After the Meeting

Deklan waited until Gelic and the pair of Pathfinders had exited the tavern before he turned and addressed the group. Keeping his voice lower than before, and making sure no bystanders were in earshot, he began.

"We are in a far worse situation than I realized. I believed our transaction would be a matter between ourselves and another party that had as much reason to keep the news of our discovery quiet as we did. Instead, the rumors are flying and the lust for riches is growing- and every group believes the knowledge we have is the key to acquiring those riches. I believe the peril we are in now exceeds anything we faced on the island.

Given what we have just found out, I suggest we stay together as much as possible. The easiest way for someone to come at us to find out what we know would be capture one of us and utilize torture to extract the information. Since we have nothing useful as yet to give up, that would probably not end well, even if we made something up, a well-prepared faction may have methods to determine if someone is lying. At best, we would be subjected to a ransom.

I was initially against involving the Sargovian government in our find. Since their involvement now seems inevitable, we would probably be well served to be the first to propose a joint venture. I believe if we hold out that we know more than we do-but refuse to share it all- we can strike a good deal. Hopefully that will enable us to secure official protection within the city and more freedom to move around without being harassed.

The alliance with the Pathfinders would be very helpful, but I'm not sure how they would feel about a partnering with us if we have already struck a deal with the government. I am not sure if they include the government in the category of the looters they spoke so disdainfully of, but I would not be surprised.

I was surprised, however, to hear that it would take them 1-2 weeks to put together an expedition. I have a feeling if we waited for them, we would be waiting an exceptionally long time as they will have long since departed on their own. Although they seemed to entertain the possibility, I believe they would agree with any of our proposals as they did not have our information in hand as yet. Still, I think we should go ahead with the proposed deal as we could certainly use the money to outfit our efforts.

I myself have three tasks to complete before I am ready to strike out. Once we have traded the information to the Pathfinder society, Regean and I will use a share of the capital to enhance our spell libraries with castings that will aid our efforts. Also, I feel it would be prudent to visit the library to do some research before we set out- the information we have may be more meaningful if we can put it in some context. Finally, and most importantly, I must decipher that damnable code! Ieana's scroll is probably the only solid lead we have as to the location of Savinth Ye- and I don't want to be deep in the jungle still trying to puzzle it! I do think however, that if I do break it that I will not share it until we are underway- I still have the ring that shields my thoughts, and a savvy group may try some kind of charm or mental scrying to uncover our secrets even if we are under the physical protection of the government.

What say any of your about our situation and the path forward?"

The half-elf leaned back in his chair and listened to the mage prattle on. The busy noises around them were comforting. He'd missed the city... ANY city! He knew better than any that the city was no less dangerous than lost on a jungle island... but at least here he KNEW what was making the sounds and recognized danger when he saw it.

"My own opinion... is that a week or two sounds like heaven!" he grinned as he took a long drink from his cold ale. It had been entirely too long since he'd had anything cold!

"As you said, you still need to find out the location of the city... Without that we're just trading one jungle hell for another." He quickly looked to Kali and added "No offense."

"Of the stuff we found, it's mostly background information... the story of what went on in Savinth-Ye and while some find that valuable... it really brings us no closer to locating the city than people have had in the last 10,000 years."

"Until you two can find something that we didn't already know... I don't see any reason to take off immediately. After all... Cold Ale, Soft beds, clean clothes..." His distracted gaze followed a pretty young woman as she left the tavern. "New faces...

"Yes... I definitely think was should stick around for a while!"

Kali'chatu was distracted as well. Too much bustle. Too much noise. Too many...people!

The half orc had been around long enough to know that people were more dangerous than any of the creeping denizens of the jungle. Animals she understood. They were simple. People were complicated. They schemed and lied to fulfill their own pointless desires. Power, wealth, and ephemeral pleasures that would either make them feel more alive or simply dull the pain... Worst of all, you never knew whom you could truly trust, as was evidenced by the leaked information concerning Saventh Yhi. The whole business made her back hair stand on end from the base of her neck to the base of her spine. Her experiences in Bloodcove had gone a long way to color her opinion of 'civilization'...

Sensing her tension and indeed his own at being immersed in such an unknown environment, Bwana'shika held his newfound companion closely, providing them both with comfort.

"Until ve learn vhich jungle ve must travel to, der is little point in...leavink dis place." Her broad shoulders slumped slightly at the admission. "Der are three main jungles vithin de Expanse. Mwangi Jungle to de northeast vere I am from, de Kaava Lands to de north, and de Screaming Jungles to de east. All are vast. All are relatively unexplored."

Kali turned her yellow eyes toward the mage, followed immediately by the golden eyes of her constrictor, who tasted the air in the man's direction. "You believe dat de deadly and beautiful Ieana's scroll vill lead us in de direction ve must go? Den ve must vait until you can decipher it.

"Vhen Jask returns to us, ve vill know more about vhat kind of deal de Sargavan government vill agree to, and tomorrow you can speak vith de Pathfinders to ask der opinion about a joint venture. I am concerned dat if ve find dis city, that ve vill need more soldiers to help guard it, but I am also concerned dat if the government intends to strip de ruin for all it is vorth, den ve vill find ourselves surrounded not only by greedy mercenaries, but by hostile natives who may believe de place to be a powerful spiritual focus. Though dis could be an issue in either event..."

If what they'd learned in the temple was correct and Saventh Yhi had been the site of the Ydersius's demise, then it was possible that the ruined city was crawling with dark spirits and ancient power as much as it was gold and knowledge. If it was a site of considerable power, than undoubtedly it would be guarded by someone... or something...

Thankfully these weren't troubles for today, she realized as she caught the mouth-wateringly familiar scent of bitter Mwangi coffee wafting over from a table near them. Maybe a couple days in town would be survivable after all.

Corrigan's mouth gaped open at Kali'chatu's comments. It was nice for someone to actually agree with him for change... but that wasn't the reason. He quite simply didn't realize how many jungles were out there!!

Sighing heavily, he jingled a coin purse.

"Three gold pieces say we're going to the 'Screaming Jungle."