The 32nd Scroll: The Search for Sita

[Gamemaster]

Ya'qub managed to find his voice. "A hundred thousand pardons!" he cried. "We have come seeking a runaway slave, a woman who may have been brought here as a bride." He searched the faces, if they could be called that, of the newcomers. "Fahad the Magnificent, the Terrible has sent us to track this miserable, ungrateful slave down and return her where she will be surely punished for her ungracious spurning of our master's kindness."
The creature snaked forward, spear lowered, its flaming scales scraping against stone with a metallic grinding. It towered over Ya'qub, radiating heat that caused even the desert-hardened caravaneer to cringe. As it approached, the ghuls shrunk back even further, huddling in the corner and shielding their faces with their arms.
"This woman and I have something in common then, but fate has played a foul joke on her. No mortal master can match the cruelty of Lord Ahz'ahk."
Waleed, his blood still on fire, surveyed the situation and determined that a stand up fight, the means of a real man, were slipping away from them.
It was now in the hands of the diplomats and nothing bored him more than to hear the duplicitous lies regurgitated by the likes of such men or even his mother.
It reminded him of the tales he heard as a youth about famous adventurers and how they overcame unbeatable odds not by strength of arms, but by sharper wits. It was all a lie of course, it was much more entertaining to hear how they used their brains to overcome an obstacle than stating they attacked either out of necessity or planning-- there were only so many ways you could make a swordfight sound interesting after the first handful or so. In all of these tales, the leader would survive and those around him would meet their fate.
Taking a deep breath and sighing, Waleed awaited their fate, beginning to become bored out of habit. He had been doing so well, now it came down to words.
Baffled by the ghuls cowering before him, Ahmar is nonetheless grateful as he staggers to his feet, scimitars raised before him.
Then the din of wailing, hissing and the labored breathing of his companions come crashing to his ears as the silence of the room is dispelled.
"Freeze me but the hag Ugaq must be dead or missing." a voice bellows behind him. It is one he has heard before, and hesitantly he turns to see its source.
Salamanders, the emissaries of Az'ahk.
Inspired by Ya'qub's bold ruse, Ahmar takes one last glance at the ghuls cowering behind him and walks up to the salamander towering over the merchant.
"And what could a fellow servant of fire have in common with a frail old woman?" Ahmar asks summoning up all the courage and force of will he can muster.
Ahmar stepped toward Ya'qub and the burning salamander. In the greenish light and flickering shadows Ahmar seemed to swell, appearing taller and somehow menacing. The salamander sniffed, drawing two coils of flame into its nostrils. "Ahz'zhk's bastard seed," the salamander said suspiciously. "The stench of him grows on you even as we speak. I thought he'd killed all of you..."
Amir al-Ahmar's once black eyes where now as flames as two small, curled horns pushed through the wraps of his kaffiyeh.

[Gamemaster]

