FRIDAY, JANUARY 16TH - KINGDOM of KESHANAR 5E - SESSION 1:

The next morning, Kharu and Zafira rise with the sun seeking breakfast and an opportunity to discuss what their next move is to be with the information they have discovered. Zafira opens Khephri's door to check on her sister and finds her older sister still asleep, still wearing her armor and boots. The dog, Zhara greets her with a cheerful "Breakfast?" to which Zafira puts a finger to her lips to quiet the dog, allowing her Khephri to rest.

"Why is she still dressed?" Zafira asked hersellf aloud.

"Went out," Zhara answered cheerfully beside her. "Climbed out of window."

A smile crept across Zafira's face. She knew that her sister would defy her brother given the chance, but to risk breaking curfew. What was she thinking? Was she thinking might be a better question she mused.

Going downstairs, Zafira with Zhara in tow step out onto the open air patio to join her mother and brother at the table where servants were sitting a table with food for their meal.

"Khephri?" Kharu asked raising a ceramic cup to his lips.

"Our sister still sleeps," Zafira answered.

They all began eating and chatting about trivial things, when they heard someone approaching. Turning Kharu saw Khephri approaching, Her hair brushed and a fresh tabard over her ever present chain mail shirt.

"Good morning," she said sitting in the chair set for her and picking up a piece of fruit. She looked at each of her siblings in turn, Kharu busied himself buttering a piece of toasted bread, but her sister locked eyes with her and quietly mouthed the words "You went out last night."

Khephri's look turned cold and her eyes promised pain if her sister spoke of it openly. Zafira only smiled and turned back to her meal.

"What are your plans today my children," their mother asked.

The three looked at one another and the two sisters in turned looked at Kharu, who sighed and spoke. "We must seek the advise of the Seer this day. We are performing a task for her and must advise her on what we have discovered."

"What business could you have with her?" she asked. "Nothing dangerous or that will take you outside the city I hope."

The three siblings looked at one another again, silent agreement passing between them in that look.

"No mother," Kharu replied. "It is a simple task looking into the disappearance of the cats from the city."

"Strange business that," she replied. "Still, promise me you will all be safe and be home before curfew."

"Of course mother," Kharu said.

After breakfast the three siblings gathered in sitting room.

"We need to see the Seer," Kharu said. "We need to tell her of scroll we found and see what we should do next."

Zafira looked at Khephri and raised an eyebrow.

"We do not need to seek her advise," the paladin said. "I have already been to see her."

"What?" Kharu asked. "When? This morning?"

"No," she replied steeling herself for the argument to come. "I saw her last night."

"You went out after we agreed to stay here?" Kharu said his voice rising. "We agreed to seek her out today. You defied father's wishes and the Pharoh's curfew."

Khephri's temper rose. "I did. The matter could not wait. Doom looms over this city and telling Arislene of the scroll and my vision were more important than some curfew or your insistence I adhere to it."

Kharu moved toward Khephri, preparing to berate her for her insolence, but Zafira stepped between them. "We cannot be delayed with the two of you squabbling. The city needs us."

The two older siblings backed away from one another and nodded. Zafira might be the youngest, but she was often the voice of reason among them.

Khephri revealed to them all she had learned from the Sphinx, what the interpretation of the second vision meant, and that she had been entrusted with the Feather of the Phoenix. She pulled out the feather and showed it to her siblings. They stared at the relic, it's slight warm glow reflected on their faces. As they watched the feather rose from the palm of Khephri's hand and spun slightly before it settled and pointed in the direction of the marketplace.

"What does it mean?" Zafira asked.

"It shows us the direction of the Phoenix's Blood," the paladin replied.

"Then we must go," Kharu said.

The three set out, moving through the paved streets of Keshanar City, heading to the familiar sights and sounds of the Market. Once there, they moved to an alley and consulted the feather again. It now pointed them in the direction of Royal Palace. Could it be that the Blood was held there? Or in one of the pyramids beyond?

They made there way in the direction the feather pointed, reaching the familiar street that led toward their favorite tavern. They moved to a quiet shop and in the back aisle took out the feather again. It pointed down the street toward the tavern, The three looked at one another puzzled. The tavern? Was it hidden there? Why?

They went to The Night Key and sat at their reserved table. They ordered drinks and pulled the privacy curtain to speak unobserved. Kharu nodded and Khephri removed the feather from the box and placed it on the table. It rose to hover several inches above the table before it began to move again, spinning lazily for a moment before stopping, point to their left, back in the direction of the street and square. The three looked at one another before putting the feather away as the waitress arrived, announcing her presence outside the curtain by clearing her throat and stating their drinks were ready.

Sipping their drinks they mulled over the direction the feather pointed. It pointed in the direction of the Maw.

"In the Maw?" she asked aloud. "Pilgrims say it opens into the Underworld."

"Superstition," Kharu responded. "Tales to inspire the pilgrims to come here and spend their coin."

"Is it?" Zafira asked. "The Maw opened when the demons came resulting in The Endless Night. You forget your history brother. Perhaps someone hid the Blood there because no one goes into the maw and the Mafdet guard it."

