|
"Warpac, my friend," Xûll pats the dwarf on the shoulder in a friendly manner, "You do not need to do much to ride a mount in a procession. Simply sit on the saddle, feet in the stirrups and hold on to the reigns. Pull left to go left, right to go right... easy! Now, doing tricks or forcing a camel to do something it doesn't want to do, that takes effort. Luckily, Pooka here can do the handling for you."
"Well, I'm actually pretty good at animal handling myself, though we dwarves usually use them as beasts of burden instead of actually mounting the things. It looks... dangerous. But, I will give it a try."
The Shoanti looks unsure at Amarok's suggestion, "Using the geode was supposed to be for when we found one of the famous jewels or the Diamond Sage, was it not? As I recall, the thing will only work once. I think we can deal with a few Aspis agents without needing to bother the Sapphire Sage."
"That's what I remember too. Best to keep it back for its intended purpose."
"So, we mount up on camels... and try to rest where we can easily see the approach of any adversaries. I suggest we do not run but fight should it come to that. I do not think we will be more skilled at a mounted race than we are at the more martial skills we possess. I'm sure that with Amarok at the lead, we can also improve a little on Cutie Pie's chosen route, here."
"Sounds like a good plan," Warpac responds though as he does so he gives the camel a strange look. "Those beasts look a bit high. I don't suppose they come in a shorter size? I can't see how this can end well unless I take off my armor. Will this route allow the use of a cart, do you suppose? Could we give this riding thing a try BEFORE we set off?"
|
"Ah, while I have a feeling that I will look quite ridiculous on a camel, though our mission has the feel of urgency to it. I may have to memorize Speak with animals to remind the beast that if it bites, I bite back." Korasu's beak splits in a wide grin.
Korasu joins Xull in gathering info from the Bazaar, making a note to have his caravan stop in here on the next journey.
|
|
I am going to assume that Warpac gets his wish and is able to give riding a camel at more than a walk a try.
Well, that served its purpose. After he mounts, with great difficulty (since he is not willing to remove his armor) he starts flicking the reins. As soon as it starts walking, Warpac immediately feels himself start to slide. But then the camel breaks into whatever serves for a trot and a small O of surprise shows on his face as he completes the slide and ends up slamming into the ground head-first. An "ooomph" or the equivalent bursts from his throat as he lands. Surprisingly, he quickly rolls around and bounces to his feet in short order.
"Good thing dwarves have such hard heads. Looks like that answers THAT question. There is no way I'm riding one of those. I'm walking or we can get a cart and I can ride in that! I MIGHT be able to manage without the armor, but since we expect trouble that would be foolish."
|
"Xull, I couldn't have said it better myself. You guys are amazing at the stuff you can find out by talking to the locals, I am truly impressed." Pooka says as he busies himself adjusting harnesses and tack lines for the camels he procured while everyone else was out.
"Haha! Warpac, you crack me up." Pooka gets a good, halfling styled belly laugh as Warpac dusts himself off.
"Don't worry my friend. You can ride with me, I'll take the reins. Just sit on this saddle here, put your feet here, and hang on to these handles. It won't be any worse than a trip through the gloomspires on a sloop. Just don't hang on to me or we'll both go over! Ha!"
|
|
"Haha! Warpac, you crack me up." Pooka gets a good, halfling styled belly laugh as Warpac dusts himself off.
"Don't worry my friend. You can ride with me, I'll take the reins. Just sit on this saddle here, put your feet here, and hang on to these handles. It won't be any worse than a trip through the gloomspires on a sloop. Just don't hang on to me or we'll both go over! Ha!"
Why am I not feeling better about this? Well worse thing that could happen is I land on my head again and end up walking anyway.
"OK, Pooka, we can give it a try. Were you planning on riding a camel too? I don't think that your wee mount can carry me. With gear I probably weigh over 300 pounds. "
|
Toorin prepares his horse for the journey and rides it around as Warpac tries to ride the camel. "Don't worry so much. I don't know any fancy riding skills yet. I am quick to dismount if it looks like trouble. I might land on my head if we get into a chase, but it's a risk I'm willing to take to have a chance of beating our competition to the site."
|
Xûll punches his camel in the face as it reaches for his apple.
