Tesswyn smacks the mud man twice in rapid succession!
"Dammit, hold on, I'll right back!" Gärwin runs back to his small camp, rifling through his supplies for something else to use.
"Wait, no!" I all Charles is able to get out as his horse is grabbed by the mud creature.
It was all the priest could do to barely get off and avoid being tossed into the mud himself.
"Why is this thing's body so strong!? It's just getting stronger, we might want to think about leaving! Tesswyn!?"
Drot begins to look frantic as his successive shots trying to cut off the Mudman's hand seemed for not.
The combined assault by everyone on the skiff managed to bring it down. The mud man crumbled into a sludge which pushed the skiff towards the shore like a gentle ocean wave.
Combat over.
Tesswyn steers the skiff against the sludge flow and to the shore. She stumbles onto solid land, shaking with exertion. "F@~!, that was super gross. I need a hot bath to get all this gunk off of me. But first I need to lie down before I pass out."
The night passes peacefully, thankfully.
The sun rises early and the heat starts its oppressive regime.
Everyone make a strength challenge roll. Failure means you are fatigued. If you are already fatigued, then take a 1d6 penalty to your max health. This condition lasts until you rest in a comfortable location.
Ring 1: This is a copper ring which turns green when it is within ten yards of a poison or poisonous creature. It's a simply circle ring, and all colors look natural.
Ring 2: A gold ring with a light purple kunzite gemstone bedded in it. The gem emits a soft glow when someone within five yards knowingly speaks a lie.
Ring 3: This is a silverish metallic ring of an unknown matetial. The ring prevents fatigue from extreme temperatures and climates. It must be worn for a day before it takes effect.
Crown: The crown itself is a silver circlet with seven gems evenly spaced around it. Each gem is dodecahedron in shape, with one face a different color than the rest of the gem. That face is pointed outwards. You can tell the crown has magical properties, but you cannot tell what they are until you don it.
Tesswyn wakes up still feeling drained. "How much further do we have to go? I'm officially over the Desolation," she groans.
Charles lets out a sigh as they land the skiff. He felt bad that he'd been unable to keep the horse he'd been riding safe but he supposed that all things considered, it was a smaller price to pay than had been expected.
"I feel like I could probably do with a full nights rest too. If anyone is wounded, I have some health potions." Charles said, looking around. As he saw Tesswyn shaking from exertion he slung his pack off his shoulder and pulled out a canteen, handing it to her. " Here, Tess. Drink something.
He waited for her to take several sips and then picked her up, carrying her over towards the camp with Garwyn.
"We'll get camp fully set up. You just rest for now." he had a thoughtful expression on his face as he paced over. "It won't be nearly as good as a hot bath, but I can at least give you some privacy with a magical bowl that creates mist so you can clean yourself off."
Also, Charles absolutely experiments with the crown by putting it on.
Tesswyn wraps her arms around Charles's neck as he carries her, a little thrill running through her at her boyfriend's display of strength. "Thanks. Yeah, I'll use the bowl."
She feels a bit better after the impromptu mist bath, though she's still fatigued.
The gold ring with the purple Kunzite gem, I do like it a lot. Let's me know when someone speaks lies. It would be nice to know for sure if someone is lying. I could even catch Tess when she says something untrue. She's already very smart. Drot'ook is also crafty, though I suppose you wouldn't know it just by looking at him. Garwin... he seems so earnest. Maybe too much. Would he find use in this? Probably.
This... silver ring? Well no, it doesn't look exactly like this other one that is silver. It helps with fatigue from weather and dangerous climates. Tesswyn is already suffering pretty badly from this. The rest of us seem to be alright, for now.
This one is silver and some other black metal. It helps to shield the mind from madness and can guarantee to do so at a cost. Drot'ook seems like he should more susceptible to those sorts of things, but he's oddly resilient. Or has he just been lucky. Then there's Tess, but she wants to have some level of madness so she can see through it. As long as I can help keep her in check that should be good enough. Garwin... he seems strong willed.
