D&D 5E Optional Rules on Heat and Exhaustion

Borrowed shamelessly from the D&D Wiki on Heat Dangers and adapted for 5E:

HEAT DANGERS

Heat deals nonlethal damage that cannot be recovered until the character gets cooled off (reaches shade, survives until nightfall, gets doused in water, is targeted by endure elements, and so forth, and spends at least a Short Rest out of direct heat), as measured by Exhaustion Counters (PH 291).

• A character in very hot conditions  (above 90° F) must make a CON Saving Throw each hour in direct heat (DC 15, +1 Cumulated since last check) or suffer +1 level of Exhaustion.

• A character in severe heat (above 110° F) must make a CON save once every 10 minutes in direct heat (DC 15, +1 for each cumulative check) or suffer +1 level of Exhaustion.

• A character in lethal heat  (above 140° F, Fire, Lava, Boiling Water) takes physical damage, 1d6 per minute (no save).

Saving Throw Modifiers:

1. Characters wearing heavy clothing or armor of any sort take -2 penalty to their saves.

2. Characters with Survival Skill may receive their skill bonus on the Saving Throw.


THIRST

A character must have 1 gallon of water per day. If they don't, they suffer +1 Level of Exhaustion from dehydration.

Water skins are 5lbs full (PH 150) and contain 4 PTS of water (PH 153). 8 PTS make 1 gallon.

SANDSTORMS

Sandstorms are a heavily obscured area (PH 183), and characters suffer from the blinded condition.

Travel Montage (6th of Second Stores - 4th of Third Harvest, Rose: 47)

On the 6th of Second Stores, Llewellyn was invited by Audry of House Cyna to provide an oration to prominent thinkers, academics, and politicians. Llewellyn delivered that speech and impressed upon the attendees how important Hypnotic Pattern was to the recovery of the books. David rolled well and the speech was reasonably received although the hopefulness that the attendees expressed for having Llewellyn also try to resolve the crisis in Rhackdalia was dashed when Llewellyn sadly admitted that Hypnotic Pattern wouldn't work very well on frost giants.

At the gathering, Llewellyn was approached by Justice Lwynn of Dhayne, the Paladin Magistrate of Sphant. She asked for tactical information concerning the Pirates of the Black Horde and the disposition of their ships. She clarified a few things with Llew and the circumstances surrounding the pirates, then encouraged him to stop by her Garrison for retrieving a writ of 1,000 Crowns promised for relaying the vital information.

While attending the gathering and oration, Siegride was approached by a scholar-student from Seminary. Responding to Siegride's inquiry made some twenty days ago before she started training, the student provided information concerning the lizard-woman manifestation of the Goddess: mythology and locations where other worshipers may be found. Siegride was given backgrounds and sea-faring coordinates. Armed with these coordinates, Elan passed the information to her Ranger compatriots at Pathfinder Abbey who were advised to go to those inhabited places and warn them of possible pirate attacks.

The party performed a number of administrative tasks and finally opened an account with the Croupier as Stormhammer Company. Deposits were made. Exchanges to traveling gems and jewels were made at the Commercium. Supplies were purchased.

The party also decided that their next course of action was to help recover Ma'yah from the Book of Names, and travel to Pax Arcana. They hired additional crew and set sail for the shallow-water port of Shyn-Balyn on the mainland.

But, before they were to leave, Tolman visited the apartments of Gaelyn Hobbletoes (aka Twyst) to reveal the Gammond Brandyford logbook. Gaelyn was amazed and elated, and promised to get the book of the halfling hero to the Parishes' Libraries as quickly and as discretely as he could ... with all honors and tributes going to Tolman and his family, of course, for retrieving the book. Meanwhile, Twyst had his own request of Tolman. Having learned that Tolman was preparing to leave for Pax Arcana, Twyst asked that Tolman take a traveling kit containing a mortar and pestle, a tiny cauldron, a Diary of Correspondence, and a sealed letter to one Skeeta, a Master of Potions, found at Pax Arcana.

It was a long eight day journey. During the travel Llewellyn experienced a dream of Castle Mhorovia where, as he was floating above the harbor, he peered into the dark murky depths to see the animated corpses of his friends and family, reaching out to him, their dead voices pleading for justice. He awoke in a sweaty, fitful start. His conscience was eating at him, perhaps for deflecting the requests for assistance at his oration?

