As the afternoon sun beat down upon them, the old ashik snoozed quietly and the brothers got ready to move their herd of kank to a small patch of vegetation on the far side of the muddy oasis. As soon as they started to cajole the herd the old man startled awake, he looked up at the sibling herders and decided to join them. As he did so he started to resume his tale.

The big Mul could tell that it was a lioness and that she had slain the running Gith, he knew that the Gith was dead because he could see that the mountain lion was feeding upon its carcass. Kank also got his first real look at the beast and could see that she was huge. He backed off quickly from the lithe creature and made his way back through the darkness towards his companions to tell them what had happened. He reached the other two Gith and could see his friends drawing close and so he stopped and began to search the bodies.

One of the Gith was still clinging to life but Kank, with his hatred of the foul race, left it to die. The search turned up a couple of days worth of trail rations and three gallons of precious water, as well as some coinage which Kank passed to Arthur once the others arrived. By the time that they moved on to the third of the Gith the huge mountain lioness had disappeared into the dark night, somewhat relieved the group followed Balboa onwards through the foothills. As the sun rises they find some shade and settle down to wait out the heat of the day.

During his watch Kank spots the huge mountain lioness stalking slowly towards the groups campsite, initially concerned that she is going to attack them, Kank relaxes slightly when he realises that she is carrying a dead baazrag in her mouth. The lioness drops the baazrag outside of the camp and nudges it towards Kank with her nose. Kank says;

Thank you!

Then quickly looks around to make sure that his friends are still asleep when he realises how foolish he looks talking out loud to a giant predator. When he wakes Balboa for his watch, Kank tells him of the lioness and the smaller Mul laughs it off as Kank finally finding a female who doesn’t find him repulsive.

The rest of the day passes quietly and the group head off once again at sunset, Balboa sets the course and says that he believes that they are about a day and a half from getting out of the mountains and back to the desert plains. That day as they travel Arthur lets them all know that he has a feeling that they are being watched. They agree that Kank will jog out in front and then hide himself, letting the others pass in the hope of catching whoever it is that is following them by surprise. Kank is startled when the huge lioness appears as if out of thin air and lays down beside him. Kank tentatively reaches out his hand and strokes the lioness between her ears, the massive beast responds by purring loudly.

Kank catches up with the others and once again tells them off the massive beast, and once again Balboa makes fun of him and the new love of his life. They travel for the rest of the night and at dawn they can see that they are only half a day from the plains as Balboa had predicted, they agree to travel for half a day and rest up at the edge of the mountains before covering the last two days back to the Village of the Free during the night. The day passes without incident and the group finally leave the mountains, but keep them in sight to the West as they use them as a guide back to the hidden entrance to the Village of the Free.

During their first night of travel they spot fires out in the desert a couple of miles to the East, Scar believes that it might well be a caravan and that it should be scouted. Her friends are not so sure, but she says that they could be slavers and therefore there could be slaves to free. That is enough to convince Kank to join her in scouting them, and so the pair leave the others and head out into the desert.

They move as quietly as they can across the desert, using the cover of darkness to mask their approach, and find a small rise that gives them a view of the fires. They spot three fires with at least twenty humanoids seated around them, they also can see that the humanoids have set a picket line that consists of at least ten more people, they are clearly well organised. There is no sign of any wagons and as they are watching Scar spots that a large number of the pickets are carrying bows, she looks at Kank and whispers;

Elves?

Kank nods his agreement and then points back towards the others, Scar nods and they retreat back to their colleagues. They rejoin with the others and all agree that it is best to avoid the Elves and push on for home. Just as the sun is rising the following day they are met by Marvek, the gladiatorial Mul, and a patrol from the Hidden Village. Marvek seems genuinely pleased to see everyone and explains that they had thought that something had gone wrong with their mission. Marvek and his patrol escort the group back to the Hidden Village and when they arrive they are met by Drog and Charanim. Balboa hands over the documents from Fleck and gives them a quick precie of what has happened.

As soon as he mentions the temple and the Crown of Dust Charanim looks concerned, she asks Arthur if she may read his thoughts and the big Dwarf agrees. It does not take long for her to scan through Arthur’s thoughts and when she is finished she asks for the crown, Arthur looks a little crestfallen but hands over the bag holding the Crown of Dust. Charanim also comments that she is concerned by the bone citadel. Major Drog tells them to go get some rest and that there will be a meeting of the Council in a few hours and they will be debriefed then.

All of the Council members are present at the meeting, as are Marvek and Kollus. Drog asks us to tell the whole story and Balboa steps forwards and gives a detailed account. Various members of the council ask points of clarification, but all seem impressed with what the group have achieved and survived. When Balboa has finished Charanim leans forwards and says;

We believe that the bone citadel is the base of operations for a group of raiders known as Slither. Their leader is a powerful defiler by the name of Yarnath the Skull. You were wise not to tangle with them.

