"Watch out for the..." But it was too late. Up from one of the Gorges came another Goblin. The guttural grunting coming from inside its mask taking the place of what would normally be a battle cry. Brandishing its bronze dagger it headed directly for the nearest member of the group. That was Mugal-Tugal the Taru Black mage. He was already raising his voice to cast a spell at the first target they were fighting. He never saw the new assailant arrive. His eyes widened as the dagger stabbed into his side and the pain was obvious in his voice as his casting went up a pitch. The fire he was intending to hurl at the party's original target disappeared as he staggered away from his attacker.
Almost immediately the big Galka Takker was on the Goblin thug. Fists raining down in blows that dented the Armour of the Greenskin. Although it had caught the party by surprise the new arrival seemed to be weak enough for Takker to handle alone. With an eerie calm he beat his assailant back away from the wounded mage.
Kimalla switched her attention back to their main quarry. A much stronger looking goblin than the one Takker was pounding. The fight was almost over but the Tinkerer was still a dangerous adversary. Smaller than most of the group the goblin already bled from several cuts. With a word and a motion it gestured towards Rowan and sent a flurry of water drops at him. Ducking behind his shield he managed to deflect most of the pellets but the ones that did get through cut skin. With a berserk roar he leapt at the Goblin hacking and slashing with his Spartha. The goblin was still quick and managed to deflect most of the blows with it's blade. Kimalla sprang into offense as well. Thrusting at vulnerable areas with her knife. Her blade slid in between the cracks of the Armour and came back wet. Bouncing back to avoid a return slash she paused for a second to plan her next strike. However it never came. Rowan had backed off ready to charge again when he stopped also. The tinkerer also seemed to have stopped in the fight. A slow guttural laugh coming from behind the mask of the Beastman. Kimalla watched as it reached into its bag and pulled out something spherical. Something hissing.
"IT'S GOT A BOMB." Rowan yelled as he retreated steadily. The gobbo lifted the already lit bomb into the air. He looked directly at Kimalla and laughed. Kimalla froze in fear and could do nothing but watch as he pulled his arm back, as he wound it forward and as his face exploded into flame. Suddenly the gobbo was spinning to the floor in agony the still unexploded bomb landing next to his face. A startled grunt was all that escaped his lips before the explosion tore him apart.
"WOOO. Well timed as always." Sang the high-pitched voice of Mugal. "Sorry it tookaru so long to get that last one out. You know what with the stabby wabbies and all." He smiled as he held his side against the slowly spreading red stain on his robe. The group's healer, the Elvaan T'lesta was already working to heal the wound. Faint light was spreading form her to the Taru. "So Takker you sortaru that other gobbo out?"
"Opponent Neutralized" came the Rumbling voice as he raised up the limp and battered form of the Thug.
"Right then. Search the body of the thug and the...er...bits of the Tinkerer and lets continue." Said Kimalla and with that she started searching the largest piece that was left of the now very dead tinkerer
A few hours later the party sat by a campfire near the edge of the Konstacht highlands. From here the hills stopped and a vast open desert lay before them. The Valkurnum Dunes. Theirs was not the only campfire burning here in the night. At least two other groups sat nearby. It seemed logical to camp with other travelers for safety during the dark hours. Kimalla took the time to try and clean herself up a bit. Licking her hands and smoothing her fur. She was really not looking forward to getting covered by the sand from the dunes.
The rest of the party rested and ate. Takker sat alone a few meters from the group. Eyes closed and in deep meditation. T'lesta lay on her bedroll and stared up into the night sky and Rowan and Mugal played a card game with some Taru cards that they had found. Kimalla smiled, sighed and fell back onto her sleeping bag. However as she fell back a face came into view. It startled her enough to make her call out in alarm. The face took on an element of surprise as well as it fell back out of her line of sight. Kimalla finished her fall onto her bed and immediately bounced back up and turned round to see a figure spread on the floor. A hume figure spread on the floor. A Hume figure that was laughing.
"Sorry if I gave you a bit of shock there." said the red garbed hume as he picked himself up. "The names Talorn from Bastok. Currently I'm with that sorry bunch over there." He gestured to another party of people. A group of humes and a galka who were singing loudly. "Well when I say "with" I mean that we're heading towards the same goal. Can you believe they actually prefer to sing like that rather than listen to me play." He said this with some disgust and nodded towards the harp over his shoulder.
"Well they are a bit loud but they seen happy." said Kimalla taking her hand off of her knife and offering it in welcome. "The names Kimalla. Also from Bastok. I'm with the ones behind me." She nodded her head at the rest of her group and shook Talorns hand. "So what can I do for you?"
