Session 2: Sand Druid Parties are the Best Parties
General Summary
The session begins with a Caravan pulling into Pilf midday with the intent to stay overnight and head out at dawn the following morning. The traders in the Caravan set up their shops in the Bazaar as Pilf nearly doubles in size temporarily from the Caravan stopover. The party talks with the various merchants who offload from the caravan, perusing their wares. There is Russel (they/them), the arms merchant, a purple tiefling with black horns matching their black eyes and forked tongue. Their shimmering yellow and green checkerboard cloak made them stand out from the crowd. Dalphina (she/her) the gnome, purple hair and icy blue eyes clad in a yellow and green dress is selling arcane wares. Corris (he/him) the minotaur is bare chested yet has his torso died green and yellow. A red headband goes across his head as he sells general goods with the caravan. Fiddon (they/them) the human antiquities dealer and quartermaster has short brown hair which brushes against the sword strapped to their back.
While perusing, Rodan Spice gravitates to Fiddon, wanting to purchase a probable treasure map with encoded directions to the treasure of the Doresak Desert. Fiddon shows Rodan a writ of certification from Servoss, the Wizard in Del, for a single use spell which is present within the purported treasure map. While Rodan attempts to bargain, he is unable to get Fiddon down from 1,500gp and leaves without the map. Separately, Tork tries out a greatsword from Russel, but loses control and the blade careens towards a traveler from the caravan. Dalphina casts a ward spell to deflect the blade at the last moment leaving only some slightly bruised egos. Tork and Alena Birch continue to shop, with Alena Birch purchasing some quivers and arrows while Tork purchases some javelins.
All the members of the party talked with Sovik and book passage with the Caravan for its next trip to Gorsac. Alena Birch, Tork , and Kale travel as security while Rodan Spice simply pays for passage as a passenger. Once the contract is signed, they go about the rest of their day.
Rodan Spice and Kale then decide to case the home of a family from the Hunter's Guild. They break in, stealing from a few chests and taking one with them to steal from after breaking it open in Throm's now deserted home. They end up with a haul of two wolf pelts, 150gp, jewelry, and a leather bound cipher text.
The party join the Caravan right before sunrise and travel uneventfully the first day until they camp for the night within eyesight of the Cliffs of Shade. At night, the Caravan is setup by the same carapaced insectoids which attacked the party on their previous journey to the Cliffs of Shade (which is later identified to the party as Thri-keen). The entire party kill several of the Thri-keen before noticing one of the guards coming out of Fiddon's cart. They will capture and interrogate the guard who identifies themselves as Tinterbeck. Tinterbeck claims they were not stealing, just repatriating something from this caravan to its rightful owners. The party agrees to let Tinterbeck go in exchange for stealing the Doresak Desert treasure map for Rodan Spice. Tinterbeck agrees, brings back the map to Rodan Spice, and tells the party if they are ever looking for work to go to the Midal Inn in Gorsac and ask for Asson. With this, Tinterbeck blends back into the caravan guards for the remainder of the journey.
In the aftermath of the attack, Rodan Spice negotiates his trip to be for free as he helped fight the Thri-keen. Sovik lets the party know that some guards died in the attack as did Russel, but the caravan will continue its journey nonetheless. While the caravan continues, Rodan Spice reads the stolen map which reads:
The money of the poor
The feet of birds
The roots of stars
The color of air From prior research, Rodan Spice is positive the treasure is at least 300 years old and people either return empty handed from their quest for it or never return. The journey with the caravan continues uneventfully until the party arrives at the tent city of O-nak for the last two days of the Sun festival. Arranged in concentric circles, well over 10,000 Sand Druids are present as they gather in their annual celebration. The caravan goes straight to the center of the gathering, traveling nearly a mile through tents, to deliver the trees several wagons were carrying as cargo. Once complete, Sovik tells the party they will be leaving the morning after the festival from the Southern edge of O-nak to make their way to Gorsac. Until then, they are welcome to spend their time as they see fit. Upon leaving the party at the center of the city, Rodan Spice talks to Chief Mizandil, the current chief of the Sand Druids, a 200+ year old half elf. In trying to get information about the Doresak Treasure, Rodan Spice is told that there are a lot of rumors but not much fact. If they wanted to know more, they could go talk to Josephina, one of the oldest Sand Druids of whom the Chief knows. Tork and Alena Birch wander off into the city and find a sand castle building contest. Tork attempts to make a minotaur statue as part of the contest. It accidentally gets destroyed during his first attempt but he eventually manages to complete it. He then goes to find the fighting pits where he squares off against an orange Tiefling Barbarian named Zirk. Zirk's horns go to red at their tips, has black eyes, and wears a golden belt and golden bracers. Their