The old ashik continued his tale, it was as if he would never stop. As if this was going to be the last thing that he ever did and he had to get it told. He had been telling it with such regularity that the brothers really felt it’s absence when he wasn’t talking. Others in the village would ask what had happened and the siblings would have to give them short summaries of what the old ashik had said. And then those villagers would tell their children and so the story was told, and retold.

Having left the caravan behind at first light the group of freed slaves trekked up into the foothills taking the narrow path that they had followed once before. It wasn’t long before both Kank and Scar started to complain about feeling ill, and then being physically sick by the side of the track. Both Scar and Balboa failed to discern what had caused them to be ill, and both Kank and Scar felt weakened by the illness but they were strong enough to carry on and so they continued up the path. By midday they were passing the point where they ran into the patrol of Tyr guardsmen, and Balboa reminded Kank of his mighty punch that had felled one of the guardsmen’s erdlu. Kank smiled a broad smile and suggested that he had better scout ahead just in case.

As the sun was starting to set, and the pathway through the hills was being cast into deep shadow, Kank picked up the sound of voices from up ahead. Kank quickly but quietly returned to the others and warned them, they were fortunate enough to be passing through one of the wider sections of path and there was enough cover that they could all scatter and hide. It isn’t long before six erdlu mounted Tyr guardsmen come into sight moving along the pathway towards them. The guards seem to be more interested in discussing the upcoming celebration when the Ziggurat is completed than paying attention to their surroundings, and so they pass by without spotting the five freed slaves.

The group remain hidden until the sounds of the guards discussion can no longer be heard and then they quickly push on to locate somewhere to camp. They find the spot that they used last time they passed this way and settle down for the night. During the third watch, Arthur’s, the big Dwarf spots something moving in the darkness. He shakes Balboa awake and points in the direction that he saw the movement, but Balboa can see nothing and turns to Arthur;

It could be that bloody lion that keeps following Kank!

Arthur just shrugs, and when there is no further sign after ten minutes Balboa settles back down to sleep. In the morning they discover a dead baazrag where Arthur detected the movement and they assume that it must have been the mountain lion. Arthur looks at Kank;

Why does it keep leaving food for you?

Kank, who was quickly cooking the baazrag, just shrugs his massive shoulders and takes a bite of the freshly cooked meal before passing it on. That day they set a faster pace, making Arthur force march, but it pays off and they get off of the pathway through the hills and onto the road leading to Tyr’s iron mines. A half day's travel along that road gets them to the side path marked by twin columns, one broken, that leads them to the ruined village. They make the village just before dusk and agree to spend the night sheltered in the scant cover provided by the ruined walls. In the middle of the night as Balboa is waking Arthur for his watch the pair both hear the sound of something passing along the road below the village, they can’t see what it is and they stay out of sight so that they are not detected.

At dawn the following morning the group lower Kank on a rope down the ruined village’s well. Forty foot down Kank sees the collapsed wall that opens up into the underground passage that leads into the ancient Dwarven ruins, Kank swings himself into the entrance and calls up to the others that it is clear. Carefully the others are lowered down and helped into the underground passageway while Kank stands guard staring into the darkness. Once everyone is safely down and they have retrieved their rope the group set off to retrace their steps back into the Under Tyr. With the Sword of Kemalok in one hand and a torch held high in the other, Scar leads the way being careful to look out for crystal spider webs.

Scar manages to navigate the crevice splitting the passageway and gets level with the parallel openings when she realises that she has got herself snagged on a couple of strands of web. She freezes in place before they can do her any damage with their razor sharp edge and calls forwards Arthur to help her free herself. Arthur uses his iron maul to find the almost invisible threads so that Scar can slice them free with the Sword of Kemalok, as he does so one of the strands slips past Scar’s armour and cuts into her flesh.

Having freed herself, Scar moves forwards to the doorway into the large, column lined, room that seemed to act as the nest for the crystal spiders. Kank shouted a warning that they hadn’t killed all of the spiders the last time that they were down here, Scar scans the darkness but can see nothing. Arthur asks no one in particular;

Is anyone able to protect themselves magically from the spiders web?

Balboa slowly raises his hand. They agree that Balboa will lead the way through the room, hopefully breaking the webs and clearing a path for the others to follow. Balboa takes a moment to call upon the power of the gnomes of the earth to protect him and then moves into the room. As before he heads to the right aiming to move behind the columns and use them as cover to get to the opposite doorway.

As he moves through the room he feels the stands of web stick to him, but his magical protection keeps him from being injured and Arthur who is following close behind is able to free him of the strands. Balboa makes it to the third pillar before Kank shouts a warning, in the darkness opposite Balboa near the ceiling a red glow has started to coalesce. Balboa ducks behind the pillar just in time as a searing beam of heat lances out and strikes the stone column. Scar, who has switched to her bow, is quick enough to loose an arrow before the spider disappears into the dark, but the spider scuttles away and the arrow misses its mark.

