Play@YSDC

Hurry up, your worms!- exclaimed Nub- the enemy won't be waiting for us!
You have been walking since yesterday in the desert. The heat is terrible, with a sun unforgiving; but in the night you feel a frozen cold.
The group is all traveling on foot, including Oz Khan, who walks with his horse at his side.
After some time, you see a men in the sand.

Milosh points at the man. "We should take a closer look at him," he suggests. "If he's still alive, he may have seen our quarry. And if he's not, he may have something useful on him."

Öz whispers in his beasts ear, inaudible to his companions. He lets go of the tuzzle hanging from a colourfully embroided saddle. With long, fleeting strides he is upon the man in the sand.
"What tales do you carry, dog?" He more hisses than whispers the question. Quite loud for everyone to notice.
A tight grip he keeps at the back of the neck of the man. In his free hand he holds a curved, black dagger.

"Careful with that blade," says Milosh. "Dead men tell no tales."

You all see that it's a stygian, probably a member of the army of the loyalists. He only says:
-Water, I need water!
-Just kill him, we don't need to waste any time- says Nub.

ÆLIANUS:
ÆLIANUS steps forward, brow sweating from the merciless desert sun, and looks down at the figure in the sand, "Hmm, we could kill him but...He might carry information that may be of use"
He bends closer to the man, "Now friend, what do you know that might be worth a mouthful of water?"

The men seem to think the harder he can.
- We have the general with us. We are about ten men, but our group is very weak with the sun, we were trying to get to an Oasis near this place. We have only daggers, we droped all other weapons to travell faster. If you take me, I'l be a faithful servant- he says with hope.

ÆLIANUS:
smiles, turning his head to one side so thet the man might not see it. "I see...So this oasis do you know where it is?"

Ælianus pulls his leather water bottle from his belt, slowly pulling the stopper. For a moment it looks like he is about to offer the man a drink, but then he holds the bottle high above his face and allows a stream of the contents to fall towards his mouth. The meaning is quite obvious...

"The dog has shown his worth..." Öz releases his grip from the near dead man and lets the black dagger open his throat, nudging him closer to Styx. The walk in the desert has lent him sweaty palms and he drops the dagger in the sand. "Bloody hells of nine! Dis walking is a joke." Knowing he can lose face with his sloppy behaviour he mutters at the soon-to-be-dead man. "See that blade, dog? It´s your chance to finish yourself off. Else, Ælianus draught throat is willing to send you to the afterlife."

"Let's not kill him just yet," says Milosh. "He may know more than he's said." I don't trust this Stygian, he thinks. He has already betrayed his general. He'll betray us too given the opportunity.

-So you may watch me die in agony after I tell everything? I prefer death!- he says with a thankfull look to Oz.
He mumbles a quick prayer to Seth and cut his throat.
Nub and the other stygians didn't bother to stop.

ÆLIANUS:

"Oh well" mutters Ælianus straightening up and moving swiftly to one side to avoid the arterial spray of blood, "Would have been nice to know where this damned oasis is that he was on about. Still Mitra gives and Mitra takes".

He looks to where Nub and the Stygians plod onwards and shouts after them, "Any one know of an Oasis near here?"
Wherever here is? he adds under his breath.

Öz retrieves his dagger and swipes it clean from most of the grime on the dog´s clothing. He pats the corpse for loot. Checking the surrounding sand dunes and vegetation he recollects tactical maps from his father´s library. If he isn´t all wrong, there should be a substantial oasis due north of this locale.



"The sands tell there´s water...there." Öz points north. He smiles at Aelenius.

Priest,Congrats!

"Then that is the way we must go," says Milosh. "Find anything interesting on him? A map, a waterskin, gold? Right now, I'd rather have the first two."

OOC: You find some copper pieces and an amulet from Seth.

Öz puts the handful of coppers in a purse at his belt and releases the amulet of Seth from the corpse and proffers it to Milosh and Aelenius. "Something for either of you?" He studies the corpse, the sun and the landscape. "Companions, we could honour Elrik and burn our foe. The pyre could get the soldiers to backtrack and investigate, If nothing else, I could use the rest for my weary legs. Shara needs rest too she said. The pyre will keep us warm for some hours as well." He looks after their commander Nub. While doing so he drags some dry wood to pile on top of the corpse. "We´re of no use tired and weary."

