A Pathfinder Society Quest designed for levels 1–4 (subtiers 1–2 and 3–4).
In the nation of Qadira, Esmayl ibn Qaradi calls for Pathfinders to assist in what should be a simple genealogy verification. Multiple parties are heavily invested in the results that might be revealed by this family tree, however, and things won't be as simple as sifting through some old family records. As thieves and nobles vie to control history itself, the PCs will need to fend off violence and deceptions as they follow the branches of an ancient family tree.
Written by: Carlos Cabrera
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A noble looking dwarf enters into the room. His black hair is well groomed as is his shorter beard. He wears a set of chain and on his back is a crossbow. He is equipped with a shield. In a sheathe is a beautiful looking battle axe, yet his pride seems to be a war hammer. .
I am Grallen Frostbane. Son of Galyx Frostbane, Son of Shale Frostbane. I am happy to make your acquittances.
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"There is a young dwarf named Frostbane,
Who likes to dish out much pain,
He gives people whacks,
With a hammer and axe,
And from ale he'll never refrain"
"Yes that works" The Goblin remarks as he commits the limmerick to memory. Dressed in practical traveling clothes and quilted armour, the goblin looks as respectable as any other wandering merchant - and merchant is what he appears to be, with a backpack clearly full of assorted wares "Pennypockets. Anyone in the market for a good deal on chalk, writing supplies, or pottery mugs? I have some magical items too - a club of splintering, a candle of melting and other assorted wonders"
Venture-Captain Esmayl ibn Qaradi has invited each of you personally to his own estate in Qadira’s capital of Katheer. Signs of wealth abound; fine cloth awnings hang over an impressive spread of food and drink, with fruits, meats, and grains from across the Inner Sea.
Esmayl’s attire is expensive, finely pressed, and immaculate. As you arrive, the venture captain greets each of you in turn, clasping your arm at the elbow one by one (waiting a moment to watch for any social cues that might indicate the physical contact is unwelcome) and invites you to enjoy the refreshments.
You get a chance to mingle with your fellow Pathfinders and introduce yourselves over refreshments.
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A frustrated looking tiefling, tall with ruby-red skin, approaches.
He seems to be fussing and arguing with a young woman who is with him. She's mostly covered by a cloak with hood drawn, but upon closer inspection you note that her form is not all there, perhaps ghostly.
After a while he disengages from her and turns his attention to greet the Venture Captain and his new colleagues.
Well met, I am Morthos.
The young woman turns from her brother abruptly and gives the VC a sideways look at the offered arm clasping.
Hi.
She turns to their new goblin friend more excitedly.
What's this about pottery mugs? Does it have custom designs on it?
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Penny greets the VC, but unconsciously checks his pockets and valuables as though a Goblin too used to light-fingered fellows and pickpockets. He then avails himself of the refreshments.
As the apparition engages Penny straightens up and starts producing trade goods.
"I deal in wares and pottery,
So encumbered I almost walk tottery,
I'll make you a deal,
you'll swear it's a steal,
It's practically winning the lottery!"
The goblin produces some rather unremarkable examples of typical pottery, functional, but rather mundane.
"You look a little faint"
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An elf garbed in dyed green leathers stepped in, her posture somewhat stiff as her pale green eyes darted about observantly; her thumb visibly worrying the curve of the bow held tightly in her hand. The parts of her wavy blonde hair not kept in looping braids sitting somewhat frazzled from the dry desert air outside the seemingly palatial estate, and her pale skin held a somewhat rosy hue, making it clear she wasn't native to these environs.
She jolted slightly at the venture-captain's seemingly enthusiastic greeting - though more bewildered by the extravagance of everything and uncertainty over how to properly respond than outright discomfort at the contact. She settled for a quick salute as the man stepped away, "Priya Samara, reporting for service." She introduced herself in a firm, stern, but somewhat uncertain tone. Perhaps it was too direct? She couldn't help but fret over it somewhat.
