JollyDoc
Explorer
CINDERMAW
A wide corridor, composed of polished black granite, stretched away north. A blue stone disc sat on the floor beneath the glowing column of blue light that rose up from it through a hole in the ceiling. To the north, a small, circular opening in the wall opened into a smaller chamber. The eight survivors gathered round the small disc, each having drifted gently down the hole when they took their leap of faith.
“I suppose I owe you an explanation,” Ratbone, in his normal shape, said to Raelak.
The Shoanti quirked an eyebrow expectantly.
“Yes…well…it’s kind of a long story,” the druid stammered. “I’ll try to sum it up. You see, we’re from Korvosa, the land of your ancestors. The queen there has gone insane, and we believe she’s been corrupted by a powerful, ancient, and thoroughly evil artifact. We also believe the Sklar-Quah Sun Shamans know something about this and can possibly tell us a way to destroy it and defeat the queen. The only problem is…,”
“You are tshamek,” Raelak said solemnly.
“Exactly,” Ratbone nodded. “So, Thousand Bones of the Skoan-Quah told us that the Sklar-Quah might accept us if we recreate the legend of Skurak.”
“You are going to be eaten by a giant worm?” Raelak asked, a slight smile on his face. “I thought you were smarter than that, Dog.”
“Me too,” Ratbone muttered. “Anyway, in order for the Sklar-Quah to believe us, assuming we can recreate the legend, we need a Truthspeaker.”
“I think I know the rest,” the Shoanti said. “My tribe, the Lyrune-Quah, won’t exactly give you one of our Truthspeakers unless you prove yourselves to them, so you have come here seeking Tanjah’s found-mark.”
Ratbone nodded again.
“That is my quest as well,” Raelak said. “It is tradition among my tribe that each brave undertake such a pilgrimage in order to prove himself worthy to take his full place in the tribe. I have one question though…why were you travelling apart from your friends?”
“That’s an even longer story,” Ratbone said. “I was born in the Cinderlands under…unfortunate circumstances. I felt a need to visit my birthplace…on my own.”
This time it was Raelak who nodded. “We must each seek our own peace. It seems that, for now, our paths are the same. If it is well, I will walk with you for a time. If I see that you are worthy, perhaps I will even speak on your behalf with my tribe…Dog.”
Ratbone smiled, but just as suddenly, his brow furrowed in confusion, and he turned to Katarina.
“Where’s…Valeris?”
Kat shook her head. “Gone,” she said. “The Red Mantis caught him and Herc off-guard. He fell.”
“Where is his body?” the druid asked tonelessly.
“Above,” Kat said, “on the bridge.”
“I will recover him before we leave,” Ratbone said. “I owe him that much.”
_________________________________________________________
Beyond the smaller chamber at the end of the wide hall, was a narrow flight of stairs that led to a large, open vault. The walls, ceiling and floor of the chamber had been painted to resemble a starry sky, giving the illusion of walking through space. In places between the stars, were painted small blue butterflies. A ten-foot diameter stone sphere floated near the room’s southern wall. Three short metal rods protruded from the lower hemisphere, radiating outward like the legs of a tripod, only the rods rested on empty air rather than a solid surface. The sphere itself appeared to have been carefully carved with drawings of tiny rivers, mountains, and forests.
Raelak walked reverently over to the globe, his mouth open.
“This…is our world,” he said softly. “It is Golarion…only…not…”
“What do you mean, ‘not,’” O’Reginald said as he came to stand beside the Shoanti.
“Look here,” Raelak replied, pointing towards a large central landmass. “This is where Varisia should be, but it is landlocked, except for that narrow strip of coast to the south. And see? The Inner Sea is missing completely, and what are these islands, and that continent? No such places exist. Strange…,”
“Hmm,” the sorcerer said as he leaned in for a closer look. In doing so, he absently placed his hand on the globe…and promptly vanished!
______________________________________________________
O’Reginald felt disembodied. He floated, or at least his mind did, in a vast void, yet the space was not empty. It was full of stars and strange planets. His perspective began to shift, slowly at first, and then more rapidly. World after world flashed past him, each stranger than the one before. The vistas became dizzying, and O’Reginald felt his psyche begin to fragment. Desperately, he tried to focus on something, anything familiar. He pictured his friends where he’d left them, and just as suddenly as the visions had begun, they ended and he was again standing in the strange vault, his hand hovering just above the globe.
