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Run Dog, Run

[North Central Basin, Scupi Province Sheus(9) 1024]

You spend a night and day in Brogine’s temple ruins with no more visions. The writing is a dialect of Elder Pelosian. Ian dubs the place Ruins of the Elders. Searching about you discover other ruined bldgs and a several underground areas. Exploring those you encounter and defeat constructs, elementals conjured by traps, and a nest of nasty giant desert hornets. You discover several bits of magical loot and a small pile of valuable junk.

You follow hyena men tracks to a camp. A “war” camp as it temporary and contains only fighting males. Having surprise and concocting an excellent plan you assault the camp and slaughter far more than you number. One dog is captured alive but refuses to speak. After much persuasion it is discovered it speaks Khemish with a thick accent. “Kill me now soft pigs for the pack won’t take me back with your stench on me.” Asked if his pack was the one that captured you. “No pigs, that was not us. Let me lead you to them so that they can feast on your pink flesh.” What are you doing here “Other than being tortured by pigs? Ugh, this is our land. We fight other packs and we run down tasty cattle like you.” How do you know Khemish “They don’t taste as good but one can’t always find juicy pink pigs to gnaw on.” Asked about pack size/location other tactically useful information he is silent and soon succumbs to over persuasion.

Over the next week you chase and slay every hyena men group you can track down. You never find any settlements or signs of females, young. That night Tariq laying awake thinking of home when he spies a lucky falling star. Before he is done making a wish he sees another and another. Ian on watch notices too. Then they both hear a thump. Turning around they see more stars falling. Several blaze across the sky and impact with thumps or small explosions. Soon dozens of firery rocks are raining from the sky. Some of your equipment catches fire including a camel! You all get burned or knocked down from near misses and hits by smaller bits. A few moments later it is over. The bright streaks of fire replaced with the flicking glow of your burning stuff.

Djinn convinces the rest to head south into the center of the Basin. He’s wants to hunt these Ashworms he has heard of. This is the worst part of the basin, dry, hot, desolate. South of the road it turns into salt flats and that is where you find some trails which Djinn tracks to an Ashworm. Which ends up not being a challenge when peppered with bows and spells from camelback. While Qazir does his ritual and samples a morsel or two Ian notices a strange deposit. Djinn says that it’s a dragon turd. Qazir confirms this and after brief examination guesses it to be from a black dragon, a large one. Probably there is a salt marsh further south and it makes its home there. The group is unanimous in making haste North and then along the road to Scupi where you trade with a very dangerous looking Ka’im, Mubak, (someone Qazir knows?). Exchanging the junk found in the ruins for a hefty sack of gold, no questions asked.