Secrets revealed...

The younger of the brothers returned to the dying embers of the fire and looked down at the sleeping forms of his elder brother and the old ashik. A slight smile caressed his face as he thought of the old man falling asleep mid-story once again. Having the old ashik join them had been a great turn of fortune, his tale made the drudgery of the day disappear and his presence stopped the old sibling bickering that usually accompanied these trips. As these thoughts cross his mind he drifted back to what the old man was saying before he fell asleep, something about the freed slaves searching the bodies of the Black Sand Raiders...

With the injured and unconscious resting within the mysterious water elemental building, the others begin to make sure that they are not caught unawares. Kank slogs his way up to the top of the massive dune that is overhanging the ancient building and settles in under his robe to keep a watch on the surrounding desert. Balboa and Miloch search the dead and remove anything of any use including weapons, armour, and almost fifteen silver pieces.

They pile it all inside of the buildings main room and then Balboa heads up the dune to swap duties with Kank, so that the latter can carry all of the bodies away from the newly formed oasis to stop predators from being attracted to the groups camp. It is hot and heavy work, but the big Mul once again approaches the task with his single minded stubbornness. In the shade of the ancient building Arthur and Scar discuss how long they believe that they can stay here and rest up. Thrassos, who was studying the frescos within the room, looks over his shoulder and says;

Staying will be dangerous! That clap of thunder will have attracted someone, or something's attention. And Banica Lastman will be missed by the Black Sand Raiders, they will come looking for him. This place will not be safe for very long!

Scar and Arthur shared a quick glance and then Scar asked one of the obvious questions;

Black Sand Raiders?

Thrassos, without even looking at them, carried on;

Banica Lastman was a member of a much larger group of raiders, the Black Sand Raiders. They operate from the Smoking Crown north of Urik, but they will come looking for Banica. It would be best not to be here when they arrive.

Thrassos seems to be distracted by his investigations of the ancient building, and in being distracted he seems more talkative than he has since the freed slaves first met him, and so Scar takes the opportunity to find out more about him.

Who do you worship?

Thrassos pauses briefly in his inspection of the fresco, and when he continues after a moment his voice seems somehow further away;

I was once in the service of King Kalak of Tyr. I was one of his Templars and gained my power from him directly, but I found that I was becoming somebody that I did not wish to be. I was young and believed that I knew it all, much like you do now, but I came to realise how little I knew.

Balboa, having once again switched places with the big Mul so that neither spent to long in the direct sunlight, wandered into the room thirstyly draining a gourd of water. He joined the others and listened to Thrassos continue;

I now draw my power from the elemental planes, but it is not tied to any single element, and my power is greatly diminished. But I now travel the sands seeking knowledge of what went before, and trying to work out if my power is still linked to that of King Kalak.

Thrassos again pauses and the freed slaves can see the tension in his shoulders, he takes a deep breath and seems to regain his composure. Balboa changes the subject and asks if Thrassos can read the runes within the ancient building, but Thrassos tells him that he has no idea what they mean. He tells Balboa that they are written in a language from the mists of the Green Age. As the discussions continue, Scar realises that her withered arm has been slowly returning back to its normal state. And as the blood starts to flow through her arms veins again the muscles return to normal and the palsy disappears.

The group all head outside to refill their gourds with water and Scar asks Thrassos what the dark patches of dead grass around the newly formed oasis are. Thrassos nearly states;

Banica was a defiler!

When he notices the blank looks on the faces of the freed slaves around him he continues;

Defilers are sorcerers who power their magic by drawing the life force from the surrounding area. The patches of dead grass are where Banica was stood when he cast his spells, he has drained all the life out of those spots. Some say that defilers are what ended the Green Age and made Athas the land that we see today.

Arthur and Miloch look quickly at both Balboa and Scar, but Thrassos continues;

Scar, from what I have seen, is a Preserver. She draws her power from inside and does not affect the surrounding life, she is more akin to the Veiled Alliance who stand opposed to the Defilers and are trying to heal the world. But the Veiled Alliance, like all Preservers, have to operate in secret because they are persecuted. People will kill them first and ask questions later.

Those words send everyone into quiet contemplation during which Arthur’s eyes settle on the gigantic mekillot, and in particular on the mekillot’s houdah. He points to it and asks Scar to cut a five yard square of canvas out of the houdah, he suggests that it will be able to be carried by himself or Kank and that it will provide shelter from the worst of the blazing hot sun during the day. While Scar sets to this task Arthur turns once again to Thrassos and asks if he knows the land to the northwest of here, but Thrassos admits that he has not travelled that way;

As I have said, Athas continually reminds you of how little you know.

From his vantage point on watch, Kank spots a silver ripple in the far distance. When he is once again relieved by Balboa he points it out to the smaller Mul but neither of them are sure if it is a trick of the sun or not. Towards the end of Balboa’s watch, as the sun is starting to set, the group pull the watch point back to the top of the ancient building. At the same time Thrassos moves from person to person administering to their wounds and magically healing those that he can, one of which is Arthur who is now finally fit enough to be able to walk on his own.

With the sun set and the twin moons starting to climb into the sky Ka-Reen regains consciousness. She is somewhat shocked when Balboa tells her of everything that has happened since she passed out after healing Arthur after he went for a spin with the water elemental. The night passes quietly and the group agree to spend the rest of the day resting up before moving onwards at dusk. During the day Arthur attempts to hand Thrassos his share of the spoils from the Black Sand Raiders but Thrassos refuses to take it.

I thank you for your honesty, rarely seen these days, and wish you well on your journey.

Before they leave Balboa takes one of his sling stones and attempts to mould it using his power into the image of Thrassos’ jarbo. The stone turns to molten rock in his hand and he quickly drops it to the floor, it is a long time before the look of shock leaves his face and even longer before Balboa returns from his own deep thoughts.

