It was a lovely day, the sun was shining, and a school of iridescent fish swam by while the ghost from the big room sat talking to me in the shade of a great fig palm. He was telling me that I should exercise more caution. To be more aware of the danger in the world and try to anticipate it in the future, or I would not have one. At this point one of the iridescent fish swam into his ear and was trapped within his translucent head…

When I regained consciousness I realized that I had been incapacitated by the escape of a lightning demon that I had released when attempting to investigate the chest. I was elated; I did not believe another of the demons could be imprisoned, so I opened the chest.

Within were 3 swords that delivered a horrible sensation, so I dropped them each in turn. There was a magnificent woven metal shirt that would have been quite wonderful if it was not damaged in the back. Then I found the metal hand and forearm! It is wondrous and fits onto my south claw perfectly.

Our final bondling has joined us! A fellow Sol’Kal, though he too is a Lobite like Gi’kar. From the tale he told he strikes me as unlucky, though time will tell. Kan Vi’Don Lu seems a solid Sol’Kal.

The final door led us back to the main hall and the ghost spoke to us again of prophecy. What, I can hardly remember. The new metal hand had totally captured my attention.

We made our way back to our kit and camels and headed off into the waste once more.

After a few days we felt a tremor and discovered too late that a colossal worm was beneath us! It surfaced and devoured the camel of Kan Vi’Don Lu; bad luck. With no other action I could think of I knocked and loosed three arrows that, by the gods, must have landed in perfect places to maximum effect. Because I was amazed when the beast fell dead. It proved the wisdom of Lacumi when he said, “If it bleeds, you can kill it.” Even though we where discussing ghosts at the time. Huh. Need to think about that.

Days later we encountered strange shambling things that looked like walking corpses, we battled long and hard. Many of us hit them with attacks that would have felled a being ten times the size, but they shrugged it off. Once again Aquila divined the proper strategy. He grappled them and when they were immobilized they weakened and died. Amazing! Once we saw the wisdom of his actions we quickly dispatched them.

We should be close to the end of the waste and closer still our goal…

Shortly after I found the torq and scimitar, one of our delayed bonding members arrived. I hope the other is OK, though I feel they are still quite distant.

Mykal is an odd sort, even for a Kaa’ Jah Kushan. His casual mannerisms remind me of some of the slaves I saw at the Gathering. His bows are too deep and he tends to cast his eyes down when others speak. But the rest of the time he acts like a master, or tries to at least. His eyes blaze with ambition but I can’t figure out what his job is. He’s not a warrior. He’s not a priest. He’s not a merchant, nor a shepherd, nor a butcher, nor a smith. All the masters of slaves I saw were something, he seems to be none that I can tell. But now that I think about it, he is an excellent shot with his sling. Sadly he does not seem to have much ‘oomf’ behind it. Maybe he is a rat catcher for a thriving oasis. That would explain the mannerisms and the accuracy. You don’t really need a lot of power to brain a rat. I’ll stay close, most Kaa’ Jah Kushan don’t appreciate rat the way I do.

GiKar led the way into the next room, which had the spirits of warriors in metal armor! GiKar grunted mightily at them, but they were unimpressed, what with them being dead and all. I tossed my spear at one to no effect and then remembered the scimitar. I slashed to and fro until I saw Aquila slash were the neck of the spirits would be and it was destroyed! I tried it myself and he dropped! My celebration was very short as a flame singed me. I determined that it came from the spirit warrior furthest away from us, so I charged at him and cut him down.

The fight was over so I thought that I should check the metal armor to see if it contained a special trinket and it did. Metal armor! What wealthy folk they must have been to have armor made from metal! They all had trinkets. I found two different necklaces! Du’ Al ‘Sol Ter must truly be smiling on me!

I must be more careful with that thinking, because when GiKar open the next door and I saw a chest on the far wall I raced to it. Only to have three huge bull headed people appear out of nowhere! GiKar, the warrior, launched a mighty throw of his spear, pinning the biggest to the wall. It chilled my blood to see that his strike did not kill it. The rest of the fight is a blur, I remember dropping one of the small ones and joining the fight against the big one. I know that without the mystical aid of Aquila I would have been terribly wounded, if not dead.

But we prevailed, and now to take a look into that chest…

Unlike many peoples of Orb, the K’toneh tah are not nomads. Their home is a well-protected slit canyon with an underground river that breaks through one wall and flows for about a quarter mile across the narrow canyon floor before returning to the earth. Due to the lack of steady direct sunlight and limited growing space this has not become a major oasis. But the K’tone tah does have a successful water trading business. They haul the water up the cliffs to a trading post on the top of the canyon not far from a trade route. The majority of the tribe lives in the cliff dwelling built into the canyon wall. Similar to those used by the Anasasi of the American Southwest.

A predominantly Sol’Kal tribe, they are extremely welcoming and curious about other races. Given the opportunity to mix with others and learn about them is a great honor for the K’toneh tah.

The tribe is basically peaceful and prefers to avoid violence if possible, but similar to some of the plains Indians of North America, the K’toneh tah view any opponents in a struggle as absolute equals and thus refuse to give any quarter and take no prisoners, because that would be a great insult and embarrassment for them. Other tribes do not share their view and see them as bloodthirsty warriors.

Another point that tends to put off other races is the Sol’Kal tendency to eat their game alive or freshly killed; usually by snapping it’s neck before swallowing it. Thus the K’toneh tah tend to hunt smaller game due the size of their throats. A curious note is that they eat fruit and vegetables by chewing them.

