Chapter 1: A Rallying Cry Unlike Any Other

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The first real choice put before us is fairly simple. Do we make a fast sprint to the port town where the Cavern Wind Expedition is set to sail from, or do we try to cross a brutal untamed desert wilderness and try to beat them to the X on the map. The food/water and equipment dilemma faced on previous campaign is greatly relaxed for this setting, so we don’t have to tear our hair out in that regard. Weapon and armor breakage has taken starvation’s place in terms of pitfalls. An immediate complication arises from the interaction between Helio and Oasis. The part genie sorcerer is put to a test in an effort to prove he is not a Defiler. Oasis insists that he is in fact a Warlock but Helio puts them to the test and seeks direct confirmation of this before proceeding. Oasis passes the check which alleviates the immediate hostility but the character relationship between the two is a bit sour as a result. With water genie blood Oasis is pushing for the intercept them at port route. Helio not wanting to draw overt attention in a populated area wants to proceed through the desert. Claws is at heart a wilderness survivor and the description of a boat alarms him enough that he casts his vote with Helio. Mercutio declares a geode told him to keep a close eye on the Warlock and he casts in with Oasis. Little Mountain does not want to risk losing track of the Cavern Wind and opts for the sea rout. Skarlax ends up being the deciding vote and he follows the money. Oasis and Raheem were the backers that got him into the mess and he decides to side with the bankroll. A vote of 4-2 settles us on leaving in the morning for the coastal town of Glenfif. Everyone agrees to leave at first light and we all bed down amidst the Sharakim tents before night has fully set in.

A few hours into our sleep alarms sound all over the camp. A warning shout erupts from sentries all over the camp.

Sentries: Elf Raiders!

Torches are being lit to push back the night, but every flame ignited is a beacon for unseen forces and those lofting said torches are almost immediately pincushioned with blow gun darts and hand crossbow bolts tipped with some nasty poison concoctions. Mounted on light ponies and utilizing their mobility, the lanky and nomadic elves are trying to subdue anything moving and those who succumb to the poison are being bound with leather restraints and shuffled off onto empty mounts being pulled by a second rider. Mercutio is the first one on his feet and alert and he chortles at the chaos…bare chested and unarmed he steps from his tent and claps his hands together…a trio of magical rocks appear and he deftly juggles two in one hand, and then in a blur of motion he windmills his lanky arms and send two stones shrieking with an audible whistle and knocks a raider off his horse.

Skarlax apparently managed to get readied even faster than the Oracle and he seems to reverse evaporate from a shadow as an elf tries to throw an unconscious body over the unmounted saddle of a pony. The kukris take the elf on both sides of his throat and the rogue is already gone before the arterial spray bursts. Almost as fast as the raid started the elves cut their losses and leave. As the chaos continues clearing the stragglers, Little Mountain comes back to the center of the camp dragging a groaning elf behind him. Both of the elves legs are shattered.

Little Mountain: Got a hostage.

A sharakim nomad searches through all the bodies before making a grave proclamation.

Sharakim Nomad: Raheem is missing. His tent is slashed open and there are signs of a struggle.

Little Mountain: The raid was misdirection. Raheem was likely the target.

Oasis: Who would want to take him a hostage?

Helio: Who is the second in command?

A sharakim named Kafick is identified as the next highest ranking tribal leader and when interviewed he is remarkably forthcoming.

Kafick: Raheem was strongly inclined to form alliance and raise up against the city states. I did not share his opinion. We spoke openly and candidly and agreed to disagree. I would not question his leadership or his rule, but if he is unreturned to us, I will lead the tribe away from clashing against the three kings.

Helio: This also means you have a strong reason to hire the elves to stage a kidnapping and put yourself in power.

Kafick: That is not our way.

Helio: I have spent a lifetime finding those who insisted they opposed the very thing they turned out to be.

Kafick: You have not spent a lifetime amidst our people. They will assure you that such a thing would be staged by one of our own.

All those questioned echo this same thought. No sharakim would ever pay elves to endanger one of their own. Should they view the current leader as being unfit or wish a different direction for the tribe to take a series of council meetings and eventual compromise would occur, or those in disagreement would form a separate brother tribe.

