The Ganoltir Project Forum

"Right," Shira'stasa says, her mind processing all of the information. "You lot did a good job of effacing the name and history of Vor-Kaleth and the surrounding struggle. The Library has nothing of the sort on this ancient history -- imagine how surprised and amazed the other Tenants will be, Cleo!" She yawns, but not out of disinterest. "I'm exhausted," she admits. "Let's rest for tonight. There is all of tomorrow to discuss this strange quasi-deity."

"Shut up," Eoli growls. "Sleep now."

He settles into his corner, leaning back and closing his eyes, too exhausted to bother caring about danger.

Everybody heads to bed and the night passes uneventfully. Kanan rises the group early and a quick breakfast, of bread and salted meat, is had before they make their way back to the road to Thesus. It is not long before the sweltering desert sun is bearing down on them once again. They travel mostly in silence, only with ocassional small talk, for a couple of hours before Kanan speaks. "We should be nearing the city soon, we've made good time. Once we're inside you can attend to whatever business you have and I will search for a ship to take us downriver. I'll wait for you by the docks, although I must get to Ariol as quickly as possible so do not take too long."

"Well let's go, then," Cleo says, looking impatiently at Geral. "You have the scroll, the sooner we can be rid of it the better."

Geral pats the location he keeps the scroll the merchant gave him with a nod.
"Shouldn't take too long. Though I get the feeling the man we're giving this to won't let us off with a few gold coins."

He looks to the rest of the group, checking them once over.
"So. Who all wants to go to Ariol? I'm up for it, not like I've got anywhere else I'm needed right now."

"Hm, maybe," Cleo says, giving the idea a bit of thought. "But not until I see the temples in the capital. That's the whole reason I even left the library." And to get away from that bitch for awhile.

"Let's get this business with the scroll sorted out," Shira'stasa suggests as they pad along the desert road. "Then we'll figure out where to go from there. I hope we can find who we're supposed to take it to," she says, a bit worried. "I've not been to Thesus in my travels.

Geral smiles at them both. He knows better than anyone that with the war on, there will be work anywhere he needs it, so he's free to travel anywhere. And amongst the many people here, the two tenants along with Eoli are the most amicable, and he's putting himself below them.
"Well, I say traveling alone is boring. Maybe we should group up and make a list of places we'd like to visit? With the war on I'm sure there will be danger everywhere anyway, maybe even on the river. Personally, I'm up for anywhere."

It isn't long before Thesus comes into view. Built by a lake where two rivers meet before flowing South towards Crescent Bluff, the docks appear to be buzzing with activity as river barges are being loaded and unloaded. The docks look to make the most of the lake and its wooden structures stretch far from the shore. It's clearly by no means the largest city in the region, however there is clearly a large trading presence as almost all trade from the West of the Kingdom passes through on the way to Crescent Bluff. A small fort and a couple of temples dominate the skyline, most of the other buildings failing to reach above the sandstone walls.

The party nears the gate and is waved through by a group of bored looking legionnaires. "Well then I'll go find us a boat. The market is in the Centre of the Eastern half of the city I believe. Inbetween the fort and the docks," Kanan says before disappearing into the crowd.

"Ok, thanks," Cleo says to their escort as he disappears from view. Turning to Geral and the others, "so let's give this stupid piece of paper away and get out of here. If there is enough time I think I'll check out the local temples too." She looks at the spires off in the distance and marvels at the architecture, always excited to visit a new temple.

Cameryn rolls his eyes at the miniature tenant. She is obsessed with temples and her stupid gods! "Whatever. Let's just deliver this thing so we can get on with our lives. Though before we do... isn't anyone else a little curious as to what's written in it? Something that sounded so urgent has got to have something good in it," the elf says, a devilish grin painting his face.

"I may join you for that sightseeing trip, Cleo. It's been several years since I was last this way, it's more crowded here than I remember," Eoli says, scanning the surrounding city. "We should find the market quickly."

"We can ask the man we're delivering the scroll to if we can see it, Cameryn," Eoli says, putting a large hand on the elf's shoulder. "We have a good argument towards him allowing us to see it, given that we risked life and limb to get it here. Behave yourself."

Geral nods at the rest of the group and looks about the city with a smile.
"Well I say we spend our time wisely. First stop is the merchant's friend, then we can look about this place a bit. So... who remembers where we're supposed to drop this off again?"

"Sarab said to ask around the market for a man named... Actually, he never gave us a name. Just said to throw his name around at the market," Eoli says, sighing. "I wonder at how long this will take."

"I can shout pretty loudly," Cleo says, eager to get this over and done with as quickly as possible. "Just lift me up on your shoulders and I will shout if anyone knows Sarab. It will be hard for them to ignore a girl riding an orc."