Many of those that assume they are stoic and reserved find out the opposite are generally true. They are a warm and gregarious people, open to friendly strangers and family alike. The tribe considers itself a collection of ‘clans’ and so all members are family in that they are related in some way. Various members of each ‘clan’ keep the record of marriages and genealogy. They are the Soren S’ah, they are usually the ones who broker the marriages between clans. Few marriages are brokered within the tribe due to the interrelatedness. The Soren S’ah convene with the elders prior to the Gathering to determine which tribes to approach to broker matches.

The tribe maintains a symbiotic relationship with a large colony of bees that live in a crag further down the canyon. The bees stay here due to the riot of flowering plants that thrive clinging to the canyon walls. Many brave the swarm to grab the golden honey. The more successful are called ‘bee charmers’ and are given a high degree of respect. The honey is put to good use in many ways, including honey wine. But the collection of honey is controlled so as to ensure the bees have enough to continue making more.

I remember my shock when I was told that I had been selected to accompany the caravan to this year’s Gathering. I had already resigned myself to staying home while my sister Digonna and brother Sidimus were selected, as well as a many of my cousins both in and out of the Pajama clan. But when my cousin Kegle was badly stung attempting to charm the Hive, I was to go in his stead.

The journey from K’toneh is a blur as there was so much to do preparing the caravan, scouting the route, keeping the Soren S’ah happy and asking a multitude of questions of any who had been to a Gathering before. The nights of stories around the fire of those who had memories of Gathering past were magic to me and my dreams were filled with those tales.

The Gathering itself was awe inspiring, never had I seen so many people, tents and animals, or so many different kinds.

I was so amazed by the spectacle. I tended to neglect some of my duties and was punished a few times, but the time I put the dead scorpion under the tankard of the Kaa’ Jah Kushan, Duko, elder Fina said I would be fogged at the bonding ceremony as a sacrifice to Du’ Al’Sol Ter. As a warning to all the other Sol Kal that wickedness and tricks were not a wise choice.

I sat in my seat dreading that the threat was real, thus not paying attention to the fact that the group chosen for the bonding ceremony was to be called.

Then the elder called my name. What could I do, but face my fate and be flogged for my wickedness. I ran to the dais to show my courage and was told to wait as the others were called. Who knew so many people would be flogged? When one did not answer the summons I could not decide if I was annoyed for not thinking of that myself, or that they would be punished more for not accepting their fate.

They it slowly dawned on me that I was part of the Bonding Ceremony! What an amazing turn of events. How lucky was I! I was not going to be punished after all.

After the ceremony we were led to the Marker for an amazingly painful tattoo that would show that we are the bonded ones. It was at this time that I took note of my other two companions. The first was one, a Seraph by the name of Aquila (I think) who bore the mark of a shaman of Keifeh. He seems a quiet, agreeable sort. The other is a Sol Kal Lobite by the name of Gi’Kar. He grunts, he grunts a lot. They are impressive grunts and seem to have a multitude of meanings. I have deduced some of the meanings to be, I am superior, I need to pee, I am constipated, Yes, No, Maybe and I smell a fart. After I received the mark of the bonded, we had a small feast, which was high on ceremony and very light on feast. The mark has an eldritch quality that allows me to sense my companions as it they are a piece of me. Not altogether uncomfortable, but strange all the same.

We were told that we were tasked with going to a Gru Dwar holding to see why they have not come to the Gathering. Many of the high elders had had ominous dreams of dread regarding this steading and we were to go directly there, through the Dune Sea.

I went back to our encampment and said good by to all of my family, eat a good meal and gather my gear. The elders made a point of me taking water from K’toneh as well as a whole skin of K’toneh honey. I was so honored as to be speechless, which they appreciated very much.

The next morning we set off with camels and supplies, as well as a map directing us to a well within the Dune Sea.

The first week was so exciting, Aquila told tales of his people, I told tales of the K’toneh Tah and Gi’Kar grunted. The second week we felt our other companions receive the Mark of the Bonded, which was odd what with them so far away. The joy of the journey drained from me as each step became so monotonous. We came to the well and replenished our water. On the third week we noticed a large sand storm and took refuge in a rather large cave. The monotony evaporated; as the camels were safe I lit a torch, grabbed my spear and explored this fascinating cave. Which only became more interesting when I found some stairs leading down. I told the rest and they came to look. Aquila was intrigued and Gi’Kar grunted. I went down and found a wooden door. After we all went in this large room a spirit told us we were heroes and something. It was a lot to remember and I was distracted by the amazing mural on the wall of a our world lush and flush with water. Then Gi’Kar disappeared, when we found him he was being attacked by a bunch of mummified dead guys! SO I took my torch and hit three of them soundly enough to either burn them or knock the fight out of them. Gi’Kar looked so impressive as he missed the fourth one time and time again. But then Aquila was struck a painful blow by the abomination, so I entered the fray to assist. This one was considerably tougher than my three and it took all of us to put him down. After he was down I made sure to burn his remains so he would not return. When I inspected the ashes I discovered a golden torq. When I put it on I felt a surge of inner strength. This discovery spurred me to check the others and sure enough I found a scimitar with runes and patterns decorating the blade.

Aquila and Gi’Kar healed each other’s wounds and we took a breather here before traveling on. I hope the camels are OK…