Epic - Journey to Marûn

Escape from the Kharash

The cowardly and despicable massacre of innocents that the Kharash inflicted on my people is recorded elsewhere, so I will not dwell on it here. At least some of us were not slaughtered and were instead taken prisoner. Shameful, but also an opportunity to escape and seek justice. I begin the telling when I was in the cages of one of their convoys...

Next to me in the cage was Grelt, a friend and companion on my former mission, who had not yet gained consciousness. Why did they keep us alive? I also caught sight of the white tiger "Khat"; she was in another cage, alone, similarly mounted on a wagon... and looking miserable. Grelt grunted and shook his head. “What happened?” he asked without yet having opened his eyes. The cart had left the river and was climbing the slope as it continued to head south. “We have been caught by the Kharash.” I answered plainly. “What?” shrieked Grelt now with eyes wide open. He was immediately silent again as he took in the enormity of the situation. Then he seemed to panic... “They have got it!” He yelled, before hurriedly whispering, “the Runestone…”

I understood – Grelt had been given the sacred Runestone to take to the festival. That explained why he had accompanied them and why I had been given an otherwise mundane task. The Runestone would have been placed in front of the shrine to Shang-Ti to proclaim the tribe’s respect to the God. Grelt was a devout follower and a trusted disciple of the Temple to Shang-Ti; he would have seen this as a great honour. The Runestone had mystical powers too... we knew well the stories of the miraculous cures that the stone had performed.

Later that evening, after the Kharash had stopped to make camp, there was a considerable commotion. More Kharash arrived bringing prisoners, although the deafening, high-pitched howling and wailing coming from the nets the Kharash had slung across their horses signalled that these prisoners were not human. Eventually, and with much brutality, two wolves were deposited into a spare cage and hoisted onto the back of a wagon. One was white as the clouds that hurtled across the wide, endless sky; the other was as grey as the mountain slopes. Few slept that night as the howling continued despite the guards’ abundant use of the rod. (The Kharash hit their prisoners with iron rods, designed to fit through the bars of the cage.)

Grelt and I had spoken little – mostly to avoid being hit with a metal rod – but, as a Kharash horseman rode past, Grelt whispered, “He’s the leader.” I was not terribly interested, instead focusing on escape; I had considered attempting to break the lock the previous night and, using the howling to mask the sound, I had tried to prise open the padlock when the guard that was assigned to his cage had been preoccupied. Unfortunately it had proved too strong, but that was definitely the time – if escape was even a possibility that was.

“He is wearing a Runestone, look.” Grelt nodded at the leader as the Kharash turned to look over their cage into the distant Steppe beyond. True enough, there was a Runestone hung around the Kharash’s armoured neck on a black-metal chain. It was subtly different though – the same gold marking on black stone, but the marks were different from our family Runestone. “It’s different,” whispered Grelt who had come to the same conclusion. There were rumoured to be 6 stones – each a key to the entrance to some great temple somewhere. Was it one for each religion or one for each region of Minnerwe... or was it Khagul Gurung? I had focused more on my warrior training than being forced to listen to tedious lectures. Grelt could not take his eye off the leader, which drew unwanted attention. The leader shouted for the caravan to stop and he ordered that Grelt be brought out of the cage. I did my best to protest but received such a blow to my head with the metal rod that I passed out. When I came to Grelt was gone and the wagons were lumbering once again along the path that followed the mountains south towards the desert. I was more careful then to avoid the leader’s gaze as he moved up and down inspecting his prisoners.

Another day passed, ending with the usual routine of corralling the wagons and posting guards. This time the evening brought prisoners from different directions and under the control of very different people. The leader himself, with just two other Kharash, brought in an unconscious humanoid, the likes of which I had never seen. It was taller and thinner than a human, with sharper features and a long face. Slumped forward as it was dragged to its cage, it was alive but only just. I realised that it was quite tall – easily over six feet – and was definitely skinny. As it passed my cage, heading towards its own confinement, I saw that its skin was rough and yellow and its head was shaved save for a single braid which ran down its back. Its ears were definitely pointed.

Pointed too were the ears of the other prisoners brought in from over the mountains. Elves I realised, having read about them but having never seen one in the flesh. They were rumoured to have lived widely in these lands before the Great War but since had all but vanished to the edges of Minnerwe. There were two – a male and a female – both too tired to struggle against their captors, who were not Kharash. In fact they bore more resemblance to the yellow skinned humanoid who had been thrown into the cage with the elves a moment before. There were eight of them, all dressed in bejewelled armour and carrying huge swords and axes. They stood apart from the Kharash and only the leader of the evil troop spoke with them in a tongue I did not understand. In the cold moonlight, emanating from a moon that had begun to wane since its completeness three days before, I saw the leader hand over the Runestone of Shang-Ti. I also noted that the strange looking creature was careful not to touch the stone; instead, he held open a bag into which the Kharash commander dropped the artefact. Then the leader of the yellow skins noticed one of their kin had been imprisoned along with with the elves. A rapid conversation followed but I was surprised to see that the yellow skins seemed happy with whatever the Kharash had said. Suddenly these strange, yellow-skinned creatures disappeared – quite literally, disappeared!

The next day after the prisoners had been fed a meagre portion of mutton stew and weevil-infested bread, the wagons rolled off, unwinding from the circle in which they had been arranged. I saw that the yellow skinned humanoid was in the second-to-last wagon, just ahead of the wolves who had calmed their misery a little. I was in the second wagon from the front (and alone) with the tigress at the front, heavily guarded. It was still early and the sun had only just crested the mountain peaks to our left when chaos broke out.

Sprinting down the scree slopes to the caravan’s left came a score or more of wolf-men. I knew them to be Hengeyokai – a part-human part-animal race – in this case wolves. I had heard that a pack had claimed territory in the hills, mountains and Steppe to the north of the Frostfall – the river I could just make out in the distance to the south and east. They split into two formations and attacked the front and rear of the caravan simultaneously. At last, a chance to be free! I tried again to break the padlock whilst my keepers were distracted – this time with success.