The freed slaves travel all night across the desert and just before dawn find a small cluster of rocks that they spread the mekillot houdah canvas across to provide them with shelter. Kank climbs to the top of the highest dune and surveys the surrounding area to find it featureless. He does, however, once again spot the silver ripple snaking across the far dunes. It is closer than before and Kank can tell that it is a silver ribbon possibly fifty foot long and as he watches it seems to be moving slowly left to right, crossing a large distance as if searching for something. Or hunting! Just as Kank is about to descend and inform the others he spies a black dot in the far distance cresting the largest dune on the horizon. It is joined by several other black dots and then they disappear out of sight once more in the undulating landscape.

When Kank informs the others what he has seen Arthur is the first to speak;

We should go and talk to it!

Everyone looks at him as if he has just gone mad. Perhaps he is suffering from heat stroke. Balboa slowly points out that the last time they tried to talk to a creature it didn’t go so well. They ended up fighting the Wezer queen. Arthur shrugs and says;

We got the water didn’t we?

Kank points out that he said it was silver ribbon almost fifty foot long, and that he is not sure that talking is the best approach. The group keep an eye on the creature, when they can, and by the time that they are due to set out it is still criss crossing the desert about a mile behind them. As the sun sets the group move onwards, constantly looking over their shoulders.

By the end of the evening they have not seen the silver ribbon again and dawn's first light reveals a mountain range stretching across the horizon as far as the eye can see. The freed slaves are also entering a band of rocky badlands and they are pleased to find some good shelter from the harsh sunlight. Scar takes first watch and climbs to the top of a rocky outcropping and looks back the way that they had come. She spots the black dots in the distance, once again cresting a sand dune, and it is obvious that they are gaining. It is also obvious that they are heading directly for the freed slaves, probably following their tracks, Scar can make out that there are six dots. She also spots the silver ribbon flashing in the distance as it turns back on its sweeping search pattern.

Scar climbs back down and tells us what she has seen, she believes that the silver ribbon is not gaining on the group, but that the black dots are. She also believes that the black dots are likely to be kank riders, probably from the Black Sand Raiders. The group rest up again during the day and as the sun sets push on quickly to try and evade those that are following. By the end of their third day of travel the group are leaving the stoney badlands and heading back out into the desert, they consult their map and agree that if they push they will beat the kank riders across the desert and into the next patch of rocky badlands. An ideal place for them to set an ambush.

By dawn the following day the group of freed slaves have located the perfect spot within the rocky badlands to set their trap. Believing that they have at least a day to set their ambush the group begin to search the area and pick the most advantageous positions. Scar agrees to be the lure that draws the kank riders into the trap and will hide atop one of the taller rock stacks in the middle of the chokepoint, Balboa hides atop one of the stacks further back so that he can put his sling to good use. Kank and Arthur look at the boulder field, thinking that Kank would be able to hide low behind the boulders and launch a surprise attack into the flank of the kank riders.

As soon as Kank steps into the boulder field he feels a sharp pain in his foot, and he realises that his foot is stuck to the floor. He yells to Arthur that he cannot move his foot, and he then starts to scream like a stuck Baazrag when Arthur starts to pull him out and the barbs in his foot rip into his flesh. Eventually, the combined efforts of Arthur and Kank pull Kank free, but it leaves a large chunk of Kank’s foot behind and he collapses to the floor. Ka-Reen rushes to his side and, closing her eyes, heals his foot. Kank is very grateful, and again realises that he owes Ka-Reen a great debt.

Eventually, the group all hide while Scar and Balboa keep watch for the kank riders. Balboa spots that they have stopped several miles away, he relays this information to Scar and she heads for higher ground to get a better view. After twenty minutes of watching she spots the kank riders move off and begin to head back in the direction that they came from. The group wait until dusk and once again set of for their rendezvous with the freed slave camp. After travelling all night the group realise that they have been heading off course and that they will need to retrace their steps to head for the meeting point.

They decide to rest through the day and move at dusk again, and so as with every time they camp the group split up and start to forage for food and water. The quiet of dawn is shattered by the sound of Ka-Reen screaming, and the rest of the group rush back towards the sound of fighting. As soon as they lay eyes on her they can see that she is being attacked by a Tembo. Kank and Miloch rush in to defend Ka-Reen but are not in time to save her from powerful strike, the Tembo almost severs Ka-Reen’s arm with its long claws.

Kank is then hit with a mental attack, and being weak of mind, he staggers but carries on charging forwards. That is until another Tembo blocks his path and attacks him. Miloch and Balboa makes it to Ka-Reen’s side but neither manage to land a blow on the Tembo attacking her. Arthur is also struck with a mental attack, but it merely slides off of his solid mental walls. He is then intercepted by another Tembo and a melee ensues.

Kank swings with his maul and crushes the head of the Tembo that had halted his charge, he then continues to run towards the battle near Ka-Reen and is joined by Scar who has just arrived on the scene. But as they draw near, the largest Tembo that they have seen so far leaps out and blocks their path. Arthur swings his maul and breaks the back of the beast that he is fighting, and Miloch severs the spine of the creature that attacked Ka-Reen.

The largest of the Tembo rakes Kank’s face with its iron hard claws, Kank shakes the blood out of his eyes and clobbers it in the flank with his maul. Scar lands a firm blow with the Sword of Kemalok and then Arthur steps up and smashes it straight in the head with a blow powerful enough to spread its brains across the rocks. With all of the creatures dead Arthur first aids Ka-Reen, he realises that she has a dislocated shoulder and so he pops it back into place. Ka-Reen screams and passes out. The group rig up the mekillot houdah canvas and wait out the day.