"Goodnight!" Rab-rab says. She gives her brother a hug goodnight when he tucks her in, and then she cuddles up with King Jack-jack and goes to sleep.
Drael follows the rest to their beds, too exhausted to prompt any of the discussion that will no doubt occur soon enough between Razif, Uzma, and Layaali.
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The gang wake up in the evening to the smell of some form of a roast emanating from the kitchens. Your stomachs refuse to allow you to return to sleep despite the aches emanating from the rest of your body, and you slowly make your way out of the dormitory to the mess hall to await the arrival of your breakfast and everyone else's dinner.
You socialise and catch up on the daytime happenings at the monastery as you sup on what the more alert of you recognise to be roast goat; you hope it isn't Rombard. During the day (as you slept), you learn from Vesper (sporting a well-oiled spiffy suit of leather armour) that the geier came back to tend to her eggs during the day and then left again. Otherwise, the patrols surrounding Kelmarane have continued unabated.
Min is still very weak!
Min spends some time studying his arcane tomes while sticking close to Rab-rab. He tries to help her train for a bit.
Then it is time to travel to Kelmarane and check out the tusks building.
Layaali spends her first hour kneeling in silent prayer. When it's over she eats and searches for the others.
"Are we ready to begin our attacks?"
His stomach filled, Razif nods. "Once we carry this out, there might not be any turning back: we might not have the freedom to take any more excursions. I don't believe there's any need, but..." A flash of realization dawns over Razif. "We... might want to return to the Nethys ruins. It had completely slipped my mind, but the Princess gave us a key that might be of use there."
"... though I guess it might be a little late to change plans. My apologies."
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As if on cue, Dashki comes to the mess hall, seeking you all out. He sits down roughly at your table, seemingly out of place - you've never seen him in the mess hall. His darting eyes move purposelessly as he leans in to Layaali and whispers...
He abruptly stands and leaves the mess hall without another glance.
Layaali nods at Dashki then turns to the others. "Definitely too late. The others are moving tonight. So should we."
"Hey! What's with the whispering Dashki? Is it a secret? Why only for Layaali? Do you want to kiss her? Do you love her?" Rab-rab puts her hands on her hips as he tries to leave. She calls loudly. "Huh? Tell me! Why are you running?"
When he's gone she sits down and crosses her arms. "I don't like secrets."
Min sighs. "Calm down and I'll tell you a secret."
Drael shakes his head, We should not rely on them hunting for longer than is necessary. I would think we do want to use the Three Jaws as a distraction, so that they do the brunt of the fighting for us.
Razif responds to Drael's words with a nod. "I agree. This fight is a perfect time for us to sneak in unnoticed. Best strike while the iron is hot, and it's not going to get much hotter than this!"
"Let's go. We can start at the edge near the Tusks building, and then the flying monster building, as planned."
Rab-rab calms down so she can hear Min's secret...
After he whispers in her ear she grins.
When Uzma says they should go visit the stupid temple instead of attacking like they promised they would Rab-rab shakes her head, hops up on her seat and puts one foot on the table. She points at Uzma. "No backing out now, coward! We're heading to Kelmarane and that's that!"
Min sighs. "Rab-rab, be careful. You could fall. Get off the table."
Rab-rab pouts. "FINE!"
Brothers!
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The gang head out of the monastery into the gathering dusk, intent upon Kelmarane and the dangers hidden within. Everyone is unnaturally quiet on the trip in, even the gnomes. Razif leads the way, well aware of the critical eyes on him each time he catches Uzma and Layaali's glance.
A cool breeze blows across the deserted pesh fields as the gang skirts the edge on their way north. The gathering night appears clear. Kelmarane's walls grow larger and larger still and at one point, Razif stops the group and examines the trodden earth carefully.
Nodding with satisfaction, Razif points out the tracks of a group of gnolls that have passed this way recently on their way towards Kelmarane. Razif asks Drael to use his ability to see in the gloom to determine what awaits them ahead along the entrance to the city walls. Drael steps up and peers into the darkness.
Drael indicates that the sentry post into Kelmarane appears vacant at present.
The adventuring gang continues forward cautiously, making use of stealth to cover the last remaining yards to the walls of the occupied city of Kelmarane.
Layaali and Razif have no trouble in sticking to shadows, but Drael requires assistance from the desert guide Uzma in staying low, and Rab-rab needs to be reminded more than once by Min to keep her voice down as the group reaches the walls of the city. Once at the entrance, the reason for the unmanned state of the city gate becomes immediately obvious: a pair of broken gnoll bodies lay crumpled at the foot of the wall just inside the gates, blood stains smearing the sands where the bodies were dragged recently.
The night is upon you all. An occasional yip or growl comes to your ears distantly from within the hills of the city of Kelmarane.