While making the trip, Tamroohk the Dwarven Cleric of Berronar Truesilver prayed for guidance on two words that kept bubbling-up in the back of her mind. "Champion" and "Emissary": words that she had been confronted with over the last several cycles in her deepening faith in Berronar.

The party arrived at Shyn-Balyn on the 14th of Second Stores. The HarborMaster greeted the vessel and accepted Stormhammer Company's chit for remitting the slip fees of 10 Crowns/day. The group disembarked and wandered into town to find a lively inn by the name of the Hungry Harpy. In summary, they ordered food and drink; Llewellyn the Bard entertained (poorly at first, but his act got better with the amazing Juggling Balls the party recovered); were greeted by three traveling merchant dwarves by the name of Griffy, Zolen, and Bashkor, who introduced Tamroohk to hot chilly peppers, and Tamroohk purchased a full keg of dwarven ale from the proprietor and there was a lot of dwarven drinking.

That evening at the Hungry Harpy, the party also encountered a Paladin and two of her garrison. Lucy of House Khain, one of the guards, said that she had seen an undead walking the streets of Shyn-Balyn at night. She was fearful and thought the Paladin should investigate. Well, much of the party got up with the Paladin and wandered about town speaking with the Paladin and learning more about her until coming upon Palerock Abbey (its name reflective of the white granite stone it was made from). The Paladin sensed an undead presence in its cemetery. They wandered about the tombstones until encountering a shivering, rotting, animated corpse, leaning against a tombstone, aside a small pile of fresh dirt. Apparently, this man - one of at least five buried husbands of Marie of House Harrid - was recently buried. It was certainly undead. But it was lost. Confused. And apparently longing to be more dead than what it was. Sister Siegride was only too happy to oblige. She destroyed the zombie by turning it, and its body was reduced to ash. Upon returning to the Hungry Harpy, the Paladin remarked on how much she missed adventuring and asked to travel with the party to Pax Arcana in the morning, and the party agreed.

That morning, the party awoke and were joined by the Justice Paladin in leaving Shyn-Balyn with horses and a cart to haul provisions and the Door that they had found onboard the pirate's vessel. It was a pleasant four day journey across a lightly forested and hilly landscape, upon clearly-marked and patrolled road. Along the road they encountered travelers, merchants, guards on horseback. They also encountered an old man with dark skin and snow-white hair playing a wooden flute, sitting aside the road and resting. The old man said he was Akanksha of the Dhadra Wilds, west of Gheoli, and that he was walking to find Tanelorn. They said that it was north, in the Frozen Wastes, and so he was going there to find his son. He'd been walking for ten years now, trying to find Tanelorn, and he was beginning to think that Tanelorn was indeed found in the Frozen Wastes, but just within the glaciers of his own mind - in a place that will never thaw and accept new ideas. He said that Tanelorn is a misty place, elusive; it will be where it wants but is available to anyone who seeks it; the journey to Tanelorn is long and arduous, and there is never a straight road to Tanelorn; it is a city between worlds and times, and he hoped to find his dead son there. However, he admitted that he's accepted that he would probably die on the road to Tanelorn, but he hopes to find sanctuary there. He wished the party farewell.

On the 4th of Third Harvest, the party arrived on the outskirts of Pax Arcana. Pax Arcana looked like a massive citadel of stone comprising of both human and dwarven designs; a defensive wall circled the university and its entrances were heavily guarded; there were wooden and stone structures built a fair distance from the wall that served as a shanty town of sorts with traders, barters, tradesmen, vendors, entertainers, artisans, and other such folk. There were many youth who attended Pax Arcana as students who wandered the grounds in green and black robes, while more accomplished, older graduates and professors were in brown and black robes. There were guards everywhere - both women and men, dressed in more ceremonial leather armor, capes, and all bearing large bastard swords, similar to what Simon used, the party recalled.

After some investigation, the party learned that they couldn't enter Pax Arcana without an escort. Overhearing their needs, a young adept dressed in green and black robes addressed the party. She introduced herself as Fhaya of House Brix, Daughter of Mae, Elizabeth, and Evelyn. She volunteered to be the party's concierge in exchange for information about what's happening in Rhackdalia since the fall. Ever optimistic and cheerful, she took the party through the gates. She explained that it was better this way - visitors are escorted through the wizardly castle with a concierge or a patron and those who're not escorted are arrested by the Eldritch Knights. In this way, lay-people can't just be wandering the grounds.