"I must say... I hadn't expected my first outing to be so far afield from home." She states, forcing herself to lighten up a bit to counterbalance her initial greeting. Still she couldn't help but glance over her apparent companions for this mission; a strange group indeed but she knew she couldn't let herself dwell on it too much.
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"Hi Venture-Captain! I'm Cirri Merryweather!" The strix woman returns the gesture. "My father is from Qadira, although I'm from the outskirts of Chileax. Well, technically my homeland lies on the coast of landmass Chileax uses, but I'm digressing again."
The woman's gold hair fades into a dark gray plumage against her wings. She wears a blue blouse on top of her leather armor. "Home is warm and humid, but Kathleer seems arid. I'll have to stay hydrated." She takes another swig of water from her waterskin, and you notice the drops seem to hover around her for a moment.
She runs off to shake everyone else's hand (or a simple wave if they're not the touchy type) although she stops dead in her tracks when she focuses on Lidya. "Uh... hi." Deep breath to calm her wings. "Is that your brother?"
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Scree… scree… scree The scraping sound of metal on wood announces the next arrival. A furry blue goblin dressed in hides in various states of disarray and crusted with bird droppings, strolls into the room dragging a giant rusty sword (quite large for even an ogre to wield, let alone this small goblin) nonchalantly behind him. He takes one confused look around, the chicken perched on his head clucking quietly, then says ”Agents Noggin and Clucky reporting for duty!” with a quick, sceptical glance back at the door he adds ”Umm… This the right place? Looks awful fancy."
He clasps hands with Esmayl with a sceptical look on his face, but decides that, yes, this is definitely the place. He walks over to the food, looking at the spread with wide unbelieving eyes ”You can say that again…” He responds to Priya’s remarks about being far from home, ”We ain't never seen nothing like this before either!” He looks up and gives her a wink ”Best make the most of it while it lasts” Then proceeds to tuck in with vigor as the rest of the agents make their way in.
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Penny notes the other Goblin arriving - "Blue fur? That's very interesting you from the tribes in the north around Irrisen? I bid you and Clucky greetings from the Peoples Democratic Republic of Thistletop"
”Mmm, yesh, we’b been all ober er plaish, but up north firspt…” Noggin replies, mouth full of fancy food. He swallows and looks Pennypockets up and down ”Hmm, you must be very important to speak for a whole people! We'll, don't worry, we take our bodyguarding job seriously, don't we Clucky!” he says with a glance upwards at the sleeping chicken ”you're people's will cheer your name once again when you return to them all safe-like when this is over.” He seems proud of his self imposed protective duties for the Society, puffing up slightly as he "reassures" Pennypockets of his safety under his fellow goblin's watch.
Once the Pathfinders have all arrived, introduced themselves and sampled the food, Esmayl addresses you
"Welcome all of you to my home, and thank you very much for coming. I have invited you here so you can help me settle an important matter on behalf of the Pathfinder Society as a whole. As you know, our lodge here in Katheer is the only location we have in the whole of Qadira. This is something I plan to rectify personally, so I have contributed a small fortune to purchasing a plot of land for another lodge, close to the slave port of Sedeq in the south."
"We’re having this conversation here due to my personal stake in the matter. As it happens, I’ve come across a problem that’s brought the sale to a complete halt. Two different merchant families, the Agarja and the Patari, have approached me with papers claiming they are the proper owners of this land. Both attest they are descendants of the original landowner, Prince Agar ibn Karatari. I was under the impression I was to deal only with the owner of his estate until these two families stepped forward. The process to complete the sale alone will take months, but thankfully, this is a problem that can be rectified."
"With your assistance, we can determine which family is the legitimate heir to the property. There are four documents we can use to authenticate the prince’s lineage, which I have tracked to the bazaars of Katheer. Here is a list of the four merchants you’ll need to speak with. I would recover them myself, but I have another appointment I’m afraid I must keep. While you are in the bazaar, I will be discussing another matter with a fellow Pathfinder agent. I intend to use the new lodge as a safe house for the Society and our allies released from slavery, and I have intelligence which indicates some of our own could be moving through Sedeq from across the Inner Sea."
