Pirate Hammer Notes 8 28 13

 

Plan Before Purchase

The group started planning for the slave auction later that day. The man who was looking at the slaves the previous day, Pasqual Vinchenzo was identified as a key target. A plan was formed to possibly stop him from making it to the market to bid. Jacque took Black Margaret and Otto to go stalk Pasqual. Hugo was given the task to get some explosives together in case they were necessary. He started making Power Keg Meg that was a ‘mannequin’ made out of powder kegs and women’s clothes.

 Monkey Time

Rubio was standing minding his own business when he felt something get thrown on his head. A gold coin clattered to the floor. Then, another. A third hit him when he looked up and saw Muerte the Monkey, shelling him with gold. Finally, Muerte hopped down onto Rubio’s shoulder. With his new haul of 5 gold, Rubio took Muerte shopping in town. He located a shop with monkey clothes and accessories. Rubio bought Muerte a new vest, since his was in tatters, a new hat, but Muerte’s eyes lit up with love when he saw the new monkey size capguns. When the monkey tried to rush to the display, a large gray monkey dropped down and blocked his way. Rubio bet a gold coin vs a set of the pistols that Muerte could still get the weapons and the shop owner agreed. Muerte was indeed, successful in getting his set of guns. He hopped on Rubio’s shoulder and the duo left for the auction.

Back on the ship Scara found a present on the window sill of her room – a collection that included a button, string, a rat carcass, monkey poo and five gold.

 Jacque’s Jungle Jaunt

Jacque headed outside the city. The traffic was light outside the palisade because of the horrors that lurked in the jungle. Instead of sticking to the roads the young Bretonnian ventured off the path into the jungle, and ran into a yellow viper. Jacque avoided being bitten but decided to walk down the road instead. Finally, he made it to Plantation Vinchenzo. There were 5-6 armed men patrolling a few men in the fields. He finally managed to sneak in the house. The bottom floor was empty but when he tried to go up the steps there were the sounds of children and a wife, calling out to see if that was her husband coming up the stairs. Jacque fled the house for the jungle, where he ran into a large black cat, like a puma. The beast locked eyes with him, made gestures as if to attack, then ran away.

When Jacque started walking back the gate guards challenged him and asked if he had seen the ‘demon cat’. Jacque did not speak up and say that he had or had not. Papan, one of the guards, started accusing Jacque of being a Chaos Cultist and said that there were conspiracies that meant chaos cultists were everywhere. Jacque did not say much, but kept on his way until he got back in town. He told Otto and Margaret what he learned about Pasqual, that he would possibly be arriving with his carriage. Then, Jacque left to set up an ambush by the side of the road. He saw Vinchenzo’s carriage pass by. With no good vantage for an ambush he decided to come into town and watch outside the slave auction.

 Powder Keg Meg

Hugo went into town and bought a new masterwork hat with lizardman skin and a ceremonial feather and a cheap hat to put down for tips. Then, he started looking for the clothes and coconuts to finish his Trojan woman. Gathering these, he finished the great Powder Keg Meg. With Abed’s help got his mannequin down to the shore and hired a row boat to take the three of them out to the Young Wolf’s ship. Abed pointed out that they should wait to row out so the row boat owner, Abed and Hugo went to have a nap at the docks.

 Auction Time!

At the auction, several people were in line including Vinchenzo, a younger man from Araby, a man who had clothes sweat stained from the jungle and a few others. Alero the slave auction owner came and greeted everyone, giving cups of coffee to the power players. There were also several local warehouse owners. Once inside, everyone stood. Scara had Baldemero for a bodyguard, and Rubio headed in, but away from Scara. The auction started with lots of fine, working stock, but no one that Scara knew. As the auction started, a man with a black hat, mask, and many weapons came in the action, taking up position in the back. Scara did lock eyes with one very handsome man and spent 2.5 gold buying him. Rubio also bought a slave, an Estalian gambler.

The first of the crew, the five Brettonians came up for auction. Though Scara tried, she was outbid by the masked man for all of them. He immediately left with his new purchases.

 Scara was able to buy Jorge and Esperanzo for a mere 50 silver when Alereo honored his bargain to keep talking them up as if they were diseased or damaged.

However, when the bidding for the elves began the man from Araby had much deeper pockets. Scara finally backed off when the bidding reached 30 gold.

