Campaign log: Report to Great Priest Ixanama

[Stomoxys]

Packing up our stuff, we made our way to the wagon place and instructed them to take us out the east gate and continue on the road east. At the first village, Nuur-Karif and Yana tried to find out if there were any empty farms in the area. Our low expectations were confirmed, and the best we could hope to find would be empty tool sheds. Nuur-Karif suggested they could pay someone to borrow their farm. This sounded odd, but they were convinced it would work and I think they intended to find Ashtarites. However, we decided that this would take too long and result in too many potential witnesses. Instead, we decided to scare away peasants from a farm, lure Tivito in and interrogate them there. If we traveled farther from Byblos, reinforcements would take several hours, which should give us enough time to extract information from the prisoners, liquidate them, destroy the evidence and disappear.

After about an hour, we passed another village and turned south down a smaller road. We followed it for another half an hour, before we reached a small village and decided this area was as good as any for our operation.

Nuur-Karif and Yana jumped out and would stay in the village to observe how the locals reacted while the rest of us would continue on and find a suitable farm. If the coach was observed to pass through the village several times, it might be noticed, so we rode back a few minutes and jumped out on a stretch of the road partially covered by an orchard. In hindsight, Nuur-Karif should not have been observed coming from the coach. They were planning to pretend to be poor, and poor apeoids do generally not travel by coach.

Wolfram, Grogg, Hylda and I walked back past Nuur-Karif's village. Because the day of judgement was near, it would not be unreasonable to assume we were bounty hunters. The natives aggressively pretended we were not there, but they might remember two trolls passing through if Tivito decides to interrogate everyone in the area. As we walked, I watched for possible hiding places and escape routes, but as expected, the landscape was poorly suited for the purpose. Except for scattered orchards, there were only fields and farms separated by low stone fences in all directions. However, irrigation ditches crisscrossed the land. They were not deep enough to hide Grogg or Wolfram if they were standing upright, but the muddy water in the bottoms could hide our tracks and mask our scents. Combined with the natives' insistence on staying inside at night, moving unseen should be possible, even for Grogg.

We spotted a small farm to the east of the road that was set a bit back from the road and surrounded by a relatively dense orchard and stone fences. This would have to do. We continued on slowly and pretended to make camp when Ajaw neared the horizon. After darkness had descended, we packed up and moved back to the farm house as silently as possible. The road was hard packed dirt, leaving almost no tracks, but I still trailed behind blurring them a bit.

As we got to the path leading up to the target farm, Grogg and Hylda hid behind a stone fence and I left my clothes with them. Wolfram walked a bit up the path before they transformed into the demon bear. I wonder what Tivito will think of the ash tracks suddenly appearing.

The bear prowled towards the farmhouse, occasionally sniffing the air. I followed about 30 meters behind to keep watch. When Wolfram reached the buildings, they broke the silence by scratching their claws against the wall and panicked whispering could be heard from inside. The shutters on one of the small windows was opened slightly, but were slammed shut almost immediately when Wolfram showed themselves. The bear scratched the wall and growled again, producing a half muffled scream from inside and the sound of someone barricading the door.

The farm house had a basement with a hatch leading down from the outside. Oddly enough, a bar was lying across the hatch on the outside, blocking the escape of anyone trying to leave that way. From the panicked whispering inside, I could tell that the apeoids inside where planning to hide in the cellar. Wolfram must have picked it up as well, because they started to scratch on the bar and tossed it away. They then tore open the hatch and gave a terrible roar. This produced the desired effect, as three apeoids jumped out of one the windows, screaming about Mitra's protection and alerting Byblos.

I followed the apeoids silently as they made their way to the next farm to the north. They had quieted down on the way, but pounded the door and shouted that they were chased by an enormous beast and needed horses to warn Byblos. The apeoid that opened the door was initially grumpy about them being out at night, but let them in when they saw the panicked faces. I waited, hoping to see someone take off on horseback, but nothing happened for half an hour. Sneaking up to the house, I could hear the sounds of apeoids sleeping inside. The demon bear had more work to do.

I fetched a reluctant Wolfram, that turned back into the demon bear and followed me to the farm, making sure to leave an ash trail. The apeoids from the farm must have passed out from the exhaustion or lost their hearing, because Wolfram stomped around the farm and scratched the walls for at least ten minutes and nothing happened. Finally, Wolfram stuck their snout in through one of the windows and started breathing ash into the house. As if to make up for their slow response, the panicked apeoids came tumbling out of windows and doors and ran screaming in all directions. One of the apeoids from the first farm ran to small stable and managed to take off on horseback, though they did fall off once and must have hurt themselves badly.

I made sure they ran all the way to Nuur-Karif's village before I returned to the others at the first farmhouse. The rider had continued on towards Byblos. In theory, Tivito could arrive in as little as four or five hours, so I refrained from searching for visions and took the first watch. It was eventless. After two hours, I woke Wolfram and found a tree in the orchard to sleep in.

[Stomoxys]

I woke with Ajaw and roused the others except Hylda who was keeping watch. In case someone showed up, we should not be trapped in the farmhouse. Next to the path was shallow ditch separated from the path by a stone fence where we could hide and have breakfast. In the light of day, I noticed that the grass around Wolfram's ash tracks was dead and withered. At the crypt, there had been no grass to kill, so I had not noticed it before. It reminded me of Odon's tracks at the crater.

Nuur-Karif appeared soon after and told us what they had experienced. They had befriended the innkeeper and slept in the common room in the small village inn. In the middle of the night, peasants had come running into the village screaming about a beast. A rider had also passed through, shouting for everyone to hide before continuing on towards Byblos. They had stayed the rest of the night and were woken in the morning by riders approaching. It had turned out to be two of the king's guard and Yana estimated they had left the village at the main road with Ajaw's first light.

