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Our party has been travelling as part of a caravan for many weeks, heading towards The Cinammon Wastes.
Long ago four rival city states, ruled by blood mages and vampires existed here. A final magical war was waged between them and left nothing but a burned wasteland behind.
Eventually adventurers dared to pass the encircling mountains to investigate and found not only artifacts and treasures left behind, but ore affected by the magical forces had become oddly resistant to magic.
This ore, dubbed Otartrill drew in more explorers, merchants, and vagabonds. They resettled the city closest to the mountain pass, Danakil.
A forboding fortress with tall walls and multitudinous towers baring the scars of ancient battles Danakil is now a thriving multicultural city. Ruled by its mysterious and elusive sultan, Zehkhasha the All-Knowing, it is a dangerous place, filled with merchants selling exotic beasts, adventurers, and thieves.
We descended a lush valley of terraced farms through the gates into a hot, loud street filled with the smells of fantastic street food
After parting ways we were all immediately arrested for minor infractions. (I may have hit a merchant after he spat on me while I was denouncing the sin of greed.)
Awaking in our windowless cell the next day we had been chained to each other by the waist joining to a central link so we couldn't move further than 20 feet from each other. Additionally Sora, Naomi, and I had been fitted with bracelets of Otartrill preventing us from using any magical or divine ability.
While I was engaged in a quick spot of morning prayer, the rest of the party was rattling their chains and yelling for justice. Shortly after a sickly looking bald elf arrived with a group of guards and informed us that our trial was to begin shortly.
We were lead out at crossbow point through a series of corridors and soon picked up the roaring of a crowd nearby.
Walking up a ramp towards daylight we entered into a sandy arena surrounded by a moat. Four stone pillars between 10 and 30 feet tall. An unseen announcer declares that we will now battle wild beasts for our freedom. The Otartrill bracelets are removed, but we are left chained together as our guards leave and a gate closes behind them.
Rodney saw a chest on top of the lowest pillar so we awkwardly shuffled over so they could start climbing. Thankfully the pillar was made of large rough stones with many handholds.
As they were climbing, a portcullis grinds open to the west. From the darkness a winged monster with the head of a serpent and a scorpion-like stinger rushed towards us, a wyvern, a lesser, but still dangerous dragon.
To hold the beast at bay while Rodney finished their climb, Sora called upon their draconic ancestry to breath lightning which sucessfully holds it back.
Unfortunately, at that moment, another portcullis opens. Bursting into the arena is a chimera, with the heads of a lion, goat, and dragon. The dragon head was hissing at the wyvern, the lion was fixed on us, and the goat seemed pretty distracted.
I had thankfully been left with my holy symbol, a reliquary holding dust from a saint's tomb. Sadly, I had prepared for the hardships of exploring a desert, not battling deadly creatures.
However, a goat is a goat, no matter what else is attached to it. I called upon Ilmater and created 45lbs of bland, but nourishing foodstuff. Much to the annoyance of the other two heads, the chimera is dragged over to it's meal.
This has given time for Rodney to reach the top of the pillar. Inside the chest is their belongings, grabbing their bow and arrows they kick the chest off the pillar and descend.
Tiring of their bonds, Sora picked up the central link and tried to break it by barbarian strength alone. She didn't completely snap it, but did manage to twist and weaken it. Telling us to brace, they run full pelt and manage to break their own chain off from the linkage.
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