"If you’re able to recover these documents on my behalf, not only can we move ahead with saving our compatriots in chains, but we can establish further relations with the nation of Qadira and hopefully within Casmaron itself."
He then hands you the list of bazaar locations
The Patari family has ties to central Qadira. As part of their cattle trade, they do business in very peculiar mammals with the geniekin of the Zho Mountains.
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"Sounds like a matter for the courts - everybody knows never get involved in a land war in Qadira - but we can certainly start finding out which way the wind is likely to blow"
"Let's start with the Satrap"
"There was a VC in Qadira,
Who needed a matter made clearer,
A big plot of land,
With two 'owners' at hand,
This purchase might end up much dearer!"
"Yes I quite like that one"
"You look a little faint"
Strange, I feel totally fine!
"Uh... hi." Deep breath to calm her wings. "Is that your brother?"
Yes! Can't you see the resemblance? She laughs out loud at herself and elbows the tiefling rather jarringly.
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Priya listens to Esmayl's briefing carefully, taking small sips of water as they went as she prepared herself for the inevitable venture back out into the heat. The mission seemed easy enough, fetching documents and running errands... But something told her the people who held those documents wouldn't just hand them over because they asked. The proximity to potential slave trade activities also had her somewhat on edge; all the more reason to stay on guard in this unfamiliar land.
All the while one of the names of the merchant houses nagged at her with an odd familiarity, "Patari..." She hummed to herself, mulling the name over for a moment, "The cattle traders, correct? I seem to recall hearing something about them dealing in peculiar animals in the mountains - Zho? - recently." She mused, half to herself to confirm her own recollection and half to the rest of the group, feeling it was potentially information worth sharing.
"Venture captain, before we go I would like to requisition a map of the region, if at all possible." She asks as Pennypockets and Morthos give the call to depart, hoping to get a proper reference for the many location names she was learning in the brief time since her arrival before she dove deeper into this matter.
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Noggin stuffs one last muffin in his mouth and salutes Esmayl, "'he documenths will be thafe wid us! he declared, spluttering crumbs everywhere. He picks up the hilt to his obscenely large sword and sidles up next to Lidya, eager to depart for this most important of missions "Satrap Esoterica, here we come..." he looks up at his new ethereal travel companion "Don't worry, you'll all be safe with me."
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Yes! Can't you see the resemblance? She laughs out loud at herself and elbows the tiefling rather jarringly.
"N...n..."
"Well! My Uncle doesn't look anything like me. And he's also not my uncle by blood, not the brother of my father or my parent. But he gets Uncle as a title because he's helped me understand mechanical stuff since I was young-" Cirri can almost see through Lidya- "Younger! So that was fun."
Cirri manages not to panic in front of a g-g-g-gh when the team quickly announces their plans and gives her an out. "I'll grab my Eagle-Eye Elixir and then we can go to the bazaar and see Satrap. It's a great opportunity to see the marketplace in action. I bet my Uncle would love this place."
She nods and smiles at Noggin as he lines up next to her.
A fellow warrior!
"Well! My Uncle doesn't look anything like me. And he's also not my uncle by blood, not the brother of my father or my parent. But he gets Uncle as a title because he's helped me understand mechanical stuff since I was young-" Cirri can almost see through Lidya- "Younger! So that was fun."
Oh, it's simpler for us. We're half-siblings: we share the same mother. Morthos is stuck with me!
All the while one of the names of the merchant houses nagged at her with an odd familiarity, "Patari..." She hummed to herself, mulling the name over for a moment, "The cattle traders, correct? I seem to recall hearing something about them dealing in peculiar animals in the mountains - Zho? - recently." She mused, half to herself to confirm her own recollection and half to the rest of the group, feeling it was potentially information worth sharing.
Esmayl nods, "Yes, Patari are cattle traders. I hadn't heard about their ventures in the Zho mountains though! I understand the Agarja family deals in trading spices to and from other lands. I am eager to find out who truly owns the property we seek."
"Venture captain, before we go I would like to requisition a map of the region, if at all possible." She asks as Pennypockets and Morthos give the call to depart, hoping to get a proper reference for the many location names she was learning in the brief time since her arrival before she dove deeper into this matter.
