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• Adrian Silverstrength (Human Paladin)
• Buppido Diinkarazan (Rock Gnome Cleric/Wizard)
• Sephrenia (High Elf Cleric)
• Don Kannin (Half-Elf Ranger) – Missed This Session
• Korra (Air Genasi Rogue)
• Elon Dusk (Tiefling Artificer)

• NPCs:
  • Disnarium – High Elf (Rune Knight, NPC)
  • Kraun Torodon – Tiefling (Businessman Rogue)

• The party presents the head of Krhish’tyn Rhey to Yavun Faithbringer, and a Paladin of Gha’als Shaum – The Sun God, among those who live in Drastor and follow the “Ancient Faith” of the gods before the destruction of Ilyx – which makes him stand out, as standard belief in Drastor is to worship ancient heroes, whom they believe, their spirits are infused in the walls of the city, ready to rise out and protect it… which was clearly shown not to be the case in the recent attacks
• Yavun pays each of them who was present 200 gold for their work, understanding why Krhish’tyn Rhey was killed rather than taken alive
• Taking the head of Krhish’tyn Rhey with him, Yavun heads back to Drastor’s main center
• Elon Dusk explains he will be back in a moment – he has some business matters to attend to and departs
• Adrian, Sephrenia and Korra head for the infirmaries, looking for people who might need work there, to ask them how they can help
• Don explains that he will be heading back to the pyramid and make sure that Buppido hasn’t done something horrible with the Spelljammer (DM Note – Don Kanin missed this session, so having him depart back for the pyramid was an easy way to take him out of this week’s session)
• At the infirmary, Korra tries to recruit people – who all decline her offer (rolled low persuasion check) due to the dangers of the desert; and how they’d need to travel there and back again frequently – and the sand sharks, and everything else out there, it’s not safe
• Adrian approaches them, and speaks to a few people, and manages to recruit a few woodworkers, while several cooks, hearing this, agree to also join and head to the pyramid; and Sephrenia manages to hire more blacksmiths
• As Adrian, Sephrenia and Korra return to the pyramid – as they enter – they are surprised to hear the sound of laughter, music, and loud talking. As they make their way into the main area of the pyramid – Adrian immediately recognizes the people inside the pyramid – he’s never met any of them – but he knows them all as followers of Prenah. There is man and woman, both scantly dressed, playing music, dancing seductively, with the “guards” (thieves guild that works with Kraun) enjoying their company. Off to the side, Elon Dusk is sitting against the wall, looking smug and proud – see the trio enter – he gives them a thumbs up from his prosthetic hand.
• “What is all this?” Korra asks, looking around while walking towards Elon Dusk
• “We’re celebrating,” Elon Dusk shouts gleefully
• “What are we celebrating,” Korra asks, coming to a stop, her hands on her hips
• “Prenah,” Elon Dusk replies, while winking at Adrian
• Korra looks at Adrian, “Is there some kind of Feast of Prenah we were not aware of?”
• “I know nothing about this,” Adrian mutters, looking for Isabella in the sea of bodies
• Isabella finally finds Adrian and says, “All these people just showed up.”
• Adrian shakes his head, “I know nothing about this.”
• One of the followers of Prenah approaches Adrian, seeing the crest on his chest, and assuming him the leader. “Hey, so we were hired by your friend over there,” and he points to Elon Dusk, “and if we’re expected to celebrate the goddess, we will need better beds. Some of the guards showed up some of the areas they cleared, but those bedrooms are in horrible connection. So we need more beds and more sheets.”
• Sephrenia shakes her head, “OK, well Church is over.”
• The employee looks at Sephrenia, “I was told by him,” again pointing to Elon Dusk, “that this would be our new place to celebrate.”
• Sephrenia shakes her head, “We can’t afford to feed them all. Do any of them have… secondary skills?”
• Most of the men and women are unskilled; having always been faithful followers of Prenah
• One of the woman leaps on the desk and shouts, “We lost our church in the dragon and demon attacks! You wouldn’t throw us out, would you, Paladin of Prenah?”
• Adrian heaves a sigh and explains to Isabella, and the others, that these are fellow followers of Prenah, and it’s true that he can’t just throw them out
• Buppido steps in and explains they need to see how much the followers of Prenah cost compared to how much they bring in in excess
• Sephrenia explains – How it would work would be: the party would have to pay for the food and lodging for the workers (especially since there’s no assurance that they’d all be “employed” every night). So there would be a need for food (regardless) and lodging. The guards (Kraun’s men) would potentially pay into the service of Prenah. The followers of Prenah would need their own rooms for their business arrangements; so bedsheets would need to be potentially, frequently changed.
• The party decides to let a week go by to see how it all balances out
• The party takes stock of their employees…
  • Rogues: 125 (124, technically, as Kraun is one of them)
  • Followers of Prenah: 15 (Wage – 10gp per – paid by Elon Dusk for initial recruitment)
    • Average Income: 70gp per day (they demand 50% to go back into repairing the original temple in Drastor – more customers, safer for people)
  • Woodworkers: 10 people (Wage – 5 gold per day)
    • Daily Supply Cost and Labor: 5 gold per day (bring lumber across the desert)
      • ETA Repair Total: For Spelljammer, a week. For the bed, tables, chairs, cabinets, dressers, other dressings in the pyramid to make it “livable” – three months (90 days) on top of the one week for the Spelljammer.
  • Blacksmiths: 15 people (Wage – 10 gold per day)
    • Daily Supply Cost and Labor: 5 gold per day (metals)