“What happened?” Raelak demanded. “Where did you go?”
“I…I don’t know,” O’Reginald said. Then he saw his hand that was still held before him. On the back of it was a light blue tattoo of a butterfly. It had not been there before.
“The Spherewalker’s Mark!” Raelak exclaimed. “You’ve received it! Did you see her? Did you see Desna?”
“I don’t know what I saw,” O’Reginald shook his head. “I just know that I don’t want to see it again.”
“Well I do!” Raelak said, and he reached towards the globe.
“Careful!” the sorcerer warned. “Be sure to picture something familiar to you when you want to return, otherwise…I think maybe you never will.”
Raelak nodded, and touched the sphere. He too vanished, only to reappear moments later, but what felt to him like an eternity. When he did, he too carried the Spherewalker’s Mark. He gazed at it in wonder, and a child-like smile brightened his face. One-by-one, the other companions repeated the ritual, each telling a different tale when they returned, but all carrying the found mark. The left the vault and returned to the shaft of light. Instinctively, they knew that the light would carry them back up as gently as it had brought them down. When they regained the main level, all was quiet. The dark pool was placid with no sign of the deadly tentacles. Valeris’s body, and those of the Red Mantis and the boneslayers lay where they fell. The bodies of the Sklar-Quah thundercallers, however, where gone. Ratbone gently picked up his friend, while Raelak and Ahalak gathered the remains of the boneslayers. In silence, the companions left the Acropolis of the Thrallkeepers.
_______________________________________________________
When they exited the ruins, the landscape outside had changed. A tower stood where none had stood before. It was carved of some sort of white stone, and bore only a single door. Atop it sat a huge carving of a bleached skull. As the companions watched, the door swung open and Shadowcount Sial stepped out, Asyra just behind him.
“We meet again,” the Kuthite priest said with a bow and a small smile. “I’m relieved to see that you are all alive and well.”
“Not all,” O’Reginald snapped.
“Yes, the duskblade,” Sial nodded. “Pity, but it seems that you’ve bolstered your ranks with one of the natives. They do have their uses, I suppose. Ah, and I see ‘Ratbone’ has rejoined you as well.”
“Who is this?” Ratbone asked the others, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
“An acquaintance of Laori Vas,” Kat explained. “He says that the ‘Brotherhood of Bones’ wants to partner with us. They want to observe us. They say they might have work for us later.”
“No,” Ratbone said simply and definitively.
“Wait…,” Michael began.
“I said…no,” Ratbone repeated, his eyes flat. Michael wisely remained silent.
Kat shrugged.
“You have your answer,” she called to Sial.
The priest nodded. “So be it. I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of each other.”
__________________________________________________________
With Raelak’s help, finding the Lyrune-Quah proved an easy task. The Shoanti explained that, this time of the year, the clan camped near an ancient ruin called the House of the Moon, or simply the Moon Ruin. As they neared the area, they were intercepted a group of four female Shoanti, each with a large wolf at her side.
“Moon Maidens,” Raelak explained in a low voice, “the protectors of the Lyrune-Quah.”
“Why have you brought tshamek here?” one woman, obviously the leader, demanded of Raelak.
“They all are bearers of the Spherewalker’s Mark, Tekra’Kai,” Raelak explained.
The Moon Maiden’s eyes went wide. “Then our prayers have been answered,” she whispered. “You have been sent by Desna! You must come quickly! The creature has already slain several of my best warriors!”
“What creature?” Raelak asked.
“A red reaver,” Tekra’Kai said. “We discovered that it had taken up residence in the temple when we arrived. As you know, we are responsible for preparing the House before the rest of the tribe arrives. Our shame shall be immeasurable if we cannot fulfill our responsibility.”
Raelak nodded in understanding, then explained the situation to his new-found companions, adding in Common, “It would only serve to improve your case to the Truthspeaker if you were to offer your assistance.”
“Of course we will,” Ratbone spoke for the group.
