In The Grand Pavillion of Changu
After laying down their weaponry and tribute, the party is led to Chieftain's personal table, and offered seats of honor. The table is long and wide, and of exquisite craftsmanship. There are grooves in the table, which suggests that perhaps it can be folded down and made portable, which makes sense, considering how often the nomads move around. There is ample seating for everyone, and the chairs are as well-made as the table, also having obvious grooves and joints which help them fold flat. These are not primitive nomads; everything around you suggests sophistication, indicative of a people possessed of masterful artisan and craftsman skills. Nothing is crude; everything is elegant.
The party can see that there are guards at regular intervals around the outer inside parameter of the tent. These guards are well-dressed, their clothes, while plain linen, are perfectly clean; their armor looks to be masterwork studded leather, and their weaponry (swords and daggers) looks to be well-made as well. Most of the other nomads do not wear armor, nor carry weapons, although many of them wear studded leather skullcaps, and more than a few of them have small daggers (likely for utility purposes) in their belts. You get the feeling that none of the nomads are unfamiliar with either armor or weaponry, and that the chief, should he so desire, could probably arm and equip a sizeable war band in a very short period of time.
The Chieftain, and most of the nomads, are all Human. There are a few Half-Orcs in the mix as well, but you do not immediately see any full-blooded Humanoids.
Respen said:
"(Respen) uses the arcane sight and see invisibility for anything out of the ordinary. He presents himself as attentive to Thallok's conversation, but he's observing all around him. His arcane sight should alert him to magic items on the various folks in and surrounding the tent. As he presents his tribute (12 gp), he takes note of who stewards the tributes, and what they do with it."
[sblock=What Respen Discovers]
With your Arcane Sight, you discover:
The ENTIRE TENT is, itself, a potent magical item!
The Chieftain himself is an Arcane spellcaster. The highest spell in his memory is 8th level. The Chieftain himself is COVERED in POWERFUL magical gear!
When he meets your gaze, the Chieftain smiles at you. You get the feeling that he can see the party's magical auras just as you can.
The heavily armored (powerful magical chainmail) man sitting next to the Chieftain (his advisor?) is a Divine spellcaster. The highest spell in his memory is 7th level.
A lightly armored man (minor magical leather armor) sitting on the ground, off to the side, on an ornate (moderately magical) carpet, with a flute (minor magical) in his hand is an Arcane spellcaster. The highest spell in his memory is 5th level.
The two tables where the weapons and tribute are laid are highly magical. You suspect that the effect is some sort of alarm, which activates when things are removed from the tables.
The head seat, where the Chieftain is sitting, is HIGHLY magical.
All of the parameter guards have magical weaponry (medium power)
All three metal water decanters on the table have minor magical powers (probably endless water)
The entire area is under the effects of some powerful spell. It seems to be a ward of some kind. The spell isn't permanent, but appears to be long-lasting. You suspect that such a spell likely needs to be re-cast every day, or perhaps every couple of days.
[/sblock]
When the party has all taken their seats, the Chieftain introduces himself.
Chieftain (Speaking Common, with a thick accent): "I am Changu Tokwan, leader of the Wung Bai tribe. We are one of the oldest bloodlines in Ull, younger only than the Tsu line, which as you might know already, is the royal bloodline of the Emperor. Next to me is Taii Dan, Minister of Religion for our tribe. He is a member of the Order of Khou, the highest order of Zuoken's priesthood. You are welcome this night, to my feasting table. It has been a long while since I've entertained guests. This region of the continent has the unfortunate reputation of being savage and harsh. But the truth is, we simply fail to see eye to eye with The Flannae on a few, key matters. The Flannae have a hangup about slavery, and about associating with Non-Humans. But we follow the True Way; a man becomes a slave only by his own hand, through greed and arrogance, coupled with weakness. True Warriors are never slaves, because their desires are tempered by discernment. And as for Non-Humans, they are MEN, just as we are, simply with different skin, and different laws. But we all bleed RED, and thus, we are all men in the eyes of the gods. People who cannot learn this fact are doomed to be consumed by their own ignorance. But I digress; please, whom do I have the pleasure of entertaining this night? Please introduce yourselves, in turn, in the order in which you were seated. And kindly elaborate on your purpose here, for it might be within my power to help you."
EVERYONE: What do you do?