LOST TRAILS 10 ZHENTIL KEEP

[ewancummins]

The party enters the walled city of ZHENTIL KEEP under the watchful eyes of sable-cloaked guardsmen—and beneath the sightless stares of skeletons hanging in cages on either side of the entryway. Within the gatehouse, the city militia inspect their saddlebags and other kit for contraband—an officer saying something about ‘unlawful writings’ and ‘symbols of proscribed cults.’ But nothing the party carries gets the adventurers into trouble.

Waved on, the group rides or walks into a district bounded by high walls with the River Tesh running below bluffs along the north side of the fortifications. Bawds and hawkers and knife-sharpeners shout and gesticulate at the newcomers as they move through the streets. The adventurers see many new-seeming half-timbered buildings made with steeply pitched roofs of thatch or pine planks, quite unlike the decayed squalor of Yulash. Fire-blackened stone foundations suggest a time of rebuilding from major damage sometime in the last couple of decades.

The larger, northern section of the city lies across the Tesh, accessible by either of two high-arched bridges.

Navigating Zhentil Keep looks as if it could be tricky in some areas, because of the many crooked lanes and dark, narrow alleys between densely packed blocks of buildings, few marked by signs.

The city smells better than Yulash but worse than Harrowdale or Selguant. The high stone walls trapping heavy vapors from tanneries and alchemist shops, perhaps.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/07/ff/83 ... 7d4aca.png

OOC: Kat...

VIEW CONTENT:

isn't conscripted at a certain spot on the map. Or will she be?

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

"Well, here we are," mutters Klokulf, perhaps mostly to himself, "behind walls of stone."

[ewancummins]

"Well, here we are," mutters Klokulf, perhaps mostly to himself, "behind walls of stone."

Alwina rides closer to Klokulf.
''Will we ride right through or stay a night in one of the houses? An inn, I mean? I should like to rest a little. Won't that also be good for these animals?"



SPOT 10 DC
or
LISTEN 10 DC

The party may notice

VIEW CONTENT:

a crowd gathering nearby in a public square, men and a few women milling before a raised stone platform. The people chatter happily, munching snacks while seemingly waiting for something to start...

Guards with saps and bucklers hustle a chained group of captives up a stairway.
Four men and a teenage boy. Each one is stripped to the waist with a large numeral daubed across his chest in red paint.

Up steps a swag-bellied man with a florid complexion and garish orange and purple robes, who proceeds to read off a scroll, gesturing toward the prisoners.
He doesn’t bother with names, but simply uses the captives' numbers:

One, bricklayer, age thirty, unlawful worship

Two, glazer, age twenty-nine, tax fraud and embezzlement

Three, brute laborer, age eighteen, striking and gravely injuring an officer of the city watch

Four, brute laborer, about fifty, sold himself to feed his family

Five, scrivener’s boy, age fourteen, forgery and theft of holy texts

''Gentlemen, Ladies, are you ready to start the bidding?"

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

Alwina rides closer to Klokulf.
''Will we ride right through or stay a night in one of the houses? An inn, I mean? I should like to rest a little. Won't that also be good for these animals?"

"I intend to stay for as long as I must," Klokulf replies.

His attention is caught by the auction nearby. "Anyone could tell us where the inns are, but a businessman might have a more refined recommendation."

[ewancummins]

Alwina rides closer to Klokulf.
''Will we ride right through or stay a night in one of the houses? An inn, I mean? I should like to rest a little. Won't that also be good for these animals?"

"I intend to stay for as long as I must," Klokulf replies.

His attention is caught by the auction nearby. "Anyone could tell us where the inns are, but a businessman might have a more refined recommendation."

A visit to the slave auction and some chatting with local merchants and property owners yields some information for the Lawgiver's priest:

the location of a good-quality but not outrageously expensive inn

directions to

VIEW CONTENT:

the Black Altar, foremost temple of Bane in Zhentil Keep--some would say, in the world

Further conversation is cut off by the business of the auction. Bids come fast and loud.
The slaves are selling quickly.
Most of the captives remain stoic--or perhaps they've been drugged, or are just too tired and depressed to protest their fate-- but the scrivener's boy makes a break for it. No use. He's promptly hauled down by the guards.
An overseer threatens the lad with a sap and then gags him when the boy starts shouting about being innocent.

