Campaign Journal: Dead in the Desert

Oops, behind on my journaling. I have a few sessions to catch up: my OSE campaign, the Shadowdark campaign, and a Shadowdark one-shot.

Let's get to it, shall we?

Slim attendance at the campaign, with several schedule conflicts. So you run for who shows:

• Slick - thief
• Jax - Barbarian
• Rondel - elf

The party headed south, guided by Bogumir, and with two wagons of good hardwoods in tow. Slick occupied his time by pranking Snogriz the assayer. 

The journey was generally uneventful as they travelled a rugged wagon-road. After two days, they arrived at a caravanserai surrounded by a stout wall and offering stables, a tower with lodging, and a well to replenish water. Symas, the proprietor, welcomed Bogurmir, and had his crew unhitch and settle the animals. Slick was pleased to see active guards on the wall, and that the various stablehands looked like they could handle themselves in a scrap.

source

Symas questioned why the party was attempting to trade late in the season, and shared that the desert elves had not visited much over the last year. They seemed even more uptight than usual...

The stay at the caravanserai was uneventful, the food fair.

Southward, again. The little caravan continued deeper into the desert, passing occasional dwellings of herders. Smoke alerted them that something was amiss, and they found a burned home and outbuildings, its occupants slain, and goods carried off. Some quick tracking by Jax, and they ran down several skeletons carrying loot. Henry duly blew them up. More tracking, and they found tracks leading to an abandoned settlement. 

Everything seemed empty, except some activity around an old temple. Slick went invisible as per usual. A pair of acolytes were watching the front door and plaza before it. Jax, Rondel, Durkan, and Henry walked on up. The acolytes challenged the group, and by the 'twisted dragon' holy symbols the acolytes wore, they were worshippers of Medeg. 

this nice lady

The party put up with their proselytizing for a bit, then Rondel decided he wasn't interested in the pamphlets and magic-missiled one. Durkan charged in, and the acolytes retreated, calling for reinforcements. Until Rondel dropped a silence on them. Durkan and Jax did one in, while Slick shanked the other. A crew of skeletons appeared from a side chamber. Henry destroyed most of them, and Jax and Goober tore into the rest. Although throughout combat, Goober would get distracted by the bones... Oh well. More priests arrived from another chamber, and Rondel singed them with lightning. He's been waiting for that moment. In return, a priest engulfed him in a swarm of locusts.

More skeletons arrived, and Jax hewed through them. Durkan and Slick went against the surviving priests and got surprised by their pet snake:

Unfortunately, the snake sucked at rolling dice, and couldn't hit a damn thing. Slick killed it. Durkan got choked and chill-touched, but fought through it, killing a priest. Rondel finally got free of his locust plague and magic-missiled the final priest. 

The party went through pockets and belongings, scoring a staff of snakes, which Henry snatched up. Old habits die hard for a former snake-cult priest...

The temple cleared, everyone camped out for the night, disturbed only by some desert bison that paused to rub on the corner of the building. 

Trundling south, the road diminished to a trail, and the land became rougher. A trio of gnolls hailed the party. They pointed out a spring to the south, and noted rumors of a dragon in the deeper desert. The party thanked them and let them know that there were some remaining stores in the Medeg temple, free for the taking. The gnolls thanked them and trotted off.

Sure enough, a spring was located, near a cliff band. The party dismounted and prepared to camp and rest. Jax noted the various hoofprints and other tracks in the sand and mud. And those were some really big bird tracks...

In the morning, Bogumir announced that they had company, as a line of elves appeared in the distance...