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• Adrian Silverstrength (Human Paladin)
• Buppido Diinkarazan (Rock Gnome Cleric/Wizard)
• Sephrenia (High Elf Cleric) – Absent This Session
• Ragnaroc (Aasimar Warlock) 
• Don Kannin (Half-Elf Ranger)
• Korra (Air Genasi Rogue)

• Having defeated the Sand Giants and reclaimed the cavern that the Leonin were using for shelter and water, the party gazes out towards the blazing morning dunes of the Broken Lands and knows that traveling during the day is ill advised in this unusual, magically charged environment
• The party also realize that the the caravan is in need of water supply; but knows they have enough water until nightfall, when it’s safer to travel (they can wear their armor)
• Looking inside the cave, it runs deep – and somewhere near the back they can hear water coming from somewhere, which is where the Leonin must be getting their water
• Opting to explore the interior of the cave while they wait for nightfall, Adrian takes the front to lead the expedition into the cave
• Heading deeper into the caves, the light from the searing sun fades, and the darkness grows deeper and deeper
• Adrian stares down and sees several tiny insect prints all over the floor; and kneeling down sees that it appears to be spider-like in nature (8 foot prints)
• Buppido shouts, “It better not be a phase spider!” (from Session 51)
• Adrian confirms it doesn’t appear to be – but the tiny insect/spider prints are all over the dusty floor and walls
• The party begins moving forward – and as they go deeper and deeper into the cave – the sounds of water becoming louder – but so are the insect sounds – and so are the insect prints – and some of them are noticeably larger
• Baldur looks down at his legs and sees tiny spider like creatures, with extended necks and a head like a snake; and notices – they’re also all over the floor – these are very small – but he notices they have 8 legs – and whatever is making these tracks are larger versions
• Ragnaroc quickly casts Mage Armor on himself
• The party turns to back out of this portion of the cave – but suddenly find themselves confronted by unusual insects

• Their sudden appearance startles Adrian (Critical Fail on Initiative)
• The first Neogi striking at Don, who was at the back of the party, and now is at the front with the party turned around is able to avoid the Neogi’s bite, but is struck by its claws
• Buppido casts Poison Spray but the creature is able to shake off the effects
• Don commands Jackson to give the help action (canceling out Disadvantage for a ranged attack while in melee) fires two shots – both landing hard hits – especially the second (Critical Strike!), killing it by shooting out its legs, then sending the second shot through the head
• Korra fires her crossbow at one, and instantly bloodies it; while Ragnaroc follows up with an Eldritch Blast to the creature, killing the second one by leaping on the back of it, and putting both shots through the back of the head
• The party doesn’t get to celebrate long, when they hear something coming from the entrance of the cave
• Adrian, Don and Buppido quickly recognize the sound to be the hyena sounding gnolls
• These gnolls look distinctly different, as if they’ve adapted to the harsh terrain of the Broken Lands

