The Seventh Scroll: Danger In The Desert

[Zaim al-Daleel]

You are awakened by the terrified bleat of a camel! It is a cloudless night but the new moon gives no light by which to see. A confusion of dark shapes dashing about in the darkness... suddenly all the camels are bleating and struggling to stand. [Even with their one-legged hobbles they're capable of moving off at a good clip]

Low whistling noises, the threat noise made by males grinding the teeth together, are punctuated by the continued, rising bleating of one camel- its thrashing in the sand violent and pitiful.

The embers of a dying camel-dung fire flicker weakly.
Fahd had been dreaming of the golden sands, a skin of wine and a beautiful wom- and then the damn camel bleated.

"Blasted beasts," he muttered, dragging his sleepy body from the confines of the tent and slumping out into the darkness. As and afterthought, he brought his scimitar with him. 'Maybe i should just cut its throat so i can get some sleep,' he thought.

His ears being attuned to these creatures, he headed for the one in the most distress.

The rat, Skiz, remained behind, dreaming of brown droppings . . .

"Jauhar's greedy hands!" Amir al-Ahmar cries, springing to his feet. "The camels!" He dashes to his horse and pulls his desert-bow and quiver. "Get them to the rocks--quickly!" He clambers onto the nearest shelf of stone, nocks an arrow and draws back facing the frantic cries of one of the beasts in the darkness.

Ya'qub looks about for Fahd to assist him in moving the camels to safer ground. He silently spits a curse toward the unseen bandits disrupting their venture. He also wonders who their unseen attackers may be...

"Watch your legs!" Amir adds drawing his string taut and preparing to loose an arrow in to the darkness. "The ankheg will take man as well as beast... LIGHT!"

Fahd had been moving towards the singular bleating camel. Hearing other footsteps, he looked and saw Ya'qub. "Damn beasts. Never let you get a good night's sleep."

[Zaim al-Daleel]

He was about to continue towards the sound when he heard 'ankheg' ... at which point he stopped dead in his tracks, and attempted to hold any further steps by Ya'qub. "Not sure if he knows of what he speaks, but let us not chance fate any more on this dark night.

He stood stock still, lest any tremors give away his location to anything beneath the sands.

Wearily Lum arose from his slumber, his pup tent hastily pushed down so as to not alert the others as to the subject of his dreams. The Mamluk finally remembered where and who he was and snapped to attention grabbing up his weapons. "Amin, draw your swords, hurry up!" Scanning the area, the warrior could see nothing, but could hear the wailing of the camel. "With me Amin!" With sword and jambiya in hand, Lum raced toward the camel ready to fend off any would be thieves.

Ali rolled out of his blanket, woken by the bleating of the camels. Shaking the sleep from his head, he quickly rose and looked about. Whatever was responsible for this had chosen the darkest part of the night for their actions. They would need to do something about that.

"Yakhil," he called to his gen who had been floating quietly above his master. "A spell, and then some information." The gen spun around in a loop, muttered a quick response, and disappeared and a moment later returned.

"Now quickly," added to Yakhil, "see what is the trouble."

In the darkness chaos reigned. Bleating camels materialized suddenly, heedless of anyone in their path, then disappeared into the night as suddenly as they'd appeared.

At Amir al-Ahmar's authoritative cry, the three caravan laborers could be heard yelling out commands to the stampeding beasts.

A lone figure crouched beside the dying fire and began to breath life back into it.

Ya’qub raced forward, camel stick in hand. He lashed out at a passing camel but the beast paid him no mind. He was starting to continue forward when a hand grasped him from behind. He spun, smoothly pulling his dagger from his robes. It was Fahd.

Lum and Amin advanced raced forward toward the sound of the greatest distress. It wasn't a sound hard to follow, even in such blackness. Scimitars raised, their eyes strained at every movement- once nearly separating young Barakeh's head from his shoulders. Unaware, the merchant raced past in pursuit of a jingling camel.

