Carissa nods with Aikio. "I agree.  Let's follow where the clues lead, or even the faintest whiff of one."

After following Arthur back to the guildhouse, Jak listens to others' ideas before giving one of his own.

"It's starting to sound like some nasty plot against Absalom," he says. "Don't think the mutineers were in on it, but I can see someone setting up Captain Slye to go down the rabbit hole. Then, they just took advantage of it."

"D'ya think they are really trying to take down the city? Or are they just jockeying for better trade conditions?"

Diobel is another city on the Isle of Kortos, the same island that hosts Absalom. Diobel is maybe 20 miles away to the west, also on the coast and also a harbor. It is often referred to as the 'backdoor to Absalom' because it is used to move illegal or restricted goods into the city to avoid the watchful eyes of the Harbormaster, Tax Collector, and City Watch.

It's a trading port in its own right, but doesn't have the restrictions that Absalom has. It's also not as 'shiny and new' as Absalom.

If the mutineers sailed there, the most likely scenario is that one of them had been to Diobel at some time in the past, probably as a crewman on another ship, since the Avenger was too new to have ever visited Diobel before.

Having taken time to consider the possibility of Diobel being a destination for the mutineers he speaks to the group:

"If the mutineers did sail to Diobel it is highly probable that at least one of them has been to Diobel before though most likely as a crewman on another ship as the Avenger is too new to have ever visited Diobel before.

Diobel is a city located along the coast of the Isle of Kortos and is about 20 miles to the west of the city of Absalom.   Diobel is a trading port in its own right but doesn't have the restrictions that Absalom has, and it also acts as a gateway into Absalom for those moving illegal or restricted goods into the city.  This 'backdoor' entry point allows the movement of such goods to avoid the watchful eyes of the Harbormaster, Tax Collector, and the City Watch."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:12, Mon 30 Aug 2021.

"You don't need to sail to Diobel. You can walk or ride there," the Captain says. "If you don't find anything there, all sailing would do is save you time from walking back."

"You should probably consider a couple of options."

"One, if the ship put into Diobel, how much supplies did they take on? That might give you an idea of how far they were planning on sailing."

"Two, did any of them disembark and head out into the countryside to become a farmer or something. Or did they sign on to another ship maybe?"

"Three, you might give some thought to where the mutineers would have sailed. Katapesh maybe? Cheliax? Some obscure isle? Perhaps even to the Shackles to become pirates."

I think going by ship is our best option.  If we find any good leads we might not be returning to Absalom.  As you said, their are other ports on the mainland or islands within the region.  If we have access to a ship here then that would be easier than acquiring one in Diobel.  Returning here could just be a waste of time.  She looked to Ochnam Is your vessel ready to set sail?

"She was ready last week" Ochnam said with frustration. "Who could've known paperwork would be harder than building a gigantic self sailing adamantine vessel. And after we dealt with all the paperwork, I was told since she is technically an unintelligent construct I had to make my registration at Arcanamirium, because they also act as the mages guild here. But Arcanamirium officials had sent me back to Harbormaster because my ship was only going to be used as a ship, and was not fit for their criteria of servant constructs. After several visits to both, Harbormaster agreed to register my ship. by the way my ship is also the captain and the crew of her own. And I own a trade company now and my ship is technically an employee. Don't ask that part I wasn't paying attention." Ochnam took a deep breath then he continued his rant.

"And when I thought everything was done, Harbormaster told me that since I wrote 0 gold as my ship's salary it was technically slavery and since slavery is illegal here, I needed a proof showing that my ship is an unintelligent construct. He was just messing with me at this point. We could've just changed the salary but no, he demanded us to hire some experts from Arcanamirium to perform an inspection. At that point I may or may not have drawn my weapon and threathen him with cursing his bloodline. So I kicked out from Harbormaster's office" he said sheepishly.

"But Isandros handled it. He somehow calmed down the Harbormaster in my absence. And they are most likely doing the inspection right now. He would be here soon with necessary papers. Then we can sail wherever we want.

"Just be glad we're not in Egorian. Half their paperworks requires devil witnesses." Arthur says with a disgusted scowl. "Either way, the worst is done. All we need is to gather the supplies, and we can head out to Diobel. That little trip will give us a chance to check the small islands near the coast."

Isandros enters the meeting, his expression is weary for a second but quickly changes into a wide smile. "It's done!" he exclaims while walking closer to Ochnam. He turns to the rest of the team and says "Sorry about my tardiness, busy day." and takes out a stack of forms and certificates from his bag. "Here is the inspection report, the revised vessel and construct documentation, the ship's license to operate itself, and finally the port clearance papers so we can actually leave the port. Thank your stars I didn't need another set of signatures." He whispers as he hands the stack to Ochnam.

"So what are we up to now?" he asks no one in particular so that he could be caught up to speed.

