Session One Hundred-Five: The Halflings of the Forest Ridge

As the group approached the mountain peaks, rain began falling from the sky. The group was amazed, as they had only experienced rain twice in their lives. Kraah decided to inspect the rain clouds and flew into them. The rest of the group took the opportunity to bathe themselves in the falling water.
Suddenly, Kraah found himself in strange place. The sky was dark, but he could see lightning flashing between clouds and rain pouring from one cloud to another. Being an air cleric, he knew something of the planes and realized he was on the Paraelemental Plane of Rain. What he was unsure  how he had arrived there. He began flying around to investigate.
While he was exploring, he saw a miniature sun and began flying toward it. As he flew toward it, the sun got bigger and bigger. Distances were difficult to gauge, as there was no horizon to compare objects to. He soon saw small flecks of something moving off of and around the sun. He wasn't sure what it could be.

An hour passed, back on Athas, and the rain did not let up. The group was beginning to get worried, as Kraah had not returned and he was known to act before he thought. They didn't dare move on, because if Kraah did return, he might not be able to find them in the dense jungle. So, they moved out of the rain, using the jungle canopy for cover and decided to wait. Yusef was perfectly happy to find some dry ground to nap on.
Back on the plane of rain, Kraah discovered that the miniature sun was not miniature at all, it was a huge sphere, at least three times as tall as the Golden Tower in Tyr. Paraelemental sun creatures and servants were fighting their way into the plane of rain and doing battle with the fantastical creatures of the plane of rain.
Kraah saw blue skinned humanoids flying strange birds with long necks and flat bills, rain clouds of all sizes that shot lightning, and halflings riding wyverns. Kraah decided to join the battle and defend the plane of rain from the incursion. Air, the element Kraah worshipped, was an ally of rain.

Back on Athas, the rain finally stopped. The group huddled together in a few dry spots and made camp. They had nothing to burn, because everything was wet. They still had furs from their mountain trek, so they used those to keep warm. Rafiq was the first to keep watch.
After everyone was asleep, except for Rafiq, a dart shot out from some foliage and stabbed Rafiq in his neck. Rafiq barely had time to comprehend what had happened to him, before falling unconscious.

Day 15, Week 1, Fifthover, Friend's Vengeance, 190th King's Age, Sun Descending

The group, with the exception of Kraah and Selia, woke up in a cramped wood cage. Selia was tied to a large, round stone. The stone had rust red stained channels carved into it. These channels started at Selia wrists and ran down into a rust red stone bowl below. There were twenty halflings gathered around Selia holding red stained wood bowls. Selia started screaming.
Rafiq teleported to Selia and grabbed her. The halflings started yelling and grabbing weapons. Rafiq then teleported himself and Selia to a random location in the jungle.
The halflings were furious and chatted in their strange language to each other. They gestured to the cage and calmed down a bit. They began sizing up the group, trying to decide if Yusef, Clavis, or Dimitria should take Selia's place. Most of them were pointing at Clavis.
Dimitria used her magic to cast a spell, allowing her to communicate with the halflings, in their own language. She was unable to lie and told the halflings that her group was looking for a rain cleric. The halflings got a tattooed halfling to talk to her. The tattooed halfling had tattoos all over his body and face. She pleaded her case to him, honestly and passionately. 
The halfling did not believe her. He believed that the group was there to hunt halflings for food and possibly sport. Dimitria continued to negotiate, stating that she was a druid and a friend of the jungle. She flattered them, while beimg honest, calling them protectors of the jungle and feared warriors.
Just as she appeared to be winning the halflings over, a dimensional portal opened and Rafiq appeared in the cage. Yusef and Clavis pushed him aside and dashed through it. Rafiq grabbed Dimitria and pulled her through. They found themselves in the jungle, presumably safe, but without their equipment.
Rafiq had the idea to teleport back to the halfling village and retrieve their equipment. In the beginning, everyone thought he was crazy, but they began to see the wisdom of his idea. They were in a hostile environment and had no food, water containers, or weapons. They agreed to Rafiq's plan.
Rafiq teleported to the outskirts of the halfling village and used the way to make himself insubstantial. He floated into the ground, with just the top of his head poking out of the ground. He began searching the huts and eventually found one with all of their equipment neatly packed in the center. The rest of the hut appeared empty. Rafiq had a bad feeling, as it seemed too easy, but he floated into the hut and became substantial once more.

