Though seemingly skewed, Ophelia's aim is true. Her magic arrow skewers the beast just as Nephthys reaches to the sky in prayer, drawing on powers untold. The divine bolt arcs like lightning and illuminates the hyena's skeleton briefly. Its end is quick. All that is left is ash. (Combat over!)
There is no sign that the gnolls are aware of the group. Good planning has avoided a potentially bloody conflict, though what might have been gained by defeating them is now unknown. The party moves on, quickly, ever deeper into the desert. The journey stretches on, as day again passes into evening. Your footsteps stretch behind, soon to be swallowed by the timeless sands. The desert at night, with its raiment of stars overhead, is like a poison flower--deadly, yet truly beautiful.
Osirion | The Parched Dunes
Expedition Day 3
Supplies: 13
Now just over halfway to your destination, the party may be feeling optimistic about their odds in the desert. It is early morning, and you pass over the cleft of a dune to come upon an unusual sight.
Before you, half-consumed by the shifting sands, stands the weathered statue of a jackal-headed warrior, its once-proud form eroded by time and wind. The weight of ages clings to it, its features cracked but still noble, a silent sentinel of a forgotten era. As you step closer, the air grows heavy with an unseen force, and a sudden chill prickles your skin despite the desert’s heat.
Then, its eyes flare to life, burning with an eerie, sapphire light. The sand shudders as the ancient guardian stirs, stone limbs grinding as they break free from their long slumber. With a voice like distant thunder rolling across the dunes, it speaks:
“Meddlers in sacred lands, you stand before a place of the forgotten. Prove your wisdom, or be judged unworthy. Answer my riddle, or face the wrath of eternity.”
"The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?"
As she opens her eyes to witness first her own curving arrow, then the holy bolt from the heavens called by Nephthys, strike the ravening beast, Ophelia is quiet for a time, her lips moving slightly in a soundless litany, eyes unfocused. Finally an audible whisper escapes her throat. "... and then there shall be a fire that knows the naming of you, and in the presence of the strangling fruit, its flame shall acquire every part of you that remains."
Nodding absently to herself as if that resolves that, she shoulders her bow, retrieves her arrow, and continues following her companions.
As she gazes up at the heavens at night, alight with stars, her murmured ramblings return. "...and there shall be in the shadows of the desert sky, a grace and a mercy from which shall blossom dark flowers..."
Day 3:
As the party sets off, once again Ophelia mumbles to herself and tightens the violet cinch around her waist, as its shimmering color seems to surround her body. (Casting Mage Armor, Wild Magic Surge d20 roll: 2, none)
When the jackal statue springs to life within the sands, she does not stumble back as she had with the giant hyena. She stares back at its sapphire eyes as if striving to recognize something she has seen before. Perhaps in her dreams. Her voice, as often, is singsong and childlike.
"And all should cry, Beware! Beware! His flashing eyes, his floating hair! Weave a circle round him thrice, And close your eyes with holy dread For he on honeydew hath fed, And drunk the milk of Paradise."
Ophelia turns to the others and her expression becomes more somber. Almost quizzical. As if mulling over the jackal's riddle.
"And will he not come again? And will he not come again? No, no, he is gone, approaching his deathbed, His beard hangs bare, white as snow, Behind sandal-shod feet, the footsteps follow..."
Had there been an emphasis on that second to last word? As always, with the she-elf, it is difficult to tell.
Day 2: As the giant hyena had come into view, Satina had slid her shield in front of herself while taking up her flail in the other hand. She was about to step forward, though hesitated as entangling roots grew up. But then Ophelia's strange lavender arrow strikes the beast, just before a massive bolt - evidently of Nephthys' doing - eliminates it. For a moment she is still, as surely that massive blast would have alerted the gnolls. But it didn't. Relieved, she continues on with the others, trying to keep an eye out for whether they are being followed at all.
Day 3: As the giant statue comes to life, Satina's initial response is to gather her shield and flail. 'Is it attacking?' she wonders. as she tries to position herself between it and the rest of the party. "Anyone know what this is?" she asks, even as the statue is speaking. She hears the riddle, and then the riddle-like prose from Ophelia. At first she wonders at how the elf could be speaking so cryptically at a moment like this. But then she seems to emphasize just one word. Staying poised for a fight, she spares a glance back to the others. "I think Ophelia has solved it. The more footsteps you take, the more footsteps you leave behind you! Don't you think she's right?"She gives Ohpelia quick look and a smile, pleased at her quick thinking, but then she is back to warily eyeing the moving statue.
