Al-Qarin: Into the Desert (3-1-24)
EternalNewbie
Explorer
Alrighty, I can see by the clock on the wall that it's about time for another update. I honestly wasn't very pleased with the last one. It felt rushed, and the combat was a little flat. I'm going to try to make the battles more cinematic I think, and worry less about who did what each round. Don't worry though, I'm not going to skip over anything important and I'll try to keep the pace of the battle the same as it actually was. I also noticed how hard it is to make low level combat interesting, simply because of the lack of variety. Unfortunately most of the fights we got in right at the start were fairly significant in terms of what's going on. I may gloss over some of the random encounters in future updates.
I also had the rest of my group read it first this time, so it's a little more accurate than the last one. Heh, Gorak's gonna kill me for pointing this out, but he made a mistake during this adventure. I wonder if you can tell what it is from the update...
Anyhow, the gaming group is sitting around the table downstairs, and I hear the familar clatter of dice, so it's time for me to get my game on. Enjoy.
"Now we'll see just how good these trackers are," Gorak growled. "You two get some rest, I'll be back in half an hour, or at least before the moon rises."
Khalid collapsed to the ground without even bothering to remove his pack. Shayla hesitated only briefly to shrug off her rucksack before joining him. They both took long pulls from their water skins and then sat in silence for a while, too tired to even speak. The day's journey had been hellish. With the threat of capture hanging over their heads, the trio had set a grueling pace. Led by Gorak, they had forged through the desert steering clear of all ridgelines and oases. Through the use of Gorak's magic, they had traveled through siesta unhampered by the blistering sun. Despite the long march however, Khalid could find no rest in the last fading moments of daylight. He waited anxiously for Gorak's return, half afraid that it would not be Gorak who crested the dune to the east, but the faceless bounty hunter, ready to drag him back to the White Tower to face Halaal's tender mercy.
The full moon had just risen, a pale mockery of the desert sun, when Gorak returned. Khalid didn't even give him a chance to catch his breath before he spoke, "Ah, yes, so is there any sign of him? I have not heard the hounds for some time now."
As though the gods mocked him, no sooner had Khalid spoke then a long howl split the night air and raised the hair on the back of his neck. Gorak leaned forward, with his hands braced on his knees and took several deep breaths before he growled, "He's a persistent bastard to have tracked us this far, and he's not likely to give up yet. I doubled back and ran a false trail heading more south, and brushed out our tracks. We'll find out how good he is in the morning, if he can keep to the trail."
"Ah, perhaps we should push on a bit further, yes quite." Khalid suggested.
"Ya, I was thinking the same thing. Wouldn't hurt to put a few more miles between us." Gorak rumbled.
Shayla's only response was a tortured groan before she pushed herself back up to her feet and shouldered her pack. The three set off again under the pale glow of the full moon. Driven by fear, Khalid found new strength and lengthened his stride. Gorak and Shayla however, did not fair as well. After the first hour, Gorak was breathing heavily and Shayla had stopped complaining. After the second hour, Gorak called a halt. "I'm gonna run myself into the ground if we keep up this pace," he growled between labored breaths.
"Ah, yes, maybe just a little further?" Khalid asked as he glanced over his shoulder.
"I think maybe we should just stop here," Shayla said. A look of faint surprise crossed her face as her legs gave out and she found herself abruptly sitting on the ground.
"Khalid, we can't go no further. Not tonight. I've run myself out doubling back to hide our trail and Shayla's finished. We'll break camp early tomorrow." Gorak rumbled as he dumped Sousee out on the ground. The snake gave an annoyed little hiss and then curled up. "Now get some sleep. Sousee will wake me if anybody comes around."
That decided the group pitched a hasty camp. It felt as though mere moments had passed from the time that Khalid wrapped himself in his bedroll to when Gorak was shaking him awake. The sun had not yet risen and the only indication of the time was a faint lightening of the eastern sky. "C'mon," Gorak growled, "we've gotta get moving."
"Ah, but I haven't had anything to eat yet," Khalid said plaintively.
"Fine, then you get started on breakfast and when that bounty hunter comes over that dune, you can offer him some biscuits and a nice hot cup of tea," Gorak snarled.
With the reminder of the tracker following them, Khalid came fully awake and began to frantically pack up his gear. "Ah, no, that's quite all right, yes quite, I'll just eat some of these cold rations we have left," Khalid sighed.
By midmorning it became apparent that they had not lost their follower. Just as Khalid had begun to relax, sure in the knowledge that Gorak had covered their tracks, a long wailing howl reached them. To Khalid's untrained ear it sounded as the dogs were just on the other side of the dune and he looked to Gorak, trying to fight back the rising panic.
Gorak had his head cocked and was listening intently. Then he cursed. "He must be running hard. Don't sound like he's much closer, but we sure ain't lost him yet."
Again the three set off across the desert, moving as quickly as the terrain and temperature would permit. They traveled in silence for the most part, as even the effort of conversation seemed too much to bear. Finally, by late afternoon, Khalid could stand the tension no longer and spoke, "Ah, we haven't heard the hounds in some time, do you think perhaps we lost them now?" He looked at Gorak hopefully.
"Nope. The quiet don't mean we've lost em, it means their close. Real close. We're gonna have to make a decision pretty soon. I don't think we're gonna make the road before they catch us." Gorak growled.
"Ah, are you sure? Perhaps if we moved a little faster, yes quite…"
Gorak shot Khalid a withering glare. "Of course I ain't sure. No way to tell how close behind us they are. But listen, if we run to the road, and we get caught, we're gonna be exhausted, too tired to fight maybe. And even if we do make the road, they'll be right on our trail all the way to Shalazar. Now I dunno about you, but I'm getting a little tired of being chased. I say we find a nice spot to dig in, catch our breath, and settle this out here in the deep desert where nobody will bother us."
At that point, Shayla chimed in, "I'm with Gorak on this one Khalid, I'm tired of running. Besides, we three aren't such easy prey."
"Ah, yes, quite," Khalid looked dubiously at the other two. "It would seem then, that we should find a defensible, yes quite, defensible position."
"That could be tricky," Gorak grunted. "Ain't nothing out here but sand and rock. We'll move a bit further on, and see what we can come across before it gets too dark."
Gorak ranged ahead as they continued to travel west into the setting sun. The last traces of daylight had just vanished beyond the horizon when Gorak jogged back to Khalid and Shayla. "I found something," he grumbled. "Ain't much, but it's the best we're gonna find out here."
Khalid's heart sank when they reached the spot Gorak had picked out. By Khalid's estimation, Gorak's assessment had been grossly inflated. The defensible position he had chosen was nothing more than two rocks, some ten feet apart. They were only waist high, and no more than five feet across. The edges and tops had been worn smooth by centuries of blowing desert sand. "Ah, yes, not much indeed. Yes, quite," he muttered.
"Well, at least it'll keep the dogs from getting around at your back," Shayla said brightly as she dropped her pack behind one of the rocks and cocked her crossbow.
"Yes, quite." Khalid muttered. If he didn't know better, he'd almost have sworn that this affluent and beautiful young woman was spoiling for a fight, miles away from civilization in the deep desert against a man or men who made their living hunting down fugitives and criminals. Khalid sighed in resignation, then followed Shayla's lead, and cocked his crossbow. He then started digging around in his spell component pouch, finally drawing out a tiny strip of leather. With a word and almost casual gesture, Khalid invoked a spell, and glowing bands of energy rippled out from the tiny hoop of leather, wrapping around Khalid's limbs and body. In the blink of an eye, the glowing bands vanished and Khalid sighed in relief. It still never ceased to amaze him that his spells worked so effortlessly now. Then remembering the task at hand, he looked up to find Shayla staring at him quizzically.
"What did you just do?" she asked.
"Ah, a simple protection spell, yes quite," suddenly Khalid felt guilty. "Ah, I'm sorry, if I had another prepared, yes, quite but you see, my power it is, ah, quite limited, yes quite."
Shayla waved away his apology. "Don't worry about me, I know how to take care of myself," she said with a toss of her head that flicked her auburn curls over her shoulder. She moved over to one of the rocks. "Gorak, you figure they'll be coming up over that dune there?"
Gorak, who was restringing his bow, grunted, "Sure. If we're lucky they'll be so busy following our trail that they won't see us until it's too late.
Shayla knelt down behind the rock and placed her crossbow on top. From the quiver at her hip she drew out a single bolt and loaded it into her cocked crossbow, then carefully checked the sights and the angle on the ridges of the various dunes.
Khalid had no doubt that Shayla could take care of herself, especially having seen the easy way she handled a crossbow. He then fumbled a bolt out of his own quiver, picked it up off the ground and slid it into his crossbow with shaking fingers. "Ah, yes, Gorak, should we, ah make any sort of plan or anything?"
Gorak looked up from where he was tightening the wrappings on the cudgel he normally carried at his waist. "The dogs'll probably come first. I'll keep em busy while you finish them off with your crossbows, then…"
"Ah, yes, Gorak, ah I'm not a particularly good shot with a crossbow," Khalid stammered.
Gorak bristled at the interruption and continued, "while you two finish them off with crossbows, then I'll try to intercept the trackers, give you two a chance to work your magic. That's the plan."
"Ah, yes quite," Khalid said, feeling less than reassured by Gorak's hasty planning. "But what about..."
"Khalid," Gorak growled. "Ain't no sense thinking about it. You can't figure out what's gonna happen, until it happens, then you just gotta act. Now sit down and shaddup, or we'll be the ones getting a surprise."
They sat in silence as the shadows deepened and the sun faded from view. The moon rose, full and bright like the night before, leeching the color from the barren desert and granting everything a pale luminance that almost seemed ethereal. Khalid shivered as the temperature began to fall rapidly. He was just about ready to risk Gorak's wrath, and start hunting around for his cloak when the hounds crested the eastern dune. The huge mastiffs were little more than black shadows, silent and quick, as they raced down the dune towards the party. Gorak stepped out from behind the rock he was sharing with Shayla, and moved forward to intercept the dogs. He stopped ten feet from the rock, and began to chant in his thick guttural voice. As his chanting rose to a crescendo, he raised his arms to the heavens and barked the last syllable. The sand in front of him erupted into a rolling quagmire*. The hounds were forced to dodge aside, twisting and cutting, to avoid the grasping claws of sand, but still they ran on.
Shayla, her crossbow steadied on the rock, fired and was rewarded with a yelp of pain as one of the dogs stumbled, a crossbow bolt lodged in its flank. It did not falter however, and Shayla abandoned her cover to put more distance between herself and the hounds.
Khalid raised his shaking crossbow to his shoulder and realized that the hounds were almost on top of Gorak, and he couldn't get a clean shot. Moving slightly he fired at the trailing mastiff, but his shot flew wide and the bolt vanished into the violent maelstrom of sand.
The first of the hounds leapt at Gorak, who just barely managed to get his arm up in front of his throat. The huge canine latched onto his arm with its enormous jaws and Gorak bellowed out in pain. The other hound circled Gorak carefully but was kept at bay by Gorak's cudgel. Gorak in turn tried to smash the beast worrying at his arm, but the creature's thrashing prevented him from landing a clear blow.
Shayla had reloaded her crossbow and lined up a shot, but missed as the dog shied away from Gorak's cudgel again. Cursing, she braced the crossbow on the ground and began to load it again.
Khalid, with a spell on his lips, was just about to run to the aid of Gorak when he heard a sound that froze his blood. Chanting, from somewhere to the north. Khalid realized with horror how close he was standing to Shayla. He tried to shout a warning, but the words came out thick and slurred as a heavy lassitude settled on him, and he felt his knees begin to buckle. In slow motion, he watched Shayla slump forward, her crossbow tumbling from nerveless fingers as she fell face first in the sand. As darkness descended on him, Khalid thought he heard laughter faint and distant. For the briefest second, he was transported back to his days in the White Tower. Hazal casting a spell while the other apprentices laughed as he fell asleep on his desk. Almost missing an exam and being berated by Halaal for almost an hour for his careless attitude and lack of progress. A spark of anger flared up deep in Khalid's heart and began to burn away the magical lethargy gripping him. His knees locked as the tips of his fingers touched the sand. "Not again," Khalid growled, as he stood upright. He scanned the desert for the caster and spotted a faint shadow almost at the edge his vision, vanishing back into the gloom. There was no hesitation now, only a cold fire that consumed Khalid. The words of magic rolled from his lips as with a broad sweeping gesture, he flung a handful of sand into the air. As the sand glittered and sparkled in the pale moonlight, Khalid grinned in satisfaction as the shadowed form toppled to the ground.
