Adventure Notes – The Adventurers 55

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  • Faced with the difficult decision to ride on, and leave the plague infested town behind; which had been the caravan’s next watering and resting stop – everyone on the caravan knew their mounts, as well as themselves, would be pushing exhaustion traveling for a longer time under the blazing sun that seems to reign supreme in the Broken Lands
  • With the exhausted animals, the party is forced to do an Animal Handling to ensure their wagon horses agree; and Sephrenia, the High Elf, who – unlike normal Wood Elves – is not accustomed to dealing with animals as frequently struggles to get their horses moving; but finally does (after a wagon behind them starts scolding them because the front of the caravan is getting further and further ahead)
  • The caravan eventually reaches a very small village, which is in shambles, very primative, and clearly not used to seeing visitors; but according to some of the travels heading out of the Broken Lands that passed the caravan; they can offer a place to rest and shelter for the animals from the hot sun, with minimal water supply
  • Several of the merchants disembark from their wagons and begin trading with out members of the caravan and some of the villagers
  • Buppido leaps off from the caravan and speaks with a man named Tauraun Sunshaper to ask if this town is diseased; and Tauraun assures him, that despite news of another town hours away being infected with disease, none of the people here are; he explains that no one ever stops in this village, not even the disease apparently; but shares that there are multiple towns being infected
  • Tauraun explains that there’s been recent stories – but probably children’s stories – about something streaking through the night sky with a trail of fire
  • At the same time a young child approaches Korra, seeing that she looks very different than anything he’s ever seen before – since she is a Genasi
  • He looks to Korra and asks, “Are you here about the Elves?” When Korra asks about the Elves, she asks what else – and the children explains that the Elves are Dead. And that it had been a week ago. But the sand was burying them quickly. When she asks how the Elves died; the boy explains he’s not sure – but there’s no obvious wounds and no blood, so that’s why the Sand Sharks haven’t come for them yet.
  • The boy offers to take her to the Elves in the sand, and Korra says that she will talk to the party; and the boy asks if she would pay him; and he explains they’re elves like he’s never seen before – gesturing to Sephrenia – and says he’s seen Elves like her; but these are different – they have skin as dark as starless nights, and white hair
  • Korra sighs – recognizing the description as Drow
  • Korra points to the child sitting on the barrel, and points out that he’d approached her and says that he found dead drow out in the desert; and she mentions that the child is hoping to be paid – Korra shares her suspicions that there’s more to the child than what he’s saying
  • Don notes that the Drow may be seeking vengeance because of their actions in the Shadow Realm and it may be a good idea to investigate the boy’s findings
  • The party agrees to go with the boy come nightfall, but in the meantime hunt down supplies; Sephrenia and Korra go in search of a merchant on the caravan and come to the wagon of Mars Fallenstar, who – due to low resources – offers to sell a normal healing potion for 75 gold. He goes on to explain, “These are dangerous lands! Everyone wants healing potions! So I am almost out and don’t have the resources to make more! I have better potions, but,” he looks at the party, “you don’t look like you can afford 200 gold per potion if 75 for normal, made you wince!”
  • Sephrenia however, purchases two of the Greater Healing Potions, and attempts to get a normal healing potion thrown in (however, she fails her persuasion check)
  • Korra purchases two of the normal healing potions
  • When nightfall comes, the boy eagerly meets the party and Korra studies him (Insight) and rolls nicely – and the child seems very sincere; because nothing ever happens in this town; an entire caravan stopping in town is unusual; and he’s seeing beings (such as Korra) that he’s never seen before
  • Korra asks about how long to the bodies; and the child explains that the sands move things all the time; which rings true with what the party has heard, especially in the events of sand storms; but the sand itself will often move, like waves of an ocean
  • The party leaves the trances Ragnaroc in the wagon to protect the wagon
  • DM Note – Since the child approached Korra I had Korra roll a 1D8 to see how long they wander the sand with the child; which she rolls a 7, indicating they have spent 7 hours wandering the sand dunes
  • Everyone rolls a Constitution Savings Throw due to all the travel (Sephrenia and Korra both gain a level of Exhaustion)
  • The child points, “There! That’s the tip of their camp!”
  • The party heads for the buried camp and sees a hand barely poking out of the sand; which is clearly the hand of a Drow
  • Buppido casts Unseen Servant and has it begin digging; which takes about 2 hours to uncover the arm, and body
  • Korra looks at the deceased Drow and is shocked; she immediately recognize the body – it is one of the Drow she’d scried from the tower (Session 44)
  • She quickly looks for one of the Ring of Elements, but it is not wearing one
  • “There are others,” she says standing up. “We need to dig up the other two the boy saw.”
