Secrets revealed...

As the sandstorm raged on outside the headsman’s mud hut the population of the small village beside the muddy oasis sheltered inside. The smaller children had drifted off to sleep in the arms of their parents, but the parents themselves were still listening closely to the old ashik’s tale.

When Arthur questions the remaining pair of captives he discovers that the wrecked wagon was not their wagon but the wagon that they had been sent to search for by Merchant House Shrom, which Arthur realises means that the dust devil must be the entrance to the Face in the Stone. He also discovers that the raiders have been here for two days throwing captives into the dust devil, and that they have tossed in fifteen of the House Shrom searchers in order to try and find a way in. It is at that point that the captives tell Arthur about the rest of the raiders.

The rest of the group arrive just in time to hear the captives tell Arthur that half of the raiders left a couple of days previously. They were made up of Humans, Elves, Tarek, and Peons. The captives also believe that they have a base not far away, and that they had headed back there but that they would return. Kank looks up at his friends;

We had better get a move on!

Arthur tells the captives to sit down and rest under the raiders awning and he gives them some water, they tell him that Merchant House Shrom would pay handsomely for their return and that if we would escort them to Tyr then he would make sure that we were paid well. Arthur shrugs and just says;

We’re busy.

Arthur walks back to the others, minus Kank who is on watch at the lip of the ridge, and finds them piling up rocks from the surrounding area near the edge of the dust devil. Next, Balboa heads off and grabs one of the tarps from the raiders camp and ties it to a rope that he then threads through and wraps around the rock pile. Balboa then steps up to the dust devil and throws the tarp in. Instantly the rope snaps taut and begins to pull free of their rock pile. Arthur steps forwards and catches the rope before it flies free, he then hauls the tarp back out of the dust devil and finds that it has been shredded.

The group discusses what to do next but no plan is forthcoming and so they agree to sleep on it and set a double watch for the night. The two captives take it in turns to watch, as they clearly do not fully trust the freed slaves, but they have nothing to worry about and the night passes uneventfully. The following morning, as the sun rises, they search the area carefully but find nothing of note. Arthur grabs a few of the Peon shields and carries them over to the edge of the dust devil and suggests that they could use them to shield themselves as they step into the dust devil. Balboa looks at him in shock at the suggestion that they step into the sandstorm, but Kank looks over and says;

I’ll go first.

Balboa uses his power to mould the stone of one of the rock piles into a large hook and Arthur straps one of the shields to Kank’s one good arm, ties a rope around Kank’s waist, and then loops the other end around the hook. The group feeds out the rope as Kank walks into the dust devil. In a heartbeat Kank disappears behind the wall of spinning sand. The rope goes taut and the others continue to feed it slowly out, that is until the rope snaps and goes slack.

Inside the dust devil Kank is buffeted by the strong winds and flying sand, but the strength gained from the power of the Earth Ring means that he is able to push onwards deeper into the storm. He stumbles further into the dust devil and realises that the flying sand is slowly eroding his armour but he pushes on and eventually bursts out of the wall of sand and steps into the eye of the storm. Before him he sees a giant face carved into the stone, with two large obelisks jutting upwards from it’s lower jaw. Inside the mouth of the face Kank catches sight of three foot tall creatures with glittering eyes, he notices that they are completely naked. It is then that Kank also realises that the rope tethering him to the others has been worn through by the sandstorm.

Balboa looks at Scar, Arthur, and Miloch and says;

What now?

After a very quick discussion they agree that they have to head in and find out what has happened to Kank, and more importantly find the Face in the Stone. They all lock arms and step into the dust devil. As soon as they step into the storm they are buffeted by the whirling winds and they struggle to hold onto each other but they manage to continue to move forwards. The harsh buffeting continues and eventually the group are torn away from each other to struggle onwards through the sandstorm alone.

In the eye of the storm Kank watches as the small, naked creatures disappear into the darkness inside the Face in the Stone. He then turns as he hears a noise behind him and a smile crosses his face as Miloch steps out of the dust devil. A heartbeat later Arthur follows Miloch out of the storm. Their armour looks battered and abraded by the storm and Kank looks back into the dust devil waiting for the next of the group to appear. It is a nervous few seconds before a sand blinded Scar stumbles into the eye of the dust devil. The group all look at each other with an unspoken question about where Balboa is, the sands of time slip by and then Kank dives back into the sandstorm.

