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The Pathfinders arrive together at the Sandswept Hall of Sothis, responding at the behest of the local Lodge Venture Captain of Sothis, Norden Balentiir. It is early morning and the the sun is already blazing in the sky and only guaranteed to get hotter as it rises in the sky.
Several well-armed guards patrol the perimeter of the Sandswept Hall of Sothis, watching passerby with suspicion. As they scan the crowd, the lodge’s front gates swing open, and Venture Captain Norden Balentiir steps out into the street, waving calmly to the guards. “It’s all right. They are Pathfinders.” Balentiir steps back inside the gates. “Please, follow me. We have much to discuss.”
Instead of leading the way into the lodge itself, he walks around the back of the building to a lush garden. Sycamore, tamarisk, and fig trees provide shade to cushioned benches, and trellises covered in grapes and flowering plants provide privacy.
“Last night, a thief broke into our vault and fled with a pair of valuable items. While we were unable to stop her from escaping, a guard caught a glimpse of her as she fled. Our thief is a janni named Jamila al-Shafah. She has served as an ally to the Society in the past, but now we have to assume she might have been planning this theft for some time. She’s made her way southeast toward the Underdunes. We’re still figuring out if she had help, but in the meantime, I need you to find where she escaped to.”
Norden pauses and glances toward the sky before continuing. “In a way, this could be a blessing in disguise. The Underdunes have many hidden bits of lore. If you find something interesting along the way, be sure to take note of it for later. But don’t tarry too long—Jamila already has a lead of almost half a day.”
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The dwarf was looking around, trying to keep the head of a much curious weasel under his shirt
Calm down, Lybna, I'm sure there isn't much to eat here, unless you want to try to catch a lizard or something like that. I know you prefer cakes and almonds, but you're supposed to be a wild animal. More or less. Of course, you're much more than that too me. After all, you live close to my heart, and you know it.
He listens to the VC words carefully.
Was the theft done by mundane means, or was magic involved, as far as you can tell?
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"I don't know if she was working with anybody else. But if she was...then I would say that a group of relatively unknown Pathfinders who have recently arrived in the city would be our first suspects," he says darkly. "But I'm not going to jump to any conclusions, because we’re still trying to piece together the details. She struck our vault on the second floor. She was able to retrieve items without fighting any of the guards, which means she knew where to go and how to bypass our defenses.”
"“We’ve identified two missing relics. The Sandstorm Codex is an ancient tome written in Osiriani, Aquan, Auran, Ignan, and Terran. It’s an elaborate text, and we haven’t yet fully deciphered it. The other is an abacus that supposedly belonged to the Pharaoh of Numbers.”
“We first met Jamila as a silk merchant from Qadira. She was a companion of the late Venture-Captain Targos Min-Katheer*, and she helped lay him to rest. We considered her to be an ally of the Society. Now we have to wonder whether her aid was just part of a larger ruse.”
“Jamila has pale skin, long red hair, gold-colored eyes, and angular brown tattoos. She typically travels with a bird with green and orange feathers whose talons crackle with electricity.”
"Jamila is a janni, a type of genie-kind. Her kind have innate magical abilities."
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A tall, slender humanoid in loose-fitting clothing (except for the leather bracers on his forearms), Rhu has an unstrung composite longbow cased at his side and a kama at his belt. His skin is reddened by more than the Osiriani sun, and his slitted golden eyes bespeak an unusual heritage. In a flat voice, he asks, "What should we do with Jamila when we find her?"
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As a race, Janni are quite resourceful, knowing intinctively more about magic than a typical average human, or dwarf, as I don't want to sound dismissive of anyone. They can change their own or anyone else's size, can speak with animals, create food and drink, and, which has must been helpful in this heist, become invisible. Due to their elemental nature, they can even travel to elemental and ethereal planes, and that is powerful magic indeed.
he struggles to keep the weasel under his shirt
So here are her advantages over us so far: a few hours of travel, greater land speed than me, no need to stop to buy or hunt food, probably won't suffer that much from the desert heat. So we need horses or camels, food and plenty of water, clothes adapted to the desert. A few scrolls or spells to counter her invisibility would be great too.
The dwarf turns to the VC again.
Was the thief interrupted, and had to run away before getting caught, or did she target these two items specifically, not bothering with anything else? What are their importance? Are they linked to the Underdunes region? What could you tell us about Janira's bird? It doesn't seem to be a simple, natural bird..
