...And Games!

Once more, curtosy of Kyla Cox!

The temple itself proved a problem for the group at the start. Between spike traps spearing anyone trying to make their way down the main hallway, and a pit trap right smack dab in the middle of the ground, our heroes took a few bumps and bruises along the way. The key to avoiding the danger came from their gladiator friend, Taban. He regaled them with a folk story of a man who caried a crocodile on his back after a deal to cross a river.

Being short of crocodiles, the group improvised the next best thing: Remi standing on Brynne's shoulders. Despite their bickering, the duo managed to solve every puzzle and trap left between them and whatever treasure lurked at the heart of the temple. The first impression wasn't much to look at: a sealed jug of some kind. But it wasn't just a jug. It could create any sort of liquid its owners requested, as Remy found out when she asked for some beer.

Returning outside, the group rummaged through the ruins of Camp Righteous for any more clues on Artus and where he may have gone. The road led only to Camp Vengeance and the military outpost there. They rowed upriver for a few days to the gates of Camp Vengeance in search of answers. All they found was a garrison under siege by the undead and an exhausted group of soldiers.

The commander, a pompous windbag if ever there was one, quicky press-ganged our heroes into serving as a scouting party in the woods. Artus was gone, last seen heading west of the camp and seemingly veryconfident about his ability to survive the jungle alone. The group, in a show of cunning, quickly used their "scouting" mission to also check on the construct they were hunting for Wakanga back at Port Nyanzaru.

After a few mishaps involing giant spiders (and a stegosaurus nearly trampling Brynne during an attempt at befriending it), the group then ran across a Cyclops making his way through the woods. Despite no one speaking Giant (and the cyclops not speaking Common), they did manage to get quite a bit of information from him before he set out to find his family. Namely, a reference to a medusa with a connection to the lost capital city of Omu. The same city Artus had been searching for...

Trouble, however, reared its head when the group managed to locate the construct. It came in the form of a pack of velociraptors. A pack of velociraptors with Pack Tactics. They quickly tore through both Brynne and Jane, and only luck (and the raptors' cowardice at being stabbed) kept them from killing Remy as well.

The group, exhausted from their close brush with death, chose to rest for the night at the construct. They'd found half their prize. Now for the other half...