Master of the Desert Nomads Part 1: Tetsukichi's Choice

After a few years of quiet, repose, and fatherhood in the Happy Valley, Tetsukichi received word tales of his valor had spread far and wide. He had taken on a seemingly thankless mission to seek out Governor Kawabi and succeeded where others had failed, opening up trade routes between the Empire and such far-flung settlements as Quitokai and Pasar. He had defended his adopted clan the Sansars from the threat of Sakatha, the undead lizard king. And through it all, he had shown himself a loyal friend to Al-Fitar, treating the foreign hireling as a brother, sharing equally in danger, glory, and treasure.

An imperial representative was on the way, requesting that Tetsukichi return the jade sword that he had received from the Emperor when he located the lost city of Tempat Larang. This was not an insult, but a coded invitation for Tetsukichi to come to Khanbaliq, deliver the sword personally, and so demonstrate that he could be trusted with the Emperor’s full confidence and welcomed at court.

The elders of the Sansar clan advised against this. The Emperor was plotting against them and knew that Tetsukichi was their brightest hope for the future. He should simply relinquish the sword. His help was needed in the Valley of the Five Fires. If he succeeded in driving the bandit marauders out of the sacred valley, the Sansar clan might join this group of ancient and honored clans—with Tetsukichi named its Khan.

Finally, Al-Fitar had a request. Or two. A group of three dozen ragtag soldiers, men from his father’s kingdom, far to the west had arrived in the Happy Valley. Strange marauders from the mountains threatened the realm of Fitar. Al-Fitar begged Tetsukichi to return with him to the West and help defend his family. Barring that, he begged Tetsukichi to release him from his service so that he might join his father’s army.

When the imperial envoys arrived, Tetsukichi relinquished the jade sword and departed with Al-Fitar. He was accompanied by Bangqiu and Bayan, and by various hirelings.

After a fortnight of hard riding, they reached Pramayama, a once squalid and benighted village on the banks of a muddy river, now reduced to an even lower state by the mysterious marauders. A part of Fitar’s army was using the village as a base and they welcomed the volunteers, especially the renowned Tetsukichi. (For reasons unknown, Al-Fitar kept his own identity a secret.) After a few days in the village, Tetsukichi met a bedraggled man, pursued by a shadowy, hissing, monster. After Tetsukichi slew the monster, the man thanked him with the gift of a map. The map indicates a Temple of Death that most be destroyed—by Tetsukichi as the new owner of the map.

The local commander is interested in the map and Tetsukichi’s encounter with the monster. This seems to confirm a plan that he’d already been considering. It’s time to go to meet the main army. The quickest way is by water, the Asanda River. But there’s only one poor raft in Pramayama and there aren’t resources available to build enough to accommodate the local forces, plus their mounts and supplies. So, the main force will go overland while Tetsukichi and his friends are to travel up the Asada River to the salt swamp and find the main army near there. Give them the message that more are coming.

The Commander set out the next day. Bo Jing found the raft in need of repairs and so the departure of Tetsukichi & co. was delayed until the afternoon. As the repairs were nearing completion, Bayan noticed a large creature circling in the sky above them. Bangqiu, assuming the form of a falcon, flew into the sky for a better look. The creature was some sort of two-legged flying reptile (a wyvern, Bo Jing would explain, based on this description). And there was a man riding on its back. Bangqiu blasted the man with a bouquet of magic missiles. He fell to earth and the wyvern flew away. On the body of the man, Bangqiu found a claimed a skull amulet. He tried it on for a moment and then put it in his pocket.

The raft sailed upriver day and night under Bo Jing’s watchful eye. The second night on the river, the raft struck a sandbar, and three giant crabs scuttled onto the raft. Bayan, Tetsukichi, and Bo Jing killed them and drove off an opportunistic crocodile. Knowing that they well spend the next several weeks eating hardtack, the party decides to live up to its name and have a crab feast. (“Watch the shirt-tails flapping in the wind!”) Their fire attracted visitors, a mysterious pair of adventurers, one a woman, who wore her face completely covered and spoke with a strange accent similar to Beatriss’s. When Bayan questioned her about this, the woman acknowledge that yes, she was from Cynadecia. Although she carried a sword herself, she claimed not to know Beatriss or any of the members of the warrior women’s society. Soon it emerged that this pair was part of a larger group of adventurers, who were invited to join the feast. Their leader was a slow-moving priest whom Al-Fitar identified to Bayan as a “demon worshipper” based on his vestments. The priest mourned the fact that he didn’t have his spices with him so that he could demonstrate the right way to prepare crab. He made strange remarks about the party’s “innocence” in the face of the dangers that lay waiting for them upriver and suggested he might accompany them “for the right price.” His followers took turns remembering the fine dishes he had prepared for them. Tetsukichi and co. listened politely and encouraged their guests to take some food and be on their way.