"That is true," Eoli says, chuckling lightly. "We'd make quite the sight."

"While that would be quite entertaining, we should be a little more cautious with our actions, Cleo," the other Tenant says with a tight-lipped but friendly smile. "The last thing we need before we leave this city is anymore struggles. However, tossing the merchant's name around is sure to elicit something. Let's just hope that it's the right type of crowd and not somebody who he owes."

The Group soon reaches the market, which was by no means hard to find. A veritable smorgasbord of stalls and shops line the bank of the lake before giving way to a maze of riverboats and jetties. In the centre of the market the shops and stalls stretch inland to the walls of the fort. The occasional patrol of legionnaires marches passed, the crowd parting in front of them. Market Traders' shouts can be heard regularly over the noise of the crowd. With such a large market to search hopefully Sarab wasn't exaggerating his influence.

Cleo frowns as her idea is politely shot down. "Fine, just do it however you want then," she says in a pouting tone. Boring people.

Cameryn rolls his eyes at the older tenant's dissatisfaction with Cleo's idea. "Bah! We'll never find whoever needs this scroll with a market this big! Asking people one by one would take forever, and we don't have all day, ya know." Stupid tenant. Always so uptight about this and that. She needs to learn to relax a little.

Geral chuckles at Cleo's idea as he looks about the market, wondering just how effective that would be.
"A tenant riding an Orc shouting about a guy named Sarab. I'm not sure if everyone would turn and look or just keep walking. However, I will say that I don't think the legionnaires would take kindly to the disturbance... Eoli, how about you and I handle the search, and the rest of you can take a look around. Don't leave the market and we'll find you all once we have directions."

He smiles at the group for a moment before going off to ask another merchant running one of the stalls.
"Hi, I'm here with something from a man named Sarab? Do you know who that is?"

"Whatever," Cleo responds, still annoyed she doesn't get to ride on Eoli's back. At Geral's suggestions she begins browsing the market, looking for an antique shop that might be interested in her looted spearheads.

Mechanics

[SHOW]

What kind of shops are there? Any that sell antiques?

"How should I know? I doubt there's one man called Sarab in the whole kingdom," the merchant says. "But hey, maybe if you buy something, it'll jog my memory," he adds gesturing towards his stall which is covered with a selection of rugs.

Cleo

[SHOW]

There is a large variety of stalls, selling many types of food, spices, silks, ceramics, weapons and much more. You spot a stall that may be interested in the spearheads, it appears to be selling common trinkets along with a few other things you recognise as possibly being from ancient Serran ruins.

"Hey!" Cleo says to the shopkeeper in a more upbeat tone, temporarily putting aside her annoyance with her traveling companions. "Do you buy ancient artifacts by any chance? I've got some really neat ones you may like."

"Well that would depend on what they are," the man says to Cleo, clearly taking interest at the sight of her Tenant Robes. "I deal in many relics and artifacts."

"I'll show you," she says, setting down her bag and searching through it. Once her hand meets one of the spearheads she quickly removes it, and presents it before the man. "It's a spearhead. But not just any spearhead. This once belonged to a Golden Spear." The girl looks at the shop keeper expectantly.

"Well I doubt that..." The merchant chuckles, taking one of the spearhead from Cleo and holding it up to his eye. "They're certainly old though..." he muses, examining the object. "I'll give you 20 gold for each one," he decides after a moment.

"Each one? This is the only one." Cleo says, feigning shock and disgust. "This is a priceless artifact dating back centuries. Millennia, even. You think I would be selling it if it was only worth a measly 20 gold pieces?"

She snatches the spearhead from the man's hands and shoves it back into her pack, slinging it over her shoulder. "I thought when I saw you that you were a man of taste, but clearly that was poor judgement. I suppose I will have to deal with the hassle of an auction after all." She sighs, and turns away, though she carefully eyes the man when he is not looking to gauge his reaction.

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Bluff: 23

"Okay, Okay... If it is what you say it is, I can go as high as 50," the merchant calls out as Cleo turns to leave.

Cleo scoffs and walks off into the crowd, not bothering to grace the man's words with a response. If he really wants it he can do much better than that.

Eoli sighs as Geral and Cleo wander off. Well, so much for that.

He spends some time walking around the bazaar, getting a feel for the area, before heading to one of the stalls. Moving to the merchant, he questions the man. "Would you happen to know a merchant in Nhai that goes by the name of Sarab El'kidd, or maybe someone here that knows him?"

"He's a spice merchant right?" He man replies to Eoli. "I'd try one of the spice stalls, there's a decent chance they'll be working for him."

"Thank you," Eoli responds, relieved that he at least has some direction now. Feeling grateful, he looks around at the wares in the stall, contemplating buying something. "Say, what sort of things do you sell here?"

