Anoria Campaign / The Rose of Jumlat pt. 2 / Galen the 28th through the 29th, 3592 CE / 6-26-20

The tieflings, looking for a cure to Thesk's curse, have hired on with a caravan to guard an artifact known as the Rose of Jumlat, which was purportedly crafted by the same artisan as the Ring of False Djinn in which Thesk is trapped. As they settle in for dinner at the mouth of the Gogol Pass, they note that one of the merchants on the caravan, a peddler by the name of Waqari, seems quite interested in Thesk's apparent genie-blooded nature, but becomes cagey when pressed on his reasons. Cyla decides she would like to lay eyes on this mysterious jewel she is supposed to be protecting, and asks Umar the half-orc foreman to see it. He agrees, revealing to them its location in a secret compartment of the palanquin of the strange old lady who has been travelling with the caravan, but he warns that he believes the jewel has a curse on it. His superstitions seem well-founded, as the moment he opens up the ornate rosewood box containing the jewel, the campfire around which several caravan guards were having a cheerful after-dinner chat suddenly shoots high into the sky like a bonfire, causing an end to their revelries. The next day as the caravan moves further into Gogol Pass and through the Sorrow Peaks, Cyla makes pleasant conversation with Talgu Mustafar, son of the man who is donating the rose to the Temple of Ishtalar in Ganara. Her efforts at gleaning more information are stifled by his apparent lack of knowledge about the Rose's true nature. As the caravan settles in for another night on the road, the shifty Waqari approaches Cyla with a proposition. Saying that he can spot a fellow thief, he states his intention to steal the Rose of Jumlat from the caravan, and that if Cyla is willing to help, he promises his buyer will provide valuable information about the artifact. Cyla gives a noncommittal response, but later that evening the campsite is attacked by wild beasts called dhabba, and when the battle is over, they discover that Waqari and the Rose are both missing. Because of the coming monsoon season, it is dangerous for the caravan to waste even a day on the road, so the dwarven foreman Anwar accompanies Cyla and Thesk in tracking down the thief so that the caravan can move forward in the meantime. They follow the trail through a mountain pass to what appears to be an abandoned campsite. And then the trap is sprung!