A cry of pain from Gorak wiped the smirk from his face however. As Khalid turned, he saw Gorak still fending off the two animals. His blood was streaming down from his shredded arm, and pooling in the sand at his feet. The mastiff still had him in its unrelenting grip however. The other had circled around and was tearing at Gorak's furs, dragging him off balance. Sousee had slithered over at Gorak's command, and was curled up threateningly behind him, lashing out whenever one of the dogs ventured too close. As the mastiff shied away from the enormous snake, Gorak struck out with a heavy blow, catching the hound on the side of the head and sending it staggering backwards.
"Gorak!" Khalid screamed, "Get out of the way! Back up!" as he raced over to aid him. With a Herculean effort, Gorak wrenched his arm free from the mastiff's mouth, sending a spray of blood arcing into the air, and stumbled backwards. Khalid skidded to a halt five feet from one of the dogs and began to chant again. The two hounds spun around at the sound of Khalid's voice just as a burning cone of white-hot embers erupted from Khalid's hands. Both hounds collapsed to the ground, their smoking hides seared and burned by Khalid's spell.
Suddenly, everything was quiet again. It had only taken a matter of seconds. Khalid's ears were ringing, and his heart was racing. His breath was coming in short quick gasps as he surveyed the scene around him. Shayla groaned in her sleep, and shifted slightly, still struggling against the magical slumber.
"Where's the others?" Gorak snarled through clenched teeth, his cudgel still raised threateningly.
"Ah, yes, ah, he's ah, over…" Khalid took a deep breath and started again. "Ah, yes, I rendered him unconscious, yes quite. He's over that way, about a hundred feet or so. We should, yes, tie him up if you have any rope."
Gorak seemed to relax a little at that, and grunted in ascent. He tucked his cudgel into a loop on his belt and moved over to his pack. Drawing out a length of rope, he headed out towards where the bounty hunter had fallen. Khalid in turn, moved over to Shayla. As he placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her awake she sat up suddenly with a dagger in her hand and murder in her eyes. Khalid uttered a startled shriek and tumbled backwards into the sand.
"Ah, yes, the fight is over, Gorak is taking care of our friend over there," Khalid said as he stood, brushing sand from his robes and attempting to recover some of his dignity.
Shayla looked around at the carnage in the camp, her knuckles still white upon her dagger. Then she smiled, "Well, that wasn't so bad, now was it?"
Khalid bit back a scathing remark and smiled weakly, "Ah, yes, no I guess it wasn't."
That night, the three of them decided to keep a vigil over their prisoner, but despite the fact that Khalid drew last watch, sleep was a long time in coming for him. He relived the battle over and over again in his mind. Slowly as the fear of the moment faded into memory, Khalid felt something he hadn't felt in a long time. Khalid felt strong. His will was steady and his magic had worked when it counted the most. Slowly, as the last of the adrenaline left his system and exhaustion set in, Khalid's eyes slowly closed. The smile on his face however, lasted until the morning.
"What?" Khalid looked at Shayla incredulously.
"I say we kill him." Shayla repeated.
"Ah, I'm not sure that's entirely warranted. Yes, quite." Khalid objected.
"Well if we're gonna kill him, I'm gonna get a fire going. No sense letting all that meat go to waste." Gorak rumbled.
"Ah, what?" Khalid blinked and stared at Gorak.
"I've never eaten one of these things before and our rations are getting a bit low."
"Ah, Gorak, it's half a day to the road, I'm quite certain, yes quite that our rations will hold out for at least that long. I'm afraid I object, yes, quite strenuously to both the killing or the eating of this man." Khalid stated, emphasizing his point with a fierce glare at both Gorak and Shayla.
"He isn't a man Khalid," Shayla pointed out, "and if we let him go he's just going to follow us again. Let's just kill him and bury him out here in the desert. Nobody will be the wiser."
"Ah, I hardly think that's necessary, I'm fairly certain he's learned his lesson. Haven't you?" Khalid reached down and removed the gag from the prisoner's mouth. Shayla was right about one thing however, he wasn't a man, at least not a human. His bestial features had a definite canine cast to them. He had deep set, beady eyes recessed above what could only be called a muzzle, lined with sharp fangs. Upright, Khalid figured that he would stand almost seven feet tall although at the moment, he was hog-tied at Khalid's feet. Upon being addressed, the creature stopped thrashing around trying to free itself.
"Ya. I not follow you no more. Too tough, too strong," the creature snarled in barely understandable common. He turned his blindfolded face towards the sound of Khalid's voice, "Let go, I head back into desert. Hunt you no more."
"Ah, yes, first we've got some questions for you, my hairy friend, yes, quite a few questions. First, who sent you?" Khalid asked although he was fairly certain of the answer.
"Have bounty on your head. One thousand sultana's, big prize, good hunt," the creature growled.
Khalid paled slightly at the size of the reward being offered for his head. "Ah, what is the bounty for?"
"Treason. Other two, they bonus. Wanted to question for helping traitor."
"Ah, yes and how did you hear about the bounty?"
"I good tracker, hunt criminals, get bounties."
"Hmm, yes quite. I'm looking for a name here friend, yes." Khalid pushed but his question was met with only silence.
"See? He's not gonna be helpful at all. Let's just kill him, I've got a knife right here." Shayla offered.
"Ah, yes, you see my furry friend, you'd better start being more helpful. Right now I'm afraid that I'm the only one on your side, as it were, yes quite."
The gnoll had begun to twitch again at the Shayla's suggestion and spoke quickly, "Big wizard. Halaal. I work for him before, pay good, good hunt. He find me in Gem-Sharad, offer me head start."
"Ah, now you see, that wasn't so hard was it?" Khalid cajoled. "Now, what's your name?"
Again the creature clamped its jaws shut and refused to speak. Khalid sighed, "You're slipping my friend, and the desert sun is getting hot. I suggest you keep me interested, yes quite interested, or I'll let my bloodthirsty companion have her way."
The creature hesitated for a second, then replied, "Men call me Farraj"
The hesitation didn't escape Khalid's attention however, "Ah, yes, lying to me isn't going to improve my demeanor I'm afraid. Last chance my friend, last chance."
"Wait," the gnoll growled, "men call me Azir. I dreamwalker of the Windrider tribe."
"I don't see no tribe around, Azir," Gorak rumbled. "He's probably an outcast." Gorak reached down and scratched the ears of one of the large mastiffs that had, until the night before, been hunting them. He had brought it back from the brink of death and now it was following him around like a puppy. It did however, shy away from Khalid whenever he came near.
"Yes, quite. Well understand this Azir. I know who you are now, and if I have any reason to think that maybe you went back, yes, back to Halaal and gave him any information about us, I might, yes, might have to come looking for you and I assure you, if I ever see you again, things will not go nearly as well for you as they did this time, yes?"
"You let me go, I go into deep desert, not bother you no more."
"Ah, yes, well I think just to make sure, we'll give ourselves a little head start. Yes, quite." Khalid thought for a moment and then snapped his fingers as an idea struck him. "Ah, Shayla, would you be so kind as to get me Azir's hunting knife and his waterskin?"
Shayla retrieved the items from the pile of belongings they had stripped off the gnoll earlier. With a disapproving frown, she handed them to Khalid.
"Ah, here's what I'm going to do for you, my friend. I'm afraid that I can't let you go, yes, not yet, but I will leave you your hunting knife, five feet from where you're lying right now. If luck is with you, you'll find it and cut yourself free before the heat finishes you off. And because I'm quite generous, yes quite, I'll even leave your waterskin behind for you." Khalid said, as he placed the items on the ground, out of reach of the prostrate gnoll.
"Maybe we should leave it ten feet away from him." Shayla suggested.
"Ah, I think five feet will be sufficient," Khalid said, "now remember, Azir, if I ever see you again, I will not hesitate to kill you."
The prisoner dealt with to Khalid's satisfaction, the three packed up their camp and headed west with the rising sun at their backs. As Gorak lingered behind to brush out their tracks, Khalid noticed him stoop down and pick up the gnoll's waterskin and take a long pull out of it, nearly emptying it before corking it and throwing it on the ground well away from the knife. Khalid chuckled to himself at the half-orcs vindictiveness then lengthened his stride, anxious to reach the road and the meager comforts of the fishing villages on the way to Shalazar.
Three days had passed since the encounter with the bounty hunter, and Khalid felt like a new man. Upon reaching the road, they had traveled only a few hours before coming to a small village. Although there were no inns or taverns, the townsfolk were more than willing to open their doors and their larders at the sight of a few sultanas. Khalid had managed to clean off most of the dirt that had accumulated on their trek through the desert, although his tattered robes were much worse for the journey. They were becoming so thread bare that even his magic was barely able to keep them together. He had also taken the opportunity to go into disguise, and had shaved off most of his long flowing beard. He was touched with a twinge of regret as he watched the remnants of what used to be his only pride float away down the river. However, he did have to admit that he was pleased with the results, having trimmed back his beard to a pencil thin line that traced its way down the line of his jaw. Shayla too had taken the opportunity to clean up and despite her melodramatic claims that she had left Gem-Sharad with nothing but the clothes on her back, she seemed to have no shortage of outfits stored away in her pack. Khalid briefly wondered how she managed to carry all that clothing in there, but then decided that given how little material of which each one consisted that her entire wardrobe probably weighed less than his mangy old cloak.
The miles had fallen away beneath their feet and they made good time on the way to Shalazar. Since the novelty of sleeping in the desert had warn thin on both Shayla and Khalid, they spent the nights in tiny fishing villages along the route. Khalid discussed his plans with the other two as they walked and was surprised when they both seemed relatively unconcerned about their involvement with an accused traitor. With the threat of bounty hunters tracking them to Shalazar, they discussed the possibility of continuing on and following the river down to the ocean, a journey that would take several weeks. There were supposed to be large cities along the shore, although none of the three knew much about them.
They were climbing a small rise in the road at mid afternoon on the third day when Gorak stopped and cocked his head, listening to the wind. Khalid continued walking for a few steps still engrossed in the conversation he was having with Shayla before he noticed Gorak had stopped. "Ah, Gorak, what's the problem?"
"Quiet for a second," Gorak growled as he continued to listen intently. Then a large toothy grin spread over his face.
Khalid stopped and listened as well. At first he heard nothing, then a faint sound reached his ears. "What…wait, ah, is that what I think it is?" Khalid groaned.
"If I ain't mistaken, that's the sound of crossed blades," Gorak grumbled, his face still split by a wide grin. "Now c'mon or we're gonna miss out on the fun."
*This is a spell we affectionately named Sandtangle. Given the importance of entangle to low level druids, the lack of vegetation in this setting was a pretty significant drawback. The spell is the same in all respects, except that it only works on sand. Gorak has access to both spells, but has to choose which to memorize on any given day.
I also had the rest of my group read it first this time, so it's a little more accurate than the last one. Heh, Gorak's gonna kill me for pointing this out, but he made a mistake during this adventure. I wonder if you can tell what it is from the update...
Anyhow, the gaming group is sitting around the table downstairs, and I hear the familar clatter of dice, so it's time for me to get my game on. Enjoy.* * * * * * * * * *
"Now we'll see just how good these trackers are," Gorak growled. "You two get some rest, I'll be back in half an hour, or at least before the moon rises."
Khalid collapsed to the ground without even bothering to remove his pack. Shayla hesitated only briefly to shrug off her rucksack before joining him. They both took long pulls from their water skins and then sat in silence for a while, too tired to even speak. The day's journey had been hellish. With the threat of capture hanging over their heads, the trio had set a grueling pace. Led by Gorak, they had forged through the desert steering clear of all ridgelines and oases. Through the use of Gorak's magic, they had traveled through siesta unhampered by the blistering sun. Despite the long march however, Khalid could find no rest in the last fading moments of daylight. He waited anxiously for Gorak's return, half afraid that it would not be Gorak who crested the dune to the east, but the faceless bounty hunter, ready to drag him back to the White Tower to face Halaal's tender mercy.
