The Eye in the Waste

There lie seven deserts beyond Bodrahan, which is the city of the caravans' end. None goeth beyond. In the first desert lie the tracks of mighty travellers outward from Bodrahan, and some returning. And in the second lie only outward tracks, and none return.

The third is a desert untrodden by the feet of men.

The fourth is the desert of sand, and the fifth is the desert of dust, and the sixth is the desert of stones, and the seventh is the Desert of Deserts.

In the midst of the last of the deserts that lie beyond Bodrahan, in the centre of the Desert of Deserts, standeth the image that hath been hewn of old out of the living hill whose name is Ranorada—the eye in the waste.

About the base of Ranorada is carved in mystic letters that are vaster than the beds of streams these words:

To the god who knows.

Now, beyond the second desert are no tracks, and there is no water in all the seven deserts that lie beyond Bodrahan. Therefore came no man thither to hew that statue from the living hills, and Ranorada was wrought by the hands of gods. Men tell in Bodrahan, where the caravans end and all the drivers of the camels rest, how once the gods hewed Ranorada from the living hill, hammering all night long beyond the deserts. Moreover, they say that Ranorada is carved in the likeness of the god Hoodrazai, who hath found the secret of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, and knoweth the wherefore of the making of the gods.

They say that Hoodrazai stands all alone in Pegana and speaks to none because he knows what is hidden from the gods.

Therefore the gods have made his image in a lonely land as one who thinks and is silent—the eye in the waste.

They say that Hoodrazai had heard the murmers of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI as he muttered to himself, and gleaned the meaning, and knew; and that he was the god of mirth and of abundant joy, but became from the moment of his knowing a mirthless god, even as his image, which regards the deserts beyond the track of man.

But the camel drivers, as they sit and listen to the tales of the old men in the market-place of Bodrahan, at evening, while the camels rest, say:

"If Hoodrazai is so very wise and yet is sad, let us drink wine, and banish wisdom to the wastes that lie beyond Bodrahan." Therefore is there feasting and laughter all night long in the city where the caravans end.

All this the camel drivers tell when the caravans come in from Bodrahan; but who shall credit tales that camel drivers have heard from aged men in so remote a city?

Session 22: The Fist of Kord, Part 10

August 25, Year 3488 (SE 118)

The party stop and listen for any sign of the harpies, but they don't hear anything, so they decide to secure the area before continuing on. Zedlyn loots the javelins from the dead lizardfolk and the entire party search the room that's beyond the ledge. The room appears to be the harpies' nest. The edges of the cave are covered in nesting made from rubble and vegetation, and the center of the room is dominated by a fire pit. Scattered over the floor are humanoid bones and the remains of clothing and gear.

A thorough search of the room reveals a large, iron-banded chest, (poorly) concealed inside the nesting; however, it is locked. P'hla is able to detect the presence of magic radiating from inside. None of the party are skilled in lockpicking, and they have no tools better than a dagger or a file. They attempt to pick the lock anyway, but are unsuccessful. They consider smashing the chest open, but in the end they decide to bring it back to Barar to find a locksmith. They leave the heavy chest behind for now.

The room also has a passage leading to the east, which the party follow and arrive at another small cavern, containing what appears to be a crude altar against the north wall, manacles shackled to the northern and southern walls, and a passageway continuing to the east. The altar is a bloodstained stone block, with a pouch lying atop it. Iriellis takes the pouch (while the rest of the party backs off for safety), but it turns out to be empty and there is nothing below it. A quick search of the room reveals a few gold pieces scattered around the floor, but nothing else.

The passage to the east slopes downwards, and after about fifty feet it also branches to the south. This southern branch continues for twenty more feet before ending in a large, flooded chamber, which the party don't explode immediately. Instead, they continue down the eastern passage.

The eastern passage continues for another fifty or so feet before levelling out and joining with another, larger passage coming from the southwest. Glancing down the southwest passage, the party see several features of note. The passage goes for thirty feet before hitting water, and right before the water are three crude clay huts. Against the southeastern wall, about ten feet above the ground, is a opening in the wall.

The party cautiously approach the huts, surmising that this must be where the lizardfolk live. However, their caution appears to be unnecessary, as the huts seem to be empty of both inhabitants and valuables.

Leaving the water alone for now, the party return to the eastern passage, which starts sloping upwards as they follow it. It winds onwards for a few hundred feet, and after turning a bend, they spot sunlight up ahead! The total length of the passage turns out to be 700 feet, and at the end the slope is steep enough to cause some difficulty in climbing it. It emerges onto a steep hillside, about twenty feet above ground level.

