Barunus is missing...

The old ashik had fallen asleep and the younger of the sibling herders covered him with a blanket to keep the cold night air off of his old bones. He turned to his brother and asked him if he had noticed how furtive the old man had been in the town, his brother nodded but didn’t say anything more. That was when the old man coughed and sat bolt upright. He locked eyes with the siblings and both brothers thought that they could see a steel behind his eyes, and then the moment was passed and the old ashik was once again telling his tale.

The Company of the Cloaked Inix make camp within sight of the Silver Springs oasis, but they wait until dawn before approaching. Arthur scans the oasis with his telescope and can see nothing untoward, with the exception of the picked clean bones of the dead Mekillot. The Company approach with caution and make their way around the water's edge, which is looking much cleaner, towards the bridge and the monumental arch that marks the druid's sanctum. As they get near the bridge a Jarbo hops out of the reeds and stands on the path with it’s head cocked to one side looking at them. Then they hear footsteps on the bridge.

They look up and see a tall, gaunt man crossing the bridge towards them. The man's face is in unnatural shadow and is one that the members of the Company recognise, the man walking towards them is Thrassos Haruk, the wanderer and explorer that they first met at the mausoleum in the middle of the desert. It takes a moment for Thrassos to recognise them, but when he does he greets them warmly and tells them that he now resides at the oasis under the tutelage of the Thi-Kreen Druid T’Klick’Chik. Knowing that he is a well travelled Human, Balboa asks Thrassos if he knows of Hrothgurten’s hammer Earthshaker. The explorer says that he does not know anything of it but that he would be interested in any information that the group uncovers.

Thrassos goes on to say;

But if it is a Dwarf hero that you are looking for then I would suggest that you ask in Kled, or I suppose that you could try Ledo. South Ledopolus or North Ledopolus.

Balboa raises an eyebrow in question and Thrassos explains that Ledo and its satellite towns were Dwarven, but he is not sure what remains there. He also mentions that Ledo was apparently once a mountain island in the middle of a wide body of water. The triggers memories for both Balboa and Kank of their shared dream.

Scar suddenly tells Thrassos that she has learnt to read since they last met, and the explorer asks if she has any books. Scar very proudly produces her book of flora and opens it at the well thumbed Gloomvine page, while she shows it to Thrassos she mentions that it can be used to create Midnight's Kiss to heal disease. Thrassos says that he is aware, and that it is a coincidence as a group of Elves were at the oasis a day ago seeking a cure for a disease afflicting the Dura Dai, but that they were sent packing by the Druid.

The Company bid Thrassos farewell, and left an offering for the Druid, before continuing on towards Kled. When they were roughly two miles from their destination they met a Dwarven patrol, all mounted on kank, the patrol is led by Sergeant Mila Lux and she asks the Company their business. Balboa explains that they are heading for Kled to meet with Barunus, the sergeant shakes her head and says;

Barunus is missing!

Balboa asks when this happened and the sergeant replies;

He headed out yesterday with one of the patrols to investigate a caravan attack but they have not returned. We were going out to look for them.

The sergeant agrees to escort the Company of the Cloaked Inix back to Kled to meet with her commanding officer. When they arrive they find that her commanding officer is Raglar Krust, the leader of the Dwarf infiltration team that rescued the Company and the Druid from the clutches of the Dura Dai Clan. Balboa tells Raglar that they saw the wreck of the caravan, but that they gave it a wide berth in case it was an ambush. And the diminutive Mul also offers the support of the Company to search for Barunus.

Raglar thanks them for their offer and asks if they have seen anything else that might indicate what has happened to Barunus. Balboa tells him of meeting with Thrassos at the Silver Springs oasis, and of the Elves with disease that turned up at the oasis seeking a cure. Raglar is very interested in that, as it proves that the Elves of the Dura Dai clan have contacts within the city of Tyr. An hour after the Company of the Cloaked Inix arrived in Kled they were leaving once again in the direction of the wrecked caravan in the company of a Dwarven patrol. They stopped briefly at the oasis and confirmed with Thrassos that Barunus did not stop there the previous day. It was then that Balboa made the connection between Barunus going missing and the Elves being turned away from the oasis by the Druid.

After a full day's travel the group are nearing the site of the wrecked caravan and so Balboa, Ferulah, and Kank move ahead of the main group to scout out the area and check for tracks. As the three of them spread out on their approach to the wreckage, Ferulah finds the bodies of two Humans, a Mul and a Dwarf. Balboa joins Ferulah while Kank casts about for tracks but finds none. By the time the big Mul rejoins his friends they have confirmed that the four bodies were slain by arrows and that they have been stripped and robbed of all possessions.

Agreeing that there is enough evidence to blame this attack on the Elves, and with a very determined Arthur pushing for a raid against the Dura Dai, the group spread out in a long line and sweep in the direction of the Dura Dai fort hoping to pick up any sign of Barunus’ patrol. And it isn’t long before Kank finds the tracks of several, unladen kank. Once again, the big Mul and Ferulah push forwards following the tracks and after about a mile they discover the bodies of five Dwarves, all with their throats cut. Once the others arrive, Sergeant Mila Lux confirms that the bodies are those of the patrol that had accompanied Barunus, but that Barunus is not amongst them.

They gather the bodies up and return to Kled with this worrying information. They are met by Raglar and he tells the group to rest while he makes arrangements. The following day the Company once again meet with Raglar and volunteer to attempt to rescue Barunus from the fort of the Dura Dai. Raglar says that it will be risky but that he will send a twenty four Dwarf patrol to cause a diversion to aid in our raid. Arthur thanks Raglar and hands him the glass that the Company had gathered after the electrical storm, which Raglar gratefully received, Arthur then hands the Dwarf captain his old iron maul. Dwarves are not often given to overt signs of emotion, but that day, Raglar smiled.

The Company of the Cloaked Inix travelled the first day with the Dwarven patrol and after resting for the day they separated and approached the fort of the Dura Dai from different directions. The Dwarven patrol approached towards the main gates from the south west, while the Company used the cover of darkness to gain entry to the fort through one of the crumbling towers to the south east.