The game started somewhat late, owing to a game of RoboRally (Mike won by a landslide). Players in attendance were Chris, Mike, Nick, Tim and Ray.
Atrabanjin asks Mungo how much time he will need before he can perform the rituals for the dead Straight Wave crewman. Atrabanjin also comments that the dead crewman was of the Orthodox faith. Mungo explains that he is from the First Plateau, and that he is familiar only with the "new" rituals. To help, Atrabanjin introduces Mungo to Belquen, a crewman also of the Orthodox faith who recently lost four family members.
Mungo and Spearchucker (who has recently learned a bit of Askalach) spend the afternoon learning everything they can about the appropriate rituals from Belquen. Among other things, they learn that Mungo must be wearing appropriate ritual robes (Mungo's normal clothing is close enough to pass), and that a significant amount of incense must be burned. Mungo is aghast, as he has no idea where he can find incense, until Laerynthe realizes that he has several sticks of the stuff in his pack.
Despite all their preparations, the rituals still do not go well. Mungo forgets his lines midway through, and Spearchucker is forced to coach him. In spite of the edgy execution, Atrabanjin still appears to appreciate the characters' efforts, and keeps his promise to give them transportation to Patagian Zek.
All through the trip to Patagian Zek, Messerbad attempts to earn a bit of local money by offering the crew possible visions of their own deaths. Several of the crew agree, each paying one or two akopt (an oblong silver coin commonly used among the agaf, worth about half a challock) for a vision. Messerbad continues this behaviour until he recognizes that many of the visions of possible death are of violent death at the hands of the characters (typically Pawnbroker or Laerynthe). After realizing this, he abandons the practice to avoid spooking the crew. All told, Messerbad earned eight akopt from his efforts.
The remainder of the journey to Patagian Zek takes four days. During this time, the characters do not see the captain of the vessel once, though they know that he is present, and that Atrabanjin obeys his wishes. They are fed the same food as the rest of the crew: hard biscuits served with a thin meat broth that sometimes has bits of fungus partially dissolved in it.
Atrabanjin also asks the characters what their intent upon the second plateau is. When they explain that they wish to destroy the Great Lifter, he laughs. Most agaf, he says, have no interest in the Makers: they are far away, and no Zek has ever fallen to Maker assault. However, he does know that there are some magical orders that specifically learn spells to harm demeks and defeat the Makers. They are most likely of all the agaf in Patagian Zek to aid the characters.
The characters first see Patagian Zek on the horizon near the beginning of the fourth day. Like Ershandin Zek, Patagian Zek is a fantastic edifice of tall, volcanically fluted stone. It's towers reach up towards the sky like narrowing fingers, and at their tops glowing vents give rise to clouds of reddish smoke. The terrain around the zek is swamp, and the zek itself extends far beyond the actual shoreline. The outer towers are supported by huge columns plunging down to the depths of the Lower Sea. The harbor is buried within the center of the zek, at the end of a long, winding channel among the columns supporting the towers. During the Straight Wave's journey into the harbor, the characters could see long strands of greenish plant clinging to the stone just above the waterline. Occasional splashing sounds echoed in the cavernous depths, suggesting that strange creatures called this place home.
When the Straight Wave reached the harbor proper, the characters quickly noted that there were actually fewer ships visible than there were at Three Stones Ford back in Hegger.
Once the Straight Wave was tied up at the quay, Atrabanjin set five of his crewmen to watching the characters, and told them not to leave the ship until they met with an official of the zek government. The characters waited for several hours before an assistant to the Harbor Councillor appeared with two servants in tow. The assistant, primarily distinguished by his fine clothing and his long, twisting fingernails (over 10 cm long), explained certain aspects of life in Patagian Zek. He also gave the characters amulets with a special symbol on them. The more important items he mentioned included:
After the bureaucrat leaves, Atrabanjin tells the characters that while the Metros is the soul of the zek, that is not the entire truth. The Covered Palm is also the soul of the zek, though a darker part than that represented by the Metros. While the Covered Palm obeys the spirit of the zek and of the Metros, the Metros does not specifically command them. In fact, the membership of the Covered Palm is a closely held secret: members are indistinguishable from the citizenship at large. Pawnbroker notes that Atrabanjin could himself be a member. Atrabanjin agrees that that might be true.
Spearchucker happens to mention to Atrabanjin his desire to find something incredibly powerful with which he can make a Faustian bargain. Atrabanjin suggests that he might want to try looking around the Furnaces.
The characters venture into the Foreigners' Quarter. Most of the folk they see are Yierdo dwarves, humans (of a variety of stocks) and oorthoi. They spend a bit of time looking for some kind of recognizable building among the strange, fluted agaf architecture. They see a pair of Yierdo dwarves enter a building from which the sounds of conversation and music and the smells of food emerge, and decide to go there.