 Elves and the Other Buyers

Everyone paid for their slaves, and the elves were led to a dark carriage with a well armed driver and an unsavory guard. The elves were under lock and key. Rubio asked some of the warehouse owners who that man was. They said his name was Nasir and he was very dangerous. He worked for a vampire lord that lived outside town.

The explorer was named Akili Chereno and was an explorer. He is the only man to arrive at the city by coming through the jungle instead of by boat. He still led expeditions into the jungle 2-4 times a year and was from Tilea. He had a small house in town and was always on the lookout for information on interesting places.  

The Masked Man

Jacque followed the Masked Man to a tavern named the Seven Grog Seller. The Masked Man and his men came in through the back. Jacque tried to follow them back but was stopped by the kitchen staff. Jacque took up a position watching the front and sent a message to Scara as to where he was. Scara left her slave, Amadeus with the ship and went down to see who the Masked Man was. When she arrived, Jacque followed her inside and they got a room. Scara also bought a fine bottle of wine, ‘T’ red called Tread. They went up and knocked on the door, after they heard the sounds of celebration inside. The room fell quiet at their knock. When it opened, the Masked Man waved her inside. Quickly, she recognized his voice as Le Chevalier. She started working on making an alliance with him, but he said he wanted to talk to the captain, sending Scara on her way and keeping Jacque as a hostage.

 Rubio and Domingo

Rubio’s new slave was named Domingo, and he did know of the vampire. The vampire’s name was the Southlander and the rumor was that he bought slaves and fed on them. Supposedly he was friends with the scaled ones and was also a powerful sorcerer.

The Alliance

Scara went and convinced Captain Francisco to come to the talk with Le Chevalier. He gathered 12 crewmembers, and went to the Seven Grog Seller. Talks were of course rocky, which mostly fell into posturing, but finally Scara managed to broker an alliance of sorts between Le Chevalier and the crew of Myrmidia’s Spear. They would attack at night when the Young Wolf was in town and at least 20 of his men were away. They would free the slaves and take the ship whole. Le Chevalier wanted the ship, but so did Captain Francisco, so they agreed to resolve that after the fact. Scara would get the ship’s dingy for brokering the peace and they set about making a plan.

 

Buying Freedom - A Pirate Hammer Story

                Scara leaned against the bough of her floating home staring off into the jungle. No other color compared to the verdant green of the dense vegetation, except perhaps, the green of her mother’s emeralds. Both reminded her of home. Sharktooth cost her one, the Young Wolf took the other. Now, on Myrmidia’s Spear she was not sure how she felt about the loss of either.

              Staring deep into the green, she felt her mind flow away, ten years falling like leaves.

Nina’s finger’s were tighter on her shoulders than never before, pinning her in place. The candle light fluctuated in unseen breeze, the sudden changes in light and dark feeling more ominous than before.

           “My love,” her father’s voice shook. Scara could not see him, but never before had she heard this wave of emotion break through him. “Stay with me.”

                Her mother’s voice now, growing ever weaker. “I would if I could, my most beloved. I will leave soon. Where is our daughter?”

                “Nina is bringing her,” Scara looked up at Nina, her nanny. Nina just smiled the saddest smile the girl had ever witness and held a finger to her lips. The little girl nodded to show her understanding.

                “Find her a good marriage.”

                “I will. Someone rich, someone with a name.”

                “Someone she can love.”

                The softness fell away from the family patriarch as he proclaimed, “She will marry well. She’ll grow to love the man she marries.”

                The words seemed so innocent then, marriage a long way away. The first time she saw the jewels was that night, as she finally went into mother’s room. She had shown the girl the gems, said they were her dowry. It was a word she didn’t know at the time, but grew to understand later with all its ominous implications. Those jewels would buy her the perfect match.

                Scara was 14 now, almost a woman in body. She had been the acting matriarch of Isla del Lagarto de Oro for the last eight years, since her mother fled to Myrmidia’s side. Part of her knew this time would come, but when she had been summoned away from a fine tidal pool full of rare specimens to her father’s study, she still did not fully expect this. “My fiancé?”

                “He is a good boy from a good line, the San Castorios. Ferdinand will give you security, a better title, and you will give him sons.”

                “I have not met him! What if he doesn’t like learning, or walking on the beach? What if he can’t tell the difference between a crab and a spider?”