The full moon had just risen, a pale mockery of the desert sun, when Gorak returned. Khalid didn't even give him a chance to catch his breath before he spoke, "Ah, yes, so is there any sign of him? I have not heard the hounds for some time now."
As though the gods mocked him, no sooner had Khalid spoke then a long howl split the night air and raised the hair on the back of his neck. Gorak leaned forward, with his hands braced on his knees and took several deep breaths before he growled, "He's a persistent bastard to have tracked us this far, and he's not likely to give up yet. I doubled back and ran a false trail heading more south, and brushed out our tracks. We'll find out how good he is in the morning, if he can keep to the trail."
"Ah, perhaps we should push on a bit further, yes quite." Khalid suggested.
"Ya, I was thinking the same thing. Wouldn't hurt to put a few more miles between us." Gorak rumbled.
Shayla's only response was a tortured groan before she pushed herself back up to her feet and shouldered her pack. The three set off again under the pale glow of the full moon. Driven by fear, Khalid found new strength and lengthened his stride. Gorak and Shayla however, did not fair as well. After the first hour, Gorak was breathing heavily and Shayla had stopped complaining. After the second hour, Gorak called a halt. "I'm gonna run myself into the ground if we keep up this pace," he growled between labored breaths.
"Ah, yes, maybe just a little further?" Khalid asked as he glanced over his shoulder.
"I think maybe we should just stop here," Shayla said. A look of faint surprise crossed her face as her legs gave out and she found herself abruptly sitting on the ground.
"Khalid, we can't go no further. Not tonight. I've run myself out doubling back to hide our trail and Shayla's finished. We'll break camp early tomorrow." Gorak rumbled as he dumped Sousee out on the ground. The snake gave an annoyed little hiss and then curled up. "Now get some sleep. Sousee will wake me if anybody comes around."
That decided the group pitched a hasty camp. It felt as though mere moments had passed from the time that Khalid wrapped himself in his bedroll to when Gorak was shaking him awake. The sun had not yet risen and the only indication of the time was a faint lightening of the eastern sky. "C'mon," Gorak growled, "we've gotta get moving."
"Ah, but I haven't had anything to eat yet," Khalid said plaintively.
"Fine, then you get started on breakfast and when that bounty hunter comes over that dune, you can offer him some biscuits and a nice hot cup of tea," Gorak snarled.
With the reminder of the tracker following them, Khalid came fully awake and began to frantically pack up his gear. "Ah, no, that's quite all right, yes quite, I'll just eat some of these cold rations we have left," Khalid sighed.
By midmorning it became apparent that they had not lost their follower. Just as Khalid had begun to relax, sure in the knowledge that Gorak had covered their tracks, a long wailing howl reached them. To Khalid's untrained ear it sounded as the dogs were just on the other side of the dune and he looked to Gorak, trying to fight back the rising panic.
Gorak had his head cocked and was listening intently. Then he cursed. "He must be running hard. Don't sound like he's much closer, but we sure ain't lost him yet."
Again the three set off across the desert, moving as quickly as the terrain and temperature would permit. They traveled in silence for the most part, as even the effort of conversation seemed too much to bear. Finally, by late afternoon, Khalid could stand the tension no longer and spoke, "Ah, we haven't heard the hounds in some time, do you think perhaps we lost them now?" He looked at Gorak hopefully.
"Nope. The quiet don't mean we've lost em, it means their close. Real close. We're gonna have to make a decision pretty soon. I don't think we're gonna make the road before they catch us." Gorak growled.
"Ah, are you sure? Perhaps if we moved a little faster, yes quite…"
Gorak shot Khalid a withering glare. "Of course I ain't sure. No way to tell how close behind us they are. But listen, if we run to the road, and we get caught, we're gonna be exhausted, too tired to fight maybe. And even if we do make the road, they'll be right on our trail all the way to Shalazar. Now I dunno about you, but I'm getting a little tired of being chased. I say we find a nice spot to dig in, catch our breath, and settle this out here in the deep desert where nobody will bother us."
At that point, Shayla chimed in, "I'm with Gorak on this one Khalid, I'm tired of running. Besides, we three aren't such easy prey."
"Ah, yes, quite," Khalid looked dubiously at the other two. "It would seem then, that we should find a defensible, yes quite, defensible position."
"That could be tricky," Gorak grunted. "Ain't nothing out here but sand and rock. We'll move a bit further on, and see what we can come across before it gets too dark."
Gorak ranged ahead as they continued to travel west into the setting sun. The last traces of daylight had just vanished beyond the horizon when Gorak jogged back to Khalid and Shayla. "I found something," he grumbled. "Ain't much, but it's the best we're gonna find out here."
Khalid's heart sank when they reached the spot Gorak had picked out. By Khalid's estimation, Gorak's assessment had been grossly inflated. The defensible position he had chosen was nothing more than two rocks, some ten feet apart. They were only waist high, and no more than five feet across. The edges and tops had been worn smooth by centuries of blowing desert sand. "Ah, yes, not much indeed. Yes, quite," he muttered.
"Well, at least it'll keep the dogs from getting around at your back," Shayla said brightly as she dropped her pack behind one of the rocks and cocked her crossbow.
"Yes, quite." Khalid muttered. If he didn't know better, he'd almost have sworn that this affluent and beautiful young woman was spoiling for a fight, miles away from civilization in the deep desert against a man or men who made their living hunting down fugitives and criminals. Khalid sighed in resignation, then followed Shayla's lead, and cocked his crossbow. He then started digging around in his spell component pouch, finally drawing out a tiny strip of leather. With a word and almost casual gesture, Khalid invoked a spell, and glowing bands of energy rippled out from the tiny hoop of leather, wrapping around Khalid's limbs and body. In the blink of an eye, the glowing bands vanished and Khalid sighed in relief. It still never ceased to amaze him that his spells worked so effortlessly now. Then remembering the task at hand, he looked up to find Shayla staring at him quizzically.
"What did you just do?" she asked.
"Ah, a simple protection spell, yes quite," suddenly Khalid felt guilty. "Ah, I'm sorry, if I had another prepared, yes, quite but you see, my power it is, ah, quite limited, yes quite."
Shayla waved away his apology. "Don't worry about me, I know how to take care of myself," she said with a toss of her head that flicked her auburn curls over her shoulder. She moved over to one of the rocks. "Gorak, you figure they'll be coming up over that dune there?"
Gorak, who was restringing his bow, grunted, "Sure. If we're lucky they'll be so busy following our trail that they won't see us until it's too late.
Shayla knelt down behind the rock and placed her crossbow on top. From the quiver at her hip she drew out a single bolt and loaded it into her cocked crossbow, then carefully checked the sights and the angle on the ridges of the various dunes.
Khalid had no doubt that Shayla could take care of herself, especially having seen the easy way she handled a crossbow. He then fumbled a bolt out of his own quiver, picked it up off the ground and slid it into his crossbow with shaking fingers. "Ah, yes, Gorak, should we, ah make any sort of plan or anything?"
Gorak looked up from where he was tightening the wrappings on the cudgel he normally carried at his waist. "The dogs'll probably come first. I'll keep em busy while you finish them off with your crossbows, then…"
"Ah, yes, Gorak, ah I'm not a particularly good shot with a crossbow," Khalid stammered.
Gorak bristled at the interruption and continued, "while you two finish them off with crossbows, then I'll try to intercept the trackers, give you two a chance to work your magic. That's the plan."
"Ah, yes quite," Khalid said, feeling less than reassured by Gorak's hasty planning. "But what about..."
"Khalid," Gorak growled. "Ain't no sense thinking about it. You can't figure out what's gonna happen, until it happens, then you just gotta act. Now sit down and shaddup, or we'll be the ones getting a surprise."
They sat in silence as the shadows deepened and the sun faded from view. The moon rose, full and bright like the night before, leeching the color from the barren desert and granting everything a pale luminance that almost seemed ethereal. Khalid shivered as the temperature began to fall rapidly. He was just about ready to risk Gorak's wrath, and start hunting around for his cloak when the hounds crested the eastern dune. The huge mastiffs were little more than black shadows, silent and quick, as they raced down the dune towards the party. Gorak stepped out from behind the rock he was sharing with Shayla, and moved forward to intercept the dogs. He stopped ten feet from the rock, and began to chant in his thick guttural voice. As his chanting rose to a crescendo, he raised his arms to the heavens and barked the last syllable. The sand in front of him erupted into a rolling quagmire*. The hounds were forced to dodge aside, twisting and cutting, to avoid the grasping claws of sand, but still they ran on.
Shayla, her crossbow steadied on the rock, fired and was rewarded with a yelp of pain as one of the dogs stumbled, a crossbow bolt lodged in its flank. It did not falter however, and Shayla abandoned her cover to put more distance between herself and the hounds.
Khalid raised his shaking crossbow to his shoulder and realized that the hounds were almost on top of Gorak, and he couldn't get a clean shot. Moving slightly he fired at the trailing mastiff, but his shot flew wide and the bolt vanished into the violent maelstrom of sand.
The first of the hounds leapt at Gorak, who just barely managed to get his arm up in front of his throat. The huge canine latched onto his arm with its enormous jaws and Gorak bellowed out in pain. The other hound circled Gorak carefully but was kept at bay by Gorak's cudgel. Gorak in turn tried to smash the beast worrying at his arm, but the creature's thrashing prevented him from landing a clear blow.
Shayla had reloaded her crossbow and lined up a shot, but missed as the dog shied away from Gorak's cudgel again. Cursing, she braced the crossbow on the ground and began to load it again.
Khalid, with a spell on his lips, was just about to run to the aid of Gorak when he heard a sound that froze his blood. Chanting, from somewhere to the north. Khalid realized with horror how close he was standing to Shayla. He tried to shout a warning, but the words came out thick and slurred as a heavy lassitude settled on him, and he felt his knees begin to buckle. In slow motion, he watched Shayla slump forward, her crossbow tumbling from nerveless fingers as she fell face first in the sand. As darkness descended on him, Khalid thought he heard laughter faint and distant. For the briefest second, he was transported back to his days in the White Tower. Hazal casting a spell while the other apprentices laughed as he fell asleep on his desk. Almost missing an exam and being berated by Halaal for almost an hour for his careless attitude and lack of progress. A spark of anger flared up deep in Khalid's heart and began to burn away the magical lethargy gripping him. His knees locked as the tips of his fingers touched the sand. "Not again," Khalid growled, as he stood upright. He scanned the desert for the caster and spotted a faint shadow almost at the edge his vision, vanishing back into the gloom. There was no hesitation now, only a cold fire that consumed Khalid. The words of magic rolled from his lips as with a broad sweeping gesture, he flung a handful of sand into the air. As the sand glittered and sparkled in the pale moonlight, Khalid grinned in satisfaction as the shadowed form toppled to the ground.
A cry of pain from Gorak wiped the smirk from his face however. As Khalid turned, he saw Gorak still fending off the two animals. His blood was streaming down from his shredded arm, and pooling in the sand at his feet. The mastiff still had him in its unrelenting grip however. The other had circled around and was tearing at Gorak's furs, dragging him off balance. Sousee had slithered over at Gorak's command, and was curled up threateningly behind him, lashing out whenever one of the dogs ventured too close. As the mastiff shied away from the enormous snake, Gorak struck out with a heavy blow, catching the hound on the side of the head and sending it staggering backwards.
"Gorak!" Khalid screamed, "Get out of the way! Back up!" as he raced over to aid him. With a Herculean effort, Gorak wrenched his arm free from the mastiff's mouth, sending a spray of blood arcing into the air, and stumbled backwards. Khalid skidded to a halt five feet from one of the dogs and began to chant again. The two hounds spun around at the sound of Khalid's voice just as a burning cone of white-hot embers erupted from Khalid's hands. Both hounds collapsed to the ground, their smoking hides seared and burned by Khalid's spell.
Suddenly, everything was quiet again. It had only taken a matter of seconds. Khalid's ears were ringing, and his heart was racing. His breath was coming in short quick gasps as he surveyed the scene around him. Shayla groaned in her sleep, and shifted slightly, still struggling against the magical slumber.
