Finding the Spark (Pathfinder 1E Quest)

8th of Lamashan 4707 A.R. (Absalom Reckoning)

Tumbled in the sand of the sea floor are three rune carved pillars, unlike the bare limestone of the rest of the settlement, in the mud that mark the borders of the market, not that most of the people actually selling things stick down below. Most of the actual hawking and bartering, whispering and rumor mongering starts about ten feet above the surface and then widens like a funnel. Locals and visitors twisting and turning around each other, almost as if in a dance, which the four of you do not even attempt to match... well other than Cob, but Gorok manages to grab him by the foot and pull him back before he can collide with a fish seller as you call up, voice muffled by the breathing mask.

As to the merchants themselves you notice the ones selling more fragile goods, keeping them wrapped up inside oiled pouches in an attempt to protect them to some extent from the bite of the ocean. Though of course gold does not need such protection and they still keep it close. Is it just custom, you wonder, or does it have something to do with the presence of the Usenas?

Unwrapped with eager smiles of a mercantile bent, shards of ships and pieces of history hang side by side, the flash of steel, the glitter of gold, the subtle hint of magic. There is the usual array of trickery and talismans to ward away misfortune, draw fortune or love that work in the mind of the wearer rather than in the world, though less in the way of alchemical concoctions than you are used to, as its hard to keep one's wears out of the water you'd guess.

Still, following the lure of true-woven enchantment you find two sellers whose wears are worth your while. The first is a grey haired elder half of three fingers on his left hand, Orneos Quarter Hand they call him, and in that hand he holds a cloak that unwraps like a dark blue banner. Apparently he used to don it on his journeys to the surface of the world in places that do not hold with 'gilled-folk', allowing him to take on the semblance of humankind. One gets the feeling while talking to him that he'd rather not sell it now, but needs the gold for some urgent cause.

The second offering is oddly enough from the local seller of knives, hatchets, axes, and daggers, a single edged blade curved and weighted towards the top, long enough that it would have to be held in two hands. The gold cat-pummel marks it as Taldan according to Mina, though given the long and wide ranging history of that land it's hard to tell when it had slipped beneath the waves. More importantly for your purposes though, swords make for poor weapons for one of the azarketi, all the more so one this long, so the knife-man is willing to trade it for a 'mere' one thousand one hundred and eighty eight golden sails... still most of your money and even after selling Gorok's axe, for he'd be the one most suited for it, would hardly make a dent in the cost.


"He can have the armor," Cob mumbles so indistinctly it takes you a moment to realize what he'd said.

"For the sword?" you ask, confused.

"For the talker cloak, so you can pretend to not be grey. Stupid humans, care too much about color of face," the goblin grumbles, but you can tell he means it just the same, that he had noticed the way you try to stay out of sight whenever you meet someone new. Would it even do much good, you wonder, after all your oddity is not like Mina's gift, which might be missed as simply a talent for language in most places. Mistrust hangs over you like a pal.

Cob Will Save (DC 10): 1d20+3 = 20 (Success)

Which of the two items do you buy?

Present Funds: 1,442 gp 5 sp 21 cp

[] Cloak of Human Guise (Cost 900 gp)
If acquired for Kori, Cob is willing to sell the Otyugh Hide for 1,200 gp

[] +1 Falchion (Cost 1,188 gp)

[] Take both, you can afford it

OOC: Rolls were all over the place this update, but hey Cob finally made that Will roll and he did it in an attempt to help Kori. The cloak will work for him as far as it goes, like the azarketi he is 'human' enough, but obviously it will do nothing about his curse.