Session 74

In the morning, they find a traditional breakfast. Elden notices that Leona isn't downstairs, and finds her in her room, looking for her earrings, which she cannot find anywhere. She messages Captain Burke to see if she left them on the airship, but they haven't seen them. When she finally comes downstairs, Kesra has them, having picked them up off the ship before they left.

They prepare to head into the desert, and Terry recommends that they procure some animals to help them get through the dunes. They quickly come to the first Oasis, which is heavily fortified. Elden quickly recognizes that these are pirates of some sort. He checks in with Terry, who assures him that it won't be a problem, but seems a little uneasy.

Terry asks to speak with Sari, and they are all guided to one of the largest structures. Terry suggests to Fate's Chosen that he go in and talk to Sari by himself first. He does so, and finds a very young woman, who seems incredulous that he's there asking to do business with her. She acquiesces, though, apologizes "about the girl", and says that she'll take down the hit that she has on his head. He tells her that they are heading for the Vault of Miro'in Sadarka.

Terry returns to Fate's Chosen, telling them they are good to go. They purchase 7 camels, including a spare, just in case. They get some water skins, and Kesra gets a hat as well. Leona pulls out the hat from Yugi's hat, too, and they head out into the desert.

Atlas asks Terry about the hit on his head. He claims that it was just a joke, and the group chooses not to press him on it. Alexander tells Leona that he can now block Roman from scrying on them, but keeping it going all the time would be pretty taxing and expensive. They decide to hold off for now.

Leona approaches Terry and asks him about what he wants to do if their mission is successful. He mostly dissembles, saying he will sell a little bit of this and that and making friends everywhere. He asks Leona who is the strongest in their group, in wisdom and loyalty, and she points him to Elden. He tells her that, if he dies, the ring he's seeking really needs to get where he is trying to get it.

That night, Terry wakes up Elden. He asks Elden, if he dies while getting the ring out of the temple, if he would deliver the ring to someone for 10 gold. He tells Elden there's a woman named Lena in a temple in Solaris who he needs to get the ring to. Elden agrees to do it for free if necessary, but says he will do everything in his power to get Terry there himself.

Leona talks to Terry again, trying to get him to open up. He tells her that he had promised to get this ring to Lena, after having read a story about the history of the ring. He says that he wasn't good enough for her in life, and now it's too late, so all he can do is keep this last promise.

They make small talk as they continue into the desert, and Terry advises Alexander and Atlas to profess their love for Leona while they can, because their feelings are clear. Elden tries to explain to him the real situation, but only manages to confuse him more.

That night, while Leona is slipping a pillow to Kesra to help her sleep, she gets a sending from Roman, telling her she looks peaceful when she's sleeping.

In the morning, they get their first glimpse of the vault, but they also feel tremors in the ground, as 3 gargantuan purple worms burst out from the sand and attack. Alexander quickly gets swallowed by a worm, but Kesra quickly carves into it, and it immediately spits him back out. Elden meanwhile charges at another, doing massive damage to it. The friends rush into battle, ending with Terry going into one of the worms after an unconscious Leona, and enlarging himself to burst out of the worm, killing it.