Khyree's Story

Khyree launches into a burst of speed, staff in hand, and goes for the guy with the big mouth. "Someone needs to teach you some manners..."

Khyree--Current HP: 17, Temp HP: 0, KI: 2
Cloaked Mace Wielder--HP: 9
Cloaked Staff Wielder--HP: 9

Khyree whirls into action, striking the closer of the two thugs with the haft of her quarterstaff. Then, spinning and kicking him in the gut. As The second thug closes, she meets him with a fist to the chest. "Gutter trash..." She utters.

Before the loud-mouth mace wielder can even know what hits him, Khyree's quarterstaff takes the wind from him. Then her spinning kick takes his life. Khyree's fist to the other's chest sends the cloaked figure flying backward, dropping the staff and stumbling to the ground, dazed and winded.

The boy, frightened and unable to stand, uses his arms and legs to hastily shuffle backward on his bottom to retreat from the fight. He backs up as far as he can until he is against an alley wall.
Khyree--Current HP: 17, Temp HP: 0, KI: 1
Cloaked Mace Wielder--HP: 0
Cloaked Staff Wielder--HP: 3

Khyree presses her advantage and goes in with the end of her staff and then follows up with kick to the remaining thug while he's on his butt immobilized.

As you lunge in for a another wave of lethal blows, the figure looks up from the ground, with a feverish glint of ecstasy, and hisses, "Sekkor will deliver me."

Your staff cuts the cloaked figure's last syllable short as it cracks the figure's jaw. Your kick that immediately follows collapses the figure's rib cage. After a wheezing last breath, the figure lies motionless.

The frightened boy cringes against the wall and looks at you with uncertainty.

Khyree quickly rubs the blood off the end of her staff on the cloaked mass' garb, nods to the waif, and makes her exit of the narrow alley.

As Khyree continues down the alley in the opposite direction she came in it, the boy calls out, "Wait. Can you help me? I don't know how to do it myself." His desperate plea is made with a voice about to break into tears.

Khyree waves the boy on. "Keep up. Neither of us wants to get caught in this alley right now." As he moves closer, she asks, "Do what yourself, exactly?"

Upon your words, the boy forces himself to get up, wincing at the pain of the wounds inflicted on him, he moves hurriedly. Limping the distance, he rushes to a pile of garbage and broken barrels on the other side of the alley and picks up something from the ground in the mess.

He then hurries the best he can to keep up with you. When he gets close enough you can see blood on his lips when he says in a desperate tone, "I have to bring this amulet to a far away place. It’s called…Elegy…it’s an island. Evil people like those you saved me from took my family and others. They used this amulet to torture their minds. My father said it was made by demons. He took it from them and hid me with it away from them. He said to bring it to Lady Oceana when it was safe." His voice shakes and he fights tears. "They took my father and mother! They’re gone…only Lady Oceana can find them."

Khryee squints as the boy brings out the amulet he says was made by demons. She sighs and looks at the boy. "I need to purchase supplies for travel and get out of this city as quickly as I arrived. We can talk about this more and this Elegy once we're clear of this place."

Upon your words, the boy forces himself to get a hold of his emotions and he focuses his energy on quietly keeping up to you as the two of you hastily move through the alley in the opposite direction you entered it.

The late afternoon sun has already passed over the narrow opening between the tall buildings of this alleyway, so it is shadowed and dismal here. But soon the alley opens to a wider road with more light. On the wider road there is little activity here beyond a stray cat darting behind a barrel, the splash of a pan being poured out onto the street from a upper story window, and a tapestry being beaten against the wall from another upper story window. Your sense of direction tells you that you could make a turn down another alley and cut through to the market area.

Upon cutting through the alley, you come out near the Barber/Surgeon Service and Alchemist Shop. You make a turn onto the main road that widens into a market square where the many carts and stalls are set up with food, provisions, and other goods.

There's even more of mosaic of sights, sounds, and smells at this hour than when you first passed through earlier. The market place of this walled port city on the edge of the jungle seems to be a bustling hub of commerce. Stalls now line the street, adorned with brightly colored awnings that provide shade from late afternoon sun. As you walk into the market, the boy--still limping--keeps close to you.

The aroma of exotic spices and tropical fruits mingles with the salty tang of the nearby sea. Vendors look mostly like human merchants from the north to you, but their wares include items crafted from rare materials found deep within the jungle. A nimble grippli, hops between a couple stalls, describing a collection of herbs and potions to onlookers. Even a centaur trots gracefully through the throngs of people, displaying finely wrought armor and weapons. There are a couple resourceful gnomes, displaying their inventions and finely crafted tools. They also sell cylinders of blue energy similar to the one you saw on the gnome flying machine as well as the cylinder passed to the grippli merchants in the warehouse.

Merchants mostly haggle in the common tongue, but occasionally you pick up dialects of desert and jungle tribes. The air is thick with the sound of negotiations. You hear traders from the north continent regale their southern counterparts with stories of sophisticated city life and technological marvels, while the southern inhabitants share folklore of ancient spirits and natural wonders hidden within the dense jungles.