Nuur-Karif and Yana had quietly left the village, but had observed the guards talking to the innkeeper and followed them to the second farm Wolfram had attacked. When the guards had seen the ash tracks, they had tasked the innkeeper with keeping apeoids away from the farm and had galloped off. The innkeeper was left with a dejected look on their face. They must have realised that Tivito would come. Nuur-Karif and Yana had followed the ash tracks to us.

Since we wanted to surprise Tivito quickly, we decided to move to the northern farm that they would likely reach first. We buried our equipment to the east of the farm, as this would be the best direction to escape. Nuur-Karif, Yana, and I are able to hide and would scout outside for anyone approaching while my larger companions would hide in the building. If they could surprise them inside, Tivito would not be able to use their expected numerical advantage as effectively. The downside is that they might be trapped inside if things go bad.

This is a poorly planned operation and we have very little information about our foes. Wolfram, based on Tiri's mode of operation, believed we could expect five to ten Tivito followers, including one or two sorcerers and they would probably be on foot, as horses are stupid and skittish. If they are on foot, both escape and hunting down stragglers will be easier. Hopefully Tivito operates in a similar manner to Tiri followers, but we are close to Byblos, so they might have access to considerably resources. This is a poorly planned operation and I would have insisted we abandon it if we had more time. Amna will is expected to wane in ten days.

[Stomoxys]

After digging down our equipment, we gathered in the farmhouse of the northern farm to belatedly discuss tactics. Due to the withered plants in the footsteps, Wolfram thought Tivito would expect some rouge death sorcerer and were unlikely to send a large expedition to deal with the problem. On the other hand, if they thought demonic powers were loose, they would probably send all available forces. It was decided that I would keep watch by the village. If a large party of more than 12 approached, we would retreat, otherwise we would stay. In case something went very wrong and we got separated, we would try to meet up at the Star Circle. I am not sure Grogg would know how to find their way, but they did not complain.

I had expected Wolfram to have some experience interrogating prisoners, but they confessed they did not. One would think this would be a useful skill when smiting bad sorcerers, but then again, I have the impression that the Tiri followers are more focused on the "smiting" than the "bad sorcerer" part. Since I was the only one with any experience, the questioning would be my responsibility. Their hysterical nature should make the apeoids easy to crack, but I wish I had had some practice with their kind.

The farm consisted of the farmhouse, a stable, and a small shack for tools and poultry surrounding a well. The farmhouse and the stable formed the north western corner of a large enclosure bordered by stone fences, with the farmhouse to the north and the stable to the west. The village was a fifteen minutes walk to the north west and the path arrived at the corner between the farmhouse and the stable. The doors of the buildings faced the well, but the farmhouse also had a hatch on the the northern side, facing an orchard.

We wanted to lure the Tivito into the farmhouse where they could be overpowered by Grogg and Wolfram. To achieve this, Wolfram in the shape of The Star Bear would be growling and make their presence known. Nuur-Karif would stay with Yana and Hylda in the shack. That way the Nuur-Karif could fall our foes in the back and Yana and Hylda stay out of the way. I would be scouting by the village, so I would remain hidden and mobile and shoot them in the back. I expected a tough fight, so I prepared all my arrows with poison from Slikk and Slakk.

We were nearing the time when the king's guard could have reached Byblos and returned with reinforcements, so I set off towards the village and found a nice old tree to hide in. It gave me an overview of the village and the road a good distance to the north and I settled down to wait. However, nothing happened for the next four hours except a native that was stopped and sent back by the innkeeper.

I got hungry just sitting there, so I sneaked off to a nearby orchard and stole some apples. While serving myself, I spotted three riders approaching on the road and returned to my hiding tree. The riders turned out to be from the king's guard, so I hurried back to the others and told them to hide at the smaller farm as there would be no point in fighting the king's guard. I then returned to the village just in time to see the guards leave the inn talking with the innkeeper. They said someone would come to help, probably the day after, but they did not promise anything.

Saying goodbye to the innkeeper, they left the way they came, but soon took off from the main road and followed a path to the east. I shadowed them and it turned out they were making a round, informing all the nearby peasants that the northern farm we had taken was off limits. They did not mention the southern farm were my companions were hiding and I realized their route would take them in a large circle around the northern farm that ended at the southern farm. I cut across the circle and sent my companions back to the northern farm. When the soldiers reached the southern farm, they first looked very concerned with the tracks and then took the whole round again, telling the natives that the southern farm was also forbidden. After finishing their rounds, the soldiers went to the inn and stabled their horses, settling down to stay the night.

I returned to the others and we agreed to stay one more day. It was quite possible Tivito were too busy dealing with Volkir and what other schemes they were hatching, so we would disappear in the night if they did not arrive. Wolfram took the first night watch, while I looked for visions from the cold and horse signs. It did not feel like anything went wrong, but I did not get any visions, only a strange feeling. I wanted to sit down and meditate on the strange feeling, but Wolfram informed me that it was my watch, so I told them to go to sleep and climbed the roof of the farmhouse.

[Stomoxys]

Almost immediately, I saw a light on the road approaching at walking speed. It was still a good distance to the north, so I hurried down and woke Nuur-Karif and we set off towards the village. From my hiding tree, we could see that the light came from a lantern attached to a small cart pulled by a horse. Behind the cart followed four riders that were armed and armoured according to Nuur-Karif. Behind the riders followed two more apeoids on foot dressed in cloaks that hid their features. There was also an apeoid riding the cart that, judging from their clothes, had lower status than the riders. Perhaps a servant. Nuur-Karif whispered that the apeoids on foot had hard, sharp, burning weapons, but could not tell me how they knew.

