5/4 session recap and awards

The party was about ready to head into the desert when Rhin received a sigil message from Siala (cee-ah-la) saying she was at the desert teleportation circle waiting to join them. Rhin and Rockaneeshoo teleported without mishap to the circle, and proceeded to question the poor pixie a little. They also fired a magic missile into her, just to make sure that she was a real minion.

She said that Zana, Jiyoomenath's spy master, had sent her. Apparently Zana thinks that Jiyoomenath is acting somewhat oddly since his return. Also, Calathinius was given a full pardon and was now out on his own. No one knows where he is at the moment.

Continuing with their current mission, the party decided to track the next northward-bound orc patrol in order to find out what's so interesting to the orcs up there. They endured a hot day in the scorching desert by using the extradimensional rug as a lean-to tent, and Rhin buried himself in sand. The heat was still intense, so Enli called upon Ibenaikad to gift them with drizzling rain. Eventually, during the night, they party spotted an orc band heading north. They followed about a mile or so behind for the rest of the night, making about 10 miles progress northward.

Along about daybreak, the orcs seemed to have stopped to camp. Siala scouted ahead, flying high and invisibly. The camp seemed composed of about a dozen orcs, including at least one caster. They were all lounging, and no one seemed to be on watch. As she flew over the camp, however, some sort of spell shot up from below, barely missing her. She dodged two lightning bolts as well, and fled. The rest of the party was alerted by the faint crack of thunder, and jumped up to attack the camp.

As the party slowly approached, one orc looked up and smiled, beckoning them closer. Rather than fall for the same ruse twice, the party charged into combat. Rockaneeshoo conjured up an earth elemental, but it was intercepted by another sand elemental. It was hard for the party to engage their foes initially, for the entire camp seemed to be an illusion. Davinov bellowed for someone to dispel the illusion, which Rockaneeshoo obliged him by doing. The fight lasted longer than it might have otherwise, but once the three casters had been slain, the rest was mop-up work.

After the fight, Rhin mentioned that they might as well just fly northwards, since they were a good 290 miles south from where he saw the first orc party. It was deduced that following new packs of orcs would take weeks of overland travel in a hot desert, which no one really wanted to do.

For a good session of roleplaying and teamwork, everyone gets 1500 xp.