The party was looking to have some materials identified. "Ah," said Fhaya. "The Hall of Acquisitions, Investigations, and Categorization. Come! This way." She explained that this was the place where citizens throughout Floreth come to have their baubles and trinkets identified, but, it's also a place where serious artifacts and books of knowledge were cataloged. It was a massive stone building with two floors and thirty-two turrets. As they approached its massive stairs, the party even witnessed a disappointed family leaving with cast-down heirlooms that were, indeed, not magical, and they were cursing their bad luck and dismal fortune.

On the inside, they were greeted by another young student who took information from Fhaya. That adept then went to find a suitable magi for the task. In under fifteen minutes, the young adept returned with a wizened woman of some 5'3" in height with short, spiky gray hair, dressed in brown and black robes. She carried a large staff. She acknowledged the party - did not bother to give her name - and encouraged them to walk with her to the double-wooden-doors to a turret that had been made available for this purpose. On the inside was a large round room with a floor made of dirt and sand; on the upper level, an observation window was available for most of the party to witness the goings-on in the room from above. Surrounding the room, carved in stone, were arcane runes. Meanwhile, Siegride and Tolman accompanied the magi and two young apprentices inside the room, and they shut and sealed the two large wooden doors.

The magi invited the visitors in and told them to stand along the wall as she prepared for her work. Using her staff, she began tracing large circles into the sand and dirt. First, she drew a 3' diameter circle in front of her. Then, from there, began drawing a large 10' diameter circle around her, extending from the first. The first large circle she prepared was a rune and it was obvious to Siegride and Tolman that she was ritual-casting Detect Magic. Then, she augmented that rune with another circle and rune to ritual-cast Identify. Then she added another rune to cast Comprehend Languages. Finally, she prepared another large rune and circle, and ritual-cast Unseen Servant. All of this casting time took well over forty minutes.

She then stood straight up in the center of the circle and firmly planted her staff in the center. She then waved for an apprentice to bring over the first item to be identified. Wearing leather gloves, an apprentice picked up the Book of Names and placed it in the smaller circle on front of the magi.

The magi extended her arm and whispered just below her breath, "Bring it to me." The book skittered in the sand, wobbling back and forth, into the main circle with her.

She examined the book by walking around it, then, whispered, "Rise." The book lifted into the air to hover there as she examined it. The magi squinted and waved her hand at the book, issuing a command in a louder voice, "Mend." Suddenly, the book shook and all of the dirt and sand and grime was removed, its leather polished, its torn and frayed edges repaired, and its sheets of velum nicely aligned with the book's spine.

The magi then examined it more as it floated there. She said in whispered tones, "Open. Flip. Flip. Flip." And the book responded by flipping through pages. She arced her eyebrows when the book asked for her name, but she ignored it, and continued flipping through its contents. She spent around another ten minutes examining it and then knelt down and called over another apprentice. The apprentice came over and waited outside the circle. She said, "Farzen. F-A-R-Z-E-N. A listing of all works and compendiums." The apprentice nodded and ran off, out of the room.

Returning to her work at hand, the book hovered there, and she went tsk-tsk-tsk. "I count 232 names, seventy-five percent I might add are names and descriptions of magical adepts, warlocks, sorcerers, and other magicked academics. How remarkable, and, consequently, disproportionate."

She then backed away from the book at it attempted to again ask for her name. She shook her head. "It's lying to me." Then, she raised her staff and cast a spell. A magic circle of energy surrounded her, forming into black thorns, and a similar magic circle of energy surrounded the floor where the book was hovering. She then slapped her hands together and the book shimmered. She had cast Dispel Magic. She then returned to the book and said, "There. Now it tells no lies."

She looked the book then flipped it around and upside down, which now revealed another leather-bound cover with new writing on it. "Clever. A Book of Names on one side, reading left to right. Turn the pages and you see what you'd expect to see. Yet, flip it upside down and read the pages from right to left - in a manner that best fits its author's native tongue, I'd imagine - and it's a spellbook. The Book of Names is a trap designed to inform the one who possesses the book of who tried to learn its secrets." She then looked through the book for another ten minutes. The apprentice returned with no results from the search for the author. "Pity," she said, but then countered, "Bring me ... Incandantilus. Book of Summoning. Volume Three." And the apprentice ran out to fetch it.