Nuur-Karif hurried back to wake the others while I stayed to observe what the apeoids would do. The apeoid on the cart was sitting on two chests and there was a large object covered by a tarp behind them. When the travelers arrived in the village, they woke the soldiers and sent them away while the innkeeper was conscripted as a guide. While the guards would be no match for Grogg, they would be useful meat shields, so I was glad to see them go. The riders acted as if their authority was absolute and the innkeeper looked very nervous, indicating that the group was Tivito. I silently cursed that I had spent so much energy hunting for visions and started to sneak back towards the farm. While I was not exhausted, I would not last long in a prolonged battle. After making sure the riders had started down the path towards the farm, I sped up and reached the farm several minutes before them. After telling Grogg and Wolfram what was happening, I climbed up on the roof of the farmhouse where I would have a good view of the path and the courtyard.

The Tivito approached carefully with the innkeeper in front, followed by the cloaked apeoids that had been on foot, the riders and finally the cart. Two of the riders had already dismounted and the last two dismounted when the innkeeper told them this was the place. The innkeeper was ordered to continue and slowly walked forward with the lantern. They were searching for something on the ground and alerted the others when they found one of Wolfram's footprints. One of the cloaked apeoids produced a dagger and did a hand motion as if unsheathing the dagger from an invisible scabbard and the dagger began to glow. Apparently Elik had decided to join the operation.

The apeoid with the glowing dagger looked at the tracks and nodded while the other Elik lit their dagger. Apparently satisfied, they sent the innkeeper away. The terrified apeoid carefully put the lantern down by the cart before running off into the night. From the light of their daggers, I could tell the Elik were humans. The servant on the cart picked up the lantern and approached the tracks together with one of the dismounted apeoids. Both of them looked like elves but the dismounted elf looked older. They said "It is time to release Oros.", which made the servant run back to the cart. They and one of the other dismounted riders lifted the large object off the cart and started fiddling with the tarp. I could sense the rider was using magic, but there was no visible effect.

They got the tarp off and revealed a cage with three owls. The owls sat quietly on a perch, scanning their surroundings and hooting quietly. One of them appeared to look right at me for a moment and its eyes seemed to glow or focus the light reflected from its eyes. I made a note to keep Nuur-Karif from killing the owls.

The sorcerer stuck their arm into the cage and one of the owls perched on it. They then brought it over to the Elik and knelt down to study the tracks. After a few seconds, the Elik and owl sorcerer agreed that the tracks were magical and the owl was let down on the ground while the owl sorcerer started on a spell. Just then I heard Kra's cawing heading towards the orchard and at least some of the apeoids heard it. The owl sorcerer finished their spell and said something in Lithin to the owl, making it fly off into the night. It was very quiet, but I could just make out the flaps of its wings and it sounded like it circled the farm. If we get hold of Pakk and Gromann, I am going to get them to teach me Lithin.

Kra cawed again and flew back towards the farm house and attracted one of the Elik, but the Elik returned when the other gave a low whistle. The owl returned to the sorcerer who used magic again and stood there with closed eyes for about two minutes. In the meantime, the servant returned to the cart and released the horse. After finishing their spell, the sorcerer put the owl back in the cage and consulted with the other riders. By then, I had determined that they were all elves.

The elves appeared to reach an agreement and one of them went over to the Elik and pointed towards the houses. The Elik set off towards the back of the stable. While they walked silently, the shining daggers announced their presence to everyone. I was not sure if anyone was in the stable, but I nocked an arrow and aimed for the nearest Elik until they turned a corner. However, they did must not have heard anything and appeared on the far side of the stable, sneaking towards the shack. There, they took up position by the door and an owl came flying and landed next to them. It stood there for a short while before returning to the servant who hurried over to the owl sorcerer. I think the elves used the owls like Odon used the rats, because the sorcerer signaled for the Elik to kill. One of the Elik began casting a spell while the other one prepared to rip open the door of the shed. The Elik are capable of making blinding flashes and Nuur-Karif would have nowhere to retreat if they were inside, so I fired an arrow into the Elik holding the door.

The wounded Elik stumbled to the ground and I looked away towards the elves to avoid the flash. A flash did light up the courtyard and when I looked back, Nuur-Karif, covered in blood, was running towards the Elik from the stable while Grogg came roaring from the farmhouse. They should be able to take care of the Elik, so I focused on the elves. I started aiming for the closest, but they moved next to the owl sorcerer and began casting a spell while another elf had gotten in front and was trying to cover them with a shield. It would not be easy to control two sorcerers as prisoners, so I decided that we should keep the owl sorcerer and shot the other sorcerer. Unfortunately, their armour saved them and they remained standing.

In the corner of my eye, I saw the Elik I had shot get back on their feet, but they dodged a swing from Grogg's club, putting them within reach of Nuur-Karif who promptly sliced their throat. The other one was gone, but appeared on the western corner of the shack. Both Nuur-Karif and Grogg rushed them and they all ended up behind the stable where I could not see them. I was more focused on the last elf that had produced a bow and a brightly glowing arrow that they aimed in the direction of the farm house. While they did not appear to be aiming for me, I took no changes and rolled over the ridge of the roof to get more cover. However, the arrow flew high above the roof and ended up hovering 10 meters above the courtyard producing a light as bright as day. While the light appeared to emanate from the arrow, the edges of the illuminated area was unnaturally sharp.

Staying on the roof would leave me very exposed, so I jumped down and ran past Wolfram, signalling for them that there were five apeoids and that they were using magic. I am not sure they understood anything in their bear shape, but they started shifting back into a human for some reason. Grogg came stomping back into the courtyard, but had two bleeding and burnt wounds and looked to be in a bad shape. The last Elik must have gotten some hits in. There were no signs of Nuur-Karif, but if Grogg had taken the hits, Nuur-Karif was probably alive and hopefully on their way to outflank the elves. I had just gotten around the farm house and headed for the trees when I heard the owl sorcerer shout that any intelligent beings should make themselves known or everything would be disintegrated. The other one was cursing Elik.

