KHAZUUL

"Safe enough for me to stay, Sow. But me alone won't be enough. Haul me out so we can return with the right tools and gear.

Flints heart is still beating rapidly. That was too close a call for his liking. They needed equipment for this, or they'd be taking too many risks.

Helping the others haul Flint back to safety, Sow unties the rope from her spear and tests the strength of the shaft as Freki coils up his rope. "We should conceal this place... so we can return to it, better prepared," the woman says softly. "Maybe with climbing equipment?"

Freki sighs with relief once his companions pull him to safety. He then helps to pull Flint back across the gap in the platform.

"Thanks again everyone! That would have been a nasty fall!" he emphasizes his words with a sincere look of gratitude to each Saffron, Sow, Cutwell and Flint in turn.

As he coils and re-packs his rope he says, "I guess we'll need more than this to tackle that place. Maybe the shop we visited in Vanguard has some equipment. Raven's was it?"

Freki agrees with Sow's idea about hiding the entrance so no one else goes in before they get back. As they pile some brush from the jungle across it, he wonders what treasures might be hidden within and asks the group, "What do you think's in there? From the outside, I thought it was an ancient building initially, but inside looked more like a old mine or something."

Cutwell couldn’t help but wonder if it was another Black Skull hideaway! In fact, he wondered if they wouldn’t be guiding the remnants of their old camp back this way later tonight, once they’d been to inspect the black smoke billowing from out of the camp.

"Might have what they need back there!" he says, pointing to their burning camp. "Might be that no one’s left to stop us from taking what we need!" he says with a grimace and a shrug.

Flint waves away Freki's gratitude and agrees with the group's plans as he helps hide the entrance.

"We could see what we can find in the camp and then head to the store for supplies. I'd be careful though. Could be any manner of beast hiding in that smoldering camp."

Day 10, Watch 2
Wilderness Action: Travel Hex 6 --> Hex 3 (Black Skull Camp)
Location: Border of Hex 6 & 3
Weather: Fair

With the entrance to the strange cave carefully concealed, the company resumes their march through the dense wilderness. The hot midday sun pierces the tree cover, creating spears of light that pierce the dense canopy. Each step forward seems to bring a new obstacle—a thick underbrush that requires careful hacking to clear a path. The smell of smoke grows stronger with every stride, mingling with the earthy scents of the forest, hinting at the proximity of the Black Skull camp.

The air quality continues to decline as you near the camp's location, the air filled with the smell of tar. With no wind to clear out the toxic fumes or rain to clean the air, the black clouds begin to choke out Khazuul's bright sun as you get closer to the source. Travelling through this air takes it's toll on you, leaving your throats sore and eyes red and irritated. However, as nightfall is upon you, you summit a familiar hill that you are certain overlooks the Black Skull's camp, and lo and behold, you find its palisade walls very much intact! However, black smoke pours out of fires raging in the immediate furlongs of jungle to the camp's north east. Charred remains of trees indicate that the first nearly reached the camp, but it remains very much intact.



As you are observing, you hear a noise coming from the trees.

"Oi! It's Ironfist's crew! Lower your bows!" calls a familiar voice. A small force of men reveal themselves from the trees, descending on ropes. Leading them are none other than the men you rescued from the Dreadwings a few days ago - Gringle and Grinwit. They approach, and you can see Gringle is still bandaged up from Cutwell's earlier ministrations.

"Bloody good to see you lot! It's been rough day for Black Skulls. Seems the Dreadwings built themselves a siege weapon and have been lobbing fiery balls of tar our way! Lucky for us, their aim is bad, ain't that right, Grinwit?"

Grinwit's smile never fades from his face.

"They've taken a hill that's just a cunt hair's width too far to hit us directly. But fuck it all, the fires are ruining our Black Lotus hunting grounds! Not sure if our walls will matter much if we don't have the Lotus. Tunny himself tried once to knock 'em off the hill, but they're dug in bloody good. Had to retreat."

"Anyway, we're camped out here guarding this hill for the rest of the night. If they got the sneak on us and put their fire flinger up here, they'd be able to burn everything to the ground."

"Anyway, it's all hands on deck, you'd better report to Tunny soon. He will want the five of you ready for battle orders. I'm sure it'll bring the boys a boost in morale to see the famous Ironfist walking among their ranks!"

"Ain't that right, Grinwit?"

Cutwell grimaced at the fact that all eyes would be on the group… and then without their masks. Tunny would be in foul humor, though maybe the fact that they weren’t sporting colors might go unnoticed in the chaos. He wonders if he might be able to soot up his face as a gesture of, if not good will then simply will.

"How many of them are up there?" Cutwell asks, trying not to let all the praise go to his head. He’d be dead three or four times over if not for the rest of the crew gathered here. Only this morning had Sow pulled him back from the edge.

