The Scab Palace 7
Wicked Sanguine
All I Want Is Everything
- Location
- The High Desert
[X] Big Yan, down in the southside docks of Irontown, is usually found buying and selling all manner of exotic animal and Nephilim goods, especially dragon parts from Nashax. If you were selling unusual animal products sublegally in Qoma, you'd probably go through Big Yan's operation.
[X][Act] A Mellifluous Factor from Dis has been making strange deals involving the faith of the Trinity Undaunted, of which Savnok is a member. Sacred beef from His churches surely must fall within the Factor's interests, no? They're working out of an office on the northern side of the Rise, near the Dissian District.
[X][Act] A Mellifluous Factor from Dis has been making strange deals involving the faith of the Trinity Undaunted, of which Savnok is a member. Sacred beef from His churches surely must fall within the Factor's interests, no? They're working out of an office on the northern side of the Rise, near the Dissian District.
Knowing about these exotic meats is all well and good. That's a piece of information which is more than what you had and gave you something to narrow things down with. But it's not everything. You needed more to get anywhere, a name, a location, something to conjure with, and you indeed have those things. You have somewhere to go, something to do, names and locations and operations to track and to run after, directions to follow, dotted lines on a map, spoor in the wind. And what a pair of leads you have! They are ripe with adventurous potential.
At two islands you've already visited, in regions of them that you haven't, there's people and schemes that warrant investigation. On the Rise, in the north, is someone who appears to go exclusively by the name of the Mellifluous Factor, with no proper use-name given. They're a Devil, apparently, and they're located near the edges of the Dissian District, a place as cast in Dis's image as Little Vespergren is in that of your home, which makes you nervous. The Dominion are old enemies, after all, and without being cautious there you could face potential danger irrelevant to your quest, just for being who and what you are in a place like that. However, the Factor deals in artifacts of the Trinity Undaunted, things sacred to Scal, Savnok, and Gaevir--tektites, meteoric iron, shed skins of temple snakes, the armor of warriors, bloodstained sand, bones of saints, etc.--and so that's something which is surely relevant to all of this illegal sacred beef. Surely nobody interested in the trappings of Savnok's church would be ignorant of the movement of this sacrilegious butchery, and, being a Devil, perhaps you'd be able to strike a deal with them regarding their sources. One of the things you've had drilled into your head, regarding Devils, is that you can't trust them but you can expect to deal with them. Just be canny, or else inevitably come off worse.
Your other lead is a black-market dealer known only as Big Yan, operating from the Irontown docks, an area you have passing familiarity with. Big Yan deals in illegal animal products, especially the parts of dragons and other Nephilim. Someone who's involved in animal products with supernatural properties should also be a solid lead for this kind of thing. Getting the organs of unusual creatures into the hands of people with money and a desire for privacy is their entire business model, or so you've gathered from your brief overheard explanation of their operation, and so they have to, if not be involved directly, know someone who is. However, you find yourself with more than a passing interest in the Trinity given the imminent war, the kebab vendor, and the parallels you can't help but draw between your gods and theirs, not to mention the mingled fear and fascination you have for Dominion Devils, and so you have to put Big Yan aside for now. It's definitely a good idea to track down the Factor first, and even if it isn't a good idea, it's the one you're going to prioritize.
You finally leave the caravanserai, this time for good, and take a deep breath of smokeless air as you consider your very next step. Above, you can see stormclouds on the horizon, a great black anvil of cloud stretching as high as you can see, slowly rolling forwards from many miles away. That'll be fun... you just hope Qoman rain isn't as dirty and stomach-griping as Vespergrenite rain. A cloud that big is going to dump plenty on the city.
As you examine the thunderhead, you think a little. Gods... you were raised to think that gods were things which were cruel and wild and violent, like storms and feral animals, responsible for the forces within you that vie for the way you handle yourself, responsible for testing and tempering you through violence and trial, things you had to protect yourself from by offering them things that made them turn their attentions elsewhere, or dedicating your life and power for them. The Tribulations. Xhaal, Damalu and Rhakui. Savagery, scheming, and raw hunger. What else would gods be? What else would gods be. But the Oriza, the Erzan, and all the other people who worship the Trinity. Their gods protect them. Scal, their strength to overcome, Savnok, their resilience not to back down, Gaevir, the presence at their births and deaths. Their gods show them love, raise them up, support them. You've been taught that makes people weak. And sure, almost any individual Vesakh could defeat almost any individual Oriza or Erzan, but together? There's a reason your people are limited to a handful of cities and territories and their people have a vast nation, though it took a lot of reading between the lines to see that. Maybe you'll look into that... maybe you won't. Tradition is a heavy weight.
You look around. There's the big platform steps back, if you wanted to retrace your steps across the Stairs, the bridge, and back to the Rise and around to the North. There's a train, which seems heavily guarded--must be hoping to avoid a repeat of the recent bombing--that will take you directly and quickly to the northern Rise. There's some kind of passenger vessel dangling from a diagonal metal cable, which a sign proudly declares to be a 'tram,' which will take you the same place as the train but cheaper, slower, and more precarious and dangerous. And there's a series of animals for rent, which you would not have originally considered but it could come in handy in the future... or not.
[] Take the train.
[] Take the tram.
[] Take the steps.
[] Rent a riding bat. (25 astrels, three days.)
[] Rent a white vulture. (25 astrels, three days.)
[] Rent a... desondu taxi? A sort of padded bucket towed by what look like a bunch of short humanoid bats with the eyes and tentacles of squid. (10 astrels, anywhere in the city)
[] Rent a wyvern. (100 astrels, 1 day.)
