GoCorral

Trajan introduced his new character in this session! It actually fit in quite well. I teased his new character to the other players with the image you see below. The session was attended by Trajan, Will, Ben, Avery, and Tyler.

Loose Ends

The Alliance was revitalized to the highest heights it had ever known, but the party still had business to attend to. They returned to Lemnos and hunted down every last dragovinian on the island.

Danar brought along some wooden stakes and shoved them into the hearts of the dragovinians. Rather than turn to dust or melt as they had done in the past, the animated corpses simply stopped moving. Dragovinians typically enter a retreat stage when critically injured where they would do anything to flee. They can truly die by removing the head or by inflicting cold or holy damage to them once they are in the retreat stage. This cessation of movement was entirely new.

Danar pulled a stake out of a dragovinian and saw it begin to move once more. He hurriedly shoved the stake back in to stop creature’s twitching movements. Wishing to learn more about their enemies’ weaknesses, Danar collected five staked dragovinians and put them in his portable hole for future study.

After scouring the vampiric menace from the island, the Exiles returned to Hephaistia to speak with High Priest Falkus of the Kabiri.
Falkus greeted them, “I am glad to see you alive again! News of the battle in Myrina reached us here. We heard that you defeated their leader.”
“Aye, we did,” said Eathirilu.
The party regaled the Kabiri with the details of the combat with Davonisi before asking when Falkus could show them to the Leg Bones of Hephaestus.
“We thank you for your service to Lemnos and to Hephaestus. The best time to reveal to you the location of Hephaestus’s leg fragments is three days hence. We will perform the Mysteries in Hephaestus’s honor. He sent you to us and through you we have been delivered from the poisonous influence of the dragovinians. The people of Lemnos should know of your actions and be invited to join in the celebration of the Mysteries. It will take three days to reach everyone on the island and for them to travel here.”
“And you’ll tell us of the Leg Bones of Hephaestus then,” asked Hektor.
“I will, to be sure.”
The party enjoyed a small meal with Falkus and a few of the other Kabiri before taking their leave.

There was some discussion at this point about how to avoid future disagreements like that between Zelus and Amalius. Should majority votes be binding for the rest of the party? Should there be a leader that wielded absolute decision power? Two leaders that could veto each other?

The discussion was largely dropped when Eathirilu made the point, “Even if we agree to something, I feel like each one of us will still break from the group for our own goals when the opportunity presents itself.”

Everyone bobbed their heads in agreement. Perhaps there was no way for men of their power and position to see eye-to-eye on everything.

There Has Been an Awakening

And now for a short trip down memory lane. Two months ago the party had been exploring the Lich Shade and slaying undead within. They encountered a nasty beast known as a devourer that traps a person within it and slowly feeds off them for centuries. The party slew the devourer and freed the imprisoned sand giant from within it (Xorian Wars 35/Alliance 25). The party also encountered more of his sand giant friends, but were unable to free them from their undead shells (Xorian Wars 40/Alliance 29 and Xorian Wars 44/Alliance 33) .

This sand giant went by the name of Barakah. He swore his aid and service to the man who freed him, Hektor Rackgard. Before becoming an underling though, he asked that Hektor give him some time to search the Shacklack Desert. It had been two hundred years since his imprisonment and he wished to reconnect with his family. Barakah promised to meet Hektor two months hence in the Great Valley of the Dominarie Mountains (where the Tomb of Kruk-Ma-Kali is).

Well, two months had passed and it was time to go pick up Barakah. Hektor set to teleport off and Eathirilu, Tagenadi, and Danar decided to join him. Being a god with some slight enmity towards the giant race, Zelus went to Olympus for some nectar and ambrosia instead.

The group teleported to the Great Valley. Looking around they saw the hobgoblin villagers they’d encountered previously while searching for the Tomb of Kruk-Ma-Kali. They had gathered in the burned plains on the western edge of the valley outside a large cave. The party approached and saw trolls among the hobgoblins as well. The monstrous humanoids stepped aside as the Exiles came on.

