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Makin, Haldo and Long-shou strain to lever the limp body up enough in the hole for Faysal to retrieve the 2 leg bones and half of a skull and hand them up to Vadoma. He also finds very nice and rather undamaged studded leather armor as well as an old oiled sack that is tied off with thick red string.
'Hmm,' Makin murmurs to himself, looking over Long-Shou's shoulders and into the sack.
'He must have been a merchant or traveller of some sort with that much available cash on hand, maybe another lost soul on his way to Kelmarane, huh? But what does that wand do,' he wonders aloud. 'Maybe he was a travelling priest or wizard?'
The storm passes by less than an hour later and a gloomy silence hangs over the night as all the remaining life stays under cover. The rest of the night passes uneventful.
Garavel lights a fire and offers food and water to the party. He speaks of the day to come, "Tomorrow will be a long day. We will travel into the foothills of the Brazen Peaks and into the sight of Pale Mountain itself. My mistress has camped in the shadow of the Sultan's Claw where she will meet us and we will eat well before or trip into Kelmarane begins in earnest." and with that he pulls his shelter over him and begins to sleep.
As the night falls, Makin explores round the edge of the house and surroundings, using his wayfinder's light spell every ten minutes or so.
Perception 1+5=6! Critical Fail
Upon returning he sits down by the fire.
'I don't really see anything of interest out there, just the courtyard and this, all dust covered. So we'll bury those bones at sunrise, yes? With a prayer or two perhaps. Want me to value those gems in sack now, or will I wait 'til after?'
Faysal takes the second watch, and spends it looking at the stars for guidance, hoping some pattern will fall into place to make this all make sense.
While staring at the stars you see what appears to be 5 different falling stars 4 coming from each of the cardinal directions and converging above you in the sky. The fifth appears out of the point where they converged and gets brighter as it comes nearly straight toward you finally passing over head toward the north and disappearing. Something about the symbolism of the event seems familiar.
Before going to sleep Makin appraises the gems, then places them all back in the sack and places the sack back where he picked it up from.
For GM:
The morning comes with a blast of heat, as most of the party wipe the sand from their bodies Makin prepares breakfast. Garavel readies the camels and prepares to travel for the day.
After breakfast the party mounts up and begins the day's journey. After several hours you begin to see the jagged mountains of the Brazen Peaks rising up on your left. The terrain becomes more rocky as you start to move up in elevation. By mid afternoon you have come into the foothills and the western skyline is dominated by the immense Pale Mountain, rising up higher than all the other peaks, looming like a surreal shimmering tombstone.
As you top a small hill you see in the distance a craggy tree formed by five immense leafless branches. The tree looks more like a giant skeletal talon than a thing of living wood. "That must be the Sultan's Claw", you think as you get closer and see a half dozen wagons and a large tent clustered around the tree. Camels in a nearby pen prance in agitation, and a clutch of confused goats and livestock wander the grounds around the wagons. Perhaps a dozen men and women rush around the campsite, chasing down an animal or hastening toward the center of the cluster, near the Sultan’s Claw, with pails of water in their hands. One of the wagons is on fire!
Lush orange and red flames engulf an elaborate wooden wagon emblazoned with painted moons and stars. A gout of smoke pours from an open door, and as you approach an ill wind blows a number of colorful fortune-telling Harrow cards from inside the wagon. One of the singed cards floats in the wind and finds Long-Shou, catching against his chest in a burst of orange cinders. The card is the Cyclone, signifying a force that tears through whatever it meets at the behest of an intelligent being. The card portends war, arson, and destructive plans. As your gaze shifts back to the camp, the whole of the Sultan's Claw erupts into brilliant flame.
The central flap of an elaborate tent flies open and a regal woman who can only be Almah steps out into the firelit night. “Douse that flame!” she shouts to the men surrounding the wagon before turning in your direction. “Ah, Garavel!” she says. “And just a moment later than the nick of time, as usual.” Looking specifically past her major domo and directly at you, Almah barks out a simple order before running off toward the fire: “Find some way to help!”
