Finding Friends in the Desert Sands (12th-13th of Hunts, Rose: 47)

The monstrous tortoise reared in the desert sands, striking out any one that would come near it.

The party pushed through the sandstorm to try and get themselves in range to attack the giant tortoise as the mysterious, dark-clad nomads were racing along its side, trying to lose arrows into its vulnerable underside.

Movement was slow-going for the party who were suffering movement penalties in Difficult Terrain, and the sandstorm was inflicting a Blinded condition on their characters; luckily it was still early morning and they weren't suffering from heat exhaustion as well.

The party realized that the three archers running along side of the animal were hunting it and trying to take it down for food. That allowed the party to adjust their tactics (as not to fireball the beast into some turtle flambe). They attacked the creature with arrows, axes, and magical force damage, all the while the hunters seemed appreciative of the party's efforts. Quick-thinking, Llew was able to cast Fairie Fire on the animal which negated the sandstorm's effects on their combat. Then, within the height of combat, the turtle started trying to dig itself into the desert sands, gaining partial cover and an AC bonus; then, it fully submerged into the sand. It was easy to follow as a giant mound of displaced sand was moving its way across the desert! The party pursued the beast in the sweltering heat!

Meanwhile, Siegride attempted to help their fallen comrade by getting close enough to cast a healing spell on the figure that had taken damage earlier from the tortoise. Healed, the figure returned to consciousness and sat up in shock; his friend that was helping him fell backward into the sand pointing, yelling, "Tiamat! Tiamat!"

Siegride was running up to them. She cast Tongues so that they might understand her. "No, no, not Tiamat!", she yelled, and immediately, the slender shadow of a man she healed stepped backwards and raised his hands in cautious defense and angrily hissed, "Stay away from me!" in a language that sounded very elegant and flowing, while the healer-type screamed back threw his hands to his head and yelled, "Wha - Oh My God, you can speak English!"

Siegride had no idea what 'English' was. She heard this strange language (which was different from his unappreciative patient in its choppy use of vowels and consonances) and replied, "No, no ... I'm Siegride of Isthmeira. We're from Floreth! It's a long way away-"

"I can't believe it!", the man yelled back. "That's impossible! I thought I was the only one out here!"

All the while, the battle against the tortoise raged on. The party had managed to coax the turtle out of the sand and it tried to attack Gorbash and Tamroohk, and Tolman cast Ray of Frost on the creature that effectively negated its movement to zero. It wasn't long after that the creature succumbed to many blows and was dead in the sand.

The leader of the group approached the party and held his hand high - the others who followed him snapped to attention and listened as he spoke. His eyes were almond-shape, wide, and brilliant emerald in color. His words were being translated by the party's spells to comprehend languages. He said that he appreciated the party's intervention in their hunt; that he would share his water and share his food with the party if they had no other shelter in the desert, but for now, his men must butcher the beast before any other scavengers were to come this way, and, before the sun rises too high in the sky.

Agreeing that staying in the desert probably wasn't the best plan, the party kept watch while the nomadic tribesmen butchered the giant tortoise and created travois out of spears and netting to carry loads of tortoise meat out of the desert. Within an hour or so, the heat was already rising near 90-degrees, and the party and nomads left the tortoise carcass behind to head for the blue hills in the distance.

The party generously helped carrying as much meat as they could. They traveled for five miles, stopping every so often for quick short breaks to take sips of their water from their wine skins. The dwarves were blistering up from all the sun, and the generous strangers offered strips of cloth smeared with a cooling aloe. After a while, the party's spells wore off and they were unable to speak directly with the strangers. They gestured and smiled and indicated things with their hands in order to communicate. Soon though, the heat became oppressive and scaled greater than 100-degrees - the party and the strangers started making exhaustion rolls, slowing to half-speed, as they closed in on some sheer cliffs of the hills.

