#71 - Princess Ahmos

Captain Hurst and Samm were finished with their exploration, and decided to return to the party.  It turns out, Hurst was actually a skilled tracker.  He determined as they went that another group was in the area.  A group of Thri-Kreen were stalking the party, some of them were shape shifters who could transform into giant flying wasps.

By the time Hurst and Samm reached the party, they found that an ambush has already been set.  As the party exited the dragon cave, they were immediately swarmed by a party of Thri druids.  This group included a strange warrior, so skilled that he could use his 4 arms to make many attack simultaneously.  

The party defeated the Thri ambush and continued on.  From the strange warrior, they recovered a sun blade. 

Their kobold guide told them what they were about to face.  The key that they had recovered from the dragon's lair it made to unlock a secret gate, that enters the ancient city from an underwater river.  The entrance to the river is beneath the palace of an undead being called Princess Ahmos.

The Princess was human in life.  A mage from another world who came here centuries ago and was able to attract a large following of Thri.  Her existence, as well as the existence of many of her followers, continues in undeath.  The exist in an eternal cycle of rebuilding and tearing down two structures.  At one end of Ahmos' valley, there is her palace, and and the other end her pyramid tomb.  

When the party arrived, they witnessed many Thri exoskeleton husks shuffling along in undead form.  They labored between the two structures, robbing one of material to build onto the other, in an endless futile cycle.  

the party observed this strange parade for a while, until the princess herself, along with a host of stronger followers emerged and crossed the valley.

They used the Serpentine Owl magic item to create a distraction, and made a mad dash for the entrance to the palace, knowing that this was their path to the underground river.  This tactic was largely effective.  Most of Ahmos' warriors were too slow to cut them off.  Only the Princess herself could move quickly enough to be a problem.  She had the ability to turn herself into whirling torrent of sand, and race across the valley very quickly.  

It was Perra who confronted her, using much of his strength in a flurry of divine attacks that dispelled her undead form.  

The kobold guide knew this to be temporary.  Something about the valley has always caused Ahmos' to regenerate whenever she is defeated.

The fairy druid Arceus was able to locate an entrance to the palace ruins, and the party quickly went in to avoid the onslaught of the remaining undead.