                Father’s eyes flashed cold. As he stared through her, he became the governor, his word law. “I have indulged your studies because I love you. It does not matter if you have met Ferdinand. You will marry him. He sails for the island in two years. Your mother’s jewels will be the dowry.”

                When the raid on her isle happened, Ferdinand and her doom were supposed to appear any day. She’d grabbed the jewels, running. Her mentor, Timoteo Fusil was behind her, shouting at her to run. She made it up a tree, watching in horror as he was captured, taken away. The jewels were also taken away, a little later by the Young Wolf. She knew she could search every man on the ship – they would no longer be there.

                Looking back at her crew, she saw Fernando struggling onto the deck, still barely alive but trying to attend his duties. Baldemero was running in circles, forever the tornado. Amadeus was scrubbing her hammocks from the medical room. This was her family now. The jewels were supposed to buy her imprisonment. Instead, they had given her a life well lived. As a gentle wind brought a spray of salt water across her face she smiled. She was not a kept woman, she was free.   

Pirate Hammer Notes 8 14 13

Personal Note: I am now done catching up on the Pirate and Dark Sun notes, but we are playing tonight, so more notes are coming soon! A gamer's work is never done.

Pirate Hammer Notes 8/14/13

 

Port Reaver

The crew sailed into Port Reaver. The port was mostly home to pirates and outlaws, but it was big enough and legitimate enough to have a warehouse from the Marienburg Spice Company, nice permanent structures and a town. There were about 700-1000 permanent residents with narrow cobbled streets of tone and wood. Inside the city it was quite crowded, but outside the city it opened up. The city was also walled because Lizard People lived outside the city, and they did not like humans. The main exports of the area were alcohol, spices, and slaves.

 

 The Young Wolf’s ship, the Sword and Coin was parked in the harbor, so our ship sailed around to a small cove and dropped anchor. Before they went to shore, Jacque went to talk to Edward Sebasian, who was busy getting drunk, mumbling about how ‘that whore never loved him’. He did then tell Jacque that the Young Wolf and all the other captains were supposed to find 1 of 8 pieces of 8 and come to Lustria. He didn’t know what they were supposed to do, with them, but now the crew had one and Young Wolf had one.

 

The group rowed a longboat to the shore, and walked into town. Both Rubio and Scara disguised themselves, but Jacque and Hugo did not need to, since they were formerly known members of the Shark Tooth’s crew. Sven, Otto, Black Margaret and Baldemaro went as well. The group picked different places to go and split up.

 

The Slave Market

Rubio and Sven went to the Slave Market. There, he saw groups of slaves in pens, about 25 in total. One pen had about seven, including two elves and three Estalians, who he recognized as members of his crew. Jorge and Seranza from the crew were there, as was Fernando who was laying on the floor of the cage, delirious with fever. When Rubio started inspecting the wares the overseer went in and started kicking him so he would make himself presentable. But, Rubio was not alone in looking at the slaves. Another man, a Tilean was there. He was not dressed like a sailor but had rings on his chubby hands. Rubio left to find Scara in the Market.

 

The Sad Narwhal

Hugo was playing in the Sad Narwhal. Upon entering the small dive bar he tried to cheer the Sad Narwhal up by making  Happy Narwhal sounds. Then he started playing flute music in the bar. Everyone liked it, but since they were poor they could only tip him with brass and cheap booze. Margaret passed her time sizing up possible marks.

 

The Bad Part of Town

Jacque and Otto went to see if they could find the seeder side of town. They did, where Jacque started asking questions about the Young Wolf. She found out he was well liked around town, and that he brought good profit for everyone, but that people were afraid of him, as well. He liked to hang out at the Vulgar Solider across town.

 

Then Jacque started asking about the slave pens. He learned the slave pen owner was named Alero, and he could be bribed with a few silver coins.

 

Then he started asking about the Young Wolf again and got chased away for asking too many questions.

 

The Market  and the Slave Pens

Scara was wandering around the market. She found a drug seller and bought some hash, then went shopping for a new pet, but did not see any she bonded with. Then, Rubio found her and told her about the slave pens and their crew members. Scara marched over there.

 

Once there, she flirted and told the slave seller that she was the daughter of physician and needed to buy some slaves for medical experiments. She noted that Fernando was so ill he might poison the rest of the stock, and paid the slaver a gold if Fernando were to ‘die’ during the night and be dropped off outside town. She tried to buy the rest of the crew but couldn’t. Included in the gold was Alero setting her other two crew members off to the side so they would be labled as sick for the auction. She left.