      • ETA Repair Total: To stabilize all the things throughout the temple, provide some of the steel needed for some of the woodworkers, two months (60 days)
  • Cooks: 15 people (Wage – 5 gold per day)
    • Daily Supply Cost and Labor: 5 gold per day (food, supplies)
      • ETA Repair Total: Never ending (would be there to always feed any existing employees)
  • Seamsters/Seamstresses: 15 people (Wage – 5 gold per day)
    • Daily Supply Cost and Labor: 5 gold per day (supplies)
  • ETA Repair Total: One week for the Spelljammer, and an additional 6 months (180 days) to create bedsheets, blankets, rugs, tapestries, etc.
• Sephrenia mentions that since Kraun’s men have been going through the pyramid and clearing out some of the areas, that perhaps it could be broken into sections. Because if some of these employees wish to perhaps live within the pyramid; they would not want to bring their families where rogues and followers of Prenah may be flaunting what they do best; and separation of business, once the pyramid is up and running – they could try opening a market place
• Just as the party is trying to figure out all the costs (DM Note – I hadn’t figured out the costs of all this at the time of the session; put it together while doing the notes – so the party will figure it out after I post the notes to them), Disnarium walks into the room and looks around at the chaos, and cuts through the crowd, gently pushing away and declining the several offers, the attractive High Elf gets and makes it to the party. “I’ve discovered what it is going to take to power the Spelljammer – and we may be out of luck. As I said before, the Spelljammer has been locked up in this pyramid for some reason – and left out of the Astral Plane, which is what charges the Spelljammer – what we will need is the magic that emanates from star fragments, charged by the magical forge of Jarisfargen, the god of Earth. However, with us not able to travel to the stars, we may be out of luck.”
• “A star fragment, you say,” Buppido rubs his chin. “I think I may see why my god had put me in your path, my tall, slender, pointed eared friend. I may have an idea, but it will have a cost – the ship becomes mine.”
• “I command the ship,” Disnarium explains, “until we defeat the beholder. Once we’ve dealt with him the ship is all yours.”
• Buppido considers it and nods, “Deal. It just so happens, I know where a star fragment is – and it’s not too far from here. We were visiting with a wizard friend – oh, you met him – Darius – the allip who got cursed. He has a scrying pool and I used it (see Session 60 and Session 71) and it just so happened to have shown me a meteorite – in the desert – surrounded by glass and a large purple tree. And some skeletons. Lots of skeletons, actually.”
• Buppido adds, “Especially with our ranger friend, Don Kanin, we should be able to find it easy… has anyone seen him lately?”
• Elsewhere, this was not revealed to the players, as it was sent directly to Don Kanin, since I always like to send players who miss a session something that they can RP with the party when they are at the next session… but since it’s pertinent to his main story, I am going to add it here…
  • As Don scouted the desert, sensing something near by a massive winged shadow swopped around Don – and glancing up – he knew who it was immediately.
  • The massive blue dragon landed – kicking up sand all around him, but he did not flinch or protect his eyes, he simply gazed forward at the female figure, mounted on the beautiful, but equally terrifying blue dragon – adorned in blue dragon scale armor, the figure gracefully dismounted – she was an experienced dragon rider now – and when she removed her helm, and her locks of hair fell free from the helm – though it had been awhile, Don Kanin immediately recognized the woman whom he had once cared for and shared many nights together – Lourna Mauthtar.
  • She looked at Don up and down, seeing him riding on the blue drake.
  • “So I see you found my gift, I left you,” she said, her smile forming that traditional curled snarl he knew her to have. “And I see it’s blue,” she looked back at her own blue dragon.
  • “The Queen would have you in her army with but just my word,” she continued. “And I would speak for you – however, I learned that you and your friends helped the local authorities and tracked down and killed Krhish’tyn Rhey.” (See Session 73)
  • “You do realize,” she continued, “I smashed Drastor to pieces hoping to free Krhish’tyn Rhey from his prison. He had valuable information that the Queen needed about the magic in these desert wastelands. But I saw his head sitting on a pike on Drastor’s ruined front gates and learned you and your friends were responsible. It’s … disappointing… to say the least. But … an… informant has told me you and your friends have acquired a dysfunctional Spelljammer. Perhaps if you get it working and travel the the planes; perhaps you could find information useful to the Queen, and she may forgive your transgression against one of her generals. I will find you again, and we shall speak more.”
  • With that, she mounts her blue dragon and departs.
  • The blue dragon kicks up sand; almost more than needed, as if to spite Don Kanin, as it took to the air. Don watched after them until they vanished in the sky.
• Back at the pyramid, Buppido nods, “Well without Don… he’s kind of the expert guide through the desert. Been a few times, without him, we might have gotten lost. I mean, I am sure I could have found our way too – but he’s more rugged. But just barely.”
• Disnarium shakes his head, “If you believe you can get us there, I would recommend that we do not wait. The more the beholder is out there in the Astral Plane, the closer he may be to gaining immortality.”
• Adrian notes that it’s roughly 6pm (had him roll 2d12 again and did military time)

