Campaign3/session-3
Session 3: Live and Let Die
37 Orran 810
As the party passes beyond the inner gates of Sunai, they get their first look at the buildings and streets within, and begin to truly understand the price that the Demarians have paid to have the Seizorann's protection. The roots of the creature not only cover the fortifications, but also the streets and stone buildings of the city, deforming the walls of buildings to cover over the streets in places, as roots would do to gather more water. Except the water that the Seizorann seeks is the magical essence of the Dargai inhabitants.
The commons beyond the gate is lightly populated with market shoppers and hawkers of wares. Aethra starts to lead the group down one of the main streets when one of the guards from the inner gate-house calls after her. She stops and listens to his tirade for a moment, then gritting her teeth continues on her way, her face flush with anger.
"What was that all about," Gorin asks.
"It would seem my Phyle is not held in high esteem anymore," Aethra said. "The inspector said much the same thing to me. I don't think we're in immediate danger, but I will have to make some inquiries."
She leads the group down one of the main arteries leaving the gate-house commons. Above, the walls of the buildings loom ominously from either side, but the street is wide enough to allow a substantial space between the walls, and sunlight fills the streets. To each side, smaller streets shoot off, their light almost completely choked off by the walls above.
Aethra turns down a side street, and the transition to heavy shade is welcome by most in the party. It is just after mid-day, and the heat is brutal. Above, some light filters through the mesh of roots from the Seizorann, which shoot off the tops of the buildings to close the space overhead. After several hundred meters, she stops in front of an inn, with a shiny brass sign that reads "Merrick's".
"The owner of this place, Merrick, is a fellow member of my Phyle," Aethra nods at the door. "He can be trusted to help us, though the less he knows, the better it will be for him if someone comes asking questions."
Inside, Aethra crosses a common room filled with tables, each with a solitary shallow dish of oil and a wick burning out one side. A few patrons sit eating quietly in a corner, near the unused hearth. A burly Dargai behind the bar dries a mug as Aethra and her friends cross to greet him.
"Don't tell me you're trying to go upscale with these dainty candles, Merrick!" Aethra smiles across the bar at the man.
"Good to see you again, Aethra," Merrick returns her smile. "I have to do whatever it takes to get business in here. Don't worry, once night falls I'll put them away before the drinking and whoring starts."
"Glad to hear things haven't changed much." Aethra looks around the room, and leans a little closer to Merrick. "I need a clean room for my group for a few days."
"I think I can manage that. It'll be ten demars though."
"Ten Demars?" Aethra stiffens. "Hey, gouge someone from another Phyle! That's not what you charge your kin is it?"
Merrick shakes his head sadly, "Sorry Aethra, I'm with Phyle Nirvelli now. If you're smart, you'd better look into leaving the Grindian soon yourself." Before Aethra could ask her next question, Merrick tossed his head toward the stairs heading up the back wall. "Perhaps I'd better show you that room."
Up the stairs and down the hall, the party follows after Merrick. The interior of the building is mostly woodwork, and it is apparent where the wood meets the outer stonework that repairs and patches have been necessary to keep the structure intact as the Seizorann has deformed the walls. The Seizorann's roots only permeate the stonework though, and Merrick leads the party into a room that is all interior woodwork. Once everyone has filed in, Merrick closes the door.
"Merrick," Aethra blurts, "what the hezrain is going on?!? The inspector at the gate gave me grief about my house affiliation as well."
"You remember Olav's girl Thyla?" Merrick bit his lip, and cast a wary eye over the rest of the party. "He tried to stop the Sheyar'tyl clerics when they came for her."
"Shit," Aethra muttered. "I knew something like that would happen eventually." Merrick nodded with silent agreement. "Alright, I'll check into changing my affiliation. I imagine that's going to cost me some ranks."
"I could put in a good word for you," Merrick offered. "Several houses have left the Grindian Phyle for Nirvelli, and most only lost a quarter of their ranks and holdings."
Aethra thanks Merrick, and he takes his leave of the rest of the group. Everyone settles in to discuss what should be done next, though Rahaza seems ill-at-ease in the room, and chooses to remain standing by the door, listening for sounds from the hallway.
"It would seem we do not have the luxury of time on this," Aethra mutters. "And I'm growing more concerned about that squad of Demarians we ran into last night. Did anyone search the mage for clues about why they were there?"
Angnar pulls out a sack and begins pulling the fallen mage's belongings. "I didn't see anything. The only writing she had on her was this spellbook." Angnar tosses the spellbook to Mundori, who flips through it and finds a letter sandwiched between the pages. He offers the letter to Gorin to read.
-
Warkaster Ethryn,
Our bait in the gap has been taken. Master Veram's soothsayer was right, the dwarves have hired some mercenaries to infiltrate Sunai. My control over the dwarf is incomplete, so I do not know what they intend to do yet.
I do know that they are meeting their dwarven contact on our side of the Ardgour, most probably at Callistroum rock. It is the most likely spot based on the soothsayer's visions. Go there and kill the mercenaries. We can learn what we need from their corpses afterward. Allow my dwarf to 'escape'. He may be of further use.
Synia
The party discusses the implications of the letter, and they finally decide that the dwarf they rescued in the Gap must have somehow been corrupted or under the influence of a Demarian cleric, and between that and the activities of a Demarian soothsayer, they were lucky to guess where the party was going to meet Darlock.