"Where's the others?" Gorak snarled through clenched teeth, his cudgel still raised threateningly.
"Ah, yes, ah, he's ah, over…" Khalid took a deep breath and started again. "Ah, yes, I rendered him unconscious, yes quite. He's over that way, about a hundred feet or so. We should, yes, tie him up if you have any rope."
Gorak seemed to relax a little at that, and grunted in ascent. He tucked his cudgel into a loop on his belt and moved over to his pack. Drawing out a length of rope, he headed out towards where the bounty hunter had fallen. Khalid in turn, moved over to Shayla. As he placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her awake she sat up suddenly with a dagger in her hand and murder in her eyes. Khalid uttered a startled shriek and tumbled backwards into the sand.
"Ah, yes, the fight is over, Gorak is taking care of our friend over there," Khalid said as he stood, brushing sand from his robes and attempting to recover some of his dignity.
Shayla looked around at the carnage in the camp, her knuckles still white upon her dagger. Then she smiled, "Well, that wasn't so bad, now was it?"
Khalid bit back a scathing remark and smiled weakly, "Ah, yes, no I guess it wasn't."
That night, the three of them decided to keep a vigil over their prisoner, but despite the fact that Khalid drew last watch, sleep was a long time in coming for him. He relived the battle over and over again in his mind. Slowly as the fear of the moment faded into memory, Khalid felt something he hadn't felt in a long time. Khalid felt strong. His will was steady and his magic had worked when it counted the most. Slowly, as the last of the adrenaline left his system and exhaustion set in, Khalid's eyes slowly closed. The smile on his face however, lasted until the morning.
* * * * * * * * * *
"What?" Khalid looked at Shayla incredulously.
"I say we kill him." Shayla repeated.
"Ah, I'm not sure that's entirely warranted. Yes, quite." Khalid objected.
"Well if we're gonna kill him, I'm gonna get a fire going. No sense letting all that meat go to waste." Gorak rumbled.
"Ah, what?" Khalid blinked and stared at Gorak.
"I've never eaten one of these things before and our rations are getting a bit low."
"Ah, Gorak, it's half a day to the road, I'm quite certain, yes quite that our rations will hold out for at least that long. I'm afraid I object, yes, quite strenuously to both the killing or the eating of this man." Khalid stated, emphasizing his point with a fierce glare at both Gorak and Shayla.
"He isn't a man Khalid," Shayla pointed out, "and if we let him go he's just going to follow us again. Let's just kill him and bury him out here in the desert. Nobody will be the wiser."
"Ah, I hardly think that's necessary, I'm fairly certain he's learned his lesson. Haven't you?" Khalid reached down and removed the gag from the prisoner's mouth. Shayla was right about one thing however, he wasn't a man, at least not a human. His bestial features had a definite canine cast to them. He had deep set, beady eyes recessed above what could only be called a muzzle, lined with sharp fangs. Upright, Khalid figured that he would stand almost seven feet tall although at the moment, he was hog-tied at Khalid's feet. Upon being addressed, the creature stopped thrashing around trying to free itself.
"Ya. I not follow you no more. Too tough, too strong," the creature snarled in barely understandable common. He turned his blindfolded face towards the sound of Khalid's voice, "Let go, I head back into desert. Hunt you no more."
"Ah, yes, first we've got some questions for you, my hairy friend, yes, quite a few questions. First, who sent you?" Khalid asked although he was fairly certain of the answer.
"Have bounty on your head. One thousand sultana's, big prize, good hunt," the creature growled.
Khalid paled slightly at the size of the reward being offered for his head. "Ah, what is the bounty for?"
"Treason. Other two, they bonus. Wanted to question for helping traitor."
"Ah, yes and how did you hear about the bounty?"
"I good tracker, hunt criminals, get bounties."
"Hmm, yes quite. I'm looking for a name here friend, yes." Khalid pushed but his question was met with only silence.
"See? He's not gonna be helpful at all. Let's just kill him, I've got a knife right here." Shayla offered.
"Ah, yes, you see my furry friend, you'd better start being more helpful. Right now I'm afraid that I'm the only one on your side, as it were, yes quite."
The gnoll had begun to twitch again at the Shayla's suggestion and spoke quickly, "Big wizard. Halaal. I work for him before, pay good, good hunt. He find me in Gem-Sharad, offer me head start."
"Ah, now you see, that wasn't so hard was it?" Khalid cajoled. "Now, what's your name?"
Again the creature clamped its jaws shut and refused to speak. Khalid sighed, "You're slipping my friend, and the desert sun is getting hot. I suggest you keep me interested, yes quite interested, or I'll let my bloodthirsty companion have her way."
The creature hesitated for a second, then replied, "Men call me Farraj"
The hesitation didn't escape Khalid's attention however, "Ah, yes, lying to me isn't going to improve my demeanor I'm afraid. Last chance my friend, last chance."
"Wait," the gnoll growled, "men call me Azir. I dreamwalker of the Windrider tribe."
"I don't see no tribe around, Azir," Gorak rumbled. "He's probably an outcast." Gorak reached down and scratched the ears of one of the large mastiffs that had, until the night before, been hunting them. He had brought it back from the brink of death and now it was following him around like a puppy. It did however, shy away from Khalid whenever he came near.
"Yes, quite. Well understand this Azir. I know who you are now, and if I have any reason to think that maybe you went back, yes, back to Halaal and gave him any information about us, I might, yes, might have to come looking for you and I assure you, if I ever see you again, things will not go nearly as well for you as they did this time, yes?"
"You let me go, I go into deep desert, not bother you no more."
"Ah, yes, well I think just to make sure, we'll give ourselves a little head start. Yes, quite." Khalid thought for a moment and then snapped his fingers as an idea struck him. "Ah, Shayla, would you be so kind as to get me Azir's hunting knife and his waterskin?"
Shayla retrieved the items from the pile of belongings they had stripped off the gnoll earlier. With a disapproving frown, she handed them to Khalid.
"Ah, here's what I'm going to do for you, my friend. I'm afraid that I can't let you go, yes, not yet, but I will leave you your hunting knife, five feet from where you're lying right now. If luck is with you, you'll find it and cut yourself free before the heat finishes you off. And because I'm quite generous, yes quite, I'll even leave your waterskin behind for you." Khalid said, as he placed the items on the ground, out of reach of the prostrate gnoll.
"Maybe we should leave it ten feet away from him." Shayla suggested.
"Ah, I think five feet will be sufficient," Khalid said, "now remember, Azir, if I ever see you again, I will not hesitate to kill you."
The prisoner dealt with to Khalid's satisfaction, the three packed up their camp and headed west with the rising sun at their backs. As Gorak lingered behind to brush out their tracks, Khalid noticed him stoop down and pick up the gnoll's waterskin and take a long pull out of it, nearly emptying it before corking it and throwing it on the ground well away from the knife. Khalid chuckled to himself at the half-orcs vindictiveness then lengthened his stride, anxious to reach the road and the meager comforts of the fishing villages on the way to Shalazar.
* * * * * * * * * *
Three days had passed since the encounter with the bounty hunter, and Khalid felt like a new man. Upon reaching the road, they had traveled only a few hours before coming to a small village. Although there were no inns or taverns, the townsfolk were more than willing to open their doors and their larders at the sight of a few sultanas. Khalid had managed to clean off most of the dirt that had accumulated on their trek through the desert, although his tattered robes were much worse for the journey. They were becoming so thread bare that even his magic was barely able to keep them together. He had also taken the opportunity to go into disguise, and had shaved off most of his long flowing beard. He was touched with a twinge of regret as he watched the remnants of what used to be his only pride float away down the river. However, he did have to admit that he was pleased with the results, having trimmed back his beard to a pencil thin line that traced its way down the line of his jaw. Shayla too had taken the opportunity to clean up and despite her melodramatic claims that she had left Gem-Sharad with nothing but the clothes on her back, she seemed to have no shortage of outfits stored away in her pack. Khalid briefly wondered how she managed to carry all that clothing in there, but then decided that given how little material of which each one consisted that her entire wardrobe probably weighed less than his mangy old cloak.
The miles had fallen away beneath their feet and they made good time on the way to Shalazar. Since the novelty of sleeping in the desert had warn thin on both Shayla and Khalid, they spent the nights in tiny fishing villages along the route. Khalid discussed his plans with the other two as they walked and was surprised when they both seemed relatively unconcerned about their involvement with an accused traitor. With the threat of bounty hunters tracking them to Shalazar, they discussed the possibility of continuing on and following the river down to the ocean, a journey that would take several weeks. There were supposed to be large cities along the shore, although none of the three knew much about them.
They were climbing a small rise in the road at mid afternoon on the third day when Gorak stopped and cocked his head, listening to the wind. Khalid continued walking for a few steps still engrossed in the conversation he was having with Shayla before he noticed Gorak had stopped. "Ah, Gorak, what's the problem?"
"Quiet for a second," Gorak growled as he continued to listen intently. Then a large toothy grin spread over his face.
Khalid stopped and listened as well. At first he heard nothing, then a faint sound reached his ears. "What…wait, ah, is that what I think it is?" Khalid groaned.
"If I ain't mistaken, that's the sound of crossed blades," Gorak grumbled, his face still split by a wide grin. "Now c'mon or we're gonna miss out on the fun."
* * * * * * * * * *
*This is a spell we affectionately named Sandtangle. Given the importance of entangle to low level druids, the lack of vegetation in this setting was a pretty significant drawback. The spell is the same in all respects, except that it only works on sand. Gorak has access to both spells, but has to choose which to memorize on any given day.
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Kudos
Hey! Just thought I'd chime in with my kudos; nice job, guys!
Khalid is pretty cool; it must be strange to have players that don't just say, "He's a gnoll, so he must be evil--and, he tried to kill us," and coup de grace him before he even wakes up. (I've played with some pretty bloodthirsty groups...)
I like the whole fleeing thing, too; for some reason, I've never really used that approach, but after seeing it done well, I may have to try it.
Keep up the good work!
Hey! Just thought I'd chime in with my kudos; nice job, guys!
Khalid is pretty cool; it must be strange to have players that don't just say, "He's a gnoll, so he must be evil--and, he tried to kill us," and coup de grace him before he even wakes up. (I've played with some pretty bloodthirsty groups...)
I like the whole fleeing thing, too; for some reason, I've never really used that approach, but after seeing it done well, I may have to try it.
Keep up the good work!
TaranTheWanderer
Legend
Awesome story so far! I love the characters. As for Goraks mistake this last post, I can't find it. It seems to me Gorak can do no wrong.
EternalNewbie
Explorer
TaranTheWanderer said:
Heh. Well "Taran" I can assure you that "Gorak" is not infallible. And I'll be certain to cast that little trip Gorak took to that Inn in the proper light when the time comes...
Now, just so this isn't a complete waste of a post, I'll direct your attention over to the Rogues Gallery thread in my sig, which Galeman has finally updated. I think the only thing he's missing is a description of what character points are. Instead of awarding roleplaying exp or session exp or anything like that, we receive character points at the end of every session, depending on how we play our characters and other things done which go above and beyond the call of duty (like writing this story hour for example, for which I still haven't received any character points *nudge nudge*). Gorak's saving his up to buy an extra feat I think, and I've been using mine primarily for hit point rerolls (I think I rerolled hps like 5 times on one level getting like 4 1's and a 2, using up almost all of my CP in the process. I'm not sure what Shayla's going to do with hers...
As for updates, I'm working on the next part as we speak, and will hopefully have something up in the next few days. Shayla is out of town for the next two weeks, so I'll just have to try and curb my withdrawl by trying to get caught up...
And finally, a bit belated I suppose, but happy holidays to all my faithful readers. All six of you
EternalNewbie
Explorer
Gather round kiddies, it's story time. I'd originally intended to tack this bit on to the previous update, but lo and behold it turned into an update all on it's own. Things start to get really interesting once our intrepid heroes (I can say that with a straight face too, but I did have to practice it in the mirror) get into Shalazar, and I'm looking forward to writing the next update. I'm going to expand on some of the combat at the end of the post and y'all can let me know if you think these little insights are entertaining or just a waste of time. And now, for your viewing enjoyment, I present the conclusion of Chapter 1: Into the Desert.