Day 2: Zephirah stood transfixed for a moment as the giant hyena rushed them, its hungry eyes alight with feral desperation. A flicker of relief slipped across her face when Nephthys’s magic obliterated the beast in a single, brilliant flash. Given how the hyena’s gaze had lingered on her, she was in no hurry to entertain the possibility of becoming its next meal. “A bit too close for comfort,” she muttered, lips twitching into a faint smirk as she considered just how lean and unappetizing she might’ve seemed to a ravenous predator. For the rest of the day, she found herself quietly in awe of Nephthys’ arcane might; it was rare to see such sheer power unleashed with so little warning. She takes a mental note on keeping this in mind should she ever write a song about their current exploits.
When nightfall came, Zephirah embraced the cool darkness, letting the stress of the day melt away with each soft strum of her lyre. The star-strewn sky drew her gaze, as it always did, and she let herself become lost in the vastness overhead. Out here in the wild, there were no city lights or prying eyes—just endless, shimmering darkness and the occasional warm glow of their campfire. Her songs that evening were gentle, a reflection of her mellowing mood, and a subtle celebration of still being intact after a close brush with sharp teeth.
Day 3: By the time they reached the statue, Zephirah had settled into the trip’s emerging routine—waking early, checking supplies, trudging through the dunes by day, and hoarding her energy for the evening’s music. She wasn’t prepared for a towering stone sentinel to burst into life, but at least, she thought wryly, a creature of solid rock had no appetite for them. At the statue’s booming riddle, she glanced nervously at Ophelia, whose cryptic verse was, as usual, unclear. Only when Satina spoke did Zephirah realize that Ophelia might’ve just solved the riddle altogether. “Footsteps… yes, I suppose that fits rather well,” she concurred with a thoughtful nod.
Still, her mind wandered. “Though, if you think about all the treasures we’ve claimed or are meant to claim—what we carry with us in life is left behind in death. The more you take now, the more stays behind when you’re gone, right? And such treasure would be worthy an impressive guardian.” She shrugged lightly. “Or if old Thoth took on endless apprentices, he’d leave a small swarm of them behind by the time he’s ready to retire.” Her lips quirked in amusement. “But in this context, footsteps do seem the most straightforward answer. As short lived as they might be in the shifting desert sand.” With that, Zephirah stood ready, half expecting the statue to respond—hopefully without a mouthful of stone teeth.
Sorry, I'm beginning to enter a vacation period and while I will try to check-in at least daily, I cannot promise that I will always be able to do so. From September 1, I should be back to normal.
The young dark-haired woman just stands in surprised awe for a moment as the divine bolt strikes down the ravenous hyena. The gods were furious it seemed, she handn't ever seen them quite this infuriated before, but she didn't complain. After a moment she shrugs and smiles to the others, quickly and quietly leading her camel on to escape the gnoll hunting pack.
"Fortunately the minds of gnolls are not nearly as sharp as their blades, they are still chasing their own tails." Thoth chuckles as he eventually catches up with the caravan and turns visible.
Nephthys too would fall into a daily routine, staying mostly quiet but asking Satina a little bit about Taldor and whetever other places she had visited before coming to Osirion. Thoth would call upon her attention each evening before rest to continue her education about ancient Osirion to prepare her for the pyramid awaiting them. She herself would much rather just lay back and enjoy the sweet and comforting music from Zephira.
Day 3:
"Yes, riddles sometimes have many possible solutions, but the beautiful simplicity of Ophelia's answer is quite convincing to me." Thoth says calmly in his scholarly voice as he hovers among the team. Being quite mediocre regarding riddles, Nephthys just nods in agreement with her tutor. It did sound right to her too, but nevertheless she took a stance to defend herself if necessary.
Zahara sat in silence as the others stirred, the faint light of dawn painting the sands in hues of gold and violet. Her hands rested lightly on her knees, her fingers tracing idle patterns against the fabric of her robes. The battle replayed in her mind—the towering hyena, its eyes wild with hunger, the spell cast from her fingertips. She had felt the roots of it take hold, had seen the way the Hyena's muscles stiffened, its charge faltering for a breath…
And then it had kept coming.
If Nephthys hadn’t called down divine judgment when she had, the story would have ended differently. Zahara’s grip on the camel’s reins tightened. The creature had slowed, yes. But it had not stopped. Not enough.
Her magic needed to be more than a hesitation. It needed to be decisive. Unrelenting. She could not afford to watch her spells flicker and sputter out like dying embers.