When the party approached the cliffs, the leader placed his hands against the rock and looked along its surface. The other members of his tribe - save one, the medic - did the same. Suddenly, the light began to dim as shade and shadow fell over the party; a darkness - seemingly called forth by the nomadic strangers - fell upon the party, and kept them from the direct sun. A short rest was had, spells were cast, there was water and some degree of conversation.

In speaking with the leader, Siegride learned that the Dragonborn - called tanin mawlud by these tribesmen - maintained patrols in the desert and that, if one looked closely against the horizon, the glint of their armor and scales could be seen. Sure enough, Siegride caught the glimmer of light in the far distance. He said to him that they should stay low in the desert lest they be seen in the hills; Siegride was sure that their uncanny shadows were protecting them from visibility now, and she headed his warning.

When the party pressed on, they traveled up a steep incline for twenty minutes before arriving against a sheer of rock that revealed an entrance to a cave. Within the cave it was cool and out of the direct sun which was very refreshing, and they started making their way into the cave. The strangers then removed their bandages and scarves from their faces and skin, revealing a smooth jet-black skin, tall pointed ears, and whispy white hair. The PC's didn't know what they were but they were elves. Drow, in fact.

The cave began to descend, down into the darkness, and the party encountered something that they recall seeing in the mines: living trees. Trees whose trunks jutted out of the solid rock; with leaves of black; with a bark that - if sucked on - had a refreshing sweet and saltiness about it; an entire forest, underground, thriving. The party made their way deep into the underground forest until they came to a resting place. At the resting place, the nomads began to break out the foodstuffs and start curing their meat, breaking it into smaller pieces for travel. And the party helped! It took five hours or so before they all came together for a meal to relax.

The elves called this place the Underdark. According to their myths, it spread around the world. The party recalled seeing something like this except with sickly and diseased trees in the Mines of York and Barrelborn. These trees and this forest under the earth was thriving and healthy. It was their home, but it was also an untamed wild, and that at no time should the party leave without the drow unless it is to return to the surface, to go "back up".

The party spoke primarily with the medic who introduced himself as Jake Ross. Jake was human, but he was called eabd, or, "slave" in the language of the elves. Jake explained that all humans were eabd, that, all the elves understood was that all humans were slaves, and that the name didn't necessarily reflect his relationship to the elves; he wasn't their captive. Jake's language was funny and odd. Jake said that he was from a place called "Seattle" and spun a fantastical story involving searching for a place called "Shangrala" at an event where a man was burned in a far away desert, the playa ; Siegride thought that his story sounded similar to other stories of Tanelorn that they'd heard about over the last year. Jake said that he was "a paramedic" where he came from, and that he'd been here for well over ten years after being found near death by Khal'd'fae.

Khal'd'fae was the 5'9", emerald-green eyed leader. Jake explained that Khal'd'fae was fair and honest, and taught him their language, and let Jake hunt with them in the desert.

Jeu'd'fae was Khal's right-hand-man; Jake called Jeu'd'fae "a Wormtail to Khal's Voldemort", whatever that meant. Jeu had bright silver eyes like liquid mercury. He was sneaky-looking, suspicious of the party and their intentions, and seemed fearful of Siegride who expressed clerical abilities (inasmuch that the party could tell, the dark elves had never encountered any other form of cleric before aside from the Clerics of Tahkesis).

Abja'fae was a bright, pink-eyed archer who took a fun interest in Gorbash and all of his weapons and bravery and valor in combat; Qazan'Fae, his twin brother, seemed to take a liking for Tamrhook and the healing arts.

Jake took the time to draw a map in the sand with sticks and rocks to explain to the party where they were. He said they were in Aljahim Alssahra, a land that translated into "a blazing hot desert on the edge of Hell". He showed the party where the four Citadels of the tanin mawlud were and from where they arrived; he explained that the land was desolated, ruled by tyrants, monsters, and fiends of all sorts; "You've never heard of the Slavers? The Efreteti and his three sons? The Winged Men? The Risen? Oh man, you guys are a bunch of noobs, just like me!"

