Session 5


Home


Continued from the last session...

After sleeping in the Caliph's bedroom, the party leaves the ruins of the lost Caliphate of Tal'Kora and heads to the North and East, towards the oasis. They are dependent on Angry Pipe's innate sense of direction, even though he is far from any thing familiar. They have a bottle and a half of water and some dried and salted fish that Seika caught and prepared, not really sure how long it will last for.



They travel for 5 days, running out of water and food after the third day. They discover that the two oily coats they found in the ancient temple retain the water in their body and protect them from the sun. Seika digs a whole in the sand at night and lays out the cloaks. In the morning, dew collects and they are able to get precious sips of water.




On the morning of the fifth day, stumbling, parched and weakened, the party comes close enough to the mountains to the North that Angry Pipe can see them. Eventually the rest of the party sees them rising out of the sands. They are dry and sharp, more of a wall of cliffs than any mountains they have seen in the civilized lands. There is still no water.

They rest the night, their mouths like wood chips. The next day, they continue forward. Early, Angry Pipe sees two figures. They are walking north, going to come across the party's path. It is hard at this distance to judge their size, especially after the endless horizon of the desert, but he judges that one is thin and tall and the other is fat. As they get nearer, they see that the fat one is wounded, with arrows sticking out of him.

The adventurers continue walking. The skinny one picks up a large rock and throws it at the party. It takes a long time to come to them and Angry Pipe realizes they are way bigger than he had previously thought. The rock hits Wad on the shoulder and it's more of a small boulder. He flattens himself to the ground. Seika and Garfer charge to them. Angry Pipe runs with them, with an intent to parlay. Mosholu hustles to them.

The fat one rushes forward to meet them. At this distance, they can see that these two are giants, twice their height. Wad picks himself up and runs to join the fray. Angry Pipe tries to speak to the giants, but the tall skinny one throws another rock. That is his response. They surround the fat one and take him down.

Angry Pipe rushes to the tall one and takes a small rock fully in the face. His pipe barely survives, but the tobacco gets knocked out and the bowl hits him in the nose. The others join him and they soon surround the giant. They take a lot of damage, but do a lot until the look of angry desperation on the monster's face turns to fear and he breaks from their attacks and runs. Wad makes a chase and catches up to him but stumbles on a dune and lets the giant run.

Suddenly, there is the sound of hooves on sand and five horsemen, wrapped in colorful robes, come barrelling towards the party. Three of them break off. They are standing in their mounts, long bows drawn and they release a volley of arrows at the fleeing giant, cutting him down.

The leader stops his horse and approaches the party. He unwraps the scarf around his head, revealing a sharp, handsome and sunned face. He looks at the party and bursts into laughter. "I don't know where you came from, perhaps the earth or the sky, because I know you couldn't have come from the west, but I must thank you for ridding our tribe of these terrible desert giants." He steps forward extending his hand. "Forgive me. I am Hesma Al-Kesh Kmir, the leader of the Salt Raiders. I am indebted to you. These giants have been driven from their lairs in the hills due to starvation. Normally we have no contact or conflict with them, but they have been attacking our villages. Had those two made it back, they would have come again later, perhaps with reinforcements."

He offers to take the party to his camp at the oasis. As they walk, he probes them for where they came from. Explaining that noone lives in the west and that no man has crossed the Kesh before. His people are the shepards of this desert.

The camp is at the foot of a beautiful oasis. Green palms rise around a small lake. Water flows from a higher lake and the small cliffs here make shade. The party rests in a tent, getting bandaged and eating light food and water, all they can manage at this point. After getting some rest, they emerge from the tent to a feast. They meet the other salt raiders, a friendly people, who keep their physical distance.

One by one, the members of the party are invited into the tent of the Seer, the Sightless One, a blind old woman who takes their hand. She spreads her healing warmth into their bodies and gives each of them a vague fortune. She spends time with Linear, touching the red and gold bracelet on his wrist. She tells him that they are being followed. That someone is looking for them.

Mosholu does some investigating and learns that these people are not as happy as their leader had suggested. They once were the sole providers of salt to the cities to the east, but powerful merchant concerns had made inroads into their mines and in particular, had cut off their distribution so they could no longer get the salt to the cities. They travelled their routes and smuggle what they could. The merchants had armed men guarding their mines and also sent random parties of soldiers to harry the Salt Tribes.



After two more days of travel to the north, they arrived at the Salt Raiders village. The chief invites them to meet with him. He further explains his tribes troubles with the merchants. The salt baron is Omar El-Wahafi, one of the most powerful merchants in Irawaddy. He resides in Stiig-Ul-Maar, which is on the road between Irawaddy and the mines. He runs two powerful mines at the foot of the Amikil Mountains, Eastpit and Westpit.

The Salt Raiders have been trying to get at El-Wahafi's stronghold in Westpit, but it's too heavily fortified. They are known to the Salt Prince's people so cannot attempt to infiltrate. He tells the adventurers that he will take them to the road to the coast at any time and they can bid their goodbyes and he will be always friendly to them. But that if they would like to help the tribe in their troubles, he could guarantee strong allies in the wicked city of Irawaddy and their bonds would be one for life.

The party listens and then waits in silence. Finally, Angry Pipe says "I will undertake this mission." The others all nod in silent agreement. They can see a look of powerful emotion come over the chief's face as he looks at them in gratitude. Then it is gone and he explains to them the facts of the situation.

He bids leave of them the next day and they travel for two days with a scout. He gives them a horn and says that if they call with it, he will arrive within three hours. They give the Salt Raider scout the bulk of their weapons and equipment so as to not arouse suspicion in the town. They walk down into the settlement, sleepy now under the morning sun. The men are either in the mines or in their tents.

They find little information in the cantina. They head to the goods store and each buys a miner's uniform, a cheaply-made hand pick and a pair of overly-priced gloves.

To be continued...