She pulled herself to her feet, adjusting her belt as she turned toward the waiting dunes. There was no time to dwell on failure—only to ensure it did not happen again.
The morning sun was climbing when they crested the dune, and there it stood—a sentinel of stone, worn by time but unbroken. As the others puzzled over the riddle, Zahara’s focus was elsewhere.
She studied the statue’s form, the cracks and erosion that marked its surface. A guardian, left to the mercy of the shifting sands, its duty unyielding even as the world forgot it.
A god’s servant, or a mortal’s craft?
Her gaze trailed the remnants of inscriptions at its base, half-buried by the desert’s slow hunger. What had it once guarded? A temple, a tomb?Was it left behind, like so many relics of fallen dynasties, watching over a place that no longer existed?
The flickering light in its eyes was not mere illusion. There was power here. Something old. Something that had waited.
She barely registered Ophelia’s poetry, though the riddle reached her in fragments. Footsteps. The past leaving its mark on the present.
Zahara’s fingers brushed over the worn stone, half-listening as the others settled on the answer. She was more interested in the statue itself.
Who had placed it here?And more importantly—what had they feared enough to set it watching?
Religion Check to determine any information concerning the statue itself History Roll: 6 Inspiration re-roll: 8
Ophelia speaks her strange rhyme, and the guardian listens, as though they speak a shared tongue. At its end, the guardian stands to its full height, about twenty feet, but lowers its stone arms to its side. "You have proven your wisdom. But know this: once you pass beyond this threshold, the desert will remember your names, whether to honor them… or to bury them beneath the dunes forever."The sapphire light in its eyes fades and it grows dormant once more.
Zahara is unable to recall knowledge to explain the guardian's presence here, seemingly in the midst of nowhere.
Several hours later...
The late afternoon sun hangs low in the sky, casting a deep, ruddy glow across the endless dunes. The desert, once golden and blinding, is now bathed in shades of amber and orange, the air thick with the lingering heat of the day. Shadows stretch long and thin, reaching like grasping fingers across the sand.
Then, a glimmer of color: an oasis, a welcome break in the monotony of endless dunes. A pool of water, blue-green like a forgotten gem, rests untouched beneath a canopy of swaying palm trees. The pool is perfectly still, a perfect mirror reflecting the ancient ruins that rise partially submerged from its depths. A weathered stone dais, its pillars long collapsed, is swallowed halfway by time and water.
Two humanoid bodies lie motionless in the sand near the pool’s edge.
Nephthys looks around and gives Ophelia and the others an appreciative smile before continuing to lead her camel forward. As she passes the once more dormant riddling colossus she shudders at the thought of having given it an answer it wasn't pleased with.
As the caravan reaches the oasis, Nephthys turns her tutor invisible once more before he flies closer to investigate, suspecting it could be either a ruse or a poisoned well.
Thoth can see that the bodies are humans, dressed for desert travel. The oasis seems real enough. Thoth sees something metallic and reflecting the light in the bottom of the pool.
The tiny invisible blue sphinx would first take a closer look at the two humans, trying to determine if they are in fact dead, and if so, what would be the cause of this. He would then quite cautiously take a closer look at whatever is reflecting light in the pool, fully expecting it to be some kind of trap.
"Thoth says there is something shiny in the pool but the bodies are likely dead. It could definitely be dangerous to go there."The young dark-haired woman says to the others as the sphinx reports what he has found. "I admit I'm curious about the shiny thing, and although unlikely the persons there could be alive and possible to save, but perhaps we should simply press on?"She continues, leaving to the others to decide that.
Zephirah’s silver eyes flick between Nephthys and the faint shimmer of water on the horizon. “Any oasis in this desert is bound to attract trouble sooner or later, but leaving a free source of water untouched?” She gives a small, incredulous laugh. “We know the risk of stumbling upon bigger predators, or whoever finished off those travelers. But we can’t afford to skip every pool just because there might be danger. In Osirion, scarcity kills faster than most beasts.”
She lifts her chin, casting a wary glance toward the still figures. “I’m not about to charge in like some mad hero. But I’ll come along if anyone else investigates.” Her hand drifts to her flute, almost absently. “I’ve no taste for playing the lone adventurer.” She shrugs, the hint of a wry smile tugging at her lips. “Still, a chance for cool water and, if the gods are willing, maybe a clue about how those poor fools met their end… that’s a gamble worth taking –and a splendid excuse to play some music while we're stopping.”
