2nd-3rd of Abadius: Grit and Black Spires
A Rough Ride
The next day the group rides out early in the morning and makes only brief stops during the day. Tarian's condition does not worsen, but they know it is just a matter of time. They are put on their guard when they feel a chill wind move in. Some distance to the south, they spot an earth-colored cloud building up, and recognize their danger: a sandstorm was heading their way. They quickly find a rocky outcrop to hunker down in just before the sandstorm overtakes them. The world goes dark as the sand attacks them: it is abrasive to the skin, and goes everywhere. It is not a restful night for the group as they huddle close together to try to keep the sand out.
The morning is hazy, and everything has a coating of sand blasted onto it. They miserably pack up and move out, knowing that the Temple of Pharasma is not far. By the end of the day (in which barely a word is spoken between them all), they see the spires of the Temple come into view. Inside the walls of the grounds, they dismount, following the camels to the stables, and greet the stable master, asking for attention from a cleric. A priest appears and walks them to the Temple after an explanation about their trip. They stay calm, despite their need, since Tarian's condition had not worsened, and as long as a priest inside could heal him, they were no longer in danger.
Pharasma's Touch
The priest guides them inside, explaining that the Priestess Gamora was going to want to speak with them about their trip. When they greet the Priestess, she asks about their travels, wanting to know the site's current situation and how the group fared on their mission. The group relays the information about the underground temple and the animated bone dragon they found within. They also explain the historical document they found, and the Priestess seems intrigued, saying that the Magi in Avalon would like to have this document in their collection. She is overwhelmed when Tarian mentions that he will make a copy, and donate it to the Temple's own collection as well.
Gamora smiles, and says, "I can feel a power that guides you all, you are for whatever reason in the favor of our gods. May you never forget that. May the gods of our realm continue to bestow their blessings upon you."
As she says those words, she makes a spiral pattern across her chest, and then lowers her head in prayer.
Alex turns and begins to walk away in disgust at the devout display before Gamora can say, "May Pharasma watch over us, I bid thee well adventurers, spend as much time as you need before departing."
Poppet sends Widget out to follow Alex and keep an eye on him, carefully staying out of his range. Gamora seems hurt by Alex's hostile exit, but rallies as another priest approaches with a tray. She nods at the priest, and invites the group to take a slice of Kolash - a bread formed into a spiraling rope on the tray with fruit and cheese surrounding it. The bread is a symbol of the church, and the priests step forward to take a slice of the bread, with the group following suit and giving quiet thanks for the blessing.
Before Gamora eats her slice, she says, "May Pharasma watch over us."
After they eat their slice, Gamora smiles and tells the group that they can spend as much time as they need in the Temple before continuing on.
Tarian approaches Gamora and explains the mummy they encountered and the curse upon him. He asks for the aid of Pharasma so that he might live. Gamora seems taken aback, but nods, takes him by the hand, and closes her eyes in prayer. Tarian feels some kind of force upon him as she prays, and does his best to not fight the unfamiliar intrusion.
A few moments later she opens her eyes, and calmly tells him, "You are well again, sir."
The group breathes a sigh of relief, knowing that Tarian's curse had been cured.
In true fashion for the rogue, he rubs his hands together and says, "And now to think about all the money we'll make when we get to Gangai!"
Mastodon & Poppet: Outsiders In
The group disperses to relax and blow off steam in their own fashions for the night. Their time in the underground temple and the ride back to the Temple of Pharasma had been hostile and above all stressful from their ordeals. Mastodon was anxious to find out what the group's plans were, since his original contract with the group had been fulfilled. He seeks out Poppet, and finds her on a side lawn with items strewn on the ground, appraising magical items found in temple. Poppet takes a look at the loot that they received from the temple, and finds that they have a +1 longsword, a Cloak of Resistance (+1 to Fire), and two Potions of Cure Light Wounds (Level +5).
Mastodon approaches as she mutters to herself about the possible value of the Cloak, and says, "Poppet, I don't mean to intrude, but I need some advice, and you're an outsider to this group like me. My contract with this group is over, I have fulfilled my obligation, and Tarian has paid me for the work. I am unsure what to do from here, and I thought I would see what your own plans were."
