Haruka deftly dodged the marid's attack.<br/><br/>"You may have won the battle, but I will win the war!" Haruka shouts triumphantly as her magical chain assumes a horizontal position and darts across the battlefield to trip up both Neferi and Munira.  The pair lost their footing and fell down face first into the water and losing their towels in the process.<br/><br/>"Well now, I'm the last woman standing here, I guess that means we-"<br/><br/>"Are you the four responsible for all this ruckus?"<br/><br/>An elderly woman of elven heritage stomped forth, wand at the ready.  She didn't seemed murderous, but she was clearly annoyed.  Likely none other than the owner herself.<br/><br/>"Uh, err, it was just some some harmless fun..." Miyako said, finally having regained her footing.  "The water shifted and displaced a bit, but nobody got hurt!"<br/><br/>"Oh yes, you're correct on that account, but several of my paying customers vacated the premises due to your little game."<br/><br/>"It's alright," Munira said as she approached.  "We can financially compensate-"<br/><br/>Trillia leveled a wand at Munira.  "Just take your clothes and get out."<br/><br/>"Can't argue with that," Haruka said.<br/><br/><hr/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: andale mono;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;">A Stroll Through the Streets</span></span></div><br/><div align="center">(http://i.imgur.com/YGlQEI5.jpg?1)</div><br/>The four ladies were cleaned and clothed now, at the expense of being banned from Katapesh's best bathhouse for the foreseeable future.  Instead of parting ways, the human sisters opted to travel with the marid for a time, considering both of their hotels were nearby.<br/><br/>"So, is there anything specific you need in the College, or is this more a long-term deal?" Haruka asked.<br/><br/>"It involves topics regarding Ancient Osironian magic, a rather narrow if popular field," Munira answered.  "We both grew up with a library in our home, and Neferi here's been immersed in books since she was a little one.  As for myself I pursue other things."<br/><br/>Miyako paid for a bag of some dates from a nearby stall to share.  "Hmm, Haruka and I are capable of teleporting.  I can do it naturally, but Haruka needs the blessings of her goddess to do so.  If it really means that much we can do a chain spell combination; you teleport us all in, then Haruka teleports us to the library, then I teleport us all out once we find what we want.  Of course, we might either need, in that we don't know how much food, water, or toiletries they have before we have to go out again."<br/><br/>Munira nodded.  "Sounds like a plan.  We'll have a scroll in two days time.  In the meanwhile, we're going to see if the Pathfinder Society has any useful information to give us."<br/><br/>"That's cool.  Anyway, hit us up at the Palm Springs Hotel once you're ready."<br/><br/>And with that Miyako and Haruka bid them farewell.<br/><br/><hr/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: andale mono;">Pathfinder Lodges</span></span></div><br/><div align="center">(http://i.imgur.com/0mDypX8.jpg)</div><br/>"No, we're the Kotargo Lodge," the half-orc Venture-Captain told the pair.  "We handle missions for our members and stock supplies."<br/><br/>"But Hanifa recommend you to us.  She's a good friend of ours an used to operate in the eastern Garund region.  Might you at least have some form of research or lead?"<br/><br/>The Venture-Captain nodded.  "Ah, now that's a name I haven't heard in a while.  That lass had a knack for exploring since she was a kid; I guess the same can be said of all nomads.  But if you want to pour through books, go to the Katapesh Lodge."<br/><br/>...<br/><br/>The Katapesh Lodge stood in the middle of some renovated cyclopean ruins, housing a rather large library full of tomes, maps, notes, drawings, and other gathered information from their field agents.  With the recommendation of both Hanifa and Kotargo Lodge, access to them was easy enough.<br/><br/>Neferi and Munira spent the better part of the day involved in research.  They were able to gather together a few things about the Crown of Nepthys, notably that Osirion has a higher-than-usual number of theurges due to the god-king's influence, and that Nex's ascendant power was of large concern to the ancient civilization.  Being powerful mages, the Osirionian pharaohs teleported all over Garund, establishing secret temples and bases, although the Mwangi Expanse was a favored location, as was the border between them and Nex and what is now known as Katapesh.<br/><br/>But then their research came to a close, and asking around they were pointed once more to yet another Lodge.<br/><br/>...<br/><br/>The Farseer Tower Lodge had no library at all.  In fact, all its occupants were blind, including the elderly Venture-Captain.<br/><br/>"Yes, we do know many things, but we specialize in helping members who seek answers and services they can't find anywhere else."<br/><br/>"So, how can you help us?"<br/><br/>The Venture-Captain read Munira and Neferi's palms.  "Ahh, I see your travels going south, and then west.  There is a glowing doorway to another world."<br/><br/>"Thank you," Munira said.  "But maybe you can try seeing anything more immediate?"<br/><br/>"I can try..."<br/><br/>The blind woman read their palms again.  Then, she fell silent and chuckled a bit.<br/><br/>"Is everything all right?"<br/><br/>"Oh yes, I'm fine.  Errr, I, well, you two are quite young women, away from home for the first time.  Opportunities like this don't come often, so you should live life to the fullest."<br/><br/>Errr, okay, thanks."<br/><br/><hr/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: andale mono;">Study Bender</span></span></div><br/><div align="center">(http://i.imgur.com/Yn5XU3n.jpg)</div><br/>It's been two days since their arrival in Katapesh.  There was a knock on their hotel room door.  A young messenger boy handed over a satchel to Neferi, which contained nothing but large platinum pieces.  112 of them, and five gold pieces, to be exact.<br/><br/>Munira was shocked.  "Wow, he was as good as his word, that Francisco.  He really did deliver!"<br/><br/>One shopping trip for a scroll later, and Neferi and Munira were face-to-face with Haruka and Miyako outside the College of Dimensional Studies.  The four linked hands together as Neferi read the scroll's arcane script, and the world spun around them until they were...elsewhere.<br/><br/>They were in a square room.  There were three doors in back, but no windows or ways to tell if they were still in Katapesh proper.  On the floor was a painted arrow the phrase "شمال" along its main length ("it's Kelish for 'north,'" Munira told Neferi).  On each wall were rows of paintings depicting realistic-looking rooms: a library, a laboratory, an empty room with magical circles upon the floor, and an auditorium were among the few Neferi spotted.<br/><br/>An elderly halfling man sat in front of a small desk which only raised up to Neferi's chest level.<br/><br/>"Welcome to the College of Dimensional Studies, new student!" he said.  "The left doorway leads to the beds, the middle the privies, and the right door food and water.  Should you wish to visit the other rooms, visualize the place, and will yourself there with magic!"<br/><br/>"Awesome, the scroll work, Neferi!" Munira exclaimed joyously.  "We're here!"<br/><br/>"So, how broad are your libraries, exactly?" Haruka asked.  "Like Osirionian history and religion?"<br/><br/>"Our extradimensional facilities are enough to hold tomes on all manner of subjects.  Osirion is but one among many countries."<br/><br/>"Great, let's go!"  Miyako took Neferi and Munira's hand as she dragged them to the library painting.<br/><br/>"Wait, don't you want to meet your fellow mages?"<br/><br/>"Sorry bub, but we're on a strict time-table!" Munira exclaimed.<br/><br/>And so they went to the College's Library.  It was a huge place, far larger than a building of its size could hold.<br/><br/>"We can't still be in Katapesh," Munira remarked.  "Probably an interdimensional pocket...or plane, kind of like that portal we took to get here."<br/><br/>"Portal?  Ah-hah, so you two really are not from around here!"  Miyako exclaimed.  "Let me guess, Elysium?  Dimension of Time?  Elemental Plane of Water?"<br/><br/>"Don't pry so much, sis," Haruka retorted.<br/><br/>"No, it's fine, we're both marid.  Beings of water, of the race of genies."<br/><br/>"We can talk more about our homeland once we're done," Munira said.  "Right now, we need to find anything pertaining to the Crown."<br/><br/>...<br/><br/>The library's resources were amazing.  Simply speaking aloud the name of a book summoned it into one's hands, and some strange enchantment permeating the complex compelled them in the right direction for the proper subjects on their mind.  Even though it still took several hours to go through the books once found, the accumulated knowledge granted many breakthroughs:<br/><br/>1.) Given that Nepthys is the God of Magic, there was worry among the pharaohs that their deity found a new favored child in the rising nation-state of Nex.<br/><br/>2.) The archmage Nex was last seen departing for planes unknown, and now his disciples rule in his absence.<br/><br/>3.) An artifact as powerful as the Crown of Nepthys was too risky to transport, even with the pharaoh's best guard.  The folk who supposedly traveled south to deliver it to Nex actually used a series of planar gateways to pass it between constructed warded fortresses, where ultimately it would end up as a gift to Nex.<br/><br/>4.) The archmage Nex built many of his own demiplanes, for both business and pleasure.  It was here he stored many of his most valued possessions.<br/><br/>5.) It is said that long ago, the great mage-lords of Garund fastened a demiplane to act as a neutral meeting ground.  Given the great and terrible power of magic, it wasn't feasible for them to all show up at a conference to negotiate, even with bodyguards.  Forastan of ancient Osirion remarked something of interest: "the theurges of Osirion discovered a realm of unchanging harmony in an old Jistka Temple, where magic could not change things and all were equal, from archmage to apprentice.  It is theorized that Jistka's mages used it as a safe meeting ground, and after many tests it was determined by our dear Pharaoh that its purpose would serve Osirion well.  We call it Natinye, or 'Frozen Flow.'"