 

It’s a Sing Off

Bored and wanting more coin than the brass at the Sad Narwhal, Hugo went over to the Vulgar Soldier and started playing outside. Some of the people from the party came outside to hear him and soon even the Young Wolf came out to listen. He brought out a pistol and demanded a sing off between his own bard and Hugo. It was officiated by the pirate William Zane. Hugo lost the contest and the Young Wolf handed his rival the pistol to shoot him, so Hugo ran away. Some of the Young Wolf’s men chased him down, since there was a reward for the bard’s tongue, but after running through the Sad Narwhal he managed to get away by hiding on a roof top.

 

Stalking the Slaver

Jacque went to  where the slaver lived and hid outside Alero’s house. He overheard an argument between Alero and his wife, then the slaver left with a sack in a cart and some men. He went to the outside of the city where Scara waited with four men, and dropped off the sack. As he was walking back, Jacque overheard him say that Scara had a lot of money and he planned on robbing her. Scara meanwhile, helped Fernando out of his sack and started to help him back to the ship.

 

The Drinking Contest

Rubio and Sven went to the bar where they made a Gentlemen’s Bet. They hd to drink and swallow live fish. The first one to lose would throw up or pass out. If Sven won, he would get to feel Mark’s crotch because he did not believe that Mark was a boy. Rubio reluctantly agreed and they challenged two locals. They managed to knock the locals out of the completion but  after drinking enough to kill ten men, twice his size, Rubio lost. Sven helped him back to the ship and they had become drinking buddies.

 

Fernando (Cue Abba Song)

Back at the ship, Scara worked to save Fernando. He was very sick and would not have lived another day or two, but she managed to stabilize him. Once she did, she called a meeting on the ship. Placing a scarf on the ground she told everyone they needed to chip in to rescue the crew at the slave auction. Everyone pitched in what they could, except Hugo and then he got yelled at by the Captain until he contributed as well. After that, the crew prepared to go get their people back the next day.

 

 

Pirate Hammer Game Notes 8 7 13

 

 

Pirate Hammer Notes 8/7/13

The Warehouse

The group was at the warehouse with Black Margaret, ready to get Saw Soup Harold and his gang. Margaret banged on the door. Imperial Otto answered the door. He wanted to know where Margaret had been. She answered she was out looking for Edward Sebastian but was back now. He let her in. The rest of the group was hiding off to the side, and jumped on Otto, restraining him. Rubio used his spell doppelganger to take Imperial Otto’s form. Scara handed ‘Otto’ her pistol, and had him shove her into the main warehouse where Saw Soup and the others waited.

The smell of the sea was overpowering, as it was a huge salted fish processing plant. Saw Soup was there, standing on top of some scaffolding, as was Fish Face, Plain Jon, Amanda, and Smooth Jon. When Saw Soup saw Margaret walk in he was suspicious, but when she explained she captured one of Sabastian’s friends, gesturing to Scara, his attitude brightened. He cast down a hook and ordered her tied to it so he could haul her up. Reluctantly Otto and Margaret complied, and Scara started being hauled up, then ‘Otto’ shot Saw Soup, and cast Dazzling Light, blinding him. Margaret shot the rope holding Scara and as the girl dropped the others rushed in. Hugo shot Amanda in the gut with a blunderbuss. Scara grabbed her gun off the floor and shot Saw Soup’s finger off, then Jacque came in and shot Saw Soup as well. Amanda shot Hugo, wounding him, Scara killed Smooth Jon as Rubio cast his burning gaze on Saw Soup, killing him and catching the wall on fire. Rubio immediately retrieved the piece of 8 they had come for, and put the flames out. Meanwhile, Fish Face and Plain Jon managed to dump one of the barrels of fish out, knocking Scara off her feet and into the fish goo. However, the rest of the gang was rounded up or killed. Otto was recruited for the group, and everyone left before the authorities could come.

After cleaning up and dropping the real Otto and Edward off at the ship, a few headed into town. They made a few purchases, and then the ship sailed away, going after the Young Wolf to retrieve the rest of their crew.

