The Beast and The Merchants of Addas Babar

The wind and sand howl outside the silk and canvas nomadic tent. Inside however, is a different tale. Large silk pillows in fantastic colors with artistic embroidery, sit atop lavish silk carpets, illuminated by the warm glow of hanging oil lamps that sway gracefully with the wind. It is against these pillows an old man sits, a dozen or so young children gathered around him, hanging on his every word. "Gather my children, and listen tonight to the tale of The Beast and the Merchants of Addas Babar!"

A small child gasps and whispers in awe, barely louder than the howling wind, "That is where WE live!"

"Yes!" explains the old man "As you know, we are but a poor encampment that guards the water hole for the caravans that cross the Sword desert, shipping goods to and from other lands..." he smiles and pauses for effect. "Our story though, does not start here. It starts in the south, in the great city of Suzail, the Capital of Cormyr. It is there that four friends came upon a notice requesting help for us. A stealthy Tabaxi along with a demonic Tiefling, a proud Dragonborn, and an odd Warforged is who answered the call. We were in a time of need! The caravans had stopped moving through here as a result that none of the caravans had made it out of the desert in weeks, and all had vanished as if swallowed by the sands. With no news of what was happening, we began to feel as if Tymora herself had turned a blind eye to us, and forsaken our people. Thankfully, these friends joined the next caravan out of Suzail and came to aid us.

"They faced hardships on the way as well! For one, the caravan would only go half the journey and the rest they would need to do on foot! It was here where the friends first proved themselves. For you see, they had unknowingly started to walk through the hunting lands of some beast. For two days they saw signs they were being hunted, but did they turn back? NO!" The old man lets the exclamation hang a moment before continuing. "They were walking through the pass that leads down to our camp when from the mountainous rocks on both sides sprang not one fearsome beast, but TWO!" The children gasp as he weaves the tale, "Bodies of a lion, a tail tipped with long razor sharp spikes, and the face of a man! These creatures attacked our friends, no doubt to have them for a meal!"

"Manticores!!!" gasps a small girl in fright.

"Yes" says the old man "The Tabaxi and Warforged sprung into action. Attacking one with a bow and one of the spikes of the beasts they had found on the road. To add to the fight, the Tiefling fired off powerful magics, almost ending the fight for one beast before it had even begun. The Dragonborn, no doubt made braver by the companionship, attacked the second beast by herself with nothing but her BARE HANDS!" The children's eyes go wide. "The beasts were not beaten however and lashed back. fighting with fearsome claws and bites, wounding some friends and leaving others untouched. The fight ended quickly. The manticore was dead, and the friends were barely harmed. They took a moment and found the lair of the beasts, and in it, some treasures..however, they knew this could not be the cause of the missing caravans, and so pressed on."

The old man pauses to sip his tea. "By sundown, they arrived at Addas Babar. here they were greeted by our Alina, or as some know her Alina al Omar, the daughter of our Calif. She showed our friends hospitality and fed them as is right before leading them to a man who had wandered out of the desert a few days before and was a guard on one of the missing Caravans! Sadly, not much was to be learned except that the caravan had been going to the Oasis of Jafar and had been swallowed by a surprise sandstorm, which gave no warning."

A sigh, a smile, and a knowing nod of admiration from the old man "Not daunted, the friends slept the night and left at first light with a guide..the famous dwarf paladin, Dalaran Undercock." The children's eyes went wide, as this was the most famous person they had ever heard of! "Dalaran lead them across the exhausting seas of sand towards the Oasis of Jafar. Having a guide was good for them, as the mighty Dalaran helped them avoid several of the vicious scorpions of the sands and taught them the desert ways so they did not perish. The last night before the oasis, the friends arrived at a water hole, and there waiting for them was a young girl with red hair." A child startles, "Yes." says the old man, "Red hair is bad luck, but perhaps not in this case. Despite having no tent or equipment, somehow this girl was here and spoke to the friends of a great many things. Questions were asked and things said and then, without warning, the girl transformed into the mighty Brass dragon named Clockwork, that we all know as, 'The Mind of the Desert' ."

Little eyes go even wider at this as the old man goes on "She told them the desert around the Oasis was home to two Blue Dragons and one Yellow dragon, also called a Sand Wyrm. It was the Yellow the friends decided to seek first and it did not take them long to find it!!! Yellow dragons hunt by digging a pit in the sand, you see, and waiting at the bottom. The Warforged and the Dragonborn fell into this pit! As if this was not enough, the Yellow Dragon at the bottom let loose on the friends a mighty blast of steam and sand from its jaws, almost felling those two friends in the opening of the battle! The Tabaxi and Tiefling would not let their friends perish however! While healing magics were used on the first two, The Tabaxi and Tiefling ran into the pit. The Tabaxi slashed at the beast, and the Tiefling wielded powerful and forbidden magics! They fought on with the Wyrm. The warforged was first to fall, rent asunder by the maw and claws of the foul beast. The Dragonborn, unswayed by this member of her evil kin, again fought the beast bare-handed and landed blow after terrible blow. Brave she was, hurling insults between punches as she fought on through grievous wounds. The Wyrm continued to lash out, wounding some friends but they never gave up. The Tabaxi found cover under the great beast's chest and lashed upwards, out of sight of the creature. The Tiefling hurled more magics and prepared herself to switch to weapons of war. It was then the perfidy of the dragon revealed itself and it stole all sounds from around the fight, thereby cutting the Tiefling off from her ability to use spells! Through this, the Tabaxi cut on and upwards, the Dragonborn rained punches upon the beast...and then??? Over the rim of the pit came Dalaran Undercock!!! All of this proved much too much for the creature and it took to the air in fright, fleeing the fight and our friends forever." the old man stops to sip his tea, letting the sound of the wind be the only sound in the tent. "Our friends found much glory that day, and a fair bit of treasure!" he winks, " and they saved us so the caravans could move again. Soon all will be as it was."

The old man ruffles a young girl's hair, "That is all for tonight young ones. Time now to sleep, lest a Djinn come for you!" The old man chortles and shuffles out into the calming desert night...