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[Virex]

Spoiler: Tracking, the bloody way (click to show/hide)

He had... "interrogated" one of the men the citizens called a magistrate. He was clearly at foul with someone, but not quite to the extend that warranted his presence. Still the talk had been refreshing, especially to the end. The guy would survive and with a bit of luck he wouldn't remember a thing. If he did, well, all the worse for him.

Apparently there were more powers at work here then he had expected. First there was the enigmatic being that originally drew him here and then there was this Jafar, who apparently wasn't afraid of stirring trouble either. And then there were eyes stirring in the dark, but these seemed to be benign for now...
First things first. Jafar was apparently not someone to cross. All the more reason to pay him a visit...

Spoiler: Visions (click to show/hide)

As he rushed southwards, he felt the world around him changing. Nothing seemed to differ on the outside, but he heard faint screams and clouded visions.

And then it struck him.

Just as he rushed into the dry plains he collapsed, his body quivring. His ears filled with the screams of helpless victims and the howls of beast. Horrid beings appeared before his eyes, tearing into the flesh of footmen and cavalry alike. Within seconds all beings disapeared, and only a small metal cube could be seen.

Just as fast as the vision had started, it was over. Except for a new feeling of purpose. He would have to hurry.

Map:

|~~~~~~~~~.|⌠≈≈≈⌠⌠⌠|⌠⌠♣♣♣♣♣♣⌂⌂▲^▲
|~~~~~~~~~.└──────┬┘....♣♣♣♣⌂⌂▲▲▲
|~~~~~~~~~....⌠⌠⌠⌠|....┌─f─å─t○⌂⌂
|~~~~~Ψ~~~~......≈|⌠⌠..|T♣♣♣♣♣♣Å♣
|~~~~~~~~~~......≈|≈⌠┌─┘♣♣..~~♣♣♣
|⌂⌂⌂~~~~~~........└─┬┘r.å..Å~ÅV~~
|⌂⌂⌂⌂~..~~~.........|.......~~~~
|▲▲▲⌂⌂..............|.......~~~~~
|▲^▲⌂⌂..............|........å.~~
|▲▲▲○────┐.....r.♠♠♠└──○⌂⌂.......
|▲▲▲▲⌂⌂..└───┐t♠♠♠♠R♠♠♠▲▲▲⌂⌂..≈≈≈
|⌂⌂▲▲⌂⌂⌂⌂....|♠♠♠♠♠♠♠⌂⌂▲^▲⌂⌂.≈≈≈≈

[Rooster]

Time for a new turn.

How the heck did akkads manage to get to the river so fast?
(They're on the tile the super fast growing trees are. Just sayin)

[mission0]

Yep Yep, Quite Right Rooster Quite right. Also I'm going to slow things down a bit as we get closer together since rp is going to take some cooperation between other players. This turn will last three days so that everything can be put together.

Turn 3-

Ze Map:

|~~~~~~~~~.|⌠≈≈≈⌠⌠⌠|⌠⌠♣♣♣♣♣♣⌂⌂▲^▲
|~~~~~~~~~.└──────┬┘....♣♣♣♣⌂⌂▲▲▲
|~~~~~~~~~....⌠⌠⌠⌠|....┌─f─å─t○⌂⌂
|~~~~~Ψ~~~~......≈|⌠⌠..|T♣♣♣♣♣♣Å♣
|~~~~~~~~~ψ......≈|≈⌠┌─┘♣♣..~~♣♣♣
|⌂⌂⌂~~~~~~........└─┬┘r.å..Å~ÅV~~
|⌂⌂⌂⌂~..~ψ~.........|.......~~~~
|▲▲▲⌂⌂..............|.......~~~~~
|▲^▲⌂⌂..............|........å.~~
|▲▲▲○────┐.....r.♠♠♠└──○⌂⌂.......
|▲▲▲▲⌂⌂..└───┐t♠♠♠♠R♠♠♠▲▲▲⌂⌂..≈≈≈
|⌂⌂▲▲⌂⌂⌂⌂....|♠♠♠♠♠♠♠⌂⌂▲^▲⌂⌂.≈≈≈≈

The Ruleen are steadily making their way up the river in hopes of meeting new people.

