[Game Thread] Chapter 1: Blood on the Sand

[orangehatter]

The meeting concluded nearly as fast as it had started, saving Cheveyo the work of speaking anymore with their hot air-inflated contact. While Lyle drained the last gift of water, Cheveyo downed his own cup and pulled his turban back out of his pocket. Using the expert fingers he set the wrapping back in place atop his head while shoving his braid within. As his mental to-do list was formed, the elf's voice slid across the room to his eardrums.

"Did all the friendly conversations come to a halt once I arrived or do you think Mr. Lyle put everyone in a more irked disposition?" He turned his head in the (duelist?) swordsman's direction while stuffing the last few strands up against his temple. Shrugging innocently, he responded, "Mr. Lyle didn't seem too deserving of anyone's-eh-affection." He slid off from his stool and looked again at the elf, realizing it wasn't the fairer brand he was accustomed to meeting. Also, the elf was much shorter than Cheveyo had realized; for all his armor, it was nearly a foot shorter than himself. Surprising for an elf.

The hand extended to him was met with hesitation, Cheveyo's light brown eyes meeting Kethyr's own wood-toned orbs. When the (fighter?)wild elf broke the given tension, Cheveyo reacted in return with a bass-formed chuckle and lopsided grin. "Hehehe... come now don't always take things so seriously. Nice to meet you Cheveyo Dezba." "Nice to met you as well, Kethyr." The name came out his mouth as well as he practiced in his head: with decency. I really should not have judged this book by its cover. "See you at High Sun?" With that, Cheveyo made his exit, heading out the door and back to his home in the Worker's District.

 

He spent the time packing up his gear and making two very important errands. The first was relatively close as it entailed the return of his leather vest to Lu'jiena. His deformed knuckles rapt against the beautifully painted old door three times. "Coooomiing!" The cry came from what Cheveyo assumed to be the kitchen. A moment later, the door opened to reveal an elderly, brown-skinned woman clothed in classy sky-blue robes. She was petite and short, hardly reaching up to Cheveyo's chest. Despite her delicate wrinkles and gray braids (ended with beads in a plethora of colors), she still retained an air of beauty behind her bright green eyes. Her slightly pointed ears and refined chin were tell-tale signs to her elven heritage.

"Cheveyo! Oh, sweetie, how are you?" Her thin arms made to reach around his torso, to which he responded by wrapping one arm across her back to her waist. "Hello Lu'jiena." Cheveyo could never help but to smile at her whimsical nature. "I'm doing fine, actually. I got the job, it would seem." Lu'jiena pulled away, leaving her hands at Cheveyo's waist.

"So you're gonna show those raiders WHAT'S FOR?!"
"Haha! Yes, Ma Lu," he replied, shortening her name to the moniker he often used.
"Well...then..." She brought her hands to her chest, fiddling with her fingers as she stared into his eyes.
She's nervous; she's scared.
"Mmm...I...brought back the vest. Tell Patahk I appreciated it." He reached down to retrieve the article from his pack at his side, holding it folded atop his arms. She looked down to accept it back, looking back to his face with a twinkle in her old eyes. "I'm sure it helped out alot! You should let me dress you more often. Maybe THEN you'd get a woman to take another look at ya! Had Cheveyo's skin not been so dark or red, he would have quickly blushed. He opened his mouth, but caught himself.

Unfortunately, Lu'jiena was too quick for her own good. "Ah! So you met a girl, huh? At the job? She's a warrior, too? I wonder what kind of girl she is..." She was in her own world now, leaving Cheveyo to bathe in his awkward, uncomfortable position. "I hope she doesn't have those huge cattle breasts! I swear she'd smothe-" "Ma Lu!" Cheveyo raised his hands up in surrender and exasperation. The elderly elf looked to him confused "What are you yelling about? I only want the best for you!" The young man shook his head and allowed himself a laugh. "Well, Ma Lu, I actually have to go now. I still need to let the Construction Guild know I've got to take off from work for a little while." A hint of sadness flooded into Lu'jiena's features, but she held them back with a bright smile. "Oh I understand, honey. Just...just come back safe. Ok?" A tear threatened her eye as she reached her arms up towards Cheveyo's face. He inclined his face into her waiting hands, where she pulled him in close to give him a light kiss on the cheek. "I don't want to be the third woman in you life to have kissed you on the cheek." While she giggled, a laugh as light as any little girls, he winced. Ouch. "And when you come home, bring me back something nice with all that money you'll make. I haven't been repaid for all that sewing I did." Cheveyo laughed, picking up his pack and slinging it over his shoulder. "Yes ma'am. And I'll get some good meat too. So you can cook me something good." With one last hug, Cheveyo made his leave. He was followed by a plea of loud farewells; at Lu'jiena's age, she cared little about discretion. With a wave, Cheveyo disappeared into the mass of people farther down the road.

