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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jeremy" data-source="post: 9790754" data-attributes="member: 4036"><h3>5/28/22</h3>The knee-biters sing a marching tune on the way to the encampment.  Gribitz is familiar with tune and joins in though he doesn't get the words right.  Their encampment is situated in a valley crawling with sand goblins that warily eye the approaching column as Veldra, Grath, and especially Rho stand out.  Gribitz is pushed forward to make explanations and lacking the giant bats to make an impression opts for sculpting a sand pedestal and summoning fire in his hands as he lies about the might (and existence) of the forest witch of the north.There is a swirl of sand preceding the sand witch’s arrival.  She is bedecked in leather and gold but very revealing attire.  This is not pleasant as she is hideous to behold.  She sees right through Gribitz’s childish and outlandish lies and ensorcels him as he amuses her.  The rest of the party however is not about to allow someone else to have their goblin jester so they draw steel.Things devolve into a melee with Rho using his new flight orb and Grath trying his new hourglass, it hasn't recharged yet though and thus does nothing.  Rho and Grath go straight for the hag, catching both her and her guards by surprise and pounding her brutally.  She tries to fly away under cover of arrows from the other goblins but Gribitz summons again the cauldron of giant bats down to snatch up goblins and carry them up into the sky.  The cries of their brethren as they are first snatched up then their screams as they are dropped heavily impacts the rest of the encampent's morale.  Veldra quietly moves amidst the distracted knee-biters and surgically dispatches one after another.Rho and Grath fly up into the air pursuing the desert hag on her flying stick.  The hag gets off a lightning bolt before Rho lands a particularly devastating overhead blow that sends her crashing to the earth in a crater.  Then he lands with a terrifying crash himself and bellows fire triumphantly, catching several more goblins aflame.  Grath’s voice booms over the battlefield, magically augmented, calling for the goblins to retreat.  But, unaccustomed to being fearsome, he only encourages the goblins to seek revenge on their mistress’s killer.  At least initially.Fighting continues for a bit but without their leader, the goblins fall quickly and soon surrender and flee.  The party searches the goblin encampment but finds mostly goblin junk.  There is some jewelry on the mangled mess Rho left of the witch.  Afterwards however, the party is unable to find Yip or their wagon.  The party searches for signs of what happened when they spot a cloud of dust on the horizon.  Yip comes barreling over a dune pulling someone else's wagon with Kith in it.  The small kobold is a little banged up but has seemingly bandaged herself at least temporarily.  When she arrives she and Yip breathlessly describe how they were ambushed by a sand worm that devoured our cart.  They keep talking over each other but it seems Yip bolted and Kith was left alone in the desert.The party asks about this new wagon she is driving and gets bits and pieces of confused tale of an oasis and some bandits and how the kobold was so much smarter and sneakier than the bandits whose wagon she apparently stole while liberating Yip from their camp.  There doesn't appear to be any sign of pursuit so the party checks what provisions or clues this new wagon contains.In the back are some stacked silver trade bars, a suspicious chest, and a number of barrels.  Rho tries to open the chest but it looks empty.  Not satisfied, Rho tries dumping out the empty chest.  The false bottom gives way and several pouches spill out.  The pouches contain some kind of black powder, Rho suspects it is some kind of drug.  Veldra had come across it a few times in her previous work, called Black Sugar on the street, it is a euphoric narcotic with the side effect of exhaustion.In the barrels there are food provisions, more water, and crumbs left over in the empty barrels.  Grath creates water in one of the empty barrels.  Veldra and Rho ask about the giant worm that ate the wagon.  It was big, white, and had lots of teeth.  Yip is still a little terrified.  The new wagon is much better suited to desert travel and weather as it has a canvas cover the back of it and a number of barrels secured for transporting goods.It is several days travel towards the oasis Rho directs us to.  Nights and days pass uneventfully though it is some time before Yip relaxes and stops constantly reliving the giant worm bursting up from underneath him.  Maybe a day or two away from the oasis come scattered sand storms with little warning and various durations.  Oddly there are no signs of life in the area, not a single vulture in the air, lizard on the ground, or scorpion in the sand.  Gribitz summons Owlie who has a look about and spies the oasis in the distance.  However there are sand storms popping up all between the party and the oasis prompting Rho to wonder if the Sand Whisperers can summon them up defensively.  The party continues cautiously towards the oasis doing their best to avoid or shelter through the storms.  They pass bodies in the sands and nervously do their best to avoid meeting the same fate when the next storm overtakes them.  In the midst of this storm a robed figure approaches and calls out.  The voice is feminine and hard to make out yet Rho recognizes it.  It is Rho’s old friend and clanmate Koaphen Darvhollen.  They have a very awkward reintroduction with Rho being extremely reserved and withdrawn around the suddenly effervescent green dragonborn who is so very excited to see her long lost friend who vanished in the night without a word.</blockquote>

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