Part the First
Part the First:
In which: the party grows ever larger
(Another note: this is not the beginning of the campaign. I joined the group after they had been playing for several months and so this is as close to the beginning as I can lend a first-hand account. If someone (hint hint) would like to tell the story about Reyu and the bear trap, that someone would be most certainly welcome to add recollections for the sake of historical completeness.)
The group was beginning to reach an impractical size. Their cart was filled with people, and even though several had opted to walk along on foot, the temple mule who had been pressed into service for the job of drawing said cart had taken to looking forlornly over his shoulder to the Elven woman at the reins with an expression that said, "Isn’t it time to go home yet?"
Reyu, the aforementioned Elf, passes the look on to her cleric companion, Anvil the Just. It had been at his temple’s behest they had traveled to Dar Aego on a mission to buy the freedom of several citizens of Dar Pykos who, through a legal loop-hole, had been sold into slavery in Dar Aego. In fact, several members of the party had nearly fallen into that trap themselves. Their task now was almost done, and if they never saw Dar Aego again, it would be too soon. "Is there just the one left?" she asks.
Anvil nods. "But I’ve received a message from al-Assal. He wants to see us again before we leave."
"Why?"
"He didn’t say."
From the cart, a bearded man about three feet tall pokes his head up. "Maybe he still wants me to come work for him." Reyu and Anvil exchange a look over the gnome Hue’s head. Anything was possible.
Anvil shrugs, "The farm Collin Meadowson was sold to is some distance from the city, on the road back to Dar Pykos. We might as well see what al-Assal wants, and then stop for Collin on the way home."
None of the five lately freed slaves in the cart are going to argue against spending as little time in the city as possible, so the party turns slowly round towards the gates of Dar Aego.
Dar Aego is one of seven city-states in the Darine Confederacy. It is renowned for its opulent lifestyle—assuming you have the coin to pay for it—and its lovely architecture, free for the viewing. Unfortunately, architecture is about all that Dar Aego gives away for free. If you’ve got money though, anything is for sale, including justice.
Anvil would happily burn the entire city to the ground, and then a little lower for good measure.
The House of al-Assal is… well… a brothel, but a plush one. The proprietor himself welcomes the party warmly. "Ah, it is good to see you again." His gaze falls to Hue. "I don’t suppose you’ve reconsidered my offer? Some of my clientele have very…exotic tastes… you could be a rich man."
Anvil cuts him off. "What is it you desire of us?"
The master of the house is unruffled. "Well, I have aided you in your quest here, and I would like to request a favor in return."
"What kind of favor?" asks Reyu with not a little suspicion.
"A young lady arrived in the city last night. She was supposed to meet a caravan going to Dar Pykos but she was delayed on the road, and they left without her. I assume you will be going in that direction soon. Perhaps you could take her there?"
As he speaks, al-Assal draws aside a brocade curtain, revealing a human girl. She’s about 19, thin, pretty, petite, and looking rather shell-shocked at being confronted by the mass of the party. She wears ordinary traveling clothes and would be nondescript if not for her striking red hair and the weasel poking his nose out of one of her cloak pockets. He and Hue’s ferret eye each other warily.
"What’s your name?" asks Reyu, not unkindly.
"Lira."
"Why are you going to Dar Pykos?" Anvil shoots next.
"I’m meeting a friend there."
Thatch, the young fighter, has been quiet but breaks in with, "Can you fight?"
Her shrug says, "I’m a 98-lb weakling, do I look like I can fight?"
Anvil informs her, "We are on a mission for Kettenek, freeing those who have been wrongly—"
"Can I come?"
"Can you leave immediately?"
Lira grabs a backpack resting by her feet and slings it onto one shoulder. "Yes."
The rest of the party exchanges a quick look. "Let’s go then."
They leave with hardly a backwards glance. Except Hue, who turns as they leave to call back, "I’ll think about your offer… It sounds very interest—" before he is picked up by the back of his coat and hauled off by Thatch.
Within minutes, the party is leaving Dar Aego as quickly as their much put-upon mule can take them.
