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The chartered ship from Absalom sails up the River Porthmos until it circles north past an island stronghold. As it rounds the river’s final bend, the ship sails into a bustling harbour filled with people and vessels from all across the Inner Sea. A gargantuan bridge spans the wide river, connecting the southern bank to the vast city of Oppara. To the north rises an enormous, weatherworn dome on top of a hill otherwise covered with beautiful old buildings and manicured gardens.
Grandbridge is the largest district of Oppara, world-renowned for the international trade it facilitates through its import-export firms, markets, factories, and warehouses. You are able to see the infamous Gray Market that stands between the split rises of the bridge, offering questionable goods straight from the docks.
You find yourself in Oppara on a chartered ship from Absalom. Each of you carry a missive from Venture-Captain Muesello, instructing you to meet him in the bait and tackle shop that acts as a front for Oppara’s Pathfinder lodge.
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The elven changeling girl leans over the railing at the front of the ship. She spreads her arms wide, feeling the wind rush around her and laughing at the spray of the water. The wind blows her burgundy hair back and whips at the paisley scarf around neck. She closes her eyes and laughs, her voice like an enchanting chime.
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"Haven't been out this way since I was litte." The diminutive young woman hangs from the railing to look over the edge, boot-clad legs kicking in the air beneath her green greatcoat; her pony tail whipping in the wind as the ship sails towards their destination, "Never really got a good chance to look around back then, hopefully this time will be different, hmmhmm..." She chuckles, clearly eager for whatever Oppara had in store for them.
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All but Gwendolyn notice that someone seems to be following you since you have departed the ship, though you are unable to discern any details about their identity.
The Pathfinder lodge is in the middle of Oppara’s bustling markets, but Muesello’s missive provides adequate directions. The lodge resembles a bait and tackle shop. An assistant at the front counter escorts you to a back room cluttered with tackle storage as you provide the correct phrase. Tools, documents, and disassembled wayfinders lie in disarray on a large workbench.
Venture-Captain Muesello provides a warm smile. "Oh good, you made it. Please have a seat. Would you like a drink?" He motions to the large table.
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A lean-built Tian-Shu man stands off to one side, looking somewhat unsure of himself, looking mostly at the ground. The only distinctive feature you would notice at first glance is his long flowing hair, kept unbound and left free to hang naturally. A closer look though reveals something strange - his hair and robes he wears are constantly being gently tossed by a breeze, even when there are no drafts about.
Eventually, he takes a deep breath and looks up at each of you in turn. Before he introduces himself though, you notice the next unusual thing about him. While his right eye is black like a typical Tian-Shu, his left eye is a distinctively gray that reminds you of the clouds of a gathering storm.
"Hello. Um, my name is Tai Fung. You can call me Fung." He pauses here, unsure whether to continue, but eventually he does. "As you can see, I'm a changeling." He stops abruptly here.
He takes a brief glance at Gwendolyn before he takes a seat.
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Gwen chats with Maneki on their way to the shop. She's so engrossed with the conversation she barely pays attention to her surroundings.
When they arrive she wrinkles her nose at the smell of the bait shop. But she goes into the cramped back room with everyone else and finds a seat, perching lightly. She had already noticed Fung's eyes, which displayed a mismatch much like her own, though she had a vividly green eye and then a soft brown. She giggles as Fung's admission.
"Are we supposed to divulge our lineage too? Very well, I'm Gwen and I'm a changeling as well!" Her hand plays with the scarf around her neck as she winks at Fung.
She turns her attention to the VC, and her voice changes to silk. "Well, Captain, a lady would love a drink. What exactly is the occasion to gather us in such a esteemed place"
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Ameli frowns a bit, glancing over her shoulder as the group departs, keeping an eye on the figure seemingly tailing them but not speaking up just yet, figuring it'd just cause a ruckus if she did.
Once they were inside the tackle-shop however she broke her silence, "Ah, so I'm not the only one who noticed." She nods to confirm Gilgamesh's claim before clearing her throat a bit, "Also Ameli Hearthscale, a pleasure to work with all of you, or at least so I hope." She states with a bow and a chipper tone.
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Maneki chats animatedly with Gwen, realizing that they have some common friends.
"Oh yes, one of my kobold friends thinks he's a reborn Dragon. He apparently even named himself after your friend Rhaegal"
En route to the tavern, though, she keeps a wary eye on the person trailing the group. She's about to broach the subject with Venture-Captain Muesello had Gilgamesh not beaten her to it.
