If you have read at least Episode 14 of the trials of the Dark Sun Marauders, then you will know that they are about to enter the huge ziggurat in the centre of Tyr to look for (potentially) Kalak's body and definitely for an object named the Orb of Dust. Here is a description on the huge monument:
¨The great ziggurat towered above the squalor of the sun-baked city.
Each level of the terraced pyramid was finished in glazed brick of a
different color: gleaming violet at the base, then indigo, azure, green,
yellow, fiery orange, and, finally, scarlet. In the center of the huge
structure, a pair of mighty bastions marked each of the seven levels.
The bastions flanked an enormous staircase, which ran straight from base
to summit, reaching for the flaxen moons that hovered over the
monument’s lofty crown and infused the hazy predawn sky with an amber
blush.¨
Of course, my mind has been turned to what sort of fiendish creations and horrible things might lurk within the ziggurat! Now, I won't reveal too much here, lest some of my players happen to drop by.
I would like to hear any suggestions from my global readership as to nasty, vicious, horrible, interesting, surprising things that I could throw at the group within the pyramid. Just leave your suggestions in the comments area of this post :)
Friday, 11 November 2011
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Weekly sports round up!
Another week of sporting brilliance in the books and the results were good, if not spectacular...
Man Utd 1, Sunderland 0
Putting in a rather nervous performance to celebrate Sir Alex Ferguson's 25th anniversary in charge of the Red Devils (yes, I can remember when he started!). The only goal coming from a rather generous own-goal from Man Utd old boy, Wes Brown, who obviously could not bear to see Fergie lose on this auspicious occasion. Next game is a trip to newly-promoted Swansea after the international break.
Full match report here on Football365.com
San Francisco 49ers 19, Washington Redskins 11
The Niners continue on their merry way, moving to a 7-1 record with a solid defeat of Washington, who are on a 4 game losing streak. The 49ers defense forced 3 turnovers and kept the Redskins out of the end zone until the final minute in a dominant display. Frank Gore set a franchise record with his 5th straight 100yd+ rushing game.
Next up is a home game back at Candlestick Park against the in-form New York Giants. A win would go a long way to securing the NFC West title, potentially by Week 11.
Full game report here at NFL.com
Toronto Maple Leafs 5, New Jersey Devils 3
Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Columbus Blue Jackets 1
Boston Bruins 7, Toronto Maple Leafs 0
Two good road wins ended in a sudden halt as Boston thumped the Leafs at home on Saturday. It will remain to be seen how they bounce back this week after that demoralising loss. Overall the play has been good, but a good start needs continued work to make the playoffs.
Clarke McArthur has been on a hot streak with points against the Devils and Blue Jackets to keep the wins coming. Phil Kessel still leads the Leafs in points, despite being held scoreless for the third time against his old team, the Bruins.
Full game recaps here:
Upcoming games include a home date vs Florida (played today), a trip to St Louis on Thursday and then two more home games against Ottawa & Phoenix on Saturday and Tuesday respectively.
Man Utd 1, Sunderland 0
Putting in a rather nervous performance to celebrate Sir Alex Ferguson's 25th anniversary in charge of the Red Devils (yes, I can remember when he started!). The only goal coming from a rather generous own-goal from Man Utd old boy, Wes Brown, who obviously could not bear to see Fergie lose on this auspicious occasion. Next game is a trip to newly-promoted Swansea after the international break.
Full match report here on Football365.com
San Francisco 49ers 19, Washington Redskins 11
The Niners continue on their merry way, moving to a 7-1 record with a solid defeat of Washington, who are on a 4 game losing streak. The 49ers defense forced 3 turnovers and kept the Redskins out of the end zone until the final minute in a dominant display. Frank Gore set a franchise record with his 5th straight 100yd+ rushing game.
Next up is a home game back at Candlestick Park against the in-form New York Giants. A win would go a long way to securing the NFC West title, potentially by Week 11.
