08/09/2025 – Gryff’s Pub – Alma’s Mercs

Summary

Alma’s Mercenaries found themselves traveling through the Osirion desert with a small merchant caravan. Their journey led them to the Sultan’s Claw oasis, where they discovered another, more opulent caravan in chaos. One of its wagons was ablaze, and the party sprang into action. While Volk kicked sand on the flames, the intrepid archaeologist Yurf learned the camp’s seer was trapped inside and heroically leaped through a window. With Ithakhan’s help, he pulled out the body of the seer, Elowas, only to discover he hadn’t died in the fire, but from a fatal blow to the back of the head.

As Ku performed last rites, Thorak wrangled the camp’s stampeding goats, a panic seemingly caused by a mischievous, bad-luck-inducing creature called a Pugwampi that he spotted nearby. The party’s heroics caught the attention of Alma, the elegant elven leader of the second caravan. Gaining their trust after they discovered her own guide, the foul-smelling Dakshi, was a cruel but alibied suspect in the murder, she hired the group for a new mission: to clear the nearby Monastery of St. Vardishal.

The ancient monastery held many secrets. Behind a desecrated statue, the party found a hidden passage leading to a defiled meditation chamber where they were ambushed by vicious stingbats. Deeper still, they entered an alchemical laboratory and battled a green slime that psychically shared a vision of a hidden treasure before it was cleverly dispatched by Yurf. Following the vision’s clues and the path of another murdered monk, they explored the monastery’s courtyard. There, they fought off a giant desert vulture, stole its eggs, and unearthed a powerful magic gauntlet named Tempest. As Ithakhan donned the artifact, a voice whispered from within, promising power when the time for battle arrived.

OUTLINE:

The Burning Wagon

• The party arrived at the Sultan’s Claw oasis to find a caravan in chaos with a wagon on fire.
• They rushed to help, with Volk kicking sand on the fire and Thorak attempting to round up stampeding goats.
• Yurf learned the caravan’s seer, Elowas, was inside and jumped through a window to retrieve him.
• The party discovered Elowas was already dead, murdered by a blow to the head.

An Unsavory Alliance

• The party met Alma, the elven leader of the caravan, and her unsettling guide, Dakshi.
• They investigated the murder, learning Dakshi had an alibi but was a cruel and obsessive man.
• Alma hired the party, buying out their old contract, to clear the nearby Monastery of St. Bardashal.
• Thorak spotted a Pugwampi, a creature of bad luck, which likely caused the chaos and his wagon’s broken axle.

Secrets of the Monastery

• The party entered the ruined Monastery of St. Vardishal to begin their mission.
• Yurf discovered a secret passage behind a large statue, leading into the monastery’s depths.
• They fought and killed three vicious “stingbats” in a defiled meditation chamber.
• In a hidden chapel, they found another secret passage behind a pivoting statue, leading down into a laboratory.

The Ooze and the Vision

• In the underground alchemical lab, the party was attacked by a large green slime.
• When hit with slashing damage, the slime split into two smaller oozes.
• The ooze knocked Ithakhan unconscious, giving him and Ku a psychic vision of a monk hiding an item in a courtyard.
• Yurf cleverly used a flask of alkali powder to destroy the slimes and Ku healed Ithakhan.

The Vulture’s Nest

• The party battled a pony-sized black widow spider and were harassed by fleeing Pugwampis.
• They located the central courtyard from their vision, which contained a giant vulture’s nest.
• They fought off the mother vulture (a Gyre) when it attacked.
• Yurf and Ku stole the vulture’s eggs, and the party dug to find the hidden item: a magical gauntlet named Tempest, which Ithakhan claimed.

NPCs:

• Alma: A young, attractive elven merchant leading a caravan through Osirion. She is well-spoken, wealthy, and becomes the party’s new patron.
• Dakshi: A foul-smelling and unsettling human caravan guide hired by Alma. He is an expert on hunting gnolls and is creepily obsessed with Alma.
• Elowas: Alma’s Harrower (a type of seer) who was found murdered in his burning wagon. His death is the catalyst for the party joining Alma.
• Pugwampi: A small, mischievous creature resembling a kobold-chihuahua cross. They have an aura of bad luck that causes misfortune to those nearby.
• Zarsteron: An older human herbalist and lay priest of Nethys traveling with Alma’s caravan. He attempted to read the Harrow Deck and suffered a magical backlash.

LOCATIONS:

• Kelmarin: A ruined village that was wiped out by a gnoll horde. Alma plans to use the monastery as a base to drive the gnolls from these ruins.
• Monastery of St. Vardishal: A forlorn and ancient monastery of Osiris, now in ruins. The party has been tasked with clearing it of its monstrous inhabitants.
• Sultan’s Claw: An oasis in the northern desert of Osirion, distinguished by five massive trees that resemble a claw reaching from the sand.

ITEMS:

• Alkali Flask: A flask containing a chemical powder recovered from the alchemist’s lab. It is particularly effective against oozes and other slimy creatures.
• Gyre Egg: A watermelon-sized egg laid by a giant desert vulture. Ku and Yurf each claimed one, hoping to hatch them.
• Harrow Deck: A deck of divination cards, similar to a tarot deck, that belonged to the murdered seer, Elowas. Ku has begun to learn to read them.
• Masterwork Mace: A finely crafted but non-magical mace taken from the body of a dead monk in the monastery’s crypt. It provides a +1 bonus to attack rolls.
• Tempest: A magical steel gauntlet bearing the symbol of Osiris. It grants its wearer a +1 to attack and damage with their chosen melee weapon.