CH 5: Que-Kiri and the Plains

[JadedDM]

The days pass as the party continues their journey. Their food and water rations dwindle down, but luckily Goldmoon is now capable of supplying them with food and water directly from Mishakal herself. She learns more and more as she reads through the Disks of Mishakal, finding she can perform many such miracles.

And yet, despite all of this, they walk with heavy hearts.

Great pillars of smoke rise from beyond the Sentinel Peaks--a grim sign that there is trouble in Solace. How much of the once-mighty forest of vallenwood trees has fallen to fire? The grasslands that stretch toward Que-Kiri--a town at the gap in the mountains--are hot and dry. The smoke adds an eerie touch of darkness to the autumn afternoon.

Your journey is not complete; you must leave here, must search for a true Leader of the People. This strange message, spoken through the statue of the goddess Mishakal, suggests that the party's mission is far from over. Where in the vast world of Krynn will this search lead?

Here on the barren Plains of Abanasinia, the late autumn wind bites sharply. The yellow-brown grass withers in the rushing cold, but the feeling is much more disturbing than that of a normal change in seasons.

At many places, the plains are marked by the tracks of crude, two-wheeled carts and many clawed footprints. Thousands must have passed this way. Nothing is alive here--neither the wild animals that normally inhabit these areas nor the occasional settler scratching a living from the harsh land.

Most ominous of all these signs are the great black scars stretching for hundreds of yards along the ground, often through the charred remains of farmhouses. Fire has gutted and collapsed these dwellings. The thick smell of death and the decay fills the air, and even the wind is silent.

When the party reaches the village of Que-Kiri, it doesn't lift their spirits as they had hoped. It is almost barren as the surrounding plains. Most of the buildings are shattered and burned, and many blackened bodies sprawl in the empty streets. The air is hot and thick, laced with the odor of ash and decay.

Splintered timbers and scorched stones litter the narrow streets, and smoke drifts through the abandoned town. Everything is dead and silent. Suddenly, a faint groan rises from behind some collapsed beams.

=================

It is currently Reapember 22, 350 AC at Seventh Watch (1:100 PM). It has been ten days since the party first met up in Solace.

[HorizonsDream]

Sunstar's eyes start to tear up as she looks over the blacken earth and charred bodies that rest all around her. Memories from the night the dragons and draconians attacked, looking for that blasted staff, start to flash through her mind. Her home looked much like this place after it was all done. The smoke in the distance wasn't helping matters. "They attacked all the tribes," she says with her heart in her throat.

[Jenara]

"This reminds me of Que-Shu again." Laurana comments quietly, she still had the Doll in her pack, she never thought she would see such pain again. "It appears they attacked everyone, War is a terrible thing, for this must be war, my father has had many meetings, many talks in hushed tones... It is not just your tribe, or your people who are targets I fear." Laurana lifts her head, speaking with a Regal tone, the little girl vanishing for a brief moment.

"Funny place, Magpie look for food?" The Gully dwarf asks as she sees the burned and charred buildings, "Burnt rat good."

"No Magpie, that would be wrong.. Did anyone hear that?" She asks her Elven ears picking up the Groan, "It sounds like someone is hurt."

[Jerrard]

"Caramon, Riverwind, with me." Sturm announces quickly, sword drawn he moves to the source of the noise, if it was one of those Draconians, they had the power to fight them.

[Nuke]

"At your side" Riverwind answers.

He moves to the right flank, holding his bow.

[Breila]

Goldmoon follows the fighters at a distance. If someone was hurt, her and Mishakal's help might be needed.


(ooc: spells for the day: 1st: CLW 2x, create water, detect poison, sanctuary; 2nd: aid, produce flame, withdraw, silence, cure moderate; 3rd: create food & water, prayer)

[JadedDM]

The three warriors, Sturm, Riverwind and Caramon, head toward the sound, with Goldmoon behind them. They find a badly burned old man lying under the wreckage of an inn, the heavy crossbeam pinning his legs to the ground. He is bleeding in several areas, including a head wound. His face is also burned, and his eyes are white as snow as a result.

[Breila]

"Mishakal, I need your help here" Goldmoon mutters under her breath.

"Could you men please lift the beam off the man's legs?" she asks the warriors. She kneels down beside the old man and takes his hand. "I am Goldmoon of the Que-Shu, and Mishakal has given me the healing powers of old. Hold still, you will feel better soon."

Goldmoon casts Cure Moderate Wounds on the old man, 7 hit points restored

[JadedDM]

The old man is very confused and frightened. Goldmoon's cure spell flows through his battered and burned body, healing all of his wounds (save his eyesight, which is beyond her power to fix). This only surprises him further. His pattern of speech is jerky and halting. "Did you see it?" he asks as his wounds heal magically. "You must have seen it! From the north...they came from the north! From between the mountains. First the terrors that rode the great wyrms...they came into our town and fear filled our breasts. We fought, though. Yes! We fought long and hard, but still more of them came on leather wings...straight out of the old legends they came, fire splashing like waves over our homes."

He continues to ramble. "Many fled...many died. Those who ran fell among the small demons--man-sized but looking like their masters. I don't know where they took my people...I was too clever for them. I hid! Yes, I hid!

"When shall my people return?" he asks earnestly. "What shall become of my garden?"

=========

Goldmoon casts Cure Moderate Wounds on the old man, restoring 7 HP.

[Breila]

Tears well up in Goldmoon's eyes, and she has to swallow before she can answer the old man.

"Alas, I cannot tell you when your people will return, or where they are. Que-Shu has been attacked, too, and I know only of two survivors, who are with us."
Goldmoon looks up at her companions. She had acted on an impulse to save the old man, but what should they do next? They could not leave him here alone, he would starve.

"Maybe we should search the ruins" she suggests to the men. "There might be more survivors."

[Jerrard]

Sturm grasps the beam directing Caramon and Riverwind to join him, he then lifts with all his strength.

[Jenara]

"Tas, Magpie, come with me." Laurana announces, taking the Gully Dwarf by the hand. "Let us see what we can find.."

[Nuke]

Riverwind joins the lift, exerting easy pressure so as to not to hurt the old man.

[HorizonsDream]

Sunstar walks over to Goldmoon and the old man. She kneels down before him with a sad look upon her face. She wants to tell him something comforting, but she can seem to find the words. Instead, she just takes his hand hoping to providing him a little comfort.

[JadedDM]

Sturm and Riverwind, working together with Caramon, lift up the beam so Goldmoon can drag the old man out from under it. They then drop it once he's safely aside.

Raven-eye raises a brow at the old man's testimony. "The Que-Kiri are fierce warriors, the best in the plains."

Tanis frowns as he finishes the barbarian's thoughts. "And even they fell to the enemy." He looks out to the horizon. "I am beginning to fear that this new-found gift of healing magic may have come too little, too late."

Laurana, Tas and Magpie set out, but don't take more than a few steps when someone steps forward from the south. Several people, in fact.

Draconians.

"Well, well," one says, his short sword at the ready. "Looks like we found some survivors after all. And here we thought the village had been picked clean." His eight companions snicker and draw their own short swords.

"Look, captain. Some of those humans have good, strong backs. Lord Verminaard would appreciate slaves such as them in the mines," says one.

"And some females, too," adds a third, leering. "Even a elf wench! Oh, I bet we could pump her for some useful information about Qualinost."

"I bet we could pump her for a number of things," says the captain, and his companions laugh. Then all nine begin using their long, snake-like tongues to lick their blades.

These draconians seem different, and not just for their odd taste in steel. Their scales are of a redder, more coppery sheen than the petrifying Baaz and exploding Bozaks.