The Harvest Moon Consortium

[Winterhawk99]

T’kharr looks up at the sky. It is starting to get later in the day. The sun will go down soon. Balan follows her eyes and says, “We could see if there is different gossip at a shadier watering hole.”

"Well, okay then..." Zsikhou nods. It's easy, enough to find another tavern here. There's plenty to go around. They step into a place called the Loose Anchor. There's plenty of rough fellows around. Strangely, the bartender is a westerner, rather than one of the locals. It seems that there's some gambling, cards and dice on a few of the tables. Balan quietly finds a table for them. As they sit, they notice the air is tense and they get lots of stares.

"Hm. Wonder if there's even tea on offer in this place..." T’kharr asks. She goes up to the bar and finds out there isn’t. It’s mostly hard liquor, beer, grog and the like. "Hm. No tea here, what are you folks having?" She’s looking from Balan to Zsikhou mostly.

Balan gives a shout out, “Get something hard. Let’s loosen up a bit. Order some rum!”

“Just water.” Zsikhou says tersely.

“Just water for Nor’vee!” He says.

T’kharr turns back to the bartender. “I think I’ll be with Zsikhou here.”

Fwangzhu shrugs. Balan sits at the table not drinking his rum and listens to the surrounding gossip. He and the others do notice they are definitely getting stares and not the friendly kind, for sure.

As they make small talk they all listen. T’kharr is able to hear much more clearly hear some of the apprehension from those around them.

"You know, I heard a group of freaks did in a ship. You think it's them? Sniffing around? Maybe."

On the other side of the table Balan overhears.

"Those Chessentans, you heard? Killed like twenty guards or something?"

"Twenty? Sheesh. Wonder if they're for hire?"

"Those scallywags? Bunch of frothing lunatics. Best not to bother."

T’kharr whispers to Balan, “Seems like rumors of the Chessentan troublemakers."

Balan nods and speaks back, “I think they may have tale'd a bit on the kills though.”

As the evening wears on they hear some other rumors.

"Heard those Fated Winds guys are really taking a lot of business here lately. Driving out the competition."

"Wonder what they're going for here, or what deal they have. They haven't expanded beyond this island. You'd think they would..."

"Well, it could be that rumors of some of our work has spread this far with regards to what I heard." T’kharr smiles.

"Nor'vee thinks they're wary of you. And hating you lots." Nor'vee says.

Balan laughs, “Maybe we should buy them all drinks then.”

Zsikhou looks over with a shrug, then says, “Figuring they might slip something up if they're more drunk? Well, alright. Go for it then."

Balan goes up to the bartender with a bag of coin. “A round on me for everyone.”

The bartender shrugs, then does so. "Well, alright. Your coin to do with as you please."

Balan gets refills for everyone. It seems they’re quite deep into their mugs now and pretty well sauced. As they get more and more drunk and rowdy, the group definitely notices some of them going “Arrrr” or speaking in other dialectic commonly associated with pirates. Balan leans back in his seat to see better.

As their lips loosen T’kharr overhears:

So apparently the big captain... so there's this island. But it only shows up at midnight. And it's midnight forever while you're there."

"You're shittin' me. Ain' no way that can be real."

"The seas got many stranger things there."

At another place she hears:

"Dockmaster's a good businessman. Knows value when he sees it."

For sure, think his information secretary, whatever his name is, runs a great deal of things there."

"Long as this arrangement keeps in place. I'm happy. Yarrrr!"

"Yeah, nice to have a good port to offload at."

As Balan sips his rum he hears:

"You know, the Golden Sails only rarely seems to dock here, but they never get hit. Wonder how they do it?"

"Dunno. But they're winding activity down in these parts, aren't they?"

"Not really. Heard they went to that Shenyaki place, didn't they?"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it."

T’kharr whispers to Balan, “Seems we've found a mother lode here. Heard mention of that midnight island we hit."

Balan smiles, “Aye it does seem that way doesn’t it.”

Zsikhou’s brows go up, “By context from what they're saying... I get the impression it's a different midnight isle; there's another one somewhere in Zuodong's domain.”

T’kharr looks at him strangely, “Although it's possible that there's a second one of those."

Zsikhou and Fwangzhu both immediately grimace and flex their claws... Nor’vee seems confused.

[Winterhawk99]

Zsikhou and Nor'vee at various times slip off to sneak up and eavesdrop on the crowd. The group also hears another mention when two of the tables chat each other up.

"Heard your captain's going to see the Minister."

"Yeah, he is. Don't worry, I'm sure he can handle that guy."

"Dunno, I hear things about Minister Quin. Not the kind of scallywag you wan’na get on the bad side of."

"I figure he's a paper pusher that's got an inflated rep."

"And that's why it's the captain meeting him and not you, because that's the kind of guy who could send you to the locker and no one would ever know it's them."

"Yeah, bad enough to anger the bigwigs here. That minister is the guy who stays out of sight, and you never want to cross em. Trust me."

"Sheesh, the Dockmaster drives a hard bargain and the mayor... okay, guess someone doesn't get to remain mayor around here unless they got genuine chops."

"See? Smart lad."

After returning to the table, Zsikhou seems particularly troubled. Fwangzhu also seems tense after hearing about the next midnight island. T’kharr frowns softly, “Reckon we'll have much to go over when we get out of the public space, aye."

Zsikhou huffs, "You ready to leave, then? Shouldn't have let her go off on her own here." Fwangzhu just huffs, not volunteering to talk.

T’kharr looks around, “Hm. Reckon we can stick around for a bit longer at least." Zsikhou just nods aside, though seems antsy. Fwangzhu also just looks around, antsy. Nor'vee doesn't feel like speaking. T’kharr looks at them and sighs, “If you folks feel like moving on, we can, or we can head back to our room if you'd rather?"

They shrug. "Think we got what we could here." Says Zsikhou.

"Fair enough then." T’kharr leads the party out, giving the keeper a dip of her head in passing. She looks to see if there are any other establishments that look promising. There are other places around, she gets the impression that if she looked around enough, she could spend hours touring inns. There's quite a lot to choose from. She looks at the group. “Hm. do you folks feel up for more barhopping...? Seems there's plenty of choices."

Zsikhou shrugs, "We already got some leads, though we were going to find a place to discuss?"

"I think we can circle back on those leads once the whole party's together." T’kharr says then thinks a moment. "For now, I was thinking we'd try to see if there are one or two more good places." She then leads the party to find a nicer place to talk.

Zsikhou sighs, nodding "Right, let’s go."

They find another bar that looks more upper class but… It's just about empty. The barkeep seems to be hiding behind the bar. There's one table filled with some very loud people. Six of them. Four humans, one elf, one dwarf. For the humans, two of them wear some strange-looking helmets, like ones that have a plume on their heads. One of them looks like they're wearing a heavy lorica, one looks like a gladiator outfit, another looks like they're wearing a leather outfit with a mail underlay and looks rough and greasy. One looks like he's wearing a pompous and overly elaborate outfit.

As for the dwarf, he is wearing heavy armor. The elf is wearing what looks like a leather lorica. The group are the only people present. They’re loud and boastful. Zsikhou looks aside, "Careful, this bunch looks rough. And possibly crazed. Getting closer might provoke hostility."

T’kharr pulls the party aside near the bar and away from the entrance a bit. Although she does keep her ears perked to see what the loudmouths are bragging about. She hears them boasting about glorious fights, defeating people, how easy it was to fight the guards and some other foes around the town here. They're largely boasting and self-congratulating about some rather excessive brutality. They haven't noticed the companions yet. Nor'vee looks over at them nervously, and whispers. "Think we should retreat, Dog Lady."