OOC: You are in a desert. There are ocasional bushes, but it will take about an hour to find enouth wood to make a pyre.

Your captain is already a bit distant. He looks at you and screams:
- What are you doing? Let him die!

He didn't notice that the soldier commited suicide

"Hmm let him catch the first arrow, that will shut him up..." Öz thinks as he abandons his foraging for wood. Sand and more sand. Öz hurries slowly after the fore runners. "You all will meet your maker soon enough...", he mutters.

"Thank you, but I will pass on the amulet," says Milosh as he heads out with the others. "I do not worship Set. We can rest when we reach the oasis, after we slay the enemy. The buzzards will be happy too, as they shall have a feast."

You all resume the walk. After some hours, the sun is starting to feel less opressive. And after passing a dune, you see finally your prey! They are more than 500 meters. Away from them, a Oasis. And a city. But no city you ever saw (and not Stygian). This city is... green. Like if it was made with emeralds (or something similar). This is not the oasis they were looking for. It has a big wall. Your enemies seem puzzled by the city but suddenly they see you and start running to it.

Milosh runs after the fleeing enemy. "After them, quickly!" he shouts. "They must not gain the city! I just hope the gates are sealed against them"

Öz surly gets on his horse and spurs it to fleet after the foes. In picking up momentum he readies his bow and knocks an arrow, aiming at the enemy furthest away. Hoping that a missed shot will stick to some closer target, thus no arrow spent in vain. On that notion, he will not leave an arrow behind. All salvageable arrows will be collected after the battle.

OOC: please roll your combat style.

OOC: a 1d8.

turn 1
One of the enemies is hit. He fall, and then try to continue running (but lossed his speed, and his companions start running even faster).
All your group is running but much behind.

Turn 2
Shoot again (and if you hit, roll a 1d8).
The others continue to run.

Öz lets a new arrow fly. This time it´s a miss.

turn 3
Oz: Continuing the ride, you have now the chance of using the lance (and impaling the enemy that was hurt) or continue to attack with bow.

The others: please make an endurance roll

Cursing under his breath about the two wasted arrows, Öz swaps tactics and changes to his long spear, finishing the wounded soldier off. An arc of blood sprays the sky as the force of the spear tears through soft flesh. Holding in his horse, Öz circles in place and yells, "Elriik! Yaaaaah!" He remembers his fathers words. "Only the foolish and rash rushes blindly in to danger." Above, a bird circles slowly.
At that, he dismounts and retrieves the blooded arrow and starts to scout for the missed shot. All the while watching the city to make sure he´s not caught in a counterattack from the raiders.

Milosh runs onwards, not even winded.

As you retrieve the arrow, you see the men arriving at the gates. They discuss with some guards in the wall. Suddenly a bucket with a rope is throw to them; they put the weapons inside and then the door is hopened to them.

Noticing that. He searches the corpse for a lead as to where the oasis might be. Valuables will do, also. "They seems to be not friends with the people of the city, at least. Otherwise they´d be let in with blades." He thinks to himself waiting for the others.

Milosh keeps running after the fleeing men. He knows he won't reach them in time, but he has to try. Even if they enter the city, they cannot leave, he thinks.

The group arrive after some minutes; the enemies have enter in the city. You see some men in the wall, but they don't seem to be stygians (but you don't recognize them, they are too far). Your group is exausted after running in the desert. Nub starts screaming:

- Cursed be those dogs! They escaped and we don't know what city is this! They must be friends of our enemies if they left them enter!

Öz mounts his horse once again and trots towards Nub. "Master, do you need me to approach the gates with a message?"

"We'll need to talk them into letting us inside," says Milosh. "With my silver tongue, I could help there if you allow me to ride on the back of your horse. Of course, they probably will require us to put our weapons into the bucket as well."

Nub looks furious. Then he says:
-Very well, go near the city and ask if we can enter. And see what kind of people are they.

Ælianus:
Comes puffing up looking at the horse riding Oz with envious eyes, just in time to hear Milosh's comment about handing over weapons.
With a half smile he pulls a thin bladed knife hardly an inch in lenght and slides it inside his loincloth out of sight. Noting the eyes of Nub and the others on him he shrugs, "Got me out of trouble on many an occasion. By Ishtar's tits I will not walk unarmed into the unknown"

Endurance,1d100 → [98] = (98) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4742575/

"Good thinking," says Milosh, grinning. He waits for permission from Öz before joining him on the back of his mount.