Cheveyo's second errand was much less important (or meaningful). He headed casually into the construction site that rested just outside the merchant's market, dodging around scaffolds and work mules while greeting his co-workers with hardy slaps on the back as he made his way to the foreman's tent. Rudel, the weathered half-orc sat behind the block of sanded stone that served at his desk, his wide wire-frame glasses always threatening to fall off his face. He looked up from his schematics as Cheveyo arrived and greeted him with a tasteless grunt. "You're working in carpentry for the day," he started, already pulling Cheveyo's file from a magic stone tablet at his side. "Barns broke his hand in a fight last night, so we'll need someone to help build the suppor-" "I got the job." Rudel looked up, then squinted his eyes. Cheveyo repeated himself and the foreman sighed, dropping the tablet to the "desk" while reaching his head up to rub at his temple.

"You know, I wouldn't do this for anyone else." He paused as he looked into CHeveyo's "I know" face. "But gods-damn it! If ya weren't so gods-damned hard WORKING, I'd have ya ASS on that roof RIGHT now!" Cheveyo remained quiet, blinking twice as his boss' spittle flew into his forehead. He could never tell if he was serious or not. "Alright then. Ya can take as much time as ya need. But if I smell raider s*** near any of my sites, you're damn well fired." Cheveyo allowed himself a laugh and the boss guffawed once, quickly regaining his serious composure. "Here's your paperwork," he said as Cheveyo accepted a yellow ticket from his boss' hand. "Now get the hell outa here." "Miss you too, boss."

At High Sun, Cheveyo found himself nearing the gate that led to his train. Gone now were the vest and turban from earlier. His long braid swayed behind him like a head-grown tail and his forehead laid beneath a faded maroon headband. Atop this fabric a pair of sun-lenses gleamed in the sun despite their chaffed surface. His pack at his back seemed relatively light, and the Eagle Claw stayed steadily strapped at his waist. Lastly, his eyes were now marked beneath with a smear of black paint, leaving Cheveyo's vision clear against the sun's glare.

As he came to the gate, he spotted the poetic Bhuka sitting on a mound. "Hello, Wind. I can already assume you're ready." Movement form the corner of his eye brought his attention to the Asherati from earlier. He waved back and began walking up the dune to greet him. "Care to sit with Tarahqua and I?" Whether or not Wind complied, Cheveyo would make his way to take up a seat beside the Asherati.

"So Tarahqua," he felt now would be a good time to try a learn how to start a reasonable conversation. "I remember saying that you taught at the University. Are you a mage?"

[Silk]

Once again Emeria found herself gripping the hilts of her weapons as she made her way out of the city. 'Of course the meeting place had to be in the center of this God's awful city. Not on the East of the city or the West or any other side. But the exact center!' Her mental ranting was about to spread over into verbal ranting when she came to the gate. Their was a crowd of course but at seeing the relatively wide open spaces beyond she calmed down visibly, and did not mind the press of bodies as much.

As she made her way beyond the closest farms to a lonely hill were she left her camel and pack in the care of her companion and friend, Emeria had to be honest with herself. The city scared her, well not the city but the press of bodies. She was not proud of this fact and would have berated herself until she found out a way tolerate the pressing mass of people as any weakness could get you killed in the desert. But one factor stopped her from doing so. It was highly unlikely that she would ever encounter that type of situation in the dunes of Soulrya. So Emeria merely rolled her shoulders and shoved the nervous tension from her trip through the city to the back of her mind where it eventually dissipated.