"Seems like another adventuring band. We might revisit the place later and see if they've moved on or if at the very least, the barkeeper is in a better position to serve us." T’kharr moves on. Leading the group outside looking for a dive this time around. They find a dive closer to the docks. This one seems like a popular hangout for dockworkers and some of those who are part of the merchant companies. They can tell there is some intense stares between those of rival companies, but for now the place is civil… Mostly.

T’kharr politely heads in and gives the bartender a dip of her head "Ah, hello there, a tea for myself and the little scaled one please." a motion to Zsikhou.

The Bartender looks over, and nods, getting them set up with some tea. "Yeah, course. Can I get you and the Kami anything else?"

T’kharr looks over at the others. “I reckon the big fellows" motioning to Fwangzhu and Balan, "Will want something strong to drink." looks to Nor'vee to see what he wants.

Nor'vee looks around, seeming not able to relax here. "Just water for Nor'vee. And cheese."

The bartender looks over to Nor'vee. "I have a giant rat here. Really?"

Nor'vee looks over, annoyed. "Oh no, here we go again. Nor'vee is just here to enjoy time at bar with friends! Nor'vee is NOT PLAGUE RAT! Nor'vee is NOT here to steal your cheese! Nor'vee just wants to relax!"

The bartender looks over. "Well thanks for confirming. Just don't get us all sick, okay?"

Nor'vee squeaks irritably, "Nor'vee is NOT PLAGUE RAT!"

The bartender goes to get Nor'vee a water. "Well, I don't usually worry about rats around here... I have some countermeasures."

"Aye, I'm pretty sure Nor'vee here hates fleas as much as I do." T’kharr mentions.

Nor'vee's ears shoot up, as a cat leaps onto the top of the bar, fixating on Nor'vee. "NO! NO! NASTY BAD CAT STAY AWAY FROM NOR'VEE!" Nor'vee squeaks angrily at the cat, who moves closer.

"Well, she's better company than plague rats." The Bartender shrugs.

T’kharr glances to Nor'vee, then to the bartender "Our apologies, I think we have to move on." She does at least take a sip from the tea before she rises though.

"NOR'VEE SAYS LOOK AT CAT! THAT SMUG FACE! THAT IS FACE OF CREATURE WHO COMMITS CRIMES AND IS PROUD OF IT!!" Nor'vee rants.

The cat steps closer, “Mrrow.”

"DO NOT SPEAK YOUR CURSES AT NOR'VEE, FOUL BEAST!" Nor'vee Exclaims.

The bartender looks over to T'kharr, a shrug, "Well, just be sure to settle the tab before you go."

Nor'vee's ranting is definitely getting attention from the bar patrons. The cat stalks closer. "NO! BAD CAT! CAT WILL NOT COME CLOSER! NOR'VEE is NOT SCRATCHING POST!" The cat moves over, then tips the water glass onto Nor'vee, it breaks and splashes water all over Nor'vee, who shrieks, squeaks, and darts off the barstool. "Nor'vee orders ONE DRINK—ONE!—and receives ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT WITH ATTEMPTED DROWNING BY CAT!"

The cat just starts licking its paw, smugly. Nor'vee keeps ranting. "LOOK AT IT! CLEANING SELF AFTER CRIME! THIS IS WHAT TYRANNY OF CAT LOOKS LIKE!" The barkeep looks to T'kharr, thankfully it's not that large a bill but he does seem to be expecting it. Zsikhou is sure to grab his own tea, so the cat doesn't reach it. T'kharr does drop a few coins on the bar to settle it before departing.

The party departs. Fwangzhu seems quite amused. Nor'vee stares daggers at the cat as he backs away towards the exit. The cat just looks at him with a smug look. After they leave, Zsikhou huffs. "Well, that was a bust for intelligence. In just about every sense of the word."

Fwangzhu can't help but burst out laughing.

[Winterhawk99]

T’kharr looks up and down the street at all the bars, inns and Taverns. “Aye, let’s try one or two more" Ahe chuckles softly, "Seems there are plenty to pick from." She starts walking and leads them to another seedy place. Once again, they find a similar crowd, Dockworkers, a few merchants and low ranked workers. There are some free traders here and other foreigners. It doesn’t look like the greatest place, but it looks like they can probably get some cheap swill here.

Zsikhou looks to Nor'vee. "Maybe you should hang in the back."

Nor'vee squeaks in irritation. "Oh, so should let STUPID CAT push Nor'vee around, is that it?!"

T'kharr dips her head to the barkeep. "Two teas, two strong drinks, and a water please."

The bartender nods, getting their drinks. Fwangzhu huffs. Maybe even he's feeling it from all the barhopping, but he doesn't object. Zsikhou goes to sit down and sip the tea. He just about spits it out. The look he gives the barkeep speaks volumes. The Barkeep looks a touch unsettled, then looks back to T'kharr. "Can I get you lot anything else?"

She shakes her head, glancing at Zsikhou, then leaves a few coins on the bar and heads out. Once they're outside, she addresses him, "Take it the tea there was trouble?"

Zsikhou looks over to T'kharr. "The quality of that tea, or lack thereof, should make the barkeep glad that tea quality is not enforced by the Mandate of Heaven, because that one would be worthy of execution."

Fwangzhu shrugs, "The beer is decent enough for cheap swill, but it gets the job done." He snorts.

"I'm glad it's just...low quality then. The way you reacted so violently and instantly to it made me concerned it was worse than that." T’kharr says a bit unsettled.

Zsikhou shakes his head. "No, it's not worse than that. But this one will retain discipline and not smash the teacup and stab the barkeep with the shattered shards."

Nor'vee looks over, "Oddly specific example."

Zsikhou huffs. "Poor quality drinks aside, what did you want to do there anyways? If you still want to pick up rumors or the like, we can head back in."

Fwangzhu huffs. "Might as well get the swill. Or the rum. Or the grog. Whatever."

"We could try. Not sure what you wish to drink though" T’kharr looks over to Zsikhou. "Or what I'll be having for that matter if the tea is that unpalatable"

"I'll manage on water." Zsikhou huffs.

Fwangzhu grumbles. "Had quite a bit to drink already, I'll take it easy for now." He snorts.

Zsikhou sighs. "Or maybe we can just head back to compare notes. Whether back to our boat or the Pearl or, somewhere else. Don't think we actually rented rooms at the Lumpy Ladle, actually."

Fwangzhu snorts. "Come on, Kami, you haven't even had any alcohol."

"Ah. I thought Mingzhu got us a room there, but it may be worth checking?" T’kharr questions.

Nor'vee shakes his head "Don't think she did. But she said she would meet us there."

Zsikhou shrugs. "Well, what's your call, then?"

"We can head back to our room and discuss it for now." T’kharr surmises. Zsikhou nods. They head back to the Lumpy Ladle and find their rooms. They are not great quality, but it’s at least private.

Zsikhou looks over, a huff. "Right, one more bit I got while sneaking around that might have gotten missed back there, but those drunken fellows back there also mentioned doing more business with the Fated Winds than other trading companies here. I just thought that would be noted. But there's other things to go over."

Once they're safely ensconced, T'kharr opens the conversation, "So, still plenty of choices to try, but so far...one or two to avoid at all costs, one to try again later, one or two good ones, and here. As to what we overheard....quite a bit it seems."

Zsikhou nods "Lets Summarize it, then?"

"Seems like there could very well be a second one of those shadow-islands...for those who weren't with us the first time around, the pirates and their correspondents use hidden islands shrouded in shadow as secret trade posts. We were able to evict them from the first one we came across, although it took some pretty tough fighting." T’kharr says as she remembers the island.

