Barismoor Excursion II
A recounting of the sanctioned excursions to recover lost Barismoor from the blight of daemons in the southron wastes.
Calendar: Seedling Monath, 25th Dia
At the direction of Spreggle-Shar Wizard of the Obsidian Order, and 3rd Apprentice to Majorus of Arised, has opened a portal from Olmshire to Barismoor once again to explore the wasteland of a city.
The mission was to gain basic knowledge of the wards at the Library of Echoing Pages, however, the team did not reach it.
Etta of the Northern Plainsfolk, Jin, a frogkin from Greenwood, and Heimn an Aelheim Starlight Cleric, entered the city through the anchored portal. Again Etta was spoken to by the entity.
Etta: Entered through the main room of Bastion. The Ominous Voice sand elemental spoke again. It asked the group if we were to be it's betrothed. We declined. It also stated it has been called "Dust" by others.
We did not see the dragon I saw last time I was here.
We moved from the Bastion towards the Seclusium through the center of the ruins. We were attacked by a 5-limbed creature that hid below the sand. We drove it off and moved to climb the dune. It was slow going, the sand of the dune is loose, unpredictable, and the hidden rubble… a tripping hazard.
Once we had moved down the opposite side of the dune we encountered a snubbed-nosed beast about 5 feet wide and ten feet long. It moves very quickly through the sand. Once battered it went back into the dune.
Our portal was becoming unstable so the group went back to the Bastion.
We are making inquiries, we need to know how to move more quickly through the sand.
Heimn: As we were warned, there’s too much sand. Portal anchor site is occupied; consider relocating? Perhaps if the alleged scavengers have a more stable encampment they’d be willing to share? (Equally likely that they’ll be unwilling to leave witnesses and sharing will be a moot point)
Entity at anchor site said “Those who seek me call me the Dust”; this sounds familiar. See if Spreggle has some reference tomes, or if there’s an accessible library (ideally in a non-sandy area) to investigate that title.
Largest impediment was sand and sand-related fauna, notably an angry starfish (hides in the sand, attacks to hunt, can be avoided by staying to rock or solid ground) and a snake-but-kind-of-a-hippo (seems less hostile, but for a hippo-esque value of non hostile).
Of note: alleged scavengers and dragon were nowhere to be seen (so good luck with that, next crew)
Further investigation needed into the creatures of the wastes. There are several alarming sketches thanks to the efforts of Jin.
Jin: Following breakfast, we reported to Spreggle’s portal and made our way through. I placed the crystal indicator /tracker within my scroll case for safe keeping.
In the tower’s entry hall, we were accosted by the voice of an entity called “The Dusts” asking if we were its betrothed. We assured it we were not and were able to move on unbothered. The creature seemed drawn to power and sensed we were users of magic.
We attempted to work our way around the towers cutting close to tower 6 to avoid cutting through the middle. Along the way, we encountered 2 creatures.
1. A sandworm with a toothy maw, 15 feet approximately, 6 hexagonal mouth tentacles
2. A reptilian sand creature, reminiscent of a gator and a hippo.
The first wanted to eat us. We had to fight it off for it to decide we weren’t worth the bother. The second I believe was mostly curious and immediately left when accidentally catching itself in the vines Etta had summoned to pull me after I sank into a sand dune.
Unfortunately, while crossing a dune, we were significantly slowed and I found myself sinking into the sand, causing delays and for Etta, who pull me out through vines. After the fight with the sand creature that was drawn to us, the crystal porta indicator cracked indicating portal instability and we were forced to call the mission short despite being over halfway there. It is possible that the magic energies surrounding the tower with the portal furthered by the Dusts being roused caused that instability. That entities power will have to be taken into account, and hopefully we will requisition sand shoes to help speed us over the sand with fewer issues by next time.