first fight is an all out knockdown, drag out fight. Tork delivers a crushing final blow, but does have his ear bitten off in the course of the fight which Alena Birch agrees to help heal over the next several days. Rodan Spice begins his time in O-nak by seeking out Josephina in her tent. Josephina is nearly 800 years old, a dark skinned elf full of wrinkles who has milky white eyes (Kale accompanies him). In her tent which is covered in cloths and lit lowly by candles and incense, she offers Rodan some tea. Upon drinking it, Rodan Spice basically trips balls which helps him understand the second part of his Treasure Map clue as being claws or talons. Upon learning this, he remembers that the theive's guild in the land is referred to as The Copper Claw. Josephina wishes him well regardless of if they meet on this side of the Great Oasis or the next. With half of his clues deciphered, he proceeds to find parties, drink, and take some other drugs before passing out at dawn. Kale wakes up in shattered glass at an art exhibit, naked, next to two half-elves and with no memory. He leaves without speaking to them and spends the rest of the day wandering around, looking for familiar faces, and eating boiled birds. The party eventually reunites in time to watch Tork have a rematch with Zirk. During the rematch, Zirk ends up winning this time around having learned from the previous fight. The party then goes and watches the final ritual of the O-nak sun festival gathering. Twelve Sand Druids stand upon the top of upended logs in the center of the tent city and light themselves afire, sacrificing themselves. Kale tries to stop them but isn't able to make much headway through the crowd. With the festival concluded, the party make their way back to the Southern tip of O-nak and reunite with the caravan who then head south to Gorsac, ending the session.
The feet of birds
The roots of stars
The color of air From prior research, Rodan Spice is positive the treasure is at least 300 years old and people either return empty handed from their quest for it or never return. The journey with the caravan continues uneventfully until the party arrives at the tent city of O-nak for the last two days of the Sun festival. Arranged in concentric circles, well over 10,000 Sand Druids are present as they gather in their annual celebration. The caravan goes straight to the center of the gathering, traveling nearly a mile through tents, to deliver the trees several wagons were carrying as cargo. Once complete, Sovik tells the party they will be leaving the morning after the festival from the Southern edge of O-nak to make their way to Gorsac. Until then, they are welcome to spend their time as they see fit. Upon leaving the party at the center of the city, Rodan Spice talks to Chief Mizandil, the current chief of the Sand Druids, a 200+ year old half elf. In trying to get information about the Doresak Treasure, Rodan Spice is told that there are a lot of rumors but not much fact. If they wanted to know more, they could go talk to Josephina, one of the oldest Sand Druids of whom the Chief knows. Tork and Alena Birch wander off into the city and find a sand castle building contest. Tork attempts to make a minotaur statue as part of the contest. It accidentally gets destroyed during his first attempt but he eventually manages to complete it. He then goes to find the fighting pits where he squares off against an orange Tiefling Barbarian named Zirk. Zirk's horns go to red at their tips, has black eyes, and wears a golden belt and golden bracers. Their first fight is an all out knockdown, drag out fight. Tork delivers a crushing final blow, but does have his ear bitten off in the course of the fight which Alena Birch agrees to help heal over the next several days. Rodan Spice begins his time in O-nak by seeking out Josephina in her tent. Josephina is nearly 800 years old, a dark skinned elf full of wrinkles who has milky white eyes (Kale accompanies him). In her tent which is covered in cloths and lit lowly by candles and incense, she offers Rodan some tea. Upon drinking it, Rodan Spice basically trips balls which helps him understand the second part of his Treasure Map clue as being claws or talons. Upon learning this, he remembers that the theive's guild in the land is referred to as The Copper Claw. Josephina wishes him well regardless of if they meet on this side of the Great Oasis or the next. With half of his clues deciphered, he proceeds to find parties, drink, and take some other drugs before passing out at dawn. Kale wakes up in shattered glass at an art exhibit, naked, next to two half-elves and with no memory. He leaves without speaking to them and spends the rest of the day wandering around, looking for familiar faces, and eating boiled birds. The party eventually reunites in time to watch Tork have a rematch with Zirk. During the rematch, Zirk ends up winning this time around having learned from the previous fight. The party then goes and watches the final ritual of the O-nak sun festival gathering. Twelve Sand Druids stand upon the top of upended logs in the center of the tent city and light themselves afire, sacrificing themselves. Kale tries to stop them but isn't able to make much headway through the crowd. With the festival concluded, the party make their way back to the Southern tip of O-nak and reunite with the caravan who then head south to Gorsac, ending the session.
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