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The bustling desert city of Wati is near bursting with excitement. Adventurers from every corner of the Inner Sea region have assembled here beneath the hot Osirian sun to explore the tombs of the city’s necropolis, waiting only to be assigned their first sites for exploration. Surrounding the participants, the public has gathered to observe the ceremony as well. There is a festival-like quality in the air, and numerous street vendors are hawking goods and refreshments to participants and spectators alike. Some merchants have even brought what can only be considered adventuring gear to sell as last minute convenience items to explorers, while others advertise that they’ll buy recovered treasures and antiquities from those who visit their establishments.
In front of the imposing edifice of the Grand Mausoleum, an immense awning has been erected between decorated pillars in the market to provide shade for the priests of Pharasma overseeing the lottery. Beneath the awning, two urns sit on a table elevated a few feet above the ground on a wooden stage constructed for the event. The high priestess of the Grand Mausoleum, Sebti the Crocodile, sits behind the table, while two acolytes confer with her at either side.
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Numerous adventuring groups stand in small clusters near the stage, made up of multiple nationalities and races. Like the last few evenings in the tavern most keep to themselves, but some teams engage in quiet conversation with other teams, mostly speculating about what they’ll likely face in the necropolis. You see the halfling dog soldiers, as well as the singer, Ligala, and the other three with her are, presumably, the rest of The Flickering Four.
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The ceremony begins when the high priestess of the Grand Mausoleum, Sebti the Crocodile, rises to her feet and looks over the crowd. Sebti seems surprisingly young to hold such a distinguished position, but she has a confident air of authority. After calling for silence, she begins with an invocation to the Lady of Graves, followed by a brief history of the founding of the necropolis.
Soon after the Church of Pharasma arrived in Wati to rebuild and consecrate the city, a great burning rock fell from the sky into the River Sphinx where Bargetown now floats. Nefru Shepses took this as a sign of approval from our Lady of Graves, and ordered the black stone dredged from the river’s depths and carved into a capstone for a sacred obelisk, erecting the monument just inside the gates to the necropolis. She pauses then continues with a solemn tone, Today, mourners interring their loved ones inside the necropolis still stop at Pharasma’s Needle on their way to the gravesites to gain the goddess’s blessing for the deceased’s journey to the Boneyard. Those of you venturing into the necropolis tomorrow will pass this site. I hope you keep this history in your mind and in your heart as you travel through these streets that are our history.
The two acolytes step forward to stand behind the urns on the table.
Let the lottery begin! Although many of you have requested specific sites to explore, we must leave these matters to fate. The Lady of Graves is a far better judge of destiny than we of this mortal sphere. The gates of the necropolis will open at sunrise tomorrow. Use this evening to prepare yourselves for the task ahead. Let these rules guide you in your endeavors in this holy place: remember how this came to pass, every slave’s hut is a memorial, and honor the departed. May you go with the Lady’s blessing.
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With that Sebti returns to her seat and the acolytes begin. First, one acolyte pulls a wooden token out of the urn before them, Daughters of the Desert! Then the next pulls a token from their urn and stands silent.
An extremely tall woman with fiery red hair ascends the stairs to speak briefly with the acolytes. They hand her what appears to be a map of some sort, and she descends the stairs to regroup with her fellow adventurers. The evening continues in this fashion for some time, with each group being called one after another. There is a delay as one woman spends quite a bit of time up on the stage. She seems to be arguing with the acolytes and even the high priestess. A Taldane by the look of her, she gets quite heated, finally snatching the paper from one of the acolytes' hands and then returns to her group. She and her party, apparently named the Scorched Hand, leave the courtyard in a rush. Another group of note are the Cryptfinders, which turn out to be led by a man named Falto, from Absalom. His swagger and smile as he comes back down the steps indicate he got exactly what he was hoping for.
Finally, one of the acolytes calls out, The Southern Osirian Trading Company! The other acolyte takes a token from the urn and they both wait patiently for your representative to approach.