Doctor Matt

There was magic in this world once, but they stole it all away.
 
The Alpha Brothers sat around a table in their newly refurbished lair. They were discussing what to do now that they had truly secured the loyalty of the Sultan of Peshemi. They thought about the reconnaissance they had performed back when they were first coming together. A number of different ruins were located in the area of the Sultanate: Who knew what kind of treasures and relics might within?
 
They had a strong desire to become more mobile, and an Airship would prove an excellent solution to this particular problem. However, the coffers they had currently would likely prove insufficient to commission or purchase such a vessel: Even if they turned in their Land Boat as part of the deal. So a treasure hunting excursion might prove just what they needed.
 
The Coalition members decided to return to their respective home areas. They shared that the now-dead former wizard-fighter elf had learned the Gith language in an attempt to regain his lost magic. As it turns out, the magic ‘Circuits’ in his body no longer functioned despite the fully functional spell books he had harvested from dead Gith Wizards. Those who had been in the world during the ‘Death of Magic’ would be unable to regain their former abilities without some sort of serious help. Divine. Perhaps.
 
The Alpha brothers picked one of the most promising prospects their scouts had brought forth: An newly uncovered Ancient City which had apparently not yet been pillaged at all. They acquired appropriate supplies, loaded them onto their landboat, and left instructions for their brethren to follow to continue furthering the Brotherhood cause.
 
The city lay far to the North, and they passed the thoroughly explored Pyramid of Amon-Re on the way. They would stop at the Boomtown of Hunter’s Dream to resupply and prepare for the second leg of their journey. It seemed like it had been so long since they last met up and prepared for their first real expedition together as a group into the Pyramid of Sekh Pa Merfer.
 
The trip to Hunter’s Dream was uneventful, which was fine as the Brothers needed a bit of time to rest and recuperate after their recent stressful times. As their land boat pulled into town, the usual thieves, beggars, and other wealth-seekers came to meet the boat in hopes of acquiring some of the money from the new arrivals. A few of the brothers spotted some sparks of recognition among those observing the outskirts of town:
 
The town had grown even larger from how they remembered it. John suggested that Tage do a bit of subtle investigation to find out exactly what it was the ones who recognized the brothers were after. Had they been plants from the enemies of the Brothers, or were they simply in awe of those who had successfully returned from ancient ruins before?
 
As it turned out, they were curious if the brothers were the ones who had in fact brought the pair of Zombie ladies into town. They were. Having been reminded of the scholar and his two attendants, they looked for him only to learn that he had returned to his university with the two ladies in turn. The town smelled better as a result.
 
The Sandy Swallow welcomed them like an old friend.
 
The Brothers took a moment to gather some information from the Treasure Hunters and Relic Seekers in the town. Some of them were coming in, some of them were preparing to go out. Several different bars led to a variety of information with both Tage and Thy’lek learning about the successes and failures of the local folk.
 
From what the brothers learned, the Gith had been ignoring the region completely.
 
It seemed that many of the ruins which had been checked recently were overun with the walking dead, foul spirits, and terrible traps. The lack of payoff only made their various trips reflect more bitterly in their minds. They did not mind harping along with fellow treasure hunters to commiserate appropriately.
 
Tage offered to pay for the location of their failed excursions for a possible quick, though dangerous payday. He was successful in buying their faded maps: hastily written notes and bloodstains at no extra cost.
 
John set up his Traveling Alchemist stand and offered tinctures, potions, elixirs, rubs, dusts, and solvents to solve (and create) all of their troubles. The result was quite profitable, and helpful for those who partook of his wares.
 
The brothers resupplied and set off for their next destination, the ancient ruins. They arranged for the landboat to circle around, going in a completely different direction. Any observers would be set on the wrong track were they to make the poor choice of following the Brothers.
 
The outskirts of the ancient city were said to be three hard days of travel away, and so the brothers set out with their decoy set to meet them in a week's time with additional supplies.
 
The first day of travel was uneventful, but the first night a group of large scorpions crept up on their camp. The brothers cooking fire was not as repellant to these large vermin as they would have liked. Korric was off relieving himself: he had been drinking coconut milk all day in an effort to stay hydrated. The scurrying scorpions distracted the brothers from the shifting sands to their north.
 