"Perhaps," Khephri said, "But we must be certain."

The three finished their drinks then made their way out into the hot sun and across to the square where the Maw lay. Making their way through the crowd of pilgrims to make their way closer to the low wall that surrounded the opening in the earth. As they got to the edge, Kharu and Zafira moved in such a way as to block their sister from prying eyes as she pulled the feather out. The artifact hovered for a moment then pointed over the edge down into the Maw itself.

The three moved back to The Night Key. They went back to their table and stared at one another. The three hatched a plan. They knew they needed to get into the Maw, but how to do so when the Mafdet guarded it. They decided that they must use the cover of darkness to mask their movements, but even then they would need a distraction. They spoke at some length, but decided at last that a talking dog would make for the perfect way to draw attention. They went home, collected Zhara, grabbed a shovel from the gardener's shed and made their way back to The Night Key. They ate a meal, and waited for the tavern to close just before curfew. Once outside, Kharu produced a polished brass lantern and using his pact with his patron, vanished into the vessel which Khephri picked up. They thought that two would have a better chance of slipping past the guards than three would.

The two sisters made their way into the square, slipping through the shadows as the guards made their rounds and used the low wall to cover their presence. Looking over the edge the two sisters saw the deep shadows of the dark Maw, but something moved there. The shadows seemed to twist, sliding down deeper into the pit. Zafira pointed and as Khephri looked she saw that cats moved in the shadows, dozens of them, slipping down the walls to the bottom of the Maw. As they watched they heard the slight sounds of scratching, as if something was digging at the bottom of the pit.

Slipping over the wall and climbing down into the Maw they descended, finding a cat clawing at the rock. It clawed until its paws were bloody, then moved aside where another cat moved into its place to begin clawing at the ground. The two sisters looked at one another in bewilderment just as Kharu materialized from the lantern. They gently moved the cat aside, Khephri kneeling down to use a point from her healing pool of divine magic to heal the injured cat.

"Khephri," Kharu whispered. "The feather."

Khephri pulled the feather out and it pointed down at the spot where the cats had been digging. Kharu took the shovel and struck the rock with it. As he pulled back to strike again the earth shifted beneath them and with a groan the rock gave way, collapsing beneath them. The three siblings fell into a hole. They collided with one another, bouncing into stone walls of some sort of vertical shaft that carried them deep beneath the streets above. After an uncontrolled fall of nearly three hundred feet, the feather, still clasped in the paladin's hand, glowed a vibrant red and their fall slowed. The three landed safely in a dark, round chamber. Looking up they could see nothing but darkness.

The feathers glow subsided, leaving the three in near darkness. They looked around them at the unadorned chamber seeing worked stone walls with only one exit, a stone archway shows capstone bore the carved relief of a phoenix. The feather pointed unerringly at the archway. The party made their way through the arch and into a corridor beyond where they found only dust and cobwebs. Khephri lit a torch and led her siblings deeper into the tunnel. After a time she saw a reflection, what appeared to be yellow eyes looking back at her. She called out, dropping the torch and drawing her khopesh.

A hissing reptilian launched itself at the intruders, the paladin ran out to meet it, pulling back her sword to strike, but hesitating. not knowing if this creature meant to attack or not. Kharu suffered no such compunction and let loose and Eldritch Blast which flew wide and splashed harmlessly into the wall. Khephri slashed at the creature, but it moved out of the way of her stroke. Zafira called upon her god, Khonshu and his divine energy, as moonlight seemed to radiate up from the stone to try to engulf the reptile, but it leapt to the side, the radiant flames licking at the air where it had stood just a second before. The paladin reversed her blade bringing it in an arc to intercept the line the creature moved to avoid the flames. She struck along the abdomen, drawing blood as it let out a hiss of pain. It lashed out with sharp claws, one missing its mark as Khephri pulled back, the second claw tore at her tabard, but her armor protected her from the blow. Kharu launched another Eldritch blast, this one hitting the creature in the side and sending it off balance. Zafira pointed at the reptile and released her cantrip, Toll the Dead, but the monster shrugged off its affects and moved to attack Khephri again. The paladin was faster and lashed out with her khopesh, the blade swinging in a wide arc catching the creature in the neck and severing its head.

The three of them took a moment to collect themselves. They searched the creature, but found nothing on the corpse. Kharu studied it, never having seen anything like it before. He remembered stories of the lizard folk that had inhabited these lands before the Keshite people came and settled here, but surely it could not be one of them. They had not been seen in thousands of years.

Making their way further down the tunnel they found that it slope down at an angle, carrying them further beneath the city. After some time they came to a set of double doors. Hieroglyphs on the doors showed the mark of Ra-Memnon, the first Pharaoh as well as a relief of the Phoenix. A thick hemp rope bound the handles of the doors, coming together in a knot between the two with a clay seal bearing the Pharaoh's sign. The feather pointed at the doors.

"Do we break the seal?" Khephri asked.

"The feather points inside," Kharu replied.