Gärwin was getting pretty tired of the desert lands, the heat crept up early in the morning and made sleeping difficult. It was no surprise then, that everyone was eager to move on. Their destination was just a little farther, and Gärwin in particular hoped to be there before nightfall.
After whipping up some bacon and fried bread, the dwarf sets about packing up his tent. Once that was done, Gärwin rewarded himself with a smoke break. Nothin starts off a morning better'n a cigar.Once the cigar was mostly spent, Charles approached, seemingly interested in touching base on yesterday's events. "The only interestin' thing that happened yesterday was the mudman, and yew were there for that one. I saw where 'e was hidin' earlier, but didn't think nothin' of it at the time. If only I had been able to warn yah beforehand..."
"It's alright, Garwin. It's not like you wouldn't have done anything if you had known what was going to happen." Charles new vision let him see the ring on his hand without looking down at it for more than a quick thought, the ring on his finger did not glow, which he had expected.
He really is earnest, isn't he?
"You know Garwin, I've always respected knights. I even squired for one a few years when I was younger." he had a wistful look on his face as he remembered those times. "How did you get to be a knight?"
You set off into the day, headed for the Oasis in the far northern desert. As you travel, you see what looks like sharp mountain peaks with a shimmering bottom - the shimmering due to the mirrage-like illusions of the heat coming off the ground.
As you get close, you realize they're not far away mountains, but much closer obsidian-colored rocks jutting out of the ground. Hundreds of gigantic rocks, some the size of a castle, others the size of a person. As you get even closer, you realize they're not jutting out of the ground, but instead floating above the ground. Some a mere few feet above the ground, others dozens of yards above. The just float there, bobbing about like paper boats on the water, slowly riding the air currents.
You travel between and sometimes under them as you head further north. After hours pass, you hear a strange thrushing sound in the sand - or perhaps a pounding sound. It's hard to tell. Then, suddenly, a rock falls out of the sky. It's as if it had reached the "edge" of the air lake that holds it aloft and sunk back to the ground with a thud. You look about and realize you're underneath a least a dozen of these rocks as they're about to fall over the edge. You whip the reins of your horse (or push in extra magic to increase the speed of the skiff) to try and out pace the falling rocks.
"Much the same as you, I squired under a knight for a time. Though, I'm sure our circumstances were different. Times were hard and to be honest, I was desperate. Ser Henrik was a braggart and mor'n a bit pompous, so there weren't exactly people linin' up for the job. Thing is, he talked a big game, but it turned out he 'ad the skills to match. I mean I was no slouch, I'd been part 'o the town militia for almost a decade. But takin' the fight to monsters is a whole different game from standin' guard."
Gärwin stares off into the distance and takes a long drag from his cigar before continuing. " 'E died savin' my son and I from a troll. Bloody bastards, I make sure to put 'em down whenever I see 'em in his stead." The dwarf spits on the ground to accentuate his point. "I did what 'e ordered and I ran, not stoppin' till I was certain we were safe. Didn't make it out in one piece though." Gärwin holds up his right hand, showing where the troll had bitten his index finger off.
"It didn't sit well with me though, not one bit. As soon as I could, I wheeled around and rode back to them. Unfortunately, when I returned, all I found was just Ser Henrik's corpse. I wasn't about to give 'im the dishonor of an obscure death. After burying the body, I took 'is armor back to Lady Daedlus so it could be interred with the family's best knights. I think she was impressed and she honored me with the chance to serve in 'is stead. And so here we are."
Tesswyn uses her magic to power the skiff as they travel towards the oasis. Her wonder at the floating rocks quickly turns to panic as they plummet from the sky. "Oh, f#*&!" she shouts, gunning the skiff forward. A flash of insight causes her to bank right at just the right moment to avoid getting crushed!
"Hmm, you've had a tough life Garwin. You had a son?" He paused.
