The Canopic Jars of the Medina al Taht

[written up for us by Jacob, who runs adventures in the City Below]

 Several expeditions into the Medina alTaht earlier this year saw some decent lucre, but also collected a number of odd canopic jars, two of which were made of Zortrium.

These jars were collected at the request of Farhat alFassad, self-proclaimed princess of the Medina alTaht. However, given the creatures which previously possessed the jars the party spent some brief time investigating the things only to discover that, at least, the non-Zortrium jars contained life. And so they held off delivering these jars to Farhat, in favor of spending a month investigating both the jars themselves, and Farhat, that they might have more information as to what these could be, and what might be her intentions with the jars.

The scribes note the results of some of those initial investigations here, as a reminder to the players:

• Wyllow explained that the jars are used in burial rights in her culture. These jars are made to carry the soul of the departed on to the next life. The more plain are, of course, the souls (or perhaps the strength? Possible misunderstanding here) of favored servants, while the ornate is the actual soul of the lord.

• No energy was detected within the jars

• Life was detected within the clay jars

• A jar without life was found, and opened. The contents were a dry dusty substance, the inside walls of the jar smooth.

First, let us address the jars themselves. These jars, though obviously quite old, are very well maintained. None of the jars have any particular labeling, text, imagery, or otherwise. Additionally, the “plain” ceramic jars also do not have unique tops, they are all simple tops without much shape to them, rather unlike the picture posted above. The Zortrium jars, however, have a unique topper and contain some text. The first canopic jar has the renu-like head seen above. The second a somewhat Kzin shaped topper.

To continue researching these things, Bart first took to the Facility, having been the sole location where the strange white-haird monsters (from which one of the zortrium jars was recovered) had previously been seen. Bart spent several days engaged with researchers of the Bani Dawr, the strange libraries of knowledge provided by the Facility, and, ultimately, one of their specimen containment facilities. He learned several key points of information about the jars, and their origins:

• Whomever previously occupied the Facility was, largely, at war with some faction often referred to as demons. There are references to canopic jars recovered from certain expeditions, though the ultimate fate of those jars is unclear.

• There are references to some unnamed rebel faction within this demon army that the Facility owners worked with on occasion.

• The Bani Dawr researchers introduce Bart to Dilag. A dark skinned fellow with a strange crest upon his brow (that of a lunar disk crossed by a spear), presently held within the Facility’s containment cells. Through the aid of comprehend languages (and some plying with food and drink) he explains his limited knowledge of the jars, describing how his god would keep a number of the jars in his throne room. The jars would sometimes be gifted to allies as a show of trust, or a favored servant would be granted a great boon from one of the jars gaining the strength and life of past wielders of the soul contained within while still remaining themselves. Why, he himself received such a boon, though he knows not how it works, nor why, only that it does. He doesn’t remember feeling any different before or after the boon, just stronger.

• Bart is also able to do some more in-depth investigation into the jars themselves, as the Facility happened to have enough data on record to produce a replica for him in the simulator. Through that he was able to learn that the jars, when opened normally, contain a strange liquid that was warm to the touch as well as a squirming snake like creature that the Facility referred to as an Uld. The snakes within the plain canopic jars were notably smaller than their Zortrium counterparts.
  
  

Joining in the book-learning research, Razo (at the behest of the Survivors, being that Razo did not go on any of the expeditions herself) investigated a certain gilded ritual scroll from a previous expedition. It was remembered that this scroll had some writing on it similar to that which Bart translated relating to the jars. Some of the text translated and referred Razo to ancient stories. In these stories the protagonist would devote themselves to their god, and through rigorous service be granted power and longevity. These things are corroborated by the scroll which describes a magical ceremony that prepares a human to accept these divine gifts, at the end of which it describes a canopic jar that contains a young soul to be infused into the body which will provide great strength, long life, and protection from disease.

While Razo and Bart dive deep into books and research, Najm, Fa-Min, Gan ad-Din and his crew of musicians make their way to visit Farhat, and see what they can learn there. Najm, alone, was rebuffed several times, Farhat claiming to be busy and unable to attend to them unless they were delivering upon the promised canopic jars. However, when Najm returned with the others as entertainment she granted entrance and met with the group. Najm, focusing on building his reputation with Farhat more than gathering information, got little out of her other than that she desperately wants these jars, frequently referring to the undead, banditry, and Kzin threats. She insists that it is purely to help safeguard the Medina, and in so doing the whole of Cothon, from the many evils insinuating themselves amongst the dark tunnels. 

Gan and Fa-Min, being somewhat less focused on Farhat herself, are able to observe the goings on in Farhat’s court somewhat more, noticing that there seem to be a surprisingly few number of guards in rotation. And when chatting with the servant staff after their performance the staff (while actually fairly well treated for serving staff in dark tunnels) are also in small number. What little information is collected from the servants reveals that Farhat’s forces may not be holding up so well against the various forces encroaching on the Medina, even to the point that they seem to be unsure if they will survive the year without something drastic changing.

Finally, Durham and Pako visit their friends in the Lonely Cat, trying to ply information regarding Farhat from the denizens there. Alas, Quinn was only available for a short time to answer their questions. He explains that Farhat was once a pirate, that life taking her all over the Denyan sea, but for whatever reason she struck up with some of her former crewmates and decided to make a go of it in the Medina alTaht. She and her retinue have patronized the Lonely Cat a number of times, it being the best tavern under Cothon and all, and she has always treated Quinn and Cassius with respect and courtesy. She even posted guards for a short time when a big scuffle happened topside, to help protect Cassius and I from any fallout.

As a reminder for the party:

Farhat is willing to pay 1000 dinars per sealed canopic jar. She is willing to grant a single selection of some of their finest jewelry (the cheapest of which is likely worth at least several thousand dinars) for at least 10 jars, and another selection for a “green metal” Zortirum jar. This would be similar to “finding the right buyer” for an item, and so any dinar value recovered here will count as XP to be divided amongst the various participants in the expeditions.

You all have:

14 ‘plain’ canopic jars

-No life is detected within 3 of these

-1 of these has been opened, the seal broken

2 Zortrium canopic jars

-Being Zortrium it is not possible to scan for life in these jars