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"OMG. 'The Dragon?'" Gwen uses air quotes with her fingers and then rolls her eyes before laughing. She slips an arm around Maneki's, hooking themselves together as they walked. "That kobold is such a cute little thing when he roars! I could just pinch him! But I swear he talked for like four hours about how stew was originally made by dragons. I think he even said the word 'stew' came from draconic!" She giggles. "Wait, are there two of them now?"
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Gwen turns to the others when they share that someone had been following them. "You think it was someone dangerous? Like a stalker? Oh, how exciting!" Her mismatched eyes shine as she considers the idea.
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Venture-Captain Muesello smiles. "That was my tail I assigned to you. You have sharp eyes." He seems quite impressed.
Muesello brushes back his gray hair as he paces behind his desk. “A concerned friend brought a series of illegal street tournaments to my attention. They would like the Pathfinder Society to look into them, and as you have probably guessed, that is why you are here.” He gestures towards the city outside the balcony. “Many of those that compete in the tournaments have gone missing. I have arranged for you to go undercover and take part in the upcoming tournament. I need you to find out who is organizing them and, if possible, what their purpose is.”
He hands over a piece of paper. “Go to this street corner on the eastern edge of Grandbridge. The tournament contact will meet you there. Oh, and before I forget: would you kindly hand over your wayfinders? We should not advertise who we are during this mission. I want you to be as discreet as possible. The situation in Taldor is delicate, and we do not want to attract unwanted attention.”
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Fung looks rather crestfallen as he hands over his wayfinder rather reluctantly, running his fingers over the inscribed crest just before it exchanges hands.
He then straightens up and turns back to business. "What's the nature of these tournaments?" Pausing briefly, as if to avoid giving anything away, he then adds, "And what makes them illegal?"
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Gilgamesh turns over his Wayfinder as well. "If it is illegal, why don't we report it to the proper authorities instead? Unless this concerned friend is one of them and knows better than to entrust the matter to themselves." he infers from the matter shared to them by the venture-captain.
"It's possible we're being sent in to gather concrete proof of the goings on, or to scout out where it's being held so the authorities can actually act on the matter." Ameli speculates, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.
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"The Authorities have their hands full with more important matters at the moment I am afraid. I suspect that these tournaments have a hidden purpose beyond earning coin from illegal street fights—especially with combatants disappearing. They could lead to trouble for us and our friends in Taldor in the future."
He looks around the bait and tackle shop. "Unfortunately I don't have much in the ways of disguises here, but they should have all seek to purchase at the Market."
Ameli knows a small bit about the political situation in Taldor. While Grand Princess Eutropia managed to secure a firm grip on the crown of Taldor during the recent civil war, there are still factions within the nation that would be happy to see someone else on the throne—preferably, someone they could more easily control.
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"Even exchanging articles of clothing amongst ourselves should do the trick... if we were all the same gender... and race..." Orion's words die out as he realizes that there's a halfling and three females in the party. He sees the male half-orc and realize he's the only one he can exchange clothes with and says "You know what, I don't mind buying..."
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Ameli smirks as Orion realizes the logistics of his suggestion, "I'm certain my coat would pass as a shirt well enough, though I wouldn't recommend fighting while wearing it like that." She chuckles then shrugs, "Honestly I could probably go as is, given I haven't been operating in the field for too long and I had mostly been assisting my parents with their merchant business until recently."
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Muesello nods as he tosses over a couple personal silver pieces. "This should get yu a couple articles of cloting to change your appearance if you wish. My contact is Vionnia Amnas. She's a local with a vested interest in the area. She'll help get you in and established." He gives you a quick description of a young woman with short red hair, as well as a sign and countersign response to give her.
Muesello takes the Wayfinders. "I'll keep these well safe for you. These, I think, will help you out." He pulls out a satchel that holds 1 minor healing potion for each of you and hands it over.
★ -- ★ -- ★ -- ★
You head to the rendezvous location and spot your contact standing by a lamp post. You give her the pass phrase and she responds in turn, "I'm Vionnia. Pleasure to meet you! Are any of you hungry, because I'm starved! Let's grab a meat pie from the stands before we head to the meet. Tell me about yourselves on the walk over and I'll pay for pies!" She's young and Taldan, with red hair and green eyes and an easy smile.
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Gwen smiles at Vionnia. "It's wonderful to meet you too! A meat pie sounds amazing right now." She walks with the redhead, trying to take stock of her as they walk.
"My name's Gwen. I heard you can help us with some changes of clothing that might help us blend in. I'm excited! I know a bit about changing my own appearance, what girl doesn't, right? I'm really not usually a clothes horse, but who can pass up an opportunity to redo your look? If this helps us find a friend where we're going, I say it's worth it."