The matter settled, the Moon Maidens led the company on to the House of the Moon.
________________________________________________________
A silvery tower stood atop a low promontory in the foothills. The surrounding stone had been smoothed by ages of wind, but the tower itself remained as stark and crisp as the day its final block was set in place. The structure shimmered with a slightly reflective sheen, as if an almost invisible layer of silver covered it. A thirty-foot-tall opening allowed access to the tower interior at ground level, the curving sides framed by the long peacock tail feathers of an immense butterfly or moth that had been carved into the building’s façade. The creature’s wings furled to the left and right, fanning over two side towers attached to the central spire, which rose to a height of at least one-hundred feet. Above, a silvery sphere capped the tower’s peak, as if the moon itself had fallen out of the sky to become impaled upon the structure’s steeple.
Ahalak did not accompany the tshamek and the Lyrune-Quah brave inside. He had performed his duty in escorting them that far, and had lost three of his brothers on the journey. The boneslayer wished them well as they mounted the wide stairwell of the House of the Moon. The companions moved into a wide, open central chamber. Raelak paused in the entry way and stooped to examine the paving stones. His finger traced faint grooves there.
“Claw marks,” he said as he rose to his feet. “They lead that way.”
The tracks led to another wide stair that gave onto one of the tower roofs, and provided a majestic view of the stars. A wide archway led back into the main tower, where an immense hall could be seen. Its walls had been painted with symbols and imagery sacred to the worship of Desna. A massive starknife was affixed to its high ceiling. Something large crouched in the center of the chamber, something that smelled bestial and growled deep in its throat as it sniffed the air, sensing new prey. It rose to its full height of over ten feet and stalked forward into the moonlight. Its body was thick and hairless, its gray hide flushed with crimson along its arms and legs. Strangely tiny bat-like wings jutted from its shoulder blades while its gangly claws swung down to its ankles. Three separate pairs of crimson eyes hinted at the creature’s crude intellect, but its powerful jaws and razor-sharp talons dismissed any suggestion of docility. Herc was in the lead as the group gathered on the rooftop. He lowered his shield and began jogging forward to meet the reaver. Almost casually, the behemoth swung one tree-sized arm and batted the mercenary aside like a rag doll. It turned back towards the others, coming face-to-face with…Kat. The slight Varisian woman smiled endearingly, then spoke a few musical words. The creature froze in its tracks, paralyzed.
“Thanks,” Herc said, wiping blood from his mouth as he raised his sword and drove it through the base of the monster’s skull.
_________________________________________________________
When the group returned to the Moon Maiden’s with the bodies of their slain companions and the head of the creature that had taken their lives, the Lyrune-Quah warriors were speechless. They were invited to stay and enjoy the hospitality of the camp until the remainder of the tribe, along with the Truthspeaker, arrived. Raelak found himself on the receiving end of a special form of gratitude from Tekra’Kai, and the archer knew that his path had truly been blessed by Desna…
Within days, the remainder of the Lyrune-Quah reached the House of the Moon, and with them came an elderly Shoanti that Tekra’Kai introduced as Truthspeaker Akram. He was duly impressed when the leader of the Moon Maidens told him of the aid the tshamek who bore the Spherewalker’s Mark had given them. When he learned of their plan to recreate the legend of Skurak, his expression became one of wonder and excitement. He welcomed the chance to journey to the Feeding Grounds of the Quah-Kael and bear witness to such an historic event. He would be prepared to leave by dawn of the next day. A massive celebration was held that evening, and the members of the K.I.A. felt that acceptance by the Shoanti might not be such an impossible task after all.
________________________________________________________
Cindermaw was known to hunt the lands in the extreme western portion of the Ash-Blown Lands. As the train of wanderers traversed this desolate landscape, they encountered fewer and fewer signs of other living creatures. What at first seemed like low hills in the distance revealed themselves to be enormous burrows upon closer inspection. Despite these discoveries, it was still hours before the companions caught their first glimpse of the great worm. On the horizon, it breached the earth like an ocean leviathan, rising high into the ash-filled air before crashing into the ground once more. The group halted, tension palpable in the air…and nothing happened. Over the next hour, Cindermaw appeared several more times, each time a little closer, and in a different direction. It was like a great shark circling its prey, toying with them.
