Session 27 - Hashal and Partha

After an afternoon of travelling after our journey through Leira's riddle temple, I notice an outline of a brown object of some kind about 100 feet away in a sand dune. Myself and Austar go and investigate and we find mostly buried in the sand, is a carriage on it's side. I start to dig away at the side and open the side door, but in the process breaking in. On it's side covered in robes and cloaks, is a form moving. Austar moves the cloak with his mage hand and see a skeletal face and shoulder rocking back and fourth. As Austar pokes it hundreds of scarab beetle's crawl out of it and it stops moving. I notice tied around it's waist a belt, with a purple pouch. Inside is rolled up parchment, and underneath a piece of cloth are 2 diamonds about 100 gold worth each.
The parchment look like they are letters from children to a parent. I put them back and make way back to our camp and rest for the night.
During Ape's watch, we're awoken by a loud explosion type sound and see the head of a gargantuan desert worm type creature, with large mandibles and multiple mouths within themselves, and Ape running out and somehow managing to capture the creature in his new Menagerie Box.
 
During my watch, I don't see anything but I decide to cast "Divination" and ask "Will I find your hammer in the Sul'Partha ruins" and I just get a cold feeling at the back of my neck. Maybe I should have asked if I would find a Word instead of the hammer, as my vision definitely had some importance to it so I still have hope.
 
In our 4th day of travel there's more variation in the scenery, more boulders lying around, cacti about. We notice on a large rock formation, bipedal bird like creatures that look like Momoko's from a distance. As we get closer we see they have hooked beaks, 2 large scythe like claws and we see 4 of them jump down and run to intercept us. I cast a wall of fire to try and deter them. 2 run through the wall of fire and the other runs around it. The last one we saw run up a rock and away from us.
 
Unfortunately mine and Raskin's Momoko's were killed by the beasts in the battle. They were hardy creatures and hard to hit with our weapons. Myself and Austar get brought into Ape's box for the journey as we're down 2 Momoko's. The room I get pulled in to, starts mimicking how Wodric's Forge looked like.
 
I get pulled out of Ape's Box and I'm standing outside one of the main gates of Hashal alongside the rest of my allies. Above us we feel a swooshing feeling of the wind, we see people sitting cross legged on flying carpets.
 
A red Tiefling appeared next to us called Lim, is a scribe for the Mouwern's Gullet which is in the Guilded Quarter, where most of the tradesfolk and shopping district of Hashal. Most Inns and Taverns would be in the Papava District.
 
The biggest thing we notice is how open Sansura is to magic. We notice as Lim walks through the front gate he stops and speaks to 2 guards. Guards wearing a loose fitting blue robe like material, heads covered in hoods all wearing identical golden genderless human face masks. As Lim walks in, he places something in one of their hands which not everyone that has walked through the doors has done.
Off to the side is a Momoko pen, I approach a man who seems Dwarvish at first, but he's a bit too small and doesn't have the right features. Called Oz. We bought 2 Momoko's, but brighter in colour for 40 gold each.
 
We hear a deep heavy bell chime from one of the Palace towers in the centre of Hashal. Everyone stops moving around us and stop talking. Everyone places on hand on their eyes. On the 4th chime it stops. Everyone removes their hands from their eyes and start chatting again as if nothing happened.
We asked a passerby and he told us it's a sign of respect for the "Synod", their rulers. One of the rules to give thanks. Told to not see but listen which is why they cover an eye. Synod means God Kings in common, there are 4 of them, the Palace has 4 towers.
 
We see a large 6 story high tavern like building called "The Storyteller". We see a tattoo like shop called "Ink Kread". Map makers shop called "Mib's Maps".
 
Mib's Maps run by Mib, who we thought was a goblin, but an elderly man came out from the back and shooed him off.
Mib shows an old map of Sansura and on that map I see the Partha ruins there which are more detailed than what Isra gave me and the location was slightly different.
 
"Ink Kread" run by a Grey Half-Orcish woman. Does magical tattoos that can improve our inner strength.
To improve Wisdom was Jade dust which I'm not sure of where to find so will need to look this up. Would be roughly 4400 gold to improve Wisdom by +2.
 
We make our way through the Guilded Quarter and turn left into The Amber Eye District and go to the Mouwern's Gullet guild. We knock on the door and a human man opens the door slightly. Lim behind the wall asks "Def" to let us in as we were the ones he talked to them about.
Lim said Sorkin hasn't been here. Def said he's out doing reconnaissance on a group that found some items. Def said that the Partha ruins haven't been explored in a while. The Partha Ruins are known to be quite dangerous. A group down the road called the Black and Whites went in a decade or so ago, and the impression is that they lost quite a few people and had to re-recruit. Some talk about big "titanus" centipedes, rock drakes, lurking salamanders.
Rift Ki's is usually a good shop to go to for magic items.
 
The Sul'Partha civilization were known for their technological advancements and creations. There are 3 mains ruins relating to Partha, Sul, Lune and Sky. Sky'Partha has never been found.
 
We found out the guards in Hashal are known as the Sanctified.