The SandRiders send out a few parties to scout the area and perhaps to expand into new territory.

There is something fishing going on in the Suin party heading up the river to find the rich ore deposits.

The Akkads are spreading rapidly with their enslaved work force of the undead they make quick work of building new settlements and moving onto new places.


*This turn will be 3 months in-game to make more sense rp wise*

*Also to make sure everything is still the same, just changed to 3 months to make more sense.*

[Flintus10]

|~~~~~~~~~.|⌠≈≈≈⌠⌠⌠|⌠⌠♣♣♣♣♣♣⌂⌂▲^▲
|~~~~~~~~~.└──────┬┘....♣♣♣♣⌂⌂▲▲▲
|~~~~~~~~~....⌠⌠⌠⌠|....┌───å─t○⌂⌂
|~~~~~Ψ~~~~......≈|⌠⌠..|T♣♣♣♣♣♣Å♣
|~~~~~~~~~ψ......≈|≈⌠┌─┘♣♣..~~♣♣♣
|⌂⌂⌂~~~~~~........└─┬┘r.å..Å~ÅV~~
|⌂⌂⌂⌂~..~ψ~.........|.......~~~~
|▲▲▲⌂⌂..............|.......~~~~~
|▲^▲⌂⌂..............|........å.~~
|▲▲▲○────┐.....r.♠♠♠└──○⌂⌂.......
|▲▲▲▲⌂⌂..└───┐t♠♠♠♠R♠♠♠▲▲▲⌂⌂..≈≈≈
|⌂⌂▲▲⌂⌂⌂⌂....|♠♠♠♠♠♠♠⌂⌂▲^▲⌂⌂.≈≈≈≈

Spoiler: Civilization (click to show/hide)

Muni’s expression dropped from relief and satisfaction having crossed the river to a disgruntled look seeing another forest for him to struggle his way through. A whole year he had already traveled and so little had been accomplished

 “Still nothing for it but to keep going.”

The forest was a lot more forgiving in these parts and there were large sections with very few trees at all. Eventually Muni was even lucky enough to find a path which he stuck to as it twisted and turned for days until finally it joined up with what looked to be a wide road flanked by the forest trees is stretched further than the eye could see in either direction only. Muni had been in solitude for a very long time but he still knew some things and one of them was that a road would almost always mean.

“Civilization.”

As he continued up the road Muni found himself passing many others along the way. A vast majority of the creatures were small bow-legged beings with green skin. Spending most of his life either alone or in the traveling Shem camp Muni had seen very little of other races but judging by the numerous soldiers that walked by these things would be somewhat warlike at the very least.

Spoiler: A Deal (click to show/hide)

Muni saw one of the creatures walking along and increased his pace. The creature moved quickly and even though it was weighed down with many packs Muni had to move into a light jog to catch up.

“…Excuse me.”

The creature did not turn and so Muni tapped it at the top of it’s gangly arm and tried again.

“Excuse me.”

This time the creature turned anger in it’s eyes.

“What are you doing bothering me son, why if your gona go up and tap every stranger on the shoulder once you get to Nai do not be surprised when they stick a blade in your gut.

“Just for asking for assistance?”

The creature let out a loud sigh before looking around and seeing nobody within earshot it sighed again.

“Do you even know where you are?”
“About a years south west from where I started.”

“Velen’s breath son you never even heard of Nai?”

Muni shook his head “I have spent most of my life living alone training in the mountains.”

The creature’s face lit up “Look son I am a business man so lets see if we can work something out here. I have to carry these goods on my back here to my shop and unload them. And while I was hoping to bribe some guards to get me in I’ll take my chances with you protecting me and my goods through the streets. In return I will give you enough information so that you may survive a day or two in the slums.
I ain’t no historian but let’s see what we can figure out here okay. My name is Valari I am what most call a Suin and the city we are heading to that’s Nai and if your not rich it’d be one of the most dangerous places in the world. Our god is…”

“…And being tall is probably another reason they will want to murder and rob you.”

