Lugurix and Friends Save The Princess
Lugurix and friends have begun their trek up to the mountain where the gaseous gentlemen was reportedly keeping Brigandu, Aflaq's daughter. En route, in the morning, they meet a group of seven Persians, one of whom was being carried on a stretcher. They are also leading a horse covered in blankets with a bag on it's head. They gruffly demand that Brother [[Peter] heal their fallen associate, who reportedly got jacked by a Nuckleavee. These dudes are acting like real jerks, but Peter agrees to heal the head jerk. Liten influences their reaction and goes and chats with them a bit. Seems they kidnapped a Kirin, and they're going to brining to kiss up to a Djinn that lives to the north. Meanwhile, Peter casts Know Alignment and finds out that these guys don't just act like jerks, but they actually are jerks. Liten lets the Persian dudes go on ahead, then lets them know the deal.
They all agree to go beat these guys up, and then they do.
They tie everyone up and start asking questions of the leader, who's named Assam. He's an encyclopedist and wanted to curry favor with the new Djinn who's been calling himself The Stealer of Maidens in an attempt to compete with The Slayer Of Men. There's also going to be a group of Aarokocra on their way, and this dude claims to be the only dude that can help them wheedle their way through their strange bird customs. They throw him on a horse and then send the one True Neutral member of his party back to Galatia to have somebody round up these ne'er-do-wells. They try to communicate with the Kirin, but to no avail. So they lead it on with them, it follows docile-y (in a docile manner?).
Before they know it, they're attacked by a group of Aarokocra. It seems Assam's diplomacy skills have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, they murder him. However, our boys stand triumphant at the end of the fight otherwise, so they bind the Aarokocra and tie them up. They try talking to them, but nothing works. So they take a quick rest.
After resting, the Crimson Cutlass darts out to do a little reconnoitering. He sees a little man dumping a bucket of feces out of a cave. Liten disguises himself as Assam and ascends the mountain. It turns out there are a bunch of Gnomes in their doing some digging and the like. He says he's here to see the Stealer of Maidens, and they point him to the back. The others follow him, carrying a silence stone. Liten winds his way down a hallway, only to encounter a pair of glowing eyes. He says he's here to see the boss, and the eyes respond that the boss is asleep, but that he can talk to the Djinn, who's down the other hallway. Looks like it's the Cloud Giant who's boss. They turn around and walk down the other hallway, past a group of bound Hippogriffs. They soon find Brigandu suspended in a cage ten feet above the ground in a seemingly empty thrown room. No one really believes it's empty though, and soon enough their suspicions prove accurate. It's The Stealer Of Maidens. They start fighting, and at one point it seems they might have to deal with the Cloud Giant, but it's only an illusion. The Djinn tries to split the party, but it ends up not working in his favor. They free Brigandu and book it out of there. The Cloud Giant spies them riding off, but it doesn't throw any rocks.
They return to Aflaq and demand their reward. Everyone is happy.
