Amori takes out his bow and notches an arrow and pauses before firing at whatever flew at the goat. [i]
Amori then lowers the notched arrow and begins singing a song, using one of his Inspire Courage.
+1 on Fear and Charm effects
+1 on attack and damage rolls
”ALMOST THERE FRIEND!” Nasir shouts at Shiiru once he sees the Slyph’s head poke from behind the cliff’s edge.
"What, what was that? Why's the goat screeching?" Shout's Dashki, who's view is obscured by the cacti field.
Amori takes out his bow and notches an arrow and pauses before firing at whatever flew at the goat. [i]
Knowledge Planes?: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12
Knowledge Planes?: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8Amori then lowers the notched arrow and begins singing a song, using one of his Inspire Courage.
Inspire Courage
+1 Attack and Damage
+1 against fear and charm
Thomdrill secures the shoufa around his mouth and pulls both daggers out of their sheathes.
Shiiru looks at the creature in front of them, remembering all the strange chances that have gone wrong since they entered the cactuses, "We need a sure things here."
He calls out in an almost sing-song "Ts'eelhn tĥeng'a!" pulling his hands back and forth until a bright missile erupts from one palm, hurtling straight for the creature on the rock.
Fulk draws his bow and knocks an arrow in one fluid motion, then lets fly at the small creature.
Confirm?
Faulk's arrow slams into the small creature, knocking it in one hit to the ground, and unconscious.
The feeling of dread that has been surrounding you instantly vanishes.
With help from his friends, now that there is no threat Faulk can easily climb out of the pit, and Rombard is easily calmed. Getting back through the cacti to Dashki is uneventful without the Pugwampi Aura of Doom.
What do you do?
Shiiru sighs and drops the spell as he prepared to cast. "Nicely done Fulk." Shiiru grabs the pugwampi and gingerly lifts it up, carrying it through the cactuses. "Lady Almah wanted us to bring one back, I believe. And our experiences here could show how easily it would have been for Eloais to burn down his own cart were one of these creatures around." He shakes his head sadly. "Well, shall we?"
"Yeah. Let's get a move on eh? Some of us have got enough sand in our boots to fill a bucket."
Breathing heavy as he finally pulls himself up from canyon, Nasir looks at the dead Pugwampis on the ground with a single arrow in its chest.
”Fulk! Good job! Ha ha! What an amazing feat of strength, I am happy to be fighting alongside of someone with your skill.”
Nasir chuckles to himself as he looks at the bleating goat and sighs,”Well at least we saved the goat, Shiiru since you took the Pugwampis I will carry this goat back. Come let us present Lady Almah her prize and return the goat as well.”
Your target, the Lady's wagon is easily identified by both it's extravagance, and the large tent pitched beside it. It's a short walk down to an audience.
From the other side of the valley you see a rag-tag assortment of people walking back into the village. One carries a live goat swing over one shoulder. Watching for a moment shows that they are also heading towards the Lady's tent.
In the Lady Almah's tent you are greated with a small gasp of surprise. Partly at the act of entering with a live goat, but mostly at the Pugwampi. Garavel clears a small side table, and the Pugwampi is laid out for inspection.
"This is certainly a creature fitting Dashki's description, vague as that was. Did you see evidence that it could have been the cause of the fire?"
”Aye, Well saiid friend Shiiru, I do not think I am smart enough to make the same obersations you did!” Nasir bellows, ”And we made a new friend as well! This is Rombard, Hardrod and Hadrah’s animal. Is there anything else you want to say to us, otherwise I would very much like to return this goat.” Nasir beings shouting over the goat bleating on his back.
A lone figure strides out of the desert in a long, gauzy robe with a hood and a scarf over the face. Dusty studded leather armor provides a modicum of protection, while beneath the white linen cloak is the occasional flash of color from a multi-layered skirt of reds and oranges. A hefty leather pack, well-tooled and lacquered, rides on the traveler's back, with a thick waterskin dangling from one side and a carefully-stowed setar on the other; the setar occasionally sparkles, like it is catching the desert sunlight on a jewel or piece of glass. The figure hikes with the aid of a pole that has a dark cap of metal on one end and a broad, curving blade with a curling hook on the other.
After pausing at the edge of camp and squinting at the tents and wagons, the figure starts walking again at a brisk pace toward the large wagon and sumptuous tent next to it.