The salamander raised his brutal spear a little. "I am Kuhj, and I will know whether you have come for revenge or succor." His flaming tail flicked from side to side.
"Oh great, just great." Waleed said shaking his head, closing his eyes and exhaling a deep sigh. He was better off with the Son of Wolfs...
"Our kind was not meant to serve." Ahmar laughs. "The fire that burns within us must be free, no?"
"Sometimes things stand between servitude and freedom--things with which even the strongest need assistance," Kuhj replied, lowering his spear. "Who do you seek?"
"An old woman named Sita." Ahmar answers him casually. "She would have been brought here by Ugaq ten years ago. The hag will take no further brides for Az'ahk, I'm afraid, without her head to serve her."
"None will morn her, but Ahz'zhk will have his revenge when he discovers it," Kuhj said. "The woman you seek is here and I will tell you where...if you do for me, the smallest of tasks."
Another rumble of falling stone in the distance.
"It is a pity there is no power to stay his vengeance." Ahmar says suggestively. "Revenge denied is a bitter poison. Name your task and it shall be done."
Kuhj spoke in his strange language to the other two salamanders. Suddenly the ghuls began to wail, trying even harder to disappear into the corners of the room. The two flaming serpents flowed into the room, spears and tails raised. At the last moment the ghuls tried a feeble defense but it was to no avail. They where pinned against the walls by the powerful salamander tails and ran through with spears. Repeatedly and viciously. The ghuls slumped, great tears in the flesh that didn't heal slowly leaking a foul ichor. Kuhj called to his companions and they returned to the hallway. To Ahmar he said in zahkaran, "The others are as sheep."
"Disguise yourselves as wives, this will delay your being discovered. You will be able to move freely about the palace, but speak as little as possible." He gestured to the jeweled braclets on the dead ghuls. "These identify the favored wives of Ahz'ahk."
"The woman you seek is in the auditorium. Follow the main passage from the river until you find the auditorium entrance. Do not speak to the guards as you enter. Not all object to their servitude and would gladly cast me in a pit of ice water to rise to my position."
"Once you are there, locate the crack in the floor over an image of Ahz'ahk's left eye. Draw water from the well near the south wall. Pour the water into the crack. Continue to do so until a distraction occurs, then flee the chamber. I will be waiting for you at the main entrace of the chamber." He turned to go. "Your doom is assured if you draw the attention of Ahz'ahk," he said.
"And what will be the result of this task, should we succeed?" Ahmar asks feigning only mild curiosity.
Waleed had sheathed his sword during the talks and nonchalantly cleaned his nails, showing them to Mamoun for approval. Then the killing started and Waleed with Mamoun in tow, backed away and awaited what was to happen.
After the bloodshed, Waleed motioned for Mamoun to follow and the two picked out the best fitting burqa's for them to wear. "Remember Mamoun, do not speak, but stay close." Waleed gave a final nod as he put the veiled headdress on. "Oh, the stench of week's old goathead cheese... this is almost unbearable."
"There is speculation that it will detain or at least distract Ahz'ahk's attention for a while. As to the exact effect I cannot be certain."
"It shall be done." Ahmar says. "Keep to your pledge and we shall keep to ours."
After some consideration, Waleed puts on a pair of the jeweled bracelets. "Favored wife indeed."

[Gamemaster]

"Keesha should take the other bracelet." Ahmar suggests examining the burqua in his hands. "She should also be the one to pour the water in to the crack Kuhj spoke of. At least if anyone should stop to question her, they will find a woman beneath these robes."
"Now you gotta be kidding right? Me dressed up like a bride?"... seeing no support for her reaction in the party she grumbles a bit and grabs the robes... "Fine.. whatever.. but .. but.."
After a couple of minutes complaining she agitates her hands and speaks a couple of words. As you look back into her, her face has been changed a bit, taking the aspect of one of the ghouls you were fighting, with her feet changed as well. "Hiss hiss" she speaks, smiling as only a ghoul's face can smile.
"I would think twice about using your enchantments within Az'ahk's palace." Ahmar suggests. "Salamanders have a sense for magic."
"And wouldnt a ghoul radiate magic by itself? Could you feel that before?"
"I have no sense for such things." Ahmar admits. "If you can mimic the aura of a ghul, then by all means do so. I only sought to caution you against doing anything which might bring more attention to us."
While he makes some effort to turn away as he begins to unwrap his keffiyeh, those who are curious have no trouble seeing what hides beneath. Starting at his cheekbones, the desert-rider's ruddy complexion spreads into finely scaled skin of a rust-red hue. A set of small, stunted horns protrude from either side of his forehead, and when he speaks, his mouth reveals sharp teeth like those of a beast.
Beneath his long leather gloves which Ahmar removes for the first time, are arms colored and scaled as his face, hands tapering into long, clawed fingers...
Turin looked askance at Ahmar, but held his tongue. He was out of element, afraid and quiet; this was just another link in a chain of inexplicable events. Khafaz paused in the act of putting on his robe. "What manner of man are you?" he said, eyeing Ahmar suspiciously.
"I would have thought my performance with Kuhj made it obvious." Ahmar says grimly. "It was neccessary to reveal my heritage if we had any hope of surviving our encounter with the salamanders. If it is a fireside tale you want, I will tell you a story to wither your heart if we come out of this alive."
"That I will ever sit on the pillows of my home is something I am coming to doubt," Khafaz lamented.
Time unknown, 6th of Dar
--
When handed a burqa, Khafaz had started to protest but put his life in the hands of fate. "At least you share my shame," he muttured to no one and everyone.
When everyone was disguised you walked back to the palace entrance and then followed the path described by Kuhj. Deep into the palace you walked, sometimes feeling the ground tremble and hearing the rumble of falling stone. Once the sounds of slurping reached your ears and as you passed a circular chamber on one side of the passage you saw, through the slits of your burqas, a marble tiled room thats center piece was a large round copper vat. An overpowering stench of rotten meat and curlded milk assailed your senses. A dozen unveiled brides kneeled there, dunking their heads, then resurfacing, licking the lumps from their chins.
Shortly thereafter, on the opposite side of the passage you passed an enormous storage chamber. Rows of copper shelves, extending from ground to ceiling where filled with exotic goods and treasures. Brides were everywhere. As two of the favored brides looked on from near the door, dozens of brides busied themselves arranging and cleaning. This and one other thing you saw before continuing your walk toward the audience chamber: A black marble ramp leading up to a great circle of violet light.

