We started, exiting the dungeon after defeating the mummy and securing the staff his followers were after as a means of bringing him to life.  Unfortunately, our NPC patron was still unconscious, held between life and death, with the crown barely holding the mummy rot at bay.  We weren’t sure what his plan was after obtaining this staff.  Destroy it, we assumed, but how? At the very least, it seemed obvious we should get it (and ourselves) as far from here as possible.  So, we headed back to our camels and supplies and then on to the oasis we were at a couple of days ago.  No time for a long rest but Andy allowed us a short rest during the travels.  Rehk noticed that behind us, the land was transforming from desert to jungle.  We tried to recall the history Row had told us.  This land was a lush jungle and when the evil king was killed, it turned into a desert.  So, we think restoring it to jungle is a sign that the king was defeated.  There was some debate as to whether the staff we were carrying was causing the changes but we didn’t think so.  The plants weren’t growing quickly but being magical revealed.

(Note from Dan: At this point, I had briefly thought we had somehow been transferred back in time to when before the curse and was going to try Navigation to check the stars but since the GM described the sand revealing the existing plants as we watched I decided that couldn't possibly be the case.)

We came upon the oasis but it had been transformed as well.  It was full of people.  There was a water wheel for grinding flour, buildings, stables, and all manner of civilization.  We were perplexed.  We did note that the tent of the noble lady who was too ill to speak to us last time was still there so that was as good a place to start as any.  But first, we set up camp.  The sorlock transcribed the Tiny Hut ritual into his book so that we could still have two castings and accommodate everyone.  The swashbuckler paladin wrapped the dead shock staff into a blanket and carried it as if it was important in hopes of deceiving anyone who was after the real one still in the wagon.  He and the monk went to visit the tent.  The seneschal seemed to be having trouble remember him but did eventually.  It was then revealed that it had been 6 months since we had last come through here.  Magic.  He asked some questions about where we’d been and we gave some vague answers.  He asked if we needed any help.  We said we had some need of healing arts and he said his lady might be able to help.  She could be found at the bar in the cave we glanced in a couple days ago.

So, the wizard cast his hut spell to make Row comfortable.  The two paladins and the fighter went to the bar to fetch the lady.  The rest milled around camp, mainly guarding the staff which would seem to be the prime target.  So, the bar was down an elaborate staircase into a vast chamber.  All kinds of people were there including a larger blue mage doing tricks on a stage.  The holy paladin immediately assumes he was evil and started to do his detect evil thing.  There was some debate as to how powerful an evil needed to be in order to be detected but the upshot was the usual problem of Andy not wanted to reveal the alignment of everyone in the whole town on round one.  There were some bandit looking guys giving them the eye.  When the barmaid was asked, she said they had been in town several days, supposedly waiting for someone.  The bartender was asked about the Lady and he sent a girl to inform her that the swashbuckler had returned.  That took a while. 

Meanwhile, the 2 bandits came over with purpose and they readied for combat.  The paladins tried to defuse the situation, not wanted to get into a fight with half the party and in the middle of a bunch of innocents.  The fighter accidentally spilled his beer on one guy but the other bandit pulled him away.  “Not now.”  The holy paladin decided to pay a pud to take a message to the rest of the party.  But when the pub left, he was followed by a bandit.  So, he followed, not wanting him to be killed in his service.  There was some cat and mouse pursuit but nothing much came of it.  Eventually, the rest of the group arrived in time for the fight.  The Lady offered her services and we headed back to camp.  The wizard asked her about the transformation of this bar.  From a magical theory point of view.  She was aware of creation spells like Fabricate but she did not cast them.  She sort of implied the bar revealed itself and she sort of took procession of it and started this operation.  As we left the cave, we could see or more like hear the bandits getting ready for action. 

So, combat started.  There was a bandit lord with 3 attacks and some command powers that gave his minions bonuses.  Two bandit captains who also got 3 attacks.  And lots of minions.  Rehk wreaked havoc on the minions with his mighty blows, killing 1-2 a round.  The wizard tried a Hold Person on round one but the Lord saved.  The next round he cast a Slow, figuring it was more important to stop the 3 attacks a round from the big guys than kill a bunch of minions who weren’t doing much.  All 4 missed their saves including the lord and a captain so that was good.  The holy paladin ended up surrounded but the minions only did 1d6+3, most of which bounced off his heavy armor damage resistance.  But it added up after 4-5 rounds.  The rest just attacked.  We were a little hampered because we still hadn’t had a long rest but with their big guns slowed and no spell casters on their side, they didn’t pose that big a threat.  The NPC Lady just stood there watching but the bandits didn’t get that close to her.  We gathered the loot under the guise of looking for clues but Andy didn’t have that list together so we’ll distribute that next time.  The main guys did have those scorpion tattoos on the back of their necks so evidently, we didn’t kill all of them at the tomb.  Andy decided to deal with the healing of Row next time so we ended there.