The paladin frowns, clearly troubled, and nods in agreement with the party. "I do not approve of slavery, but this is not the time to overthrow the entire institution and risk the slaves' lives. Perhaps in the future the circumstances will be different. For now, we play their game and do a little good where we can."
She looks at Ki Chin and Elemenar in particular as she adds, "And as reprehensible as it is, slavery is legal here."
She hands over a rolled leather coin purse embossed with an image of stocks and the words 'Stig's Twenty Five.' "You'll need to head to Misery Row. The bidding starts first thing in the morning. Eight o'clock--don't be late. The auction is being run by a Varisian man called Bounder Stig. He runs a closed, buy-in auction; you'll need the coins in that purse to participate, so don't lose them."
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"Slavery may be legal here, but it sounds like the taking of these people as slaves is not. I can't just grab a random kid off the street and say, 'Hey! I got a slave!' Even if it's the bloomin' Worldwound!"
Glorin fumes. "If this gets to be a bidding war, someone else is going to have to handle negotiations. I've got a dwarf's tongue, aye!"
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Elemenar nods in Glorin's direction. "As he said. Slavery may be legal here, but these soldiers have a special pardon. Or so I thought. But it matters little. We will use these coins to set things right."
Elemear snatches the bag of coins from Ollystra.
"We'll be there before eight."
Next he turns to his companions. "Tomorrow morning, seven thirty at Misery Row. Does everyone have a place to stay for tonight?"
Ollysta wishes you luck and departs. As the Commemorative Service is winding down, the party does likewise, returning to whatever lodgings they have secured upon arriving in Absalom from Tian Sha the previous day.
The next day, the party meets in Misery Row, a cramped street on the eastern edge of the Coins district. Climbing the stairs up onto a platform that runs the whole length of the street, you all see that this section of the city is quickly coming to life with the morning. Rough-looking men and women escort the much more well-to-do as the latter--clearly the rough-looking ones' employers and generally looking like rich merchants, nobility, or other aristocracy--peruse the 'wares' in the street itself. It is from this dichotomy between elevated platform and bare street below that the so-called 'Slave Pits of Absalom' get their name. Elves, dwarves, humans, and a number of other similar races have representatives in the Slave Pits, most wearing tattered rags and covered in dirt and dried blood.
You make your way through the ever-increasing crowds of the morning to the nondescript place that Ollysta indicated held the war-hero slaves. A gruff-looking man halts you at the door and gives the party a cursory glance. "Get lost," he says. This must be Bounder Stig.
Thankfully, Elemenar remembers what Ollysta told the party about the special auction coins, and the gruff man grunts as Elemenar shows the rolled leather coin purse.
"Fine, fine--find a spot." He motions you inside, scratching a note on a clipboard he has in hand.
You do so, taking seats as you wait for the auction to begin. More trickle in after you, and by eight o'clock, some dozen bidding parties comprising around 50 people are present.
"Alright, enough of the chitchat! Anyone up fer bidding find a spot around the pits. Anyone else...shove off!" he calls, launching into his opening banter.
"Today, I'm holding a quick sale auction! That means I'm doing this quick. Any of ya with complaints can stick around to thank the pesky Andorens that keep showing up and gettin' in me business. Each auction is one bid per slave, got it? No haggling today, and no complaints! Look at yer bid coins an' you'll know I already got yer money. I ain't havin' no arguments today neither, so don't nobody spill blood on my block unless you paid for it."
"So here's how it works. I put a slave up for auction and anyone interested writes down a bid. I check the offers and the slave goes off to the highest unique bid. If yer bid's the same as anyone else's, ya both lose. I ain't got time to sort out no arguments. Remember, I keep all bids, so even if ya don't win, I'm still takin' yer coins, so if you can't afford to lose 'em, don't place a bloody bid!"
"Lastly, the bids for all auctions start at 8 coins. I ain't repeating that and if there's anyone dumb enough to offer me less than 200 gold, don't expect me to take any more offers from ya, period. All clear?"
From about the block, the buyers grumbled in agreement, after which the auction begins.
"Alright, first up!" Bounder Stig calls as a human male is roughly shoved forward. "This fine specimen here would serve well as a miner or a farmer--look at that lean physique and those toned muscles. Or, if you've got the means to keep him loyal, he'd make a fine guard, too! I hear he used to be a bandit, so he knows which end of the sword to stick in someone!"
From the descriptions that Ollysta gave you, this must be Talmar, one of the war-heroes: a former bandit from Isger.