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Sorry, I'm beginning to enter a vacation period and while I will try to check-in at least daily, I cannot promise that I will always be able to do so. From September 1, I should be back to normal.
Thoth sees that the bodies do appear to be dead. However, with the dehydrating effects of the desert Thoth finds it difficult to guess what caused their death. Decomposition is not advanced. There are no obvious wounds.
Zahara’s gaze lingered on the distant oasis, its shimmering surface a cruel mirage against the sunbaked sands. A wellspring of life in the desert… or a lure for something far worse. The others debated the risk, but Zahara did not share their hesitation.
“If water is your only concern, I can provide,” she said, her voice quiet but certain. She turned to face the group fully, her hands briefly brushing over the folds of her robes. “The bond I share with these lands allows me to shape its gifts. If it is only thirst we fear, I can weave the essence of the desert itself into water.”
She pauses, her gaze shifting to the still forms near the water’s edge. Though the sphinx had declared them dead, something in her balked at simply accepting it.
She had spent years tending to the weary—nomads who found their way to her dwelling, their bodies battered by the cruelty of the sands. Some came seeking healing. Others came simply seeking comfort in their final moments. She had not turned them away.
These past days had pulled her away from that role, forcing her into a path of survival and strategy. But here, before her, lay two souls whose stories may have already ended. Perhaps tending to them—if only to ensure they were not left to the scavengers—was the path back to something she had felt was missing these past few days.
“I would see the bodies,” she said, quieter now. “If only to know who they were… and to give them the dignity they have been denied.” She exhaled slowly, already stepping forward. “The desert buries all in time. But that does not mean we must let it do so without care.”
Ophelia bows deeply to the towering jackal statue as it speaks, her own voice solemn.
"Round the decay of our earthly wrecks, boundless and bare Shall stretch the lone and level sands, reachingly, reachingly away."
Later, as the oasis appears and she sights the seeming corpses, she breaks into her singsong mumble once again, variations on a recurring refrain.
"Dead and gone, my lady, dead and gone. At their heads the desert, patiently, patiently waiting, At their sandaled feet, lap the wavelets of the pond, To the travelers five, so patiently, patiently baiting..."
Unlike the others, her wide gaze turns to the sands all around them, looking for anything or anyone else around them, possibly hidden.
Ophelia'sPerception (with advantage due to slow pace): 20 (dirty)
Satina quietly listened to the others discussing options. Finally she says, "Let's take a closer look. I'll go first and we can check the bodies first." She slowly approaches where they lie, trying not to get too far from any others that follow. She gives the area around the bodies a quick look then focuses on the oasis itself, looking for any signs of trouble. (Perception: 8) "Did you want to examine the bodies Zahara?"
Zephirah eases herself beneath the scant shade of a leaning palm, settling onto the soft sand with her small lyre cradled in her lap. A soft, almost playful melody emerges—notes as light as a desert breeze passing through distant dunes, soothing and unhurried. Despite the harshness of the surroundings, her music carries a faint promise of refreshment, an echo of evening’s cool reprieve. As her fingers dance over the strings, she half-watches Zahara’s investigation of the bodies, occasionally glancing at the still water for any irregularities—a glimmer too bright, a ripple that shouldn’t be there, anything that might betray hidden danger or they simply appeared out of place (Nature check for irregularities in what she expects should be normal for an oasis: 17). “Might be wise if someone checks that reflection in the pool,” she murmurs offhandedly between chords. Even in the midday heat, she can’t help indulging in a small thrill of curiosity—there’s always treasure or trickery lurking wherever the desert’s secrets surface.
(With the music she is going for contributing to a short rest effect while they are in the oasis. Please, let me know if that works.)
Sorry, I'm beginning to enter a vacation period and while I will try to check-in at least daily, I cannot promise that I will always be able to do so. From September 1, I should be back to normal.
As the tiny sphinx keeps hovering above the oasis, watching for threats, Nephthys nods and follows the others there. She waits until at least Satina is ready to move closer to the pool of water before cautiously moving close enough to peek down into it, ready to jump out of the way at the least ripple in the water.
Lucky perception: 9 + Guidance: 2
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Though seemingly skewed, Ophelia's aim is true. Her magic arrow skewers the beast just as Nephthys reaches to the sky in prayer, drawing on powers untold. The divine bolt arcs like lightning and illuminates the hyena's skeleton briefly. Its end is quick. All that is left is ash. (Combat over!)
