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Teacher Ot allows Chimwemwe to stay and help. Only increasing Soomdevi’s worry. Ot calls in a Tempest-Sun Mage from the university who takes copious notes and samples. Not only is Akoril getting premium medical care, he is also helping the cause of science.
At some point in the night, he is left to rest. As he drifts off to sleep, pebbles begin plinking against the window. Whoever’s throwing them is insistent. He crawls out of bed and cracks open the window. Something rather heavy lands on the carpet. He glimpses a white tailfeather waddling around a corner.
There's a bleached finger bone on the floor. It's rather large — perhaps it belonged to a cyclops or some other ancient giant. When he touches it, emanates the sound of a breeze rustling through a desert oasis. Water gurgles and Acacia leaves murmur. Akoril remembers weaving grass in his childhood home as he drifts off to deep sleep while the bone continuously plays. He doesn’t wake when Teacher Ot checks on him several more times in the night.
In the morning, Akoril wakes up refreshed and hale. Teacher Ot looks exhausted. However, he still manages to cook Akolril and Chimwemwe a good breakfast, complete with fresh-squeezed juice and hot black coffee. Now, you must be on your way. I am sure the initiates have work for you to do this day!
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Soomdevi, Alrinkiri, Wisps, and the other students spend a fretful night at the dorms. Everyone is genuinely concerned. For Esi this means staying up and doing research on her own; Noxolo turns up her music and dances out her anxiety; Chizire goes to sleep early to “save his energy.”
Alrinkiri spends most of the night prowling the edge of the jungle, making sure no more myceloids come to finish the job. Just before dawn, they pad quietly back into the dorm and into their room, where they curl up in a tight ball and rest for a few hours, unmoving if not quite asleep.
"Your head is clearer?" Chimwemwe asks Akoril when the gnoll rises in the morning. "Good!"
"Thank you, Teacher Ot, for the meal," He eats with gusto both out of politeness and because he is also famished. He nods. "Yes. We have only done a few chores. I had not realized that you belonged to the Cascade Bearers. Maybe I forgot."
When it is time to depart, he gathers his tools and armor in a bundle, which he slings over his shoulder. "We shouldn't be late."
"Akoril, I am so glad that you better!"
Wisps chats with the spiders outside her window, then packs up her own belongings for the day.
"What are we doing today? Will I need my bow?"
Akoril nods in response "Much, I don't know if it was the mushrooms but I had a strange dream where a Cyclops finger came plinking at the window... I'm afraid I was a little out of it yesterday, how did the ritual with the bells resolve?"
Ot chuckles. Oh, it’s real enough. I put that finger-bone in your bag for you! I suspect someone must have felt terrible about sending you to that place, and given you a gift to help you sleep. But they were too shy to come knocking on my door. Now… the bone itself is enchanted to play back a record of certain sounds. One might call this a “recording." Not only is this a fascinating magical item that is completely new to me, but a cyclops bone in such pristine condition is in of itself a rare thing. Whoever found it must have a very good source.
He turns to Chimwemwe. I am not sure. You will tell Akoril how the ritual went on your way back to the Spire Dorm, I think. Yes?
"Yes. Of course," Chimwemwe answers the instructor. On their way back, he explains, "The ritual did not work. Hmm. I'm sure we prepared the ingredients correctly. How it failed, I'm not sure. Maybe, hmm, they weren't the right materials. Or, hmm, we needed something more. Or, hmm, the incantation was off. I'm not sure..."
Overnight you also identify the token you found as a holly bush feather token.
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Everyone is relieved to see Akoril return alive and well. After the hugs and celebration, you gather near the Soaring Spire to meet the Emerald Boughs students for today's assignment: Strands-of-Glowing-Dawn Tzeniwe and Ignaci.
Good morning. Ignaci says with a smile. He's wearing a fashionable pith helmet and pale blue silk shirt with a deep v-neck. It ruffles about in the breeze. As you’ve no doubt gathered, we’re here to task you with your assignment for the day. As you surely know by now, our ever-thoughtful colleague Esi has suggested that each of us petitioning to join the five different branches of the Magaambya take turns in requesting your assistance. Thus, we are here now. Strands-of-Glowing-Dawn Tzeniwe and I are hoping to become a part of the Emerald Boughs. Our field of study is the world, such as it is. We study the communities, people, and events of the present day — the current zeitgeist, if you will. There are some who feel that simple observation and investigation makes us the Magaambya’s spies… he smiles. But that, perhaps, misses the point entirely.
