In the waning light of day, when shadows stretch along the beaten furrows of the caravan ruts, and the twinkling light of Golarion's stars start to shimmer in the purple sky, the caravan manager walks you up to a crackling camp fire. Four hewn stumps are occupied by four caravan guards. All the occupants are scooping some sort of oily brown stew into their mouths from carved bowls with horn spoons.
"New guards." the caravan master declares to the four. "Heard there was trouble further down the road before we hit Jace’s Stanchion. Best keep your wits about you." and with that statement of the obvious, he turns heel and strides back towards his wagon.
None of the four look up as you approach the fire until you are close enough to feel its warmth. You notice that two of the four are obviously related, dark haired, strapping youths. "I am Morris, and this is my brother Simon." one of the guards announces. You see that next to his stump rests a huge, two-handed sword.
"Look at that one’s boots, Morris. Quite a fancy pair for someone supposed to be guarding a caravan." adds in Simon as he flips a pair of knives with one hand.
The remainder of the group is rounded out by a married couple. ”I am Syonne." states a comely, red-headed woman. "This is our fire and you will find a different one to warm yourself." as she finishes talking, her apparent husband rises from his carved stump and interposes himself between you and her. "If you are smart, you will listen to her. I am Bertrand, one of the smartest people you will ever meet because I know to listen to my wife." he chuckles, his heavy brown beard wagging forth. "Though she may be gruff of tongue, she has the right of it. Places around the fire are earned, and green recruits make their own fire.
"You also will take rear detail on the caravan when we pull out tomorrow when we head into Haver's Marshland. Anything west of the Barony of Soliel is basically a lawless land outside of the small settlements." The large man resumes sitting and eating, clearly finished with the conversation.
Kenax looks warily at the group assembled around the fire. They were rude, these. Not offering a cold one the kindness of a fire after a long day? "I see. And I see all. You will do well to share kindness and not mistrust." He skulks away from the campfire, bow at his side. As he walks, for a moment his skin blends with his surroundings and he completely disappears from sight, before reappearing more heartbeats later than it would take for him to slit a throat.
Kazushi shows little reaction to what is said to the recruits at the fire, merely nodding as voicing an unemotional:-
Very well.
As the recruits start to disperse Kazushi addresses the group:-
Green recruits, we will be sharing a dangerous post tomorrow. Shall we share the task of gathering wood and making a fire now?
The Kitsune's eyes scan the surrounds for suitable firewood.
"Aidan," young man shrugs. Let's just hope they will be more reasonable in combat.
"I'll help you with that," he says looking around for twigs and stones.
"Well Aidan, I am Kazushi, enchantress and sorceress extraordinaire."
Kazushi curtsies with a flourish, before continuing with a cheerful, self mocking smile:-
"Currently reduced to the menial talk of gathering firewood."
Seeing as the other meat were introducing themselves, Kenax hardly thinks it appropriate to keep his silence while calling the veterans rude for their actions. "I am called Kenax. My name is much longer, but suffice that Kenax is inoffensive to my senses. I am the wind." He says it without bravado, simply as a matter of fact. He truly believes that he is the wind. "I will watch as you gather wood, to ensure safety."
The wind? This guy will be real useful if we do any sailing.
A pleasure, Kenax. A lookout seems wise. We will soon have a warm fire.
"The wind?" Aidan repeats with a puzzled expression. "That's... interesting."
"A sorceress and an archer. A nice company, it would seem," Aidan smiles. "I am, for lack of a better word, a swordsman."
His attention shifts to the last one of the new guards. "And who are you my friend?"
"Tio." The tall, somewhat gruff looking young man spoke very plainly, and certainly deliberately, while at the same time ignoring the veterans' remarks. "While you may be the wind," he says, gesturing to Kenax, "and you may be an enchantress, and you a swordsman," likewise pointing to his new companions in turn, "I am... I suppose your words were well-chosen, for I am a friend. Hopefully, to all of you, but certainly to others."
With the next stiff breeze that blows, plenty of dust is kicked up, yet it remains curiously suspended in the air, soon swirling as a small, almost child-sized creature seemingly made of force materializes, then bows to the group. "Worry not. If you are friendly to me, then so shall be Lagun. And in the meantime... both of us can help gather firewood."
No sooner do the words leave his mouth than Lagun scurries off, his steps whipping up small flurries of dust and leaves as he wanders to collect tinder and firewood. "Always eager to please..." Tio remarks, smiling after the little creature.
"If I am not mistaken, the rear detail is the most dangerous when guarding a caravan. Unless we are blessed with an uneventful journey, we will have to depend on each other for our lives in the near future. Becoming friends rather rapidly seems indicated."
