Chris is sick today, and Tim is involved in family business, so the group consists only of Messerbad and Yorden.
Pawnbroker and Laerynth head off downriver to try and locate the place where the Veka Family caravan was lost. Before Pawnbroker left, he lent the jade bracelet that creates an image of a jhokk (item 21) to Messerbad.
Yorden confesses (in the root cellar) to Messerbad that he is amnesiac, and that he remembers nothing before he found himself in the field of a dirt farmer in Abbatine. He knows that he is from Sa Opedi, but that only because he recognizes the languages spoken by Laerynth, the psycho with the knife. He claims that he will eventually go back, but only when he has the power to defend himself against those who (may have) sent him away.
Tellwae is the alchemist Yorden works for. She is a somewhat heavyset human woman. She is a widow, and lives in a fairly large house with her two grown sons (Kaporgo, a food magician in the Translator's Guild and Gaddas, a moneycounter for the Abbas Family), her one young daughter, her son's wives (Ellynda is a good cook), and her sons' children (four of them in all). There are no servants, but a tutor for the children does show up daily to teach the children.
The only rooming-house within easy eyeshot of Tellwae's house is the Curved Horn, a fairly expensive place catering to travelers from Hegger. Rooms cost 4 challock per night. Messerbad stays there to keep an eye on Tellwae's house.
Tellwae isn't much of a fighter, but her son Gaddas (the moneycounter) has a fair skill with a sword. She carries two pastilles of Morpheus elixir for defense, and has three more in the house.
In the midst of his investigation, Tellwae promotes Yorden to a pay rate of 5 challock per day. To celebrate the occasion, she invites him to dinner at her house two days hence.
Yorden spends some time picking through Tellwae's shop. The storeroom contains a total of ten lockboxes, including two that Yorden doesn't have access to. Both appear to be magical (from Detect Magic). Both are locked with Magelock-20, thanks to Tellwae's son Kaporgo (the magician). One of these contains ingredients for the Eyes of the Abyss potion, the other contains 2d bottles of assorted elixirs (1d-3 doses each).
Messerbad sees many normal daily activities, and otherwise becomes rather bored. Notable events include:
Yorden sneaks into Tellwae's house during the garden party. The guests appear to be several Translators' Guild members. The party proper is happening in the garden out back, but two hired servants are preparing food in the kitchen. Yorden doses a fruit dessert being prepared with sleeping potion, hoping that all the guests (and the household members) will all be sleeping quite soundly that night.
Unfortunately, Tellwae the Mixer has a good Alchemist skill, and tastes the potion in the dessert. She thinks the cooks are responsible, and has the dessert thrown away and the cooks disciplined. Yorden will hear Tellwae swearing about this the next day.
Tellwae sends Yorden to the Patriarch's Market to purchase twelve drams of powdered tongue-root from Curallus the Blue, a trader from Hegger. She gives him money and explains that she must perform some very delicate steps all day. The stuff costs 20 challock per dram. Yorden tastes it and concludes that it would be well-used in a mind-expanding potion.
Curallus also has false fire and lifestones for sale, at 50 challock a handful or 50 challock a stone. Lifestones will null one point of damage per stone, if they are worn when the damage is taken.
Before he left on his errand, Yorden asks Tellwae for a dose of Janus. She gives it to him, but doesn't provide him an inventory of everything else she has. She says that Janus costs 100 challock per dose. Messerbad buys it, though Yorden doesn't tell Tellwae who the buyer is.
Yorden takes one of the maids (Lissande) with him to the dinner. Previous to the dinner, he takes her to the Old Market with her and buys her some nice clothing for 15 challock. Tellwae is civil but doesn't seem very impressed by Yorden's date. The dinner conversation is polite, but meaningless. Tellwae does introduce Yorden to her sons Kaporgo (the magician) and Gaddas (the moneycounter).
Messerbad isn't invited to the party, so he spends some time chatting with Zazak. Zazak tells him that some of the turgosk with the Veka Family caravan that disappeared have survived. They speculate on what could have destroyed the caravan. Messerbad suggests that it could have been a jhokk. Zazak also inquires as to whether or not the "mad one" has died yet.
Tellwae sends Yorden out to the Patriarch's Market on a fool's errand (to find some owl's eyes). Anpago shows up somewhat after, and then Messerbad walks in. He hears her talk about how expensive tongue-root is, and him complain about how expensive her products are. She gives him a small vial, and he gives her a large string of coins.
Messerbad follows Anpago towards the Patriarch's Market. Anpago stops to take a drink from his purchase in an alley, then continues into the Market.
Zazak comes by to tell the characters that Lembey Abbas returned from the Patriarch's Hall speaking of how Anpago Bosst's speech on a new tax to conscript troops to patrol the upriver plantations (so the spread of plague from the Weeping Plague can be contained) was incredibly persuasive.
The characters react to this news by going to the Translator's Guild to look for information on tongue-root. They spend many hours reading about plants, and finally learn about the uses of tongue-root, and specifically the Eyes of the Abyss elixir. They spend all night getting this information. The next morning, a messenger from the Translator's Guild arrives at the characters' home to charge them 40 challock for one night's study in the open collection.
Kobus Akowa is third brother to the Akowa. He isn't willing to meet with Lembey Abbas at the Abbas compound, but provides an invitation to Lembey Abbas. Messerbad sort of botches a Diplomacy roll on Kobus, and ends up offending him by implying that Lembey Abbas thinks so little of an Akowa senior cousin to not even extend the courtesy of a formal invitation to a meeting.
Yorden tells Lembey Abbas everything he knows about Tellwae the Mixer's dealings with Anpago Bosst. He also claims that Anpago Bosst has been manipulating the Council of Families with magic, using the Eyes of the Abyss to sway the recent vote on the new tax. Because the new tax weighs heavily upon the Abbas Family, Lembey is furious. He thanks the characters and sends them out. As they leave, they hear him tell his servant to summon the Captain of the Guard.
Lembey sends a patrol of turgosk troops, led by Chimbo Abbas (a minor Abbas cousin), to apprehend Tellwae the Mixer. The characters guess this, and immediately head to Tellwae's shop to warn her. They arrive to find Tellwae working on a batch of combat potions for the Bosst Family. Yorden does the talking, and gets a fairly hostile response. Tellwae gathers up all her special elixirs and leaves through the back way. Yorden sticks around until the Abbas Family troops arrive. They do some damage, then leave for Tellwae's house. Yorden sort of picks up, looting the place all the while (he finds 300 challock in the cashbox, and takes in an additional 10 challock to normal customers over the rest of the afternoon). During this process, a patrol of Bosst Family soldiers comes by. Yorden directs them to Tellwae's house, saying that she isn't in the shop.
The characters hear later that there was a brief confrontation between the Abbas Family turgosk and the Bosst Family soldiers in front of Tellwae's house, and that Tellwae has been taken out of the city and is being held at an Abbas Family plantation.
In the aftermath of Tellwae's abduction, Yorden and Messerbad are quite industrious. They hire a cart and driver (for 10 challock) the day after the disturbance, and use them to move all of Tellwae's equipment into the characters' house. Most of her goods end up in the root cellar and the back room. There are enough goods to support a normal alchemist (making only minor curatives) for a moon cycle (53 days). The lab is currently able to act as a -2 Alchemical laboratory, and could be restored to a +0 Alchemical laboratory with 500 challock of repairs.
Yorden and Messerbad both receive 3 experience points. The situation in Paiden is somewhat more unstable than it was before, and Tellwae the Mixer (and the rest of her family) now hate Yorden rather fiercely.