Rounding the hill Emeria stopped in surprise. Her camel was where she had left the animal but the feline that was supposed to be guarding her was no where to be seen. With a muttered curse against Kael-Ra's influence she made three short high pitched whistles and checked on her belongings. Emeria was glad to see the backpack was still firmly under the dromedary camel where she left it. The camel continued to chew it's cud as Emeria nodded at the flattened pack and whistled three more times. 'I think that pack was almost as good an investment as my chain shirt. With all the contents in a different dimension, or wherever, nothing takes damage from my dromedary sitting on it.' With a quick loping gait a puma quickly came around the hill to come to a rest sitting at Emeria's feet with a happy look on his feline face. She knew of only one thing that would call her companion away from his duty. "Well, I hope what ever you ate was not from some farmers stock. An irate farmer is the last that I need at the moment." With a sigh she made her camel partly rise to retrieve her pack and pulled out some dried meat. "You get fresh rabbit and here I get.. well it's meat but not very savory."

As the wagons started out the West gate Emeria came ridding from around the city with a puma easily running at her side. Pulling up to who she hopped was the caravan master she matched his direction and pace with her camel, "I was held up. Lyle sent me." One of the draft camels shied away from the puma and Emeria added, "My companion might make your animals nervous so I'll scout a little bit ahead." With a kip kip to her mount the camel easily outpaced the wagon before slowing to a walk well in front of the wagons. In truth, the real reason why she was late was because she fell asleep, and Emeria did not want to give the wagon master any time to question her.

[Eviltedzies]

The meeting seemed to end as quickly as it had begun for Kethyr. Even with the short exchange between him and Cheveyo Kethyr felt a little dissappointed at the lack of more relaxed interductions. "Not to worry, I will have plenty of time during our travels to get to know each of you. So far Cheveyo seems like a decent fellow. Definately a big man, but then again if he has made it this far in life he has to have his own talents."

 

Kethyr made his way through the city towards the only stable he had found that would agree to watch over his dear Amarah. As Kethyr came nearer he noted that an absence of people around the farthest stall towards the city limit. To add merit to his guess he heard a familiar roar as a group of passerbys diverted their path in a large arc around one end of the stables. "Just like you Ama... can't sit still for too long."

Making his way around the side of the stables, Kethyr noted several camels, a couple horses, and even a few tamed ashworms all in their respective stalls contently munching away at their food or taking a nap in the shade. It was obvious which stall he was headed for as he was the only person heading directly towards the stall people were avoiding. Eyes watched him in shock as he moved unerringly towards the large form curled up in the last stall.

They could feel each others presence with need of words or sight. A large head let out another loud roar as the ashworm of formidable size turned its gaze towards Kethyr. Its serpentine body shifting and twisting as it brought its gaze to eye level with Kethyr, rows of jagged teeth filling the creatures maw. Kethyr let out a small chuckle as he laid a hand on the beasts nose. "Impatient as ever aren't you Ama? Don't worry girl, we will be departing now."

Amrah uncoiled and gave an odd growling noise as she revealed the odd looking saddlebags and harness she had been instructed to guard. "Lets get you suited up girl so we can head out and get some fresh air." Kethyr worked diligently, looping the thick leather straps around Ama's body and fastening the metal clasps to secure their place. By the time he had finished, Ama sported a sturdy saddle complete with matching saddlebags.

Climbing atop his friend, Kethyr reached down and removes a long bandage wrapped object from the left saddlebag. "This thing never rides easy... " With careful precision Kethyr straps his favored weapon to his back, securing the sheath straps to ensure it would not be falling off any time soon. "Alright girl.... lets ride!"

With a kick of his heels Kethyr felt the familiar jolt as Ama raised her head from the ground and began to slither forward. From his vantage point, Kethyr could see his intended destination over the surprised crowds faces. "We've got a little time to kill girl..... lets go have some fun." With a low roar, Ama seemed to feel the same as she headed towards the sandy dunes outside the city. "Yes we can take the long way around."

As the sun began to descend from its tallest point, a trail of sand and dust could be seen off in the distance from the West Gate. At first it seemed like nothing, but as the trail began to get closer it was obvious that something was coming. Kethyr felt the wind streak across his face as Ama slithered across the desert dunes. This was her turf, this was where she felt the most at home.... as did Kethyr. The feel of the wind across his face and the open dunes before him gave Kethyr a sense of joy and exhileration. He urged Ama onward faster as the Western Gate quickly began to come closer. "The last mile girl.... lets not keep our newfound friends waiting!"

