The characters began the session outside the gates of Nuria, the Capital city of the Nuria Natal region of the Southlands.
Something tragic had happened within Nuria involving the God-King Thutmoses XXIII, and the palace guards forced all merchants, visitors, and street crowds outside the city gate and locked it behind them.
Rumors moved through the crowd like wildfire. “The God-King has been possessed by a demon!” “The God-King is dead!” “A plague has broken out!” “A forbidden vault in the palace has been violated and evil has been released!”
An old man that stood daily in the city’s market proclaimed that the Queen Reborn of Per-Bastet had the cure to the evil plague that had broken out in Nuria and everyone needed to hurry to Per-Bastet to serve her!
The crowds began to panic and talked of fleeing. All Southlands residents knew that it would be foolish to attempt travel alone, on foot or even on a mount – there were too many natural and unnatural dangers, even if they stayed on the trade roads. The mahouts (camel drivers) hawked safe passage to the south, and those with coin scrambled to join a caravan. The party joined the fray, haggling for passage, and met Mahout Bashur Ahmed and his camels.
Bashur haggled and promised, and eventually each of the party members was matched with a camel. A few interesting NPCs also joined the Bashur caravan.
Bashur warned of the dangers of travel and told a long, drawn-out story of being attacked by a Sand Dragon and losing one of his eyes. It was later replaced with a camel eye, which he claimed made him the best Mahout, as he had the eye of the camel. He was very protective of his camels and referred to them as his children. He said that his wife was the very wind of the desert, Mariah, but one must watch out for her, too.
The party consisted of the following:
Aswan
Fire Genasi
Grave Cleric
Belladonna
Fairy
Druid
Karwl
(pronounced “Car-Wool” for those who don’t speak Gnollish)
Necropolis Gnoll
Monk
Nixian (Nix)
Dhampir
Sorcerer
Zephyr
Fire Genasi
Bard
Zithgar Hammerfall
Minotaur
Fighter
The party was joined by the following NPCs:
Dorg Scuzsmirksi
- Gnoll
- He and his brother, Drycon, were headed to Per-Bastet to join the Hunt.
- Is the “brains” of the two brothers
Dyrcon Scuzsmirksi
- Gnoll
- He and his brother, Dorg, were headed to Per-Bastet to join the Hunt.
- Is the “brawn” of the two brothers
Lady Farsight
- Full name: The Most Imperial Grand Priestess of the Celestial Descendant Court, Lady Farsight, FirstBlood, Falcontstrike, of the 713th Spawning of Rathess
- Serpentfolk
- She was headed south to find the hidden temple to Yderisuis (snake god- who was beheaded by Azlanti warrior named Savith
Prigger
- ratfolk
- has two ‘brothers” (perhaps just servants) that follow him.
- He was going to Per-Bastet to set up a magic shop
- Has a huge trunk of inventory
- Gave Belladonna a necklace as a free sample
Plink
- Rat folk
- Treasurer hunter who works for Prigger
- Had words with Aswan
Percy
- Ratfolk
- Smart
- Conducts research and assesses the items that Plink finds.
- Was bringing his research with him as the three ratfolk head to Per-Bastet to set up operations.
Stephon Ellis
- Young farmer boy
- A bumpkin, and perhaps a simpleton
- Headed south to find the famed “Magaambombya University” (pronounced “Ma-Ga-aaa-Bomb-Ba”)
- Most of people of the Southlands have heard of the Magaambombya University as having been established by a Runelord named Ja’Tembe (pronounced “Ja-TEM-be”). The university is rumored to be researching the lost arcane secrets of the Magacrory but with assistance from Druids to maintain balance.
The party members were paired up with camels and after drinking a potion provided by Bashur, they found that they could talk to their camels. The pairs were as follows:
Aswan
Al’Bruno
Belladonna
LuLu
Karwl
Sandy, the Desert Queen
Nixian
Carmon
Zephyr
El’Byson
Zithgar
Pappy
Finally, after everyone was mounted, Bashur had his “seer” provide a traveling prophecy for each rider in the caravan. The party’s prophecies were as follows:
| Character Name | Prophecy |
| Aswan | The only way to see clearly is to look through a cracked window |
| Belladonna | Beware, for the Great Gyre is Nigh; The Slouching Beast Will Soon Arrive! |
| Karwl | Do not meet eyes with the grey falcon |
| Nixian | There is a poison inside you—you must find the woman who gives birds their song |
| Zephyr | Greed is a poor man’s compass—I see gold and riches in your future |
| Zithgar | Look for the Priestess, she holds the information you seek |
With the prophecies bestowed, the caravan headed to the south. They traveled most of the first day with no issues, but as they approached the well that Bashur had promised, a sand storm developed, obscuring vision and making travel unpleasant. When the party arrived at the well, they removed the
cover and were set upon by a band of diseased rats. The rats infected a few party members and knocked Zithgar unconscious before the party could destroy them. However, as the party was just catching their breath, a huge dinosaur emerged from a nearby cave and turned its attention to the group.
Bashur screamed, “RUN!”
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