Gavril moved to a flanking position with a grizzly bear on Ahrkh-Nar. Unfortunately he found that the amorphous body of the Moon Beast was not affected by his precision damage.
Ahrkh-Nar then attacked with the tentacles and then applied rend by twisting and turning the tentacles after hitting. Gavril felt his wisdom draining from the attack. Finally the bear was hit by a claw.
Yath-Kheph then attacked Ciprian with its claws, destroying one image but hitting the Bard with his other. Then against his nemesis, Ursina, he released the tentacles and Ursina also felt her wisdom drain from her head.
Paullus moved up to Ahrkh-Nar and attacked with his Vorpal Scimitar. He did not land the fatal blow but some damage was done. Armania tried to cast Scorching Ray but it fizzled as it left the wand. The bears attacked and one was able to grapple Yath-Kheph. Ursina smashed her Holy Book on the amorphous body of Yath-Kheph, but it did no damage to the monster.
Using the Sun Blade against the evil Yath-Kheph did significant damage to the grappled monster. Gavril then attacked again but Ahrkh-Nar still stood with his tentacles threatening. Gavril was hit but did not lose any Wisdom from this attack. The bear again took damage from one claw. Yath-Kheph, grappling with its own bear again attacked Ciprian and Ursina. More Ciprian images were destroyed and Ursina took more damage but no Wisdom drain.
Paullus continued slashing with the Vorpal Blade and the bear clawed at the monster. Armania tried magic missiles but these also fizzled. The other bear kept its grapple on Yath-Kheph and added some more damage. Ursina backed away from Yath-Kheph as she was feeling faint. Ciprian again successfully used the Sun Blade to his best advantage.
Gavril now attacked with both hands and the amorphous body of Ahrkh-Nar slumped to the floor. Seeing his traitorous fellow warden fall, enraged Yath-Kheph but his attacks were limited as the Retribution, Invective and being grappled was hindering his abilities. Paullus moved from the body of Ahrkh-Nar to Yath-Kheph and missed with the Vorpal Scimitar. Armania finally was successful with a magic missile and one bear kept clawing away at the watery remains of Ahrkh-Nar. The other bear kept its grapple on Yath-Kheph. Ursina was healing herself as Ciprian again attacked with fury. Gavril moved down to the last Moon Beast attacking once successfully.
Yath-Kheph, seemingly weaker attacked once more but with limited success. Under the ministrations of the party, he fell into a blob on the floor when Ciprian again hit with Erevel like fury.
The bears continued to maul the remains as the party was spooked by the twins feign death. Healing and restoration were applied as needed.
Ciprian found that the wooden staff that Ahrkh-Nar held was magical. It was festooned with brass levers and keys. Apparently it was some kind of musical instrument. No other magic was found with the Moon Beasts or in the music room. A disgusting search of the amorphous bodies yielded two key rings each holding several keys.
"Let us go and release the Yellow King from his cell," Ciprian suggested. "At least I think he is the Yellow King. No way to really tell though."
"What about the two women down on the first level?" asked Armania. "We should take them with us also."
"We should just leave them," Ciprian muttered aloud.
"We can't just leave them here, we've killed all the staff. They will starve." Armania replied.
"At least one of them is evil, but we can't just leave her here to die," Ursina chimed in.
"I am so glad to see you! I was afraid that that pale pink beast was going to take me away for good,"
"We are here to escort you back to the Caravanserai," Ciprian said in greeting while handing the King his yellow robe. "Come with us, we can ride the Shantak back."
"I am so pleased to see you all. Wait there is one missing, if I am not mistaken," the Yellow King stated.
"Yes one of our troop has returned to the material plane. We hope to find him again soon." Ciprian responded.
Now the group headed to the first floor, where the discussion continued about taking the two women with them. Ursina determined that Kelvetta was also evil, but she still thought they should at least free them from the cells.
