FRIDAY, MAY 1ST - KINGDOM OF KESHANAR : SESSION 7 RECAP
The siblings found themselves in the private study of the Pharaoh, He gestured for them to follow him and they silently obeyed. He led them through the opulent halls of the palace, then down a stairway into an area heavily guarded by the centaur soldiers of the Pharaoh’s personal guard and several large, heavily armored Duskers.
He led them into the Vault and there he turned to them, surrounded by the riches of the Pharaoh, enough treasure to buy a kingdom.
“I want the three of you to trust me,” he said, gesturing at the wealth around him. “I would bequeath to each of you an item that will aid you in your search for the relic.”
He gifted to Kharu a mystic stone that he said would help to protect the Warlock in battle. To Khephri he gave an enchanted khopesh to replace the mundane one she carried. He told them these items were enchanted in such a way that they would grow in power and those bonded to them grew in experience. Ra-Solari told Zafira that she would keep the Dagger of Khonsu and use it as her own as it seemed the God of the Moon meant for her to have it.
The three thanked him and then made their way back to the tower of the Seer. There they advised Arislene that they would depart in the morning to the desert wastes, using the dagger to point them in the direction of the treasure they sought. With that they took their leave to make preparations. On their way back to their family’s home they stopped at a stable to secure mounts. They thought it important to get mounts that would not be hindered by the burning sands so they opted for Dusker camels, so they would not need to worry with taking provisions and water for them. They also hired a street urchin boy, Peshet, who would help carry their supplies, make their camp, and assist them with other tasks on their journey.
The next morning they set out into the sands, headed north with the dagger guiding them. They thought they were being followed so they changed their course several times, using the dunes to break line of sight and having Peshet go along behind them to cover their tracks the best he could.
The sands were endless, the sun mercilessly hot, but they had secured an Alchemy Jug to supply them with fresh water on their journey so they would not worry about thirst. They traveled for several days before they encountered anything else alive; a pack of Gnolls that were out hunting stumbled across their camp. The fight was fierce, with the fierce monster rushing them thinking to break the resolve of the party with their war cries and savagery. At one point it appeared the tactic might work before the siblings were able to turn the tide and defeat the monsters.
Several more days past with strange sighting in the distance, a very close call with a large sandstorm that if not for the sharp eyes of Peshet they may have missed, but the boy got them to circle their camels and use them as wind breaks, wrapping themselves in the canvas tents they had brought with them. It took some time to dig out afterwards, but they were safe from the desert’s fury.
Nearly a week passed before they encountered danger again, this time in the form of an ambush beetle, attracted to the motion of their movement and ravenously hungry. It attacked the lead camel, ridden by Khephri with Peshet behind her. The beetle’s powerful bite crushed the front leg of the camel, sending it crashing to the ground. The sudden collapse of their mount sent Peshet to the ground near to the giant insect, while the Paladin managed to keep her place in the saddle, riding her stricken mount down to the ground.
The beetle abandoned the camel and went after more appealing prey, Peshet. It grappled him with its pincers, pulling him in, the damage nearly slaying the boy instantly and would have if not for the fast reactions of Zafira who used Healing Word to keep him alive. The fight was fierce, but the superior numbers of the party eventually overwhelmed the ambush beetle, but not before it nearly bit their hireling, Peshet, in half tossing his lifeless form into the sands.
Once the fight was over the siblings buried the unfortunate boy in the dunes with his few meager possessions and Kephri saying a prayer over his grave. They felt the loss of Peshet, guilt over not being able to save him, and perhaps over putting him in harm's way in the first place. The three all coped with his death in quiet reflection as they pushed onward into the desert.
Days passed as they continued further into the vast wastelands. As they camped on the fourth night after the death of Peshet, Kharu was on watch when he heard the sound of distant thunder. Odd, he thought. No clouds in the sky as he looked up at the moons and stars. It was then that he saw a lightning flash, but something about it struck him as odd. The fork was smallish, and not as bright as some he had seen before. He noticed a second fork of lightning, but this time he noticed it flashed up towards the sky from the ground some distance away, not down from the sky. When it came time for Khephri’s watch he advised her of the strange phenomenon, and turned in to rest.