The Isle of the Blue Crabs

The next stop was the Isle of the Blue Crabs, a staging point for all the Shark Tooth captain’s ships. On the way over Jacque did her best to make Imperial Otto and Margaret feel like a welcome part of the crew. Once they arrived at the Isle, there was a huge fortress, and men poking up, demanding the password. Edward gave it to them and they were allowed to dock. The men looked weathered, and when asked why they had the fortress they said there were Giant Blue crabs that could eat a normal man.

Scara went and watched the big blue crabs as they battled, ate and communicated. Meanwhile, the group found that the Young Wolf had gone on to Lustria, home of Lizard Men, Vampire Pirates, and more diseases than anyone could count. Jacque used the time that Scara was looking at the crabs to ask about the Great White Cephalopod, and some people said they had seen it.

Meanwhile, Rubio decided he wanted to ride one of the blue crabs, so he asked Scara to follow him down. He found one, a big male he named Octavius. First, he used a cantrip to recreate the creature’s claws, then they signaled and gestured at each other. Finally, Rubio blinded the crab, jumped on his back and rode him. He marked his carapace with a coin before getting down.

Finally, the crew resupplied the ship and sailed off to Lustria.

 

 

 

 

 

Dark Sun Game Notes 8/19/13

Dark Sun Game Notes 8/19/13

 

ZARNIAN

A messenger arrived at the House of the Painted Eye’s warehouse. He handed her a sealed scroll, but she did not recognize the symbol, but noted it was Urikite in nature. It was from a Templar Shalmanizar of House Stell requesting a meeting that afternoon at the House of the Painted Eye. She agreed, but before the templar arrived she had things to do. She took Timmuth to have him purchase the Meklot dung that Flynn needed for his drugs. Timmuth was a little petulant at first but then when they arrived he got in a line with one of the sellers. Another man stepped in front of him and was horribly rude to both she and Timmuth. He was the majordomo for Sericles, the templar of the wells. Timmuth was hurt and upset, but Zarnian promised to help him get revenge in the future. Then they went to another seller who was charging 5 bits per bushel of mekilot dung. After a considerable amount of haggling during which Timmuth got over enthused and threatened to stab the seller, he managed to get him down to 3.5 bits per bushel. Zarnian was very proud, so when they got back to the city she went to the iron district and met with the artisan who reforged the rainbow sword. She asked him how much his daggers were and he had one for 1.5 gold, more than three times the price before the war. He said they were in such demand because of the war. Zarnian asked him if he would make some of her iron into weapons. He said he would, and she asked to have a special dagger made for Timmuth, but he was sad because he wanted one of the ones there.

BAY

Bay went to meet with Mitzrah about obtaining Id Fiend Brains. He also found out the Mitzrah got his telepathic message and looted Esticles’ house while he was unconscious. But, Mitzrah did not deal in Id Fiend brains, nor did he know of anyone who did first hand. He suggested going to the Elven Market but Bay did not wish to do so. Finally, Mitzrah offered to organize some desert adventures who could go track down Id Fiends and help Bay kill them. This would take about a week. Bay agreed. Then, the Lion asked what was up with Barok. Was he really King Tithian’s Lap Bitch? Bay said that Barok was noble and would never walk the middle ground. Although both men agreed to believe that convenient fiction neither believed it.

BAROK

Barok checked to make sure that Aristophaneles was packed and ready to leave with the caravan. After seeing he was, he went down to the town square to talk to the philosopher’s followers. With their teacher and master gone amid rumors that something nefarious happened to him they were easily cowed, all but one. The speaker who had before spoken out against the king and given Barok a lot of attitude was there on the old dry fountain speaking out against King Tithian. Barok warned him that if he persisted in speaking out that way that something bad would happen to him. The speaker started shouting that he was being oppressed and that Barok was the King’s beast. Barok told him to stop speaking out against Tithian and go take part in the war effort in Urik. Of course this was refused, and as Barok turned to leave, someone threw a dead rat at him. A kid from the warrens ran out and grabbed it for food.

CAEL

Cael met with the Veiled Alliance in Urik to see how to shank the templar. She learned that he was the High Templar in charge of tracking down the Veiled Alliance in Urik. He liked to hang out in Rich Person’s Bar #2. Cael and the Veiled Alliance bounced around many ideas including killing him in a way that made it look like another Templar did it. However, it would not be an easy kill as the High Templar had dogs around him that detected magic and channeling, and was surrounded by lots of guards. He ordered the same dish every day Rich Person’s Bar #2, but also had a food taster. Cael watched him for two days to make sure of his movement patterns, and postponed her attack.