The camp is in chaos, all of Almah's party are runnig frantically trying to save what they can:
Almah and Garavel run to aid four soldiers dressed in the distinctive red chitin-plate armor of the
Pactmaster Guard running back and forth between the burning fortune teller’s wagon and an uncovered wagon about 20 feet away. The latter contains a huge barrel holding enough drinking water to serve the entire campsite for a week. Near them four burly mercenaries struggle with an enclosed wooden wagon within feet of the burning wagon, hoping to move it to safety before an errant spark causes it too to burst into flame. Between you and the burning wagon a red-headed halfling kneels next to two severely burned mercenaries who tried to enter the burning wagon. He appears to be tending to one of the badly wounded mercenary but he is unable to focus on his second patient who lies near death from terrible burns and smoke inhalation. All the while a modest collection of pigs, goats, and sheep run wild. The flaming wagon has unsettled these creatures, which somehow escaped from their pen in the confusion surrounding the fire’s outbreak. The middleaged human camel driver and his wife do their best to wrangle the panicking animals, but their efforts are quickly being overrun by the chaos of the situation.
How can you help?
"What do you want me to do? Piss on it?" says the mercenary under his breath. Eventually he joins in the fire brigade.
Vadoma rushes to the animals, hoping to use her charm to gather them all in one place and quiet them down.
Makin jumps from his camel and rushes to grab a bucket to dowse the flames and yells "Someone stronger move that wagon!"
Vadoma finds a sheep and attempts to calm it down only causing it to run the other direction.
Faysal rushes to the 2 injured mercenaries and calls upon Irori as he channels a burst of positive energy healing both patients a bit as well as stabilizing the dying one.
Haldo grunts under his breath, "What do you want me to do? Piss on it?" then runs to grab a bucket also.
Long Shou runs to the unburned wagon to try and help the men move it.
Makin, Haldo, Almah, Garavel, and the four armored guards continue the bucket brigade tossing bucket after bucket on the burning wagon. Vadoma and the two animal handlers attempt to corner the panicking animals and Vadoma then casts a vivid cone of clashing colors knocking the animals unconscious as well as one of the animal handlers.
A crack of thunder startles everyone as water falls from the sky over the wagon that Long and the mercenaries are trying unsuccessfully to move, soaking them all.
"No matter how much you push, the mountain will not budge," mutters Long Shou to himself, dispiritedly. He tries again to help shove the wagon.
Haldo suddenly feels shame that he is doing so little to save the encampment. Fortunately, that feeling passes quickly as he makes a half-hearted attempt at pushing the burning wagon.
Vadoma checks to make sure that the handler that she accidentally slept is alright, and then makes a quick check to see if anyone else is hurt. Then she runs over to help move the wagon.
Makin throws his bucketful of water on the fire along with Almah, Garavel and the guards. With one final push Long, Haldo, Vadoma and the 4 others push the cart a way from the burning wagon. With a loud crack water rains from the sky above the burning wagon falling on it with a hiss of steam as the fire is extinguished.
"Right, anyone hurt?"As he scans the scene, he takes a specail look at his employer, to get a feel for what kind of person they are.
Sense Motive: 6+3= 9 ( Aduhh....)
The two injured mercenaries are still in bad condition. One is still unconscious but stable. The human tending the injured men is pouring potions into their mouth.
As everyone catches thier breath after the adrenaline rush of fighting a fire, Almah speaks out. "Garavel, I want you to get to the bottom of how this happened, and use your new friends! Since they were not here when it started I doubt they are involved., she says walking away seeming unfazed by the entire event.
The rest of Almah's party throw glances at each other knowing that they are now arson suspects, but they turn and return to their positions guarding Almah, cooking, and rounding up the animals.
Garavel turns to you and with a shrug says, "The burnt wagon belonged to Almah's personal fortuneteller Eloais. Being from Varisia his specialty was using a Harrow deck to divine answers." As the words leave his mouth you see what looks like tarot cards strew singed and damp around the camp, your thoughts drift back to the card that alit on Long's chest seconds after seeing the chaotic inferno. Garavel's voice snaps you back to the present, "Well at least we are not suspects, go investigate the wagon while I set up interviews with the rest of the caravan."
The charred wagon is nothing more than a charred wood skeleton covered in soot. A few broken bottles and potion vials litter the wreck as well as a cracked crystal ball. Along some of the flatter surface are pools of wax were candles once stood. In the center of the debris is the charred skeletal remains of what must be Eloais. The smell is awful but you have a job to do.
'Pretty woman,' Makin says, almost as if to himself, 'but she is going to be troublesome. Princesses!'
Sighing, Makin turns and whistles a sad tune as he walks over the the burned wreckage and begins to sort through it, picking his way delicately on his soft shoes towards the center and the charred remains. He squats down by the skeleton and and begins a thorough search of that and the surrounding caravan in a clockwise circle.