Saturday, April 21, 2012

The 0ld 0rder - Slave Camp

The sun sets as the ship skirts the forest's edge.  In the growing dark, a caravan sets camp for the night below circling the wagons and lighting cookfires.  Ta brings the ship into the wind, lowers sails and drops the anchor-stone.  Mosa, in lemur-form, shrouds the ship with illusion.

The rest of the crew is assembled on deck.  With the camp in sight, the slave cages can be seen clearly which agitates the orc and makes the others uneasy.  Ta explains that an associate rides with the slavers below, as a passenger, and he needs to speak with him.  Requesting a bodyguard, the bronze spider slides down the anchor line to the ground.  Only Bezis and the barwench stay aboard.

Grognak wishes to destroy the slavers, and the others are in agreement, so Ta agrees to let them have their way only after the meeting occurs.  Close to the caravan they encounter a strangely-hued humanoid, a passenger travelling a random course.  His name is Phyriz and looking reptilian with scaled skin and green coloring.  The stranger agrees to seek out Ta's associate, who he had seen earlier, and lead him out of the camp.

In the jungle's edge, Mosa follows the group at a distance.  The jungle is dark but filled the smells of wild growth.  She stops as she senses a presence behind her, climbing higher into a tree.  A large shadow slides partway up the trunk and two large yellow eyes regard her from the darkness.  She tells him her purpose here, to stop these slavers.  The massive cat laughs, and slides back into the shadow.

She continues onward through the trees until she spots a tiger in her path.  The cat motions for her to ride, and once the lemur is on its shoulders, bounds through the trees.  Holding on, Mosa begins to see more and more big cats moving through the jungle.  They come to a stop within sight of the caravan, hundreds of feline carnivores circling the slave camp.  Inside the cages, both man and beast become agitated, lashing out and testing their bars.

Phyriz leaves the camp with the twin of Ta.  The two look identical in every way, although the other calls himself Ki.  Ta bids them Ra's favor and the two of them go to the ship.  Grognak, Nicoli and Tesyble approach the slave camp with varied weapons ready.

With the roar of an ancient cat, the feline army charges forward.  The cat's call, a sound of such ancient primal rage, invigorates the party as they push into the wagon circle slightly ahead of the wave of cats.  Within minutes the camp becomes a bloody crater of gore by claw and axe.  Once the killing is done, the cats drag their meals back into the forest.

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