Road Trip to the Dragon Isles -

11 Newkolt 349 AC

Arthur mounts his horse and rides along with Agnes, Davaa, and Altan, keeping an eye out through their travels. The windblown snow stings and reddens exposed skin. The few clouds that are visible at the beginning of the day swftly vanish, either carried off on the wind or simply evaporating as the sun rises higher, leaving behind a pale blue sky.

Davaa is at the head of the line, leading the group toward the sea for the first hour or so before turning due north. Altan brings up the rear. Both of the Khurish warriors ride with confidence born from years of experience.

A few hours into the journey, as the sun is just passing its zenith, a flash of movement is spotted just beyond a low rise of the rolling grassland. Figures, clad in heavy furs, move just behind the ridge. Davaa slows his horse, allowing the others to draw closer. "Might be trouble ahead." He looks at Agnes, "Can the...woman be counted upon to not panic if we are attacked?"

A shaggy, hunchbacked figure with a long, doglike face crests the hill. It carries a bow of its own and an axe can be seen hanging from its belt. Arthur spots the movement of at least four other bodies moving on the far side.

The gnoll approaches, calling out from a distance, "Give food."

"There's four more that way, and she can handle herself more than most people I've met." He looks to the gnolls. "Any idea how much they want?" Arthur gives a gentle tug on the reins and presses his heels into his horse's flank to postion himself more advantageously should violence break out.

Altan closes in on his traveling companions, "Hard to say. They could be by themselves, they could be looking to feed an entire clan. Either way, we shouldn't encourage them."

Davaa nods. "We don't want them following us. It would be best to run them off."

Agnes frowns, "You think they would do that? Follow us, I mean."

The Khur horseman nods again, "Might wait for us to camp for the night and try to steal the horses."

"Or try to kill us and steal the horses," Altan adds. "At best, we end up on foot with no food or supplies. At worst, we end up in a gnoll belly."

Arthur places his hand on the hilt of Lawbringer. "Either way we must act fast." He keeps an eye on the gnolls as to not be surrounded.

"Do we attack, my love?" Agnes' eyes follow the movements of the gnolls, tracking their locations.

"Unfortunately, I see no other way out of this." Arthur pulls out the sword he took from the green-cloaked mercenary and tries to hand it to Agnes. She just smiles and says, "No, thank you. I'll be fine."

Altan yells to the gnoll, "We have nothing to spare. You're going to have to try somewhere else!"

The gnoll shakes his head, hackles rising on the back of its neck and yells back, "No give? We take!" This is followed by a sharp bark that carries across the snowy grassland. Three other gnolls, all armed with bows step into view. A shaggy hyena stands at the ready beside one of the hunters. "Last chance!"

Agnes gracefully dismounts from her horse and raises her hands in the air. She begins chanting in Draconic, ominous sounding phrases to the uninitiated but Arthur’s All-Speak translates for him, "Play along, I am going to make our guides think I am a wizard." She ends her faux-spellcasting with a shout of "Abraca Pocus!" Her body morphs, the ability she uses to shift from her dragon to her humanoid form is bent in a different direction and a massive brown bear rises where a beautiful woman stood moments before.

Arthur looks for the leader, leveling his sword point at him as he stays mounted, moving beside her. "I'll have your back."

The appearance of the giant bear seems to give pause to the gnoll who look to their leader for direction. The leader licks his lips nervously and shifts his feet, not wanting to appear afraid in front of his followers. In a flash, he goes for his bow.

Agnes drops to all fours and charges across the steppe. Altan and Davaa look on in shock and fumble for their sabers, spurring their horses into motion after a moment of surprise.

Arthur kicks his heels into his horse's flanks, urging it forward and quickly overtakes Agnes, raising Lawbringer high as he pulls ahead. The sword erupts in silver, holy flames as he closes in on the leader. As the gnoll nocks his arrows and begins to draw back on the string, Arthur brings his sword down. The blow splits the leader's skull from crown to chin. Holy fire sets the wound ablaze with the flames rapidly consuming the gnoll's body.

The remaining hyena-men pause, their brutish minds struggling to process what just happened. Two of the gnolls turn and flee but the last one, either braver or dumber than the others, draws and fires at Agnes. The arrow flashes through the air but Arthur loses track of it and can't tell if the dragon-in-bear form was struck or not. A moment later, it doesn't matter. Agnes plows into the gnoll archer. She swings a forepaw the size of a serving platter and disembowels the enemy with a single swipe.