Once Nasir has left she looks at the rest of you. "The evidence is not conclusive. But I believe it is enough to absolve Dashki in this case."
Dashki goes to spit, and stops himself at the last moment. "Well, thank you, you eminence. I will take the corpse of this, thing, as payment for my services in finding it." with that, he picks up the pugwampi, and stalks out of the tent. Garavel moves to stop him, but Almah holds up a hand, and allows Dashki to leave.
With a sigh, she continues "If there is one of these creatures, I can only assume there will be more. This seems like less of a sensible place to make a base than I thought. There is a monestary, or was, dedicated to Sarenrae not far from here. I am told it has been abandoned. I wish to relocate there."
"At this point, I am sure, your employment is resolved. I wish to retain you further, the church will no doubt require clearance, and I have come to trust you. I can offer you 200 gold pieces ahead, once the church is secure and I have relocated." Garavel nods in the background at this last. A quickly suppressed look of surprise at the new offer crosses his face.
Your target, the Lady's wagon is easily identified by both it's extravagance, and the large tent pitched beside it. It's a short walk down to an audience.
From the other side of the valley you see a rag-tag assortment of people walking back into the village. One carries a live goat swing over one shoulder. Watching for a moment shows that they are also heading towards the Lady's tent.
You also see a human woman with some sort of bladed staff walking into the valley from a third direction.
A few minutes after entering you see the man with the goat leave the tent, and head generally in the woman's direction. Shortly after you see another man, with lanky hair and a small animal's corpse in his hand leave and move off towards another wagon.
"Hail," she says. "I seek the Lady Almah. Is she yonder?"
She has a rich, velvety voice, surprising for someone who's probably been breathing dust and sand all day. Likely goes well with the setar that she carries - closer inspection shows that it does, in fact, bear elaborate painting, lacquering, and inlaid jewels.
The woman leans her polearm vaguely in the direction of the large tent to indicate.
Seeing another Keleshite ”AH! Another native! Welcome,” He bows in a sarcastic manner, ”To Lady’s Almah’s caravan. Yes, that is the Grand Lady’s tent, but be careful she’s in one of her moods. Or maybe my friend here offput her.” He gestures to the still bleating goat on his back, letting loose a hearty chuckle as he does so.
”But what is your busy with the Lady? I don’t believe I’ve seen you around the camp, what is your name?”.
The trip had been long and hard. The rat-girl was not used to such vast, open spaces, and so much sunlight. The first few days she had to ride in a cart, covered with a tarp to keep from losing her mind! As time passed, she became more conditioned to the heat and space, and with the time in the sun, her dark drown fir began to lighten to a more sandy colour. Now she was finally at the end of her journey. This Lady Almah and her caravan were going to her old home, and then she could retrieve her father's knives and go home!
She moves forward after seeing a number of people leave the tent she was told belonged to Lady Almah but stopped short as she viewed a man and woman before her talking. Dressed in her leathers with a gauzy robe overtop, she was sometimes confused for a halfling or human child, but that never lasted long, and more often then not she was met by disguise and fear. Well, she was used to it by now.
Greetings and salutations. I am very sorry to intrude upon your interaction but I am looking for the mistress of this caravan. Is she within this tent?"
”Aye, Lady Arian. My companions and I have just finished a favor for the master of the caravan, Lady Almah, who as may know travels with this caravan as a merchant princess. Don’t ask me what that means, I only swing my sword where her highness points.”
Nasir is momentarily stopped in his tracks when the short robed individual walks up, ”And what are you doing here little girl?” before catching a glimpse of her whiskers and tail protruding from the robes he stops when she requests the directions to Lady Almah. [b}”Excuse me Miss......I thought you were a tiny child. Apologies. Yes the Lady is in here. My friends should be in there if you go inside, I need to go return this goat! Find me later and I would be honored to hear both of your stories and how you have survived making your way to us. The desert is easy place to survive.”[/b]
Nasir then makes his way away from Arian and returns to the goat to Hadrod and Hadrah. ”Well here’s your goat back! Quiet a bit of trouble getting it to. How fared the caravan while we were gone?”
"My most gracious thanks. That goat is no end of problems, but I cannot help it. He is my favorite. Thank you for his rescue."
"Not a thing has stirred the world this fine morning while you were away. The calm is a welcome respite from the strange happenings of late."
