Saving Private Matt

There was magic in this world once, but they stole it all away.
 
The brothers rested to recover their strength after the battle to restore their strength. Meanwhile; Five Bandolier brethren, a halfling couple, their four children,Hug-Hug, Ilnig, The half-elf captain, The second cousin of the Sultan, his ancient dwarf personal assistant, his two “traveling secretaries” (a gnome and a human), A human alchemist, a swarthy human rogue, a halfling monk, and a pair of stinking half-orcs were sharing duties and shelter on the boat. . .
 
Senna, Abel, Jetto, Lyel, and Koffi were keeping watch on the boat (and Hug-Hug). Jetto noticed a lone woman approaching from the desert: the sultans cousin demanded she be brought forth as a member of his ‘Traveling secretaries’. Hug-hug was instructed to stay in the Hug-Chair. The “Lone woman in the desert, a stranded traveler” was adamant about not entering the ship her self.
 
Senna tied a rope around Abel’s waist, and he moved out to bring the ‘injured traveler’ into the boat. When he expertly tried to grab her, she disappeared! What a shock that she’d been an illusion all along. And immediately, the Lamia, and her band of Ogres were revealed! Jetto beaned her with a javelin, Senna attempted to Seduce the Lamia into joining the group, and Lyel and Abel worked together to get him out of danger with the rope. Ilnig took a pair of shots at an ogre, Koffi joined the salvo: all missing. The ogres approached the boat!
 
The captain did his very best to convince the other passengers to live, and fight to defend the boat. The brethren attempted to knock the climbing Ogres off the boat, and half of them were knocked back into the sands. They moved back as a unit, their training together was clearly showing as they attempted to convince the other passengers to defend the boat, and their lives!
 
Ilnig gave one a double dose of fire in the face, and the fall into the sand killed him, and Hug-Hug helped! He knocked the last Ogre off the boat with a powerful sling shot to the face.
 
The brethren prepared for their second attempt at assaulting the boat, the Lamia beckoned Ilnig with a simple: “Join me.” He decided he would. The Ogres attempted once more to climb the boat, more of the Ogres were knocked off, and Ilnig jumped off the boat taking a hard fall. The other passengers were not especially effective. Hug-Hug didn’t help, but the miniature Bruce-Lee halfling monk beat the only Ogre still hanging on with a hefty stunning fist.
 
The Lamia put many of the group to sleep, but they woke each other up. Hug-Hug wrecked the one ogre, and finally only one remained. Koffi slew the final ogre with a Heroic leap, plunging his sword through his eye-socket after flying off the boat! Only the Lamia was left, and the group focused their efforts on her, and convincing Ilnig to stop betraying the group. . . An idiotic half-orc attempted to slay Ilnig, unsuccessfully before the Lamia commanded them both to protect her, since her last bodyguards were slain.
 
The Lamia began attacking the Bandolier brethren who had hopped off the ship, but they began to surround her. Ilnig continued to fire bolt after bolt at the captain. Senna convinced the half-orc to stop defending the Lamia, and Lyel managed to take down the Lamia. The other inhabitants of the boat were waiting for this moment, and Koffi castrated the half-orc, taking advantage of the situation. Senna helpfully suggested cauterizing the injury, but the Half-orc continued to attack in a battle rage. A skillful dagger from Lyel finished his raging, and they set to looting and preparing the bodies. (Mw Dagger).
 
Senna started a bit of a seduction on the aged dwarf companion, after giving the Sultans ‘cousin’ a literal bag of dicks.
 
Meanwhile, in the lost settlement of the Kheferu mine, the group had rested and located one entrance to the underground tunnels.
 
The manmade tunnels were inside the side of the crater. A group of sandpeople awaited at the entrance. They immediately attacked! John Jean-Jon melted them with a bomb. They moved on through the tunnels, and were met once again with resistance from Sand People. Several more chambers were filled with them, and eventually they were cut down.
 
The chambers with the now-dead sand people had been lived in by others, the groups satisfied there was nothing else of interest or value pressed on. The foul stench in the center was emanating from a disgusting mass of polyps, with a scarlet sword stuck into the floor.
 
The nursery where the creatures were being corrupted was filled with even more powerful sandfolk. A vicious fight followed, with the powerful group of earth-attuned creatures ripping into the party. When the fight was over, they retrieved the legendary sword Rive (+2 Keen Intelligent Bastard Sword [Bless 3/day, +10 Bluff] from its 500 year slumber. The sword indicated that the meteor, and not itself, totally not itself had been corrupting the surrounding creatures. Korric indicated that he was not necessarily an Axe Man, and when it came to weapons he was an equal opportunity swinger. With the mystery of the comet resolved, the group salvaged what they needed from the Land boat, and set out to return.