"I suppose Quinnet was there at the knighting ceremony." he sighed. "As much as I found her to be unfair and occasionally insufferable while traveling with her, she did have good points about how to maintain a societal balance."
Charles was not as lucky as the rocks came crashing down.
As they wake in the morning, the previous day's battle and using a different weapon took it's toll on Drot, it was the heat that kept him from recovering completely.
Drot was so fascinated by the flying rocks all around him that he hardly noticed that they were actively falling towards them! He pulled the horse reins to the side a little too forcefully and spooked his horse by was able to narrowly avoid the rock directly above him. The pain from the heat nearly cost him his life
Charles jumped. He was however, successful in his landing
"I think we all had our fair share of sorrows, Charles. When I was trainin' that Billy lad, I would wonder what my boy would 'ave done, had things gone better. I hope I'm not too harsh on the lad, I was never the soft one in our family. Drosva, though, she was an angel. You best treat that girl of yours right! You never know what might be the last time you see her..." Gärwin trails off again, but remains silent. There's nothing more to say.
A practiced horseman, Gärwin spurs Dumpy to its maximum speed, barely clearing the falling rocks. The others, though, were not so lucky. The dwarf quickly wheels around, trying to find his friends amongst the debris.
Everyone gets up and manages to get away from the rockfall before anymore land on you. Within moments, the current shifts and the floating rocks move away from the invisible edge.
Two more horses have died. Drot anr Charles get on the skiff and you all take off.
The reat of the journey is uneventful. You drive away from the floating rocks and within a few short hours find the small town you were looking for: Oasis. Although "town" is probably a strong word for it; there are maybe a half dozen permanent buildings and ten times that number of tents surrounding the pools of fresh water. Horses are tied up to trees haphazardly.
You've made it.
"Finally!" Tesswyn sighs when they reach the town. She pulls the skiff up to a tree and disembarks, letting the others take the lead.
Charles let out a sigh of relief as they arrived.
"We did it. Ha ha! We actually made it!" Charles said.
"We should probably try to find a place we can stay for a few days and for Drot'ook to recover properly after his injury."
There's a two story building over there with hanging plants and vines, a posted armed guards.
A large open air tent with a hanging sign "The Pebble and the Pot" looks to be some sort of tavern.
There's an active market with open air shops and tents.
Tent City is just over there, and people seem to have no issue living next to any person of any given ancestry.
A few other buildings are erected, as well, with various picture signs on them.
"We made it! Let's get Drot'ook to th' medicine man or somethin'. Then let's get some real food! Don't worry, I'll get ya somethin' too, Drot." Gärwin gives him a wink.
In celebration, he takes a big swig of his waterskin. He then pours what's left of his water into the cooking pot, letting Dumpy drink from it.
Drot tumbles and grunts, scrabbling to his feet and rushing to the skiff. Once on it the adrenaline subsides and the massive pain in his side hits him.
"Ow, Tesswyn! Why did you hit me? I'm pretty sure I've broken some rubs from the fall, cut me some slack! "
As they arrive at the town Drot sighs with relief and winces in pain. He follows Gärwin, slightly bent over with a heavy hand on his shoulder and tenderly clutching his side as they make their way though the shanty town.
"You're a true friend Gärwin, I'm glad you decided to join us. We might just have a drink first, hmm?"
Overhearing the conversation between Drot'ook and Garwin, Charles sighs. Closing his eyes, he spoke loudly and in a firm, no nonsense way, just like Paul had taught him to do when dealing with unruly patients.
"Drot'ook, you are in no condition to be traveling anywhere more than necessary and certainly not to go have a drink. We're getting you a bed, and we'll see to your wounds.
Now wait here, I'm going to try and get us some information about a place to rest over at the Pebble and the Pot. We'll figure out how bad the damage is and see what you can eat afterward." With that, Charles moved towards the Pebble and the Pot.
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Drot smiles at Charles and nods his head in agreement, looking thoughtful.