When he returned with the large tome, he sit it in the small circle at the head of the magi. She whispered for her Unseen Servant to bring the book to her and rise, and open the book to page 323. There, she began to cast a summoning spell. A circle of energy opened at her feet and immediately began pooling with blood. That blood began coalescing into fibers and bone and flesh. Both books were rattling in the air as the magi maintained her concentration, and a small whisp of smoke could be seen lofting from the Book of Names. Soon, where there were bones there became muscle, and with muscle became flesh, and the magi began reading from the book aloud, yelling the description of Ma'yah that was written in the text. Within that magic circle where the body was being formed, ink of words became her flesh and Ma'yah was returned, naked, and on the dirt floor. She gasped a new breath of air as an apprentice rushed over with some robes and threw it into the circle towards Ma'yah.

Confident, the magi grasped the Book of Names from the air and leered over Ma'yah. "You went to school here? That was a nasty trap. Luckily a summoning spell did the trick. I'd encourage more diligence in your investigatory work. Books simply do not give up their secrets." The magi extended her hand and helped Ma'yah to her feet, who was then returned to her friends along the outside of the runes. The magi slapped her hands together. "Alright. Next?"

The party provided the Door which the magi whipped around using her Unseen Servant. The magi didn't reveal more than what the party already knew other than the Door was very dangerous, shouldn't be opened, let alone here, within the walls of Pax Arcana. Should the Door be opened, tread softly, for if the Door is destroyed on either side of it, it will no longer return its user home.

Siegride then put her Cloak of Starlight into the magic circle, and the magi called for it using her Unseen Servant. The magi regarded the cloak with humor and delight. "I've seen this before," and she examined its hem. "Go to the libraries. Research the work of Tarasadre. There you'll learn why this artifact should be destroyed. Tarasadre dabbled in portals, pocket dimensions, and extraterrestrial spaces. Most of his work ended in abject failure. You put yourself at risk in using this item."

Finally, Gorbash dropped the amulet of Vongur from his neck to Siegride, who put the amulet into the circle. Again, the magi examined it with her Unseen Servant and seemed to regard the amulet with a puzzled face. Then she scowled and roared, "Necromancy!", and cast Protection from Evil - a magic circle with thorns materialized and spun about her as she conversed with the amulet. "It lies! Speak truth! Thousands of years old, you are not! Seven hundred, seven hundred and fifty, maybe, and at most..." The amulet went "Shhh! Shh! Shhh! Please!" but eventually confessed to being a human male trapped within the amulet pretending to be a dwarf; the magi explained that the necromancy cast on the amulet acted as a magic jar that sealed his soul inside, and it would slowly suck on the soul of its wearer for sustenance. With a flick of her wrist, the magi sent the amulet back to the circle from where it was introduced. "Whoever was wearing this artifact must have had a remarkable constitution. It should be destroyed."

And that's where we left it!
R

Downtime Montage (3rd of First Stores, Rose: 47 - 5th of Second Stores, Rose: 47)

Downtime and Training Montage

(Queue A-Team Music Soundtrack)

Arrival in Sphant

• The party is greeted by the massive colossus' of Isthmeira, Gaia, Dhyane, and Ohnuava.
  
• The Sea Wyvern docks in the harbor of Sphant.
  
• Slip fees are 5 Crowns/Day.
  
• Upon arriving, that evening, on the 3rd of First Stores, the party gathers on the deck of the Sea Wyvern, each of them lights candles and stare into the stars. Llew strung up his lute. Tolman made a comforting tea and baked sweets. Elan passed around goodberries and sat with her dog - now fully grown. The dwarves hummed old dwarven durge songs (which sound a lot like drinking songs only performed less sober and with less enthusiasm - only Vongur remembered all of the words). Siegride refused to give last rites but, instead, they each told stories of Ma'yah and how they remembered her, with pictures of fondness and kindness. That said, they then all mutually agreed to throw the weird body part stuff (like the preserved, ghoulish, gouged-out basilisk eyeballs) overboard.
  
• Rumors abound that the black ships are prowling the Shattered Isles, are willfully attacking small Abbeys and Shyn's, and killing defenseless Sisters and citizens. The black ships are from a far away foreign land. The Queen - otherwise preoccupied with Rhackdalia - can't spare the time or attention to Sphant, and this angers the populous. It makes them fearful. The Midnight Sanctuaries have armed themselves and begun patrolling their areas of Sphant, giving rise to the fear of senseless violence among the religious factions.
  