There is no sign that the gnolls are aware of the group. Good planning has avoided a potentially bloody conflict, though what might have been gained by defeating them is now unknown. The party moves on, quickly, ever deeper into the desert. The journey stretches on, as day again passes into evening. Your footsteps stretch behind, soon to be swallowed by the timeless sands. The desert at night, with its raiment of stars overhead, is like a poison flower--deadly, yet truly beautiful.
Osirion | The Parched Dunes
Expedition Day 3
Supplies: 13
Now just over halfway to your destination, the party may be feeling optimistic about their odds in the desert. It is early morning, and you pass over the cleft of a dune to come upon an unusual sight.
Before you, half-consumed by the shifting sands, stands the weathered statue of a jackal-headed warrior, its once-proud form eroded by time and wind. The weight of ages clings to it, its features cracked but still noble, a silent sentinel of a forgotten era. As you step closer, the air grows heavy with an unseen force, and a sudden chill prickles your skin despite the desert’s heat.
Then, its eyes flare to life, burning with an eerie, sapphire light. The sand shudders as the ancient guardian stirs, stone limbs grinding as they break free from their long slumber. With a voice like distant thunder rolling across the dunes, it speaks:
“Meddlers in sacred lands, you stand before a place of the forgotten. Prove your wisdom, or be judged unworthy. Answer my riddle, or face the wrath of eternity.”
"The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?"
Day 2:
As she opens her eyes to witness first her own curving arrow, then the holy bolt from the heavens called by Nephthys, strike the ravening beast, Ophelia is quiet for a time, her lips moving slightly in a soundless litany, eyes unfocused. Finally an audible whisper escapes her throat. "... and then there shall be a fire that knows the naming of you, and in the presence of the strangling fruit, its flame shall acquire every part of you that remains."
Nodding absently to herself as if that resolves that, she shoulders her bow, retrieves her arrow, and continues following her companions.
As she gazes up at the heavens at night, alight with stars, her murmured ramblings return. "...and there shall be in the shadows of the desert sky, a grace and a mercy from which shall blossom dark flowers..."
Day 3:
As the party sets off, once again Ophelia mumbles to herself and tightens the violet cinch around her waist, as its shimmering color seems to surround her body. (Casting Mage Armor, Wild Magic Surge d20 roll: 2, none)
When the jackal statue springs to life within the sands, she does not stumble back as she had with the giant hyena. She stares back at its sapphire eyes as if striving to recognize something she has seen before. Perhaps in her dreams. Her voice, as often, is singsong and childlike.
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread
For he on honeydew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise."
And will he not come again?
No, no, he is gone, approaching his deathbed,
His beard hangs bare, white as snow,
Behind sandal-shod feet, the footsteps follow..."
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Day 2:
As the giant hyena had come into view, Satina had slid her shield in front of herself while taking up her flail in the other hand. She was about to step forward, though hesitated as entangling roots grew up. But then Ophelia's strange lavender arrow strikes the beast, just before a massive bolt - evidently of Nephthys' doing - eliminates it. For a moment she is still, as surely that massive blast would have alerted the gnolls. But it didn't. Relieved, she continues on with the others, trying to keep an eye out for whether they are being followed at all.
Day 3:
As the giant statue comes to life, Satina's initial response is to gather her shield and flail. 'Is it attacking?' she wonders. as she tries to position herself between it and the rest of the party. "Anyone know what this is?" she asks, even as the statue is speaking. She hears the riddle, and then the riddle-like prose from Ophelia. At first she wonders at how the elf could be speaking so cryptically at a moment like this. But then she seems to emphasize just one word. Staying poised for a fight, she spares a glance back to the others. "I think Ophelia has solved it. The more footsteps you take, the more footsteps you leave behind you! Don't you think she's right?" She gives Ohpelia quick look and a smile, pleased at her quick thinking, but then she is back to warily eyeing the moving statue.
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
Day 2:
Zephirah stood transfixed for a moment as the giant hyena rushed them, its hungry eyes alight with feral desperation. A flicker of relief slipped across her face when Nephthys’s magic obliterated the beast in a single, brilliant flash. Given how the hyena’s gaze had lingered on her, she was in no hurry to entertain the possibility of becoming its next meal. “A bit too close for comfort,” she muttered, lips twitching into a faint smirk as she considered just how lean and unappetizing she might’ve seemed to a ravenous predator. For the rest of the day, she found herself quietly in awe of Nephthys’ arcane might; it was rare to see such sheer power unleashed with so little warning. She takes a mental note on keeping this in mind should she ever write a song about their current exploits.