Kethyr was used to the usual disturbance that he and Ama caused when they approached a settlement. It was not too often that people see a full plate clad elf riding atop an unusually large ashworm, especially an ashworm with its tail left unclipped. Experience had taught Kethyr to stop a fair distance away and hail the locals before approaching closer. Stopping roughly a quarter mile from the Western Gate, Kethyr urged Ama to a halt. "Easy girl.... phew. Not a bad ride. You had a bunch of energy from sitting around this morning."

Noticing most of his companions had already arrived, Kethyr gave a wave from atop Ama as he eased her slowly towards the caravan. Once within speaking distance Kethyr speaks to his comrades. " Looks like I'm one of the last to arrive. Hehe sorry for that, Ama wanted to take the long route." Kethyr smiled as he gave Ama a rub of affection. Noticing the caravan master Kethyr added in "Sorry for the scare. Lyle sent me."

[tilbert]

Sabeth jumps to his paws when the Cheveyo, the tall human, arrives and and starts to crawl along in between his feet, rubbing its neck to his calf - it feels like being rubbed with a grindstone "Take a seat, there's plenty of shade." After Cheveyo joined him in the shade, he continues "Yes, sort of a mage. But I won't bother you with details about wizards and sorcerers. I'm good with sand and dust. You met Sabeth, my cat-fellow, he's all sand. And this parasol I formed it with a some concentration. Before I came to Karn, I lived deep within the waste, close to the crate, for some years. But what about you, what are your talents?"

[chaosaccountant]

"Hello, Wind. I can already assume you're ready."

The bhuku unfolded himself from the sand, unconcerned by the dust clinging to his dingy leather patchwork. "When is the air unready?"

"Care to sit with Tarahqua and I?"

"The wind shall joint the clay and the sand." He threw a long glance into the depths of the desert, then followed the hulking human down the side of the dune, his splayed feet neither breaking the surface of the deep sand nor leaving any impression of his passage.
He listened silently to conversation that flowed between the two others, his deep eyes focusing on one, then the other, and as often on the sand-cat that moved between them. He focused as much on the listener as the speaker, seeming as intent on the other's reaction's as he was on the words, and unconcerned by the arrival of the lioness and her puma.

He looked up when the approaching ash-wyrm was still a cloud of dust on the horizon, and, still silent, gave it his full attention. The creature was an impressive specimen, entirely without the palid scales and dull eyes that marked such creatures in captivity. Further, he could tell that it's poison was intact - a whole creature, for all that it rode above the sands, and bore the metalic elf. He focused his gaze on the rider, still shrouded in a halo of dust though he had slowed right down on the final approach. What power permited him to exert his will on this beast? Finally, the elf began speaking, and he turned away.
Returning his attention to the asherati, he leaned forward, and with a profound deliberatness scooped up a double handful of the soft, hot sand, holding it out to his companion.

[Avelestar]

The don't really bat an eyebrow at the large cats owned by Wind and Emeria, being trained to do nothing but walk when told to, and not spit on people. The caravan master however does, and shrinks away when the beasts pad near him. Emeria hears him call out as she leaves, but doesn't turn back, heading directly towards Rosemont along the usual route. The arrival of Kethyr and Ama however does bring alot of attention, and the camels grunted in fear...as do more than a few of the caravan workers. When the elf dismounted and walked over, the caravan master called out to him, and to the three currently sitting together as well. "I am David, master of this caravan...and you're only here because I'm being paid alot of money to do so, understand? If I catch any of you stealing from my caravan, or scaring the camels I'll just leave you in the desert."

He's not a very imposing man, but he fiddles idly with the whip at his side at all times. The threats and warnings continue, before finally he comes to some useful conversation. "You're meant to try and sneak into the town, lay low incase the town is being watched. That means you.." pointing at Kethyr "..and that" pointing at Ama "are going to need to enter town a little while after we do. Of course until then you're more than welcome to stay with the caravan!" Though afraid of the gigantic ashworm, he can easily see the benefits of having one with the caravan.