• There are also rumors that a young Sister of Isthmeira, accompanied by a militia of Dwarves (who've traveled far from their home in the Kingdoms to once again save humans, how poetic!), having discovered atrocities committed against Sunrock Abbey, leads the charge in repelling these invaders. They say the young Sister was even spotted in Shyn-Bhokerdown feeding the hungry and tending to the sick and diseased. Among monarchy loyalists, they say she and her Dwarven militia has been secretly commissioned by the Queen Herself (through the ordination of Sphant's Magistrate) to take whatever actions are necessary to protect the people. This affords just a small bit of hope to many. However, by the 10th of First Stores, the rumors explode into such fantastical tales that can hardly be believed (nonsense like water-walking, wrestling sharks, and even defending a colony of lizard people from an onslaught carried out by the black ships) ... certainly stories so large, so outrageous, they couldn't possibly be true. Just the fact that the Queen has dispatched such a capable group of heroes only goes to show that She hasn't forgotten about the lowly Shattered Isles, way out here, in the Fathoms....

Return of the Books

• The party returned the cache of books recovered The Gentle Current to the College of Lore in Seminary received the books you returned.
  
• The Headmaster of Seminary - Audry of House Cyna - promises that the books will be looked after, studied, and protected.
  
• Audry of House Cyna extends a boon to Llewellyn. She asks him to give a guest oration on the 6th of Second Stores in front of a select audience of instructors, sisters of various abbeys, renown thinkers, and academic staff, regarding the recovery of these texts. Naturally, all of his fellow adventurers would be more than welcome at this gathering.

Advising the Magistrate

• The party has the option to advise the Magistrate - Lwynn, Sister of Dhyane, a Paladin - of tactical details concerning the black ships. She would, of course, honor the bounty of 1,000 Crowns should the party divulge what they know about the ships.
  
• Rumors abound about the black ships among the fishermen and sailors of Sphant - fast, two-masted ships that are rarely seen during daylight hours, racing in the shallow waters of the Shattered Isles, hugging the coastlines like creepy shadows ... although by the 8th of First Stores, no new sightings of the dread ships haven't been reported to the Magistrate.
  
• I'll leave it to the party to decide how/what/if they want to inform the Magistrate on their findings.

Rhackdalia

• Rumors circulate that the southern portion of the island has been left relatively unharmed by the marauding giant horde. Shyn-Levenson and Shyn-Bhokerdown have established themselves as the only functioning human cities on the island, and are achieving a point of equilibrium (their resources balancing out with the fleeing exodus of people).
  
• Both Shyn's have sent representatives to Sphant and to Floreth to plead for resources, money, food, engineers, Sisters, and guards (to aid in the construction of infrastructure, tend to healing, and a defense capability). They feel they can hold their own against the giants, perhaps even reach some level of appeasement or accord with them.
  
• Politically, nobody is taking the Shyn's with any seriousness and this creates a great deal of contention among the Houses, refuges, and society's thinkers. Although most feign sympathy, most would discretely suggest that support for the remaining Shyn's on Rhackdalia would be a fool's effort, and not a single Crown should be wasted on buffeting what is foreseen to be a certainty: the island must be abandoned for all will be undone by the giants when they continue their march south in the winter months ahead.
  
• Meanwhile, Rhackdalia-city has become somewhat of a black hole. The Queen has issued an official edict to confiscate the property of House Mhorovia and their associates (Houses Morley, Witherdew, and M'lahn) throughout Her Reign; relatives and relations of those Houses have been rounded up in the capitol city; the Queen has taken no action militarily against Rhackdalia. Meanwhile, those brave souls who attempt to go there never return; those who sail too close to its harbor are never seen again; there aren't even qualified rumors about the place, just speculation. Most speculate that the city is in ruins and its people enslaved. Nobody knows for sure.

Training

• The player characters train to 7th Level.
  
• On the 6th of First Stores, three days after arriving at Sphant, Dru the pseudo dragon spent a great deal of time with Elan, resting in to her, snuggling, trying to find solace for the ache it felt with Ma'yah's absence. It's bottom lip even quivered. It made little whining noises and endured fitful sleep. And on the fourth day, Dru was nowhere to be found. Dru hasn't been seen nor heard from since.
  
• Annel of Isthmeira learns that Siegride has returned to Sphant and wishes to eagerly speak with her, mostly concerning the importance of returning to a lost temple to recover artifacts before the snows set in, and the frost giants most assuredly descend into the southern part of the isle.
  
