Tasya's Story

You easily dart from cover to cover, being sure to keep in the shadows as much as possible. Even though you are completely invisible, when you pass the pen (that you helped set up for the caravan's horses and camels), Stripe whinnies as if the zebra-stallion knows you are near.

You make it to the parked caravan/tent area and head quickly toward your carriage.



When you get there you hastily collect all your weapons and gear. Just as you are finishing strapping on your studded leather armor you notice a note on the table.



You recognize this script. You are of the few that can. And even of those who can, many are not willing. The language, Infernal, is not often written, for its originators have little use for writing. It roughly translates to "Find me". You know only one other who speaks this unearthly tongue.

Cloak Time: 8 minutes

Tasya peeks out of her wagon to see how it is outside and beginning formulate a way to get to the animal pen and get Stripe. She does not want to make the trip to Jahore on foot.

Still invisible, you peer out from your wagon door. You hear and see guards kicking down doors of various wagons and cutting open tents, presumably in attempt to round up the circus folk.

Suddenly you see Mariquette shimmy down the side of the wagon next to yours. When she makes it to the ground, a blade between her teeth, she leans against the other wagon into the cover of the shadowed alley formed between the two. You see a metallic glint as she pulls out another knife from her belt.

You are pretty sure you could make it to Stripe undetected. Cloak Time: 10 minutes

'Psst!" Tas whispers towards Mariquette. 'Its Tas. Going for Stripe. Follow if you can.'

Tasya winds through the chaos and doesn't bother with the saddle or riding gear. She squeezes through the slats of the fence and moves toward her mount, while calculating the best way to open the holding pen gate.

Mariquette looks in your direction. "Tas?" she says just as you leave the wagon and wind through the chaos back toward the pen. When you get there you slide through the fence into the pen. Stripe stomps his front hooves, breaths a sigh and moves to you as soon as you enter, aware of your presence even though you are invisible. He comes close and nuzzles you.

Beyond the pen area, guards are still combing the circus members' living area, forcefully entering and exiting tents and wagons. A guard emerges from out of a nearby tent and moves quickly toward the pen. Something causes him to stop and investigate it. Standing still at the gate. He looks into the pen at the animals and seems puzzled by Stripe's behavior and actions. He motions to open the gate to walk into the pen, but gets distracted by a loud shout made by another guard a ways away who declares that a wagon is empty as he leaves it. After a second the attention of the guard near you shifts back to opening the gate...

Just as the guard swings open the gate his eyes suddenly roll to the back of his head as he slumps over to the ground in the now open gateway. You see a slim dagger buried deep in his neck, definitely one of Mariquette's.

Within a moment Mariquette is kneeling beside the cover of a feed barrel, whispering firmly into the pen in Stripe's direction. "Tas, what is your plan?"


Cloak Time: 12 minutes

"Some of us are meeting at the Resting Dragon, in Jahore." Tasya replies, trying to be as quiet as possible and stealthily climbing onto Stripe's back. "Come with me if you can..or approaching the Dragon discreetly and mention you seek the Way of the Keis.

As you speak, Mariquette, staying low, makes her way to the fallen guard and retrieves her dagger from his neck. She then slaps a horse on its backside, then another, sending them both trampling over the body on the ground while they dart through the gate. The commotion stirs up the other animals in the pen.

"I’ll meet you on the road just outside of this cursed town then," she says as she slinks through the fencing in the direction of one of the horses she slapped, maneuvering to the next shadowy cover.

Cloak Time: 14 minutes

Lying low and holding onto Stripe's mane, Tasya urges her steed through the gates in the mass animal exodus and heads off at weaving gait out the area.

With you leaning low on him, Stripe stays calm while the other animals stir themselves into a rising frenzy. As you urge him, he moves through the gate and you head out from the pen. As you do, two guards run out from the wagon area toward the animals that are now frantic and outside the pen. The guards wave their hands high and shout things like, "Whoa" and "Easy, Easy" mostly to no effect. One gets close and moves to round up Stripe--a much easier goal for him at the moment in comparison to rounding or calming the other panicking animals.