When nightfall came, Zephirah embraced the cool darkness, letting the stress of the day melt away with each soft strum of her lyre. The star-strewn sky drew her gaze, as it always did, and she let herself become lost in the vastness overhead. Out here in the wild, there were no city lights or prying eyes—just endless, shimmering darkness and the occasional warm glow of their campfire. Her songs that evening were gentle, a reflection of her mellowing mood, and a subtle celebration of still being intact after a close brush with sharp teeth.
Day 3:
By the time they reached the statue, Zephirah had settled into the trip’s emerging routine—waking early, checking supplies, trudging through the dunes by day, and hoarding her energy for the evening’s music. She wasn’t prepared for a towering stone sentinel to burst into life, but at least, she thought wryly, a creature of solid rock had no appetite for them. At the statue’s booming riddle, she glanced nervously at Ophelia, whose cryptic verse was, as usual, unclear. Only when Satina spoke did Zephirah realize that Ophelia might’ve just solved the riddle altogether. “Footsteps… yes, I suppose that fits rather well,” she concurred with a thoughtful nod.
Still, her mind wandered. “Though, if you think about all the treasures we’ve claimed or are meant to claim—what we carry with us in life is left behind in death. The more you take now, the more stays behind when you’re gone, right? And such treasure would be worthy an impressive guardian.” She shrugged lightly. “Or if old Thoth took on endless apprentices, he’d leave a small swarm of them behind by the time he’s ready to retire.” Her lips quirked in amusement. “But in this context, footsteps do seem the most straightforward answer. As short lived as they might be in the shifting desert sand.” With that, Zephirah stood ready, half expecting the statue to respond—hopefully without a mouthful of stone teeth.
Sorry, I'm beginning to enter a vacation period and while I will try to check-in at least daily, I cannot promise that I will always be able to do so. From September 1, I should be back to normal.
|| Oriace - Halfling Bard - Dragon Heist || Valerian - Elf Rogue - Wildnis || Rowan - Halfling Giant - Runewarren || Khazela - Spiritfarer Dervish - Tribute || Arista - Frost Sorcerer - Old Keep || Marasatra - Blood Mage - Avernus ||
Day 2:
The young dark-haired woman just stands in surprised awe for a moment as the divine bolt strikes down the ravenous hyena. The gods were furious it seemed, she handn't ever seen them quite this infuriated before, but she didn't complain. After a moment she shrugs and smiles to the others, quickly and quietly leading her camel on to escape the gnoll hunting pack.
"Fortunately the minds of gnolls are not nearly as sharp as their blades, they are still chasing their own tails." Thoth chuckles as he eventually catches up with the caravan and turns visible.
Nephthys too would fall into a daily routine, staying mostly quiet but asking Satina a little bit about Taldor and whetever other places she had visited before coming to Osirion. Thoth would call upon her attention each evening before rest to continue her education about ancient Osirion to prepare her for the pyramid awaiting them. She herself would much rather just lay back and enjoy the sweet and comforting music from Zephira.
Day 3:
"Yes, riddles sometimes have many possible solutions, but the beautiful simplicity of Ophelia's answer is quite convincing to me." Thoth says calmly in his scholarly voice as he hovers among the team. Being quite mediocre regarding riddles, Nephthys just nods in agreement with her tutor. It did sound right to her too, but nevertheless she took a stance to defend herself if necessary.
Zahara sat in silence as the others stirred, the faint light of dawn painting the sands in hues of gold and violet. Her hands rested lightly on her knees, her fingers tracing idle patterns against the fabric of her robes. The battle replayed in her mind—the towering hyena, its eyes wild with hunger, the spell cast from her fingertips. She had felt the roots of it take hold, had seen the way the Hyena's muscles stiffened, its charge faltering for a breath…
And then it had kept coming.
If Nephthys hadn’t called down divine judgment when she had, the story would have ended differently. Zahara’s grip on the camel’s reins tightened. The creature had slowed, yes. But it had not stopped. Not enough.
Her magic needed to be more than a hesitation. It needed to be decisive. Unrelenting. She could not afford to watch her spells flicker and sputter out like dying embers.
She pulled herself to her feet, adjusting her belt as she turned toward the waiting dunes. There was no time to dwell on failure—only to ensure it did not happen again.
The morning sun was climbing when they crested the dune, and there it stood—a sentinel of stone, worn by time but unbroken. As the others puzzled over the riddle, Zahara’s focus was elsewhere.
She studied the statue’s form, the cracks and erosion that marked its surface. A guardian, left to the mercy of the shifting sands, its duty unyielding even as the world forgot it.