When the attack finally came, it was swift, and unexpected, despite their expectations. The ground suddenly trembled beneath their feet like an earthquake, and then Cindermaw breached, not a dozen feet away. The behemoth was truly gargantuan, its mottled skin the red of molten iron, heat radiating from it in oppressive waves. It opened its triple jaws and exhaled a torrential inferno of flame that engulfed all of the puny creatures beneath it. Fortunately, the K.I.A. were not fools, and had not entered the hunting grounds unprepared. Michael had placed protective wards against fire over them all, and the flames passed around them harmlessly.
“Now!” Ratbone shouted.
In order for Akram to tell their tale, the K.I.A. needed for him to survive the experience. Likewise, it was only necessary for one of them to recreate the legend, and so all of those who were going to be extraneous, and needlessly endangered, had planned early on to make good their escape when the moment came. O’Reginald quickly grabbed Akram and Trinia by their arms and spoke a word. In an instant, they were whisked away between dimensions, reappearing a safe distance away, but still close enough so that Akram could bear witness. Raelak and Ahalak took to their feet in the opposite direction, the swift Shoanti rapidly putting distance between themselves and Cindermaw. That left Herc, Ratbone, Kat and Michael. The druid and the mercenary had the obvious roles of baiting the worm, while the priest stayed close in case his healing powers were needed, and the sorceress stood ready in the event that her beguiling magic might turn the tide of battle.
Herc moved in first, slashing quickly at the great worm and then darting away. Cindermaw turned to follow the big warrior, but instead found Ratbone. The druid, in his huge, four-armed, horned, spiked-tail predator form, stood directly in front of the beast, roaring and howling a furious challenged. Cindermaw took the bait. The worm struck like a cobra, and seized Ratbone in its jaws. The druid went limp and allowed himself to be hauled into the air. Herc rushed in again, delivering a series of vicious strikes. For a moment, Cindermaw loosened its grip on Ratbone, turning back towards the creature that harried its flanks.
“Pull back!” Ratbone growled.
He feared the worm would not try to swallow him, but would instead content itself with tearing him and his companions apart with its teeth. As Herc withdrew again, Cindermaw’s barbed tail whipped out of the sand and stabbed him behind the knee. As the burning poison exploded into his body, Herc stumbled, but quickly regained his feet and lurched towards Kat and Michael. Cindermaw roared, extending its neck and swallowing Ratbone whole in a single gulp. For several seconds, silence reigned. Then, Cindermaw bellowed again, but this time it was in agony as a hole was ripped through its gizzard by the razor-sharp claws and teeth of Ratbone. As the druid dropped heavily to the ground, covered in gore and slime, the hole he’d left behind closed quickly by muscular contraction. Ratbone rolled to his feet and began to run, but before he could go more than a dozen feet, Cindermaw seized him again, and bones crunched as the worm decided to simply crush the life out of its prey.
At that moment, O’Reginald suddenly reappeared.
“Time to go, ladies and gentlemen!” the sorcerer announced. His fingers moving in a blur, he wove a quick spell which whisked Herc and Ratbone several dozen feet away. Ratbone reappeared and hit the ground running. As Cindermaw hesitated in momentary confusion, Michael began to run as well, and Katarina simply faded away as she willed herself into the safety of the Ethereal plane. Seeing all of its prey escaping, Cindermaw howled in fury and lunged after them. The nearest and slowest target was, unfortunately, Herc. The worm grabbed the mercenary by the leg and flipped him into the air, catching him in its mouth and allowing him to slide right down its throat. O’Reginald cursed roundly and prepared to loose his most powerful evocations, knowing that to slay the beast would minimize their accomplishment, for what would be legendary about escaping a creature that could be felled so easily? Abruptly, however, Cindermaw’s gizzard exploded a second time as Herc’s spiked shield smashed through sinew and flesh. No sooner was the warrior free than O’Reginald rushed to his side and then whisked them both quickly away. Cindermaw was left hungry, angry, wounded, but with its legend still intact. The K.I.A., on the other hand, had reproduced the rebirth of Skurak not once, but twice. Akram was grinning ear-to-ear when the companions finally regrouped.