Muni had his eyes fixed on the large city. The huge stone walls were truly a sight to see and he saw many buildings bellowing smoke as well as large towers in the centre.

As the pair moved closer to the gate the short guard eyed them, particularly Muni suspiciously. A brief flash of coin later and they were wandering the slums.

“Luckily for us the store isn’t too far.” Valari’s pace quickened.     

Muni had never seen a city and could barely remember anything he had been told about them in childhood. Either way he new this was a bad one, the Suin were fighting, they were yelling, they were drinking and their eyes could be seen always looking from the shadows particularly towards the packs carried by both Muni and Valari.

The two made it to the door and after a jingle of keys they walked into a shanty which looked as dirty and wrecked on the inside as the outside still it had two levels which was a luxury compared to many of the other homes.

“Me stall is set up just outside.” Valari dropped his packs. “I assume you be wanting somewhere to stay which leads me to another business proposal. Truth is I been looking for someone to guard my stuff and if you’ve really been training as long as yer say, and judging by that fancy blade you carry I doubt yer lying then you can guard me stall in exchange for the bed on the bottom floor and some pocket money for food.”

It wasn’t glorious Muni though but survival would be his first priority while he looked for a way to accomplish his task.

“Are your sure I can do you this honor?”

“Hono…what are ya talking about, look keep yer mouth shut and yer blade close and we will get along fine.”

The creature stuck outs it’s hand as Muni just stared.

“Never mind just drop those bags and help unpack.”

Moved into Nai.

[Rooster]

It slided to 2nd page...


|~~~~~~~~~.|⌠≈≈≈⌠⌠⌠|⌠⌠♣♣♣♣♣♣⌂⌂▲^▲
|~~~~~~~~~.└──────┬┘....♣♣♣♣⌂⌂▲▲▲
|~~~~~~~~~....⌠⌠⌠⌠|....┌───å─s○⌂⌂
|~~~~~Ψ~~~~......≈|⌠⌠..|T♣♣♣♣♣♣Å♣
|~~~~~~~~~ψ......≈|≈⌠┌─┘♣♣..~~♣♣♣
|⌂⌂⌂~~~~~~........└─┬┘r.å..Å~ÅV~~
|⌂⌂⌂⌂~..~ψ~.........|.......~~~~
|▲▲▲⌂⌂..............|.......~~~~~
|▲^▲⌂⌂..............|........å.~~
|▲▲▲○────┐.....r.♠♠♠└──○⌂⌂.......
|▲▲▲▲⌂⌂..└───┐t♠♠♠♠R♠♠♠▲▲▲⌂⌂..≈≈≈
|⌂⌂▲▲⌂⌂⌂⌂....|♠♠♠♠♠♠♠⌂⌂▲^▲⌂⌂.≈≈≈≈

Spoiler: Death (click to show/hide)

Nine months have passed since he came here. Much has changed. Especially in the moods and spirits of travelers. Everybody was grim, and scared. Especially scared. Horrible nonsters were attacking the camp. Skinless wolves with hard bone shells on parts of their bodies. Plants that moved, and devoured sleeping people. Horrible fish that didn't need to breathe. Mutants of all sorts.
Why you might ask? They stayed too long in one place. Food was running low for Suin expedition and they had to camp in one place for two weeks to gather resources for longer journey. They were just leaving when the horrors happened.

Sfidi was bored by staying in one place. Very bored. Some of his time he spent taking care of his experiments. Both humanoid and otherwise.  But mostly he was stoned. He couldn't take the boredom anymore. He couldn't stand to watch them just work and do little else. So he made his strongest "relaxing" potions. Made from a strange plant with leaves split into five parts. Slightly mutated to contain even stronger toxic substances. He overdosed. While that wouldn't kill him it made him hallucinate a lot more. When Sfidi hallucinates it's never any good.

