Session 20: Into the Maw of the Sun

General Summary

With the Etherian Elps city guard surely on the way -- a daytime street battle with an efreeti something even they are unlikely to overlook -- the Thieves must make a hard choice: go through the golden portal sphere hidden in a secret room within the boarding house and save themselves a month or more of travel to the Ten Thousand Trackless Sands and potential border crossing headaches, or claim their reward for killing the efreeti from Lord Calyops. Tensions run high during the discussions, but in true Temple Thieves fashion, the team decides that they can have both. So, reluctantly, Ruhst parts temporarily with his feather token so that Kelpip can make his way at speed to the old watchtower and show the proof of their conquest -- Thunder of Sand's fire-sparking scimitar. The idea is that he will return swiftly and use his magic to circumvent any of the city guard who may be blocking the way into the trashed boarding house.   Kelpip speeds off on his quest to acquire their loot while the others take deep breaths and step into the glowing portal. Though seemingly bright and cheery, the portal closes in on them claustrophobically, pressing against them as if they are in a tunnel whose spongy walls are closing in tighter and tighter, but eventually they pass out the other side.   What they had seen from the Etherian Elps side of the portal was a view of a red-gold city of clay rising up the side of a long, sandstone butte, framed by the tops of palm trees from the oasis where the portal, presumably is located. What the view did not show them was that the oasis was occupied by a camp of Scorpion Cultists, complete with two of their giant, perpetually angry scorpions!   The canyon where the Thieves find themselves is an ancient redoubt, a dry waterfall at the boxed-in end. But water still flows beneath the hard-packed sand and clay, feeding the roots of a handful of palm trees and scrubby bushes. On the far side of the damp soil that marks the presence of the underground water source, horses nose at buckets filled from strained earth. On the portal side, though, are three large pavilion-tents, and more than a dozen Scorpion cultists, several of whom are atop the 45 ft canyon wall, armed with bows.   Acting quickly and as the well-oiled team they've become, the adventurers leap into action, gaining the surprise on the Sultana's loyal personal troops. Ruhst goes in hard and fast with swords, while Dolan raises his arms and spills fog out of the sleeves of his cloak, hiding them from easy targeting.   Percy heads straight for a scorpion, howling, her claws and barbed tail manifesting as she releases the beast that lurks within her, always close to the surface -- just where the vorpal blade she wields likes it. Little Sister, meanwhile, flies up and out of the fog and then swoops down on a group of cultists and their scorpion to the north of the portal, her wings shifting into swords and slicing through two of the southerners before they register her as more than a shadow against the noontime sun.   By the time the Scorpion cultists can rally themselves, several have already fallen, and one of the scorpions is nearly broken in half. But just when the Thieves think they might mow through the guards quickly and with few casualties themselves, arrows fall from the canyon walls and two spell casters exit from one of the larger tents to the south. Trajinous attempts to hold off the spell casters with a ghostly, spiritual lightning bolt, but the southern woman counters with her own phantom scimitar, while the other caster freezes Ruhst in place (FREEZES RUHST IN PLACE, I say!) with the muttering of paralytic phrases. A little ways away, Little Sister also fares poorly, or rather the cultists get in lucky hits, and her deific skin is scored by several cuts.   As arrows rain down, Percy finishes off a scorpion, beheads a nearby cultist, and skewers another on her tail barb, before then scaling the sheer cliff of the canyon wall, a look of maniacal determination on her face. At the top, she waves the corpse of their comrade around, and the archers break, making a run for it. But one has the misfortune to pass beneath the limbs of a tree wherein a puckermouth centipede has made its lair. His screams are muffled as the creature wraps its layers of inward-pointing teeth around his head. Percy chases down the others and kills them handily.   Meanwhile, below, Ruhst has (apparently) thrown off the effects of the Hold Person spell and gone to Trajinous' side to aid her against a couple of the remaining cultists, all while the southern spell casters attempt to bring hell down on the invaders. Trajinous, relieved of that threat, is able to call down a hail of lightning on the scorpion threatening Little Sister, and the goddess quickly finishes off the beast.   Shortly enough, as the fog of Dolan's spell fades, the Thieves are able to see that they are victorious: the hardpack of the oasis is damp now with the blood of their enemies. But, unfortunately, not all of their enemies. Several archers, positioned further north at the mouth of the canyon, were able to escape to their horses and ride like the wind for Mahashanda, City of Doves, and seat of the Sultana of Zhin, she called the Thorned Blossom of the Moonlit Night.   What that will mean to the party is yet to be seen, but they take stock of the treasures to be found in the camp and take a short rest, which culminates in Kelpip's arrival through the portal.   "Did I miss anything?" he asks.

Rewards Granted

Kelpip brings with him a 1000 gp, though how much of that he'll part with for the group is yet to be determined. There are also a dozen scimitars, half that number of bows, and several hundred arrows to be looted, along with 500 gp worth of gems, coins (mostly in platinum stamped with the beautiful face of the Sultana), and jewelry. Plus two azure healing potions.