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You begin the adventure in an opulent parlor in the Druman capital of Kerse, part of the manor home of Temel Passad, a prominent Kalistocrat. Served the finest Chelish wine and delicate sweetmeats while awaiting your host, you have time to peruse the letter from Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin.
Pathfinders,
Society agents recently learned of a lost, previously undocumented Sky Citadel in what
was once Sarkoris, the land now consumed by the Worldwound. As we cannot push into
that demon-infested wasteland ourselves, we have recruited dwarven aid in the dangerous
expedition. In exchange for military assistance and historical expertise, the dwarves will have
the opportunity to reclaim this lost stronghold. Two weeks ago, Highhelm sent an entourage
of diplomats and tacticians north toward Mendev to meet with Venture-Captain Jorsal of
Lauterbury to discuss terms and develop a plan of attack. When they failed to arrive in a
timely fashion, Jorsal commissioned sending magic to contact Rakuska Ingardam, the mission’s
leader. Rakuska’s return message—cut off due to the magic’s limit—was as follows:
“Passed Xer, paid our way, but attacked and overcome. Razmiri priests hold us for unknown
purpose. We are held somewhere near the Glass River at…”
One of several possible places they are held is the Gray Revelation Inn, about thirty miles
east of Xer—we suspect the Razmiri priesthood uses the site to interrogate prisoners. You
must investigate and liberate the three dwarven envoys—if indeed that is where they are
imprisoned—and then escort them to Mendev. Accompanying you are two other dwarves
who will take the captured envoys’ places if you aren’t successful: merchant Metella Raugar
and respected Pahmet mystic Amauhak. The Kalistocrat Temel Passad, a Druman with whom
we have dealt in the past, has volunteered a boat to transport you north, and I see little reason
why we should not take him up on this offer. Building a good working relationship with one
or more influential merchants would be to everyone’s benefit.
Good luck
Ambrus Valsin
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"Yip yip! Hello friends! I'm Jarret, and this is my friend Wolf! I'm excited to meet you all! Oh, demons doesn't sound good, does it friends! No, oh no, but I am sure we will be all alright! yip yip!"
Jarrett is a Kitsune in his natural form, very excited and cheery. He is dressed in robes, without any armor, but carrying a temple sword. He has a wolf who sits beside him calmly.
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"Not demons, not for us," a strong, tanned man interjects. He's an imposing figure, and doesn't look particularly friends with an unruly head of beaded dreadlocks and simple armor and clothing, none of which looks particularly well cared for. "Sounds like we just need to worry about the Razmiri. Much easier to handle."
"I'm Brady," he finally offers, holding out a grubby fist in offer to bump with anyone here.
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Slinking in with the taller folk, a small kobold looks about, fidgeting with his hands. Eyes darting back and forth, he looks over all the others before speaking up with a shrill voice.
"Ho! I am Kra'ak! I am hunter of true dragons! What is, Raspberry? Is they evil?"
At his side is what appears to be a well made kukri and a small strip of leather, both of which he tends to finger when trying to stand idle.
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The semi rare sight of a kitsune, and a stunning one at that, enters the room and nods a greeting to those present. Dressed in green and sporting not 1 but 3 tails, the kitsune studies his soon to be companions before offering his name.
"Greetings! I'm Akito - follower of Milani! It's a pleasure to meet you!"
He turns to Jarrett before continuing...
"Especially you Kinsman. I do not see many of us in these lands."
With an amused grin, he turns to Kra'ak and enunciates carefully...
"Raspberries are a delightful sweet fruity treat. Razmirans, on the other hand, can sometimes be vicious demon loving crazies. Almost polar opposites really."
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After the introduction you see that two silent servants open a pair of richly lacquered doors, and a human and two dwarves stride into the lavish parlor. The man, clad in immaculate robes of whitest silk, is short and round with a blond oiled beard, and his eyes are alert and amused. He takes a touch of snuff from a golden box and sneezes before saying, "It is a pleasure to welcome Pathfinders to one of my estates once more. I am, as you may know, Temel Passad. Allow me to introduce — "
One of the two dwarves, a redheaded female in deep scarlet robes, curtly interrupts the man. "We can introduce ourselves, Passad. I am Metella Raugar, representing the interests of several Highhelm mercantile consortia. My companion" — she gestures to a dwarven man with leathery skin baked by the sun, his head swathed in a bright yellow scarf — " is Amauhak of Reth Bezel, a mystic of the sand dwarves of Osirion."
