There hasn't been much time to make a proper acquaintance of the Cinderlands. But from what little you've seen, they are hot. Dusty. Hot. The air is full of small bits of stinging sand blown along by overly warm breezes. And most of all, it is hot.

You traveled along the river and then headed west. You paid the toll to take the merchants elevator up the great cliff to Kaer Maga above. That city had seemed to be everything you had heard about it and yet nothing like anything you had heard about it. The city seemed to be perched on top of it's cliff, staring at the low lands below, and deciding whether it was going to be a victim or victimizer tonight. You stayed at a pricey inn and enjoyed hot baths and a fine dinner. You only had to chase thieves out of your room twice during the evening. Not bad for an inn in Kaer Maga.

You hit the Bazar the next day, stocking up in both goods and information. The Cinderlander is a mercenary known for his use of specialized crossbows and a private war with the various Cinder land tribes.

The shaman Selvin and Izzick had met before, Thousand Bones, had passed through the city two weeks ago. It is believed he was headed west, but where west is uncertain.

Nobody seems to know anything about the Red Mantis. At least, they aren't willing to talk about it.

You regroup in front of a fountain shaped like a mermaid whose face has long been worn away by vandals and apathy. Water trickles out of jug she holds in her stone hands. You compare notes and check your shopping lists. Time to consider your plan of attack...

I am skipping us over a lot of incidental stuff, which is frankly not very interesting. You have made it to the city named Kaer Maga, which serves as the entrance to the Cinder Lands, a large scrub desert type of plateau which is home to the various barbarian tribes. See the update in the RTJ about the various tribes to give you some basic info known to all of you.

I assume you have stocked up on basics. Provisions. Rope. Oil. Etc.

I also assume you spent the morning gathering basic Intel. The results of that are posted above.

Now then. To make sure we are all on the same page:

You have traveled here to find information on the Dragon skull Neolandus thinks has some bearing on the Queen's change in behavior. Since the skull was in a tomb built by the barbarian tribes that used to rule the area before Korvosa's founders kicked them out, your best bet for that information is among their descendants living here in the Cinder Lands.

Thousand Bones is a barbarian shaman your party helped before. He is probably your best lead at this point. You have to find him though.

The Queen obviously sent the Red Mantis to both eliminate you and for some other purpose. Maybe elimination of the information you are seeking.

You have no idea what part this Cinderlander fellow is playing in all this.

If you want to try to beat the bushes for better information, you may do so. Let me know how you are ready going about it, what skill you are using, and the roll you got.

You can also do some shopping if you wish. Kaer Maga is a big city. Let me know what items you may want, and I'll let you know if it's here.

Have those requests, questions, or comments to me by Tuesday please. This section of the AP is kind of sandboxy. So I plan to push things along so we don't get bogged down.

Thanks

Selvin spent some time moving about the new town, seeing the sights and learning what he could about it, familiarizing himself with it. He didn't think they'd be staying overlong, but they needed to do some shopping and getting more information wouldn't hurt. So he made friends buying drinks and trinkets, all the while talking to people with his natural charisma and local knowledge of how things worked in Varisia.

OOC: Selvin has Knowledge-Local and is decent at Charisma-based skills so he will be trying to gather information about both Thousand Bones and The Cinderlander, chatting up merchants, going to seedy bars and buying drinks, that sort of thing.

One of the first things that Zuni did upon arriving at the Bazaar was to buy some lighter weight clothing.  Her normal leather attire had been fine for Korvosa but it became very uncomfortable in the high heat of the Cinderlands.  Her armor, while lighter than most, still felt five times heavier in the heat.  She was not going to walk around without it however, there were still Red Mantis out there.

And maybe she could blend in with the locals a little better if she wasn't outfitted like an outsider.

OOC:
Zuni is planning on using Diplomacy and Knowledge Local.  She would most likely follow the same path as Selvin, checking out the Bazaar and taverns, but maybe she could check out the local thieves guild and see if they've heard anything.