Khal'd'fae eventually spoke with Ma'yah, explaining how he had lookouts and camps with men along various areas that he needed to deliver this food and water to. He explained the history of his people and the tanin mawlud (the Dragonborn), the Emirates, how the Theocracy of Tiamat brought them all together instead of fighting amongst each other, and the fight for resources that had come to harm his people. Khal even invited the party to come along and he would eventually take them to Zalam Medina - his home - to others who could explain the Theocracy much better than he could.

Spiteful and angry, Jeu'd'fae complained that Khal was being far to lienient and accepting of the strangers and that they should never take them back to their home, and they should never trust "women of Tiamat".

Khal'd'fae looked side-eyed to his companion then, in an enormous fit of strength, turned, picked Jeu'd'fae up, and slammed him against the side of a cave wall! He then pried open Jeu's eyes and turned his jaw to face Siegride. Jeu'd'fae struggled but Khal held him firmly in place. "What is it? Is there sand in your eyes, Jeu? What is it that I am not seeing? Do you see it? Do you see the aspect? Is her hair ... green, or red, or blue, or white, or black? Is her tongue forked? Is her skin as scales? Do you see something that I do not?!"

Jeu struggled to answer saying, "No! No ... I ... I don't ..."

Khal held Jeu in position against the rock and pointed at Siegride. "NOT ... Tiamat. Other...!" And then he released his friend. "It's other! Accept it! They hunted your food, they shared their water, they helped you. Accept that the world is bigger than sand and desert! That there is more ... other ... than Tiamat!"

Jeu rubbed his face and his neck and scowled at the party, humiliated, and in private, Khal'd'fae revealed that there would be many like him - Drow that don't see possibilities, who're younger and more fearful, and that the party should be careful, especially in performing "miracles" (casting clerical-like spells) in front of those like Jeu. But Khal also asked Ma'yah, "But try to understand him. His fear."

That evening as the party camped in the Underdark they learned that these elves didn't sleep, but meditated and rested their minds and thoughts. When "morning" came (a maddening 2am awakening), the party pushed on into the darkness with the drow. They agreed to travel with the drow to distribute the food to Khal's men in the foothills. Traveling in the Underdark, it was just like traveling in a regular forest above ground, and Elan felt oddly at home. That is, until they were attacked by a pack of displacer beasts!

And that's where we left off! More to come ... the party travels in the Underdark to distribute needed food and water to Khal'd'fae's men, but who knows what horrors lurk in these woods?

R

Beyond the Door (10th - 12th of Hunts, Rose: 47)

Many cycles, many moons, and many things have happened to our adventurers since Ma'yah was summoned from the Book of Names and returned to the party.

While at Pax Arcana, Ma'yah returned to her studies to obtain 7th Level. During the downtime, the party explored pieces of the university and trading town that surrounds it.

• The party learned that skilled magic doesn't come cheap and had to pay thousands of Crowns to Master Dharlyne for assisting the party in retrieving Ma'yah. Ma'yah, on the other hand, was now able to read the spells within the Book of Names, and went about preparing her spellbooks. 

• Gorbash and Tamroohk reclaimed the pleasures of home at The Bearded Lady, a tavern ran and patronized by dwarven kin traveling from the Kingdoms. They met Red Thunderfist, a dwarf with a profound sense of humor.

• The party spent time in Pax Arcana's Common Halls and Libraries to conduct various investigations and studies. There they met Celeste of House Gregoria, 17th-Year Pedagogue of Pax Arcana and Master of Necromancy, and had many discussions with her.

• Siegride returned to her familial home near the Port of Floreth and rejoined her family briefly, only to learn the tragic truth: the dream that she had experienced on the voyage to Shyn-Balyn where her sister drowned in a dark, unforgiving sea, at the will of her adversary, Agoolik, did indeed happen; just as the gibbering monster in the Mines of York & Barrelborn had threatened.