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""Does the Dragon have an origin for meat pies too?" she asks with a giggle.
Gwen giggles. "Knowing him, it would be something like, 'Dragons invented meat pies. Everything is like a meat pie when you can breathe fire on it. Just like they invested barbeque! Just smoothskins trying to be like us.'" She outright laughs at this.
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Gwen continues to chatter with her new girl friend. "I haven't seen Rhaegal is a while, but last time, he was trying to build himself some sort of dragon crown-thing. So maybe he's hunting for pieces for it. Gotta say, it did look pretty fearsome." She nods to herself.
As they walk, Gwen does keep an eye on Vionnia as she leads the group to food, admiring the redhead's backside.
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Vionnia leads you to a stall you can find enough clothing for proper disguises. She motions down a back alley to give you enough time to put them on as well as apply any makeup to cover up distinguishing marks.
Leading the way Vionnia buys the pies and distributes them. The seller is an older lady with a small wheeled wooden cart who nods to Vionnia and clearly knows the woman well. "Salvianella's been selling the best pies in Taldor here for years. They're truly a national gem. I never pass up a chance to have one!" She nods to each of you as you introduce yourselves and eats her pie slowly, savoring it.
"We're heading into the Narrows, the poor district of Oppara. The first match is a brawl. Simple rules: put on a good show. Don't loot the fallen. Stay in the designated fight area. Otherwise, good luck!"
She leads you into the Narrows, where ramshackle buildings creak in the wind and the air is full of the smell of refuse and rot under a deeply industrial air full of cinders and ash. Natives give you looks of suspicion and close their doors as you pass, and Vionnia takes several dodgy alleys and sharp sudden turns, as if she's trying to throw off any tails.
She stops in a small courtyard, where the buildings around it are about 15 feet tall. Mildewy, ramshackle houses surround a dour yard with a crumbling well in the middle. The cloudy gray sky is reflected in the watery mud that covers most of the yard.
Vionnia leaves you there and bids you wait. She heads off and returns a few minutes later. "Your opponents are ready when you are. The price purse is being held. I think your opponents are funeral workers. They reek of those embalming chemicals. If you're ready, I'll give the signal?"
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Orion will wait until the last minute before he casts his spell, which is Runic Weapon on Ameli's bastard sword.
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Gwen's demeanor shifts as the redhead explains the upcoming match. She seems to become very excited at the prospect of a violent match, the they fact their opponents will just be funeral undertakers seems to disappoint her. "Oh, I was hoping for some big meaty lunks, not some smelly gravediggers. But some raw violence sounds wonderful!" She bites into her meat pie with an odd savagery and seconds later there's nothing left but grease dripping down her chin.
She takes a handkerchief and dabs her chin daintily. Then she snaps her fingers and green fire plays around her hand. "Do you think embalming fluid is flammable?"
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Ameli enjoys her meat pie while the others get changed, deciding to simply cast off her coat and let her hair down from her ponytail, leaving her in just her breastplate over a button-up shirt, brown trousers, and sturdy boots.
"Well, grave diggers have to dig a lot right? It's in the name at all; so I'd imagine they probably have SOME bulk on them." She muses in response to Gwen's disappointment while admiring the faint glow encircling her blade from the enchantment, "In any case, I'm ready when you guys are." She states, popping the last bit of crust into her mouth and brushing her hands off before hefting her sword and resting it over her shoulder as the steps up, awaiting the signal.
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Vionnia steps up and nods to you. "Everything is ready. I forgot, no running into buildings, but on top of them is fair game!" Seeing your readiness she whistles twice and the crowd, previously quiet and perched in doorways and atop roofs, bursts into cheers.
Across the square you see a small mob led by a gravedigger. The entire Funeral Home must be here.
There is a whoop from atop a roof and a little girl, urchin or orphan by her look, stands atop a chimney. In a piercing little girl voice, she cries out "Rules is simple. Fight till ya can't. No creepin' indoors. No leavin' the area or yer out. No lootin' the fallen. Now. FIGHT!" She positively roars the last word and the melee begins! From window to window you see coins and bets exchanging hands.
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BOLD IS UP!:
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➤ Orion
➤ Gilgamesh
Commoner (Red)
Commoner (Orange)
Commoner (Yellow)
Commoner (Green)
Commoner (Blue)
Commoner (Purple)
Commoner (Pink)
Maneki
Ameli
Gwendolyn
Tai Fung
Gravedigger