Zsikhou nods. "It's even worse than that. If Silgara were here she'd probably go into a whole lecture about it." He huffs "But yes, finding that and shutting it down is a high priority. This one was really hoping we wouldn't have to go back to one of those, though."

Nor'vee squeaks, eyes widening.

Zsikhou looks around. "Why isn't Mingzhu back with us?" He huffs "Right, what else did we find out that's pertinent, from our information gathering?"

T’kharr observes, "She's out pearling still I reckon. We did find some interesting things about Minister Quin, and apparently the mayor's definitely not a nobody either. That and our reputation precedes us a bit....also, the Fated Winds aren't folks we should be doing business with, but Balan knows more about those folks. That, and I wonder if that adventuring party we ran into was the Chessentans that were whispered about earlier. Loose Anchor seems to be where the pirates hang out at, too. So, while it's good intel, we'll need to be careful about how much time we spend there."

Zsikhou nods. "So, we have some scraps, maybe we can draw some conclusions then about what's going on here. We have at least heard that someone in Zuodong's employ had paid the Corsairs to raid Kaluso's domain. So, where does that leave the moving parts here?"

"Makes me wonder if Quin's involved in that arrangement, or one of the other officials around here, the way they talked about him was he's someone you don't want to cross." T’kharr muses.

"Logically, you wouldn't want someone who's too high profile to handle something like that. The dockmaster and mayor both are. So, a background Minister would fit the bill." Zsikhou nods.

Fwangzhu snorts. "Good fucking luck getting anywhere with those city hall shits."

Zsikhou shrugs. "Anything else jump out at us?"

"Aye, doubt we'll be talking to City Hall here any time soon. We'll want to keep an eye on the free traders as well I think, the pirates probably have frontmen fencing their goods. Probably stick to the Azure Winds and the Golden Sails if we need things ourselves." T’kharr says.

Zsikhou nods. "Right, that's another thing. We've got a lot of free traders, and a relatively unknown trading company, the Fated Winds. So... does this tell us that the corsairs are posing as free traders here to sell their goods, or something of the like. And they do a lot of business with the Fated Winds. So, several steps of goods-laundering. It'd make sense the Corsairs don't cause trouble here if Zuodong's paying them off. Or aligned with them."

T’kharr also suggests, “One other thing, we may want to keep an eye out for a Diamond Industries booth if we're out at the markets tomorrow. Right?”

Zsikhou nods.

[Winterhawk99]

Mingzhu jumps off the pier into bay with Snout right behind. The pair swim out into the middle of the bay. Mingzhu plays with her companion for an hour while he also dives for a few sea urchins to dine on. After he becomes tired of playing with her. she looks up at the sun. She has about six hours of daylight left. She dives down to staying in the bay. Snout dives from time to time to keep tabs on her occasionally swimming with her for 5 to 8 minutes at a time.

The bottom is sandy: Not a very good habit for oysters. She swims up and down the bay looking for reef sharks. It takes some time to find a few and when she does there are just a few. She follows them swimming at a safe distance. Eventually she finds a small oyster bed sparsely populated on a half an acre of rocky ground poking out of the sand. She goes to work.

She works half of the bed not finding much. She finds a few very small unsellable pearls but is not dissuaded. After two more hours she eventually finds a large high quality blue pearl. She swims to the surface and finds the sun is going down over the horizon casting a red stripe across the western horizon. She inspects the pearl and places it in her pouch.

Whistling to Snout she swims up to him. “Well do you want me to sleep at the bottom of the bay or up here with you?”

He nuzzles the side of her face. She smiles, “Ok let's find some kelp then.”

They swim together to the eastern side of the bay and find a kelp bed. She cuts several stalks from the bottom bringing them up to the surface. Next the pair find a place slightly away from the bay and roll themselves up in the vegetation so that both she and Snout float peacefully on the surface out about a ½ mile from shore in calm waves. They sleep peacefully the night.

In the morning Mingzhu mediates and trades out Summon Spirit Ally to Air Walk. She plans to swim around the island looking for more oysters and possibly visit the ship for an hour in between working. There will be better places to pearl away from the bay she assumes. After meditations she and Snout eat the rest of the raw oysters they collected and start off on a journey round the island to work the beds below.

[Winterhawk99]

The rest of the group is in their room at the Lumpy Ladle. It’s not the best place but it will do. It’s late. They start a small discussion. T’kharr looks at Balan for him to speak on the topic of the Fated winds. He looks up from his pondering. “The Fated. There is something very wrong with them all. That I could sense.

T’kharr frowns, “Noted. Sounds like folk to avoid, no?”

Balan sighs and looks around for the words he wants for a moment. “I would think staying away from them is wise. They all read with an unpleasant feeling of evil.”

Zsikhou raises and eye ridge. “Very wrong with them how?” He pauses, “A possibility of something that requires investigation?”

“I did not tend to speak with them much, but their wares did not seem to be normal for traders as well. They seemed to have a little of everything which is suspect.” Balan insists.

Zsikhou nods. "What do you suspect?"

“They may be in ties with the corsairs or they are them.”

T’kharr folds her hands together fingers interlinked. She looks down and quietly says. “That's a fair point, their spread seemed a bit too broad for a normal trading group, who usually tend to center their trades on a lane or grouping of wares."

Zsikhou nods, "Right then, what's our plan for tomorrow. We do have a few leads to track here. This... minister Quin, the Fated Winds, or perhaps other leads."

"I think we could see if the other trade companies have some more information on the Fated Winds, perhaps? Probably visit Diamond Industries as well since we haven't talked to their representatives here." T’kharr concludes.

Zsikhou nods, "Well, it's a plan at least." He shuffles up to one of the bedsides. Not the best bed, but it'll do. "Well, guess we'll see to it tomorrow then. Rest well."

They rest the night waiting for Mingzhu to return. In the morning T’kharr goes through her normal morning warmups and meditations.

[Winterhawk99]

In the morning Mingzhu pearl dives until high sun working her way around the island to the ship. She finds only one low quality pearl and one high quality pearl. At about noon she boards the ship to make sure Silgara is ok. The mage seems fine. She is just watching their ride, studying some scrolls and books. She looks up to Mingzhu when she boards. “Oh, greetings. Are the others coming? Are there any updates?”

As far as the others no. I’m just working and wanted to make sure you were ok. Things are slow. The city is a faithless city. The only god most worship is gold.”

Silgara nods. "No incidents here, I've gotten some strange looks but, no one's come to bother me. As for how this place works, I suppose that fits with what we've been informed of. Something to be mindful of when handling these people. Though things might be different on the outlying farms than in the port city. Anything pertinent regarding our investigations?"

Mingzhu frowns and looks out to sea. “The local shrine is in disrepair. I cleaned it up.”

"So not often used." Silgara nods. "Anything else of note?"

Mingzhu shrugs, "Bottom of the bay is mostly sand. "Only got one good pearl from there."

"I expect as populated as this place is, the local natural resources are more taxed."

“Oysters require rocky surroundings and clean water. Yes, Silgara.”

"Was there anything else?" Silgara looks over to where Mingzhu is starring to the north-west. Mingzhu just sighs and shakes her head. Silgara tries again, “Anything else I can help with, Mingzhu?" She asks.

Mingzhu answers with silence for a long time. When she does speak, she is deliberate as if she is speaking to a person of importance. “My apologies, Silgara I am not in the best of states at the moment.” She dives off the ship and disappears under the sea. Once she makes sure that Silgara is ok she moves around the island for 4 hours looking for pearls then goes back to the bay to see which merchant makes the best prices.