• The Rangers of Pathfinder Abbey are overjoyed to find Elan alive; for some reason, they figured Elan for dead after the Massacre at Sunrock Abbey, like, somebody slit her throat after the incident to keep her from talking. Assuring them that she was, in fact, alive, Elan could reveal what she learned on her travels. If so, the rangers would take a particular interest the pirates. They suggest that the pirates must be mercenaries picked up in the Shattered Isles, in less reputable Shyns to the south. Armies of brigands could be had for the right price. But the description of the ships ... are unlike anything they'd ever heard of or seen.
  
• Gorbash and Tamroohk are greeted with an abundance of kindness, enthusiasm, and gratitude as they walk among the citizens of Sphant. Many of them stop, turn, and clutch the dirt the dwarves walked in, holding fast to it and brought tenderly to the chest, in a gesture to suggest that the very earth they've walked on is special and appreciated. The Dwarves have returned to save Rhackdalia, and here they are, in living proof. By around the eighth day of this, Vongur becomes visibly agitated. "Stand up, ye' weebly git!", he yells, and the poor people look painfully hurt at Gorbash who raises his hands, "Wait! Wait! I didn't say that! Oh come on!". And Tamroohk feels a little more conspicuous for all the attention. There seems to be a mounting expectation, she feels, as more and more people encounter her, that she's here to do something - about the homeless, the refuges, the giants, the pirates - and that makes her feel uncomfortable.
  
• Llewellyn learns something of The Sagean Coast in old maps, logs, and journals he researched in Seminary.
  
• The Sagean Coast is to the south east of the Shattered Isles. It would take nine or eleven cycles just to reach it by vessel, stopping along the way for water and provisions.
  
• It is an arid landscape and desert terrain; its coast faces the Ibrus Sound.
  
• All accounts speculate that there isn't a bastion of organized society or rule; simply nomadic tribes of primitive people vying for scarce resources, organized under tribal warlords called Emir's. Their Emirates war against each other in a blistering hot wasteland. There is no notable sovereign from which relations have ever been constructed with Floreth. No shipping. No trade. No commerce. No viable markets. Thus, Floreth never maintained any interest in the area - it was never deemed a threat or an ally to the Monarchy. It's been largely ignored. Expeditions to the Sagean Coast have always (each and every time) been undone by savage attacks of pirates. It's uncertain if those expeditions ever made land-fall. There is no record of any expedition into the deserts beyond the coastline.
  
• The Door sits silent. It doesn't ever open.
  
• The Book of Names rests with Siegride.

R

Defending the Lizard Colony III (1st of First Stores, Rose: 47)

There was a big, big battle.

It was so large, so confusing, took so many sessions ... that I really can't describe it all to you, my fair reader, in all of its glorious detail other than to say it was ... epic.

In the midst of their battle, the party had to hold-up in the Temple of Gzz't - the lizard-woman-goddess temple built into the side of a mountain - in order to rest and recuperate. During that time, the party watched on in horror as the evil Clerics of Tahkesis committed their atrocities.

• The clerics instructed their pirate mercenaries to move four massive eggs that lay at the feet of a large statue of Gzz't, the Lizard Goddess. These eggs weighed over 800 pounds each and took many men to dislodge them from their sticking points and relocate them to the beach. There were four eggs made of platinum, gold, silver, and gemstone.
  
• The clerics rounded up priestesses of Gzz't - innocent lizard women who didn't do a thing to protect themselves. They were mercilessly murdered with blows suffered by mace strikes to their skulls, and, their eye lids were cut off and mouths sewn together, as so they could witness the truth in the afterlife and tell no lies.
  
• Tolman did note that - after the slaughter - perhaps Gzz't was a false goddess after all since the lizard women did not bother or couldn't bother to exercise divine intervention to save themselves. "Maybe the eggs really do belong to Mother Takhesis?"

In a clever bending of the rules, three player characters were enveloped by Siegride's Cloak of Starlight; time dilated and what was hours within the cloak were only minutes in the outside world. These three PC's gained a Full Rest (8 hours) when they emerged from the pocket dimension ... just a wee bit more afraid of the dark than what they were before they entered.

It was then - after resting and witnessing the theft of the eggs and the Cleric's atrocities - that the party committed themselves to wiping this scourge from Shae Tahrane! They thrust themselves into battle once more until they alone remained victorious.

At the end of the battle, the PC's were alive but we couldn't say the same for the 59 Pirates, 37 Berserkers, and 3 Clerics of Tahkesis. Their bodies littered the lizard colony. Huts were still on fire and large columns of smoke raised to the sky. Those lizard folk who survived came out to mourn their dead; the militia was rapidly trying to re-assemble and create a repelling force, believing that more pirates would be attacking shortly; the Queen of the Lizard Folk knelt in humble prostate before the state of Gzz't, in silence, perhaps praying for guidance, or, begging for mercy and atonement for her loss.