Returning to the cave, the party decide to investigate the two collapsed passages that they discovered several days before. They spend the next several hours digging and clearing rubble, only to come to the realization that the collapses are complete, and there is nothing beyond the rubble.

At the this point, it is getting fairly late in the day, so they decide to extract the treasure chest from the harpies' nest and return to Barar. Rather than try to cross the narrow ledge with the heavy chest, they instead haul it up the new exit that they had just discovered. Emerging at the hillside, they slide it down using rope, while Iriellis guides it past obstacles. They return to Barar on horseback, with Tamat going back to the nearby Druid circle.

August 26, Year 3488 (SE 118)

The next morning, the party head to the town locksmith, who charges them ten gold pieces to crack the lock after they convince him that they are adventurers who found the chest (rather than thieves who stole it). Several party members stay behind to keep an eye on the process while the rest spend the time relaxing about town.

Several hours pass and the locksmith is successful is cracking open the chest. Inside are several thousand silver pieces, several valuable pieces of jewelry, and a pair or sturdy, enchanted gloves. They distribute the silver and spend several hours selling the jewelry around town, netting themselves over a thousand gold pieces total. P'hla identifies the gauntlets as Gauntlets of Ogre Power, which, true to their name, give the wearer the strength of an ogre. Zedlyn and Adokas both want the gloves - Zedlyn, because he is the party's main front-line fighter, and Adokas because he is naturally weaker than Zedlyn so he will receive a larger boost from the gloves. In the end, the gloves go to Adokas.

By the time all of these tasks are completed, it's already mid-afternoon, meaning that it would be evening by the time they reached the caves if they left now. So, the party instead decide to spend the night in Barar and set out the next morning.

August 27, Year 3488 (SE 118)

The next day, the party arrive at the cave and immediately get to searching for the harpies, since they may have returned since the party was last there. The check all of the areas around the harpy lair, but they are not present. They conclude that the harpies must have fled.

They move on to the ledge that they spotted near the lizardfolk huts. They climb the ledge using the Rope of Climbing, and it leads to a short passageway leading the a small cavern containing a pool a water at the far end. Apart from the pool, the cavern is empty. Iriellis wades into the pool (which is only about one foot deep) and spots a gold ring at the bottom. It is not enchanted, but she pockets it anyway.

At this point, as far as anyone knows, the only spots left to search are the two large pools of water - the one near the lizardfolk huts and the one that several of them fell into while fighting the lizardfolk. Adokas starts from the huts and swims into the pool, trying to explore it as thoroughly as possible. He finds an underground passage that connects this pool with the other. Further, he finds a leather sack at the bottom of the pool, and drags it out for the party to inspect. Inside the sack are several hundred gold pieces, three rubies, and, most importantly, a golden symbol of a fist. It's the holy symbol of Kord, the object of their quest.

Though they now have what they need from the cave, they agree to help Tamat finish searching the area for the harpies. Adokas explores the other pool of water but finds nothing of interest, while the rest of the party collect the thumbs from the dead lizardfolk, so they can prove to the head merchant of Barar that the threat is dealt with. This completes their exploration of the caves, but they agree to help Tamat explore the nearby hills more thoroughly, in case the harpies are nearby.

They spent the rest of the day exploring the hills, with no success in finding the harpies. They conclude that they must have fled far away. In this case, they are likely no longer a threat to the area, so Tamat is satisfied.

Session 21: The Fist of Kord, Part 9

August 23, Year 3488 (SE 118)

As the party prepare their weapons, the two shapes emerge from the murky water and reveal themselves to be two giant toads - either the same ones that party avoided earlier, or two more of the same type. The party get the drop on them and attack. Warned that the toads are large enough to swallow halflings or gnomes whole, the smaller members of the party attack with ranged weapons and retreat around the corner after attacking. The first toad is struck by several sling bullets and a javelin, and Flossaria moves up and finishes it with her sword before it even has a chance to attack. With the smaller party members safely around the corner, the second toad lashes out at Flossaria with its tongue. It grabs her and pulls her into its mouth, and Flossaria immediately falls into convulsions, evidently from sort sort of poison. As the toad attempts to choke her down into its gullet, P'hla unleashes a Sleep spell, which takes both the toad and Flossaria, allowing the rest of the party to easily finish the creature off and extract her from its mouth.

