18: K'nafay, City in the Mist

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## Summary

### Good Goodbyes

After a merry chase through the jungle, Pim leads the party back to the beach road. Now nighttime, the party tucks in at the Lacuna Inn for a long rest.

In the morning, Aster finds Bran to say his goodbyes before the two part ways. His parting gift is a finely crafted leather bracelet to match his own. Afterwards, Aster pulls Bran into a manly, brotherly, totally platonic embrace that doesn’t last a suspiciously long time, and sets off down the beach road together with Hercules.

### Over the Ridge

The party heads East down the beach road atop their trusty steeds. The morning is spent traveling along the coast, but as afternoon comes around, the party says their goodbyes to the beach and the jungle and enters another mountain pass—this time, the Eastern Malabar Ridge. The weather gets cooler, and a thick mist gathers in the road between the peaks as a steady rain picks up. The ride over the pass isn’t an easy one, and the party finds few travelers in these parts. After a few hours, the party descends to the other side of the ridge into emerald hills, with rocky, craggy mountains still to the west.

Hearing a commotion in the distance, the party rounds a rocky outcropping to see an overturned wagon in the road. Fruits and vegetables litter the ground, but before the gang can investigate, they hear a shriek and the whinnying of horses from the woods to the west. As the party approaches the noise, they come upon two gnomes hurling rocks into a clearing, and a horse dashes by in the chaos. In the clearing stands a giant, lumbering creature, with the wreckage of some crates and barrels strewn about at his feet. With a smack of its hand, it fells a thick tree, and the other horse gallops off into the woods. The party recalls hearing some chatter about hill giants near the pass back in Lacuna during the festivities.

### Shady Shakedown

The group of travelers dispatches the hill giant handily, Pim landing the killing blow. After the encounter, the two gnomes thank them and introduce themselves as Bevin and Bevan, traveling merchants from K’nafay. But when the party presses them to show the group the contents of their wagon, they get a little cagey, and Cat and Mujie sense trouble. Cat casts hold person on the gnomes as they try to leave on their horses, and begins to question them about the black market in K’nafay’s sewers. Meanwhile, Mujie inspects the wagon, and Mahi fails to appeal to his fellow travelers’ moral compasses. Under a pile of starfruit, Mujie and Cat find a rare golden monkey native to the south coast, which they promptly set free. With their cash cow scampering off into the woods, Bevin and Bevan are angered, but powerless to stop the party. They’re soon bombarded by questions about the black market—how can the party get in? What were they selling? Who’s buying?—and they eventually divulge that the ticket underground is a tattoo of a dagger on the forearm to mark membership in the Smuggler’s Guild. Not yet satisfied, Cat and Mujie refuse to let the gnomes go until they agree to get them into the smuggler’s market. Bevin (or Bevan), terrified and desperate to end the interrogation, tells them to find them at the Fishhead Tavern in the city in one day’s time.

### Into the Mist

Somewhat divided over the afternoon’s events, the party gets back on the road. After nearly a full day’s travel, they begin to see farms and small villages peppering the roadside, and as the path turns back towards the Malabar Mountains, a giant stone city wall rises on the horizon. Plodding along on their donkeys, the gang makes it to K’nafay’s North Gate by twilight. The gate is the only entrance to the city, walled off by a stone barrier some 50 feet tall, draped in deep purple banners. Above the gate, two heavy iron lanterns hang, lit by golden Arklight.

In the pattering rain, the chatter of guardsmen and those seeking entrance to the city is drowned out, but the party manages to notice something curious ahead. Only one of the wagons queued before them gets inspected by the guards; the other is waved ahead after the driver appears to show something to the guards.

### Deviouser and Deviouser

Hatching a quick plan, Cat disguises himself as an exotic leopard, and Mujie casts an illusion on the Moonsilver Glaive to make it appear as a giant instrument case. But most importantly, the illusion includes the Smuggler’s Guild tattoo. Mujie slyly shows the guard the tattoo, but at the crucial moment, she seems to get wise. Nervous, Mahi and Luca rely on bardic tricks and druid magic to distract her, and the party sneaks through the inspection with their weapons and contraband in tow.

Once inside the city walls, the party leads their donkeys to the stables, where they meet Gwyn and Gryff, a pair of sibling stablehands manning the tent. Luca asks about Gryff’s injured hand, and Gwyn excitedly escorts them back to see an exotic lizard mount, much to her brother’s chagrin. The party comes upon a giant “banded lizard” that Gwyn tells them is named Muna, curled up under thick furs in a stall. As Gwyn rattles off some lizard facts, Luca feeds Muna some giant crocodile jerky, which she seems quite pleased about. The party asks her some questions about Muna’s rider and about the city itself. She tells them what little she knows of the mysterious traveler, and recommends they stay at her uncle Fane’s tavern, the Dark and Stormy, in Upper Post.

Later, at the tavern, the group enjoys some cocktails and gets a little more info from Fane. Though he doesn’t recall seeing Lillet or the Meranhi traveler, he does tell them to beware the Bowery, and that the Midsummer Market begins the next day with a fireworks display, and lasts for three days, so tourists are relatively common in the city this time of year. Just before tucking in for the night, Cat hears another jingle from his Ark tablet: a message from Dabo, who instructs him to visit the post office posthaste. The Balaayt History book awaits...

## Quotes

#### *IN THIS HOUSE WE* *KISS OUR HOMIES GOODBYE:*

> “The past month on the road has been so exciting. I do miss home, sometimes, but I always knew I wanted to see the rest of our world. It’s beautiful out here. But the worst bit about being an adventurer is all the goodbyes.”
>
>

> “I do feel better that you’ve made such lovely friends, though. But—also, possibly a bit jealous.”
>
>

*—Aster, bidding Bran farewell*

#### *THE GANG TURNS HEEL:*

> “Listen, you guys are real scary. We’re just little guys, y’know? Poor, lowly merchants! The workin’ class!...sorta. We don’t want no trouble, alright? We’re real grateful though. You’re goin’ to K’nafay for the Midsummer Market, right? Come to our fruit stall and we’ll shootcha a screamin deal.”
>
>

*—Bevin*

#### *IT'S A TWIN THING:*

> GRYFF: “I just went to feed the horses, and when I tried to feed this fucking lizard, it nearly bit my damned hand off.”
> GWYN: “Gryff, *it* is a *she*.”
>
> GRYFF: “*She* is a *monster*.”
>
>

*—Gwyn and Gryff, on Muna the Banded Lizard*

> GRYFF: “You only asked that guy 200 questions, no wonder he didn’t tip.”
>
> GWYN: “He probably didn’t know he was supposed to!”
>
>

*—Gwyn and Gryff, on the Meranhi Traveler*

#### *TEXTS FROM DAD, THE SEQUEL:*

> “Mr. Eton: Please go to post office first thing in the morning. Book should arrive overnight.”
>
>

*—Dabo, to Cat, via Ark tablet*