The surprise attack on Byxata did not go as the Traldars had expected. Somehow, the Hutakaans had been ready. Kfaz was there, leading a well-organized defense. The defenders targeted Ben-Kraal with javelins and sling stones. He was knocked from his mount and half-trampled. The Traldars called off the attack and retreated. They had the wherewithal to shield Be-Kraal and hoist his half-dead body onto a mount. A few of the boldest warriors urged their lizards to climb up the town walls to guard the retreat of the main body. While there were few casualties, the Traldars returned to Ronkan in defeat.
The party received little blame. There was talk of a traitor who must have alerted the Hutakaans. But the loudest talk was about Ben-Kraal and his poor decision to lead his warriors into a trap.
Sukh, Ginjo, and Phubi pushed their way intot he tower and Ben-Kraal's sickroom. They warned him of the seditious talk about him. He shrugged it off. He would be challenged to a duel and killed and a new leader would be selected. It was the Traldar way. After a nod from Ginjo, Phubi pulled out the scroll she had found in the middle. She read it over Ben-Kraal. In a flash of white fire, the scrool was consumed and all in the room felt fully invigorated. Ben-Kraal jumped out of bed, fully healed. He strode down the stairs, but assumed an awkward, wincing gait as he met the crowd outside.
As predicted, there was a challenge. The two men stripped naked and began to fight. Ben-Kraal sustained a couple punched, shook his head and then took hold of his challenger and threw him to the ground. His challenger stood up only to be punched in the face and knocked to the ground again. The challenger pulled himself to his feet and the crowd took a breath, expecting Ben-Kraal to finish him off.
Instead the sturdy warrior took a few steps back. "Today I learned the value of mercy. Maybe some of you."
Some were angry, some were inspired, most were confused, but all had to respect Ben-Kraal's decision not to finish the fight. The challenger knew better than to claim the mantle of leadership. It would stay with Ben-Kraal.
The next day, Sukh and Ginjo pressed Ben-Kraal with the urgency of returning to the temple. In his study of the books, Ginjo read about a powerful enemy of the ancient Hutaakans, one who had lived for centuries and whose power, it seemed, still lingered. This was an evil mage named Acererak.who after transforming himself into an undead being, had continued to develop his arcane powers. Also for centuries, the Hutaakans had been researching how to destroy him and had developed certain magic items for this purpose. Sukh and Ginjo wanted to visit the temple once mre, with the key, find the Hutakaan treasury, and hopefully those items.
Ben-Kraal was surprised that Sukh was no longer pressing him to make peace witht he Hutakaans but instead plotting to loot their temple.
"I know them and I know you. You are honorable. When we visited the temple together, you fought beside us."
Ben-Kraal agreed that Sukh and Ginjo should loot the temple. "But do not return here." He apologized to the bakemono for their rough treatment. "If there are other people outside this valley that are more like you than like us, than your promised land must also be elsewhere. Leave us to our petty war."
There was no public goodbye. Ben-Kraal insisted that the Traldars must believe that the party would be returning that night laden with treasure. He provided four lizard mounts to help carry the load.
So the party returned once more to the temple. They found the treasury behind the altar and used the key to gain access. Ginjo was disappointed at the lack of weapons, but compensated himself by collecting thousands of gold coins and ingots, filling up a dirty old sack that was conveniently draped over one arm of an ornate wooden throne. He was even more disappointed later when he opened the sack later and found all of his treasure had disappeared. But rather than cast it aside, Sukh suggested that it might come in handy someday. They were also puzzled by a wooden rod, light and brittle, and carved with a single magic sigil. A mystery for another day.
The party loaded the food and supplies that would be the bulk of their treasure, plus a small coffer of gems that Sukh had deliberately not placed in the devouring sack and said goodbye to the lost valley. They climbed on top of the temple and that up the side of the valley, taking the same trail by which they had seen the Master's minions arrive and depart.
With the help of the giant footpad lizards, scaling the peaks of the Lost Valley was an achievable feat. The travelers descended into an oven-hot sandy desert. Traversing a nightmare landscape of burnt-out villages and rotten oases, the party soon became homesick for Ronkan. As their water supplies ran low, they realized it was too far to go back and they could only press forward. By powers beyond their ken, they encountered a party of riders who, after some initial wariness, took ity on the strange wanderers. They shared water and explained they were scout in the army of Barack Al-Fitar, fighting a desperate hit-and-run-run-run campaign to defend their land against the depredations of a sinister warlord, called by his minions by only the name "Master" and with no knowable objective other than destruction.
Ginjo offered that he and his friends had also encountered and fought against the Master's minions. And he was eager to continue to fight against them.
And so the party was introduced to al-Fitar and, inducted into his army. Al-Fitar showed himself to be "tough but fair," demanding strict discipline among his troops, but granting the party latitude and autonomy based on their experience and willingness to commit to the the cause. In particular, he made it clear that although the four bakemono shamans resembled many of the Master's minions, they should be judged by their individual characters, rather than this resemblance. He excepted the party from the most demanding aspect of army life, while warning them that he would soon be asking them to perfomr a very dangerous mission.
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