Passad attentively sees to his guests’ needs and ensures that the refreshments are to your liking before discussing business.
"May I assume that you were already informed about your mission? Venture-Captain Valsin said so, at least. Well, my boat, the Abacus, will take us from Kerse, further along the shore of Lake Encarthan to the mouth of the Glass River. At the first destination, you look for the Gray Revelation Inn where you hopefully find and liberate the captured dwarven envoys. After rescuing them, return to the Abacus. She will take us to Mendev where Metella, and Amauhak, the liberated dwarves and myself."
The deeply tanned Pahmet mystic notes that keeping the presence of himself, Metella and Passad a secret is the wisest course, given what happened to the earlier team.
Passad nods in agreement before asking "Do you have any questions?"
Temel shakes his head slightly. "Now, though their religion, if you can call it that, is odd, to be sure... and often violent." He says, diplomatically. "All of which has lead to their being banned here in Druma. There are far worse out there, some of which are practiced by your own Society members."
"As a devotee of Kalistrade myself, I have tried to appreciate their eagerness to accumulate wealth..." He frowns slightly. "Though it has been... difficult... and has lead to many a conflict all on its own."
"Whatever your beliefs though, just remember, we will be entering Razmiran proper. So we will be in their country, and subject to their laws." He looks at you sternly, to make sure you understand the implications of this. "Needless to say, Razmiran has a very strict Theocractic government. The worship of all faiths but Razmir are prohibited... though they are not as draconian about it as say, Rahadoum. They tend to tolerate other beliefs... as long as you keep it to yourself and don't stay long, and don't start proselytizing."
"We are also likely to be subject to random searches and inspections," He adds with a frown. "Either in Xer, or out on the lake. And only Razmir knows what kind of tariffs they'll charge, from day to day... but I should have enough to cover those."
"Anyway, Razmiran is a few hundred miles away, on the far side of the lake. Even longer as we'll be following the coastline. We've plenty of travel ahead of us before they become an issue." Temel finally says. "We set sail tomorrow morning, before dawn. So if there are no more questions, take the rest of the day to rest or resupply or the like, and be at the docks before first light."
You all arrive at the docks early the next morning, with just a hint of dawn lighting the horizon. The two dwarves, Metella Rauger and Amauhak, as well as Temel Passad himself, are already aboard when you arrive, stowing gear in their respective bunks.
The Abacus, is a shallow keeled merchant barge, intended for hauling cargo. So the bunks are nothing of the sort, instead you find a number of hammocks hanging along the starboard and port sides of the hold. It is obvious the Abacus doesn't usually have this many passengers, as a few of the hammocks look new, and space between them is at a premium.
The vessel has a five person crew, including the captain... a dour looking man named Yuri, missing most of the fingers on his right hand and obvious burn scars along one side of his weather beaten face. You would guess that typically there would be only four hammocks on the starboard side, and another four to Port, half of which would typically be unused (or more likely holding extra cargo). But there are now six on each side, four new ones squeezed in recently. Which still seems short, given the number of you that just came aboard, until you realize the captain has an actual bunk in a small room near the bow. Passad appears to be rooming there.
Everyone is well-rested and ready for the voyage ahead when the Abacus finally leaves the dock, its single square sail catching the wind and pulling it forward. You are eager to meet the challenge ahead on your mission, and to see what excitement the trip might bring...
At least until you finally realize just how long the trip is going to take.
Although it is only about three hundred miles, as the crow flies, straight across the lake to Razmiran, your ship travels east as it leaves Kerse, following the shore of Lake Encarthan, significantly increasing the distance. The captain informs you that it will be roughly two weeks until you reach the mouth of Glass River, along the border between Razmiran and Kyonin. A trip made even longer, because Passad insists on trying to make a profit if he can, so you find yourselves stopping in the Kyonin city of Greengold to trade cargo along the way.
So you do what you can to pass the time.