[Stomoxys]

I made it to the trees, relying on Grogg's roaring and the darkness for cover. Just as I ducked behind a tree, an insect swarm flew from the sorcerers towards the roof of the farmhouse. The sorcerer I shot was preparing another spell while shouting that we should surrender as we were not the ones they were looking for. Meanwhile, the owl sorcerer was screaming that they were Tivito and had the right to kill anyone. I made my way through the trees to get a better angle around the shield and saw no signs of the archer.

The sorcerer finished their spell and an apeoid appeared right next to them. Just then, Grogg roared and the burning corpse of one of the Elik assassins came flying towards Tivito. It fell short, but in the light of the fire I got a better view of the new arrival. They looked wrong, as if incomplete, but I could not put my finger on what was off with them. They were definitely magical though.

Nuur-Karif appeared from the far side of the stable stumbling towards the Tivito. While their bloodlust can override their reason, attacking alone while wounded would make it very difficult for them to kill anyone, so I assumed they were acting.

Tivito were slowly withdrawing from the light of the burning corpse, except the new humanoid who produced a clay jar and advanced towards the corpse. I prepared to fire against the shielded Tivito and spotted Wolfram (in human form) leaning out of a window in the farmhouse with Lunari's giant crossbow. We fired almost simultaneously. The shielded Tivito was able to block my arrow with their shield and which it punched through, but it was not able to penetrate their armour. Wolfram had more success and hit the owl sorcerer in the chest. They must have been wearing a thick breastplate though, because they survived and was dragged moaning to their feet by their allies. The magical apeoid continued their advance while Nuur-Karif appeared to have stopped.

The elves must have realized where the missiles came from because the magical apeoid was directed towards the orchard. Wolfram came tumbling out of the window and would end up between me and the magical one, so I held my ground and prepared a new arrow. It looked like the Tivito were trying to get away, retreating towards their servant who was preparing the horses. Wolfram must have seen it as well and shouted something about zombies in the north, getting a terrified scream from Nuur-Karif in response. Hoping the shouting would distract them, I fired at the legs of the shielded Tivito, but it went past them and hit the owl sorcerer, who fell to the ground again.

Wolfram was unusually sensible and did not engage the magical apeoid in melee, instead trying to throw their daggers at the it, but missed. It continued its advance towards Wolfram and drew a magical stone from the clay jar. Just as they were about to throw the rock, it emitted a sound as if to stones were struck hard together and the magical apeoid fell to their knees with half their head missing. It was gone before it hit the ground.

The owls started hooting and shrieking while Tivito were shouting about horses and trying to escape. The corpse of the other Elik, also on fire, came flying from the farmhouse and landed next to the first. It was followed by a charging Grogg. Without their horses, Tivito would be stranded and would have no way of outrunning Grogg. Hoping to scare the horses away, I made my way towards them. Wolfram followed behind me, charging towards the elves.

However, before I could get there, scene was complete chaos. Grogg had slammed into Tivito and were fighting the shielded one while someone had released the owls who were flying off in all directions. Nuur-Karif was running after someone in the dark, their knives flashing in the faint light of Amna, while the owl sorcerer was lying on the ground. The other sorcerer ran towards the servant and grabbed the reins one of the horses.

Mammals here are typically afraid of me, so I hoped to scatter the horses, but it was just a partial success. The sorcerer and the servant were able to keep control of the horses they were holding and the sorcerer managed to get on theirs. Whether from a tactical consideration or their hatred of horses, Grogg charged towards the sorcerer. Luckily, Wolfram had joined the fray and engaged the shielded Tivito, otherwise, they could have struck Grogg in the back. Grogg was not fast enough, however, and the sorcerer set off with the troll in pursuit. I sent an arrow after them, but missed both sorcerer, horse, and Grogg and they disappeared into the darkness.

The shielded Tivito dropped their sword and got up on the horse the servant was holding. Before they could set off, however, Wolfram struck the horse and it reared up before falling to the ground. The Tivito was tossed clear, and Wolfram was instantly on them. The servant was crawling on the ground, trying to get away, but I ran over and grabbed them. Wolfram's strange knuckle dagger was embedded in their chest and they were lucky to be alive. While it did not look like they were in immediate danger, they would probably bleed to death if left untreated. It did not help that they were hysterical and feebly thrashing around, trying to escape my grip.

Nuur-Karif came out of the darkness and stabbed at the throat of the shielded Tivito with a bloody dagger. They drew blood, but the poison must have been washed away by the blood of their previous victim, because the Tivito survived. Wolfram shouted for Nuur-Karif to get away from their prisoner and Nuur-Karif came towards me. The servant was screaming about me being some kind of monster and that they were doomed. It was completely impossible to get through their hysteria, so I shouted for Nuur-Karif to try to calm them and not kill them. Seeing an apeoid talking calmly, the servant relaxed a little and I let Nuur-Karif take control of the prisoner, repeating the instruction to not kill them.

Off in the distance, I heard Grogg roar something about Kra while I made it over to Wolfram. They had the Tivito in a vice like grip and the elf was hissing that they would surrender if we killed "the slave", apparently referring to the servant. Why they would care about a slave was strange and a good reason to not kill the servant. Perhaps we could even turn them. A cooperative Tivito would be much more valuable than an uncooperative one, even if they were only a slave. I got my rope ready to tie up the shielded one. Both the owls and the sorcerer escaped, so we would not have much time.

[Stomoxys]

I began tying up the compliant Tivito, which was complicated by Wolfram insisting on wrenching the captives limbs and generally being sadistic. Yana and Hylda appeared from the farmhouse and Nuur-Karif instructed Yana to fetch one of the horses that were still nearby. Grogg returned from their horse hunt, limping from the gash in their leg and looking considerably worse for wear. They complained that they had not been able to catch the horse, but I told they could kill the horse trashing on the ground before it kicked someone. This was accomplished this by repeatedly kicking the horse in the head until it expired. The horse Yana was trying to calm did not enjoy the show and bolted, sending Yana flying. Nuur-Karif set off after the horse into the night.