She smiles at him, setting the item aside and says, "I am inclined to continue to aid the group because of my past connections with a possible common organization. However, I understand if you do not want to accompany the group further. There is quite a bit of hostility being exhibited in the group; we seem to have joined them at a very strained hour. I know that your aid would certainly help, but the paladin and I are at each other's throats since he lost his goddess, who seems to have forsaken him."
She sighs, and calmly continues, "I hope he will find his god again, and get back on the right path."
Mastodon nods and says, "When paladins fall, they fall hard."
"Well, like I said, I intend to stay with the group despite their current flaws...if that makes your own mind any easier."
Mastodon thanks her for her opinion, and makes his way back to his own room for the night.
Alex, Poppet, & Lo: Abandoned Trinkets
Alex sits with his back against a tree, sullenly tossing pebbles at Widget, who is just far enough out of his range to be annoying. Poppet quietly approaches, and Alex stands when he sees her.
She walks up to Alex, and says, "I have something that belongs to you."
She pulls out Sara's journal and his pendant, saying "You might want to keep better track of your things."
He blankly looks at the items in her hands, and when he reaches out, he grabs hold of Poppet's braids, pulling her head to his.
Full of malice, and with gritted teeth he says, "One would be wise to not trifle with things that don't belong to you! I also recommend that your rodent stays as far away from me as possible."
He roughly releases her hair, pushing her away from him and storms off, leaving Poppet hurt and still holding his items.
Lo, who had been playing his lute nearby sees Alex's rough treatment of Poppet, and stands in Alex's way as he approaches, "What the hell Alex?!"
Alex responds with, "She got into my business."
Lo stands his ground despite the stormy presence of Alex and says, "You need to put the group ahead of your personal troubles."
This seems to give Alex some pause, and he grits his teeth and says, "You're probably right," before continuing to his room with Widget quietly scampering along behind him out of view.
Poppet approaches Lo, rubbing her head in pain, and Lo apologizes for Alex's behavior. They briefly discuss their own situations, and the talk turns to their horses when they discuss traveling through the desert. On behalf of the group, the two decide to sell the extra horses for 350 gold each, keeping one Arabian for Poppet. Poppet and Lo then make their way to their rooms. In her room, Poppet begins the arduous task of feeding her looted scrolls to Widget, and becomes completely absorbed in the process.
Roth & Myne: Night Moves
Roth and Myne meander together somewhat by accident, each preferring to be out of doors. They make their way to a quiet grove and sit, silently enjoying the company of each other and the peace of the grove. Myne idly pets Rauros and stares at a pool of water, lost in her pain and weariness.
Roth sits on the other side of Rauros and also stares at the pool, but his mind races, What are we to do now? We have retrieved the crystal, and have been instructed to rendezvous with the Pathfinders somewhere to the north...Cresta, I think...but it sounds like Tarian, Mastodon, and Poppet may have interests in Gangai. Even I would like to go, mostly just to visit the region, but also to figure out more about our newcomers...Poppet is not revealing everything about herself...she is not a full human, I can sense it.
He looks over at Myne, and sees her hastily wipe a small tear from her eyes, The hostility among us is becoming unbearable: Alex has lost his goddess and is completely self-destructive (destroying Myne and Poppet with him); Lo's knowledge of Mastodon's race seems to be giving him free reign to poke at the half-orc whenever possible; and Tarian seems fixed upon his ventures even at the cost of his own health. Can we even survive the trip together?
He lets out a sigh, standing up as he says to Myne, "I'm going back to my room. I want to look at some maps of the region."
Myne breaks herself out of her reverie, looking at the elf with tired eyes, "Oh...what do you need to look at the maps for?"
"We have a bit of a predicament. I know Tarian wants to go to Gangai to unload his treasures and make new contacts for his guild...and I believe since Mastodon and Poppet are from the city, that they may wish to travel back to their city. At the same time, we've got Cresta to consider; it's where we've been instructed to meet up with the Pathfinders."
