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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 7017672" data-attributes="member: 20323">Akilah and her handmaiden Amina set off for Rawun's Well with Derafsh uncomfortably following as the vizier bids. As they trek up the ramp from the river, wending through the night markets of Tajar, loquacious moneylenders offer reasonable rates for the conversion of coins into gems, but find themselves bereft of words in Akilah's presence. Fire swallowers emit gouts of green flame from their mouths as hakawati (traditional tribal storytellers) tell the tale of how the wicked sultan was cast down. Under-lit merchant stalls boast cinnamon and saffron, exotic cuisines ranging from scorpions on a stick to candied cactus, swords fashioned of Hiyali steel, and rarer goods.[SECTION][align=left]http://i.imgur.com/rNCBfLQ.jpg[/align]Looking sidelong at Akilah taking his arm, the beady-eyed Derafsh sighs and acquiesces to the vizier's will. Having survived this long – through a tyrant's reign, espionage, and a rebellion – he knows when to adapt to those of greater power. "The sultan's treasure...it is hidden in a tomb in the Al-Yabki Mountains. If you agree, we will need to be circumspect. As you know, the Sheikh's outriders patrol the lands around Tajar. You are the Vizier, true, but many of these men of House Bakr grew up with families raiding Tajar during the Sultan's reign. You can put such a man in armor and give him a house, but his nature does not change so easily." Derafsh's second mouth silently echoes the word nature with a grim smile.He keeps Amina in the corner of his eye, for she seemed less inclined to believe his story than the vizier, and she'd gotten the drop on him earlier. "There's nothing I can say to dissuade you from this course of action? There's no telling how my siblings will takes this manner of approach." Derafsh inquires, eyes scanning the street. His close scrutiny of passersby suggest that even that urchin boy selling roasted coffee beans or that old woman offering llama hair rugs might actually be an informant for Derafsh's family.[/SECTION]</blockquote>

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