"Ah, I can only provide a rough map of the region, but not one of the bazaar. The ways of the bazaar are ephemeral and it is always best to ask on the day to work out the ways through its maze." replies Esmayl.
"If there are no more questions I will let you go on your way. May the light of Sarenrae guide you."
The journey from the Venture Captain's estates to the Bazaar at the centre of Katheer does not take long, even on foot. However, on arriving you see the true size and beauty of the Opulent Bazaar of Katheer! The place is a maze of covered walkways, colonnades, shopfronts, vendors under awnings and street hawkers, not to mention the bustling crowds. You will need to ask around to find the way to the Satrap Esoterica, requiring a DC 15 Diplomacy to Gather Information.
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"Oh thats a GOOD one!" Penny admires the VC's wordsmithing.
"The ways of the bazaar are ephemeral,
The layouts they number to several,
You ask on the day,
To find out the way,
For the whole thing is spatio-temporal!"
Penny pats himself on the back as he leaves.
Meanwhile, at the bazaar
Penny tries working the crowd...
Diplomacy
Only to find the lack of the local tongue a hindrance - "Totally unappreciative audience, clearly no artistic taste"
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"A regional map - even a rough one - would suffice." She states with a nod... Only for her train of thought to be briefly derailed by the goblin's "A little clumsy, that last line." She comments as they leave.
Soon after she would follow suit.
( )
Once at the bazaar Priya went on high alert, both listening for rumors on the air and studying how the bazaar goers and merchants interacted to try to get a better picture of the local customs and polite greetings before she began asking around for information about the collector.
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Wow, the bazaar is huge. Uncle would be so jealous right now. Or maybe he has been here? Father probably brought him here at least once. Uncle never talks about his past life anyway.
"Oh, hello-"
"Sorry! I didn't mean to bump into-"
"I'm looking for- oh, you're busy?"
Cirri isn't able to get a word in before realizing she split off from the team and is lost.
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Noggin isn't sure what half the words in Pennypockets' limerick mean, but he's enjoying the flow of the words and the rhymes. He has talent he muses as he heads out with everyone else, but made up words should taste better than ephemeral does...
Out in the bazaar, the sights and sounds are a little overwhelming for the country goblin, and he tends to keep close to Lidya. He's a little surprised that someone so translucent could be a warrior, and decides to stay close just in case she's a little deluded and not at all because he's uncomfortable in this strange place.
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As they go along Morthos keeps motioning for Lidya to not speak up. He is nervous that she will scare off would-be providers of directions.
Sorry to bother you, we're looking for the Satrap. Can you point us in the right direction? He is friendly, brief, and straightforward each time he stops to ask.
As you leave Esmayl's estate, an assistant will meet Priya at the gate and pass her a scroll case. Within is an exquisitely drawn map of Katheer and surrounds showing profiles of the most prominent buildings. The notation on the map is in Kelish.
On arriving at the Bazaar, Priya mingles successfully with the crowd and establishes how to get to each of the locations in Esmayl's list. It is also apparent that visiting the locations in the order listed is the most efficient way to see them all. Morthos gets a mixture of reactions to his appearance, and people seem to quickly wrap up any conversations if they catch sight of Lidya. However, he is still able to glean directions which corroborate Priya's findings. Cirri gets swept away with the crowd but is able to catch glimpses of Priya over the press and eventually catches up with the tall elf and the rest of the party. Pennypockets seems to have encountered a series of people who don't understand (or wish to understand) common and makes little progress.
After around two hours, so still morning, you arrive at the Satrap Esoterica, where you heard that you might find everything you want under the Qadiran sun—and everything you need under the satrap’s starry skies. It turns out that is also what the sign says above the shop's shutters! There you are greeted by Anebu, a Garundi woman who is only too happy to show you around her eclectic stock. "Ah travellers from afar! How may I and my humble collection assist you this day?"