The Shadovin offered Isandros a smile and a nod of greeting, "It seems you've arrived just in time for us to leave.  We are heading over to Diobel to see if we can get any leads as to the whereabouts of our quarry."

"We should be on our way soon," said Aikio. "But would it be advantageous for some of us to arrive by land?"

Carissa nodded to Aikio. "That would make sense. I am willing go travel overland if needed, but we would need to ensure we arrive at least within a day or two of each other."

"Keeping track on long distance is easy. We just have to curse each other! I can prepare weapons right now." said Ochnam with enthusiasm.

OOC: This is the spell
https://www.aonprd.com/SpellDi...me=Mark%20of%20Blood

"Are you cursing us or yourself or your weapon?" Jak wondered.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to be cursed! On top of that, you have to strike each of us? All of us? Or just one of us?"

"Good point, Aikio! If some of us travel by land, we might be able to find out if any of the crew left the ship and took up farming somewhere in the interior. Or hunting and trapping maybe."

"It looks like it's only about a day's travel to Diobel overland, maybe two days if we move a bit slow and talk to people. Let's make it three days then. We'll meet the ship in Diobel in 3 days."

"So, I'm willing to travel by land. If we don't get there in three days, then what? Does anyone have the ability to scry or otherwise communicate with us?"

"Ideally we would curse one people from each group so we can both track each other. It is a perfectly safe process, except getting hit by a weapon but don't mind that part. I can be the one cursed in the ship group. Ochnam wiped his glasses while obviously thinking about something. Most likely money.

"I can provide a single scroll of sending if you can give me two hours, and I can perform sending myself, though it also costs a bit. Same is also true for scrying but it is rather unpractical for communication."

I will go with those by land.  My skills are more useful in the wilderness and Jerinvar is not so keen on ocean travel.

She said as she pet her feline companions head.

I will also volunteer to be the target of your spell.  I do not fear being struck by your weapon, it will only add to the plethora of scars and wounds my body is already marred with.

I have my own mount.  Do other's need to acquire horses or are we planning on walking? Two to Three days is not a very long hike to be done on foot.  I will need to purchase a few items before we leave Absalom.

Let us divide ourselves and begin our preparations... Jak and I will go by land, Ochnam by sea, what say the rest of you?  We gain nothing by tarrying any longer here than we have to.

"I will also come by land. I will manage without a mount," said Aikio. "It leaves me more free to scout ahead. And I can keep pace well enough."

"I'll join the land team as well, in case they need access to a scrying spell." Arthur says. "I'll get myself a horse as well, so I don't slow you down."

Kass says "I think I'm better off with the land expedition. My mount is a hippogryph, and she needs to land every so often. Kind of hard on a ship to be suddenly burdened with an extra 1000 pounds suddenly  And my Dino companion would rather run than swim."

"As an investigator,  traveling by land would allow me to employ my trade upon any we cross paths with along the way."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:30, Tue 14 Sept 2021.

"Well, now, that's just about everyone going by land," Jak points out. "I suppose, in a way, that's probably a good idea. We can get used to working with each other."

"The problem with horses is what to do with them when we reach Diobel and have to board the ship. It doesn't sound like Ochnam's ship will have any problem with a hippogriff unless its wings would interfere with the rigging... or vice versa."

Indeed Jak. My ship has 2 decks, 20 ballistae, and 150 tons cargo capacity. It would've needed crew of 20 sailors if I hadn't built it as an autonomous construct. So we have a lot of space." Ochnam puffed as he talked about his ship.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:28, Wed 15 Sept 2021.

"Well, I'll be on the ship. As much as I'd like to wander the countryside, I feel like my efforts would be more fruitful at Diobel." Isandros pauses and turns his head towards Ochnam. "Plus, somebody has to act as a liaison for Ochnam here if we don't want a repeat of today." He adds with a smirk.

"Also, I don't think having a sizable team scanning the land would be better. Large groups of travellers can attract considerable attention and we look like a platoon of misfit adventurers already." He says while gesturing widely around the room. "If your rumours outpace you, anyone that doesn't want to be found would disappear" He snaps his fingers before continuing "just like that."

Kass says "well, that does make a difference. Then I and my animals will travel by sea. I may not be a skilled sailor, but it sounds as if you don't require any. But I can still serve as airborne scout and offer my other abilities.  Spotting and identifying ship's colors before you interact with other vessels has its uses."

A delay of a day while supplies are gathered isn't going to make that big of a difference since the chance of you actually encountering the mutineers at this point are pretty slim even if they did make port in Diobel. It's been nearly a month since the mutiny--it takes a long time to get around between countries.

So, at this point, we have...


Unspecified yet: Allen Ramey, Banett Alrog, Dorlan Tsung, Hernak Glaiber, Myles Garrett, and Zaira Zatara.