To warn Darlock and prevent any further security problems, it is decided that Aethra, Rahaza and Cathon will leave the city and try to find Darlock to warn him of the controlled dwarf, hopefully before the Demarians learn what is about to happen in the salt mines. The remainder of the group will continue with the mission, and Aethra and company will either rendezvous with them back at Merrick's, or when the dwarves breach the lower mine levels.
Since their time is pressed, Aethra decides to leave immediately, though she offers to take the party on a circuitous walk around the city so she can show them several of the mine entrances, including the one which she knows is still active. On the way out, Aethra stops by the bar once more to speak with Merrick.
"You know, I hear it's a good time to take a vacation. You look like you could use one." Aethra looks intently at Merrick.
Merrick regards Aethra skeptically for a moment, then replies "Really? Know any good places?"
"I hear Asharu is nice this time of year," Aethra nods. "You and yours should consider going. Soon."
"Not sure I could get away," Merrick looks around the room for a moment. "I have a business to run."
"I only give good advice," Aethra smiles. "I've already used up all my bad advice." Without another word, Aethra strolls out the door, followed by the rest of the party.
For the next hour, Aethra guides the group along the streets of Sunai, pointing out the location of the one active mine entrance that she is aware of, the location of Rannoch Temple (where the Seizorann's head lives), and an abandoned mine facility that she has used on occasion for 'business transactions'.
The group splits company, and Aethra leaves with Rahaza and Cathon. The remaining group returns to Merrick's to plan their next move. After much discussion, Mundori makes Gorin invisible so that he can do some reconnaissance at the active mine entrance. Mundori warns Gorin that the spell will only last for roughly one hour, so he should be sure to return within that time.
Gorin retraces the path that Aethra took to the active mine, and stands outside the gates to watch how people come and go. The facility is enclosed in a 3 meter wooden fence, with a single gate guarded by two lightly armed Demarians. While watching, a Demarian and a dwarven slave approach, and the slave-owner indicates that he has brought his slave to work in the mines to make some money, since he doesn't have any other work for the slave. One of the guards tells him to see the foreman inside, and the two pass through the gates and enter a 2 story building that seems to house the mine entrance and perhaps some salt storage areas.
A moment later, the slave owner emerges and leaves alone without comment from the guards. Gorin decides that he has seen enough and returns to Merrick's with his observations.
A plan is hatched to infiltrate the mine, with the two dwarves posing as slaves, and Gorin and Beh as slave-owners that are looking to either make some money off their possessions, or teach them a lesson for being 'lazy'. Gorin and Beh assume their disguises as Dargai, and Mundori hands over as much of his stuff as he can bear to part with so that he looks harmless. Angnar does his best to disguise the fact that he's wearing heavy armor and packing weapons. This is moderately effective, but the clanking that he makes while walking requires that both dwarves be shackled to insure no questions.
Gorin, Beh, Mundori and Angnar leave Merrick's, and make their way through the streets to the mine. It is late afternoon, and the shadows from the buildings have stretched long so that most of the streets are now in shadow. Gorin seems to take great delight in his role as slave-master, occasionally berating the dwarves and telling them their "place" in the world. Both Angnar and Mundori burn with a desire to kick Gorin's ass, but manage to hold their tempers.
At the mine entrance, the foursome pass through the gate with no trouble and Gorin and Beh present their 'slaves' to the foreman to work. Gorin exchanges some banter with the foreman in Demarian, and judging from the eager looks the foreman gives to the dwarves, it's just as well no-one else speaks the language. The foreman hands Gorin a whip at the end of one of the exchanges, and Mundori's nostrils flare.
The foreman asks which Phyle the labor should be attributed to, and Gorin answers "Grindian." The foreman is surprised at Gorin's answer, but takes down the name and says "Well, I'm glad to see that some of your Phyle aren't all dwarf lovers."
Gorin and Beh accompany Mundori and Angnar down the sloping passage into the mine, under the pretense of wanting to 'instruct the slaves in the ways of hard labor', perhaps by using the whip as an instructional device. They follow the dimly lit passage down several levels, using a rope as a guide through many inactive areas of the mine. It is quite apparent that the salt mines have been in operation for a LONG time underneath Sunai, powered by generations of slave labor.
As they proceed deeper into the mine, they pass several dwarves pushing a cartload of salt up the passage on rails. The dwarves are watched by an overseer, another slave that has been given enough authority to watch over the other slaves.
After some exploring, the group decides to lie in ambush for guards escorting slaves that are returning empty carts to be filled with more salt. After their first three ambushes met with little resistance, they gather some information about the room that the slaves are currently working from some of the liberated dwarves: there are over 200 slaves, another 40 or so overseers and 20 or so guards. At least some of the guards are spellcasters.
One of the liberated dwarves also mentions that there are some in the slave population that have been "changed", and are under some sort of control of the guards. They can be identified by the number of cuts and scars that appear on their faces, a description which matches what happened to the dwarf that was found in the gap.
With the additional information from the liberated dwarves, the foursome set about making a plan for freeing the rest of the slaves.
Previously: Clayfinger
Continued in: Thunderball
Campaign 3 Index