"Erm. I feel slightly cheeky asking this but do you have a wild onion that we could have. Our resident Galka uses them in his soup. A bizarre creation but quite nice. We'll pay of course."
"Actually your in luck. We killed a gobbo earlier that had a couple on him. Shall we say 400 gill?" Kimalla smiled roguishly at him as she said this.
"200"
"350"
"300"
"Deal" and with that she handed over the onion and took the money in return. Talorn then chucked the onion out to the Galka who immediately set about peeling it.
"So what's your group up to at the moment?" said talorn as he turned back to Kimalla. He stopped for a second and looked each of the members up and down. "If you don't mind telling me of course."
"No problem." replied Kimalla as she sat back down on her bed. Talorn perched on a nearby rock. "We're heading to San'doria. We've been helping out locals in bastok for some time now. Just getting items and helping out people where they need it. You know how it goes. Ingredients for some soup or nametags from lost friends. That kind of stuff. We've also killed a fair few gobbos and Quadev as well. Keep the numbers down you know." Talorn nodded. He looked as if he had seen his share of action. "Well word seemed to get around of our deeds and before we knew it we were being asked to do stuff for Bastok itself. We've done a few missions for the senators and even a couple for Cid himself. Now they want us to visit San'doria and Windurst. Just to show our support for the alliance." She winced at this slight lie. The government also wanted them to spy on the other countries. However only Kimalla knew this. She quickly added "I think they have some jobs for us to do there." She stopped for a second and turned her face northward. Towards the harsh warmth of the dunes and the Elvaan city that lay beyond. "Besides it might be nice just to see these cities. I hear good things about them." Another few seconds of silence hung in the air. "But enough about us, what about you?"
"Me? Well me and that load of louts are of to the Dunes and Selbina. Seems the Mayor there is having some problems with beastmen. His local militia is failing and he wants some help to restore order." Just as he finished saying this a low croaky howl echoed across the highlands." The members of both groups went quiet and looked around. Rowan looked over to Kimalla and mouthed the word "Quadev".
After a few seconds of silence it was Talorn who spoke first. "Tell me what do you know of crystals?"
Kimalla turned away and fumbled around in her bag. She pulled out a Water crystal that she had found when they had killed their first quadev. "You mean elemental crystals like this." She held up the Crystal. Talorn nodded. She continued, "Well, they help make things. Armour pieces, food dishes, even potions and tables. Without them life would be pretty difficult."
"But do you know where they come from?" Talorn asked. Apart from finding them near dead things she didn't know much. Talorn must of guessed this as he continued. "No one is really sure. Some say that they are the elements themselves made physical. Some religious people believe they are the Altana's Divine tears. Many more don't know but use them anyway. Wherever they come from it seems they are linked to the life in their area. In most places crystals appear quite normally. However in those areas where the beastmen hold sway it is a different story. No crystals can be found and the beastmen appear to be better armed, better prepared. It is safe to assume that the beastmen also use them and when they can they are more deadly."
Kimalla was transfixed by this story. "But what has this got to do with you guys?"
Talorn's demeanor suddenly changed. His went lower and the area was filled with a serious air. "It seems the beastmen are on the rise in many places. The main nations cannot hold them back effectively any more. They are too busy squabbling amongst themselves. If the danger isn't on their border then it can be ignored. Because of this the area around the dunes has fell under the beastmen's shadow. The mayor of selbina has called for groups to fight this danger. We are one of those groups. We will not stop until we have claimed Zulkheim back for the enlightened races." He stood as he finished, the passion plain to see in his eyes. For a few seconds no one spoke. Then a roar went up from Talorn's companions. It appeared the soup was ready. Talorn turned to wave at his party and when he looked back at Kimalla the smile was back on his face. "Well grubs up. If I don't get it now then they'll be none left. Thanks for the onion and I hope to see you again soon."
"No probs. Seeya soon" Kimalla watched as he turned back to his group. Halfway there he turned and waved goodnight and then carried on.
"Got a boyfriend Kimalla?" came the dainty voice of T'lesta.
"Go to bed" She snapped back angrily before settling down on her own. She lay on her back and looked at the stars. Her mother had followed a religion that came from Windurst. Their family believed in the divinity of the stars and that they held the power of wishes. Whenever Kimalla was out in a dangerous place like this she would always pray to the stars for safety. She concentrated on her prayers hoping for her wishes to be granted. All of a sudden a cloud moved in from the north. One by one the stars went out as the cloud moved across the sky. Eventually all the light was gone and the only illumination came from the nearby fires. Despite the warm air coming from the dunes Kimalla felt chilled to the bone, a sense of foreboding creeping over her.