The caravan breaks camp early the following morning. You quickly learn the the rear is the worst position. No sooner do the wagons rumble forth then a fog of eye clouding, throat coating, and nose clogging dust cover you from head to toe. In only a matter of minutes, at least two of you have stepped into a newly steaming pile of ox dung. Organic and smelly, no amount of wiping can keep the cloying stench of feces from your dust covered nose.
The seconds stretch into minutes, minutes to hours, hours to a lifetime of watching the carts rumble gently downhill into Haver's Marshland. Lush, tall, green grasses frame a shallow stream bed below. The ground makes a squishy sound each time anyone rises a foot from the moist soil.
From nowhere, a team of creatures rise from the grass. Some of these creatures stand on two legs and reach the height of a full grown human male. Their heads resemble common ruminates of the plains, such an antelope, while their bodies are covered in soft brown fur. With a loud grunting howl, they raise their clubs and rush the caravan.
The other creature is a striped beast with patchy black fur and a flat tail. A soft hum seems to come from it as it turns in your direction. The creature’s maws open in a snarl to reveal rows of long, sharp teeth that can easily tear flesh.
From all over you can hear other creatures attacking up and down the caravan, and you know you are on your own.
Aidan reacts instantly, focusing and forming swirling and glimmering blades around himself. He concentrates on his enemy and suddenly, one of the blades flies towards the striped creature.
Kenax studies the nearer of the small furred creatures, readying his bow and then firing an arrow. He knew that these creatures could be troublesome if allowed to continue their humming, and was not particularly keen to find out exactly how troublesome. "All this for a caravan? I think we were undersold this job."
Tio likewise reacts quickly, and with him, Lagun. Almost sooner than he raises his arm to point out his target, Lagun is there, swinging a forceful fist into the striped beast as he interposes himself between the creature and the caravan.
Kazushi fleetingly glances towards Kenax, exclaiming:-
" F### yeah... I mean, I concur sir."
Kazushi moves to take cover behind the wagon, calling forth her arcane power.
The newly formed group of caravan guards reacts quickly to the ambush. Working like they have worked together their whole lives the assembled begin to attack rather than let these beasts destroy the caravan and its precious cargo.
From nowhere, ten swirling blades form around Aidan. One blade streaks towards striped creature or Ferax . The blade sinks deep in its flesh and the ferax crumples to the ground, bleeding out in the soft marshy earth.
Kenax whips out his bow and fires off a shot at the small furred creature or nearest ferax . The arrow files true and embeds itself in the ferax's shoulder.
Tio Ringa's Astral Construct shambles forward and swings at nearest ferax but his fist misses.
Kazushi moves to take cover behind the wagon, calling forth her arcane power and casts it at the ferax.
Try as it might, the ferax cannot seem to make its legs move at all.
Finally mobilizing, the antlered creature moves forward and attacks the nearest caravan guard.
Both the club and antlers miss horribly.
Kenax steps forward, firing once more at the creature he understands to be a Ferax. "Take this down quickly, it can grow to be a problem." The pun is completely lost on him, even as he says it. Perhaps the stunted attempt at humor leads to his rather stunted shot at the creature, but either way it is not his best shot.
Kazushi's spell fizzles on the monstrous beast.
Rearing it head full of teeth, it runs up to Tio Ringa to take a bite out of his leg.
Its mouth clamps down, but the human remains upright.
Meanwhile Kenax's arrow flies harmlessly overhead.
Lagun swings as the ferax passes him to get to Tio, a foolish mistake.
As the ferax rushes Tio Ringa, Lagun slams the beast's head into the marshy soil. Ferax blood slowly mixes with rich loamy soil to make a dark brown soupy mess.
Lagun continues his assault as he turns on the tall antlered creature, moving to flank with Aidan. "Take him out!" Tio shouts, pointing to the creature.
Tio focuses strongly on Lagun, directing his actions further. "Again! Protect our friend!" he shouts, shadowboxing Lagun's punch even as the small construct brings his fist forward again.
Damn. No opportunity for a spell without hitting my allies.
Kazushi moves around the wagon the long way, in front of the horses, taking up position with Kenax and Tio.
Aidan quickly launches two weapons point blank, sacrificing accuracy for more damage.
Lagun swings out with it's massive astral fists. The antlered creature swerves out of the way of the first fist, but Lagun's puppeteer is savvy enough to swing with a hard uppercut while the creature is off balance. The second blow rocks the antlered creature's head back and blood can be seen streaming down its face.
Kazushi scampers into a better tactical position, trying to unleash a wave of magical energies meant to stun the creature.
But it is Aidan, and his duo of projectile light weapons that streak across the ground and lodge in the antlered creatures chest. The psionic weapons embed themselves for a moment, then disappear and reappear orbiting the soulknife.
