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Nura nods her agreement to Zairiah.
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Ooh, I've never been on an extended desert trip before! I'll finally be able to catalogue the sights beyond Zakhara's city walls!
Nymeria fixes her beret and grins. "I'm up for it!"
Zairiah collects the 2,000 golden dinars, thanks the man again, and recommends that they go shopping.
What all do you guys think that we need? Camels, water, food... what else?
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"I'll need to get some more ink and another logbook. I'd like to keep my current book for city affairs."
Nymeria's fingers drum across the surface of the fine ceramic ocarina in her belt.
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Fadilah says, "I'll take a moment to see if we have anything enchanted among the things we've discovered."
She sends her gen off to fetch a simple detect magic spell first.
rounds
"While I can't read the language of Muluk, I can fetch a spell that will allow me to understand it."
The gen comes back with the spell and says, "Here is what you asked for mistress!"
You cast detect and of the new stuff
Aggrammar ** spoiler omitted **
"There is definitely some magic in these items we've recovered" - Aggrammar nods at Fadilah and the others.
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Nymeria
n the distant past, when Fate passed her knowledge to the Loregiver, AlAnwahr was a rich and proud city ruled by King Azaltin, an intelligent man
well versed in poetry, astrology, and the ways of magic. As the Loregiver
wandered Zakhara, teaching the laws of the divine to man and genie alike, she is
said to have stopped in Al-Anwahr and been a guest of Azaltin for 11 days.
Azaltin honored his guest daily with lavish celebrations and exquisite gifts of
silks, gold, and perfumes. After each night of entertainment, the king would ask
his guest the same question: “How can a man live forever?”
The Loregiver warned Azaltin about the danger of such knowledge, but in the
end could hardly insult her gracious host by refusing to answer. Each night she
told the king about the obstacles that prevent man from achieving immortality.
Azaltin’s scribes labored furiously to capture the Loregiver’s parables and cryptic
riddles, which were set down in a legendary scroll titled The Eleven Baneful
Gates. According to legend, the Loregiver departed Al-Anwahr, leaving the
equivocal scroll in Azaltin’s care. Azaltin pondered the scroll for a decade,
ignoring his people while trying to unravel its secret.
After months of fasting and meditation, he abandoned the kingdom to his
brother Amakim and left to ponder the scroll in the solitude of the wilderness.
Ancient legends say he returned a dozen years later, an undead creature of
hideous appearance, to reclaim his kingdom. Before long, Amakim led a revolt to
topple his monstrous brother. Some members of court remained loyal to their
undead king, however, and a bloody battle ensued throughout the city.
Ultimately, Amakim’s forces triumphed, but when they reached the king’s palace,
they found that Azaltin had vanished. Amakim and his forces departed AlAnwahr and eventually founded the city of In’aash. Centuries past, the city was
renamed Muluk, while Al-Anwahr and Azaltin passed into folklore
Remembering the story of Al-Anwahr, Nymeria turns her attention to the magic-enchanted gear.
Nura eyes the scimitar but says nothing. It is not her place to meddle in the purview of sorcerers and sha'irs.
Fadilah
After moving your supplies from the merchants and your ship, you tell Raschad to watch your ship while you are gone for a few months. The bard comes with you to monitor his investment. And at dawn you the city from the Gate of the Elephants and cross the bridge and start following the Al-Zalim river in an easterly fashion. From the party's last foray following the river, it takes about one and half days to make the former Winery at Sakina Falls and according to your map, you probably will not have to change your sleep patterns until after reaching the village of Talv.
While following Al-Zalim, you do not have to tap into your water supplies.
GM rolls
Nymeria taps the leather cover of her new logbook as the caravan departs from the city in earnest, her eyes taking in the wilderness of Zakhara for the first time. A stray breeze tugs at her travelling clothes to remind her of the journey ahead.
For the first leg of the journey, she divides her attention between the greenery along the river and the ceramic ocarina at her side. Once she's satisfied with writing down the sights she's seen so far, she volunteers to keep peoples' spirits up with a happy tune or two.
”I get tha feelin’ we have forgotten somethin’...” - Aggrammar grumbled as they walked along - ”Yes... Just remembered... We should have asked the high priest if his divination told him how the first expedition wears slain...”
He seemed but a bundle of light, sand colored clothing, with a very evident tanned skin, and even more obvious large beard. He trod along with calm but determined steps, and his squinting eyes constantly scanned the desert around them.
Aggrammar however enjoyed immensely the trek near the river, and the cool air it brought - whenever given a chance, he refreshes himself, taking off his boots, and going one or two steps into the stream with a large smile - ”Nothing beats it” - he explains the others.
