"Foreigners, come to gawk at the cripple, yes? Fine. You buy my drinks and I will dance for you."
Once the araq (a local alcohol which turns milky when served over ice) begins flowing, the man tells his story.
"I am called Kir. As a guard of caravans it was my honor to escort merchants across the desert and to protect them from dangers such as bandits and ghouls, terrorsauruses, jackalmen, scorpions, even the occasional feral moose! All that changed when IT rose from the sands beneath us."
As Kir tells his story he pauses often to drink. The more he goes on, the more slurred his words become.
"It was enormous! Easily as tall as two men standing upon one another's shoulders and as long as two wagons from tip of claws to tip of tail! It grabbed one of our sauruses and tore it apart, then plunged its stinger into another man's heart. We drew our scimitars and attacked but they just bounced off the beast's plated hide! A single swipe of its claw scattered us and then its tail struck again and again. Those who did not die immediately were pumped so full of poison their very skin turned black, as if they were being burned alive from the inside. The scorpion picked me up in one claw and threw me and for that reason I am alive. I watched, only half-conscious as it took one of the wagons we were guarding and retreated into the sand, pulling the wagon carrying the Sultan's (long may he watch over us!) chest down with it below the desert floor."
He goes on to say something else, but his words are incomprehensible at this point. Within moments he is snoring, head asleep on the table."
"Very important, antitoxins. Many things in the desert use poison to hunt and to survive. Scorpions. Serpents. Jackalmen who dip their claws in venom. Nasty, nasty, nasty. It is good you come to me to buy these things."
There is a popping sound as Yasamin breaks the wax seal of the jar with the help of a wicked looking knife.
"I sell two pills for thirty dinars. Very potent. I will pay you ten dinar for each tale of a giant scorpion you bring me."
Which is the standard deal Yasamin offers all adventurers... and it is for the normal giant scorpions which are no bigger than a large dog, not the beast you are hunting.
"So, one pill each dose? Or does it take both for a single person?"
Hektor counts out 90 gold coins to the apothecary.
"Either way, I'll take 6 pills. Hopefully, we'll knock your socks off when we come back with the stingers."
After the apothecary, Hektor stops by a chandlery and picks up multiple waterskins for the party.
Hektor fills his new waterskins and divides up the pills and rations with each one, then heads to the gate to await the rest of the team.
"Swallow one with water to activate it. One pill, one dose. The effects last for one hour so you can take the before being poisoned if you think you are in danger."
Trathing reaches over and picks up the passed out drunks wrist. Well it does not seem that this man will be of much more use to our research. Although he did share some interesting tidbits for us to consider. Trathing lets go of the wrist and it thumps onto the table. Shall we catch up to the others? Or did either of you need to make another stop?
While they were at the apothecary Felitcia allowed Hektor to do the talking as it gave her a chance to take her measure of the man. She was pleased that he seemed to know what he was doing and nodded in acceptance and understanding of the instructions. When the transaction was done she looked to her companions and said, "I need to discuss something of a...personal, matter with the apothecary, I will meet you at the gates shortly."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
It is scarred and horribly burned, although pale in the few sections which remain untouched by trauma.
"I misjudged the power of the desert sun, when I first came here from Mordavia, fleeing the Dark One." Yasamin explains, "I was attacked by jackalmen and left for dead. By the time I crawled under cover, I was burned beyond the possibility of healing. This land is not kind to those like us."
Yasamin recaps the jar of antitoxin pills and replaces it upon the shelf, then draws down a second jar, this one smaller. She cuts across the wax seal, then breaks it. The cap comes off and Yasamin dips her hand inside.
"I developed these, after coming here. The ingredients aren't exactly legal but I promise the criminals I harvested them from won't miss their black hearts."
Yasamin drops three pills into Felitcia's hand.
"A gift. Further will require payment, either in ingredients or dinars. If you are going out into the desert, I recommend you cover yourself or you risk my fate."
"It has been a long time." the dhampir admits, "You are... kind."
Yasamin grabs hold of Felictia's wrist and dips down, biting into the ranger's wrist with fangs inherited from her vampiric parent. Her throat bobs once, twice, three times and then Yasamin draws away and licks her lips.
"Thank you." the woman says softly, eyes dark with hunger. Like so many of her kind, one taste is never enough.
Arriving slightly after everyone else at the gate, Felitcia hefted her pack and said, "I am ready if the rest of you are."
"I believe we are done here, though at least we have evidence supporting the theory that there is something amiss, other than just a rampaging giant vermin. A creature such as that would want very little with a chest full of valuables."
Putting his hand on the hilt of his gladius, the young silmarian continues, "Let's get this information back to the others."
Having dozed off during the meeting, Märche comes to with a start. Gathering her things she'll then groggily head out onto the streets in search of the others who were hired.
Trathing waits for everyone to reconvene and then shares his observations from th blue parrot.
We learned a couple of interesting things from the survivor of the attack. Of course there was the fact that it was immense in size but we already knew that. I found it interesting that he described it coming up from under the sand and then going back under afterwards. So either it can borrow or there are tunnels under the desert. He also said their scimitars bounced off of the creature. Either it has an immensely thick exoskeleton, has some sort of magical protection, or is made of metal or stone.
"Alternatively, they were very very weak. That is certainly a possibility, right?"