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"Thank you for your kind welcome, lovely establishment you have here" Penny makes the requisite friendly small talk before getting to the thrust of it "We are here seeking documentation, specifically, to establish a clear family lineage in order to settle a property dispute"
"We are led to believe your enterprise here may have such records"
She continues "Ah yes young sir, I have an extensive antiquities collection and it is quite possible I may have what you are looking for. Please feel free to browse and do let me know if you need any assistance."
At that point she is called away by an older Kelish woman who emerges from the back of the building enquiring about the price of some statuettes.
There is an extensive collection of old books and it will take some time to work your way through them.
You sort through the books and using your knowledge of historical context and syntax, you can determine the relevant volume. Not all of the text is complete, however.
You determine the correct volume when you find some text in invisible ink in one book. The volume contains hidden text that can be revealed with a simple application of heat, such as holding a blade warmed in a candle or torch near the page.
Lidya is walking by Pennypockets when she happens to notice a reaction. She stops looks over his shoulder and squints at it for a moment.
The one "warm" thing on her otherwise "cool colored", translucent figure is a flaming blade that she calls a firebrand. She draws it and holds it close to the pages as if it were a torch.
Ha! It's got invisible ink and the heat from my blade is revealing it. I think this will bring out the rest!
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"Scribble face?" Priya raises a brow at that name, though she didn't have time to dwell on it as she sees the spectral woman produce a flaming blade, panic briefly shining in her eyes... And a small amount of confusion - the goblin was eagerly poring over a book and a ghost was the one about to set fire to it?
She reflexively raised her hand in protest, unsure if she would be able to stop an apparent ghost but knowing how important the book was, "Wait don-... What?" Her protests quickly died down at the mention of invisible ink, prompting her to lean over and confirm for herself, "... So it is..." She relaxed a bit, eyes glancing over the text as it appears, doing her best to make heads or tails of what she was reading and hopefully confirm this was the book they were after.
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"Scribble face?"
"Very famous incident from the recent past. Licktoad tribe. Brinestump Marsh just outside Sandpoint in Varisia. One of the tribe had been found using forbidden arts and was engaged in one of the greatest of goblin taboos — writing things down. There’s no swifter way to bring about bad luck than stealing words out of your head by writing them down, and so the tribe had no choice. They branded the goblin’s face with letters to punish him, changed his name to Scribbleface, and then ran him out of town, took all of his stuff, and burned down his hut"
The Goblins eyes go wide as saucers staring at the flame moving towards flamable paper, "Oooh" he gasps as the words appear "I think that is what we are looking for!"
With that evidence revealed you can purchase the (only slightly singed) volume of Prince Agar's memoirs on Emlyn's behalf. Anebu is happy to sell it you and seemed not to notice your investigatory techniques. The search took around an hour.
You set out for the next stop, Morning Sands. Before long you are looking at the sign for the shop, shining brightly in the sunlight. The Morning Sands serves as an antechamber to one of the many churches of Sarenrae in Katheer.
Inside you are met by a Vudrani priestess who introduces herself as Zarida. She looks your group over, pausing a bit on Lidya, before she smiles and says "Good afternoon, how may the faithful of Sarenrae assist you this day?"
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"Oh, cool. Or hot. Heehee!" Cirri giggles at Lydia's ingenuity, pushing her phobia back for a bit.
Once they're out of the store, Cirri musters enough courage to speak to her. "That was cool. Can you conjure fire? I'm more of a water and air type of person. My tribe lives on the coast, and, well-" she flexes her left wing "-some of the tribe can fly. I'm still working on that."
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Zarida earns a bow from Cirri. "Hi! I'm Cirri Merryweather, and we're all Pathfinders. Anyway, our Venture-Captain is trying to purchase a plot of land close to Sedeq. We're trying to figure out who owns it. We know it used to be owned by Prince Agar ibn Karatari, but we can't trace the lineage."
"We heard the Prince was involved with the church of Sarenrae, and you might know more in particular?"
Outside of the Satrap shop...
Once they're out of the store, Cirri musters enough courage to speak to her. "That was cool. Can you conjure fire? I'm more of a water and air type of person. My tribe lives on the coast, and, well-" she flexes her left wing "-some of the tribe can fly. I'm still working on that."