"Trinkets, odds and ends, that sort of thing," the man says. The man's stall displays an array of goods, from boots and necklaces to rope and daggers. "The name's Belethor. Everything is for sale my friend, everything! If I had a sister, I'd sell her in a second!"

After a few more moments of wandering the market and seeing all the interesting things for sale, Cleo remembers that she is broke. Penniless. She sighs, and walks back to the antique dealer who she had talked to before.

"Well you're in luck, I suppose," she says, not giving up the charade. "I seem to have misplaced my coinpurse so I've decided to accept your offer of 50 gold piece for this rare and priceless artifact. I just hope you remember my generosity once you've made a fortune off of it." She holds out the ancient spearhead, a look of defeat on her face, waiting for the man to exchange it for coin.

The Merchant raises an eyebrow as he sees Cleo approaching. "A very wise decision Tenant," the merchant says pulling out a coin purse and handing it to Cleo and taking the spearhead. "It was a pleasure doing business with you," he adds, a smirk on his face.

Cameryn looks around the marketplace, taking in the sights of the massive bazaar. With the hustle and bustle everywhere, he has no idea where to go. With no interest in shopping and spending what little coin he has, the elf instead attempts to listen in on the conversations of others in the market, hoping for some sort of news from around the nation.

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Perception check to eavesdrop any sort of news: 17(1d20) +14 = 31

With coin in hand, Cleo turns and disappears into the crowd of people once more. Wish I'd gotten more, but oh well. Now he thinks he's got a one-of-a-kind artifact, what a sucker.

She browses the stalls, looking for anything interesting to buy, when a thought comes to her. She glances around for an deserted alleyway, or any place where she could safely turn to her cat form without being noticed.

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Perception, to find a safe spot to transform: 2 ._.

Geral shakes his head at the merchant he tried, waving a hand.
"Yeah, I'm not going to deal with that. I'll just ask someone else."
He walks through the stalls and hears Eoli's conversation, thinking for a moment as he looks about, spotting a spice merchant. He walks over and puts on a smile again.
"Hi, I'm here to deliver something for someone that knows Sarab. Do you know him?"

"Sarab El'kidd?" The spice merchant asks Geral as he finishes dealing with an old woman, taking her coin and handing over a jar of something. "You'll probably want Tor'ac then. He'll be in his warehouse. It's the one over there," the man says, pointing towards a large sandstone building at the edge of the market. "I couldn't interest you in any spices could I?"

Geral smiles and shakes his head.
"Sorry, no thank you. Thanks for the advice though, much appreciated."
He waves to the man as he starts to gather everyone up, telling them that they should try the warehouse for Tor'ac.
"That wasn't so bad, just a few questions. We'll have this wrapped up in no time."

Shira'stasa leans idly against a wall, simply watching the bustle of the market and taking note of the people. I have little coin and nothing to purchase, really, she thinks to herself. A shame to be broke in a marketplace this functional. She picks Geral out of the crowd and makes eye contact with him, and the Tenant steps over, hearing of his news. "Tor'ac, hm? Well, let's get this drop-off done. The less time we're in debt to this spice man, the better we will feel."

"This guy better not ask us to do something too," Cameryn utters with a scowl as the group reforms. "I'd rather not spend my life running all over Serran delivering pointless scrolls to people who then want me to deliver another scroll, so we better be off the hook after this."

Cleo approaches just as Cameryn is finishing his sentence, and looks a bit annoyed by what she hears. "So you found the guy, then? If he does give us another scroll I will set on fire and throw it in his face."

The party follows Geral into the warehouse and is immediately hit with a strong aroma. There are crates stacked high against most of the walls as well as large ceramic pots filled with spices everywhere. A couple of men can been seen moving various pots and boxes around, while one man is stood by an area of tables looking over what appears to be a ledger. He hears the door close behind the group and looks up. "Can I help you?"

Geral rubs at his nose a few times, hoping to ease the immediate reaction to so many spices in one location. He walks a bit further into the warehouse, at least away from the front door and nods to the man.
"My name is Geral, we're here on behalf of Sarab to deliver an item to one of his friends here. He did not give us a name, but we asked around and we were directed to a Tor'ac? Are you that man?"

The man scribbles something in the ledger before speaking again. "I am indeed. What did Sarab send you with? I'd guess a message of some kind," Tor'ac says, diverting all his attention towards Geral and the rest of the group.

Catching Geral's eye as the mercenary rounds up the others, Eoli bows slightly to the merchant. "Sorry, friend. Seems that my companions are ready to head off. Perhaps another day I'll have time to stop and purchase something," he says, before hurrying to rejoin the group.

***

Inside the warehouse, Eoli moves towards one of the nearby crates, sniffing deeply. Mmm. It smells quite nice in here.