Myne smiles, and stands up with him, "I would be willing to help you. Last time I looked at our maps, I recall not seeing Gangai on our maps...Kish is quite vast. If you want, I could try to acquire some new maps to have a better view of Kish. I'll meet you at your room, yeah?"
Roth nods at her offer, and she heads off in the direction of the temple's library. There, she finds copies of four library maps that the library is willing to sell to her. With her new maps in hand, she quickly heads for Roth's room. When they lay out the maps on Roth's table, Myne gasps at the distance to Gangai: it would be nearly 14 days of travel east, and their rendezvous point in Cresta was straight north from the temple.
She looks at Roth as he considers the map with his hands at his lips, "Roth, in my opinion, the delay in meeting up with the Pathfinders is too great to consider Gangai. Look at the distance…"
Roth listens to her quietly, and finally says, "I think the best option is to call a meeting and discuss our course of action."
"I agree. This may end up being a parting of ways for our group."
She looks at Roth, who bends back over the map in contemplation, unsure of whether she should stay longer or leave him in solitude. She finally decides on the latter, quietly saying, "Well, you seem deep in thought, so I will leave you for the night. Perhaps I can expend my magic to heal our group before bed. Goodnight, Roth."
Roth looks up from the map, smiling, "Goodnight, Myne."
Myne knew many of the group members were weary, sore, and bloodied from their hastened pace through the desert. She knocks on Alex's door, quietly calling his name, but gets no response. She is fairly sure he is inside, but does not push it further- in his rage Alex frightened Myne. At Lo's door, she finds the bard limping slightly, and spends a Cure Light Wounds spell on his leg. There is no response at Poppet's door, although it seems that she is inside, hard at some work.
Tarian: The Promise of Protection
Tarian immediately takes up a residence in the library to make copies of the journal entry found in the temple. He translates the text into Common on a fresh piece of parchment, and presents it to the curator in thanks for the priestess saving his life. He also makes another two copies in the original ancient language and the Common language in order to have the texts ready to present to Avalon's curators if they ever were to make their way back to that city. When he finishes the copies, it is late at night, but he has more on his mind. He makes his way to the rooms with no intention of sleeping; he seeks out Mastodon in his room; Mastodon is a mercenary from Gangai, Tarian hopes to permanently recruit him.
Tarian ensures that no one else is around when he knocks on Mastodon's door, and Mastodon cracks the door to look at Tarian, "Yes?"
"I have a business proposal...can we meet privately?"
Mastodon nods at the rogue, and quietly admits him to his candlelit room. Seating themselves at Mastodon's table, Tarian pulls out two glasses and a jug of wine to split between them for the meeting.
After pouring out the deep red wine for each of them, Tarian explains his situation: "I have a guild to grow, and I am in need of information, connections, contracts, and trade agreements in Gangai. My hope is that your connections in Gangai will prove to be fruitful, producing royalties for you on top of a hefty salary paid out by me."
Mastodon nods as Tarian explains further about his guild and the types of business he is trying to attract, and he likes what he hears.
Tarian sighs as he thinks of his close call in the temple and adds, "On top of the connections, I also need a bodyguard for myself…and my daughter, Myne."
Mastodon's face does not change, but he asks, "Does she know?"
Tarian takes a swig of wine before saying, "No one in the group knows, not even Myne. But if something happens to me, I want you to watch after her. I'm sure I can depend upon your secrecy in this matter, but it is my own to deal with."
Mastodon thinks for a while, and then says, "I need to be able to make occasional visits to Gangai, no questions asked."
In response, Tarian produces a large pouch of gold, and places it on the table. He then holds his hand out across the table, and Mastodon reaches out his own to shake on the deal.
After they shake hands, they are interrupted by a knock at the door. Mastodon replies, "Who is it?" while Tarian hides in the closet.
He hears Myne's voice from behind the door, "It's Myne. I am checking to see if you need any healing attentions before I go to bed."
