25: On the Rocks

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## Summary

### Midnight Snack

Chestnut in paw, Cat returns to the party’s campsite to find their new traveling companions swapping shifts on their night watch. With Damhir off to a light sleep and Ginger settling in to work on a little wood carving, Cat finds a moment of silence to think about what to do with the nut. Settling for roasting and eating it, he asks Ginger—both more dextrous and slightly gullible—to help him with the task.

The next morning, the party readies themselves to continue their journey to the Kkora Desert, with Cat feeling better than ever thanks to his midnight snack. And he’s not the only one—the meadows and glades in the surrounding area look a little greener than before, and tiny flowers have sprouted seemingly overnight.

Haunted glade problem solved, the party heads off on the East Road for the mountain pass, leaving the Wilds and traveling deeper into northeast Balaayt. As they travel, the terrain becomes rockier and craggier, and the greenery far less green. Luca knows this road well, because to the north lies the Barrens: a remote, cold, gray region home to few and welcoming to even fewer.

### Dragonback Pass

Romeo, Toots, and Jubilee carry the travelers to the base of the mountain by mid afternoon. Before taking on the switchbacks that lead up the pass, Damhir and Ginger dismount their reptilian steed to make the climb on foot, noting that the party’s “small horses” are better suited to the terrain. As the group ascends, the party begins to see the pass itself, along with the ancient ruins of what was once a giant, stony gate over the mountain road. Pim says she’s seen it in her textbooks, and Cat recalls reading about it in history books, which depicted it as having a towering, statuesque stone gate at the west end. Dragonback Pass, Cat remembers, was named for its rocky terrain, as if it were a dragon sleeping in the Kkora Mountain ridge. It connects the western part of the continent—the “Farland nations,” as Damhir and others from the East call it—with the vast sands of the Kkora Desert.

### Gnoll Ambush

Not far into the pass, the party comes across a small caravan rolling along the bumpy stone path. It’s coming from the east, and pulled by two mountain goats and a gnoll driver. Before Cat can even finish sniffing to see what’s under the cover, Damhir asks the driver directly, seemingly suspicious from the outset. The gnoll driver merely growls at them before pushing the goats on, and Luca and Damhir get in a bit of a quarrel about profiling before he and Ginger set off to catch the wagon. As Damhir approaches the rear of the wagon, he is jumped by three gnolls who emerge from under the cover, and the party enters combat whether they like it or not.

Damhir takes blows from all three gnoll assailants to begin the fight, but he gives back even better, killing one outright. Meanwhile, Cat decides to head off the caravan and take down one of the goats with a well-timed pounce. While Damhir, Bran, Mujie, Luca, and Mahi engage with the three gnolls who jumped out, Tira and Cat take on the wagon’s driver and Pim provides supporting fire. In the midst of battle, the party learns Mahi's magic is on the fritz.

With their foes distracted, Ginger and Cat jump inside the wagon to find two half-elf children huddled together and afraid. Once the rest of the party has dispatched the gnolls, they emerge, wide-eyed and unsure of their surroundings. Luca wildshapes into a fluffy dog to soothe them while Damhir asks them where they’re from. Meanwhile, Mujie and Cat interrogate one of the gnolls, learning that they do the bidding of some kind of nameless “gnoll lord.” His mission nothing short of savagery, the lesser gnoll tells them that tasty children are eaten, and gamey ones sold. The gnoll begins talking in circles, and before the party can learn anything else, Damhir kills it and explains that the people of the waste have clashed with the gnolls for decades, but haven’t been able to find their lair, insinuating that the best they can do is fight them off of the settlements.

### The Outpost on the Rocks

Battle won, the party brings the two children—named Nana and Kato, they learn—to the Outpost, an old structure built up on the side of the pass that doubles as a rest stop and a base of operations for the Empire’s most remote military assignments. Inside, they find an inn and tavern, as well as an outlet for traveling gear that Mujie learns is far overpriced, though he does get some useful information about taming wild banded lizards.

Back in the sitting area, the party finds themselves among mostly Empire soldiers and the odd traveler and Outpost employee. The gang grabs a bite to eat, tries a Meranhi specialty liquor, and gets roped into a dice game with Ginger (though it’s just for fun, not for coin). After a few rounds, an unfamiliar face approaches: an Empire soldier, judging by the armor he wears. While only about half of the party can understand his Meranhi dialect of Elvish, his message is clear enough from his tone and the way Damhir bristles at him: they may wear the same crest, but he’s no friend. They share a few pointed words, and the Meranhi soldier puts a cap on the interaction by spitting into Damhir’s drink.

Forgetting their spat from the afternoon, Luca squares up immediately and wildshapes into a crocodile. Doing his best to deescalate things lest they make a scene, Damhir comes between the two, and Saadi backs down, sufficiently intimidated. Cat reminds him he owes Damhir a new drink, and Saadi tosses them some taau before leaving for the barracks in a flustered huff.

### Social Studies

Seated again, a sincere (if surprised) Damhir thanks Luca, Cat, and the rest of the party for having his back. While he’s up sorting out another round of drinks, Ginger spills some details about the Empire. As Saadi implied, tensions have been high between Meranhi elves and the “Farland” races for at least a millennium, and relations have only gotten worse as the realm’s Ark drought has persisted. The general consensus seems to be that the desert elves blame the Farland races (and humans, specifically) for the drought, and as such, they are met with a spectrum of sentiments from suspicion to outright hostility. Ginger goes on to explain that Damhir was once stationed with Saadi in the Outpost—where career soldiers’ aspirations go to die—but he was promoted not long after the crowning of the new Empress. He even tells them a juicy secret: that Damhir and the Empress grew up together.

Unbeknownst to their new companions, the party decides to vandalize Saadi’s room in the barracks before turning in for a long rest.

## Quotes

### *RACISM IN THE AGE OF SECOND SPRING, YEAR 327? SMH:*

> “If it isn’t *captain* Damhir Daraan. Surprised you’d show your face around here. Thought you were too good for us after your big promotion.”
>
>

> “You think you’re real special ever since we got a sympathizer Empress, don’t you? Well, every royal flop needs a royal mutt.”
>
>

*—Saadi, to Damhir*