FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13TH - KINGDOM OF KESHANAR : SESSION 3 RECAP
We pick up our tale at the Lion's Rest, where Kharu has gone to the front desk to ask if anyone has seen their father, Semat. The young lady behind the counter says not since he checked out, but that someone else is seeking him and points to a tall Rekh-Shenu speaking with another employee of the inn at the far end of the counter.
Kharu walks over and introduces himself to the ibis-featured creature. The bird folk regarded the tiefling suspiciously, but identified himself as Khalil.
"Where is your father?" he asks.
"We do not know," Kharu responded. "We seek him ourselves. He was due home weeks ago."
"I last saw him three weeks past," Khalil said. "He told me to leave word for him here if I found what we sought. I have found it, but we are not alone in the searching. My task will require more coin if we are to be successful."
The Rekh-Shenu produced a rolled parchment, sealed with an unadorned blue wax seal. "This is for your father. See he gets it when you find him. He can leave word here or find me in our usual meeting place."
With that the mysterious creature left, Kharu staring at the letter and wondering what his father was doing. He knew most of his father's business dealings, but had no inkling of anything his father was searching for. His sisters joined him and the three set off to see the merchant contacts his father was to have seen when he came to Aswan.
The story was the same at both merchant's homes, Semat had come several weeks past, concluded his business, secured signed agreements, made his farewells and to their knowledge had left the city to return to Keshanar City. Seeing their concern and frustration, the seneschal of the livestock merchant, Redjeet, tells them perhaps the mad prophetess can help, a priestess by the name of Hiriti who tends a small shrine to Horus. He tells the siblings that she is a powerful seer, but has long since been driven mad by the power of her visions. Desperate, the three set out for the temple district and are soon pointed to the small, overgrown temple of Horus in the back corner of a garden area.
They find Hiriti inside, tending to the shrine and without turning she says, "The children of the Bird of Light have come. Tell me, what is it you seek."
The three exchange nervous glances at the reference to The Phoenix, but Khephri finds her voice first, "We have come in an effort to find our father. We were told you may be able to help us."
A dry chuckle answered the paladin, "I may, but there is a price young one, will you pay it?"
"I will," Khephri replied. "Name it."
The priestess produced a beaten silver bowl and a small knife. The paladin understood the unspoken need, took the knife and cut her palm, dripping blood into the bowl. The priestess added some yellow, foul smelling powder to the blood, along with what looked like dried tea leaves, stirred the mix, spit into the bowl and lit it with a candle from the altar. She smothered it with a heavy cloth, then removed it, allowing the thick, dark smoke to fill the air. Her eyes rolled up in her head and she tilted her face up to peer into the smoke. As the three watched shapes started to emerge from the smoke. Strange convulsing things. They could not turn away as they watched in horror as the images started to coal less into what appeared to be images of men and camels. Then the children saw an image of their father, kneeling on hard earth battered and bloodied.
The smoke slowly began to dissipate and the priestess turned to the three siblings. “It appears your father has been taken prisoner. He is held in caves to the north in the mountains. You must go there and free him.”
Kharu produced his gold pouch and dropped several coins onto the altar for her, thanking her for her efforts. The three Vince set off to the stables where they secured three camels to take into the desert to search for their father. It was getting late in the day, so they decided it best to set out in the morning. They returned to the Lion’s Rest, had a good meal and then turned in for the night.
In the middle of the night Kharu was awakened by a soft voice in his ear and the feel of a sharp blade at his throat.
“Do not move or make a sound. If you do, your sisters will pay the price.”
Kharu was no fool and knew that if he were to move or make a sound, it could cause him or his siblings their lives.
“What is it that you want?” he asked.
“Where is your father?” the voice asked.
“We do not know. We came here seeking him ourselves,” the Tiefling replied.
“Do not lie to me boy,” the man whispered back. Kharu could see that he was cloaked in his face hidden behind a veil. “We know he came here seeking an item. Have you met him or Khalil?”
“No,” Kharu said, the lie sliding from his tongue, easily and smoothly. The masked man seemed to take him at his word.
“Do not move and do not attempt to follow us,” he hissed. “If you do, it will not end well for you.”
Looking around the room Kharu could see that there were several other figures in the shadows. Two of them positioned close to his sisters, sleeping forms. Thinking it best to try to end this encounter without bloodshed he watched as they slipped one by one from the room through the window and disappeared into the night. When he was sure they were gone, he shook his sister’s awake and told them of their visitors.
“What did they want?” Zafira asked.
“I am not certain,” her brother replied. He pulled the rolled parchment from his jacket. “Perhaps it was this they sought.”
“What is that?” Khephri asked.
“A Messenger delivered it for father,” Kharu responded.
“And you did not tell us?” Khephri’s voice rose in an accusatory manner.
“It is for father, not for us,” he replied.
Zafira reached for the parchment, trying to snatch it from her brother‘s hand. As he pulled away from her. Khephri reached out and yanked it away.
“Let’s see what it says,” Khephri said with a smile. With that she broke the blue wax seal, and as she did, the broken wax turned into a puff of blue smoke, causing her to choke and gasp as poison assaulted her. Her strong constitution saved her from the worst part of the magic, but she was left short of breath and in pain.
