Tales Under a Burning Sun

The outer door to the slave cages in the lower deck of the Mekillot slave wagon burst into hundreds of wooden shards as the head of a massive Troll maul smashed through it from outside. The old ashik thought to himself 'about bloody time', and then continued to tell his tale to the shell shocked slaves within the pens with him. Scar lunges at the larger of the Braxat with the Sword of Kemalok, but watches on with disappointment as most of her blow is deflected by the creatures very thick hide. Arthur swings hard with his Troll maul at the other Braxat but the creature proves to be very nimble for such a large beast and dodges the attack. The larger Braxat swings it's immense club at Scar but the lithe warrior woman ducks beneath the arc of the weapon, the missed swing leaves the beast open for Kank to smash Earthshaker with a bone cracking strike into the Braxat's leg, and the creature drops to one knee. Balboa steps to Arthur's side and calls upon the Gnomes of the...

There is a creaking noise from above them, as if several people were creeping along the Mekillot wagon's deck, and failing.The old ashik allowed himself another smile, they still hadn't learned how to move silently. He looked back at the expectant slaves all around him and continued his tale to calm their nerves. Scar swings with a wild haymaker and the Human male only just get his arm up in time to blow kisses the blow, but the warrior woman’s punch is so powerful that the man’s arm drops to his side limp and useless. The tall female Elf steps into the melee and punches Scar, the warrior woman takes the worst of the blow on her arm. The Human female misses Ferulah with a wild swing and Kank sidesteps a jab from the male Mul. Ferulah, still furious at the Human female who grab Kank’s behind, throws a vicious punch and connects with all of her formidable strength. The woman’s head snapped backwards like it had been hit by a Mekillot and her unconscious body toppled backwards kno...

All had gone quiet outside the Mekillot wagon, the sounds of battle had faded to nothing and now the silence was oppressive. The old ashik waited for a moment then, shrugging his shoulders like he knew that whoever was outside would get to them eventually, he continued with his tale. As the Company of the Cloaked Inix walk across Altarak towards The Grave Mead House and Gambling Hall Scar leaves them and heads up the hill to seek out her contacts in the Veiled Alliance to check in and see if they have any news of the House Söttir caravan. The rest of the Company enter The Grave and, much like the rest of Altarak, find it much quieter than it was during the Muscle Festival. Arthur manages to secure the same rooms as they had the last time that they stayed and pays for them in ceramic pieces so as not to draw attention to the group. When Scar reaches the obscure curio shop at the top of the hill path she discovers that her contact, Riffen Tok, is not there so she speaks to Grey Jack inst...

The old ashik listens to the sound of fighting outside of the Mekillot wagon and wonders to himself how long it will take the attackers to reach them. They always did dawdle. The old man turned back to the other slaves and continued his story. Two days after passing through the gates of South Ledopolus, the Company of the Cloaked Inix spot a howder carrying inix heading towards them along the trail. Arthur pulls out his telescope and describes to the others the pennant fluttering from from the howder. It is a red spear on a yellow and white stripped field, Balboa recognizes it as the colours of House Amkech which is the smallest of the merchant houses based in South Ledopolus. The ambassadorial Balboa steps forwards and hails the Half-elf merchant driving the inix howder, the merchant is accompanied by a pair of guards. The Half-elf names himself as Orioko and asks where the Company is heading and Balboa responds; Grak's Pool. Orioko shakes his head sadly and says; I would avoid Gr...

The Mekillot slave wagon guards had no idea what hit them. One moment the night was quiet, then they all heard a long low whistle cutting through the darkness. Within the blink of an eye there was a maul wielding Dwarf amid one group of guards, and a large beast of immense ferocity leaping out of the black to rip apart another cluster of guards. In the gloom of the slave pens the old ashik allowed a small smile to caress his face, before he continued with his tale. As the members of the Company stare open mouthed at the horror emerging from the gloom the chaos Giant throws a boulder which lofts over the Company and smashes the skimmer cabin where they had just been sleeping. Two of the skimmer crew rush to the ballista mounted on the prow of the skimmer, but they have to lift it clear of it pintle mount in order to get a clear shot at the chaos creature. Kank steps to the side of the skimmer facing the chaos Giant and lifts Earthshaker above his head shouting; Basaltir aid us! A second...

Old ashik cocked his head to one side, looking like a curious Aarakocra, and listened with intent to the sounds of the night outside the Mekillot slave wagon. He was positive that he had heard a long slow whistle. He gathered all of the captured folk towards the centre of the wagon, away from the exterior walls and told them all not to be worried. To calm them all the old ashik, his voice containing a much stronger timbre than it had shown previously, continued to tell his tale. Scar asks the Kenku what else has happened since the Company of the Cloaked Inix entered the earth tombs, Reechet tells them that six Giants left Stonegard and waded out into the silt sea towards the South Ledopolus bridge. They attacked the bridge but only destroyed a quarter mile of it, which is less than on previous occasions. The Kenku had also spotted that the 'Fat men' were travelling towards the ruins on the east beach. The Company say farewell to Reechet and the Kenku and, roping themselves toge...

Outside the mekillot slave wagon one of the guards left her post to step into the darkness behind a jumble of rocks. She wanted a moment of privacy away from the usual jeers of her male colleagues while she relieved herself. But the moment never came. As soon as she stepped into the moon shadow cast by the boulders she locked eyes with someone in the dark, and before she could scream an alarm an iron hard fist had broken her jaw and knocked her unconscious. Inside the mekillot slave wagon the old ashik continued to tell his tale, waiting for the signal that he hoped would be coming. The nimble Balboa dives to one side as the iron blade slashes downwards from the ceiling of the passageway, he avoids the worst of the blow but is still slashed across his arm. Scar rushes to his side and drags him backwards before first aiding his wound, while Kank steps forwards and examines the floor of the passage. Seeing nothing, Kank steps forwards and peeks around the corner of the junction and can s...