"Ah, perhaps they don't need our help. They seem to be doing quite fine, yes quite, on their own." Khalid suggested. He winced as a guard defending the caravan below was pinned to one of the wagons with a javelin.
"If we're gonna do this, we're gonna go now. They ain't gonna last much longer." Gorak growled.
Khalid surveyed the scene and was forced to agree with Gorak's assessment. The road here entered a shallow valley as it turned closer to the river. In the center of the valley were two covered merchant wagons, each pulled by a team of horses. A horse on each of the teams lay dead in its traces now, presumably killed in the first volley of the ambush to prevent the wagons from fleeing. Guards had taken up defensive positions around both of the wagons, desperately fighting for their lives against what Khalid could only assume were sand goblins, albeit well organized and equipped ones. The creatures had attacked the caravan from both sides. From the east, the desert side, several of the goblins were raining down arrows on the hapless guards while skirmishers moved forward. The situation on the other side of the caravan was even worse. Half a dozen armed goblins, including two of the biggest goblins Khalid had ever seen, advanced on the guards with weapons drawn.
"That's it. I'm going." Gorak snarled as goblin arrows felled two more of the guards. He began to run down the road towards the caravan. Shayla followed close behind, her loaded crossbow in hand and her eyes flashing with excitement.*
Khalid muttered a few choice words under his breath and hurried after them. As they ran towards the melee Khalid watched one of the enormous hobgoblins sweep the head off a guard with one swing of his massive scimitar. With mounting trepidation, he realized that should another guard fall, they would be badly outnumbered by the assailing goblins.
He needn't have worried however, as Gorak slid to a halt thirty feet from the wagons. Like he had in the battle against the bounty hunter, he raised his arms to the heavens and roared words of power. The desert again heeded his call and the sand erupted. Even as one of the goblin skirmishers on the eastern side delivered a deathblow to a guard, the four attackers on that side quickly found themselves mired in a surging maelstrom. Shayla dropped to one knee behind Gorak and fired her crossbow, grazing one of the armored hobgoblins who immediately began shouting orders in a thick, guttural tongue.
Khalid hesitated, trying to determine how best to deploy his rather limited arsenal of magic. Two of the guards, seeing the unexpected reinforcements attempted to run to Gorak's side. As Khalid began to chant, one of the running guards toppled to the ground with a shriek as a goblin plunged a knife into his back. Khalid released his spell, aiming for the two hobgoblins, but both proved to have strong wills and shrugged off his magical slumber. Two of the smaller goblins standing nearby toppled to the ground under the weight of his spell, but one was quickly kicked awake by a snarling hobgoblin.
Gorak in the meantime had moved forward to stand beside the last remaining guard and engaged his two pursuers. Seeing Shayla exposed and mistaking her for a helpless woman, one of the smaller goblins rushed her, a rusted short sword in hand and a filthy grin on its face. Shayla, glancing up from the task of reloading her crossbow, was unfazed by the little creature bearing down on her. With a few arcane words and a negligent flip of her hand, she returned to loading her crossbow. Khalid could have sworn that the hideous little beast gazed at her with something close to abject adoration before it changed its course and rushed Gorak. As the frenzied goblin ran into position to flank him, Gorak absently delivered a backhand blow with his cudgel that caved in the creature's skull.
Harried by Sousee and the large mastiff, the two goblins facing Gorak and the caravan guard found themselves suddenly in dire straits. The guard lunged forward and caught one in the chest with the point of his sword. As the creatures shield arm went lifeless from the damaging blow, Gorak took the opportunity to bludgeon the goblin to the ground.
Khalid looked around, trying to gauge the flow of the battle. Shayla was now exchanging fire with the goblins trapped by Gorak's spell. The goblins, hampered by the surging sand, had thrown their bows to the ground and were frantically trying to pull themselves free. Shayla, a look of intense concentration on her face was methodically firing and reloading her crossbow. With each heavy twang, another goblin tumbled lifeless into the waves of rippling sand.
Suddenly, Khalid found himself seized by a strange fit of courage as one of the hobgoblins, trailed by a groggy looking goblin, advanced on Gorak and the caravan guard. His legs moving seemingly of their own volition, Khalid ran to intercept the two goblins. He saw a surprised look on Gorak's face that he was sure was mirrored on his own as he raced past. The goblins' snarls of rage quickly turned into howls of pain as Khalid unleashed a torrent of burning embers upon them. The smaller goblin fell to the ground, his body a smoking ruin while the larger hobgoblin simply turned and fled, still smoldering slightly from the after effects of the spell.
The other hobgoblin swatted aside the feeble defenses of the guard he had been sparring with, and buried his sword to the hilt in the man's stomach. As the guard fell limply to the earth, the hobgoblin turned and glared at Khalid with pure malice in his eyes. Khalid, realizing that there was no one between him and the enraged warrior frantically grabbed at his dagger. But the hobgoblin, seeing most of his warriors lying dead in the sand, snarled out an order in the goblin tongue and then ran out into the desert. Those goblins still able to do so, and they were few, did likewise and fled shrieking into the desert.
Gorak immediately began moving among the injured. Several of the guards, although mortally wounded, still held on to the spark of life. Khalid cringed as Gorak's tender ministrations elicited tortured screams from the dying men. Rather than watch Gorak, Khalid turned to see if Shayla needed any help. Seeing that she was about to deliver the goblin he had rendered insensible into oblivion with her dagger, Khalid hurriedly turned his back and went over to the only guard still on his feet. The man was grievously wounded, but didn't appear to be in any immediate danger of collapse. He did however appear to be in shock and Khalid had to try three times to get the man to drink from his waterskin.
After downing some water, and splashing some on his face, the man regained some of his composure. He was a slight man with an enormous mustache that was generously oiled into a curl at the tips. His uniform, cut from rich cloth Khalid noticed, was in tatters and his turban had become unraveled, sagging on his head like an empty wineskin. The man carefully cleaned off the blade of his sword, then sheathed it as he said, "You have my thanks, effendi. Surely if you had not come to our aid we would now all be dead or worse. My name is Nasim." He bowed low before Khalid.
"Ah, yes, quite. My name is Khalid. You are indeed most fortunate, yes, most fortunate that we were nearby. I have no doubt, yes none, that you would have been left for dead out here and your wares would be plundered by those filthy, yes, filthy mongrels."
At the mention of wares, the man's face went pale and he stumbled over to the second wagon. Gorak looked up from where he was setting a broken arm when the man hurried past. As the guard began to fiddle with a latch on the wagon, Khalid realized that it was not merely a merchant's wagon but a carriage carefully designed to conceal that fact. The man spoke quickly and quietly with whoever was sequestered within then slid the panel shut again. Try as he might, Khalid was unable to see within the dark confines of the carriage to determine who, or what lay within. Nasim walked back over to Khalid, and again bowed low before him. "My master wishes to thank you in person, once he has had time to compose himself and we have tended to the men out here."
Khalid nodded, liking the sound of that. "Ah, well then, I suppose we should see to the men."
It took several hours to drag all the goblin bodies away from the caravan and for Gorak to tend to the wounded guards. Since neither Shayla nor Khalid had been hurt in the fight, and Gorak had taken only a minor wound, he used what healing magic he had to aid those whom would not have otherwise survived. Although he had roused another guard to consciousness, several of the men would not be fit for travel until tomorrow, and even then only with the help of Gorak's spells. They dug graves for the three guards who had died in the fighting and made the other three who had still not regained consciousness as comfortable as they could. Nasim conferred several times with the mysterious figure in the carriage and each time Khalid attempted to catch a glimpse of the person within. He was foiled however by the descending darkness and heavy silk curtains which obscured the interior of the cart.
After a third helping of a dinner generously provided by Nasim, Khalid waited expectantly and was not disappointed as Nasim stood up and spoke. "The master will see you now, to convey his thanks in person." With that, he led the three of them to the second wagon, and slid open a panel on the side. The heavy curtains were still in place but illumination from within the carriage showed the outline of a seated figure.
"My name is Arbaq and I understand that I have you three to thank for the protection of both my goods and my person." The voice that issued from the carriage was soft and cultured, muffled slightly by the silken curtains. Khalid could tell despite having to strain to hear that this was a man accustomed to issuing orders and to having those orders obeyed.
"Seemed the decent thing to do," Gorak rumbled. "Couldn't very well let those little curs hack you up."
"And so you came to our aid unsolicited and placed yourself in harm's way." Arbaq continued. "Well, we certainly can't let good deeds go unrewarded and fortunately for you I am a man of, well shall we say, more than modest means. Nasim, give this to them." For the briefest instant the curtains moved aside as Arbaq handed a pouch to Nasim. Khalid, eyes fixed on the purse failed to catch a glimpse inside the carriage however, before the curtains closed again. Nasim took the purse and handed it to Gorak who opened it. His eyes widened slightly and then a large toothy grin spread over his face as he tossed the pouch to Khalid.
"Yer a generous man," grumbled Gorak.
"Yes, quite." Khalid chimed in as he examined the contents of the purse. Inside were several hundred sultanas.
"To those that serve me well, indeed. Which brings me to the next matter at hand. I seem to have several unfortunate vacancies at the moment. Presuming of course, that your destination is Shalazar, I ask you to accompany my caravan. I will pay you double the normal rates, two sultanas a day, and ten more on top of that if there is any more trouble." Arbaq offered.
"Ah, yes, and meals?" Khalid inquired
"Provided, of course."
Khalid looked at Shayla and Gorak, who both shrugged. "Ah, well since we are indeed going to Shalazar, I think it is in both our best interests, yes quite, to accept your generous offer."
"Excellent. I understand that several of the men are still quite injured and unable to travel. I will not risk them any further injury, so we may have to remain here for a few days."
"Nah," Gorak grunted. "I'll have 'em up and about tomorrow."
"Indeed?" Arbaq sounded faintly surprised. "Nasim has told me a little about some of your more…unusual talents but I see that you three may be far more interesting than I had first guessed. We shall talk again before we reach Shalazar, but for now I fear that the day's events have left me quite fatigued. Good night my friends." And with that, the lights dimmed within the carriage and Nasim slid the panel closed again. As he did so, Khalid heard a faint click and guessed that Arbaq had some means of locking the carriage from the inside.
After the brief audience, Khalid joined Gorak and Shayla at the edge of the camp. Gorak was practicing with his shawm and Sousee was playing along, rising slowly from her basket and swaying rhythmically from side to side. Despite Gorak's enthusiasm for the instrument, Khalid never had the heart or the courage to tell him that he found the sound of the shawm, especially when it was played by Gorak, absolutely abysmal. Clenching his teeth, he sat down beside Shayla who was absently braiding her hair and humming along. Not willing to subject himself to Gorak's gentle melody for any longer than was absolutely necessary, Khalid spoke directly. "Ah, yes, so what do you make of our new, ah, benefactor?"
Khalid stifled a sigh of relief as Gorak removed the shawm from his lips and rumbled, "Little odd, but then rich folk usually are. Seems like it might work out well for ya, weren't you looking for a rich merchant to coddle up to?"
"Ah, yes, quite." Khalid turned to Shayla. "And, ah, yes, what do you think Shayla?"
Shayla stopped braiding her hair and sat in silence for a few moments. Then she glanced around to make sure neither of the guards were nearby and leaned in close to Gorak and Khalid. "He seems fine, I guess, but I'll tell you this. I pride myself on my complexion, but this Arbaq, he puts me to shame. I caught a glimpse of his hand when he passed the purse off to Nasim, and it was chalk white, like he never goes out in the sun at all."
They sat in silence for a while, considering what, if anything, that Shayla's observation could entail. Finally, Shayla spoke again, "Speaking of purses, cough it up Khalid, I want my share."
Khalid snapped his fingers, "Ah, yes, of course, I had forgotten."
"Ya, and I bet you woulda forgot all the way to Shalazar too," Gorak grumbled good-naturedly.
After they had divvied up Arbaq's reward, which amounted to no less than one hundred sultanas each, they returned to the camp. Khalid was less pleased with himself when he found out that part of his duties as a caravan guard entailed taking a watch in the middle of the night. Even so, he thought to himself as he settled in for the night, things seemed to be looking up for a change.
