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SyDarkSun

2-7

Characters
Name Level Played by XP
Channe 2 DM – 1
Kindrok 2 Anthony 387
Korvin 2 Anthony 387
Quistine Silentall 2 Sarah 387
Vistna the Clanless 2 Kevin 387
Will of the Wastes 2 DM – 1

1 did not participate in any encounters.

Darom madar cover

Following the battle with the kestrekels, Quistine Silentall investigated Ulieth’s remains for signs of foul play and to attempt to determine whether the party remained in danger. She discovered he had been dead for a couple of days and saw tracks leading back toward Altaruk. One, perhaps more, villains fled with long strides toward Altaruk—perhaps these were elves avenging the ambush of Kaldras, presumed Quistine. Vistna set off at a quick pace, ignoring the investigations of Quistine and the others. A group of skiffs led by Rhotan Vor overtook the party as they joined with Vistna, and Rhotan had a proposition for the travelers: aid him in finding a possible treasure and the adventurers can have their choice of the spoils. In addition to first pick, the adventurers are to receive ten percent of the treasure on the caravans safe arrival in Tyr. Korvin, Kindrock and Vistna instantly jumped to assent, while Quistine, The Will and Channe go along grudgingly. The party set out with Rhotan and his skiffs towards Silver Spring. As they travel Rhotan fills Korvin and Vistna in on the tale of the fabled treasure they are seeking:

“There is,” Rhotan holds forth, "bitter and often bloody rivalry between the great merchant houses plying their trades within the vast city states of the Tyr region. The often unscrupulous (myself and House Wavir excluded, of course) members of these hereditary merchant consortiums sell anything and everything from food, water, and other survival essentials to humanoid slaves fit for serving in a noble estate or fighting and dying in the arena.
“Occasionally, two merchant houses become successful and wealthy selling the same goods. This usually leads to a bloody war between houses for control of the commodity in question. So it was centuries ago with houses Madar and Tsalaxa. Both houses controlled the majority of the livestock trade in the Tablelands, where they dealt in the finest specimens of erdlu, kank, and mekillot. House Madar, led by the clever and even-tempered Darom Madar, was content to share the marketplace with their primary competitor. Virinus Tsalaxa, a twisted defiler and elder of House Tsalaxa, was not about to share the wealth with anyone.
“Determined to control the livestock trade absolutely, House Tsalaxa used a large portion of its considerable wealth to hire skilled assassins. House Madar was completely unprepared for such aggression, and by the time it managed to organize even a semblance of defense, half their number had been methodically exterminated. By destroying House Madar, Virinus Tsalaxa eliminated his sole competition in the livestock trade. He hoped to go beyond that and gain control of House Madar’s considerable wealth.
“Even though Darom Madar could not prevent Virinus from accomplishing his first goal, the leader of House Madar was dead set on preventing his villainous rival from accomplishing the second.
“Mobilizing what remained of his house, Darom Madar had every bit of material wealth taken from the Madar Estate and hidden somewhere in the Tablelands. Soon after, Tsalaxa assassins killed Darom Madar and everyone else of his house, and his line ended. Knowledge of the secret treasure vault’s location died with House Madar and has remained a secret over the centuries…until now, that is.”

Rhotan goes on to explain that he has recently come into possession of some very valuable information. In Balic, he encountered a drunken human in a seedy tavern who claimed to be a descendant of Darom Madar, the last elder of the long-dead Madar merchant house. In addition, the man claimed to know the location of Darom Madar’s treasure vault, which he offered to Rhotan for the sum of 30 gp. Rhotan is no fool, but 30 gp seemed a small price to pay for what could be the location of one of the greatest lost treasures of Athas.

Although the man did not know the exact location of the treasure vault, he told Rhotan that it lay within the Canyon of Guthay near the alluvial sand wastes in the Tablelands east of Tyr. The vault is rumored to contain vast wealth, from metal coins, armor, and weapons to priceless artifacts dating from Athas’ more verdant past.

Rhotan asks the characters to search the Canyon of Guthay and ascertain if the vault exists. If it does, it undoubtedly holds more wealth than the characters can hope to carry away themselves. Therefore, Rhotan offers the characters their pick of any treasure the vault may contain plus a 10 percent share once the remainder of the goods and artifacts are sold in Tyr, Rhotan’s next destination.

Along with this tale, Rhotan gives Vistna and Korvin a letter in elvish, which they attempt to decipher together as the party continues on in the direction of Silver Spring. After some difficulty, they manage to make out that someone named Ravee has been killed by the Toothcutters, but no more information can be deciphered. After a long day of travel, in which the party avoided what may or may not have been bandits wearing red sashes at a roadside oasis, the group stops to camp over night.

In the middle of the night a loud warning cry quickly raised all the travelers from much needed rest. Vistna the Clanless leaps to the front of the battle while Quistine Silentall encamps herself on a high rock and answers the flurry of arrows with a rain of her own. Vistna and Quistine force the riders to flee and the elves focus their attacks on Korvin instead. Kindrock rends one of the elves’ legs from his body and sends a river of blood over the night-cooled sand. One foe in particular defiles the land around him and does some fairly major damage to Korvin, but none of the party falls in battle and they successfully chase the intruders away and keep the caravan safe.

The next morning the adventurers journeyed on, narrowly avoiding dangers on the road. Korvin attempts to find Toramund in Silver Spring, but Vistna grabs the guide by the throat and attains aid through violence and intimidation. The elven guide leads the party through confusing tunnels and passageways to a small room and tells the party to wait. Not surprisingly, the elves attack the intruders, but the first attack is less than problematic. The dune-striders, though, hurt Korvin substantially and Kindrock answers with massive violence felling a sinper. The battle rages on and Quistine and Korvin dispatch the peddler as the two remaining elves disappear into the shadows. Quistine wakes the unconscious elf, and the party seeks knowledge as to the whereabouts of Toramund.

Posted by Soarcha83

Quests

New

Lost Treasure (major quest): Find the vault of Darom Madar.
Elven Relations (minor quest): Deliver Iseel’s message to Toramund.

Ongoing

Wasteland Outcasts
Enchanted Amulets

Rewards

Dead Elf skill challenge: 125 XP
Across the Tablelands: 200 XP
Wasteland Assassins: 700 XP
Never Intimidate an Elf: 525 XP