• The true background of Vongur was revealed. His real name was really Devyn Cammy Dinsmore, friends called him Jitters; born in the Erenlands in a village named Warm Springs, north Gaelwyn; trapped in the amulet for hundreds of years - he lost count - he stole it from a very sickly dwarf (who was nearly dead!) and who was in a pitched fever and told all kinds of dwarfly stories. Soon, he himself became sick then realized that his own consciousness was trapped within the amulet. He pretended to be a dwarf because that's what he found so many people expected, and over the centuries, he picked up a lot of dwarf-like experience. Devyn gets so hungry, he explained, but found the youthful vitality of Gorbash both sustaining and enjoyable. Devyn pleaded for it's "life" but Gorbash surrendered the amulet to Celeste - Master of Necromancy - who suggested that that the amulet would be an interesting case study for her students.

• Gorbash won a pie eating contest and a magic pie box that creates warm, delicious fruit pies. It was called Llynard's Wonderous Piebox, and he had beaten several challengers to acquire it.

• Most of the party stocked up on interesting items of magika. They visited shops and stores like Craft & Candle, Belvo's Bewitched Armor, Weapons, and Ammunition, the Crooked Cobbler, Rib Bones & Crossbows, Plainswalk Scrolls & Skullery, Babbling Books and Midnight Readings, and Skeeter's Draughts and Potions.

• They visited the Commercium and Croupier to conduct their financial businesses.

• Tamroohk and Siegride helped the clerics of Plainswalk Abbey rebuild their stone masonry after it was struck by lightning only days before the party's arrival. Sister Connye Mae of Gaia was forever thankful.  

• Llewellyn encountered Marcy Patterton the Bard, a Freeman of Floreth. "Orations, Poems, Fine Artistry, and Eclectic Dancing." Llew was even able to stop Marcy from inadvertently summoning a demon in a live performance of a mage whose power overtakes him (a final performance that required a bit more flair, Marcy told Llew, who felt something was really suspicious).

• Tamroohk traveled to The Steppes to learn more of her dwarven goddess, Beronnar Truesilver, and to be connected to members of her order. 

• And the party never even learned of the Doppleganger mirror ... but ahh, that's a story for another day.

On the 10th of Hunts, the party brought The Door (a magical door recovered from the deck of a black ship of the Pirate Horde) to Master Dharlyne of House Thorne in the Common Hall of Acquisitions, Investigations, and Categorizations in Pax Arcana. Master Dharlyne had pledged - should the party wish to open the door - she would offer her services pro-bono as a student demonstration of enchanted dimensional gates. The party agreed and brought the Door to the wizard. There were a crowd of students on the observation deck of the round turret room with an earthen-dirt floor where the magi had drawn her various runes of protection.

Master Dharlyne raised her hands and voice and shouted, "Magia non est confisa!"

And the students from above shouted back, "Magia non est confisa!"

"Magic ... is not to be trusted!", he exclaimed, "And particularly magika that opens extra-dimensional portals. Class, the Weave has been intentionally disrupted and grafted onto the back of this common wood door frame. Should the door open, I expect the fabric of space and time will be distorted, and the door can be used as a common portal - a threshold - to cross to its other side. These hearty adventurers believe it to be the sweltering deserts and barbaric Sagean Coast, more than three thousand miles from here. Truly amazing, is it not? But we should be cautious: a simple door containing so much energy is so abhorrent to the natural order of things that the Weave will undoubtedly attempt to repair itself should the door itself be destroyed. Therefore, I will assist these adventurers as they cross its threshold to the lands beyond!"

There was a cheer. Some of the students cheered with a mouth full of fruit pies, as Gorbash had decided to pass some free magically-created pies from his pie box around. The students were both grateful and bemused.