At the end of the pitched battle, Siegride cast a ritual to heal the party, while Tolman and Ma'yah cast their own rituals to Comprehend Languages to help them communicate with the Lizard Folk. After that, Siegride started into the nasty work of investigating the bodies of the clerics and taking their armor, weapons, and possessions; Tolman, Llew, and Elan scouted out to the beaches.

Along the horizon some 1,200 feet out from the shoreline were three black ships. One ship had raised-anchor and was adrift and being taken by the current while a skeleton crew onboard attempted (unsuccessfully) to raise its black sails. The other two ships were still trying to load their stolen eggs; dingys surrounded those vessels as the pirates managed ropes and chains to hoist the contraband. They were having a slow go of it.

The party boarded an abandoned landing boat left by the pirates and started rowing for the first ship that appeared to be close to getting away. As they approached, they noticed only four pirates onboard the vessel that were being commanded by a very eager and earnest Pirate Captain who insisted that they flee at once. Elan took pot-shots at the pirates and struck the captain, who fell backwards behind the railing after being hit by one of her deadly arrows. Still alive, he attempted to command his crew to continue and pointed commandingly at his crew from a prone position, which exposed his hand above the railing, which could be seen by Elan, who tried to shoot at the Captain's hand and rolled a natural 20, causing the Captain's hand to explode into a burst of crimson and bone.

And so it went: the party boarded each of the three vessels until dispatching numerous pirates and berserkers. They took one Pirate Captain and 3 Pirates hostage after their surrender; two Pirate Captains escaped into the water; the last of the Cleric's of Tahkesis - the green cleric - killed herself with a steely dagger to the throat. The battle won, the enemy vessels were anchored and Tolman sent his owl to the Sea Wyvern to notify their crew to bring the ship to their current location. Eventually, they would off-load all of the cargo and booty on to their own ship and run-aground the pirate's vessels on the beach of the Lizard Folk, who both appreciated the return of their blessed Eggs, and, the extra sturdy wood for rebuilding their colony. The Queen - apparently in a fog of grief - was elated at the return of her Eggs, and, promised the party that they were always welcome in their colony.

There was a lot of loot onboard each of the ships (adding them all up here):

• 2,400 Copper Coins (odd minting, very thin, small coins; just pictures of desert landscapes)
• 16,000 Silver Coins (similar minting, thin, desert landscapes, numbers that could be dates)
• 4,400 Gold Coins (ditto)
• 390 Platinum Coins (thicker coins, seemed to be minted with the head of a dragon)
• 9 Amethysts (~100 Crowns EA)
• 6 Yellow Topaz (~500 Crowns EA)
• 2 Ceremonial Robes (one linen, one silk, both embroidered with dragons, ~250 Crowns EA)

There were mundane items...

• A soapstone harp with decorative inlay
• A cloth of gold embroidered handkerchief
• A feather-embroidered handkerchief
• An exotic wood pitcher and wood goblet
• A soapstone figurine of a dancing woman (closer inspection: a dancing Cleric of Tahkesis - you can see the fine craft resembling tattoos)
• An ivory locket
• A glass statuette with gold and silver inlays

... and not so mundane that seemed to radiate magic when Detect Magic was used (and Identify was cast):

• A Scroll of Fire Shield
• A Luckstone (Stone of Good Luck) - weightless stone, in a pouch
• A Wand of the War Mage +2 
• A Cloak of Protection +1
• A Glyph of Purification (a humble article, a sheet of waxed paper with a glyph on it, that appears to separate elements into component parts)
• A Blindfold ... perhaps used in training others for blind fighting? Uncertain
• A Set of Juggler's Balls. No ordinary balls - should they attempt to be juggled, they simply never miss the juggler's hand, and they never seem to drop.
• 3 Potions of Superior Healing
• A Driftglobe (a glass sphere with a silver seal with three magic command words written into the seal)
• A Spellbook that read: "The Book of Names" in a foreign script, but, could be interpreted using Comprehend Languages
• A Door

"The Door" in this case was a large, ornately-crafted single-door that opens inward but is locked with a very formidable and impressive lock (Tolman said so). The Door would appear (to you or I) as Arabic in design and origin. Behind The Door is empty space; it appears to lead nowhere. The Door was bolted to the floorboard of the captain's quarter's of the third ship. The Door is locked. As the party found a large brass key on the Blue Cleric, they currently presume this key fits into the Door's lock and it seems that's the case, but they didn't unlock or go through the door. Identify gave mixed results (it's a door, and a portal, but a door is a portal, just to what's behind it, and it likely works with a similar door/portal on its opposing side, so long as that door/portal continued to exist - so that if they destroyed this Door, the corresponding door on the other side wouldn't open to it), but it was definitely reeking of Conjuration School of Magic.