As you turn to leave, Thom and Amori wait behind, begging a word with the Lady.
As they depart, Fulk mutters under his breath:
"I hope we find some bloody gnolls. Better that than more of these damned gremlins."
”Well I believe we have killed the creature responsible for the fire yesterday, so hopefully there will be no more freak accidents. It was a pleasure helping you Hadrod! I must go find my friends and see if the Lady Almah asked anything else of us. Maybe some day you can show me how you work with your animals, my tribe had many horses around but I could never quiet get the hang of it.”
He stops and pats the man on the shoulder, a little too hard for someone so much smaller than Nasir, before giving a giant smile and making his way back to the tent he sees his friends just coming out.
”Well what did Lady Almah say? Did you run into a woman and rat on your way out by any chance? They both said they were looking for the Lady.”
Shiiru wakes the next morning, and prepares his spells. He eventually comes out of his tent with Taaso on his heels. They go break their morning fast together, off to the side, before finally meeting up with the others. Still wiping sleep from his eyes, Shiiru turns to the others, "Who got the map from Lady Almah." He finally looks at the others, truly looks, "Where did Amori and Thomdril go? And who are you two?"
Taaso mews from the ground, pawing at Shiiru's leg, before he blinks and bows, "Taaso is correct, please excuse my poor manors. Though I have been up for some time, I am not great at it. I am Shiiru, and this is Taaso, at your service. Did Lady Almah hire you to help us clear the church?"
Pular wakes early and sniffs around the camp. She has become familiar to the many strange smells of the desert. As she walks, she keeps to the shadows out of habit.
Her talk with Lady Almah was a bit of a letdown. She had thought they were proceeding directly to the ruins of the town, but now she, and a number of strangers were being sent to locate some dusty old temple.
By the time she gets back she notices others have woken, and are now standing around the firepit waiting for their morning meal to be served. She goes and joins them.
"Good morning. I am Pular, known as Short Whiskers. I am to be accompanying you to this old monastery. It is good to make your acquaintance."
Bedding down for the night, Nasir tosses and turns, having trouble falling asleep. All he sees in his mind is the charred remains of the fortune teller’s wagon, his burned body lying there motionless before his body is replaced by the burned bodies of his tribe, the same charred look the same motionless expressions.
He wakes up in the morning with a jolt and in a cold sweat. Taking a moment for himself, he wanders to water barrel and splashes himself in the face. Nasir is relatively quiet at the beginning of the morning but perks up when Shiiru mentions the church, ”Wait? What? We’re clearing out a church,” before chuckling, ”Well that would explain why you told me to make sure I’m alright with the gods before sleeping last night.”
”Yes Shiiru, these are two were also hired by Lady Almah, although whether they are helping us clear the church out I do not know. This is Arian and Pular just introduced herself. We are excited that you will be joining us, since we have so much time on the road why dont you fill us in on how you came to the Lady Almah’s caravan?”
After the discussion with Lady Almah, Arian settles in to the camp, making a spot for herself. Night falls and she settles in on a rock to look over her jeweled setar. She adjusts the strings carefully, checks the tension, and keeps a close ear to it as she experimentally plucks it a few times. Finally, she plays a slow, calming melody that wafts across the campsite to carry people off to slumber.
~~~~~~~~~~
In the morning, Arian is up bright and early, having already cleaned her face and stowed her gear. Leaning on the post of her pole arm, she nods as Nasir speaks up, and says, "That's the right of it - I'm here to help at Lady Alma's direction. What kinds of hazards have you encountered so far? Do we have any idea what we might expect at this old building? Snakes? Gnolls? Giant scorpions?"
When Viridi emerges from her tent the following morning, she blinks a few times as she sees who the new faces are.
"Arian? Arian, is that you?" She grins widely and walks over to meet her. "I KNEW the caravan was missing someone--I mean, you signed up alongside the rest of us, and we left without you! That's just--"
She clears her throat. "Right. Hazards. Well, we had a spat of misfortune thanks to some pugwampis--a wagon catching fire, a goat going missing, someone dying, that sorta thing. We're planning on clearing a church for Lady Almah!"
"Viridi!" says Arian, equally pleased. "Of all the good luck! Yes, I missed the original caravan connection, but you were encamped long enough for me to catch up. I had quite a trip, some with a goatherder and his entire flock, a brief stint on camelback - but that's all behind us now."
