Kadesh: City of Jewels - Season 1 Ep. 6 Session 6
General Summary
After a few days at sea, the rays of dawn were not what awoke Aeolus, Arsenius, and Eirkoris, rather what awoke them was the sounds of the crew preparing to dock, for they had finally returned to Kadesh. Upon regrouping, they found Carolina, who had told them to call her Caro from now on. She was with Mirt and Brawn who was in the process of gathering Uk'Un'Evar and bringing him somewhere safe. The trio said goodbye to Brawn as he led the crazed Tortle off the deck. As he did so, a small halfling, in bardic clothing and with his right hand in a sling, approached them. He introduced himself as Kip, Carolina's First mate and quartermaster. For helping Caro, along with a sizable share of the loot they had found and gathered along their journey, Kip bestowed upon them a Seafarer's Token, a special currency in the Cove. The three adventurers were then asked if they wished to stay in the Cove, however, they declined, letting Mirt know they wanted to go back to the Slutty Ducky. Caro informed them that Mirt still had a debt to pay and would be staying and helping her unload the cargo. The trio decided that they would just walk to the Slutty Ducky by themselves.
As they crossed over from Carnation's Cove to Vok-Nix's Volcano, one of the 15 sectors of Kadesh, home to the Empire Viceroy Vok-Nix. The trio were warned about him when they had first arrived in Kadesh by Kevalan but had not yet seen him, and thus, figured he would do them no harm. However, they were wrong. For while they walked through the sector, a group of Altranoyian guards came and Aeolus noticed who they were led by, the commander from the warehouse they had took over. She, introducing herself as Commander Ezelda, commanded they follow her or be prosecuted by the fullest extent of the law. She brought them over to a seemingly unimportant house, and when they walked in, they noticed that this was just a random family's home. While the wife and daughter of the house darted around the kitchen very uncomfortably, the husband and a very pompous looking high elf, in full armor and an expensive cloak, were "talking" at the dinner table - the high elf was talking while the father was also visibly uncomfortable - as the trio entered into the small room, the man in armor stopped talking, stood up, and smiled at them with a malicious grin. He started by confirming with Ezelda that these were the people who attacked the warehouse, then introduced himself as Viceroy Vok-Nix and requested they sit down. When they refused, they were forced into the chairs, knocking the husband of the house out of his chair to make room. Vok-Nix then began to explain how he knew they were smuggled in, how he could kill them now and no one would care or lock them up forever, but he wasn't going to do that. He offered them a chance to leave the Bandit Syndicate and join the Empire and help him steal a weapon made by a Bandit Syndicate leader known as Gini-Yat.
The trio didn't think this offer sounded to terrible, however, they did not want to agree immediately and began to ask questions and prod Vok-Nix. The Viceroy didn't take to kindly to this, and to make an example of their indiscretions, killed both the husband and wife of the home their were in, leaving the daughter, who could have been no older than 16, in tears. After this, Aeolus, Arsenius, and Eirkoris knew they couldn't ally themselves with him. For this, Vok-Nix told the guards to manacle them in magic-suppressing cuffs, and bring them to where the weapon was being kept. He was going to force them to do his dirty work. They tried to resist, but soon realized that there was no point and gave up. They were then taken by eight empire guards out of the house, leaving behind Ezelda and Vok-Nix, who laughed as they left.
As the trio was forcibly taken throughout Vok-Nix's Volcano, they eventually crossed over into Tinker's Town - Gini-Yat's sector - The guards led them down a back alley, and that is when Aeolus noticed something, or someone. Before Aeolus could say a word, the guards were attack by assassins and in the blink of an eye, the guards were dead, and three assassins stood in front of the party. They then pointed their weapons at the trio and demanded to know who they were. Arsenius responded that they were adventurers Mirt had smuggled in and that they had helped Carolina as well. The one who asked the question, accepted Arsenius' answers as the truth, revealing himself to be the leader of the assassin group known as the Black Hands, Lavelus Stra-Stor. The Black Hands were part of the Bandit Syndicate and he had heard Mirt had brought in new proteges. He then instructed they follow him into the sewers and dropped them off at the Slutty Ducky, telling them that if they wanted work, to come to the Tower, which was the Black Hand's headquarters.
The trio met with Kevalan, who told them he had something for them to do when they weren't busy, and rested for the night, then, in the morning, journeyed to the Tower. Upon arriving at the Tower, they noticed that their was no entrances. After some looking around, they decided to look in the sewer, and found a hidden entrance. Once they entered, they made their way up the tower, meeting one of Lavelus' right hand men, Regis, who told they that Lavelus was at the top. Aeolus was in love with this place and when they met with Lavelus, she asked him if she could join. He told her he needed to prove herself. She asked what she could do, and he instructed her and her companions to go kill an Empire spokesperson in Knife Square who was spreading lies about the Black Hands. They agreed and set off, jumping out of the open balcony in Lavelus' room and floating to the ground.
The mission went off without a hitch, they arrived at Knife Square, did some reconnaissance, and then neutralized the target without getting caught. The guards did chance they, but they easily escaped. When they got back to Lavelus, he was happy but didn't show it too much and told Aeolus that they could talk about her place in the Black Hands after he was finished preparing for an important Syndicate meeting coming up, though he would not divulge the date. The trio jumped of the tower again and when they got to the ground, they decided they would see what Kevalan had in store for them. Just before they could leave, however, Eirkoris noticed someone watching them. As he approached, the person seemed startled, and when they began to ask questions about why he was watching them, the person feign ignorance and handed them a letter he was given to deliver to them. Before the trio could ask anymore questions, the person shakily handed them the letter and ran off. Eirkoris opened the very beautiful envelop and read its contents out loud. It said one simple sentence:
"Welcome to Kadesh."
Signed "Mr. D."
Rewards Granted
Received a Seafarer's Token.
Missions/Quests Completed
Killed Empire Spokesman.
Character(s) interacted with
Met Viceroy Vok-Nix.
Met Grandmaster Lavelus.
Report Date
12 Sep 2020
Primary Location
Secondary Location
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