September 16, 2023

Hook

Duat Unfettered I

Plot Synopsis

The party arrives to pick up their commission at a busy Delvers' Guild branch in Soko, and is debriefed by a Guild liaison named Aaliyah Habib, a stern desert sandtail woman. She shows them to a milphite-powered boat known as a duneskiff, capable of both navigating water and floating over sand, and threatens that if the vehicle is lost they will receive no compensation for the job. Otherwise, they are promised six hundred gold a man, as well as the ability to keep a single looted artifact each. Sochi figures out how to drive the duneskiff, and successfully navigates the group out of the busy waters of Soko and into the sands of the Aihtaraq.

About thirty minutes into the desert, the party encounters a desert anomaly: strange shaking patterns appear in the sand, and while Topaz brushes it off as natural occurrence, both Sochi and Alba are greatly disturbed. Sochi speeds up, and upon cresting a dune they can all see that the anomaly is in the shape of an eye that seems to dart around wildlly before watching them with hate.

They continue onwards for several hours through the heat, and are eventually ambushed by a group of desert sandtails that latch onto the duneskiff from below the sand and board. They seem to be after the milphite engine of the skiff, but the party successfully dispatches them. Several are killed, and the rest retreat. During the battle, Sochi and Alba were both knocked out, having visions of the gods directing them towards a many-eyed serpent. A scrap of paper was left from the sandtails, appearing to be a legend of sorts about a similar many-eyed serpent... but no one could read the text.

After dusk, the party heads downhill and reaches a field of sandstone spikes several miles across: the pyramid can be seen in the distance. Eye-shaped anomalies like before are incredibly common here, though they never reach outside the edge of the spike field. The party makes camp for the night, and takes watch (two of them do at least; Alba immediately falls fast asleep). Topaz speaks to a scout group of sandtails from the same tribe, who apologize for the attack and try to convince the party to turn back. He brushes them off. Sochi falls asleep halfway through her watch, having a vision of an office filled with death dossiers and mountains of paperwork. She reaches a desk, where a comforting note to her is written, addressed from Anubis or perhaps Tlayahucoatl - it isn't clear. The scrap of paper from before also appears, translating itself before her eyes. It seems to be a ritual to defeat something named "Apep".

Noteworthy Postgame Events