  • The party begins digging up the other bodies and indeed finds Rings on them; Buppido finds the Ring of Fire Elements, while Korra recovers the Ring of Water Elements. Buppido quickly places his on his finger, pleasantly surprised it fits itself to his finger magically
  • He casts Detect Magic and learns the ring is able to summon a very powerful Fire Elemental; but the process in doing so – successfully – is extremely difficult
  • He asks Korra about the Rings and she explains that the Drow had infiltrated the Elemental Planes and deceived the various Elemental Lords – claiming one was seeking to betray the other – similar to what they’d done with the Dwarves – and all the while earning the trust, and playing each side – all the while spending endless weeks learning the summoning ritual – because the Elder Elementals would be needed to successful forge the massive adamantine statue the party faced (Session 41)
  • Sephrenia examines the body with Medicine, dismissing Buppido that these Drow died from rage; and notices that their armor seems seared to their skin, their eyes bulging; and she acknowledges that they were clearly electrocuted
  • The party realizes that the woman on the blue dragon is undoubtedly responsible for their demise – and may have stolen the other two rings – it leaves to question where the forth body is
  • Korra turns to the boy and asks if others have come this way, and he shakes his head no; and just then – something bursts from the sand, and Adrian moves to the child to protect him (DM Note – Adrian was running late to the game, so me just having him to protect the child is very in character and allows me to not worry about him until he actually shows up)
We’ve had Sand Giants, Sand Elementals, Sand Sharks, and now… Sand Weirds?
  • Other than a major hit on Korra, the party is able to do away with the Sand Weird without much difficulty and makes their way back to the town quickly (only taking 30 minutes to return back to town, since the town doesn’t move – much – in the sand)
  • Don offers to pay the child, when Korra declines (due to the injury she sustained during the recovery of the Rings)
  • Squeven, the Halfling Cleric who works for Kraun appears at the party’s caravan and gives them the ring he’d been asked to Identify by Adrian and explains it’s safe – that himself placed it on – and ended up in telepathic communication with some woman (Isabella Crowfeather – whom Adrian met at Lakefront and dated (Session 46), and proposed to and given the mystical ring by Datura Stramonium (Session 49). Squeven says he still has a lot of things he has to identify for one of Kraun’s top clients, someone named As’zar’vari’tium (DM Note – this is me connecting this game to the Monthly “Discovery” game where the name of the Beholder is first mentioned. Interesting to me that when I mentioned the name, no one offered to see if they’d ever heard the name before, which I would have offered a History check on)
  • The party sees that Ragnaroc is still in a trance; and once they settle in, Adrian offers to take the child back to the child’s home (DM Note – Adrian still hadn’t arrived so I was just moving him out of the way for the next “fluff” combat I had planned)
  • Exhausted from the dunes, the party offers to get some rest with Sephrenia and Buppido taking first watch – Sephrenia sees an orb like figure quickly approaching them from the desert
  • DM Note – It was fun bringing the Gauth in from a distance, and saying the party couldn’t see it clearly – because I purposely made it sound like a Beholder
  • DM Note – This encounter was just a fluff encounter with the Gauth sensing the Ring of Elements and wanting to devour them – and it would be fun because they’re not super dangerous but can shut down party members – especially if the Paladin isn’t handy to deliver bonuses to their Savings Throws… naturally – what happened? Just as this fight had started none other than Adrian, the Paladin, logged in
  • Once Adrian returned from ensuring the child got safely home, the Gauth was dispatched fairly easily and once it was destroyed; Buppido recalls that Gauth have a long lasting rumor that supposedly one of the ways they’re created is if a Beholder bleeds on the sands of the Broken Lands; the sands take the already arcane blood of the Beholder and give it life to the magic devouring Gauth, which resembles the very sand’s desire to devour magic as well
  • After a brief rest, the Caravan presses on and reaches yet another small town, where it’s clear something has happened – several wounded towns people move about, as if whatever happened, happened recently
  • The party begins asking questions – but find whatever happened – was clearly chaotic – some people a giant with one head and one eye attack (sounds like a Cyclops, which the party fought a mind controlled one in Session 50, some report it was two headed giants (the party hid from one in Session 22) while others claim it was a two headed giant, each head with one eye (which the party has never heard of). Looking around, many appear to have wounds from a large spear or something similar
  • Finally, one man – the Inn Keeper named Shen Fahr, says that it was a Cyclops – and it had gone north – and that he would reward the entire party a sum of 200 gold, if they track down the Cyclops, sever its head, and bring it back to him – so he can show the town that they’re safe from the Cyclops
  • With the shifting sands, the party decides they need to move quick to try and track the Cyclops down
  • The party successfully track the Cyclops down, seeing him laying near an oasis, his great club at his side, clearly wounded
  • Sephrenia mentions they should kill him while he’s wounded
  • Adrian – the sole remaining original member – recalls entering the Jade Forest (Session 6) to investigate what was “haunting the woods” that kept the wood cutters of Spire’s Edge so fearful and meeting what they believed was a Dryad trying to save the woods (Session 7) only to be manipulated by the Hag in the guise of a druid into killing Centaur – including a young Centaur named Karastone Shadestepper.
  • Adrian explains the others can remain behind but he wants to talk to the Cyclops and hear his side of the story
  • He approaches the Cyclops who is weary – and after speaking with Adrian, introduces himself as Tor’Kon Kin’stic. He goes on to explain it was not him who had attacked the village but had gone there to help – when he learned several Ettins had gone there to abduct “The Daughter – The Priestess” – Lilli Sandmeadow.
  • Adrian, recalling the punctured wounds of the citizens confirms it does not match the bludgeoning damage that the Cyclop’s great club would have done if he’d been responsible for the attack and explains the piercing damage on himself; as Tor’Kon explains that the Ettins use spiked clubs
  • The party offers to help Tor’Kon against the Ettins.

TO BE CONTINUED.