She again works her way around the island for 4 hours pearl diving. All in all, she finds 3 nice pearls and swims to the bay markets. There She actually finds herself getting the best price at a merchant from Diamond Industries. She sells 4 of the high-quality pearls she found for 600 in gold and saves one high quality and one low quality for Balan to engrave.

Being she knows the town is dangerous she casts air walk and walks to the lumpy ladle 30ft above the streets; Snout following along from the ground. She gets some strange gazes from those that look up and see her walking in the sky among the rooftops.

By the time Mingzhu gets back, since she's been pearling for 8 hours, it's relatively late. She sits down and orders a nice dinner and some tea. She's able to hear some idle gossip, but mostly about the guys thinking of attractive wenches, guys they want to punch, grumbling about how much they hate their boss, and general work problems. The normal stuff she thinks to herself. Afterward she goes to her room for a well-deserved rest.

[Winterhawk99]

Earlier the rest of the group mean to begin their day. T’kharr gathers them together. “So, which merchant group do we want to talk to first?”

Zsikhou shrugs. "I'll let that be your call. I expect the ones at the stalls might be more talkative but expect business. I expect none of them will let us onto more private grounds readily." T’kharr glances at Balan for his take.

He grunts, “We could speak with one that we haven’t yet. Which do you prefer?”

"I suppose we could try namedropping with Diamond Industries." T’kharr suggests.

Zsikhou shrugs. "Well, let’s go for it then."

“Aye, we could.” Balan intones.

The kobold considers then asks, “Were do you head, to the Diamond Industries stall? Or to their boat on the dock?”

“Stall first I recon?” T’kharr half asks and half states. Zsikhou shrugs, then nods. The others follow in suit. They head to the Diamond Industries stall. The market square seems quite busy. T'kharr looks over the Diamond Industries stall but let’s Balan speak first. There are a few merchants of Diamond Industries handling wares, customers. He walks to the larger stall they have set up.

The merchant looks over to Balan. "Yeah, 'ello there. What can I get you?"

“We were hoping that someone on your ship or crew could give us some information.”

He looks over, huffing in annoyance. "Look here, I got /paying/ customers. You here to buy or sell? You want to chit chat or gossip? Buy me a drink while I'm off shift."

“I guess I will report that you aren’t being helpful then and we will see what Samael thinks about it.”

"Uh huh. I'm sure you'll go aaaall the way over to where our company lead is and complain about my doing my job. Anyways, you looking to buy or sell? Otherwise, there's other customers here bub."

“I thought you would be more willing to give information to remove your new competition but if you don’t want to speak then well that’s that.”

"I'm not supposed to idly chit chat when I'm on the clock. Like I said, if you want to gossip, find me when I'm off shift and buy me a drink." He shrugs.

Balan looks at T’kharr and shrugs. “To their ship then?”

The merchant takes note of the comment and says. “You got business with the company, fellow? Otherwise, you won't get past security."

"Probably not without an invite. I think we can try the other booths if you want to though." T’kharr suggests.

"Your gnoll friend there's got the right of it. You want to buy or sell there?" The merchant looks to T'kharr. She does look at the inventory briefly. It looks like a pretty regular selection of stuff at this stall, in case she wants to buy anything. Trade goods, even some adventuring goods.

She shakes her head. "We'll keep ye in mind at least." then dips it. "Burdens be eased."

"Aye, alright. Have a good day." The merchant grunts, then goes back to managing inventory, before going to tend to another customer.

Zsikhou huffs. "Well, what next?"

Nor'vee squeaks. "Nor'vee gets the impression they want some shinies if they're going to talk here."

"We can try the other two stalls if you think you can silver-tongue them better than I was able to try." T’kharr says to Balan. "Otherwise, we may be better off tavern hopping again."

Zsikhou shrugs. "After you, then."

“We could attempt to get information from another, but the outcome may be the same unless we get an invitation to the ship and speak with their captain.” Balan surmises.

"Aye. The merchants here are hard drivers. We could see if that one tavern that the adventuring band was in, is now more...open for business?" T’kharr suggests.

Zsikhou looks over. "One thing to keep in mind is with the travel disruptions, they may not be aware of our connections and actions on other islands." He then looks around. "That and given the locale, they've probably learned to not trust easily. Regardless, where to next?"

“The tavern may be a good place to start. I doubt the other stalls will give us any information.” Balan reflects.

"More information than we already have gotten?" Zsikhou seems skeptical.

"There are probably more inns to try at least, no?" T’kharr comments.

"Probably, but we might just hear more of the same." *Zsikhou shrugs, he sighs, he really needs some head pats, well, I'll follow your lead."

"Let’s see if that one place that the adventuring party had in it is in a better place now." T’kharr suggests.

"And if they're still there?" Zsikhou asks, as they start walking.

“We just move on.” She insists.

Zsikhou nods. They head back to that place. . It's on the nicer end. Seems like there is a few more well-dressed merchants and people of varying stripes there. That said, this early in the morning, the bar isn't too busy, but they see some people stopping for breakfast.

T'kharr dips her head to the bartender. "Ah, good morning. Tea if you will for the short one and I, a water for the other furry one, and the rest will order for themselves I suppose since I'm not sure what you have for stronger drinks."

The bartender nods "Bit of tea to get you started on your morning? Coming right up." He goes to fix up their drinks. T’kharr puts a few coins on the counter to cover the drinks while they wait. Zsikhou's eyes twitch a bit at the short remark, but he doesn't do anything else. Fwangzhu gets some fruit juice. T’kharr noticed she forgot Balan and looks over to see what he wishes.

Balan flatly states, “Tea is find for me as well.

The Barkeep looks over after he gets your drinks sorted. "Anything else I can get you?"

"Perhaps you could tell a bit of that band that was in there last night? They seemed to be a bit...uncouth, for sure." T’kharr asks.

"Yeah, I got you, don't worry." He gets the tea, then tenses up, looking at T'kharr. "Those Chessentans? Yeah, I can tell you about them. I can tell you it's best to avoid them if you want to keep your skin or... well, fur intact, in your case."

"Ah, I heard rumors about them already." T’kharr winces.

"What do you want to know? I heard them boasting all night last night while I hid behind the countertop."

"Perhaps you can tell of what they did to put you in such fear? It seems rather foolish of them to scare the bar service into hiding." T’kharr nods to him.

"Want me to go on? Well, they've killed a lot of people for very petty reasons. They killed about twenty of Zuodong's men at arms when they tried to apprehend them for starting fights in public. And they boast about what they do loudly. They're /crazy/. But they're also dangerous and no one has been able to stop them." He shudders. "I hid because I didn't want to give them any excuses to attack me or.... whatever their crazed minds do. So, I gave them the suite key and drinks and just... well, tried to stay out of sight as best I could."

"Perhaps you can tell of their petty killings some, and of how they operate? And were those twenty men at arms felled in a single encounter?"

"From everything I hear. They're heavily prideful. Ego driven. Impulsive. They get very easily offended and if they get offended, they respond by threatening and then attacking and killing. And, from what I heard. Yes." The barkeep says.

"Noted. Other than the twenty men at arms of the Daimyo, have they felled anyone else...notable?" T’kharr keeps up with the questions.

“They also brag about being strong and undefeatable." He shakes his head. "Mostly groups around the docks. Sometimes ruffians. Sometimes other people. But it's very easy to set them off."

"Amazing they haven't been swarmed totally yet. I wonder what's kept that from happening to them, especially after outright felling twenty of the Daimyo's men? I'd have expected a small army to show up after such happenings." T’kharr suggests more than she asks.