A god’s servant, or a mortal’s craft?
Her gaze trailed the remnants of inscriptions at its base, half-buried by the desert’s slow hunger. What had it once guarded? A temple, a tomb? Was it left behind, like so many relics of fallen dynasties, watching over a place that no longer existed?
The flickering light in its eyes was not mere illusion. There was power here. Something old. Something that had waited.
She barely registered Ophelia’s poetry, though the riddle reached her in fragments. Footsteps. The past leaving its mark on the present.
Zahara’s fingers brushed over the worn stone, half-listening as the others settled on the answer. She was more interested in the statue itself.
Who had placed it here? And more importantly—what had they feared enough to set it watching?
Religion Check to determine any information concerning the statue itself
History Roll: 6
Inspiration re-roll: 8
Ophelia speaks her strange rhyme, and the guardian listens, as though they speak a shared tongue. At its end, the guardian stands to its full height, about twenty feet, but lowers its stone arms to its side. "You have proven your wisdom. But know this: once you pass beyond this threshold, the desert will remember your names, whether to honor them… or to bury them beneath the dunes forever." The sapphire light in its eyes fades and it grows dormant once more.
Zahara is unable to recall knowledge to explain the guardian's presence here, seemingly in the midst of nowhere.
Several hours later...
The late afternoon sun hangs low in the sky, casting a deep, ruddy glow across the endless dunes. The desert, once golden and blinding, is now bathed in shades of amber and orange, the air thick with the lingering heat of the day. Shadows stretch long and thin, reaching like grasping fingers across the sand.
Then, a glimmer of color: an oasis, a welcome break in the monotony of endless dunes. A pool of water, blue-green like a forgotten gem, rests untouched beneath a canopy of swaying palm trees. The pool is perfectly still, a perfect mirror reflecting the ancient ruins that rise partially submerged from its depths. A weathered stone dais, its pillars long collapsed, is swallowed halfway by time and water.
Two humanoid bodies lie motionless in the sand near the pool’s edge.
Actions?
Nephthys looks around and gives Ophelia and the others an appreciative smile before continuing to lead her camel forward. As she passes the once more dormant riddling colossus she shudders at the thought of having given it an answer it wasn't pleased with.
As the caravan reaches the oasis, Nephthys turns her tutor invisible once more before he flies closer to investigate, suspecting it could be either a ruse or a poisoned well.
Thoth
Stealth: 25
Perception: 17
Thoth can see that the bodies are humans, dressed for desert travel. The oasis seems real enough. Thoth sees something metallic and reflecting the light in the bottom of the pool.
The tiny invisible blue sphinx would first take a closer look at the two humans, trying to determine if they are in fact dead, and if so, what would be the cause of this. He would then quite cautiously take a closer look at whatever is reflecting light in the pool, fully expecting it to be some kind of trap.
(Please roll a Medicine check to know the state of the bodies).
Thoth cannot make out more details of the glinting object at this distance.
"Thoth says there is something shiny in the pool but the bodies are likely dead. It could definitely be dangerous to go there." The young dark-haired woman says to the others as the sphinx reports what he has found. "I admit I'm curious about the shiny thing, and although unlikely the persons there could be alive and possible to save, but perhaps we should simply press on?" She continues, leaving to the others to decide that.
Zephirah’s silver eyes flick between Nephthys and the faint shimmer of water on the horizon. “Any oasis in this desert is bound to attract trouble sooner or later, but leaving a free source of water untouched?” She gives a small, incredulous laugh. “We know the risk of stumbling upon bigger predators, or whoever finished off those travelers. But we can’t afford to skip every pool just because there might be danger. In Osirion, scarcity kills faster than most beasts.”
She lifts her chin, casting a wary glance toward the still figures. “I’m not about to charge in like some mad hero. But I’ll come along if anyone else investigates.” Her hand drifts to her flute, almost absently. “I’ve no taste for playing the lone adventurer.” She shrugs, the hint of a wry smile tugging at her lips. “Still, a chance for cool water and, if the gods are willing, maybe a clue about how those poor fools met their end… that’s a gamble worth taking –and a splendid excuse to play some music while we're stopping.”
Sorry, I'm beginning to enter a vacation period and while I will try to check-in at least daily, I cannot promise that I will always be able to do so. From September 1, I should be back to normal.
|| Oriace - Halfling Bard - Dragon Heist || Valerian - Elf Rogue - Wildnis || Rowan - Halfling Giant - Runewarren || Khazela - Spiritfarer Dervish - Tribute || Arista - Frost Sorcerer - Old Keep || Marasatra - Blood Mage - Avernus ||
Thoth sees that the bodies do appear to be dead. However, with the dehydrating effects of the desert Thoth finds it difficult to guess what caused their death. Decomposition is not advanced. There are no obvious wounds.
