Episode 23: "Dancing In the Streets"

Date Played: December 30, 2015

Quest Information

 * "The Library at Salihm"
 * 4 Araḫ Tišritum roughly mid-september. High 87F, low 77F. Dry season, 1% chance for light rain.
 * Kassithe, hex 0707 (Salihm in Jow-Hadan)
 * Level 5-6

Primary Cast

 * Craganor, battle cleric of Innara
 * 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

 * Various cityfolk
 * Librarian

Summary
After a month of crossing the lands of Kassithe, Hurrethe, and Jow-Hadan, the party finally comes to the great library city of Selihm, hoping to speak with the wizard Eku-Zakir. Ever since the village of Ag-Rakade was destroyed, they've wanted answers. What happened at that quiet farming village? Who were those monstrosities who stomped it flat? What is the Planar Boundary, and is it in danger of falling? What does that strange map they discovered in the forgotten village mean? What about the omen of the Moon Druid? Is Kassithe -- or the entire world -- at risk? And who is behind it all? Unfortunately, it looks like those questions will have to wait, for Selihm, famed City of Learning, is burning. As the party is trying to process what they are seeing -- the smoke, the strange boats in the harbor -- Ket announces to the rest "we've got company".

Coming up the hill, a swarm of people appear to be fleeing the city. A few have had the time to hitch up their mules and pack up their belongings, but most are leaving with only the clothes on their back or, at most, a simple handcart. Men, women, children, all are leaving, and all are lamenting. "Why would they attack us? We're an open city!" "They came without warning!" "The fishmen jumped the harbor guards!" "They've taken my son!" The party manages to scrape together a story from the snippets: apparently several large ships approached the harbor. Before they docked, however, a swarm of sahuagin ("fish men") took over the piers and killed the harbor patrol. Once the mighty ships docked, swarms of lizard men ("unlike any I've every seen!") swept through the city, capturing any citizen they could grab. Anyone captured was loaded into large, wheeled cages, pulled by giant desert lizards, and hauled back to the ships. This (of course) started a panic, leading to this exodus out of the city.

The party is torn: do they try to destroy the slave ships? Or do they try to find the wizard? After some conversation, they decide there's not much they can do by themselves against such a force, yet perhaps they can save Eku-Zakir. Slavers attacking a lone city, even a city as culturally important as Selihm, is horrible. The risk of a collapse of the Planar Boundary would be truly catastrophic for the entire world. The decision was made: they'll try to save the wizard. "Very well", says Craganor, clearly unhappy with the decision. "But let's be as quick as we can, maybe we'll still have time to save some folks."

The library is is a massive, tall basalt structure, the most obvious structure in the city. It's also the location where most of the smoke rises. The party heads in that direction, but unfortunately finds themselves fighting through a squads of lizardfolk. The heroes manage to defeat these beasts, freeing their captives, but take quite a beating themselves. These creatures are nothing like the strong, dignified, yet xenophobic lizardfolk of the Sapannu Swamp; these lizardfolk are larger, thicker-skinned, mottled brown, and much more vicious. It's no wonder they were able to swarm through a city of scholars.

The party also meets some unexpected support: fighters visiting the city who are trying to fight the invaders. One is a traveling professional pit fighter named Samman ibn Shakhs; the other is a Perskebethi exile who goes by the name of Ebo Darwishi. The entire group presses on, running into another small small band of lizardfolk and something new: a group of four humans, heads shaven clean except for a single braid, who fight bare-handed with great skill and dexterity. After dispatching these foes, Ebo speaks. "This is bad", he says. "Those are the famed noble bodyguards of Perskebeth. If Perskebeth is behind this, that bodes ill for the entire region. I was born there, it's a serious & strong nation. If they've truly become an invading force, the entire Ter-Mith region is at risk."

The group continues to fight their way through the city streets, eventually coming to the great library. Great columns of smoke waft out its windows. Is Eku-Zakir here? Or is the party wasting their time while the famed City of Learning burns and the Perskebethi turn its citizens into slaves?

To be continued ...

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