A wide corridor, composed of polished black granite, stretched away north. A blue stone disc sat on the floor beneath the glowing column of blue light that rose up from it through a hole in the ceiling. To the north, a small, circular opening in the wall opened into a smaller chamber. The eight survivors gathered round the small disc, each having drifted gently down the hole when they took their leap of faith.
“I suppose I owe you an explanation,” Ratbone, in his normal shape, said to Raelak.
The Shoanti quirked an eyebrow expectantly.
“Yes…well…it’s kind of a long story,” the druid stammered. “I’ll try to sum it up. You see, we’re from Korvosa, the land of your ancestors. The queen there has gone insane, and we believe she’s been corrupted by a powerful, ancient, and thoroughly evil artifact. We also believe the Sklar-Quah Sun Shamans know something about this and can possibly tell us a way to destroy it and defeat the queen. The only problem is…,”
“You are tshamek,” Raelak said solemnly.
“Exactly,” Ratbone nodded. “So, Thousand Bones of the Skoan-Quah told us that the Sklar-Quah might accept us if we recreate the legend of Skurak.”
“You are going to be eaten by a giant worm?” Raelak asked, a slight smile on his face. “I thought you were smarter than that, Dog.”
“Me too,” Ratbone muttered. “Anyway, in order for the Sklar-Quah to believe us, assuming we can recreate the legend, we need a Truthspeaker.”
“I think I know the rest,” the Shoanti said. “My tribe, the Lyrune-Quah, won’t exactly give you one of our Truthspeakers unless you prove yourselves to them, so you have come here seeking Tanjah’s found-mark.”
Ratbone nodded again.
“That is my quest as well,” Raelak said. “It is tradition among my tribe that each brave undertake such a pilgrimage in order to prove himself worthy to take his full place in the tribe. I have one question though…why were you travelling apart from your friends?”
“That’s an even longer story,” Ratbone said. “I was born in the Cinderlands under…unfortunate circumstances. I felt a need to visit my birthplace…on my own.”
This time it was Raelak who nodded. “We must each seek our own peace. It seems that, for now, our paths are the same. If it is well, I will walk with you for a time. If I see that you are worthy, perhaps I will even speak on your behalf with my tribe…Dog.”
Ratbone smiled, but just as suddenly, his brow furrowed in confusion, and he turned to Katarina.
“Where’s…Valeris?”
Kat shook her head. “Gone,” she said. “The Red Mantis caught him and Herc off-guard. He fell.”
“Where is his body?” the druid asked tonelessly.
“Above,” Kat said, “on the bridge.”
“I will recover him before we leave,” Ratbone said. “I owe him that much.”
_________________________________________________________
Beyond the smaller chamber at the end of the wide hall, was a narrow flight of stairs that led to a large, open vault. The walls, ceiling and floor of the chamber had been painted to resemble a starry sky, giving the illusion of walking through space. In places between the stars, were painted small blue butterflies. A ten-foot diameter stone sphere floated near the room’s southern wall. Three short metal rods protruded from the lower hemisphere, radiating outward like the legs of a tripod, only the rods rested on empty air rather than a solid surface. The sphere itself appeared to have been carefully carved with drawings of tiny rivers, mountains, and forests.
Raelak walked reverently over to the globe, his mouth open.
“This…is our world,” he said softly. “It is Golarion…only…not…”
“What do you mean, ‘not,’” O’Reginald said as he came to stand beside the Shoanti.
“Look here,” Raelak replied, pointing towards a large central landmass. “This is where Varisia should be, but it is landlocked, except for that narrow strip of coast to the south. And see? The Inner Sea is missing completely, and what are these islands, and that continent? No such places exist. Strange…,”
“Hmm,” the sorcerer said as he leaned in for a closer look. In doing so, he absently placed his hand on the globe…and promptly vanished!
______________________________________________________
O’Reginald felt disembodied. He floated, or at least his mind did, in a vast void, yet the space was not empty. It was full of stars and strange planets. His perspective began to shift, slowly at first, and then more rapidly. World after world flashed past him, each stranger than the one before. The vistas became dizzying, and O’Reginald felt his psyche begin to fragment. Desperately, he tried to focus on something, anything familiar. He pictured his friends where he’d left them, and just as suddenly as the visions had begun, they ended and he was again standing in the strange vault, his hand hovering just above the globe.