"Ah, I suppose you're right Charles. We'll wait here for you to return. Right Gärwin?"
He pats the dwarf on the shoulder, turns to him and winks. He waits for the paladin to leave before ushering the dwarf onward.
The Pebble and the Pot turns out to be a very friendly place. Despite - or perhaps because of - existing in the middle of the Desolation, everyone here is friendly. You're welcomed in and given a free glass of water - water which is both cool and clean.
As it turns out, the Oasis only exists because a water genie keeps the pond in existence and keeps the water clean. As the genie does her work, you will sometimes see water spouts that jump and dance. In fact, they're called the dancing waters.
My name is Hazim, the bartender says. I run this place with my brother, Abbas.
There's two other taverns. We're the most popular, but not everyone wants a crowd. The Bronze Palm, owned by Fatima Qawi, caters to the upscale. It's a place to have a private conversation, and they take that privacy seriously. The Cross Scimitars is a place for hired muscle. You be careful there; some of them folk have a short temper. Jamal Hassan keeps a tight ship there, but you don't want to cross the wrong person nonetheless.
There's also a few places to purchase a bed.
Hamun Mehran runs a common and cheap house of rest over at the Desert Dingo. Be careful, though; although it's cheap, Hamun will talk your ear off. Abul Kashif is a local who likes to house traveling merchants - very posh. It has a nice exotic look to it. And them there's Zorah’s House of Fortune - owned by Madame Zorah, it's an upscale bordello that can find just about anything you're looking for.
The Bedu is what we call tent City over there. If you've got your own tent, go ahead and pitch it up. It's free, but no promises that someone won't go looking through your stuff when you're not there.
If you're looking for things to buy, whether just to shop or to prepare for your next excursion, Akabar’s Fabulous Market of Wonders is the place to go. An open air market full of many things for sale. All our traveling merchants set up shop there whenever they drop by. Qalmatak’s Alchemical Solvents and Halil’s Scrollworks and Mysteries both specialize in enchantments and chemistry. Lastly, the Sublime Depot of Gal’dardin is a place to get sturdy, dependable desert survival gear.
"Heheh, I think I know where we're goin'." Gärwin and Drot make their way to the local fortune house, spending some quick silver on rooms and drinks before hitting the tables. Drot'ook was clearly in need of a drink and Gärwin was happy to oblige. Dice were thrown and drinks flowed like water that night. Gärwin in particular orders some food he cannot properly pronounce.
He wolfs it down and starts turning a bright red, the food searing its way through his intestines. But the dwarf isn't going to look like some kind of lightweight and orders more spicy food several more times that night.
Fortunately, the dwarf's stomach holds strong through the night and his stay was an enjoyable one.
"I want to have a real bath first," Tesswyn mutters as Drot and Garwin go off drinking. "Then see if there's anything useful to buy. After that, let's ask about the sin eaters. That's the whole reason we came here."
Charles smiled as Hazim introduced them to the city and gave them a rundown of places to go. His actual gaze kept darting here and there as he was still not used to the strange all around vision he had.
"I'll be sure to see them all while we're here. Thank you for the directions Hazim."
He glanced over at Tesswyn, making an effort to turn his direct gaze to her. "Well I think we could probably find a bath at Abdul Kashif's, sounds like a reasonable place we might want to go to first. I'm not sure how simple it'll be for us to find them or what that would entail once we do. I think it would be best to have Drot'ook back on his feet first.
You'll get a bath, we'll get Drot'ook a place to rest, after that... Akabar's Fabulous Market of Wonder sound interesting. Qalmatak’s might also help with getting Drot back to normal."
He thanked Hazim for his time and promised that he would return as a patron to his tavern.
"Alright, let's go get the others." he left the Pebble and the Pot with Tesswyn stepping back out into the open market and stopped. Charles face was neutral at first but began talking and slowly his face became a glower.
"Tesswyn, you don't see either of them, do you? Drot'ook said they'd wait here..." he blinked.
