Rawiyah looks at the angle of the sun, wondering if it makes sense to stop here to await the return of the scouts.
"It seems dangerous to allow you two to leave us while we continue moving. How long should we allow for your return? What do you want us to do if you don't return by the time it is completely dark? And what if you are not here by sunrise tomorrow?"
"I hope that we will not need long to do what we must. We should have news before dark. If it is too dark to advance and we have not returned, I recommend waiting until morning and then seek us if you can."
Nenet sighs in relief. ”We shall accompany you a bit further and wait, then. But come back before nightfall or we will come for you. Too much has gone wrong in this trip already. Are we all agreed on this?”
Rawiya nods.
I really should follow them, but night is approaching and it would do us no good for me to get separated from everyone
"Then we should not delay. See you soon my friends."
Theshen nods to Shu-Kri and turns his camel north, to begin moving out.
"Hopefully it's nothing to worry about", Sorkesh offers
The group moves further north for a few minutes. Everyone is silent, observing the increasingly viscous sand, now peppered with black dots of some sort of black oily substance. Nenet raises her hand and says: ”we’ll stop here. Prince Unas-Ankh, Shu-kri: we are ready to assist you if needed.”
Theshen and his bekyar companion continue their path and soon begin climbing a particularly tall dune. Once they reach its highest point, they see a vast pond of the substance they saw before. It bubbles and writhes, almost as if beckoning the healer and the huntress to approach it.
There is little of note besides the lake of pitch: a few mounds of sand and some lingering bubbles roughly the size of a man near its centre. They can see no signs of vegetation or recent animal tracks.
Nenet paces about, nervously. She looks at Rawiya, as if reading her thoughts: ” I am worried about them. It is against my instructions, but perhaps some of us should follow them from a distance, without violating the privacy of their task?”
"Shu=Kri, we have ten secure vials. The Master would be grateful for even a single sample, as naft apparently does not *want* to be caught. With your training, do you have any ideas besides us scooping it up from the ground?"
She looks sadly at the unconscious Badhru.
"Poor man." She shakes her head.
Rawiya follows Theshen and Shu-kri north
Nenet nods. "Don't worry, I can take care of myself and our Avistani friend." She looks around for a second and continues with a frustrated look: "And this time I'll avoid getting poisoned by a common thief."
Eerie feeling aside, to Shu-kri the liquid seems just like regular pitch. Making an effort to think of it as an immense, angry and slippery elephant that could not be reasoned with, she believes they could try to flank it or to distract the substance with a bait. The major flaw in both strategies is that she had no idea how this particular beast would react nor what sort of havoc it could unleash upon its victims.
If she sees something go awry, she will turn her camel and race back to the campsite for reinforcements (probably).
As Shu-Kri ponders, Theshen opens up a stoppered vial and begins to dismount from his camel. He will wait for her thoughts before moving towards the pitch.
Asmani frowns at the receding Theshen and Shu-kri, then turns to Nenet.
"I'm confused. I thought they were going scouting. Why should we shadow our scouts?"
Sorkesh nods in agreement with Asmani.
"I would've gone with them if I wasn't feeling so wretched ".
Nenet crouches and puts a hand on Badhru's head. "We…disagree on certain things. I believe whatever danger lies to the north is better left alone instead of confronted, but Unas-Ankh and Shu-kri are afraid it might pursue us and want to make sure we won't be caught off-guard. I would feel more comfortable knowing someone more prudent shadows them and call for reinforcements in case things go wrong."
Asmani frowns at Nenet. "There is danger to the north? Why wasn't this shared with the rest of us? What kind of danger? Why would it come after us?"
Her voice tightens with anger. "What else haven't you told us?"
"Ten stoppered, secure vials."
Rawiya peers into the failing light, trying to determine whether Theshen and Shu-kri are the only shapes she sees.
Theshen watches Shu-Kri's efforts with bated breath.
Sorkesh will just wait anxiously, hoping nothing's amiss...
Nenet stands up and walks to Asmani. "I do not appreciate your tone and would beseech you to refrain from using it on me," she says in an Osiriani so formal it includes words from the ancient tongue. She keeps staring into Asmani's eyes for a few more seconds before continuing, now addressing everyone. "I have been ordered to bring Prince Unas-Ankh to this place, where he must needs procure something for the Sage. I advised against this, but the Sage, who is learned beyond belief, showed me the wisdom of –" An ear-piercing, rumbling screech interrupts the apprentice. It comes from the north.
The pitch seems almost curious at Shu-kri's spear and once the tip is close enough it jumps and engulfs the weapon's edge for a brief moment, retracting almost instantly.
Its retraction is followed by a rumbling screech that erupts from the bowels of the earth. As if it were a scuttling animal, the screaming liquid starts to flow to its own centre, disappearing into a vortex that formed there.
The three biggest bubbles that floated on the lake burst and propel two humanoid figures covered in dripping oil. They fall close to Theshen and Shu-kri. Solidified chunks of tar incrust their faces and their hands, forming menacing dark claws. They start towards the healer and the bekyar.
Rawiya barely has any time to properly survey the area before the creatures pop out of their dark bubbles.
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The barely humanoid creatures seem ready to attack, but Rawiya and Theshen are quicker to respond. Though the oil's scream was terrifying, their courage does not falter.
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1. Rawiya
2. Theshen
3. Creatures
4. Shu-kri
"I don't like the sounds of that at all!
"Should we go find the others?"
Rawiya begins to sing loudly, hoping that she is close enough to Theshen and Shu-kri that she can be heard.
She pulls out her bow and nocks an arrow, ready to respond if the creature moves toward her friends.