Just as the padlock broke at the back of the cage, I looked up to see the wolves set free their kin from the last cage, and watched as four of the great beasts shoved over the next wagon and broke the cage’s lock. That cage contained the strange humanoid and the elves. The elves made a run for it, north and slightly uphill, hand in hand. I had lost sight of the humanoid in the confusion; the last I recalled was the creature staring at a dying wolf as it tumbled down the slope. This wolf, moments before, had leapt at a Kharash horseman, unseating him and smashing his fists into his neck. The human landed on his back and flailed his spear wildly, his dark eyes bulging in pain and fear. The wolf’s fist struck at the Kharash’s neck, splintering the lamé that joined cuirass with helmet, penetrating the carotid artery. Where had the humanoid gone? No time to wonder – he probably did the same vanishing act as the similar creatures that brought the elves, yesterday.

Other Hengeyokai were dying - the biggest of the rear group was stuck by three or four flaming bolts which seemed to weave through the air before striking, just before a Karash pierced its chest with a wicked-looking spear at full charge. Some wolves closer to me simply fell where they stood – dead or unconscious he did not know. I saw one of the Kharash close by leap from his mount and slice deep into a massive wolf-man with a wickedly sharp, serrated blade before he chanted something - rendering all nearby lifeless. Indeed, had I not been completely focused on making my escape the words may have threatened to engulf my mind too. Finally, as I tumbled free of the cage, a long-legged black wolf near the front of the assault howled loudly before an arrow struck his neck and more pierced his thick mane, which tumbled down his back. The last sound this wolf-man made was a hideous wail that issued from his gaping maul as a Kharash spear entered his chest.

The Kharash were too busy to notice his escape; the wolves were soon dispatched or rounded up and caged along with the other prisoners. I realised that I would not be able to flee across the Steppe in broad daylight, nor would I have time to run up the slope before the Kharash spotted me, so I rolled back under my former wagon and lifted myself off the ground. As the Kharash regained control, orders were barked and cages hoisted back onto wagons. To my surprise, the horseman appeared in too much of a rush to spend time looking for me. He heard the Kharash leader bark some orders; then, as the wagons began to lumber forward, the leader joined one of his men right beside the wagon under which I hid. “Hinghest, take the caravan to Oracal. Malaki will reward you for her capture.” “Yes, my Lord,” answered the Kharash before spurring his horse forward. “Load the bodies too,” the leader barked after Hinghest.

Maybe that was my chance... I knew I could not hold on this way for very long. I might be able to hide under some bodies until nightfall and make my escape in the dark. I waited until the bodies had been loaded – some into the cage above me. As the cart began to trundle forward once more, I stretched my body and neck to my right and looked to see if anyone would notice if I moved. To my relief, I was under the last cage; there were, however, two guards bringing up the rear. They were about fifty yards behind sauntering forward on their black steeds. I noted they would close up if the cart was about to turn a corner along its winding journey. However, there was potentially enough time to drop down and spring into the cage before they re-appeared. I did not have to wait long and, as the cart took a sharp turn to the left following the path, I dropped to the ground and waited for the cart to pass before jumping into the cage and covering himself with dead wolf-men.

Now I had to wait until dark before making my escape; however, the carts came to a halt in the late afternoon and did not form a circle... something else was happening. The two rear guards cantered forward, passing either side of my wagon in a rush. I saw an opportunity and took it. Moments after the Kharash cantered by I slipped out from under the corpses and slid, snake-like, down the slope away from the caravan. I was certain I had not been noticed, but I needed to make sure. Making it to the bank of the Frostfall, I lay still and looked back. I was about two hundred yards from the caravan, to its south east. The river tumbled fiercely here and the bank was steep – providing excellent cover.

There was a group assembled at the front and only the tigress was guarded. The group consisted of those strange, yellow-skinned humanoids who captured and sold the elves, he was sure. Suddenly, appearing behind these strange people was a ship. A ship which seemed to float. It was over one hundred feet long and was made from a combination of strange wood and metals which seemed woven into the shape of a barge. Huge sails were unfurled on masts that stuck out in all directions from the floating vessel. Despite being unfurled, the mountain breeze seemed to have no effect on them. A ramp was lowered as I watched and the wagons were carefully loaded. It seemed to me that the horses were accustomed to this form of transport. Once all was loaded, including all but two of the Kharash, the barge simply disappeared in a shimmer of silver light.

The horsemen seemed deep in conversation as they trotted back northwards along the path. I had nowhere else to go; I needed to know whether Kran Ghul had suffered the same fate at the hands of the Kharash as my family and all the nobility. I already knew the answer, but I needed to be certain. I began heading north, paralleling the Kharash looking for an opportunity. It was then that I saw the prisoner – the one that had disappeared – heading, it seemed, southeast towards the Frostfall. That made sense, he would clearly be thirsty. Perhaps he could help; perhaps he knew what that strange vessel was – after all, he looked the same as the strange yellow-skins. He was dressed only in brown linen, presumably stripped as I had been, with a single braid of russet hair down his back and moving slowly.

It was early spring, so it was still cold even as new life bloomed across the steppe. The air gave crystal-clear vision and it was late morning. The high mountain range was to the east (my right) and the vast steppe to my left. We were on a high trail but still below the snow line, with the Frostfall behind us. I was very aware that I would need to find clothes and/or shelter if I was to survive the night! Then I noticed another survivor - one of the wolf Hengeyokai was loping towards the yellow/green humanoid at pace. He wore no clothes, instead having his thick fur (that I was slightly envious of right now), but he did wear a small leather backpack that looked quite out of place on his lupine form. Did he mean to attack? His intentions were not clear.

I was focused on the Kharash but I did try to get the attention of the humanoid... however he seemed to be shimmering and somehow there and then not there intermittently, crouching and still now. It was weird to see, but then I had seen many strange things recently and this was but one more. I tried gesturing at him to join me in an attack on the Kharash anyway, but I was not sure if he had even seen me. The Kharash were well armed and armoured, with multiple weapons stowed around their saddles in a complex arrangement to enable them to be drawn quickly. The horses were black and slightly bigger than the average riding horse.