• The gnolls having seen the Sand Giants being devoured by Sand Sharks are excited to enter the cave, knowing that there’s a water source here
• Buppido uses Minor Illusion to try and mimic the angry sounds of the Sand Giants; however, it sounds more like a whining sound (DM Note – for fun, since the dialect is something they’re not familiar with – I had him roll a Performance, and he’d rolled a 2 – so the gnolls pause and listen) The gnolls also take notice that there’s a number of horses tied to some rocks inside the cave, which the gnolls assumed was meat for the Sand Giants; and the party quickly realizes that the gnolls are untying the horses for themselves; and the party also hears another sound – that sounds like a horse, but has a much deeper sound
• Adrian closes his eyes and communicates to Ms. Claws; and Ms. Claws conveys a message of a large horse; ugly; stinky; furry humanoids
• The party quietly makes their way to the mouth of the cave, and sees the five gnolls and a Leucrotta; some of the members (Adrian, Don, and Ragnaroc had fought one of the foul Leucrotta previously – See All The Way Back To Session 13! – which, back then, had also been with several gnolls)
• The party moves to quickly attack the gnolls and Leucrotta, knowing that if the gnolls escape with their horses; the party will be forced to walk along the Broken Lands, which has proven to be very precarious
• During the combat, one of the gnolls Rampages so that the other gnolls growl furiously
• The gnolls, for the most part, keep their distance – only one engaging with Adrian who was the only one to charge forth; so both sides are repeatedly sending arrows, crossbow bolts and spells back and forth; with both sides taking heavy injuries – everyone thankful to be inside the cave, knowing sand sharks can smell their blood for up to a mile, and breach through soft sand – Critical Strikes (Natural 20) happening frequently from both sides; but when it comes down to one last gnoll, he bolts for the cave entrance – but stops – seeing fins in the sand approaching the cave of the mouth; he turns and fights the party rather than be tore apart by sand sharks; with Don delivering the killing shot
• Buppido decides to burn the corpse of the Leucrotta which fills the cave with a horrid odor (it stunk already before being burned) – and as the putrid air fills the cave, Buppido, Korra, and Don all get violently ill, throwing up; while Ragnaroc and Adrian manage to cover their mouth and nose before inhaling (successful Constitution save)
• The party also notices that the sand sharks seem to be impacted by the putrid smell; keeping their distance from the mouth of the cave where the beast had died; and realized the gnolls use the creature’s natural, putrid odor to assault the sand shark’s sensitive sense of smell, and keep them repelled
• The party debates who has to drag the smelly corpse of Leucrotta; and eventually leave the cave and return to the oasis and speak to the Captain of the Caravan, providing proof of the giant’s severed fingers and hand
• The Captain of the Caravan takes Don to the Leonin who examine the Sand Giant fingers and nod, and confirm this is the hand of a Sand Giant – and begin packing their tents and belongings and make their way towards the cave entrance
• The caravan settles around the watering hole once the Leonin have departed
• Adrian speaks to the Captain of the Caravan about the pyramid they saw; and the Captain of the Caravan doesn’t seem surprised that they saw one; and explains that there are Pyramids scattered throughout the Broken Lands that mysteriously rise or appear during the day, because at one time there were cults out here who worshiped the sun; and that most of the treasures that are excavated by adventurers – the few that survive the experience – are coming from those temples. In Drastor, guides can be hired, that are more well versed in the shifting sands – because a pyramid may not rise in the same place twice for weeks; it could end up miles away the following day
• After replenishing their supplies, the Captain of the Caravan calls for it to move on during the night, to gain as much traction as they can, traveling under cooler conditions because their next stop is a town which is quite a bit away
• As the caravan eventually approaches the small village, the sun is just beginning to rise in the horizon, and it becomes immediately clear that something is very wrong
• Gazing at the people in the town, it’s clear a plague and disease has spread through the town; with people with boils on their skin; some seem to suffer from drastic forms of leprosy, while others have their skin pulled so taut over their bones, they look like walking skeletons; and there’s others who look completely disfigured
• The Captain of the Caravan stops the wagons before entering the town and has council with the caravan merchants, explaining his concern – their water supply is already low, and to push past this town may prove fatal to some – but he does not feel comfortable entering the town or drinking their water supply since he doesn’t know if what they have is contagious or possibly a result of a soiled water supply
• Many of the merchants, unsure what to do, express that they’d like to press on
• Buppido offers to purify the water, if it’s the water
• The Captain of the Caravan states that would be great – and points to the center of town
• Buppido tugs at Adrian and says, “We can go in there. You can do your Paladin thing if I get sick.”
• Adrian agrees to the idea
• Then Buppido pauses, “Well. Even if we purify the water – how is the caravan going to get to the center? Everyone else in this town is still sick.”
• “Let’s figure out what’s going on,” Adrian says – and he and Buppido make their way in; seeing people who have slumped against buildings, some who have expired in the middle of the street
• An old man approaches Adrian and barely gets out the words, “Angel on the black horse… came to the town… seeking the library…. the disease came after…”
• Adrian applies Lay On Hands on the Old Man and feels necrotic energy coming back into his own body
• Adrian pulls his hand away quickly, astonished as the old man chokes the words, “Nothing… can… cure this disease…”
• The old man coughs, “Beware… of the… angel… and the… black… horse…”
• Buppido casts Detect Magic – and immediately realizes how useless it is here – everything glows with magic – from the sand up – which, in hindsight – makes sense – knowing what they know about the great war that happened here that sundered everything – releasing uncontrollable amounts of chaos magic that made the very sands come alive, give sharks the ability to swim through sand, give sand giants immunity to magic… but it’s when Buppido looks at the people, he sees what looks to be black tadpoles swimming inside of them and knows it’s some form of ancient, necrotic magic…
• “This isn’t good,” Buppido mutters to no one but himself. Buppido excuses himself and gets outside of the village
• Adrian says that they must go, but asks if there’s anything else he can tell them; and the old man chokes, “Before… he came… the woman… on the… blue dragon… came here… seeking… the tome… we… kept it from here…. but when the… angel came… he took it…”
• Adrian asks about the knowledge in the tome; and the old man explains, “The … tome… has been… locked away… for … generations… no one knows… we were…. designated as … the protectors… You must…. defeat the angel…. you must get the sphere… if he gets it… no one… can… ever stop him…”
• Adrian asks, “What do we do if we get the sphere?”
• “Release… the magic…” the old man says, “… you must… find… the ancient hammer… forged by the dwarves… in order to shatter the sphere… and release… the magic… and you… will have… learned…. how to… defeat the angel…. and banish… him… again…”
• Adrian exits the town and meets up with Buppido and they return to the caravan, and as Adrian speaks about the woman with the blue dragon, Don shifts uncomfortably…
• With the mention of the “ancient hammer forged by dwarves”… the party realizes, they believe it’s the hammer they once had during the Drow War…
  • The party had met Rex Flamehammer after being trapped inside the dwarven kingdom of Thoridun, after Drow had triggered a cave in in Session 15
  • They learned that Drow had stolen his Enchanted Hammer in Session 16, to prevent him from making armor and weapons against the Drow and asks the party to seek out Nor’Orn Greenskin, a crazed goblin deeper into the Shadow Vale – and should they happen to get his hammer, to urgently bring it back to him
  • It was during their time in the Shadow Vale, they’d encountered a tribe of Myconoids – who introduced them to Korra in Session 19
  • The party learned, during Session 20, that the Drow had been the reason for the Civil War in Thoridun
  • The party encountered Bullywugs in Session 22 and Session 23, whom they’d befriended
  • During Session 23, the Bullywugs (King Battletoad) tells the party that they’re at war with the Kuo-Toa, but dare not attack because they have a “powerful relic” – the party who’d already fought the Kuo-Toa previously agreed to help – and Korra quickly proved her worth by sneaking into the Kuo-Toa camp and finding and stealing the powerful relic – a magical, ancient dwarven hammer – the Hammer of Rex Flamehammer himself!
  • The party continues; and must descend deeper; but Pren, a dwarf they’d rescued, offers to take the hammer back to Rex, because it was urgent – but the party thinks it’s safer in their hands, during Session 32
  • After a battle in the dwarven throne room in Session 40, the party is able to hand over the ancient dwarven hammer to Rex Flamebeard
  • Though behind in what he could have been making, due to the delay (from Session 32), he’s able to make some equipment for the final Drow War in Session 41.

TO BE CONTINUED.