The easy path deceives those who walk it. Do the job. Don't make noise. Get paid.
Fenolin, Khazera, and Shokran followed a merchant caravan into Ad-Dywahan. They made their way through the city to Amber Lane. After speaking with a jewelry vendor Nassim and a young man, the group avoided agents of the Amber Suns and The Fence to speak with the jeweler Orvyn.
After determining what leverage The Fence and Amber Suns had over the jeweler and his daughter, the three made their way to the lower market to speak with a merchant there. The Fence is buying up lots and lots of a root called Desert Myrrh Vine, which is the same key ingredient in the treatment for the jeweler's daughter. Khazera arranged for the group's organization to buy a small supply of the root "off the top" every 10 days the merchant Perdwell comes to Ad-Dywahan.
Protected by an abjuration Fenolin worked, the three followed the wagon full of Desert Myrrh Vine The Fence hauled to their safehouse. While there, the group spied on the location, the nearby tavern, and the comings and goings of key Amber Sun and Fence gang members. After gathering enough information, the group slipped away in the night, returning to the jeweler's with some medicine purchased from Perdwell.
When the group arrived, they found an outcast scholar there with a theory that the jeweler's daughter is ill from a curse placed on her, a curse the scholar believes could be spread to many people to control them. The Desert Myrrh Vine only suppresses the symptoms of the curse for a time. With The Fence buying so much of it up, it seemed they intended to control lots of people with this ancient Zilleesi curse. The group and the jeweler reached an agreement on how they could work together.
Before the group could go with the scholar to learn more from her, the group was confronted with a large contingent of the Amber Suns. Khazera was able to pass the three of them off as customers, and after paying "the toll" the group hurried on their way. At the scholar's home, two agents of The Fence confronted the group, recognized them from their past dealings with The Fence, and initiated violence. Shokran, Fenolin, and Khazera quickly and quietly resolved the situation and stayed with the scholar for the night.
With their business concluded, Fenolin, Khazera, and Shokran met with the agent that contracted their work, reported their findings and successes, and received their compensation. Perhaps this was a small victory, but a chain is made one link at a time.
These moves and countermoves in the seedy underworld of the the Belt of Tirva are not for the faint of heart or those too greedy for good sense. In the end, the coins won't bring you meaning or buy you truth. What will?