Before the dust has a chance to settle Balboa is moving again. But this time it is Arthur who gets caught in some of the webs, Scar draws the Sword of Kemalok to cut him free so Miloch unslings his bow to provide missile cover. Kank is also swinging his sling ready to let fly from the doorway of the room. Miloch shouts a warning, and Kank whips his sling stone at the red glow in the dark. Arthur tries to duck behind the pillar but the webs slice into him and then the searing beam of heat strikes him in the chest. Arthur grunts in pain and Scar manages to cut him free. Miloch lets fly with an arrow but the spider had vanished into the darkness again.

Balboa, Arthur, and Scar all make a dash for it and reach the doorway at the end of the pillared room, but as Scar looks behind her she can see that both Miloch and Kank are caught up within the razor sharp webs. Scar sighs deeply and then heads back into the room to try and free Miloch. As she is using the Sword of Kemalok to cut away the web she is surprised as Miloch is hit in the head by the crystal spider's heat beam. Miloch’s head snaps backwards with the force of the beam but he remains conscious, and as Scar cuts away the last of the webs holding him he staggers towards the doorway.

There is a brief moment of calm as everyone looks at Kank stuck in the web and then the crystal spider drops from the ceiling above him and stabs at him with it’s two front legs, both narrowly miss him. Kank lashes out with his fist and lands a hefty blow on the creature's thorax. Balboa seeing Kank is in trouble rushes across the room, trusting to his magical protection, but just as he gets to Kank’s side a thin sliver of web slices through his defenses and injures him. The spider lashes out at Kank but the big Mul manages to dodge the blow, but takes damage from the web in doing so, Balboa swings at the arachnid with his iron banded mace forcing the creature to dodge the blow. And the spider moves straight into another mighty punch from Kank, he strikes it again in the thorax and is pleased to see that it hangs limply in it’s own web.

Balboa manages to free Kank from the web and they make it to the doorway to join the others where Scar provides first aid for everyone. Balboa calls upon the power of the gnomes to heal Miloch as he is badly injured, and then Kank takes point once again and leads the group onwards further into the darkness. He guides them beyond the crevice that bifurcates the corridor and past the two trapped zombies, they descend the stone steps to the ancient Dwarven aqueduct and start to walk towards the ladder marked by a pair of crossed hammers.

Thirty minutes later and Kank is scaling the ladder up through the dry fountain into the subterranean Dwarven town square, as soon as he is sure that it is clear he moves towards the Dwarven temple with the others following close behind. Kank pauses at the threshold of the temple and waits for Scar to enter with the Sword of Kemalok drawn, as she steps in the temperature drops and the apparition of a Dwarf begins to coalesce from a red mist. This time, however, the Dwarf bows to Scar and then glances at both Balboa and Kank with an almost amused expression on his features, before disappearing.

Leaving the rest of the group in the temple, Kank heads off to scout the path to the Great Dwarven Trade Route, when he finds that the way is clear he collects the others and they set out for the Under Tyr. They crossed the split tunnel, finding that the rope they had set up was still in place, and travelled the mile and a half towards the statued plaza. As they draw close, Kank moves ahead once more to make sure that it is clear. As he gets into the shadow of the archway leading into the plaza he hears the sound of voices and ducks into the deep shadows and watches. He hears a number of footfalls and then a voice echoes through the plaza;

What about over there?

A heartbeat later another replies;

I’ll go and have a look.

Light spills into the plaza from the tunnel opposite Kank and a guard in the livery of the City State of Tyr steps from the opening. Kank can see him look around and then he motions for people to join him. Kank slips further back into the dark and sees four more Tyr guards enter the plaza and begin a cursory search of the area. After twenty minutes they head back in the direction that they had come from. Kank watches their light disappear before he slips from his hiding place and heads back to the others. He tells them what he saw and Miloch says that it sounds like they have started to patrol the Under Tyr, possibly because of the Ziggurat opening ceremony.

Giving the guards a good thirty minutes head start, and switching to use Arthur’s hooded lantern instead of torches, the group push on towards their entrance into Tyr. After a slow five mile trek they arrive at the bottom of an old and well worn set of steps that lead up to the basement that will give them access to the Warrens within the city walls of Tyr. Not wanting to leave the Under Tyr until dusk the group find a blocked corridor near the base of the stairs and settle down to rest in the dark.

Arthur can hear the heavy breathing of Balboa sleeping near him, and he can hear Kank cracking his knuckles, but beneath those sounds he detects the sound of something moving stealthily along the Dwarven Trade Route. Something large and getting much closer to them. Arthur warns the others and quickly flips open the hoods on his lantern, the light from the lantern catches in the eyes of something in the dark and everyone in the group tenses and reaches for their weapons. It is then that they hear the loud purring and Balboa looks at Kank;

Your girlfriend seems to have followed you!

