Session 5

Fact Sheet: arrival in Koh'Shar

Date: 17-08-22

Date in-universe: an unspecified Thursday

Players present: Ecchima, Marty, Meinhart, Tuur and Vinnie. Dins was our DM.

Major developments:

Notes

Near sunset, we arrive at the eastern gate of Koh'Shar with Enza, Frei and Saatia Mehrabi. There's only one guard.

Frei is nervous & hangs back, she prefers someone else should talk. She's hoping we'll credit her with catching Saatia even though that's stretching the truth a bit. Since she just wants to re-integrate the city, she'll give us the bounty.

Fyllion steps up to the challenge to talk us past the guard. With all his usual flair, he calls us Frei's humble assistants, learning from her what valour in battle is, and honour and leadership. The guard Yusuf is a little incredulous, all the more so because he recognises Frei. He hasn't time to deal with us:

• Jahadi, king of traders, was found dead this morning
• the whole city is feeling tense over this unexpected and untimely death
• since Jahadi bankrolled the guard, everything wrt crowd control and crime prevention/fighting is up in the air, adding to the tension in the city
• Akram, a strong human man with a black beard and black hair in a bun, was his second in command & is now attempting to keep control of the guard and by extension of the city

As Yusuf sends us into the city to find Akram, he warns us we should keep a low profile! In thanks, Fyllion gives him bardic inspiration.

As we walk,

• we're all worried about Simeon being here & fulfilling his contract
• Frei tells us while busking in the street is not really forbidden, performing in a bar or in the center of the arts would be more lucractive for Fyllion
• we reassure Enza she can stay with us & we haven't forgotten her request to help Nawa
• we notice many people are trying to leave the city, but the guards refuse to let them leave.

We pass through an older part of town, with family houses and open spaces, in contrast to the other overbuilt areas. Suddenly, in the middle of the crowd, we're accosted by an arrogant-looking high elf, with dark skin and long dark hair. His expensive robes and his retenu of guards (with gilded weapons) and scribes reveal it's Nasser, king of the Oasis. He yells at Frei: "exile means exile, how dare scum like she return uninvited, and who are we sand-stragglers to hang out with such filth"

Frei can't get a word in edgeways & neither Eldrin nor Fyllion can reason with him. With the bribe of the Saree handkerchief, Storm can stump him for a moment, but before he can react, another large figure appears on the market square: Akram, acting captain of the guard steps between our group and Nasser, after his guards warned him of our arrival.

Though Nasser tries to intimidate Akram with threats of cleaning house when or if he becomes the guards' new responsible sponsor, Akram leads us to Jahadi's former mansion, now the HQ of the guards with offices and dorms. Before we walk away, Storm snatches the handkerchief back.

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We step into Akram's office.

Saatia Mehrabi's bounty is 200 gold, but the guard can't pay right now. Akram will pay us himself, she's worth it because the info she'll provide. Eldrin wants to know her fate: Akram explains she'll probably be tortured all night long for information and then hung in the morning.

Frei tries to intervene so Akram admits they don't have the manpower to execute her right now. Akram inquires if he should worry about us staging a prison break, but Eldrin assures that's not an issue. Akram is willing to Mi'Kal the mage to interrogate her without torture. We're welcome tomorrow at 8 o'clock sharp, as witnesses.

Since Eldrin's slip of the tongue revealed us as a crew, Fyllion offers our help if more bounty hunting is needed. Akram appears open to the suggestion: Jahadi didn't appoint any heirs, hence the confusion. The cororer hasn't determined cause of death yet.

Storm turns the attention to Frei's situation. It takes Storm's elbow in his ribs, but then Fyllion procures the letters out of the tiny luggage. We explain our understanding of the situation as best we can, glossing over some of the weirder parts of our adventure & keeping an eye on Frei so she doesn't go off. Akram responds:

• Ishmael Ghorann was the court wizard of the Vale before he was exiled from there
• Marduk also went missing today from Nasser's entourage
• Jahadi and Akram felt they had to exile Frei, more because of politics than because of evidence: when fire-breathing fiends attack Nasser, she should have been more discreet about being a fire-breathing fiend who hates Nasser.

