The party has arrived at a location known as “The Low Road and the High.” A Long Ago road, built upon pylons rising above the Grasslands, descends to the ground where it meets the rutted trail leading back towards the Violet City. Several other trails, leading out to disparate parts of the Ultraviolet Grasslands, radiate outwards from here.
There isn’t much to see beyond a cluster of Long Ago ruins. One of them, a structure of several Livingstone platforms, has been adapted to serve as a stable and parking area for the vehicles of the caravans passing through. Opposite of it is the stump of what was apparently once a much taller structure that has been turned into a tavern and inn. The party makes their way across the hot, open courtyard between the two and enters the inn.
A turning hallway takes them from the hot, bright exterior to the cooler, dimmer interior. Inside there is a long bar along one wall, while several long tables surrounded by patrons occupy most of the room. Several servers scurry between the tables and into and out of the surrounding chambers. Woger has already settled himself at the end of one of the tables and is in an in-depth conversation with one of the servers, a short, possibly half-dwarven woman.
Mortimer immediately heads for the bar and demands a drink from Golan, the bartender. He immediately starts singing bawdy Dwarven songs at the top of his lungs.
The others survey the room. The nearest table is mostly empty, except for Woger, and the next closest seems to have several locals at it.
The three tables towards the back are more interesting, as they seem to be occupied by fellow caravaners. Most obvious is the table furthest from the entrance, filled by a boisterous group in red-dyed armor matching that of the guards the party had seen in the parking structure. They are obviously Redlanders
The next is a group of four humans and one dark elf, are all dressed in the finest ballistic linen clothing. From the garb, they are recognizable as accountant-priests, known as “Cogflowers,” of the Green God, AKA “the Prophet of Profit.” They are carefully looking at something being projected from a glowing, glass slab.
It is the final group that attracts the party’s attention the most. The beings sitting there are human-shaped but completely enclosed in sealed armor of some kind, including a helmet with a transparent visor. Inside, instead of a head, there is only a glow, flickering as if filtered through clouds. Every now and then, one of the wait staff brings them a sealed cylinder, which they open in front of their helmet, projecting light into it.
Johann goes to join Woger, and Torinn trails him at a slight distance. Johann finds out that Woger has been here multiple times and gets some recommendations for what to eat. He then asks about their next destination.
Woger, still distracted by the woman he is with, rattles off their choices. The most direct path to their destination would be to head straight west to the Potsherd Crater, but that is a rough and lengthy journey. It would take the caravan almost two weeks, and they would have to forage for supplies along the way.
The other choices are to go to the Steppe of the Lime Nomads, a week’s journey to the north. From there, they could only continue to the Porcelain Citadel, itself only a week away. From there, they could proceed to the Trail of Vomish Dreams, or to The Last Serai, their goal. Woger is planning on heading to the Porcelain Citadel unless the party strongly objects. He is depending on them for protection, after all.
That out of the way, Woger leaves with his companion. Johann, with Torinn following, heads to the table with the people in “spacesuits.”
Meanwhile, Syrvelse has gone to talk to the Greenlanders, the priests of the Cogflower Church. They are in a prayer session where they are studying the annotations contained within the holy spreadsheets. One of them–the Dark Elf Aliya–promises to come to talk to her later.
Johann starts talking to the… beings? The people in the suits. They identify themselves as “Satraps” and say that they are on their way to the Violet City to acquire what they are told is an “encryption key” that will give them access to their “Sky Palace.”
Sky Palaces are… cities that exist far above the world. The Satraps tell them that they are visible from the ground as the stars that race across the sky. There are gates to them, but they are closed and require a crystal containing an encryption key before they will be allowed to access them.
Johann nods politely, then asks about their journeys across the Grasslands and asks if they have any suggestions on how to get to the Black City more quickly. They tell him that the best way would be to use one of the “Gates.” There is a gate not far south of here, but it would need a “destination key” to get them to where they would like to go. Johann thanks them, and takes his leave, Torinn again following.
Alyia joins Syrvelse at the bar and starts telling her about the great Prophet of Profit and how he wishes for everyone to maximize themselves. She explains the “Great Circle of Profit” in which a trade is made for a profit, which is then used to make another trade for more profit, and so on until the trade makes it’s way back to the original person, at which point everyone has profited.
They have a brief discussion of the other religions of the Rainbowlands. The Red God, who wants you to waste your efforts helping everyone instead of assisting individuals to help themselves; the Yellow God/Goddess who only desires knowledge, whether it is of benefit or not; and the Violet Goddess, who wishes for comfort and hedonism, but without having to work for it.
Then there is the Blue God of death and decay. But they are dead and so don’t count.
Sylverse and Alyia engage in a spirited theological debate. Eventually, Alyia takes her leave, but gives Sylverse her room number before she does.
Johann goes to the Redlanders and tries to talk to them, but they seem standoffish. Mortimer, himself a Redlander, comes over and starts singing Redlander songs, but is far enough off-key that he doesn’t help.
Finally, Torinn takes a chance and, using Thieves’ Cant, asks the person who seems to be their leader if he has any contacts for “opportunities” in the area. His intention is to let the leader know that he is one of them and has no ill plans towards them.
His overture works and the leader–who identifies himself as “Redrick”–invites them to sit down. As they do, everyone in the party notices that all of the Redlanders, a collection of humans and dwarves, have a strange bulge on their foreheads, surrounded by a tattoo of an eye in blue ink.
Redrick nods towards where Sylverse is sitting at the bar and says that Torinn’s group has their own eye and wonders why they have not found their own opportunities. Johann explains that Sylverse has not told them anything.
Redrick pauses, then says that they have been in the Grasslands collecting artifacts that can be used to benefit the Redland, or that could be sold to the Yellowlanders for their research. Their wagons are full of as many as they can safely carry and that they are returning to the Rainbowlands. He looks at the Cogflowers for a moment, then tilts his head in their direction and says that they have at least five artifacts, as the Greenlanders collect them for their own personal benefit. He suggests that they may prove a “valuable” target.
They would go after the Cogflowers themselves, but they already have as many artifacts as they can carry safely. And he would hate to see such an opportunity go to waste.
If they want something a bit less confrontational, there is a site a few days north of here known as the “Motor Agate Outcrop,” where glowing crystals can be found. The crystals appear useless, but the Satraps will pay quite a bit for them.
Torinn thanks him for the information, and he and Johann leave. Mortimer stays for a while, continuing to sing,
Johann and Torinn finally go talk to the locals and ask about anything of interest in the area. They are told about a place only about a day away known as the Rusted Hand of Victory. Apparently, it is a popular location for first dates.
Information gathered everyone rendezvouses at the bar and exchanges information. Sylverse tells them about the pearl she found back in The Violet City, but no one is quite sure what it means at this point.
The party discusses their plans and make tentative plans to investigate the crystal mine they were told about. They decide to sleep on it and make a final decision the next morning.