Chapter 13: Session 05

Chapter 13: [Cities of the Dead, Part I: The Violet Path]

Captain Ahze goes aboard the massive floating fortress of the Corsairs to deliver word of the dark road and the mirror black to his superiors. Other party members also move about the Corsair fortress.

• Rin -- searching for a means of selling his less than valuable gems -- is almost sucked into another scam involving a jeweler and an alchemist. Instead, he heads below into the depths of the floating fortress where he is aided by a cloaked human man with bright green eyes who brings him to see a cranky old Kuzani mystic who tells him a strange tale about a man with no name.
• Val engages in a bit of friendly gambling, showing off his ranged weapon skills and winning a bit of coin.
• Mitu is rid of his wretched ogre boots, and has a pair of new, metal splinted leather boots made custom for him. He also makes contact with the Sorceror Blackrobe, whom he notes is on the fortress after seeing a trio of Nightclan warriors.
  
• Slip translates the strange paper given to him by the Giro snake shaman, and it is most assuredly the Third Revelation, the Prophecy of Ama, a Nuzin murderer.
• Lugh meets with a blacksmith on the fortress, a cousin in the Pazuna clan.
• And Soreiss? He studies obsessively.
  

Ahze's ship leaves the Corsair fortress and within five days, they have reached the bustling port city of Hrulgaard. However, nothing goes easily. Val is bogged down in local policy and regulations, and has to hire a middleman to facilitate the scheduling and (with luck) the sale of his goats. Slip is wary, since there are over a dozen Red Sun Trading Company vessels in the harbor. Rin seems anxious, and is eager to get out of the city. Indeed, Mitu is excited about leaving the city as well, when he learns of a Tal'Mora fighting sect dedicated to the Phoenix Krakaroon which is located about fifty miles north up the coastal highway. Both Rin and Mitu leave the city immediately, hiring a coastal ferry to shuttle them nearer to the monastery.

Lugh, Soreiss, Slip, and Val (and the Giro, very well hidden all the while) head deeper into the city, take a quick bite of dinner, and get the recommendation of a good place to bed down for the night -- The Green Inn. Indeed, the place offers a full array of services. The party secures a group suite and baths for each of them.

However, Val seems startled by several persons watching him. One person disappears without a trace, while another seemed only to be admiring the man enormous longbow. The third, a Nom, takes flight when confronted. Val takes up the chase, accompanied by the Giro, who seems bent on killing the Nom -- and indeed poisons him in the tussle.

The Giro uses his powers to obfuscate Val and the dead Nom, as they drag the corpse back to the party's suite at the Green Inn. The Nom is searched once Slip, Lugh, and Soreiss are updated on what is happening. They find a fair amount of money, and a trio of keys. Some of the locals help them identify where some of those keys are from. That evening, they hope to investigate further...