An apprentice approached Master Dharlyne with worn leather gloves sewn with intricate gold stitching and decorative patterns. She started putting on the gloves. "I shall maintain my concentration on the portal using dimensional gate theories in an attempt to maintain its connection to the other side should the Door there become unstable or destroyed." A second apprentice came forward with an intricate gold and leather scabbard with a beautiful short sword, and she hung that at her hip. The Master magi slapped her hands together to get the attention of everyone and the students.

"Now," she yelled, "These brave adventurers... shall enter this Door! The key!"

Taking the key in hand, Ma'yah inserted the key into the lock and a set of three or four tumblers cranked until the latching mechanism clicked, and she pulled the door open.

There was a collective gasp.

On the other side, heat wafted in; it was dark, night time, but still perhaps eighty-five degrees, warmer air than most anyone had ever felt in their lives (as Floreth is located in arctic climbs). There were light transparent drapes that drifted about the other side of the door and fluttered as the air on both sides of the Door commingled. Light from the party's side of the door spilled into the darkness.

Gorbash was first to cross the threshold. He stood on a sandstone dias where the Door was fixed to the ground, and to his right and left were 25' sandstone walls. It was a still night, a warm heat permeated him, and he could see the stars and Mother and Daughter (the moons of Shae Tahrane) but at odd positions in the night sky. He heard the pleasant chirping of insects and small toads. With his vision, he could make out shallow rectangular pools of water before him filled with flourishing fauna of types he was completely unfamiliar with, while the pools will still as they could be, appearing almost like glass, reflecting the night sky.

The rest of the party crossed into the garden. They produced light sources so that they could see. They investigated these gardens and found that the opposite side of the garden had two very large wooden doors - cut in a Persian motif - with brass handles. Those doors were closed, and sitting calmly before those doors on the ground, was a copper-scaled man, a Dragonborn. The party - never have ever met nor heard of a Dragonborn before - was somewhat taken aback by his appearance. The Dragonborn had no armor, no weapons, and was dressed in cool loose fabric. It patiently meditated until the party approached.

After some polite conversation, the party learned that it called itself The Watcher. His purpose was to watch, to wait, and to prevent trespassers from entering the doors behind him. Some of the dialog he said to the party:

• “It is called Hadiqat Saghira (the little garden). I consider it to be one of the more beautiful gardens in all of the Emirates. What do you think of it?”
  
• “We are far, far away from the light and greatness of Bahmaut. You are in Aljahim Alssahra (a blazing hot desert leading to hell)”
  
• “You do me honor by speaking in my tongue.” … “You do me honor by asking questions first, attacking last. Let us talk.” …”You show me honor. I will respectfully offer the same.”
  
• “Among my people, I, too, am a slave, given just one simple purpose.”
  
• “Talking is better than fighting. If I can encourage you to go, that is good enough.”
  
• “Leave from whence you came. When you safely depart and have arrived at where you started,  I will destroy the door, and no ill will come of it. Should you not leave, you place yourselves in grave peril, for I must fulfill my purpose. Should you trespass on this citadel, a wretched doom awaits you.”
  
• “My purpose is to dissuade those who might trespass on these grounds. My brothers and sisters who guard this place leave me to my methods. My methods are my own. Is it not wiser and kinder to convince you to leave rather fight you?”
  
• “I am the Watcher. My purpose is to prevent trespass into this citadel. I will do what I must to dissuade your egress.”
  
• “The door that is behind me has no lock. It has no key. It opens freely into the citadel. But you should be warned. A thousand of my brothers and sisters lay behind that door and they are a cruel and merciless lot. Should I fail at my purpose, my brothers and sisters will slaughter you all.” (Nods to sentries on the wall)
  
• “You are a smart, considerate folk. I know not from where you come but I respect the consideration you have shown me. Please, depart now.”

