Zuberi examines the chest. "Horek is right, opening it is not the problem. Drink a little water Tollo to take the edge off from the heat and take your time with it. The heat gets at everyone's nerves. Thankfully with Drimm we don't have to worry overly much about water, I hate to say it my dwarven friend but until we get to the mountains you're the most important person here between supplying water and magical healing. I'd feel a lot less confident about our odds if you weren't here."
"Oh, so suddenly we're not in a big hurry to reach the mountains? Fine. Go ride your pony, Loges, it looks bored."
Loges looks at the horse.
Zed looks at Loges.
They both look at Tollo and begin laughing.
Tollo takes his time with the old lock, using a variety of picks, files, hooks, and other assorted instruments to tease it open. The magical horse summoned by Loges comes over to see what all the commotion is about, but quickly wanders off again to stand next to the wizard.
Finally the lock pops open. Inside are several items carefully wrapped in cloth: one large one and two smaller ones, along with a leather purse of some kind.
Tollo wipes the sweat from his brow, satisfied that he finally coaxed the lock open. He unpacks the contents of the box, leaving the bundles for his companions to open while he looks at the purse.
Seeing his comrades are still badly wounded, Drimm once again calls upon his god-gifted powers to heal.
Channel Positive Energy:
The purse seems to be filled with silver and electrum coins of mixed origin. You notice a few are definitely from the Empire of Kelesh, a few Osirian but a few are stamped with figures and symbols you are unfamiliar with. Some with an eye with five stars below it, and others are marked with a five-pointed star.
Tollo grumbles about the worthless junk coins before holding up the one with the five pointed star.
"Huh. Asmodeus coin. Probably from Cheliax."
"Agreed, Zuberi. We must protect Drimm at all costs during our journey. If he had fallen to that giant scorpion... Horek trails off, then takes a peek at the treasure himself. Interesting stuff, and the coin will certainly be handy. But the impressions on them are all very odd to the half-orc.
Timbur moves over to carefully unwrap the large bundle.
The larger bundles contain two groups of items: The larger is a partially broken statuette made of a dark stone streaked with green that depicts a bearded man holding a balance in his left hand. His right arm is broken off just below the elbow. The statuette does not look familiar to any of you.
The smaller bundles contain three dried mushrooms in small boxes marked with a five-pointed star.
Drimm gruffly acknowledges Zuberi and Horek's comments, but inside he is quite proud to be such an important member of this group.
He looks over the coins with some interest...more for their provenance than any monetary value they might possess.
Appraise:
Religion:
Horek believes this would be an ideal spot to rest, if they are within an hour or two of their planned stop to avoid the mid-day heat. If not, he leads the way south, using his skills at survival to help find food.
Loges cast detect magic on the found items and coins.
Those mushrooms have a magical curation arcana. If eaten, they will act as one of Drimm's cure light wounds spells.
Horek looks dubiously at Loges, then nods and reaches out to take one of the mushrooms. "I will trust you, friend Loges. Though I do not normally eat... fungus." The half-orc shudders, then consumes the small plant. It actually isn't half bad, he mentally concedes...
HP healed (presuming it works...)
As the party still has a few hours' of travel ahead of them, the half-orc moves out after a short break next to the dragon skeleton and the carcass of the giant scorpion. As night falls, some of the nocturnal denizens of the desert make an appearance. Horek is able to bag a non-venomous snake, a wild pig, and an edible cactus that also provides a bit of water by using his throwing axe from ambush (though the cactus didn't actually require a surprise attack), which he cooks up over that evening's fire. It is enough for three people, but he stretches the find to supplement other consumables they retrieved from the ruined campsite earlier in the day.
