Episode 26: "Shore Leave"

Date Played: February 10, 2016

Quest Information

 * "The Slave Port"
 * 11-12 Araḫ Tišritum roughly mid-September. High 87F, low 77F. Dry season, 1% chance for light rain
 * Drok-Nir in Perskebeth, hex 1110
 * Level 5-6

Primary Cast

 * Craganor, battle cleric of Inanna
 * Daric, camel merchant
 * Ebo Darwishi, Perskebethi exile
 * Gimble, gnome evoker
 * Ket-Ramat, soldier-scout
 * Lugal, Mage of Learning
 * Samman ibn Shakhs, professional pit fighter

Secondary Cast

 * Ken-Takka, Ahti-Wagrah merchant ship captain
 * Sutanku, Priest of The Way
 * Mentew, Monk of the Open Hand
 * Malak, Taha Mut, & Stakka Weet, professional pit fighters
 * Barmaid
 * Alchemist
 * Beggar children
 * Stockade employees

Summary
The merchant ship docks. The captain, under no uncertain terms, wants the party off his boat. "I've taken a big risk taking you here. If I'm lucky, maybe I can sell my stuff and not take too much of a loss -- assuming I don't get arrested." At Sutanku's urging, the captain does allow the Perskebethi cleric to store the preserved body of the Lady Anki-Nu. "Just keep a low profile -- and get her out of my shed as soon as possible!"

The party heads out of the wharf and into the city, and finds themselves beset by merchants selling everything from dates and coconuts to armadillo shells and monkey heads. Beads and plates and fine silks are thrust into their faces as the party moves through the bazaar (wisely keeping their hands on their purses).

On top of the merchants, a band of filthy beggar children swarm the party, begging for silver. Craganor offers "a gold coin if you'll fight for it." One little girl sucker-punches a boy, who runs away crying. He gives the girl her gold coin, and offers another coin "to any child who's brave enough to fight me!". The same little girl grabs a small stick, and starts play-fighting with Craganor. The hardened battle cleric easily bats away her weak strikes and slaps her. "If you are going to fight, then fight!" The little girl stares at him for a moment, then bursts out in tears and runs away, crying for her dad. The merchants stop their pressure sales, and lets the party leave the docks unmolested.

On Samman's advice, the party heads to Captain Barkka's, a local tavern. "There are some down-to-earth people here, working-class types. We should be able to ask questions as long as we keep it cool." The tavern definitely has a hard edge to it, but as soon as Samman enters, they hear a friendly, baritone voice.

"Sam! Is that you?" says a big, bear of a man from a small table in the center of the room. He stands up, barrels towards the big fighter, and puts him in a big hug. "So good to see you, my friend! Come! Join us! All of you, of course!"

Matilda, the barmaid, shoos everyone to the back patio. "You're making too much noise! Go out back. I'll bring you refills."

The burly fighter leads the party -- except Lugal, who decides to take a quiet seat in the common area -- towards the back. Samman introduces the party, and the burly fighter, Malak, introduces his two fellow professional fighters: Tasha Mut, a small and wiry finesse fighter, and Stakka Weet, a tall & lanky dual-falchion wielder (coincidentally, just like Ebo). After some standard small talk and tales of past battles (including an unfinished tale, wherein Samman beats Malak on an embarrassing technicality), Samman drops the story of their mission. "So, old friend, have you seen any ships pull into the stockade lately?"

The table goes unnaturally quiet in the noisy bar, and then Malak speaks. "You must realize, my friend, that no one in Drok-Nir talks about that 'peculiar institution'. It is the Great Unmentionable ... but, I will mention to you, that yes, several large ships entered port nearly a week ago. Why do you ask?"

"One of our friends is on one of those ships. We're here on a rescue mission."

Malak looks at his two companions. "We were afraid of this. They've gone raiding for slaves. You must understand: this hasn't happened in this country for decades. We thought their slave-raiding days were over. Nowadays, noble slaves are born into the position. They are literally bred into the position." He catches the sneers of disgust from some of the party members, and continues "Yes, it is still a revolting practice, but this, attacking coastal villages to replenish their stocks, that's far worse. Tell me, what fishing villages did they raid this time?"

Ebo, who has been patiently listening, answers. "They have attacked the great library city of Selihm."

"Surely not! They've gone mad, they have!" Malak goes quiet, thinking for a moment. "This does not bode well at all."

"So help us," says Ket. "How do we find out where he is?"

"Well, the answer is probably in the stockade. Even if he's not still there, he must have passed through there. Here, slaves are commerce. I suspect there are ledgers tracking the trade. If you could sneak in there and find their records, maybe you can figure out where they took your friend."

Meanwhile, in the bar, Lugal makes idle chit-chat with Matilda. "So," she says. "A visiting wizard! We don't see too many come through here. Are you going to meet the Mages of the Quarry?"

Lugal is puzzled. "Mages of the Quarry? I've never heard of them."

"Well, not much is known of them, but you'll see them here and there. Cobalt blue robes, kinda pompous. But they put on fabulous fireworks shows!"

The idle chit-chat continues, until the rest of the party returns from the back patio. Together, they return to merchant warehouse to plot their next move. After a bit of time, they move out to reconnoiter, each in their most effective way. Gimble, for example, sends his silver raven to fly over the compound. This results in a fairly accurate map, including the presence of centaurs, lizardfolk, and human guards amongst fifty or so slaves, apparently working on repairing sails. Ket and Craganor try to recruit the beggar children, but find their incessant taunting unbearable (guards are called to quell Craganor's rampage). Ebo and Samman discover the existence of underground limestone caverns connecting all the privies in the town, including (apparently) those in the stockade.

The best information comes from Daric. Requesting an invisibility spell from Lugal, he creeps up to the stockade at a very opportune time: quitting time for the office staff. Taking advantage of the yammering employees, he manages to sneak right into the stockade. He sees an office open on the right, and peers in: a pretty young woman is working diligently on planning a banquet. He moves down the hallway. Most of the doors are closed, it would ruin his invisibility to ope them, so he moves down the hallway. Another hallway is open, a serious man is poring over journals. Daric takes his chances, and moves quietly to peer over his shoulder. It definitely looks like a ledger of some type, but Daric forgot one key thing: he can't read Perskebethi script. Unfortunately, he doesn't have time to dwell on it: the manager sets the ledger papers under a large, agate paperweight (that appears to be adorned with an engraving of a snake's head); moves to leave the office. Shuffling out of the way to avoid discovery, he finds himself on the wrong side of the door as the manager locks him out. He suspects he was really close to the answer, but alas, he does not have the requisite skills to pick the lock and enter the room unnoticed.

Hoping for better luck, he moves upstairs, out of the offices and into what appears to be a lavish living quarters. He comes across an opulent office, where he spies upon a beautiful woman who looks vaguely familiar: surely this is the cousin of Anki-Nu, the noblewoman they fought back in Selihm. Again, he uses his magnificent stealth -- aided by the lush carpet -- to peer over her shoulder. She seems to be writing letters, tied with black ribbon and sealed with wax. Again, Daric's inability to read Perskebethi keeps the secrets of the stockade out of reach. Realizing Lugal's spell is about to end, he quickly exits the stockade. He regrets that he did not have time to investigate the lower levels, which was his actual intent. Fate, it would seem, had other plans.

The party meets back at the merchant warehouse to plot their next move. There appear to be many ways to discover the fate of Eku-Zakir. Many options lead to many arguments, none of which seem to go anywhere. Exasperated, Craganore offers the simplest solution. "My friends," he says. "We shall go in ... the poo tunnels."

To be continued ...

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