Caravan through the Red Sea – 4
Posted by DM
Synopsis
After finally refusing to give Shona the name of Tales' tribe Bruce managed to convince her to be the first approaching the water surface. Shona saw lichen but she was out of his reach and Tales and his spear went to the rescue. As soon as they touched the surface a monstruous crocodile with two heads flashed towards them. After the first round Shona betrayed the group by firing a lightning bolt towards the stairs destroying part of it and leaving her and Zandor on the upper side and the rest of the group and the crocodile on the lower side. In the subsequent rounds Zandor managed to keep Shona from escaping by using a combination of ghost projectiles and grease while the rest of the group frantically fought the savage crocodile who insisted on taking bites on them. After a few more rounds Zandor managed to push Shona off the stairs and down into the water where she promptly started diving. A few seconds later the group killed the crocodile and beheaded it. Regrettably for the group Shona used this opportunity to escape through the underwater river and when the group tried to get her it was already too late.
After bringing the lichen to the old lady to prepare the antidote for Hadi and healing him the group went to bed. Something awakened Tales that night and as he woke up in the middle of the night he saw someone going away from him and crouching among the caravan members. Further investigation didn't throw any light and they all went back to bed.
The next morning Hadi felt completely well and after packing everything the caravan left the temple and headed towards their next stop: the Oasis of Amja, a tiefling friend of Hadi known for its many parties and funky citadel. The group was invited to a party the night of their arrival and while Khairon and Tales set up a first aid samaritan stand in the resting place for caravans the rest of the group went inside the citadel for some partying. Feral lost all his money in two rounds of combat against a savage orc that offered all his money to whoever won against him on a one on one. However Feral later regained part of what he lost after winning a drinking competition by drinking 6 pints of strong beer straight. While Feral was endulging in some alcoholic induced happiness the rest of the group gathered information while something interesting started developing outside in the caravan area...
Podcasts
Caravan through the Red Sea - 4, Part 1 (3h21m, 193Mb)
Part 2 is missing due to GarageBand refusing to record more than 2Gb. Searching for an alternative recording program..
Caravan through the Red Sea – Khairon’s point of view till the temple of Unbroken Silence
Posted by Khairon
I had lots of water with me, most of my backpack was taken over by waterskins. I try not to think about what they’re made of. Nobody, however, told me anything about food. Oh, I packed several nice fresh loaves of bread, some dried meat, vegetables, three or four apples. Even a few small packs of salt, pepper and other spices. My provisions should last until I reached my target. That is, they should have lasted me anywhere other than a gods-forsaken desert.
It’s lucky I found the caravan when I did, because I have no sense of direction and my bastard of a god doesn’t really provide any guidance. At least not that kind of guidance. By the time I fell upon the caravan all of my food supply was dry and inedible. Of course I couldn’t cook anything because the damn desert has no damn trees or bushes. I was pretty hungry by the time I reached the caravan. The people running the show seemed welcoming enough as they had an abundance of food and problems and a shortage of people to take care of either. I’m always eager to help.
Seems like the guy who put the caravan together was sick and the only cure (a special kind of lichen) lies in a temple not too far away. Talk about coincidences. I swear I could feel the holier-than-thou aura of the place from where we were. Of course the juvenile, self-righteous, self-centered and self-important wastes of time, space and energy (you call them ‘gods’) taint and corrupt everything they touch.
But there was no time for contemplation. From the first night it seemed we were being followed but we could never find out who it was that was following us. Bastards were too quick for us. Bad things always happen at night it seems... We set an ambush for whoever it was and managed to surprise each other the following night. The battle was brief and bloody but we didn’t lose anyone - except for a human merchant who was murdered, his limbs spread out in some sick ritualistic pattern. Religion is great, isn’t it? We never found out who did it, nor did we find out the identity of our attackers - they died too quickly. It’s a shame, I would have loved to interrogate them for a few hours. Maybe ask them a few questions too...
Finally, narrowly avoiding a sand storm (I don’t see what the fuss was all about... oooh! sand! I got some in my eye!) we made it to the temple. It was essentially an abandoned hole in the ground, so that elevated it above any temple I’ve been too in the last few years. We managed to get through a sound-activated trap - the blades were easy enough to avoid. Feral the barbarian even made it through twice. He’s a big fellow.