The next morning, the three decided to avoid the area where they saw the lightning, and they made their way wide of the spot. As they passed and she looked back, Zafira noticed what looked like sparkling stones and she mentioned it to her sister. The two decided to turn back and investigate, despite Kharu’s warnings that it was not safe and they had no time. As usual the sisters only laughed at their brother’s protests and continued back to the site.
When they arrived they found what appeared to be lightning strikes on the ground and the glittering that Zafira had seen were in fact Sol Stones. These precious stones were solanite brought to the surface of the sands and encapsulated in sand turned to glass by the strikes of lightning. The stones had the property of absorbing sunlight during the day and glowing at night. The stones were valuable and prized by city inhabitants as a means of illumination without the use of fuel. Zafira climbed down and immediately began stuffing the stones into a bag.
It was then that the Catharan Sand Snake attacked, a blue scaled reptile with bony spikes that crackled with electrical energy. The creature bit Zafira, arcs of electricity striking her and causing her to cry out. Khephri and Kharu made short work of the monster and urging their sister back onto the camel, the rushed away from the area as the sand boiled around them and more of the snakes appeared from their burrows.
The next day they discovered what appeared to be stone obelisk jutting out of the sand, leaning at an odd angle. Investigating they found the faces worn smooth by exposure to winds and sand. Kharu used his ability to translate any written language to make out a few of the symbols, but out of context the words he could discern made little sense. They moved around the area looking for other clues, but did find several pieces of jewelry and simple weapons buried in the sands.
After two more days they found a vast stretch of the desert where there were no dunes, just flat sand as far as they could see. Traveling for several more hours they found a simple black temple, open to the air with large, unadorned columns of dark stone supporting a simple slab roof. In the middle of the floor they could see a simple stone altar crafted of the same dark stone as the rest of the structure.
Entering the structure it suddenly grew dark. Turning back to the desert it now appeared to be night, the sun gone, a cool wind blowing into the temple interior. The three looked at one another, what was happening? Had they moved in time? To another place?
Turning to the altar they saw moonlight shine down in a cascade of pure silver light through an opening in the ceiling to strike the surface of the altar. Looking down at it Zafira held the dagger over it and noticed a fissure open in the stone. Inserting the dagger, blade down, she felt it pulled from her hand and then a portal opened. On the other side they could make out what appeared to be a room of stone of some sort. Without a word Zafira stepped into the portal and was gone. Her siblings followed after.
On the other side they found themselves in a round room with an open arch on the wall opposite of where they entered. Looking back they found the portal was gone. They could see four oil lanterns, three lit and one unlit. Kharu moved over and lit it with his flint and steel. When the last lantern was lit several stone in the floor glowed with a soft light green light before dimming and returning to normal. The three discussed and decided to extinguish the lantern and relight it, watching to mark the stones that glowed thinking they would light a path across the room. Leaping from stone to stone they made their way across the room, the other, unlit stones falling away into what appeared to be bottomless abyss. A couple of near falls, but they made their way safely across the room and exited.
They found a short corridor that ended in a stone door with a heavy rope pull set into it to pull it open. As Kharu grabbed the rope and pulled it, it changed into a snake and bit him. Despite the damage, the Tiefling was able to fight off the effects of the burning poison he felt enter his body.
Making their way into the next room they found it covered in sand. As the door behind them closed of its own accord, the room began to brighten. Suddenly they found themselves standing in the desert, the sun high in the sky with a shimmering portal standing in the air about one hundred feet from where they stood. As they watched the sand in front of them began to rise, taking on a hulking humanoid shape covered in colorful, ceremonial armor. A sand golem!
The fight was fierce, the golem’s reach being far greater than the siblings would have thought. Kharu fell to the hammering strikes of the golem, before Khephri used her enchanted blade fueled with the divine energy of her goddess finally brought the construct down, the ceremonial armor and golden death mask clattering on stone as the sand vanished and the desert faded into the unadorned room of a tomb.
This is where we left off with our session. Our next session is Friday, May 8th. Stay tuned to see what awaits the party as they move deeper into this dungeon. Keep your torches lit adventurers and we will see you back here next time, in The Maze.