• Adrian agrees with Disnarium. With the sun down, he would be able to wear his armor and be protected against the beasts that roam the dunes, without the sun magically heating his metal armor.
• “We should get going,” Disnarium urged again. “It’s getting darker, and where ever this fallen star fragment is, it’s going to get harder to find at night.”
• “Doesn’t it glow?” Sephrenia asked
• Disnariums shrugged, “I don’t know. I didn’t even know there was a star fragment. Your little friend,” he points to Buppido, “is the one who claims he saw it with the great powers of his mind.”
• Sephrenia turns towards Buppido, “So what does this star look like?”
• The party heads for the door, after Adrian kisses Isabella and promises he will be back
• Outside, Adrian allows Sephrenia and Korra to mount Mrs. Claws; Buppido summons his mechanical chicken mount; and Elon Dusk casts Reduce on himself and rides on Buppido’s chicken as well. This leaves Adrian and Disnarium on foot
• Elon Dusk turns and yells, “We will be back ladies! And men!”
• And they shout back, “I can’t wait for you to come back for more.”
• Elon Dusk blows several of them kisses
• Elon Dusk then leaps off and realizes he can just ride his animatronic and manages to convince it to carry him, since it’s now darker and the sun won’t heat the machine’s metal
• As they party ventures across the sand, Ms. Claws often makes sounds, while looking back at Korra and Sephrenia, not used to having others riding her; the animatronic is loud, the gears grinding, still not having been repaired from the previous attack on it by the beholder; and Buppido’s mechanical chicken makes some grinding noises as well; and Adrian’s armor clanks as he walks…

