Bawabba Mbo

We last left our heroes, the Search for Black Alice has led them to the streets of Bawaaba Mbo, gateway to the Holy Empire of the God King and the vast continent of Great Mbo. 

The journey to the city was not easy. They were inspected twice, once by a pair of dragon-riding High Justices and once by customs officials in the harbor who charged a tax of 10% of the value of the cargo (a tax the heroes cleverly avoided by using Ricmo's newfound mirror magic). Dakhir noticed with some dismay that each High Justice wore an amulet identical to the Amulet of Theno that he carries. He managed to hide his amulet before the High Justices took notice, however.

On the last day of the voyage, the heroes also each had a strange and magical dream in which their various magical patrons gave them advice and, in some cases, special tasks to complete. 

Whisperleaf acquired a paper bag of mysterious cookies. Very good cookies. Ricmo acquired a strange mother of pearl ear ring. 

They also discovered on the voyage to the city that, inside the Shadowlands the entire continent is walled off by a wall of shadow that prevents teleportation across its boundaries

In general, little is known of the Holy Empire, as foreigners are strictly forbidden there. Bawaaba is the only city in the entire continent where non-natives are permitted, and even this permission is recent and comes with severe restrictions. These restrictions are called "Vigilance Towards Foreign Barbarians Regulations and, among other things, forbid foreigners from owning property, building permanent structures, or residing in the city year-round.

However, the Exile Queen is a native of this land, and while she was driven into exile while still young, she was able to provide the companions with some basic information about the Empire and the continent. She was not, however, able to provide any maps or charts as "The God-King does not approve of maps, it gives people ideas about traveling. The God-King likes people to stay where he puts them."

The vast merchant fleet of the Thousand Isles that currently fills the harbor of the city gets around these limitations either by basing their activities aboard their ships, renting buildings owned by natives, or constructing temporary structures on the sand dunes and beaches that compromise the small and barren island on which the city is built.  

As a result, the city itself is composed of two very distinct sections. The Lower Town is a riot of shops, stalls, and marketplaces that stretch around the beach of the wide and surprisingly shallow bay that passes for a harbor. While there are some permanent structures, most of the buildings are temporary: stalls, shacks, and tents, numbering in their hundreds. There is little that could be named a street other than Bazaar Street that leads from the docks to the Grand Bazaar, and Sand Street that runs parallel to the beach. 

Looming above the Lower Town is the high walls and pyramid of the Upper Town, built on top of a long flat rock outcropping a few hundred feet back from the beach. The single gate in the walls of the Upper Town is guarded at all times, and foreigners are not allowed past it. 

The current plan is to leverage the status of the Exile Queen as a minor noble of the Empire and use her Royal Right of Appeal to secure a Travel Writ that allows her and her entourage free passage to the Imperial Capital of Shambhala, deep within the continent. 

This ancient right states that any king or queen may make an appeal regarding matters of succession, territorial disputes or a defined list of other such matters, directly to The God-King of Mbo, thus bypassing the Imperial Bureaucracy. 

The right also states that, since the appeal must be made personally at the Imperial Capital, the appellate and their entourage must be granted safe passage through the intervening territories and given all due courtesy by the rulers and governors of those territories. 

There does seem to be some precedent in the thousand years of legal traditions that an army of foreign mercenaries can count as such an enterprise. 

While the capital of the Empire, Shambhala, is located some thousands of leagues inland, the Exile Queen seems confident that the gargantuan rivers and extensive canals of the Empire can easily accommodate the draught of even such a great ship as the Lady Jezebel.

The Exile queen started the wheels in motion by formally logging the request for an audience with the minions of the Governor of the city. She is now waiting to hear back about her requested audience. 

While waiting, there is shopping to be done, of course, and among the booths and stalls of the town, the heroes discovered that one of the book sellers has a highly valuable Tome of Clear Thought for sale. At a pretty high price, of course.

Ali, the second mate of the Lady Jezebel, and a native of the far away land of Masriq, has stated that he has a distant cousin that is the resident ambassador to the Empire here in the city, and might be able to offer some aid. 

In the meantime, the wide city awaits, a vast and broiling hot maze of shops, stalls, sand, and adventure. And possibly clues to the trail of Black Alice, for the Sphinx was certain she came here, and surely she must have passed through this very city!