The two Khurs catch up a few seconds later as Agnes is resuming her humanoid shape. They dismount from their horses and give both bodies a cursory once over. Altan pulls a pouch off of one of the bodies and tosses it to Arthur. It contains coins and a fancy hairbrush.

Agnes finds a wand poking out of the other gnoll's quiver.

Arthur dismounts and checks on Agnes. "Are you okay?"

"Not a scratch on me," she replies, smiling.

Davaa laughs, "That was incredible! You two are mighty warriors!"

"You could make a comfortable living among our people. There are many who would follow you on raids against the other tribes." Altan adds.

Arthur sheathes Lawbringer. "Taking a life is easy, it's the weight you carry after taking the life that stays with you forever." His hand reaches for the scar on his face remembering the screams, the blood, and fire from the night Lankhmar's rats rose up to attack the city's human inhabitants. "We should get moving before more gnolls are upon us." He helps Agnes into her saddle before getting onto his own. The look of remembrance on his face "We need to make haste." He looks to Agnes and give a small smile before urging his horse on.

The rest of the day passes quietly with the four travelers putting many miles behind them. As the sun begins to set beyond the southern branch of the Khalkist Mountains to the west, Davaa and Altan call for a halt. The two Khurish horsemen get to work setting up the tent and starting a small fire inside. The horses are allowed to wander freely, having been trained to not go too far.

Within the hour, Altan is serving up steamed dumplings made with mutton, wild onions, garlic, and caraway seeds that he calls buuz along with passing around hot bowls of salted milk tea. The drink is pleasantly warm and a carries a hint of butter flavor.

Davaa stands at the entrance of the tent, his gaze turned to the north. "We should reach Ak-Tubal by this time tomorrow. We will pick up some dried fish, eggs, and noodles for stir fry."

Arthur finishes his food and nods "This Ak-Tubal, will they cause issues for us?" He pulls out the brush he took from the gnoll and begins cleaning it.

"No. Shouldn't be any problems. They mostly fish, collect shells for making dyes, all that sort of thing. They belong to the same clan we do, answer to the same Khan. Don't start trouble, won't be no trouble," Davaa replies, "At least as long as this one don't drink too much arkhi, that is," he adds, giving Altan a good-natured slap on the back.

Arthur smiles at the playful jest "If you want, I can take first watch for the night." Arthur digs out his goggles of night, "Unless you have another form of security." He hands the brush he cleaned to Agnes, "This would would be wasted on me." He kisses her forehead.

Agnes laughs, "I don't know, you probably have enough hair to get a brush through. I just hope those gnolls weren't brushing THEIR fur with it."

The night passes quietly and although the temperature continues to drop the sky remains clear with the lightest of breezes stirring the loose snow lying on the steppe. Davaa takes the second watch and is relieved by Altan sometime in the pre-dawn hours.

12 Newkolt 349 AC

Once the sun peeks over the horizon Arthur wakes and begins to get ready. He steps out into the cool morning air and looks around, "We should break camp soon."

While Altan prepares a breakfast of millet, Davaa gets to work breaking down the tent. Everyone pitches in to saddle the horses and the entire group is on their way before the sun has fully risen into the sky.

The hours and miles pass swiftly, with horses plowing trails through the snow. Gray waves break against the rocky shore and fishing boats are pulled high up onto the beach. A wall of sun-baked mud bricks surrounds the city of its landward side. A pair of green dragons are perched atop a building near the water with a boat cracked open between them, feasting on fish.

Davaa and Altan slow their horses and turn to look at Arthur and Agnes.

Arthur signals for them to stop, taking a deep silent breath and whispers  to Agnes, "I don't know if we can take the two on by ourselves."

Agnes nods in understanding, "Then we do our best to not start something we can't finish." She urges her horse forward, passing through the city gate. Altan follows close behind. Davaa lingers for a moment, watching the dragons, "I know. I feel that way every time I see one," the Khur says, misreading Arthur’s hesitancy, "They are beautiful. Dangerous as all hell, but beautiful. Come, let us find an inn. I could do without Altan's cooking for a night."