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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 7584380" data-attributes="member: 143">I could have sworn that I'd posted this one already... must be just another side-effect of the advancing years...* * *Chapter 273The day was overcast and muggy as the column set out from the tabaxi settlement.  With the three sailors joining the group they now numbered eleven, not counting their escorts.  Mrrik led the tabaxi contingent, accompanied by three veteran scouts armed with spear-throwers.  Those scouts spread out to shield their flanks and check ahead, but they remained close enough to call out if they spotted an ambush or other danger waiting for them.Bredan couldn’t tell where they were headed, except that the cats were taking them on a course that led generally west, further inland.  Mrrik—he just couldn’t think of the cat hunter as Clear Eyes—had told them during a conversation facilitated by Quellan’s magic that the lost city was located within a valley surrounded by a range of mountains.  None of the cats had ever entered the site, or even crossed those mountains, but Bredan trusted the matriarch’s promise that her people could take them to a place where there was a navigable route over the peaks.  The Syvalian captain had come this way, after all, but even beyond that Bredan felt something, an innate sense that they were heading in the right direction.  He could not help but wonder if that was a product of his bond with the book, or just self-delusion.They trudged through the jungle for about an hour, the temperature slowly rising at the day advanced.  Bredan went through several gourds of water as he sweat under his armor.  He already had an annoying, itchy rash across his torso from the sweltering days they’d already spent here, but since taking off his armor was not an option, he just had to bear it.  Quellan had warned them all about keeping their bodies and especially their feet dry, but that was a difficult feat in this place.The jungle began to thin ahead, and Bredan could see that they were coming up on a broad meadow.  The open expanse was covered in a sea of tall green grass that rippled in the slight breeze.  Bredan was looking forward to that breeze, grateful for the low clouds that concealed the sun, but they were interrupted by the return of one of the tabaxi scouts.  The cat was clearly agitated as it rushed over to Mrrik and reported.“Looks like trouble,” Glori said.Quellan came forward and cast his tongues spell.  “What is it?” he asked once the spell had taken effect.“Dragonborn,” Mrrik reported.  “Over a hundred.  They are arranged in line across the far side of the meadow, under the banner of Natak.”“Bloody hell!” Malik said once the tabaxi warrior’s words had been translated.  “What do we do, go back?”“I’d be shocked if they hadn’t already anticipated that,” Rodan said.  Mrrik clearly agreed with him, for he didn’t wait for Quellan to translate before he gestured to two of his scouts.  The two cats shot off into the jungle.“They knew we’d be here,” Kosk said.“The shaman,” Glori said.Quellan nodded.  “That seems likely.”“Let’s see for ourselves,” Bredan said.They made their way forward cautiously, staying behind the cover of the thinning brush and the scattered trees that extended to the edge of the meadow.  They crouched down behind a fallen trunk and scanned the area.It wasn’t hard to see the dragonborn formation.  They were standing in the open, facing the jungle where they were hidden.  Bredan could make out the standard, shifting slightly in the breeze.  He couldn’t tell what it was made of but he could see black scorch marks on the edges of the material.“What are they doing?” Glori asked.“Waiting for us, I’d gather,” Xeeta said.  “They’re a little too far for a fireball, but I bet that grass could cover my approach.”“They’re too spread out,” Rodan noted.One of the cat scouts returned, darting low over the ground like one of his feline ancestors.  Again he reported to Mrrik, letting out a series of low-pitched growls.“Let me guess,” Kosk said.  “The tiefling was right.”Quellan nodded.  “There are two groups of them behind us, moving to cut off our retreat.”“What’s their game?” Bredan asked.  “Why are they just standing there in the open, instead of hitting us with an ambush?”Once Quellan had repeated his words Mrrik growled an answer.  “He says that it is a ritual challenge,” the cleric said.  “Natak will face our champion in single combat.”“Even from here I can tell that’s a bad idea,” Xeeta said.  “Look at him, he’s head and shoulders taller than those other red ones, and those are huge.”“Natak is a dangerous foe,” Mrrik agreed.  “Even without the rage induced by the graa plant, he is a mighty foe.  I have seen him carve mighty warriors in two with a single blow from his black axe.”“What if we refuse to meet this challenge?” Glori asked.“Overwhelming force, I’d say,” Kosk said.“They will attack with all their strength,” Mrrik confirmed.  “Their honor would be satisfied if we rejected the challenge.”Suddenly a low roar passed through the dragonborn line.  Even across the wide breadth of the meadow it sounded like the rumble of an earthquake.  “Well, I’d say they know we’re here,” Kalasien said.“I will face Natak,” Bredan said.“Bredan,” Glori said.  “Think about it.  One of those red monsters almost killed you, and that one’s bigger, tougher, and stronger.  Between Xeeta’s firepower and my spells, maybe we can…”“No,” Bredan said.  “There are too many of them, and they’re ready for us this time.  The longer we wait, the better the chance that the ones behind us will get into position so they can hit us from both sides.  Don’t worry.  If I die, you can avenge me.”“That’s not funny,” Xeeta said.  “Even if we agree, what guarantee do we have that they won’t just mob us if you do beat him?”Quellan spoke quietly to Mrrik.  “He says that they do follow their code of honor, such as it is,” the cleric reported.“And what happens if our boy loses?” Kosk asked.Mrrik barked a single syllable.  “Our lives are forfeit,” Quellan said.“We have no choice, then,” Bredan said.  He stood and started forward into the tall grass.</blockquote>

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