Kanela’s Diary, Volume One.

It is the Fourteenth Day of the First Moon of the Third Year of the Reign of King Tharos of Galadiahos. It is now my task to tell you what’s happened. I’m Kanela, Engineer and now Chronicler of the Exiled Red Brigade of the Rainbow Guard.

Life’s got interesting lately. We’ve been sitting on our arses doing some poxy honour guard duties for the last few years, but that’s all over now. We were getting towards the end of our contract and the Captain and some of the boys were getting a bit antsy to leave. There’s few of us who are keen on cities despite having spent the last few years stuck in this one.

Since the last notes in the annals, Captain Tefra has left us and we’re now ruled by T’Heros. I suppose I ought to mention who the other officers are: we’ve got no Lieutenant at the moment, but with only 75 of us in the crew we don’t really need one currently; Sergeant is Vika, who’s doing a really good job at kicking the slackers despite being a woman; the Quartermaster is Rapeezo, who’s also in charge of dodgy subversive dealings – lying, cheating, spying and the like; Swordmaster is still Sheeda and judging by the previous incumbents, she’s probably got another twenty years to go – they seem to last forever, swordmasters, as they’re bloody difficult to kill. We’ve also got a Chaplain – why I don’t know. He seems as clueless as all the others have been, and insists I build him a temple wherever we happen to be. I’ve told him often enough that it gives me toothache, but his head’s so full of theological doctrine that his ears don’t work. Oh, he’s a tree man, by the way, a Pagoth and an archer of almost divine skill, which is probably the reason he’s kept on.

Vreeo is still our Sorceror and will probably stay that way for at least one more apprentice, as Kofteros, her present one, seems to have an attitude problem. He’s an idle, conniving wimp and his heart’s only for him and not the rest of us. Vika is trying hard to alter this problem, but Vreeo doesn’t seem too bothered – that’s wizards for you.

At this time we were in service to the Tuan Palajars of Merah as an honour guard, and first line of defence against the barbarian southern types. Last time they turned up we lost a lot of the crew – they should have boiled the water like I said. What’s the point of having a siege expert if you don’t take his advice? The prime employers and leading scholars of the city were as follows:

Tuan Palajar Pokrol, Masterscholar of Law and de facto leader of the city. He’s a loud-mouthed dickhead. The Captain doesn’t get on with him too well, but then he’s a bit of a lawyer, and the Captain hates paperwork and contracts. He should leave that to Rapeezo in my opinion.

Tuan Palajar Notkah, Masterscholar of Mathematics and Philosophy. Good chap – a bit too self-effacing to butt heads with Pokrol. We sit and have a drink in the evenings occasionally and talk about the ancient texts in his college. No one in the Brigade seems to give a stuff about old papers, despite the fact that their lives are controlled by the history in these annals. Few of them can even read!

Tuan Palajar Samben, Masterscholar of Architecture. Probably the most brilliant man in the city. He designed the millstream and the mills to the north, which keep the locals here very well fed. He is, however, an idle bastard, and rarely gets out of bed before mid-afternoon.

Tuan Palajar Hikmar, Masterscholar of Mysteries. Rarely seen, his name has great power, however, as he is rumoured to be a sorceror of considerable power.

The boss, Rapeezo and Vreeo went to talk to our employers on the Scholar’s Island. While they were gone, I got a message to go and see Notkah. Seeing as there was nothing else to do, I wandered down to have a chat. The boys were sitting around on their duff as normal, rapidly turning from an elite fighting force into a blubbery bunch of Metakeenos ripe for slaughter.

When I got to Notkah’s place, it was in a mess and so was he. It took him a few minutes of babbling to tell me that Keelokan, his sixteen-year-old daughter, had been kidnapped. A quick chat with his staff suggested this was true – she hadn’t been wittering on about some new boyfriend recently, and got on remarkably well with her father. Notkah asked me if we could find the girl. He gave me a large bag of money as a down payment. I said I’d talk to the Captain, and bring the money back if he said no. Personally, I’d like to help him. He’s been good to me, and the girl doesn’t deserve whatever horrible fate his enemies have decided for her.