Oh... uh no. Not conjure. Just one of my blades is sort of... made of fire.
She holds out both blades to each side of her, displaying them clearly.
This main blade is the protector firebrand! This other one... the dagger is a little less impressive but it seems to catch foes off-guard after they focus on the fiery blade!
She sheathes them both as Cirri continues.
Oh, I bet you'll figure out the flying thing soon!
"Your venture-captain would be Esmayl Ibn Qaradi I assume! A pleasure to meet you Cirri Merryweather, and your fellow pathfinders then. Yes, I was chatting with Esmayl about something I read in the church's library that touched on Prince Agar. But I have been reading widely these last few weeks and I can't recall whether it was among the sacred texts or within the forbidden archives..."
You might need to prompt Zarida's memory with relevant knowledge here...
You are able to give enough information linking the Prince to worship of Sarenrae in the Sedeq region to help the priestess quickly collect the correct scroll from the sacred texts.
You are able to give enough information linking the Prince to resistance against the enemies of Sarenrae to help the priestess collect a tome with relevant information from the forbidden archives.
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Morthos nods.
Very good. Then you are filled-in on the sort of thing we might be searching for. We're happy help recovery what you read. Pathfinders of the Grand Archive are quite proficient with researching in the stacks.
Appropriately as a sometimes-forbidden beling, Morthos relegates himself to start in the Forbidden Archives...
After a short while the tiefling re-emerges with a clue.
I've found enough information linking the Prince to resistance against the enemies of Sarenrae. Perhaps you have more on that topic in a particular area?
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"Scribble face?""Very famous incident from the recent past. Licktoad tribe. Brinestump Marsh just outside Sandpoint in Varisia. One of the tribe had been found using forbidden arts and was engaged in one of the greatest of goblin taboos — writing things down. There’s no swifter way to bring about bad luck than stealing words out of your head by writing them down, and so the tribe had no choice. They branded the goblin’s face with letters to punish him, changed his name to Scribbleface, and then ran him out of town, took all of his stuff, and burned down his hut"
Priya simply gave the goblin a bewildered look as she listened to his story... No this was more in line with what she had heard about goblins back home.
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Once at the church, Priya hangs to the back of the group, letting those more knowledgeable than her handle the matter as she settled for admiring the architecture of the church.
At Morthos' recollection Zarida will brighten "Ah yes, of course, it will be in the section dealing with the 3965 incursion... oh I mean, yes I know where it will be in the Forbidden Archives. I'll just have to borrow the key and retrieve it. Just wait here please.".
You see her bustling off and catching a senior priestess who has just finished officiating morning services in the adjoining building. They have a quick conversation and Zarida receives a key. Zarida then descends some stairs and after some time she comes back up carrying a tome.
"This was the one I was thinking of - thank-you for your help. Please pass it to Esmayl with my compliments." and she hands over the book.
From there it is only a short walk to the next location, The Four Dunes. This is a cartographer’s shop run by a pair of halfling twins who go by the names Fali and Farul Dunes. The wooden counter faces on to the street while behind are ranks of diamond shaped pigeon holes piled high with scroll cases. There are labels in Kelish for many of the pigeon holes, but still it looks like a jumbled mess to the casual eye. "Welcome to the finest collection of maps in all of Katheer! Serving merchants and navies alike for over a decade! Is it the local waters you want to know about or somewhere further across the Inner Sea? No matter, we have you covered." chimes the female halfling, Fali. "We might even be able to help if it is something dryer you are interested in?" finishes Farul.
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Priya steps up to the plate this time, bowing her head politely to the twins, "Yes, we were dispatched by Venture Captain Esmayl to gather documents regarding the dispute over Prince Agar ibn Karatari's former holdings." She states, glancing to the piles of scroll cases slotted away behind the counter, "We require a map of the boundaries of the Prince's lands, if at all possible." She once again gives a polite nod to punctuate her request, before looking to the rest of the group to confirm that she had given the correct information.