When he knows Tarian is hidden, he cracks the door open to see her. She carries a worried expression, saying, "Hi Mastodon. I did not find Tarian in his room, but I am administering cures...are you in pain?"
Mastodon's side ached and he had a deep cut on his arm, and he presents his injuries to the concerned druid. She closes her eyes and delivers two Cure Moderate Wounds and one Cure Light Wounds spells on the barbarian, spending the last of her spells on his injuries. She looks tired and weary from casting the spells, but satisfied at Mastodon's improved condition.
Mastodon reaches out to catch her as she swoons from the energy the expended, "Do you need help getting back to your room?"
"Thank you, but no. I can make it back to my room just fine."
She declines his offer, stumbling back to her room on her own.
Tarian quietly makes his way back to his chair once the door is closed, and refills his wine glass, saying with some admiration, "She is a great healer, just like her mother."
Mastodon takes the opportunity to find out more about the two of them, asking, "Her mother was good to you then?"
Tarian smiles, briefly recalling soft pale skin, piercing blue eyes, cascading red hair, and the smell of lavender and sweetgrass.
He holds up his glass to toast Mastodon, and says, "In more ways than one."
Knocking on Doors
Late at night, Roth finally makes his way to the group's rooms to rally them for a morning meeting. He knocks on Alex's door first, and announces his intentions to the otherwise unresponsive door.
He then asks again for Alex to come to the door, and after a brief silence, the door swings open, and Alex appears saying, "What can I do for you?"
Alex had a high level of respect for the elf, and may have been one of the only members of their group that Alex would have opened the door for.
Roth puts forth the invitation to come to a morning meeting to determine the group's course of action, and Alex replies with a little bit of malice in his voice, "I suppose, but that Poppet…. I may pop her in the face!"
Roth looks at him seriously, and says, "I would hope you can restrain yourself for the good of the group."
Alex concedes the point, "You're a wise person, and I will give you the benefit of the doubt. I'll sleep it off, just leave me for the night."
After the door closes behind Roth, Alex spends a few moments taking out his aggression on walls before finally 'sleeping it off.'
At Mastodon's door, he gives the same proposal, and he responds with, "It sounds reasonable, and I can give some advice, but I am not a leader. I'll give all that I can give."
Roth smiles and says, "You're an asset to the group, and we value your opinion."
At Lo's door, he greets Roth with a laid-back, "Hello, hello."
After the proposal is explained, he says, "Sure, sounds good."
With that he stretches out on his bed and goes back to sleep.
At Poppet's door, the smell of burning parchment and oil invades Roth's senses when she finally cracks her door open.
She looks tired like she has been up all night hard at work, and after Roth's explanation she says, "If the paladin promises to be civil, I can attend. Now if you would excuse me, I have hours of ceremonies to get through."
Tarian's door opens as well to reveal an elf that looks like he hasn't been sleeping, and he smells like wine. Tarian agrees to meet in the morning, and bids Roth good night.
4th of Abadius: Sleep It Off and Meet in the Morning
After a good night's sleep for most of the group, the sun rises on the main hall where the group (all but Tarian) is seated for a breakfast of yogurt and bread.
Alex pokes at his food and complains, "Church fare…. meager food."
The group lets his complaint fall without a response, and after breakfast they make their way to a remote garden and assemble in a circle.
Roth suggests to Poppet to send Widget out to keep an eye out for eavesdroppers, saying, "You can never assume that there are no enemies around. Has anyone seen Tarian by the way?"
The group look at one another, but no answer is forthcoming, and they assume he is sleeping off his late night.
Once Widget is in place, Roth sighs heavily and steps forward. "We have a hard decision to make here. We have completed our objective in the desert temple, and we need to have a direction in which to continue on from here, and I feel that splitting up the group is a bad idea. The two directions that I see our group heading are Cresta to the north, allowing us to rendezvous with the people that are the reason our group was formed in the first place; and Gangai to the east, allowing us to be in a major city for trade, news, and other small personal reasons…" here he nods to those that are from Kish, and continues, "and I also have a wish to go to Gangai. How do we do this? We need to make a decision, and I am willing to facilitate the discussion."
