Isten

Isten is an Antaran village in the northwest of the Antaran Empire in Betrayal in Antara. It is first visited in Chapter 4.

Geography

Isten is northwest of the Ciaga Pass, separated from southern cities by the Glassrock Mountains. North of the city is the Isten Amphitheater.

A coach runs from Isten to Everton or Teal for 300 burlas.

Isten has a Temple of Senaedrin which serves all the cities in the northwest region of the Empire.

Sister Senena awaits the letters carried by the dead priest on the road south of town, giving the party a 73% ruby for bringing the news of his demise. She also sends help if the party returns to report a difficult childbirth in Everton.

A long-nosed, short-sighted woman knitting on her porch looks familiar to the party; she mentions her cat and her sister in Waterfork. She gossips about Lord Lighton's doings: "balls, parties, casino nights at the club," and the invitation-only special performance at the Amphitheater. Her own invitation is locked up safely in a chest given to her by Lord Axton; she doubts the thieves who stole the chest (which is near the path south of town) have the wit to open it. She doesn't think much of the Shepherds, but has heard that Maria Liana's son joined them. (The tickets can be retrieved from the chest, but cannot be given back to their owner.)

A Jaeger with a gleaming pin of office looks down his nose at the travelers and, before they can introduce themselves, calls his wife Melinda to feed the "peasants at the door." He gives them 1 Leg of Lamb, tells them to use the back door next time, and shuts them out, amusing Aren immensely. (The house has no back door.)

Jaeger Ben Stafford, a younger and more disheveled noble, is writing a treatise on the Antaran political system: The Shira: Its Structure and Inner Workings, with such sections as "" Policies regarding bribes and services rendered. Favors... Dealings and double-dealings... Triple-dealings... Diplomacy, negotiating tactics, and blackmail." Reading it raises the party's Haggling Skill, though Stafford quotes famous geologist John Moraine to compare the writing process to the progress of a glacier: "just one eternal grind." William is impressed at the expose, which Stafford intends to publish anonymously if he can find someone to print it. At this stage of the game, the party is unaware that a lord in Torlith is putting out a contract for his death, and he cannot be warned later.

The mage Darvostan boasts of his ability to influence a target's mind to respond favorably to his clients, a talent which wears off after a while but can be very strategically effective; he's usually "busy dawn to dusk when the Shira is in session." Aren, though uneasy, asks for a magic lesson, and Darvostan charges 200 burlas... and then influences Aren to negotiate it up to 400. If the party pays, Aren can raise his Spellcasting stat in the areas of Cause, Charm, and Magic.

Isten has two Empty Houses. Items in the first one are: +3 Essence of the Wind; a Whetstone; +3 Food Rations; 31 burlas. In the second one: an Armorer's Hammer; +6 Rope; 21 burlas.

If Kaelyn Usher composes a love poem for Pamela of Camille from Stephen of Eastbank, she can compare Pamela's fair skin to Isten linen or cloth from Choth.