Background

The status rod seems to be shaped and forged seemlessly into a knob at top, probably 2 1/2" in diameter while the shaft is 1 1/2". Do not ask me to express the units in the dnd system or call out the dates in dnd format. I’m not that insane.

You can buy all the bells in Baya with that stash.

You gather you things that are not rotting and hike a bit more north. Perhaps you stop by a stone that holds rainwater to bathe before walking into civilized lands, or perhaps not. Even with your two bear skins gone, you announce your presence well in advance. Over the last pointe an across the last bay, you see what must be Baya. Her stone towers and eloquent wooden houses spring forth from the shale bedrock that steps down to its clear and still shipping channel. Several small ships are there though they look grand to you. They are rough copies of the Faerun ships that have started to come to the shores of Payit and have made it around to the western shores now of Kolan. The city architecture cries out stability of land versus the fickleness of the sea. You like this place instantly. What strikes you most about it?

The wood of the town may have looked insubstantial to your mountain bred eyes, but the wood grew in place, it was rooted and coaxed into the forms of the house, not too dissimilar to your stone forms...You meet people in bright colored clothing going through the narrow streets, carrying baskets and rolls of fabric and fresh cornbread. A copper piece buys you a loaf, but when you hand them a gold piece, they just smile, wave away your coin and give you a loaf instead. Always they would ask if you needed a place to stay. You were obviously new in town and in desperate need of a bath. After having a few of these encounters, you have several addresses in town. The signage are colorful glyphs on sea shells, each glyph being a phonetic part of the name, and clusters of glyphs would spell out a longer word or phrase. The first glyph in a house's name would be the district, so navigation wasn't as hard as you feared. The road from the docks and the road from the caravan trails to the east, joined in a grand plaza with a opulent water fountain. Temples of all the gods surrounded the square and in the middle vendors would lay out their wares on woven blankets and perhaps pitch tents. Servant girls go to the fountain and collect water for the great houses nearby. Artisans have their shops on side alleys off the two main road. There were no guard posts or garrisons or troops or administrative buildings that deal out judgement. All that happens, as well as education and worship, at the temples. There are the occasional Jaguar Knight or Eagle knight patrolling. You witness an urchin being killed for stealing a trinket. Music and philosophy are practiced in the streets and the palapas, corner gathering spots of cushions on the paved streets under orange trees and mango and tamarind trees. After organizing your information, you have the decision to make of houses to knock and ask for entrance, priced at 20gp, 10gp and 5gp. You think that you do not want to risk getting a bad place, but the 20gp is high. Perhaps you could spend some money on a nice one though. You have more money than you have ever had in your life.

nights lodging, livery, food, one ale, service