The creature falls to the ground dead.
"Is everyone all right?" asks Aidan as he walks to the others.
Seeing as nobody is harmed he stretches and grins.
"Wasn't so hard, was it?"
He then pauses and sighs, his smile not so broad as just a moment ago. "Ah, who am I kidding? We were just lucky no one got hurt."
Aidan listens to the surroundings, to hear to if the other parts of the caravan finished fighting yet.
"You are perhaps lucky, but I am simply that skilled. It is well we struck down the furred creatures, they have an expansion ability that makes them troublesome as they may eat your fleshy head." He nods, knowing far more than he had let on in the fight. "Also, that creature you summon seems most useful." A bit of a grudging acknowledgement to Tio and Lagun for their contribution to the smashing.
"Well done gentlemen. And nobody injured. You know these creatures Kenax? I do not, perhaps you can enlighten me."
"The small one is a Ferax. It's a furry little creature with some latent psionic abilities. Its hum enhances its allies, and it has the ability to grow its size. The other antlered creature is unfamiliar, though the sigil tugs at my mind," Kenax says, slightly pleased with himself.
"What is it that tthe say? Better lucky than good? I'm just glad we're all in one piece. Thank you for your help, Lagun, as always," he says,smiling aa the construct. As wispy tendrils of aether are pulled into what can only be described as an overly exaggerated smile, his form dissipates, aetheric thread dropping to the ground and spreading into nothingness.
"Thank you Ferax. Neither creature is a thread any longer, fortunately.
"I am Kenax, the creature was a Ferax." The Lizard-man says rather pointedly, despite the fact it was likely just a lapse at having heard the creature's name more recently. After all, they are similar. "If it helps, my name is actually Kenaxaussan Qualiotl, though I find that human tongues have trouble with it." For emphasis, he sticks his out (though not intending to be rude).
The group is approached by the four caravan guards they had met previously. Morris is much larger than before and he strides towards them with a huge, two-handed sword bared and dripping blood. His brother Simon walks slightly behind him, flipping a knife hilt over blade almost in a subconscious way. The married couple Syonne and a heavily-bearded, laughing Bertrand follow. You can see remnants of the shards of crystalline earth they conjured to hurl at the antlered creatures and feraxes.
"Need any help here?" asks Simon in an offhand way.
From behind, the group can see the caravan master running in a panicked way, checking on cargo and guard alike to assess the damage his precious caravan suffered.
Tio chuckles. "As you can see," he says, gesturing to the strewn corpses, "My friends and I were more than capable of defending the rear from these foes. No harm has come to us, or to the caravan, back here."
Kazushi is obviously embarrassed at her error, replying:-
"My apologies my friend. Much here is unfamiliar. I will stick with Kenax if I may, I will have to practice Kenaxau... your full name before I can pronounce it correctly."
Then in reply to the guard:-
"We are unharmed, as I think is your cargo."
Aidan pokes the creature he finished off with his boot.
"You heard them," he nods and continues. "These creatures don't look like your usual bandits. Do you know what they are?"
Kenax once again appears irritated, which can be seen by the lines of his eye ridges lowering. I have just told you what these were. It was precisely this reason he found humans exasoerating. They were illogical creatures, often stating things such as "it's warm today" when it was obvious to anything with senses that it was warm. They were also prone to asking questions such as "you have three arrows in you, do you need help?" It was extremely irksome. He looked over at the veteran guards with a combination of disapproval and scorn. Does it look like we need help? They're dead, we're not. The more diplomatic route was to not insult them overtly, however.
The caravan master heads over, "Well, that was horrible. Lost a few good guards, but thankfully the goods are still intact. Regardless if you are injured or not, we need to put some miles in the marsh lands. Best push on and make camp tonight."
The caravan makes steady progress throughout the day, stopping only briefly to break their fast and tend to the beasts of burden. Reaching a semi-defensible position the caravan master calls the caravan to a halt and instructs the groups to make camp for the night.
This is repeated for the next few days ...until ...
It was supposed to be an easy job— escort a wagon full of grain to a remote outpost through a relatively barren marshland. But things have only gone from bad to worse as the journey has worn on. First, one of the guards vanished in the night. Then the creatures appeared—man-like things with the heads of nightmarish antelopes and a ferocious hatred of intruders. Days of ceaseless attacks have finally taken their toll on the caravan. The strange creatures have attacked the traders and their guards mercilessly, each attack taking a few of the guards with it. In this latest attack the creatures managed to cripple some of the convoys’ horses, leaving the cart a shattered wreck.
The weary and battered guards know it is only a matter of minutes before they reach the relative safety of the town. Out of nowhere, a squad of antlered creatures appears with a pack of feraxes. Against these overwhelming odds, the group can see and hear the caravan master point to a path ahead and shout, “The trail to Jace’s Stanchion lies that way! There are too many to fight! Run you bastards!”