[Gamemaster]

A short distance beyond, the passageway turned left. Rounding the corner you saw two fiery salamandars standing at attention beneath an archway of magnificant terrror. The onxy horned head crowning the arch was etched with gold, the eyes of Ahz'ahk large bright rubies.
Though the passage continued on, you paused before the guards and stared into the room beyond the archway. As large as the finest temples in Tajar, it had a spaceous grandeur that conveyed a feeling of being a child in the realm of giants. The walls were polished marble, swirls of pink and green against a sea of ebony. However, the far wall was a mountain of rubble. Dozens of crystal chandeliers hung from the silver plated ceiling. The alabaster floor was covered in a mosaic of onyx, turquoise, and quartz tiles depicting Ahz'ahk's head; the chin pointed toward the doorway in which you stood, the horns toward the rubble. Both the walls and the floor where laced with cracks. One side had a well and beside it an archway.
Nearly 200 brides are working here. A few are on their hands and knees, scrubbing the tile image of Ahz'ahk, occasionally rising to fill their buckets with fresh water from the well. Others polish the marble walls with black silk cloths. Most, however, labor to remove the rubble from the collapsed wall, hauling marble chunks on copper carts or carrying them by hand through the archway beside the well.
Several salamanders are stationed around the perimeter, idly overseeing the work.
It was time to carry out the plan, all the group needed to do was to move forward. Waleed, not wishing to remain a second longer down here than needed, walked forward. If any Salamander thought of approaching him, he would flash the jeweled bracelet and hiss. It was kinda comical if one wasn't so scared out if his mind. 'Come on Waleed, get a bucket, you and the rest, and pour it into the eye,' the young noble thought to himself.
If one could look through the veil one would notice she was more than uncomfortable carrying out this plan... doing "tasks" for a salamander and worse of all, dressed up like a bride!
Keesha walked slowly, however, looking not to capture any attention, complete her part and get the hell out of here. There is one thing to be stealthing around some wealthy people house and one another alltogether to be crawling around a demons dungeon. Nevertheless she found she could use some of her skills to blend with the shadows and enviroment and at least pass out without notice.
With that she moved forward with the group.
As they passed the archway, Ya'qub, without drawing too much attention to himself, tried to appraise the value of the ruby eyes of
Ahz'ahk. It wasn't that he intended to make off with the jewels, he told himself, it was just, well, professional curiosity.

Khafaz risked the faintest of whispers to Ya'qub. "Which one is Sita?"
Waleed looked back and hissed. His meaning was clear, do not speak.
Ahmar quickens his pace wondering if it is the strain of the encounter with the salamanders which makes his stomach lurch.
Ahmar's eyes drift to the wealth lining the copper shelves as he struggles to take inventory of all he sees. A treasure stolen from the palace of Az'ahk would be a fitting insult to his enemy.
It is only when he passes the black marble ramp that he risks a slight pause, focusing his attention on the eerie violet light and wondering whether he might have some ability to divine magical energies as Keesha suggested.
Ah! Ahmar thinks. What a prize these would make! And what a rage it would summon from the efreet. Then Ahmar notices Ya'qub's glance towards the jewels as if he had himself had read the desert-rider's thoughts.
Trying hard not to betray his awe at the splendor and enormity of the chamber, Ahmar shuffles over to the pile of rubble, lifts a chunk of marble, and follows a line of ghuls through the archway...

