The party continued through the desert in a vague circle around the pyramid. By now they were all getting reasonably good at spotting sinksand and at avoiding the various creatures of the desert. They were all, however, very dirty and tired and sick of clerical conjured food. Prestidigitation can only go so far.
The party reached a fallen obelisk, with writing on its side.
The party had been here before, almost a month ago. There had been two sets of tracks, one heading southwest, on heading southeast. At the time, the party headed east.
Now, the tracks were long gone, scoured away by sandstorms. The party headed southwest, following where they thought the tracks might have been.
The party reached a dome, almost covered in sand. It turned out to be hollow, which several party members discovered by falling through a hole down a sand slide.
Inside the covered dome was a large building. As the party approached it, they were attacked by large spiders.
After a hard fight, the party tried to leave, only to find the rest of their group coming down the sand slide.
"What are you doing? We told you to stay outside!"
"Big sandstorm. Better to stay down here."
Inside the building the party found two side wings, with rooms partially filled with sand, and a large set of golden doors.
Tired from a full day of travel, the party rested.
A dispel magic casting got the party through the golden doors. On the other side they found a series of differently-coloured walls of magical flame, each of which did damage to anyone passing through.
Rather than using dispel magic again, they decided to get someone to just run through the walls, taking damage, and getting healed between the walls. At one point, they did give them a resistance potion.
At the end of the corridor, a large brass lamp (4 feet high), with its top and wick sealed with lead carved with a symbol of two interlocking triangles.
When one of the lead seals was broken there was an enormous hissing, and a figure of smoke and flames burst forth - an efreet. However, this was not an ordinary efreet, but a pasha, a noble of high rank.
The efreet cried out in triumph, "I am free! Martek, you <censored>, you sought to imprison me for ever but here I am, free, while you are dead and in your tomb a thousand years ago! Mouahahahaha!"
The efreet rushed down the corridor, dispelling the magical walls with a gesture, and flew outside, up through the broken dome and into the sandstorm.
GMs Note: Yes, I know, it’s a cliché of "PCs releasing great evil" but I don't care. :-)
Lots of giant scorpions (spiders reskinned)
magical walls
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