5/19/2024: Wherein Centaurs Get Their Butts Munched by Hounds, Kholtar is Abandoned, and We Fight a Viper
Location(s): Ahevar, Kholtar
NPCs: Centaurs, Amara Caro, Tannis, Ifrit, Yasmin
Loot: Viper fangs and venom sac
Summary:
The main centaur is Ecrom, his brother Ephron, and his niece Isani (he calls her Sanjala, which means chief to be). UMatayu is one of the merchant centaurs. They carry small wooden rods that are carved with their identification and accomplishments.
We bring the wounded and blighted centaurs to the house of purification (#24) and Amara heals them. We then go to Bear’s Head to eat, and summon Tannis to greet the centaurs (who she knows).
They had been out hunting horned beasts (brown dragons gone mad). They said only one brown dragon (Mijeeto) has stayed sane and lives deep underground. The rest of them are inbred and stunted, but still large to us.
The centaurs tell us that Kholtar is empty and that everyone has left. The gates are locked. Footprints led east towards the Rift. He offers to travel with us to the Rift if we would like. Kholtar was inhabited 3 months ago, so it had to have happened since then.
UMatayu sells many Jahru grass goods, dragon pearls, etc.. They also tell us that there are many Moon’s Eye in the Shaar (blue stones with white striations that can be fist-sized), and they seem to be valuable and they use them as currency. Horned beasts tend to get them to rise to the surface when they come up from a burrow. The Jahru grass armor is 3 times lighter and 3 times more expensive.
Full night’s rest.
FYI: Legendary Actions - some higher level creatures have legendary actions, which means they can attack out of turn order.
In the morning we set out to Kholtar to investigate, along with Ecrom, Ephron, and Isani. A ways out, Ecrom lets us know that we are being hunted by a large viper, maybe a constrictor of some kind. A Rift Viper? We defeat it and keep traveling to Kholtar. (The fangs and venom sac were offered to Cedwin - did he accept it?)
We approach Kholtar and see what appears to be a large black plume of smoke above the city/fort. Something black is burning things in the city. Ta’an uses his spyglass and sees a large-sized bat and a purple-robed, red-haired woman riding it. We tell the centaurs about our former experiences with them. The centaurs rush towards the city to kill the woman, as they bear scars from a previous encounter with her.
Next time: Fight stuff in Kholtar?