Maybe that had been the gem glowing and not simply catching the light.
Suddenly Charles was chuckling, he put a hand over his eyes and was laughing while looking up, though it didn't really hamper his vision any. "Drot'ook you are the best patient ever." He sighed after a moment at Drot'ooks absurdity. "Come on Tess, we'll find him after we take care of the other accommodations first."
Tesswyn smirks. "He's a big boy. He can take care of himself. Besides, Garwin's with him, so... Actually, that might only make things worse."
She shrugs and slips her arm around Charles's. "Let's go. Maybe the bath tub will be big enough for both of us to share it..."
You head towards one of the few actual buildings at this place; it looks rather plain from the outside, like all the buildings here except the palace. Silver Sands is painted in fancy Kettering on the outside.
Inside is completely different. The place is palace-like in the decorations; with comfortable couches and cushioned chairs in the main room; multiple fires for warmth and mood setting. Each set of Charis and couches forms a half circle around a hearth, giving each group some privacy and personal space. Staff see to it that no one bothers any given group.
There's no bar like in a traditional common room for an inn - instead there are servers (not one of them human) who bring food and drinks.
When you arrive, a familiar red skinned humanoid creature with black spikes on its forearms comes up to you. This is the same demonic creature you once battled when escaping the underground mines with the lava pits.
It smiles at you and says, Welcome, weary travelers; I am Abdul and welcome to the Silver Sands. He bows with a flourish and bids you enter. Shall I take your cloaks? Is a bath needed? A drink and some fruits to rid you over?
Drot and Gärwin decide to stay at the Pebble and the Pot to eat and get drunk. Fortunately, nothing bad happens the entire time, and it's overall quite enjoyable.
Whether they remember it or not, they even manage to make a friend or two while getting drunk.
Drot manages to get a teenaged orc girl enamored with him; as she is also a student of magic, she needs up fawning over him as the day-drinking progresses. She is... Not the prettiest of girls. Almost the same size and girth as Drot himself, with large tusks jutting out of her lower jaw where her bottom canine teeth should be.
Gärwin, on the other hand, befriends an war vet of the Caercras rebellion. A thirty-something(?) human man who helped fight against the orc king; he was a sapper - a saboteur who used his skills to undermine projects dictated out by the orc regime. It didn't help; they still lost the war. He fled north and he's been living here ever since.
Tesswyn tenses up when she first sees the salamander, though he seems to be friendly enough--for now. "Yes, I'd literally murder somebody for a bath right now," the rogue says. It's unclear if she's joking.
Tesswyn stows her pack in the luxurious quarters of the Silver Sands, marveling in the comfortable accommodations after days of roughing it through the Desolation. As soon as the servants bring the bath tub to the room, she eagerly strips off her clothes and sinks into the war, sighing contentedly as the warm water soothes her aching muscles.
"Ahhh... Finally, this is more like it!" She looks up at Charles through half-lidded eyes. "Care to join me?"
Imedren's new vision allowed him to see all manner of the serving staff here, his eyes widened as he focused on the Salamander. He tensed for a few moments but was dumbfounded as the Salamander spoke to them in a calming familiar tone.
"Uh... I" he stands there confused for a moment.
He's a demon. How is he in charge of this place? More importantly, why isn't he trying to kill us all?
He escaped his dumbfounded gaze when Tesswyn spoke up.
It's a place of business, focus Charles. Get what you need.
"Thank you." he said, taking off his cloak. "We'll need accommodations. With a bath. For several nights, and yes drinks and fruit would be very appreciated."
Charles had been pacing as they arrived in their quarters and waited for the rest of the accommodations.
"How Tesswyn? That wasn't some sort of elaborate costume was it? Something to seem more exotic? The salamanders we fought were monsters, I don't even remember them speaking before." he shook his head as the servants brought in the tub.
