The Jungle Realm of Karth
The party continued their trek toward Karth. They narrowly (and luckily) avoided an encounter with a large black dragon (Spittle). A few days later, the party came across what appeared to be a dirty weapon imbedded blade first into the rocky side of a hill. Callister attempted to pull the blade, a beautiful bronze sabre free from the rock. As he struggled with the stuck sword, the others investigated the area. Kramtha and Martin noticed that the hill was unusually round and a strange round, flat surface in one side of the hill faced them. As they watched, the flat surface split into two halves and opened. A great head slowly pushed through the round opening and out came the largest turtle head they had ever seen. It blinked slowly as if sleepy and looked back at Callister, who still struggled to free the blade from the great gumric's shell. The others backed away from the huge creature and yelled at Callister to do the same. He gripped the hilt of the blade and, with his last ounce of strength, wrenched the sword free. He collapsed back into the mud with his prize.
The beast, upset at this interruption to its sleep, began to inhale deeply. An audible rush of wind was sucked into its huge maw. The others, fearing a fiery burst of dragon's breath, began stumbling back through the mud and slime, attempting to put distance between themselves and the creature. Callister jumped to his feet and was quick to follow. None of them could run very well as the muck was deep and forced them to fight for every footstep. Running was virtually impossible. Suddenly, the rush of wind stopped as the great beast had filled its lungs. There was a pause of silence at the height of the inhalation and the party members flung themselves into the mud, attempting to flatten out and escape the fiery blast.
But no fire came.
Instead, the beast let loose with the loudest roar that can be imagined. Callister and Kramtha, closest to the blast, were both thrown twenty feet. Mud splattered everywhere. Nearby trees were blown down. The characters were all stunned and their ears would ring for hours afterwards.
After its mighty roar, the great turtle extended its legs and slowly, with a great thunderous steps, dragged its huge shell-covered body through the jungle and left the characters behind. In its wake, a great lake of brown mud had been stirred up. Several objects could be seen partially embedded in the mud where the creature had lay. No vegetation grew beneath that spot. The members surmised that the creature must have been napping in that very spot for many months.
They investigated the mud and dug up over a dozen bodies and (according to the methkari crystal they had) two magic items: a suit of supple black leather and a bottle filled with a green liquid.
The black leather suit turned out to be a stealth suit - making the wearer completely silent and stealthy and, when the hood was drawn forth, partially invisible (about 50% transparent). The suit was given to Stryfal. Martin claimed the green potion.
Two days after encountering the gumric, the party came across a myrian war party with a karthasian prisoner. The party leapt in to battle the myrians and free the karthasian. Before the battle was over, a number of karthasians appeared and joined the party in battling the primitive myrians. When it was over, the myrians lay dead.
The party spoke with the karthasians and told them of all that had transpired. They asked permission to speak with the hive queen of the insect people. The leader of the small karthasian group agreed and promised to escort the party into Karthasian territory. Before the journey began, the insects conducted the k'krumatai, the karthasian death ceremony. During this ceremony, the dead karthasians were eaten and their deeds in life praised. The characters reluctantly joined in and feasted on the dead as well, so as not to offend their new friends. After this ceremony, the journey to Karth continued, this time with karthasian escorts.
After arriving in Karth, the group spent several weeks with this strange new race, living in the hive, healing and recuperating from their ordeals. A great amount of cultural exchange was conducted. That, more than anything else is what interested the karthasians. It seemed that due to their isolated locale, they knew little of the outside world and were eager to learn. The characters did not disappoint and told campfire tales late in to the evening every night for weeks. They told the karthasians of their travels and adventures, realms beyond the jungle, battles, empires, wars and more. The karthasians were most appreciative.
Finally, the party met the karthasian known as Sosk and he did indeed carry a large wooden staff topped by a human skull. The party passed the methkari crystal over the skull and it hummed with the same tone as produced by the first skull. A detect magic spell verified this. The group knew it was the very skull they sought.
They asked Sosk if he would trade the staff for something. He answered that the staff and skull atop it were not his to trade. All possessions in a hive belong to the Queen and so it was she that they had to negotiate with. The Queen, pleased with all the party had given and told the Hive, instructed that the staff by traded for more stories, which the party gladly accepted.
That night, the party unfurled the map and found that the coordinates had shifted again - to show the location of the third skull. The new coordinates were deep in the middle of the Captured Sea. This confused the party quite a bit, as Callister knew there to be no known islands in that area.
Days later, under Karthasian protection and with an armed escort of almost forty karthasians, the party made their way to the northern coast of the Karth peninsula and were taken on one of their ships (a strange vessel consisting of membrane like sails and organic hull) to the southern coast of Talis.
Home at last, Kramtha led the party to a nearby village where they rested and celebrated their survival. While in the village, Stryfal purchased a forest drake (with what little money she had and a lot of flirting to lower the merchant's price).Kramtha and Rothgar checked up on their family's tribe, and were pleased to see that most of the captured tribesmen who had been laboring in the Imperial excavation months before had indeed managed to escape thanks to the chaos the party had created months before when they first came together as a team. Phellysians are are resilient and resourceful people, and everyone who had escaped was able to make it safely across the continent to their homeland. Kramtha pondered the situation deeply one night during his troubled slumber. Had it really been months since the group,( or The Conclave Defiant as Callister had named them with an enemy's blood so many weeks ago), had begun to travel together, becoming more and more caught up in this unbelievable adventure? He thought of friends now tragically deceased: Shr'lee, the baenite mage who was the first of their party to fall, Krodose, the warrior giant, Angus, the sturdy dwarf...Who would be the next among their ranks to die before their time, or would any survive at all? Kramtha roused himself from self pity. In the morning, he would make sure his family was well in order. Then he would proceed on with his adopted brothers, to the Captured Sea and the skull that was hiding there. He resolved to steel his courage and strength for the tasks ahead. For when all this was over and the world was saved, he had a slaver's guild to destroy.
Back at full strength, the party began the long journey to Ithell, their first stop on the way to the Captured Sea.
In session twelve: The party finds a wealthy ally, Stryfal enjoys the hospitality of the city jail, and Callister goes demonic.