I went straight back to the camp, and told the Cap, but he seemed very distracted. He said everyone needed to get together for a meeting and vote later that night. It had been years since we’d voted on anything, and most of the new lads didn’t even know the procedure. Whatever he’d been told on Scholar’s Island had him really fazed. He said I should investigate further on the kidnapping before we made a decision about it.

I took Vreeo, Kofteros and Rapeezo back to Notkah’s pad for a bit of a mooch around. Before we got there, Rapeezo diverted us into a cellar I didn’t know we owned. He was very put out about a break-in and theft of some of our weapons and equipment. I had a look around and told him that the lock to the trapdoor had been picked recently by an expert. He muttered that the guards should have been able to spot that, but Vreeo pointed out that it was a simple matter to make them look the other way. We worried that this might become a serious issue later on. Rapeezo seemed particularly worried, but wouldn’t tell us why – like all the senior officers, he seems to be self-absorbed and wouldn’t tell you the time of day if you asked him, unless it was militarily necessary.

We got back to Notkah’s, and he was still in a flap. How on earth did a man like this end up in charge of a College? I took him into the kitchen, sat him down and got him a cup of tea, and kept him out of the way while the rest investigated the break-in in their own quiet way. As has been stated in the past, you should always keep quiet about sorcerous work. Once the enemy knows our boys have got a sorceror, then all kinds of shit will be aimed in their general direction. It’s bad enough having arrows and axes aimed at you, life gets very short when gods and sorcery are added to the equation.

They found that someone had dropped down from the roof by rope, smashed in through her bedroom window, and dragged her away. If it was a fake, it was supremely convincing. Notkah again pushed me to take the contract, and I said that the boss would come and talk to him about it straight away. Vreeo sent Kofteros off to get the Cap. He then thrashed out a very sweet deal for a two week mission of investigation and rescue. As we were leaving, the others assumed that since we’d get the money anyway, we needn’t bother doing any work. This pissed me off, and luckily the fact that I now write these annals gives me a certain leverage I never used to have.

We got back to find everyone standing around looking useless, waiting to hear what the Captain had to say, and why we needed a vote after all these years:

T’Heros said that Pokrol had informed him that there was going to be an assassination of one of the Scholars, and it was our duty to stop this. With only 75 brothers, and a College population numbering in the thousands, it looked like he was setting us up for a fall. He also charged us with sending a force south to investigate and oppose another barbarian invasion. I won’t write down here what the general opinion of this was, but only one word in ten could be said in polite company. The Captain then called us all to vote for breaking the contract at the end of our service in three months and heading off west for adventure and excitement, which is where his speech fell down.

Most of the lads were not too enamoured of this idea, as adventure and excitement usually meant dead brothers and no pay. A surprising number suggested finding another employer here in the city. Vika got seriously pissed off by talk of staying in this “stone coffin” for another night, and intimidated nearly all the men into voting for war and death. She really is a bit of a barbarian at heart. The vote was eventually fifty to twenty for not renewing our contract. "Dusty" (Pesawat) voted for staying here and spoke against the Captain’s plans. Vika gave him a very hard look at the end of the meeting. Rapeezo then started wittering that three months would never be long enough to get everything we needed for a long campaign. On the other hand, he wouldn’t be satisfied with the crown jewels of Galadiahos as sufficient to finance a fishing trip.

The Captain split the men into a group to guard the more important scholars, and a group to guard our barracks. He was worried about the evidence of our poor security during the break-in. He then started to plan how to move out of the city using the outlander tribe attacks as cover. If the truth be known, the local militias were in far better shape than when we arrived, and could defend against all but the most intensive siege. By previous evidence the tribes weren’t that organised.

I spent the night hidden in the store rooms, hoping to encounter our thief, be he a brother or nay. Midnight had passed when I heard a noise from outside the trapdoor. After a few minutes, I heard a scream, and so decided to get out and look. Outside the night was lit by a hundred torches which showed a scene out of a drama, but the blood and shit were real. There’s a smell to death that you can’t mistake. I saw a shadowy figure fleeing, and a bloodied Captain binding his arm and issuing orders which led to Vika, Vreeo, Lumpios and myself following the boss’s hunting orthos after invisible assassins. Lumpios was a good choice to help. He’s mentally challenged, but a demon in battle, especially dirty little street fights. He’s one of two kemes in the brigade other than Sheeda, and we’re in real trouble if he has to become swordmaster soon. He’s thick as metakeenos shite.