<Orange>Zuni, just to make sure I'm understanding, you are also going to focus on Thousand Bones and Cinderlander, correct?  You and Selvin can go ahead and roll.  Your call on what social skills you wish to use.  Both of you give me four rolls a piece please: two rolls for the Cinderlander and two rolls for Thousand Bones.  Zuni, please designate one of your rolls as your inquiries to the Thieves Guild.

Belgar and Izzy, you can also roll if you wish.  I'll judge how much background the total party obtains from there.  But you should get plenty.

I'd roll, but the way my dice have been acting, you may want to do it yourselves.

Let me know about equipment choices.  Again, consider yourself having 8,000 gp to spend.  This is outside what Zuni has tracked.

Thanks.

The half-orc walked through the markets, making sure to pick up what he needed. Needles, ink, incenses, and other ingredients, all while he also made sure to drop hints of their goal, speaking of The Cinderlander and the Thousand Bones.

I'll roll Diplomacy for the gather info checks:
10:49, Today: Izzick rolled 21 using 1d20+5.  Thousand Bones Gather Info.
10:49, Today: Izzick rolled 20 using 1d20+5.  Cinderlander Gather Info.

Next if we're able, I'd like Izzick to actually start using his Inscribe Magical Tattoo feat.
I'd love to get a Swirling Smoke Tattoo but that's gonna take some downtime, so instead I'm going to do a Kin's Face Tattoo and a Radiant Tattoo. Increasing the DC by 5 for both so I can do each in one day.
10:59, Today: Izzick rolled 18 using 1d20+14.  Kin's Face Tattoo DC15.
10:59, Today: Izzick rolled 24 using 1d20+14.  Radiant Tattoo DC20.

OOC:
Knowledge Local (Thieves Guild) -> 21
Knowledge Local (Cinderlander) ->9
Diplomacy (Thousand Bones) -> 11
Diplomacy (Cinderlander) -> 14

Is that 8,000gp each or split amongst the party?  I'll put up what treasure Zuni has found soon.

In reply to Zuni Runesong (msg # 6):

That is 8,000 each Zuni. Izzy, I need to look up the tats but that sounds fine. Because APs are on timetables I'm not going to sweat the time requirements too much. I'll post results of the info gathering checks tomorrow

Belgar keeps to himself at the bazaar and does a bit of people watching.  Trying to pick up how the locals deal with the local climate.  He then works his way out to the edges of town and tries to get a lay of the land and assess what supplies they may need in this strange place before heading back for a bit of shopping.

07:53, Today: Belgar Ironclad rolled 10 using 1d20+5.  Knowledge: Nature.
07:53, Today: Belgar Ironclad rolled 23 using 1d20+5.  Knowledge: Geography.

At the bazaar, he'll first try and locate an amulet of natural armor.  After that, he'll see if he can find anything that would help them survive in the cinderland wilds such as a belt of foraging.

In reply to Belgar Ironclad (msg # 8):
Belgar and Selvin, items are approved. Belgar, amulet is at +2.

Zuni and Izzy?

The various roads of inquiry land you a bevy of information.

The Cinderlander seems to be a rather notorious figure. He is well hated amongst the various barbarian tribe and for good reason: He makes a habit of am bushing their hunting parties and collecting their ears. His motives seem to trace back to some wrong done against his family by one of the tribes. The stories vary, but most agree the Cinderlander was a retired mercenary who settled here abouts. He had a wife and children at one point. They were killed or died and somehow one of the tribes was involved.  Most stories point to the Tamarii-Quah, a rather xenophobic tribe centered in the western mountains. But the Cinderlander apparently hunts all the tribes equally. A few sources seem to indicate his private war has cooled over the years. He now hires out to merchant caravans and others who want to cross the Cinder Lands and survive the trek. However, he also still seems willing to take out assassination contracts against barbarians if the price is right. He apparently favors automatic crossbows and is considered a sniper of high skill.

