On The Road Again

06/10/2014

20, Fifthover, Dragon's Agitation, 190th Kings Age, Sun Descending
Upon waking, Ren and Yaotl decided to leave ten silver pieces with Ishak, so the village could buy whatever they needed from the next trade caravan that came through. Aziza thought that ten silver may not be enough, so they left another ten.

10 more silver pieces and there might be a problem.

After eating and getting spells ready, the group packed up their air wagon. They put down dried hides to provide a more comfortable ride, as well as make it easier for the group to see the translucent wagon. Hedgar met them on the north side of the village and the group set out. Hedgar led them northeast, through the scrub plains.

The wagon ride was slow, but steady. Two hours into their journey, the stumbled upon a small group of Gith and Elves, all dead. They stopped to investigate, worried about the battle being so close to Kalidnay. They serached for any survivors, but found none. Ren, however, did find some tracks that indicated someone wounded had limped away. He told the group that they should follow them.
"No. It will take us that much longer to reach the mine and besides," Hedgar argued, "it's an Elf, or a Gith, nothing to concern ourselves with."

The group disagreed, so they followed the tracks.

An hour later, they came upon an Elf, laying in a pool of blood. He looked dead, but Yaotl was able to detect a very faint heart beat. Ren began using his psionic cell adjustment to heal the Elf's wounds and Yaotl applied some healing magic. The Elf screamed as Yaotl's burning healing magic was applied.

"Is that the way they all wake up?" Ren asked.

The Elf tried to rise, but Yaotl and Ren held him down, so they could finish healing him. They offered him water, which he greedily consumed, and some rations from their pack. They found out his name was Sharal, from the Wind Dancers tribe.
"Why did you heal me?" He asked.
"Because if we help you now, you may help us in the future." Ren answered.
Sharal shook his head, "I doubt it." He took another bite of the ration they had given him, "But here, you can have this."
He pulled a bone dagger from his belt and handed it to Ren.
Ren looked at it, slightly confused, "Won't you be needing this?"
Sharal shook his head again, "No, I have my sword."
He patted his sheath and realize it was empty. He took his dagger back from Ren.
"Never mind," He began, "and if you find my sword, hold on to it for me."
Ren smiled, "Okay."
Sharal dashed off into the plains, to search for his tribe.

If you can't trust an Elf to be untrustworthy, then what can you trust?

Hedgar wanted to continue northeast, but Yaotl wanted to return and burn the dead. Again, the group disagreed with Hedgar and they returned to the site of the skirmish. As they gathered the dead, the group searched them and found a few coins, five Elven longswords, and an Elven longbow. One of the longswords was near Sharal's tracks, so Ren put it aside.

They stacked the bodies and burned them. No one offered any words.
Finally, the group continued northeast, much to Hedgar's relief. The next few hours passed in quiet contemplation. The group stopped, made camp, and fed the kanks. Ren decided to keep watch.

21, Fifthover, Dragon's Agitation, 190th Kings Age, Sun Descending

As Ren was keeping watch, he noticed a strange darkness in the sky. It sppeared to be a whisp of cloud, but Ren quietly woke Aziza. Aziza was unable to identify the strange formation, but she grabbed her tortoise blades anyway.

The formation came closer and Ren could finally make out the individual heat signatures. Aziza couldn't see them, until they entered the campfire light. It was nearly two dozen Kes'trekels, screeching and swooping in to attack.

The birds began swarming Ren and Aziza. They also attacked the kanks, tents, and hides on the wagon. Rata, who was sleeping in the wagon, was awoken. Aziza successfully blocked the Kes'trekels attacks and screamed to make sure everyone was awake. The birds slashed Ren on his arms and back. Ren lashed out and killed one of the birds and wounded two more, who were forced to the ground. Aziza cut one of them in half and grounded another.

Yaotl ran out of the tent and used magic to burn some of them. Then, Rata stood up from the back of the wagon and cast color spray. A majority of the remaining Kes'trekels, along with Yaotl and Aziza, were knocked unconscious. Ren picked up an unconscious Kes'trekel and broke its neck. Rata stopped him, offended by the pointless killing of an animal.
Aziza and Yaotl woke up a few moments later. As the Kes'trekels woke, they flew away. Ren gathered the dead birds and began plucking them. Everyone else went back to sleep.
In the morning, Yaotl finished the preparation of the birds and burned them, but only slightly. Everyone still ate them in lieu of rations. They packed up their camp and continued northeast.
They marched for most of the day. They drove the kanks at a medium pace and stopped to rest during high sun. They used the shade of their wagon as refuge from the burning sun. In the afternoon, Yaotl spotted a silhouette on the horizon. The silhouette was as tall as it was wide, so Yaotl assumed it was a Dwarf. As they drew closer, he realized that it was, in fact, a Half-Giant. He told the others, who casually drew their weapons close to them.

The Half-Giant showed no fear of them and approached. He was unarmed, but shouted, "Give water!"
Yaotl used the Way to draw moisture from the surrounding area. The Half-Giant greedily took the water and drank it all. Yaotl used magic to detect the evil aura surrounding the Half-Giant.
"Watch out. He is not a good person." Yaotl warned the others.
"He's a Half-Giant, that might change tomorrow." Ren explained, then turned to the Half-Giant, "Would you like something to eat?"
The Half-Giant nodded and took the burned bird meat that was offered.

"What is your name?" Yaotl asked.
The Half-Giant looked up from his meal, "Me am Lug."

Who needs brains, when you can crush a mans skull with your fists?

"Nice to meet you Lug." Ren replied, "I'm Ren and this is Yaotl."
"Ren and Ya- Yao." Lug attempted to repeat.
Rata laughed at the Half-Giant's obvious lack of intelligence, Lug walked toward the back of the wagon and poked Rata with a big calloused finger.
"Me no like you." Lug stated.
Rata backed down, not wanting to fight the physically superior foe.
"Where did you come from?" Ren asked Lug.
Lug looked confused for a moment, "Me am from city."
Ren smiled, "I mean, where did you come from?"
Lug tilted his head to the right, "From city."
Yaotl noticed that the kilt Lug wore was of Draji style.
"Are you a free man, or slave?" Aziza asked.
Lug nodded, "Oh, me am slave. I was guarding caravan, but caravan left Lug. Master is going to be mad the Lug not there."
Ren interjected, "That means you are free."
Lug looked worried, "No. Master give Lug food and water. Master take care of Lug."
Ren looked to Yaotl and they both nodded and smiled.

"You can come with us." Ren stated, "We can give you food and water, but you are free. You can leave if you want to."
Lug looked at the landscape and then shrugged, "Okay."

Lug walked along, while the kanks pulled the wagon. As the sun neared the horizon, they decided to stop and make camp for the night. Ren took Lug hunting and they ran into a B'rohg. Lug punched the B'rohg and the B'rohg stabbed Lug. Then, Ren dashed up and broke the B'rohg's foot, smashed his groin, and finally knocked him out with a left hook. Lug was impressed.

Their hunting expedition was unsuccessful, so they returned to camp. Yaotl healed Lug's wound. Ren decided to keep watch and everyone else went to sleep.

As Rata slept, he saw a mountain that was not his. Giant tanned and heavily calloused hands reached out and dug its fingers into the mountain side. The hands began to tear the mountain open and Rata heard the land start screaming.