Previously: Entry.135 - The Queen of Ashes
You descended from Mount Ashcloud into the Hellwasp Desert with Qizenya to cross the burning hot sands and reach the volcano known as Ruins of Embrassil, where you seek to find a stolen painting of the Queen of Ashes in her brothers lair. You purchase a few mounts to cross the desert more easily: a few Giant Striders - scaled running birds - and a spidercart - which is just a set of chairs replacing the head of a giant magma spider.
You traverse the hot and dry landscape towards one of the two volcanos you can see in the distance, hoping that your guides sense of direction isn't betraying you. You come across a rock formation that is being attacked by a phoenix. Attempts to communicate with the enraged beasts fail, but since you don't act hostile towards it and keep your distance, it ignores you. When a voice from the inside of a cave addresses you in Giant, you make verbal contact with Flaav, who screams out for help. He stole a phoenix egg for some tribal ritual and doesn't intend on giving up on it. You deceive him into closing his eyes and brace him for magical aid. But in reality, Drem sneaks into the cave invisibly and skilfully exchanges the egg with a simple stone. The egg is returned to the phoenix and as it flies off, Florian attempts to make the deception more real by thunderclapping a few times, which in the end startles the phoenix, causing it to drop the egg, which gets damaged by the fall. The bird does not return with revenge, but instead mourns the death of it's child, in a safe distance to you. Flaav believes you that the egg turned to stone for a while, but will transform back in a while. He thanks you and grants you a special flower that enhances magical damage.
You also find a trapped chest in the cave that contained a horn for drinking, enchanted to last forever. But as Happy feeds his Giant Strider, it mistakes the flask for diner and swallows it whole. Flo and Happy quickly grab the animal by the throat and squeeze the valuable item out again, but kill the strider in the process. Happy, being a life domain cleric, decides to revive the killed companion.
Further into the desert, you are encountered by a herd of rolling fire balls crossing your path. You are able to shield yourselves with magic, making it through unharmed and then take a rest in Egbert's magnificient mansion. After waking up, you continue your journey and end up in front of a giant hollow rock formation that emits giant Hellwasps into your direction. You end up fighting the creatures and destroy them without bigger harm coming to you.