Bartras, the leader of The Free, then starts to speak.

The documents that you brought back tell us that there is to be a slave uprising in Tyr. It is planned to coincide with the ceremony to celebrate the completion of the Ziggurat. The leaders of this uprising have asked for our assistance.

Bartras goes on to explain that almost all of the residents of Tyr will be within the Ziggurat for the ceremony, and more importantly Kalak will be in attendance. Kalak is very rarely seen in public and the leaders of the uprising are going to take advantage of knowing that he will be there and are going to assassinate him. Scar asks who is planning this uprising and Bartras says that it is being organised by disgruntled nobles, some of the Templars, and a group representing the slaves. That group is led by a Mul called Rikus.

At the mention of that name Balboa tells that council that the group had met Rikus and his group in the valley while searching for the Face in the Stone. Bartras looks intrigued and aks;

Do you believe that we can trust them?

Without hesitation most of the group nod in the affirmative. And Balboa goes on to say;

They could have killed us, but they asked us to rest by their fire and share in their food.

The Council look pleased to have this confirmed and Bartras continues to tell the group that the uprising has asked for help in achieving three goals. First they need gladiators within the arena that they can trust, with this Bartras looks towards the ebon Mul;

Marvek has volunteered to lead that team.

Marvek tilts his head, and Bartras continues saying that the second team are to smuggle weapons into Tyr and then to mingle with the crowd within the Ziggurat and whip the crowd into a frenzy of rebellion, this time he looks in the direction of the Half-Elf;

Kollus will be leading that team.

The leader of The Free goes on to say that the final team are to go into the Under Tyr and to make contact with Fleck. The Halfling will lead that group through the Under Tyr to below the arena, where they will secure an exit route from the Ziggurat. Bartas looks at the group;

And we would like you to be that team.

It takes less than a heartbeat for the group to agree, and Bartras smiles like a proud father when they do. He tells them that they will be leaving in four days and will be travelling in a three wagon caravan with both Kollus’ and Marvek’s teams. The group will leave the caravan before Tyr and will make their way back into Tyr via the same route that they have just used. The Council ends and the group of friends go back to their lodgings to rest and plan what they require. Arthur says that he is pleased that they have been allowed to keep their money and after a brief discussion they agree to tithe sixty gold coins to the Earth temple and sixty to the Hidden Village coffers.

The following day they visit the armourers and replace, or upgrade, their damaged suits. Arthur also finds and purchases a spyglass, and the group manage to buy three applications of weezer honey to share amongst them. On the second day Balboa and Arthur visit the Earth Temple and ask Brin Tar to look at some of the gems that they have found. The Dwarf priest tells them the approximate value of the stones and when he views the uncut gem he tells them that it is something known as an Ioun Stone, but he is unsure what type it is. He suggests that they speak to Charanim. They do so and she is able to confirm that it has the ability to store psionic power for use at a later time.

Scar seeks out Selenu, who is very busy preparing for the upcoming tasks, and asks her if she can teach her the ways of the Preserver. Scar tells Selenu that she can already cast some spells and that she would like to know more, and she tells her that she is aware of the Veiled Alliance but has not been able to contact them. Selenu says that she would be able to help but that she is currently too busy. Scar leaves and finds that the village is in commotion, when she asks what is causing it she is told that a huge mountain lion has turned up at the oasis outside the village and no one knows what to do.

Scar rushes off and finds Kank in their lodgings and tells him what is happening. Kank immediately heads out to the oasis and finds the lioness resting at the water's edge, he approaches slowly and is greeted in a friendly manner when the huge lioness rolls over and presents her belly to him for a scratch. The Thri Kreen herbalist that lives next to the oasis watches this curious scene, and then with a shrug of it’s four shoulders goes back to tending their plants. That night the group agree that they should not carry all of their wealth with them and so they agree to leave four hundred gold coins with the Earth temple, Balboa suggests that they leave it in all five of their names with instructions that it will be collected within the year.

On the morning of the fifth day the group grab their gear and head out to join the caravan of three mekillot wagons. Each wagon is flying a pennant showing a silver jozhal, when Kank asks Kollus what they mean he is told;

They are the symbol of Merchant House Wabir.

The group are seen off by Major Drog who tells them that they must meet with Fleck in twelve days, Miloch says that they will have to move swiftly to make that, but they think that it can be done. The wagons roll out of the Hidden Village and move steadily towards Tyr. On the third day Balboa spots what he thinks is a dozen Elves following the caravan, but the elves are careful to stay out of crossbow range. Arthur climbs up to the roof of one of the wagons and watches them through his spyglass and counts at least twenty five Elves but by the end of the day they have disappeared out of sight. On the morning of the sixth day the group separate from the caravan and start up into the foothills.