“What happened?” Raelak demanded. “Where did you go?”
“I…I don’t know,” O’Reginald said. Then he saw his hand that was still held before him. On the back of it was a light blue tattoo of a butterfly. It had not been there before.
“The Spherewalker’s Mark!” Raelak exclaimed. “You’ve received it! Did you see her? Did you see Desna?”
“I don’t know what I saw,” O’Reginald shook his head. “I just know that I don’t want to see it again.”
“Well I do!” Raelak said, and he reached towards the globe.
“Careful!” the sorcerer warned. “Be sure to picture something familiar to you when you want to return, otherwise…I think maybe you never will.”
Raelak nodded, and touched the sphere. He too vanished, only to reappear moments later, but what felt to him like an eternity. When he did, he too carried the Spherewalker’s Mark. He gazed at it in wonder, and a child-like smile brightened his face. One-by-one, the other companions repeated the ritual, each telling a different tale when they returned, but all carrying the found mark. The left the vault and returned to the shaft of light. Instinctively, they knew that the light would carry them back up as gently as it had brought them down. When they regained the main level, all was quiet. The dark pool was placid with no sign of the deadly tentacles. Valeris’s body, and those of the Red Mantis and the boneslayers lay where they fell. The bodies of the Sklar-Quah thundercallers, however, where gone. Ratbone gently picked up his friend, while Raelak and Ahalak gathered the remains of the boneslayers. In silence, the companions left the Acropolis of the Thrallkeepers.
_______________________________________________________
When they exited the ruins, the landscape outside had changed. A tower stood where none had stood before. It was carved of some sort of white stone, and bore only a single door. Atop it sat a huge carving of a bleached skull. As the companions watched, the door swung open and Shadowcount Sial stepped out, Asyra just behind him.
“We meet again,” the Kuthite priest said with a bow and a small smile. “I’m relieved to see that you are all alive and well.”
“Not all,” O’Reginald snapped.
“Yes, the duskblade,” Sial nodded. “Pity, but it seems that you’ve bolstered your ranks with one of the natives. They do have their uses, I suppose. Ah, and I see ‘Ratbone’ has rejoined you as well.”
“Who is this?” Ratbone asked the others, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
“An acquaintance of Laori Vas,” Kat explained. “He says that the ‘Brotherhood of Bones’ wants to partner with us. They want to observe us. They say they might have work for us later.”
“No,” Ratbone said simply and definitively.
“Wait…,” Michael began.
“I said…no,” Ratbone repeated, his eyes flat. Michael wisely remained silent.
Kat shrugged.
“You have your answer,” she called to Sial.
The priest nodded. “So be it. I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of each other.”
__________________________________________________________
With Raelak’s help, finding the Lyrune-Quah proved an easy task. The Shoanti explained that, this time of the year, the clan camped near an ancient ruin called the House of the Moon, or simply the Moon Ruin. As they neared the area, they were intercepted a group of four female Shoanti, each with a large wolf at her side.
“Moon Maidens,” Raelak explained in a low voice, “the protectors of the Lyrune-Quah.”
“Why have you brought tshamek here?” one woman, obviously the leader, demanded of Raelak.
“They all are bearers of the Spherewalker’s Mark, Tekra’Kai,” Raelak explained.
The Moon Maiden’s eyes went wide. “Then our prayers have been answered,” she whispered. “You have been sent by Desna! You must come quickly! The creature has already slain several of my best warriors!”
“What creature?” Raelak asked.
“A red reaver,” Tekra’Kai said. “We discovered that it had taken up residence in the temple when we arrived. As you know, we are responsible for preparing the House before the rest of the tribe arrives. Our shame shall be immeasurable if we cannot fulfill our responsibility.”
Raelak nodded in understanding, then explained the situation to his new-found companions, adding in Common, “It would only serve to improve your case to the Truthspeaker if you were to offer your assistance.”
“Of course we will,” Ratbone spoke for the group.
The matter settled, the Moon Maidens led the company on to the House of the Moon.
