Dark Sun: Chapter 1
After the group was formed by the Council of Elders of the Crystal Cloister and being told to explore the rest of Athas to complete a mission with three goals. The first goal of this mission to identify the nature of an unknown threat that the Elders have foreseen will devastate the Crystal Cloister, and eventually all of Athas, if it is left unchecked. The second goal is to find a method to prevent this future threat from being able to attack the Crystal Cloister. The third goal is to find allies that can be trusted with the secret of the existence of the Crystal Cloister who can help in dealing with this threat. Additionally, the group has been told that the existence of the Crystal Cloister must be kept secret from the general population and the Sorcerer Kings for it is possible that one of the Sorcerer Kings is the unknown threat that will attack the Crystal Cloister.
Since leaving the Crystal Cloister and meeting up with a Caravan being guided by Corrin, a Halfling Dune Trader that has done business with the Crystal Cloister previously. The group is also aware that Corrin is well known among the Halfling tribes that have allied with the Crystal Cloister for being a skilled Caravan guide able to guide caravans to their destination quickly. Thus at the request of the Councel of Elders of the Crystal Cloister, Corrin has arranged for the group to act as guards for a Caravan that Corrin will be guiding to Altaruk from Tyr. With Corrin guiding the group and a few Halfling traders that will be joining the Caravan, traveling from the Forrest Ridge through secret paths in the Ringing Mountains, known only to the merchants of the Forrest Ridge, was uneventful. Currently the group and those it has been traveling with have just reached Tyr and Corrin and the Halfling traders have joined up with the Caravan to be heading to Altaruk.
The group sees the Caravan Master, a male human seemingly in his early thirties wearing desert garb approach Corrin saying with a smile on his face, "It is good to see you again Corrin. Every time I travel with you, we make excellent time, and have a most profitable trip."
Corrin replies "And it is good to see you to my friend. I have come with some of my brethren traders who will accompany the Caravan, as well as a group of guards who will protect the Caravan on our journey to Altarak," as Corrin motions towards the group.
The Caravan Master nods and looks over the group before adding, "Given your reputation for picking reputable guards, I have no doubt they will perform their job adequately. And with you able to guide the caravan to Altaruk in four days instead of the normal five it normally takes for an uneventful trip, your fee is a small price to pay compared to the extra profit we can make in Alturak by arriving a day earlier as it means we can carry more goods. The Caravan is composed of six wagons being pulled by Crodlu and two larger wagons being pulled by Mekillots. And there is room for everyone, even your guards to ride in the wagons."
Corrin smiles and says, "Excellent, that will conceal both our numbers from any raiders and keep our guards fresh so they can be more focused on keeping an eye out for raiders and not getting tired trying to keep up with the Crodlu and Mekillots."
For ten minutes while the Caravan prepares to depart, Corrin plays his flute, while chanting an uplifting melody near the Crodlu and Mekillots. Afterwards, when everyone is on the wagons the Caravan sets out from Tyr. With the eight beasts making good progress. Since it is Highsun, the hottest and most oppressive time of the year, so the withering waves of heat lap at everyone despite the dusty desert breeze.
As the Caravan travels out you can see that there is a variety of cargo being carried by the merchants, ranging from ceramic wares to wood and even stores of food and water which will probably fetch a good price in Altaruk's market quarter. Given the speed at which the Crodlu and Mekillots are pulling the wagons, everyone expects a speedy journey over the next four days until reaching Altaruk.
[OOC: If it isn't obvious, Corrin is a Bard and will be using Traveller's Chant on the Cordlu and Mekillots each day to improve the speed at which they can pull the wagons to allow the Caravan to reach Alturak faster. It says that the caster and up to 8 allies are affected, and with the 8 mounts being used as the allies, the entire caravan benefits so long as everyone stays on a wagon.
I'll allow everyone to post something for their characters before beginning the first encounter, which will be a skill challenge. As long as the caravan reaches Alturak in 4 days, which it will unless something bad happens, no one will be charged survival days as they are being provided by the Caravan. Also each character will be paid 50 gp worth of Residuum and 10 gp in ceramic each, along with the 1gp entrance fee to enter Altaruk upon the Caravan reaching Alturak safely. As Corrin is an NPC and not part of the group, it doesn't matter what his fee is. :) Remember that everyone is onboard the wagons, but they are close enough that you can talk to anyone on any wagon, and in fact hopping from one wagon to an adjacent wagon only requires a DC 10 Athletics check (Which people can take ten on outside of an encounter, to auto succeed on) as those controlling the mounts are working to keep the wagons in formation and are well practiced at keeping each wagon within 10 feet of the 'adjacent' wagons. The wagon formation has the two Mekillots following in step in the middle of the formation with one infront of the other, while four of the Crodlu wagons are on each side. Anyone tracking the Caravan would have a difficult time telling the size of the Caravan and if not careful would only think it is a single Mekillot wagon with a pair of Crodlu wagons due to the formation the Caravan is using.]