We tracked our quarry as far as the city wall, and then saw a disturbance in the water, thanks to Vreeo’s spell of perceptivity. Lumpios showed his usefulness by diving straight in, and demonstrating that nothing moves through the water as fast as an enraged kemes. He caught one and disabled him then reached the other just before the shore and took her down to the bottom. Vreeo said that a spell was then cast on him, and that enemy nearly got away. Vreeo counterspelled the effect, and Lumpios throttled the chief assassin before collapsing from his injuries. By that time, Vika and I had reached the other shore and disabled the two of them. Vreeo shouted that we should keep them alive for questioning, and Vika stopped me before I could do more than blind the woman with my dagger.

We dragged the two of them back to our barracks, and I took a sad roll-call:

T’Heros was badly injured and escaped poisoning due to his own ministrations. He had been struck down in bed by invisible assassins, but had fought them off.

Rapeezo was badly wounded after a similar attack. It would be months before he made a full recovery.

Lumpios was very severely injured, but his immense vitality had shrugged off both poison and wounds. He was ready for duty the next day.

Ektos, or "Shark" was dead. His throat had been cut while he laid asleep in bed. He was an old Galadhian exile, and had been one of the brothers for nearly twenty years. He was a squad leader, mine when I joined, and a very successful card player. He kept pushing for more recruits, as the old hands wouldn’t go near him for a bet. I always suspected he cheated, but he obeyed the prime rule - he was never caught.

Laveeda ("Puppy") and Parafrasee ("Mouth") were also Galadhian. They were brothers, always together, and eternally getting the shit jobs that inevitably crop up. Parafrasee was always on Vika’s case, and so inevitably suffered the consequences. Laveeda wouldn’t relax and watch his brother take all that trouble alone, and so, time after time, he volunteered for latrine duty, guard duty, and so on. The poor bastards were killed whilst guarding our camp and they never stood a chance, as the killers were impossible to see. I wonder who’ll get latrine duty next? Dusty, probably, after Vika’s frowns in his direction.

Kematian ("Botherer") was an odd sort, always following after the Chaplain, and asking questions. He was undoubtedly devout, though I don’t know which troublemaker he worshipped. He, at least, was able to take three of the enemy with him to whatever divine hereafter he entered. Whatever his religion, it frowned on strong drink, or at least he did. Maybe there’s booze in his afterlife.

Paku ("Babyface") was a recently joined brother from near here. He never said where, but his accent placed him close to Merah. Young, idealistic and now dead, he was outside the trapdoor where I was hiding. He looked almost comically surprised when I saw him, and his youthful astonishment at the reality of a mercenary’s end will live with me for a long time.

Gurum ("Bastard") will not be so badly missed, at least by me. He was a sarcastic bastard, and got up everyone’s nose. The oath protected him from his angry brothers throughout his time with us. He had food poisoning, and was unable to defend himself when the attack came. Not a good way to go, and one I would not have wished on him. For all that, I’m glad he’s gone.

Vreeo and Kofteros then went into a dark cellar to question our captives. Kofteros was particularly keen on physical mutilation, an expected but disappointing side to his character. The man was found to have a triangular tattoo on his thigh. Vreeo was most put out, and I suspect that the Berdevo were added to that night’s curriculum for Kofteros. The man was unhelpful as a source of information, so he was allowed a dagger to kill himself.

The woman started summoning a god, so I killed her a lot. You can never be too careful with wizard types. It was too late, and some god turned up with murder in their eyes. Kofteros went rapidly insane, my mouth exploded in pain and filled with blood, and Vreeo summoned another god to create more havoc. Another bloody god! One was bad enough. There was a strong smell of cinnamon, and at that point I passed out due to blood loss, Vreeo was sitting in a pool of her own sacrificial blood, and Kofteros was insane and unconscious. When I woke up, The Berdevo bodies had disappeared, and the sorcerors had retired to their rooms.

I told the Captain of the cinnamon smell, but he was unwilling to listen to my demands for a quick withdrawal as the annals demanded. He didn’t seem worried enough for my taste – remember Keezatos’ warning from the early times. I went looking for Vreeo to strengthen my argument, but she had gone off to suck up to some god. Typical, religion getting in the way of the important stuff.