I approached swiftly from behind, my bare feet an advantage as they had not noticed me yet, and leapt onto one of the horses, throwing the rider aside. He landed awkwardly, his head striking a rock, and was knocked out. I tried to take control of the horse but it was fighting me and it was all I could do to keep it in place. The other escapees had seen my attack and were thankfully hurrying to join me, again unseen as the other rider's attention was on me. The Hengeyokai reached him first, leaping at him, but his timing was unfortunate as the horse shifted towards him and the weight effectively body-blocked him. He slid to the ground, unharmed but unable to unseat the rider. Unfortunately the yellow thing tried the same thing with much the same effect... he did seem a bit thin to be trying to tackle someone off a horse anyway.

Thankfully I grabbed the halberd from the saddle of the horse and as I swung it around at the Kharash, bracing it to use my weight to give the blow some force, the horse twisted just the right way to give it some extra power. The other rider's head was taken clean off by the impact! The horse was still struggling, which was unusual as I could usually control horses well. It seemed as objectionable as its previous owners, so I dismounted and reluctantly watched as it ran after the other horse, which had already bolted.

I greeted my new, if temporary, allies. I was surprised to find that the Hengeyokai invoked Shang-Ti's name! Apparently the law bringer had set him on the right path, so we had more common ground than I thought. The other... thing... claimed not to be the same as the others we had seen, and in fact was quite offended that we might think that. The ones in league with our captors he called the "Githyanki", whereas he was of the "Githzerai". The Githyanki used to be slavers of his people. He did not seem to have heard of Shang-Ti, or of Chih-Chiang Fyu-Ya (the God the Kharash claimed to follow).

The Hengeyokai cocked his head to one side (thankfully not his leg) and his ear appeared to perk up. After a moment he told us that the Spiritfolk had warned him of more Kharash approaching, but then he looked up the steep slope next to us and got quite excited. He claimed that a sign from Shang-Ti was guiding us north and that the spirits would protect us, urging us to follow. I grabbed the unconscious Kharash, wanting to question him about what was going on, and ran to get out of sight up behind the Hengeyokai that was loping easily up the steep slope. He took us up a small riverlet and the way got even steeper; I had to work hard to keep up with the body across my shoulders, but I welcomed the burning muscles after several days without exercise.

The spirits told him that there was another caravan with prisoners approaching, and we saw two outriders riding ahead of them drawing close on the track below. We hid in the craggy rocks to the sides of the riverlet, and I rested the body below me against a rock, pinning him down in case he came to. We had a moment to at least exchange names, and I learned that the Hengeyokai was called "Fulgar" and the strange creature that called himself a Githzerai was called "Garuk". The outriders stopped below where we were hiding, one held a bow casually but ready to fire, and the other dismounted. He looked closely at the floor, looking for tracks perhaps? It was clear that the spooked horses had alerted them to potential danger.

We thought that we were relatively safe so far above them, but then another (quite different) Hengeyokai appeared just above us on the mountain slope. It was a baboon and started calling a challenge, standing tall and making quite the racket. Fulgar translated, although I think we got the gist of it - it was saying that we were their meat, and that we would die alone and vulnerable. Others of its kind answered the call around and above us, and it was clear that we were outnumbered and wouldn't be able to move as freely as they could in the rocks. Fulgar was worried that we had entered their territory, and that his requests for peaceful passage were being ignored. He had bared his teeth and his fur was standing up, looking ready for a fight himself.

I was concerned that the commotion would alert the Kharash, and I was proved right as an arrow flew up with a humming and then a flash of a small explosion... probably a warning to the convoy behind them. We had no time to look down, though, as a dozen baboon creatures appeared above us and leapt down, charging to engage us. Suddenly an eruption of rock spikes rose up in a line just above us, cutting off their advance and providing cover around us. Fulgar heard a shout of "flee!" in his tongue, and we did not need much encouragement to follow him.

I glanced ruefully down at the Kharash captive, wanting to take him but knowing that we had to move quickly. In a moment of anger at what they had done to my family and my people I decided that he had earned the death penalty and stabbed the halberd into his neck, easily ending his life. Then I sprinted after Fulgar, heading south. The rocks seemed to move to make our path easier as we ran; the spirits were truly with us! We kept going back to the Frostfall, knowing that we would be chased and trying to find somewhere we could defend. The noise of a waterfall ahead guided us to the source of the river, and another Hengeyokai was stood in the water below it; this one was half fish, looking into the pool whilst poised with a trident ready to strike at something within the water.

We stopped about fifty yards short, again looking to Fulgar for guidance as he was speaking with the spirits. He seemed nervous and unsure, though, worried that the spirits had taken us into a trap before and might do so again. It later became clear that the Frostfall was the limit of his people's territory and he did not like the idea of going further. I tried to reassure him, saying that we must follow Shang-Ti; that is the way. At this he stiffened slightly and bowed his head, then repeated: "that is the way" and moved forward towards the waterfall. He also saw an apparition of a human woman's torso. She told him that those chasing did not come here, they only attacked because they were linked to the Kharash. She warned him not to attack others of his folk, saying that he was not like them. He moved forward more at peace with himself, resolved to ask the creature ahead for aid.

Thankfully this Hengeyokai was much more welcoming. It introduced itself as "Shim-Ti", and said that it would help us. In truth it looked quite nervous and put the trident behind its back to seem non-threatening. Shim-Ti offered to hide us as we were unable to swim, and took us through the waterfall and a crack in the rock that couldn't be seen from even a few feet away. This led to a cave where five of his kind were gathered, and one transformed into a human before our eyes so that it could speak in a language that we all understood. The (rather naked I noticed) human that was Hengeyokai expressed sympathy for our loss, knowing of the slaughter that had taken place.

I questioned whether they knew of the place called "Oracal" that I had overheard their leader talking about. It was volcanic, and a place of power. They apologised but we could not talk more as we brought danger here and must leave at once. They offered us vials of a strange liquid and explained that we needed to drink and jump down the waterfall, letting the river take us to safety. We did as they asked, and as the oily liquid slipped down my throat and I jumped I felt myself transform into a fish! We plunged down the river, following the current as it guided us between the rocks and over several smaller waterfalls until we reached a pool near where the track forded the river. We were aware of horsemen crossing near us as we made one more jump down into a lower pool before returning to our normal form. That was wondrous and exhilarating, but we had no time to dwell on it as we pressed ourselves into cover in the rocks lining the river.