Taking her khopesh the paladin severed the rope and the three pushed on the heavy brass door to the right, managing with their combined effort to open it wide enough for them to slip past. As they entered the chamber beyond lanterns sprung to life on two columns that supported a vaulted ceiling chamber. The three could see a statue of Anubis holding two bowls standing at the foot of a large stone sarcophagus whose lid lay on the ground nearby. The three moved into the chamber cautiously, the feather pointing them toward the coffin. Zafira circled out to the right, following the wall and keeping the columns between herself and the statue. Kharu moved left inspecting the columns and the glyphs inscribed upon them.

The chamber was painted in reliefs of a river and oasis. The floor, walls and ceilings, all showing scenes of what many believed the afterlife would appear to them. Khephri moved closer to the statue, looking into the bowls. One held a carved stone heart, the other held water. Placing the feather in the bowl of water on instinct, the feather glowed and pointed at the sarcophagus, as it did the statue animated, moving to set the bowls on the ground. As she watched the statue stood and looked at her expectantly.

"We are only here for the Phoenix Blood, not to rob the tomb," the paladin said.

The statue turned and placing both hands on the end of the sarcophagus it pushed and with a loud noise of stone grating on stone, it exposed a small hole in the stone below which held a glittering crystal vial. Khephri reached in to retrieve it and showed it to Kharu.

"Well done," a familiar voice behind them said. Turning in shock they saw Zhara sitting there wagging her tail. "My master will be most pleased. The form started to shift into that of a demonic hound. "Am I still a good girl?" A mocking laugh echoed around the room.

Khephri drew her khopesh and moved toward the abomination, "Help me!" she commanded the statue. "Attack that thing and kill it!" she cried pointing at the demon that had been Zhara just a moment before. The statue slammed the monster with a fist, landing a crushing blow that caused the creature to reel. Khephri followed that up with a slash from her blade that drew black, foul smelling blood.

Kharu aimed an Eldritch Blast, but missed. Zafira again summoned the Sacred Flame, the moonlight like flames licking up to engulf the creature causing it to howl in pain and fury. It lashed out with it clawed forelimbs, one sending sparks from the paladin's shield while the other tore at her right thigh, drawing blood and causing her to cry out in shock and pain. The statue of Anubis brought its stone fists down again, one narrowly missing, but the second landing heavily, a cracking of bone driving the creature down with another howl of pain. Khephri leapt in with her blade, burying it in the demon's side, blood spraying as it collapsed to the ground.

"No!" it howled, "Master, save me!"

The creature bubbled and twisted before melting away into a thick, oily smoke that vanished in the cracks of the flagstone floor.

The three siblings collected themselves and moved back to the room where they had fallen into from above. There they found the sand had moved to reveal a stone crest of the Phoenix.

"It brought us down safely," Khephri said. "Perhaps it can deliver us from this place."

As she held it aloft it glowed brightly and the party and their stone companion were levitated up the shaft and back to the edge of the Maw above. The cats were gone and the guard conspicuously absent. They made their way directly to the tower of Arislene to tell her they had been successful. They presented the vial with the blood and the feather to the Seer who took them to study in her spell chamber bidding them to stay the night so she could share her findings with them in the morning. Kato, her custodian, showed them to a well appointed chamber where they tried to sleep, their minds spinning over the implications of what their discovery might bring.

The next morning Kato took them to the Seer's study where they found the Sphinx waiting. She told them that the items were indeed authentic and must be hidden to prevent the enemy from finding them. She told them they must consume the items, to take them into themselves and hide them from the world. Doing as they were bid, Khephri ate the feather, choking and washing it down with wine. Kharu and Zafira each ingested a bit of the blood. Arislene told them doing so would gift each of them with the mark of The Phoenix and grant them a boon.

The Sphinx bid them return home and wait for her summons. They did as she instructed, returning home to find their mother awaiting them. She told them that a servant of the Seer had told her that her children were safe and with her in the tower on business for the Pharaoh. She asked them what they had been about and they told her that they had found the cats and returned them. She laughed saying she had suspected as much as the cats of their household had returned at dawn.

Several days past when Kato arrived at their door with a missive from the Seer requesting they meet her at noon in her tower. They arrived promptly and were shown into her presence where they found her in quiet discussion with a man robed in deep blue.

"Ah," she said standing, "you are here. These are the three I spoke of."

The figure stood and turned to them. Pushing back his hood the three beheld Pharaoh Ra-Solari. His young handsome face framed by the headpiece of his office.

"You have done your Pharaoh and the city a great service," he said looking at each in turn. "We are in your debt."

"It was our duty and honor, my Pharaoh," Kharu said as the siblings bowed to their lord.

"Stand," he bid them retrieving a small box from within his robes. He produced three gold signet rings, plain in their design and each bearing his seal.

"These will show you are in my service," he told them as he placed one in each of their hands. "Use them if needed, but do not abuse that which they convey."

He nodded to them, then stepped into a portal produced by the Seer and was gone from them.

This is where session one ended for our party. What does the future hold for them. They have the favor of the Pharaoh and have thwarted Set's plans to escape the Underworld, but in doing so have gained a terrible foe. Check back in with us in two weeks to see what happens next when we meet again, here in The Maze.