The bigger they are, the harder they hit...

The first time that the herders realised that the old ashik was not sitting with them anymore was just after the town guard had entered the souk. They finished their meal and headed out to gather their new beasts and return back to their small village. As soon as they passed through the town gates they found that the old man was shuffling alongside them, and as they noticed him he once again started telling his tale.

The Company of the Inix set out as dawn's first light hit the top of the tallest building in the Village of The Free. It was to be a six day journey to Kled, and they had plotted a route that would see them bisect the route between the home of the Jura Dai Elves and the Mausoleum in the sands that had become the haunt of both the patrols of Urik and the Black Sand Raiders. Most of the Company was on foot with only Arthur mounted on his trustee kank and a second kank loaded with all of their provisions, this allowed them to keep a steady pace and a low profile.

By the middle of the second afternoon Scar White of the Wastes pointed eastwards into the sky, the others could only just make out the dots in the sky that she was gesturing towards and so Arthur unpacked his telescope and scanned in that direction. Even with his powerful viewing device he could only just make out that they were Aarakocra, and he guessed that they would be somewhere near the Mausoleum. The Company ignored them and pushed onwards towards their destination. That evening a storm began to build momentum and so the group decided to camp early to avoid losing their path in the lowering visibility.

By morning the storm is still blowing hard but the Company decides to push onwards slowly for the day hoping not to lose too much time in their quest. It is slow going and they have to stop regularly to confirm that they are still heading in the correct direction, and when the sand darkened sky starts to light up with electrical discharge the Company of the Cloaked Inix finally admits defeat and hunkers down until morning. As they are bedding down, Kank realises that Ferulah has not changed into her mountain lioness form since they have left the Village of The Free. In typical Kank style, the big Mul thinks nothing more of it and settles down to sleep.

As dawn breaks it is obvious that the storm has lessened but visibility is still impaired. Once again the Company makes slow progress and after about three hours of travel in the sand induced gloom they spot a pool of water shimmering in the distance, but as they draw closer they realise that it is not water but a large sheet of glass melted into the sand. Arthur swings his troll maul at the puddle of glass and it shatters into several large pieces, he then gathers up some of the larger shards and wraps them up in one of the tarpaulins. As the sun starts to set, and the gloom deepens, Arthur and Balboa locate a place for the Company to make camp, assuring everyone that it is perfectly safe.

That night, during Arthur’s watch, the heavily muscled Dwarf sees the outline of two massive humanoids moving towards the Company out of the darkness. Arthur kicks awake Balboa and Scar just as the gigantic humanoid shadows start charging towards the Company’s camp. As the creatures draw closer those awake can make out that they are heavily armoured and at least twelve foot in height. Arthur feels a psionic attack slide off of his mental shields as the creatures close in and then he and Scar rush into battle.

Arthur swings with his troll maul but the massive creature dodges out of the way. The creature attacking Scar stumbles and the lithe warrior woman darts in and stabs it in the leg, but the beast's armour is so thick that her blow glances harmlessly away. Arthur is smashed in the arm but manages to remain standing even though it is a mighty blow. The mighty Balboa steps into the fight and swings with his iron banded mace, it is the most powerful of strikes and it cripples the beasts arm forcing it to drop it’s huge club. Finally the noise of the fighting wakes Miloch from his slumber, but Kank and Ferulah remain fast asleep.

The heavily muscled Dwarf swings with his iron troll maul and catches the creature in the leg, but again the blow glances off of the beast's thick armour plating. Moments later it is the creature who sees it’s punch glance off of Arthur’s armour. Finally the noise of the battle rouses Kank from sleep and the big Mul reaches for Bone Crusher with a smile splitting his visage. Scar takes a blow to the head, but this also glances off of her armour, and then Arthur takes a punch in the guts but the redoubtable Dwarf remains standing. Finally the creature fighting Scar lands a telling hit with it’s club, Scar is smashed in the midriff and she doubles over and collapses to the floor crying out in pain.

Miloch wades into the fight, distracting the beast fighting Scar, and he powers his iron battleaxe into the creature's arm, yet again the thick natural armour of the beast deflects the strike. But his attack does get the creature’s attention and the thing's counter attack smacks Miloch in the left arm with a sickening crack and his arm hangs loosely by his side. With the creature distracted by Miloch, Scar gains enough time to consume a weezer honey to heal herself. The massive creature fighting with Arthur turns its attention on Balboa and the Mul only just manages to dodge the bone breaking blow that it levels at him.