Full game report here at NFL.com
Toronto Maple Leafs 5, New Jersey Devils 3
Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Columbus Blue Jackets 1
Boston Bruins 7, Toronto Maple Leafs 0
Two good road wins ended in a sudden halt as Boston thumped the Leafs at home on Saturday. It will remain to be seen how they bounce back this week after that demoralising loss. Overall the play has been good, but a good start needs continued work to make the playoffs.
Clarke McArthur has been on a hot streak with points against the Devils and Blue Jackets to keep the wins coming. Phil Kessel still leads the Leafs in points, despite being held scoreless for the third time against his old team, the Bruins.
Full game recaps here:
Upcoming games include a home date vs Florida (played today), a trip to St Louis on Thursday and then two more home games against Ottawa & Phoenix on Saturday and Tuesday respectively.
Wednesday, 2 November 2011
Tuesday Morning Quarterback
The latest edition of Gregg Easterbrook's long-running column is available!
Mostly worth a look if you are a fan of NFL football, but he waxes lyrical on many other topics, including government waste, the inevitable creep of celebrations earlier and earlier each year (Christmas decorations in stores in August, for example), picking apart the crazy premises of Hollywood sci-fi and action films, as well as TV (Terra Nova recently attracted Gregg's ire!).
Get all the information on ESPN's Page 2
Mostly worth a look if you are a fan of NFL football, but he waxes lyrical on many other topics, including government waste, the inevitable creep of celebrations earlier and earlier each year (Christmas decorations in stores in August, for example), picking apart the crazy premises of Hollywood sci-fi and action films, as well as TV (Terra Nova recently attracted Gregg's ire!).
Get all the information on ESPN's Page 2
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Weekly sports round-up!
With the sporting weekend now at a close once more, my teams had a pretty good time of it, recording mostly solid wins!
Next up is a Champion's League game against Otelul Galati (yeah, I have no idea who they are either) early Thursday morning, which should prove no problem before welcoming Sunderland to Old Trafford next Saturday.
Cleveland Browns 10, San Francisco 49ers 20
The 49ers continue on their winning ways with a solid win over the Browns on Sunday, their 5th consecutive. This sort of commitment and consistent performance is something we haven't seen since 2002! Keep it going, I say. Read the full story on the Niner's win on NFL.com
Frank Gore has been back to his best of late and the defence is performing exceptionally well. Just 3 more wins could see the 49ers clinch the NFC West by the end of November, with a trip to Washington to face the struggling Redskins next on the agenda.
I have included a link in my "These are cool too..." links to Mike Sando's ESPN NFC West blog, which is a great read for fans of the 49ers and the other teams in the division.
Toronto Maple Leafs 2, Ottawa Senators 3
Just need to keep the effort going to establish themselves as a playoff contender, a stage they haven't reached since 2004, much to the chagrin of my wife. They travel to New Jersey to take on the Devils on Wednesday night followed by a trip to Columbus on Thursday before returning home to take on the Bruins on Saturday.
Everton 0, Manchester United 1
Man Utd get back on the horse, so to speak, with an uninspiring, but effective win to grab another 3 points and stay second in the English Premier League. Javier Hernandez grabbed the only goal to keep the champions 5pts adrift of the summit with a long way to go in the season yet. Read the report here on Football365.comNext up is a Champion's League game against Otelul Galati (yeah, I have no idea who they are either) early Thursday morning, which should prove no problem before welcoming Sunderland to Old Trafford next Saturday.
Cleveland Browns 10, San Francisco 49ers 20
The 49ers continue on their winning ways with a solid win over the Browns on Sunday, their 5th consecutive. This sort of commitment and consistent performance is something we haven't seen since 2002! Keep it going, I say. Read the full story on the Niner's win on NFL.com
Frank Gore has been back to his best of late and the defence is performing exceptionally well. Just 3 more wins could see the 49ers clinch the NFC West by the end of November, with a trip to Washington to face the struggling Redskins next on the agenda.
