Savior
Chapter 9
After three days of travel, they finally reached Mezro, relieved that it was still there. It had a population of about 28,000. The city had four quarters: the Agricultural Quarter, the Residential Quarter, the Market Quarter, and the Scholars Quarter.
They quickly located a general store and purchased three weeks of trail rations since they were down to just two days. They were glad to find an inn, then rented one large room for five gold, and had dinner for eight silver each. Come the morning, they paid seven silver for a hot bath and five silver for laundering their clothes. Then five silver for breakfast.
Lanie went on a spending spree and bought two outfits. With her heartfelt thanks, she gave Roy back his shirt and his pants. Then she went to a magic shop, looking for a pair of boots, and found Elven Boots for 2,500 gold. Lanie was thrilled to find they fit her. She also noticed a Heward's Handy Haversack for 2,000 gold. It was the only Magical backpack in the city.
The final thing she wanted was to find a juvenile Red Dragon. She would kill it for its scales to make another set of Platinum Armor. But Lanie knew there wouldn't be one in the city.
"Now what?" Kate asked Roy since he had the map.
"The next closest city is Port Nyranzaru to the north. After that is Fort Beluarian at the tip of the Peninsula. It's that, or we find passage to take us somewhere else," Roy replied.
"So what you're telling me is we've just about run out of room to go?" Kate questioned him.
Roy nodded. "Pretty much. The rest of the area is dedicated to the Jungles of Chult, home to the Yuan-Ti."
She shook her head. "I don't know about you, but I've just about had my fill of the Yuan-Ti."
"I hear you," Roy said. "We could take a boat to the capital city of Calimport, which is home to the Calimshan. After that, we could go anywhere we want to."
"Yuan-Ti or go anywhere we want to." There was only one choice so far as Kate was concerned. "We should find a boat and go to Calimport."
"Let's find the others and see if they agree," Roy told her.
oo0O0oo
"Calimport, ye say. Aye, I sail there. But ye all will work yer way across and pay me 15 gold each. There's nay free passage.
"Calimport is like a grand card game where everyone holds aces up their sleeves. They all know everyone's hand, yet the final throw-down is always up for grabs. In many ways, it's not who wins but how ye play the game. Heckuva place it is, guv'nor, but only go there if ye've got a golem watching yer back," the captain told them.
"I sail in a week's time. I need to unload cargo and take some onboard first. Ye pay me half now and half when we get there. A word of caution – there may be pirates along the way. One never kens what one will encounter at sea.
"We sail with the tides. Be here well before high tide."
They each paid him seven gold now and would give him eight gold more when they arrived. They told him they would be there well before high tide a week from then.
Roy went shopping along with Rick. They saw a magic shop and purchased the only two bags of holding the merchant had, a type I for 2,500 gold and a type II for 5,000 gold. They now had a space to put all their gold and silver and could take it out of their backpack, freeing up room for other things.
Kate purchased a headband of Comprehend Languages and Read Magic for 5,500 gold.
Lanie bought Gauntlets of Ogre Power to increase her strength and hitting power for 4,000 gold.
Rick also purchased a Quiver of Ehlonna for 1,800 gold. It held 60 arrows, allowing him to rid himself of the other quivers he was carrying around.
With some of their gold spent save for Gina since she didn't buy anything, they pooled their money and rented a room for a week, costing them 49 gold.
Each day, they paid eight silver for dinner and five silver for breakfast.
oo0O0oo
They met the boat early, boarded, and were led to their room. Their room, what a joke. They all slept in the same room. The only thing different was they slept in different hammocks. There were no beds or cots, only hammocks that were practically hanging on top of each other.
And they found out what he meant by working their way across on his boat. They scrubbed. If it was wood – and everything was – they scrubbed it. The only time they didn't was when they ate or slept.
The food was alright. At least it was hot, mostly fresh, but usually fish.
They made the trip without trouble. They paid the captain the eight gold each and thanked him.
"I hope I never see another boat again." Kate looked at her blisters and winced. "My hands are killing me."
"Let's get off the docks and find an inn. Maybe Gina can help you with those blisters," Roy told her.
They found an inn and asked a few questions. They learn that Calimport was the largest city in Faerûn, larger than Waterdeep even. Divided into four districts, it had two million people. Just about anything could be found and bought there.
So they decided to test that by looking for a wizard's shop and buying Heward's Handy Haversacks for everyone. They needed four of them. It took them two shops, but they bought them for 2,000 gold each.
Then they searched for another inn and found one, paying seven gold pieces for one large room. They paid seven gold pieces for dinner. Then, seven silver for a hot bath, five silver to wash their clothes, and another five silver for breakfast.
"We've talked about it, and Lanie and I, we want to go with you," Gina told them.
"Welcome aboard." Gina and Lanie stared at him. "It's just a saying," Rick told them. "What about you? Do you want to come with us too?" he asked Kate.
"Of course I want to come. Why would you think I wouldn't? Really, Rick!" Kate was put out that he would even ask her that.