"From what I hear? The Daimyo's guys figured they'd cut their losses and just... keep a distance." The barkeep replies.

"Oh boy. Were you able to pick up anything in their boasting that indicated that they had... extraordinary powers? Access to magic of some persuasion, or anything else beyond the normal ken of martial skill."

"One of them boasts about being favored by god and a holy man. And one of them said he has magic, though I did hear the term 'spell thief', I think? Said. I don't know what they mean by that." He sighs. "The other four don't really use magic from what I know."

She raises an eyebrow at both of those statements. "That's...somewhat worrisome. Which one of them was boasting about being in a god's favor?"

"One of the armored ones, had a plumed helm. I think his name is Manius." The Barkeep replies.

T’kharr slowly nods. “Did he have any visible symbology on him that you recall, indicia of his deity?"

"Uh... he just called his patron god, and I don't really understand the symbology he had on him. It uh.... I think there were two symbols. One looked like a shield with a flaming sword, the other looked like a metal gauntlet holding some white strips?" The Barkeep says. "I didn't try to get too close, I hope you understand." He says as he mixes a tea for himself.

“Aye noted.” T’kharr comments while she thinks about the symbols. Balan is pretty sure he recognizes the symbols from the descriptions. Tempus and Bane.

He relays the names to T’kharr. “There is nothing good about either of them as you would think.”

Zsikhou looks over. "You recognize the symbols described?"

Balan looks over to the small kobold, “Aye, Tempus and Bane.” Zsikhou shrugs, apparently, he's never heard of them. None of the companions seem to either.

T’kharr explains, “Temposans are one thing...but someone who worships both him and the Black Hand at once" frowns very sharply. "That's a disturbing figure to have about. And an odd combination too. The Black Hand allies less with the Foehammer and more with the Reaver."

"Can't say I've heard of either of those, but I'll take your word for it." The Barkeep shrugs. "We do get foreigner tradesmen here but not a lot of preaching, they tend to keep their gods to themselves."

Balan looks around and says, “Gods from the western lands and they are evil ones.”

T’kharr corrects him, “The Foehammer, Tempus, is not evil, per se, unlike the Reaver...the Black Hand on the other hand...a god set against all reason in governance. Widely considered one of the evilest gods to not explicitly be a fiend."

Zsikhou huffs, "And people in the west actually worship something like that?"

T’kharr spits, “Some dark and twisted souls do."

Zsikhou nods "And the Foehammer? What of them?" He looks back and forth between T'Kharr and Balan. "Getting some mixed signals from you here."

"Tempus is a common war god of the West, albeit one worshipped by those who believe in some form of code of honor, vs. the Reaver of total and unrestricted warfare." T’kharr says trying to give everyone a clearer picture.

“Aye Tempus is more chaotic from my understanding and enjoys causing conflicts.” Balan intones.

The Barkeep shrugs, "Well anyways, you want to know any more about that bunch?"

"Perhaps you heard something that might give insight into their tactics?" T’kharr asks.

The Barkeep thinks and then speaks. "Let’s see... most of them favor melee combat and glory of battle, but... the pointy eared one is an archer, apparently a really good shot. Manius likes to fight up close but uses his magic to enhance himself. The short one is some kind of Battle-Rager. One of them called themselves a Gladiator or arena fighter and has some kind of strange staff with a sword on each end. One of them swears all the time, I think his name is Fandral and fights dirty. And the one they called a 'spell thief', I think his name is Hieronius, has a greatsword, but he did mention being fond of throwing fireballs everywhere."

"Noted. Was the one in the fancy outfit the spell thief or the dirty fighter?" T’kharr asks.

"Fancy Outfit guy, the dirty fighter looks really dirty and greasy and uses obscenities and profanities for half his words." He drinks down a significant amount of tea, then makes himself another.

"Got it, thanks" T’kharr sips on her own tea as she goes, looking at Balan to see what he makes of this.

Balan replies before sipping his tea as well, “They sound like a lot of trouble for anyone who crosses their path.”

"Yeah, that they are. They're infamous around here now that most know to just avoid them but, yeah.... Sure thing. Anything else I can get you?" The Barkeep asks, rubbing a glass.

"No doubt. They're the sort of humans that make me look upstanding in comparison among those of their own home." T’kharr jokes.

The gnoll finishes off her tea. “Unless one of the others here wishes a refill or has questions, I think we'll take our leave for now. Thank you for your time and information."

Balan asks, “Aye good information to have. Do you know anything about the fated winds crew?

The Barkeep shrugs. "I see some of them come in here from time to time. They're a pretty expansive trading company from the West. Showed up relatively recently but have expanded quite a lot since."

“Overhear anything about where they get supplied from?”

The Barkeep shrugs "Ah, I mean, I figure they just sail goods in from the west. Of course, they'd have to keep bringing in ships coming and going to do that, right? Well, we do get ships coming and going. I wonder if they truly have enough to get all of what they're selling though. It's got to come from somewhere. But I haven't really poked my nose into it. Maybe they do reselling and craftsmanship and business deals with the others. I know none of the Trading Companies really like each other, but they'll do business when it's called for." He says, "But all of them, come by here, so they've got coin to spend, at least. So, they've been profitable, however their supply chain works." The barkeep shrugs.

“Aye, well thanks for that as well.” Balan smiles.

"Sure, anything else I can get you?" The Barkeep asks.

Once they wrap up at the inn, T’kharr gives the innkeeper a dip of her head, “Burdens be eased.” They head out to scout another inn or two.

[Winterhawk99]

T’kharr is able to find plenty more inns. She looks for a dive to mix it up some. She finds herself a run down, shabby-looking place filled with some rough characters. She looks around, then addresses the barkeep, "Tea for two, a water, and either tea or strong stuff depending on what the other two wish, please" glancing at Fwangzhu and Balan. It's pretty early, so it's not too busy here. The barkeep gets them teas and waters. The tea's quality is... not high. She glances down to Zsikhou "Not the greatest tea of all time, but is it at least passable?"

"Barely." Zsikhou says sourly.

"If you want water instead, that's fine by me." She puts a few coins on the bar. The bartender gets them some water. T’kharr passes Zsikhou a mug of water. Fwangzhu just gets a water. Balan passes on any drink. The barkeep just shrugs.

The party finds a table to sit at and at least listen for a bit while shooting the breeze. Balan can hear some grumbling about some other merchants being cheats, how they should have paid more for services or various stuff, general grumbling. T'Kharr doesn't hear anything pertinent. They see there are not too many people here.

Zsikhou huffs, "Doubt we're getting much here. Might be time to regroup or work another lead."

"I reckon we work another lead unless you think it's late enough that we should regroup instead." T’kharr says unsure of herself now.

"We could head back if we want to. Or take another lead." Zsikhou shrugs.

They decide to walk around the town to get a better general feel for the place. As the sun goes down, they head back to the Lumpy Ladle. There they find Mingzhu in bed. Balan wakes her up. She get up out of bed slowly. T’kharr is the first to speak as she dips her head to Mingzhu, “Ah, good seeing you again. I hope your time has been productive at least?"

“I made 600 in gold and have two pearls for Balan.”

Zsikhou nods aside. "No trouble from the locals, this one hopes?"

"I air-walked from the bay to here; at about 30ft above the ground. I had no troubles. Though if enough people saw me, we may get a call from someone from this island’s administrative branch."

Zsikhou nods, then looks to T'Kharr and Balan. "Can we summarize what we've learned for the Shamaness so far? And we may need to call a spirit for answers again."