Hektor seems strangely excited about the prospect of fighting a huge, burrowing, possibly impervious to weapons monster.
As the group stands, sharing information in the Gate Plaza, the sun rises higher in the sky. Already it beats down with merciless force. Beyond the open gateway, the golden sands of the desert seem to ripple and waver as the heat of the day reflects off of them.
Making sure she is covered very well in the relentless sun Felitcia look ed at the group when they had all gathered and said, "It would be a good idea if we discussed what it is that we can do when it comes time to fight. Some co-ordination would be a very good thing and will possibly keep us alive." She looked at each from within the depths of her hood and said, "I am a nimble fighter, I get in and strike fast relying on my little to no armor for protection. I am, ultimately, a skirmisher. What about the rest of you?"
"Um, I hit things with my sword."
"As a colleague said ince, long ago...'the pointy end goes in the other guy'."
Hektor grins and taps his sword at his belt. On closer inspection, all of his martial gear appears Nova Roman Imperial standard issue, if a bit worn and used.
"Been a soldier plenty long, I can fight, shoot, march, and dig ditches with the best of 'em."
”I have been gifted with some power over the natural world by Gaia. I would be able to command the surrounding environment to hamper the creature, provide a bit of healing should any of us be injured, and I can handle myself in combat, both at range and up close, using magic to enhance my own abilities.” Rhiastra says to the others. Smiling down at the primal looking fox sitting quietly at her hooves, she smiles. ”And Kajia here makes an excellent scout.”
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Kajia chuffs, possibly making a disparaging remark about the heat and fur.
I usually try to avoid conflicts, either by talking my way through a problem, or avoiding it altogether. If push comes to shove I can channel positive, negative, and cold energy through my touch. I have a few other minor tricks as well.
With that the half fae makes a quick motion with his cuffs. All of a sudden his clothing shifts for just a moment to the colorful winter garb of a gypsy and then shifts to a loose fitting linen robe complete with head covering to keep the sun at bay. Then he looks down at his empty water skin and casts create water to fill it.
I think I am ready to go.
"You can create water? That's plenty portal to me. Heck, I'd bring you along and keep you safe just for that power out in the desert!"
Rhiasta smiles. "I can as well if needed."
Jenrick ponders this question, then answers.
"I'm not as nimble as I'd like to be, but I'm big and I'm fast. Also, I fight well in difficult terrain, so I don't see the sand dunes giving me much problem."
"Well I believe that covers all of us. Divine and martial power enough to handle this threat I should think." Rhiastra says to her companions studying them all.
As they head out the gates and begin to make their way towards their destination, Felitcia spoke up once they were away from the gates and said, "There is one more thing you should know, if I am injured do not use healing magic on me. I suffer from a curse that makes me harmed by healing magic and healed by harming magic. I have three pills in a pouch hanging around my neck, mix one with water and give it to me if needed, or if someone can cast magic that uses negative energy to hurt people, use that." She looked around then at the desert ahead and said, "I'm not the best at navigating the desert, I can do it if I need to but is there anyone better at it than me?"
Rhiastra glances at Felitcia for a moment before nodding. "Thank you for telling us. I would be horrified to hurt you further while trying to heal you. " Looking around her the shamaness smiles. "The natural world is where I feel at home, I find it almost impossible to get lost actually.
"I'll follow your lead, Rhiastra."
"Agreed, point the way, and we march out into the sands. Lovely, grinding, sticking, hot, chafing sand. Oh boy what a treat it is to come back to the desert! "
Hektor grits his teeth, shoulders his gear and makes ready to leave.
You march for nearly two hours, your feet slipping in the shifting sands as the sun angrily assaults you from above. It takes discipline not to drink every drop of water you have by the end of the first hour. By the second, your reserves are half gone.
Most of you feel it first. The sand beneath your feet trembling, as if someone had stuck the nozzle of a huge bellows into the desert floor and begun pumping.
Most of you have enough time to leap back, except poor Jenrick, who finds himself crushed in the claws of a massive scorpion, easily as big as any two wagons. It rises up out of the sands, stinger dripping with poison.
Holding his shield up between the monster and himself, Hektor pops the antioxin pill and braces for the incoming attack sure to lash out.
"Gah! That thing is enormous! Watch the tail, I can see its poison dripping already."
At the sudden attack Felticia was just able to dodge out of the way before the giant scorpion attacked. She quickly drew her scimitar as she began to move, working to get around behind the scorpion and flank it.
Trathing pulls his Antitoxin and takes it and then steps in 5 feet towards the Scorpion...
I'm questioning the wisdom of this... plan.
marches moves up to the Scorpion, sword drawn.
Rhiastra quickly takes the antitoxin, drawing her spear as she does.
The scorpion's tail darts forward, plunging into Jenrick's neck. Venom pumps into his system before the tail draws back and the scorpion drops the demigod to the ground.
Dropping Jenrick and seemingly confident the poison will finish him, the scorpion turns to other threats. One claw swings out, slamming into Hektor and denting the Nova Roman soldier's armor... not to mention his ribs. The second claw jabs at Marche but the Mordavian's own armor deflects the blow. Barely.
Trathing takes a single step towards the scorpion and reaches out to touch it with his bare hand.
Let's see how this Desert dweller feels about the cold.
Noticing the others taking their antitoxin Felitcia does as well while moving around behind the scorpion, staying clear of it's reach.