The Ganoltir Project Forum

Lead/Int: [2d6]=11

Round 4 results: 6/5 successes, the fire is fully extinguished. 

Ereden has suggested that you bury the bodies. You may do so now, or return to the camp.

Feel free to RP out the funeral rites as you see fit, before returning back to the camp. 

With this mid-watch scene finally reaching its end, your PCs should return to sleep until the morning, except for Lyseros who will be awakened for the final watch shift with Imhe after awhile. Rat and I will continue to do the watch RPs in discord and post them here before moving things to the following morning.

I have nothing to add, Deimos will simply go back to sleep.

The rest of the evening passes and eventually you awake to the sounds of birdsong and a soft breeze. Within the hour, you eat a quick breakfast together, and the campsite is packed away. The Moltoves climb atop their cart, their demeanor noticeably colder and tighter than before.

You take your positions alongside the caravan once more, and the cart begins to roll the last few hours to Anfeli.

Following the lazy wind of the river, you pass through wooded thickets that soon give way to an expansive valley teeming with farms, pastures, and orchards. Traffic along the road picks up. Your caravan comes to a crawl, its wide profile competing for space amidst the fellow travelers, traders, and farmers hauling their crops from the fields to the city to sell. You pass by numerous other carts carrying all sorts of folk — some packed full with peasants young and old, the load straining their oxen, while others travel in more imposing of circumstances, scores of attendants commanding well-built carts decorated and painted with what must be ancestral heraldry.

Farms and hamlets turn to estates, then to more developed pockets replete with stables and drinking halls. Merchants line the road, hard at work to sell off supplies or trinkets to passersby.

Ahead, the walls of Anfeli loom. Built from light grey stone, they encompass the inner city, no small feat for its sprawling shape. Passing under the gates, you find a rich presence of guards posted along the main road in. Some stand on raised patios or even balconies of buildings, providing overwatch to the bustling crowds.

Your caravan pulls to a halt at a large, open plaza not more than a few streets within the gates. Lining the plaza are a number of businesses and taverns. Queues have began to form at many of them, snaking into the streets and causing tight detours for others simply meaning to pass through.

Hara separates from the band, leaving Imhe behind to oversee the lot of you. For the last several minutes, you have seen him in a deep discussion with Oradia and Ereden. Oradia's arms are crossed, leaving her brother to do most of the speaking. Hara's hands are on his hips, and his usual calm and collected demeanor is gone, replaced with one more tense. He nods frequently when he isn't gesturing in a defensive manner.

"Let him handle this," Imhe warns, putting a raised palm up in a halting manner. "He's been battling with this all morning."

The last few months have brought you toward Anfeli, following distant rumors of the Ervemnon-related statuette that has been seen around the hub city. Instead of your prize, you've found an overcrowded city bustling with all sorts of travelers, merchants, and potential heirs of Ervemnon that have arrived for the upcoming Calling of the Heir.

Your trail has gone cold, your coin is waning quicker than you had anticipated, and most leads for work have turned out to be too temporary or transfixed to Anfeli to be a fit for you.

You find yourself at the Wilted Rose, a somewhat upscale tavern and inn near the city center where you have been staying for a couple weeks. While there has long been a bustle to its drinking halls, the approaching event has turned it from packed to overflowing. There is talk of rich Jenores visiting with a complete procession of their staff and advisors, as well as famous Cohorts whose ranks are full of soldiers and scribes and logisticians. While work has been scarce as of late, you sense your luck may have just turned around. If Anfeli was a dead end, surely there may be other travelers leaving in a matter of days — paying travelers who could use your particular skillset.

The burly bartender steps over to you, wiping away a bead of sweat from his receding hairline. "Miss, you need another drink?" His booming voice escapes the din of heavy chatter and drum-beating. "If not, I apologize, but I've gotta give your space up." He gives you an apologetic half-smile, and you follow his glance to a line at the bar that leads out the door.

Imhe frowns at Lyseros' question, glancing back toward Hara as he continues the tense negotiation. "No, it's... just the opposite," she explains, turning back to you. "They have already paid us in full. In fact, that paid us more than was agreed upon. For the lives that were taken on their behalf, as Oradia put it. It is a great dishonor to exchange coin for blood in this direct of manner, especially for someone like Hara."

She nods at Stolos. "That is precisely their point. The intention is spiteful. They mean to place the blame all on his shoulders."

The bartender scratches his neck, coarse with stubble. "Suppose if you're looking for work, you could try Jiacus Square," he suggests, referring to the wide, open city center that the Wilted Rose lies on the edge of. "Lots of cohorts and merchants end up there for trade or employment, seems like. It's how we get a lot of our business in typical times."

He gives you a kind nod, before returning to clearing a couple tables and responding to the demands of other patrons.

Imhe sighs, listening to each of you. "Hara doesn't operate that way," she explains to Dravos. "Whatever culpability the two of you did or didn't have — it matters not when he bears all responsibility for the Cohort's actions."

Polinos' eyebrows raise at Stolos' suggestion. "That elder daughter saw the two bodies when she ran out, did she not? I can't imagine it'd be an easy lie to make, that those two folk were armed. Of course, kids lie all the time."

Just then, you notice Hara has taken leave of the Moltoves, whose servants now ready the horses to depart from the plaza. Your captain approaches, his face tight in a grimace and his eyes in the distance.

"Welcome back," Imhe says. "Any news?"