________________________________________________________
A silvery tower stood atop a low promontory in the foothills. The surrounding stone had been smoothed by ages of wind, but the tower itself remained as stark and crisp as the day its final block was set in place. The structure shimmered with a slightly reflective sheen, as if an almost invisible layer of silver covered it. A thirty-foot-tall opening allowed access to the tower interior at ground level, the curving sides framed by the long peacock tail feathers of an immense butterfly or moth that had been carved into the building’s façade. The creature’s wings furled to the left and right, fanning over two side towers attached to the central spire, which rose to a height of at least one-hundred feet. Above, a silvery sphere capped the tower’s peak, as if the moon itself had fallen out of the sky to become impaled upon the structure’s steeple.
Ahalak did not accompany the tshamek and the Lyrune-Quah brave inside. He had performed his duty in escorting them that far, and had lost three of his brothers on the journey. The boneslayer wished them well as they mounted the wide stairwell of the House of the Moon. The companions moved into a wide, open central chamber. Raelak paused in the entry way and stooped to examine the paving stones. His finger traced faint grooves there.
“Claw marks,” he said as he rose to his feet. “They lead that way.”
The tracks led to another wide stair that gave onto one of the tower roofs, and provided a majestic view of the stars. A wide archway led back into the main tower, where an immense hall could be seen. Its walls had been painted with symbols and imagery sacred to the worship of Desna. A massive starknife was affixed to its high ceiling. Something large crouched in the center of the chamber, something that smelled bestial and growled deep in its throat as it sniffed the air, sensing new prey. It rose to its full height of over ten feet and stalked forward into the moonlight. Its body was thick and hairless, its gray hide flushed with crimson along its arms and legs. Strangely tiny bat-like wings jutted from its shoulder blades while its gangly claws swung down to its ankles. Three separate pairs of crimson eyes hinted at the creature’s crude intellect, but its powerful jaws and razor-sharp talons dismissed any suggestion of docility. Herc was in the lead as the group gathered on the rooftop. He lowered his shield and began jogging forward to meet the reaver. Almost casually, the behemoth swung one tree-sized arm and batted the mercenary aside like a rag doll. It turned back towards the others, coming face-to-face with…Kat. The slight Varisian woman smiled endearingly, then spoke a few musical words. The creature froze in its tracks, paralyzed.
“Thanks,” Herc said, wiping blood from his mouth as he raised his sword and drove it through the base of the monster’s skull.
_________________________________________________________
When the group returned to the Moon Maiden’s with the bodies of their slain companions and the head of the creature that had taken their lives, the Lyrune-Quah warriors were speechless. They were invited to stay and enjoy the hospitality of the camp until the remainder of the tribe, along with the Truthspeaker, arrived. Raelak found himself on the receiving end of a special form of gratitude from Tekra’Kai, and the archer knew that his path had truly been blessed by Desna…
Within days, the remainder of the Lyrune-Quah reached the House of the Moon, and with them came an elderly Shoanti that Tekra’Kai introduced as Truthspeaker Akram. He was duly impressed when the leader of the Moon Maidens told him of the aid the tshamek who bore the Spherewalker’s Mark had given them. When he learned of their plan to recreate the legend of Skurak, his expression became one of wonder and excitement. He welcomed the chance to journey to the Feeding Grounds of the Quah-Kael and bear witness to such an historic event. He would be prepared to leave by dawn of the next day. A massive celebration was held that evening, and the members of the K.I.A. felt that acceptance by the Shoanti might not be such an impossible task after all.
________________________________________________________
Cindermaw was known to hunt the lands in the extreme western portion of the Ash-Blown Lands. As the train of wanderers traversed this desolate landscape, they encountered fewer and fewer signs of other living creatures. What at first seemed like low hills in the distance revealed themselves to be enormous burrows upon closer inspection. Despite these discoveries, it was still hours before the companions caught their first glimpse of the great worm. On the horizon, it breached the earth like an ocean leviathan, rising high into the ash-filled air before crashing into the ground once more. The group halted, tension palpable in the air…and nothing happened. Over the next hour, Cindermaw appeared several more times, each time a little closer, and in a different direction. It was like a great shark circling its prey, toying with them.