Korric charged at one of the frighteningly large arthropods and mashed it to bits. John crunched one as it was closing on Tages flank, he quickly cut another to bits. Thy’lek stepped on the last scorpion, feeling accomplished as he heard that meaty crunch.
 
Just as he was scraping the mess off his boot, the Gargantuan scorpion arose from the sands, pinching and stinging the nearest brothers. The smashed young was not going to lead to any sort of peaceful resolution: even if the brothers were capable of talking with insects (they weren’t).
 
 
Yuttosk rushed in with his spear and got scooped up in the other claw of the scorpion. Korric ran next to the mother scorpion, then chose to kick at the last small scorpion. The mother scorpion was not amused. John shifted his stance, appearing behind the scorpion in a shadow before launching a vicious hammering uppercut at its flank. Tage rushed up with a shadow coated blade at the ready cutting through its hard shell.
 
THy’lek attempted to flirt his way out of the claws of the scorpion: unsuccessfully. Suddenly he was on a horse, and plummeting from the sky as the shocked scorpion was no longer holding him close. It had a claw free now, but Thy’lek was able to do what he wanted: attack the creature. He did so.
 
The scorpion scooped Thy’lek back into her waiting claw. She put the squeeze on Yuttosk, and gave John her sting. John resisted her poison, and the brothers continued their assault. In short order it was cut down, and the brothers cut in to harvest some sweet poison glands for later use.
 
In the stomach of the creature were some less fortunate small folk, from which a gem pouch was eventually gleaned. After they cleaned themselves up, they broke camp and moved once more to the ancient city of Heypox.
 
The wall remnants they found were ground down by eons of the whirling desert winds. The brothers detected at least two or three other camps in the area in the past month, suggesting that unfortunately they were not the first to reach the ruined city. They were still confident that the trip would be worthwhile. Perhaps the others had done some of the work for them. Perhaps there would be competent recruits among them. Or perhaps they were all dead, revealing the dangers to be found within.
 
How did they actually enter the ruined city if it was covered in sand? Perhaps the brothers could find traces of how they had accessed the lower ruins and use the same means. They located three such possible entrances to the buried buildings, and there were traces of previous entry at only one of them including recent tunnels heading downward into the ruins.
 
They decided to make their entrance using the random tower, the leftmost ruins with an access point. They eventually map out the whole city but would take it one step at a time.
 
The brothers carefully lowered themselves into what appeared to be an Ancient storage area. Apparently the city builders had created areas to store a variety of things from foodstuffs to lumber. Most of the stored goods had long since perished to the elements and perhaps to other looters, but a determined search revealed a few bits of note.
 
An old blacksmith’s hammer, a pen, and finally a singular arrow. Tage discarded these items with disdain.
 
Their search was thorough, but not especially quiet. As a result they met several groups of undead wandering the halls: Skeletons, Zombies, and even a mummy.
 
Tage was determined to throw pebbles vertically and horizontally to escape another encounter with foul creatures. His caution was not helpful however in preventing the piles of bones from animating and attacking him! After a fast and furious fight the bones were laid to rest once more, the zombies rent limb from limb.
 
Thy’leks blade vibrated with delight as he punctured the various undead folks. Tage faded into a smoke puff and struck at the mindless undead. Korric charged up preparing for a head-on assault. John hurled one Zombie into another and they both were pulped into uselessness.
 
Skeletons closed with Thy’lek and attacked pitifully with rusted weapons. He parried with his trusty blade and cut them to bits. Soon only the mummy remained, and it closed with Yuttosk: Dreadful gaze inflicting fear in his heart. Tage closed with the creature, steeling his heart against the fear. Korric carved a hole in the wall towards the screams. Thy’lek closed in. John poked his head through the hole and struck a conversation with the mummy. As it turned out, she was an administrator in the city during her life. A helpful ally? Perhaps!
 
Yuttosk shared his tale about witnessing firsthand the death of magic! She thought it seemed unlikely at best. A friendship was formed, as the brothers practiced focusing their minds against the fierce visage of the mummy.