"I am eager to be off," he says to no-one in particular, "Any reason we are delayed?"
|
|
Amarok shrugs after the replies given about the geode, "Merely a suggestion, I was not sure if it did only have one use, maybe er should have asked to clarify Ineill remember to do so in the future." He firmly agrees with thenpurchase of the camels and examines the map and the information given by his travelling companions.
"We only delay so that we know we are well prepared, deserts are sure killers if you are not. Turin my friend, I have acquired some more scrolls of mage armour, if you do not mind using them on myself if needed?"
|
|
"Haha! Warpac, you crack me up." Pooka gets a good, halfling styled belly laugh as Warpac dusts himself off.
"Don't worry my friend. You can ride with me, I'll take the reins. Just sit on this saddle here, put your feet here, and hang on to these handles. It won't be any worse than a trip through the gloomspires on a sloop. Just don't hang on to me or we'll both go over! Ha!"
Why am I not feeling better about this? Well worse thing that could happen is I land on my head again and end up walking anyway.
"OK, Pooka, we can give it a try. Were you planning on riding a camel too? I don't think that your wee mount can carry me. With gear I probably weigh over 300 pounds. "
"Ha! Hahaha! No, friend. We will not be both riding Luna. Though wee mount is a bit understating it. Her shoulders nearly match your own. Ha!" Pooka chuckles as the group moves through the bazaar to the nearby stable to rent out some camels.
"I just need to stop off here and pick up a few things on pathfinder credit, if you catch my drift." Pooka winks.
The trek across the monotonous desert has passed uneventfully for the Pathfinders with the exception of the struggles of Warpac and his camel mount.
The assistance of Pooka and the reassuring hands of Xull and Korasu have kept the dwarf upright through much of the journey, and sideways for only a small part. Taking frequent breaks for water and driving the camels at a good pace have seen the Pathfinders make better than expected time over the desert. They feel confident that they must surely be closing the gap on the group that has sent out before them.
In the distance looms the oasis depicted on Grandmaster's Torches map. They Pathfinders know that this is their last stop before heading towards the ruins that Torch claimed held one or more sage jewels.
The oasis shimmers like a sapphire in the midday heat. Life clings around its edges tenaciously, with only a few hardy plants nestled amid the rocks managing to survive in patches around the area. Finches bathe in the water, resting on an abandoned harness. Trash and castoffs from travelers litter the area, and a small brick hearth is the only permanent fixture.
Though they are trying to stay hidden, the Pathfinder can notice a small band of gnolls hiding on the north side of the oasis.
|
|
"Haha! And now we have some fun, right Xull?" Pooka excitedly spurs Luna into action, circling around the far west side of the oasis.
The trek thus far had been long and boring, with nothing but sand to look at for miles around. Somehow worse than being at sea.
Pooka draws his lance out as he expertly moves his mount to circle and flank the outnumbered gnolls.
"See that Luna? Twisted versions of you. They think they are better than you. Let's show them what a true dog is!"
Only moments ago Pooka was enjoying a good laugh with the surly dwarf, poking fun at his skill at riding. The dwarf seemed to be playing along, despite his attempts to remain gruff in the miserable conditions.
A fight was sure to cheer him up as well.
Pooka and Luna scamper to a more aggressive location while Toorin casts protective magics on Amarok,
|
|
"Fun indeed!" Xûll trots happily around the opposite side to Pooka, eager to have at these gnolls. He draws his newly enchanted nodachi as he goes, giving it a few experimental swings.
"Always good to have something evil to kill! As my friend Lort would say," Xûll's voice begins to increase in volume, "Great exercise! Ha!"
|
|
"Thankyou, friend Toorin, I shall keep them covered."
Spotting the hidden hyena like creatures, Amarok darts forwards towards the oasis, staying pretty central between Pooka and Xull to give them cover. His newly enchanted bow in hand he nocks one of his arrows made of cold iron and readies it, pointing across the Oasis towards the hidden Gnolls.
|
|
I hope this works
Goading his camel into the best speed he can (full camel move), Warpac rushes forward, hoping against hope that he gets reasonably close before he falls.
Surprisingly, perhaps because he forgot how bad a rider he is in the rush of the moment, Warpac gets a full move while mounted!
In common he shouts "If you mean to be peaceful, you had better speak up quick, though I rather hope you don't."
