Today's session was primarily one of tying up loose ends and role-playing.

The game began with the party having just limped back to town after surviving the twin ambushes of the remaining khaasta. (Well, three characters were limping, at any rate.) Given the slightly damaged nature of the group, the party decided to spend one more day in Crux, so they could heal up before hiking across a dead prime world and back to Sigil (and thus finally back to Heliopolis). During this extra time, Que offered to Identify the wand that Rusteen had "loaned" to Jack in order to see how many charges were left. The normally precise gnome was only able to offer up an approximate range (18-25). It was also during this time, with the impending arrival in a "real" city, that Shazarr was finally convinced to divy up the funds he obtained from the sale of the party's stolen art objects.

DM Note: All characters received 875 cage. Although there were rumors that Shazarr and/or Twig wanted to divide the money somewhat unequally based on who carried what, neither player was present to formalize the decision. So, to speed things along and not leave the task for a long period of time, I just went ahead and divided things equally.

Once rested, the party finally made use of the one portal in Crux and hiked to the portal back to Sigil. The dead prime world merely seemed empty rather than threatening. The sky was a light blue, but sickly purple clouds scudded across the expanse in the constant, chill winds which swept the landscape. The land, primarily rolling plains, were fairly devoid of plant life and nearly all moisture. (Not exactly a desert, but more of the look of a dry lake bed - the cracked earth and dust rather than sand.) It was obvious that the path between the Crux portal and the Sigil port was well travelled, as there was a worn path on the ground, and a set of ruins at the halfway mark had been somewhat maintained to provide a rest stop and shelter from the wind. The portal to Sigil was located in a henge in some nearby hills.

Arriving back in Sigil, the party decided to pause a few hours in order to get some shopping done. Rusteen was finally able to upgrade his armor to something more deserving of his constant place on the front lines (a mithril chain shirt). Most everyone else decided to stock up on some scrolls and (healing) potions. After resupplying, the party then made its way back to the Lower Ward (with a detour to Rusteen's tavern) and the Ubiquitous Wayfarer to finally to take the portal back to Heliopolis.

Once there, the group immediately summoned the road to Gizekhtet and traveled to that city. The party received a hero's welcome, seeing as how they were able to bring back the beauty that had been stolen from several of the realm's citizens. In addition to garnering some goodwill and recognition in town (which may or may not be a good thing as this included coming to the notice of two deities), the party also received a special reward for their success - a talisman that would allow to strike a blow in the name (and with the power) of Horus.

DM Note: Each character has a talsiman. It will allow the wearer to - once - Smite Evil as a paladin of the character's level. The ability, which must be activated before the blow is struck, will allow the character to add their Charisma modifier (if positive) to the attack roll and then deal 1 extra point of damage per character level. (Provided the attack hits, of course.) Activating the talisman is a move-equivelant action, meaning you can attack in the same round you use it, but you are limited to a five-foot step for that round's movement.

After graciously accepting the reward and celebration, the party dragged Twig away from her beer and headed off to the final portion of Heliopolis, Memphiria, so they could finally complete Augustus' mission. Everybody, with the exception of Que, Ginaea, and (surprisingly) Jack, were pretty much bored and not the least bit unsettled. Memphiria is the home of Osiris, the god of the dead. As such, the primary businesses in town were stonecarving and mummification. The vast majority of residents of the burg were the deceased pharoahs and their retinues of serveants from the countless kingdoms which worship the Egyptian pantheon.

This portion of Heliopolis is a somber and chilly land. Although a desert, it is never oppressively hot during the daytime, and quite cold at night. All visitors are encouraged to stay within the borders of the city as the vast wastes of sand are home to undead that, while not evil, would prefer to be left alone. All buildings in the city are carved from white marble and are laid out in strict lines. The central feature of Memphiria is the Sepulcher of Osiris that serves as temple, palace, and tomb for the god. It is seperated from the rest of the town by a massive moat filled with worms and beetles. New petitioners arrive in town on a funeral barge, which rises out of the moat.

Que spent his time seeking wisdom from the many kings, while Ginaea questioned them about their ancestry - and soon got to question their ancestors as well. Jack, once he discovered that in this religion you really do take it with you, managed to find a pharoah who hadn't quite left earthly pleasures behind and engaged in some gambling - and won. The rest of party tried their hand at stonecutting, save Rusteen who decided to try and sabotage the mummification process by dropping some of Ginaea's purple dye into the vat of ritually white linen wrappings. (Somewhere, on some prime world, there is now a single purple mummy that wants Rusteen's soul in revenge.)

After spending the four remaining days in Memphiria of their required two weeks in Heliopolis, the party finally and gratefully returned to Sigil. They headed immediately back to the Civic Festhall to hand off the mimir to Augustus and find out how much money and downtime they'd recieve as a reward. Augustus was quite glad to see the party, as he was growing a bit worried with the party having been gone just over a month. He was also surprised to see the return of Zin, and the appearance of a stranger (Jack). However, he did hand out the minimum bonus to the original six party members, and then proceeded to interview Jack (and the rest of the group), to get a feel for how this new member would change party dynamics and if it would affect his project at all.

DM Note: All characters except for Zin and Jack received 100 cage.

After the interview, and hearing a quick summary of all the additional material that was in the mimir, Augustus declared that it would take him at least one, possibly two, weeks to review all that had been recorded. As such, the party was on its own for that time; the Sensate promised to send word to the Eye of the Beholder (Rusteen's bar) when he had completed the task and had need of them again. With a chance to pursue its own projects, the party agreed to split up for a couple days to take care of personal business before deciding what the group wanted to do now that it was left to its own devices.

Twig decided to take Jack on the "pub tour" of Sigil, while Dr. Fever and Shazarr headed off to check in with the Godsmen and the local art (under)world, respectively. Meanwhile, Ginaea declared that she wished to go back to the mysterious temple that she remembered (and was under quarantine by the Athar). Zin divined that now would be a bad time to visit, so Ginaea, Zin, Rusteen, and Que all visited.

Que and Rusteen stayed outside, and observed an arguement between the Athar guards and a group of Signers degenerate from shouting match to open combat. In the meantime, Zin and Ginaea went inside and search the interior of the temple for clues as to why Ginaea felt she had been here before. Although they found no traces of any occupation, the pair of githzerai did find some odd clues as to the origins of the temple. Ginaea found some faded carvings that she couldn't read, while Zin examined a quintet of some odd stones that were used in the construction of the walls of the temple.

Ginaea made a rubbing of the writing and brought it out to Rusteen so he could translate it. The message revealed that the temple was something of a monument to a god of wind and rain known as Badir. The tone was such that it was implied that the temple had been built by the last of the god's followers before they and their deity perished. Zin, for his part, concluded that the five stone slabs were somehow part of the dead god's flesh as well as each being some kind of odd portal.

This is where we ended for the night. When the game continues, we will find out which characters want to pursue their personal sub-plots on their own, and which wish to drag the rest of the party along for the ride.

Authored by: Ken Lipka E-mail me: krlipka@yahoo.com

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