Secrets revealed...

PART ONE

One of the brothers covered up the old ashik, who had fallen asleep while telling his story, and then he settled down to sleep himself. The following morning, while they were preparing a light breakfast before setting off, the old man started telling his yarn once again. He picked it up as if he had only just stopped talking moments before, and despite themselves being busy the herders were quickly dragged back into his tale.

The group of friends retreat back to their camp within one of the empty sand domes. They look upon their horde and for the first time since the were captured by slavers they smiled at their fortune. They agreed to fill all of their quart pots with the honey food stuff and then take fifteen of the sweet water globes and three of the honey globes between them. That meant that they still had a considerable amount of resources left and so they agreed to bury it in an obvious location and have Balboa form a hardened slab of sandstone across the top of it.

They spend the day resting, and eating and drinking their fill. During this time Scar spots two Aarakocra circling in the sky, well out of sling range, seemingly keeping a watch on us. Balboa suggests that we could trade some of our water with them for their spear. To that end, Arthur grabs one of the sweet water globes and walks in the direction of the Aarakocra. They back off and remain out of sling range until Arthur places the globe on the floor and backs off, at which point the Aarakocra with the spear remains in the air and the other swoops down to grab the globe.

As soon as the Aarakocra lands Balboa shouts out;

Trade? For the spear!

The Aarakocra holds up the globe and squawks;

Gift!

Balboa replies;

Trade for the spear?

The Aarakocra squawks;

Only have one spear!

Clearly losing patience with the bird man, Arthur steps forwards and shouts;

We could smash them all!

The Aarakocra leaps into the air and with a great flap of his wings he begins to climb, the group on the ground can just hear him say;

Foolish Dwarf!

With impotent anger, Arthur watches the Aarakocra as they slowly become nothing more than specks in the sky. That evening, just before dusk, Scar climbs to the top of the hive entrance mound and takes a bearing towards the oasis and they set out into the desert.

The group travel for half the night, and find themselves once again entering the rocky barrens. By dawn they have found shelter in the lee of a rocky outcropping and they settle in to rest during the hot daylight hours. In the hour before dusk Kank spots a caravan of three inix, fifteen foot long lizards with thick shells, and while he can’t see much more from his position he guesses that there will be more people on foot with the caravan. The group agree to sneak in and spy on the caravan, that by now must have camped down for the night. They all sneak towards the niche between two rocky outcrops where the caravan stopped and climb up onto the lower plateau to get a better view.

Just as the group are inching along the top of the plateau they are all shocked to hear the harsh whisper of someone very nearby;

Will you lot keep the bloody noise down!

Before they have a chance to put they hands on their weapons a female Mul steps out of the shadows and glares at them. The group freeze. How did she manage to get so close without any of them noticing? Before they can say anything she carries on;

This is our claim. Go find your own!

Having regained their wits, Balboa quickly says;

We are just looking for weapons and equipment.

The female Mul looks us up and down like we are beneath her and replies;

You’ve got some.

She has an obsidian great axe slung across her back and a short spear held lightly in her left hand.
Balboa chances tack;

We can help. We can fight.

Like a mother talking to a rather stupid child, the female Mul indicates the caravan camp and says;

We don’t want to fight. We just want to sneak in and steal some water. CAN you sneak?

The group goes very quiet and discovers many things to look at instead of the Mul. She laughs a quiet laugh and then looks over their heads into the shadows of the plateau. Out of those shadows step two more individuals that the recently freed slaves hadn’t spotted. One is a human male carrying a battle axe and with both a short sword and a warhammer strapped at his waist, the other is a half-elf with an obsidian bastard sword strapped across his back and a recurve bow held in his hand. It is the half-elf that speaks next;

You people need to avoid the caravans. They are only out to make a profit and they will either kill you, or capture you and sell you back to the slavers. My name is Kollus, this is To-Gahl and you have already met Marista.

