I’d rather not talk about the sausage casings incident. Not without a good few pints of decent ale in me anyway.

We land on the unfamiliar shores of the Desert of Nume after riding out a storm safely propelled by Cassil – in shark form. The problem with storms is that unless you’re a god, there is not much you can do about them. Guess they are good reminders of our humanity and the vanity of our self-delusions. I digress.

Upon waking up, we are informed that a member of the sailing crew has disappeared. Matteo is missing along with some supplies. He has been with the crew for the past 5 years. Average in height and build, he has an anchor tattoo on his arm and is a dark-skinned human.

As the now canon “investigation team”, we offer our services to find the whereabouts of the sailor. Ryden seems also determined to pick up some wood to fix up the boat.

Around the guarding post where Matteo was last seen, Cassil identifies the footprints as belonging to Gnolls. We follow their extremely clear footprints in the sand. They lead us – uninterrupted – to an extremely narrow path, down a closed gorge.
I didn’t fall off the turnip wagon so let me tell you something. I know an obvious trap setting when I see one. And as is often the case, I am not wrong.

It reminded me of this time when my company was tracking down this gnome monk. He led us straight in what we referred to afterwards as the ultimate throat-slitter. I think we lost 4 companions that day. To a rookie’s mistake. I am sure you’d like to hear the specifics and let me put your mind at ease, I will tell you the story, I will write the story as a footnote to this one.

With a little nudge from Cassil’s arts, we become as silent as … I have never been really. A pool of tar blocks our path. Again Cassil provides means for us to walk on it as it was solid. I mean I trust entirely but there is a nagging feeling inside me that I am going to fall any second now into the hot pool of viscosity below my feet.

We spot a sniggering gnoll mounting guard behind a rock. A battle ensues. We meet lovely hyena pets and interesting tactics from pretty violent opponents. Ryden rolls with extreme panache behind a rock next to the leader. Unlike me earlier, their leader seem pretty confident his minions can walk on tar. Them rushing down this pit and getting stuck helps speed our victory up.

Ryden has taken the leader on his own and decides to chop off his head. Around the neck of the creature, he finds a necklace. After careful examination, this trinket holds an amulet from which an unusual mix of abjuration and conjuration magic emanates. The amulet is a crystal with a core of blue – probably where the magic originates – and two silver-coloured metal prongs sticking on either side. The team decides I should be the one keeping it and so I do. We find Matteo along with the supplies which we return in due form to the captain. We are awarded 1 week’s worth of supplies and sent on our way.

We spend 2 days walking in the desert. We reach a square fortress in the middle of the desert surmounted by a pyramid. What a strange-looking building. We get distracted by Cassil spotting a flying monkey made of stone hopping about. The fortress is surrounded by a number of building in ruins. The one that looks the most intact draws our attention.

Behind a clever system, involving a wheel to open the door we find shrunk corpses upon shrunk corpses. Very notably, one of them is not a species any of us can recognise. Touching these bodies only result in them being reduced to dust. The same goes for any of the books on the shelves. I destroy one titled “History of the early emperors of Nuume”.

In the middle of the room, a plinth stands – from which emanates some illusion magic. Behind a metal panel, we find a hole the shape of which I identify as being very similar to the necklace I am wearing. Inserting the amulet in the hole results in the face of a woman appearing in the air and offering information about the capital of Nuume.