"My apologies, I just wanted to make sure. So where do we go now?" Rick asked them.
"There's only a single road, and it goes to Memnon. But it goes through the Calim Desert," Roy replied.
"A desert, huh? It sounds like we need to take extra waterskins." Kate went to find the closest general store, where they each bought two extra waterskins and filled them.
Because of the size of the city, it took them almost two hours to reach its northern outskirts. It was more of a path than a road, but they started walking it anyway.
On the second day, they traveled straight into a sand storm. They used whatever cloth was to hand to cover their mouths and noses to keep from breathing in the sand, while they continued walking.
Roy was done. He had enough of this. He took out the tent and set it up, and they went inside and shook off the sand. "How was I supposed to know it would last this long? I've never been in a desert before," Roy tried to tell them.
Even Flame was hacking and coughing up sand. "Are you alright, Flame? I'm sorry, boy. We'll stay inside the tent until it blows over." Rick petted him and even kissed his head. Flame licked him a little and lay down near his person. He was happy and content right where he was.
oo0O0oo
The wind and sand blew for hours and hours. They finally gave up and went to bed. Seeing how Gina had a bedroom now, it was two others' turn to use the bed. Those others were Rick and Kate. The wind and sand continued to blow; they finally gave up and went to bed.
Much like last time, Kate woke, then became aware she was in the middle of the bed and wrapped around Rick. Even her leg was such that his naked leg was up against her pussy. This time, Kate didn't move a muscle. She realized her lips were just an inch away from his. It would take nothing to kiss him, so she gave him a light kiss on the lips. It was a soft kiss.
His eyes snapped open, and it took Rick a moment to work out where he was. "Hi."
Kate bit her lip, then smiled at him. "Hi."
Rick shifted a little. "Are you on my side, or am I on your side?"
"We, ah, met in the middle," Kate replied.
"Oh." Rick decided to risk it. "The next inn we stay in, we should buy our room. Is that alright with you?"
"I'd like that," Kate told him eagerly and smiled.
"I apologize, but I need to step out, so I'll have to break this up," Rick said.
"Me, too," Kate told him. Together, they walked outside, went in different directions, and took care of personal things in the desert. Except while Rick was peeing, he noticed something. So he hustled back inside the tent to wake Roy.
Rick shook his shoulder. "You need to wake up! The roads are gone!"
"What?" Roy rolled out of bed and went outside to look for himself. Sure enough, the road was gone. They were effectively out in the desert.
Everyone was outside now, and all they saw was desert. "We're lost," Roy announced.
"Great, that's just great." Kate was looking forward to getting a room with Rick. Now, she couldn't do that.
"The sun comes up in the east, so as long as we keep going north, it will be fine." A distant look was on his face while Roy thought. "Except…"
"Except what?" Kate asked impatiently.
"Except when the sun is high, we will no longer know which way is north," Roy told her.
Kate moaned. "Damn it! We're lost and could stay lost except when the sun comes up, then goes down again."
"Well, the sun is up, so we go that way." Roy pointed to it. "We better get started. Right after I pee."
oo0O0oo
They were walking when something in the distance showed up in front of them. The closer they got, the more distinct it was. Soon, they were standing in front of it. It was the upper torso of a human, a giant man. He was a 30-foot-tall human – just his upper torso, mind you – and he seemed made of sand. His head was down, and his arms were up. Not above his head, but they were up off of the ground.
"That's something I've never seen before. I could swear he's alive and buried in the sand, let alone covered in sand," Rick remarked.
"It does look like that, doesn't it?" Gina didn't say anything more. For once, she was speechless.
They walked around it to view it from the back, but it still looked the same. "I don't see doors or anything. It's like I'm looking at a Titan frozen in the sand," Roy murmured, still taken aback.
Since they couldn't figure it out and there seemed to be no way inside it, if there was an inside, they moved on.
They drank water while they walked. "I'm going to run out of water at this rate. Even with three waterskins," Kate warned.
"Not to worry, everyone. I can create food and water for all of us," Gina told them. "The food this spell creates is the simple fare of your choice; highly nourishing, if rather bland. Food so created decays and becomes inedible within 24 hours, although it can be kept fresh for another 24 hours by casting a Purified Food and Water spell on it. The water created by this spell is like clean rainwater and won't go as bad as the food will," she added.
Kate relaxed a little. "Good, that solves that problem."
The way they were going was getting a little rocky. It wasn't only all sand, though there was plenty of that.
"I can't decide if I prefer the humidity of the jungle or the dry heat of the desert," Rick mentioned as they walked.
"At least it's not cold enough to freeze," Lanie said. "I don't have a coat for that."
It was starting to get late in the day when they came across something they never dreamed of seeing out in the desert. It was the bow of a ship. Not the stern, just the bow. There was a cloth shelter – a kind of lean-to – set up over what would have been the midsection of the boat.
They walked up to it, and it looked like it had been there for a while. The sail material was in tatters, but something was interesting. There was a catchment set up for the rainwater.
