[Runequestprax] Chapter Seven: The Grantlands of Duke Raus

[Lev Lafayette]

Chapter Seven: The Grantlands of Duke Raus

Dramatis personae

Storyteller, (Lev)
Phoebe, Grantlands Initiate of Zola Fel and Seven Mothers (Michael)
Red Mouse, Zebra Tribe Initiate of Zola Fel (Sean)
Honest John, Pavis Initiate of Eurmal and Zola Fel (Rick)
Mathee, Pavis Initiate of Lhankor Mhy and Issaries (Gawain)
Praxilites, Sun County Initiate of Yelmalio (Jay)
Mountain Strides, Agimori Initiate of Lodril (Karl)


Dark Season, 1614 ST

With the expulsion of Phoebe from her childhood home and cult in Sun
Dome, she made her way north to the only other people that she knew;
Honest John and Red Mouse, the traders in Pavis and Mathee, the Lhankhor
Mhy initiate. Largely alone in the big city ("there must be at least
three thousand people here!") she took the opportunity to search out
rumours of her supposed Lunar father's side of the family and became a
member of the Seven Mothers cult, a body of people she found most
liberating having spent most of her life in the stuffy and conservative
Sun Dome township. Here she was introduced to new ideas, new behaviour
and new people whose liberal attitudes she found to her liking.

But a girl's got to have an income, even with the generosity and savings
of her friends. So through her new found contacts Phoebe found a fine
employer in the form of Duke Rauss, recently appointed as manager to the
Grantlands. The Duke required abled-bodied individuals with mercenary
skills to act as troubleshooters throughout his land, which doubtless
would include the knowledge of Mathee, the spell-casting abilities of
Phoebe, the hunting skills of the Red Mouse and the stealth of Honest
John. So an interview was arranged with the Daine, the Duke's sargent,
and contracts were signed, putting the party in the employ of the Duke. 

After the Sacred Time celebrations they joined a caravan train was taken
around the Long Dry in the first weeks of Sea Season, 1615, avoiding the
tarrifs imposed by the Lokarnos cult monopoly in the Sun Dome lands. The
desert was beginning to dry again with the onset of what would be
considered spring weather in more temperate climes. During their
journey, the party encountered a band of High Llama riders, who had lost
a member of their tribe to some newtlings. From there they travelled to
Horn Gate, the white-walled oasis town built under the Yiskoz Mountain
and the ancient holy shrine of the Praxian nomads. Red Mouse cursed that
he did not have the opportunity to visit the shrine, for this was the
first chance to actually meet the Duke in person.

Many leagues to the south, Praxilites had set to work repairing Rabbit
Hat farm and, like any good ruler, he made sure that others did the work
for him although there was some pain in spending a requisite sum of
wheels to ensure that an agronomy landscaper was in employ. Then there
was the need to hire masons, find settlers and so forth. Praxilites firm
reputation as a new lord who would clamp down on hazia production did
not bring him much joy, although the regional tax collector was very
polite, considering what had happened to the one prior. The discovery of
an underground stream also assisted the farm. So overall, whilst it was
a poor year, the possibility of improvement was high.

It was the middle of storm season that one morning Praxilites stepped
outside of the farm to find an enormous dark skinned man sitting in
front of his gate. The man introduced himself as Strides, one of the
Agimori, also known as the-men-and-a-half on account of their size and
strength. According to Strides, an initiate of Lodril*, his shaman had
told him that Praxilites was destined for greatness, but this would
require Strides' assistance and protection, so he was present to help
him. Praxilities found this arrangement most suitable and did not
inquire too deeply; it was good enough to have a freely-offered
bodyguard. It was well acquired too, for Praxilites has just received a
missive from Lady Vega that he was to travel to Rauss Fort and offer his
knowledge of the land to the Lunar Duke as a sign of mutual respect whom
we was to meet at Horn Gate.

It was surprises all around for everyone; the Duke was surprised to see
members of the party who had participated in the Garhound Contest some
years ago - and he most certainly remembered the Red Mouse. Praxilites
was surprised to meet his old companions yet again, although he was
civil at best to Phoebe. But once the formalities were done, the Duke
explained the tasks for those under his employ, and thanked the Sun Dome
for sending a local expert in the area (which of course, Strides thought
was himself). Whilst he would remain at Horn Gate, purchasing slaves to
help construct his fort, the party could take his war banner, dispense
low justice in the lands, and report back in two week's time.

The journey first took them across the plains, where they encountered
the strange morokanth, sapient tapir-like people who herded
unintelligent humans as food-beasts. Apart from their beasts, as allowed
under the covenant of Waha (although Red Mouse insisted that the
morokanth cheated), they also had a number of slaves, baboons and
trollkin, that did not fall under the covenant. The Red Mouse was
careful to ensure that none of the baboons where those who assisted them
many years prior.

The next encounter was Strides' family, and there was much rejoicing.
Upon discovering that the party carried symbols of authority, their
leader, Chacku Ironspear, demanded assistance against the morokanth who
had taken too of their tribe. They feared for the worst, for stories
were told of how the morokanth eat humans. With the party an twenty
Agimori warriors they approached the morokanth settlement. There the
morokanth protested their innocence, saying that the Agimori were
captured trying to steal their herdmen and the deigned to Fix their
Intelligence. The Agimori said they were hunters and this was their
want. The situation looked like it would come to blows, and there were
some ten score morokanth present; Daine offered no advice, and noted
that this was a test of the character's abilities. 

Eventually, under the advice of the Red Mouse, lines in the sand were
drawn to mark out the lands of the Agimori hunters and the Morokanth
herders. In a fit of generosity, Praxilites also suggested part of the
Sun Dome lands for the Agimori to hunt in, although several animals were
specified as being for the settled folk under their rule.

Travelling over the swamplands in the Zola Fel valley, the party closed
in on the old Stone Tower known as Nosferal. There they were attacked by
two tusk riders, also known as half-trolls, but they fled as the magic
of the party was far greater than theirs and the party fed on roast pig
that night. 

Beyond that they ascended the famous Condor Crags, with spires reputed
to be so difficult to climb that none had ever done so. A challenge like
that could not be ignored by Red Mouse, who took heel and started
climbing, eventually making it up the smallest with some difficulty.
>From this vantage point he espied some impala riders, a pygmy tribe of
Prax with whom they conversed for some time. Having slain on of the tusk
rider's giant boars, the pygmies were very excited withe prospect of
such a feast.

Finally, they reached the rendez-vous point of the Duke, where he and
some of his guard and newtling mercenaries were present. The Duke took a
favourable report from Daine which noted in particular the negotiating
skills between the Agimori and the morokanth. However the Duke also had
a special surprise of loyalty; they had captured two newtlings spying on
the Duke's group and these were not of the mercenary group. The Duke
wanted them executed -  but to keep the tails, for they were apparently
a regional delicacy. Phoebe marched away, not bearing to look, whilst
the Red Mouse carried out this most heinous task. As he did so, there
was a splash of water as another newtling witnessed the act and escaped
on a giant frog.

That night they ate at the squalid village of Weis, consisting of some
eighty people without a knowledgeable farmer among them. The Duke and
his family ate newtling tale alone, as none of the party wished to
partake. Praxilties, the most likely candidate said he felt it was bad
luck to do so. Also present was Jezra, the Duke's daughter, who had
paraded the Red Mouse around some years prior. "I knew my barbarian
would return", she commented wistfully. The following day they travelled
to Fort Rone, where they met a strange porcelian robot who conducted the
masonry. "A dwarf", Phoebe remarked knowledgably. 

Thus the exploration of the Grantlands was completed.