The session started in the tomb chamber of Tiberesh’s pyramid. The party was able to take a long rest (and level up to 4). The party found that the mist keeping them in the pyramid had lifted and that the structure was on an island along the Black River.
Before leaving the pyramid, the party took a long rest and reflected on what the Mummy had said about the Queen Reborn’s betrayal and the River of Sand. There was a discussion about what to do next.
Karwl asked Nore for privacy. Once Nore excused himself, Karwl revealed to the party the details about why she was adventuring. She told the following story:
In the time of the telling, generations ago, history says that our band was led by Jhaa the Stupid.
History does not remember him fondly.
They were highly successful tomb raiders at that time. Some claimed that they could sniff out the dearly departed from under fathoms of sand. Whether they could or not, they did seem to have a knack for finding burial sites so long forgotten that no one even remembered who the dead were.
One particular rumor told of an ancient warrior buried in a grand tomb filled not only with riches, but with magic. While his body still had breath, he had been a paladin dedicated to the Earth god, Geb, and the powerfully enchanted items that had been used to defeat his evil foes had been buried with him. It was said that angels bore his body off for burial when he died, and raised a black mountain over his tomb to protect it, and this black mountain was eventually buried in sand in the ages that passed. They weren’t sure of the truth of this tale, but they knew that finding this tomb meant that they would never have to scrabble among the dead again.
One day, when Jhaa and a group of raiders were scouting in the North Sarklan Desert some days from the rest of the band, a violent and storm suddenly sprang up that drove them to huddle on the lee side of a steep dune.
When the storm blew out and they circled around the dune, they discovered that the wind had blasted the sand on the windward side away, revealing a wall of black stone. Could this be the black mountain of the story?
Jhaa decided that it was worth the effort to find out, and sent runners back to bring the rest of the band while they stayed at the site. When the band arrived, they set to work digging out the wall. One can only imagine the excitement when they finally excavated a star-shaped seal, written in a language none of them could understand. This had to be the tomb of the paladin of Geb!
They examined the seal, but the wall was as smooth as glass, and there were no cracks to pry open or bricks to break through. The seal itself was not carved in, but raised, as if it had grown out of the stone, and there were no angles or chips to suggest what had made it. It was unlike any other tomb they had ever encountered, but the mystery was not weighty enough to prevent Jhaa, in mounting frustration, from finally grabbing a maul from the hands of an underling and striking the center of the seal with all of his strength.
The seal did not break. It did not even crack. A dazzling light that blinded everyone suddenly blazed from the points of the seal and channeled upwards through the center, turning the maul to dust in Jhaa’s hands.
The light pulsed into the sky for several seconds. When it was no more, and the band could see again, they found themselves confronted by beings that we have ever since referred to as “Shiny Ones.”
They seemed to radiate their own light, although it was not as brilliant as the light from the seal. Some had wings, while others seemed to be borne aloft by sparkling cyclones that gave no wind. They did not seem to be armed, but they were not afraid, even though they were heavily outnumbered. Instead, one stepped forward and gestured angrily in a dismissive manner while speaking. Although no one understood what the being was saying, it was clear that they were being told to leave. Now.
Thus, it was here that Jhaa earned the sobriquet that history has bestowed upon him. Noting the band’s superior numbers and deciding that he had the upper hand, Jhaa pulled his sword, snarled at the newcomers, and charged towards the figure, bent on cutting them down. There is some debate as to whether he made it three steps or four before the Shiny One thrust their palm forward, and Jhaa was stopped in his tracks as a gray wave suddenly seemed to erupt from his skin and wash over his body. The life left his eyes, and as he stood trapped in place, a breeze suddenly sprang up and blew the dust that he was now composed of to the four directions, and he was no more.
The rest of the band would have fled, but while the leader of the Shiny Ones had dealt with Jhaa, the rest moved to surround the band. They were herded back to the lee side of the structure, and then a mighty wind suddenly began blowing. Within an hour, all evidence of their excavations was gone.
As the band huddled together in fear, the wind gradually died. When it did, a glowing portal suddenly sprang into existence before them, and through it stepped several priests bearing holy symbols, along with a large group of warriors and a few mages. They prostrated themselves before the Shiny Ones, who nodded to them and then were enveloped in light and disappeared. When they were gone, the warriors drew their weapons, and what looked to be a high priest addressed the band. He told them that the Shiny Ones (whom he referred to as “The Will of Geb”) had decreed that they could not be allowed to leave and spread the story of what they had found and seen. However, it would also not be acceptable to kill them out of hand, as they had not raised their hands against the tomb of Geb’s favor. It was therefore decided that they would remain at the tomb of Gheram Sur as the earthly guardians of his final resting place. To that end, they were trained according to their natural inclination. Most were trained as warriors, but some who showed the aptitude started learning the ways of magic. In time, as the generations passed and they earned the trust of the Shiny Ones, some even rose to be priests of Geb. In return for their service, the Shiny Ones caused a spring to well out of the base of the tomb. As the months went by, the spring served to feed an oasis, and the Shiny Ones brought farmers to teach agriculture.
