Chapter Four: The Manifest of the Harikan Squall

Domarc recalls a little: Ilhaz was the legendary titan who, as the stories go, reclaimed Bload from the Lord of Beasts and made it safe for mortals to inhabit. He was said to have died in battle with the Great Green Serpent of the Ophid River, and where he fell became the Isle of Ilhaz, and the Mastaba was erected by the founders of Hazard to honor him.

Prior references to Ilhaz etc:
Edit: I missed an Ilhaz reference; the Queen of the Squalid Sett mentions him in her little diatribe about Hazard on page 2 of this chapter.

Mordred tips the parchment out into his hand and unrolls it a bit. He reads the first few lines at the top of it. The script is unusual to him, but legible. It reads:

Manifest of Passengers aboard the Harikan Squall on its departure from Blessed Utwar on the Ninth Day of Nethunsmoon in the Fourth Year of the Reign of King Abladsar the Knock-Kneed

Makis Meti stammers a bit about how the Hierophant is a sour and resentful old man who accomplishes nothing but to create obstruction where he can and ought to recognize the fact that the march of history has reduced his position to one that is ceremonial at best. It is fairly clear that all Makis Meti knows is what he has heard Chorcarz venting about, and that he lacks any real insight into the political situation in Hazard.

When we finally get to a quiet spot, Mordred is going to ask Makis to step away - perhaps to keep watch over the entrance of wherever they find themselves - before he discusses the contents with the party. I still do not trust Chorcarz.

Libraries exist, but not really public libraries in the sense of places you can hang out all day and flip through books without anyone hassling you. Sleepy inns would definitely be easier to find.

Quote:

Manifest of Passengers aboard the Harikan Squall

Title drop! Second one this chapter!

"Certainly, I know just the place. The best stew this side of the river. They say the pot has been cooking in perpetuity for four hundred years, can you believe that? I'm not sure I do, but it's delicious all the same. Very quiet too, a good place to talk, I had what I would consider to be my third or fourth most enlightening conversation about philosophy there. I'll tell you all about it. Follow me."

Makis Meti leads you back to the square and a few blocks south to a neighborhood of modest homes and apartments abutted by a large and imposing dormitory building for some religious order. At the corner here is a small inn, identified by the image on its shingle as the Spotted Egg.

Inside, about half the tables are full, and there's a low hubbub of chatter -- what passes for "quiet" in Makis Meti's estimation. An empty booth in the corner beckons, and as you make your way there a barmaid with her hair in looped braids asks in a thick Mezian accent what she can start bringing you.

Helpless to counteract Mordred's charm attack, the barmaid nods enthusiastically and heads off to the kitchen.

Are you sending Makis Meti away now?

Makis Meti is visibly disappointed to be excluded, but goes and stands watch outside the door regardless.

Leth is unsure which of the two to believe. Both of them seemed fairly confident in their own assessments of the balance of political power in Hazard. The truth, he tells himself, probably lies somewhere in the middle.

Scanning through the list of names written in a fine and cramped script on the manifest, you find Pafthinel's entry near the end:

NAME: Pafthinel, AGE: Unknown, OCCUPATION: Scholar of the Elements, RACE: Fey, LAST RESIDENCE: Hazard, House of Orjo

The entry under the last heading is written in a different ink, by a different hand:

DESTINATION: Island of Vorch

The barmaid returns with your food and drinks.