The Captain decided that we could defend ourselves better in a stockade of our own building - by which he meant my own building. I organised with the sergeant to commandeer the more idle of the brothers for a guaranteed cure for melancholy – excessive physical exercise. One of Vika’s “volunteers” was Kofteros, but he seemed spectacularly useless, and aggressive when confronted. His sly threats left little to the imagination, but Vika was strong enough to impose her will. As Kofteros will learn, that’s why she’s the sergeant. At this time Vika and I began to have serious doubts about the apprentice – he had an inflated opinion of his own worth, and a concomitant contempt for the rest of us.

The rumours about last night had begun to surface by the afternoon, but they were tame when compared to the reality.

During our first night at our new base, we were attacked again. Lumpius killed one by chopping him in half. Two more ran off, one with an arrow in his buttocks. The defences on our stockade included bells, trip wires, nets, and sticky fire and oil cocktails. I began to plan to sheath the tips of each spike for the stockade in metal, to allow easier insertion into the ground, and more protection from fire.

That morning, I got a message from Notkah showing us a ransom note for Keelokan. I suspected he’d never see her again without our help. The crooks had demanded 1000 Emas be placed under the bridge in Merah that night. 1000 Emas! I could almost retire on that. Hell, Rapeezo could almost retire on that much money, and he never has enough.

Vreeo used some tricks to find the girl, so we took a group to get her before the ransom was required. There was an almighty bust up, and all the kidnappers were killed, with Lumpius and I killing Pokrol, who seemed to have been the leader. He was a sorcerer, and attempted to summon a god as we slew him – why do they always do that? It only ensures a messier corpse. I took his head as a memento, and to ensure his body was separated when buried.

We got the girl out, burned the bodies and got back to camp. Vreeo had ensured that no-one noticed the battle. I went and got Notkah, and there was a relieved reunion. Keelokan had been raped whilst in captivity, and Pokrol had been primarily responsible. The Captain had made the decision to let Notkah keep his money, as that would ensure a friendly new city leader. Notkah then took his daughter to the main temple, and denounced Pokrol, who wasn’t in any condition to defend himself. As the assembled mob started to get ugly, and there’s no such thing as a pretty mob, some interfering god blew great chunks out of Pokrol’s college with a bolt of lightning. There was then a general consensus to loot the college, and Vreeo and I found several excellent books.

At the next dawn, as the sun hit our altar tent, a naked goddess was seen to walk to our glorious leader’s tent from the sunlit temple. The priest was struck blind, and had to go and meditate on divine matters. He still couldn’t explain it though. This happened on the 25th Day of the 1st Moon of the Third Year of King Tharos. The Captain then ensured we left the city well paid and popular - a rare achievement!

That morning, all the guys wanted to stay another day, as there was some religious festival on which involved huge amounts of free casual sex. The boss was antsy to leave, so some compromise was reached, and we left later in the day than he’d originally planned.

The boss sent out the scouts early that day, then we all followed later. We headed for Kasar on that first day, a relatively close town as we were in no shape for a forced march yet. Too much good living in recent times had taken its toll, much as I hated to agree with Vika. She had some pithy comments for the slowest amongst us, but no-one argued - the deaths of our brothers was evidence of her accuracy.

110 adults left Merah, 60 of whom were full company members, the rest recruits and 3 families.

The Priest was looking very sorry for himself as we left, he seemed to be having a crisis of faith. Someone said that he'd had trouble at dawn in the temple before we left. Whatever, at least the gods were picking on their own for once.

We set up the stockade just outside Kasar. Vreeo and Kofteros made some money selling beer. Having sampled Vreeo's beer before, I was happy to stay sober. The lads then went out on a "grab a granny" night to end the religious lovefest. Having seen the women about, there seemed to be a great deal more religion than loving.

During the set up of the camp, Kofteros incurred the wrath of the sergeant, who eventually blistered the paint on nearby walls as she "persuaded" him to try harder. Kofteros went winging to Vreeo hoping to get favoured treatment, but received no sympathy at all. He became known as "Sicknote" after a spirited attempt to get off due to needing his sleep.