Just as the fire was beginning to take hold, a flickering white light flooded camp. Its source was a blazing brazier beside Ali.

Lum and Amin drew up short in front of the struggling camel before them. The sudden light cast their shadows before each of them- long shadows that fell across the terrified camel and into the slowly widening, seeping hole in the desert sands. There the camel struggled with all the strength of terror and self-preservation but it was being pulled slowly deeper by a huge mandible around its rear thigh.

[Zaim al-Daleel]

Thwaack! An arrow sprouted behind the mandibles. Thwuuuk! Amir al-Ahmar reached for a third from his position on the rocks 15' away.

Momentarily at least, the mandibles released their grip. Struggling against the seeping sands, the camel's lead rope lashed wildly before him. His efforts were hampered furthered by the hobble on his front left leg.

There are times Fahd wondered why he loved the desert so much. This was one of them. He stood and stared towards the stricken beast, trying to see how badly wounded it was. Was it merely gimpy, meaning it would still be of some use to them, or was its leg as good as gone, meaning they would have to kill it themselves, if the under sand creature did not finish the job it had started.

If he determined that the camel was still worth saving, he would, for really no good reason he could think of, attempt a rescue by running towards its reins and hoping to encourage it to allow itself to be led, or dragged away. He also hoped that whoever had such a good aim with arrow would offer some diversions.

If the beast looked too far gone, he'd call out instead, "Let the thing have it. Maybe that will satisfy its hunger." He would then set about trying to retrieve the other camels.

Fahd knew that decisions like this had to be made in the desert. Did not mean he had to like making them.

Ya'qub is horror-stricken at the thought of losing such a valuable commodity as this camel and the merchandise in his packs. "Fahd! It appears that there is only one beast. Let's try to get closer, so that we can save the poor animal...Our employer will be *most* grateful if we do..."

Fahd nodded in agreement. After all, this particular camel seemed to still be travel worthy, and maybe it was savable.

Fahd would move towards its face, reins, and away from the hole, try to grab the lead and convince the camel it was better off with him.

"Wait!" shouts Amir al-Ahmar as he nocks another red-fletched arrow. "Sulayman will retrieve the beast." he declares. "Just be sure there is no other creature beneath the sand. And stay clear of my aim."

With a short, sharp whistle he brings his Arabian stallion trotting up to him.

"Lead!" is his simple command to the prize steed who then begins to walk carefully towards the wounded camel.

[Zaim al-Daleel]

Lum raises a brow in skepticism as to whether or not Amir's plan and aim were on target. "Amin, back away, we wouldn't want to be hit by a stray arrow... and watch your feet, boy, or we might become dinner!"

"I think I understand the plan, Amir," Ali shouted from beside one of the tents. “But surely Sulayman will have a better chance if the camel is not hobbled." He began to run towards the desert in the direction the camel was facing. "When the camel has moved away from the creature," he continued, "I'll try and cut the hobble. Sulayman can take it from there." Then in a much lower voice he added to Yakhil, "and you keep a lookout for trouble. Give me a warning if you see signs of more of these."

Freed from the crushing mandibles, the camel wasn't waiting for a rescue. Scrambling and lunging forward in the sliding sand it finally found purchase on firmer ground. Wide-eyed and frothing it threw a defensive backwards kick and charged forward straight in the path of the approaching Sulayman.

The stallion reared, beating the air with his forefeet- the camel in his terror balked and stumbled in an effort to avoid this new threat.

Suddenly there was an explosion of blinding sand and an ear-piercing hiss... through the settling sand a huge nightmare loomed! Easily twenty feet from jagged mandibles to its chitinous abdomen, it held the camel pinned beneath one of its six clawed legs! From the Desert Ankheg's head were two arrows, wobbling like an extra pair of antennae.

Ya'qub steps back in horror at this *thing* looming up before them in the shadowy glow of the raging campfire.
Suddenly, he has an idea. "Amir! Could you wrap some oil-soaked rags around the head of your arrows, light one, and put it in the beast's mouth? Perhaps that would convince it that we will not be an easy meal!