And there was a skeleton. It didn't become animate when approached, thankfully. Looking inside the bow of the ship, no one saw anything but large chest and a smaller box sitting on top of it, and that was it.
"Poor guy." Roy said a silent prayer over the body. "He survived the wreck but didn't survive what came after that."
"How did it get here," Kate wondered. "There's no water for miles."
"Blown here during a storm. Maybe there was water here once, and it hit the rocks." Rick shrugged. "Who knows."
"It's getting dark out. We should set up camp right here," Roy told them and took out the tent. He looked over at Rick. "I don't suppose there is anything to hunt in the area?"
"Doubtful, but I'll have a look around." Rick headed out.
oo0O0oo
Everyone was inside the tent when Rick returned empty-handed. "I saw a tiny lizard, but the little sucker was fast. Regardless, I would need a dozen to make a meal." Rick removed his weapons, put out his bedroll, and sat on it. Then he took out some trail rations and ate them.
"Even Flame couldn't catch it, not that he didn't try. He's probably hungry, and he doesn't like trail rations." Rick gave him some water, and he drank that.
Tired, they went to bed and got some sleep.
oo0O0oo
The next day, they were still traveling. They knew it was close to a week to travel the desert, and that was via the road, which they no longer had. They weren't worried. Yet.
Then they came up over a rise and saw a small herd of animals. "I think they're dinosaurs," Rick said. "But I do know what they are: food. We'll have to eat it raw, but at least that will fill our bellies."
"What do you think it would take to kill one? Would a Fireball be enough?" Kate asked him.
Rick considered it. "They're pretty good-sized. Better make it two."
"Two Fireballs coming right up." Kate cast a Fireball. A second Fireball later, and a herd of whatever they were was running away, all but the one that died due to two Fireballs blasting it to death.
"One of whatever it is," Kate told him.
"Thanks." Rick kissed her cheek, which brought a smile to her face. Then she saw everyone looking at her. "What? It's just a kiss on the cheek." Kate left them and headed for the dead animal.
Rick got to work on the hind quarters, but it wasn't easy. Its hide was tough, but finally when Rick was in, he managed to slice it nicely. He fed some to Flame, who ate it like he was starving, which he probably was.
Then he started carving it up and tried some of the meat. "Granted, it will take some getting used to eating it raw, but its not bad at all." Rick kept carving, and soon, everyone was eating a piece.
Roy looked up, and he saw several vultures circling. "We've got company. At least what's left won't go to waste."
They ate their fill and left it. No sooner than they did, the vultures landed and began taking it apart. "It'll bring other animals, so we need to get far away," Rick told them.
oo0O0oo
The landscape changed from random rocks to spires sticking up everywhere. Then they came up over a rise, and what they saw was unexpected. "Orcs," Roy told them. "I see five tents. So say four per tent, making at least 20 of them. And it looks like their campsite is next to an oasis."
"We wait for darkness and sneak up on them," Rick suggested.
"I like it. We'll wait here for nightfall." Roy got down on his belly. So did everyone while they just watched them.
"I was wrong; there are 22 of them," Roy muttered. "Looks like five per tent except for one tent, which has only two inside. I'll bet those two are the leaders."
They watched the orcs move all around, including collecting water from the pond in the oasis. There were eight trees of an unknown type around the pond, along with some bushes. If they were lucky, there would be berries they could eat.
It looked like the orcs chopped down one or more of those trees since they had a fire in the center with the five tents spread around it. They were cooking something.
"Too bad we don't have any of that meat. We could cook it over the fire," Rick sighed and his belly grumbled.
oo0O0oo
They waited until it got dark, but the orcs weren't stupid. They set up two guards, one on one side that moved around and one on the other side that did likewise.
One thing in their favor was that the campsite was in the middle of a group of interconnecting spires. If they did it right, they could move under the cover of those spires.
Quietly, they moved down to hide behind some of the spires. When the guard on this end turned his back on them, Rick put four arrows into his back and killed him. Then they moved in, and Rick, Roy, and Lanie each selected a tent, went inside, and killed them while they slept.
That was all except for the leader's tent. As luck would have it, Roy got that tent while Rick went hunting for the other guard, putting several arrows into his back, ending him.
Roy stepped into the tent and saw these two making love to each other. While touched by it, they were still orcs, so he killed the one on top, causing the one on the bottom to scream. She died, too.
Then they searched the tents and found some gold, silver, and a lot of copper. Kate cast Detect Magic on the contents of the leader and found the staff was magical, but that was all.
She cast Identify on the staff and learned it was a Rod of Python. That rod was longer than usual rods. It was about four feet long and weighed 10 pounds. It striked as a +1/+1 quarterstaff. If the user threw the rod to the ground (a standard action), it grew to become a giant constrictor snake by the end of the round. The python obeyed all commands of the owner.
No one went up a level after this encounter.
They carried all the orc bodies into the desert and let the scavengers have a field day with them. Then, they set up their tent since it was climate-controlled and slept in it.