T’kharr debriefs her first, “So far....we learned about the Chessentans...six of them, four humans one elf one dwarf. One of the humans is said to be a spell thief although not averse to melee, another a battle priest of Tempus and Bane....yet another fights dirty, probably a rogue of some sort. elf's an archer, dwarf's a Battlerager."

Mingzhu shakes her head. “I do not know what a spell thief is?”

"Think there's more important things we found out than those Chessentans, unless we want to execute them." Zsikhou says.

"Aye, just what came to mind first." T’kharr says.

Fwangzhu huffs, "That'd be a pretty rough fight, I can tell. Whatever. Hope you're all ready for a good scrap if you want to axe those fuckers."

"Got a lead on a Quin figure, important fellow in town, also the Fated Winds indeed seem to be evil and not to be trusted.” T’kharr goes in another direction.

Mingzhu rubs her eyes, “It is good I sold the pearls to the Diamond Industries then.”

Zsikhou nods aside. "Minister Quin. Works in the city hall. Might be involved in Zuodong's discrete deal with the Corsairs. He, the Dockmaster, and Mayor all work out of the city hall." He goes to lean against a wall. " ‘The Fated Winds’ is a westerner trading company. Has a dubious reputation but well, this has little familiarity with them."

T’kharr adds, “Found where the pirates hang out too, place called the Loose Anchor, although we did hear rumors that'd indicate the pirates might have heard a thing or two about our prior...exploits." Zsikhou nods, grimly, like he's preparing himself to give the worst news.

Mingzhu sighs, “Something I would expect from a faithless town.”

"There's the worst bit. You want to tell her?" Zsikhou looks over to T'Kharr, then to Balan.
Even Fwangzhu shuffles from foot to foot.

T’kharr spills it, “Also, heard rumor of what could be another midnight isle. Don't have a lead on where to go looking for it, just that there very well could be another one out there"

Zsikhou nods, "By context, somewhere within Zuodong's domain."

Mingzhu frowns deeply. "Another island? I wonder what horrors we will find there.”

Zsikhou shakes his head. "If it's anything like what we faced on the last one, and that Conservatorium...."
Fwangzhu just grumbles and curses to himself. Nor'vee looks over, nervously, but clearly lacking context.
"Right..." Zsikhou huffs, "Was that everything we got?" He looks aside to T'Kharr. "If it is, we might be able to make use of the Shamaness' spirit calling to fill in any gaps we might have missed, if you have specific questions."

"That should be most of it" T’kharr glances at Balan. "Anything you want to fill in?"

“I believe that covers the lot of it.”

Mingzhu just nods. Zsikhou steps in closer to the shamaness. “Right, next steps then? Or questions we want to ask spirits?"

Fwangzhu grumbles. "Fucking not looking forward to going back to one of those hellholes."

Zsikhou looks over, "Right, our next step, then?"

Fwangzhu huffs, "Need to get answers out of that Minister Quin, I think. Somehow. Guy's probably a total shit."

"Aye, doubt we'll be able to go after him directly without attracting lots and lots of unwanted attention though." T’kharr considers.

Zsikhou huffs "Might be worth trying to get entry at the Town Hall, though, maybe some spirit-answers first would help. We got four questions so best make it count." Zsikhou nods.

"Or more about those Fated Winds, wonder if our witch knows more about them." Fwangzhu snorts.

[Winterhawk99]

The companions have awakened Mingzhu to debrief her. She is asking questions and learning what they have been doing the last few days.

Zsikhou huffs "Right, this one does have some plans for what we can do next, but do we want to ask the spirits any questions first?"

"Not offhand?" T'kharr looks to the others. Mingzhu looks at them all.

"Right, well..." Zsikhou huffs, nodding "From what I can see, the people of this place largely operate on fear and greed. I expect the answers we need are in the city hall, with Minister Quin. Now we could try going there directly, but we'll likely get stalled. So, we either need fear, or greed. The former, we have heard about how those Chessentans can largely do what they want with impunity around this town. If we kill them, that will give us some fear factor over the locals." Zsikhou nods "Otherwise, we would likely need enough coin to back us up, which means getting some form of sponsorship from one of the trading companies. I expect for the latter we may need to do some politicking and do some favors, trust doesn't likely come easily here." Zsikhou considers.

Fwangzhu huffs. "Fuck it, let’s go axe those Chessentans. Easier than gabbing with some money grubbers."

Nor'vee squeaks. "Seems risky, might be better to go to one of the trading companies. Don't you have rapport with some of them?"

"It’s not right to just go and kill someone just to prove a point." Mingzhu says sternly.

"Aye, and also quite risky, especially since we're short our own arcanist." T’kharr in a way backs her up.

"They're local menaces who have gone around murdering people and killed at least twenty of the local guardsmen. They should be executed regardless." Zsikhou mentions.

"They're local menaces who have gone around murdering people and killed at least twenty of the local guardsmen. They should be executed regardless." Zsikhou mentions.

Mingzhu asks him. “Have we seen this with our own eyes?

"They were boasting about it." Zsikhou mentions.

"They're definitely menaces, but we're not in a position where we'd be able to take them on confidently group-on-group and hunting them is just as likely to make us targets for the guards as it will earn us favor from the city." T’kharr calculates.

Zsikhou shrugs, "If one of us wants to swap positions with Silgara, we can. That or... find some way to get all of us in that fight."

"It seems Silgara simply hasn't been able to find an opportunity to pack the boat up and make her way here, no?" T’kharr asks.

Fwangzhu snorts, "If we kill those fuckers, they're so scared of? It'll give the message we aren't to be messed with. As long as we don't go pussyfooting in it with them like you're so fond of."

Zsikhou just shakes his head.

"And very possibly draw the full wrath of the Daimyo on us." T’kharr answers.

Nor'vee squeaks, "Well, our other option is to try and get the patronage of one of the trading companies here. You have any of them in mind for that? Sounds safer than going after those Chessentans."

Fwangzhu snorts "Easy way to get the point across. Quicker and simpler. Fuck up those bastards, then we go for the city hall."

T’kharr rubs her muzzle. “I was thinking we put Quin on the back burner and try to get more information about the pirate situation, myself."

Fwangzhu snorts, "Yeah, if the Daimyo isn't doing anything about them when they're actively murdering people in broad fucking daylight, I doubt that our showing our weight around will garner that attention." Mingzhu just shakes her head and stays silent now.

Zsikhou looks over. "We do at least, have some clues that the pirates are using this as a port. Dress as plain-clothes free traders then pawn off their ill-gotten goods. Possibly using the Fated Winds for goods-laundering."

Mingzhu smiles slightly. “I could pull the water from the fated winds ship and make it ground. Maybe tip over? Then let the water rush in on it again.”

Zsikhou looks over. "Risky. The Daimyo's guard would probably be after us for sure if we did that."

T’kharr smiles too but shakes her head. “Aye, I’m with Zsikhou.”

"We're relatively unknown here. For now, at least." Zsikhou huffs "And they clearly aren't going to give divine agents any privileges here."

Nor'vee squeaks. "Nor'vee wonders if we could just go to the city hall directly. Try to get an appointment there."

Fwangzhu snorts, "And get infinitely stalled if we do that."

Mingzhu’s mouth twitches, “You don’t know that Fwangzhu.”

"Yeah, I fucking do." Fwangzhu snorts at Mingzhu.

Zsikhou looks over "If you don't want to risk confrontation with the Chessentans, we would likely need to get some friends with actual power here, and coin talks here. Which means one of the trading companies. Though we'd have to see if they're at all receptive, or what we'd have to do for them in exchange." He huffs, thinks, considering… Then he shrugs looking over, “Well what’s your call, then? Any ideas?”