Strands-of-Glowing-Dawn Tzeniwe finally speaks up. As before, she has a hard time making eye contact but is also fashionably dressed. Today she's wearing a floppy wave cap with a shiny black bill, light blue shorts, and well-oiled walking boots. We'd like you to help deliver the mail. If you would. Ignaci produces a basket bursting with letters and parcels. It’s not a flashy task, but it gets our ears on the ground: people are often willing to share sensitive news with trustworthy people who are engaged in crucial public services, such as ours.
Tzeniwe coughs. It's also… really important people get their mail. And we want to help. Many recipients are also far outside Nantambu. I rented elephant birds for you to ride for the day. She steps over to the large silk sacks bulging with food and odd-looking creams. I also packed you snacks for the trip, some hot coffee, spare umbrellas, dry towels, fresh socks, muscle balm— She suddenly stops, pulling a toy elephant covered in sticky webs out of one of the bags. Ugh, Zanvi! Sorry… one of my children was eager to help pack.
"Riding elephant birds!" Chimwemwe was not disinterested in the assignment to begin with--the idea of learning the city while delivering mail seemed productive--but this news was quite exciting. Regaining his composure, he asks a more practical question. "Would it be more efficient to divide our efforts? And, hmm, to confirm, these need to be delivered today? Hmm. Before tomorrow's assignments?"
Akoril shares many hugs around. "I didn't know the Academy handled the mail as well, I guess it'll be interesting and we'll get to meet some more people..."
"Would it be more efficient to divide our efforts? And, hmm, to confirm, these need to be delivered today? Hmm. Before tomorrow's assignments?"
Ignaci chuckles and gestures at himself and Strands-of-Glowing-Dawn. Do you think we wore our mail delivery uniforms just for fashion? Granted, looking this good is always a perfectly cogent goal… but I digress. We are already splitting up. Tzeniwe and I and I shall deliver half the parcels, and your group shall deliver the other half. I recommend sticking together, but the order in which you deliver the mail is up to you.
"I have never ridden another creature before...what are these elephant birds like?"
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Elephant birds are large, flightless avians. We made sure to rent docile ones. You can control them with reins; it's very easy. Tzeniwe walks you across to campus, to the stables where you see five large, ostrich-shaped birds waiting for you. Don't worry, their beaks look sharp but they moslty eat fruit and coconut palm.
As you mount up to try it out, you find the birds easy to control — even those of you who aren;t good with animals. Alrinkiri's bird is a bit skittish at first, but soon gets used to having a quadruped in the saddle.
Ignaci hands over a basket that contains two dozen letters and parcels, all jumbled together. All these must be delivered, however long it takes. We're trying to think of catchy mottoes for our service, such as "neither monsoon nor typhoon nor drought nor late-night gloop shall keep us from swift the completion of our appointed rounds" Well. It needs some work, but you get the idea.
You sort through the letters. They fall into five categories:
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Well-Addressed Letters
Eleven letters have clear, legible addresses inside the city.
Terrible Handwriting
Five letters have illegible addresses due to terrible handwriting.
Descriptive Addresses
Four parcels use descriptions of their location, instead of postal addresses.
A letter addressed to "The Magaambyan Parcel Deliverers."
This mysterious letter is addressed to you, the postal workers.
Letters to the Gods
Three letters are written to three gods: Gozreh, Nethys, and Mazludeh.
Chimwemwe accepts the basket from Ignaci and begins sorting them on the ground. "These are easy enough. We should deliver them first," he says pointing to the stack of eleven legibly addressed letters. "These three we could deliver to the temples. I'm sure I saw one for each during my days in town, though I was, hmm, rather never mind. We might be able to deliver these," he points to the four parcels with descriptive addresses, "if someone can keep an eye out for places that look like they match while we deliver the others. We may need locals to help if these aren't obvious." He frowns at the remaining five letters. "Hmm. Hmm." He turns one of them sideways and squints. "I think a barber wrote this one. Or a physic."
"We should just get out a map, and measure the distances between known addresses to see the shortest path, how hard could it be?" Akoril states "Agree with temples for the letters to the gods, those illegible ones I think are going to be the real challenge."