Wolfram was eager to start torturing the Tivito, but I got Grogg to carry the captive back to the stable and tied them to a beam. They repeated that they refused to talk unless we killed the slave. This would be our only chance to survive, because then, their version of events would be the only one. If left alive, Tivito would have no qualms about using their methods to get the truth from a slave. I wanted to know more, but having Wolfram around would make any kind of discussion impossible, so I sent Wolfram to see to the slave.

With Wolfram gone, the captive became more talkative. They wondered if we were some religious fanatics intending to start a religious war. Considering my companions, I could not really deny that and merely confirmed that Wolfram was in fact religious. According to the captive, Tivito was doing their best to prevent such a war, but refused to say anything more unless we killed the slave. Horos, the favourite owl of the owl sorcerer would be in Byblos in half an hour. Tivito would have someone there who could see what it had seen and reinforcements would be on their way. My impression was that the captive was truthful and while they would prefer to not die or feel pain, they were not afraid of either.

Wolfram shouted at me from outside and I came back out into the light of the shining arrow. Someone had dragged the corpse of the archer back to the farm. It had a dark, sickly bruise around a cut on the throat were Nuur-Karif had stabbed them and Yana was busy trying to dress the corpse up as the slave. Wolfram wanted to fool the captive into thinking we had killed the slave, but the archer was considerably taller and Yana's disguise would not stand up to close scrutiny. I pointed out that I could use an illusion on the head, but it would be tricky, as I do not think my illusions can survive physical contact. In addition, I was still tired from reading the stars earlier and it looked like it was going to be a long night. Wasting energy on an illusion could slow me down if we had to flee.

I had left Grogg to watch the prisoner, but they came wandering out and shouted that the captive only wanted the tongue of the slave. The archer corpse had a tongue, so that should not be a problem, but the specificity sounded odd. Wolfram went to check the tongue of the slave while I set to work on the corpse. The slave's tongue had a tattoo with the letter L on it, so we would still need an illusion and Wolfram wanted me to come and take a look. On our way in, Grogg shouted that the captive said the demon was in the palace.

The slave was unconscious on the floor and no longer bleeding, but it was clear that they would not be able to walk for a long time. Since the captive had been more cooperative than expected, there was little point in keeping the slave alive. I anticipated that Wolfram would not agree to this, as they think slaves are inherently good for some reason, at least when Wolfram's not trying to stab them to death. Instead, I pointed out that Grogg would not be able to carry them in their current state and if we left the slave, Tivito would probably torture them. We have seen what Tivito are capable of doing to spirits. By far the best fate the slave could hope for was to die in their sleep.

Wolfram would have none of it and wanted to interrogate the slave. They instructed Hylda to wake the slave and they slapped the slave so hard I thought their jaw might break. I silently hoped the rough treatment would put the slave out of their misery, but instead it brought them back to consciousness. They immediately became hysterical and started screaming about me being a monster. The hysteria infected Wolfram, who threw themselves at me and threw me out of the farmhouse. It was unlikely that much would be lost if Wolfram botched the interview with the slave, so I left the hysterical apeoids to their own devices and returned to the captive in the stable.

[Stomoxys]

I explained to the captive that the slave was too wounded to survive and they visibly relaxed. My first question was what Grogg had meant about the demon in the palace. They explained that most of the Tivito with skills in magic were at the palace or at the universities south of the palace, so if anyone could deal with demons, they would be there. I then asked about the captive and they said their name was Korro. They lived in Byblos with their family close to an inn call The Golden Arrow. The upper floors of The Golden Arrow was used by Tivito as a regional office and had to be the place the Ashtar priestess had talked about. It was about half a kilometer north of The Evening Light Terrace and they gave detailed directions.

The sorcerers Korro had arrived with were named Alem and Vanus. Alem was the owl sorcerer, while Vanus was the one who had escaped. Vanus answered only to Elanos Larma, the head of Tivito in Byblos. Elanos Larma sounds like a character of interest and Korro had seen them at The Golden Arrow two or three times. Korro had never spoken to them directly though, as they were too low in rank. They could commandeer slaves and equipment from Tivito, but otherwise they were little more than a foot soldier and knew very little about magic. Interestingly, they had sworn an oath of loyalty and would be put to death if Tivito discovered that they had talked to us.

When I asked them about the demon artifacts, they wanted to know who had told us that. I replied that they were better off not knowing, and they said someone was trying to fool us. According to Korro, demons were eternal, invincible powers that mortals could not do anything about. Their knowledge of dragons was at an equally superstitious level, but they had to admit that it was obvious that powerful forces were at work. A pity that Vanus escaped, they would have been a useful captive.

They could not say much about Elik either. In the last few weeks, Elik cultists had started coming along on missions and they did not mind as the Elik were willing meat shields with nasty daggers. While we talked, I cleaned Grogg's cut. The cuts themselves were not very deep, but the flesh around them were burned and blackened. At least the wounds had been partially cauterized, so there had not been much blood loss, but Grogg would have an excuse to enjoy their needle again. While I worked, the light outside suddenly disappeared and I had to fetch a lantern.

If we let Korro go, they would pretend to have escaped and run to meet the reinforcements and try to delay them. We should flee east and stick to the areas controlled by Amrosh. That was Kabal territory and even though Korro had heard that Kabal and Tivito were supposed to collaborate, they had not seen much evidence of that. Kabal in the Amrosh areas appeared to do whatever they felt like. We would not be safe as long as we stayed in Arland though.