The huge frame of the female mountain lion stalked into the light, as soon as they saw her they could tell that she had been injured in the razor sharp crystal spider webs by the patches of blood on her fur. She padded up to Kank and lay down beside him, dropping her heavy head into his lap and nudging his hand. Kank started to scratch between her ears and the loud purring started up again. Scar used the opportunity to get a better look at her wounds, but on closer inspection it looked like they had already healed.

The group settled down once again and Kank started to absentmindedly talk in a quiet whisper to the mountain lion;

What on earth are you doing following us down here? It’s not the right environment for the likes of you. And you definitely can’t follow us on the next stage.

Kank is started when the mountain lion replies;

Why not?

Kank looks around at the others in the half light of the hooded lantern but none of them seem to have heard her. He looks at the she-cat who turns her massive head expectantly to one side, Kank continues;

The city of Tyr is full of people, teaming with them, and they will want to cage you and maybe even hurt you. They will put you in their games and make you fight. We don’t want you to get hurt.

The she-lion puts her heavy head back down in Kank’s lap and everything goes quiet once again. After about five minutes the large feline lifts her head once again and locks eyes with Kank;

Where go?

Yet again Kank looks around to see if anyone else has heard, but no one seems to have heard a thing. He looks back at the mountain lion and says;

Go back to the village. Where the big water is. You will be safe there.

She just flops her head back into his lap and nudges his hand until he scratches between her ears again. Just before dusk the group got moving. Balboa dons his merchants garb and the rest put voluminous desert robes over their armour and they move quietly up the steps into the basement of the former warehouse. When they get there they find that the secret door is open and there is a ladder secured to the wall leading up to the floor above. Clearly this is how the Tyr guardsmen are moving into the Under Tyr to patrol and so Kank suggests that Scar stick her head up to make sure that there isn’t a guard.

Scar quietly climbs halfway up the ladder and listens carefully, all she can hear is the sound of Elves talking nearby. She continues to climb and finding that the coast is clear she waves up the rest of the group. Kank is the last one up and as he moves towards the ladder there is a low yowl from the huge mountain lion, Kank looks back at her and tells her that he has to go and that it is important that she go back to the village. But the big she-cat just looks unhappy and Kank climbs the ladder up into the City State of Tyr

They quickly walk out of the derelict warehouse and into the Warrens. They move quickly through the slums and out into the Merchant District and turn onto the Caravan Way heading for the Golden Inix. When they arrive they are nodded in by the large Half-Giant Jaryx, who saves his broadest smile for Scar, and they are then greeted inside by the inns owner Mila, who greets them like regular guests. Balboa asks if the group can hire the two largest rooms once more and hands over two silver coins in payment before the group sits down to eat.

Scar asks if Mila knows of a healer within the city, but she says that it is only the Templars that can heal or there are alchemists who work within the noble district but they will be expensive. Mila asks Scar what ails her but she says that both she and Kank have been ill for a short while and they don’t know what has caused it. Mila apologises for not being able to be of more assistance and moves on to serve more customers. Balboa points out that they could ask Fleck when they make contact and Scar agrees that it is worth a try. After dinner Arthur slips away to visit his friend at the brothel. Later that evening Arthur gets back to the Golden Inix and heads straight up to rest his tired bones, the others follow him up to bed leaving Scar downstairs drinking in the bar with Jaryx.

Early the following morning Arthur and Kank escort Balboa to Borman’s Fine Clothing, when they enter Balboa sees the young man that he spoke to the last time they visited and he is talking to an older man about a bolt of cloth. The young man looks up and greets Balboa, Balboa says;

Do you remember me? I ordered a particular hat from you a short while ago.

The young man nods and replies;

I hope that there is not a problem?

Balboa shakes his head and assures him that everything is ok, and that he would like to order an exact duplicate only this time slightly smaller. But before the younger man can respond the older man says that he will take over and ushers him away. The older man turns to Balboa and says;

My name is Kurzid, are you staying at the Golden Inix again?

Balboa smiles and says that they are, Kurzid nods and says that someone will be in contact with them soon. They leave Borman’s and set off to look for the Dwarven weaponsmith, on their way they realise that the streets are busier this time around and that the populace seems excited about the Ziggurat opening ceremony. When they arrive at Valan’s the Dwarf greets them warily, but as soon as Kank asks if he has any metal cestus for sale the dour Dwarf brightens and produces a pair and says;

They’ll cost you five gold coin!

Kank happily pays for them, and then he and Arthur also purchase an iron dagger each. They thank Valan and return to the inn to meet up with the others. Kank proudly straps his new dagger to his bandolier alongside his obsidian and bone daggers. Scar watches him and asks if he has ever used them, Kank replies;

No! But they look good!

At that moment Fleck arrives and they head up to one of their rooms. Fleck tells them that the celebration is to be held tomorrow and so they will have to go into the Under Tyr tonight. Arthur asks where they are going in from and Fleck replies;

We’ll start at Krakus the Mul’s place, the Weary Artisan in the Tradesmans District.