Session Thirty-Two
Balen’s fireball detonated in the caverns, and the fight was on. The party soon found itself engaged with a bugbear jailor, an Opelenean slaver, an aged Opelenean sorcerer from the west, and a pair of Zaharans, a male fighter and a female witch, from the south. Most of the fighting took place in a corridor leading to a barracks and prison underneath the slaver compound on the surface.
The Opelenean sorcerer used invisibility to approach unseen and then unleashed a paralyzing ray from a wand; this ray might have won the battle had it not rebounded from Mahmud’s ring of spell turning and paralyzed the sorcerer instead. Rakh charged down the tunnel and dispatched the sorcerer, slaver, and bugbear.
Meanwhile, The Zaharan sorceress was unaware that Mahmud had a ring of spell turning, and attempted to polymorph the paladin into a spider. Mahmud, unfortunately, was unaware that his ring was out of charges, and resultantly turned into a spider. Ethlyn spent the next several seconds down on hands and knees trying to capture the Arachno-Paladin in a bag before he could disappear down a crack.
Androcles was caught up in a vicious spear-fight with the Zaharan warrior, who finally managed to plunge his javelin into a weak spot in Androcles’ armor. The javelin was coated with a fast-acting soporific, and Androcles instantly collapsed. The Zaharan stepped forward to finish off Androcles, and was shot dead by a well-placed arrow from Wazir. As the Zaharan warrior fell, Shikra made eye contact with the witch – evil eye contact, which emptied her mind of thought and reason. The befuddled witch soon surrendered.
Senef hastily interrogated her, but unfortunately she was so addled that little information was forthcoming. From her babbles he did piece together that she and her dead brother were representatives of a merchant house in Kemesh with ties to the slave trade. He also learned that Mahmud had been polymorphed, and used his dispel magic to release him from spider form.
Meanwhile Rakh had found the cells where the slaves were kept. There was only one person resident within, an Auran merchant named Tolnus Granicus. Tolnus had been sent by the Imperial authorities to investigate allegations of illegal slave-mongering in southern Opelenea. Having been captured by Thurnas, head of the White Palm’s slavers, he was being interrogated as to how much he knew.
Thurnas himself had heard the fighting in the caverns below his compound and called down. “What’s going on down there?” Barnabas the bat, a highly adaptable mimic, shouted “We’ve just captured those adventurers!” in a perfect Opelenean accent. Thurnas was fooled utterly, and dropped down from the ceiling on a ladder to see the “victory” for himself.
The Fated quickly slew the surprised Thurnas, then escaladed to the surface. Ten very surprised slavers went fleeing from the compound. The party was, by now, quite exhausted and decided they needed to rest. However, they were concerned that if they left the caves, the slavers would return and steal the loot while they were away. After a brief discussion, Zoya went on watch in the warehouse above the caves, while the rest of the party searched the caves below.
They quickly found a valuable trove, including spellbooks, jewelry, and gold, platinum, and electrum coin. Their haste proved well-founded, as six of the slavers returned to skulk above, unaware that Zoya was cloaked in the shadows not far from them. Warned by Zoya of the threat, the party quickly dispatched these thugs.
Heading to the surface with their treasures, the party made their way to the Sheik’s tent, presenting him with several fine gifts. Tolnus Granicus explained that he was on an Imperial mission against slavery in the region, and that he had been captured by slavers operating in White Palm. Now that the Fated had rescued him, he demanded that the slavers be turned over to him for Imperial judgment. The Sheik refused, however. “These men have brought shame onto my clan and my oasis. I will deal with them in the Opelenean way… the old way. Have them nailed to the tree of woe!”
Not wanting to be anywhere near anything resembling a tree of woe, the party headed back to their camp and rested for the remainder of the day and night. The next day, 28th of Agitelen, Senef cast a divination and asked his totem spirit “Can we learn how to rescue Princess Shadalah by continuing to explore the Oasis of the White Palm?” The response: The place is set, but no man knows the time. From this cryptic clue, the Fated decided they should return to the Temple of Set beneath the monolith.
Down in the Temple, Mahmud destroyed a vile golden cobra idol to Set that the party had so far left untouched. They then advanced to the end of the Temple, to the sealed bronze doors reading “beware ye the wrath of Set and His minions, for before you lies the Gate to His Kingdom of evil and those who make that journey never return.” Here, the Fated were engulfed in argument – Was this “the place of Set”? Should they open the doors and risk awakening another evil? Or was this merely a trick to doom them?
While the party was fiercely arguing, Zoya began searching for secret doors – and found one, to the east, away from the sealed bronze doors. Exploring a secret corridor seemed far more appealing than opening the dreadful bronze doors, so the Fated immediately headed eastward. The corridor soon led to a lengthy staircase descending almost 90’ down into the earth.
Perhaps it was dark spirits guiding her, perhaps a premonition, perhaps paranoia, but for whatever reason Shikra suddenly interrupted the party’s march and said her summoned berserkers needed to take the lead. The Fated had learned to listen when Shikra got cautious, so they halted and allowed the berserkers to advance. Halfway down the staircase, the stairs themselves swung out from under the berserkers, sending both down to a pit 50’ below. The pit was filled with quicksand, and the quicksand was filled with skeletons, who slaughtered the hapless berserkers.
“And I thought the other traps down here were bad,” said Shikra. “Whatever’s down here must be really valuable,” said Zoya, as she began belaying the party across the pit. On the far side, the party found an ancient library, mostly burned to ashes. Diligently searching through the wreckage, the party found a clear crystal the size of a man’s heart and a sealed scrollcase. Ethlyn indentified the crystal as the fabled and long-lost Star Gem of Khan-Pelar, while Senef announced that the scrollcase was sealed with the portentous words: “Property of the Prophet Azendor” written in Classical Auran. Mahmud and Rakh gave joyful prayers to Imran and Ethlyn offered a libation of holy water.
Returning to the surface, the party got the blessing of Nadron, cleric of Imran, to open Azendor’s scroll. Within was an ancient map showing the route to many fabled locations – the City of the Phoenix, the Sunken City of Pazar, and the Crypt of Badr al-Mosak, where princess Shadalah could be found!
Knowing that Ceara, Dornethan, and Suad would still be incapacitated for a few more days, Senef called on the spirits for more guidance. “Should we head to the Crypt of Badr al-Mosak immediately, or wait until the Fated are all back in health?” You rush to the pasha of death, came the chilling response from his totem snake…