Thousand Bones is apparently an elder of the Skoan Quah tribe. The Skoan are an oddity even for the Shoanti. They seem to have something to do with death magic. Locals with some knowledge of Shoanti culture say this tribe acts as protectors of the Shoanti dead. That seems to have more to do with keeping their legends and Graves protected than anything else. The Skoan have advocated for peace with non-Shoanti. At least, they are the easiest for low landers to approach. Thousand Bones apparently lost quite a bit of face due to his failed diplomatic mission to Korvosa. He has gone to some sacred site located in the East.More on this tomorrow. Having some trouble with Adobe Acrobat

Belgar gets quite a bit of advice on surviving and travel. He manages to stock up on several bits of useful equipment and clothing. You are as confident as you can be of surviving at least the elements.

Zuni, You don'the find one more bit of useful information. The Red Mantis used the Guild to make contact with the Cinderlander. Apparently they aren't going after him. They hired him. For what is unknown.

Selvin was great at actually FINDING the right people and knowing where to go. But he wasn't so great at talking to people sometimes...or maybe it was relating to people. After all, he DID spend most of his time symbiotically bonded with an other-wordly creature.

OOC: Nat 20 on the Knowledge Local and then abysmal and one good social roll. Lol.

11:57, Today: Selvin Larst rolled 26 using 1d20+6.  Knowledge Local.
11:58, Today: Selvin Larst rolled 7 using 1d20+5.  Diplomacy to gather info.
11:58, Today: Selvin Larst rolled 9 using 1d20+5.  Intimidate.
11:58, Today: Selvin Larst rolled 15 using 1d20+5.  Diplomacy.

Belgar, ready to spend a quiet moment alone after a morning of information and supply gathering, finds himself an isolated back alley with a bit of shade.  He spends a solid 20 minutes scanning the area to ensure he wasn't followed before sorting through his purchases.  He admires his new amulet and tries it on.  These sort of things are usually to long on him, but it seems to suit him well enough.  A bit glitzy, but the desert tan tabard he purchased should cover it OK as well as keeping the blazing Cinderland sun off his armor for the most part.  His skin seems to tighten up a bit as he places the chain over his head.  He pokes the tip of his dagger into the underside of his forearm a couple of times to test the enchantment.  He nods to himself and mutters "not bad" as he sheaths the blade.  After slipping on his new tabard, he pulls out his new belt and examines it.  Very strange this one, as he ponders how a belt could help him know where to find resources.  Herhaps it is magically drawn to them?  Either way, he pulls it on over his tabard to hold it in place.  "That should do it" he mutters and he throws his pack on and strikes off to find the others.

In reply to Belgar Ironclad (msg # 11):

Noted Selvin.  Thanks.

By sifting through the bits of information, you are able to figure out that Thousand Bones is probably at a site to the east called the Karrows.  No one in the city is quite sure what the site is.  But it is considered a holy place to 1000 Bones tribe, the Skoan Quah.  It seems the Skoan are charged with preservation of the Shoanti dead.  They handle all funerary rites, keep the tales of heros and chronicles of the generations alive, and deal with the risen dead.  The Skoan are a bit of an outcast tribe though.  They are seen as an oddity, a view not helped by 1000 Bones rather vocal support of building relationships with non-Shoanti.

His tribe, the Skoan, are probably the best tribe for you to approach.  And the Karrows seems to be some sort of permanent base for them.

You are able to learn what sound like fairly certain directions.  The trip will take three days.

Finish up any business you may want to get up to in the city.  We will move on to the Karrows no later than Wednesday.  Thanks all

Zuni was not too surprised that her efforts had not yielded more information.  This was not her usual stomping ground after all, and it would take her some time to get acclimated to the flow of this town.  She did get a bit of good information from her brief conversation with the local Thieves Guild, a stall in the market might have something that she was looking for.  As good as she was in a fight, Zuni had gotten herself pretty battered up during the Arkonas venture and she was looking to get some more protection.  A buckler might come in handy but her contact dropped mention of certain magical ring that would be of interest.  She decided to go and take a look.

And maybe sharpen her sword.