The main underground structure, roughly forming a circle, was lit in its mid-section by a few rays of sunlight that was getting through some holes in the ceiling far off above us. We got the distinct impression that crossing those might be a bad idea. As we descended the well-shaped temple, we kept seeing visions in the shafts of light that I’m sure had some religious significance, e.g. none. We investigated a few of the corridors that extended beyond the main shaft, but found nothing. It looked like an underground river (I never knew those existed!) broke through part of the temple and flooded the ground floor. At its center, just above the water we saw what looked like an altar. I felt an urge to smash it, to get one step closer to going back to my wife and kid, but redemption can wait for now. Something ominous lives down there, we can all feel it. But we can’t see what it is. I hope that thing shits lichen because I’m already sick of the taint of this place. I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough...
Caravan through the Red Sea – 3
Posted by DM
Synopsis
After discovering the brutally killed human merchant from the caravan near where it had its camp the group tried to find the culprit. After heated debate and after discovering a pair of tracks coming from where the caravan was standing they brought the old lady and Shona to the crime scene not before slightly altering it to see both of the women's reaction. The old lady pointed out that it looked like a Cult of the Snake ritual but Shona didn't reply and the mistery continued unveiled.
The next morning a coming storm greeted them. Tales determined that it would be safer to try to reach the temple instead of trying to get cover in the open. Luckily they managed to get rid of some jackals that were harassing them trying to make get caught in the storm and they arrived to the temple in time to get cover.
After leaving the caravan at the entrance of the Temple of Unbroken Silence they managed to pass through a corridor full of pendulum scythes. Shona and the little cannibal halfling followed them however the halfling had to be rescued by Feral because he got hit by the scythes and subsequently fainted at the sight of blood.
After inspecting the first floors of the underground temple and seeing some visions they reached the bottom floor fully inundated of water. They now have the water with the desired lichen in front of them but the whole temple is impregnated with a suffocating silence and it feels like the walls are vigilantly looking at them discussing wether or not to give Shona the piece of information she's asking them for.
Podcasts
Caravan through the Red Sea - 3, Part 1 (1h25m, 82.4Mb)
My Macbook Pro decided that "The hard disk is too slow" halfway through the recording so half of the session wasn't recorded. I apologize in the name of my Macbook.
The three illusions
Posted by DM
These are the three illusions that you saw while going down the temple:
You see some lights forming at the middle almost blending with the rays of light that come down from the top. Some men dressed in monk clothes are smiling, scenes of people constructing large structures appear in front of your eyes but, after a few seconds, they slowly disappear.
A young couple is seen together hugging. A few seconds later the man stands up, gets an armor and a sword and slowly walks away while the woman looks at him worringly. After the first few steps the man drops the sword, starts limping and begins to wither until he is a walking skeleton at which point a huge bestial pawn appears and crushes his bones. Then the scene fades away.
Something huge engulfed in flames is surrounded by 6 small humanoids. After a few moments the humanoids slowly morph into glowing symbols (a camel, a stone, a whirlwhind, an eagle, a dragon and a fox) that begin to grow while whatever is engulfed begins to shrink. The flames become smaller and smaller. Finally a white snake with some feathers sprouting from his head appear and start to move around the 6 symbols while his body becomes longer and longer and entangles all of them without crushing them. Finally she eats what remains of whatever was in flames and the scene fades away.
Caravan members
Posted by DM
Here are the members of the caravan:
Hadi
The caravan leader, a middle age tiefling that always tries to sound confident. He seems to be short sighted but you haven't had too much contact with him after he fell ill.
Gnome family
Two little gnome kids and their mother. The kids love Feral and his strength.
Human family
A father and his 3 daughters. One of them is really fascinated with Feral.
The monk group
3 arrogant githzerai monks. They seem to have issues with Feral's attitude towards them.
Two humans
Two One human guy that look like a merchant.
The old human wizard and his now-pc apprentice Zandor
The old wizard fired his last fireball during the fight against the cannibal halfling tribe. Since then he has been down all the time.
Mercenaries
A dragonborn, a half orc and two human mercenaries hired to defend the caravan who are now dead.
Dwarf merchant
A tatooed dwarf merchant. He looks cool.
Old lady
An old affable but distant nomadic elf lady who appears to be good with herbs. Sometimes she stares at people, in particular some of you, in a creepy way.
Geram Silver Eye
Halfling slinger member of a cannibal tribe who followed the caravan attracted to Feral's ferocity. He faints when he sees blood near him and likes flesh only very well cooked. He actually favors vegetables.
Shona
A shockingly beautiful drow woman member of the Cult of the Snake who is currently very interested in Zandor and seems to like him a lot.
