Tales Under a Burning Sun

The old ashik, although the sibling herders were far from convinced that the old man was what he seemed, paused in his tale to take a large drink of water to ease his dust dried throat. He looked around and reaffirmed that his tale was almost at and end, and that the people of the small village beside the muddy oasis would soon understand. And with that he continued to tell his tale. Having left the room dedicated to the worship of Gnoriath, Kank edged towards the uninvestigated corridors of the ancient complex and peaked around the next corridor on the left only to find that it ended in a cave in, but also seeing that there were a couple of other passages running off of it. The Company split up and search the passages quickly sure that there will be an exit into the Weeping Valley behind the watchtower allowing for a surprise attack. Having found nothing but the remnants of stone furniture and the time reduced dust of anything else that might have been, they eventually discover a larg...

The residents of the small village beside the muddy waterhole stood on the upper decks of the Mekillot wagon, some of the healthier ones had stripped the dead guards and now stood armed and armoured. They were still confused, but felt better now that they were no longer in manacles. The sibling herders moved to the fore and asked the old ashik what was happening. The old man stood a little straighter and appeared less ancient and replied that his tale was almost at an end, and by the end of it all would be clear. He then continued to tell his tale. Three of the trees branches animate and lash towards the surprised Kank, two of them miss him but the third slams into his left arm making it go numb with pain. The branch attempts to grab hold of the big Mul but Kank is able to stagger backwards out of it's grasp and towards the rest of the Company, who all seem to be stiffling laughs. Scar has a look at the wound but is unable to do anything about it and while she is doing that Balboa ...

The old ashik stood up and pointed at the Mekillot wagon, the cloaked figures had removed all of the bodies and started a funeral pyre. Eventually the freed slaves and former residents of the small village beside the muddy waterhole stood and moved back towards the wagon, believing that they had swapped one slave master for another. And so they were surprised when the old ashik led them towards the guards rooms and told them to arm themselves and the catapults. The old man then stood on deck and in a deep voice continued his tale. Knowing that it will be impossible for Balboa and Kank to rest within the Weeping Valley, the Company retreat back into the large cavern to clear out any remnants of the Beastmen before taking time to recover. As they head into the first of the tunnels, with Kank moving quickly towards the only other exit, Arthur kicks a bone on the floor and when it stops moving he realises that it is a hoofed leg bone. He looks up and says; The bloody things are cannibals a...

One of the cloaked figures led the old ashik away and spoke to him quietly, the freed slaves could see the old man nodding and then the hooded figure, the watchers could not tell if it was a woman or a man due to the cloak seeming to suck the light from around it, pointed back to the clustered people of the small village next to the muddy oasis and the old ashik returned to them and continued to tell his tale. The Company of the Cloaked Inix cross the cavern, moving away from the shelled chaos creatures, and entered the tunnel opposite the pool of water. The passageway rose slightly and after seventy five foot they came to a fork in the tunnel, Kank headed to the right and the others followed as quietly as they were able. The passageway eventually opened up into a large natural cavern, the floor of which was littered with detritus. As Kank followed the wall around to an exit at the far end of the cavern the others took a closer look at the rubbish strewn floor and found broken pieces o...

The cloaked figures led the freed slaves out of the mekillot wagon and made them all sit together under the watchful eye of several hooded figures. The freed slaves could still not see the faces of those who had rescued them, assuming that they had been rescued. The only one who seemed unconcerned was the old ashik who just continued to tell his tale. One of the plague demons swings at Arthur with it's obsidian bastard sword but the doughty Dwarf sidesteps at the last second and avoids the attack. Ferulah is not so lucky as the other plague demon slashes at her legs and the great feline in Human form is forced to drop to one knee. Remembering that the demons are not injured by normal weapons, Miloch unslings the Greathammer of Galaxyl and uses the power of the ancient weapon to cast bludgeon upon it. As the fly clouded plague demons inexorably move forwards into the melee Arthur is struck in the guts, his armour deflects most of the blow but he is forced backwards. As Ferulah attem...

The cloaked figures that enter the dim light of the slave pens say nothing as they slowly move through the lower floor of the Mekillot wagon opening cages and releasing the slaves bonds. The slaves that had been captured from the little village beside the muddy oasis could see that the cloaked figures were both heavily muscled and armed, but they could not see their faces as they were in deep shadow within the hooded cloaks. The old ashik smiled and with more power in his voice he continued to tell his tale. Ferulah and Scar separate from the rest of the Company of the Cloaked Inix and sneak through the back alleys of the City of the Dead to flank the Beastmen's position within the circular building, with the aim of coming at them from the northwest. Meanwhile the rest of the Company, having given the pair of warrior women enough time to get into position, prepare to attack from the northeast. Having cast their protective magics, Kank steps out of the shadow of one of the buildings...