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The main road leading through Kelmarane is not very well illuminated. The gang creeps through the gloomy darkness, peeking at the ruined and desolate buildings, jumping at every small noise. Most of the buildings are little more than ruined foundations and parts of walls, but a few intact structures remain. The gang come up on one such building on their left after about ten minutes of sneaking between buildings. The door-less entrance of the building leads into darkness.
Rab-rab walks in the middle of the group with Jack-jack at her feet and right beside her brother. She heads into the building and looks around -- but it's too dark to see!
Min walks beside his sister. When they get into the building he says, "Lookoo bookoo!"
Four magical floating lanterns appear in the air in front of him. He points into the dark building and lanterns fly inside, lighting the place up.
Min looks around.
Drael turns around and gestures frantically at Min, Keep those close to you, they're going to light up the whole building so people know we're here. If you can control how many of those things you summon, only have one and make sure it isn't going to be visible to the rest of the city.
"Not all can see as you do, Drael," Layaali reminds him. "You cannot expect them to walk into a building blind."
Layaali follows the gnomes into the building.
Drael nods, I had forgotten, and the spell is smartly used, I'm just concerned that four will draw too much attention. I suppose we'll find out soon enough.
"Just in case, I'll stick to the doorway and keep a lookout. It might be dark, but I trust my ears. If things go badly inside, just do a quick whistle and I'll come in immediately."
Razif leans against the outer wall and keeps his ears open.
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Drael, Layaali, and the gnomes (and their dancing lights) enter the darkened building while Uzma and Razif stand guard outside. Within, the group finds a completely deserted building that - despite collapsed rafters and beams - still sports four sturdy walls and most of a roof; it would be a good shelter/temporary resting spot for future forays.
Outside the ruined building, Uzma and Razif ignore their non-darkvision eyes and concentrate on their other senses in order to provide surveillance.
Suddenly, an extraordinarily loud yelping howl comes from somewhere within the city to the west of your position. You've heard this howl from outside of the walls of the city of Kelmarane before, but the sheer volume of sound this close shakes you to your core.
The immense howl trails off and after a few moments an answering howl can be heard far, far away.
Razif whispers. "I'm not hearing any gnolls close by. Looks like we mig-"
His words are interrupted by the howl. His eyes widen and he looks around, but takes a sigh of relief when he realizes the loud howl is still a fair distance away.
"That howl again..." He shudders slightly. "Whatever's causing it, we're going to be facing it down sooner, rather than later. We'd best get used to the noise. Are you alright, Uzma?"
Min explores the ruined building sticking his magical lanterns in every nook and cranny. "Hmmm... Looks empty!"
He turns to leave when he hears the terrifying howl. "Aaaaah!" He grabs shrieks and then grabs onto his sister. "Are you okay, Rab-rab?"
When he sees she's fine he turns and looks around in fear. "Do you see anything?!"
After a little while he calms down. "I think we're safe."
Min moves to leave the building and right before he does he makes his lanterns vanish.
Then he heads outside.
Rab-rab hides behind her brother and gives him a big hug. "Yikes!"
Even after the howling stops Rab-rab walks right beside her brother, hugging his arm tight!
"This place is spooky!"
Layaali suppresses a shudder. There was evil in this place. She had to find its source! For the good of all of Katapesh!
Despite her fear, Layaali is determined. she stays on guard beside the gnomes until the sounds fade into silence.
When it's over she finishes helping search the room, then heads back outside with the others.
"We need to press on. Be alert."
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The gang, led by Razif's ears and Drael's eyes, make their way slowly along the main road leading into Kelmarane. Up ahead, the sound of rushing water can be heard, signalling the gang's proximity to the Pale River as it winds through the northeastern corner of the ruined town.
A second building with largely-intact walls looms to the right of the group's advance. Fire claimed much of this building ages ago, leaving behind only a partially collapsed shell.
Layaali heads inside the building and looks around.
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The oracle with the gilded eyes moves into the burnt-out building and looks around. She sees nothing of immediate interest within the ruined entrance to the large building that appears to have once been some form of a market hall.
"There's something moving in there," Layaali tells her companions. "I can't see it, though. Come on."
Layaali heads inside with her crossbow drawn and loaded.
Drael moves slowly, doing his best to be quiet. Once he recognizes the sign, he stops, making sure the others have followed close behind him. We've reached the slave market.
As Layaali warns them about movement, he peers forward, doing his best to see what she has heard.
Rab-rab leans over and whispers (rather uncharacteristically) to Min. "Turn on your lights, Min! I can't see..."
Once he does she heads inside and looks around.
"I don't see anything."
"Lookoo bookoo!"
Four more magical lanterns appear and fly off into the ruins to light them up.
"There. Now we can all see."