"Write yer bids and let's get this quick auction done, quick!"
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Aylanna at some point after understanding the rules of the auction asks the others "What a crook. Figures a salver would be an outright thieving con man as well. Gives a bad name to thieves and con men in fact. Given this unusual format do we have any reason to do anything but bid 10 coins on each? Though if the minimum is 8, it seems unlikely to free all three, let alone the 4th poor soul not on our list."
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"Haa. So we only bid once each time?" Ki Chin asks as the auctioneer lays out the rules of the auction.
"Very well. Let us start with 10 and hope it is enough. If we get into a bidding war we might not even be able to retrieve all three. Let's keep an eye on the auction winners and maybe we can sort things out later."
The party writes down their bid, as do a couple of rival bidders. Bounder Stig comes around and collects each, looking over the slips of paper. "And we have a winner!" he declares, holding up a particular piece of paper and waving to a Qadiran man.
"And we thank you," he says to the Qadiran. The man's prize, Talmar, is shoved roughly toward the Qadiran man, and a second slave is manhandled up from the Slave Pits and placed on display. 'Manhandled' may be the wrong word here, however, as this is a woman in tattered rags whose slightly pointed ears mark her as a half-elf. This must be the half-elf paladin that Ollysta described: Holianda Wist, a River Kingdoms swindler who converted to Iomedae's faith.
"Next up: Look at this fine wench's lineage. See those points on her ears? A trace of the exotic about her, aye, and anyone'd find many uses for her, too. Place your bids now!"
Stig once again collects the slips of paper upon which several bidders have placed their bids. He looks each over, then turns to the winning party.
"And the half-elf wench goes to the Qadiran gentleman. We thank you for your business," Stig says as his cronies shove the half-elf paladin toward the Qadiran man.
The next slave is hauled up from the Slave Pits, and you don't recognize this one. A human male, he seems less hearty than the other two, and he doesn't match the description that Ollysta gave you. You let this bid pass by, and this one is called in favor of a high-rolling, portly Taldan man.
The final auction begins as Bounder Stig's cronies haul up a slim elven man: this must be the elven sorcerer Elwyhir Eshikonas, whose crime seems to have been slandering the rulers of the Land of the Linnorm Kings.
"This fine elven specimen comes from the far north. I'm told he's got a bit of that elven magic about him, so the wise investor can no doubt find a use or two for him!" Stig announces. "Place your bids now, ladies and gents."
The party writes down their final bid, all eight remaining coins, on the provided slip of paper as their bidding opponents do likewise. A crony comes around to take up the slips, and Stig reads through each. With a wry chuckle, he announces the winner: "Once again, we thank the fine Qadiran gentleman for his patronage. This auction is now closed. Thank you, and may your journeys take you far from any pesky, interfering Andorens."
The elven sorcerer is shoved into the hands of the Qadiran man's party as the 'quick auction' quickly shuts down.
It looks like it's going to take some 'alternative tactics' if the party is to retrieve these wronged war-heroes now.
As the party discusses what to do among themselves, the Qadiran and his entourage make to depart the area, heading back up the street with all three war-heroes-turned-slaves in tow.
The pesky, interfering Andorens never did show up. Or maybe they're just late? Either way, the Qadiran and his henchmen don't seem to want to find out as they half-drag their newfound acquisitions off.
The Qadiran and his henchmen have a slight headstart, but are hampered by their newly acquired slaves. You're able to catch up to them fairly easily. As Aya calls for them to stop, the Qadiran's entourage turn, hands on their weapons.
It looks like there're three half-orcs, each armed with a greataxe and a shortspear and armored in a chain shirt, and the Qadiran, who seems unarmored but wields a bastard sword.
"Kill them," the Qadiran says, and they all draw steel.
Round 1
Elemenar
Lin Ki Chin
To-to-obika
Aylanna
Qadiran
Glorin
Half-orcs
Aya
War-hero-slash-slaves
for
The party springs into action, with Elemenar’s jets of fire setting one half-orc aflame and leaving the other singed. The half-orcs not aflame catch Aylanna’s radiance a moment later. They clutch their eyes with one hand, stifling screams.
“Must I do everything myself?” the Qadiran complains, and wades into melee with his bastard sword. Fortunately for Elemenar, his sword swing goes wide and the Qadiran almost loses his balance correcting the awkward sword stroke.