Peering into the cave revealed a warm light in the back around a turn. The scent of incense wafted forward and scuttling could be heard along the walls. The party moved forward and saw a huge centipede crawling along the walls and ceiling. It paid them no mind and they proceeded deeper into the cave. The warm light flickered and they heard two voices chanting in unison. As they rounded the corner, the voices stopped. Barakah sat by a fire with two halfling-sized centipedes curled up beside him.

Barakah had skin the color of red desert sand. When standing he measured more than thirteen feet tall. He wore a cowl over his face, but he pulled it back to reveal a white gold crown upon his head. His eyes were black when the party had first met him, but they had darkened, the cornea, iris, and pupil combined into an incomprehensible void that was a headache to look upon. A long, heavy cloak of brass dragon scales draped itself across his shoulders. Around his throat was a thick chain of dythalidium, the strongest metal in existence made from the waters of the Dythalid Pool in Mars’ Oasis. Behind Barakah rested a shield and suit of armor of the same material beside open sacks of food and other provisions.

“Welcome,” Barakah said in a deep voice. “I have been waiting for you.”
“It is good to see you again, Barakah,” said Hektor. “Were you able to find your friends and family or perhaps some of their descendants?”
“Sadly, no. It appears that I am the last of the sand giants. And so the crown has passed to me.” Barakah dipped his head and rose to his feet. “I stand before you as King Barakah Al-Sakhr, Son of King Murkrah the Queen-Slayer, First Amongst Equals, Champion of the Billowing Sword, High Priest of Ruh-tor-ka the Destroyer, Guardian of the Well of the World, and last of the Sand Giants.”
Hektor said, “You know myself, Eathirilu, and Tagenadi.” Barakah nodded his head at each of them. “With me is a new companion of mine, Danar.”
Danar stepped forward and introduced himself, “I am Danar, Once King of Sheerzen, Slayer of Beasts, First Descendant of Rilopenaril, and Dragon Binder.”
“Tales of your accomplishments have reached me even here in the desert. I know of you, Danar. I am pleased to see that Hektor keeps such strong company.” Barakah cleared his throat, “I brought each of you gifts.” The giant turned to the bags behind him and pulled out several items.

For Hektor, Barakah had a cloak of dythalidon silk, soaked in the magical waters of the Shacklack Desert to become thin and weightless. The cloak can keep the wearer as warm as a wool cloak or as cool as if nothing were worn at all. Intricate patterns were sown into the silk, turning it into a work of art as well as a practical piece of outerwear.

For Tagenadi, Barakah had chain of dythalidium steel. Made in a similar manner to dythaidon silk, by soaking it in the waters of the desert. The chain was virtually unbreakable and the perfect length and balance for a kusari-gama.

For Eathirilu, Barakah had a chalice carved from dragonbone. The rim was inlaid with dythalidium and four lines of dythalidium were set down the sides of the cup, traveling to the base made of a second circle of the priceless metal.

For Danar, Barakah had not gotten a gift. Not wanting to insult him, Barakah looked in his bags for something to give the fellow warrior. His dark eyes landed upon his sand blaster, a long tube resembling a bugle.
“This is the ancestral weapon of the sand giants. Sand goes in this end and you blow it out from this end. The sand distracts your foes and blinds them, allowing you to easily kill them with your sword or axe.” Barakah handed the sand blaster to Danar and continued, “The best sand for a blaster such as this comes from this little bag here.” Bakarah held up a small pouch. “It makes as much sand as you desire and easily fits in your pocket.”
“Pocket sand?” asked Danar.
“Yes, to blow into the eyes of your enemies,” answered Barakah.
“Thank you.”
Tyler is a big fan of King of the Hill.

The group brought Barakah up to speed on the state of the world and the war with the Xorians. Hektor released Barakah from his oath of service, but Barakah promised to help the party any way he could in bringing down the dragovinians. The party got a general creepy feeling from Barakah and at times it seemed as if there was something moving underneath his clothes.