Chapter 1 - Kem, City of Gold

KEM, CITY OF GOLD - 891 AF
It's been over a fortnight since you set forth from the Temple of the Moon in Low Country. Your destination is Kem, known as the City of Gold. It lies due east along the coast of Rûl along the Auroral Ocean. It is the richest city on the continent, and a good place to earn some money for your adventure. To solve the mysterious disappearance of the Daughters of the Moon, the best starting place is Set, City of Gods, which is the next city north of Kem. If that proves unfruitful, then the largest temple to the Maiden in the Moon is the Spire of Mystery in Lij, City of Wonder. But Lij is the second most northern city in the Confederacy and would take weeks if not months to trek that far. So first, Kem.

It is just before noon in the third week of Firstmonth of the new year. The weather is chilly and the sky is overcast, banishing the sun to a faint and diffuse glow in the east. A stiff wind tugs at your hair and clothes which gives a keener edge to the cold. You're tired, saddle-sore, and hungry. You have some trail rations left but after so many days, you are looking forward to a nice meal and a warm bed. And maybe even a change of clothes or at least a good wash. You swear when the horses snort it's because of your smell.

You are following the Kem River south when, just ahead, you see it flow through an arched wall that surrounds Kem. The city lies on the southern tip of a small peninsula on the east coast. The Kem River bisects the city and empties out into the Auroral Ocean. The stone wall is four meters high and there is a single arched entrance just to the east of the arch where the river enters and passes through. Over the walls on a rise inside the city is a white marble castle with four tall gold-topped spires each flying a fluttering golden flag. Also rising above the walls are cylindrical golden towers about ten stories tall dotted around the city. To the east, outside the city walls but inside walls of its own, you see the top of a white marble cuboid building. Men patrol the walls around this structure. A path of golden bricks connects this separate structure to the city.

A pair of city guards flanks the entrance to the city. They are dressed in chainmail and grey tabards. Each has a short sword and sap on their hips, with crossbows beside them leaning against the city wall within easy reach. There is a steady flow of people through the gate, a mixture of merchants and regular travelers. Merchants are stopped and must provide a letter of trade and pay a silver shilling to do business in the city. The guards look you over and wave you through.

Kem is accustomed to the constant influx of travelers so asking any citizen or city guard, called The Coins and who wear the same grey tabards and chain mail as the gate guards, give you a rough outline of the city. You are in the Trades Ward which is mostly middle-class merchants with shops of solid stone and tiled roofs. You occasionally see a wealthy merchant flanked by personal guards in red tabards trimmed in gold with armor and weapons in pristine condition. To the west of the Kem River are the Temple Ward and West Ward, the slums. South of Trades Ward on the east side of the river lies Center City, Market Ward, and Seaside. City Center is the upscale area with the best views and richest clientele. Market Ward is where most wares are sold after they are unloaded from the ships, or from the craftsmen just north in Trades Ward. Peppered about are sturdy stalls, open air markets, and people selling goods out of carts. Seaside is where the cheapest taverns and brothels are located, as well as any black market deals that need more privacy than what's available in Market Ward.

Theodore spots an easy mark: an overweight man with a receding hairline and expensive clothes. He has shifty eyes and an uneasy step which communicates a distinct lack of confidence.

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The goblins, being goblins, know they would find their kin in the slums of any town, so they head to West Ward. It is home to the Golden City’s downtrodden and destitute. The streets here are filled with excrement, filth, and vermin, and contrasts completely with the beauty of the inner city. The poor live in tenement houses or in alleys, and crime runs rampant. The Coins patrol the area, but their squads do little to curtail the problems. A small goblin enclave is situated on the east side of the Ward, right next to the western bank of Kem River. There seem to be between several dozen and a hundred goblins living here, most in tents, hovels made of crates, and refuse heaps shaped into igloos.

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Seaside rests on the south side of the city and contains the shipyards, docks, and warehouses. It is also where the seedy, ramshackle taverns like The Scurvy Dog, The Whale’s Tale, and Tared’s Torrent can be found, as well as the cheaper brothels, such as The Lusty Mermaid, Bent Over a Barrel, Captain’s Choice, and Fisherman’s Delight. The air here is heavy with the scent of fish, and the district bustles with sailors, laborers, fisherman, and debarking travelers.

Luckily for Fingas, the tribal leader and witch are one in the same. The goblins greet him cheerily as if he was a long lost relation rather than a complete stranger. Fingas learns the goblins here are called the Clipped Coppers and led by Mad Mardigan. Some of the goblins take you to her abode, five outhouses cobbled together into one large (relatively) dwelling. Mad Mardigan is inside sitting on a lopsided stool and reading some papers at a rickety desk. You are surprised to see she is quite attractive for a goblin. She has the brick-red skin of an ouphe but with prominant blue veins. Her hands are covered in sharp bristles like a hedgehog's back and she has long earlobes that dangle almost to her shoulders. She looks up as you enter. "Welcome, new siblings. What can Mad Mardigan do for you?"

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The man splutters. "Ah, yes, um, yes I think so. Nothing broken I think. Thank you for your help. I, uh, I'm in a bit of a hurry, so pardon my abruptness. Thank you, I must be going." The mark resumes his hurried walk through the city.

The man you tripped is not so lucky. He is clutching his ankle and making a scene, rolling around on his back in pain. "I think something twisted!" He looks at you accusingly.

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The Scurvy Dog is truth in advertising. All two dozen patrons look like they have been at sea for months and fruit is a foreign concept to them. They are scrawny but with sinewy muscled bodies, weathered skin usually splotchy and sunburned, heavily bearded or scriffuly stubbled. And of course smelling of sea salt or unwashed body odor.

The bar itself is a mixture of white-colored stone and reclaimed driftwood. The layout is a simple large opening with a bar along the back wall and several round tables scattered over the main room. A single large fireplace shaped like a lighthouse takes up a wall adjacent to the bar and keeps the chill outside at bay. Several candle chandeliers hang from wooden rafters above. Two workers are behind the bar, a man with hair and beard like steel wool and a middle-aged red-headed women with a bosom as large as Hargrac's head barely contained by her blouse. No one pays any attention to the dwarf's entrance.

A little too quickly, the man stops his complaining theatrics and snatches the coin out of the air. He gives one last suspicious look at Theodore before scrambling away into the crowd.

You enter the Scurvy Dog and it seems like your kind of place, just slightly more unwashed. You spy your dwarven companion at the bar talking with a busty barmaid.

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The barmaid grins and nods. "Nothing official like, but there be many boat captains here. More important than room is where you headed? I might have some suggestions for you and your...shorter friends."

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"Well met Fingas and...Butterfly. A peculiar name. But mayhaps you come from a peculiar place? Mad Mardigan has heard nothing of which you speak regarding disappearing priestesses. Please fill Mad Mardigan's ears with the tale. Then maybe Mad Mardigan can help you find a ship."