I would have liked to make them elaborate, but we had stayed around for an hour already and should get going. Wolfram had finished with the slave and sat outside taking notes. The slave had mostly regurgitated Tivito and Larma propaganda, but had confirmed that Tivito could be found at The Golden Arrow and that Elanos Larma had a residence at the third floor there. Killing Korro would be the safest thing to do, but I had the impression they had been truthful. If we were caught, we could reveal that Korro had broken their oath, so they had a strong interest in helping us. In the longer term, we would have leverage over someone inside Tivito, which could prove to be useful. I explained this to Wolfram, who at first was unwilling to refrain from smiting a bad sorcerer, but relented after I pointed out that Korro was not a sorcerer.

Walking Korro out of the stable, I told them to look into who got the king's fever and their relationship to Larma. Korro seemed to genuinely think Tivito had nothing to do with the demons, so I decided a soft approach would be best. Hopefully, they would realize something was off which might turn them into a useful agent. Just as they were about to run off, I warned them that if they met a female human in the night, they should not try to hide, but surrender and explain the situation. Hopefully, Nuur-Karif would be let the opportunity to kill go.

I turned to Wolfram and again explained that we had to kill the slave. They had realized the sorry state the slave was in and agreed. I wondered if we should place the slave on the ground outside to put them closer to Ashtar, which made Grogg protest. Even though Lunari is long dead, Grogg still carries their former master's paranoia about the Nuur-Karif and, by extension, Ashtar. I doubted it would make any difference, so I told Grogg to go ahead and finish the slave. Just then, Nuur-Karif came running out of the darkness saying that it had to be done properly. They turned towards the door of the farmhouse, but Grogg smacked them and rushed into the building. Nuur-Karif was not seriously hurt and rushed after. However, we heard a thump from inside and the slave's corpse came flying halfway out the window. Grogg's boot had left a deep dent in their skull and a quick examination revealed that they were no longer a concern.

It was time to leave and I sent Grogg and Wolfram to dig up our equipment. I went searching for my arrows and recovered two. At the cart, I found two clay jars with three Kabal tokens in each. The jars looked similar to the one the magical apeoid had carried and I went over to the orchard. The jar had shattered when it hit the ground after the apeoid vanished, but I found two more tokens on the ground. I carefully gathered them up and brought them and the jars from the cart to Wolfram. They believed that there might be spells captured in the tokens, similar to how Kabal had captured spirits. They warned me we should not do anything with them before we had studied them. I agreed, so I put the jars in Grogg's backpack and put the last two tokens in a pouch I got from Yana. The jars could have held twenty tokens each and we had seen how unstable they were, so I did not want to add more tokens to the jars. I attached the pouch to the back of my backpack to keep it as far from my body as possible.

[Stomoxys]

Nuur-Karif had been praying in the farmhouse, but finally joined us and informed us they had killed Vanus, the sorcerer that escaped. That would be one less loose thread and nobody would be left to dispute Korro's story. However, we had not gained much new information, so overall I consider our little excursion to be a failure. Korro might turn out to be a valuable asset though.

Either way, we had to get moving and did not have time to hear Nuur-Karif's account. Wolfram started packing our equipment on the back of the horse while I took Grogg and Hylda to get rid of the corpses. The less evidence that could contradict Korro's story, the better. Besides, the archer had the signature neck wounds of an Ashtarite's victim and Nuur-Karif would insist we got involved if this little skirmish got the Ashtarites fighting.

After we had dragged the corpses that were not already on fire and the cart into the stable, I put the stable to the torch. In hindsight, I should have set the farmhouse on fire as well to complete the savage scene. Hopefully the flames will spread on their own.

In the meantime Grogg started tearing apart one of the Elik corpses. According to Hylda, the Elik corpses had spontaneously caught fire and were still smouldering. Grogg's goal was the heart which they ripped out of the carcass. However, they only sniffed it and dropped it on the ground before stomping off. The stench of burning flesh was intense and the heart appeared to be completely charred, much more than the adjacent organs.

Wolfram had finished packing when we returned and after some discussion, we decided to go south and then west, back to Byblos. Considering that the owl saw Grogg and possibly the rest, I was not convinced that Byblos was such a good idea, but I expect to be able to escape if the others manage to get themselves killed. With more time, I would have gone over the farm and erased our tracks, but I could only obscure the most obvious ones. The ground was dry dirt however, so my tracks would not be very visible next to Grogg's and Wolfram's.

After 45 minutes walking south, we reached a larger road going east-west and continued west for another hour. I made sure to smear out our tracks to make it harder to determine what and how many we were. This was not very difficult on the hard packed dirt road and our tracks would be gone after a day's traffic. However, the apeoids train dogs to follow tracks by smell and I imagine they would have no problem tracing us back to Byblos.

We had a short break and I asked Nuur-Karif what had happened. Vanus had been forced to stop because they had gotten a headache and dizziness. Nuur-Karif suspected it was Slikk and Slakk's poison and confirmed it after licking one of my arrows. According to Nuur-Karif the poison is not lethal, but can cause such symptoms. I was curious how they could tell from just a taste, but it is probably an Ashtar thing or their extensive experience with poisons.

At the moment, I was more interested in what had happened with Vanus. Nuur-Karif had gotten the jump on them and killed them in their trademark fashion, making no attempt to hide the evidence. Even worse, a witness had seen them do it. They insisted that the witness had only gotten a glimpse, but were unwilling to elaborate and generally sparse on details. Perhaps because they did not want to talk in front of Yana, but it sounded strange. Especially their insistence that it could not be traced to an Ashtarite. They acted like they had murdered some random peasant and not a high ranking member of an organization of sorcerers allied to an Ashtarite faction with both reason and motivation to suspect Ashtarites. I wonder if Tivito can take images from the mind of others. If so, the witness might be better off dead if Tivito is as brutal as they are rumoured to be.