"You, big guy.." meaning Cheveyo "...when we get to Rosemont you're going to pretend to be one of my workers, you look the part. Just carry a jug of water into the storehouse, and don't come out till we're gone, got it?" Looking over Wind and Taharqua he frowns slightly, thinking about what to do. "Just don't be obvious, okay?"

If there were no complaints..well even if there was, the caravan soon set off whether the adventurers were ready or not. Emeria is currently scouting ahead, and can see the caravan a little ways behind her, just far enough to be seen as a shape on the horizon. Those of you with mounts ride them alongside the caravan (though a little ways off for Kethyr), or otherwise are forced to walk or sit on one of the caravans with the workers.

OOC: "what noise does a camel make" is probably the most random thing I have ever googled. Little chance for some RP on the road if you wish, just indicate either in character or in an OOC box that you're ready to move on and we'll magically arrive!

[chaosaccountant]

"...I'll just leave you in the desert"

Wind looked up from where he had been sitting, in the full noon-day sun, for a considerable time before the caravan master arrived. He his gaze held the chattering rodent for a short while, before he returned his attention to the others.

ooc They sound sort of a-cross between a donkey, a set of old pipes, and someone with bad indigestion.

[orangehatter]

"Talents? I'm a stonemason. More of a job then talent, but I enjoy it."

As the Bhuku scooped up a fistful of sand, Cheveyo chuckled as he realized his intention. "Hehe. Looks like Wind would like a demonstration. Of your sandshaping." Abruptly his attention was stolen as a dust cloud approached on the horizon. He stood up from where he sat-careful not to burst his head through the sand parasol-and squinted his eyes as he peered into the distance. "...but I guess that'll have to wait." Oh man! Is that really that crazy elf on top of that thing? Cheveyo kept his attention on the mounted ashworm even as the caravan pulled up below. "It most certainly is. Who'da thought?"

He sat back down, looking down from his perk atop the dune on the caravan leader. He paid apt attention, though his eyes still roamed from the caravan to the elf to the ashworm to Emeria to her Puma..."You, big guy.." He sharply brought his head back to the speaker, a perplexed look on his face. "...when we get to Rosemont you're going to pretend to be one of my workers, you look the part." I don't know if that's a compliment. Just carry a jug of water into the storehouse, and don't come out till we're gone, got it?" Cheveyo wasn't one to complain about comments as such. He stood up-this time bumping his head along the edge of their dusty umbrella-while delivering a thumbs up.

A hand gripped hard onto his pack's strap and he took a few steps and slid down the dune, his feet somehow hardly carving a trail despite the steepness of his descent. He reached the bottom and continued his momentum with a light jog, hopping up onto the back of a wagon's open gate near the middle of the caravan. He scooted to the left to allow room for anyone else to join him, waving at Kethyr again and leaning back into the wide beams of cloth.

[tilbert]

"Did you hear, what he said? He wants to leave us in the desert. What does he think, we came from.

Taharqua walks up to David, when he's finished with his insulting monologue. "Being responsible for a caravan makes you an important man. I was wondering, on which of carts I can seat. Since Lyle wants us to be ready for action, when we arrive at Rosemont, thus I'd really appreciate, if I could get a ride. And my short-legged friend as well.

Ashworms were no strangers to Taharqua, but he had never seen one as impressive as Ama. And he never dreamed of an ashworm as a mount. Hesitantly he approaches both the elf and the ashworm "I've seen you riding the worm, can you dive as well? I'm just wondering, since I swim in the sand.

[Eviltedzies]

Kethyr merely grins at David's reaction to Ama. "Well at least he didnt attack us or try to run away." Kethyr listens to Davids orders and gives a nod. "I understand. I've no qualms about riding a distance if only for the camels sake." Kethyr glances towards the camels and then towards Ama. His voice carries an obviously joking tone "She very good about controlling herself. I'm certain she won't gobble up any of the camels." Chuckling under his breathe, Kethyr rubs Ama on her nose. "When was the last time you accidentally ate someones animal girl?" Ama lets out a low growl as her head nudges Kethyr. "Well that business with the stray dog doesn't count... how were you supposed to know it was a runaway?"