As he speaks, he pulls out the maps of the area, thanking Myne for the new maps, and pointing to each destination in turn.
Myne steps forward first, voicing her opinion that the distance to Gangai was too great to consider it; that they would be weeks behind in reaching Cresta since they would have to backtrack after their time in Gangai. She acknowledges those with the desire to go to Gangai, conceding that they could leave for Gangai after rendezvousing in Cresta, depending on what 'the group' would want for them next (since the newcomers Poppet and Mastodon were not part of their original group, she did not reveal the name of their group openly).
Poppet steps forward and simply says, "I don't know what your objectives are in Cresta, but it sounds like those that want to head to Gangai only want to do so in order to unload goods."
Roth sits with a hand on his chin, staring hard at Poppet and Mastodon to determine their character, and how much they should be allowed to know. When he seems to come to a decision, he stands and tells Poppet and Mastodon their mission, why the group was formed, and the Pathfinders Society members that were to be their contacts in Cresta.
He finishes with a hope for their trust and secrecy, saying, "This is what we're about."
Poppet speaks up, saying, "I know of the Pathfinders, and a few of their members. I am willing to go with you now that I know what your full plans are."
Myne looks at Poppet in amazement and says, "You know the Pathfinders?"
Poppet smiles and says, "Indeed. I've been knowledgeable of their organization for quite some time."
Lo steps forward and says, "After looking at the map and the distance to Gangai, I think we should head for Cresta, Gangai is a time sink that we can't afford. I know Tarian strongly wants to go to Gangai to offload his pack and make some new contacts, but we need to put our main objective first. We don't know what will happen in Cresta either, we may be able to head to Gangai afterwards."
With his arms crossed, Alex grumbles, "Getting this mission over with would be the highest priority. I can get you people off my back and out of my life."
The group give him a hurt look, but let it go, preferring to not be confrontational with the sullen paladin.
Mastodon is unsure of how to cast his vote since he was relying on Tarian to lead, but since the group's votes seemed to be swaying to Cresta, he says, "It might be good to make new contacts in Cresta, I could travel with you."
Alex looks at Roth and says, "Decide our fate."
Myne stands up with some hesitation, making occasional glances at Alex as she says, "I-I just want to remind the group that this is bigger than us. We have been through many hardships together, but it is beyond any one of us. Something is building, some horrible evil, people are dying, and we are the only ones that seem to be in its way by aiding the Pathfinders." Her eyes begin to well with tears as she continues, "W-we have lost people we love, think of Bo and Sara. But all that has been lost could be in vain if we don't take action."
Roth nods, and says, "You're right Myne. This is bigger than us and we need to consider haste as well. Cresta it is!"
They huddle around the maps and begin to plot out their route to Cresta. Roth knows that to the south of Cresta there is a region through the mountain range that is less daunting than the rest.
He points to their current location, and draws a line with his finger almost straight north until he reaches the mountain range, saying "To get to the pass, there is 100 miles of desert to traverse."
Then his finger curves northeast, following the line of the mountains, saying, "Another 75 miles following the mountain range where the terrain is a little more forgiving."
Then his finger makes a line through the mountains to Cresta, saying, "Another 50 miles through the mountain range, following a dry river bed."
He sighs, saying, "It will be about four days' travel through the heart of the desert, another three in the foothills, and another two or three days in the mountains, depending on the weather. I am most worried about the desert, our horses are not made to endure that kind of weather, and it will be tough on us as well."
Myne looks at Poppet, and begins to discuss spell strategy: Endure Elements on the seven horses and Rauros, Create Water to sustain their water supply, and rations to get them through the desert, supplementing their food with hunting when available.
With their confidence high that they would make it to Cresta with only minor difficulties, Roth says, "I assume we need to make preparations. When should we leave?"
Myne speaks up and says, "As soon as possible."
Roth nods and says, "Could we be ready by tonight?"
The group agrees, and they split up to make their own preparations, pack, gather rations, and for the spellcasters, rest and prepare spells.