Aria nodded, "I'm all for checking out the mountain and following the compass to wherever it needs. I hope we can get some more camels...I bet we can, heh heh. Or if you ride the one we brought back, I can glide along by it...or it can probably take both our weights well enough." She was fine with not teleporting; once they got someone close they'd likely need to be following the compass needle as they went along anyway. "On second thought, I'll get a camel for myself...hate too but too much burden on one and I'm sure I'd get tired of flying..."<br/><br/>Once they thought they had an accurate sense of their well-earned items of magic, saw Rana was in good hands with the other priestesses, and set out, the desert proved even more blinding-bright and hotter. Camels, as before, took about two hours to trek the ten miles to Mount Goldflail, whence it was now roughly noontime. Aria kept her skin nearly unseen from the sun, wearing a hood; she'd never liked hot weather, even though the same bit of tiefling heritage that had helped against the wicker effigy's intense heat helped stave off sunburn.<br/><br/>Aria helped herself to as much water as she pleased, and periodically flew high above Kass to enjoy the windier air and to 'lookout' in a similar manner to a sailor in a crow's nest. (Her unridden camel tended to follow the other, with a typical herd mentality.) The rolling sands even seemed much like the sea to her, and she remarked several times to Kass just now<em>open</em>the terrain felt.<br/><br/>More frequent pale white rocks jutted up through the sand as they approached the more western slope of the fat-crescent-shaped Mount Goldflail - and still the compass seemed to point there. In fact, the compass needle seemed to vibrate almost as if in agitation, unless it was tilted up at a certain angle, and was allowed to point near the single peak of the mountain. Yet even this mountain, in turn, seemed like just one more upthrust rock when compared to the hazy-distant Dragonsword mountains lining the eastern horizon.<br/><br/>The land sloped, shifting from open sand to mountain rather suddenly - for rather than being a 'bulge' in the rolling landscapep as many mountains in forested lands were, this one, and the distant range, seemed more like gigantic rocks which sand had almost buried. Again Aria thought of the shining sands like a sea, and the mountains like islands.<br/><br/>When their eyes took in the old watchtowers atop the mountain spurs and followed the nearest one down, a few old worn tracks which just might've been deliberate trails at one point could be seen.<br/><br/><br/><br/>(Up to you whether we get more camels or stay with one.)<br/><br/>Identifying stuff can be a PITA. I noticed MIC had a provision to "magically divine the item's functions, its means of activation and the number of charges remaning" by using Detect Magic and then a Spellcraft check that beats the DC (to identify the aura with Detect Magic; 15+ spell level) by 10 or more (aka 25 + spell level). Kass has a mod of 23 and so would have 33 taking 10, which is up to 8th level spells; I don't think anything so far involves 9th level spells to craft, and I was about to say anyway that we're entitled to a level up by now; up to you whether we do that now or wait until an actual rest. (Recall that characters don't get 'new' uses/day like spell slots and bardic music uses until actual rest.)<br/><br/>Karsysa the marilith: 3600 XP<br/>Babaus and succubi: 3600 XP<br/>Rana's impostor: 5400 XP<br/>Ozonyminidonaxandius the blue dragon: 5400 XP<br/>the wicker man: 5400 XP<br/><br/>Total so far: 23,400 XP<br/>Starting: 153,000 XP<br/>Current: 176,400 XP<br/>For L19: 171,000 XP<br/>For L20: 190,000 XP<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Loot</span><br/>(from demons:)<br/>Kass: 15845 gp (includes her 'tip') and handy haversack<br/>Aria: 16815 gp<br/>shared: staff: 8 charges left, casts<em>greater plane shift</em>or<em>greater teleport</em>(19110 gp)<br/><br/>Impostor's stuff:<br/>handy haversack<br/>ring of resistance +4<br/>ring of prot +2 (8K)<br/>amulet of natural armor +2 and constitution +4<br/>headband of intellect +4<br/>metamagic rod (intermediate extend)<br/>rapier. short sword, dagger, hand crossbow 20 bolts<br/>Runestaff of Zeus: like with a staff, a runestaff contains one or more spells which the wielder may use it to cast using their own caster level and spell DCs (if better than the minimums associated with all spellcasting items). Instead of having a fixed number of charges, a runestaff may be used to cast its contained spells up to three days times a day each, when the wielder expends an unused arcane spell slot or prepared spell of the same or higher spell level. The Runestaff of Zeus may be used to cast the following spells: arc of lightning (4th), cone of cold (5th), fly (3rd), lightning bolt (3rd), resist energy (1st), telekinesis (5th), teleport (5th).<br/><br/>Blue dragon:<br/>Sending stone: these stones come in pairs. Once per day, this opal may be used to send a message (as the spell Sending) to the other stone.<br/>Reciprocal compass: these compasses come in pairs; each compass always points toward the other. The needle vibrates when the compass is held at an angle such that the needle cannot directly face the other.<br/>