Kafick: This was done by an outsider who wished to dissuade us from sanctioning or encouraging revolt, but didn’t want full out conflict.

Skarlax: That sounds a lot like the sort of thing Ruzdhi would orchestrate. We were hardly subtle in our leavetaking from Tyr. Enough breadcrumbs were left that he could connect the dots and place us heading to the Sharakim.

Claws: The elves headed north, deeper into the far desert. Can follow.

Oasis: That pulls us away from the coast and towards the minority decision to press through the overland. Intercepting the Cavern Winds does us no good without an ally in wait. I think we have to go overland and see if we can free Raheem.

Helio: Or Ruzdhi has spies in the camp and wants us to go overland.

Oasis: You are awfully paranoid.

Helio: Occupational Requirement.

Oasis: The Sharakim have been steadfast friends to me. I do not wish to leave their chieftain in such predicaments.

Helio: That is for the Sharakim to contend with. Not as if they are going to throw their hands up and say “tough ****…cheers to the new boss”.

Kafick: We have a bit more class that that, but in essence that is exactly what we will do. We will not encroach into elvish territory unless it is in force. We can’t afford the deployment and casualties it will bring. Should a ransom be offered we will entertain negotiations and seek a peaceful release.

Helio: Well that tears it. I hate walking into what feels like a trap, but the Sharakim are the best starting point we have for a revolution.

Mercutio: Cheer up, we need a sand sail if we want to survive the worst parts of the waste and the Elves are the only group to maintain their own.

Skarlax: What is a sand sail?

Mercutio: Bah…city folk. Parts of the desert will gave way beneath your feet and suck you in, drifts will bury you faster than you can sneeze and storms can flense flesh from bone. A sand sail is a boat built for the deep sand, spreads the weight and allows for the wind to push you and not strip you bare. Tricky bits of design go into them and only elves seem to have the mechanics down. There are a lot of imitations that will get you killed, but an elvish sand sail is the real deal.

The rogue and inquisitor break off to interrogate the prisoner captured by Little Mountain and they gleen enough from the captive to ease their minds about Kafick’s involvement. They are reliably certain that the elves were hired by an anonymous party and their intention is to keep Raheem for a period of time while stalling ransom talks.

The party gears up and utilizes a sled to drag most of their non vital equipment, and Oasis utilizes a tensers floating disk to carry a good cache of food and water. Spare weapons and armor are stowed on the sled and on each PC’s person. Claws assumes the role of scout and tracker as he and the lion lead the way. Only a few hours into their trek a trio of elves pop up from camouflage where they had buried themselves into the sand…blowdarts whiz through the air and seem to glance off the monk’s skin. Return fire in the form of a shuriken and thrown rock fly back. An elf drops a smoke bomb and the three seem to vanish back into the sand. By the time the smoke clears the three are visibly out of range and running hard.

Oasis: Would really love for them to not know we are coming.

As the three elves crest a small sand point, a tawny yellow and brown streak levels one in the chest and a second form tackles elf number two. Elf number three stops to aid his companions and Little Mountain grumbles but begins to race towards the fight.

Helio: Don’t leave the sled, could be more misdirection.

Almost on cue, a further duo of elves rushes Oasis. They come brandishing serrated obsidian scimitars and get met by the flashing kukris of Skarlax and Morningstar of Helio. A stone cuts through the air smashing into Skarlax’s target and Oasis summons a horse and pauses for a full round before bursting into a charge to skewer Helio’s target. His true strike spear charge kills the second elf, and Skarlax cuts the first one to shreds. By the time the blood runs into the sand, Claws and his lion along with the monk are dragging back the other dead elves. The bodies are searched and stripped of their belongings, the weapons are cast out as useless, but the vials of poison being carried along with the blowguns are given to Skarlax for later examination. We find a strange painstakingly detailed amulet made from a nearly opague glass.

Little Mountain: That looks important.

Mercutio: Never seen anything like that before. Must have taken ages to make.

Oasis: I have seen it’s like from other elvish raiders. Never have found the purpose behind them though.