Suddenly, four halflings jumped out from behind a false wall and began shooting blow darts at him. It was an ambush! There were two other halflings, the one with the tattoos and another with a human skull on his head. The halfling with the tattoos was a user of the way and invaded Rafiq's mind. The halfling with the skull used magic to paralyze Rafiq. Rafiq began to teleport away, just has a blow dart stabbed him in the face.
Rafiq appeared in the proximity of the group, with a loud bamf. He was unconscious and standing perfectly still. A few moments later, a dimensional gateway opened and halfling warriors began pouring through. The group was quickly surrounded and the tattooed halfling walked through the portal, along with the halfling wearing the skull. The halflings did not look pleased.
(DM Note: I really wanted to end the session here, because it was such a good cliff hanger, but I would have been ending the session a bit early. The players begged to continue and I relented.)
Dimitria used her magic, again, to communicate to the tattooed halfling. She told him that they did not want to hurt the halflings, they just needed their stuff to survive. She said that they were in the forest to deliver rain drake eggs to a rain cleric, eggs that the halflings now possessed. However, their ultimate goal was to kill Kalak, the defiler king of Tyr. She promised not to harm any halfling, unless attacked. She also promised that she, and her companions, would not eat any halflings.
The halflings calmed down and negotiations began. Selia offered to provide them with animal meat, as long as they returned her bow. The group also discovered that the halfling with the skull on his head was a rain cleric, so they succeed in their quest. The group was very compliant and their attitude won the halflings over.
The halflings offered to return most of their equipment, unless the tribe really needed it. The group agreed, knowing that a fight with the halflings would not go well for them. When most of their things were returned, Selia hunted a wild erdland and gave the beast's carcass to the halflings. The halflings preferred live meat, but they accepted the gift.
The tattooed halfling gave Dimitria a wood carved statuette of a kirre. Dimitria thanked him and the halflings departed. Rafiq collapsed to the ground, unconscious, but not ridged. The group moved on, Clavis had to pick up Rafiq and carry him. They walked slowly east, back toward the Tablelands.
Back on the Plane of Rain, the battle had died down and the portal to the plane of the sun had shrunk somewhat. The armies of rain were holding the line, but at great cost. The soldiers were glad that Kraah had assisted them in fighting and healing, but they knew the respite was temporary. The forces of sun would return.
Kraah told them about his friends, back on Athas who would want to come and help the forces of rain battle the forces of sun. A jann, who served in the rain army, was a cleric of rain and offered to send Kraah back to Athas and get his friends. Kraah agreed.
The next time it started raining, in the Forest Ridge, a portal opened and Kraah emerged. He landed at the old campsite and began looking for his friends. He used some spells to send communication to Dimitria and they were able to reunite.
Kraah told them about the battle and how the forces of rain needed their help. The group did feel the need to help the forces of rain, but killing Kalak was a more immediate concern. Kraah reluctantly agreed. Yusef told Kraah that he was glad that he was alright.
After walking a bit more, Rafiq finally awoke. He asked what happened and the group filled him in. Even though he had just been sleeping, he felt exhausted.

Join us next time for another exciting session of Adventures Under the Dark Sun. 
2nd edition AD&D Dark Sun Cast of Player Characters 
Dimitria: Human female druid. 20 years old. Played by Mary. Speaks Urikite, Raamin, and Tyrian.
Clavis: Human male gladiator. 30 years old. Played by Dave. Speaks Drajish and Tyrian.
Rafiq: Human male psychoporter. 25 years old. Played by Ben. Speaks Tyrian, Balican, Raamin, and Urkite.
Kraah: Aarakocra male air cleric.17 years old. Played by Chad. Speaks Aarakocra, Tyrian, Balician, and Gulgish.
Selia: Half-elf female ranger. 27 years old. Played by my wife. Speaks Elf and Tyrian.
Yusef: Human male thief. 24 years old. NPC party member. Speaks Tyrian, Nibnese, and Urikite.