Chapter 36: Dusty Trails

General Summary

Previous Chapter

Day 47 (Corrupus 19th, 1053)

Having defeated the undead menace, Django, and his evil sorcerous grandmother, Santana, the party now finds themselves at the end of a short rest, when there comes a clattering from the ceiling above.
Cracks begin to form in a small area, accompanied by faint founds of impack that glow louder as the cracks spread wider until, with a loud boom, a section of the ceiling is broken through by the white metal fist of Jen.
She, Frida, and Zoe, separated from the party by the sudden lava flow that blocked the entrance to this chamber, navigated around to a natural tunnel and dug through at a place where the lava wasn't still hot enough to burn them.
They offer to help the party up through the hole and then lead the way back up to the caldera of the volcano. From the peak of the mountain, you can see that the city below seems to have calmed. The fires are out, and though the party is very high up, there don't seem to be any squables still going in the streets.
When you return to the limits of the city, you hear music. There are people dancing in the street as white bone fragments and dust litter the pavement. Party Musicis playing, and when your group is spotted, someone yells out:
DM: Hey! There they are!
The croud cheers as it welcomes the city's heroes to what is quickly becoming a victory banquette.
Very quickly, Lake moves to the party's rooms at the Inn to check on their pets. With the animals confirmed safe, the group partakes of the night's festivities.

Party Activities

Complementary Specialty Drinks

• The Dreaming Bar and the Robe and Star offer complemantary pints and tankards of their signature beverages, "The Warlock's Wasted Patron" and "The Mind's Eye", respectfully
• They're also offering shots of Cactus Juice for 10sp: a strong drink that's usually not carried outside the rougher dives

The party stop by the taverns first and have some drinks. Styk, Lake, Andromeda, and Bayle each have a Mind's Eye fromt the Robe & Star, and Styk, Andromeda, and Bayle follow those up with a round of Warlock's Wasted Patrons from the Dreaming Bar. Following that, Styk, Bee, Lake, and Bayle each take shots of Cactus Juice, two for Lake.
Now soaked to varying degrees, they move on to the Competitive Drinking.
Competitive Drinking

• Players can make a series of more and more difficult Con Saves to see who can drink the most

Andromeda, Styk, and Bayle step up to participate against Sheriff Suarez and a few of his deputies. Andromeda bows out in the first round. Styk makes it to round 3. Bayle wins against the sheriff in round 5.
Having had their fill of drinks, the party take to the dance floor.
Dance Off (PCs follow the dancing competitors)

• DC 10 Athletics check to throw a person, jump high, etc.
• DC 12 Acrobatics to maintain balance while spinning or moving fast.
• DC 14 Intimidation check to impose disadvantage on a check.
• DC 16 Performance to maintain a smile, looking flashy, poised, and being perceived well.
• DC 18 Constitution check for overall endurance

At the end of the dance, Styk suceeded on 3 checks, which partnered with Bee's 1, totalled to 4 and first place!
Lake passed 3 checks with his townie dance partner, netting him second place.
Bayle and his townie dance partner only succeeded on the first check, putting them in last behind the two other groups of townie pairs who tied for third.
Food

• There are all manner of grilled meats and vegetables, and fried foods being prepaired as people start dipping into their stocks and stores now that the skeletal blockade has been lifted

Games and Gambling - a number of tables from the Mayan Arcade have been hauled up and out of the building to be played int he downtown streets

• Card games ranging from Uno to Poker
• Gyp (Min 5 gp buy-in). A player rolls 2d6. If they roll a 7 or 12, they win. They can double their bet to add 1d6 to the total. Payout for winning players is 3:2.
• Tymora’s Spinner (Min 10 gp buy-in). Each player chooses one of two options: choose a number between 1 and 20, or choose whether the result of the die roll will be odd or even. The dealer then rolls a d20. If a player chose a specific number, they win triple their bet if the die lands on said face. If a player chose between even or odd, they win 1.5 times their bet if the die lands on a correct face. A player loses otherwise.
• Twenty-One (Min 25 gp buy-in). A player rolls 2d10. The dealer does the same, keeping the first die hidden. Each player, including the dealer, takes turns rolling any number of additional d10s. All die faces are face value, except for the 1, which can be worth 1 or 11. If the dealer scores a 21, all players lose. If a player scores a 21, they win. If neither occurs, a player loses if their total is less than the dealer’s, and wins if their total is greater than the dealer’s. Payout for winning players is 3:2. If both the dealer and a player score a 21, that player wins their bet back 1:1.