ZARNIAN

That afternoon Zarnian met with Templar Shalmanizer. After the usual pleasantries she learned that he was there because she had several Urikites in her employ and he was looking for a fugitive named Akkadian. He passed her a drawing of Akkadian with a large, full, square beard. In exchange for Akkadian’s capture the  templar offered to make things more pleasant for the House of the Painted Eye with House Stell. Zarnian pretended to entertain his offer, but said that her House had a reputation for defending freedom, so if she found the rogue they would have meet in secret for the exchange. The templar agreed and left her a sack of 100 ceramic to bribe her men for information. She waited until he left and gave the money to Bay to launch his Id Fiend expedition. She also asked him to contact Cael so she could rendezvous with the caravan in Silver Spring once she was done with the templar shanking.

CAEL

Cael got back to trying to figure out how to kill the templar. She asked the Veiled Alliance to get her poison. She went to his room in the King’s Palace and noticed that the place was covered in magical wards. There were guards on the roofs and psionicists scanning at random intervals. There were two guards in his room and a servant that made sure that there was fresh water brought in at regular intervals.  She tried flying in as a kestrekel but was chased away by the guards. Frustrated, she went to go watch the room and try to come up with another plan. 

AKKADIAN

Akkadian found himself on the side of the mountain being chased by 19 well armed House Vordon troops. The group found a place around the outcropping to make a stand, but the front line were shot full of arrows by the Vordon troops. Badly wounded, the dray tossed Akkadian a small vial of dust, which he took. Filled with power and the lust for battle, Akkadian brought down the side of the mountain on the House Vordon troops, killing many and chasing the rest away. Then, he found a cave to hole up in for the night, so that the wounded could recover. The next day he took everyone but the Thri-Kreen and Dray and went to find an alternate trail back to the ruins but could not find one. He tried again the next day but could not find one again so he decided to leave, without Denning and without Ves the miner or any of the Iteriuk villagers. He started back for Tyr.

BAROK

Barok went to meet with Mitzrah before leaving for the war. He checked on his bar, No Slanties, and Mitzrah presented him with a departing present, the head of the Resistance Speaker in a sack. Barok winced, but also said he was thinking he might have to do something like that in the future, so he took his present and left. He assembled his gladiators and left. They went with the departing caravan to just outside Urik and met up with a small rag tag army that had no gladiators and a mul dressed like Rikus that was not Rikus. Barok asked to speak with him in private and the false Rikus said the real General had the majority of the army and were somewhere else. However, he promoted Barok to Captain Colossus and asked him to stay with his gladiators, which Barok agreed to.

CAEL

Cael was having problems assassinating the head templar since his room was never unguarded. Finally, she turned invisible, turned into a kestrekel, flew into the room, changed into a woman, dumped the drugs into his water, turned back into a kestrekel without being spotted and flew away, making her the luckiest wizard ever. 

ZARNIAN

Zarnian got a sealed message from the League saying there was a meeting in six days and she was invited to go. She jumped at the chance, but had to leave immediately.

Dark Sun Game Notes 8/12/13

 

Dark Sun Game Notes 8/12

ZARNIAN

Zarnian convened a meeting of those at the House and planned to launch a caravan. Dahn Gen was reluctant to go as the Dune Trader since Mak’ti was still ill, and he did not want to miss the birth of his child. Zarnian convinced him to go in order to provide for his child. Though he was obviously upset with her he said he would.

BAROK  

Barok went to confront those speaking out against the king and found Aristophaneles. There were 100 people there, waiting to hear from their sage teacher. Upon seeing the half giant approach, Aristophaneles cried out in joy that Barok had come to lend his support to the people. Barok corrected them that he was not there to lend his support but there to stop those speaking out against the king. At this, Artistophaneles turned pale, because he was facing down the Colossus of Tyr as an enemy instead of a friend. Chaos ensued, and the bard ran, diving into the House of The Blue Rose, a bordello. By the time Barok could get through the crowd and get inside the speaker had been hidden by the women inside. Barok was chased away. Undiscouraged, Barok went to a half elf bard in the warrens and got information on where Aristophaneles was staying. He also got a bit of free information, which was that Thaxos Vordon had been meeting with the minister of the mines. Upon going to his apartment, Barok found Aristophaneles. The speaker was afraid, but agreed to go to the House of the Painted Eye’s warehouse to speak with Zarnian, especially since Barok left him little choice. Still, he encouraged Barok to speak out for the people, saying “My sword is old and brittle, but yours is large and rainbow.”