They came a couple days later. The horrible monsters. Illusions that came true. Such was Sfidi's power. His hallucinations sometimes materialise. When Sfidi is stoned you better pray he dreams about fairies and unicorns. It wasn't the case now. At first a couple of Suin dissapeared be the river or in the woods. Some were found strangled to death and entangled in strange vines.

Then a huge onslaught happened. About twenty horrors resembling woodland animals such as wolves and deers, but all twisted and mutated, appeared on the horison. They waited for the sun to dissapear. Then, they ran for the camp. Of course Suin were already prepared.

The battle was horrible, but Sfidi had no interest in it. He decided to dissapear and come back when it's over. When he did came back, he was worried that nobody survived. What a surprise! Only some of Suin died. No big casaulties. Well, there was blood everywere, and severed body parts, but nothing serious. Well, depending on your level of caring, and Sfidi didn't care that much.

Of course the Suin decided to leave and head for the mountains as quickly as possible.

Spoiler: Experiment continues (click to show/hide)

When travelling, Sfidi finally saw first fruits of his work.
They were born. His mutants.

Many of the babies born, that he influenced were stillborn, or twins, or otherwise mutated. Many twins were conjoined. There were cyclopses, there were babies born with reversed joints. There were some with transparent skin.
Those mutants didn't survive more than a couple of days.
But there were also some that survived his experiments. Most of them ablino, or other harmless mutations.

But what interested Sfidi the most was that Junja's children were perfectly fine. No albinism, no nothing. They were perfectly healthy.
Why? - he asked himself - This couldn't happen. She received the most mutagenic magical radiation. And they were quintuplets at that!

Sfidi then decided he would look into it more. Oh yes, he would!

[mission0]

Spoiler: Dragons are the only way to travel (click to show/hide)

Rone woke up again for what seemed to be the 100th time to the flapping of the dragon's wings. He thought it odd that the dragon never seemed to stop or sleep. At some time it would have to rest, and when it did he would escape. However if it didn't things could get messy for him.

He was actually thinking of trying his magic on the beast, while it was unstable it may get the dragon to release him... the only problem was the drop that awaited him below. He continued to ponder what he could do as the days passed.

Spoiler: First Encounter? (click to show/hide)

Trebin halted his small party. They had reached a bend in the river and he could just make out another group of people not to far off. The sun however was in his eyes and he couldn't make out what type of people they were. Instead he decided to stay where he was and wait for them to come to him if they did.

They did come as Trebin had thought. The Liwab moved back in case a conflict may ensue.The Geru move forward for the same reason. Trebin himself set himself a distance in front of everyone with another Geru who had decided to accompany him.

The group split some sidestepping The Ruleen party by a large distance while the other came directly towards them waving their hands in the air in a non-threatening manner. Trebin relaxed a bit but still looked on skeptically not really knowing what to expect.  One of the people stepped ahead with the rest with two others who seemed armed with alot more than any situation may call for. As the one stepped forward he seemed heavily clothed, with many gems and such weighing down his hands, neck and other body parts.

He said something that Trebin could only think as gibberish, he blinked as he looked on in confusion. The human mumbled before waving his hands in the air a bit and speaking again.

"Can you understand me now?"

Trebin nodded emphatically, "Yes, Yes, Much better now."

The human smiled broadly before saying,"Aaahhh, greatings noble being. My name is Mehmed! We spotted your group from afar, and we're mightily interested, who are you?"

Trebin glad that he could understand replied, "Greetings yourself as well. My name Trebin. I am of the Ruleen, and in search of place to settle. Who may you be as well?

"The Ruleen? Interesting! Please, tell me more?"

"I can not really tell much to someone who I do not know about myself. Who do you come from?

"Ah, we? We, come from the great city of Akkad! City of magic, trade, untold riches, innumerable pleasures! Strange and beautiful arts! You should visit sometime!"

Trebin grinned as best he could with his canine mouth, "Sounds like a fun fun place. The Ruleen village a wondrous place as well. Lying in forest itself it is a great beauty."

"Very interesting! Living in a forest! So, care to tell me more about yourself? Where do you live?"