"Did I do something? By destroying that altar did I release them from some sort of primal hold the Demon Lord had on them?" he admittedly had no idea what the overall impact had been when he'd destroyed that altar in the underground mines. They hadn't found any more since that time, so he had no way to judge it.
His musings came to an abrupt halt as Tesswyn asked him her question.
"Well I would be a fool if I were to turn down your invitation." Charles said, stripping his own clothes off himself. Though he left on his rings and then crown.
Tesswyn rolls her eyes when Charles starts freaking out. "Calm down. Don't build up your own legend into something that it's not. I did some reading over the last year or so, found out more about salamanders. The genies created them centuries ago to serve as their thralls and soldiers, fighting their enemies. But as the genies started to lose themselves to madness, the salamanders were free to find their own destinies. The ones we fought under the volcano must have been corrupted by the altar and whatever the hell that broodmother thing was. This guy's just an innkeeper, despite his scary appearance."
The rogue makes room for her boyfriend, giggling at the crown he keeps on. "So fancy! Are you the king of the Desolation now?"
Charles was both calmed and tempered by what Tesswyn told him of the Salamanders.
"Oh, yeah that makes a lot more sense when you put it like that." he seemed a little disappointed but it soon passed. "I suppose I was judging just by the looks of things. Guess spending time with Drot'ook has helped me get used to those sorts of ideas."
He gave a barking laugh at her comment. "Ha ha! No, I saw what happened to the last self proclaimed king of the Desolation. Nearly got buried in muck where his throne room was. There were some bracelets I just didn't quite have time to grab without really putting myself at risk, too bad really, I'm sure those were magical in some way too."
He paused for a moment, putting a hand to his head where the crown was.
"Actually, Tesswyn. The truth is I can't take off this crown. Well, not easily anyway. It's magical. It greatly enhances my sight and let's me see see all around me without even having to look with my eyes. I can even see perfectly wekk in darkness now. Even when I'm asleep I can still see, although the sensation is dulled, so it's extremely helpful. But when I put it on, spikes dug into my head, I'm suffering a constant headache with being able to see in all directions at once but I'm starting to get used to it a little."
"Oh. Ouch." Tesswyn touches the crown gingerly. "Well, it's your choice, I guess. I just hope it doesn't drive you crazy or the like."
She leans back and reaches for the washcloth, scrubbing the dirt and grime of the desert off of her pale skin.
"If I start to seem like I'm going crazy at any point, I'll need you to knock me out and wrench it off of me. As long as you don't think it'll kill me." Charles said, closing his eyes and leaning his head back to to just relax.
"I think you look nice with tanned skin, Tess." he said, noticing that her skin was slightly darker even after she'd begun cleaning herself.
Tesswyn takes a closer look at her arms. "Yeah? I was mostly covered up, though, so the tanlines look a bit strange. Maybe one day we can find a nice beach somewhere to live on, just lay out in the sun by the water and get toasty all over. Without something trying to kill us every five minutes."
The rogue laughs bitterly, knowing that while it's a nice dream, it's never going to happen.
"I suppose after traveling and seeing more of the world the village we've been building up does seem sort of dull doesn't it?" He notes that Tesswyn's laugh is full derision. His eyes narrow, becoming determined.
"Why not? We could do it Tesswyn. After we're done here, we could go back, then once we get the mines sorted out we could travel the empire. We could see travel to the well known places. See if we like any of them. Our life has been surviving one disaster after another, so we could find somewhere we like."
Tesswyn sighs and shakes her head. "You've seen the world out there. What's left of it. The Demon Lord's shadow causes everything it touches to fall to ruin. I don't think there are any good places left, and if there are, they won't stay unspoiled for long.
"Who are we kidding? You're a paladin of the New God, and I'm the Auspex or whatever. You chose your path, mine was chosen for me. But either way, we're big godsdamn heroes. We have the power to help fight the Demon Lord and his servants. Not many people can say that. It wouldn't be fair to waste our power, not when we can make a difference in the world. Maybe one day we can retire, if we live that long. Until then, we can dream."