Round 1
Elemenar
Lin Ki Chin
To-to-obika
Aylanna
Qadiran
Glorin
Half-orc 1 (-15 hp, dazzled, on fire)
Half-orc 2 (-11 hp, blinded)
Half-orc 3 (-8 hp, blinded)
Aya
War-hero-slash-slaves
Glorin nearly cuts the Qadiran down on the spot, his urgrosh cleaving deep into the man's shoulder.
For their part, two of the half-orcs fumble for potions at their belts and down them. The half-orc who happens to be aflame drops to the ground and attempts to douse the fire by rolling around. Unfortunately, he's not terribly successful.
Round 1
Elemenar
Lin Ki Chin
To-to-obika
Aylanna
Qadiran (-27 hp)
Glorin
Half-orc 1 (-15 hp, dazzled, on fire, prone)
Half-orc 2 (-7 hp, blinded)
Half-orc 3 (-3 hp, blinded)
Aya
War-hero-slash-slaves
Things continue to go from bad to worse for the slaver and his minions as the divine power of Horus washes over them. Their would-be slaves don't fare much better, and take it upon themselves to make a break for it. They shuffle off in their manacles toward the south.
Round 2
Elemenar
Lin Ki Chin
To-to-obika
Aylanna
Qadiran (-31 hp)
Glorin
Half-orc 1 (-19 hp, dazzled, on fire, prone, dazed)
Half-orc 2 (-11 hp, blinded, dazed)
Half-orc 3 (-7 hp, blinded)
Aya
War-hero-slash-slaves (Talmar -4 hp, Elwyhir -4 hp dazed)
The living torch of a half-orc continues to roll on the ground, trying to put out the fire on him as Elemenar hits him with a second jet of flame. The smell of cooking (half-)human flesh fills the air and that half-orc goes still. The other jet of flame washes over the other half-orc on the front lines, setting him aflame. Aylanna's follow-up ray of fire strikes him a moment later, and he too collapses into a burning heap.
Lin Ki Chin crosses blades with the Qadiran, the sound of steel striking steel filling the alley for a brief few moments before Ki Chin finds an opening and cuts down the Qadiran.
In the eerie silence that follows, the remaining half-orc blindly calls out, "Master Blackburn...? Midley Blackburn...?" A note of panic creeps into his voice as he realizes he's alone. "I surrender!"
The clatter of his great axe on the cobblestone of the alley and the clinking of the war-hero/slaves' shackles as they attempt to escape this fight between what to them seems rival slavers are the only sounds filling the alley as the skirmish ends.
Hearing the party call after them (and realizing they probably can't outrun you all anyway), the war-hero-slash-slaves pause their attempt to flee. The sole surviving half-orc, having regained his sight at last (and seeing the party otherwise distracted), leaves his great axe behind and himself flees for his life. A few moments after that, the Qadiran's form shifts, leaving a gaunt, gray-skinned humanoid with what almost seems like an unfinished, noseless face.
The party removes the war-heroes' shackles and return to the Grand Lodge with no further problems--the Coins District's guards are notoriously lazy, and don't bother to show up to investigate until hours later.
Ollysta meets you at the Grand Lodge, personally greeting and shaking the hands of the three war-heroes. "I am glad that you were able to free these brave souls, Pathfinders," she says. As the party recounts the chain of events that led to the war-heroes' renewed freedom, her countenance turns from joy to sadness as she contemplates recent events.
"I wish I could say today's events were isolated, but I cannot. With recent victories to the north, I understand the Fifth Mendevian Crusade is drawing to a close. I now see that we have as much work to do at home helping people as we do on the frontier fighting demons. Fortunately, our efforts at the Worldwound have made the Pathfinder Society look as much like a guild of heroes as an association of archaeologists, and the positive response has not been lost on the Society's leadership. I expect they will continue to support our efforts as we turn them homeward and attempt not to be crusaders, but soldiers of peace. Be prepared for missions of mercy and justice. Our work is not done."
She salutes you all, and turns to the three war-heroes, leading them off on a search for better raiment and food.
By this time, it is early afternoon. You recall that there is a Preinaugural Feast to take place in the Wise Quarter later in the afternoon, but you still have a few hours to spare before then.
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"Nope, not a person. It was a doppelganger. My guess is that it killed the real Qadiran and took his place. The most curious question, though, as you said, is why." Then Elemenar remembers the upcoming feast and sighs.
"But we have another one of those social atrocities this afternoon. That is a few hours. I suggest that we find a quiet place to wait. Preferably away from the common folk."