Fahd had been entertaining hopes of rescuing the camel. Now the sight of the huge beast gave him a new goal - self-preservation. He began to back away, his sight fixed in horror at the thing. He wanted to just turn and run, but some perverse sense kept him enthralled.

He backed behind Ya'qub, if that were possible, and mimicked his idea. "What he said! What he said!" was about all the word he could recall.

"Discretion is the better part of valor," Lum whispered over to his novice, Amin. "Let us back away and circle the beast in the cover of darkness and look for an opening to attack the beast's weak point."

Ya'qub watches the grisly scene, horrified that a valuable commodity (the camel) heavily laden with many more valuable commodities was fast disappearing into the sand. Angry that he would lose this camel and the potential earnings, he racked his brain for something that might help. He remembered a simple trick taught him by his mentor in fire magic. As he fought to keep his mind clear he attempted to recall the spell that would cause this insect monstrosity to become dazed enough to release its hold on *his* merchandise long enough to pull it clear. Perhaps, it might also give his warrior comrades time to slay the beast outright...

[Zaim al-Daleel]

Amir does not respond to Ya’qub, not does he step closer to the now blazing campfire. He casts a sidelong glance at Sulayman who is trotting away from the panicked camel and the burrowing beast which has exploded from the sands before them. He fixes himself as steady as the rock upon which he stands, nocks a third arrow, draws it back to his ear, and waits...

A wave of helplessness floods over Ya'qub as he watches the distressed camel's struggles against the giant insect-thing's leg. He notices that Amir has an arrow ready for flight and, as he watches mumbles a silent prayer for Fate to guide his aim true.

Its alien face unreadable, mandibles flexing, the creature's gaze cast jerkily about. Beneath its claw, the camel struggled pathetically, mewling loudly. Finally the giant desert nightmare's attention turned down to its captured prey. Spreading its mandibles wide it thrust its head downward.

THWANNG! Amir's arrow flew toward the maw of the beast, a deadly black sliver, tipped with flame. The arrow struck the hard shell and ricocheted off into the desert.

As Lum and Amin circled around the beast, it clasped the camel securely in its jaws and began backing toward its hole.

Fahd and Ya’qub backed away, not anxious to be within range of the creature's claws. The way it had exploded out of the hole - no telling how fast it could move. Too fast.

Ali stood his ground near the blazing brazier he'd summoned. He spoke quickly to Yakhil who then disappeared.

Amir nocked his second arrow and pulled it back, at the ready. The steel tip glowed red momentarily before a red flame burst to flickering life. "Son of a dog!" Amir curses, his hand still on the bowstring. "Let the worm have the beast. He's no good to us now." With a cry of vengeance, he looses his second flaming arrow...

Having flanked the beast, Lum says with a smile to his novice, "I hear properly prepared, Ankheg tastes like lobster." With a nod, Lum launched the attack.

Lum lept forward, his scimitar a deadly blur biting into the armored abdomen of the beast. Seeing a opening he drew a jambiya and laid open a ten inch slit in between chitinous plates. Hot, foul smelling icor exploded outward.

Amin, poised to strike at one of the giant legs was violently thrown aside as the ankheg spun to face its attacker. The camel fell from its jaws, a twisted unmoving shape in the sand.

The ankheg's unreadable gaze followed Lum unerringly as the mumluk dashed about, intent on drawing the beast away from his fallen novice.

Amir nocked yet another arrow. As he aimed, intent on sinking it in the same sweet spot, the steel tip glowed red then burst into flame. The beast shuddered violently, momentarily pausing...

[Zaim al-Daleel]

... then reared up. A stream of brown viscous fluid flew from its mouth toward Lum.

Ya’qub felt the alluring energy gathering faintly around him. He cast the spell, knowing even as he did that something had gone wrong. Above the beast a thin haze appeared, only to be quickly dispersed by the desert breeze.

