Back in the sandals, holdin' the sword. Wooo! Here's last time.
The heroes have left Joktan and sailed back across the Red Sea to Kush. They stop in Kashta and sell the Agony, using the money to clothe and equip their entourage of former slaves. From there, they start heading into Kush, walking the border between the desert and the grassy plains.
The journey isn't necessarily uneventful. Back in Joktan, Thanos sees vultures feasting on a corpse, and sees this a dire portent of things to come. On the journey, Akala strikes up a conversation with one of the former slaves, a man named Turaku, who, like her, is from Mu. They talk about the home they've left and cannot return to, though neither discusses their reasons. Imani notices hawk symbols etched into rocks and trees as they travel, and realizes that an enemy of hers from Khemit, an owl-man named Cheech, is tracking them. She warns the others that he might swoop down on them at any moment (but he's probably too smart to attack them when they're all together).
As they're traveling through Kush, Thanos' jackal companion Thanatos sniffs the air, and Thanos follows suit. He smells smoke, and informs the others. Imani notes that they're downwind of the smell and wets a cloth to breathe through, and Akala flies up and searches for the fire. She finds it - a brushfire is raging out of control and headed straight for them from the west.
Eithne tries to cast a spell to create a firebreak between them and the blaze, but the spell goes horribly awry and backfires as a blast of heat. It heats up their metal objects, and all of them have to quickly cast down their weapons (Akala also loses a bunch of very valuable jewelry). The horses rear up, and most of the characters keep them under control, but Akala loses control of Jago (her horse), and he carries her away into the desert.
Imani rallies the entourage and gets them to run away from the fire. Eithne chokes on a bit of smoke, but they manage to get into the desert without much incident. Akala, who's finally manage to calm Jago down, sees that she's standing on a trail and waves the others over. Imani studies the trail and notes that caravans must use it, meaning it probably leads to a settlement. Since they're all thirsty and exhausted, they follow the trail.
It leads to a settlement built up around an oasis. Akala notes that the settlement has been built out over time, and oasis is in the center of the settlement. The heroes find a livery and board their horses, and ask the boy there where they might find lodging. "All of you?" he says, and Imani asks for a place to camp. He tells them they can camp outside the town anywhere they like (but he recommends the western side). Masamba offers to take the entourage there and set up camp, while the heroes can get rooms at the inn.
They get to the inn and ask for water, wine, and food, in that order. The server brings them water that tastes oddly but pleasantly sweet, and is strangely filling. They ask, and the server says that the oasis water has always been like that - the locals of this settlement, called Deshdara, consider it a blessing from the gods.
Thanos asks about the bazaar - it seemed a little sparse to him. The server tells them that Deshdara has grown a little too big for itself, and now it's experiencing some growing pains. She tells them that Ashmerata, the magistrate of the town, is working to make sure it grows in the ways it needs to and doesn't overtax the oasis.
The heroes eat and then rent rooms, and collapse from exhaustion.
The next morning, they go to the oasis. It's smaller than they expected, but they buy some of the water and take it out to their camp. From there, they decide to split up. Akala and Eithne go to meet Ashmerata, while Thanos and Imani go to the bazaar (Imani lost her mong in the fire and wants to buy a new weapon).
Akala and Eithne wander around a bit, asking after the magistrate, and then learn that she's heading out to the camp at the edge of town. They go to meet her and find her talking with Masamba (who's glad to have Akala here to answer questions). Ashmerata is very hospitable, she just wanted to see who these people were. The heroes ask about the folks with slave brands they've seen, and Ashmerata says that they don't allow slavery here - some of the first folks to start building here were escaped slaves. Akala asks if she's not worried about Khemit coming to get them, and Ashmerata says that they're far enough into Kush that it would be a serious incident if Khemit tried. Eithne asks if there's a story about the oasis, and Ashmerata says there are several, but the one she likes is that it's blessed by Atargatis, the Mistress of the Desert, a goddess worshiped by the Turani.
They find a weapons dealer in the bazaar and Thanos buys a gladius; he's planning on becoming more proficient with a blade. Imani buys a replacement mong. The others catch up with them, and buy weapons as well - Eithne buys a kukri and Akala buys a pair of chakram. Re-armed, the heroes buy some bread and other foodstuffs and head out to camp to eat with their people.
Next time, more of this pleasant diversion in Deshdara.
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