Dark
Sun, 5 Jun 2020 (online session)
Fifth
session of an on-going campaign.
Dave
|
Game
Master
|
Edwin
|
Garrok
|
Wandering
Mul Druid (Lv.2)
|
|
Tom
|
Frayne
|
Human
Templar (Lv.2)
|
Follower:
Rajal (II)
|
Spencer
|
Geo
|
Half-Giant
Ranger (Lv.2)
|
Follower:
Vacancy
|
Ian
|
Fribb
|
Halfling
Psionicist slave (Lv.2)
|
|
Aengel
|
Gre’kkt
|
Thri-Kreen
Druid Trader (Lv.2)
|
Follower: Seemingly Fribb!
|
Seph
|
Unayra
|
Halfling
Assasin (Lv.2)
|
Follower:
Unnamed Elf slave.
|
The Story So Far...
Following
our rescue of the Rebel Princess retrieval of the radicalised heiress we
have learnt that she is part of a wide-spread network aiming to overthrow the
Sorcerer-Kings of Athas. She has
information that leads her to believe that it is essential that her
counterparts in Tyr – The Veiled Alliance – postpone their revolt. With the promise of rich rewards, we have
agreed to convey this message from Urik to Tyr.
Our
last session ended just as we had defeated psychic attacks from a Gaj.
On The Road
 |
| Sweet, eh? |
Despite
our lack of rest, as the unforgiving sun set we determined to press on and make
as much headway as possible in the cool of the night. As if an omen (for ill or good?) one of
Gre’kkt’s cargo of silkwyms hatched.
As
we headed west to Tyr, Unayra speculated about the nature of the dragon we had seen
attack Ulrik, and even suggested that we turn around and make the long journey
back to the city in order to investigate.
After
two hours of listening to her prattle on, Geo spotted lights on the road
ahead. We had reached the crossroad
oasis of Silver Springs. Gre’kkt, a
seasoned traveller in these parts, advised us that the oasis was owned by the
Elves of the Silver Hand, who charged a levy for entry into the
walled-settlement and ran a disreputable bazaar. True enough, as we got closer we saw that the
road ran through a toll-gate guarded by two elves. The suggestion that we go and investigate the
bazaar was greeted by an annoyed chittering from Gre’kkt, who withdrew with her
kanks and insisted that she would skirt around and meet the rest of the party
on the other side. Fribb followed his
new mistress, and after some consideration, Geo joined them.
Therefore
it was Frayne, Garrok and Uranyra who approached the gate. They were somewhat taken aback by the size of
the toll, which Frayne managed to pay.
When the guards made a further charge for the beast of burden, it was
only met by Garrok offering one of the casks of brandy he had stolen while
hiding in Kurlak’s cellars. This was so
warmly received that one of the guards advised them that “if they wanted a
cushty deal” they should seek out his cousin Bravelthook.
The
bazaar was hectic. As soon as the
travellers entered the narrow, crowded streets they were set upon by carpet
sellers, food vendors and beggars. Even
Unayra was unable to intimidate the urchins, and in the end was forced to part
good coin for an obsidian dagger (though she was secretly delighted with its dragon-motif).
Bravelthook
proved to be the dodgiest of dodgy traders.
Having ensured that they were not observed, he whipped back a carpet to
reveal six leather sacks. These, he
claimed, contained the finest unprocessed iron ore – worth a fortune. Garrok quickly ate one of his enchanted fruit
– in this case a pear endowed with the power of Divination. Much to his
surprise, this confirmed the elf’s story.
Negotiating was quickly settled: Garrok exchanged three of the casks of
brandy for three sacks, while Frayne bought the other three with more
conventional payment, Unraya, having spent her worldly wealth on the dragon
dagger, watched on. As soon as the deal
was done, Bravelthook packed up his belongings and disappeared into the throng.
Meanwhile,
as Gre’kkt, Fribb and Geo circumnavigated the walls, they noticed a storm in
the far distance heading towards us.
They hastened to the Western Gate, only to find the rest of the party
astonished at being charged to leave the
oasis! Gre’kkt could barely hide her
amusement.
The
party continued on its westward journey, keeping a wary eye on the approaching
storm. Geo’s weather-sense was that
there was something un-natural about it.
Gre’kkt took out her auger stones and performed one of the druidic
rituals of her kind. “Does the storm
have hostile intent?” she asked, “Yes” came the answer. After travelling for a further half-hour, it
was clear that we couldn’t outrun the storm and we prepared camp to hunker
down.
As
the storm enveloped the camp, blotting out what little light there was, the
party heard the sound of many marching feet and were terrified to see an army
of ancient, desiccated corpses approaching them.
 |
| "Part the Dead, see!" |
Gre’kkt
cast Turn Undead, but merely managed
to make a slight parting in the oncoming wave of zombies. It was here that Frayne’s true power as a
Templar of Hamanu, Sorcerer-King of Urik, Lion of the Desert, became
apparent. As he blew his battle horn and
cast Turn Undead, they obeyed his
commands! Over the next few hours,
Frayne managed to Turn around 70 of
the zombies, who formed a protective barrier between the party and the rest of the horde. At dawn the storm dissipated and the zombies
sank back into the sand: all except a company of 31 – the survivors of Frayne’s
Undead Army.
These
zombies continued to obey Frayne’s orders, and accompanied the party onwards
towards Tyr. Before we reached the city
outskirts, Frayne ordered them to hide themselves in the dunes in the hope of retrieving
them later.
Reaching
the city was a blessed relief to the travellers, who had not rested for some time. After being
questioned by the Templars at the gates, who were told they were traders from
Urik, they found a tavern and retired to the common room for glasses of
fermented Kank Liqueur (for the Ladies) and pints of Tyr Brown Ale.