[Gamemaster]

Somehow sensing that Ahmar was more at home in this forsaken place than he, Ya'qub resolved to mimic the desert rider's movements, picking up a chunk of marble as well, and falling into line, ever watchful of the events that occurred around him.
Ya'qub and Ahmar fell in step with the line of wives carting rubble into the room beside the well. The others wordlessly grabbed unattended buckets and went to the well, which where then filled by a favored bride.
The line filed into a circular granite chamber containing a deep pool of liquid fire into which the rubble was tossed unceremoniously. Ahmar then Ya'qub tossed in their debris and went back for more.
Walking amid the scrubbing brides, those bearing water made their way to the left eye of the mosaic. There, as described, was a jagged crack, impossible to miss as its length was half the height of a man and wide enough to place a closed fist into. Waleed glanced around, and satisfied no one was paying them undo attention poured the contents of his bucket in. Nothing happened. Mamoun follow suit, nervously tipping his bucket of water into the crack. He stepped back, adjusting his burqa with his forearm as it continually slipped down and covered his eyes. Nothing happened.
Keesha, Turin, and finally Khafaz followed, each pouring a bucket of water into the crack. When nothing happened, they turned and returned to the well for refills. Across the chamber, Ahmar and Ya'qub labored away, hauling rubble--just two faceless brides amid the hundreds slaving to clean up what was obviously some sort of structural failure.
As Waleed poured in his next bucket, an echoed roar rose from beneath the auditorium. The floors began to tremble. The work of the chamber stopped dead. Some of the brides began to moan, dropping their loads and brushes and nervously stumbling into each other in confusion.
Waleed smiled under his burqa, and waved to the others to flee-- well, not flee, but to meet back up with Kuhj at a rapid pace. Hopefully he would have Sita with him as he promised.
Carefully copying the movements and moaning sounds, Ya'qub begins to make his way out of the auditorium. He moves quickly, but tries to maintain his disguise in the process. He keeps his Ahmar and the others close in sight, and tries to move out in their general direction.
Smiling at noticing that the plan worked, Keesha looks around to see what any salamander in sight is doing. Making sure to move in a kind of random way to avoid their attention she starts walking quickly towards the meeting point.
Ahmar does his best to imitate the confused wandering of the panicked ghuls, but refrains from their pitiful moaning. Slowly and without bunching up with his companions, he staggers his way to the entrance of the chamber.
As the party made their way across the chamber, the trembling floor climaxed in an explosion of flying stone and jagged tile that rained down indiscriminately on bride and salamander guard alike. Everyone began shrieking and running towards the exit; in the confusion becoming separated but having a common destination, continuing onward.
Keesha felt a flash of pain in her back than drove her down to her knees. Something had struck her from behind. She looked up and found that she could not tell her companions from the true brides. She stood, was almost pushed back down by a rush of panicked brides, and started towards the exit. Her eyes caught fluid movement gushing from the gaping tear that had started as a crack over Ahz'ahk's left eye; an enormous Zakharan dragon--a venerable, scarred vishap.
The vishap roared, claws digging into tile as if were clay, further panicking brides. They swarmed in every direction, clawing the air and shrieking for help. The vishap's momentum carried it across the chamber where it struck the wall with such force that the entire auditorium rocked, chandeliers and silver roof tiles fell and the mountain of rubble shifted. Two burning red salamander guards charged through the dust at the vishap, spears raised and flaming battle cries lost in the shrieks and rumbling. They were shaken off like fleas.