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Nura is more accustomed to a rolling deck than blowing sand. Each time the group stops, she empties the sand from her boots. Though she does not complain, her face shows that she is not enjoying the trip.
Zairiah sets up another dye trader before they leave, hoping that her trading seeds will grow and eventually earn her some money.
____
Zairiah enjoys traveling along the riverbank, enjoying camping outdoors at night, and is glad that they don't have to dip into their water supplies yet. She tries to enjoy the trip and not think about recent negative events ... that time will come soon enough and this makes for a nice mental break before they have to worry about tracking down Yodfah.
After a day of travel along the Al-Zalim river, you stop for the evening for camp. Since you have not gotten to the open desert yet, it still makes sense to stick to city time as opposed to caravan time.
GM Rolls
The first evening goes by without incident due to moderate patrols the Muluk city watch make along the river. You saw one walk by around 3 am and you shared some trail mix with them and they left to continue their march back and forth keeping security.
You wake up with everyone getting a decent rest and you make your way towards the falls.
GM rolls
Around noon you see the mighty Sakina Falls, where Yodfah's winery was and Sakina Falls pours 200 feet down into a tall canyon,
flanked by thick vegetation. A thin trail, wide enough for
mules or ponies (but not horses), winds up the side of the
gorge and right into the torrential waterfall. Your journey up the opposing side of the falls and after a half an hour past the falls you stop where Fadilah found the small obelisk written in mage's script that gave her the secret word to gain entry to Sakina. You stop their for lunch and shortly thereafter you continue following the river east.
GM rolls
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Towards the end of the second day you can start to see before dusk off in the distance where the Al-Zalim river's two main sources split from each other like a wishbone: one to the northeast and the other to the southeast. There is still plenty of water and in the evening you set up camp to get some rest.
Gm Rolls
The party goes to sleep and Zairiah has first shift.
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Nura will take third watch, and if no one wants the scimitar, she will claim it until she can afford to cover the debt. She spends her watch testing the blade for balance and sharpness.
Zairiah during her shift keeps her eyes primarily on her sleeping friends and suddenly she hears the sound of a shrieking, dying camel as she stands up and she sees 5 giant lizards eating one of your caravan's supply camels.
Aggrammar snores, oblivious.
Thinking that the screaming camel would probably wake up the party, but wanting to be certain, Zairiah yells
while raising her bow and shooting at the closest lizard.
Zairiah's arrow misses the lizard she was aiming at and sticks out of a patch of grass on the ground.
Initiative: Party , Enemy
GM Rolls
Round 1
Party
"BWAAA!" Nymeria startles awake and looks around in a panic.
Seeing the lizards eating one of their camels, Nymeria briefly considers running around and waking everyone up--
--but then she remembers she has an ocarina.
She pulls it free of her belt and starts playing as loudly as possible.
Seeing that everyone but Nura is stirring, Zairiah goes over and "jostles" (not a real kick so I don't have to roll damage) Nura. She is sorry to do so, since she looks so peaceful in her sleep, but that's why someone was on watch.
Then she shoots again at the lizard.
Nura starts to stir.
Zairiah's attacks misses.
Kadin says, "Young lady we should jam later." he then rushes the lizard that Zairiah is attacking hit doing
Agrammar, Fadilah
Aggrammar wakes up cursing and complaining, then grabs his weapon and shield, and moves to the lizard - "What is this now?"
Fadilah
Fadilah sends her gen to get a spell for rounds. "Please get me Lightning bolt."
And the gen disappears.
Lizard 1 attacks Silvertongue miss
Lizard 2 moves to attack Zairiah critical
Lizard 3 moves to attack Nymeria miss
Lizard 4 moves to attack Agrammar miss
Lizard 5 continues to munch on the camel and drag it away.
Round 2
Nura groggily wakes up.
Initiative Party , Lizards
Party
Fadilah takes cover, as usual, since she doesn't have anything else to do to help.
Zairiah takes a bad hit, and she carefully takes a step back out of melee to get enough room to shoot her bow again.
Nymeria attempts to put the attacking lizards to sleep with a casting of sleep!
Nura rolls to her feet groggily, snatching up her bow as she does. She launches an arrow at the attacking lizards.
Zairiah's bow attack is successful and she shoots the lizard that attacked her.
Nymeria casts sleep and she puts the lizard attacking Silvertongue asleep.
Nura attacks the rd one which was attacking Nymeria and hits.
Seeing the one that he was attacking has fallen asleep he moves to attack the lizard attacking Nymeria missing his attack.
Agrammar
"Ye're gonna have a hard time chewin' on me!" - Aggrammar roared at the lizard, and launched an attack with his scimitar.