The party did a few things to confirm that they were, in fact, in a small garden of a much larger citadel, and there may, in fact, be a thousand or more of his Dragonkind-kin held up here, and there were, in fact, a gathering of sentries along the wall. The party attempted to learn more of Aljahim Alssahra, this construct around Tahkisis called The Theocracy, the mythology of Tiamat's ultimate desire to turn the Prime Material Plane into an Aljahim Alssahra (as a place like this), the master/slave relationship between what the Watcher called The Chromatics and The Metallics, and to persuade the Watcher to throw up his chains in rebellion against his oppressors. The Watcher would have nothing of it. He was a proud creature who understood his purpose clearly, who saw his existence and the lives of "his clutch" as part of a much larger order of things, and he had come to accept that. He accepted his role in life. Should he fail at his role, his purpose would be undone, and he would be undone. It was clear that The Watcher had no intention on abandoning his purpose, or, letting the party through the double doors behind him.

Then.... the party (impressed with the dialog with The Watcher), returned from whence they came. They exited the garden and returned through the magic Door to Pax Arcana. As they were prepared to leave, The Watcher - nearly drifting in his walk and gait - approached the magic Door, and once the party was safely on the other side and the Door was shut, he destroyed it with his fists.

[DM's Note: Wow. I didn't exactly plan on that. I thought the party would, in some way, try to engage the Dragonborn Monk in combat but, meh, look at that. They turned back. They totally didn't stick around. Hmm What to do now? Insert ... total improvisation.]

The party asked Master Dharlyne to destroy the Door and she said she'd take care of it. Meanwhile, the party went to the Common Hall of Chartered Explorations and Recoveries to learn of potential expeditions they could take on to recover lost or ancient magic needed or requested by various patrons and benefactors of Pax Arcana. In the Hall of Chartered Explorations and Recoveries, they learned of:

• A mad wizard far to the south, in the Tarkesh Wilds, that had been transforming himself into a chimera and terrorizing the locals and common trade routes between Floreth and Gheoli; the mad wizard had created a fortress from a tree and grew using magic to some unbelievable size; an influential matron of a House would like to have that wizard problem disappear and along with it his tree fortress brought down to the earth.

• A consortium of dwarven merchants would like an old dwarf crypt investigated and items belonging to their families retrieved from it.

• A general expedition to Dhark Keep, to the south along Evelyn Pass, was needed to dispel rumors of bad magic held up there.

• Three old human males who were also in the Common Hall discussed a map that had come into their possession (apparently in a manner that somehow involved the assassin's guild Shadow, Mind, and Dagger) to a shrine in the far norther reaches, in the Frozen Wastes. The map showed the way to a shrine that had believed to have been long-lost, as well as fragments of a map of the shrine, where a Chalice was believed to be. The three old men were so confident that a Chalice was there that they offered the party an unbelievable sum (500,000 Crowns) to mount the expedition and return with it, and, on several conditions.

Even though the bounty was more than impressive, the party didn't trust the wicked old men who apparently had their own agenda in these matters, and eventually the party decided that they would take on the mad chimera wizard. They retrieved a Diary of Correspondence from the Library of Correspondence, checked out that book, and started a dialog to begin their expedition to the south ... to the Tarkesh Wilds.

Meanwhile, on their way to leaving Pax Arcana for the night, they were rushed by an apprentice student who insisted that they come straight away to the Hall of Acquisitions and Investigations. Master Dharlyne had important news. And when the party arrived there, they found the Dharlyne still had the Door within her magic circles, and she demonstrated that she had magically preserved the conduit to the other side; a shimmering veil of energy showed the gardens behind the Door, and it could be seen that The Watcher was no longer present.

[DM's Note: Improvise. The party had a big discussion of what to do next. Go through the Door, face hordes of Dragonborn, and confront the Theocracy; stay and handle the mad wizard chimera. There were votes. There were claims of madness. There were ... well, graciously, several players who thought that I'd already built all this stuff out and said they should at least see it ...]