Lum dove forward beneath the spray, striking the beast again. An eye watering, lung burning smell filled the air accompanied by the sound of fat bubbling in a fire. Acid. Long strings of it hung from the maw of the beast, flaying about as the giant looked for the man beneath him.

Amir released the arrow, knowing upon release his aim was true. This arrow followed the previous, sliding deep into the creatures back. There it smoldered.

The ankheg stumbled, causing Lum to leap aside as it fell. After a moment it rose and skittered toward its lair.
Lum wasn't about to let his prey escape so easily. "The only Fate we have is the fate we make." Lum murmured to himself as he attempted to leap onto the beast and hack away with Scimitar and Jambiya.

Blinded by the rage produced by losing even one valuable commodity, Ya'qub notices Lum's pursuit.

"Make the accurthed thon of the pit pay!" he sputters. Then he collects himself and begins glancing nervously around, hoping that there are no others of the beast's ilk nearby.

Then a sudden thought strikes his balding head: "Come, Fahd, let's try to move the camels to rockier ground, where these beasts will find it more difficult to attempt to steal our goods. A loss of one camel is two too many."

"An excellent suggestion," Agreed Fahd. "Sad to say I did not think of it myself." For, in truth, Fahd had been trying to think of something to do that would not include chasing after the beast. Relieved, he did his best to round up the camels and look for a sturdier place to put them.

Amir al-Ahmar shakes his head at his new companions' tenacity and abandons Lum to Fate. The threat now gone, he shoulders his bow and strides over to Fahd and Ya'qub who are beginning to help the camel herds lead the beasts onto the rocks.

"What madness drives that man to pursue the worm to his lair?" he asks the two travelers. "This will be a long journey indeed if we pursue every peril to its end. The deep desert may not be so forgiving."

Looking at Lum attack the beast and the other companions lead the camels to safety, Ali could see that Lum was in the greatest danger. The creature was wounded and frightened and with Lum as its only attacker was likely to attack him with whatever strength it had left.

"Yakhil," Ali shouted as he drew his jambiya from its sheath, "Help me distract the creature. We must confuse it until its strength is lost."

[Zaim al-Daleel]

As he said this, Ali quickly but carefully tried to circle the ankheg on one side while he directed Yakhil to circle it on the other. He determined that they would keep their distance until the creature threatened Lum at which point they would make feints at the ankheg to distract it from him.

"Lum," he shouted at his companion, "I'll follow your lead on this."

Lum sprinted after the fast moving beast. He leapt up and struggled to find a handhold but failed. Sliding down he briefly stumbled but recovered and had time to take a parting swing with his scimitar as it dived down into its sandy tunnel. As Ali came running up, the creature disappeared in the collapsing sands. Other than a slight depression and the trail of foul icor, no trace of the tunnel existed.

It took an almost an hour before the rest of the camels were gathered together. Thanks to the quick actions of the skilled caravan laborers Rajab, Maarouf, Sahra, the dominant animals had been recovered first. It took less prodding afterwards to convince the others to wander back toward the group.

On the horizon, the first traces of the approaching dawn lightened the sky to the east. Turin turned his attention to the fire and preparing breakfast for the group. As he did so, in a loud voice he began to compose a poem, albeit a bad one, describing the nights events:

And fate decried
the guard should sleep
and out came the Anhkeg
not even a squeak
to take a treat.
Brave and stolid
they charged and hollerid
till beast dropped our breakfast
and...
Fate be praised for our next meals
that some didn't turn on the heel
and bested the beast...

At that point, Khafaz walked up and cuffed his companion Turin upside the head. "Cease your dim-witted babbling! I know what you are implying, you worthless pile of sheep dung, but somebody had to guard the trade goods! And I didn't exactly see YOU charging into the fray."

As Khafaz walked over to oversee the laborers as they examined the camels and prepared them for loading, Turin continued his poem in a lower voice.

