In this case, the bug zaps you. Here's last time.
The heroes camp in the desert in southwestern Joktan. The slaves - now free men - bed down as best they can, what with the gaping wounds that a bunch of them have, and the five heroes (four PCs plus Masamba) sit around the fire and talk.
Akala and Eithne realize where they've met - Yallock, nearly 15 years back. Akala also looks at a scarab carcass and considers what these beasties were really doing, and comes up with an explanation no one likes. The bugs can rip apart the bodies of anyone marked with the Khemit slave brand, and then reform those bodies somewhere else (say, back in the slave pits).
Thanos opines that death would be preferable to returning to servitude in such a manner, and he and Eithne think about how to correct this. Eithne tried to remove the brands from a couple of slaves before, but she wasn't quite powerful enough to make it work. With Thanos' help, though...
They find a volunteer amongst the slaves (rather, choose one from the several who are willing) and combine their magic, removing the magic and then the disfigurement. The slave touches his now-smooth face and weeps with joy, waking the others slaves and proclaiming his loyalty to "the Liberators!" Eithne and Thanos decide to work a much bigger spell, removing the brands from all of the slaves present, including Thanos (he tears his away, however, in deference to his dark magic, leaving him more scarred than before).
As everyone celebrates, they hear a slave scream. A huge millipede-like creature has come out of the dark, and is trying to drag the poor man away! The heroes leap into action!
Imani jumps forward and pins the creature to the ground with her spear. Masamba follows, jabbing at its face. Akala takes to the air, scouting the area around, and notices that the creature's antennae are crackling with electricity. She sees similar lights in the distance - this thing might hunt alone, but it's not the only one out there.
Eithne calls up a handful of fire and hurls it at the monster, and Thanos attempts to use magic to rip its exoskeleton open, but his spell fails him. The creature rears back and hurls lightning at Eithne and Thanos, singeing them a bit. Akala bounces her chakram off it, and Imani attempts to decapitate it with her mong, but it body-checks her and knocks her away. Masamba stabs it again and Eithne conjures a shield around herself and Thanos to repel lightning.
And a good thing, too! The beast blasts them again, but the shield stops the bolt. Thanos flings a white blast of fire at it, and Masamba stabs it again and yells to Imani, "You all right over there?"
"I'll dust myself off, don't you worry," she snorts, and charges the bug. She impales it on her horns, killing, and tosses it triumphantly into the sand. The slaves cheer, and Akala looks off into the desert, but sees nothing threatening.
In the morning, the heroes consider their next move. Akala and Thanos feel that they have pretty much quit their mission for the Pharoah, so they don't feel compelled to go to Saba. Imani mentions that she really wants to topple the Queen of Gorgos and install her wife as ruler, there. Akala isn't crazy about fighting snakes, but maybe it's better if you know where the snakes are?
The heroes decide to get back on their boat, sail back to Kashta, and then head through Kush to Nubia to deliver the black sand to the Mercenary Queen. But that will be their next adventure!
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