The stories The Voyage to the North and South, The Last Night of Fort Ghafan and Drakas were written as in-universe books by the same character and refer to the different events of the same round. The names of the characters in this story are the ones the actual player characters had.

The Last Night of Fort Ghafan

by Wendelin Wirz

'If there is one thing I miss about the desert,' said Farid, 'it is the stars.'

The woman next to him glanced at the sky. It was late spring with long twilight, and sun was not in a hurry to turn away from the earth, enjoying the feast of colours in view. The land looked as if a gigantic palette had been overturned above it, spilling all of its paint on the trees, shrubs and flowers. Lilac, yellow and red spots of different size and shape dotted the green carpet of fresh grass and leaves.

'What about the stars? You can see them here too,' said the woman.

'They are different, dimmer,' said Farid, looking at the clear skies that were slowly turning dark blue with a tint of pale gold.

'Just too early for stargazing.'

'I know, I know... What do you think is happening there right now?'

Farid pointed to the west.

The woman shrugged.

'At this moment, I can hardly care. All the people I worried about have left the city. Pity that it has turned out like this, but... we are not the ones to steer the world one way or another.'

'Honestly, Sana, I am beginning to feel that we have been cursed. Wherever we go, all we find is blood and death.'

'Now stop that. Just remember what we have escaped and bless the hour of our arrival on these shores.'

Both were silent for a moment, listening to the barely audible rustle of the distant surf.

'There is a light...' said Farid, leaning forward. 'Was not Hamdi to return tomorrow?'

'He was...'

Someone carrying a lantern was coming up the forest trail.

'Hamdi, is that you?' called Farid, when the light had reached the glade and stopped in about fifty yards from the fort gate, staying in the tree line.

There was no answer. The light went off, followed by a shifting of several shadowy figures.

Just as Farid turned to get off the wall platform, a gunshot cracked under the trees. Something powerful struck Farid at his forearm, knocking him off his feet. He heard six shots of Sana's revolver and more sharp clicks of the bullets hitting the palisade.

'Sana... My rifle, on the table,' uttered Farid, grasping his right arm, which felt like it had suddenly been filled with burning pitch. 'Think my damn bone is dust now...'

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sana climb down the ladder. The attackers fired no more, and only muffled voices could be heard. Farid crawled to the wall and peeked outside.

Two men left the shade and darted to the fort gates, both carrying something in their hands.

'Sana!' cried Farid.

'Here!'

The men were yelling at each other in a language Farid had heard before, but did not understand. The sound of Sana's quick steps on the ground had reached the ladder, when there came a scream of horror from outside the stockade, and a warm squall hit Farid, throwing him off the platform.

A split-second of an air-light confusion ended with an abrupt painful thud.

When Farid had regained his senses, he found himself on the ground, next to the gateway. The gate itself had been turned into wreckage and lay scattered around.

Someone leaned over Farid and, with a kick to his shoulder, turned him on his back. A tall man in a wide-brimmed hat, with a rifle in his hands, was standing over him. The man said something, but all Farid could hear was the incessant ringing in his ears.

The rifle's bolt clanged sharply. Farid looked up – the stars above were no match for those in the desert, but good enough to keep them for the eternal night.