To find a portal to the Eternal Hearth...

[DM Bob]

Enemy's Slumber, 7th of Fortuary, Evening

Current Location: Two miles outside of the ruins of Giustenal's wall, at the Tar Mine

Skrye has problems resting. The voices repeat the same words, now with more than one voice. It layers like a musical round; a refrain that does not relent.

The wind continues to whip silt into the sky. Ral is the only moon providing any light and at less than half full to boot. The only evidence is a dull glow in the sky; a blob of grey in the black.

Howls are heard as well as the night progresses. Solitary howls, no response from a pack or kin. A faint scream is heard by those on the second watch. After that? No more howls.

The smell of tar, heat and tanned leather permeates everything here adding to the restless haze of night.

[Attilius]

Attilius alerts the 3rd watch of the scream during his 2nd watch before going to sleep

[Niachi]

Niachi nods to the gladiator’s update.
As the howls and screams fade he confers quietly with Chat and Coden:

“A solo Sand howler? Thought they go in packs. Hope it was quick for that poor bastard. Howlers have petrifying eyes and a nasty bite. So don’t look right at them. But salvage the eyes for spell bits. Some have fine white pelts, worth some coin.”

He sweeps their perimeter with his dark vision while practicing drills with his sword.

[AthasianLaborer]

'Muiko wakes in the morning and makes sure that the party knows he is there despite being invisible.  When he's informed of the events of the second watch "We should stay close together and move quickly"

[DM Bob]

Enemy's Slumber, 8th of Fortuary, Morning

Current Location: Two miles outside of the ruins of Giustenal's wall, at the Tar Mine

With a lack of investigation into the noise that evening, everyone is relatively rested.

Except for Skrye.

The voices still glub in her head. Kank honey is served on thin unleavened bread with a few neep pickles this morning. The fare is poor and begrudgingly shared if you insist.

The wind is about the same today, and it is already hot. The silt gets everywhere, making everyone look like shades of their own being. The map does denote this camp and what look to be a few gaps in the walls of the ruins of the dead city.

[Attilius]

Feb 7, 2024 17:18:03 GMT DM Bob said:

Kank honey is served on thin unleavened bread with a few neep pickles this morning. The fare is poor and begrudgingly shared if you insist.

The giant absolutely insists and definitely eats more than his fare share, stuffing his face like a starved So-ut

Feb 7, 2024 17:18:03 GMT DM Bob said:

The silt gets everywhere, making everyone look like shades of their own being.

Attilius loudly gripes and curses the whole morning to himself, kicking random rocks far into the distance and being completely unhappy with the heat and silt mixture ”Fuck this shit! Gods I hate this damn heat! This strap broke?! I just fixed it!!! THIS IS SUCH MEKILLOT SHIT!!!” etc.

[Quila Oris (John M.)]

Quila makes sure to keep her mouth, nostrils and eyes as protected as possible from the silt. She readily accepts any morsels of food, but can easily make some mundane bland food appear using her priestly powers bestowed by Oronis.

Seeing her tari friend quite tired, she asks Skrye "Did you not sleep enough, or well? I must admit, this is a depressing place to catch some sleep."

After finishing their meal, Quila stands up resolutely and states, "Let us go find this place and get the livestock. We must hurry."

She walks to the dwarven brothers and thanks both of them, "Durex and Halthram, I thank you for the good company and the kept promises. I hope I see you again but we must take leave now and fulfill our job we came to do." She bends over a bit and gives them both a peck on their forehead.

[DM Bob]

Blushing a bit like bald versions of 2 of the 7 dwarves of Snow White's fame, you leave for the walls of Giustenal.

The two miles to the broken structure are lined with more bubbly pits of rank smelling tar, even more calcified tree rock and intermittent patches of other vegetation. Brambleweed sprouts in some areas, making the travel longer than it needs be.

As you get to a quarter mile away from the broken walls and next to a larger tar pit, a dead elf sits. Her back is pressed to the edge of a small patch of the thorny weeds as well, a look of abject terror upon her lifeless face.

Her mouth is heavily bloodied...

And looks a lot larger than it should from this distance. The silt is less dense in the air this close to the ruined ci-tay.

[Attilius]

Attilius moves toward the dead, tower shield in front, fully covering his mass, while tapping the ground before him with the long pole as he inches closer in a crouching gait.
"Hmrph! Found our screamer. Might be a spy... Watch my flanks, going to see if I can drag 'em back to us for questioning.

[Quila Oris (John M.)]

Observing the gladiator’s attempts to dislodge the corpse from the brambles, Quila notes: “Dont get them closer to us. To me, it looks like something wicked killed her and entered her system through her mouth. I’d rather see from a good long distance what has lodged itself into the elves innards. A cilops, centipede, or something even worse maybe.”

[DM Bob]

Would that imply psionic viewing? Or something else?

[Attilius]

He nods his understanding. He'll move to within 20' and peek over his shield to better inspect the body and its surroundings.

[DM Bob]

The body appears to have two large puncture wounds in her chest, through her silt stalker tribal regalia.

And her tongue seems to be missing or simply ripped out of her mouth and throat. More blood is splattered about the earth and there seems to be a smear leading up the wall nearby.

[Attilius]

Shield still at the ready, He'll get within 12' and push the tip of the pole on her chest through the holes and then the open mouth to illicit a response. If no reaction he'll put his pole down and ready his Trikal.

He'll use it's hook to grab on the elf's foot wear and drag her 40' back towards the group...

[DM Bob]

No reaction, just grisly.

You do so... and the remains remind you of one of the elves in the bar in Cromlin (not the red head).