Armania talked to the despondent woman whose name was Deanni Khatiri, an Osirian academic who seeking clues about the Elder Mythos, used plane shift to come to the Dreamlands a few months ago but was captured upon arrival by denizens of Leng. She doesn't care whether the heroes removed her from her cell or not. She is sure everyone will die at the hands of the Twins, or that Moon Beast.
Kelvetta on the other hand was working fruitlessly at her cell bars in a desperate attempt to escape. She continues pleading for release, offering to aid the PCs in whatever way they see fit. She relates that she was captured by slavers a few weeks ago and brought to this prison.
Kelvetta and Deanni have seen all of the other prisoners taken up the stairs to the torture chamber over the last few days by the blood-soaked twins and have heard the terrible death cries echoing down from above. Kelvetta is worried that the four creatures she’s seen in the past week or so will return: a hideous moon-beast carrying a large woodwind, the two blood-spattered female twins, and a dark-skinned woman with narrow eyes. Kelvetta is certain that the twins are not human, and she suspects that the woman might be a monster in human guise.
Ciprian and Armania assure Kelvetta and Deanni that the group dispatched all of those creatures. Also relating that the dark skinned woman was a dragon. After getting assurance that the prisoners were not going to run or try and injure the group, they were manacled and strait-jacketed and the whole group headed to the paddock hoping the Shantak was still there.
"Hurry, we are running out of time. I need to return before Weiralai finds that I came here against her orders," the Shantak exclaimed. The whole group jumped into the Howdah, there was no room left as they took off for the Dreamlands.
Again the trip took ten hours during which the group slept and the spell casters memorized new spells. When arriving at the Caravansarai, the group quickly looked around, only Mister Wanderlust was still evident trying to decipher the ledgers in the Bookkeepers Office. After getting assurance from the Yellow King that he would look after Kelvetta and Deanni, the group woke up on the Sellen Starling.
Erevel had awoken earlier and Skywin immediately inquired as to her status as she had been out for two days. Erevel assured Skywin that she was fine and that the others would be following any time soon. After another day, the rest of the party awakens on board the Sellen Starling. Feeling rather good the party then continues examining the books and papers of Lowls for clues about the Mad Poet. Ciprian finished his study of the Pnakotic Manuscripts. He was still digesting the new information as night began to fall. The party, energized to head out and meet the Mad Poet, started the Ritual as soon as possible.
Completion of the Ritual led the group once again to the HOT desert surrounding the Caravansarai during the day. As they began to enter, the main gate, the Yellow King, apparently waiting for them called out from the Guard Post.
"Welcome back, are you ready to travel to the Oasis?"
"We would like to identify some items before we leave," Ciprian replied.
"Let us retire to the shop then," said the Yellow King as he entered the building once again.
The group identified the Gem as a Chaos Emerald, the composite longbow was +1, the arrows were searing arrows, and the last item was an efficient quiver.
The Yellow King produced seven hollow gourds, each stoppered and filled with a briny fluid. He explained that each gourd contained a potion of endure elements to make the walk through the desert more pleasant. The Yellow King then led the PCs away from the Forsaken Caravanserai. The heroes drank the potions and followed the him into the heat of the desert.
The Yellow King appeared nervous and talkative throughout the journey, asking the PCs about their dream quests and repeatedly insisting that their gifts were certain to be sufficient. Clearly intimidated by the Mad Poet, he encouraged the PCs to be polite and respectful to one of the most powerful beings in the Dreamlands. After six hours, just before the PCs crest a large dune, the Yellow King informed the group that the Mad Poet’s oasis lay ahead. He refused to accompany the heroes further, but reassured them that he’d wait for them here.
At the top of the dune, the group saw a glistening pool in a valley between three dunes. A small wooden hut stood near the water, and an immense tree shaded the pool and the hut, with large, lumpy fruits hanging near the ground.
DM's Notes: The group earned 4,267 XP for the night and now have 97,688 XP requiring 7,312 more to reach 10th level.
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