[IC]Shadow over Stygia

[Prak]

"You don't know much about sorcery, do you?"

[Korgan0]

"My mother taught me that wizards die just as well as any other man if you put an axe through their skull, if that's what you mean.

Fine. They'll still be a liability."

[Whipstitch]

Isandro shrugs "My mount's a tough old girl, she'll be fine on the journey.* If we must abandon the women It'd be kinder to send them back now or at an oasis."

(Seriously. Kushite light warhorses are little but pack 18 con and Endurance and apparently think of us humans as a bunch of girly men. If we dismounted and force marched for an hour or two to keep up with the camels she probably wouldn't even notice.)

[Ancient History]

(Traveling, limited posting)

Resolved to outdistance your enemy, you set off across the sands, following the old pilgrimage trail. The sun beats down heavily upon you all, and in short time the desert scrub gives way to larger and larger expanses of dust and sand, with only the occasional glimpse of bleached bone or carrion bird for company. There is no sign of the party following your path, though you expect to see the dust from their column this afternoon.

An hour before the sun reaches its zenith, one of Ajula's advance riders reports back that they have come across a marker showing two oases - one to the south-east, the other to the north-west - and suggest that perhaps the group should rest at one or the other during the heat of the day. Alternately, you could order the caravan to press on to the Serpent Tree.

[Korgan0]

"We should press on. If we cannot outdistance this troop of men, we'll be in a great deal of trouble."

[Nebuchadnezzar]

"Resting now may allow us to press on through the night. I vote we go to the northwestern oasis."

[Prak]

"But resting now will give the soldiers a chance to catch up to us. We cannot ignore the heat of the day, however. I will defer to the judgement of those who have campaigned in deserts before." Kamoses says, "I've only ever lived in comfort in the city."

[Kurama314]

"Why not compromise? We can head to an oasis and spend some short time there, maybe an hour. We can get our fill of water and take as much as we need. Then we can push on through what remains of the day and into some of the night. With the extra water the push shouldn't hurt us or deplete our supplies. Additionally we'll be warned our pursuers by the dust they kick up. So if we see signs of their coming while at the oasis we can pack up immediately and move out even quicker."

[Nebuchadnezzar]

(We're traveling roughly east into the desert, such that visiting either oasis would involve a bit of backtracking?)

[Ancient History]

(You're heading north-east, so either one would take you off the trail, but not backtracking.)

[Korgan0]

"It gets cold at night, in the desert. Travelling can be uncomfortable, to say the least. If you wish to continue through the night, however, I have no opposition."

[Nebuchadnezzar]

"I'd certainly rather force march through the night, and spend the worst of the day at an oasis, if for no other reason than we can more easily see a column of troops approaching. Maintaining a healthy lead is the most important, though, so depending on what Ajula and the others think I'm flexible."

[OgreBattle]

"My mother taught me that wizards die just as well as any other man if you put an axe through their skull, if that's what you mean."

Taotie jests: "It's when they don't die from an axe to the head is the worrying part about dealing with sorcery"



"When we reach this temple and delve inside it is inevitable that the armored host will catch up with us, I'd rather be well rested and ready for them when it comes."

[Ancient History]

Ajula sniffs the wind and flicks a zebra-hair brush to ward off flies. "The north-west oasis is closer, I think. I smell water."

[Korgan0]

"Let's go, then. We've no time to waste."

[OgreBattle]

"I hope it tastes as good as it smells."

To the water!

[Nebuchadnezzar]

"It looks like we are agreed to go to the northwestern oasis, then."

[Ancient History]

The Northwestern Oasis
Leaving the pilgrimage trail, you turn north and west, the Kushites in the lead. In only a few miles you come across a dense grove of fat-bodied trees with broad palm-like fronds and snaking roots that seems to cover the rich, dark earth, and drooping vines with bright purple flowers hang and coil from trunk to trunk. At the center of this grove you can just make out the stone rim of an ancient well, the vines drooping so low that the purple buds almost touch the surface of the water.

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Before anyone drinks of the well or refills their waterskins Neb. insists that he and Kamoses get a chance to determine what the flowers are, and if they might have tainted the water or are of some other use.

[Ancient History]

Neb and Kamose descend to examine the well and flowers. It is ancient stone, marked with strange symbols long eroded by time - though it seems clear from the characters that it was built by the Acheronians, whatever message it held is long lost. The water at least seems clear and pure, but the bottom of the well is lost to sight.

The flowers in the oasis are still buds, not yet ripened, so their smell and pollen do not permeate the grove, yet both the priests recognize the distinct hue and shape of the purple lotus, which is native to the swamps far south and east of here...

There is a rustle in the undergrowth. Neb catches sight of a pair of pale green eyes and a shock of long dark hair; and Kamose sees the hint of stick-thin brown legs and bare feet ducking behind one of the trees.

[Prak]

Kamoses motions for the warriors to come, but quietly, and if it can be conveyed, non-threateningly.

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Holding out a bit of food from his kit bag, Nebemakhet makes a series of gently friendly overtures in a softly lilting voice, working his way through the languages he knows (save Demonic, focusing on Stygian) in hopes of coaxing the unidentified person out from the underbrush. (If he's able to continue for more than a minute then it can hopefully count as a Diplomacy check.)

[OgreBattle]

Taotie checks for signs of others, or if there's a horse around. You don't often see someone walk to an oasis on foot.

[Korgan0]

Karlus will grab his bardiche and stand alongside Neb, looking around for signs of an ambush.

[Ancient History]

At the response to Neb's actions, a head pops out from behind the tree - it looks like a young Stygian girl, no more than twelve years old, dressed only in leaves and fronds from the trees. She says nothing, but only watches you with those pale green eyes. She doesn't seem to want to come any closer.

Taotie's scouting reveals no sign of a horse or other animal, but in several places near the roots of the trees there are bones of people and animals, all of which show signs of violent death - a broken arrow shaft protruding from an empty eye socket, the bronze gleam of a Stygian axe buried in a rib cage, all under the shade of the oasis trees.

The Kushites lead the animals into the outermost shade of the trees, with Ajula dismounting and approaching the well, sniffing at the water, then tasting it.

"It is good." He declares. "Fresh. A natural spring."