Next day we went on to Cakap, trying to hide our trail somewhat. Little chance of success there, as we were over 100, with huge amounts of livestock, including 2 Kedros as heavy cavalry. We reached Cakap on the 4th Day of the 3rd Moon, and were presented with a deadly dull little village. It reminded me why I'd gone off to adventure in the first place. Our passage was probably the highlight of their sad little lives.

We continued onwards to the west, don't really know why, but I had a suspicion it was due to the priest and T'Heros' religious duties. The stockades got quicker as the days progressed. Every five days, we stayed for an extra night, for hunting, repair work and so that Vreeo could tend to her beer. It didn't travel well, but most of us were past caring by then. The Captain decided that each rest day, we should be treated to readings from the annals. At first, I was a bit quiet and couldn't really hold the lads' attention, so I got Sicknote to read what I had chosen. I soon decided to take the readings myself, though, as his heart wasn't in it. He just didn't seem to care enough. I was also worried about giving him more ammunition for slacking, which seemed to be his trademark.

T'Heros obviously thought so too, so on the next rest day he decided to send him out alone for a hunt. That is, he would run, and some of the lads would hunt him down. The other reason for this was that most of us needed training in wilderness survival under more realistic conditions. Most of the betting gave Sicknote no chance, so off he set. Vika and some of the squaddies followed later. Most people seemed to want him to get a good kicking.

He got back with Lumpius after dark, having escaped until dusk by the skin of his teeth. Lumpius nearly got him, but had to leave his squad behind with Vika. The Captain was extremely unhappy about Lumpius's behaviour, but what was he expecting? Lumpius is good in a fight, few are better, but his ability to think for others is laughable. Lumpius was sent back to get the others, and they dragged in much later, with the Sergeant blinded by a poisonous giant lizard creature near some ruins Kofteros had led them to. Vika was in a bad way, sorely injured and weakened by the poison. She is a barbarian type, though, and she was tough enough to shrug it all off in very quick time. I'd have been out for a month.

She was rescued by Apotek, who resisted the poison, and managed to fight the creature off. He's good under stress, intelligent, and I suspect he may eventually lead us. He has that look to him.

I stayed at camp for a few days as most of the officers went off to investigate Pohon and beyond. It looked like another one metakeenos town, so I was happy to avoid it, and taught some of the crew further engineering tricks.

The Captain made his own notes, which are copied below. I've left them all in situ, as even though I was also present for some of the events, it gives a picture of our leader's mind you won't find elsewhere:

T'Heros's Journal

Moon 3 Day 14

Investigating Pohon revealed little that the rangers have not already told me. All travel is by river and Pohon serves as a transit point for the mines to the west and the logging trade to the south. The Merah mines are situated in the northern mountains, but much further west. The fort of Bijih Cerocok is located about 150 miles west of Pohon, where a tributary joins the main river. The fort serves the mines and ore processing takes place there. Copper, tin, bronze, gold and silver come from there; so too, it is rumoured, do gems, emeralds, diamonds and rubies; although it is doubtful jewels are nearly as plentiful as found in the mountains north of Merah. Rumours of the southern mountains are mainly based around the fabled "Ingot Trail", a holy site covered in gold and ruins. We were warned that the trail is on the mountain Puncak Bertang and that the neighbouring mountain of Puncak Pelanggaran is home to a vengeful god who has his palace there. The townsfolk involved in the logging business are unhappy about the local tribesmen competing with them.

Moon 3 Day 15

The Company has reached the river which marks the western boundary of the Zaskociti tribes. We crossed the river several miles south of the outpost of Pohon and have set up camp on the opposite side. Vreeo is keen to investigate the logging camp located in the foothills to our south, from whence the logs are floated down river to Pohon. Given our lack of knowledge of the road ahead, I agree that it is wise to investigate all available sources of information.