Chuckles run through the crowd at the scene.

The auctioneer says, "Since Number Five is so eager to get off the block, I'll sell him right now."

More laughter from the crowd of buyers and from the guards.

"It's a bit out of order, but so was that foolish escape attempt. This creature represents a solid investment for the man or woman who knows how to knock that recalcitrant streak out of him without spoiling his usefulness. The bidding for Number Five starts at merely fifty golden glories. Do I hear a bid?"

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

"It's a bit out of order, but so was that foolish escape attempt. This creature represents a solid investment for the man or woman who knows how to knock that recalcitrant streak out of him without spoiling his uselessness. The bidding for Number Five starts at merely fifty golden glories. Do I hear a bid?"

Klokulf rests his chin in his hand for a minute, weighing his options. Then he raises his hand and shouts, "Fifty!"

[ewancummins]

"It's a bit out of order, but so was that foolish escape attempt. This creature represents a solid investment for the man or woman who knows how to knock that recalcitrant streak out of him without spoiling his uselessness. The bidding for Number Five starts at merely fifty golden glories. Do I hear a bid?"

Klokulf rests his chin in his hand for a minute, weighing his options. Then he raises his hand and shouts, "Fifty!"

The auctioneer acknowledges the bid.


A burly man shouts,
"Sixty!"

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

A burly man shouts,
"Sixty!"

Klokulf's brow furrows, then his eyes drift upward as he calculates the expenditure.

His hand rises again: "Seventy-five!"

[ewancummins]

A burly man shouts,
"Sixty!"

Klokulf's brow furrows, then his eyes drift upward as he calculates the expenditure.

His hand rises again: "Seventy-five!"

Klokulf's bid over-shoots a couple of lower bids coming up at the same time.

The auctioneer acknowledges the bid.
He scans the crowd.

The burly man who had bid sixty shakes his head.

''Sold to that gentleman there-" the auctioneer calls out, pointing at Klokulf.

Guards hustle Number Five off the platform. They march the boy, still gagged, to Klokulf, moving around the fringes of the crowd of prospective buyers.

One of the men collects payment in coin or kind. A clerk adds Klokulf's name to a bill of sale, obtains his signature, and just like that, Klokulf becomes the owner of a slave.

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

Once disentangled from the crowd, Klokulf addresses his human purchase, removing the gag in the process. "I hope this will not be necessary. Tell me, what is your name?"

[ewancummins]

Once disentangled from the crowd, Klokulf addresses his human purchase, removing the gag in the process. "I hope this will not be necessary. Tell me, what is your name?"

''Theophilus..."
The youth swallows hard.
''..Ah...Master."

[ewancummins]

The auctioneer orders the guards to bring up # 3, a hard-muscled young man.

The slave glares at the assembled crowd with sullen hostility as guards lead him forward in chains.

The plump auctioneer says,
''Ah, one of our laboring class whose temper has earned him a lifetime of correction. Like the previous sale, he's obviously in need of further discipline. But just look at those arms, that chest! He will sweat hard for you in your mines, fields, or whatever other employment you find and is still young enough to perhaps even master a trade. Or maybe the fighting pits, eh? Bidding begins at thirty glories."

[RocEter]

Clive who positions himself to be visible raise his gauntlet covered hand shouting, "Thirty!"

[ewancummins]

Clive who positions himself to be visible raise his gauntlet covered hand shouting, "Thirty!"

A sour-faced graybeard dressed in black bids thirty-five.

Seconds later, a grossly obese man clad in lavender silks and a periwinkle cape bids forty.

[RocEter]

Clive who positions himself to be visible raise his gauntlet covered hand shouting, "Thirty!"

A sour-faced graybeard dressed in black bids thirty-five.

Seconds later, a grossly obese man clad in lavender silks and a periwinkle cape bids forty.

Before make another bid, Clive quick and obviously makes an assessment of the other two bidders.

"Fifty"