Freeport Campaign

Rewards Earned

• Experience Points: A few
• Treasure: None to speak of

Hamed and Farouk fell in their fight against the devil later identified as a cornugon. The rest of the party disengaged from the devil and took their comrades’ remains back to Qarta Nefu. After a discussion with the King, the Sea Wind and the Primrose departed for Qarta Sebkhi.

More flavor text to come…

Rewards Earned

• Experience Points: Several
• Treasure: None to speak of

The sounds of combat continued in the building at the end of the hallway. After Spike used Richard’s Tongues spell to talk the party past a squad of mummies and intimidated a pack of gnolls into leaving the group alone.

More flavor text to come…

Rewards Earned

• Experience Points: A few
• Treasure: Various Anpurian masterwork weapons

The group made its way quietly to the most notable local landmark in the surrounding waste, a small watering hole sheltered among several dunes. Chow snuck over one of the dunes, carefully avoiding several patches of caltrops that had been arrayed as a warning device. When he had verified that the figures lounging around a small campfire were indeed humans, the rest of the party made themselves known.

The party shared water and stories with the desert nomads for a few hours, getting a feel for the surrounding area. After the fellows wished them good luck and departed, the group checked the outskirts of the watering hole for tracks. They found what looked like numerous paw prints heading off to the northeast, so they packed up the camels and followed the tracks.

A couple of hours later, the party discovered a wide plain encircled by dunes. Several low mounds rose from the plain, and one of the central mounds was surrounded by fresh piles of sand. Girish, the brass dragon accompanying the party, volunteered to reconnoiter the area while the party remained hidden behind one of the dunes. He reported that another hole had been dug into a mound on the southwest corner of the plain, and that there were a few inert humanoid forms scattered around each entrance. He also mentioned seeing a few gnolls who seemed to be patrolling around the central excavation.

The group formulated a quick plan and went into action. Girish herded the party’s camels (with whom he had been conversing amiably for the last few hours) a couple of dunes back, while most of the party hid themselves just behind the ridge of the dune overlooking the plain. When they were in position, Chow took off over the dune, acting as though he were lost and injured. Almost immediately, two pairs of hyenas raced from the central excavation to intercept the rogue. Most of the gnolls followed at a distance, while one descended into the hole. With the trap baited, Chow “fled” back over the ridge, where the party made short work of the hyenas and the gnolls.

With the guards dispatched, the group quickly checked the two entrances. At the closer hole in the southwestern corner of the plain, they found the remains of several gnolls, along with what looked like numerous other arrow-riddled humanoid forms wrapped in linen shrouds, which Richard confirmed were mummies. At the other excavation, the party discovered a pair of ropes descending into a chamber beneath the sands. As they investigated, Chow heard the sounds of combat coming from below. Figuring that the “great evil” they had been hired to track was probably involved with the noisy combat, they rigged up another rope and lowered themselves into the buried city.

They descended to the floor of what appeared to be a former granary with exits to the east and west. A quick peek showed that the passages led to other empty granaries, but the sounds of battle seemed to come from the eastern passage. The granary floors were littered with recently deceased gnolls and mummies, but were otherwise unoccupied.

Chow took the lead once more, stealthily scouting into what looked like a noble villa. The sounds of nearby combat intensified, but the group continued unmolested through the complex. In one of the individual bedrooms, they eventually found a small opening leading into a narrow, rough-hewn tunnel dug through the sand into another building, where the fighting seemed to be occurring. The group hung back for a few minutes, gathering their strength and discussing strategies for dealing with gnolls and with the undead.

Rewards Earned

• Experience Points: 1000
• Treasure: None to speak of

After the group rested and collected their gear, Hamed, holy defender of the Crescent Empire, introduced them to Farouk, a tracker familiar with the desert wastes and the denizens that dwelt therein. A couple of hours before dusk, the party loaded up the camels Hamed had provided, mounted, and headed out into the sands.

A couple of party members noted a large carrion bird circling above them, and asked Farouk whether the creature’s presence at the beginning of the journey was an ill omen. The tracker smiled and whistled, and the bird soon descended and perched on the man’s shoulders. Farouk introduced the vulture as “Asim,” and the bird nodded at the party with the same uncanny intelligence displayed some time earlier by Virgil, the former wizard’s familiar. Chuckling, the party headed further into the desert.

A couple of hours after dusk, the group heard a strange noise coming from over a nearby dune. At first it sounded like large flapping wings, but the noise soon resolved into the crunch of massive feet on the sand. Alarmed, the assembled travelers watched a penant rise over the crest of the dune, followed by the canopy of a gaily colored tent, linen walls, a wooden platform, and finally eight wooden approximations of massive camel legs.  The animated mobile shelter wasted no time in charging the group and attempting to trample them.

More flavor text to follow…

Rewards Earned

• Experience Points: 700
• Treasure: Trading contacts

Having concluded their business on the Pillar of Air, the group returned to the more familiar environs of the Primrose and the Sea Wind, sailing gently on the waters of their home plane. Soon after they left the Naranjani lowlands and passed a massive mountain range, the party caught sight of a ruined structure amid the desert sands to the south. Though tempted, they elected to note the location on their charts and push on with their exploratory trading mission.

Before the party had left Freeport, Tariq al’Fazim, the first mate and navigator on the Seafoam, had provided the group with a list of some of his friends and trading contacts in this part of the world, his homeland. Armed with multiple copies of these lists, the Four Gulls founders spent the next several days looking up these individuals in the famed port cities of the Upper Khemtian kingdom, arrayed on the delta of the mighty Yor River.

More flavor text to follow…