From the Outlands

A dwarven warrior with his bardic companion encounter a lone cartographer as they hunt for a stolen heirloom.

Summary
Temür Bolad, a dwarf from Burkhan Uul, and Aero, an avian shifter from the Jin-Sae Tribe, arrive in the Tide District of Hiyokuna. Temür is hunting the orc raiders, the Holwej Fiends, who raided his hometown, killed his father, and stole the family heirloom: an enchanted battleaxe. Aero, a friend from the neighboring village, is accompanying him to write songs of the journey as well as to explore outside of her village. The pair are following rumors that the Fiends are near Sakumotsu, the most Eastern territory of Hiyokuna across the Hiyo-Khan Bay. They secure passage across the bay aboard the Bahadurahava, a longship captained by Dasya Modi.

A pickpocket attempts to rob the travelers but after a quick pursuit and the aid from passerby, Malai, the thief is apprehended. They then make the acquaintance of a goblin innkeeper by the name of Hotax who claimed to have been robbed by the thief. However, it is soon made clear that Hotax is taking advantage of a potential money-making opportunity. Regardless of the introduction, Hotax invites the three to come to his bar, the Kora-Noosa, and enjoy themselves before the ship's departure the following day.

Malai decides to join the pair as she is a cartographer looking to continue her practice by mapping regions outside of Hiyokuna. She boards with them the following day.

PCs
Aero Jin-Sae

Malai

Temür Bolad

NPCs
Dasya Modi

Hotax

Memories
Malai and Aero collectively dumping Temür in the bay to assuage his hangover before boarding.

Continuity
Hotax would later appear in "Oath to Order" as he had moved his business from Hiyokuna to Burkhan Uul.

Soundtrack
Tide District - "Besaid Island" from Final Fantasy X.

Kora-Noosa - "Kanpai!" by Adrian von Ziegler.

DM's Commentary
This was one of two "episode zeroes" I had planned for this first season in order to establish relationships between characters before episode one. There would be six characters in total and I didn't want everyone to feel like loose particles. Both Marc and Veronica had backstories that paired well as a warrior on a journey and a bard who wanted to experience life, respectively. From there, it also worked out for Caity to become involved as someone else from outside the city. As the title suggest, these three characters are not from Hiyokuna or its territories, but from the "outlands."

Hotax was inspired by the Ferengi character Quark from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. There were references to his brother, Rom, and the recurring gag character, Morn, but they didn't play a big enough role in the episode for specific notes or references.