The Sacbe 4 (Last of the Dog People)

The travellers spent the night on the cliff, too broken-hearted even to speak. A thin and dirty, ragged man appeared, as if from nowhere, and welcome them to his home. He was the last son of a large family that had once lived on the cliffs. His name was Omchaka and he explained that the Jaguar knight had come from Nexal, demanding tribute. His family, being dog people, owed nothing to the gods of Nexal, and refused.

The Jaguars had departed, and took up residence in the long-abandoned city. Over the next several weeks, the Jaguars had hunted and raided Omchaka’s family into extinction. A few might have escaped successfully, but to his knowledge, he was the last. He told the travelers that he had been hiding and watching them, and had come to believe that they were good folk who did not eat people. He could see that they too had lost one of their own to the Jaguars.  If the travelers wanted to kill him, he hoped that they would instead allow him to attack their common enemy. The travelers welcomed him and fed him and said that they would not eat him.  They had heard that there was plentiful food in Nexal and were traveling there. Omchaka asked to join them and was accepted.

As the travelers were making plans to return to the road, the porters thought they noticed some fruit trees in valley below.  The four of them went down to investigate and hopefully return with something no one had tasted for a long time.  They returned quickly and very distraught—one of their number was missing!  Down in the valley, they had spotted a wounded animal and tried to capture it. This proved to be a trap. The Jaguars from the ruined city were lying in wait. They had jumped out and captured one of the porters. The porters were desperate to rescue their friend from the fate that likely awaited him. They agreed to take up weapons if the travelers would lead them. 

After some discusssion, the travelers did agree. They followed the same path they had followed previously and, when they reached the stream, Zolin found the place where they had crossed it on branches. He crossed first and the others followed, but one of the porters broke the branch while crossing and fell into the stream. He was attacked by a dozen viscous fish, but Divemoye rescued him before he suffered too greatly.  The travelers resolved to walk along the stream, with members of the group on either side until they found another place to cross. They walked a long distance.  As they drew closer to the city, there were fewer trees and no likely crossing places.  As they walked, they noticed they were being followed by vultures. The huge birds circled, occasionally diving to a height where they could almost be shot by an arrow.  The travelers walked past the city, still looking for a good place for Divemoye and the last of the porters to cross. At last they found such a place.  This time, while the porter was crossing, a pair of vultures dived toward him, slashing at him with their talons. Omachaka shot one of the vultures.  It fell into the water.  Two more vultures dove to grab the first vulture and pull it from the water. Divemoye killed one of them with his axe. Another vulture was shot out of the sky while the remainder flew away.  The vulture in the water was not attacked by fish. Divemoye and the porter crossed. Zolin suggested that they collect the dead vultures and cook them.

The smell of roasting vulture attracted the attention of Jaguars.  They attacked the travelers pushing them towards the stream. The leader of the Jagyars grabbed the roasting vulture and ran with it into the forest.  The travelers did not pursue him, but instead surrounded and killed three of the lesser warriors.  The fourth escaped.

In the battle, Atl and one of the porters were badly wounded.  The group found a safe place to rest further down the stream. While resting and tending to the wounded, Divemoye noticed that the flying vultures had returned and seemed to have discovered the site of the battle. Omachaka, Divemoye, and Zolin crept through the underbrush to get a closer look.  As the vultures descended on the dead bodies, the Jaguar warrior and the last of his men jumped out to attack them. The vultures were quick and flew away unharmed. The two men shrugged and dragged away the body of one of their dead companions.

Omachaka, Divemoye, and Zolin returned to the group and discussed their options. Both Atl and the porter needed close attention. Soon the vultures would find them and when that happened so would the Jaguars. Atl and the porter would not survive such an encounter.  They decided to return once more to the cliff dwelling
.