I have included a link in my "These are cool too..." links to Mike Sando's ESPN NFC West blog, which is a great read for fans of the 49ers and the other teams in the division.
Toronto Maple Leafs 2, Ottawa Senators 3
Pittsburgh Penguins 3, Toronto Maple Leafs 4
Back-to-back games for the Leafs this weekend, splitting the two results. A very good performance at home vs Penguins was undone by a determined Senators team keen to keep their winning streak going. All signs for the Maple Leafs are good, though, with a nice start to the gruelling 82 game season (7-3-1) and star Phil Kessel banging in the goals (a league-leading 10 now). Full recaps available on NHL.com:Just need to keep the effort going to establish themselves as a playoff contender, a stage they haven't reached since 2004, much to the chagrin of my wife. They travel to New Jersey to take on the Devils on Wednesday night followed by a trip to Columbus on Thursday before returning home to take on the Bruins on Saturday.
Dark Sun Marauders - Episode 14
With Kulo, retrieved from the clutches of the demon drink in Silver Springs oasis by his son, the group was together once more. The addled brain of the goliath warrior was confused and puzzled by the fact that Mavar was still with the group and they seemed to be transporting a caravan of slaves toward Tyr. Adding to the confusion was the fact that Kulo, was inside the caravan too! After sorting things out, as Kuroar! explained things slowly to his father and the rest of the group keeping a comfortable distance, they travelled on to Tyr and avoided the potentially awkward discussion with the gate guards as to why they had a slave caravan by letting Mavar do the talking and using his influence as a templar.
Bringing the slaves into the city, the group organises with the templars to remove their slave markings and introduces them to their assistant and erstwhile retainer, Bundaberg, still keeping an eye on the buildings that used to be the headquarters of House Shom.
With various longing looks from the group at the ziggurat that dominates the centre of the city, the group follows up on the Urikite spy contact known only as "Minder". They are given the location of Sculptor's Square at midnight and with a wisdom uncommon to the group they scout out the area first, asking questions of the merchants around the Artisan district and coming across a local personality known as Xalos the Stonecutter as he wanders around nearby his own stonemasonry shop. He is a friendly Mul of middle age and quite a jovial fellow.
The witching hour comes around and the local traffic slowly reduces to just a few hurrying figures through the square as the group lay in wait, until two cloaked figures meet in front of one of the many crumbling mansions that line the square. From their observation points, none can hear any exchange of words before they head inside the building. The group then approach the door and using Gretchan's mental eye, they can see signs of the meeting towards the back of the building where a flicker of candlelight is visible. Eschewing the chance to check around the property, the group heads in. Their stealth, or lack of, alerts the two figures and the candlelight is doused and the larger of the two figures heads for the exit, while the other remains.
"How do you know about this meeting? What are you doing here?!" hisses the figure loudly at the group. Their response, while deceptive in nature, fails to have the desired effect and the cloaked man unsheathes an obsidian sword and it was Kuroar! who broke the stare off by charging in, with the others a step behind.
At the sounds of the scuffle, 3 spies, dressed and armed similarly to those the group fought outside Nibenay almost 2 weeks ago, rush down the stairs and the battle take sup in earnest. Kulo, tries to pin down and shackle the spies and their leader, but their ability to disappear into shadow and appear from another direction confounded the group, particularly Beren. Garidias, however, kept the group on track, encouraging the group's warriors to hit harder and more accurately despite the enemies trickery. The eladrin was surprised to then see the ghosts of eladrin past rise up out of the floor to slash ghostly blades at Gretchan and Kuroar! Their attacks were not as formidable as those of their corporeal allies, their scream ad they were vanquished unnerved all nearby
The spies eventually began to fall and finally, so did the leader as he was caught in the middle of the room and then the last of the eladrin ghosts was given eternal rests. The group searched the bodies, finding on the leader a small purse of 100 ceramic pieces and a small, battered notebook. Careful examination of the book revealed that it was a careful ledger of monetary transactions between "Minder" and the unknown figure that escaped the attack. Regular payments of 100 ceramic occur every 2 weeks over the past several months, dating back to just before the fall of Kalak.