Seeing the companions advance upon them, the gnolls fire arrows from the relative safety behind the oasis.
Glen lines Warpac up in his sights, and George and Gray fire upon Xull.
Unsurprising, all the arrows fly wide.
Warpac feels the sand shift beneath him. Suddenly a sinkhole appears and Warpac and the camel find themselves falling and sliding towards a huge maw with five-tentacles whipping frenetically about.
Warpac and the camel have fallen prone and are now entangled.
The creature bites down on Warpac and now has the dwarf firmly in its mouth.
A grappled creature cannot use Stealth to hide from the creature grappling it, even if a special ability, such as hide in plain sight, would normally allow it to do so. If a grappled creature becomes invisible, through a spell or other ability, it gains a +2 circumstance bonus on its CMD to avoid being grappled, but receives no other benefit.
Entangled: The character is ensnared. Being entangled impedes movement, but does not entirely prevent it unless the bonds are anchored to an immobile object or tethered by an opposing force. An entangled creature moves at half speed, cannot run or charge, and takes a –2 penalty on all attack rolls and a –4 penalty to Dexterity. An entangled character who attempts to cast a spell must make a concentration check (DC 15 + spell level) or lose the spell.
Prone: The character is lying on the ground. A prone attacker has a –4 penalty on melee attack rolls and cannot use a ranged weapon (except for a crossbow). A prone defender gains a +4 bonus to Armor Class against ranged attacks, but takes a –4 penalty to AC against melee attacks.
The monster takes a viscous slash from Korasu, but still retains its bite on Warpac.
|
|
"Warpac!" Pooka shouts in surprise as the sinkhole opens up beneath him. He immediatly turns his focus from the gnolls to the revealed monster that looks as though it is about to swallow his dwarven companion whole.
"Stupid beast, you'll find that dwarves are hard to swallow, and even harder with a lance in your throat!"
Pooka kicks Luna into gear, urging her forward before leaning slightly into a better attack angle. He lowers his lance lip, prepared to plunge it deeply into the monster.
for
Xull moves forward and slices his gnoll in two, causing the other gnolls to look on in alarm.
Pierced from an arrow from the calm monk, combined with the slash from an unseen foe, the halfling's lance is enough to destroy the dust digger and Warpac is unceremoniously dumped to the sand next to his camel.
The camel turns to him and spits right into his face, before baying and walking over to munch on some grass.
Glen and George once again take a shot at the advancing Xull, before moving back into the desert
An arrow lodges firmly into Xull's shoulder, barely missing his heart.
|
|
Seeing the Gnoll attack Xull and then run, Amarok speeds past the oasis to get a clear shot, stopping and seeing a nice path between the two boulders and spying the back of his fleeing pray, Amarok draws back his bow and lets fly.
"I cannot allow you to go free to harm other travellers." he says, almost sadly.
|
|
"Hahaha! Cower in fear mongrels! Lamashtu is a weakling not fit for suckling on even my teets!" Pooka taunts.
He spins around and kicks Luna into another charge, turning hard around the foliage. He grins broadly as he dips his weight off to the side, giving his mount the counterbalance needed to maintain her speed through the sharp turn.
for
Pooka once again comes crashing down on a foe, bouncing on the back of Luna, and obliterates him in a spray of blood and fur.
Amarok, cool in the dry desert heat, once again lines up a perfect shot and his arrow zooms into the gnolls back has he flees towards the desert. The Pathfinders quickly overtake him and put him out of his misery before returning back to the oasis. After some curative magic and a brief respite and the Pathfinders are ready to set out, but not before having a look around.
The gnolls maintain a poorly hidden cache of stolen goods near their hiding spot
- A silver cup worth 60 gp
- A hodgepodge of coins
- An alchemy crafting kit (Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Equipment 76),
- A vial of antitoxin
- two flasks of alchemist’s fire
- two flasks of liquid ice (Ultimate Equipment 108)
- potion #1
- potion #2.
|
|
Toorin doesn't bother getting off his horse as he was preparing to do, seeing the others already having routed the various enemies. He studies the corpse of the dust digger, curious to see how well it matches the stories he heard about them from caravan guards on the ride in.
Once the cache is discovered, he looks over the alchemy kit and volunteers to carry it, in case it has anything he can use.