Theshen sees the creatures emerge, and he resolves to block them.
"Shu-Kri, prepare to withdraw if these creatures begin to overwhelm us."
As he says this, he swaps his vial for his morningstar, and he hears the strains of Rawiya's voice.
He shouts: "We are here! Oily creatures come for us!" as he steps forward and swings, with renewed determination.
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Theshen valiantly steps forward and strikes at the creature, but hits only a well-protected, pitch-covered limb. His attack leaves him open for an attack, allowing it to sink its claws deep on the healer's chest.
One of the creatures seems almost annoyed at Rawiya's song and slowly lurches toward her until they are face-to-face. The smell of rotting eggs mixed with something sweet and fleshy is overpowering.
The last creature is at first stuck in the pitch lake where it originated. Once it frees itself from the sticky embrace of the substance, it moves towards Theshen.
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1. Rawiya
2. Theshen
3. Creatures
4. Shu-kri
The hells are these things?
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We cannot afford more injuries!
Rawiya continues singing, but changes the words
♫"Back to the tents! To me! To me!♫"
Rawiya withdraws from the action.
Shu-kri has never seen nor read anything about these creatures; they are as fascinating as they are frightful.
Ever the pragmatic empiricist, however, she can see that their movements are slow and staggered – meaning they are likely to be easy to outrun and vulnerable to hit and run tactics. They also seem stronger or emboldened whenever they are in contact with spots recently occupied by the pitch.
He hears Rawiya's song and Shu-Kri's sage words, and he knows that he must withdraw - and swiftly. As he moves, he briefly touches his hands together.
"Never mind the banter", Sorkesh says.
He Grab's Asmani's arm to get her attention and then points North.
"We have to help the others. [u]Now[/u]! Arguments can wait!"
As she sings, Rawiya sights in her arrow and lets it fly at the nearest tar-covered shape.
Asmani curses, clearly not impressed with Nenet's formality or tone, and draws her kukri's as she breaks into a run, hurrying in the direction of the screams.
"Idiocy," she snarls to herself, trying to catch sight of the danger. "Idiocy!"
Nenet extends her left arm until a battle axe seemingly made of sapphire materialises; she grips the weapon. She then takes a step closer to Badhru and takes a defensive stance.
Asmani begins to run at Sorkesh's call, both going northward. As they sprint, they realise that the black blotches of oil are all flowing in that direction, as if something was quickly draining all liquid from the sand.
Meanwhile, Theshen, Shu-kri and Rawiya are running away from the lake of pitch. The singing archer manages to hit one of the creatures, realising they have stopped giving chase. The dark humanoid silhouette takes the arrow without any sort of reaction.
A few moments later, everyone hears a loud slurping sound, followed by a quick tremor. After that, all is silent and the three scouts see their companions running in their direction, weapons in hand.
Theshen jogs over to Rawiya and prays, touching her shoulder.
He then is about to do the same for himself, with a hand on his chest, then remembers his swift motion earlier.
He turns to the others and speaks with agitation.
"The creatures...came out of the pitch. They are slow but stronger than they look!"
"What is going on?" demands Asmani, voice heated. "Creatures emerging from pitch? Is that what you went to 'scout out'? And if so, why hide this from the rest of us?"
Theshen sighs. And then looks up at Asmani and looks from her to the others and back again.
"The Sapphire Sage took myself and Badhru aside for a private discussion, before we left. He spoke of an oily substance called 'naft', that he knew little about. Previous samples had all used to test it, to little avail. So he asked us to obtain samples, should we come across them. He wished to keep the existence of naft a secret from the man called Torch, and saw little need to involve the entire group in the task. Full immersion in naft has dire consequences, as I saw back home. But I did not realise what other dangers it - or its guardians - could entail. I am sorry that this has brought danger upon us."
"How many creatures? And what kind? Are they still following?", Sorkesh asks, as he readies is crossbow...
"Three figures who stood as men, but made of dripping oil with hardened tar for faces. Slow but deadly."
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Rawiya rubs her shoulder.
"Thank you Theshen. That feels much better."
She turns to the rest of the party.
"The Sage is a wily bast...." she blurts out.
She looks embarrassed and starts again.
"The Sage is a clever and secretive courtier. What he says may be truthful, but it's never the whole truth, and it's often a truth that sends your thoughts in a misleading direction."
She looks directly in Theshen's eyes.
"So, what is your interest in this? Surely you're not doing this just because some old man asked you?"
Theshen pauses a moment, then replies.
"Recently, I treated a man who had ingested some naft by accident. At least, I presumed it was an accident. I did what I could, but he slowly perished over four days and three nights. And from what I understand from the Sage, full immersion brings an even worse fate. The Sage seemed...worried...worried that even with all his knowledge, he knew so little of such a dangerous substance. It has some connection to the sun and to Osirion itself. But the details are few. I felt it made sense to help him obtain samples, to understand it and thus prevent other tragedies."
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"Scholars!" Rawiya shakes her head.
"Good thing you had someone with a more practical outlook there.
"But, Shu-kri. Why would you care about putting some nasty stuff in a bottle?"
She looks around. "Is this something we could sell? What is its worth at the market? Is the risk made up for by the reward?"
Perhaps I could bring some of this back to Mimi, and repay her more quickly.
Rawiya looks around herself, only to realise the sand has become yellow and fine once again. There's no trace of the dark substance as far as the eye can see.
"What? Wait! Where'd that stuff go?"
Rawiya looks puzzled for a few seconds, then shrugs her shoulders.
"This day has been too long. I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I want just to lie down and not be on guard for a few hours."
She turns and walks back to the camp.
"So long as the danger's gone, a rest sounds good to me!"