The other item of note recorded in the book was that of a single mention of something called the "Orb of Dust". Confirmation with Mavar sometime later revealed this to be the name of an artifact rumoured to be in the possession of Kalak, but upon his death, no sign of such an item was found in the palace. Great power is attributed to the orb to command a great storm of dust on a grand scale that could encompass an entire city. Perhaps this is what the spies are looking for?
Mavar suggests that if Kalak did possess this orb, the only place it could still be was the enormous ziggurat, into which a wounded Kalak was seen entering, presumably to die. Garidias raised the question of gaining entrance to the ziggurat, and Mavar promised to do what he could to persuade the Council of Templars to allow the group inside. He expressed his desire to not only confirm the location of the orb, but also to verify the death of the Sorcerer-King for certain. Only one group has entered and returned from the ziggurat and they failed to find the body. A second group has entered more recently, headed by a mercenary dray (dragonborn) but nothing has been heard of them since.
Bringing the slaves into the city, the group organises with the templars to remove their slave markings and introduces them to their assistant and erstwhile retainer, Bundaberg, still keeping an eye on the buildings that used to be the headquarters of House Shom.
With various longing looks from the group at the ziggurat that dominates the centre of the city, the group follows up on the Urikite spy contact known only as "Minder". They are given the location of Sculptor's Square at midnight and with a wisdom uncommon to the group they scout out the area first, asking questions of the merchants around the Artisan district and coming across a local personality known as Xalos the Stonecutter as he wanders around nearby his own stonemasonry shop. He is a friendly Mul of middle age and quite a jovial fellow.
The witching hour comes around and the local traffic slowly reduces to just a few hurrying figures through the square as the group lay in wait, until two cloaked figures meet in front of one of the many crumbling mansions that line the square. From their observation points, none can hear any exchange of words before they head inside the building. The group then approach the door and using Gretchan's mental eye, they can see signs of the meeting towards the back of the building where a flicker of candlelight is visible. Eschewing the chance to check around the property, the group heads in. Their stealth, or lack of, alerts the two figures and the candlelight is doused and the larger of the two figures heads for the exit, while the other remains.
"How do you know about this meeting? What are you doing here?!" hisses the figure loudly at the group. Their response, while deceptive in nature, fails to have the desired effect and the cloaked man unsheathes an obsidian sword and it was Kuroar! who broke the stare off by charging in, with the others a step behind.
At the sounds of the scuffle, 3 spies, dressed and armed similarly to those the group fought outside Nibenay almost 2 weeks ago, rush down the stairs and the battle take sup in earnest. Kulo, tries to pin down and shackle the spies and their leader, but their ability to disappear into shadow and appear from another direction confounded the group, particularly Beren. Garidias, however, kept the group on track, encouraging the group's warriors to hit harder and more accurately despite the enemies trickery. The eladrin was surprised to then see the ghosts of eladrin past rise up out of the floor to slash ghostly blades at Gretchan and Kuroar! Their attacks were not as formidable as those of their corporeal allies, their scream ad they were vanquished unnerved all nearby
The spies eventually began to fall and finally, so did the leader as he was caught in the middle of the room and then the last of the eladrin ghosts was given eternal rests. The group searched the bodies, finding on the leader a small purse of 100 ceramic pieces and a small, battered notebook. Careful examination of the book revealed that it was a careful ledger of monetary transactions between "Minder" and the unknown figure that escaped the attack. Regular payments of 100 ceramic occur every 2 weeks over the past several months, dating back to just before the fall of Kalak.
The other item of note recorded in the book was that of a single mention of something called the "Orb of Dust". Confirmation with Mavar sometime later revealed this to be the name of an artifact rumoured to be in the possession of Kalak, but upon his death, no sign of such an item was found in the palace. Great power is attributed to the orb to command a great storm of dust on a grand scale that could encompass an entire city. Perhaps this is what the spies are looking for?