Zahara’s gaze lingered on the distant oasis, its shimmering surface a cruel mirage against the sunbaked sands. A wellspring of life in the desert… or a lure for something far worse. The others debated the risk, but Zahara did not share their hesitation.
“If water is your only concern, I can provide,” she said, her voice quiet but certain. She turned to face the group fully, her hands briefly brushing over the folds of her robes. “The bond I share with these lands allows me to shape its gifts. If it is only thirst we fear, I can weave the essence of the desert itself into water.”
She pauses, her gaze shifting to the still forms near the water’s edge. Though the sphinx had declared them dead, something in her balked at simply accepting it.
She had spent years tending to the weary—nomads who found their way to her dwelling, their bodies battered by the cruelty of the sands. Some came seeking healing. Others came simply seeking comfort in their final moments. She had not turned them away.
These past days had pulled her away from that role, forcing her into a path of survival and strategy. But here, before her, lay two souls whose stories may have already ended. Perhaps tending to them—if only to ensure they were not left to the scavengers—was the path back to something she had felt was missing these past few days.
“I would see the bodies,” she said, quieter now. “If only to know who they were… and to give them the dignity they have been denied.” She exhaled slowly, already stepping forward. “The desert buries all in time. But that does not mean we must let it do so without care.”
Ophelia bows deeply to the towering jackal statue as it speaks, her own voice solemn.
"Round the decay of our earthly wrecks, boundless and bare
Shall stretch the lone and level sands, reachingly, reachingly away."
Later, as the oasis appears and she sights the seeming corpses, she breaks into her singsong mumble once again, variations on a recurring refrain.
"Dead and gone, my lady, dead and gone.
At their heads the desert, patiently, patiently waiting,
At their sandaled feet, lap the wavelets of the pond,
To the travelers five, so patiently, patiently baiting..."
Unlike the others, her wide gaze turns to the sands all around them, looking for anything or anyone else around them, possibly hidden.
Ophelia's Perception (with advantage due to slow pace): 20 (dirty)
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Ophelia studies her surroundings and peers out into the desert around and sky above. But she doesn’t find anything amiss.
Actions?
Satina quietly listened to the others discussing options. Finally she says, "Let's take a closer look. I'll go first and we can check the bodies first." She slowly approaches where they lie, trying not to get too far from any others that follow. She gives the area around the bodies a quick look then focuses on the oasis itself, looking for any signs of trouble. (Perception: 8) "Did you want to examine the bodies Zahara?"
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
Zephirah eases herself beneath the scant shade of a leaning palm, settling onto the soft sand with her small lyre cradled in her lap. A soft, almost playful melody emerges—notes as light as a desert breeze passing through distant dunes, soothing and unhurried. Despite the harshness of the surroundings, her music carries a faint promise of refreshment, an echo of evening’s cool reprieve. As her fingers dance over the strings, she half-watches Zahara’s investigation of the bodies, occasionally glancing at the still water for any irregularities—a glimmer too bright, a ripple that shouldn’t be there, anything that might betray hidden danger or they simply appeared out of place (Nature check for irregularities in what she expects should be normal for an oasis: 17). “Might be wise if someone checks that reflection in the pool,” she murmurs offhandedly between chords. Even in the midday heat, she can’t help indulging in a small thrill of curiosity—there’s always treasure or trickery lurking wherever the desert’s secrets surface.
(With the music she is going for contributing to a short rest effect while they are in the oasis. Please, let me know if that works.)
Sorry, I'm beginning to enter a vacation period and while I will try to check-in at least daily, I cannot promise that I will always be able to do so. From September 1, I should be back to normal.
|| Oriace - Halfling Bard - Dragon Heist || Valerian - Elf Rogue - Wildnis || Rowan - Halfling Giant - Runewarren || Khazela - Spiritfarer Dervish - Tribute || Arista - Frost Sorcerer - Old Keep || Marasatra - Blood Mage - Avernus ||
As the tiny sphinx keeps hovering above the oasis, watching for threats, Nephthys nods and follows the others there. She waits until at least Satina is ready to move closer to the pool of water before cautiously moving close enough to peek down into it, ready to jump out of the way at the least ripple in the water.
Lucky perception: 9 + Guidance: 2