Moon 3 Day 16

Making use of the boat the Company had acquired from Jalan Muluk, a small expedition left upriver; its members consisted of myself, Vreeo, the sergeant, the chaplain, and Lumpius (rowing). We made slow progress against the strong current and so made camp for the night in a clearing on the east bank. Not long into the night, Vika alerted us to the presence of a predator. I tracked the beast for half a mile and, after examining the evidence, we concluded that the creature was very similar to the one that had attacked Vika at the ruins in the swamp. It was watching us while we talked and was soon spotted on a rocky rise. It was a barefooted humanoid, about seven foot tall, but with a cobra's head . We recognised it to be a member of the rare tribe called, amongst other names, the Yilani. Its fangs were capable of spitting paralysing poison, as our sergeant had already discovered. The creature drew two symbols on a rock: a horizontal line with the arc of a circle above it, and a triangle. It then sat back and looked expectant. The first symbol probably refers to sunrise or sunset, and Vreeo hinted that the triangle may have some connection with the assassins we encountered at Merah. Presuming this to be their god, we responded by drawing the symbol of Soulatsoro (a bow and seven arrows). This puzzled the creature and it waved its arms. Suddenly over a dozen Yilani armed with clubs broke cover and sought to surround us. We retreated to the river but were stopped by a paralysing spell cast by what was clearly their leader, a large Yilani with three heads.

The Yilani leader said many things, much of which I could not follow, being of an esoteric nature. He appears to use the term "children of the dawn" to refer to all the humanoid races present (Pithekos, Kemes, and Pagoth) and was angry that we had desecrated their territory. We eventually inferred that he was talking specifically about the ancient ruins in the swamp, although he did say that his people's lands extended over a great distance and that they had existed "since the stars were born". He was most offended when I asked him if the triangle signified his god, and was told that those for which it did only think they serve the "masters". If I understand correctly, he then offered to hire the Company, though I don't know what for, and he also offered us enlightenment. Anxious to end this armed confrontation and to buy us some time, I suggested we meet again to discuss things further at a later date. We agree to meet when the Company reaches the second river; seven of them and seven of us. The Yilani left and the rest of the night has passed peacefully.

Moon 3 Day 17

At dawn the chaplain told us that he had seen flames leap from the symbols of the triangle and Soulatsoro. He explained that fire is generally recognised as being symbolic for civilisation. We resumed our journey and eventually reached the logging town of Ranting. It has a population of about one hundred and is the place where wagons from the mountain forests deposit their logs to be lashed together into rafts and floated north to Pohon. Vreeo's conversation with an old-timer revealed that those that follow the "Ingot Trail" and survive do indeed return with gold, but none return for seconds. It appears the barbaric god (Sencarnos the Avenger?), who lives on Puncak Pelanggaran, deals with all his trespassers, eventually. He was amazed at our tale about the Yilani, especially that they had been encountered so near to the river.

The local inn unearthed a valuable find. I was informed that an old women called Aneka once travelled far, and in return for a brew to ease her rheumatism, told me much. Three times had she seen the triangle symbol in her youth. The first time was on ruined buildings all over the valley and mountains. The second time was high up in the southern mountains in better preserved buildings. These had triangles on the walls, triangles within triangle, triangular eyes and triangular claws. She was attacked by a giant which walked on its knees and had a huge mouth, she barely escaped. The third encounter was in the "disappearing mountains" (so called because of perpetual fog), Northwest of Merah. If one takes the trail to the jewel mines but then when the path splits, take the left hand route, one will reach the monastery of Biara Berhala. I remembered from Merah that this was the ill-rumoured place where disgraced priests are sent. Aneka told me that triangles were all over the monastery and that the monks worship unnameable gods. She knew that hooded monks were not to be trusted and that one must never eat their food, and so she retraced her steps. Incidentally, it is rumoured that a second monastery, called Biara Insular, lies further along the path. I purchased a crude map from her and, after evaluating her physical state which was not as poor as it first appeared, I offered her a position as Company guide. She was very exited at the prospect of travelling west and readily accepted. The rest of the day passed pleasantly enough and the padre was kept busy helping his fellow trees. He reported that the town elder, the priest Bedak, had agreed to maintain an orchard, thus protecting the lime trees from sharing the fate of so many other trees in a logging community.

Moon 3 Day 18

We left early, with our new retainer Aneka, and have arrived back at the Company camp before nightfall.

Moon 3 Day 19

The Company continues our trek west. The rangers are scouting far ahead seeking out the best route to the next river, carefully avoiding any of the ancient ruins so important to the Yilani. Of the local Pithekos tribe we know little, except they have a fearsome reputation and are rumoured to indulge in cannibalism. From what I know about the tribes generally I guess they number in the thousands, but ranged over a very large territory.