Mavar suggests that if Kalak did possess this orb, the only place it could still be was the enormous ziggurat, into which a wounded Kalak was seen entering, presumably to die. Garidias raised the question of gaining entrance to the ziggurat, and Mavar promised to do what he could to persuade the Council of Templars to allow the group inside. He expressed his desire to not only confirm the location of the orb, but also to verify the death of the Sorcerer-King for certain. Only one group has entered and returned from the ziggurat and they failed to find the body. A second group has entered more recently, headed by a mercenary dray (dragonborn) but nothing has been heard of them since.
Dark Sun Marauders - Episode 13
Following Kulo,'s swift departure from the group, the remainder decided to head off towards Nibenay with the grateful Mavar cracking the whips on the purloined kank caravan. The approach to Nibenay was breathtaking indeed, the city towering above them, the walls covered in stone carvings, pillars and columns decorating the towers alongside the Mekillot Gate. The city sat alongside a vast forest, certainly a greater amount of trees than any of the group had ever seen in one place before. The forest ran along a mountain range that disappeared into the distance away to the south.
The group headed into the city, whose noise and activity, even in the evening made Tyr look small and rustic. It was clear that Nibenay was older than Tyr, and far larger. Gretchan recalled that the city was one of the original city states and contained a large and decadent noble caste that supported the sorcerer-king. With Mavar guiding them, they were easily able to locate the House Shom trading building that the meeting between Ulruun and the mysterious Urikite delegation that Mavar had mentioned during the interrogation.
Upon arrival, arguing is heard from a small back street down the side of the House Shom building and careful examination reveals a couple of armoured figures, a noble of some sort and 4 clad in slave rags. Having identified the Urikite delegation by their square beards, the group found out that the noble, Maetan Lubar, was understandably annoyed at Ulruun himself having carelessly let himself be killed. Despite this initial setback, the group agreed with Maetan that they would organise a slave caravan to hide the spies (the 4 clad in rags) within for transportation to Tyr, as this is presumably what had been agreed with Ulruun.
A rather uncomfortable trip to the slave markets for the former slaves took place, with Beren heading off to find a templar on the trail of his master's son, Flame. He was able to deduce that Flame himself had contacted the Shadow Brides (Nibenay's templars - all of which are female) to relay a message to Beren that Flame's father and head of the House had been kidnapped and Flame was trying to find him! <insert jarring piano chords> Although, Beren couldn't work out how this all came about, the situation remained.
The rest of the group sold 2 of their crodlu to pay for the slaves to go in the caravan and met back up with Beren before heading outside the city gates next morning to meet with Maetan and his group. The meeting went well, but as the conversation went along, Maetan became more suspicious of Mavar and the others. Relations degraded to such a point that Mavar lost his cool and took a shot at Maetan, which kicked off a nasty scuffle.
Maetan weighed in heavily at the start, but soon his cronies were handling the fight against the group well enough, and stood to the back. Slowly but surely the group began to gain the upper hand in the fight, despite Mavar unleashing his defiling power upon all around him. Eventually the battle-weary group dispatched the cronies (and took one minor templar captive) and took a half-hearted swipe at Maetan but his power was too great and the group cut their losses, letting Maetan leave, heading into the forest not far from the main road.
With a caravan full of slaves and a captive, they learned that this operation had been going on for some time and his information corroroborated with Mavar's tale of a potential Urikite invasion of Tyr, predominantly for the Iron Mines that Tyr possessed. Now with this information and Mavar being ever so slightly more trusted the decision was made to head back towards Tyr and potentially free the slaves and they might even find Kulo, on the way back...