Trying to Learn More

Fulgar sniffed the air and warned that there was another convoy near, but that the river should hide our scent. I suggested that the convoy was an opportunity to stow aboard the strange ship that disappears, but I got a rather strange look from Fulgar suggesting that he wasn't so sure. His way was to wait to strike on the weak and isolated, as we had before, and then seek understanding of the ways of our enemy. I saw the wisdom in this, as it had been what I was trying to do before. The convoy was passing so we had to be quiet for a while. As before there were outriders ahead, a group of warriors leading the wagons, a warrior and a driver on each wagon, warriors to the sides, but a weaker guard behind. The cages held some of my people, some elves, Hengeyokai cats, Bandalok (this is what the baboon creatures were properly called), some half-sized humanoids, and one humanoid like a nomad with their usual desert wrappings but that seemed to be something other than human.

Fulgar warned us that they were strong in spirit and could strike at our minds, so we should not challenge them directly. Although I burned with the desire to do so I had seen his people fall without wounds so I knew he spoke the truth and held myself in check, waiting for the right moment. We followed them at a distance, easily able to wait for them to move out of sight before catching and observing their progress again. This continued for a few hours, but eventually the leader halted them and threw down something onto the floor. At once the strange ship appeared as before out of nowhere. Two riders peeled away and started coming back towards Fulgar, and separately two Kharash and two Githyanki moved away in different directions.

Fulgar was noticed as they drew near, but leapt at the nearest rider and knocked him off the horse. He landed heavily and didn't move. The other one swung his halberd at Fulgar but thankfully just missed him by an inch. Garuk was busy shovelling sand into a pouch. His kind had some weird ways about them. Fulgar turned on him and threw him to the floor. Again a rock was his ally and the rider's head cracked wetly. I had to turn away as Fulgar delighted in ripping them open and eating their organs!

A separate party of two Kharash wheeled to engage us, but the Githyanki they were escorting kept going. They charged, using their horses in an attempt to run us down and then finish us off afterwards, a tactic I knew well. Garuk was ahead and I set my halberd to receive the charge just behind him. I connected solidly, lifting the rider out of his saddle and letting the momentum swing him over our heads and dump him on the ground behind me, dead. The second rider turned and aimed his lance at me, and it broke on my scavenged lame armour leaving just a few shards embedded. This was fortunate, though, as the lance breaking brought him suddenly closer and my halberd struck true again. Another one fell dead.

The strange vessel had disappeared, so it seemed we had no choice but to follow the Githyanki if we wanted any answers. We took what we could from the dead, and Garuk armed himself and took a shield despite complaining that "all the swords were tiny". Fulgar joined us, saying that he respected the fight and that we should enjoy the spoils of the kill. He seemed genuinely grateful when I suggested that he was welcome to eat. In return he offered me Shang-Ti's blessing, which I took gladly, and I was surprised to see my wounds miraculously knit and splinters of the lance were pushed out of my shoulder before my eyes!

We followed the Githyanki as best we could, keeping them in view as much as possible as the ground began to level off and open onto the great steppe. They were heading south or southwest, that much was clear, but where they were going was a mystery. After a couple of hours Fulgar said that he could see some things flying towards us and advised us to hide in the shelter of some rocks until we understood the threat, which was a sound plan. The trail should be easy to follow now they were in open country anyway. Ahead we saw the riders halt and three half-eagle half land animal creatures landed to talk with them. It was not long, though, before they took to the air and continued towards us. We hunkered down and Garuk shed his armour saying that he needed to be free of the metal for this fight. I still could not fathom his ways.

The creature at the centre of the trio called out, having seen us, and they all dived towards us. Garuk threw a handful of sand into the air that turned into a fan of colours as he shouted a word we didn't understand. The first creature entered this colourful display and its screeching call ended quickly as it piled straight into the earth, a broken mess of feathers... Garuk just managed to step aside at the last moment. One of the others grabbed me in its talons, piercing the skin, but it could not lift me as my halberd bit deeply and cleaved almost straight through it. It fell into two pieces, dragging me backwards with its momentum but then coming to a halt in a pool of gore. The last creature made a grab for Garuk but missed and then thought better of fighting and flew off out of sight.

We continued to follow the Githyanki until late afternoon. The steppe grass had started to get more arid and patchy and we saw that the ones we pursued had stopped up ahead. We cautiously approached to a point that we could observe them clearly, but I was acutely aware that night was close and that the temperature would plummet. We waited until it was just about dark, feeling the chill in the air. It was a brilliant starry night, but even then it was hard to keep sight of our prey as the light faded. We could see, though, that they moved off when night fell so we continued for as long as we could in the cold, feeling that the ground was more sandy underfoot. They were moving more slowly this time and eventually stopped to make a fire.

We stopped as well, unwilling to attack at night, and huddled together with bedrolls covering us to share heat for the rest of the night. Fulgar had a way of resting quickly that I did not understand, but it allowed him to watch the enemy as Garuk and I fully covered ourselves and sleep. It was early morning when Fulgar became aware of a galloping horse coming from behind, although the ones we had followed were still in the camp ahead. He woke us up and muffled any noise we made until we were aware of where we were and the need to be quiet.

I grabbed my halberd and looked with the others; a horseman without armour was approaching, clearly visible as he had a lantern to help him find his way. He seemed to be making a noise to alert those in the camp ahead, but didn't seem to have noticed us. We flattened ourselves on the ground and let him pass, listening as the rider was challenged on approaching the camp. He stood up in the saddle and leapt down from his horse, running into the camp and dropped to one knee. He said something like "You are off, they have moved". One of the Githyanki ran to a satchel and pulled out a parchment that they then rolled out whilst stoking the fire for light. Then they looked up at the stars, saying "here then", and made some notes. The rider urged them to hurry and then returned to his horse, riding back the way he had come. The others made ready to move and mounted up. We had to rest a little more before we were ready to follow, though.