"The wind does not run, it goes where it pleases. Rivers run, time flies, but the wind... the wind cuts to the bone with its chill." Kenax appears to be readying his bow. Also of note however is the fact he can turn completely invisible, so in the event he should need to advance in a backward direction, he's extremely capable of doing so.
"Also, I am thinking our pay will be lessened if we lose all cargo." He adds, as it is a valid thought.
"I'll cover you then," Aidan manifests his weapons taking an offensive stance. "What about you two?"
"Good point," he grins. If we survive, that is.
Kazushi pitches her voice so that it can be heard by her companions, but not at a distance, in case the creatures that are about to attack can understand her.
"I don't think our employers are exactly a cause worth dying for. But if you are making a stand so am I. I have four colour sprays gentlemen, a fifteen foot cone you should give me space for."
Kazushi's eyes scour her surrounds.
"Lagun and I can pick off some who might approach, as can Kenax, I'm sure, but I think we ought not slow much at all." Tio looks at the oncoming horde, and back forward at the rest of the caravan. "This is what we get, being rear guard and all. I don't see those smug guards offering help now... "
"I agree Tio. There is not a lot here to defend, and far too many to defend against. This is not the time to fight."
Electing to run rather than fight, the caravan hurriedly pulls into Jace’s Stanchion. The creatures that have so doggedly pursued them have given up their chase the closer the caravan has gotten to the small village.
Found in the northern portions of the continent of Femon, west of the Barony of Soliel, rests the small town of Jace's Stanchion.
The buildings of Jace’s Stanchion tend to be single story affairs. With a foundation of stone that must be drawn from the local quarry, the floors have puzzle-like tiles that have been placed together for added stability and do not seem to use mortar. The walls of many buildings are constructed of heavy, knotty logs, seemingly at odds with the ingenious stonework. The roofs are composed of thin, geometric stone shingles, interlocking almost like a turtle shell, supported by thick wooden columns. These shingles are expertly crafted phrenoric ore. All buildings look solidly made and in good condition, obvious pride has been taken in their appearance. Surrounding a central court built around a statue of an impressive-looking man are the tell-tale signs of a blacksmith, tailor, stonecutter, and general store.
The weary and battered caravan makes their way over the bridge and into town. The caravan master walks up to you. "Well, that was a harrowing journey to say the least. Gonna make a great story to tell the grandkids one day. I cannot thank you all enough for your levelheadedness. You earned this and then some." he flips a pouch of clinking coins to you.
"Got delivers to make, so I best be off. You might want to head over to the The Absent Eidolon Tavern . It is the only place around here worth getting a drink at. Be seeing you!" he ends cheerfully before wiping his brow with a spotted kerchief.
the date is.
After establishing that her comrades are fine Kazushi tells them she intends to head to The Absent Eidolon. She takes ten minutes to head to the river and clean herself up a bit first.
Kazushi then wanders to The Absent Eidolon and deliberately looks new to town and alone, smiling invitingly at patrons in the tavern.
She soon finds herself with a small group of admirers and a cider she didn't have to pay for.
Describing the attacks on the caravan, Kazushi asks if there is anything they can tells her about the creatures. Trent responds:-
"Dangerous".
"Sometimes attack caravans."
Adds Bill.
Kazushi tackles another subject, asking:-
"I only saw guards at the compound of House Duarran, where our compound went, it seems there should be others?"
"House Duarran keeps us safe." Responds Bill.
"But surely guards are needed elsewhere with such dangerous creatures in the area?"
"House Duarran keeps us safe." Replies Trent.
After further enquires reveal little else, Kazushi leaves, seeking her comrades. Weird, just too weird. These zombies are not even hitting on me that seriously, totally unnatural.
Kenax keeps up with Kazushi, giving her the room necessary for her various inquiries. "This one is becoming less sure that we are safer inside the town," Kenax confides to her once she departs. His bow is loosely held at his side, but it never quite leaves his hand. Ophidian eyes track the movements around, noticing even the most obscure and subtle detail. "I grow concerned. This place has a taste to it, and it is foul. So very foul." Not cowardly, Kenax is not given to having this sort of feeling. The blank looks and the bland answers leave him with a chill, and cold blooded animals prefer not to be chilled.
Aidan sticks to Kenax and Kazushi, keeping an eye on the locals, while engaging in small talk, but with no result - similar answers and aloofness shared by everyone in this town stands in the way of having a nice conversation.
Aidan sighs and gestures his companions to slightly step away from the locals.
"I don't like this place," he whispers. "Their eyes... there's fear in them. And no guards? With those creatures around? Something's not right."