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Message: <blockquote data-quote="talien" data-source="post: 4607423" data-attributes="member: 3285">Hidden Greed: Part 1c – The Village of SaeberWalking outside the southern walls, the Milandisian countryside stretched for miles in the inky darkness of early morning.  The flickering lights of the various outlying farms provided the only signs of life.  Some three hundred feet away from the walls stood a large barn with a one-story house attached to it.  The sounds of metal beating metal came from the barn.Kham knocked on the barn door. The sounds stopped.A few seconds later, Pallas val’Abebi emerged.  “Kham? It’s good to see you! Your timing is impeccable.  What brings you here?”They hugged.  “Just passing through, cousin.  This is the last place I expected to find you!”Pallas laughed.  “Come in, come in, have some tea.  It’s difficult to get the ingredients right out here, but I have something close enough.”The inside of the barn had been turned into a full-fledged alchemy laboratory.  Various clunky wooden tables teemed with beakers, vials, piping, books, jars with strange-colored liquids inside and more.  The air was heavy and thick with a variety of smells, not all of them pleasant. On the far wall was a large fireplace at its center point, barely lit with only a few embers.He poured something out of a beaker that could easily have been an alchemical concoction into two mismatched cups.  “It’s not elegant,” Pallas said with a grin, “but it will do.”  He sat down on a rickety wooden bench and offered Kham a cup.  “Thanks.” Kham joined him.  “So what are you doing so far from Altheria?”Pallas grinned a white-toothed grin.  “I could ask you the same thing, but I suppose wanderlust comes with being the black sheep in the family. Truth be told, I’m on business.” He instantly became more serious.  “Speaking of family…I heard about Uncle Corinalous.  I’m sorry Kham, he was a good man.”Kham took a long sip from his cup.  “We weren’t that close, to be honest.  I went into a dark place when he died.  Did you go to his…?” He trailed off.“His funeral?  No, I missed it.  I heard that Falthar did an excellent job though on his eulogy.  Are you planning to visit soon then?  I know your mother would be pleased.”Kham snorted.  “I don’t know that she’d even remember who I am.  But yes, I plan on making my way there.  How are things at home?”Pallas leaned forward.  “Not well.  The Ssethregorans have stepped up their attacks.  People are talking about war.”“Open warfare?” Kham sipped more of the tea.  It had been a long time since he had sampled Altherian tea. Not since he had tea with his father, over twenty years ago. “Have things gotten that bad?”Pallas nodded.  “We’ve been looking for more blackpowder.  This town is close to a nearby phosphorous mine, so I was scouting it out when I heard rumors of an uprising amongst the Black Talon ss’ressen here.”Kham nodded at the alchemical apparatus.  “I see you’re still refining it.” The telltale sent of phosphorous and sulfur, ingredients for blackpowder, filled the air.“I was, until the ss’ressen attacked us unprovoked.  It’s a good thing I was here or they would have been slaughtered.”“When did this happen?”“Two weeks ago.  You know how it is, Kham.  Lizards are all the same.  You can move a lizard to a nicer neighborhood but they never change their stripes.”Kham blinked.  “It’s strange that the ss’ressen in Sulfurmarsh would do that.  I know one of them.  They’re dumb as rocks, sure.  But they wouldn’t just attack people outright.”“These do.  Something about a Yig uprising.  I think their vile gods have gotten them stirred up.  If they’re capable of killing Corinalous, they’re capable of anything.”Kham shifted in his seat.  “Who told you that?”“I heard about it,” said Pallas.  “I heard they attacked the Temple of Althares in Freeport. Then they planted a bomb, delivered it right to Corinalous.  Those bastards!”Kham shook his head.  “You’ve got it wrong.  That was the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign.”Pallas laughed bitterly.  “Oh, I’ve got it right. The ssanu run that cult.”“No, you see there are two factions of ssanu, the Sskethvai and the Hitthkai.  The Hitthkai are the more peaceful types, they worship Yig.  The Sskethvai have been co-opted to worship The King in Yellow…” he trailed off as he caught Pallas’ expression.  “Never mind.”Pallas chuckled.  “I’m sure that’s all very interesting.  In fact, I think we should talk more about it; the more intelligence we have about the damn snakes and their lizard lapdogs, the better off we all are.  But for now, I think you need to see all this for yourself.  Stand watch with the rest of the village guards tonight.  Althares knows they could use the help.”Kham thought for a moment.  “I think that’s a good idea.” He stood up and thanked Pallas for the tea.  “Kill one for Corinalous,” said Pallas.To Kham’s credit, he hesitated only for a moment before walked out the door.</blockquote>

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