Main Story 10: Needs Prep

**Previous: Main Story 9: The Search for Water**

**Next: Session 0.5**

This document is a brainstorming page for shit we may want to add in some way, and shit we need to add for plot reasons.

Shit that’s cool

asDf

Shit that’s necessary

Asdsa

Encounters for the Desert (About 5 Days)

\*Maybe a few in case they change their minds last second to go around

The dust caravan and some of their hostages

The dust caravan “Dungeon”

   Tasks: draw dungeon

What happens to the party when they leave the sewers

After the Sewer

Voltuun, Durnehviir, and Dinkly have all left the sewer and are surrounded by 2 Assassins and 4 Bandits. The alleyway is 30 feet long, with the sewer grate in the center.

Captain Onir with 2 Guards (1 guard is a young Human named Dane, the other is a transfer from Redwyn, an older Half-elf named Layner) appear to help

Onir immediately begins the process of apprehending Voltuun, Durnehviir, and Dinkly after the battle, attempting to show kindness and reluctance after what they have done. He warns them not to attempt to resist because he has the entire city block around the shop shut down. Bran then shows his face, and reveals that he was the one to report the location to the guards, not knowing the party was wanted for crimes. He had been trying to find a decent time to rejoin the party, but simply overheard their plans instead.

When the rest of the party surfaces, and Onir sees Nausica, Kristianna, Tobias, or Shawarma, he immediately stops arresting the party, and his eyes widen.

“I.. didn’t expect to find you here. I thought the descriptions matched, but I was holding out for hope. Dane, Layner: secure the area within the sewers, leave me here.”

“Tell me the truth. Did you kill those men?”

He sighs upon either answer

Truth: “That is unfortunate to hear. One of the weaknesses of my kind, however, is that we have a strong bond of blood, and I cannot forget the service you gave to Redwyn on the day of the invasion. Leave the city block behind you and I will send out a notice to those looking for you that you were the ones to kill the Silver Tongues here. There won’t be anything about where you are, or your names. Just be careful showing your faces, and leave town as soon as possible.”

“Good luck my friends”

He turns to leave the opposite direction, and once he does he yells “There they go, down North and Seymour! Chase them!” and the party may hear the stomping of several sets of footsteps.

Lie: “It would be so much simpler if you had.. Well, I for one will not forget the service you gave to Redwyn on the day of the invasion. Leave the city block behind you and I will send out a notice to those looking for you that you were the ones to kill the Silver Tongues here, and that your innocence is suspected. There won’t be anything about where you are, or your names. Just be careful showing your faces, and leave town as soon as possible.”

“Good luck my friends”

He turns to leave the opposite direction, and once he does he yells “There they go, down North and Seymour! Chase them!” and the party may hear the stomping of several sets of footsteps.

Encounters (desert)

1. Small Redwyn force ambushed by Dust Caravan.

Redwyn Squad: (1 Barbarian Ancestrial Guardian), 2 Berserkers, 2 Guards, and 1 Enchanter

Dust Caravan Squad: 1 gay thirsty, 1 gnoll hunter, 3 [B]nolls, 1 flind

The party sees off in the distance (about 2 miles) a small group of humanoids walking towards you from the west. They don’t seem to have noticed the group of [Hunched over hyena-like humanoids] walking in a single-file line towards them very quickly from about a mile north of them since there’s a hill between them. Since you’ve noticed them they’ve almost certainly noticed you too.

-Insight will determine that the humanoids are likely from Redwyn (DC14) and/or that the others are likely the dust caravan mentioned in the Silver Tongues’ orders (DC18)

Options: The party can attempt to leave while both parties are distracted (stealth roll?), or move in and help either group.

Outcomes:

-Successful escape: 500xp, will likely encounter the dust caravan group again later as they spotted the party and will defeat the Redwyn scout group.

-Help Redwyn: The leader of the group (don’t let him die in the fight but if he does then damn) will begin thanking the party before he stops and takes a closer look at each party member, realizing who they are. He’ll agree to forget he saw them but will ask why they helped them.

-Help Dust Caravan: they probably won’t do this I mean come on but if they do the Dust Caravan will also attack them.

Note: Upon killing the Flind the demonic power from its eyes and flail will fade, and a quick red streak of magic will fly towards whoever successfully killed it. The player may choose to accept this magic or deny it. If they choose to accept it, they will gain darkvision up to 60 ft, proficiency in intimidation, and each weapon attack they make deals an additional 5 psychic damage. The flind’s flail shatters, and the player’s eyes magically turn blood-red and they have a craving for raw meat every 24 hours that must be sated or they will suffer a stack of exhaustion.

[Joseph this is a bruh moment]

2) A large assortment of tracks along east/west

   Whatever appropriate skill check (survival? probably just investigation):

       DC10 the tracks are going west to east

DC16 there is a second set of separate, larger tracks on top of the original tracks, all in a line.

If the players don’t remember it: give Kristianna (the smart one) memory check, DC10 to remember that the Dust Caravan walked in a single-file line.

   [what really happened (in case someone gets like a super duper good roll for investigation or something like that): large Redwyn group was moving towards Torvas and a large group of Gnolls are following them, the Dust Caravan walk in single-file line to hide their numbers]

3) Encounter (hard): 1 Dust Wight, 1 Gnoll Pack Lord, 2 Dust Mephits, and 4 Gnolls (maybe bump up encounter)

   2) Some cool desert monsters or something

   3) More dust caravan encounters

4) Rando encounters perhaps (probably should start with the good ones to make people think the reason we’re taking so long is that we were crafting master encounters)

The Dust Caravan

A collection of demon worshipping Gnolls and the undead created by the demon lord they serve: Yeenoghu. The Gnolls are carnivorous and the undead all seem to be created from the corpses of the gnolls. Several other creatures, such as elementals and aberrations accompany them, but they are all created by the same demonic magic of Yeenoghu.

The Dust Caravan ravages only out of survival, and when the magical Red Desert was created at the dawn of the current Eternal War, the gnolls and their leader shaman were forgotten and left behind. Refugees turned down shelter by the lawful Redwyn and villainized by the same, they get by on slaughtering those brave enough to vanquish them or foolish enough to attempt to cross their land.

The Dust caravan often takes hostages in order to demand leverage from cities outside of the Red Desert in exchange for weapons, rope, livestock, and even magical artifacts, but never does Redwyn secede to their demands, leading to most of these hostages being killed for food or enslaved for labor within the cave.

**Next: Main Story 11: The End/ginning?**