[Pathfinder] Mummy's Mask, part 18: The Voyage of the Golden Ibis

As the Ruby Scarabs prepared to make the journey to the Parched Dunes in search of Chisisek’s tomb, they made a few additional purchases of supplies and discussed whether they should acquire a camel. Uto convinced Sula that it would be worthwhile for her to purchase an enchanted rod that could extend the duration of her spells, and he even loaned her gold for the purchase when she realized that she didn’t have enough left after buying a magic headband for herself and an amulet for Nyema.

In the end the Scarabs concluded that a camel would be an extra complication that they didn’t need. Uto’s magical accouterments would allow him to carry enough water and food, and what he couldn’t carry Sula could find. Sula now had an enchanted ring that would allow her to go without food or water, so she would only need meat for Nyema, and if game was too hard to find she could transform Nyema into a figurine to reduce the lioness’s need for food. Uto could also use his magic to create food and water, removing the necessity to carry more than emergency supplies. When this decision had been made, the other four Scarabs said farewell to their comrade Igby, who had elected not to join them in the desert, and took passage aboard a barge travelling down the River Sphinx to where it met the Crook River, much closer to the Parched Dunes.

The barge was called the Golden Ibis, and much to their surprise it was drawn by two giant ibises walking along the riverbank, while a second team of the huge birds rested in a nest at the rear of the vessel. The Golden Ibis had three levels of decks, with a common area for passengers on the upper deck and passenger cabins below, above the cargo deck. The upper deck also played home to passengers who didn’t want to pay 12 gold pieces per night for a cabin, and various livestock. Azzaria, Sula, and Uto elected to spread their bedrolls on the upper deck, while Kaa chose to pay extra for a cabin. Sula had learned from their trip on the ferry to Tephu that lions were not welcome on boats, and she transformed Nyema and carried her companion in her belt pouch for the journey.

Their voyage was interrupted on the first night after departing from Tephu. The Scarabs were awakened by cries of alarm and the smell of smoke. Those sleeping on the upper deck also heard something flying overhead. As soon as they were awake they could see multiple golden-masked figures climbing over the sides of the barge. One of these figures immediately cast a spell that enveloped a large section of the upper deck in frigid cold. Kaa climbed up out of the passenger deck to find himself facing two of the cultists not far from the flames that were already spreading from the stern. A third cultists appeared nearby. Sula had run out from under the cover over the deck to see a large creature that resembled a cross between a lion and a falcon hovering overhead. This creature flew toward the bow of the barge and emitted a piercing scream that left her deafened. Without a ranged weapon to fire on it, she elected to turn and attack the nearest cultist. Azzaria engaged with two more cultists near the prow of the barge, while Uto contended with the spellcaster who had created the cold.

Uto donned the Forgotten Pharaoh’s mask and its eyes glowed red as he directed its magic toward the cultist mage. But the magic didn’t appear to affect the mage, who vanished, then reappeared an instant later in a different spot closer to where Uto stood. Azzaria slew one of her foes with her mace, and when he fell the man suddenly burst into flames and exploded, turning to ash in a moment.

Realizing that the mask’s power seemed to have little effect on the spellcaster, Uto moved toward another cultist near the center of the upper deck and directed the mask at him. The flying creature, which Azzaria recognized as a type of sphinx, flew toward the bow and let out another screech, panicking the ibises. The boat rocked as the birds tried to flee, forcing their handler to set them loose else their struggles might overturn the vessel. Passengers began to leap overboard to escape. The cultist wizard aimed a bolt of lightning at Uto. Azzaria had dispatched both of her opponents and now ran down the steps from the bow to the deck, shouting at the passengers to help get other passengers from the lower deck. One of Kaa’s two foes fell and exploded as had Azzaria’s oppnents. Sula continued to thrust her spear at the cultist who stood before her.

Without the ibises to keep it on course, the Golden Ibis began to spin in the middle of the river channel. Uto backed away from the mage, who kept flickering in and out of sight, and cast a spell on himself to heal the injuries he had been absorbing from his fellow Ruby Scarabs. The cultist mage called another lighting bolt at Uto and Azzaria. Azzaria killed another cultist and headed toward the sphinx, which had landed on the deck. The wizard shouted for his fellow cultists to get the mask from Uto, and Sula’s foe ran toward where Uto stood, giving her an opportunity to slash at him again as he moved away. Sula ran after the cultists when she saw that he was heading for Uto. When Azzaria approached the sphinx, it spoke to her, saying, “I am not here for you, chosen one, but you will not stand in my way.” Of her comrades only Kaa overheard this strange remark.