We all had various disturbing visions in the night - were these from Shang-Ti or the spirits? Something was trying to guide us, anyway. I woke with a start shouting "the bitch!" as I had seen that Chimeg had betrayed my people and probably sought to claim Batuhan for herself! There was more though, involving the runestones and the Gods. There was much to think on, and I started working through my usual exercises to clear my head. Fulgar wanted us to move quickly to follow the departed riders as the scent grew fainter, and he too would like to exercise properly but it would have to wait. The day was getting quickly warmer as the sun rose so we started at a fast pace, running intermittently to keep our speed up.

After a couple of hours the terrain became more difficult and we were hopping across fissures and boulders, climbing at times to clear obstacles. At one such rise we hopped up to find a large black snake in front of us! It was a good fifteen feet long and its head reared up at the vibrations from our arrival. It was black with a purple underside and looked dangerous. It had been laid in a slight depression in the rock, but its body lifted up and tried to wrap around Fulgar. He was able to escape being grasped but certainly felt the power of the blow as its bulk struck him. He responded incredibly, though, leaping forward away from its coils to attack the head. He punched it so hard in the face that it slumped back in a daze, rolling back into the hole it had risen from.

I thought that the end of the encounter, but Fulgar was concerned about the gaze of the snake and asked if anyone else felt that it had affected them. Garuk believed it had, so Fulgar laid his hand on Garuk's shoulder and called on Shang-Ti to purge him of illness. Fulgar seemed drained by this act, but insisted that it was worth it to purge them of any ill spirits. We continued for another hour or so, then Fulgar dropped and we reacted at once, seeking cover. Fulgar whispered that the scent had become strong so the Githyanki must be close. As if to reinforce this we heard the snort of a horse from a short way ahead.

Fulgar stalked forwards quietly, seeing the two horses sheltered in a bowl of rock with a pool of water at the bottom that they were drinking from. There were a couple of cacti on the far side but no sign of the Githyanki. Suddenly several streaks of light flashed into Garuk's back, causing him pain! A moment after this an armoured Githyanki leapt from the rock beside and above me, flaming sword swinging. I tried to dodge but the swing still caught my side and its flames set my backpack on fire! I dropped the halberd and threw off the remains of the pack, drawing my Khopesh and shield to defend myself. I was safe, though, as Fulgar unleashed his fury on the foe from behind - first with a powerful punch that staggered the foe and then a flurry of clawed blows that left him dead before he could react.

This victory was short-lived as the other Githyanki chanted something and a bolt of electric discharge leapt into Fulgar; he crumpled to the ground smoking slightly and smelling of burnt fur. He was still conscious but obviously in great pain. I leapt down on top of the mage and bashed him with my shield, putting my weight behind it as I landed, knocking him to the floor unconscious. Garuk put his sword to his neck in case he recovered, and I was surprised to hear Fulgar howl in pleasure for our victory despite his wounds, and he added: "Now we feast"!

I stamped out the fire on my backpack as best I could, but there was not much left. Garuk announced that I had actually killed the mage when I landed on him, which was disappointing as we had nobody left to question. Fulgar had seen some saddlebags on one of the horses, so we resolved to catch it so that we could search them. Garuk circled around but they got spooked so Fulgar and I sprinted for them before they could get away down a gully on the far side of the bowl. Fulgar grabbed the bags as I leapt onto one, fighting with the reins to keep it near Fulgar.

One we had the bags we let the horses go; these beasts were as foul as their riders and wouldn't respond to us anyway. Garuk had found a strange piece of parchment with directions that seemed to depend on the stars, so we took time to rest, drink, and train for the fights to come. Once the stars were clear enough to see we followed Garuk as he matched the parchment to the heavens and started off in what we hoped was the right direction. We had to move swiftly as if going at the pace of the Githyanki riders, so it would be hard work... but at least we would be warm as we traveled.

A few hours in we noticed that some of the bushes near us started to move as things approached us from all sides. Four large beetles with a glowing red chest area and orange glowing rears emerged looking quite threatening. One of them collapsed to the left of Garuk ahead of us and I took the opportunity to jump on and over it to run forward, judging that we could outpace them, and urging the others to do the same. As I stepped on its carapace some nasty liquid belched out near Garuk, but luckily he was able to avoid it. Unfortunately the beetles were on the others before they could move away, so I had to stop and turn back.

One buzzed into the air and weaved its way towards me at about head height whilst the others attacked on the ground. A glob of the liquid Garuk dodged landed near me, spurted out by the flying beetle, so we would need to kill them quickly. Fulgar took the first kill, landing two solid punches to the head of one that had tried to bite him, and another beetle collapsed near Garuk leaving just the flying one. Garuk leapt up and hit it with his body, but it just moved back in the air without coming to harm. I tried to get under it to stab up with my halberd, but it bit me as I did so and I immediately passed out! Thankfully while I was unconscious Fulgar was able to smash it down to the floor and kill it.

Garuk finished off the beetles that had collapsed as Fulgar picked me up, meaning to carry me away. He might have underestimated the weight of me and my equipment, though, so found he could only move very slowly and at great effort. Garuk called over "How is our friend?" to which Fulgar's reply was: "Heavy"! They got together and started to share the load of equipment and body but then realised that there was nothing to run from and instead examined me to see if they could aid me. Sadly they had no means of doing so, but fortunately I came round a few moments after they had resigned themselves to waiting.

I regained my strength almost immediately, if not my health, so whatever venom was in the bug's bite was short-lived. I interrupted my new friends' debate about whether to rest with me or press on to say that I was strong enough to continue and we needed to keep the pace up, so we set off south again. We could not continue all night, though, especially having been awake the previous day and eventually we were exhausted and had to rest. Thanks to the saddle bags we had retrieved we now had a tent and were able to eat and rest properly, with Fulgar meditating in his usual manner. It was Fulgar that awoke us - the sun was rising so we were late! We gathered our things, said a prayer to Shang-Ti with Fulgar that refreshed us a little, and continued at a fast pace again.