As Taharqua speaks, Kethyr turns toward the second of his group to speak to him. "Ah...Taharqua was it? This beauty here's Amrah, my friend and steed." At the mention of the words steed, Ama shifts her head away from Ketyr and gives a low growl. Kethyr notes the demanor about her and laughs. "Alright alright girl.... Heh she doesn't like me calling her a mount. She prefers it if I say that she allows me to ride her." Without warning Ama gives Kethyr a lick with her long tongue. Kethyrs face seems surprised before he wipes some of Ama's siliva off his face, trying to continue the conversation. "As far as sand diving, we're working on it. Last couple times I tried I ended up with some portion of me buried in the sand. It my take us awhile, but I'm sure we'll get it some day."

As Kethyr wipes the last of Ama's playful lick off his face, he seems to realize something. Looking towards Taharqua, Kethyr begins to speak in one of the few foreign tongue he learned on his travels. "It's been awhile since I have traveled with an Ashrati. Nice to meet you Taharqua." Kethyr extends his one clean hand for a handshake."

OOC Speaking that last sentence in Ashrati langauge. Yay for bonus Int!

[Silk]

Ignoring the shouts of the Wagonmaster Emeria rode off into the desert along the packed sand of the road. Once she could no longer hear, or smell, the city it seemed as if she could finally relax and thought about urging her mount into a faster trot before she remembered that she was supposed to stay with the caravan not beat it there by a few days. Emeria slowed her dromedary down to a more slower pace, and one glance over her shoulder showed that she was not too far ahead.

With a sigh Emeria forced herself to think like she was part of a group again. The solitary mind was not suited for being part of a group. With surprise, Emeria realized that she had begun to miss the companionship of others. With another sigh she looked down a the feline eagerly pacing around her camel, "I suppose we have been out-clan to long have we my friend." To her, Purja seemed to laugh and then ran off into the wheat of a farmers field after field mice or maybe another rabbit. Frowning, Emeria shook her head thinking about her companions antics, 'It is a good thing we are leaving the river. Otherwise he would be fat and unable to move in a week.' The unrealistic thought brought that slight smile to her face and she rode on unworried about the safety of her feline friend.

ooc: We could do some rp for the first nights encampment. I agree while they are moving the chance for character interaction is slim. As for the sound a Camel makes, watch the ether the first of second Conan movies. They have real camels in them, something you don't see now a days what with CGI and all.

[chaosaccountant]

Wind walked by the side of the dunes, distaining the road. His passage unslowed by the thick sand, he moved a little ahead of the slow moving wagons, into the space between the lioness and the turtle-shells. Once the town was falling behind them, his attention visibly shifted, his deep-set eyes scanning the heat-haze. As the city disappeared into the same haze, the shape of a cat began to appear, visible for a second on the summit of a dune or an outcrop of rock before slipping back out of sight. Always appearing slightly ahead of the caravan, on the far side from the ash-worm, but never fully revealing itself.

[Avelestar]

The first day passes quietly, the travel is along a well used path and nothing untoward occurs. A cold night is spent at one of the larger towns closer to Karn, named Garo and is built around an oasis, natural springwater welling up from somewhere deep in the ground. The locals refer to it as one of Iona's children, a small offshoot from the main river that somehow finds its way here. Whether this is true or not you have no idea, but the water is refreshing and the town nice enough. Long before dawn the caravan is on the move again, the air is still chilly but its not long before it warms up with movement, and after a few hours the first rays of sun appear...another hot day has begun.

The day passes the same as the last, barring a break during High Sun. Shades are quickly erected and a jug of water broken open to share. All the caravan workers sleep under the shade until David and the guardsmen kick them awake, and the caravan gets moving once again. Only an hour after High Sun does the caravan reach another town, but not Rosemount. Supplies are left at the town, but none collected, not until the return journey. Another night passes, this time out on the open sand, everyone rugs up tight from the chilling night air and once again travel starts before dawn. Finally on the third day of travel is Rosemount reached, a town of some three to four hundred people, the workers and families of a small silver mine. Indeed this seems to be the centerpoint of the whole town, either you're a miner or you run one of the stores in the town. The caravan is greeted by an older man, and two armed teenagers at his side. Waving to David, he clasps the man's wrist and draws him to his house, by far the best in the town. The teenagers follow them, but stand guard at the entrance to his house.