When the attack finally came, it was swift, and unexpected, despite their expectations. The ground suddenly trembled beneath their feet like an earthquake, and then Cindermaw breached, not a dozen feet away. The behemoth was truly gargantuan, its mottled skin the red of molten iron, heat radiating from it in oppressive waves. It opened its triple jaws and exhaled a torrential inferno of flame that engulfed all of the puny creatures beneath it. Fortunately, the K.I.A. were not fools, and had not entered the hunting grounds unprepared. Michael had placed protective wards against fire over them all, and the flames passed around them harmlessly.
“Now!” Ratbone shouted.
In order for Akram to tell their tale, the K.I.A. needed for him to survive the experience. Likewise, it was only necessary for one of them to recreate the legend, and so all of those who were going to be extraneous, and needlessly endangered, had planned early on to make good their escape when the moment came. O’Reginald quickly grabbed Akram and Trinia by their arms and spoke a word. In an instant, they were whisked away between dimensions, reappearing a safe distance away, but still close enough so that Akram could bear witness. Raelak and Ahalak took to their feet in the opposite direction, the swift Shoanti rapidly putting distance between themselves and Cindermaw. That left Herc, Ratbone, Kat and Michael. The druid and the mercenary had the obvious roles of baiting the worm, while the priest stayed close in case his healing powers were needed, and the sorceress stood ready in the event that her beguiling magic might turn the tide of battle.
Herc moved in first, slashing quickly at the great worm and then darting away. Cindermaw turned to follow the big warrior, but instead found Ratbone. The druid, in his huge, four-armed, horned, spiked-tail predator form, stood directly in front of the beast, roaring and howling a furious challenged. Cindermaw took the bait. The worm struck like a cobra, and seized Ratbone in its jaws. The druid went limp and allowed himself to be hauled into the air. Herc rushed in again, delivering a series of vicious strikes. For a moment, Cindermaw loosened its grip on Ratbone, turning back towards the creature that harried its flanks.
“Pull back!” Ratbone growled.
He feared the worm would not try to swallow him, but would instead content itself with tearing him and his companions apart with its teeth. As Herc withdrew again, Cindermaw’s barbed tail whipped out of the sand and stabbed him behind the knee. As the burning poison exploded into his body, Herc stumbled, but quickly regained his feet and lurched towards Kat and Michael. Cindermaw roared, extending its neck and swallowing Ratbone whole in a single gulp. For several seconds, silence reigned. Then, Cindermaw bellowed again, but this time it was in agony as a hole was ripped through its gizzard by the razor-sharp claws and teeth of Ratbone. As the druid dropped heavily to the ground, covered in gore and slime, the hole he’d left behind closed quickly by muscular contraction. Ratbone rolled to his feet and began to run, but before he could go more than a dozen feet, Cindermaw seized him again, and bones crunched as the worm decided to simply crush the life out of its prey.
At that moment, O’Reginald suddenly reappeared.
“Time to go, ladies and gentlemen!” the sorcerer announced. His fingers moving in a blur, he wove a quick spell which whisked Herc and Ratbone several dozen feet away. Ratbone reappeared and hit the ground running. As Cindermaw hesitated in momentary confusion, Michael began to run as well, and Katarina simply faded away as she willed herself into the safety of the Ethereal plane. Seeing all of its prey escaping, Cindermaw howled in fury and lunged after them. The nearest and slowest target was, unfortunately, Herc. The worm grabbed the mercenary by the leg and flipped him into the air, catching him in its mouth and allowing him to slide right down its throat. O’Reginald cursed roundly and prepared to loose his most powerful evocations, knowing that to slay the beast would minimize their accomplishment, for what would be legendary about escaping a creature that could be felled so easily? Abruptly, however, Cindermaw’s gizzard exploded a second time as Herc’s spiked shield smashed through sinew and flesh. No sooner was the warrior free than O’Reginald rushed to his side and then whisked them both quickly away. Cindermaw was left hungry, angry, wounded, but with its legend still intact. The K.I.A., on the other hand, had reproduced the rebirth of Skurak not once, but twice. Akram was grinning ear-to-ear when the companions finally regrouped.
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