• “Sand shark!” the warning goes out just as two sand sharks begin rapidly swimming through the sand towards them

• As the sand sharks attack, Buppido casts Raulothim’s Psychic Lance on one of them; and stuns it for a round along with massive damage

• One breaches and bites into Korra, thankfully her Cloak of Displacement puts it at disadvantage, allowing her to avoid the critical Natural 20! hit that would have done so much more damage! The beast does manage to grapple her in its maw, however
• However, as Korra’s blood – the first to be hit in the party! – drips into the sand, she knows this will blood frenzy the sand sharks (giving them advantage to hit anyone who isn’t at full health – which will then remove the disadvantage and treat it as a normal strike – removing its ability to hit at Advantage however, due to the Cloak’s ability)
• Adrian slides over to Korra and pulls her out of the sand shark
• Sephrenia tries to cast a spell on the one who’d attacked Korra but the sand shark, driven by the blood manages to avoid it (Natural 20!)

• Disnarium, seeing that Adrian is helping Korra, knows he needs to draw the beast’s attention and rushes up – striking the beast with his Tiger Sword of Valor – landing a critical hit!

• The second sand shark, no longer stunned goes after Elon Dusk – and manages to bite deeply, but Elon Dusk – consumed with pain – releases a Hellish Rebuke delivering incredible damage back to the sand shark

• See more of his companions getting cut, himself as well, he knew if he hit – he would need to expend some divine smite into these beasts – everyone was bleeding a little and the two sand sharks were frenzying
• He manages to strike one – and quickly calls on Prenah to send her energy through him and punish the beast – which she does

• Korra manages to hit one, and while it manages to save against her poison in the dagger, her companions distract it enough to allow her to cause significant damage to the beast – killing the beast by shoving her dagger, repeatedly into its eye, and as it lapses onto the sand she leaps on it

• However, Korra’s luck does not hold up as the second one, having seen the other get killed by her, focuses on her and bites her again; this time when she tries to strike back, her hands are covered in so much of her own blood, that the hilt of the blade slips and she stabs herself for minor damage; but her adrenaline is pumping and she breaks out of the grapple (Natural 20!)

• Buppido manages to finish the fight with a Toll of the Dead… however, Korra is extremely bloody, having been the main target several times for both…
• Buppido decides he will try to harvest the gullet, since normally Don does it; this time, climbing inside the mouth to cut the gullet of the first one – and this time, Elon Dusk follows, thinking he can help with Flash of Genius (Natural 20!)

• “I am backing up,” Buppido calls out, and puts his rear end in Elon Dusk’s face
• They go to the second one, and Buppido recalling how well he’d done with the first, and decides he’s got it (Using Portent)
  • DM Note – In game, he actually did Portent first, and then got the Natural 20; but note wise, it works better the other way
• The party ties to sand sharks to some rope and have the people at the pyramid drag it back to the pyramid to use as food
• The party eventually resumes their search for the meteorite and after several hours; finally see a faint purple glow; as they get closer, the floor, that was was endless dunes of sand, now has become slick glass; closer and closer; a tree, emerging from a giant hole in the ground can be seen; where white leaves fall and look like miniature falling stars; disintegrating as they fall from the tree; bursts of light that shine bright, then die
• As they get closer – the ground rumbles – and a beast, like they’d never seen before breaks through
• Is it… a hydra?

To Be Continued.