The potions draw his attention next and he looks at the magical auras and tries to figure out their properties.
Potion #1:
Potion #2:
"This potion has an espresso base, it makes you move faster and hit more often."
"This just makes your enemies think they need glasses."
|
|
Pooka sniffs the potions, then wordlessly hands them to the more arcane and alchemically gifted members of the group. He leaves the rest of the haul for everyone else to pick through as well, not seeing anything that he feels he needs.
"Good run Luna! Who's a good girl? Yes you are yes you are." The armored halfling buries his sweaty face in the side of the dog's excess skin and fur near her head, scratching her in all the places he can reach around her barding. He pulls out his pouch of treats and gives her a big handful, then leads her over to the shimmering pool to drink her fill of water.
Turning to his companions, "Well that was a good bit of exercise, no? Glad your camel didn't get eaten Warpac. I have to say, you handled the fall much more gracefully than you did back in town! You might just be a decent rider after all." Pooka laughs. The slaughter of the gnolls was brutally quick and efficient, hardly enough for him to break a sweat.
"Only two passes that time girl. Good thing we made them count!" he chuckles again, patting the dog on her side while water and drool drains from her jowels in long, thin streams.
"I can't say it's warmer out here than I thought, but I can say I can't believe I didn't think to take a tap from this new wand. Whaddya say guys, can someone help me with this? One for me and one for Luna." Pooka rubs his hands together as he checks the straps on his gear and makes sure his waterskins are full.
|
|
Warpac is not interested in anything in the loot except the potion of haste. What dwarf wouldn't?
"Expresso, you say? Not that one interests me. Anyone else want to put in their requests?"
Warpac takes the wand from Pooka and gives him and Luna a tap each.
"Here you go."
He also casts Deadeye's Lore on himself, wondering if it would have helped him avoid the critter if he had cast it before.
"Nice work guys. Wish I could have been more use than a trap-springer, but that's life. Nice to know I got comrades that can get me out of messes like that. "
This scratch is not even worth healing, but if there are others I might channel.
Anyone but me and camel get hurt?
|
|
The last Gnoll down, Amarok says a silent prayer to Irori for guiding his arrows and moves back to the Oasis. Sifting through the cache left by their destroyed foes he takes the Anti-toxin and the alchemist's fire.
"These two may come in useful, the monetary treasure may well go towards the cost of covering the camels. Fine fighting my friends, three less Gnolls and one less beast to harm helpless travellers!"
Taking a drink from the Oasis and taking care t replenish his water skins whilst he can he stretches out his muscles before getting ready to leave.
|
|
"Well done!" Xûll looks around proudly at his blood-drenched companions... and the saliva-soaked Warpac, "Remind me never to get on your bad side, Pooka."
Xûll takes out his black wand of infernal healing and evil goo spreads all over his body. He is not quite sure where the life-force that heals him is coming from, and he has been told by his Pathfinder superiors that it is best not to ask. In less then a minute, though, all of his wounds are sealed over and he is left feeling... not so good.
"I never get used to that," he asserts, "Time to go for a run to clear my head. Shall we head on again? Oh, and Amarok, I wouldn't drink from that... gnolls were here!"
The remainder of the journey through the desert proceeds uneventfully, with only the rise and fall of the dunes to break the monotony. A low, uneven hill of granite appears on the horizon to the northwest, presenting the only shelter for miles around. Although the crag appears solid from a distance, on closer examination there is a wide fissure in the rock sealed by a heavily weathered stone wall fitted with a large iron door. The khamsin storms have worn away the carvings that once decorated the outer wall, which serves as a barrier against the abrasive sand.
The iron gate that seals the entrance is heavy and partially buried by sand, yet it is unbarred.
The archway’s ceiling contains a recessed inscription in Ancient Orisiani that has avoided the worst of millennia of erosion.
|
|
"Umm..." says Xûll, staring up at the smooth, impassable walls carved into the side of the granite hill.
Xûll presses hard against the door, attempting to budge the thing.
"A little help...?" he asks his companions, looking first to the sturdy Warpac the Indigestible, the spry but powerful Pooka the Tinned Charge Machine and Amarok the Nondwarven Tar Kuatan. Each looks like they'd be able to provide equal aid.