The market's energy is amplified by the presence of various entertainment. Acrobats and fire dancers showcase their talents to captivate the audience and encourage their flow of coins. The rhythmic beats of tribal drums and the haunting melodies of indigenous wind instruments create a mesmerizing background of musical sound.

Beyond the market, the walled city's architecture reflects what you imagine to be northern continent craftsmanship, with intricately carved wooden facades and sturdy stone structures. Guard towers positioned at strategic points along the walls reveals that this city relies on ever-present security and that the dangers of the jungle lurking beyond the city's borders remain foreign to those who rule here.

You try to stay alert...
Time: Late Afternoon

You zone into an area of the market where carts and stalls display food provisions.

Making your way to one of the stalls labeled Gideon's Goods, you see an arrangement of preserved foods meant for long storing, such as on a ship. There's salted and cured meats, dried lentils, dried fruit, nuts and various seeds, hardtack, pickled vegetables, some different grains, salt for preserving, and other provisions.

The boy stays close by you. Next to Gideon's Goods there is a cart loaded with fresh produce, jungle mushrooms, and breads. Its merchant is currently helping others. Between the two merchant stations are a couple barrels. The boy stands near them.

You hear the vendor address a customer who pushes away cart loaded with his goods. He says, "Remember my name, Gideon Saltwright, next time you make port here in Haila." The merchant is a sturdy and weathered middle-aged man. His calloused hands bear the marks of meticulous work. He wears a salt-streaked apron and a old sailor's hat.

As you examine Gideon's wares, you become aware of distant shouts. "Halt! Stop right there!"

When you look in the direction of the sound you notice an agile young man further away down the market square dodging between stalls and weaving through startled onlookers as he evades pursuing city guards. His maneuvers are accompanied by the occasional crash of overturned wares--that cause his chasers to reroute--and the startled cries of vendors hastily securing their stalls. The evading man ducks behind a stall in the distance and disappears from your sight. The guards continue on in their pursuit.

Khyree looks through the offerings that Mr. Saltwright has on display and chooses food stuffs amounting to nearly eight gold pieces. She hands him the coins and begins to gather up the things she has purchased.

You hand the merchant 8 gold coins and start to gather the items when he says, "Let me give you a sack for all that." He starts to place the food stuffs you collected into a canvas bag with a shoulder strap. "This way it'll be easier to carry." He quickly gets the goods in and lifts the bag to judge its weight. "Not bad, I'd say about 15 lbs. This will keep you and your boy going for at least two weeks."

As Gideon tests the bag's weight you notice the young man (who disappeared from your sight earlier) stealthily slip out from behind the Gideon's Goods stall. He moves toward and crouches between the barrels near the boy. The boy notices him too. The man looks at the boy and places a finger lightly against his lips, silently asking to keep his presence secret. He then gives a gentle, yet mischievous curve of the lips with one corner slightly lifted in a sly manner.

The guards are getting closer to this stall. They are only two stalls back when you here one call out, "Come out you thieving mechanic! You don't really think you can desert your work unannounced and run off with things that don't belong to you, do you? Come, come, you have a date with the Warden."

Khyree shoves as much of the bag's contents into her backpack as she can fit, thanks the merchant and moves in the general direction of the gate she entered into the city, wanting to get out of Haila before nightfall and back aboard ship soon after that.

With her backpack stuffed full of provisions and after thanking the merchant, Khyree turns and starts to move away from the stall in the direction of the city gate. Not more than moment after she does so, she hears the startled voice of the boy who had been following her closely. The voice sounds muffled and panicked and not right behind her.

A quick glance back toward Gideon's stall reveals the boy being dragged behind another stall by a dark cloaked figure. The boy's hand is still clutching the concealed amulet tightly. The abductor muffles the boy's mouth with one arm that also holds a curved blade resembling the shape of a dragon's tooth.


It happens quickly. The busy shoppers and merchants don't seem to notice, nor do the guards rapidly approaching the area in search of the other young man who evaded them. In fact, that man is the only one beside you who notices the boy's abduction. The young man stands up from hiding between the barrels and pulls a dagger from his belt. As he does, an approaching guard yells, "There he is!!"

ignoring the guards, the young man hurls his dagger at the boy's snatcher. The dagger lodges in the dark cloaked figure's neck. The man growls and lets loose of the boy.

"Run boy, run!" says the young man, and the boy does not hesitate but runs to catch up with you.

Khyree gives the young man a nod and keeps moving away from the scene with the boy close behind.

The commotion grows behind you as you keep moving; the guards shout more. By the sound of it, the young man managed to elude them once again.

You hustle out of the market area; the boy seems to be keeping up with you. Eventually the street leads to the area where you exited the back of warehouse (which is now on your right). Just past the warehouse is a large stone archway that arches over the end of this street. It appears open to a main city road; you figure its the same road that the Grippli caravan came in on before turning into the front of the warehouse.

The archway is guarded by two armed guards standing on either side of the arch. And beyond the archway you can see other guards riding past on the main road, heading in the direction of the city gate.