Frei snaps at Akram about being set up, but Eldrin can restore her self-control. Fyllion distracts everyone from the building tension by mentioning Ghorann is dead, killed by a devil (Hali shows her compendium). Akram asks us to confirm it's the wizard, not his son & he's worried the devil will follow us, because the fiery creatures showed up at both sites of the known circle events (the Salt Warf and Koh'Shar), each time a few weeks after the event...

Fyllion also mentions Ghorann had Simeon Ibn Seif as a prisoner, and we saw him escape towards Koh'Shar. Akram immediately calls the guards and increases their shifts, because this is very bad news to him. Fyllion creates a minor illusion of the horse simeon rode, so the guards can look for it. Eldrin offers we'll help find Marduk, provided Akram gives us a letter of recommendation, to facilitate our interventions like interrogating people.

Storm confirms Saatia remains quiet but also notices she's clearly observing the building very closely: how many guards, where are the doors, which windows are barred, etc. Frei asks Eldrin to put Saatia to sleep until we're back, guaranteeing she won't spill the beans on our little white lies... Fyllion offers to use suggestion on her, while Storm offers his primal savagery claws, but in the end we settle for Akram's promise that she'll be safe till we return the next morning.

Can Akram point us to the best tavern for a bard as famous as Fyllion (and his crew)? A fancy tarvern to perform and earn coin, though that might help Simeon find us? Or a modest tavern where we can keep a low profile...? Akram hasn't heard of Fyllion, so he suggests we find Skourja, the queen of respite. The people still call her the princess of pleasures & she can advise us.

Since Akram wants to get to work, we get some final info:

• should Akram be unavailable, all his guards are dependable & we can confide in Basri, his second in commmand (an high elven man with a stocky build, dark hair and skin a little paler than Nasser)
• on the market right outside the guards' HQ, we'll
  • find a shop to sell our odd collection of loot, esp. with Frei and Ezra in charge
  • find a smith to reforge Eldrin's broken sword
• Saatia will get a meal and spend the night in the holding cells
• Eldrin's questions reveal Koh'Shar holds common laws about public indecency: don't pee in the streets, use a public toilet or visit a tavern.

As soon as Akram pays us 200 gold for Saatia & promises to look into Frei's reinstatement, a guard leads Saatia away. Eldrin gives her a golden coin to keep Saatia safe, overriding the guard's assurances that such bribes aren't necessary.

While Eldrin uses the HQ facilities to pee, Enza explains she's a refugee from Nawa: can Akram help her out with a place to stay or to look for survivors? With regret, Akram explains the guard is really short-handed right now... he can't do anything for her.

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With Ezra's insight we find a trustworthy shop & Eldrin as our quartermaster barters very well for us! We're pretty sandswept, but that's not really unusual and thanks to Ghorann's silks fashioned by Ezra, we look mysterious rather than scrubby... so we get 300 gold out of the sale!

Since we agreed to visit Skourja, Frei leads us to the fanciest tarvern in town: the Moonflower. While we walk, we discuss some strategies:

• Eldrin and Ezra wonder if we should use the stick & carrot method: horrify the audience with Hali's bagpipes, so Fyllion's lute will sound twice as delightful? Hali sends the chess pieces to attack Eldrin for this suggestion
• Frei and Storm convince Fyllion to shape-shift into a halfling so Simeon won't find him as easiily: Tommy Lutish will also play the lute.

On the way, Hali notices

• some runes drawn all around the market: this is a hallowed site. It's a center of communion, where everyone can understand every language, perfect for trade!
• a statue of a regal woman, with a short veil covering her eyes. It looks familiar but Hali can't place it... behind the statue there's a big temple, outside of which an older man is standing. He's looking at us, specificially at Eldrin. He appears interested and perhaps a little concerned. As soon as he notices we notice him, he nods and walks inside.