After a couple of hours the gorse we had been making our way through began to thin out and there were more cacti, so we started looking for a pattern of three that might match that recorded on the parchment. It wasn't long before we saw a Kharash warrior ahead, on horseback, that seemed to be moving around three very large and distinctive cacti... this could be the place! Fulgar ran forward, but ducked behind a cacti as the Kharash charged forward with a lance. After it had passed Fulgar gave chase, as the horseman was focused on Garuk instead. I had set my halberd but he deliberately avoided me so I gave chase as well. Garuk was able to dodge the lance, thankfully, and the Kharash turned tightly around to come back at him.

This time he found his mark and left a deep wound in Garuk's side. I stood by him to protect him, but seeing that the Kharash drew a bow instead and circled around. Fulgar headed towards the three cacti whilst the attention was away from him. The Kharash was too close and Garuk sprinted at him and managed to reach him before he could spur his horse away. Garuk tried to grapple him off the horse but his grip slipped on the smooth armour and he got away from him. An arrow pinged off my armour as he tried to take us down from a distance, but Garuk suffered more and collapsed as an arrow hit him hard.

I saw that the Kharash had looked the other way and sprinted for him, catching hold of his arm and managing to hold on despite the frantic movements of the horse and my opponent. Fulgar headed over to help Garuk and called on Shang-Ti to aid him; the arrow popped out of the wound and he jerked to life! Garuk grasped Fulgar's arm and thanked him for his help, using his support to get up. I lost my first hold, but managed to lunge and grab the Kharash again, getting a better hold this time. Garuk ran up to help, trying to hit the horse to bring them down, but it was moving too much and even fighting back so he wasn't able to.

I managed to drag the rider to the ground whilst Garuk kept the horse entertained with his sword. I challenged him, readying my Khopesh, looking forward to the challenge of a fair fight. But the coward was too scared and lacking honour to face me and ran back to his horse and fled! Scum. Fulgar called us over, distracting me from this insult, as he had found something near the cacti.

Fulgar had found a dull yellow metal symbol on the side of a rock to the west of the cacti. It had vibrated with power as he picked it up, and he found that the centre of the decorated part could be depressed, although he was wary of pressing it. We gathered together, keeping an eye on the Kharash rider (although Garuk seemed reluctant to let the Kharash live - he was worthless in my eyes though, a man with no honour did not deserve our attention). Fulgar took us to the exact place he found it in, wrapped his arms around us and pressed the button. In a moment we found ourselves in a completely different place and time!

Arriving in Marûn

There seemed to be a temple ahead of us, with three stone paths leading to its entrance, and there were three circles inset on the path we stood on (the central one). Water sat between the paths, and it was evening with the sun low in the sky. Cacti flanked the entrance ahead, and through it we could just make out a statue of some kind and a tall stone door beyond that. A rock wall was just behind us, vertical and without obvious pathways or entrances. Fulgar ran forward, urging us to seek cover, not heeding my calls to be wary and stay together.

Garuk warned that we should stay out of the circles and walked forward warily. I ran to follow Fulgar, but avoided the circles, but couldn't catch him before he disappeared into the temple. When I reached the entranceway I heard a bird cry from ahead beyond the doors, which were closing behind Fulgar. The statue was odd - rough boulders with a square plinth atop them and then a stylised eagle's head at the very top. I found, though, that the doors did not open as they had for Fulgar. There were large metal rings set into the stone, passing through the ears of skulls along the ring. They did not respond to pulling or pushing, and Garuk tried turning them instead and that seemed to move them. I lent my strength to him to push them open once the handles had turned; it was difficult but we were able to open them enough to step inside.

We found Fulgar in the centre of the room, looking healthy but also angry and facing us. Behind him were three winged females with skulls strapped around their waist flying near the back of the room. The ceiling was arched with pillars in relief down the sides. In the centre, around Fulgar, was a pagoda supported by four pillars with a large pool of water beneath it. Fulgar was stood within the water, and it was only ankle deep. There were depictions of various birds of prey (various types of bird) atop the pagoda, with three on each pillar facing diagonally out (so 12 in total).

The strange winged females flew up to the ceiling as we entered, and Garuk moved forward to one side of the pagoda... but Fulgar attacked him! Only Garuk's armour saved him from Fulgar's claws. I shouted that he had been bewitched, as one of the winged things fell limp to the floor, landing heavily in a cloud of feathers - clearly dead. It seemed that Garuk had a way of attacking things with his mind that I did not understand. I tried to restrain Fulgar, and managed to pin one arm, but he just used me as a fulcrum to attack with his legs. I tried falling backwards to take him down with me but I could not keep my grip and just fell into the water.

I turned my attention to the other winged figures, thinking that there might be a spell that I could break. I tried throwing a lighted lantern at the nearest one, but it hit the wall instead and left a trail of burning oil running down harmlessly beside it. I cursed and grabbed at Fulgar, managing to get one arm pinned again but that was no better than before! Another thing fell to the ground and died with a crunch as Garuk attacked with his mind again, but still Fulgar was entranced. I tried once more to pull him down, but he still pulled free - at least Garuk was able to dodge or block his attacks for the most part. Finally the last creature fell to the floor and died with a particularly bloody impact and Fulgar regained his senses.

We now saw the room full of bones with no decoration and no pagoda, and the flying women that had seemed attractive were actually hideous beasts. Fulgar dropped to his knees and offered his neck to Garuk saying that he had shamed himself and his life was Garuk's to take. Garuk benevolently pulled him to his feet saying that there was no shame - he had apparently seen this ability to control another mind in the way the creatures had affected Fulgar. There didn't seem to be any exits other than the doors (which had closed behind us), which was odd. We started searching the walls and floor looking for a clue as to where to go next.

As we were searching I found some coins and an ivory tube, and Garuk found a dagger. We swapped as he was very interested in the case and the arcane scrolls within it. He threw a leather case away and kept the ivory one. While we did this it was growing rapidly darker (night was falling outside). We looked up instinctively and it was now clear that there were six panels in the ceiling that we could see the night sky through. I asked Garuk if any of the stars we could see looked like the last pattern on the parchment he had been following, but he couldn't find a match.

We continued searching anyway, and I found twelve darts wrapped in leather; it wasn't a weapon I would use, but I took them as it was a portentous number. As I was stowing them in the saddle bags I carried, Fulgar suddenly let out a yelp and disappeared under the bones against the wall. I rushed over, looking to see what happened to him but also found myself sliding down with some of the bones into a narrow chute, eventually landing in chest high water next to Fulgar. Garuk landed on us both shortly afterwards, which was painful and also meant we were stuck down... wherever we were!