The party decided to leave The Door be for now and set sail for Sphant for training, re-supply, and thinking about their next move.

DM's NOTE: 

What happens next occurred when most of the players left the game table - there were three players remaining - Camille, Melissa, and Allen - when Melissa wanted to understand what was in the spellbook that was recovered from this adventure. I said that I wanted to RP (Role-Play) that discovery and it could wait until the next session; I didn't feel comfortable doing it over email. Melissa wanted to understand the book now for it could relate to the spells she'd take when revising her character sheet to 7th Level over the next two weeks. I said, well, okay, sure - grab a 20-sided dice.

On the return voyage to Sphant, in the late hours of the evening, Ma'yah was up trying to make sense of the Book of Names. It wasn't a hefty tomb but did have several hundred parchment pages. She had cast Comprehend Languages and Detect Magic as a ritual to understand it and to make sense of it.

[DM's NOTE: At this point I reminded Melissa of what happened the last time Ma'yah just tried to open up a spellbook in my universe - it blew up in her face and she took damage. Ma'yah knows that spellbooks can be trapped or bewitched to protect their secrets - just as chests, coffers, and crypts in the natural world, they are guarded to protect what lies within. Books don't give up their secrets easily. She still pressed forward. I also informed Melissa in my 2015.06.15 email/D&D Follow Up on how to defuse a spellbook that could be potentially trapped ... that process wasn't followed ... please keep this in mind.]

Ma'yah cracked open the book to see lists and lists of names. These names were of individuals; they were translated from the weird Common (that looks like Arabic script) the party encountered, and, the names were a little bizarre, but included their name, physical description, and what they did in life. 

On the first page, the ink on the page, Ma'yah noted, seemed to reorganize itself, and it asked a question:

"What is Your Name?"

[DM's NOTE: At this point, I had Ma'yah role a check on Arcana and she rolled a 12.  She failed this DC check. Names in magic are like IP Addresses ... knowing a name is like knowing the specific address of where to go on a network, or, in this case ... surrendering your name is like handing somebody a piece of a key. It's one of the most potent forms of vulnerabilities in magic...]

Ma'yah, alone in the dark, thought about it for a moment, and was at first going to write it, but then she said it out loud. "Ma'yah of House Syln'dakar". 

The book then provided the script and letters in the odd Arabic-like language which was then re-interpreted by her Comprehend Language spell as "This Book Belongs To..." and then her name. The book felt warm to the touch.

As she began reading through it, Ma'yah started to feel the book getting warmer, and her limbs were going numb. Siegride was praying near by and saw that something was amiss at Ma'yah's table. To Siegride, Ma'yah's body was dimming, becoming fuzzy, lines and stripes were cascading down from her head; to Ma'yah, she could see letters and words and scripts in the air around her, and her hands were covered in lettering and ink! Words on the page began to meld and mesh together. Ma'yah's eyes opened wide, she gasped ... her thoughts panicked, she tried to remember her counterspell -

There was a crack of light and a split second where Siegride could cry out Ma'yah's name, before suddenly, with a flash, Ma'yah's body was gone, the book slammed shut and fell back to the table.  Ma'yah was gone.

"Ma'yah!", Siegride yelled, and jumped up and rushed to the table. All that remained was the Book of Names. Gingerly, Siegride picked it up, started thumbing through the list of a hundred or more names, and came across a listing. "Ma'yah of House Syln'dakar" - a physical description of Ma'yah, and, her accomplishments in life. Meanwhile, as she looked at the front of the book, the first page's lettering reorganized to appear in Arabic script (that Siegride couldn't read but I told Camille): 

"What is Your Name?"

Siegride immediately then put down the book.

Dru, the pseudodragon, who had been napping happily on a stack of silver below decks, came rushing up to the room where Ma'yah had been. He started sniffing around the table, looking about confused, as his psychic link with Ma'yah had been severed. Dru whimpered, and curled up on the table, next to the book, looking at it with longing eyes ...

R