The group headed into the city, whose noise and activity, even in the evening made Tyr look small and rustic. It was clear that Nibenay was older than Tyr, and far larger. Gretchan recalled that the city was one of the original city states and contained a large and decadent noble caste that supported the sorcerer-king. With Mavar guiding them, they were easily able to locate the House Shom trading building that the meeting between Ulruun and the mysterious Urikite delegation that Mavar had mentioned during the interrogation.
Upon arrival, arguing is heard from a small back street down the side of the House Shom building and careful examination reveals a couple of armoured figures, a noble of some sort and 4 clad in slave rags. Having identified the Urikite delegation by their square beards, the group found out that the noble, Maetan Lubar, was understandably annoyed at Ulruun himself having carelessly let himself be killed. Despite this initial setback, the group agreed with Maetan that they would organise a slave caravan to hide the spies (the 4 clad in rags) within for transportation to Tyr, as this is presumably what had been agreed with Ulruun.
A rather uncomfortable trip to the slave markets for the former slaves took place, with Beren heading off to find a templar on the trail of his master's son, Flame. He was able to deduce that Flame himself had contacted the Shadow Brides (Nibenay's templars - all of which are female) to relay a message to Beren that Flame's father and head of the House had been kidnapped and Flame was trying to find him! <insert jarring piano chords> Although, Beren couldn't work out how this all came about, the situation remained.
The rest of the group sold 2 of their crodlu to pay for the slaves to go in the caravan and met back up with Beren before heading outside the city gates next morning to meet with Maetan and his group. The meeting went well, but as the conversation went along, Maetan became more suspicious of Mavar and the others. Relations degraded to such a point that Mavar lost his cool and took a shot at Maetan, which kicked off a nasty scuffle.
Maetan weighed in heavily at the start, but soon his cronies were handling the fight against the group well enough, and stood to the back. Slowly but surely the group began to gain the upper hand in the fight, despite Mavar unleashing his defiling power upon all around him. Eventually the battle-weary group dispatched the cronies (and took one minor templar captive) and took a half-hearted swipe at Maetan but his power was too great and the group cut their losses, letting Maetan leave, heading into the forest not far from the main road.
With a caravan full of slaves and a captive, they learned that this operation had been going on for some time and his information corroroborated with Mavar's tale of a potential Urikite invasion of Tyr, predominantly for the Iron Mines that Tyr possessed. Now with this information and Mavar being ever so slightly more trusted the decision was made to head back towards Tyr and potentially free the slaves and they might even find Kulo, on the way back...
Dark Sun Marauders - Episode 12
The group, mounted upon their war crodlu made good time as they caught the slower moving caravan train of Ulruun and his guards. As they approached a bend in the track as it rounded a large, rocky outcrop, Gretchan's eagle eye spotted 3 archers lurking across the dunes, their weapons drawn. Ulruun's caravan headed around the corner as Beren approached the rock formations and was able to identify the creatures as gnolls.
The Mul decided direct action was required and charged off across the sand towards the gnolls and found himself at the bottom of a 30ft deep pit with his crodlu scrambling to get out. The others came to his aid, Kuroar! in particularly getting right in among the gnolls. As they did so a group of men, dressed as caravan guards appeared from behind the large rocky outcropping and began to assail Gretchan and Kulo, the latter found this terribly annoying and spurred his crodlu amid the guards and laid into them with his chain, bringing them down.
Throughout the pitched battle a desperate cry had entered the minds of all who neared the large outcropping, though it was largely ignored. It stopped suddenly and from the sandy ground emerged a grotesque montrous creature, identified as a Gaj Mindhunter, whose feathery modus operandi caused much consternation among the companions. It clamped its jaws around Garidias, but the eladrin escaped via fey means of transport, which gave it little option but to use its mind prode against the mostly granite brain of Beren. However, the companions rallied despite the threat of being swamped by a rogue sand dune and the final beast was felled. There was barely time to gather themselves and their crodlu to round the rocky outcropping and face Ulruun, whose caravan had pulled off the track some way further down the hill.