"Get up," Gorak hissed as he shook Khalid awake. "I think I heard something." When he was sure that Khalid was awake, he moved on to Shayla, and began to rouse her.
Khalid quickly gathered his wits. It was three days after they had met up with Arbaq's caravan. The morning after the attack Gorak had used his magic to revive those guards that were still wounded. With the guards healed, they set to the task of getting the first wagon, which had been dragged off the road by the panicked horses, out of the deep sand it was mired in. With the aid of Gorak and the remaining horses it took only an hour to get the wagon free and repair the damage done. The guards of course, regarded the trio with something akin to awe after the, Khalid had to admit, somewhat dashing rescue. Still, he found himself disconcerted by the attention and camaraderie of the guards. Gorak, having been raised among men such as these fit right in, laughing and joking with them around the campfire. Shayla too preened under the adulation, and flirted outrageously with the guards, matching their salacious suggestions with retorts every bit as colorful and lewd. Khalid however, found little in common with these rough and ready men and kept mostly to himself, poring over his spellbook in silence at the back of the wagon. And still they had seen nothing of their mysterious employer, who according to Nasim, had a delicate constitution and found sunlight very disagreeable.
Brushing these thoughts aside, Khalid stood and glanced furtively around the camp. He had been sleeping back near Shayla and Gorak at the side of the second wagon. In the dim firelight that remained he could see the shadowed forms of the other guards sleeping near the first wagon. As he turned to ask Gorak what was going on, a flicker of movement caught his eye. There was a muffled grunt from ahead, near the first wagon, then somebody screamed.
Khalid whirled around in time to see a cloaked figure hurl something at his feet. As Khalid shied away, he heard the sound of breaking glass and suddenly a blinding flash robbed him of his sight. A pained roar from Gorak told Khalid that he was in similar peril. Khalid, trying to remain calm, moved backwards slowly until he bumped up against the carriage. From his left, there came the sounds of combat as a sword thrust was parried. He heard Shayla chanting and shivered as the temperature around him dropped and moisture dampened his skin. A sound to his right made him jump and he cried out, "Ah, get back, get away from me!" He was about to unleash a torrent of fire when he realized that Gorak had been standing over there somewhere. Still spots and bursts of color swam maddeningly in his vision. Khalid realized that he was whispering to himself, an endless litany repeating, "It will pass, yes, it will pass, yes, soon," over and over. He heard Gorak hiss in a manner that he knew would send Sousee into a frenzy, attacking everything around and desperately hoped that the snake was nowhere near him. The heavy twang of a crossbow reverberated through the mist and Shayla cursed vehemently. There was another scream that ended in a horrible choking gasp that made Khalid shudder and cringe away. He slowly began to edge around the wagon away from the sound of ringing steel, waving his hands in what he hoped was a threatening manner. Slowly the spots faded from his vision, to be replaced by a grey haze. At first Khalid thought that whatever had been done to him had permanently damaged his sight, but then realized he was simply standing in a cloud of mist created by Shayla. He took one deep breath to steady his nerve and then rushed forward, plunging into chaos.**
The first thing that he saw was Gorak, his cudgel raised high, charge at a cowled figure. Nasim was frantically trying to defend himself from the mysterious assailant and a crumpled form lying in the sand nearby proved that one of the other guards had been unequal to the task. As Gorak joined the melee, the remaining guard went on the offensive, trying to press his advantage with a series of quick slashes. The cloaked figure however, twirled and danced around the blade seeming to have no trouble keeping both Gorak and the guard at bay. Time and time again Gorak's cudgel whistled through empty air, fooled as he was by the assailant's whirling cloak. Sousee, in the meantime, had slithered over and was coiled dangerously close to the attacker, swaying slightly from side to side.
Then suddenly it was over. The man stepped too close to Sousee who lashed out with lightning speed and sunk her fangs deep into his upper thigh. He grunted in pain and staggered backwards, his leg stiff from the poison. Weakened, he was unable to dodge aside as Gorak leveled a terrible blow at him. Khalid heard bone crunch under the impact, and the assailant's blade tumbled from his hand. As the force of the impact sent him spinning around, Nasim leapt forward and delivered a vicious slash that nearly cut the man in two. With a slow groan, the attacker pitched forward onto the sand, his lifeblood pooling around him.
Khalid heard Shayla scream then, and raced around the edge of the wagon almost crashing into another attacker who had been working at the lock on Arbaq's carriage. The cloaked figure, a crossbow bolt buried deep in his shoulder, was advancing on Shayla who was frantically trying to reload. As he saw Khalid come around the corner, the man turned to flee into the desert, but instead caught the full force of Khalid's most damaging spell. With a strangled cry, the attacker collapsed to the sand under the swirling cone of embers, and lay there unmoving.
As Gorak quickly moved to check on the other guards, Khalid inspected his fallen opponent. The man was nondescript, having regular even handsome features. He was wearing dark, sand colored robes and was carrying a veritable arsenal of weapons. Khalid removed three daggers, two short swords, a crossbow and several other tools that he suspected were of less than legitimate purpose from various sheaths and pouches. As he was divesting the man of his possessions, the unconscious figure uttered a low groan and shifted slightly, causing Khalid to leap backwards in surprise.
"Ah, Gorak," Khalid called out. "This one is, ah, still alive, yes quite."
Gorak materialized out of the darkness, his expression grim. "He may be, but three other guards are dead and the fourth one's gonna have one hell of a limp tomorrow. Found the sentry over there with his throat cut, and two others murdered in their bedrolls." He knelt down beside the unconscious assassin and inspected his wounds. He uttered a few arcane words as he pulled the crossbow bolt out of the man's arm. "There, that'll stop the bleeding and make sure he don't die during the night." He then uncoiled a length of rope and securely bound the man's hands and feet.
Shayla was silently watching the procedure and when Gorak was finished, nudged the man's face with her toe, to get a better look at him. She looked at Gorak and Khalid then and spoke, "I've got an idea. Can you get him conscious?" She looked at Gorak, who nodded. "Good. Do it, then go keep those guards busy and away from here." With that, Shayla began to chant and Khalid, recognizing the effect of the spell, grinned in the darkness.
Gorak uttered a few more arcane words, then stood up and neatly intercepted Nasim who was coming towards them. Placing his arm around Nasim's shoulders, he steered him over to the body of the other assassin. Khalid moved out of sight around the edge of the wagon and then strained to listen.
"Wha…" the assassin groaned as his eyes flickered open.
"Quiet you fool," Shayla hissed. "If the others see us talking we'll both be tied up."
In the flickering light of the rekindled fire, Khalid could see the man stiffen up, then relax and nod slightly.
"Now tell me who sent you, before I lose my temper," Shayla whispered.
"Ah," the man looked furtively around. "I can't do that."
"Listen you little maggot, you have seriously jeopardized my cover with this little stunt and I am not in a forgiving mood. Security around Arbaq is going to be twice as tight now." Shayla snarled. "Now I want to know who sent you."
"I was sent by the Red Hand, same as you." The man replied, shrinking under Shayla's wrath.
"I know that," Shayla hissed, "but I want to know who."
"I told you…" The man's eyes narrowed, "Listen, you've gotta get me loose."
"Maybe. I'm not so sure you'll be all that useful to me." Shayla said.
"Look, just get me loose, I can hide out in the desert, meet up with you in Shalazar and we can plan this out. I can help you."
"I'll think about. You may be more valuable to me dead than alive." Shayla said as she gagged the assassin. She stood up then, and moved back towards the fire.
Nasim watched her approach with suspicion. "What were you doing over there with that prisoner?" he demanded. His gaze then flickered over to Khalid, who came sauntering around the edge of the wagon trying to look as innocent as possible, a task made more difficult by the fact that he had just been seen skulking about in the darkness.
"I think we should talk to Arbaq," Shayla suggested.
"Yes. I think we'd better talk to Arbaq right now," Nasim agreed curtly as he moved to Arbaq's carriage. After speaking briefly with him, Nasim waved the three forward.
"Nasim tells me that you have fought off two would be assassins." Arbaq's voice, calm and unruffled issued from the carriage.
"Ya. They killed three more of your guards, and stuck another one, but he'll probably live. We killed one of the attackers. Other one's tied up over there." Gorak rumbled.
"Indeed. I am once again indebted to you." Arbaq replied.
"I questioned him," Shayla chimed in. "He said somebody called the Red Hand sent him. I couldn't get anymore out of him."
"I am quite surprised that you obtained that much from him. You three are indeed remarkable. I assure you that when we reach Shalazar you will be amply rewarded for your efforts."
"So what's this Red Hand, and whadda they want from you," Gorak asked bluntly.
"Hired killers I would presume. Probably expensive. As to why they are after me, I don't really know. I am a wealthy man and have on occasion made an enemy or two amassing my fortune. It may be an old score or simply a rival opportunist." Arbaq replied. "Nasim, please deal with the would be assassin. Now, if you will excuse me, I must rest."
With that, Nasim slid the panel shut and walked off into the darkness towards the prisoner. Khalid winced at the muffled scream that indicated that the prisoner had been 'dealt' with. As the three moved away from Arbaq's carriage, Khalid spoke.
"Ah, yes, what do you make of Arbaq now?"
"He don't rattle easy, that's for sure." Gorak grunted.
"My father used to deal with men like him." Shayla said quietly. "He's probably lying about not knowing the cause. A man like that has his enemies on a short list that's probably going to get a name or two shorter when we get to Shalazar." Then she smiled. "Of course it does mean that he's richer and more powerful than I'd originally thought too."
Khalid returned her smile with one of his own, "Yes, quite."
The rest of the trip to Shalazar passed without incident. As they neared the city, the surrounding desert began to give way to cultivated fields along the flood plains of the river. Houses began to appear; crude mud huts at first near the edge of the desert, which gave way to more permanent dwellings closer to the fertile fields created by the river. There were more people on the road now as well, peasants and farmers moving their goods to and from the city.
Then suddenly out of the shimmering desert heat, Khalid saw the graceful minarets and towers of the city itself. Though not as large as Gem-Sharad, Shalazar boasted some of the wealthiest merchant princes in Al-Qarin. But not all of Shalazar echoed with wealth and privilege. Far from it. Shalazar had been given another name by the citizens of the other city-states, for the city was known far and wide as a haven to those who pursued less savory and legitimate occupations. There was no Sultan in Shalazar to maintain order, only the merchant princes whose hired thugs first loyalty lay to their masters' wares. Over time, Shalazar had become home to the worst sort of criminals, those who could find refuge nowhere else. As the caravan passed through the sprawling shantytown that surrounded the city proper, the sights and sounds of civilization once again assailed Khalid. Khalid took a deep breath of air fetid with the smell of cramped humanity and smiled to himself. Shalazar, home to thieves and murderers, thugs and brigands, and now home to one itinerant wizard. Shalazar, the City of Sin.
Notes & Comments:
* Heh. I think the only reason we waited for a bit was because Gorak (who posts as TaranTheWanderer in case you missed our little joke) and I had just finished playing evil characters in an awesome campaign run by Galeman (which ended when a player moved away) and we weren't certain yet how we wanted this campaign to go. We were kind of leaning towards 'attack the winners' but it started looking like a rout. Those goblins owned the caravan guards. We were outnumbered to start I think, and in the first round 3 more guards went down. Turned into a nice little fight though and we decided not to loot the caravan ourselves...I'm still not sure if that wouldn't have been a better idea
** At this point, Shayla really started to get the hang of the game. We decided that Gorak and I wouldn't help her out by suggesting tactics, not to be cruel but to encourage her to really get into the game. She saved us with that obscuring mist (those assassins were much higher level than us) and her questioning of the prisoner, while not providing a ton of useful information was masterfully done and entertaining to watch. She tipped her hand a little right at the end, and I think he got another save from her charm which is why he clammed up. Gorak pointed out, after reading this post that his feeling was that Arbaq was not at all happy with us questioning the prisoner like that, which explains why he had him killed right after talking to us.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Ah, perhaps they don't need our help. They seem to be doing quite fine, yes quite, on their own." Khalid suggested. He winced as a guard defending the caravan below was pinned to one of the wagons with a javelin.