Camels right tasty,
won't let nothin go to
wastey...

At the earliest opportunity, Ya'qub will look for some excuse to approach Turin alone. He will try to flatter him on his poetic skills, and then express sympathy that those same skills were not appreciated by Khafaz.

Ya'qub learns the following though observation and questioning:

[Zaim al-Daleel]

Turin is a shy, homely man in his early thirties. His unattractiveness accounts for much of his poor self image. A childhood disease resulted in the complete and permanent loss of all body hair, a condition for which he has suffered interminable ridicule. His bulbous nose is twice too big for his round head. His droopy eyes and huge ears give him a comical, even ridiculous appearance.

Turin was born on a medical ship in the Suq Bay during the trade wars between Wasatt and Huzuz. His mother, a poet and a nurse, comforted the dying with verse and disposed of the dead in the sea. Their ship was capsized by a zataran, a gargantuan aquatic turtle, and all passengers drowned with the exception of the five-year-old Turin. Clinging to a fragment of the hull, he drifted ashore about 100 miles north of the Magrib, on the southern tip of the High Desert. Turin wandered through the desert for a week, until a tribe of nomads rescued him.

The next 10 years of his life Turin spent with the tribe, developing a remarkable talent for desert survival. He could calm the most frenzied mount with a soothing touch, identify a distant bird from a single call, and find water where others saw only sand.

Turin's serene life came to abrupt end one summer's night near the Jamal Oasis when the tribe was ambushed by the House of Dh'ib. Turin would have lost his life along with the rest of the tribe had it not been for the timely arrival of Khafaz ibn Dahz, who was leading Tajari soldiers on a military exercise. Khafaz drove off the raiders and found Turin cowering under a palm tree.

Khafaz loaded the teenager onto his camel, intending to sell him as a slave when the opportunity arose.

But on the way back to Tajar, Turin effortlessly found the trail of an escaped camel and predicted the onset of a rainstorm with uncanny accuracy. Clearly, the boy was too valuable to sell as a slave. Khafaz petitioned his employer, Fahad al-Zakir, for permission to hire Turin as a personal aide. Fahad agreed, and Turin has worked for Khafaz ever since.

Turin's duties include accompanying his employer on trade caravans, caring for his camels, cleaning his clothes and in general, doing whatever Khafaz commands. Khafaz regards Turin as a barbarian and treats him like an animal. Because Khafaz saved his life, Turin feels he must endure his insults and reprimands, no matter how humiliating or painful.

Turin is eager to please, hard-working, and servile. Though respectful of others, its clear he trusts no one but Khafaz. He idolizes the man.

Lum surveyed the area carefully, never fully satisified the threat had been nullified. Disgusted, Lum held his contempt in check and said in a controlled voice to his novice, Amin, "Why did I charge the beast when it had clearly been defeated?" Lum did not wait long before he answered for his novice, "Because we had the advantage. In battle, the advantage must always be fully exploited, remember that Amin, because of our failure tonight to kill the beast, someone else will probably lose their life when it resurfaces." Looking at the others in his group, Lum added, "Remember Amin, you are a warrior, you must go where others fear to tread. It is because of you that someone else may live while others tend to their property as if it were more important than life itself."

[Zaim al-Daleel]

Ali will do what he can to assist in bringing the camp back to order. He will follow the lead of Ya’qub, whom he regards as the most wise in matters of caravans.

To the extent that anyone was injured in the attack, Ali will offer to tend their wounds.

"I did not realize the ankheg burrowed this far south." Amir al-Ahmar says the next morning. "I don't expect we'll encounter others along the caravan route. All the same, we should camp on high rocky ground whenever we can and set watches throughout the night."

Amir will volunteer for watches at odd hours throughout the night, whatever shifts seem least popular. He always stands guard with his bow in his hand beyond the light of the caravan's campfire peering into the darkness.
During the day Amir will also assist in scouting the road and surrounding desert from horseback looking, as Yakhil is, for bandits or other perils.