Fabled Firebeasts of the Forest

Crowded Temple interior.
(BigMarket by Ben Mauro Design)

A good night's rest, and invigorating brew of tea let the girls consider their choices. But the morning pass through the markets made them depressed. Buying a single wagon and supplies to take back to the village of Highpass would set them back a few hundred gold.

Then they would need to hire a trustworthy driver, and hopefully leave enough gold to do this a few times... And to make it worse, their sacks of furs were not of much interest in the local market. If they got lucky they might make 20 gold.... nowhere near enough.

Vijaya suggested they take up Mogali's offer.

Fish, fruits, and fabrics filled the floating markets in the shade of the Temple of the Hundred Summer Gods. The face of a god was carved into each pillar, and together they support the ancient stone and iron domes. In the gloom beneath teem beggars and bandits, cutthroats and children. All living in the harmony of the Hexad traditions. Mowgali holds court amidst salvaged finery and opium smoke.

Archana is deeply suspicious of the smiling crime-boss. He offers to use the furs to swindle some foreigners out of some coin... and the base offer for the girls is 10%... negotiations start in earnest! The local thugs are taking bets, and Mogali brings in a tea-set to make everyone comfortable. In the end they agree to start a relationship with Mogali, trying to smuggle trade goods and "artifacts" into the city. For this arrangement they get 50% of the sale of the furs, but they will do their own sale.

"Remember, you are now children of the Turquoise Waters. We are your brothers and sisters. We will shelter you. But in return you will provide for your family". Mogali embraced and kissed each of the women on their cheeks. "Come, I will introduce you to a most cunning man who knows many secrets!"

The temple hides an entry to the undercity. Ancient neighbourhoods buried in layers under the traffic filled streets . In a workshop, hidden from the prying eyes of the Cats, lives Nagarjuna. He knows many secrets that trespass on the monopoly of the Violet Citadel. Now he practices the arts of kemia for the outcasts and homeless.

After hours mixing root vegetables and toxic sediments, the transformation is complete. A pale red glow coming from the furs lights the room. Of course the glow washes off in water...

That evening, the girls wind their way through the twisting corridors of the undercity. An unremarkable staircase leads to the basement of an opium house in the foreign quarter of the city. There they meet a translator and two men. They look strange. Tight black coats, high collars, heavy boots, gold buttons and twisted ropes hanging from their shoulders. Their pink skin was slick with sweat even in the cool afternoon. The translator carries out much of the negotiation, assisted by the exaggerated mime of Vijaya.

About to be swindled and doesn't know it.

A tale of elemental creatures birthed in distant volcanoes. Herds of sheep blackened by the fiery breath of ember-wolves. Herders chased by mountain ash-elk. The foreigners are entranced by the tales of hunters rushing to preserve hides before they dissolve in the damp snowy nights. Both men are salivating at the sight of the glowing prizes.

Note - this was the part I detested. Trying to work out the outcome of a price negotiation is always hard at the best of times.... I estimated each "sack" held 10 hides. in Yoon-Suin a hide goes for 5 silver... so 15 gold for the lot at base prices. I proposed the "pitch" as a performance w/ advantage: Vijaya rolled a crit. For that I estimated that the foreigners considered the hides as a "common magical item". 100g each hide, So being the cheap bastards they are, they offered 750g for the lot.

Archana knew this would not be enough (the 50% cut),  so tried to push for 5000g. But she failed her roll. With the foreigners getting ready to leave, Vijaya wanted to try one more ruse. Telling the foreigners that the creatures only spawned during eruptions.  With a disadvantaged roll she managed a 19, then added her charisma bonus and charlatan background.

I ruled that the foreigners would be willing to pay their full price on their original estimate... 3000g

When the girls returned to the temple and showed their take to Mogali, he was very impressed. He happily divided the chest of gold, and even generously offered to keep their share for safekeeping against the untrustworthy inhabitants of the city". The girls regretfully declined.

The next day was spent looking through the markets for horses, supplies and wagons. They managed to buy their dream wagon (it even had a canvas cover to protect the driver from rain or sun), tools, and food supplies to send up to Highpass. Matron Rha Ki introduced them to a trustworthy caravan driver. The girls hired him to make the 2 week round trip to deliver the cargo and pick up something to sell back in town. They paid cash up front for a month.

Next, they plan to take a look at the hiring auditions at the Violet Citadel

* * *

That was the end of session 1.

I quite enjoyed how it came out of a couple of random dice rolls, a few scribbled lines in my notebook, and a random encounter. I did notice that i was REALLY stressed about how to value the "improved furs". I should have figured out they would do something like that.

Note - I have to bring back Puukas, their friendly street cat, and Nagarjuna the alchemist. I enjoyed both those characters. Mogali was supposed to be a "friendly uncle", but for some reason all my players consider him to be "the evil mastermind".... Not sure what to do about that.