"If we're gonna do this, we're gonna go now. They ain't gonna last much longer." Gorak growled.
Khalid surveyed the scene and was forced to agree with Gorak's assessment. The road here entered a shallow valley as it turned closer to the river. In the center of the valley were two covered merchant wagons, each pulled by a team of horses. A horse on each of the teams lay dead in its traces now, presumably killed in the first volley of the ambush to prevent the wagons from fleeing. Guards had taken up defensive positions around both of the wagons, desperately fighting for their lives against what Khalid could only assume were sand goblins, albeit well organized and equipped ones. The creatures had attacked the caravan from both sides. From the east, the desert side, several of the goblins were raining down arrows on the hapless guards while skirmishers moved forward. The situation on the other side of the caravan was even worse. Half a dozen armed goblins, including two of the biggest goblins Khalid had ever seen, advanced on the guards with weapons drawn.
"That's it. I'm going." Gorak snarled as goblin arrows felled two more of the guards. He began to run down the road towards the caravan. Shayla followed close behind, her loaded crossbow in hand and her eyes flashing with excitement.*
Khalid muttered a few choice words under his breath and hurried after them. As they ran towards the melee Khalid watched one of the enormous hobgoblins sweep the head off a guard with one swing of his massive scimitar. With mounting trepidation, he realized that should another guard fall, they would be badly outnumbered by the assailing goblins.
He needn't have worried however, as Gorak slid to a halt thirty feet from the wagons. Like he had in the battle against the bounty hunter, he raised his arms to the heavens and roared words of power. The desert again heeded his call and the sand erupted. Even as one of the goblin skirmishers on the eastern side delivered a deathblow to a guard, the four attackers on that side quickly found themselves mired in a surging maelstrom. Shayla dropped to one knee behind Gorak and fired her crossbow, grazing one of the armored hobgoblins who immediately began shouting orders in a thick, guttural tongue.
Khalid hesitated, trying to determine how best to deploy his rather limited arsenal of magic. Two of the guards, seeing the unexpected reinforcements attempted to run to Gorak's side. As Khalid began to chant, one of the running guards toppled to the ground with a shriek as a goblin plunged a knife into his back. Khalid released his spell, aiming for the two hobgoblins, but both proved to have strong wills and shrugged off his magical slumber. Two of the smaller goblins standing nearby toppled to the ground under the weight of his spell, but one was quickly kicked awake by a snarling hobgoblin.
Gorak in the meantime had moved forward to stand beside the last remaining guard and engaged his two pursuers. Seeing Shayla exposed and mistaking her for a helpless woman, one of the smaller goblins rushed her, a rusted short sword in hand and a filthy grin on its face. Shayla, glancing up from the task of reloading her crossbow, was unfazed by the little creature bearing down on her. With a few arcane words and a negligent flip of her hand, she returned to loading her crossbow. Khalid could have sworn that the hideous little beast gazed at her with something close to abject adoration before it changed its course and rushed Gorak. As the frenzied goblin ran into position to flank him, Gorak absently delivered a backhand blow with his cudgel that caved in the creature's skull.
Harried by Sousee and the large mastiff, the two goblins facing Gorak and the caravan guard found themselves suddenly in dire straits. The guard lunged forward and caught one in the chest with the point of his sword. As the creatures shield arm went lifeless from the damaging blow, Gorak took the opportunity to bludgeon the goblin to the ground.
Khalid looked around, trying to gauge the flow of the battle. Shayla was now exchanging fire with the goblins trapped by Gorak's spell. The goblins, hampered by the surging sand, had thrown their bows to the ground and were frantically trying to pull themselves free. Shayla, a look of intense concentration on her face was methodically firing and reloading her crossbow. With each heavy twang, another goblin tumbled lifeless into the waves of rippling sand.
Suddenly, Khalid found himself seized by a strange fit of courage as one of the hobgoblins, trailed by a groggy looking goblin, advanced on Gorak and the caravan guard. His legs moving seemingly of their own volition, Khalid ran to intercept the two goblins. He saw a surprised look on Gorak's face that he was sure was mirrored on his own as he raced past. The goblins' snarls of rage quickly turned into howls of pain as Khalid unleashed a torrent of burning embers upon them. The smaller goblin fell to the ground, his body a smoking ruin while the larger hobgoblin simply turned and fled, still smoldering slightly from the after effects of the spell.
The other hobgoblin swatted aside the feeble defenses of the guard he had been sparring with, and buried his sword to the hilt in the man's stomach. As the guard fell limply to the earth, the hobgoblin turned and glared at Khalid with pure malice in his eyes. Khalid, realizing that there was no one between him and the enraged warrior frantically grabbed at his dagger. But the hobgoblin, seeing most of his warriors lying dead in the sand, snarled out an order in the goblin tongue and then ran out into the desert. Those goblins still able to do so, and they were few, did likewise and fled shrieking into the desert.
Gorak immediately began moving among the injured. Several of the guards, although mortally wounded, still held on to the spark of life. Khalid cringed as Gorak's tender ministrations elicited tortured screams from the dying men. Rather than watch Gorak, Khalid turned to see if Shayla needed any help. Seeing that she was about to deliver the goblin he had rendered insensible into oblivion with her dagger, Khalid hurriedly turned his back and went over to the only guard still on his feet. The man was grievously wounded, but didn't appear to be in any immediate danger of collapse. He did however appear to be in shock and Khalid had to try three times to get the man to drink from his waterskin.
After downing some water, and splashing some on his face, the man regained some of his composure. He was a slight man with an enormous mustache that was generously oiled into a curl at the tips. His uniform, cut from rich cloth Khalid noticed, was in tatters and his turban had become unraveled, sagging on his head like an empty wineskin. The man carefully cleaned off the blade of his sword, then sheathed it as he said, "You have my thanks, effendi. Surely if you had not come to our aid we would now all be dead or worse. My name is Nasim." He bowed low before Khalid.
"Ah, yes, quite. My name is Khalid. You are indeed most fortunate, yes, most fortunate that we were nearby. I have no doubt, yes none, that you would have been left for dead out here and your wares would be plundered by those filthy, yes, filthy mongrels."
At the mention of wares, the man's face went pale and he stumbled over to the second wagon. Gorak looked up from where he was setting a broken arm when the man hurried past. As the guard began to fiddle with a latch on the wagon, Khalid realized that it was not merely a merchant's wagon but a carriage carefully designed to conceal that fact. The man spoke quickly and quietly with whoever was sequestered within then slid the panel shut again. Try as he might, Khalid was unable to see within the dark confines of the carriage to determine who, or what lay within. Nasim walked back over to Khalid, and again bowed low before him. "My master wishes to thank you in person, once he has had time to compose himself and we have tended to the men out here."
Khalid nodded, liking the sound of that. "Ah, well then, I suppose we should see to the men."
It took several hours to drag all the goblin bodies away from the caravan and for Gorak to tend to the wounded guards. Since neither Shayla nor Khalid had been hurt in the fight, and Gorak had taken only a minor wound, he used what healing magic he had to aid those whom would not have otherwise survived. Although he had roused another guard to consciousness, several of the men would not be fit for travel until tomorrow, and even then only with the help of Gorak's spells. They dug graves for the three guards who had died in the fighting and made the other three who had still not regained consciousness as comfortable as they could. Nasim conferred several times with the mysterious figure in the carriage and each time Khalid attempted to catch a glimpse of the person within. He was foiled however by the descending darkness and heavy silk curtains which obscured the interior of the cart.
After a third helping of a dinner generously provided by Nasim, Khalid waited expectantly and was not disappointed as Nasim stood up and spoke. "The master will see you now, to convey his thanks in person." With that, he led the three of them to the second wagon, and slid open a panel on the side. The heavy curtains were still in place but illumination from within the carriage showed the outline of a seated figure.
"My name is Arbaq and I understand that I have you three to thank for the protection of both my goods and my person." The voice that issued from the carriage was soft and cultured, muffled slightly by the silken curtains. Khalid could tell despite having to strain to hear that this was a man accustomed to issuing orders and to having those orders obeyed.
"Seemed the decent thing to do," Gorak rumbled. "Couldn't very well let those little curs hack you up."
"And so you came to our aid unsolicited and placed yourself in harm's way." Arbaq continued. "Well, we certainly can't let good deeds go unrewarded and fortunately for you I am a man of, well shall we say, more than modest means. Nasim, give this to them." For the briefest instant the curtains moved aside as Arbaq handed a pouch to Nasim. Khalid, eyes fixed on the purse failed to catch a glimpse inside the carriage however, before the curtains closed again. Nasim took the purse and handed it to Gorak who opened it. His eyes widened slightly and then a large toothy grin spread over his face as he tossed the pouch to Khalid.
"Yer a generous man," grumbled Gorak.
"Yes, quite." Khalid chimed in as he examined the contents of the purse. Inside were several hundred sultanas.
"To those that serve me well, indeed. Which brings me to the next matter at hand. I seem to have several unfortunate vacancies at the moment. Presuming of course, that your destination is Shalazar, I ask you to accompany my caravan. I will pay you double the normal rates, two sultanas a day, and ten more on top of that if there is any more trouble." Arbaq offered.
"Ah, yes, and meals?" Khalid inquired
"Provided, of course."
Khalid looked at Shayla and Gorak, who both shrugged. "Ah, well since we are indeed going to Shalazar, I think it is in both our best interests, yes quite, to accept your generous offer."
"Excellent. I understand that several of the men are still quite injured and unable to travel. I will not risk them any further injury, so we may have to remain here for a few days."
"Nah," Gorak grunted. "I'll have 'em up and about tomorrow."
"Indeed?" Arbaq sounded faintly surprised. "Nasim has told me a little about some of your more…unusual talents but I see that you three may be far more interesting than I had first guessed. We shall talk again before we reach Shalazar, but for now I fear that the day's events have left me quite fatigued. Good night my friends." And with that, the lights dimmed within the carriage and Nasim slid the panel closed again. As he did so, Khalid heard a faint click and guessed that Arbaq had some means of locking the carriage from the inside.
After the brief audience, Khalid joined Gorak and Shayla at the edge of the camp. Gorak was practicing with his shawm and Sousee was playing along, rising slowly from her basket and swaying rhythmically from side to side. Despite Gorak's enthusiasm for the instrument, Khalid never had the heart or the courage to tell him that he found the sound of the shawm, especially when it was played by Gorak, absolutely abysmal. Clenching his teeth, he sat down beside Shayla who was absently braiding her hair and humming along. Not willing to subject himself to Gorak's gentle melody for any longer than was absolutely necessary, Khalid spoke directly. "Ah, yes, so what do you make of our new, ah, benefactor?"
Khalid stifled a sigh of relief as Gorak removed the shawm from his lips and rumbled, "Little odd, but then rich folk usually are. Seems like it might work out well for ya, weren't you looking for a rich merchant to coddle up to?"
"Ah, yes, quite." Khalid turned to Shayla. "And, ah, yes, what do you think Shayla?"
Shayla stopped braiding her hair and sat in silence for a few moments. Then she glanced around to make sure neither of the guards were nearby and leaned in close to Gorak and Khalid. "He seems fine, I guess, but I'll tell you this. I pride myself on my complexion, but this Arbaq, he puts me to shame. I caught a glimpse of his hand when he passed the purse off to Nasim, and it was chalk white, like he never goes out in the sun at all."
They sat in silence for a while, considering what, if anything, that Shayla's observation could entail. Finally, Shayla spoke again, "Speaking of purses, cough it up Khalid, I want my share."
Khalid snapped his fingers, "Ah, yes, of course, I had forgotten."
"Ya, and I bet you woulda forgot all the way to Shalazar too," Gorak grumbled good-naturedly.
After they had divvied up Arbaq's reward, which amounted to no less than one hundred sultanas each, they returned to the camp. Khalid was less pleased with himself when he found out that part of his duties as a caravan guard entailed taking a watch in the middle of the night. Even so, he thought to himself as he settled in for the night, things seemed to be looking up for a change.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Get up," Gorak hissed as he shook Khalid awake. "I think I heard something." When he was sure that Khalid was awake, he moved on to Shayla, and began to rouse her.