"Hop up, friend. Let us see what kind they are." He offers a hand to Milosh.

You go nearer the walls. You finally see the men: they have slant eyes like Oz. But the similaries stop there. They have delicate features, with palid skin; the bodies are are also thin and tall. And their expression are of a mist of ancient knowledge and boredom, like if there was nothing new to learn. One of them says in a soft voice in stygian with a curious accent:

-Do you want to enter in our beautiful city?


OOC: You all understand stygian, even if you speak a broken version oif it; you have all 40% of it, so there is no need to put in the stats.

"Greetings, friend!" Milosh calls up, smiling. "Yes, we wish to enter your lovely city! We have more companions coming behind us, but we rode ahead."

Milosh waves to Nub and the rest of the troops behind them, beckoning them to come forward. "Where will our weapons be kept?" he asks. "I want to be sure they are secure."

Ælianus:
Watches as Milosh waves and shouts at Nub. Eyes twinkling he looks to see how many other have followed his example and concealed weapons within their clothing.
Those high walls must conceal some treasure worth taking and as his father used to say, "A man without a sword, is a man without a purse".
He spits and looks towards the commander Nub, "Well?"

AelianusNub says to the group:
-Let's see what they are talking about, but it seems safe.


Milosh and Oz

-The weapons will be secure in a warehouse, do no worry, you will recover them. You will have nothing to fear inside our walls so you don't need them.

Öz agrees to what is required. "Let us watch the streets of this city." Waiting for the basket to get down, he pulls his weapons forth. "Ai! We surrender our arms!"

To Milosh he grunts, "We´d have to tear them asunder with our teeth, ya?"

He waves for the troops to come closer.

Milosh also puts his sword in the bucket. "There are more of us than there of the enemy," he whispers to Öz, "and they will be equally unarmed...if not moreso. Once we find out where in the city they've gone, we have them."

All the weapons are put in the bucket. After a while the gates are open and you can enter.
Nub as the leader is the first entering but stops amazed: there isn't a street. The entrance is immediatly to a palace and several locals (men and women) are waiting for you (some with spears, must not). The women seem to take an extra interest for you...
The men that has talked with you come smiling with a much polite adress:
-Welcome to our city: I'm Kyet and this are my companions here in duty. Who are you?
-I am Nub, leader of the stygian army and I'm looking for some rebels- he says lying- and I demand that they will be seize.
-I'm sorry, but the outside politics are of no concerns to us. But we may have a solution. But first, let's comemorate your arrival.

"We saw a group of people enter the city shortly before we did," says Milosh. "Will they be at the commemoration too?"

Aelianus
Looks around taking in the welcoming committee, he notices the greter interest being shown by the women, and smiles and winks in a suggestive manner at the nearest. In a whisper he smirks to the Nubian, "The women look fine, but I guess some will be more interested in boys?"
Now he apraises the spear armed men, judging their usefulness in any conflict.

Öz smile widens as he sees the appreciative women. He bows his head and eagerly walks up the stairs.

-Yes, they will be there. And we will give a solution that I'm sure you will agree- he says with an enigmatic smile-. But first, we need to arrive there.

You walk for a long time in a maze of corridors, rooms, halls, but always inside door; it seems that that the city is just a giant palace. Most of them are empty, but they are still people in some of them (adults, teens, children), and they follow you excited. The rooms are all decorated with beautiful paintings, carvings and silk; they seem a prosperous and decadent people who lives for the pleasures of the flesh.
After a while you arrive at a giant hall. You see a huge crowd in there (many hundreds of people). They are all in the ground (but some have cushions), with no tables or chairs. Your host says after watching a free spot:
-I see there a good place, let's go.


Aelianus:
The soldiers don't seem professional soldiers like the mercenary army, more like a militia with basic training

"Thank you," says Milosh. "Your city is every bit as beautiful as you said, if not moreso." He takes a seat on a free cushion in the indicated area.

Aelianus
Steps carefully through the assemblage and lowers himself to a cushion beside Milosh. The cushion is comfortable but he cannot relax he fees naked in a nest of cobras without his weapons, He glances around noting the positions of any militia and the availability of any quick escape routes should they be needed.

Please go to chapter Two: the city