Iriellis takes the Rope of Climbing and swims through the passage, confirming that the other end emerges into the room where they first saw the giant toads. Adokas searches the remains of the toads, hoping to identify and preserve whatever gland produced the poison, but is unsuccessful. Checking up on Flossaria, Tamat identifies the poison from the toad as a contact poison that will cause periodic convulsions, which will intensify over the next few days, potentially leading to death within the week. The party opt not to continue with Flossaria in this state, instead retreating from the dungeon in order to find help for her.

Tamat takes her to his Druidic circle and begins searching from the herbs and ingredients he'll need to make a salve that should help against the poison. Adokas comes with him, hoping that his knowledge of poisons will allow him to help. The rest of the party return to Barar and ask around town. Unfortunately, the town herbalist has none of the ingredients that Tamat requires, and none of the clerics in town are powerful enough to deal with the poison magically. The party decide to give Tamat time to create his remedy, and if he isn't successful, they'll evaluate whether they need to return to Viskha.

August 24, Year 3488 (SE 118)

Having had no success during the previous day, Tamat and Adokas continue their efforts, while the rest of the party rest up in town. Eventually, by the end of the day, Tamat announces that his salves are having the desired effect, and the poison is in remission. By the next day, Flossaria should be back to full health and ready to continue adventuring.

August 25, Year 3488 (SE 118)

The next morning, the party purchase some additional pickaxes to help them break through the rubble that they encountered in their last expedition to the caves. They return to the dungeon, make their way to the blocked passage, and begin clearing a path through it. The process is long and noisy; it takes about 40 minutes for them to clear a path that's large enough to allow them to continue, and in the process they create enough noise to surely alert any creatures that are beyond.

Past the rubble is the ledge running over a pool of water that Adokas had previously attempted. The party prepare to cross. P'hla casts a Light spell on the Rope of Climbing and Flossaria takes the lead, using the rope to light the way ahead of her. She is followed by Tamat, then Zedlyn and Sharla, who are tied together in case Sharla falls, then P'hla, Adokas, and Iriellis. As they cross, they hear the same siren song as before, coming from further down the ledge. Sharla and Iriellis both sing in an attempt to drown out the hypnotic song, and they are successful - the party are able to resist its effects. They continue making their way along the ledge.

Soon, however, disaster strikes - simultaneously, both Zedlyn and Sharla slip and fall! Zedlyn tries to grab the ledge as he falls, but he's tied to Sharla, and her weight sends him falling down. The rest of the party immediately throw down ropes; Flossaria and Tamat hold the Rope of Climbing, while P'hla, Adokas and Iriellis throw down a non-magical rope. Despite his heavy armor, Zedlyn manages to keep himself above the water and grab the ropes, but Sharla is drowning below him. To make matters worse, a trio of javelin-wielding lizardfolk appear at the far end of the ledge and attack Flossaria!

Just as the rest of the party start having some success in lifting Zedlyn and Sharla out of the water, Flossaria is struck by a javelin, loses her balance, and goes tumbling in as well. Tamat manages to hold on to the Rope of Climbing, while P'hla and Adokas leave Iriellis with the other rope and move to engage the lizardfolk. P'hla casts a Sleep spell at them and all three go down, as Adokas moves in to finish them off. At the point, Zedlyn has climbed back up on top of the ledge, so Tamat puts down his rope and goes to help Adokas, and Iriellis drops her rope to heal Zedlyn. Flossaria, meanwhile, manages to overcome the weight of her armour and swim to the cavern wall, where she can safely hold on the side.

As Adokas and Tamat move to kill the sleeping lizardfolk, they reach the end of the ledge, which leads to a larger, open area. Waiting for them are three more lizardfolk. Tamat charges them while Adokas stays behind to kill their sleeping companions. However, in the three-against-one fight, Tamat is struck several times and is badly wounded. P'hla and Iriellis both make their way across the ledge and move in to help, while Zedlyn pulls Sharla up then tosses the Rope of Climbing to Flossaria.

P'hla unleashes a second Sleep spell at this next group of lizardfolk, which drops two of the three, while Adokas strikes the third with a stunning blow, and Iriellis heals Tamat with her divine magic. Tamat finshes off the stunned creature with his sword, just as Zedlyn finishes lifting Flossaria back up to the ledge. Zedlyn and Flossaria then make their way to the rest of the party. They are now all past the ledge, and the six lizardfolk that attacked them are dead - but they know the harpy is still somewhere further into the cave.