The party end the night by playing some of the available games. They start out with Twenty-One, beating the dealer but finding the payout unsatisfying.
Some of the group move on to Gyp and Bayle initially loses out before remembering that his earlier inbibing of the "Mind's Eye" gave him access to an invisible Mage Hand which he slyly uses to cheat his second game, recooping his losses by winning on a larger bet.
With that success, the party members eventually each call it a night and head back to their rooms at the Robe and Star.

Day 47 (Corrupus 19th, 1053)

The next day, Styk, Lake, Andromeda, and Bayle wake up in their respective beds with terrible hangovers. Bee wakes up feeling fine except for the fact thet they are on a random rooftop uprown with their still newly aquired pet fox, Cloud. While the others wait out their hangovers, Bee makes the trip back downtown to rejoin their friends at the Robe & Star. Along the way, Bee's bond with Cloud the fox grows deeper, and he slowly begins to grow somewhat trusting of them. Styk and Lake also take time to try bonding with their pets, but are much less successful.
Once back together, the group make their way down to the basement to talk to Frida, Jen, and Zoe. Frida lets them know she sent word back to Presto ahead of the festivities the night before, letting him know the crisis was over and about the party's hand in liberating the city. With their business concluded, the group says their goodbyes and packs up to leave town.
On their way out, the group checks the Bounty Board one last time. They consider taking the quests posted by Ugdough and Shava, shopkeeps they met in town, but ultimately decide against them as they'd both take the group West, when Travler's Town is back East

Travel to Travlers Town

The party decides to head back to Travlers Town to report to Presto.

Travel Day	Weather	Day Encounter	Night Encounter	Rations
47	Sunny Scrubland	-	2h - Desert 9	10
48	Sweltering Desert	Desert 19	-	9
49	Sweltering	Desert 3	-	8

Day 48 (Corrupus 20th, 1053)

As they walk in the hot desert sun, a shape appears over a dune, travelling in their direction; it's Beedle again! The party, excited for another chance to buy more of his, now prooven, effective tinctures, peruse the stock.
Bayle purchases 6 more Potions of Ant Strength, while Styk takes a chance on 1 bottle of Beetle Juice. They are also able to sell Beedle the large Bumble Bee they picked up back in Travlers Town for a nice 150gp.
Thei business concluded, the part ways with Beedle as he heads off back in the direction of Miracle City.

Day 49 (Corrupus 21st, 1053)

Around midday, Bee notices some movement behind the group. A sand dune on the horizon is quickly closing in on their position!
The party begin to run as whatever this creature is, it is several times larger than the Bullettes they faced 2 weeks prior. Lake activates his new Golden Boots and speeds ahead of the group. He's about 50 ft ahead when they realize that they're not going to outrun the creature and decide to change plans.
They stop running and Bayle fires off a Magic Missile to strike the ground 120 ft North of their location. Noting that the burrowing creature has started to divert in that direction, Andromeda casts Call Lighting to repeatedly strik that spot while Bee casts a Tiny Hut for the party to huddle inside while they wait. Lake does his best to stealthily move back to the group to rejoin inside the magic bubble and as he does, the enourmous form of an adult Purple Worm bursts through the ground at the point of the lightining strikes.
The worm continues trying to attack the source of the noise and vibrations, and seeing this, Styk casts Silence to make sure the group remains undetected.
After around 5 minutes, the worm abandons its pursuit and retreats back the way it came. The party wait an additional 5 minutes, before continuing East.

Bayle's Dream

On the third night of their travels Bayle has a vivid dream:
DM: "Bayle, you open your eyes to find yourself standing by your family's old forge. You are hammering away at something on the anvil but you can't quite see what it is.
You hoist it up with your tongs to place it back in the fire, and there in the flames are a pair of piercing red-irised eyes.
Continuing on, you place the mysterious item into the forge and as you do, 13 reflections of you apear in your field of vision to do the same, each one slightly translucent and ringed around the the item you're forging as if refractions from a crystal in the light. As the 14 items overlap in the fire, a bright light begins to shine from the forge, brighter and brighter until it's blinding.
You raise your gloved arm to shield your eyes but it's no use. The light passes through your flesh and bone but even still, you dare not look away. You blink to preserve your vision as just as the tears begin to well up to relieve your burning eyes, you blink once more and-
Your're awake. You are no longer laying down in whatever position you normally sleep, but sitting up, and turned so that your head is facing Southeast.
As the last bits of the memory of that light fade from your eyes, you feel you can almost make out something on the horizon. And then, it is gone."
Andromeda, who was on watch, sees as Bayle bolts up in his sleep and turns to look out over the dark sands. She asks if he's okay, and he says that he's alright and that he needs to take some time to process the dream he just had.
He stays awake to take the next watch, but the night is otherwise uneventful.

Report Date

19 Apr 2025