The colorful woman posts her polearm to one side and steps up to hold her hands out to Viridi in greeting. "Gremlins! Sounds awful. Well we are certainly getting all the adventure we thought we would! How have you been holding up in the desert weather?"
"Oh, I'm finding it to be remarkably fascinating!" Viridi shakes Arian's hand. "I've never been to a desert as big as this before--heck, I've never been to the desert before, and so far it's been fun!"
"I mean, it's pretty, but in a harsh way, y'know what I mean?"
Arian glances to one side, casting her gaze out over the sere landscape of her homeland - the scrub brush, the tiny twigs with crows perched on them, the small rock formations filled with tiny lizards.
"... yes. Yes, I do."
She turns back to Viridi and says, "Gremlins, eh? That sounds like a right pain. I suppose we'll see if this old church is more of the same or something more fearsome."
"So..." she adds cheekily, "... are any of these yahoos good in a fight? I mean other than Nasir. He is obviously a slab of beef with a side of smash."
The map tot he church is fairly easy to follow, and the distances involved are not great. 2 miles at the most.
Pular is not surprised that most of the group passed her by, that was what it was like to be a rat-born. She quietly stayed on the edge of the gathering, her gear ready to go.
"... are any of these yahoos good in a fight? I mean other than Nasir. He is obviously a slab of beef with a side of smash."
"Well, Fulk's a ranger and Shiiru's a pretty good mage--"
Viridi glances beyond Arian and notices a small rat-person hovering at the edge of the gathering.
"Oh!" She briefly glances at the singer. "Would you excuse me for a bit?"
Then she approaches the rat-person. "Hello there! Did you sign up with Lady Almah's caravan too?"
Pular is startled from her thoughts as the half-human half-elf female spoke to...her??
"I am Pular, called short whiskers. Yes, I am helping the Lady, but I had thought she was going to the town, not some strange holy place."
She sniffs the air, taking in the females scent so she will remember it.
"My warren was from Kelmarane originally...we were among the last to leave. They now reside in Katapesh City where I worked for the Duskwalker's guild in the Nightstalls."
She twitches her tail and whiskers, signalling she is finished talking.
"My name's Viridi. Nice to meet ya!" The half-elf grins. "Maybe the church is the first stop before we move on to Kelmarane, and we'll tackle that next!"
"I'm from Absalom, myself. I'm responsible for providing healing and fresh water when we need it."
Atop his horse, Nasir looks every bit the Kelesh nomad,” Aye, the church is just a place to rest before we move on to Kelemarane. For its there the real danger lies, you’ve ever fought a gnoll Pular? Nasty creatures, ask Fulk he’ll say the same thing. If we ever do get to Kelemarane, you’ll be happy to have this slab of beef smashing their heads.” Nasir gives a wry smile back at Arian.
”No the sooner we clear out this temple the closer we are to Kelemarane.”
"You got another horse or am I hoofin' it myself?" says Arian. "I'm ready to fight gnolls if the need arises." She hefts her polearm and spins it handily. "Whether with beef or chicken."
The journey to the monastery is shorter than you were led to expect. About a mile from the Sultan’s Claw stands the abandoned Monastery of St. Vardishal, a forlorn edifice once holy to the faith of Sarenrae, goddess of redemption and the sun. In the 2 decades since a mad cult from Kelmarane invaded and put its monks to death, the place has stood as an empty ruin, a reminder of a brief era in which civilization tamed the Uwaga Highlands.
Scrub brush and a light, patchy carpet of weeds invade the monastery through two huge fallen sections of the western wall. The exposed nave beyond is a huge hallway littered with bits of debris ranging from tiny rocks to enormous sections of collapsed masonry. Most of the roof above the long promenade is gone, but several jagged pillars remain.
Upon arriving at the monastery Nasir is taken aback by its size, but only for a moment before sighing, ”It’s always a shame when something beautiful is destroyed. I can not stand by while the evil in this world corrupts things like this church, like the people of Katapesh, like my tribe. Lets find whatever is living here and redeem this place.”
Nasir takes off the giant greataxe from his back and looks around to see if he can find any tracks or footprints that would give any indication to what currently resides, if anything, in the monastery.
Nasir doesn't find much. Some animal tracks are around, but he can't tell if they are coming or going or just passing through.