Post by Richard Loh on Dec 4, 2013 4:29:35 GMT 8
The meeting with Venture-Captain Norden Balentiir was short and to the point, and the ship departed Sothis on the evening tide. The words of Balentiir wash back from memory:
“This is an unprecedented chance for the Pathfinders to learn more about the history of Osirion and some of the figures that played important roles but have been little more than shadowy rumors to us until now. A little-known Osirian merchant prince named Zuberi who lived in the time of Cheliax’s Everwar used the chaos and confusion it caused as cover to grow his mercantile empire. He sent agents far and wide to take advantage of this chance to make additional fortunes. One of these agents was known as Meskhenet the Wise, a woman of uncommon beauty and unsurpassed insights. She went into Cheliax proper in order to set up a secret smuggling operation directly beneath the Crown’s nose. A fortress was built called the Halls of Zuberi from which she could organize shipments from pirates on Cheliax’s west coast and bring them in past customs officials and military patrols alike in order to reach the black markets of Westcrown and Egorian in central Cheliax. How she managed to pull this off is unknown, but it is known that it was successful for many years and filled her coffers with foreign gold.
“The Halls of Zuberi rang with the sounds of commerce for nearly 50 years before disaster struck. In a single night, all was lost in a holocaust of unleashed magic and destruction. The fortress caved in on itself and became an impassable ruin known today as the Collapsed Halls. Meskhenet disappeared in the catastrophe, her mercantile networks fell apart, and they too eventually disappeared with nary a trace. This all became a minor and poorly understood footnote in history. Information recently came into our possession describing a powerful magical ring that Meskhenet wore. Somehow, it is rumored, it was this ring that apparently allowed the successes that she experienced in their operations, and all knowledge of it disappeared with Meskhenet.
“We believe there is more to this tale than simply the mercantile dreams of a brilliant businesswoman. This is reinforced by the fact that we’ve lost three venture-captains since word of the merchant prince and this ring and others like it came to us. Someone is trying to keep this whole thing hushed up, and they’re willing to kill to do it. The Society is not about to be intimidated or silenced. I need you to travel to Cheliax, head up the Maiestas River to the Collapsed Halls, find the magic ring of Meskhenet that our sources say lies somewhere beneath the ruins, and get back here with it in one piece. Watch your back, because it seems somebody doesn’t want us to find it.”
“This is an unprecedented chance for the Pathfinders to learn more about the history of Osirion and some of the figures that played important roles but have been little more than shadowy rumors to us until now. A little-known Osirian merchant prince named Zuberi who lived in the time of Cheliax’s Everwar used the chaos and confusion it caused as cover to grow his mercantile empire. He sent agents far and wide to take advantage of this chance to make additional fortunes. One of these agents was known as Meskhenet the Wise, a woman of uncommon beauty and unsurpassed insights. She went into Cheliax proper in order to set up a secret smuggling operation directly beneath the Crown’s nose. A fortress was built called the Halls of Zuberi from which she could organize shipments from pirates on Cheliax’s west coast and bring them in past customs officials and military patrols alike in order to reach the black markets of Westcrown and Egorian in central Cheliax. How she managed to pull this off is unknown, but it is known that it was successful for many years and filled her coffers with foreign gold.
“The Halls of Zuberi rang with the sounds of commerce for nearly 50 years before disaster struck. In a single night, all was lost in a holocaust of unleashed magic and destruction. The fortress caved in on itself and became an impassable ruin known today as the Collapsed Halls. Meskhenet disappeared in the catastrophe, her mercantile networks fell apart, and they too eventually disappeared with nary a trace. This all became a minor and poorly understood footnote in history. Information recently came into our possession describing a powerful magical ring that Meskhenet wore. Somehow, it is rumored, it was this ring that apparently allowed the successes that she experienced in their operations, and all knowledge of it disappeared with Meskhenet.
“We believe there is more to this tale than simply the mercantile dreams of a brilliant businesswoman. This is reinforced by the fact that we’ve lost three venture-captains since word of the merchant prince and this ring and others like it came to us. Someone is trying to keep this whole thing hushed up, and they’re willing to kill to do it. The Society is not about to be intimidated or silenced. I need you to travel to Cheliax, head up the Maiestas River to the Collapsed Halls, find the magic ring of Meskhenet that our sources say lies somewhere beneath the ruins, and get back here with it in one piece. Watch your back, because it seems somebody doesn’t want us to find it.”