"We should just get out a map, and measure the distances between known addresses to see the shortest path, how hard could it be?"
"I think that will take more time than it will save."
"Unless one of you has magic that can perform the task?" Chimwemwe asks his cohort.
Based on what you know of the city, you have a good idea of what neighborhoods each well-written address belongs to, so it's not too hard to start out with a detailed plan not dissimilar to Akoril's. It will need to be progressively elaborated as your day continues, however.
For the undeliverable letters, you can Decipher Writing on the illegible addresses (secret Society check), or ask for help (diplomacy to gather info).
For the descriptive letters, asking as you go (diplomacy) and searching for landmarks (survival).
Doing multiple things at once will slow you down a bit overall but might help you to avoid backtracking and save time in the long run.
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Soomdevi detects no magic on the letter. He opens it up.
Magaambyan Parcel Deliverers,
You young folk are so irresponsible! I don't know what they're teaching in the academy these days, but back in his day when my daddy was an initiate he would NEVER have thought think to misdeliver a package. He would have been careful and respectful. And if he DID, he would up and apologize in-person, and make right.
But that is exactly what you did, to my beloved granddaughter located at 3 Kwa-Nat in Eastern Nantambu proper. I sent my granddaughter Mauxi a fine stained-glass lamp, but it never got there. She is IRATE. So am I. And we still never heard from you about it even though I wrote several letters already. Back when my daddy was an initiate, mind you this is going on seventy years ago now, the students wrote back PROMPTLY when they got a letter. They RESPECTED their jobs.
I simply don't know WHAT they're teaching down there at the Magaambya these days, if you can't even deliver a piece of mail right! I will be writing to your TEACHERS as well, mark my words.
— Nyanya Ouma
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”We could try to figure out as many of these addresses as we can, hmm, before we go,” Chimwemwe suggests. ”Include the ones we decipher in our route; ask the citizens for help with the rest as we go?”
Chimwemwe looks at Somdevi with a bewildered expression. ”What?”
"Perhaps we should talk to Mauxi before we go? We can also ask about some of the...interesting handwriting"
"Hmm. We, hmm, need to go to find, hmm, Mauxi," Chimwemwe points out.
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You decide to try and decode some of the handwwriting before you go.
You take about 30 minutes to look through these poorly-written letters.
Akoril, Alrinkiri, Chimwemwe, and Soomdevi work on deciphering handwriting. Soomdevi definitely proves the most adept at reading terrible handwriting.
However, the last letter proves tricky. No one but Soomdevi and Chimwemwe can even make it out. Soomdevi thinks it says "Jemaa el-Fna," a street near the entertainment district. Chimwemwe is convinced it says "Janae edepna," a street near the boathouses. Perhaps, as Wisps suggested, talking to Mauxi or someone else along your route can suss it out. (Gather Info, or diplomacy if you can make Mauxi Helpful).
"Let's set off, then. It's not going to get any clearer sitting here."
"At least it will be a good chance to learn the area!"
Akoril nods. While not being particularly adept at finding where the mail goes he's at least strong enough to carry quite a bit without issue.
While they sort out the bad handwriting, Chimwemwe comments to Soomdevi, "The conclusion that, hmm, that, hmm, that the missing package is, hmm, was taken by demon cultists is hard to follow. Is there a demon you suspect? Ydajisk?"
The elephant birds prove easy to handle, though Alrinkiri astride their bird causes a few heads to turn. As you navigate the maze of streets and bridges and canals, you learn a bit about Nantambu, which is full of amazing and unique shops and places to go.
The Carniverous Gardens is a huge greenhouse full of flesh-eating foliage. A naturalist named Ige is the recipient of this letter; she talks about her work rehabilitating injured jungle birds and releasing them back into the wild.
The Civic League Boathouse has city's finest shipwrights, working all day to maintain the city's famous sleek river-racing vessels. An old shipwright named Jatau takes his letter and tells you stories about the friendly ghost who haunts the boathouse by night. (He has never heard of a "shipwormer." Magic does all that here.)
The Dance Courts are a place to see and be seen, where young people go to concerts and dancing. Chinasa gets a letter here; she is excited about her niece’s wedding and plans to sew the bride a gold embroidered dress.