Kank stomps into the dust devil, his mighty strength pushing him onwards, he hasn’t gone far before he almost trips over Balboa’s body lying prone within the storm. Kank reaches down with his one good arm and grabs Balboa by his armours harness and drags him back towards the eye of the storm. As they stagger out of the storm Scar leaps forwards and administers first aid to Balboa, but Balboa remains battered and unconscious and so Kank hands her the last of his Weezer honey and she forces it into Balboa’s slack mouth. It does not take long for Balboa to come too. He looks around and says;

What happened?

Arthur simply states;

Kank rescued you!

Then, as if noticing it for the first time, Arthur points at the rock face and declares;

There’s a face there!

Everyone looks at Arthur with with open mouths and Scar responds;

Really? We hadn’t noticed!

Arthur either ignores, or doesn’t comprehend, Scar’s sarcasm and stalks forwards towards the ramp that leads up to stoney maw. Scar and Kank follow him while Balboa heals first himself, and then Miloch of the wounds inflicted by the dust devil. They then catch up with the others and Miloch takes point heading up the ramp. But there are a lot of loose stones under foot and he makes slow progress, slipping a couple of times before he makes it to the top of the short ramp. He drops a rope down to the others and braces himself as everyone bar Kank pulls themselves up hand over hand. Once they are all up they help to pull the one armed Kank up.

In front of them they can finally see how huge the pair of obelisks are. Each one is five foot square at its base and rises high into the darkness above. Several of the group light torches and with the extra light they can see that the obelisks are carved with ancient geometric patterns and snake sigils. Beyond the obelisks they can see that there are two natural looking passages leading off into the darkness. The group decides to follow the right hand passage and discover that it leads to a set of ancient stone doors carved with faded runes and an image of a serpent constructed from numerous smaller serpents. To the left of the doors is a dark recess and Miloch is sure that he can hear the sound of the small creatures within, but when they investigate with torchlight they find nothing but a dead end.

They agree to leave the doors and check the other passage, but before they go Arthur starts to pile several small stones up against the doors so that if they open he will know. As soon as he touches one of the doors there is a loud cracking sound from the obelisk chamber and then a strong smell of ozone as a bolt of lightning shoots from the top of one of the obelisks and strikes Arthur in his left leg. Arthur throws himself into the recess with the rest of his colleagues, and Balboa rushes to his side to heal him. Kank steps out into the passage and then dives back into the recess, but he is not quick enough and a second bolt of lightning hits him in the leg also. Scar tries to administer first aid but is not successful, Kank just shrugs his massive shoulders and sits down at the back of the recess.

The others sit down as well, and from his angle Arthur notices that the doors have a partially hidden keyhole. That find perks up the group and while Balboa rests that others get up and carry out a fingertip search of the recess in the hope of finding something. But their hope is misplaced and they find nothing. As a significant amount of time has passed Scar decides to step back out to see if the lightning is still firing, she uses the wall for cover and manages to get most of the way down the right hand side of the corridor before her cover runs out and she has to dash across to the other side of the passage. At that point both obelisks shoot lightning bolts at her but fortunately only one of them strikes home.

Scar quickly scampers back towards cover and narrowly avoids being hit by the second double lightning strike. Balboa looks up from his rest and says;

There is a cloying magic in this place. It isn’t a good place to be!

That settles it for the group, and they decide that they need to move quickly. Scar looks at Balboa and suggests;

The power of the earth will defend you! You should go first!

Balboa thinks for a moment and then nods in agreement. Moments later the group rush out from the recess at a sprint with Balboa in the lead. As he rounds the corner lightning leaps from the top of both obelisks, but both bolts miss Balboa, perhaps Scar was correct. At full sprint they head across the obelisk chamber heading for the second passage. There is another double crack and Balboa and Kank are forced to dodge two more lightning bolts. They rush onwards, with Arthur struggling to keep up.