The others, especially Grogg, were covered in blood, so we took the time to wash off a bit before continuing. After another three hours, we spotted the lights of larger village and river boats ahead. I put on my disguise and we discussed were to go. Nuur-Karif wanted to go back to the mercenary complex, but I put my foot down. The chapel guards were aligned with The Evening Light Terrace and our stay at the complex was not exactly discreet. I am not sure I managed to get through to Nuur-Karif, but Wolfram agreed that it was better to go to a random inn and Grogg was happy to go anywhere that was not full of Ashtarites, so Nuur-Karif was overruled.

Ajaw was rising behind us and we started to see a few peasants on the road, but nothing out of the ordinary. At the river. The others washed off the rest of the blood. A bit up the river, a party of travelers was also washing themselves before entering Byblos, indicating that this was common behaviour. We had to get rid of the horse as it had a tattoo on its ear, and Yana suggested we could sell it if we found some underground contacts. Nuur-Karif thought this was a good idea for some reason, but we did not have the time and did not need the money, so we simply left it.

Wolfram got paler as we neared the gates and asked if Nuur-Karif could give them any river thistle. They answered that they had used it all, hinting that they had used it while hunting Vanus. Nuur-Karif had had enough to kill several apeoids, which might explain why they were unwilling to talk in front of Yana. Wolfram had to make do with alcohol and a sedating plant called Mountain Mint from Grogg. While it did the trick, they got many strange looks from passersby when guzzling half the bottle and looked increasingly sick while we walked through Byblos.

We went to the eastern, poorer part of Byblos and found a run down inn. The owners were busy tossing out the patrons that had passed out drunk the night before, but let us rent three rooms. The noise of reveling apeoids could be useful to mask our activities. Nuur-Karif went down to fetch food while I fetched a bucket for Wolfram and helped them off with their armour. They passed out almost immediately afterwards, but at least I did not have to see the contents of their stomach. Unfortunately, the view from our window was just the wall of the neighbouring building, but this was a problem I would have to deal with later. I was exhausted from my vision and lack of sleep, so I curled up to sleep soon after Nuur-Karif returned with soup.

[Stomoxys]

I slept for several hours, but eventually I woke up feeling hungry. Wolfram was still sleeping, but I found Nuur-Karif and Yana awake when I knocked on their door and told Nuur-Karif the little we had learned from Korro. While we talked, Yana fetched food from downstairs, but Nuur-Karif lost all interest in Korro when Yana returned. I took my leave, taking my soup to my room.

The Golden Arrow was clearly important so, I wanted to stake out the place. I had slept most of the day, so I had a few hours to do some writing before Ajaw would leave the sky to Amna. If Tivito thought they were under attack, I could expect them to be extra alert and stopped by Nuur-Karif and Yana to check on my disguise before leaving. We did not know what the owls saw and who knows what rumours the apeoids would dream up if they saw a Person.

I passed by the harbour on my way and noted that Nulius' ships were still at anchor. From there, I found my way to The Evening Light Terrace and followed Korro's directions to The Golden Arrow. I had almost reached the city wall when I saw the inn. It took up an entire block and were six storeys tall. The walls of the first three storeys were made of stone with iron grates covering the windows. Three guards were posted at the main entrance, while two more were guarding a smaller back entrance. They appeared to be well dressed, but otherwise unremarkable. The back entrance appeared to be a tunnel leading into an inner courtyard. It was not big enough for horses, though, so the stables had to be somewhere else.

Just down the street I found a dark doorway recessed into the wall that gave me a clear view of everyone coming and going through the back entrance. The guards were paying close attention to the surrounding streets, but did not spot me. Soon after, two city guards came by and talked quietly to the guards. While I could not hear what they said, they did not bother to hide their mouths and I could tell they were discussing how many apeoids to bring that would mate in exchange for gold, called prostitutes. This appeared to be a standard procedure soI decided to follow the guards. They went to a large compound a few blocks down that looked less wealthy and smelled of horses and appeared to have a laundry. It looked a lot like the place the slave had told Wolfram they lived. That would mean Korro lived nearby.

The city guards knocked on a small door and someone who sounded subservient let them in. They did not stay long and soon reappeared with three apeoids wrapped in cloaks. The party returned to The Golden Arrow and the cloaked apeoids were allowed to enter after a short inspection. I noted that one of the guards at the door knocked four times in the wall for someone inside to open.

There was a little traffic in and out of the building throughout the night, mostly servants and slaves. At one point, someone who appeared to be a tailor left the building, curtsied, and scurried off in the direction of the slave compound. Soon after, an apeoid holding a bag similar to Nuur-Karif's medicine bag left, commenting loudly that they had signed out. They sounded annoyed and I considered following them. If someone inside were sick, it could be a possible way for Nuur-Karif to gain access and could turn out to be useful in other ways. However, that would leave noone watching the building, so I stayed.

At one point, I heard some shouting from the front and sneaked around to see what was going on. Four guards were standing there and talking amicably. One of them had a large backpack and from their discussion, I gathered that they had been promoted and was moving somewhere else in town. I was about to go back to my hiding spot when a couch approached. It was just as anonymous as the couches we had used and the guards formed a tight formation around the door before opening it. An apeoid slipped out and hurried into the building. Their clothing indicated that they were female and wealthy, but the I did not get to see their face. The guards were clearly practiced at this manoeuvre. A few other apeoids in expensive clothing also arrived during the night, but without the secrecy. They mostly appeared to be nobles returning to their beds from a night out getting intoxicated.

A couple of hours after midnight, the place quieted down. I stayed for another half an hour, but nothing happened, so I made my way to the temple district and traversed the wall. It was very quiet, but I still stayed in the shadows as I made my way to the Tsovin and Vagan temple. Climbing it on the outside was much easier than the inside and I sat down on the ledge surrounding the dome on the roof. As I climbed, the wind had picked up and when I reached the ledge, it felt stronger than I had ever felt it in Byblos before. However, the ledge was wide enough to sit on without the fear of falling down and I started searching for images in the star threads.

