Summary 53

You set off for Kars. The weather turned ugly. You notice an odd spiral (not of smoke, because it seemed too regular) over towards the Pass.

Approximately halfway there, you spotted some horsemen and decided to avoid them, since they might be scouts or guards. You suspected them to be Dolgans, but weren't sure at this distance. They did not see you.

Camping and continuing, you heard the sound of fighting ahead. Wolf set off over a small rise to see what was happening, and the others followed. Over the top appeared a beastman. He bellowed, advanced and then stopped. He sniffed, bellowed, pointed behind and turned around as a Dolgan horseman appeared behind him. Wolf stabbed the beastman in the back, but this event caused some serious consternation in the party. The Dolgan hurled his javelin at Wolf and returned to what now appeared to be a major three-way fight. Around 4o beastmen, 18 Dolgans and 12 Sauromatai were engaged in a three-way fight. As you watched, it appeared that the lighter horsemen were peppering arrows, periodically the Sauromatai charged one or the other group by lance and the battle swung away. At one point, you were noticed and charged by beastmen. You despatched these. However, Wolf's immediate reaction was not to engage these hideous creatures of chaos, causing even more consternation. Finally, the Dolgans decided they had had enough, and the Sauromatai horses were 'blown' and so about half the beastmen limped off being peppered by the Sauromatai. You decided not to contact the Sauromatai, since though you had fired a few arrows at the Dolgans, you had hardly helped much and wished to carry out your mission without contacting strangers as much as possible.

You arrived safely at Turov, and were well treated and dealt with, although a scout could not be found. It seemed that any information about Prince Hayek and Kars was only speculation as he had been cut off for the best part of a year (except for some very minor Hill Men-friendly merchant traffic). An infestation meant you needed treatment, and to destroy your clothing and replace it.

Moving into the Pass, you came to the first feature you had been told to watch out for, a halfling hermit. He was, however, surrounded by an audience of beastmen who charged you. You managed to kill some and scare the others, but not before they killed the halfling. Once again, Wolf had refused to attack, and perhaps save the halfling's life. The hermit had a dying message for you concerning "doom"and that you should: "Seek the One, the Redeemer, the Betrayer"

Continuing on the next day, in filthy weather, you saw a fire off the side of the Pass as night drew in again. You knew you were not near your next stop, the Holy Caves, but still decided (by majority vote) to investigate. Wolf was captured by the Hill Men guard post, and things went further downhill from here. Eventually, Jakob persuaded the Hill Men to allow you to pass by mentioning the name of Katerina Bokkha. They also returned Wolf, but without his equipment. Wolf demanded that "his friends" fight for his stuff (against about 20 Hill Men), but they refused. Wolf then muttered threats and sulked around, (validly) pointing out that his equipment was worth a fortune and his magic weapon your only one.

You continued on to the Holy Caves, which you found to be under an extremely loose siege. Here were found some Hill Men, cut off from their peoples by the beastmen incursions, some Marauders, what is left of the Forever Tsarists (whose returned Tsar-Khan has been killed!) and a patrol from Kars. It seems that the incursions are very serious and permanent, and that beastmen are in and across the Belyeverota Pass. Two things happened at the caves, before we left the session.

Wolf appealed to a mixture of greed and hatred and persuaded the Kars patrol and one group of Hill Men to accompany him in a night attack to get his stuff back. Khedrun and Bob accompanied them. This was achieved, although the former lost a fate point.

Wolf and Tomas examined the caves, discovering some awesome cave-painting. Of particular interest were the following:

• A cave used for storage, with a painting of a large mouth
• Dwarf Father, showing dwarfs helping humans, seemingly from a black gateway
• Zalmoxis Refused, supposedly offering immortality and picturing a Great King in red armour with a large sword refusing Zalmoxis
• Bendis - Sword - King, showing Bendis and a King holding an enormous sword. The King is referred to in many pictures as the Defender, Defiler, Marauder, Betrayer, Redeemer, Revenger, Saviour, Killer, King, Leader, Slayer, Cleanser, Unclean, Bloody, Slaughterer, Great and One. When Tomas asked whether your guide was correctly translating this, and asked if he meant khan, then your guide did agree that an old name for King was indeed Khan. Wolf also found what appeared to be a direction towards a marker, titled KHAN. Tomas realised that it was the exact shape of the River Zapodryeka. If this is a marker, it suggests that the thing marked KHAN is in the far north up the river. What is more is that the Khan figure was marked with a rampant bear wearing a crown, the symbol of Transnistria. Finally, Tomas recalled that Bendispolis and Zalmoxispolis were both situated on the map you saw in Sisimithrae within, very roughly, the area noted

We will start the game at the Caves, after the evening's activities.

Bob has a promissory note for 375 Imperial Kislevan Marks, to be paid in Paltora. (This includes housekeeping deductions for the session).

Rebekkha has 345/- expenses, Lukas has 300/-. We need to resolve Rebbeka's horse.

Experience
Jakob  25
Wolf  25
Thomas  60
Rebekah  70
Khadrum  60
Lukas  80
"Bob"  ---