Attempts to help the crew are usually met with disapproval, the sailors not fans of changes to their routines. Hopes of some sort of excitement to chase the drudgery prove unfulfilled. Leaving little more than idle chatter to pass the time.
You learn that Yuri is from Isger, a veteran of the Goblinblood wars. Though he is very reluctant to talk about it, or the obvious injuries he sustained during the conflict. The rest of the crew are all locals from Druma, and know little beyond sailing the merchant routes of Lake Encarthan.
Still, eventually the ship does manage to reach the mouth of Glass River, and turns east, sailing up it, towards Xer... one of the two main trade ports of Razmiran.
It is here that some differences of opinion amongst your fellow passengers arise, as you are attracted to an animated argument on the upper deck. The disagreement appears to be between Metella and Temel.
Temel seems to be arguing that the ship needs to pull into Xer to pay any necessary tolls or tariffs, while Metalla is insisting you sail past it and hope to evade any Razmiran authorities entirely.
Temel seems quite adamant that you should dock in the city, and that abiding by local customs will help to avoid unwanted attention. Especially, he is quick to point out, if they include an extra 'gratuity' when they pay their tolls. He also argues that without documentation to prove you've payed these tolls, you run the risk of greater trouble should you run into one of the Razmiran faith barges further upriver. He seems happy to pay the toll himself, even flashing a few platinum coins to make his point.
Metella, on the other hand, seems to have no faith in the Razmiran authorities at all, and maintains that stopping in Xer only gives those authorities the chance to search the boat, and discover the two envoys and the Kalistocrat. She reminds Passad of what happened to the last mission into Razmiran, and does not want to risk the Razmiran authorities learning of their mission to Mendev, less they suffer a similar fate. She seems to believe it better to avoid the docks entirely, and take your chances with any faith barges you might encounter, rather than risk Razmiran learning why they are there.
Eventually they both throw their hands up in frustration, and look towards the Pathfinders for their thoughts!
Temel nods, as the Pathfinders seem to agree with his assessment. Metalla not so much.
She gives Passad a glare. "You risk everything because you can't stop thinking like a merchant." She hisses angrily, then stomps off below decks.
Temel doesn't respond, but clearly seems pleased that you sided with him.
The way ahead seemingly settled, the Abacus continues upriver for most of the day, before the city of Xer finally comes into view. It appears to be a fairly busy port. Vessels of all types, flying the colors of many of the other nations around the Lake, sail both down river towards Lake Encarthan, and further upriver.
Captain Yuri and the crew, seem nervous, as they pull the ship in towards the sprawling docks. He seems to be subtly shifting the vessels keel to starboard, aiming for some of the more isolated docks on the eastern side. Metella and Amauhak quickly disappear below decks, out of sight, not wanting to be seen, or questioned by the authorities. Passad soon joins them, but not before handing two shiny platinum pieces to Akito. "This should cover any fees or ahumm.. gratuities." He says before quickly joining the two dwarves down below.
Eventually, the Abacus pulls in to a mostly empty dock, that looks badly in need of maintenance.
Still, despite its decrepit appearance, and relative isolation, you still see a number of grubby men and women in bulky jackets patrolling the area. And an occasional dockworker trying to not draw attention to themselves.
Smiling faces are few and far between.
The crew start to toss mooring ropes to some of the dockworkers, who go about securing the vessel to nearby posts.
Even as it is being secured, you see a number of men emerge from a ramshackle building back near the warehouses. There appear to be three of them, one holding a sturdy metal chain attached to the collar of a slavering canine that seems more wolf than dog. The dockworkers quickly get out of the way as they march down the dock towards the Abacus... though whether they are trying to avoid the men or the beast, you can't quite tell.
As they near, one of the three calls up to the deck. "You. Identify your vessel and country of origin, and how many are aboard. Crew and compliment."
Before anyone can answer, he adds. "And what is your business here in Razmiran."
None of them seem in particularly good moods, and they glare up at the ship imperiously, as if expecting a prompt reply.
The three men look highly annoyed at the delay, as no one seems to answer, despite there obviously being many people on the deck.
"What, you lot can't count? Or answer a simple question?" One yells with a scowl.
"Put down the gangplank." Another responds. "We want all of you down on the dock for inspection. Now."