Caravan through the Red Sea – 2
Posted by DM
Synopsis
A day after the halfling clan attacked the caravan, as the sun rose, a tiefling cleric coming from Al-aman approached and subsequently joined the caravan. The group didn't have a problem letting him in and the rest of the day passed without any incident as they travelled towards their new destination, the northern cursed temple. During that night someone seemed to be spying on the caravan but they flew before the group could see them. On the second day the kids started playing tag early in the morning in the dunes and they got lost. Luckily the group was able to quickly track them and continue the journey without delay. That night the mysterious spy approached the caravan again but they were also frightened away by the vigilant group. On the third day the caravan arrived to a big chasm surrounded by cliffs. And old bridge allowed them to overcome the chasm but not before almost making Feral fall to the bottom as he courageously guided the camels through it. The caravan prepared an ambush at that same bridge to try to catch whoever was following them but they were not careful enough. That night however they setup another ambush in the rocky area where they chose to set their campament. When later during the night a group of eight human bandits attacked the decoy they had setup the group surrounded bandits and killed them all taking no prisoners.
According to Tales's estimates less than a day separates them from the temple, enough time to save Hadi from its lethal illness.
Podcast
Caravan through the Red Sea - 2, Part 1 (1h, 57.6Mb)
Caravan through the Red Sea - 2, Part 2 (1h25m, 82.4Mb)
Random notes
- The cannibal halfling that travels with the caravan faints when he sees blood. They discovered that in the middle of the bandit assault.
- Bruce didn't feel too well that day and preferred to stay in the background.
- Feral is showing the githerai monks lots of love.
- Tales's fennec is proving to be a very useful ally at night.
Khairon
Posted by Khairon
A tiefling cleric in his late 30s with greying hair. He’s generally good natured and not ashamed of who he is. Helpful and resourceful. Worships some obscure neutral deity that doesn’t really care who its worshipers are; Khairon sees this as a business arrangement rather than blind faith. Good cook and loves the bottle. But there’s something dark hovering around him and unimaginable pain behind his eyes.
On the flip side he has a short fuse and can become cruel and sadistic to his enemies. In fact he much prefers to torture his victims rather than kill them. He does not see them as sentient creatures - which helps. Has truckloads of anger and he takes it out on anyone who crosses him. Spent almost 9 days killing his former master after he found out the man was far from holy and in fact raped and robbed his flock in the guise of his god’s duties.
Caravan through the Red Sea – 1
Posted by DM
Synopsis
Bruce, Feral, Tales and Zandor started their adventures as mercenaries in charge of protecting a caravan that would get them from Al-aman to Tenari crossing the Red Sea, a desert known for its enormous sandstorms.
After meeting each other and exchanging a few words with some members of the caravan they started their journey. On the first night Hadi, the caravan leader organized a small dinner party to socialize and to try to get everybody a little bit closer together. That night and the next two days went by without any incident. However during the third day, as the caravan crossed a labyrinthic area surrounded by eroded walls a clan of fiery cannibal halflings ambushed them. Besides their natural hunger the clan were angry with Feral because he killed the brother of the clan leader the night before in a bar crawl that started when someone stepped onto someone else's toes. After a strenous battle between the group, the four other mercenaries hired to defend the caravan with them and the halflings the group won forcing few halflings that remained alive to run for their lives and capturing, and later on killing, the tribe leader.
One day later, as the group was waking up someone noticed that Hadi was very ill and unconscious. An old woman part of the caravan examined Hadi and concluded that he had been poisoned by a powerful venom and his life was in danger. She couldprepare an antidote if managed to get some lichen. The group decided to go find that lichen in a nearby cursed temple that Tales had heard about in the past. Before changing their direction towards that temple they first checked everybody in the caravan to search for clues as to who might have poisoned Hadi and why.
Podcast
Caravan through the Red Sea - 1, Part 1 (59min, 57Mb)
Caravan through the Red Sea - 1, Part 2 (60min, 58Mb)
Caravan through the Red Sea - 1, Part 3 (65min, 62Mb)
There is a missing part of the podcast that would have covered the fourth hour however due to technical difficulties that recording is not available.
Zandor
Posted by DM
Zandor is an eladrin wizard. He started his adventuring life with an old man that initially looked like a powerful wizard. However Zandor would soon discover that behind that old mysterious man who never wanted to talk about magic there was little of real magic.
Bruce
Posted by DM
Bruce is a female half elf battlemind who escaped the rigid and artificial life with her wealthy family. She was raised as a boy in a family after 4 failed attemps by his parents to have a boy. However after several years her parents managed to get a boy and therefore tried to force Bruce to behave like a woman from that moment on. Bruce did not want to accept that and took on adventuring.