[Gamemaster]

Keesha was at a run, pain forgotten.
Turin was pressed next to Khafaz, holding on to his master's shoulder. They were trying to funnel through the narrow entryway with what he guessed was two hundred brides. "Which one is Sita?" he yelled into Khafaz's ear. For a reply he received a very un-Khafaz like shriek. They'd become separated. His panic rising he frantically looked about him as the press carried him slowly toward the exit in a tide of black. Behind him he saw a cloud of smoke materialize in midair, solidifying into a monstrous form that bore the face that graced every archway in this cursed palace. Eyes literally burning and quaking with anger, the efreeti screamed. "I demand you leave my domain!" Turin's blood ran cold and had it not been for the press of bodies against his, he may have collapsed there- such was the power of Azh'ahk's voice. In reply the vishap leapt at the efreeti. A moment later they where rolling on the floor, a tangle of scaly hide and blazing basalt flesh. The palace trembled, floors cracked, ceilings rained dust and tiles.
Through the passageway you run, leaping over streams of flowing lava that have appeared, dodging falling granite, choking on dust, your companions lost to you. As you get closer to the burning river, fewer and fewer brides surround you. They flee into side passages and rooms where they cower and await their doom. At the river you see Kuhj and the rest of your party. The carpet stretches across the fast flowing river of fire--freedom lies just beyond. Your camels, friends, future, ahead of you, death, enemies, and past, behind.
"Hahaha! Mamoun, was that some tale you will be able to tell your children one day or what?!" Waleed was happy to be leaving and as he approached the Kuhj and the others he ripped off his burqa and prepared to throw it into the river and motioned for Mamoun to do likewise. "Show her the bells and let us be off!" Waleed, with Mamoun in tow, was already walking across the carpet to freedom, not waiting for the others. "And let us not forget to destroy the carpet so it cannot be used by others," Waleed thought for a second, then continued, "if we take it, we could be tracked."
Amid the roar of the collapsing subterranean palace, a strange sound rises -- that of mad, joyful laughter. Ahmar, his face uncovered, howls with uncontrollable delight as he halts before the burning river.
"Vengence!" he cries, grabbing Ya'qub in a crushing embrace. "Fate has granted me vengence, Ya'qub! Were I to die here and now my heart would be glad knowing I have sent the soul of that fiend to Hell!"
He turns to Kuhj, a wild smile upon his face, fire dancing in his eyes.
"Give us Fahad's bride," he demands. "And let us all flee to whatever terrible and glorious life awaits us!"
"Where ith Thita?" Ya'qub shouted heedless of his lisp now. "We cannot leave without her!"
Kuhj looked from Ahmar and then to Ya'qub. His facial expression was hard to judge, given how foreign it was, but perhaps it was one of surprise. "As I said, the woman you seek is in the auditorium."
"What!" Ahmar cries, his glee gone in an instant. "I thought you had gone to fetch her! Why else did you say you would be waiting for us here?"
"To assist you in escaping across the river before the palace is destroyed. The only other escape is through the gate. But, it passes directly to a realm of fire where none of you could survive," he pointed to the carpet stretching across the flaming river. "Your freedom lies that way. Hurry, for I must now make my escape as well."
"Oh, for Jauhar'th thake!" the balding caravaneer cries in disgust. Heedless of the danger, he crosses back over the bridge pulling out the camel bells from his pack, ringing them as loudly as he can.
"Give me the bells and flee this place!" Ahmar yells, stretching out his hand. "All of you! I will join you if I can."
"I will not leave you to fathe the danger alone. We entered thith plathe together, we leave together, or we do not leave at all."

[Gamemaster]