Taking advantage of that opportunity, the party went back through the Door and into the Hadiqat Saghira. There were no more chirping insects. It was deathly silent and still. Tolman snuck about to the big double doors that had been guarded by the The Watcher and he creaked it open. It wasn't locked as The Watcher had claimed, but Tolman opened the door just in time to find another Dragonkind (a female with an ancestry of a silver dragon); Tolman cast Sleep on the woman but she resisted; instead of screaming or yelling for guards, she shooed Tolman back inside the garden. He cast Comprehend Languages.

"You can't be here, my brothers and sisters, they will destroy you," she looked about the garden. "The Door? The Watcher? Where is the Door? Hurry, before you are discovered, you must leave this place now." Apparently, this Dragonborn woman - whose name was Akra - did not share the same proud values of being a slave and not uprising against her Chromatic oppressors. She helped the party through a massive hall and to a grate that lead to the water disposal and sewage network that ran underneath the Citadel. Akra encouraged the party to run, hard, as fast as they could, for the hills to the south; to travel during the night; to find water and shelter in the desert during the day; and to find the Drow - to speak with K'hal'd'fae - to help you find food, shelter, water, and to survive.

[DM's Note: Akra was a PC that was drafted up by Melissa to play should Ma'yah be unrecoverable from the Book of Names. Melissa knew all this time that the party was supposed to meet Akra and that Akra would help them escape from the Citadel. Akra, of course, would have gone with the party, fleeing from her captors, but as an NPC I had Akra stay behind with a similar stubborn pride and sense of obligation towards her family to see her lot in life through. Meanwhile, the party had never heard of the concept of a Drow - the party has never seen nor met Elves let alone Dark Elves; the characters had no idea what the word meant.]

Towards the end of the game session, the party had wandered into the night; not her favored terrain, Elan was navigating the best she could to the southern hills. At night the sand was hot and the desert climate uncomfortable for those who had spent their whole lives in the arctic; during the day, the temperatures ran into the hundreds of degrees ... the party quickly realized that traveling in the afternoon was foolish; it was best to travel at sunset, night, and the early morning. They got briefly lost in a sandstorm as the winds seem to pick up during the daytime hours. They spent a day comfortably sheltered in a magic shelter created by Llewellyn the Bard, and Siegride created clean water to fill all of their water skins.

It was in the early morning hours of the 12th of Hunts when the sun was breaking over the desert sands, and the winds started to pick up again. The party found themselves in another sandstorm. Then, some 100' feet in front of them, a massive movement and displacement of sand was happening, and they saw an enormous exterior shell of a giant tortoise rise out of the sand, and it scrambling over the edge of a dune to escape its predators.

It seemed to grown in pain as the party realized that a large black spear was thrust into its hind quarters, and a thin figure dressed in a black turban and scarf mounted the high-ground of the dune and was firing arrows into its under belly. Meanwhile, two other black-turbaned figures ran through the desert sandstorm, trying to keep pace with the giant tortoise as it attempted to flee, loosing arrows at its tender meaty underside. All the while, another black-clad figure attempted to get close to the tortoise with a spear but was clawed mercilessly by the anguished animal, and his body crumpled to the ground. A final figure, dressed in more brightly decorated clothing ran up to his fallen comrade and began administering first aid.

The party rolled for initiative and Elan the Ranger drew back her crossbow and started firing upon the giant tortoise. Her bolt connected and it reared, giving out a painful howl.

Just then, the figure on the highground lowered his bow and looked into the swirling dessert sandstorm. He raised his arm and bore two fingers into the wind facing Elan, and ululated loudly in a fierce cry of warrior-like acknowledgement and friendship. Immediately the other two black-clad figures stopped in the sand and raised their own arms and turned two fingers to Elan in an ululated salute, and the brightly-colored figure on the top of the dune helping the fallen hunter held both hands up to Elan and ululated, apparently very elated that friends have been found in the harsh desert.

Meanwhile, the enormous giant tortoise started clamoring across the sand towards the party in a fit of pain and battle-rage ...

And that's where we'll pick up next time!
R