D&D 5E Al-Qadim Moving Through the Flame

[Shayuri]

Amina rises to her feet, eyes dutifully downcast.

"My place is with you, Honored," is her reply.

To the keepers of the caravansi she adds, "Thank you for your generous hospitality, and your wondrous story. I regret I have nothing suitable to offer in return. Stories of temple training would no doubt make uninteresting tales."

 

[Thateous]

Akilah takes her leave from the cave and stands at the edge of the steep drop off they climbed to get here. She calls out for her carpet and waits patiently. "What were your thoughts on them Amina?" she asks. "There was an edge to your voice when you called to me. Could you sense something was a miss?"

 

[Shayuri]

Amina considers her words, then says quietly, "They were too eager to separate us, and make sure we stayed that way. No one thing they did or said was incorrect or suspicious, but there was a larger pattern to what they were doing that felt very wrong. The perfection with which they played their parts was also suspicious. It had a...practiced feel to it."

She lifted her eyes to stare unblinking at Akilah.

"If it pleases you to say, what was amiss?"

 

[Thateous]

As the carpet arrives Akilah step onto it and offers a hand to Amina. Once they are on there way she speaks, "Makes sense when you realize the secret they keep. Turns out the water-bearer is an enlightened Vampire of old that has been looking after them for quite some time. I managed to heal him of his wounds and in return I may call upon him when we need him. This," she says raising the pickaxe, "Is an item I shall use to keep an eye on him..." she allows the sentence to trail off as they arrive at the camp.

 

[Matthan]

Husam offers a bow. "Thank you for your hospitality. It is probably time for the rest of us to return as well." He turns towards Usqual, "I greatly enjoyed your story, sir. I hope that we will meet again and I pray that Fate brings you the opportunity to reclaim your stolen waters." Husam turns towards the others to give each an opportunity to excuse themselves as well. However, he makes sure to be the last one to leave.

 

[Ancalagon]

Lal gets up with the others and bowed as well. He keeped an eye on Usqual to see how he reacted to the gift.

Sensing that Husam wished to guard the rear however, he yielded him that honor.

 

[Shayuri]

"Looking after them," Amina repeats quietly. "Do you think they serve by their own will?"

 

[Quickleaf]

GM: Encounter Checks (18+) Day 5 encounter checks (18+): 3d20 = 1, 6, 3 no encounters Day 6 encounter checks (18+): 3d20 = 4, 17, 17 near-encounter What is the near encounter? high desert encounter: 2d10 19 genie(s)

Days 5 & 6 - Parting Ways & Toward Khaldun

It is said the al-Badia of the High Desert have over a dozen names for wind. During your night camped at the base of the escarpment at Hakim Oasis, you are graced by “the wind that foretells”, a soothing gentle wind that promises warmer temperatures in the morning, the kind of wind that some seers believe brings prophetic dreams. Beneath the stars, embraced by the wind, you listen to Akilah’s quiet tale of the water-bearer, actually an ancient vampire brought to the Enlightenment, “caring” for the caravanserai including Hadia and her two sons. There are wonders beneath heaven, and appearances may be deceiving.

[SECTION]Plans are drawn up for the next day with Ajan bin Najon al-Yaqud, your guide who parts ways with you.”East by southeast. Follow the hard sand staying to the eastern edge of the dune. That will take you to the wadi (dry riverbed), and from there you’ll have a full day’s travel before you reach Khaldun. May Fate smile upon you, for the Badu al-Kabir surely will not.” Typical parting words from Akilah’s superstitious cousin.[/SECTION]

[SECTION] It is early in the morning, as hues of dark blue still blanket the oasis when the jann Usqual al-Shakari finds Lal Qalandar contemplating upon a rock. ”Qalandar,” he says quietly, red veil about his face, yet his voice carrying like a whisper on the wind. ”It is here I part ways, as I have the sad duty to return to the court of Amir Boulladin to report what has befallen my tribe. Perhaps your gift of water from the God River will cause our paths to cross again at your Yellow City, and perhaps there I will find the waters the Khaldunis have stolen from me.” Drawing a small wrapped bundle from the folds of his aba (robe), Usqual hands Lal a jagged shard of topaz containing a mote of faint shifting light. ”A gift for you, from my travels. When held aloft it will provide you protection from drying sirocco winds. It won’t help you against monsters or traitors, however,” he gestures to the pyrohydra corpse in the distance, ”so keep your axe sharp.”[/section]

The werehyena rogues break camp early, Nimar al-Solak having committed to do his part to guide your party through the hazards of the Badu al-Kabir. Few words need to be spoken in those early hours. All know your destination: Khaldun, an oasis settlement of “wicked” jann with strange magic. They perhaps could offer information on the Brotherhood or a safe resting place in the Badu al-Kabir.

[SBLOCK=Marching Order]

[/SBLOCK]

Setting forth, the sway of the camels becomes familiar for those of your on camelback. The steeds ridden by Husam and Harun at the lead begin to whinny and whicker in complaint at the heat. There are no more caravan trails to follow as you leave Hakim Oasis and its mystery behind you. A full day of travel and at last you reach the dry riverbed, again camping beneath the stars of a clear night, your party smaller and quieter now that Ajan’s men no longer ride with you.

The morning of the sixth day brings a new kind of wind, whispering above your heads as you use the dry riverbed to speed your travel and gain a bit of protection from the winds. Harun’s mechanical bird companion Ahseem twitters idly as it scouts ahead of you a few hundred yards, its whirring presence joining the background noises of your caravan. Day bleeds into the midnight blues of night once more, and silhouetted on the horizon you can make out the ancient basalt pillars surrounding Khaldun that the jann Usqual spoke of… leaving you with the question of whether to push your weary bodies another hour or so and approach at night, or to camp and approach fresh in the morning…

[SECTION]”Al-Aeshma,” mentions Sinjin later in the day, his demeanor having grown steadily more sullen and cautious with the unusual winds. Exchanging a glance with Salahuddin, he explains as you survey the pillars of Khaldun from the edge of the dry riverbed. ”The wild wind that whispers in the palms. Al-Aeshma. It is a dark portent of genie-kind… of sand that beguiles the senses… be on your guard, oh traveling companions, for we are far from the cities of your kind.”[/SECTION]



[SBLOCK=Salahuddin]The term “Al-Aeshma” has a double meaning to sha’ir, for it also refers to wicked genies of the wastes – djinn who refused to grant wishes, who refused to acknowledge the Enlightened Faith, and were exiled to the Material Plane where they haunt the inhospitable deserts, unforgiven for eternity.[/SBLOCK]

[SBLOCK=Travel Map]

[/SBLOCK]

 

[Ancalagon]

Lal thought about Usqual's parting words. He hoped the Jinn wouldn't travel to the Yellow City. There were no Jinns in his homeland, but he could imagine many being eager to ensnare their kind... The returning gift was... ambiguous. But perhaps, one day, useful. As far as the axe remaining sharp... the dwarven runes would ensure it. He suspected it would keep shedding blood long after his bones had turned to dust.

Lal looked thoughtfully at the pillars in the distance. Hadn't there been mention of Irem, the lost city of pillars? A place where reality was... slippery.

"I don't know the winds as well as Sinjin does... but I don't think we should be approaching this place at night."

 

[Shayuri]

"If trouble comes on an ill-wind, surely we'd be better facing it at our destination rather than a makeshift camp in the middle of the desert," Amina points out.