Another man from the caravan starts barking orders, probably David's second in command, and the jugs of water and grain are moved into an underground storehouse. All but Kethyr are told to help, and carry a jug of water below ground, however they remain there until the caravan has finished its work and has left for Karn again. Kethyr on the other hand is pointed towards a large rocky outcrop, and told to ride directly towards it and return later in the day with the miners. It turns out young ashworms are used to pull the loads of silver ore back to town again, though very hard to train and maintain, they can pull far more than a camel, and much faster to boot.

Night settles, seeing Ama stabled with the town's ashworms (each separate of course) and the five mercenaries housed in a small house, courtesy of a messenger from the town's mayor. Though not a tourist destination, people often come to the town to work in the mines for a few months...more often than not they actually settle down in the town. But for those who don't, there are a number of houses for rent, and it's in one of these that you now sit. On the small table sits a note, signed by the mayor of Rosemount, one Farreh.

Welcome to Rosemount, and thankyou from the bottom of my heart. I apologise for not coming to see you in person, but I've been advised to show as little contact with you as possible, to make it look like you are simply travellers come to work in our town. If there is anything you require, one of my sons will help you. Simply go to the storehouse and ask for Kyle.

~ Farreh

What happens next is up to our heroes, but it is already several hours after dark and there seems to be no sign of an immediate attack.

OOC: Sorry for the absence, back to our regularly scheduled madness now. It's up to you how you decide to fit in with the town for the next few days, and if nothing happens you are to take the next caravan out of town, which occurs in a week. However you all know an attack must be coming, if only metagame wise . It will be fairly quickly, but there'll be at least a day or two before it happens. I just need an idea of where you will be in the town at what times of the day, so I can work out the first encounter.

[tilbert]

"I don't need a lot of sleep, only a few hours, thus I'd volunteer for a great share of the night's sentry. Sabeth can roam through Rosemount inconspicuously and alarm me if somebody is approaching this town." Sabeth mews the moment Taharqua pronounces the cats name and excitedly looks at his master. "Maybe you like to join me to polish Asherati, which is by the way pretty good for a stranger, Kethyr. I heard, your people doesn't sleep much as well.

Soon the next day Taharqua realizes that, on account to his gaunt physique, he won't be neither a credible or a good miner. "This won't work, fellows. I'm to tall to move freely in the narrow and low tunnels and not strong enough to be of any help anywhere else and to remarkable to work outside. Just don't be too obvious David said. But I could hide within the dunes and look for strangers approaching."

If no objections are raised Taharqua will spend most of the daytime together with Sabeth in the dunes that surround Rosemount. They circle the town swimming in the sand right below the surface. When his fellows return to their house, he joins them to exchange news.

[chaosaccountant]

During the journey, the wind was seldom to be found with the caravans at night fall - instead disappearing into the wasteland, not returning until after the sun had risen, often when the caravan was already moving. He offered no excuse or explanation for his disappearances, but the smell on him always seemed to unsettle the camels when he returned. He neither ate nor drank in the mornings, though sometimes flecks of water would dot the front of his mottley hides, and he would occasionally be seen to be working something out of his teeth.
His detachment from the caravan before the arrival at the town was also not unexpected - he had entered only one of the towns they had passed through on the journey, and that but to briefly stand under the trees that shaded the centre of town, unspeaking and apparently oblivious to the strange looks he was getting until, for his own unspoken reasons he disappeared back into the desert. He never even entered the town he was to save, but instead wandered off the road shortly after it came into sight, disappearing into the dunes.

The day after the others arrived in town, while swimming in the dunes, Taharqua would find him standing on the crest of dune, his eyes fixed on the Asherati's path, apparently waiting for him. By his side is a sleek, rangy lynx, it's ears focused forward and it's nose in the air.
"The wind greets the sand. What does the speech of termites tell you?"

and so you actually know what he's doing all day... At night, he's curled up with his lynx, or hunting with it, or hunting on his own as a dire-bat. Once everyone is at the town, he's scouting from the air every day in the form of an air-elemental, and at night in the form of a dire-bat. He'll sleep during the hottest part of the day, in whatever shelter he can find or make - an overhang of rock would be enough shade. I'm assuming that between piles of survival (which incorporates tracking for free) and the lynx's sent, finding Taharqua isn't going to be a problem. A quick (but possibly relevant) rules question - can I wild-shape while wild-shaped? As in go from one form to another without returning to bhuku in between.