The session started in the Shivering Mirage, as the party debated their next actions. Their discussion produced two choices: 1) head to the Perfume District without a name or description of the thief, or 2) talk to Hakaan al-Kareen Zmirr Nill No Chatoor (it is French) to gain more information. Since Hakaan’s compound was just a few blocks away, the party decided to go talk to him.
As the party headed toward Hakaan’s compound, the hour struck 9 pm, and they saw all of the zombies from the Shivering Mirage and throughout the town suddenly stop what they were doing and walk towards the large pyramid in the center of Per-Bastet.
Hakaan was attended by two kobolds, who ushered the party into his courtyard where he was seated behind two tables filled with meats, cheese, sweets, and breads; not one vegetable or fruit was to be seen on the table. He invited the party to join him in eating as he smugly welcomed them, saying between bites, “Well, you have decided to work for me, very good.”
Nix spoke to one of the kobolds and suggested that he be allowed to take a drink of blood as Hakaan did offer food. There was an argument about whether not Nix could drink from one of his kobolds, and Hakaan wanted to know what Nix thought of the truce with the vampires.
After a lot of banter, the party asked Hakaan about his relationship with Hjenna. Hakaan became quite animated and expressed his frustrations and annoyance with her, but some party members detected something opposite in his tone; perhaps he actually did care for her. They asked about the thief they were to find, and learned that his name was Raheed, and that he was a short rat-man with yellow teeth who lived in the sewers of the Perfume District.
There was more banter and arguing about whether the party was working for Hakaan, and Zithghar threatened him. This led to a shouting match, and Hakaan threw them out while warning them not to cross him.
Armed with a description of the thief, the party left Hakaan’s house and slowly made its way along the green line marked on the map towards the Perfume District, staying clear of the area called “The Hunt.” The streets were nearly abandoned as it was nearing 10 pm.
The party passed over the River of Sands and noticed that it was fast-moving and constantly churning. Items could be seen at times as it moved northward through town. The bridge of the River of Sand was at least 40 feet up and there were cliffs on many sides of the river, while there were also spots that allowed for access down to the river’s edge.
As the party crossed over the bridge, they heard the sound of a scared cat echoing from a tunnel that entered the bottom part of the huge, half-mile-long pyramid. They cautiously explored the tunnel and found an average house cat stuck in the wall inside the tunnel. Chalk scribblings covered the wall near the cat, but they were indecipherable.
Zithgar noticed a black panther standing on the bridge, watching the scene, as Karwl carefully removed the cat from the wall. The freed cat scampered up the tunnel, across the bridge past the panther, and then disappeared into the alleys beyond.
The panther attempted to make eye contact with each party member. Karwl carefully avoided eye contact. Awsan and Belladonna resisted the urge to look directly into the panther’s eyes, but the rest of the party did look, and they each felt that the panther saw their inner secrets. The panther then silently slinked back into the shadows of the alleys and disappeared, and the party gathered themselves and continued toward the Perfume District.
They passed the slums of the Hunt, and heard odd noises; hoots, dogs barking in the distance, moans, and sounds of chains on cement; and encountered a 25+ foot snake skin lying on the ground. They avoided going into the district called The Hunt and eventually made it to the Perfume District. The smell there was terrible, almost unbearable, with the air laced with the smell of chemicals and steam.
The Perfume District was a hodge-podge of buildings and narrow alleys, and alive with noise from the eclectic group of buildings; potions shops, herbalists, laundry services, food vendors, etc. There was not much in the way of street traffic at that time of night, but there was noise and lights from many of the buildings as the party slowly began the search for Raheed, the rat-man thief.
Soon they found a blind beggar, half-sleeping in the street with his back against a wall. He heard the party approaching and raised his dented metal tin. “Alms for the blind,” he wavered.
Belladonna stooped down to put some coins in the tin bowl and noticed that it contained buttons, not coins. She mentioned that he had no money in the tin, but that she would give him. Offended, he claimed that Raheed had just given him coins.
The party tried to remove the buttons and replace them with actual coins, but the beggar became incensed and got to his feet, using a crutch as one of his legs was deformed. He said, “Raheed brings me valuable money from other lands; he takes care of me!” before staggering away.
Karwl followed closely and saw a man with a hat pulled low over his face, watching from around the corner. As the man approached, he asked why they were harassing the beggar.
There was much banter and threats, and the party soon found themselves surrounded by kobolds and armed humans, who appeared on the roof tops of the surrounding buildings.
There were some negotiations as the man, Nassoor el-Rabat, informed them that he was a businessman and was looking to make deals. The party learned that he, too, was looking for Raheed as Raheed owed him 75 gold.
He asked if the party was working for the “fat gnoll”. There was more banter about Hakaan, during which the party learned that Nassoor, Hjenna, and Hakaan may have been partners at some point in the past.
Terms were struck, and Nassoor agreed to pay 50 gold if the party found Raheed and returned him alive.
He also provided another clue as to where to find Raheed, and directed them to a nearby laundry building.
The party headed to the laundry building and found an older woman that looked human but had rat-like ears. She emerged from the building wearing an oversized hoop dress and muttering something about how she was “closed for clothes”, and began to laugh maniacally at her own statement.
Zithgar offered her a coin for information about Raheed and found that she did indeed know him but couldn’t stand him. She explained that he never bathed and reeked of filth. She was clearly not a stable person, but her annoyance with Raheed was very clear.
After another coin, she pointed towards the apothecary a few streets over. The party thanked her and moved toward the apothecary.
On the way, the party heard noise in a courtyard ahead and hurried to investigate. When they arrived, they saw a number of commoners armed with brooms and mops circling a black cat with a gold necklace outside the entrance to a temple to Bast, and two acolytes from the temple were sheepishly trying to lure the cat back into the temple. The cat was hissing and clawing wildly as brooms were shoved towards it. The alley also had barrels, a covered wagon, and a covered well in the middle of the courtyard.
The party quickly learned that just within the past 15 minutes, something had come over the ordinarily peaceful cat, and it ran out of the temple and started attacking people as if it was rabid.
Zephyr tried to approach the cat to calm it, but she immediately felt a magical charm attempt sweep over her, which she fought off. However, the cat sprang on her, biting and scratching!
The party took action. Aswan successfully grappled the cat, but it charmed him and he released it. The other party members circled the cat, trying to figure out how to calm it or get it back into the temple.
The session ended.