The three Driftworms charge down the cliff towards the lagging wagon. Undaunted, Fobias squares off against them, establishing the front-line against the assault. Krasks continues to hunker behind the edge of the caravan, lobbing arrows at the gnolls with unrivaled precision.
Richard climbs up onto the cliff to get in the face of the apparent leader. In fact, Richard might be the most useful wolf in the entire world. He keeps disrupting the gnoll’s attacks, staring down a brutal barrage of greataxe swings, while knocking the gnoll prone multiple times. This gives the party ample opportunity to take care of the other threats.
Fyn uses his untold cosmic power to create mirror images of himself. Over the course of the battle, these absorb three would-be devastating attacks. He unleashes a second prismatic spray…yielding more fire damage. It seems to go through more successfully the second time, but it wasn’t the result he was hoping for.
The guards are useless. Despite their optimistic words of being present to protect against external threats, they are less than effective. After the giant scarab picks up one of the guards, snapping him in half with its mandibles, the party wises up. Fobias orders the remaining guard to protect Zohadisha in the wagon. With an internal sigh of relief, the guard obliges and obeys.
Ride the Lightning
Barnaby, still equipped with the gift of Fobias’ spider-climb, goes invisible. He needs two free hands to make full use of the ability, so he instead turns his attention to the scarab. Trace isn’t doing much against the thick chitin of the massive insect. This discourages Barnaby, and he attacks. We all know about Barnaby’s deadliness with a blade, and he continues the saga with more of the same.
Fyn turns heel and blasts out a Chain Lightning, nearly scoring that coveted triple kill. He continues moving back until he can see the gnoll leader. His telltale purple bolts of magic missile soar up the edge of the cliff, blasting the enemy.
Fobias finishes off the final gnoll and climbs up the cliff to join Richard. Simultaneously, Trace and Barnaby work their physical magic against the giant scarab. Unfortunately, Barnaby gets bitten in a bad way. Whereas Trace’s armor was thick enough to prevent the scarab from gnawing on him, Barnaby is hit with disease. The ramifications of this remain to be seen.
When the leader is the final enemy remaining, he goes down relatively easy. His armor, bow, and axe are particularly impressive, but what really intrigues the party is the necklace he’s wearing. It’s a long, pointed crystal filled with a combination of water and sand. It appears to be related to Gozreh, but there’s something different about it.
Entering Mihlaj
As the party arrives in Mihlaj, it’s clear that the city is struggling. There aren’t many people around initially; the city is akin to a ghost town. The huge crystalline structure extends over the city, creating a reflection on its surface. However, the most striking feature is the large Alabaster Cistern towering over everything else.
A long line of stairs extends down from the Cistern, flanked by a tiled track that leads to an empty pool. Presumably, this once contained water, but obviously doesn’t any longer.
As the party continues through the city, they come to the empty pool. A man dressed in long white robes emblazoned with a golden medallion featuring an open palm and leaf. He’s addressing a group of people holding pots, jugs, and buckets, offering water to them.
Where did this water come from? Where will the party start their investigation? Will anybody be upfront about all of the dangers of this region?!