Wanted, Adventurers or other worthy people, to seek out a herd of trained badgermoles, stolen from the Mogiya family resident in the Hanwang desert. They were last seen at the family's Summer encampment north of Full Moon Spring. Interested parties enquire with the Mogiya Nara clan representative at the Red Pillar Inn, located in Manyuequan village, during the hours of Noon until half an hour before sunset.
The Hanwang desert, the "Cold Death," is smaller than the hotter and more southerly Siwang desert, but having traveled through it for the last several days during the summer, your group of travelers can attest that it is neither small nor of a pleasant climate. Endless sand dunes punctuated by occasional rocky hills and badlands, it is a place of scarce water and rough people. Drawn here by the promise of a considerable reward for retrieving some stolen livestock, you are now meeting your prospective employer in a small inn situated in the oasis town of Manyuequan. He is a weathered old man, with the brown eyes common to some of the outlying peoples of the Earth Kingdom, neat and well-dressed. He's just told you that Mogiya Nara Agu is his name, and the man with him is his son, Mogiya Nara Turusi. Turusi is a quiet young man who couldn't be a day over twenty. You don't know too much of the Hanwang and its people, but that clan name - Nara - you couldn't miss learning about that. Stone markers at the borders of the desert accuse them of some ancient crime against the Earth King, for which their penalty was exile to this accursed wasteland.
"I may be remiss not to spend more time on pleasantries," the old man begins, "but our people are forbidden to be in the oasis after sundown," he explains. "The Earth King would not countenance us sleeping in a comfortable oasis inn. So we had best get down to business. Turusi?"
The young man nods. "Our family breeds dwarf badgermoles, and trains them. We sell them for our living - they're sought after throughout the Earth Kingdom for their bending," he explains.
"Nara badgermoles have been the finest and most domesticated in the world since the days of the Great Ri," the old man adds, "and it is the privilege of our family to continue the tradition, as well as to make our living that way."
Turusi gives his father a moment, to make sure he's done, before continuing. "Right, and their value is widely recognized. Fully trained, they will fetch upwards of 150 silver taels in Ba Sing Se."
That's a lot. Even in these difficult times, one silver tael's worth of rice will feed someone for months.
"Would that we could sell them there ourselves - we have to depend on intermediaries because of our exile - but even the price we get is still enough for us to live on out here, enough to buy food for the family. And now our livelihood is threatened. Our whole export herd was stolen!"
The old man takes up the conversation. "We think it was a scoundrel named Wan Nara Quanyou. He went missing at the same time as our badgermoles. He's a useless layabout who does nothing but play the badgermole horn and talk his way into a different bed every night," he says. "The badgermoles answer to the horn, and so that's probably how he did it. No doubt he's making for the Eastern border, planning to disguise himself and sell them somewhere. I very much doubt he plans to come back here, and we can't pursue him ourselves because of the banishment."
He spits that last word out. This is clearly a sore point. "That worthless reprobate. He's going to scrub the sand off his shoes, take a Southern name and squander a thousand taels on drink and whores while we starve!"
"Don't worry, father," Turusi says. "Heaven will punish him."
"Heaven will punish him, yes, but with your blades," the old man says to you. "And for your trouble - if you bring the badgermoles back intact, and I'll pay you two hundred taels."
You hear a bell ringing outside the inn where you are meeting.
"That's the night bell. We must leave," he explains as he rises from the table. "You'll need to find someone to play the badgermole horn for you to bring back the herd, because you mustn't trust the thief to do it even if you take him alive. He could command them to destroy you if you let him play it in their presence. I'd go with you myself, but..."
The old man lowers his green headband, revealing the character δΊ‘ branded onto his forehead. It is an old scar. "But another transgression of the Pale of Banishment, and they'd have my head."
Turusi puts some cash down on the table to cover the meal for all of you. "There's a number of people in this oasis town whom you could hire to do it for you. Or you could get a teacher to show you the rudiments and rent a horn. Getting them to follow you is the simplest call - barely more difficult than sounding the horn at all."
You notice a few other people also getting up from their tables and settling their bills, all wearing some distinguishing item of clothing with the pale green color of Agu's headband.
"Good luck!" Agu says, as he and Turusi say their goodbyes. They leave in a hurry with the other Nara people, leaving the rest of you in the inn to get a good night's sleep before beginning your work.