(G22 19/09/08 BG)
DAY 24

I couldn't contain myself any longer - I can fly! This morning I left a note downstairs
with Buller and flew off in the direction of the bonobo camp. I would need at least a day
to get there and a day to get back so I planned accordingly. Shape shifting into an eagle is
the most amazing experience. No only are you a different creature with a different out look
on life, you can soar miles above the ground and look down on the meager doings of man.
Sasserine is stretched out before me like a map, I can see every district, every house and
the people going about their business like ants. Flying above the shop I can see the
surrounding jungles and the swamps way off in the distance..

Well, I just couldn't wait to get exploring so off I went. The others did not sit idly
by while I was gone though and when I got back a time later I heard all about their adventures
from Nobby over a glass of wine.

(OOC - Graham is Games Master!)

That morning Nobby came down to breakfast, with a bit of a hangover, and got something
cooked up by Buller who also handed her my note. Buller and Taeghen were both discussing
rumours of a mysterious man that was on his way to the city. When Raz and Shifty came
to breakfast they were all intrigued enough to go into town to find out more. Nobby went
to her temple, Shifty hit the streets and Raz ... ended up in the bed of his favourite
prostitute, Fatima.

They found out that the strangers name was Chakra Bankuu, he was some sort of prophet who
had been rabble rousing in Thindol. He was kicked out by the authorities there and is now
crossing the Hazur Mountains, with hundreds of his followers on his way to Sasserine.
The people at the temple thought this was a bad thing for the city as did most other people
in authority, but the 'common man' seemed to think that Bankuu's arrival was a good thing
and that he would 'set things straight'.

Anyway, that was all very interesting, but when the got back they found a woman called
Edith Carlotti at the shop waiting for them. She was a bit put out not to find 'the nice one'
(I assume she means me!) but still talked to the others about her problem.

She owned a vineyard about two miles south west of our shop, but was having a spot of
trouble with the natives. Raz thought it best to go down there and take a look straight
away and the others agreed.

The farm consisted of about twelve acres of vineyards, pressed right up against the jungle,
and a set of buildings, namely, the farmhouse, two mudhuts, a press room and in the farmyard
a trapdoor that lead down into a storage cellar.
It was walled with a strong wooden gate, but the wall had collapsed at the back of the yard
between the farm house and one of the mud huts.

They met the other people that worked on the farm, Edith's husband, a local man called
Y'an Umbo Jun, their two sons, Y'un and Y'ar, two slaves called Heebee and Eros, and finally
a lizardman called Skriss.

This caused a little confusion as Edith had already explained the trouble they were having
was this. They had had a long standing arrangement that patrols from the city guard would
come out each night and keep an eye on the farm. However, some over zealous young captain had
decided he had had enough of his patrols coming in drunk from the vineyards and had put a stop
to it!
But now lizardmen from the jungle were sniffing around the farm, rattling the gate and stealing
things. Edith offered to pay Raz, Shifty and Nobby 50 gold per night they stayed at the
farm until the matter was resolved.

Skriss was a lizardman, but he was civilised, or so he said, not like the savage pagan
lizardfolk of the jungle. Edith hated Skriss, but it appeared that Y'an valued his help
around the farm.

So, that night the three heroes decided to lie in wait inside the door of the hut where the
slaves slept and which was close to the fallen wall. Nobby took the first watch, and Raz
the second. During that time Raz heard a noise and leapt out with his lantern to illuminate
the scene. He kicked out at Shifty to wake him up, but caught him in a rather inconvenient
place...

Three lizardmen scouts were in the yard and were quick to start throwing their javelins.
Raz leapt over to the one at the wall and cut him down with his axe, slitting its gizzard
with one single blow. Other unseen scouts threw more javelins from the darkness but did
little more than notch his armour.

Next came Shifty, and he took a few shots into the darkness with his crossbow and scored
a few hits, but killed none. The only other casualty was one of the fleeing lizardmen who
Raz stunned with the flat of his axe. Nobby was just in time to jump at a few shadows but
was too late to join the fight.

The short melee over, Raz turned to interrogating their prisoner and Shifty snuck off into
the dark vineyards. Nobby talked to the family as they woke up.

Shifty surprised a lizardman lurking in the fields and fired at him, but missed. Raz went to
fetch Skriss who was lurking outside the farm. Skriss talked to the prisoner and it was
established that he could speak the Common Tongue anyway.

Through a mix of intimidation and diplomacy, Raz and Shifty attempted to reason with the
prisoner and set up a meeting with his chief. They then let him go.

I think at this stage, Raz had come to the conclusion that this was a no win situation
for all concerned. The farmers had been here twenty years and didn't want to move, but they
had been extending their fields into the lizardmen's hunting grounds. He had also ruined
his relationship with Edith by making his usual teenage sarcastic remarks. Well, that
left Nobby and Shifty to deal with the family and they all agreed to get some rest now
and see if the chief would come and talk to them the next day.