Secrets revealed...

It had been a long, hard trek between the two watering holes. Herding their beasts before them they had passed the time listening to the old man's story, he had joined them on their route but neither of the brothers could remember inviting him. But his story was absorbing and his company gave the brothers something other than their herd to focus on.

The group of freed slaves and the Thri-Kreen Druid exit the stairwell into a large central room of the tower. There are three other exits from the room two doorways, each of which is being held against a horde of Elves by two Dwarven warriors, and a ladder leading up through the ceiling to the roof level. The blood soaked Dwarf turns to the group and says;

My name is Raglar Kruzt. Follow me and stick close.

He then scurries up the ladder through the hole in the ceiling. A heartbeat later and the group are following him up leaving the Dwarven warriors still holding off the elves. On the roof of the tower Raglar points over the edge of the wall to a second ladder leading down the outside of the tower, the bottom of the ladder is guarded by two more Dwarven warriors. Raglar looks at the group and says;

What are you waiting for? Go! Go! Go!

Arthur goes over first but slips on the ladder and gets himself stuck, it takes him less than ten seconds to get free but it feels like a lifetime to those at the top looking over. Once he is moving again he followed down by Balboa, who also slips and gets himself stuck. The Dwarves do not look impressed. The rest of the group and the Druid make it down to the ground safely and they all then scramble down the rampart and run into the dark of the barrens. It takes the group a few moments to realise that the shadows seem heavier and that it is eerily quiet at ground level, as soon as they realise this they also notice that the two dwarves at the bottom of the ladder are straining with concentration.

We run for several minutes and then all sound returns as the two dwarves stagger as their concentration finally gives. With the group is the Druid and four dwarves in darkened armour, Arthur turns to Raglar and says;

How did you find us?

Raglar, who is nervously looking back towards the Elven stronghold, turns to him and says;

I will tell you all when we are safely away from here. But we departed Kled the night that you arrived.

After no more than a minute, Raglar gets everyone moving again heading west. As they push on into the night it becomes obvious that T’Klick’Chik is happily eating an Elf, when Balboa raises an eyebrow he hears an alien voice in his head saying;

The only good Elf is an Elf in your belly!

They force march for three hours, well the dwarves force march the rest of the group move quite easily, until Raglar calls a halt for a short break. Twenty minutes later they are moving again with Raglar leading them through a low rocky canyon to avoid the prying eyes of any following elves. After another three hours Raglar calls a second halt. The dwarves all slump down breathing hard, but Kank backtracks a little to look in the direction from where they had come. Silhouetted against the twin moons he spots a group of maybe twelve elves closing in rapidly on the group. He quickly rushes back and informs Raglar, and knowing that they can’t outrun them they agree to set an ambush.

Balboa and Kank continue to run onwards in full view of the elves while the Dwarves split right and the others split left. Both groups hide within the rocky outcrops and wait. Looking nervously over their shoulders, Balboa and Kank see the elves split into three groups with one coming straight on and the others pushing out to flank them. Knowing that they have definitely been seen and done their job the two Muls dive for cover and prepare to charge back into the fray.

As the central pair of elves move through the rocky outcrops they spot T’Klick’Chik hiding behind some boulders. Seeing their main prey in such an obvious position causes the elves to throw all sense of caution to the wind and one of them shouts something in elvish and they converge on his hiding place. That lack of caution causes them to miss the figures hidden in the shadows and the Dwarves and freed slaves slam into the elves while they are focused on the Druid. A chaotic melee breaks out and Kank leaps back to his feet and rushes in the direction of the nearest fight. Balboa is more cautious and takes a moment to scan around. He spots an Elven archer perched atop one of the outcroppings and so he begins to whirl his sling.

The skirmish rages on in two locations with the dwarves fighting hard against five elves and the freed slaves tackling three more. The Druid is holding his own against two elves, he seems to be fighting with four swords one in each of his hands. Both Raglar and Arthur kill one of their opponents, but the archer in the rocks somehow manages to shoot Balboa in the chest with an arrow. Then Scar, Raglar and T’Klick’Chik cut down an elf each and as quickly as it had begun the skirmish swings in favour of the allies. It swings even further when Arthur winds up a massive blow with his maul and knocks an elf twelve yards backwards to land with a sickening crunch.