Kollus looks the group up and down and then his eyes alight on the waxy globes that everyone is carrying. He asks what they are and Balboa explains, Kollus then asks where we got them from and again Balboa explains and informs him that there are more hidden away in our stash. He looks thoughtful and then Marisa says;

You’re escaped slaves?

We all nod.

Are you attached to any community?

This time we all shake our heads and Arthur asks if they are also escaped slaves. They are, and they have been free for over six months. Arthur hands them one of the sweet water globes and asks if we could join their community, but Kollus says that we are strangers with new brands and so we could be infiltrators sent to route out the slave communities. The three each take a sip of the water and show appreciation for it’s great taste, they then ask about the stash and where we are headed. We tell them that we are headed for the oasis and Marista says that they have heard that the water at the oasis is spoiled.

Arthur suggests that they take our stash at the hive as a gesture of goodwill, and Kollus agrees that it would be easier than trying to sneak into the caravan camp. He asks if there is anything else at the hive apart from the Wezers and Balboa informs him of the Aarakocra, all three of the hardened ex-slaves shake their heads;

Beware of the Aarakocra, they are very dishonest. But I agree to your plan. Head for the Dwarven village of Kled, a day beyond the oasis and await us there. We will meet you there in six days time if everything goes to plan. If we don’t show then…

Kollus trails off, but we all understand his meaning. We separate from Kollus and his band and continue towards the oasis through the night and just before dawn set camp half a mile from the rough path so as not to be seen when the caravan comes through. During the day the caravan sure enough passes us by and we leapfrog it again during the night. Not long before dawn we catch sight of the oasis and find that the only creatures there are two mekillots. One of which has clearly died.

The group of freed slaves take up a position on the high ground overlooking the oasis and await the caravan, which arrives a few hours after dawn. Two of the caravan guards head down towards the waters edge but as soon as they start to get close the mekillot charges them, albeit very slowly. The guards back off quickly. Next, they get two more guards to lure the mekillot away with a large barrel of water while the original guards slip down to the water's edge. One of the guards takes a quick sip of oasis water, seconds later he spits it out and starts to retch. They quickly rush back to the caravan where there is a heated debate between the two caravan masters.

After an hour, the caravan turns around and heads back in the direction it came from. The group head down to the oasis and find the water hot, brown, and bitter smelling. But there is still lush green grass and lots of foliage and trees. Scar and Kank fashion themselves spears from a couple of straighter branches while the others get a better look at the oasis. The most unusual feature of the oasis is a large monumental arch through which can be seen a bridge that seems to lead from the far side of the oasis. So the group circle around to get a closer look.

As they arrive at the bridge they find a number of offerings, all of which have gone off. They can also see a few pinky purple flowers scattered across the middle of the bridge. Scar takes a closer look and believes them to be from an herb called methelinoc that grows far away in the mountains, and is known for its use as a poison. She also points out that Elves are immune to its effects. While she is inspecting the herb Arthur and Balboa are looking over the edge of the bridge and can see a few of the flowers near the source of the spring that feeds the oasis.

As they are investigating they hear the sound of voices approaching, the group quickly take cover in the heavy vegetation around the oasis edge and watch. After a short wait they see a number of juvenile Elves leading two kank, the large ant like domesticated creatures that Kank was named after. As the freed slaves watch, the Elves take a large sack from the back of the kank and upend it over the edge of the bridge and into the water. Laughing they then take a long drink and leave. Once they are out of sight the group head back to the bridge in time to see the last of the flowers frothing into a brown bile and polluting the oasis.

The group agree to leave the oasis and head for the village of Kled, as instructed, but as they are preparing to get underway they hear a sound that they were not expecting. The sound of giggling children. When they look in the direction of the unusual noise they spot a group of Dwarf children wading through the mud towards the waters edge. Arthur strides towards them shouting that the water is bad and not to drink it, they all stand still and stare at him. And then one of them disappears as it is pulled beneath the surface of the mud.