It is autumn and the caravan season is winding down on the Via Bathura, which heads out north-west from the great city of Parsantium through the
rugged lands of the former Imperial province of Valkania. Northbound caravans
at this time of year risk catching the first of the the bad weather and all
that brings with it: flooded out river crossings, landslides, the grinding
unpleasantness of the cold and rain as a caravan crosses the orc-troubled wilderness.
Few further expeditions north are planned this year, and the seasonal
mercenaries have moved on looking for other work, further south or in the city
itself.
So when the hiring agent Famagustas posts an advertisement in the usual hangouts, requiring
caravan guards ready to leave for Loranto
next morning, the response is somewhat lukewarm. After Famagustas has weeded
out the usual complement of known criminals, drunkards and overambitious
farmboys, the putative hirelings are down to four:
- · Nimeria, an Urskovian warrior woman (barbarian played by Lucy Mounsher)
- · Open, a tiefling magician (wizard played by Alex Hegazy)
- · Olrik, a dwarven follower of Herriki Veinfollower’s “Way of the Open Hand” (monk played by Wayne Furmidge)
- · Kam, a vanara priest of Hanuman (cleric played by Richard Green)
It has to be said that when this odd group is presented to
their new employer at the Northern Caravanserai outside Victory Gate, he is not
that impressed (“a talking monkey and a dwarf who throws cutlery?”). But then
what did he expect, mounting an expedition at this time of year and at such
short notice? He hires them on, for 1gp per day plus a 35gp completion bonus.
The employer is Lucinius,
a Parsantine merchant who is taking a small mule train to Loranto, to follow up
what he calls an “important business opportunity” which cannot wait till next
season. As well as the PC hirelings the caravan will include Lucinius’s
bodyguard, a taciturn Urskovian called Lodvik,
and the muleteer Berko.
Additionally, and rather to Lucinius’s surprise, a friend has asked to
accompany the caravan at least some of the way – this is the bard, Aris (guest appearance by Theo Britton).
As Lucinius takes the new hirelings out to the mule train,
he is approached by a young woman who introduces herself as Amira; she has heard that he is hiring,
but was not in time to approach him through Famagustas. She says she has been
working as a bodyguard for the children of the Marfisi family but has personal
reasons to wish to travel to Loranto. While Lucinius is apologising that she is
too late and he has hired as many people as he has budgeted for, a sudden
commotion erupts. Two gnolls come charging through the caravanserai, murderous
looks on their faces (another appears to have already got into a fight a little
further away). One attacks Berko, the muleteer, as he prepares the animals for
departure, whilst the other charges straight at Lucinius, ignoring Amira, who
was a more obvious target.
A short fight ensues in which the gnolls are disposed of by
the caravan guards (and Amira, who has joined in). Lucinius joins in with some
magic, though Open does not believe he is a proper spellcaster – more likely a
rogue who has picked up some tricks. However the brutes were not killed off
quickly enough to save Berko, who took a spear through the neck. Lucinius, who
is clearly very eager to depart, canvasses those present to see if they have
any animal handling experience. To his relief both Nimeria and Amira volunteer that
they have , and Amira is taken on as a replacement for Berko. Aris, meanwhile,
arranges for the Guild of Mourners to collect the unfortunate muleteer and
return him to his family for burial.
Before the caravanserai’s own guards arrived to deal with
the aftermath, Kam searched the two gnolls fought by the party. As well as
rifling their pockets for small change, he finds both are carrying small twists
of parchment which retain a few grains of what he suspects to be White Lotus.
This is an addictive drug, but its effects do not tally with the gnolls’
deranged behaviour. Furthermore, he suspects that Lucinius may have recognised
one of the gnolls.
The caravan sets off, and after crossing the agricultural lands which lie immediately outside the city,
by nightfall reaches the outer walls of Parsantium's domain. Beyond lies the County of Etressia, outside the city state’s
direct control but an ally, ruled by Count
Timitos, whose family has controlled Etressia for three generations and who
has a reputation as a competent general. While the guards amuse themselves at
one of the rough inns in the gate town, Olrik provokes a brawl for amusement
(or, as he claims, “training”) while Aris entertains the crowd with coarse
jokes and parlour magic. During this little interlude, Kam, who has been
pressing their employer for more details of their intentions, goes to the
stables with him, where he is shown a carefully wrapped package holding a
brilliant blue powder – this is ultramarine, a rare mineral extract used in the
preparation of the most expensive paints. Lucinius explains that this has been difficult
to get hold of recently, owing to an unexplained disruption of its supply along
the Silk Road, but though what he describes as “an unconventional source”, he
has been able to obtain some. If he gets this to Loranto before the supply
difficulties are resolved, the artists there will pay a pretty penny for it. He
is wary of travelling on the Lorantine ships which control the sea trade in the
eastern Corsair’s Sea, so he has mounted the mule train as to get to Loranto
before the weather closes in.
The party hire a side chapel converted into a bay offering rude
living accommodation. The other guests are some female Bathuran pilgrims and
their dwarf bodyguard, travelling to Parsantium, and a group of four rather
rough looking types who are outward bound like the party. During the evening
meal – cooked by Lubzug’s ancient mother-in-law at a fire pit hollowed from the
old altar dais – the leader of this group approaches the party. While the
others look like run-of-the-mill dockside toughs, Sanjar is a smallish and quietly spoken Sampuran man with a smiley
demeanour, but his conversation is rather cryptic and not exactly friendly. He describes
his trade as “recovery specialist”. He displays a badge depicting a peacock –
the symbol of the Pavone family – and says that one of the party (“you will
know who you are”) has upset his employer and needs to return to Parsantium to
sort things out. At this stage, he says, it might be possible for that to
happen without causing too much pain, but if the miscreant and their friends
make too much resistance, things might not go so well. He suggests that the
person concerned present themselves to him before the morning, to avoid unnecessary
unpleasantness, and no-one else need get involved. He then goes back to his own
bay.
The guards discuss this strange incident. After a little
prompting two of them admit there may be reasons why the Pavone family are
after them, though several of them also think that Lucinius seemed a little
shifty during the whole incident, and has made his excuses and retreated to the
bay with Lodvik. Kam, it seems, has stolen some trifle from the clan, whilst Amira
is a minor aristocrat who has taken flight because her Pavone step-father was
trying to marry her off to his unpleasant cousin. Kam tries to engage in
conversation the tough who is guarding Sarjan’s bay, to wheedle information
from him, but an attempt to cast charm
person is brushed aside and results in Sarjan being summoned. During the
exchange that follows, however, Kam is fairly sure than Sarjan isn’t very
interested in the monkey priest, suggesting that he is not the party member
being hunted.
Between them, the party decides that they are not going to
wait around while Sarjan plots his strike against them, and move to
pre-emptively attack. They advance across the transept of the derelict church
towards the bounty hunter’s bay....
