The Danger Gang take in the nightlife at Baku
The Danger Gang departs Derbent at sun-up and sail breezily to Baku without much difficulty. Just before reaching the city they pass a sight reminiscent of Albania (the one to the West): fields of fire which lap at the moderately well maintained foundations of some kind of temple. In front, though, is a disturbing scene... a pile of shriveled human corpses, recently charred from the flames. Hmm...
After pulling into the port of Baku, the party is escorted in to see the Governor, a grizzled old fellow named Farudan. He has with him two officials from the neighboring province of Shamaki, one a tall broad dude with a crisp outfit introduced as Captain Dvanshar and his short, squat, disheveled lieutenant Bawad. They don't seem to get along.
The Gang are grilled about who they are and what they are doing and where they've been; Zombres gets fresh and tries hypnotizing the captain (right in front of G-d and everybody) in the interest in getting some answers of his own, but all he recieves is a trip to the holding cell for his troubles.
The rest of the party are given some semblance of an explanation. Apparently a local scoundrel and master of disguise Abu al Fath al Iskandari recently stole the treasury of Shamaki, which understandably has them a little put out. A day or two earlier, the governor authorized one of his men to grant Captain Dvanshar a number of writs of safe passage; only it likely wasn't Captain Dvanshar, since the man who stands before the party insists it never happened and the attendant turned up murdered. Then there is the matter of the Nameless Cult, a nameless cult, which kidnapped a child from the fire dwarves outside the city (and lost a fair number of members doing so). Anyway, there's something weird going on here, that's for sure.
The Danger Gang are released on their own recognizance (except for Zombres, who gets double-grilled) and they head out to a nearby nightclub/hookah bar.
After convincing the two out of towners that he's not a threat, Zombres has a few words in private with Farudan, who says that Dvanshar is not to be trusted and is frequently nosing around town asking folks this and that. He says he's pretty sure that something ain't right.
Meanwhile, the party is living it up at the tavern, when who should they discover, seated with three Indians, but Jean-Claude, who catches Karl's eye. The party chats amiably and JC mentions that his three companions share his interest in arcane arts, so they're "cool" (spoiler: they are in no way cool). The group talks about how awesome the Baku nightlife is and the fact that one of the buildings here -- the first built, actually, called the Maiden's Tower -- was in fact constructed by the sorceress Ikulu. So it needs to be hacked. At about this time Zombres arrives and compares notes. He is reluctant to hack the tower straight away, what with a murder and a kidnapping to be investigated. A hack is probably inevitable, but whatever.
At about this time, Zombres notices that JC's companions are not, in fact, Indians, but rather three shaggy gentleman. Gershom notices they aren't eating anything. Probably because they're not hungry. Probably.
The Danger Gang splits up to do some pavement pounding in the city sectors specializing in their mother tongue. Kolya parties down with some Russians, who are doing ok in this part of the world. They mention that there is a city to the south of Baku -- ruins, really -- known as Khansar, and something strange might be going on there. The Jews ask around the Jewish quarter and find out the Dvanshar is periodically quizzing them about how they get treated by the government... like do they want to rebel against the established order, maybe? He doesn't have a great reputation. The rest of the team strike out.
Despite the overwhelming feeling that something bad will happen overnight, the Danger Gang bed down for some rest and spell recovery.