As they rounded the rock, they could see Ulruun's guards and slaves arrayed before them with the dwarf himself at the centre near the caravans, flanked by two huge guards, a Mul and a Goliath. Kulo's rage could be held back no more as he charged in among the guards, drawing Ulruun to him. The slaves had strange blue glow to their eyes and attacked using their minds and after a while the group realised a mental link existed between the slaves and the guards.
Kuroar came barrelling in after his father with the eladrin Garidias close behind guiding their actions and exhorting the two to heights of skill while directing their war crodlu. Beren took on some guards and slaves alone as Gretchan provided long range support from the back.
The concentrated force of both goliaths and Garidias made relatively quick work of Ulruun, but his cronies fought on. The Mul and Goliath guards absorbing tremendous punishment while dishing out tremendous blows of their own. It was as the battle was coming to a close that a familiar figure emerged from the caravans. It was Mavar, the templar from Tyr who had released the group from their bonds of slavery!
He launched into a few attacks on the group, mainly hindering them as they attempted to close, before he took to the air in an attempt to escape them, but the crodlu proved swift and soon caught up to the templar fleeing across the sands. Surrounded and knowing he was outmatched, Mavar screamed in frustration, "You fools! You don't know what you are getting involved in. Let me go and your life will be far better than it will if you capture or kill me. That is a promise!". He stands defiantly as the battle-weary group move in on their crodlu mounts, his eyes moving from one to the next wondering which will respond.
The Mul decided direct action was required and charged off across the sand towards the gnolls and found himself at the bottom of a 30ft deep pit with his crodlu scrambling to get out. The others came to his aid, Kuroar! in particularly getting right in among the gnolls. As they did so a group of men, dressed as caravan guards appeared from behind the large rocky outcropping and began to assail Gretchan and Kulo, the latter found this terribly annoying and spurred his crodlu amid the guards and laid into them with his chain, bringing them down.
Throughout the pitched battle a desperate cry had entered the minds of all who neared the large outcropping, though it was largely ignored. It stopped suddenly and from the sandy ground emerged a grotesque montrous creature, identified as a Gaj Mindhunter, whose feathery modus operandi caused much consternation among the companions. It clamped its jaws around Garidias, but the eladrin escaped via fey means of transport, which gave it little option but to use its mind prode against the mostly granite brain of Beren. However, the companions rallied despite the threat of being swamped by a rogue sand dune and the final beast was felled. There was barely time to gather themselves and their crodlu to round the rocky outcropping and face Ulruun, whose caravan had pulled off the track some way further down the hill.
As they rounded the rock, they could see Ulruun's guards and slaves arrayed before them with the dwarf himself at the centre near the caravans, flanked by two huge guards, a Mul and a Goliath. Kulo's rage could be held back no more as he charged in among the guards, drawing Ulruun to him. The slaves had strange blue glow to their eyes and attacked using their minds and after a while the group realised a mental link existed between the slaves and the guards.
Kuroar came barrelling in after his father with the eladrin Garidias close behind guiding their actions and exhorting the two to heights of skill while directing their war crodlu. Beren took on some guards and slaves alone as Gretchan provided long range support from the back.
The concentrated force of both goliaths and Garidias made relatively quick work of Ulruun, but his cronies fought on. The Mul and Goliath guards absorbing tremendous punishment while dishing out tremendous blows of their own. It was as the battle was coming to a close that a familiar figure emerged from the caravans. It was Mavar, the templar from Tyr who had released the group from their bonds of slavery!
He launched into a few attacks on the group, mainly hindering them as they attempted to close, before he took to the air in an attempt to escape them, but the crodlu proved swift and soon caught up to the templar fleeing across the sands. Surrounded and knowing he was outmatched, Mavar screamed in frustration, "You fools! You don't know what you are getting involved in. Let me go and your life will be far better than it will if you capture or kill me. That is a promise!". He stands defiantly as the battle-weary group move in on their crodlu mounts, his eyes moving from one to the next wondering which will respond.
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