An hour or so after the battle, Horek begins to feel a little lightheaded. He doesn't think twice about it, guessing that it most likely is being caused by blood loss, and goes off into the desert to hunt. Although he is successful in his endeavor, it is an experience he will never forget. The snake he kills is wearing a top hat with a feather in it and screams like a child when he hits it. When he is stalking the pig, it suddenly dissolves into a puddle of water before reforming just before he fells it with his axe. But the most interesting encounter is with the cactus. As Horek is about to harvest it, a vertical fold in the plant turns into a mouth and begins questioning the half-orc about why it should give his life for him. It listens carefully to Horek's explanation, and finally agrees to offer up itself so that he and his companions may eat, but asks that the half-orc bury any part of it that he doesn't consume and say blessings to Gozreh for the sacrifice. All of this seems a bit unusual to Horek, but not strange enough to make him questions its validity.
Watching the 1/2 orc walk off, the young wizard thinks:
The odds of them having any side affects are small...
Horek's eyes are vaguely glazed as he eats by the campfire, staring vacantly at the stars above and mumbling every now again. "I don't know where the top hat went... But I don't like how it cried... It made me... sad... The pig doesn't taste too watery does it? Have any of you heard of Gozreh? We have to bury what's left of the cactus and say thanks... He was very nice, but I didn't know plants could talk..."
Timbur scratches his head. He turns to Loges, saying, ”Sometimes I wish I was smarter. I don’t understand anything he just said.”
Tollo listens to Horek's ramblings, slowly chewing his pork. He swallows, then runs a finger on the tip of a crossbow bolt.
"Ouch! That smarts! Let me have one of those healing mushrooms, my boon comrades 'fore I expire!"
Zuberi stops as he's about to take another bite from the pig and looks at Horek. "A talking cactus, you talked to the cactus and killed it?" Zuberi looks confused, that didn't sound right... you did hear outlandish tales about plant people but...
He looks over at the others "There's nothing in the ahm, food Horek got for us that might cause us to... how do I say this?" Zuberi sighs "Has Horek accidentally drugged us? Am I going to start talking about Gozreh with plants in hats or did he actually find a magic talking plant... I don't like any of these options."
Tollo takes another bite of the food and thinks about it.
"Nah. If we were I think my mouth would be numb by now... or maybe it has delayed after effects?"
He looks at his hand in the firelight, though he's disappointed to find it less fascinating than he had hoped.
Loges smiles at Timbur.
Sometime, my friend, I wish that I was smarter.
Horek seems to focus slightly at the conversation and looks at Zuberi. "Silly human. It was the snake that wore the hat. Not the cactus." Then his his eyes glaze over again and he slowly topples over, fortunately missing the fire. Any question as to whether the half-orc just keeled over dead is answered firmly a few moments later when he begins to snore...
"The snake of course... lets hope he can sleep it off. I can't do anything for him like this as it is." He was unhappy with having to say that, finally with the scorpion he had a chance to contribute but missed with the javelin.
The next few days pass uneventfully as you slowly make your way across the desert toward the mountains. Resting during the hottest portion of the day helps you conserve energy, while limiting your travel to the coolest part makes the trip a bit more bearable. On day two you decide to head toward an obvious cleft in the mountains, but are stopped when another sand and dust storm looms up from the east.
You hunker down as best you can, securing your remaining goods, and huddle into two tents. Luckily this storm is not as bad as the last, and you ride it out in only a few hours. Afterwards, you are packing up the goods and tents when one of your companions, Abdul, is bitten by a snake. He cries out in pain, clutching at his leg as the snake scurries off as fast as it can.
Hearing the man cry out in pain, Drimm hurries over and assess the wound.
"Don't suppose you know if it was a poisonous snake or not? Well, let's just be on the safe side.'
Healing:
The wound is a clean puncture just above the man's ankle, and has already begun to swell and turn red.
Abdul, clutching his leg in agony, seems currently unable to answer the dwarf's question, although the snake itself is still within sight, less than 20 feet from the party.
Zuberi tosses a javelin at the retreating snake, it might duck behind cover before he can but he thinks if he can get the snakes corpse the more bush craft focused members of the group could identify if it was poisonous.
"I think you have to suck the poison out!", Tollo says, helpfully. Then stares at everyone else as they expect him to do it.
"Ugh, fine."