“We have 3,300 in gold after my pearl diving yesterday.” Mingzhu counts.

Zsikhou looks to Mingzhu, "Noted. Got any plans on what to do with it?"

“It’s all the coin we have Zsikhou. I would try to save as much as possible.” Mingzhu responds.

"I expect that as we're not a trading company though, it won't just be a matter of bribery. The traders bring in goods and coin regularly." Zsikhou considers.

Nor'vee squeaks, "Nor'vee expects it's more about power and status than just raw coin. Give one bribe. That's it."

Mingzhu frowns and thinks saying, “If we are going to city hall, I should have my diplomatic dress on. That may give us some advantages. It's on the ship."

Zsikhou nods, "Well, if you want to try that, that's one option. Just remember we're unknown and don't really have much status here, and we'll have to think of what to offer them."

T’kharr shakes her head. “I'd say we don't yet go to city hall, not until we've exhausted our other options for gathering information and influence."

"If we are working with a trading company, why would we pay them anyway would not they be paying us?"

Fwangzhu snorts, "Just make it simple and go axe those fuckers, that's our ticket in. Or you know, stumble around like drunken vagrants and don't get anything done."

Mingzhu gives him a hard look, “Because it’s wrong to just ‘ax’ someone.”

Zsikhou looks to Mingzhu "These aren't innocents. They're active menaces, if you're worried about that angle."

“They have not wronged us Zsikhou and we are visitors.” Mingzhu retorts.

"What I'm wondering is why the law didn't respond to that twenty-guard-casualty encounter with overwhelming force." T’kharr questions.

Zsikhou shrugs, "The barkeep told us. They didn't want to take any more losses and they couldn't handle them."

"It sounds like the guards here are thin in rank overall then, or don't really have backup from the Daimyo's military proper." T’kharr surmises.

Then Zsikhou looks to Mingzhu. "I think a group of crazed murderers going around picking fights is wrong enough to warrant execution."

Mingzhu just sighs. “Do you have names for these Chesseians?”

Zsikhou looks over. "Let’s see, one of them was named Manius, apparently a cleric of the western gods Bane and Tempus, another's name is Fandral. Think those are the only two the bartender mentioned. There's six of them."

“They consist of a dwarven berserker, an elven archer, a roguish figure, the aforementioned cleric, a gladiatorial sort, and a spell thief who also dabbles as a spellblade." T’kharr informs her.

Mingzhu frowns, “I’ve heard enough I think.” She gets off the bed and starts downstairs. Zsikhou looks over, watching Mingzhu go.

T’kharr stands, “Hm. Heading out for more pearls or?" Her last thought trails off as she knows the shamaness is out of hearing range.”

Fwangzhu snorts, "Well, guess we're not relying on her for this shit."

Mingzhu walks downstairs. It’s evening-night time. There are late night drinkers, and people who have gone to bed. There are still a few patrons and the barkeep around, though.

Mingzhu throws out her hands to her sides and shouts, “SPIRITS OF COMMUNITY COME TO ME!” While casting trance and commune with spirit. The bar patrons look at her, possibly figuring she’s drunk. Mingzhu sees a spirit come into the room though. She shouts, “COME TO ME SPIRIT! I HAVE 4 QUESTIONS.”

One of the nearby bar patrons looks though. "Lady if you wanna play four questions, come sit on my table, heh heh heh."

“WHAT IS MANIUS’S FIRST NAME HIS REAL FIRST NAME?”

“Manius.”

She does do notice there is some nervousness in the bar when that name is mentioned, some of them muttering about how this wench is crazy and the like, referring to her.

“DO MANIUS OR FANDRAL HAVE CHILDHOOD NICKNAMES THAT THEY EITHER HATE OR ARE EMBARRASSED ABOUT?"

“No.”

DO MANIUS OR FANDRAL HAVE SOMETHING THEY PARTICULARLY LOVE BESIDES GOLD AND BATTLE? AN ANIMAL LIKE A KITTEN A WIFE OR DAUGHTER?"

“No.”

There's some more muttering about her from the bar patrons, largely talking about her in lewd ways but also saying how much crazy is attached to her.

DOES FANDRAL HAVE A ONEWORD WEAKNESS YOU CAN TELL ME THAT I MAY EXPLOIT, SPIRIT?"

“No.”

Fwangzhu snorts while upstairs hearing all this. “Is she seriously fucking doing th...? You know what? I don't even fucking care." He huffs.

"THANK YOU SPIRIT" She looks around at the patronage, "Such interesting conversations when you can speak to spirits." The spirit fades. She walks back upstairs. The talk of the bar is about how much she's had tonight, or if she's just crazed.

Fwangzhu looks over at Mingzhu "Oh, great, you're back. So let me guess, you just completely fucking wasted it, didn't you?"

Mingzhu quietly says, “Sometimes what you don’t find out is more important than what you do.”

Fwangzhu just rolls his eyes. "What a way to say you got jack shit." He snarls then turns away, rumbling off to one of the beds.

Zsikhou looks over to Mingzhu. "Well, what did or didn't you get, then?"

She thinks a moment then says, “The two you mentions do not seem to have any emotional weaknesses I can exploit.”

Zsikhou nods. "Noted. We'd need to find another angle then."

Nor'vee looks over. "Had one look at those... they did seem crazy and ready to fight with very little provocation. Not safe to try and talk with them, I think. When we found them, the whole bar was cleared out. Everyone was avoiding them."

T'kharr thinks to herself and says, "Picking them off could be an option, but would likely have to happen in fairly rapid succession, and I suspect a band like that would be pretty paranoid to begin with."

Zsikhou looks over. "They mentioned having the suite key, so they're probably staying there."

“I still don’t like just going up and killing people we only know by reputation. I am against this.” Mingzhu states.

Fwangzhu snorts "Fine, you know what? Go up and talk to them then. Don't come fucking crying to me if you end up in pieces."

T’kharr sighs, “Anyway, if we're going to bring them down, it'll have to be on our terms, not theirs."

Mingzhu sighs, “I think we should sleep on this whole idea.”

Nor'vee squeaks, "Could still go to try and go with one of the trading companies."

Zsikhou shrugs, then nods. "Well, alright. It is pretty late."

Mingzhu nods, “I like Nor’vee’s idea.”

Fwangzhu snorts. "Sure, waste time messing around with some jackasses who will just give us the runaround. Whatever."

Zsikhou looks over at Balan. "What are your thoughts on our next moves, here?"

“I'll go to the shrine at sunrise and meditate, then to the ship to retrieve my diplomatic dress perhaps Silgara will return with me if she can fold the ship up.” Mingzhu states.

Then Zsikhou looks at T'Kharr. "Well, if you have a plan, let’s hear it." He then turns to Mingzhu. Doubt she'll get an opening. Though if we need her here, we can send one of us to guard the ship instead."

"I reckon she might be able to get one at night?" T’kharr says to Zsikhou.

Balan was snoring and coughs waking up, “Huh, I dozed off a minute there.”

"My thinking is that we keep a low profile and keep trying to glean information about the pirates, things we can use to then make a move on their operation." T’kharr says.

Mingzhu continuing her own thought process says, “I can go there now sleep on the ship until she’s ready to fold it if she has an opening tonight. Then I go to the shrine with her for my meditations.” Then she looks over to T’kharr, “I can go with that T’kharr.”

The gnoll nods, “That would be appreciated, especially if you can help her find an opening, if you will."