A boy named Musubu gets another letter and introduces you to his newest puppy, who he found stuck up a tree. He hopes it grows up to be as cool and weird as the kind of creatures Oba sells at her Wondrous Creatures shop.
These easy deliveries take only 2 hours.
☀☀☀
You move on to address the topic of the misdelivered stained glass lamp. Mauxi opens the door and explains the situation after a brief introduction.
"It is the talk of the neighborhood! An embarrassment. Jatia, my neighbor, received the package on accident. It was left on her doorstep. She points to the adjacent home. You notice the fence between their houses is VERY tall. She is so greedy! And no shame! She argues that since the — and I quote — 'venerable infallible Magaambya' had given it to her, the lamp now belongs to her by right. It is ridiculous! And she lords it over me. I see her light the lamp at night. She puts it in the window, where she KNOWS I can see. This is even worse than the time she tried to steal my cookie recipe at the Gozren bakesale.
Are you here to make it right?
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"That does sound ridiculous," Chimwemwe agrees. "If one person sends another person a gift, hmm, using a courier, the courier cannot reassign the recipient. Surely there was a clearly legible address on the package. That's theft. How are legal claims resolved in Nantambu?"
Chimwemwe is, apparently, not thinking what Soomdevi is thinking.
"Yes, we will speak to her. I'm sure we can sort this all out."
My grandmother has excellent handwriting. I don’t want to involve the law and cause even more neighborhood fuss.
You go to the next-door neighbor’s house. Jatia answers the door. Inside you see a beautiful lamp sitting on a desk next to a window. She smiles. Yes? Do I have a delivery ?
Akoril stares at the lamp and awaits for others to answer Jatia.
Chimwemwe fidgets beside his elephant bird. "No. It might be better if Curling-Wisps-of-Smoke Reliava explained our purpose," he says to Jatia.
Soomdevi sees no sign of cult crucify. Akoril thinks that’s the lamp!
Wisps introduces you. She makes a good impression, but Jatia frowns when you bring up the lamp.
I own the lamp. So what if it was addressed to my neighbor? Why should I return it? I am proud to receive such a fortuitous gift from the Magaambya itself. My neighbor is jealous of my fortune and thinks I should be ashamed of myself. She must learn to accept that some of people, like herself, are simply unlucky in this life."
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Wisps smiles, but there isn't warmth in her eyes this time.
"Ah yes, you are recommending a policy wherein the package belongs to the person whose door it is dropped at rather than the recipient listed. In order to make things fair, we shall drop your next package at Mauxi's doorstep. Your packages after that will be distributed to the rest of your neighbors. This is what you want, correct?"
Chimwemwe tries to hide his amusement as Curling-Wisps-of-Smoke takes Jaita's selfish logic and turns it back against her.
You wouldn't!
She blanches when she realizes you would. (well, she thinks you would).
Fine. Here is the lamp. I expect my charitable karma to reflect well upon my next delivery.
She shoves the lamp into your hands then slams the door.
With the woman gone, Chimwemwe laughs and smiles appreciatively at Curling-Wisps-of-Smoke. "Well done! I wouldn't have thought of that trick." He recalls their card game yesterday and adds, "You're quite crafty."
Mauxi is grateful to have her lamp returned. She doesn't ask how it was done. I will let my grandmother know you took the care to get it back. I can assure you she will be writing another letter — this time, she'll be happy!.
She treats you with some of her latest bakesale cookies before saying goodbye. These ones are for the local Nethys temple — half chocolate, half vanilla. They're much better than Jatia's — I'll tell you that!
Wisps laughs. "I have a big family. You have to learn to be cutthroat! Shall we deliver to the temples next?"
Alrinkiri pads back to the group from around the back of the house. "I found another way in; I'm glad we won't have to use it to get the lamp."
Akoril gives a little golf clap "Well done, well done. Temples sounds good."
Akoril thinks to himself Note: make sure to lock doors/windows around Alrinkiri.
Each letter has unique delivery instructions.
The bearers of this letter shall attach it a kite that is flown high in the air befoire being cut free to find its to Ioz'om, the Sky Father.
You can look around for a kite seller (should be affordable), or craft one with a crafting check. However, the rainy weather makes flying a kits difficult, so you need to attempt an Athletics or Sleight of Hand check to make it fly high enough.