Session 15 into session 16
Welcome back everyone! – Here’s what’s happened in our previous session.
Last session we started with the party gathered inside of Atma’s tavern, having just regrouped after having a nice long rest, and while spending some time inside of the city, the party opted to work on their individual downtime activities… further progressing their characters.
Atma informed the party of Morie leaving in the time that they were resting, looking very flustered and panicking as she headed out the door with what little she carried on her.
As for Krell, he was still tucked up in his bed, resting inside of his room after pushing himself a little too far with his training with Fara, to become a junior blacksmith.
However, there was work to be done of a different kind, and after Scarlett and Ophi were finished comparing chest sizes, it was time leave the city once more and head to the Far Oasis, in search of the Horadric Staff.
Once there, Scarlett done her usual trick of rushing ahead into danger, and leads the entire party into a group of enemies. This time though, the circling Vultures up above sensed their next meal was there, and swarmed over Scarlett and the rest of the party in mere seconds.
Unknown to the group of undead birds, they had picked a losing battle, and in their thirst for blood, they were cut down to size very quickly by Ophi’s Bodyguards.
Soon, the party were back on the road, headed in a northerly direction, when a few of them spotted a black haze on the horizon that seemed to move and shift as quickly and as often as the party did.
As the party drew closer, upon further inspection, it turned out the black haze was actually a large collection of humming blood-sucking flies… and they stretched out from one side of the road to the other, making it difficult for anyone to pass by.
Nikolaj reacted quickly, and conjured up a wall of strong swirling wind, from the plane of Air… The speed of which and ferocity was enough to keep the flies from moving, and every time they tried to pass the wall, were thrown back violently.
Eventually, through the use of lots of fire magic, the party took the flies down by combining the wind with the flames, to create a swirling fiery tornado… burning them away in seconds… and soon the fight was over.
Moving on after a quick search of the area, the party left the Far Oasis, and traveled along the long winding road which was leading to them to seemingly nowhere.
Hours passed by, and eventually they headed into a canyon, where they encountered a grizzly scene indeed, a travelling merchant had been set upon and murdered as he too traveled this dangerous road with his horse and cart…. OR, could it have just been a clever trap set to snare the party? – Nikolaj fearing this was the case, sent forth his Spirit Wolf companion, and waited to see if anything happened as a result… nothing did though.
Upon further inspection, it was clear this was no trap… Off to one side of the road as it hit a bend, was a burned out cart, heavily damaged in many ways too, and sat alongside it was a decayed horse, and the remains of a male merchant… his cream clothing in tatters, but loosely resembling the merchants guild from Lut Gholein.
It was clear that this merchant had been traveling back to Lut Gholein, and him and his horse met their fate at the end of a sharp cultists blade.
Anything of value was taken in the attack, except for a few missed painted urns, which when Zrin searched them, he found they held a few gold coins in each jar, plus they could be used as containers too, and so he kept them.
Rhyker overcome his fear of decayed flesh, and knelt beside the dead merchant, where he then said a few words of prayer, to help guide the soul of the merchant to it’s final resting place.
Taking a few moments after the findings to gather their thoughts, the party were sure they had forgotten something, and so took the long road back to the Far Oasis, but just as they arrived at their destination, the last of the light from the winter sun was about to fade away, and the cold night air of the desert was soon going to be upon them.
Quickly, and without any hesitation – As a group they decided to go back to Lut Gholein, to collect Krell, to find warmth, and to report the death of the merchant they found… and so they wasted no time in heading to the way-point near the Oasis itself, and one by one teleported back to the safety of the city.
Once back in Lut Gholein, Ophi’s Bodyguards took a small break,
They informed the local guards about the body of the merchant, and gave the location if they wanted to try to retrieve the body and cart at any point.
and then headed off to continue with their chosen tasks.
However, whilst they had been away and been busy out in the wilderness, in their absence a new structure had been revealed in the middle of the city… A makeshift noticeboard had been created.
… and It’s here where we will pick up today’s session.