CAEL

Cael was in Urik and checked out the location of the small warehouse the House of the Painted Eye had in town. It was now rented out to someone else. The people of the town were listless and angry because they lost their skirmish with Tyr and they had never before lost a battle.

Making her way down to the bar where her Veiled Alliance contact was dancing, she tried to go in and watch, but was kicked out by the bouncer.

From there she went to merchants in the area and made contacts so when she came back as a Dune Trader she would have people to sell weapons, armor, food and jewelry to. The Urikites were especially happy to have weapons and the stuff to make weapons.

Two days later, someone came to get Cael, sent by the Azure Lady. A few others were at the meeting, as the Azure Lady demanded to know who provided Cael with the wands. She, of course, would not disclose that information so the group demanded proof of her loyalty. Cael produced Kalak’s desiccated heart. The group agreed that was good proof, and asked if she wanted to help kill a templar. She agreed. But, the Veiled Alliance did want to know how Kalak was killed. Cael replied it was with the Spear of Destiny.

They wanted Cael to bring them the spear, so they could go after Hamanu, but warned her not to go back to the bar with the Azure Lady. Instead, go to Bar 13 and ask for Dorena. The name of the templar they were planning on killing was Makababa.

BAROK

Barok and Aristophaneles arrived back at the House. Aristophaneles had been hoping to avoid Bay since he ran away from his contract with him, but they saw Bay’s chariot in the driveway. Inside, he met with Bay and Zarnian. Trying to plead his point that the people needed to speak out against the king he was met with congratulations from Bay and Zarnian for his willingness to be able to die for his cause. Zarnian patted Aristophaneles on the back and said while she was unwilling to be a martyr and die on a cross by going back to Nibenay she was glad he was willing to go back to the square, stand for his values and die on a cross. Suddenly, he paled, backtracked, and accepted Zarnian’s offer of employment.  

AKKADIAN

Akkadian was still trying to rescue the miners and he had one, Hakkar, but still needed to rescue Vess and return to rescue Denning and the Iteriuk villagers. But before, he needed a place to rest and regroup. They found a large cave, and inside were small tunnels. When the group looked inside they saw scurrying. Akkadian tried to look in one of the holes and saw a little Hejkin looking at him. The group started killing some Hejkin and tried to find a way to seal the holes. They did enough that they could rest that night. They did take shifts and kept two guards up, one to watch the mouth of the cave for Vordon troops and one to watch for shifty little Hejkin. Still, they passed the night unmolested.

The group decided to look to lure the cilops team up onto the mountain for an ambush. Upon the Dray’s suggestion, Hakkar touched lots of rocks and shrubs as he walked up the trail. The team waited, then they spotted 20 armed House Vordon archers plus the cilops and handler. The cilops was very excited because it could smell Hakkar. The team made quick work of the cilops and the handler, and severely wounded the captain but then had to retreat.  

ZARNIAN

Zarnian met with Strabbo Ianto to place some of her iron on one of his caravans. They bargained for him to have 1 ½ resource units and Zarnian to have 5 ½ resource units.  Zarnian also agreed to send five of her most trusted guards to protect the caravan. Stabbo warned her not to go to Urik because it was a horrible war zone.

 

 

Tests - A Dark Sun Very Short Story

With a heart as heavy as a burl of agafari wood, Carn left his master’s office to find Zarnian. As he strode to her usual haunt, the open area behind the gladiator’s training arena, he heard her before seeing her. At eight dust storm seasons, Zarnian had a loud, infectious laugh that made her the darling of House Nagarath. He could hear other small voices, and as he came into view he could see Zarnian with several of the other slave children playing with a ball in the dust. The sight tightened his throat and halted his steps. Disappearing into the impotent shade of a slave shack he watched them play a moment longer. The young mul could always win these games if she wished. Already she had more grace and strength than many human men would ever have, but she often allowed the others to win. For her, this was about having fun. Suddenly, a boy kicked the ball away from her best friend, a house girl named Nir. Zarnian tackled the boy with no effort, tossing the ball back to the little dark haired human. He had to do this sometime. Watching his daughter play would only make the task harder. Swallowing back pride and tears he stepped into view.