The characters enter into Tabo's Fine Food & Drink, an expatriate tavern run by a somewhat unctuous Yierdo dwarf named (appropriately) Tabo. The building, though of agaf design, has been very deliberately modified to appear as much like a building of Paiden as possible. Tabo's menu includes half a dozen items, most of them attempts to duplicate Paiden cuisine without access to any of the proper ingredients. Dishes include Mock Houga Roast, Mock Houga Stew, Fried "Sparrow" Beetles and an alcoholic drink called srak. Pawnbroker is a fast fan of srak, even after he learns that it is fermented from the greenish seaweed that grows on the tower supports. Tabo has no jaya at all, though he has tasted it a few times.
Tabo's clientele are a mix of oorthoi, Yierdo dwarves and humans, in proportions similar to the population in the streets of the Foreigners' Quarter. About half of the humans appear to be from either Paiden or Hegger, while the remaining half have the full beards and long hair characteristic of Dost humans (Laerynthe comments that the Dost humans, from an arctic climate, must really enjoy the semitropical environment of Patagian Zek).
Tabo urges the characters to take a table and enjoy dinner. He cautions them against taking two specific tables, but points out a third as open.
Mungo immediately sits down with another group, several local oorthoi. He meets Bog, a fairly prosperous oorthoi who boasts of his four children, all with good hearing and strong teeth. Bog tells him about the local population, confirming many of the obvious guesses. In particular:
In the midst of the characters' dinner, Messerbad casts Death Vision on Spearchucker, to provide him with a vision of his possible death. Spearchucker gasps and falls to the floor, with a vision of himself unable to breathe, surrounded by a choking red smoke. In the distance, he hears an agaf voice call out, "Drag this one away! He can work no more!" After he relates this vision to the others, they attempt to dissuade him from his (partially stated) desire to visit the Furnaces.
Some time after the characters arrive in Tabo's, a new group arrives. The leader is a stocky, stubble-haired human with the mark of a Dost native. He is followed by a middle-aged agaf and two Dost humans armed with long, curved knives (the first armed foreigners the characters have seen since they arrived in Patagian Zek). This group seats itself at one of the tables Tabo had earlier marked as off-limits. Pawnbroker asks Tabo's daughter (who works as a serving girl) who the newcomers are. She responds that the shaved human is Lipin, the labor boss.
Mungo, Laerynthe and Messerbad take seats at a table occupied by five Dost humans who clearly work in the Furnaces. The characters had previously noted that though these five had arrived before they did, they have been ordering drinks only sparingly, and have not been ordering food at all.
Messerbad buys a pot of stew for the Furnace-workers. They first stare at it glumly, unmoving. Then one of them takes a bowl. Once that barrier is broken, the stew is devoured rapidly.
After their initial distrust is broken, the Furnace workers tell the characters that their job involves fueling the great Furnaces that provide the power for all of Patagian Zek. The fuel is a thick red liquid, but none of the workers know where it comes from. It produces the reddish smoke the characters could see coming from the towers of the zek. This smoke also permeates the Furnace-chambers, and can produce bad effects. One of the Furnace-workers also says that being exposed to the liquid fuel can have strange effects. To prove it, he pulls back his sleeve to show a patch of skin as pink and smooth as a baby's.
Pawnbroker determines that Lipin could help him to get a sponsor so the characters could talk to some of the magicians who study Demek-killing spells. He speaks with Lipin in Tabo's. Lipin demands 1000 challock to help Pawnbroker. Pawnbroker makes a minimal attempt to bargain, then agrees to pay the 1000 challock. He delivers it to Lipin's table ten minutes later (he had explained that he was a wealthy man). Lipin, a bit taken aback by Pawnbrokers' willingness to accede to what Lipin had clearly imagined an unreasonable price, tells him to come back the next morning. Lipin will be able to provide help then. Pawnbroker leaves with the unstated promise that if Lipin does not succeed in helping the characters, Pawnbroker will kill him.
As Lipin is leaving Tabo's, Messerbad quietly casts a Death Vision upon him. Lipin reacts by screaming and falling to his knees. He departs the place quickly, revealing nothing of his vision.
Slightly after Lipin's arrival, Spearchucker announced that he is fed up with this horrible city and the arrogant, insufferable agaf who populate it. He leaves Tabo's with the avowed intention of finding a way out of Patagian Zek. He manages to find the Foreigners' Quarter gate, but by the time he finds it is closed. Frantically, he pounds at the gate until he loses consciousness. He comes to on the doorstep of Tabo's, a sprig of a strong-smelling flower placed over his face.
At the end of the session, the characters have spent the night at Tabo's in the Foreigners' Quarter. Pawnbroker, Messerbad, Mungo and Spearchucker all gain three experience points. Laerynthe gains four, thanks to his foresight in bringing along incense for Mungo's rituals.