Likewise, Ezra notices a squeaky voice addressing the clever cat-looking adventurer. It's a small rat, sitting under a market stall. The top of its head is translucent, showing off its brain! The rat informs Ezra the conversation is telepathic, so any further replies should not be out loud, because talking to themselves makes Ezra look like a dope.

At the rat's insistence, Ezra kneels to talk on the same level. The rat gives them a mission: the rat will give a valuable trinket in exchange for green kalachite, an incredibly valuable cheese available from that very nice and fancy vendor nearby.

Ezra picks up their share of the loot (we get 65 gold each & keep 35 in the bank, overwhelming Enza when we give her that amount of gold). Ezra tries to buy the cheese packed with wonderful spices (which give the green appearance), but it's 70 gold per block... Ezra decides to show a letter of introduction from their mother, making the vendor accept an offer of 50 gold in exchange for the potential of such esteemed patronage. He wraps the cheese beautifully! Ezra promises their mother will be impressed.

Fyllion was practising new voices for his halfling shape so we don't really notice Ezra's giving the package to the rat. The rat hops behind a grate & returns with

• a ring with a big diamond: 100 to 120 gold
• a signet ring, with a recognizable brand

After a comical handshake, the rat disappears with his cheese, and Ezra returns to our group. Upon seeing the signet, Frei pales to the most wan orange we've ever seen on her: she recognizes Marduk's emblem! HOW will we explain this??

• where was the ring found, was Marduk in the irrigation tunnels which link to Nasser's oasis? We don't know
• who was the rat, was it a shape-shifted person, could that have been Marduk himself
• can we get this into evidence without putting more suspicion on us

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As long as the shops are still open, and we're here on the market, we decide to sort our shopping first:

• in the previous shop, Eldrin & Ezra sells the diamond ring for 120 gold (50 for Ezra, 70 for the bank)
• Fyllion, Hali, Ezra & sell their current leathers in order to get new studded armour. Being taller & because the shop doesn't have a lot of stock, Storm opts for an upgrade, which'll be ready by tomorrow morning. Before we leave, Fyllion boasts of Tommy Lutish's impending performance to the shop keeper
• Eldrin finds a blacksmith to repair their sword: the crew has seen them use the part that resembles a dagger with a jagged edge, but in a scabbard, they also have the crossguard and the other pieces. The blacksmith is fascinated by this damage, though Eldrin mentions they weren't involved in the battle that broke it. Fixing it would cost 10 gold, although repairing is barely worth it. Eldrin offers 20 gold if the smith makes the sword the top priority both in speed and in respect for this emotionally valuable piece. Eldrin will return in the morning - the smith doesn't want an advance (he's endeared that Eldrin has a personal connection to the blade & who knows what might happen in this city)

Next, we return to the guard station but only find Basri with a guard, as well as 2 guards watching Saatia. Akram is on his way to Nasser to warn him of possible danger. Basri doesn't know when Akram will be back, but is willing to send Akram to "the tavern where Tommy Lutish will be playing". Frei figures this proposal will do, so we accept.

As we walk through the districts we notice it's a vibrant, dense and overwhelming city: there are plants everywhere, water is flowing magically upstream, rich buildings are built next to simple buildings...

Ezra and Hali notice Eldrin is quiet, is it linked to the man from the temple? Eldrin didn't notice the man, but Frei figures that was Sabor, the main religious leader following Soleman. Since the priest's attention is not the reason behind Eldrin's mood, we learn they're anxious and restless about leaving the sword behind, probably for the first time in a long time, or even ever.

Frei wants to go see her mom & takes her leave at the door of the tavern. Fyllion invites her mom to see the show, but Frei prefers not to introduce her mom to her friends.

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