S04E02

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## A Request from the Slaves

A week after their encounter with Melora the slave, the courtiers of House Gaz found themselves holding court at Saffron House. Zrek, the master-sergeant of House Gaz's army approached Lord Hamza in the throne. Zrek explained that the two units of slave soldiers were refusing to perform their daily exercises with their armour on. They claimed the weather was too hot and they should be allowed to exercise without it.

## Punishment

There was much debate over the matter of the slaves. Hamza had many ideas for disciplining the slave soldiers. The group was divided. Eventually Zrek noted that the standard punishment would be to flog five soldiers at random and behead a sixth. Not wanting to diverge from local custom, Hamza agreed and went on to speak to a cobbler about shoes.

Fiyona and Clyde slipped away from court and found the slave set for execution. Fiyona made a diversion and Clyde escaped with the slave. The slave, named Orosi, was grateful and promised to leave the city forever. The five slaves set for lashing were whipped.

## The Spice Market Raided

A great muster began at the gate of Saffron House, dozens of merchants protesting angrily. Alon went out to meet them, and successfully pacified them, but they still demanded to see their lord. Hamza made his way to the gate and spoke to a merchant named Qholos. Qholos described how the Silk Street Gang had come into the Spice Market and stolen everything, hauling it away on horse-drawn carts. The gang had killed the local guards and a few merchants who had fought back. They demanded justice - there had been almost 300 platinum in losses and damages. Hamza sent 30 of his personal guard to protect the Spice Market and pledged to find the Silk Street Gang.

## A Trap at Butcher's Court

The group made contact with a merchant named Phiresa who was caught in a protection racket with the Silk Street Gang. She waited at Butcher's Court once a week to make contact with a gang member who would take her money.

The group went to Butcher's Court at midnight of the next night, hiding in the dark for the gang's bagman to arrive. The bagman came, sensed something was wrong, and immediately ran away. Rook, Alon and Clyde ran after, the rest waiting to see if anyone else would come to the court. The bagman sprinted along, but Rook was too fast. Rook bolted along and threw a knife into the bagman's ankle. Alon and Clyde arrived, tied up the bagman, and forced him to tell them where the Silk Street Gang were hiding. He told them the gang stashed much of their goods in a nearby sewer. If they stayed to the left tunnel of the sewer, they would come to an old underground warehouse.

## The Sewer

The group gathered again and headed for the open sewer. They headed down the left-hand tunnel and things went wrong quickly. A divergence wall quickly slammed down in the tunnel in front of them and they were flooded with raw sewage. Alon, Fiyona and Rook tried to swim back out through the tunnel while Clyde and Arrokko tried to open the divergence wall. Hamza was caught completely off guard by the rush of raw sewage and was blinded by waste. He took in a deep gulp of the putrid stuff and started to choke. Fortunately, Arrokko was able to leverage himself against the side of the tunnel and open the divergence wall with his one arm.

The sewage rushed away and the group could breathe again. They went back to the lying bagman and demanded the truth. He didn't want to talk, but they brought him down the dangerous left tunnel. After that he screamed that the right tunnel was fine, it lead directly to the underground warehouse. The group went down the right tunnel, leaving the bagman to a watery fate in the left tunnel.

## An Underground Warehouse

The group reached the underground warehouse and saw a pack of gangsters sorting cargo, much of it stolen from the Spice Market raid. The House Gaz courtiers approached stealthily and then charged in with a sudden attack.

The Silk Street Gang was decimated, Clyde brought down three with arrows. Hamza smashed one with his ball and chain. Arrokko hacked away with his curved arakh, taking one blow that cracked his rib. Rook threw knives into the bandits. Alon confused them with his quips. Even Fiyona got in on the action, killing two gangsters with her stiletto.

The underground warehouse contained about 500 gold worth of treasure, which Hamza claimed for House Gaz.

## A Note from Baxos Zannar

There was also a note from one Baxos Zannar ordering the Silk Street Gang to perform the raid on House Gaz's Spice Market. Alon and Clyde had heard of Baxos before. He was an influential member of the Tiger Party, a pundit and war monger. It was his job to speak at rallies against foreigners and the merchant-class. Certainly a powerful enemy to have...

## Experience

3 XP, 3 Glory (+1 INF, +1 LAW, +1 POW)

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