Kama and Taxini were long gone, but the cold sign and the horse sign shone brightly in the north. I focused my efforts on the cold sign and looked for its traces in the threads, hoping to learn more about it. This time, I was able to trace an image from the threads much faster than before. I do not know if this was because the signs were so strong or because I am getting better at it, probably both. As an image started to form, cold shivers ran down my spine and it almost felt like Krull's mountain top, but I steeled my mind and continued.

Due to the chilling glimpses that engulfed me, I assumed that the vision I was tracing stemmed from the cold sign, but I soon realized it originated from the horse. Somewhere in an arctic landscape, something burst forth into this world from something else. I could not tell what this new entity was, but something made me think it was a new power. Gradually, the freezing environment shifted into images of countless horse hooves trampling the ground in an inexorable march towards warmth.

The vision left me exhausted and I had to rest at the roof for a bit. Leaning back against the cupola, I closed my eyes and tried to make sense of the vision. Considering that it came from the horse sign, I think that it is related to The Urhorse. This entity, whatever it is, must be very powerful since it has given me visions several times. However, I am certain it is not related to The People, which worries me. If it is The Urhorse, Mir did talk about hordes of riders sweeping down from the north searching for the stupid horse spear. That could be related to the horse hooves and I wonder if all the drama caused by the Arland cults will soon be irrelevant.

When I felt I could manage the climb down, I returned to the street level and headed for the inn. Wolfram was awake when I arrived and wondered where I had been, but I was too tired to talk and only told them about The Golden Arrow before going to sleep.

[Stomoxys]

I did not get to rest for long though. Wolfram woke me about an hour later. and insisted we should gather the others and discuss the situation. After Wolfram had gathered up the others and shepherded them into our room, I told them what I had seen at The Golden Arrow. Nuur-Karif mentioned that they had procured more river thistle and had been wandering around without a disguise. Tivito might very well be able to retrieve an image of them from the mind of the witness, so I convinced them that they should come up with a new disguise. They agreed, mostly because it would give them an excuse to spend time with Yana, I believe.

Wolfram wanted to investigate Elik. We all agreed that it would be interesting, but they are the most secretive of the cults and we had no leads. Judging from the basement in Ur, they do not mark their temples with any special symbols like the Ashtarites. The Golden Arrow was the most pertinent point of interest and it might be possible to disguise Nuur-Karif as a prostitute, doctor, tailor or similar to get them inside. However, the easiest would probably be to rent a room. That would be expensive, but Lunari left Grogg with a bag of gold pieces.

If we could find a way in, Wolfram wanted to be brought along so they could use their rituals to determine if there were any powerful artifacts in there. I thought this sounded like a terrible idea. If Tivito kept important artifacts in there, they would surely put wards on the place to keep such a scenario from happening. Krupik was able to wander into the Azura temple, but my impression is that the Tivito are considerably more aware of their surroundings. If I were Tivito, I would not keep any secret artifacts in such a well known location, but use it for residences, record keeping and other sensitive, but not secret administrative tasks.

Wolfram admitted that their rituals could not really reach through solid walls, so it was unlikely to be very effective anyway and we decided that only Nuur-Karif and Yana should enter The Golden Arrow, at least for the first night. Wolfram mentioned sending in Kra, but it was immediately vetoed by Grogg after Nuur-Karif and I pointed out that Tivito can harm spirits. After a short dispute with Kra, Grogg handed over the required gold to Nuur-Karif.

Nuur-Karif and Yana left for The Golden Arrow and Grogg and Wolfram went downstairs to drink, leaving me alone in the room. I should have gone back to bed, but it was the first time I had a room for myself for a while and did not want to waste it. The star stone I picked up from the stone circle near Sulla glowed faintly with star light, but much weaker than the stones I had seen in Odon's tent. Those had had a mesmerising effect and I wonder if I can get mine to do the same. First, I would have to figure out what it was and sat down to study the strings of energy around it. I was almost done when I heard Nuur-Karif knock on the door. Luckily, I had barred the door and I told them to go away.

The stone itself was not a magical object. However, it gave me the impression that it wold be very easy to "attach" threads of energy to it, especially star energy. I am not sure what this means exactly, but it could be useful for rituals or just as a focus when weaving the threads. Perhaps someone had attached such threads to Odon's stones and that was why they were glowing so strongly.

Before I could test my hypothesis, Nuur-Karif and Wolfram knocked on the door again and said they wanted me to look at some documents. Nuur-Karif had gone to The Golden Arrow and pretended to be a servant looking for a private room for their master called Platikon. They had been shown a suite on the fifth floor and what they had seen had mostly confirmed my observations. The third floor, that was supposed to be occupied with Tivito, appeared to have less access doors than the other floors. Before prices could be discussed, the clerks had insisted someone had to sign a contract. Nuur-Karif had returned with the contract contract, but were struggling to make sense of it and handed it to me.

I skimmed through the dense text, but it did not make much sense to me either. There were clearly an underlying logic, but there were many implicit and explicit references to various laws. Together, we concluded that the contract was delegating responsibility for breaking the laws. The default contract put the full responsibility on whoever signed it, but it was implied that this was negotiable for a fee. The contract focused particularly on the use of magic, bringing guests into the building and, most importantly, moving gold through building. I got the impression it would be possible to make large sums of money "disappear", which could be handy for those trying to avoid taxes.

Somebody would have to sign and it seemed likely that they would check the name of whoever signed. We were only planning to stay a few nights, so hopefully they would not be able to do this quickly. I was not entirely convinced. From The Golden Arrow's perspective, a contract would be pointless if anyone could put a fake name on it. Nuur-Karif was unconcerned, however, and signed with Platikon.