Before Kank has even managed to join the fight the elves are routed. Only two of the twelve elves that were chasing them made it out of the ambush alive. Arthur and Balboa quickly scavenge anything of use from the dead elves and then Raglar gets them underway once more. Just before dusk the group spot a group of elves blocking their route towards Kled, but Arthur’s sharp eyes also spot a large force of Dwarves moving up, unnoticed, behind the elves. The group slow their pace in the hope that they can trap the elves between the two forces, but before they can spring the trap the elves spot the dwarf force and quickly retreat.

With a feeling of definite relief the group make it back to the safety of Kled, just before they arrive the Druid T’Klick’Chik departs with one of the dwarf warriors and heads straight for the oasis. The first people that greet them when they enter Kled are Kollus and his two colleagues. The half-elf tells them that they found the water at the hive, and that they have also been informed by the dwarves of the groups exploits in helping them.

Kollus admits that he is pleased with everything that the recently freed slaves have done and that it is agreed that they can join the ex-slave encampment. He hands Scar a map showing the location to head for, it is not the location of the encampment, but a spot that the group will be met at and then escorted to the encampment. Scar thanks the half-elf and tells him that we will see him soon. With that the three ex-slaves leave Kled and head out into the darkness.

The following morning the group join Raglar and a small group of dwarves heading for the oasis, they are also rejoined by Ka-Reen who has recovered from her exertions in healing the dwarven child. The day passes uneventfully and the group arrives just before dusk to find T’Klick’Chik the Druid finishing his ceremony to purify the oasis. It is difficult to tell with such an alien creature as a Thri-Kreen, but Kank is sure that he looks exhausted as he slowly walks back into the woods surrounding the oasis. Kank watches him go and then all of a sudden T’Klick’Chik is not there, Kank looks around and sees the smiling face of Raglar. Raglar shrugs and says;

It always bugs me when he does that!

By the following morning the centre of the oasis is pure, clear water once more. The group drink their fill and fill their water gourds. The dwarves fill the small barrels that they have brought with them and then they all set out to return to Kled, leaving the now re-emerged Druid to continue his cleansing rituals.

Back in Kled the group are summoned by the village elder and attend with due respect. The ancient Dwarf explains that the group has done a significant amount for the village and that they are welcome to stay for a short while, and that they will also be welcomed back, but they cannot make Kled their home. The elder give them a sad look;

You are, after all, escaped slaves. If we are caught harbouring you then the village will be destroyed.

The group of freed slaves fully understand and ask if they can stay a week to train and recoup. The elder is pleased with that and offers to help organise training for them should they wish. And so Scar and Arthur train in arms with Raglar, Balboa trains with a stone mason, and Kank spends time with the increased Dwarven patrols.

Eight days later, fully equipped and with their water gourds full, the group of friends set out from Kled headed in the direction of the oasis. They arrive just before dusk and realise that they have forgotten to bring an offering for the Druid. With the hope that helping to rescue him from the elves is still in his mind they head around the now crystal clear oasis towards the sacred bridge and arch. They are greeted on the bridge by T’Klick’Chik, who speaks to them through Kank, and Arthur asks him if he knows of any watering holes in the direction that they are headed. Kank replies;

Travel far from here I do not. Outside this region I know not. Why north you go?

Balboa tells him the we are going to join up with friends, to live in a group, like a hive. The Thri-Kreen cocks his head to one side and Kank says;

Like Mon-keigh?

Balboa says while pointing to Scar;

Human!

T’Klick’Chik, speaking through Kank says;

Mon-keigh!

With that, the Druid once again disappears off into the trees. The group settle in and drink their fill of water and rest. As dusk approaches they fill up their water gourds and head out in the direction of the hive. Just before dawn they locate a sheltered spot and camp. During the day Kank spots four dots circling in the sky, he points them out to the group and they believe that it might be the Aarakocra. Scar wants to go and investigate but Kank is not keen as it leads off of the path that they are following. As the shapes in the air are more than a day away, it is decided to ignore them and the group move on.