"I myself am one of warrior leaders of Ruleen. As for where I lie? I lie far to the south in wet forest."

"Down the river? Ahh, that is very good, and very interesting news. No doubt you have many a variety of interesting and exotic woods and plants down in that rainforest?

"Yes Yes, many woods many kinds. We have some of the plant from the woods if you wish to see."

"Ahh, I definitely wish to see! Of course this heralds the request that you must see too..,"Mehmed claps his hands which seemed to signal for the merchants to set up. Because this is exactly what they did, surging forward with their camels, spawning small stands in an astonishingly fast pace that Trebin could barely believe possible.

Trebin signaled to the others that it was safe to come forward. The Geru came right up to the stands looking over weapons and glancing at some of the lighter armor. The Liwab who came up more slowly, looked at the food stuffs and trinkets that the Akkad seemed to offer. After little bartering on the Ruleen side, since they were not to familiar with what a merchant was they traded away much for small things.

Those that did get something in exchange for the herbs and seeds they offered nibbled tentatively on food or gandered wide eyed at shiny trinkets.

Triben who had not participated in the trading returned to talk to Mehmed,"You have interesting things here, I think you for sharing with us."

Mehmed wearing a very large smile and spreading his hands wide says,"It is absolutely no inconvenience! Say, you live downriver, yes? We are on the purpose of founding a city on a supposed river fork farther to the west. What would you say about trade rights?"

Trebin pondered the concept of trade rights for a moment before giving up and saying, "I can not say any about trade. Speak to Shikra, she is who you must speak to."

"Ah. Who is Shikra?"

"She be Liwab leader of Ruleen. She back in village to south."

"Ah. We must send an envoy then!" Mehmed said before bowing deeply and thanking Trebin for the trade before departing to catch up with the rest of his group.

Trebin pondered the strange beings he had just met before signaling for his group to continue. He was most interested in meeting more like the Akkad.

Spoiler: More Expansion! (click to show/hide)

Shikra pondered as she set about the small tasks that needed to be done to send out more parties to colonize more areas, however unlike the last group she had sent out. These groups would colonize areas near to home.

She looked around and sighed, she was tired. For some reason Rone wouldn't get out of her head, it was true she had given him the talisman but it shouldn't connect there minds nearly as much as it seemed to be. At some points she thought she could feel wind passing through her face and large plains flying quickly below her.

She shook her head as another of these moments passed by her and continued the preparations for the parties to start moving out. For the most part it was Liwab moving around and collecting things with only smaller amounts of Geru joining them.

A flash of a river coming up below her made her shake her head before continuing back to the task at hand.

Spoiler: Bomb's Away (click to show/hide)

 Rone looked at the large river as it came into view. He couldn't tell how deep or fast it was, but it would be his only chance to escape from the dragon. If he didn't live through it, well it was better than being eaten by a dragon.

The river was not to far from being below them so Rone gathered himself so as to protect himself from his own magics. Then he let loose all the restraints on himself and let the magic fly. It was a horrifying feeling, yet wonderous one at the same time. The air around him seemed to crackle and hiss and turn colors around him without seeming to do much. Then as Rone had almost given up on the magic doing much, he noticed that the ground was getting closer.... at a very fast rate. Looking forward he noticed the dragon's head seemed to be flapping in the wind, almost as if it had been knocked out in mid-air.

The dragon then pitched forward and Rone couldn't keep track of up from down. His magic still flowed from him freely and he could feel rips being torn in the dragon's flesh as the magic perfeated the beast. Rone himself could barely stand his own magic, it felt as if a large weight had been placed on his head.

The dragon pitched even faster and the visions of the earth that Rone glimpsed showed that the river was a far-cry away and instead of water land would be struck. Rone closed his eyes and prayed as the latest glimpse revealed impact being mire seconds away. Then he slammed into the dragons stomach as he and the dragon slammed into the ground. He bounced off the stomach and into the air as the dragon continued to slide below him.

As Rone came back down he noticed he wouldn't be lucky enough to land on the dragon again, and he landed, and slid across the ground for several meters. He blacked out.