Instantly the children stopped their game, not for fear, but respect. Carn gave them what he could, never beat them or even raised a hand to them, yet he still wore the mantel of Nibenay’s gladiator champion like a cloak. “Hi Carn!” Zarnian jumped off the boy she was pinning to the ground and rushed over to give him a hug. She only knew him as her teacher, but she loved him like a parent regardless. “Did you come to play? We could use a goalie.” 

When she looked up with her wide jade eyes, he almost said yes. Instead, he remembered who he was and what he had to do to save his child. “I can’t. I know your training is supposed to be done for the day, but I have one more task for you.”

“Ok!” she agreed easily with a swing of her top knot. Running over to a nearby building she retrieved her spear from where she leaned it, then raced back to her mentor.

He led her away from the others before dropping down on his knee so he could look her in the eye. His throat closed again when he realized he would not have to do that much longer. With a loving hand on one of her shoulders he explained, “Zarnian, Master Nagarath has something he needs you to do. He needs you to fight one of the new men in the ring.”

She nodded vigorously, her smile getting much larger. “That sounds like fun. I can do that.”

The burl in his chest grew more twisted, harder. His next words cut deeper than any sword in the arena had. “Zarnian, this is a fight to the death. You have to kill him. If you don’t…” his voice caught and broke. He squeezed her shoulder tighter.

 

‘Master’ Nagarath leaned over his desk, his hands tented in contemplation. “I’ve allowed you to raise Zarnian like a normal child. Perhaps too much. My wife thinks you should have used the whip to make her hard for the arena.”

“Master,” the former Champion fought to keep his voice even, respectful. His daughter’s life and safety rested on his words. “We agreed that the way to train Zarnian may be unconventional. Yet, the girl trains because she loves it. She works harder than any other gladiator I have to lash.”

“She is a gladiator. She will fight and die in the ring, yet, she runs around with the other slave children smiling and laughing as if she were a pampered house girl.”Because she is just a girl, Carn groused, but kept the thought tightly to himself. “Those new slaves I bought?”

“Yes, Master.”

“This afternoon, she will fight one to the death. Today she will be bloodied, which should cause my wife to be silenced for at least at a week, or she will be the most expensive mistake of my life. “He shrugged. “One of us will be right. Now so get the girl. She fights in an hour.”

 

“You will fight, but you have to concentrate. Use what I have taught you.” He placed his free hand over hers , curling her fingers tighter around the spear. “You will win.”

She nodded sagely, the smile fading from her face for the first time he could remember. The girl was trying her best to look brave, capable. “I’m ready.” He was not sure she was. His only other option was to try and fight his way out with her.  He likely would not win and she would die a much slower death than the one she was facing now. Taking her hand, he stood and walked her to the ring.

Inside was a man. He possessed that title by the loosest definition of the word. Starved, wild, he tested the spear in his hands as he paced. Zarnian was almost his size, and had been training in the arena for two years. She had been training two years before that. Master Nagarath sat in the stands, watching. Carn gave the girl’s hand one last squeeze, then gave her a gentle push forward into the arena.

Zarnian tightened her hold on her spear, took a breath, then blew it out. Her hands steadied. Looking her opponent in the eye, she assessed him. He was a skeleton with skin, his eyes wild but full of rage. He would hurt her, but she could see the pain in his eyes. Carn had pain in his. The skeleton man lunged at her. She turned his blow away with her spear, trusting forward into an opening he left. Blood welled on his arm. He howled, stabbing with no technique. Ducking, she missed the blow. Spinning, Zarnian managed to find the perfect opening sinking her spear into the man’s emaciated chest. His last act was to spit blood in her face. In the stands, she could hear a few weak claps from Master Nagarath. Her hands were shaking. Once the master was gone Carn walked in, wrapping his arms around her, the slave’s still cooling body at her feet. The frown deepened, her eyebrows knit together. Then, Carn looked down, smiling. Looking up, Zarnian looked up, for a moment older than her years. At the sight of her mentor, her face softened, finally forming a smile.

Carn looked down at that smile, etching it into his mind. His daughter was safe for now. She had her first kill, but still found a way to smile. He prayed to all the elements she would never stop, that he would never see that frown rest upon her face again.