Nightstalls.
Jean-Pierre opts to be a cajoling good cop / bad cop.
...and when that doesn't work out, opts instead for another approach!
...and when his magical arguments don't work, he tries society precedent.
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After much back and forth, the Seer relents, retrieves a small wooden box bearing a heavy lock, and notes that he expects payment to arrive through the usual channels.
Reaching the drop point is then quite straightforward. The Marble Sphinx is one of Katapesh’s largest landmarks, and at night it’s quiet and rarely frequented (due in part to urban legends that it eats passersby). You can easily leave the crystals obtained from the Seer at the appointed place at night.
Jean-Pierre goes looking for Mekrem.
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Mekrem is easy enough to find, since Satla put him and his daughter up in accommodation a fortnight ago!
Mekrem’s specialty is metallurgy, and while he can describe the appearance of the enforcers who regularly showed up to menace him, detail some of his business losses, and relay some of the accusations against him for fabricated crimes, he’s exhausted and doesn’t have the evidence or training necessary to exonerate himself.
He wearily recounts his woes, starting with the mysterious loss of shipments and customers abandoning him for other smelters, then finally laments that the Fraternal Order of the Anvil cut ties when evidence that he was extorting funds from the guild came to light. Mekrem’s only defense against these accusations is his continuing claims of innocence, but even those are starting to falter as he comes to believe
this is his fate.
Nevertheless, he readily admits his suspicions that the Scarlet Triad is behind his woes. He’ll point out that his bad luck began the day after he refused to cut his prices for a shipment of djezet he’d gathered for Jelek Jaziman, the Scarlet Triad’s public spokesman. Mekrem knows Jelek is too crafty to directly implicate himself, and
suspects he had agents do the dirty work to set up Mekrem’s doom.
He suggests the PCs might find clues in his shop (the Silver Ewe), at the Auctioneer’s Guild where his holdings were sold to pay off his debts, or by speaking to locals around his shop to see if they saw anything suspicious.
Jean-Pierre recalls that djezet is a fantastically rare skymetal that is liquid at room temperature and isn’t particularly useful as a crafting component, so why The Triad would want it, is beyond him.
Jean-Pierre listens sympathetically, and a bit guiltily; after all, he has known of the man's plight for nearly a month...
"Of course! I will do what I can to help."
He then starts at the top of the list, and works down.
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Mekrem’s Shop:
The Silver Ewe is Mekrem’s spacious shop; roughly one-third of it is devoted to storefront, one-third is set up as an open-air smelter, and one-third is storage. Most of the shop’s contents have been sold off, and all that’s left behind are paper scraps, incidental damage to the building, traces of ore, and several potted plants in dire need of water. The walls are covered with graffiti that accuses Mekrem of being a crook and a poisoner...
Jean-Pierre pokes around, absent-mindedly watering the plants as he does so.
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Jean-Pierre realises that there is no evidence that any dangerous ores were ever stored or worked with in the smelter...
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Jean-Pierre is able to speak to the local Auctioneer, a Zenj man named Maz Loturo. The auctioneer has nothing remaining of Mekrem’s stock other than the paperwork identifying the goods, their buyers, and their sale prices.
Jean-Pierre will politely ask to take a look at the paperwork...