Wide-eyed astonishment marks Sow's face as she surveys all the damage, but she keeps quiet as they listen to Gringle tell them what's been going on. Then, quietly, to Saffron, Freki and Flint, the girl suggests, "They're exposed out there. Could we lead Grimjaws to them? Or maybe them beastmen riding those war dinos?"

Flint resists the urge to shake his head in weariness and frustration. It was always something with this crew but he had grown fond of them all nevertheless.

"Yes, shouldn't take them long to move closer and then there's big trouble," he says, stating the obvious about the siege weapons before he goes into a fit of coughing. Once he recovers he wipes some dribble from his mouth and agrees with Cutwell. He looks for higher ground. Perhaps they could try and pick off those men operating the engines, but in this smoke it didn't seem likely.

Cutwell thought back to his foolish attempt at drawing the big beast away last time. He had only escaped due to the crevice he slipped into; fortunately too narrow for Grimjaws to fit his head into!

"Could do, couldn’t we?" he says to Sow’s idea. It did occur to him that the leftover weapons would serve as a bounty to the fish men they had met, which would lead to an explosion of Black Lotus for the group. Which means they had to do something.

"But how? Less we sneak up there and start making a lot of noise. Might draw something in, won’t it?"

Sow shrugs. "Leave a trail of meat? Attract and lead them right to their doorstep?"

Freki is speechless for a long time as he takes in the scene and Gringle's explanation.

He wasn't keen on getting in the middle of a gang war, especially now they are making progress towards finding some of Khazuul's hidden secrets. This was likely to get them killed, but for now he didn't see any other good options. You need have have some allies down in this jungle. He wishes they had stopped by the cache to pick up Thorn's sword on their way back. It was better than his whip in a proper battle.

"The Grimjaws is an interesting idea," he finally says to Sow. "But we might need a long trail of meat or something that can run just a little faster than that beast to draw it towards the Dreadwings."

"How big of a force do they have here? Maybe they've left their own base empty and we can raid them while they're occupied here. I guess we'll have to see what Tunny thinks."

Cutwell was keenly aware that he was likely to be the trail of meat, if things went the way he expected them to go.

"Best to go see him, ain’t it?" he admits to the others, ready to see what their ‘boss’ had to say.

"We should go see Tunny. I do like Freki's idea though. Raiding their base could prove fruitful. Why not do both if we are quick about it?"

As the group moves to meet Tunny, Sow doesn't give up entirely on her counter-attack-leaning ideas. The girl's got a mean streak.

"If there's pitch there at the tower and flames to light it... might also be easy to use to burn the thing to the ground..."

Freki rubs the stubble on his cheeks as he considers Sow's suggestion. "Have you ever tried flinging fireballs with that sling of yours? We can wrap some stones in cloth, soaked in some of Flint's lantern oil. How close would you need to be to hit the pitch? We might be able to sneak that close in the dark," Freki asks.

"I would worry about your hair, Sow, if you did that. It's a good idea but risky. It could catch fire. Maybe you could tie it back out of the way?"

Of course, Flint is mindful of long hair and its disadvantages. "Might be better if you tried it Freki," he says half in jest.

The company makes their way to the Black Skull's fortification as they discuss the possibilities of assaulting the Dreadwing position.

"It occurs to me that our earnings are in glass beads. What happens if the Black Skulls are no more? Nobody will accept our glass beads. We either need to exchange these for gold quickly, or make sure the Black Skulls are still standing."A sentry calls out from a watchtower before you even reach the door: "Glory to God, Ironfist's crew has returned! Open the gate!"

You remember the first time you arrived here, depositing your wooden lotus tokens in the bucket before they'd admit you. Now, they're opening the gate for you on sight. You don't even have to break your stride.

Once on the inside, you find the inside of the camp has changed somewhat. The rain canopies have all been stowed, likely to avoid catching fire from an ember on the wind. Many Black Skulls are in the triage area, and many have

The three dogs - Moonshadow, Thunderstrike, and Sunbeam - immediately starting howling once Freki enters scent range.

Tunny emerges from the crowd and approaches Cutwell, acknowledging him as the leader of the company. The Northman's head and side are bandaged, and he has replaced his brace of daggers with a sturdy axe and shield.

"Took your bloody time getting here," he spits. He explains the situation, but other than the colourful array of curse words, he presents no new information over what Gringle told you.

"Now listen. We are mounting a nighttime raid. I want you all on it. Knock those fucking Dreadwings off the hill. Every man on the raid gets 50 gold! Get your weapons. And fer fuck's sake PUT ON SOME BLOODY BLACK SKULLS! Wilmot!!! Where are you? Get them some fucking skulls!"

Sow frowns at Flint as she glances down at her limp, lank hair, then she shrugs at Freki. "Never tried flinging flaming stones, but I could hit something that size from a hundred paces. Maybe further."

Tunny intimidates the girl, so she shies away from answering him, instead looking at Cutwell to provide an answer...