Helio: Well we must be on the right track if they are covering their trail for followers.

No further contact follows and the group reaches a sizeable cactus plant, from which we set up camp for the night. Claws takes out a hollow snake tooth the size of a man’s hand and begins tapping the cactus in various locations…he eventually hears the sound he likes and uses the snake’s tooth like a tap and punctures the thick skin of the cactus, draining it’s water into a thick ceramic bowl. He pulls the tap long before the flow stops and then moves the bowl to the campfire where he boils it before distributing it.

Oasis: It’s been a long time since I slept under the stars and not in the shelter of a camp.

Helio: I have been meaning to ask how a genie blooded warlock ends up roaming the sands with a band of Sharakim-orcs.

Oasis: As I said earlier I was apprentice to a Seer, she took me in after Tyr’s Inquisition killed my parents under pretense of their support of a Defiler Cult.

Helio: What were their names?

Oasis: Cherim and Utopia.

Helio: For what it’s worth I don’t recall any involvement with a cult or any suspects with those names. The Inquisition was at times, over eager. Hell it’s hard for me to say corrupt even now when I know just how debased and infiltrated the order is.

Oasis: I don’t hold ill will towards you specifically. But when they were taken away she took me in and helped me develop my gifts.

Oasis: What about you good sir Stone Brother? How did you come to be imprisoned?

Little Mountain: I was betrayed. The Cavern Winds planted a false rumor about my defection to their order and arranged for evidence of counterfeit coins to be placed in my room. I was unable to prove my innocence and was taken as criminal. Seven decades of discipline and single minded focus on honing myself to be a living weapon and guardian, destroyed in a single day.

Skarlax: I hear you. I was trained by High Commander Yorthrall, Praetorian Supreme from my earliest years as an orphan. I was groomed to be the dagger of the King. Then one day out of nowhere we were on maneuvers through an obstacle course dotted with traps and “danger points”. I managed to circumvent the testing ground and slipped to a sub level where I found an entirely new tunnel system. The following day I had half a dozen classmates try to kill me. They failed and I disappeared.

Mercutio: Do none of you see the big picture here?

Helio: Enlighten us.

Mercutio: the dwarf penetrated a level of deception he wasn’t supposed to and was set as a fall guy. The inquisitor poked his noise into business that went too far and was sacked and discarded. The sorcerer’s family was part of a cult that was not a cult. The assassin found what he wasn’t supposed. You all nearly uncovered something important and hidden and were stopped in your tracks from proceeding. You think all that is random? There is something dark and sinister in Tyr and as come together that fact gets clearer and clearer. All three of the Kings claim to be Preservers?

Helio: I have seen the land nourished from King Tyr’s very presence yes.

Mercutio: Then why isn’t the world flourishing? Fewer defilers are found every year, and the three most important cities and centers of progress are ruled by the most potent preservers seen in centuries. The dragon kings have been killed and expunged, why does the world groan in decay still? I wish I could say the gods are calling out to us, but they are in fact CALLING OUT TO ME AND NOT YOU. You don’t have to hear the constant screams and pleas for our attention. You don’t have sediment forming in your joints and wasting your bodies away. You don’t walk over the stones and hear the cries of anguish. You just grumble into your ale while pissing and moaning about your hardships. Well fate has brought us together in this god forsaken **** hole of a desert and some sort of salvation, or at a minimum and gods willing a measure of peace awaits us. I am damn well intend to snatch that salvation and clasp it to my chest in the hopes that it silences the voices.

Helio: That sounded like a blown up version of saying you think Tyr is a Dragon King.

Mercutio: Well as long as the message got through. Might not be him. Might be the other two. The signs point to him, but signs can be wrong. I will bet my fossilized testicles that at least one of them is.

Little Mountain: Fossilized…

Mercutio: When I said that I piss gravel I wasn’t waxing poetic.

Skarlax: Well then by Mercutio’s stone sack I solemnly pledge not to rest until the deceiver is unmasked. *snicker*

Oasis: By Mercutio’s stone sack we swear! *snicker*

As far as rallying cries go it is not exactly inspiring…but I’ll be damned if it isn’t memorable.