The Plain of Glittering Stones

Flamerule 4, 1371 DR
Having left the Colored Waters oasis behind on the evening of the 2nd, we have now arrived at the first Zhentarim controlled/created oasis on the scorching plain known as At'ar's Looking Glass. The oasis is a welcome relief from the baking heat of the plain and we are resting here today, gathering our strength and restocking on supplies to push further across this forsaken wasteland.

When we first left the Colored Waters oasis, we continued on through more of the black sand dunes until we camped for the night. That night's rest was interrupted during Primula's watch by an odd purple creature that spat lightning (?) at one of the guards. I don't know exactly what it was or what had happened, by the time many of us had roused Primula and Xan had finished the thing off with arrow fire. The priestess described it as a glowing purple ball that flashed and flickered in the night. None of us have any clue what manner of creature this was.

But having dealt with that threat, we rested peacefully through the remainder of the night. On the following morning we continued on and gradually came out of the black sand and into more of the golden dunes like we had first traveled through just a few days back. As we continued on through these bright dunes, we entered an area that showed remnants of a city - a few broken and wind worn columns poked out of the dunes here and there and shards of pottery could be seen occasionally on the surface of the sand. Quite suddenly, four desiccated, rag-wrapped corpses pushed there way free of the dunes and began shambling purposefully towards us. A feeling of palpable evil and malevolence seemed to wash over us as the things approached.

In what is starting to seem to be Cedar's standard response to danger (imminent or otherwise), a ball of magical fire quickly streaked over our heads and burst in the midst of the creatures (my comrades later informed me that these were mummies, a type of restless undead). This explosion destroyed two of them, another was quickly cut down by Xan's arrows, while the fourth made its way inexorably towards me and trusty Prince. Due to the warning cries of both Cedar and Oskar, I refrained from pummeling the thing with my fists instead hacking at the creature with my trusty elven blade. Before the thing could land any of its clumsy attacks, Oskar charged over on Moradin's Breath and quickly dispatched the creature. Oddly, instead of falling dead like most creatures, these mummies rapidly dissolved into sand and were quickly blown away on the ever-present desert winds. Oskar later told me of the hideous wasting disease known as mummy rot that these creatures can spread with a mere touch. What a horrid way to die, Thankfully, Oskar assures me that he and Primula can cure such diseases.

Only a short while later, we emerged from the dunes onto the sun-scorched, wind-blasted plains of At'ar's Looking Glass. This desolate place is floored with what seem to be polished stones that reflect the searing heat of the sun and make the day nearly unbearable. I cannot understand what could drive someone to forge a route across such a wasteland. Even with our magical protections in place, the heat was nearly unbearable. Within just one hours time in the Looking Glass, four of the Zhentarim troopers were incapacitated by the heat and we could see that the horses were also doing poorly, though we had to continue on. There was certainly no respite from the heat where we were. After a short time, to my utter amazement, Darvin called for a forced march! With the men already dropping like flies! But, my questions and concerns were answered within the hour when we arrived at the oasis we are currently camped at.

This is an artificial oasis, created by the Zhentarim to make traveling across this horrid place somewhat do-able. After hauling the incapacitated men into the oasis to cool them down, we began to set up camp. Vestele informed us that we would be camping at the oasis for the day and through the following day to replenish our supplies from the pool and the fig trees growing around the oasis and to reset the nasty traps that guard the oasis. One of Vestele's first tasks when we reached the oasis was to plant flags in the sand to indicate safe paths near the oasis. In several spots we saw the ruthlessly effective traps set by the Zhentarim, huge scything blades that had killed several large animals approaching the oasis. Apparently the Zhents think that it is just as important to protect their oases from the wild animals as from the Bedine.

It has been a pleasant enough time here at the oasis. We have had some difficult work clearing and resetting the traps, but there has been plenty of time for practice and meditation. I am still amazed at the power of the traps here. Evendur was briefly explaining the mechanism to us, apparently we may be creating another oasis at some time from the supplies we have in our wagons. We actually had to remove one of the wagon wheels and use it as a crank to wind and set the spring mechanism on the traps! I will make sure I walk softly over the sands near any of these oases.

Flamerule 5
We leave the oasis this morning and continue our journey across the blazing rocks and sands of At'ar's Looking Glass. I'm not looking forward to it. Vestele has mentioned that we should reach the far edge of the Looking Glass by this evening and that we will most likely have a forced march until mid-evening to reach the shelter of the Scimitar Spires. As we were just beginning to breaking camp, four figures dressed like Bedine flew over a dune and into our midst at the oasis. Khemed gestured for us to relax and quickly approached the men. They spoke quickly and quietly, I couldn't catch a single word of their conversation. After their discussion, Khemed quickly spoke with Vestele who retrieved bags of coins from one of the tents and presented them to the men who then smiled and flew away. Apparently these "men" are magical desert dwellers known as djinni who have some kind of arrangement with the Zhents. Evidently they help to watch over some of the Zhentarim oases and are paid by the caravans passing through. Hmmm…it makes me wonder if the Zhentarim are truly as in control of their trade route as they think. This certainly seems like the Zhentarim a paying a toll to these djinni for the use of their own oases. There must be something more to this arrangement that I don't understand. Perhaps Kerith can find out something more about it from Evendur or Khemed. Well, it looks like the wagons are ready to roll. I wonder what adventures this day holds for us?