There was an opening in the far side of the small chamber we were in, but it was pitch black so I couldn't see it and had to rely on the sense of the others who had some ability to see in the dark it seemed. We tied a rope to Fulgar and boosted him up so he could enter, although it was so narrow he couldn't turn; it was also slippery and sloping upwards so it was difficult to navigate. He founnd something up ahead he didn't like, so he backed up... but as he did so he found a sharp catch on one side and stopped to examines it. He decided to manipulate it and a hatch of some kind opened up and away from him. He called this back to us and we climbed into the tube with him. I passed a torch forward with some difficulty due to the narrow space, and Fulgar dropped it into the opening. He quickly heard it hit the floor so judged it safe to enter and carefully moved into the space, guiding us out. It was still a tight space but at least opened out one way so I was able to shuffle down as he helped Garuk.

We tried to light the torch but it spluttered and would not catch; it was very enclosed and the air was bad here. We had to continue in the dark, so Fulgar went first and Garuk behind so I was between them - being led blind! We continued for about twenty minutes in this fashion until we reached an opening ahead. Fulgar dropped the torch again, and this time it took a little longer before striking solid ground, so Fulgar climbed down carefully. Looking back up he could see that there was a vertical shaft above us, and he caught sight of something flying... bats perhaps? They went sideways above where we had entered from, so there might have been another tube up there.

Fulgar lit a lantern briefly and saw an exit to the right, but the lantern would not stay alight. We followed this passage, though, which was larger than before. It sloped down and the air became fresher and cooler, although there was a sense that it was wet. We slowed our pace to avoid slipping and then Fulgar noticed a creature ahead. He warned us and then called forward that we sought passage but not a fight, and would take no prey (this seemed to be a traditional Hengeyokai greeting at a territorial boundary). The thing jumped, surprised by his voice, and barked something almost dog-like then ran away.

We continued in the same direction for another twenty minutes or so, but then Fulgar noticed a head appear from around a corner up ahead. It was a really bad ambush, but some kind of projectile came rattling towards us so they were armed with bows or something similar. We weren't sure of how many there were or what we faced so we backed off, deciding to head back to the shaft after some heated discussion over our options. The only way up was for someone to climb, although we had spikes and rope to minimise the risk to some extent. Fulgar shifted into a human form to allow him to climb using hands instead of paws, which would have been impressive if I had any light to see it with! Thankfully Garuk was able to help him to see in the dark as he had before, an ability he lost when in human form.

He was able to reach the side shaft above using three spikes, seeing three winged creatures asleep on roof as he lifted his head up past the edge. He woke them by banging loudly, causing two to fly away and the other one to lunge at him but then fly past him and up out of sight. Fulgar held the rope and Garuk climbed after him, then I started up but could hear things pinging off the walls next to me and shouted for someone to pull me up! Thankfully they did and I reached the shaft without getting hurt. There was a cheer and barks of excitement as I disappeared from the creatures' sight; they seemed glad to have scared us off. It might have been different if I could only see...

We continued along this new shaft, which was fairly level for some time. Eventually Fulgar noticed that the air had changed so Garuk lighted and passed a lantern forward. Fulgar could see that a large shaft rose vertically in front of us, with side passages at various levels and in different directions, but there was a roof about thirty feet above where we were. Below, about twenty feet down, the shaft was filled with water. We tied a rope around Fulgar and he managed to reach the nearest shaft, to our right. He untied the rope and coiled it at the entrance before exploring along it. There was a vertical shaft some way down, but it was filled by a heat source across the bottom so Fulgar was not keen to continue that way.

He came back, explaining what he had found and tied himself back to the rope before climbing higher. He was about to reach it when his grip slipped but he was just able to cling to the edge of the opening at the last moment. He started to make his way inside but then heard a gurgling of water and hurriedly backed out, clinging to the wall instead. A few moments later a jet of water erupted out of the tube, spitting one of the bat things out at Garuk's feet. Fulgar asked if he would keep it for a snack, although there didn't seem to be much meat on it. Garuk stuck his sword through it anyway.

Fulgar was on the wall anyway so he climbed up further and reached the highest tube (to our left), but there was nowhere to brace for us to follow him. We let him take the rope so he could explore further without hindrance. I still couldn't see or really do anything to help, so I started doing some simple exercises in the confined space - press ups, sit ups that kind of thing... but then we heard some mechanical noises from below the water. A few moments later the water level started to lower and eventually it disappeared from the shaft. Unfortunately that revealed a horrible looking creature below us that had been filling the bottom of the shaft underwater - essentially just a big maw with tentacles around it to pull food inside. In this case we might well count as food!

The beast started to climb up the walls with its larger tentacles, so we backed down the shaft some way. It reached our level and thin tentacles reached in to grab at Garuk, missing him but taking hold of his sword. The maw of the beast was right at the end of shaft now, and Garuk let go of the sword to get back and away. We moved back until we were out of reach, which was about twenty feet or so. Garuk read from a scroll he had taken from the Githyanki, creating an electrical charge around his hands which he concentrated on to build up to a charged bolt of lightning after a few minutes. The massive discharge struck the beast in its maw, and its tentacles fluttered in pain and shock. It quickly scuttled back down to the hole at the bottom of the shaft, which was a relief.

Meanwhile Fulgar had been exploring more tunnels alone, making his way through tight spaces, up small shafts and down from ledges in the dark. He got to a slightly larger area and found a trapdoor in the floor. After checking for any mechanisms he found a metal ring, pulling it open to reveal an iron ladder going down, which he descended. After following another corridor he found a similar trapdoor in the next room, opening it again. This time as he lifted it he could hear the discharge of lightning and see flashes of light from beneath, so he quickly closed it again and found another passage to follow! If only he had known how close he had come to helping us get up...