Now that there were no cultists attacking him, Kaa demonstrated a new ability by directing a blast of ice-cold breath at the fire in an effort to suppress it. To have a moment to further heal himself and escape his pursuers, Uto took flight and left the deck of the barge. Azzaria shouted, “You chose the wrong side!” at the sphinx as she attacked him. The cultist mage tried to send lightning at Uto and Sula, but the effect that caused him to flicker in and out of sight caused the lightning spell to flicker as well, thus missing his targets. The sphinx fell to Azzaria’s blows and she moved to attack another cultist, while some of the passengers struggled with two more of the masked figures and Kaa continued to try to put out the fire with his icy breath. The Golden Ibis had begun to list alarmingly. Kaa called out, “I think the ship is sinking!”

“Out of the way, fools!” the cultist wizard shouted as he directed a burst of flames toward Azzaria and Sula. Sula shrugged off part of the damage, for her ancestry included creatures of flame. Azzaria turned another cultist into pile of ash, leaving behind only his clothing and equipment. One of the remaining cultists ran toward Uto, who was now flickering like the mage. Uto then went over the side of the barge and out of sight. Azzaria avoided another blast of lightning from the mage and moved closer to him so she could ply her flail against him. Sula decided to summon lightning of her own and direct it at another cultist and the mage, but her bolt missed the disappearing and reappearing mage. Uto reappeared, his flight ability exhausted for the day, and the cultist went after him again, but then began to retch and flee in panic after the mask’s glowing red eyes turned on him. In his desperation to get away from Uto he jumped overboard. Kaa moved to where the rest of the Scarabs were, and he and Azzaria together struck out at the wizard, who exploded into ash like the other cultist.

With all of the cultists gone, the Scarabs quickly searched the barge for survivors and got every person or animal they could into the river. Sula also picked up the things the mage and several of the cultists had left behind when they died, hoping to find some clue to the cult’s goal. When the Scarabs had assured themselves that everyone had escaped, they too jumped into the river, Sula transforming herself into a crocodile to swim to shore and Kaa using his wings to fly over the water. Azzaria was startled to find when she hit the water that she could stand on its surface, though there was no rock or tree stump or sand bar beneath her. She also saw a green glow at her feet, and when she looked around in bewilderment she noticed a similar glow among the reeds along the riverbank not far away. Somehow she knew that the glowing spot was a place of safety.

The Scarabs helped all of the people from the barge to get to shore, even carrying their animals for them, though the passengers rejected Sula’s aid when she came to them in the shape of a crocodile and spoke to them. Uto used his prehensile hair to lift some passengers out of the water. When the Scarabs had made sure that all of the passengers and livestock were safely on the bank, Azzaria suggested that perhaps they should leave. Sula agreed, fearing they would soon be blamed for the disaster once the other passengers realized that the masked men had only been attacking the Ruby Scarabs and no one else. Though it was still night, some of the passengers were already starting to walk back to Tephu along the riverbank.

The Scarabs crept away, and Azzaria showed her friends to the place among the reeds. None of them could perceive the green glow she saw. Within the reeds they found a circular mat where the reeds had been bent over, and in that place was a small camp, with a fire burning inside a clay pot. Azzaria was delighted to realize that it was her tribe, the nomads who had adopted her as an infant. An elder who introduced himself as Walaji greeted Azzaria as “Daughter of the Sphinx,” and welcomed her friends. The nomads were not troubled when Sula brought out her figurine and returned Nyema to her natural shape. Walaji explained that a sphinx had told the tribe to go to this location, but the sphinx they had spoken to was not the one from the attack on the barge. Uto was very interested in meeting this sphinx, though Walaji couldn’t tell him where to find her as she had found the tribe rather than them finding her.

The Scarabs remained with Azzaria’s tribe for a dozen days as they traveled along the river to the point where the barge would have dropped them off. During the journey Walaji and his people told them of the dangers to look out for in the Parched Dunes, such as various creatures that would lurk under the sand waiting for unwary prey to pass. He also told them of a possible oasis, and of the merchants and slavers who would cross the Dunes to get to the river. Sula recognized that it would be wise for them to cover their tracks to avoid having the cultists follow them, and that being able to hide their camp from view would also be helpful. She began to prepare for spells to hide them from unwanted notice and to keep her comrades more comfortable in the desert heat. The Parched Dunes were much more like the environment she was familiar with than cities like Wati and Tephu, and she looked forward to being able to assume lion form and hunt with Nyema among the dunes after dark.

Next: part 19, Tomb of the Jackal Pharaoh