The Mauxi's spear pierces the snake, pinning it to the ground. Zaaid rushes over to the creature to look at it. He makes a hissing sound as he sucks in breath through his teeth and turns to the group.
"It is a carpet viper. Very dangerous and poisonous."
Tollo sucks on the caravan guard's leg wound, hoping to draw out the poison as best you can and spit it out on the ground.
Horek hovers over the scene, offering his own assistance if he can. "I am beginning to dislike this desert." The half-orc rumbles.
to help with this natural hazard, maybe?
Tollo wipes off his lips.
"Uh thuhn huhll buh ukuh.", he says, drooling slightly.
Drimm's spell combined with Tollo's tender ministrations save Abdul's life. He lies on the sand, still in obvious pain.
"Thank you," he mutters weakly, sitting up and grabbing both Tollo and Drimm by the arm and giving them a squeeze. "That is twice now ... that you have saved my life. I hope I can repay this debt in time."
Horek kneels down in front of the halfling, his eyes reflecting deep concern. "Tollo! Are you well? Did you swallow some of the poison?" The half-orc is unsure of what to do, and so thwacks the diminutive rogue hard on the back, hoping it will help him to spit whatever he’s swallowed back up.
Tollo winces as Horek smacks his back and Abdul offers gratitude. He points at his lips.
"Uh'm fuhn! Uh'm fuhn! Muh luhffs uh juzz nuhhm.", he says, rubbing his back.
Loges offers any arcane assistance that he can while traveling. The young wizard seems to be adjusting to his environment. He has even adopted the desert style of clothing, along with a facial covering.
The wizard converses with each member of the group, practising his language skills and learning more about the natural environment.
”Maybe someone needs to suck the poison off his lips,” Timbur suggests, moving dangerously close to Tollo.
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You don't see Tollo grab the dagger from his boot- it's just in his hand. There's a murderous gleam in his eye as he points it at Timbur.
"Uh wuhll cut yuh uhf yuh truh.", he says, backing away.
He gestures to poor Abdul lying on his back.
"Guht huhm uh! Luhz guh!", he says, gesturing toward the mountains.
Maybe if it seems that he isn't recovering, Timbur.
"He's making a bit more sense now. Maybe the poison makes you numb. The snake bite Abdul it darted away before seeing the impact. Poison your prey and move off to make it take effect. But I think Tollo is right, we need to get moving again. If it is safe to do so and he is willing I could carry Abdul for a while as he regains his strength."
At the sudden reaction of Tollo, the half-orc grins with humor and relief, then stands. "He must be fine, and as angry as always. At least we won't have to listen to his complaining." Horek grins slyly at the others, his back still turned to the halfling, and then becomes somber as Zuberi speaks up. "That is good. When you need a break, tell me and we will switch off as we travel." The half-orc finishes breaking camp and then takes the lead again as the group moves on, the cleft in the mountains beginning to loom closer with every step. Horek is hopeful that there will be some respite from the terrible heat once they gain the defile.
You continue heading toward the cleft in the mountains, which turns out to be a narrow canyon between two towering peaks, still at least a half day's travel away. The land begins to rise as you head toward the gap and the ground becoming rockier and less sandy. A few hours after sunset you make camp on the leeward side of a large boulder, and settle down for the night.
Abdul's leg is still bothering him, but his complexion has become healthier and he seems to be on the mend. "I only hope we can find something in these hills," he mutters over your meager supper. "I worry that we have seen no signs of those who attacked our caravan. Perhaps they never came this way."
-----
The next morning you head out again in the predawn. As the run rises you get a better view of the break in the mountains and notice that both sides of the canyon's entrance have been quarried. Large blocks of stone have been cut from the mountainside, and there are broken rocks strewn everywhere. The canyon (which is still a half-mile from your current location) is quite narrow and shrouded in shadow in the early morning light.
A large raptor circles far overhead, riding the thermals coming off the desert.
Horek moves toward the shadowed canyon, keeping a close eye out for predators and the like. [b]"Looks like this stone was cut. Strange for being so far from any towns or cities." The half-orc remarks as he leads the party into the mountain pass.