For our part we edged back to the shaft once Garuk had finished showing off with a few extra bolts of lighting (although there was nothing to aim them at). Below us it was starting to fill up with water again, and discharges of water continued to erupt out of the various openings in the wall. There seemed to be a five or six minute pause and then the water would discharge from one after the other for three tubes into shaft before the cycle began again. With no rope we couldn't see a way to progress so we had to settle for waiting in the hope that Fulgar would return. We were quite exhausted by this point so we set some primitive alarms using pots and pans tied together with string, then got as comfortable as we could (not very) and rested.

The other passage led to a set of stairs spiraling up in a set of straight sections, as if around a square pillar. This continued for quite a climb but eventually led to a door. When Fulgar tried to open it a portcullis dropped in front of him and he heard a whirring mechanism continuing. He wisely backed onto stairs behind him just before the floor in front of the door fell away to reveal a spiked pit! After searching the walls near the top of the stairs he found a movable stone that might link to the trap, braced himself against the walls and pressed it. That seemed to do the trick, as the portcullis rose and a new floor lowered into place as the door closed again.

This time Fulgar took a more direct approach, smashing himself into the door a couple of times until the hinges came loose. Then he ripped the hinges off completely and forced the side of the door back to make an opening. There were stairs going up beyond, so he squeezed through to climb them. He made his way up and found a stone door to one side at a dead end. He checked for any more traps, but not finding any swung it open. He was almost blinded by the bright light behind it! Also he could hear music... as his eyes adjusted he could see that he was in a human city that lined the sides of a deep canyon. The canyon buildings were embedded into the walls for the most part and there was a small pathway around the edge of the wall he had walked out of leading away to both sides.

Wary that humans tended not to walk around naked, he decided to back away and close the door in order to put some clothes on... we humans can be funny about that sort of thing! He had a loose robe that he could throw over his shoulders and cover... well most of himself. Unfortunately his posterior was somewhat visible because of the conveniently (but rather immodestly) situated tail slit! He turned to his right (picking a direction at random) and climbed the stairs. It was warm, especially in the sun so he just wore his robe without the cloak. He greeted the first person he met, asking perhaps after somewhere to clean himself. The gentlemen quickly agreed that his smell was quite offensive and that he was in urgent need of a bath! Also, he commented once Fulgar turned in the direction he had indicated, it would be quite good to cover his arse! He explained the way to the bathhouse and market, and at Fulgar's enquiry about the authorities also explained how to reach the guard post (the "Harung" were the guard force here).

Most extraordinarily, Fulgar discovered that we had traveled far to the south, beyond the great desert, and the people here knew of Minnerwe only vaguely as being "far to the north"! Fulgar took a bath, ate, bought some clothes, and generally had a far better time than the rest of us! He eventually climbed to the guard house, which was at the great bridge spanning the top of the canyon above the city. There were camel trains and many merchants up at that level, and a great plain of rocky desert around the canyon in every visible direction.

The Harung were easy to pick out; they wore red obis and grey sashes, and were armed with sickle swords and metal rods. They also wore metal helmets with cheek guards, spiked bucklers, and metal-reinforced boots with spikes. Coins were being passed from the merchants to the Harung seemingly as some kind of toll. Fulgar introduced himself to one of the guards and explained how he had arrived, but this just made him laugh at his story and suggest that he sought out a doctor! Fulgar thought that the Harung were a bit crazy, but was satisfied that he had announced his arrival to those in charge.

He found some simple lodgings, surprised to find that there was running water in the room. Garuk and I had running water too, of course, but it wasn't quite the same... Fulgar also spent some coin in the market replacing some of his used or lost equipment. He also found one old person who could remember legends of a place called the "Siren Hall" to the north of town, linked to some kind of religious cult, but nobody had been that way since the great wars. When Fulgar looked to the north of town he found a large wall there, which was guarded, but decided to go no farther without us.

We awoke most uncomfortably and had still not seen or heard from Fulgar so decided to try something else to get us out. Garuk had an interesting idea to use some of his arcane power to lighten us to the point where we only weighed as much as a feather. By fashioning a rope from the guys for the tent with a pot tied to one end we could throw a rope into the end of the shaft Fulgar had gone down. This wouldn't normally help; the rope would be too weak and the pot would not stop the rope from slipping out. If we only weighed as much as a feather, though, we could pull ourselves along the rope without it moving.

I tied my halberd to the other end as a weight on this side and we gave it a go. It took a lot of attempts to hit the target, and we lost a couple of pots, but it worked in the end. We had to time it to give us the full five minutes to get across safely before the water washed the pot back out again, and the shaft was surprisingly tight and slippery so we only just got through in time. Thankfully there was a side alcove that led to another narrow shaft that we could get into before the water arrived. I even managed to hold onto my halberd despite the tension smacking me in the face with the original pot.

The low crawl space we had found ended in a narrow vertical shaft, and I did a sort of balancing act standing on Garuk's hands whilst reaching up with my halberd to pull myself up to another shaft above us. Then I lowered the "rope" we had fashioned to pull Garuk up to join me, although it only just held together. As we made our way down this new shaft we heard Fulgar calling from an opening on our right, responding with a call of our own. He was in a shaft to our right but above us and dropped a proper rope down to help. At first he tried to pull us up himself, but managed to drop us! All that pampering had made him soft it seemed. The second time he used a spike to assist and we manage to pull ourselves up to join him.

It was a happy reunion of sorts, and Garuk handed Fulgar the dead bat thing to him for his snack (although he didn't seem that impressed with it). He shared water with us which was a blissful relief as we hadn't trusted the water around us to drink. He led us back through his lengthy route to the city above. Fulgar said that he would remain while we explored so that he could change back to wolf form, so we left our weapons with him and headed for the bathhouse! Needless to say we were both much refreshed after a few hours and wearing local garb to blend in. We learned that the city was called Marûn, and there was a temple to Shang-Ti here!

We were made welcome in the temple, despite Garuk's appearance, and they even welcomed Fulgar when I explained that he followed the way of Shang-Ti. It seemed that there had been contact with Minnerwe in the past, and they knew of the Hengeyokai which made it easier. We resolved to take some time building our strength back up and honing the skills we had used. Garuk also wanted to seek out a merchant of the arcane, and I would need to introduce myself to the ruler here once I was presentable again.