EJ's Turn:

Spoiler: What the? (click to show/hide)

Rano had noticed the odd going's on before the monsters had appeared and pressed the caravan harder to try to avoid the strange occurrences. Everything seemed to follow them however, and then monsters had appeared then attacking them. The caravan had fought bravely but they had still suffered some major injuries. To top things off the few mothers who had come along had given off strange off-spring that he could only imagine in his darkest of dreams. All but one though was that one mother seemed to be immune to the same effects as the other mothers. A women by the name of Janja. He would have to keep a close eye on her over the next leg of the trip and the setting up of the mining camp. It wasn't to long now, he could feel the end coming along.

|~~~~~~~~~.|⌠≈≈≈⌠⌠⌠|⌠⌠♣♣♣♣♣♣⌂⌂▲^▲
|~~~~~~~~~.└──────┬┘....♣♣♣♣⌂⌂▲▲▲
|~~~~~~~~~....⌠⌠⌠⌠|....┌───å──t⌂⌂
|~~~~~Ψ~~~~......≈|⌠⌠..|T♣♣♣♣♣♣Å♣
|~~~~~~~~~ψ......≈|≈⌠┌─┘♣♣..~~♣♣♣
|⌂⌂⌂~~~~~~........└─┬┘..r..Å~ÅV~~
|⌂⌂⌂⌂~..~ψ~.........|.......~~~~~
|▲▲▲⌂⌂..............|.......~~~~~
|▲^▲⌂⌂..............|........å.~~
|▲▲▲○────┐.......♠♠♠└──○⌂⌂.......
|▲▲▲▲⌂⌂..└───rt♠♠♠♠R♠r♠▲▲▲⌂⌂..≈≈≈
|⌂⌂▲▲⌂⌂⌂⌂....|♠♠♠r♠♠♠⌂⌂▲^▲⌂⌂.≈≈≈≈

[Virex]

Spoiler: City life, citty death (click to show/hide)

Entering the citty was easy, staying in the city was hard. Akkad, it's inhabitants called it, the citty of life and death. Death was plenty here, and some of the 'recruits' were no volentueers. Now these 'recruits' were mercilessly efficient and quite unwilling to communicated with newcommers hiding in corners. Every night was a night full of evasion and hiding, and yet he had managed to make some progess.

Jafar was a name not unheard of here, one could say. He appeared to be the defacto leader of the Akkads, who had apparently just arived here. Most of the talk was about how he was a great yet ruthless leader who brought the Akkads to greatness, yet often there seemed to be an undertone of jealousy or even hatred, especialy with those closer to him.

Besides Jafar, people often talked about 'the four', beings who apparently 'had been around forever and always will be'. While Jaffar could be called the defacto leader, they held a lot of power as well and Jaffar often had to awnser to them.
...
...
No more time to think, he had to flee again. Or fight....
No, fighting would allert them to his pressence. These 'recruits' (he still smirked at the word) must be under the controll of someone, seeing as they are obviously not capable of taking care of things themselves. He would need to pay them a visit sometimes, but not now.

First he would have to infiltrate the palace, as that was where the artifact seemed to be held. Obtaining the artifact was his top priority. Then what?
....
....
He wasn't quite sure. He knew this all had a purpose that was as of yet clouded to him. Apparently, the artifact was related to something that begged for vengeance, but how? Would he need to invoke the power of the artifact? Or destroy it?
No matter, he would see when he 'obtained' it. Which would probably give him a reason to deal with Jaffar as well

