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Message: <blockquote data-quote="spyscribe" data-source="post: 2504544" data-attributes="member: 5808">Part the One Hundred Forty-NinthIn which: the party finds that there are many ways to die in the desert.The party gathers over breakfast to discuss their situation.  Although, seeing as their supplies have gone off with their guide in the night, it would be more accurate to say that they gather over a some old trail rations and Anvil’s create food and water.  While going back to Siunethrit is a possible option, it is not a very popular one.  Presumably, Djamal is returning to the city, and the party guesses that they are unlikely to get a warm reception upon their return.“So we press on,” Thatch concludes.“What are we going to do about food though?” Annika asks, worried.  Anvil counts the party members and does some quick math.  “Kettenek will provide,” he assures her.  Some members of the party exchange significant glances at this piece of news.  Since Anvil is a cleric of Kettenek, the food created by his create food and water is a large quantity of identical beans.  (When Eva asked him about this, Anvil’s only reply was, “Beans are the food of Kettenek.”)At least, thanks to Thatch’s pitcher—“It’s not a pitcher; it’s a decanter of endless water,” Annika protests—the party members (and 21 remaining camels!) have plenty of water.They pack up their things, and press on. ###…Come on you stupid camels!  Move it.  Yes, you…  Don’t think I didn’t see that…  Oh, you just wait till I get back there.  Just you wait…The party has been trekking through the desert on their own for more than a day and a half, and Lira is starting to get just a little tired of Euro’s constant harassment of the camels.  She can only imagine how the camels feel.Reyu has taken on the role of chief scout, keeping them moving in the direction indicated by Djamel.  She has already steered them around one patch of lightening quicksand, although to be honest, Lira can’t see any difference between that sand and the rest of the sand they have been wading through.  She wonders if quicksand would really kill you instantly anyway.However, Lira’s reverie is abruptly interrupted by a shout of alarm from the front of the column.  She looks ahead just in time to see a giant mouth burst out of the sand and swallow Reyu in one enormous gulp.It looks like some kind of giant snake or worm, a toothy, bulbous mouth on a long, twining sand-colored neck.  The creature has no visible eyes, ears, or any other obvious form of sensory input.  It writhes back and forth as its powerful throat muscles attempt to pull Reyu down its gullet, towards whatever stomach the creature might have.Thatch is immediately riding to the rescue, coming up from the back of the line as quickly as Bob can gallop.  As he charges past Lira, Eva, and Annika, he draws his longbow and fires an arrow at the underside of the massive thing’s jaw.Lira blinks.  She didn’t even know Thatch had a bow.Still, there is no time to reflect.  Anvil immediately slides off his camel to show the creature the meaning of the wrath of Kettenek.  However, no sooner does he dismount than a second head, nearly the twin of the first, bursts forth from the earth at his feet and downs the cleric in a mighty gulp.  Anvil struggles mightily, but to no avail.  Lira and Annika both fire off sets of magic missiles which the two snake-like heads do not seem to enjoy in the slightest, but they do not release their prey.Thatch rides by and slashes at the throat of the creature that swallowed Reyu.  A line of blood spatters on the sand, and—close-up—Thatch can see the creature’s neck stretching and distending as Reyu struggles inside.  He can just see what look like a set of massive claws scraping out from its gullet, and grins with relish.  It would seem that the creature has gotten a bigger mouthful than it intended.Thatch is just making a tight turn on Bob to make another pass when a third mouth bursts out of the ground, just behind the other two.  It seems to have been caught off-guard by Thatch’s quick maneuver, however, and winds up with a mouthful of Bob’s back legs and hindquarters.  Bob kicks fiercely, unable to get free, but the creature is not able to swallow the horse either.  Thatch leaps from the saddle and prepares to attack the monster trying to eat his mount.As Eva and Kiara pepper both giant snake heads with missile fire, Annika decides to up the ante and cast lightening bolt.  Although there is a chance that she will harm Anvil and Reyu, she has also noticed the heads begin to make movements that could indicate they are getting ready to retreat underground, and if that happens… well, she’s pretty sure that it will only be worse for her friends.With a >crack< the dazzling ray of electricity shoots from her hands in a wide swathe, catching all three hungry heads in its path.  Two react with piercing shrieks and writhe in pain as their flesh smokes.  The one that had swallowed Reyu flops to the ground, dead.An instant later, a giant black bear rips out of the creature’s throat.  Kiara grins and whoops, recognizing Reyu in one of her favored wildshapes.Meanwhile, in the gullet of the other sandworm, Anvil saws away determinedly with his dagger.  He is slightly singed by the electricity that just crackled through his foe, but merely grits his teeth and stabs harder at the walls of muscle and sinew surrounding him.  His friends are with him, Kettenek is with him, and he will prevail.On the surface, another worm head has appeared and attempts to snare Thatch in its massive jaws.  However, the fighter is ready and is having none of it.“How many of these things are there?” Thatch yells as he hacks at a massive neck.“I think there’s only one,” Annika shouts back.  “The question is, how many heads does it have?”Eva fires an arrow, piercing deep into the sandworm’s flesh.  “Too many.”Lira sees the worm that swallowed Anvil begin to shimmy.  It’s badly injured at this point, and she guesses that it is attempting to retreat below the surface.  She fires off a set of magic missiles and hopes they are enough. An instant later the dazzling blue bolts strike the creature and the head flops lifelessly to the sand.Bob has nearly managed to kick himself free, and the rest of the party closes on the last two living heads.  Under the combined assault, the living heads begin to retreat beneath the sand.  Lending credence to Annika’s theory, it appears the dead heads are being dragged down as well.  And one of them is taking Anvil down with it.“Kill it!  Keep it up here!”“Thatch!  Cut the head off.”“He’s going under!”And then, Anvil’s dagger appears, slicing out of the lifeless throat.  Anvil follows, covered in gore, tumbling out onto the sand an instant before the last of the sand creature disappears from sight.</blockquote>

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