Khalid quickly gathered his wits. It was three days after they had met up with Arbaq's caravan. The morning after the attack Gorak had used his magic to revive those guards that were still wounded. With the guards healed, they set to the task of getting the first wagon, which had been dragged off the road by the panicked horses, out of the deep sand it was mired in. With the aid of Gorak and the remaining horses it took only an hour to get the wagon free and repair the damage done. The guards of course, regarded the trio with something akin to awe after the, Khalid had to admit, somewhat dashing rescue. Still, he found himself disconcerted by the attention and camaraderie of the guards. Gorak, having been raised among men such as these fit right in, laughing and joking with them around the campfire. Shayla too preened under the adulation, and flirted outrageously with the guards, matching their salacious suggestions with retorts every bit as colorful and lewd. Khalid however, found little in common with these rough and ready men and kept mostly to himself, poring over his spellbook in silence at the back of the wagon. And still they had seen nothing of their mysterious employer, who according to Nasim, had a delicate constitution and found sunlight very disagreeable.
Brushing these thoughts aside, Khalid stood and glanced furtively around the camp. He had been sleeping back near Shayla and Gorak at the side of the second wagon. In the dim firelight that remained he could see the shadowed forms of the other guards sleeping near the first wagon. As he turned to ask Gorak what was going on, a flicker of movement caught his eye. There was a muffled grunt from ahead, near the first wagon, then somebody screamed.
Khalid whirled around in time to see a cloaked figure hurl something at his feet. As Khalid shied away, he heard the sound of breaking glass and suddenly a blinding flash robbed him of his sight. A pained roar from Gorak told Khalid that he was in similar peril. Khalid, trying to remain calm, moved backwards slowly until he bumped up against the carriage. From his left, there came the sounds of combat as a sword thrust was parried. He heard Shayla chanting and shivered as the temperature around him dropped and moisture dampened his skin. A sound to his right made him jump and he cried out, "Ah, get back, get away from me!" He was about to unleash a torrent of fire when he realized that Gorak had been standing over there somewhere. Still spots and bursts of color swam maddeningly in his vision. Khalid realized that he was whispering to himself, an endless litany repeating, "It will pass, yes, it will pass, yes, soon," over and over. He heard Gorak hiss in a manner that he knew would send Sousee into a frenzy, attacking everything around and desperately hoped that the snake was nowhere near him. The heavy twang of a crossbow reverberated through the mist and Shayla cursed vehemently. There was another scream that ended in a horrible choking gasp that made Khalid shudder and cringe away. He slowly began to edge around the wagon away from the sound of ringing steel, waving his hands in what he hoped was a threatening manner. Slowly the spots faded from his vision, to be replaced by a grey haze. At first Khalid thought that whatever had been done to him had permanently damaged his sight, but then realized he was simply standing in a cloud of mist created by Shayla. He took one deep breath to steady his nerve and then rushed forward, plunging into chaos.**
The first thing that he saw was Gorak, his cudgel raised high, charge at a cowled figure. Nasim was frantically trying to defend himself from the mysterious assailant and a crumpled form lying in the sand nearby proved that one of the other guards had been unequal to the task. As Gorak joined the melee, the remaining guard went on the offensive, trying to press his advantage with a series of quick slashes. The cloaked figure however, twirled and danced around the blade seeming to have no trouble keeping both Gorak and the guard at bay. Time and time again Gorak's cudgel whistled through empty air, fooled as he was by the assailant's whirling cloak. Sousee, in the meantime, had slithered over and was coiled dangerously close to the attacker, swaying slightly from side to side.
Then suddenly it was over. The man stepped too close to Sousee who lashed out with lightning speed and sunk her fangs deep into his upper thigh. He grunted in pain and staggered backwards, his leg stiff from the poison. Weakened, he was unable to dodge aside as Gorak leveled a terrible blow at him. Khalid heard bone crunch under the impact, and the assailant's blade tumbled from his hand. As the force of the impact sent him spinning around, Nasim leapt forward and delivered a vicious slash that nearly cut the man in two. With a slow groan, the attacker pitched forward onto the sand, his lifeblood pooling around him.
Khalid heard Shayla scream then, and raced around the edge of the wagon almost crashing into another attacker who had been working at the lock on Arbaq's carriage. The cloaked figure, a crossbow bolt buried deep in his shoulder, was advancing on Shayla who was frantically trying to reload. As he saw Khalid come around the corner, the man turned to flee into the desert, but instead caught the full force of Khalid's most damaging spell. With a strangled cry, the attacker collapsed to the sand under the swirling cone of embers, and lay there unmoving.
As Gorak quickly moved to check on the other guards, Khalid inspected his fallen opponent. The man was nondescript, having regular even handsome features. He was wearing dark, sand colored robes and was carrying a veritable arsenal of weapons. Khalid removed three daggers, two short swords, a crossbow and several other tools that he suspected were of less than legitimate purpose from various sheaths and pouches. As he was divesting the man of his possessions, the unconscious figure uttered a low groan and shifted slightly, causing Khalid to leap backwards in surprise.
"Ah, Gorak," Khalid called out. "This one is, ah, still alive, yes quite."
Gorak materialized out of the darkness, his expression grim. "He may be, but three other guards are dead and the fourth one's gonna have one hell of a limp tomorrow. Found the sentry over there with his throat cut, and two others murdered in their bedrolls." He knelt down beside the unconscious assassin and inspected his wounds. He uttered a few arcane words as he pulled the crossbow bolt out of the man's arm. "There, that'll stop the bleeding and make sure he don't die during the night." He then uncoiled a length of rope and securely bound the man's hands and feet.
Shayla was silently watching the procedure and when Gorak was finished, nudged the man's face with her toe, to get a better look at him. She looked at Gorak and Khalid then and spoke, "I've got an idea. Can you get him conscious?" She looked at Gorak, who nodded. "Good. Do it, then go keep those guards busy and away from here." With that, Shayla began to chant and Khalid, recognizing the effect of the spell, grinned in the darkness.
Gorak uttered a few more arcane words, then stood up and neatly intercepted Nasim who was coming towards them. Placing his arm around Nasim's shoulders, he steered him over to the body of the other assassin. Khalid moved out of sight around the edge of the wagon and then strained to listen.
"Wha…" the assassin groaned as his eyes flickered open.
"Quiet you fool," Shayla hissed. "If the others see us talking we'll both be tied up."
In the flickering light of the rekindled fire, Khalid could see the man stiffen up, then relax and nod slightly.
"Now tell me who sent you, before I lose my temper," Shayla whispered.
"Ah," the man looked furtively around. "I can't do that."
"Listen you little maggot, you have seriously jeopardized my cover with this little stunt and I am not in a forgiving mood. Security around Arbaq is going to be twice as tight now." Shayla snarled. "Now I want to know who sent you."
"I was sent by the Red Hand, same as you." The man replied, shrinking under Shayla's wrath.
"I know that," Shayla hissed, "but I want to know who."
"I told you…" The man's eyes narrowed, "Listen, you've gotta get me loose."
"Maybe. I'm not so sure you'll be all that useful to me." Shayla said.
"Look, just get me loose, I can hide out in the desert, meet up with you in Shalazar and we can plan this out. I can help you."
"I'll think about. You may be more valuable to me dead than alive." Shayla said as she gagged the assassin. She stood up then, and moved back towards the fire.
Nasim watched her approach with suspicion. "What were you doing over there with that prisoner?" he demanded. His gaze then flickered over to Khalid, who came sauntering around the edge of the wagon trying to look as innocent as possible, a task made more difficult by the fact that he had just been seen skulking about in the darkness.
"I think we should talk to Arbaq," Shayla suggested.
"Yes. I think we'd better talk to Arbaq right now," Nasim agreed curtly as he moved to Arbaq's carriage. After speaking briefly with him, Nasim waved the three forward.
"Nasim tells me that you have fought off two would be assassins." Arbaq's voice, calm and unruffled issued from the carriage.
"Ya. They killed three more of your guards, and stuck another one, but he'll probably live. We killed one of the attackers. Other one's tied up over there." Gorak rumbled.
"Indeed. I am once again indebted to you." Arbaq replied.
"I questioned him," Shayla chimed in. "He said somebody called the Red Hand sent him. I couldn't get anymore out of him."
"I am quite surprised that you obtained that much from him. You three are indeed remarkable. I assure you that when we reach Shalazar you will be amply rewarded for your efforts."
"So what's this Red Hand, and whadda they want from you," Gorak asked bluntly.
"Hired killers I would presume. Probably expensive. As to why they are after me, I don't really know. I am a wealthy man and have on occasion made an enemy or two amassing my fortune. It may be an old score or simply a rival opportunist." Arbaq replied. "Nasim, please deal with the would be assassin. Now, if you will excuse me, I must rest."
With that, Nasim slid the panel shut and walked off into the darkness towards the prisoner. Khalid winced at the muffled scream that indicated that the prisoner had been 'dealt' with. As the three moved away from Arbaq's carriage, Khalid spoke.
"Ah, yes, what do you make of Arbaq now?"
"He don't rattle easy, that's for sure." Gorak grunted.
"My father used to deal with men like him." Shayla said quietly. "He's probably lying about not knowing the cause. A man like that has his enemies on a short list that's probably going to get a name or two shorter when we get to Shalazar." Then she smiled. "Of course it does mean that he's richer and more powerful than I'd originally thought too."
Khalid returned her smile with one of his own, "Yes, quite."
* * * * * * * * * *
The rest of the trip to Shalazar passed without incident. As they neared the city, the surrounding desert began to give way to cultivated fields along the flood plains of the river. Houses began to appear; crude mud huts at first near the edge of the desert, which gave way to more permanent dwellings closer to the fertile fields created by the river. There were more people on the road now as well, peasants and farmers moving their goods to and from the city.
Then suddenly out of the shimmering desert heat, Khalid saw the graceful minarets and towers of the city itself. Though not as large as Gem-Sharad, Shalazar boasted some of the wealthiest merchant princes in Al-Qarin. But not all of Shalazar echoed with wealth and privilege. Far from it. Shalazar had been given another name by the citizens of the other city-states, for the city was known far and wide as a haven to those who pursued less savory and legitimate occupations. There was no Sultan in Shalazar to maintain order, only the merchant princes whose hired thugs first loyalty lay to their masters' wares. Over time, Shalazar had become home to the worst sort of criminals, those who could find refuge nowhere else. As the caravan passed through the sprawling shantytown that surrounded the city proper, the sights and sounds of civilization once again assailed Khalid. Khalid took a deep breath of air fetid with the smell of cramped humanity and smiled to himself. Shalazar, home to thieves and murderers, thugs and brigands, and now home to one itinerant wizard. Shalazar, the City of Sin.
* * * * * * * * * *
Notes & Comments:
* Heh. I think the only reason we waited for a bit was because Gorak (who posts as TaranTheWanderer in case you missed our little joke) and I had just finished playing evil characters in an awesome campaign run by Galeman (which ended when a player moved away) and we weren't certain yet how we wanted this campaign to go. We were kind of leaning towards 'attack the winners' but it started looking like a rout. Those goblins owned the caravan guards. We were outnumbered to start I think, and in the first round 3 more guards went down. Turned into a nice little fight though and we decided not to loot the caravan ourselves...I'm still not sure if that wouldn't have been a better idea
** At this point, Shayla really started to get the hang of the game. We decided that Gorak and I wouldn't help her out by suggesting tactics, not to be cruel but to encourage her to really get into the game. She saved us with that obscuring mist (those assassins were much higher level than us) and her questioning of the prisoner, while not providing a ton of useful information was masterfully done and entertaining to watch. She tipped her hand a little right at the end, and I think he got another save from her charm which is why he clammed up. Gorak pointed out, after reading this post that his feeling was that Arbaq was not at all happy with us questioning the prisoner like that, which explains why he had him killed right after talking to us.
Last edited:
Bill Muench
First Post
Page 3? Back to the front with ye!
I just want to say how good this story is. It has great flavor. I only read 4 story hours: Piratecat's, Sagiro's, Sepulchrave's, and this one. I hope you stick with it, because I'm really impressed so far.
I just want to say how good this story is. It has great flavor. I only read 4 story hours: Piratecat's, Sagiro's, Sepulchrave's, and this one. I hope you stick with it, because I'm really impressed so far.