I have entered Akkad, so the maps looks as following:

|~~~~~~~~~.|⌠≈≈≈⌠⌠⌠|⌠⌠♣♣♣♣♣♣⌂⌂▲^▲
|~~~~~~~~~.└──────┬┘....♣♣♣♣⌂⌂▲▲▲
|~~~~~~~~~....⌠⌠⌠⌠|....┌───å──t⌂⌂
|~~~~~Ψ~~~~......≈|⌠⌠..|T♣♣♣♣♣♣Å♣
|~~~~~~~~~ψ......≈|≈⌠┌─┘♣♣..~~♣♣♣
|⌂⌂⌂~~~~~~........└─┬┘..r..Å~Å~~~
|⌂⌂⌂⌂~..~ψ~.........|.......~~~~~
|▲▲▲⌂⌂..............|.......~~~~~
|▲^▲⌂⌂..............|........å.~~
|▲▲▲○────┐.......♠♠♠└──○⌂⌂.......
|▲▲▲▲⌂⌂..└───rt♠♠♠♠R♠r♠▲▲▲⌂⌂..≈≈≈
|⌂⌂▲▲⌂⌂⌂⌂....|♠♠♠r♠♠♠⌂⌂▲^▲⌂⌂.≈≈≈≈

[Rooster]

Only Wimdit left to post?
Or a new turn?

[mission0]

Only Wimdit left to post?
Or a new turn?

Wimdit and Nhip.... the turn ends today at 6 you know. As I had said in the ooc as well at the top of the last turn change I had said the turn lasted 3 days. Today is the third day so they still have a bit of time.

[Wimdit]

Sorry about the almost-lateness. I've been trying to think of something other than just this to write.

...There isn't much for me to do yet.

Spoiler: Madcap Dash (click to show/hide)

Green.

They had stumbled on an endless field of green.  They knew what to expect, but it was so different to anything they had ever seen before that they could not help but wonder at it. No Sandrider had been out of the desert in their lifetimes. There was no specific reason for that: they just didn’t go out here.

For a short time, the envoys didn’t move. They merely stood there, taking in the sight.

They had never seen a landscape so open before, either. In the desert, it was rare to see a flat area of any great size: most of it was covered with constantly shifting dunes.

As they got over their collective shock, their emotions quickly turned to exuberance. Here was a landscape where they could really ride. With such a broad expanse of flat land, there was nothing stopping them from going as fast as they wanted.

One of them gave a vigorous cry, and he and his mount broke into a headlong charge through the field. Another followed, and then the whole group was charging forward as if Death itself was after them. Someone started a chant usually sung during a run, and the Sandrunners instinctively matched their footfalls to the rhythm.

There wasn’t usually much going on in the plains, but any observer who happened to be out there that day, or a number of days to follow, would have been witness to a rare sight. They made very good time on the fields, and by the time the novelty of being able to run freely had worn off, they were well on their way.

|~~~~~~~~~.|⌠≈≈≈⌠⌠⌠|⌠⌠♣♣♣♣♣♣⌂⌂▲^▲
|~~~~~~~~~.└──────┬┘....♣♣♣♣⌂⌂▲▲▲
|~~~~~~~~~....⌠⌠⌠⌠|....┌───å──t⌂⌂
|~~~~~Ψ~~~~......≈|⌠⌠..|T♣♣♣♣♣♣Å♣
|~~~~~~~~~~......≈|≈⌠┌─┘♣♣..~~♣♣♣
|⌂⌂⌂~~~~~~.....ψ..└─┬┘..r..Å~Å~~~
|⌂⌂⌂⌂~..~~~.........|.......~~~~~
|▲▲▲⌂⌂..............|.......~~~~~
|▲^▲⌂⌂........ψ.....|........å.~~
|▲▲▲○────┐.......♠♠♠└──○⌂⌂.......
|▲▲▲▲⌂⌂..└───rt♠♠♠♠R♠r♠▲▲▲⌂⌂..≈≈≈
|⌂⌂▲▲⌂⌂⌂⌂....|♠♠♠r♠♠♠⌂⌂▲^▲⌂⌂.≈≈≈≈

[mission0]

Turn 4-

The SandRiders continue their dash across the map.

The Ruleen have made first contact with the Akkad and had some "profitable" trading with the merchants. They had also sent out two other parties to colonise more area close to home.

There are some strange goings on in the Valen exploration party. After having had many odd births, and having been attacked by some terrifying monters who knows what will happen next.

The Akkad don't develop much, instead opting to move slower these past few months