From the view outside the pen gate:

Directly across a matted dirt road is the area where the circus wagons are stationed, including yours. (The freed animals are stirring wildly on this road, while some are still roused in the pen.)

To the left past the pen are some tents where circus members would sleep and prepare for the show.

Beyond that is the city garden, irrigated by man-made canals that are supplied from the one tributary of the Asanda River Delta that flows through the center of the city.

Right would lead you to the backstage fold of the circus tent you emerged from earlier (from where you saw your companions get apprehended near Ganesh's large wagon).

Past Ganesh's wagon and the backstage exit are the circus animal cages. There is definitely less guard activity by the cages.

The circus tent itself takes up the majority of the city's market circle.

On the edge of the market circle are some merchant canopies and wagons where a few merchants peddle expensive wares to the rich royalty that attend the show (before all this commotion occurred at least).

(If you were to make your way though or around the tent, the front of the tent is close to the city's main gate.)

The city is surrounded by a sandstone wall and the gate is the only way you could leave the city on Stripe. You could easily scale the wall if you were not riding. Earlier this morning, there were guards posted at the gate, but the gate was not closed as noble caravans were still coming to the city for the week-long festival.

In the distance, within the city walls on the opposite side of the city, you can see the Rajadhiraja's Vidhaya holiday palace looming over all.

Tasya nudges Stripe with her knees to move faster and stay out of reach of the much slower human, she tugs on his mane directing him around the tent and toward the city gates. She has no intent of leaving him behind and walking to Jehore.

You hastily nudge Stripe forward and move past the reach of the guard, who is then quickly distracted by a horse who nearly tramples him. You then direct Stripe around the tent, by way of the animal cages where there doesn't seem to be any guards searching.

When you come around the front of the tent you see a noble's caravan stopped before the city gate by the Rajadhiraja's elite guard. From the looks of it there is tension building between red sashed royal guards and the purple sashed personal soldiers of the noble's caravan. The noble argues with the royal guard commander. It looks as his party is being forbidden from leaving the city, the but he and his soldier's are not taking no for an answer.

Royal guards begin to move from their post at the gate toward the noble and his soldiers. The gate is wide open and everyone's attention is on the brewing conflict.

Cloak Time: 19 minutes

Tasya goes for the open unguarded gate.

The royal guards are too busy dealing with the noble caravan to pay any attention to what appears as a lone zebroid trying to get away from the commotion in the city. You maneuver Stripe through the gate in a way that makes it believable to any that notice.

The city was built near the delta, so it is nested between marsh-like land on one side and rocky canyons on the other. The road out of the cuty runs through arid cliffs that make a natural defense for Vidhaya, the Rajadhiraja's holiday city. You recall from coming into the city with the circus caravan that the canyon will open up to sandy desert interspersed with fertile river valley patches.



Luckily there is no one else on the road immediately leaving the city. You travel for about 15 minutes when you round a cliffy corner and see a wagon puled by two camels on the road ahead, coming toward the city. At its pace it is probably 5 minutes away from your current position.

To your left there happens to be a rocky pass between some cliffs.

Tasya is moving at a casual pace waiting to see if Mariquette catches up to her at their rendezvous outside the city. As soon as she spots the approaching wagon, she maneuvers Stripe into the rocky pass on their left and tries to find a quick place within, behind some rocks or outcropping to hide until the wagon and its passengers have passed.

You manage to get off the road and find a hidden space in the rocky pass. You sit and watch for the wagon to pass. As you do a mounted rider coming from the direction of the city calls "Whoa!" and stops on the road in front of the opening you hide in. The rider looks down the road toward the oncoming wagon and brandishes a sword as to tell it to move aside. The rider is dressed like the purple sashed noble guards back at the gate and the horse also has a purple blanket covering its back. The horse has a white stripe in its mane and oddly, you recall a white stripe in the mane of the first horse Mariquette slapped in the pen. Also the horse before you doesn't actually appear to have a saddle. And now that you think of it, the frame of this rider is rather feminine.