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"Yes...Eredur is it...you brought up many of the dangers that you will need to prepare for when you travel in the desert. There is scorching heat, along with sandslides and other dangerous terrain. Also, bear in mind that several elemental tribes call the Underdunes home, and none of them have a fondness for humanoids. Bring rope and survival gear, but also an eye for history. Rumor has it that the binding rituals of Ancient Osirion caused the elemental planes to bleed over into the desert at spots. If you can find proof of that theory, or learn something new about the elemental tribes, that discovery would give this proverbial cloud its silver lining.”
"She was long gone before we realized that the two items were missing. There are a lot of important and valuable relics in our vaults, so I would assume she took those two for a reason, but I couldn't begin to speculate what that reason is."
"Yes, her bird crackled with an electrical charge. But a lot of people pass through a Pathfinder Lodge with all sorts of strange animals. I don't have the time to pay attention to all of them."
Once they have finished asking him questions, the Venture Captain presents the Pathfinder agents with a map of the desert overland trade routes and shows them the most commonly used path through the Underdunes, which leads to the coastal city of El-Shelad. About 10 miles outside Sothis, the trail branches out into over a dozen trails before rejoining into one path again after making it through the desert. Balentiir explains that merchants need multiple routes through the desert so that they have options for avoiding the regions frequent sandstorms and elemental migrations.
"My recommendation is that you find a traveling merchant; either here in Sothis or on the road; and ask them what are currently the safest routes."
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The party was able to make some of their purchases beforehand, including those that anticipated that they may want to invest in magical protection against the region's notorious desert heat.
Hosser is able to quickly find a local spice merchant by the name of Kihur. He is warm and welcoming, offering the party some of his hot spiced tea underneath the shade of his tent. He has a wealth of knowledge about the various trade routes, including the sandstorms that are one of the greatest dangers and the various elemental creatures who inhabit the desert and make up its second largest hazard. Having recently arrived from El-Shelad, he points out several paths that merchants are currently using and several that should be avoided due to seasonal storms and known migrations of more aggressive elemental creatures.
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I'll do, mister Entekh. Useful wand. I do have one of my own
Eredur will request for a small wand too, a tree's root from which a drop of water constantly clings, and some clothes adapted for warm climate. He smiles when he sees Hosser buying a wand of endure elements
I had the same idea.It can be very helpful, that spell. Should one or two of us buy a shovel too, in case of a sandslide? A big tent to accomodate all of us?
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After making their purchases the party leaves the city of Sothis and begins following the road into the desert. There are many other travelers on the road who are trying to get as many miles under their feet before the sun reaches its full height in the sky. Most merchants and travelers sail the seas but some prefer the land route. There are some travelers who walk the route because of sea sickness or a fear of sea travel but most take the land route because camels are cheaper than a ship and crew.
As the party makes their way down the caravan road, they talk among themselves about what they have read or heard about this region of the world.
Knowledge (Local or Planes)
conflict between the Goanron and the Ainsi. The Goanron strive to keep the city buried under the desert sands, while the Ainsi believe that uncovering it can advance the desert to its true glory.
Knowledge (engineering or nature) or Survival
within each other, like an archery target. These circles surround four triangles, each of which points toward the center of the target.
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Kroone kept to himself and limited to thank the others for being so thoughtful in regards to enduring the different weather conditions. He had no doubt it would be challenging to take their prisoner, but he was hopeful he'd be still be able to help despite his lack of experience when compared to the others.
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"There be a bunch of elementals out there in the dunes. Used to be bound by dem old Pharoahs. Two biggest are the Goanron, which got earth wind and fire elementals, and then there is the Ainsi, a bunch of ornery wind elementals that split off."
"There be somethings off in the dunes. Erosion going the wrong way of the wind. Sandslides where they aint supposed to be. Watch out."
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There are plenty of merchants on the road as the party travel. As they reach the first split in the trails they start feeling the full effects from the searing light of the raging desert sun. Those in armor especially feel the oppressive heat as the sweat pours down their helmeted heads and their cuirasses of stiff leather and impenetrable steel trap the heat inside, cooking them like a lobster in a stew pot. Metal armor and even belt buckles become to hot to touch without gloved hands. But even those without armor begin to tire under the relentless scorch of the noonday sun.
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The party reaches a part in the road where it diverges into two paths. A steep downward trail leads to a trench that provides shade from the desert heat. The other path leads upward toward a series of ledges that eventually lead to the top of the canyon. This higher path provides less protection from the sun, but its high vantage point could allow a better view of the surrounding area.
lower path suggests the risk of a sandslide, while strong, swirling winds on the upper path could make travel along the narrowest ledges dangerous.