Having bid farewell to Regthar Deathgate and his troupe of orc warriors, the party continued on southward to the oasis they had been looking for. When they reached it, they found an overgrown wilderness of dense foliage and towering trees, all of which looked to grow at an absolutely alarming rate. Gan Jedi blazed the trail ahead for the party, while Turuk Thunderhoof and Servius Felheart honed theire senses in to follow the magical energies that emanated from the place, their efforts together eventually leading them to the waters at the oasis.
They could all feel the magical aura that seemed to permeate from the place, all throughout the thick haze that covered the water surface. Odd bubbles were rising up from deep down below -- and when the party then dove in to investigate further, they found a glowing fizzure at the bottom of the pool of water, out from which the bubbles spewed forth.
They had no time for further inspection, though; headed right toward them was an alarmingly huge turtle, one that looked ready to chase off these intruders and drive them from its domain!
Rather than fight the turtle, however, the party bnacked off as fast as they could. They disappeared into the foliage again, out of the turtle's sight. Though this meant the beast would no longer pursue them, it also led them straight into a nest of deadly vipers. In the fight that ensued, to escape the snakes, Kelrith Shalith was badly injured.
Once trouble had been dealt with, the party opted to settle down a camp and take a break. Kelrith Shalith needed a chance to recuperate, Turuk Thunderhoof had plans to make a meal of the snakes that the party did not plan to bring with them back to Tonga Runetotem, while at the same time Servius Felheart and Gan Jedi snuck their way back to the waters to the oasis pool to grab a sample from its waters.
They also found a clutch of peculiar mushrooms, them too visibly affected by the magical energies all around them.
When it was time to turn tail and retreat from the oasis entirely, they opted to take the return trip back via Regthar Deathgate's outpost along the road. There the party found themselves with a sincere hero's welcome for their help earlier on. They spent the night as such, among the orcs that they had previously helped take out Chief Kodobane and his clan of centaurs.
The next day after was spent covering the rest of the trek to The Crossroads, though once back at the trade post they discovered pretty quickly that Turuk's uncle Farak Thunderhoof was back in the area. Farak and his family were ranchers a good half-hour's way outside of The Crossroads proper, and the boisterous old tauren was more than happy to play host to his nephew and his travelling companions.
The party spent the night over there, shared many stories of their ventures so far -- while avoiding choice parts -- and likewise got to hear the full end of how Farak Thunderhoof came to be a farmer of boars and chicken. Little more word was shared about Turuk's own father, though Farak admitted to not having heard much from the man in quite some time.
When the morning followed, the party returned to The Crossroads to conduct their business.
One stop along the way was back to meet the ever charismatic Apothecaries Helbrim and Sashya, the two of which quickly piqued interest in the mushrooms Gan Jedihad found at the oasis -- as well as certain other items. Servius Felheart, motivated by his hunger for magic, snuck a sample of magic from a goblin enchantress in the midst of imbuing an item with magical powers. Whether this goblin noticed his deed or not was hard to tell.
When the party eventually rendezvoused with Tonga Runetotem, the tauren druid brought the party along for a small ritual to examine the waters and other items found. The waters in particular, they were able to turn dead and dried seeds back to life when they were dropped into a vial of the liquid. The urgency of the matter was all too clear to Tonga; he needed to bring the party along to see Hamuul Runetotem as soon as he could.
As luck would have it, Shazga's Caravan was still there in The Crossroads, with their old acquaintances Sai'jo, Drom, and Aggi. The night went by at the Crossroads, reminsicing about old times at a place known as The Watering Hole. When the journey ensued in the morning, it was a long, long trail down south to Camp Taurajo, past the gates of Thunder Bluff, via Bloodhoof Village, and then eventually to the towering Thunder Bluff Mesas. It was a long journey; ten days in total to cover the entire trek from trade post to the tauren city.
The caravan came to a stop in a clustered town that had sprung up in the foothills of Thunder Bluff itself. All the better to leave caravan beasts there and then load their goods into the city itself, than to bring heavy beasts of burden up the -- admittedly very sturdy -- elevators up to the mesa tops. Out of the party, only Turuk had ever been in Thunder Bluff before, so this was proving to be an interesting stop ...