Leaving Payam’s place in the twisted alleys of the poor areas of Bardij, the group found themselves surrounded by ne’er do wells with clubs, the villains are lightly armoured, if at all, and are armed with clubs, however as the group are also lightly armoured, if at all, and only have short swords or daggers, it is more of an even match than the group might hope. These newcomers demand money and possessions, and are not deterred by Jose’s use of the name of Payam as a contact, he may be head of the fences, but he is not a Capo di tutti capo.
With the refusal, combat ensues, the group with daggers are faster than the footpads, but the daggers are light weapons that do not do as much damage as a sword might. The combat is short, and the group are wounded by solid hits by well swung clubs. Two footpads are killed, and the others run away, two of them with cuts from Farshad and Utana, Utana, finding his lack of armour bothersome, strips the leather armour of one that can be fitted under his outer cloak without attracting too much attention. Farshad and Jose loot the pockets, finding enough coin and dried food to provide for accommodation and a meal that night, and dried food for lunch tomorrow.
The group found a caravanserai near the Haraxan Gate, and they were surprised by an uproarious cheer as they entered, they clientele recognised “”Farshad Throatripper””, the wrestling champion who had felled a giant three times his height. Drinks found their way to the groups table and food was brought, and perhaps too much drink was taken, as Farshad stepped up to sing, a harpist and drummer accompanied him, the drummer mostly to try and drown the sound, but it has to be said that Farshad’s singing was not a total disaster, being the least possible success, but others join in and it is not the sort of situation that the group are used to , fleeing for their lives.
Then Farshad took up the harp and that was more of a success, being about as good as he could make it, strong mortals wept, dogs and children were stilled, and the clientele went away entertained and happy, in a sad way, and so to bed.
As the group left, Farshad spotted two spies, lurking on roofs, he was sure that they were the footpads from the night before, the live ones anyway, and Utana planned a trap. Farshad would sneak unseen, whilst Jose and Utana would more noisily close in on one of them so that Farshap would surprise them. As they planned, the footpad ran, leapt over one roof to another, not well, teetering on the edge, only to find Farshad’s shortsword pointing at his soft, vulnerable areas.
Utana came over himself, as Farshad keep the villain in danger of falling off the edge and worried. Remembering what Jalabu had taught him, Utana tried his skill with “Untoward Pressure” but failed compared to Farshad’s use of “Beguiling”, flexing his muscles and trading on his reputation as a killer wrestler, and the wounded Kotharim, called Bedrim, capitulated. He revealed that they, including his now dead friend Ashterim, were paid by a well spoken man, wjho had described the group as foreign merchants and thieves, preying on the vulnerable of Bardij. He suggested was to rob the group and take their goods so that they would have to flee in shame.
Bedrim took them to the Ishtir Gate, where they had met the man, but he was not there, however Bedrim spotted him a little way outside, at a stall with two others, and goods behind the stall with beasts and guards, a mirror of the scene at the Haraxan Gate.
Not knowing what to make of this, and knowing that they had a chance to get into the palace today, the group left Dhran and Jalabu to watch this stranger (we can pick this up somehow outside the game)
The route to the palace the rest chose took them to the main Temple, where the work on new houses was going on, and craftsmen were making plates and tools, and inside a normal worship was going on. Utana asked one of the clergy about the tenets of the Cold Ones, and got told some of them, (because they are bloody written down in the world description). After an hour of that, they saw the clergy Garashp and Adinaba, the most senior clergy of the city, greet two dust covered messengers, and they decided to sneak back after them and eavesdrop their conversation.
In doing so they learned that the rebellion in the West is not going well,in part because the Servant of the Land Izad is hanging back until he gets his promised quid pro quo, that his cousin Reyhangets her post as Servant of the Land in a decent sized town. And so they learn that she will be arriving here to take over from Anaaraxha in two months .
With that snippet of information, the group leave and have arrived at the Palace fo the Servant of the Land, and there we left it.