Some of that first generation tried to escape, but the results were unfortunate, although not always fatal. Later generations were less inclined to leave, although as their dedication to Geb grew, some did travel to the lands outside to better their abilities to serve him. Visitors, except for those serving the Shiny Ones, were few and far between. Those of goodwill were treated hospitably, while those of less pure intentions, especially towards the one who was being guarded, were quickly made examples of.
Decades turned to centuries, and the tomb of Gheram Sur was inviolate…
…until two weeks ago.
After spending a few years as a desert forager and sentry, I had been accepted to train as a Wind Warrior, so called because, like the wind, they could pass without notice or attack with a force that could not be resisted.
I was asleep in the new students’ den when we were all awakened by an explosion. We ran outside and were greeted with a scene of chaos. Winged creatures flew close to the ground with flaming whips, while others with multiple arms and looking like part human female and part snake, slithered through the encampment.
An elder yelled for us to find all of the old and young that we could and get them to Geb’s temple and guard them, so we wove through the melee and aided those we could to safety.
The fight was not going well for us, but then Chirksha, the high priestess of Geb,
grabbed a war hammer, ran to Gheram Sur’s tomb, and smashed the war hammer onto the seal. As the histories told, a blinding light shot from the seal, and all of the combatants recovered their vision to discover dozens of Shiny Ones joining the fray and our attackers were soon routed and destroyed. When the battle was finished, some of the Shiny Ones stayed to help the wounded while others approached the tomb. One of them made a series of complicated gestures while intoning a spell, and the points of the seal lit with a blue light and formed an energy portal that they then passed through, with the portal closing behind them. When it opened again about 20 minutes later, and they stepped back through, their faces were very grave. The attack on us had been meant as a distraction, and although Chirksha’s
actions forestalled a total ransacking of the tomb, some of the artifacts were missing.
The Shiny Ones consulted with Chirksha and the other elders, and it was decided to send agents out to try and trace the artifacts and recover them if possible, or else at least alert the Shiny Ones to their locations. The seasoned warriors and mages could leave as they might be needed to defend the tomb further, so the task fell to myself and my den mates, along with some newer mages and warriors, 12 in total. Our masters spent a week running us through as many drills as they (and we) could manage, and the Shiny Ones also gave each of us an amulet that we could use to gain entrance to the temples of Geb and his allies, especially his sister, Nut.
Then, after the last feast and a good night’s sleep, we scattered to the desert sands to find and reclaim what had been stolen and to try to find out who had done this to make sure that the thief would never try to repeat his or her crime.
As Karwl finished her story, she firmly said that she would not allow Nore to accompany them if he was going to take Geb’s artifacts to the Magaambombya University.
There was some discussion about this, and Nore was told he could not take the artifacts. Nore could not agree to those conditions, arguing that Ja’Tembe (the leader of the Magaambombya University) was not a despot and was researching all artifacts and determining their true owners and if the true owner was not set on world domination, returning the artifacts. He further explained that such investigations take months and some exploration and tomb exploring to validate such information.
When it became clear that the Party would not take Nore with them on further adventures, he asked if they would help him get back to Per-Bastet as no one person could survive the dangers of the desert. The party agreed, and Nore returned their gold and asked that they return their bracelets. With that, the party exited the pyramid and found that the bridge to the mainland had been destroyed.
They spied a raft tied to a dock and attempted to pole across. As Zithgar, Aswan, and Karwl struggled against the current, the raft was attacked by a giant electric eel.
Another eel soon joined the fight, and Zethyr was knocked unconscious.
Karwl dropped a steering pole to fight, putting all of the pressure on keeping the raft from rushing away with the current– towards a waterfall. The sudden jerk of the raft caused some players to fall prone, and Aswan almost fell off the raft into the river.
Zithgar reluctantly shoved the steering pole into Nore’s hands and finished off the eel. However, Nore was not strong enough to hold the raft in place. But with the eels dead, the party was able to get the raft back under control, and they made it to the other dock.
As the raft was nearing the other side, a large gray falcon flew overhead, eyeing the party.
No one made eye contact.
The party scrambled up the other side of the river, and a dozen Sand Dragons emerged from behind rocks and trees.
They demanded the Grimalkin Eye and Idol.
The session ended.