Both Kank and Miloch land hits, but neither of them manage to breach the creature's armour, and then Scar darts back into the fight and the Sword of Kemalok finally pierces the beast's thick hide and draws blood. No sooner has Kank joined the attack, then he is crawling away with his useless leg dragging behind him from where the creature struck him with it’s large club. The big Mul crawls in the direction of the still sleeping Ferulah and shakes her awake.

Miloch swings his iron battleaxe one handed and misses, the creature counters with a sweep of its tree like club and slams Miloch backwards through the air. The Human warrior lands unmoving several feet away. Balboa is also hit hard, but he is fortunate enough that a large portion of the impact is absorbed by the magical armour that he had summoned using the power of his iron banded mace. Having dispatched Miloch, the beast fighting Scar sweeps a crushing strike into the warrior woman’s leg, there is a sickening snapping noise as her right leg breaks and she drops to the floor screaming in pain again.

Seeing his friends downed and lying in the sand lends fury to Arthur’s attack and the massive Dwarf lands a crushing strike with his troll maul against the chest of one of the creatures. The towering monstrosity staggers backwards before toppling like an uprooted tree to end up laying face down in the sand, dead! Now finally awake, Ferulah heals Kank’s injured leg and gets the big Mul back into the fight. Arthur, Balboa, and Kank rush the remaining creature and as they do so it rears back it’s head and breathes acid. Arthur manages to dive out of the way, but Balboa and Kank are both splashed with the burning corrosive.

Enraged, Kank swings with all of his magically enhanced strength. Bone Crusher slams into the creature's legs with enough power to cripple a Mekillot, but Kank might as well have hit the beast with an Aarakocra feather for the effect that it had. Arthur lands an attack against the beast's leg and it stumbles a little, but it still has the battle sense to lash out with its club and catches Kank across the top of his head, the big Mul drops like a felled, well, kank. Ferulah reaches Miloch and heals the Human warrior just as the creature breathes acid once more.

As Scar drags herself towards the unconscious form of Kank, Arthur is hit in the leg by the massive club, but still the Dwarf remains standing. That is until the creature breathes for a third time. The corrosive liquid splashes over Arthur and Balboa and the Mul drops to the floor having lost the use of his legs and the Dwarf drops his troll maul as one of his arms hangs uselessly by his side.

Knowing that they are fighting for their lives Ferulah and Miloch charge back into battle. Scar manages to first aid Kank and the big Mul comes too, he takes a moment to shake the ringing from his head and pull on his metal cestus, and then he also charges back into the fray. Balboa reaches over and touches Arthur’s leg, calling upon the power of the gnomes of the earth he heals the Dwarf of all of his wounds. Arthur grabs his troll maul and rushes back into the fight. With his colleagues distracting that creature, Arthur gets a clear shot at the beast's chest. His metal troll maul finds its mark and it is accompanied by cracking noises as the creature's ribs crack. The creature staggers a couple of steps backwards and then falls over dead.

When the dust settles and everyone from the Company takes a breath, Balboa moves from person to person calling upon the power of the gnomes of the earth to heal their injuries, but there is nothing that he can do for Scar’s broken leg. Ferulah looks very tired and drained and says that she will be able to mend Scar’s leg after she has rested, and so the Company bed down once more to rest.

The rest of the night passes without incident and the Company of the Cloaked Inix awake to find that the storm has abated and the sky has started to clear. Ferulah moves to Scar’s side and places her hands upon the warrior women’s broken leg, moments later Scar can feel the broken bones starting to regrow and knit together within the skin, but once again Ferulah looks tired as the group set out in the direction of Kled.

Shortly after setting out Arthur spots a merchant caravan consisting of two Inix carrying canopied howders, and four outriders mounted on Erdlu. The howders are flying blue pennants with a silver crescent moon, none of the Company recognise the heraldry. The caravan hails the Company and Balboa walks forwards to talk to them, they tell him that they are heading for Urik and have travelled from Altaruk to the south representing the Merchant House of the Silver Crescent.

The merchant warns Balboa of a burnt out caravan on the road towards Altaruk, and they admit that they did not investigate the wreckage for fear of it being a trap. Arthur, who had joined Balboa, says that the area is infested with Elves before spitting on the ground. Balboa tells the merchants about the attack the previous night, they look a little shocked and one of them says;

You fought and killed two Braxat? Do you need assistance? Did they spit on anybody?

Balboa assures them that every member of the Company is fit and healthy and wishes them well on their travels. The caravan pulls away and the Company continue on their journey. Two hours before dusk they spot the burned out caravan that the merchants had warned them about, they give it a wide berth and push on into the night hoping to make it to the Silver Spring oasis. Three hours after the burning sun has disappeared below the horizon, and the twin moons of Athas are high in the night sky, the Company set eyes upon the tall trees surrounding the water hole.