Tonight was Atlantis! Yay! Here's last time.
The heroes spend a week in the Dabban countryside, resting and lying low. They talk a bit about what they need to do and whether they should stay in Dabba or head to Khem (as was their original plan). Thanos notes that he's not going anywhere until he finds Thanatos, his dog, but Thanatos finds them the next morning. They decide to head down the mountainside, buy some new weapons and armor (since they're not likely to get their old stuff back), and then decide what to do from there.
They enter the outer ring of Cyrene and immediately note that the people aren't the blissed, contented folk they saw before, but rather twitchy and obviously in pain. Withdrawal from the enchanted lotus flower is setting in, apparently. They find a merchant who sells them masks (since they're far too easily identifiable), and as night falls, they head into the center of Cyrene to continue shopping.
They replace their weapons, with a bit of haggling, and Akala and Thanos buy leather vests. Imani commissions a set of armor, but the vendor says it'll be a couple of days. They head for an inn to bed down, but then they see an albatross swooping in.
Eithne notes that the great seabird has flashing green eyes, marking it as a fellow Jinn. It lands and assumes its natural form, and she recognizes him as her cousin, Arcill. Arcill tells her that his father (Eithne's uncle/husband and sworn enemy) is in Khem. He entered the country just before the borders closed, and now a great sandstorm is brewing (Eithne's uncle is known to be a powerful sorcerer with an affinity for storms).
Arcill leaves them, and Eithne relays this to the others. She tells them that they need to head to Khem, that her uncle might be imprisoned or might be in some way responsible for the barrier, but either way he's not going to be happy to see her. They decide to wait until Imani's armor is done, and then get on a boat.
The heroes head off in search of that inn, and they note that the Gallu are being a lot more aggressive than before. Instead of standing around passively, they're loping around the streets almost as if they're hunting, and they're threatening and in some cases grabbing and shaking citizens.
Imani, never one to suffer such behavior gladly, gets up in a Gallu's face. She smells its breath and chokes - cloyingly sweet, and then a blast of rancid garbage - and it punches her in the face. She punches it right back and smashes its nose like a ripe fig, and black blood oozes down its face. Two more Gallu move in, and Eithne and Thanos call upon their magic.
Eithne summons a dagger of ice and hurls it into a Gallu's heart, and Thanos snarls at the other and makes his eyes explode. Both of the Gallu collapse dead, and Akala calls out to the bystanders and points out that the Gallu aren't immortal, and the citizens don't have to be fearful. The citizens are grateful and impressed, but they also beg for lotus. The heroes try to tell them that they don't need the drugs and they can kick the habit - but then they all feel a little tickle in their mouths, nose, or ears. And then they all spit up masses of spiders.
A priest of Tanit steps up behind the and tells the citizenry that Tanit will take care of them, the lotus will flow again, they must only be patient and not listen to these lies. Eithne conjures a ward against the spiders and cleans them off, and the heroes tell the bystanders that any goddess that would silence people trying to help them isn't worth worship. The opinions of the crowd is mixed, at best (yes, spiders are icky, yes, the Gallu are getting more violent, but like, lotus). The priest of Tanit leans in to the characters and tells them that he knows who they are. He tells them to leave Dabba - get on a ship and get out, or else. The heroes were already planning to leave, but Imani tells him that they'll be back.
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