Moon 4 Day 1

We had only just set up the stockade when without warning hundreds of mounted warriors surrounded our camp. A show of strength was called for and so I sent out Vika to invite their chief into our camp to parley, the sergeant's back was covered by our best archer, the company padre. I watched from the palisade as Vika and the chief talked, with the chaplain translating. Vika's forthright manner was clearly having an impact on the warrior and before long they were squaring up for a fight. It turned out to be an exciting joust, Vika parried some amazing cavalry moves by the tribal leader, but eventually he wore her down. Clearly, however, he was impressed and the three of them rode back together. The chief proved to be a reasonable man. I reassured him that we meant him no harm, and then gave my word that the Company will have crossed the second river (which marks the westward extent of his tribal lands) by the end of the 12th day of this month. He left 50 warriors to escort us and we agreed to give our martial knowledge (not the Kemes style of course) in exchange for lessons in their style of riding.

Moon 4 Day 4

We have reached the river and must plan for our next meeting with the Yilani.

The tribe in whose lands we stayed were called the Kekusutan, and Vika's playmate was Zatvoriti.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend" - Sicknote

"No, the enemy of my enemy is my employer" - Score one for the Captain!

Whilst we stayed at the camp awaiting our meeting with the monsters, sorry, potential employers, I overheard Sicknote and the boss. Do you understand our life more now?

7 days later, the boss selected a small group to meet the monsters. They were the Captain, Vreeo, Sicknote, the Priest, Lumpius, Apotek and me. It was the night of the 11th of the 3rd Moon.

7 Yelani arrived from the river side at midnight. They certainly were ugly buggers, with their Queen being worst of all - 3 heads, and each uglier than the last.

She did most of the talking: They wanted to hire us to their service. Initially for 6 moons. They again called us "The Children of the Dawn". We were supposed to learn in service to the "masters" for about 1 moon, then take this new learning to the children of the dawn. They required three - a special number, sacred to the masters - for this special teaching, who were to be quick of mind. The rest would go to seek out the false servants of the masters, and destroy them, or convert them. These false servants were in the mountains to the south, in monasteries.

At this point in the proceedings, my teeth started to ache severely. In the past this has always been associated with divine manifestations, or religious powers, and I hate it. The Priest and Vreeo were also starting to look distracted, and a light could just be seen in the sky, glimmering like the first hint of dawn.

The boss seemed to be disturbingly keen on accepting this religious fanatic's plans for our employment, and decided to "allow" Apotek, Sicknote and I to learn their doctrine. He suggested that the Queen draw up the document for signing - I wish Rapeezo had been with us, this was his speciality, he had the soul of a lawyer. Unfortunately, the Berdevo attack had left him still weakened, although he was close to full fitness by this stage.

A copy of the contract follows:

The children of the Dawn shall sign to obey the Jakost as the persecutors of the false servants of the Masters; this obedience to take the form of seeking out and destroying the false servants or converting them to the true service of the Masters. Furthermore they shall send three of their number to study under the Jakost to learn the true ways of the Master and to spread this knowledge amongst the other Children of the Dawn that they may convert the false servants to the true service.

They will be paid for this service for six months at the rate of 7 gold per person per month plus 8 gold value in gems per month per person.

We the Jakost will provide information on the geography to the west of here and on the Children of the Dawn in that region.

As the Captain was about to sign, a bright light from the sky flashed the paper to ashes, and then proceeded to do the same to the 7 Jakost ( as they called themselves ). Some bloody god was interfering!

We all decided that running for cover was a good idea. I looted the Queen's body first, though. I'd never get such a good opportunity again. Everyone was blinded by the light, but we heard noises of Jakost running towards the river, probably for reinforcements. At this point Sicknote thought that waiting to apologise and explain would be the thing to do - what a moron!

We ran for it, meeting up with the sergeant and some light cavalry on the way. As we approached the stockade, the boss started making plans to leave it and meet our enemy in the open, where our Kedros would be most effective. I was keen on using our defences, and the rest of the senior crew were of that mind as well. The boss relented, and we prepared for the battle.

