Temporal Warriors

Arr 28th - 29th

The ruins of Hurlis seem warmer now. The death of Dathor has lifted the gloom and danger and what is left is a pile of arid rubble. Amblay, Axe, Graz Tak and Aravan realise that there is nothing living here, save for the odd rat that avoided Dathor’s cruel attention. Amblay, the Marraq sorcerer, stretches his telepathic mind to the edge of the citadel and discovers a mind – weak but alive.

Axe and the rest of the party find yet another Tilean youth out in the wilds on a rite of passage. He, like the previous one they discovered the day before, shows all the signs of Dathor’s influence. Two distinct puncture marks on his right wrist. Axe snaps the lad’s neck mercifully.

The party decide that any search above ground will be fruitless but the sewers are all but intact. They clamber down one of many holes and move quickly through the city’s hidden tunnels. Before long they come upon a crypt. All the wooden coffins are empty and they decide that since the crypt has one entrance / exit it would be an ideal spot to rest at night.

Constant small tremors disrupt their sleep during the night. Axe spots a group of rats scavenging in the shadows and follows them. During the shadowing the Nadir nomad comes across a perfectly round slab of stone deep within the sewers. It is smooth and clean, no rubble or debris pollute the surface. In the centre is a metal handle.

Next morning Axe brings his companions to the trapdoor. He opens it to reveal a well; thirty feet below him is clear water, fresh and tangy it fills his nostrils. Amblay however feels nauseous; his head spins as he feels an intense pressure on him. He moves away from the well. At this point Axe and the others notice something very odd. The water flows up the sides of the well and into a series of grids fifteen feet up the walls. Aravan and Graz Tak secure a rope to the trapdoor lid and lower Axe down towards the water.

Axe notices the anomaly immediately. As soon as he descends past the halfway point (the grids) gravity is reversed! He re-orientates himself and moves up toward the water. Taking a deep breath he puts his head into the icy liquid…to emerge at the bottom of a narrow indoor well. Above him is a room…obviously within a castle. He feels heat and smells the alluring aroma of freshly baked bread. He ascends into the room to investigate. A shuttered window will not open, he hears a storm outside and beckons his friends through.

Graz Tak and Aravan enter the room as Axe secures the rope on his side of the strange portal. A single door opens to a kitchen; alive with angry chefs and waiters, too busy to notice the three companions.

They are Tileans. It dawns on all three that these Tileans are not nomadic, nor are they forced to scavenge in the wilds for food…they conclude that somehow they have returned to Hurlis as it was – before the Darim levelled it and killed all the inhabitants. Axe leads them past the kitchens and realises that the storm is actually the constant bombardment of missiles as the Darim army try to break the Tilean defences.

In a small office they come to a worried-looking man. He is Julran, the king’s chancellor. Agitated and nervous this man is cautious but soon realises that the unexpected travellers are unusual…perhaps even profound. From the chancellor’s words Axe works out that his intuition was correct – King Vir (the Darim king on the throne fifty years ago) is indeed outside the citadel with an army.

"We have travelled back in time," he says simply.

Julran stares at them carefully. His astute mind weighs up their words and he says: "The chancellor of the Darim, a man called Muziel, wishes to offer terms. He is presently in no-mans-land awaited my arrival…would you like to come?"

A temporary ceasefire allows Julran and the three time travellers to reach the tent unharmed. Once there the chancellor of king Vir of Darim is dressed in rich finery, beautifully tailored silks and cottons as befits a man of importance. It soon becomes clear to Axe and his friends that this man – Muziel (he pronounces it Muzael) – knows exactly where they have come from. In fact the smartly dressed chancellor ignores Julran for the most part.

Muziel gestures to a folded parchment on a wooden table. "Take it," he says to Axe. Axe passes the note to his companions – it says: "Kill the chancellor."

Axe, Aravan and Graz Tak realise that Muziel plans to change history. But Muziel cannot persuade them to attack the chancellor. Disappointed the chancellor of Darim turns to leave…and the party snap back to the future.

Axe, Aravan and Graz Tax suddenly find themselves amongst ten semi naked men with painted faces and bodies, they carry an array of primitive weapons such as spears and clubs. The three travellers react instantly and combat erupts.

Amblay is still underground but manages to major control and grab the mind of one of the tribesmen. He causes chaos amongst them as Axe swings the greataxe and cleaves a skull in two. Aravan hefts her shortsword and two vicious strikes disembowel a couple of the tribesmen. Graz Tak uses his deadly longsword to good effect and soon the tribesmen lose heart and flee for their lives – their primitive weapons no match for the three well trained warriors.

As their enemies flee Axe, Aravan and Graz Tak pounce. Aravan splits the skull of one as Graz Tak decapitates a second. Axe cuts one down before he and Graz Tak resort to longbows to finish off the remainder.

Once the short fight is over the party return to Amblay in the sewers where they discuss the merits of the strange portal they have found. Whilst this discussion continues Axe returns to the well to find out whether it is still active. Once his head penetrates the water he feels the warmth of the fire and the voices of two men – Julran and King Kular Rockspawn (the last ever king of Tilean) – are discussing the meeting with Muziel.

Julran leaves the king to his breakfast and Axe sneaks stealthily up the well and across to king Kular (who has his back to Axe). The nomad lifts the greataxe as the king turns…Axe hesitates, realising that his chance of surprise has gone. The king stands; he is a tall man, powerfully built with the demeanour of a warrior. He sneers at the Nadir before him. "An unusual weapon for an assassin," he says. Axe does not even see the longsword as the king wrenches it from his scabbard (lightning draw) and slashes it across Axe’s thigh. But there is no pain…instead the Nadir stands before his companions back in the ruined citadel.

That morning the party develop their ideas on the portal. They see an opportunity to steal from the past and – somehow – hide the loot so that they can find it again in the present. After several hours Axe leads them to the well once more. On this occasion Amblay overcomes his nausea and clambers through the temporal gate.

As each member of the party emerges silently from the water they hear a man being throttled. Julran, the chancellor, has a garrotte round the throat of his king and his knee in the small of Kular’s back...