Channeling her divine power, the paladin was able to rid herself of the poison, but was now suspicious of the letter. Opening it slowly, expecting something else to be hidden within she found the simple words.
“Semat, I have found the relic you seek. It is where we thought it might lie, but it is well guarded by spell and trap. We are not the only ones seeking it, so more coin will be needed in order to secure it for you. Meet me in our usual spot if you are still interested in securing it.”
It was signed simply “K”.
The three siblings discussed what this letter might mean, not knowing what it was, that their father must be seeking, or why none of them were aware of it.
The next morning, the three set out going to the stables to collect the rented camels. On their way there the Paladin noticed that someone was following them. She alerted her siblings to the fact, heightening the paranoia the children of Semat felt.
As they departed the city, they turned back to see the mysterious robed figure watching from the shadow of the gate house.
For several days, they traveled into the desert northwest towards the mountains. They saw little except at night far behind them. I campfire in the distant desert, marking the fact that someone was following them.
The next morning, the three set out a couple of hours before the sun came up. The wind picked up obscuring their tracks, and the three hoped it would be enough to lose those that followed behind them. By midday, they came across ruins just over a low dune. The sandblasted stone blocks appeared to be ancient and nothing living moved amongst them.
As they passed through the silent sand swept streets, the sharp eyed paladin saw something moving off to their left from shadow to shadow. They picked up their pace and moved up the next June into the bright sunlight. Looking back, they could see some dark skinned creature with glowing purple eyes, staring at them from the shadows hesitant to step into the sunlight.
Another day passed, and as they camp that night, often in the distance, they saw what looked like lightning flickering along the ground. It did not travel from the ground to the sky or from the sky to the ground. The strange arcing of electricity simply seemed to move along the ground itself before vanishing from sight.
The next day, as they passed by the spot where they thought they had seen lightning, they could see what looked like a spider's web, tattered and torn on the ground. Parts of the sand looked as if they had been blasted by fire or lightning, resulting in the sand turning into shards of glass. Curious., Kharu and Zafira each picked up a shard to take with them.
As the sun began to set, they entered into the foothills of the mountains. Tall, jagged, broken edifices of sandstone that appeared brittle and deadly at the same time. When they settled in to make camp Kharu spotted what appeared to be torchlight or a campfire coming from what appeared to be a cave.
Investigating the three found a cave that led into the mountain going down slightly, the area lit by a brazier. At the end of the tunnel, they found a locked door of iron bars. Khephri produced her lock picking tools and after several minutes was able to get the door open. Moving down the hallway, they attempted to pass without making noise, but the paladin’s heavy armor gave them away.
As they turned the corner, they ran into an Armored Dusker, one of the Undead wrapped in patchwork armor and holding a battle axe. A brief battle ensued with both Khephri and Zafira taking wounds from the creature before they finally brought it down. The pallet didn’t use the last of her healing pool to close her own wounds. Zafira used her own divine magic to treat her wounds before bending down to see what if anything of interest might be on the monster’s body. She took its battle acts and a beaten silver amulet from its neck.
Continuing deeper into the caves, they found another lock door, but we’re quickly able to bypass the lock. They found an open chamber where they found the discarded clothing and weapons belts of at least a dozen people. Sorting through the clothing. Kharu found their father‘s own robe, tattered, dirty, and showing signs of blood.
Moving deeper into the caverns, they soon came to a split in the corridor. Checking for tracks or any signs of recent passage they decided to take the left most of the three tunnels. Soon they could hear voices ahead of them and they came out on a ledge about 10 feet above the floor of a large cave. There they saw signs of the god Set and what appeared to be a makeshift altar. Half a dozen robbed men stood before the altar, one of them holding a leather cord tied around the neck of a man stripped to his waist, kneeling on the ground in front of them, battered and bloody. The three recognized their father‘s form and were enraged. Khephri charged into the chamber shouting a battle cry.
She touched the power of Bastet and channeled the spell Compel Duel on the man holding her father. The hooded man looked at her, obviously under the influence of her magic. A fight quickly broke out with the other siblings, joining their rash sister. Spells flew and blades flashed, but in the end all of the rope men saved one lay dead. He had fled back into the tunnels rather than fine death at the hands of the angry siblings.
Kharu and Zafira were both unconscious from wounds taken during the battle, but the paladin was able to staunch their wounds to prevent them from bleeding out. They rested for the night after.Khephri released her father. In the morning, the three let their battered father back down to the camels so they could return home. They had many questions for their father, but he refused to answer any questions about the letter, the strange messenger who had delivered it, or what it was that he was seeking.
Returning home, their mother was relieved to see them all returned safely. Amongst the loot that they have taken from the strange rope men in the cave, they found a silver and blue scarab brooch. What was the strange item? Why were the followers of Set after their father? Did this have anything to do with the three children upsetting the plans of the dark God?
Check back with us in a couple of weeks when we have our next session of the Kingdom of Keshanar. Stay safe, have fun at your gaming tables, thank you for all of your support and we’ll see you next time back here in The Maze.