Very soon, 50 snake heads, led by a Sorceror-King charged to meet us. The King paralysed us with a spell, and their poisonous breath rolled over the barricades. We were in trouble, but quick action by Vreeo counteracted the spell, and a swift countercharge from the rear sally-port took the heart out of the monsters. My ballista crew peppered the King with bolts, and in the blink of an eye, they were all dead. It was over inside 20 minutes - an unbelievable display, especially as we lost no-one. Stutter had led the cavalry counter, and looked stunned as he went to report to T'Heros.

I searched the dead outside and found more treasure. That day I had acquired a collection of prizes fit for a King. I've always had a talent for getting the best stuff. Everyone was happy with their riches. I gave Vreeo a magical sculpture, which protects the holder from scrying, the Priest bought my new spear, once the King's. It glowed in the dark! He gave me some red gold for that. I also liberated a solid gold greave worth 100 Emas and 35 Emas in loose coins.

The Captain looked very pleased with himself as he surveyed the battle field. So he should, we had done very well. The stockade had saved us though, which he admitted later to me in private.

We were discussing our worries about Sicknote, in view of his recent desire to "explain" to the Jakost, when Vreeo arrived. She took the Captain into her tent. It later transpired that Sicknote had tried to gain new magic whilst tired, and had been possessed by the spirit of an ancient Sorceror-King. His name was now Souvlikos, and he was a full sorceror. The name is archaic, and was once used by an ancient ruler of the lands of Ssfayee the Serpent, lands now called Epetheros. He had ruled the city of Necra, which had then been a kingdom of its own. According to the Priest, they claim to be the oldest tribe in the world.

Personally, I wondered whether Vreeo had acted against her troublesome follower. Whatever, I liked the new Sicknote better, though I still didn't trust him. It was agreed that he would stay with us on a month's probation, then leave or take the oath.

The Priest went off to talk to his god about the uncalled-for help. In the past about all we could have expected was fatuous advice, now we got erratic artillery as well. To be fair, on closer examination, Rapeezo pointed out the contract would have tied us in permanent slavery to the Jakost for 6 month's payment. Not the best contract in our history, now was it?

Priestykins came back looking more unhappy than usual. "We're all buggered. We're all completely buggered." I didn't take this to be a good sign.

Stutter, a squad leader in our cavalry, approached the Pagoth.

"I was gonna - I was cavalry. We couldn't decide, and then we were there. There was a light from the east, it blinded the monsters. That's how we won. A naked tart stopped the King monster. She was there for an eyeblink. She stopped the spear of the King. Now would I make that up?"

So once again a nekkid woman goddess thing had turned up. Some god connected with light and dawn was behind all this. I wish I knew more about gods, though the Priest looked as baffled as I felt.

The Priest then told the Captain of his findings.

"Soulatsoro said that the Dawn was coming. This would bring the crimson tide. I do believe that this is tied to our curse. It is change, the naked lady is change. The reason that the gods intervened today is to stop the Rakhokalia from controlling the Dawn. The sequence is as follows; the ending of the curse, the breaking of the Dawn, the start of the crimson tide, all hell breaking loose."

"The breaking of the Dawn cannot be halted, but it can be delayed. Religious sects and followers could ride the storm, but would still be changed by it. So said Soulatsoro. I said that we should embrace the Dawn, and my god said that the decision had therefore been made, and I was lost to him."

Soulatsoro called the Dawn "She who would come". Maybe we had been visited by a goddess yet to be? Not my department, guvnor. We now lacked a Priest. Lunak was now lost to his god. He seemed less than entirely delighted - he'd have to think for himself, for once.

We gave the magic spear to the local tribe. Hopefully any Jakost who sought the regicides would find them there. We then started to pick up sticks and began to plan to cross the river in the morning. That night, the Captain prayed - his god had been Lunak's, so he prayed to "whomever it may concern". It was 3 in the morning, and the impossible happened. Dawn broke. Light flooded the camp. I was in pain, as my teeth started to pulse.

The same naked woman appeared:

"I AM COME, I AM THE DAWN. I AM COME TO ANSWER YOUR PRAYERS. I AM AURORA."

Then she was gone. Hold on to your hats, the shit is about to fly!

I then noticed that when the contract had been burned, two of the Captain's fingers had been so badly damaged that they would be lost. He was the three fingered man foretold by Broudzos. So our destiny looked like it was to live in interesting times, like it or not.