Session VII, Part III

After a few days ride, the party sees Buôn Ma Thuột  in the distance.  The provincial capital started off as a purely military and administrative base to monitor the Việt/Khmer border rather than for economic reasons, for which a capital on the Serepôk river would have made more sense.  Nevertheless, a city grew around the garrison over the years.  Successive gouverneurs have ignored the city, which is why there's no city wall.

As they enter the city, the PCs are greeted by the Marquis de Picard, head of the Adventurers Guild, who has an even more apologetic face than usual.  The Marquis is quite uncomfortable when he asks for the party's help to get clemency from Gouverneur Trần for Brock Samson:

Samson, the Suione Murder Machine, recently had ANOTHER psychotic break and mass murdered 50 more civilians, mainly women and children.  Consequently, Samson was sentenced to death by the Gouverneur despite attempted bribes and political pressure because of the insistence of the local Inquisitor, Father Nicholas D. Wolfwood:

Picard says grimly that dark times are coming and the world needs Samson's fearsome skills.  The party speaks with Father Wolfwood and gets him to settle for committing Samson to an insane asylum after Nausicaä points out that his religion says to forgive and turn the other cheek.

The PCs decide to get to know the locals and start with the leader of House Merchant, Countess Chei:

The Countess thanks them for stopping the Chryssalid outbreak and offers them as many free drinks and foot massages as they desire.

[OOC] S says, "This is great!"

[As DM] I say, "Well, you guys did just save the world.  Give it a few weeks and they'll wonder what you've done for them lately."

Leaving Subotai and Sister Aleena in the spa, the PCs continue exploring the city when they are approached by a mysterious woman:

Mlle Farahani is keen to become the PCs' friend and gives them 5000gp in jewels, "no strings attached."  The enigmatic Persian also shares that Papa Midnite is in town on a business trip, after the PCs screwed up his would-be mega deal in the Mekong Delta province by blatantly lying about "taking care of" Reverend Mother Guinan.  Midnite has heard that the party is also in Buôn Ma Thuột and is looking for them quite aggressively.

Later, the PCs ask the Marquis de Picard about Farahani, who says she's officially a businesswoman and unofficially a spy for the Persian Empire.

The PCs brief consider murdering Papa Midnite but ultimately decide against it.

[OOC] K says, "The problem with druids is, even if you manage to kill them, you'll probably end up assassinated by fifty pissed off alligators or something."