Zsikhou muzzle paws, needing a hug, looks over to Balan with a huff "We were discussing options. Could go after the Chessentans, could go try to try and get in good with one of the trading companies." He looks over to T'kharr "I have the feeling we got what we could from bar hopping."

Mingzhu asks, “Maybe we can sink a ship just off the bay?”

Fwangzhu snorts "Oh so you're fine with just sinking a ship but not fighting a bunch of psychotic jackasses? What the fuck." He grumbles.

Balan thinks about it and shakes his head, “Confronting a group like them would be difficult, I would think.”

Mingzhu responds, “I’m all for destroying pirates.”

Zsikhou nods, "We would have to be well prepared."

"Yeah well, hope you don't guess wrong on that count because we know they're travelling unmarked here." Fwangzhu snorts.

“I could put a maelstrom that goes 35 ft down right at their bow and call a giant great white shark to help clean up.” Mingzhu smiles.

Zsikhou looks over "Doesn't sound like we'd be able to recover a lot of evidence from that."

Mingzhu smirks, “I can breathe water, Zsikhou.”

"I'm aware." Zsikhou says.

"Aye, we won't be able to take down the Chessentans by playing by their rules." T’kharr nods.

"Well, if you have a plan, let’s hear it. Otherwise, think we all need to get some rest." Zsikhou goes to crawl into one of the beds.

“Should I go to the ship?” Mingzhu asks.

"If you want." Zsikhou shrugs, "Though if you don't get a chance to get the ship shrunk down, do you want someone to swap places with Silgara while watching the boat?"

Mingzhu looks to Balan and T'kharr. T’kharr says, “I was not planning on a place-swap.”

Zsikhou, Nor'vee, and Fwangzhu look over. Mingzhu looks over at Balan, “Balan?” She pauses, “Well, if she cannot break down the ship I’ll swap places with her. I have castigate and some other spells to protect it and I can sail.”

Zsikhou shrugs, "Well, alright then. Guess we'd better get some rest then, if that's all for now?" Zsikhou looks over. Mingzhu sets off toward the ship.

[Winterhawk99]

Mingzhu easily finds the ship. She comes aboard. Silgara is on deck. She seems to be studying a book and some scrolls. She looks up. “Oh, greetings, Mingzhu. How did it go?"

Mingzhu sighs, "It seems some of them want to go off and just kill a gang of men. Anyway, I came back to sleep here. If you can fold the ship up tonight wake me up and we'll do that. If not I'll take your place while you go with the group for a while."

"I don't think I'll get a chance, they've been trying to be discrete, but I think this boat has been more or less under constant observation." Silgara sighs, "They want to go off and kill some people? I really hope they got a good reason for it. Anyways, yes, it is late." She looks up from the scroll she was studying. "Who is this gang they want to kill anyways? ..."

“Cheeseians or something like that. local ruffians. Someone also mentioned a new trading company that you might know about too. The Fated winds?”

"Chessentans? ..." Silgara considers "From the city states of Chessenta? Far away from home, they are. But then again, so am I. ... I, oh..." She furrows her brow.

She nods, "I do know of them. If they're here, that's a bad sign. Heard some things about them. Not all verifiable, but they're a trading company around the Neverwinter region that from what I understand, formed from an offshoot of the Zhentarim, and formulated as a cover for the Black Network's actions."

“That doesn’t mean much to me other than they are bad people I think.”

Silgara looks troubled, and breaths out. "If a group like that has attention here, then, that's a bad sign." She nods "Ah, I understand. I wouldn't have thought the Zhentarim would extend eyes here either. If you want to know, they're originally a mercenary band but also a cover for several dark, vile figures who have done much evil in the west. Cyricists, Banites, until a split in their ranks, but either way, the black network is a rather notorious group there."

“OK. how do I fold up this boat if you go and I need to do that in an emergency?”

"Now allegedly, the Fated Winds are just a trading company, but they're more or less used as a front for the Black Network, if what I know is correct. But the link was never definitively proven, so they still spread, like a mold." She pauses, well...h... well..." Silgara goes to explain the incantations and how the magic works, it's a long, rather involved bit of spellcraft, transmutation magic, etc.

“Ok so, that means weight anchor and have a shark swim around the ship until I can get good winds.”

"As I understand it, the ship has something of a conditional shrink item effect interweaved into itself, which can be activated and deactivated as needed. However, there are a few conditions and abjurations which prevent it from shrinking when there is someone on board, but I expect it can store items like a bag of holding, possibly using a trans-planar space." Silgara speaks"Uh, why would you want a shark to swim around the ship? What do you plan on doing with it?"

“I don’t think I can shrink it.”

"It's an intrinsic part of the magic item, being the ship, itself here. Though hrm, the spell I mentioned is arcane in nature, rather than divine." Silgara considers. "Well, let’s get some rest. I'll sail a bit off shore so we don't get disturbed for the night."

Mingzhu nods, “ok.” She goes to her room and packs the dress before she goes to sleep.

Mingzhu does her meditation at dawn after she wakes up. She turns to Silgara when finished." if you shrink it out here, I can carry you to shore?"

Silgara looks over, considering, then shakes her head. "No, it can't have any people on it. Unless we... Hrm..." Silgara shakes her head. "We'd have to disembark first, I'm afraid."

"We get in the water. You shrink it. I carry you to shore."

"Ah... .well, that... could work." Silgara considers. “Might as well try it. Just give me a moment to secure my scrolls and spellbook so they don't get waterlogged."

Mingzhu gets into the water. Then Silgara. Mingzhu holds her while the mage puts her hands on the ship and shrinks it. Silgara says, “Well, this is probably going to be uncomfortable, let’s get it done though. And preferably not get fished up by one of the locals." She pauses and says, "We're going to need to do this out at sea to get it back too." She groans.

Mingzhu says. “Get on my back when I roll over and I’ll swim us back.” Silgara does Mingzhu swims back though at half the pace she usually does which is still better than even a human swimmer can. While it is a touch embarrassing, Mingzhu and Silgara are able to make it to shore, shrunken ship put away. Silgara's soaked, and miserable looking. And the locals look at the pair incredulously.

Mingzhu asks, “Do you have one of those Cantrips Silgara?”

"Prestidigitation for rapid drying? Yes, but let’s not do it while we're being watched." Silgara says. Mingzhu not caring because of eastern customs, just takes her path robes off in the meantime and dresses in her diplomatic gown. Which shocks Silgara just a little. Once they're somewhere out of sight, Silgara casts a prestidigitation on her to ensure its cleaned and not soaked looking.

"I'm sorry you got wet. I wish I could let you borrow my natural ability to stay dry in water.”

"So, what's the plan that you got the finery out for?" Silgara asks. She shrugs and casts a prestidigitation on herself "It wasn't a fun experience, but it did work."

"Didn't you know. I'm Zee Vogels fiancée and am carrying the 8th heir to the diamond industries fortune in my belly. You wouldn’t have any alteration spells, would you?"

"Only that affect me." Silgara says.

“Maybe you should be Zee's fiancé. I'll be your handmaiden.”

"Gods spare me, no." Silgara rubs her face. “What are we even trying to pull off here?" She asks.

“An audience with the ship captain.”

"With Diamond Industries here? Well, alright..." Silgara sighs "Let’s go for it, then. Though this plan sounds..." Silgara rubs her face.

“Do you want to be his fiancée or me?”

"I .... barely know the man." Silgara shakes her head.

“Ok, it’s up to me to be convincing then.”

"Good luck." Silgara nods.

Silgara sighs and trudges off to the Diamond Industries ship. T'kharr notices Silgara and Mingzhu returning as they too are in the docks area. She heads over to them to regroup the party, though "Good to see you back."