Thinking back over their time together, Ahmar would swear he had never seen such a determined look on the merchant's face before.
"So be it." Ahmar said realizing the futility of arguing with the merchant. "The rest of you flee for your lives! Ya'qub, stay close!" Then, with the speed of the wind, he hurls himself headlong back into the collapsing palace...
Khafaz only paused long enough to cast off his burqa, then he was making his way across the river. "Fools! This damnable quest will be the deaths of you all!"
Turin followed close behind, glancing back at those who raced back in search of Fahad's lost love. "May fate guide and keep you!"
Waleed's heart sank. He remembered Khuj specifically implying he would get Sita. Damn snake in the grass. Having already burned his burqa and so too Mamoun's, he had no other choice but to flee. "May Fate guide your hand!" Waleed cried out to Ahmar and Ya'qub, then turned to save his life and the others. "To the green sand and back to the Hag's cave, we must leave here at once!" Waleed shot a glance over to Khuj that could have no other explanation except that if he could, Khuj would not make it out alive.
"Wait a second" with that Keesha runs behind the fighter saving as much energies as she can. "There is no way you can make it without our aid, or lets say to cross that bridge.. now that we are a couple of less people, I could try to teleport us back to the other side of the river... or even with some luck to the outside cavern... I kept my link with Eakon to the outside world just in case" Smiling she hastes the warrior "Now lets move!"
What happened next would never truly be clear in Ya'qub's mind. Darkness and dust. The falling stones and flying loops of lava spittle when they splashed down into the fast flowing streams of lava. He sensed Keesha behind him and it was confirmed when she screamed in pain. He turned to help but she pushed him onward, gasping that she was ok. The sickening smell of burning flesh reached his nostrils.
Ya'qub stayed close behind Ahmar, waving the bells and shouting. With all the dust and darkness Ya'qub could hardly see, but it seemed Ahmar had taken on a larger form- his voice heavier and somehow sinister as he called out Sita's name. They passed fleeing salamanders and cowering brides but none paid the searchers any mind.
Keesha's view of the ongoing destruction was vivid and terrifying. Her spell of darkvision showed clearly their peril. Some of the passageways had already collapsed, leaving less areas to search, but also increasing the odds that Sita was forever beyond reach, trapped beneath the rubble. A muffled crash, a sharp pain. She stumbled and pushed forward--blood ran from a cut in her scalp. This time she didn't cry out. Onward they searched, the passageway now free of the large salamanders but littered with brides cowering and crushed. None where responding to the bells or cries. Ahead of her Ahmar and Ya'qub disappeared in a shower of debris.
Ahmar felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. Darkness surrounded him for the first time in his waking life. Drawing upon the inner strength of his efreeti blood he stood, heart pounding, anger building beyond his ability to control it. He was losing focus on his purpose. Finding Sita didn't quite seem as important as revenge anymore. He turned to see Keesha, valiantly struggling to pull Ya'qub free of the stone and dirt, and for a moment considered leaving them there. They seemed as strangers, he was better than they, superior not some mere human. What mattered they to him?
Keesha called out for Ahmar to aid her, then paused. Ahmar stared at her with bright eyes, his form and manner changing before her. Gone was the desert warrior--here stood a son of Azh'ahk, hulking and horned. Then Ahmar was back, in spirit at least. Blinking, he reached down and freed his companion from the rubble. Gasping and sputtering, Ya'qub thrust the camel bells in the air with a vigorous ring of triumph. They charged onward.

[Gamemaster]

Then they stood at the entrance to the auditorium. Inside the battle raged on. It was there they found Sita. She sat cowering on the floor beside the archway and its fallen onyx statue of Azh'ahk's head. She turned at the sound of the bells and reached out a pleading hand. In low, cracking voice that was drowned in the confusion around them, she cried: "Mother."
Keesha drew deep on her remaining strength and began to concentrate on carrying her companions and Sita to the surface. She reached out to Eakon and suddenly a breathtaking view of the desert spread before her. The desert held a calm beauty that was in hypnotic contrast to the chaos around her. There she saw Sahra and the other laborers rushing to meet Khafaz and Turin as they emerged from the hag's cave. Then Waleed and Mamoun.
Her destination fixed in her mind's eye, she cast her spell. Only then did she bring her attention back to the palace in which she stood. Ya'qub held Sita in his arms, but Ahmar was gone. Keesha had only a moment to look through the archway and into the auditorium before they were teleported to the surface. Somehow the efreeti lord Azh'ahk had managed to subdue the mighty vishap--his cry of triumph rang loud above the chaos as the zakharan dragon struggled to free itself before the mighty efreeti's flaming sword stilled its ancient heart.
Charging across the auditorium, robes bathed in flame and his blazing scimitars held high was Amir-al-Ahmar. Last of his tribe and the only amir who'd refused to pay Azh'ahks tribute and had to watch as others paid the price. Cursed to wander the world on a hopeless quest for revenge--for hadn't the djinn of Jamal Oasis assured him this? There charged Ahmar, his battle cry for his family, his friends, his people, ringing loud and clear. The efreeti lord Azh'ahk turned, poised with raised sword to slay the vishap.
The last Ya'qub and Keesha saw was the vishap slipping from Azh'ahks grasp and Ahmar's blades striking Azk'ahk. Then they were gone. The statue on the floor stared sightlessly at an empty chamber.
Ya'qub, Keesha, and Sita appeared near the others, covered in dust and blood. Keesha collapsed from the effort and her wounds -- injured but not critically and still conscious.
As the others rushed to assist them, a sound deep inside the earth was heard as if a mountain was crumbling. Then silence. On the crest of a dune nearby, a riderless Sulayman turned and wandered out of sight and into history.
Waleed spoke for all:

"Desert rider, prince unknown.
Heart of fire, strength of stone.
A Fate well met, one desired.
A desert prince, forever admired."

Khafaz bowed his head, nodding in agreement. After a moment he whispered: "Well said."
Turin sniffed and wiped a tear from his dusty cheek. "Amir al-Ahmar, gone so very very far... Ouch!"
Khafaz stood ready to administer another backhand if Turin tried to share his poetic efforts with everyone.
Sahra was in Ya'qub's arms as soon as he sat Sita on the ground. The simple caravan laborer wept openly and examined him closely for injuries, all the while proclaiming her fear that she'd never see him again. "They told me you went back..."
Ya'qub looked deeply into Sahra's eyes, alsmost as if he was searching for approval. "You taught me much about compassion, my desert flower..." he murmured, struggling against the exhaustion that was greedily drawing him to sleep.
Saying a silent prayer to his god for the departed soul of Ahmar, Waleed turned his attention to those in need. "Here, let me tend to your wounds."

[Gamemaster]

Exhausted, Keesha lays herself against a dune and calls upon Eakon to approach her.
"Here you are my boy" Smiling she pets his head as he comes next to her. "Ouucch" she complains as she extends her hand, hit by some stone inside the temple.
Ku was never found, but Akidya died that very night. She pleaded until the executioner’s axe fell. If any agreed that she'd only done what was best for the village they didn't speak up in her defense. Too many had lost loved ones and friends. That Quabah and Hulm had been destroyed for not complying with Azh'ahks demands did not matter. Justice demanded she pay for her crimes.
The next morning it was as if a shadow had lifted from the village. They gathered again to hear the tale of treacherous hags, undead brides, efreeti lords and Zakharan dragons. At Waleed's suggestion they promised to build a statue to honor Amir al-Ahmar's sacrifice. Additionally, the town's elders commissioned their most talented scribes to write up the tale on their finest parchment. A copy was presented that evening to the party. Its title: "The Lost Love."
"The other we shall keep with our village's most important historical documents so that none shall ever forget the bravery and selflessness you displayed," the spokesperson said.
Waleed was pleased. He had wished to have found Ku, and with Keesha's aid they probably could-- he was carrying an item they had given him. Using sympathetic magic, the two could track him down and kill him, but the look in Keesha's eye's told all. She was against such violence and there was no way, short of a genie prison, that would hold Ku. Maybe for another day.
A scholar of some note, Waleed gratefully accepted the copy of "The Lost Love" and would hold onto it barring anyone else’s desires. "Where to now?" He asked himself. "Home?" Something lay dormant in the back of his mind, something he could not say and so he left it there to fester. One day it would come to the surface...
Nodding to the people in attendance she retreats back a bit, looking to scribble a couple of things together about the things she saw in the palace, the ghouls and others before going to rest. She is sure she will be able to learn a thing or two about ghouls in their way back, and perhaps find a way to help Sita out of that curse.
As she does so, she takes out a piece of frozen lava out of her pocket, which with the pressure and temperature has frozen into a precious stone... "At least this will cover some of the expenses" she speaks softly and then laughs.
Smiles softly as she looks at Waleed "Keep those thoughts out of your mind, my friend, enough blood has been wasted around here already.. " Now lets get moving again
Waleed shrugged and showed indifference. He made it seem as if he didn't care, but he did. He wanted Ku to pay. Maybe he would do it himself, but why waste the energy. He at least made sure his opinion in the matter was known to the new town leaders, that Ku was just as guilty as Akidya and he should meet the same fate. Waleed sighed, he wasn't sure what to do next.