"Our contract's been completed," he says after a pregnant pause, his voice calmer now. "We will be spending a few days here in Anfeli to rest, resupply, and — should the Calling of the Heir bless our presence here — find a new contract. So, tonight, we will need to find room and board for the cohort. Once that has been settled, you are free to pursue your own interests in the city until it's time to move along."

Hara takes out a coinpurse from a pouch at his waist, pulling out a number of coins from it that he drops back into his pouch. "Atropos," he continues, holding the coinpurse out toward the scribe. "Please distribute this amongst our number."

OOC

In the bag is 900 silver, meant to be split six ways for 150 silver each.

It is only a short walk up the road from where you are now before you are in the square, but you can see it - and especially hear it - the entire brief walk. As the semi-wide street comes to an end, it empties into a huge open space before you, which you'd have seen or walked through a few times before. The square consists of a large, open rectangular space, flanked on all sides by buildings, all at least two stories in height. One seems to be Anfeli's town hall, or some other important governmental building, and at one of the ends of the square the city's temple to Ervemnon towers all of the buildings surrounding it.

While you've seen the square crowded before, in the recent days it has become completely packed with people, featuring merchant stalls, parked carts, and an absolute abundance of people. You find locals debating the local politics outside of the town hall, merchants - both local and foreign - peddling their wares as they shout over one another, and the numerous others who are passing through or seeking to visit one of the nearby buildings or merchants. What you see less of, however, are cohorts. With the upcoming Calling of the Heir, you can only assume that there are no shortage of cohorts in the city, so they are either not as freuquent as the bartender claimed, or mostly already committed to employers.

"Hey, miss," a man says to you, as he watches you wander into the square. He's stepped closer to you, but you can see that he'd just been behind the counter at a nearby merchant stall. "You look like you appreciate the finer things in life, yeah?" he says, a large grin on his face as he speaks to you. "We got some genuine Akraste pottery here, best pottery you're gonna find in all of Anfeli. I can give you a good deal, if you're looking to buy."

+150 silver

[1d6]=5[1d6]=1, so 6 in total

+150 silver pieces.

"Come, come, take a look at our fine selection, straight from the kilns of Akraste to you," the man continues, as he leads you back to his stall. Before you stands a row of fine-looking pottery of all shapes and sizes. A couple large decorative vases stand out most immediately, large and featuring a variety of colors. One shows a scene of Ervemnon ascending to the heavens, with a crowd of worshipers kneeling before him on the ground, a variety of animals visible around the sides and background of the piece. Another features a scene of two warriors fighting with spears, flanked on either side with more warriors cheering them on.

Apart from the large show-pieces, there are numerous other smaller pots and ceramic plates of different sizes and colors, a few teapots, a couple of table vases and some bowls for water and soups. All are stacked on a couple of shelves that make up the back of the merchant's stall, covered by a wide tarp. A woman who has not spoken yet sits on the ground near one of the pieces, seemingly inspecting it for quality, or perhaps for signs of damage. 

"Oh, they come from a few different families over there in Akraste. I don't know 'em all, some come from the local consortium instead of the family directly," the man continues, stepping behind his counter and smiling widely as he continues his spiel. "But I do buy directly from a few of them, like the Fannia family and Muzakas."

OOC/Mechanics

The man's words are iffy to you, but at the same time you cannot quite pick out anything in the things he's been saying, or the pottery itself, to dispute them. The Fannia family and Muzaka family are indeed active members of the Akraste pottery industry, but that is something anyone dealing with pottery would know. If his words are true, the items would likely be quite valuable, ranging from 50 silvers apiece for some of the cheaper pieces, all the way up to hundreds or more for the larger vases.

"Right, you've all got your pay and we've time to spare," Hara continues, his voice stern but tinged with a hint of annoyance. "Imhe and I will seek out proper lodging for the evening, but the city's packed as you can see. I am sure it won't be easy. Do as you please, but let us know if you find any leads on work or somewhere we can stay while we're in the city. Once we've got that sorted out we'll begin looking for work."

"It's still early, so plenty of hours in the day before we need to gather again for the evening," Imhe continues, offering a weak smile in response to her co-captain's words. "The city's big and there's lots to do in it, so let's say we all gather back in the mid afternoon, yeah? Before the sun's down. Jiacus Square is the main gathering are in the city from what we've heard from all the locals, so let's meet up there at that time. Any questions?"

"Yeah," Polinos says nervously, looking as if he'd been waiting for a chance to speak up. "My first time in a place this big. We gotta go all on our own, or can we group together?"

"It's your time, do with it what you please, and with whom you please," Hara responds. "Stick with us our go with someone else or alone, it doesn't matter," Hara continues tersely, to which the man nods and looks back to Imhe.

"You can come with us," she says in response to his expectant gaze, motioning for him to walk over. "Anyone else have questions before we head off?"

Cassia follows the man towards the stall and listens intently as he talks about his wares. He's not saying anything wrong per se, but even if I did have the money I probably wouldn't buy from him. He reminds me too much of that man that once tried to swindle dad.

She nods along, waiting for him to finish his spiel, then shoots him an apologetic look. "It's an impressive collection indeed. From the Fannia and Muzaka families, even. Sadly that means I won't be able to afford them at right now. I'm in the city for business concerning a statuette, but that hasn't worked out yet. Either that or I would need to pick up some paid work before I would be able to buy any high quality wares. Oh!" She interrupts herself and claps her hands together, like she just had a brilliant idea. "You look like you know your way around. Would you be able to help me out? Would you either know about someone or someplace that could use a good worker, or someone who trades in statuettes? If I can get either of those two solved, maybe I can come back and afford some of your wares."