A to Z Adventures with Zeekhad

As Arc looks about to regain his bearings his instincts start warning him that staying aloft is not a good idea. As he was already planning on descending all thought are cut out of it and he begins a rapid descent. All Flying creatures know to respect the power of the sky and Arc can feel a tingle like that felt before a thunderstorm but the sky continues to look peaceful despide growing dimmer.

As you descend the winds begin to buffet you and an odd haze with ripples in the air, similar to what you have seen in hot dry wastes, cause you to lose all track of the earlier landmarks. As you get lower you look around and blink in confusion. This place is nothing like the are you were flying over earlier . . . .

The sky now looks normal and your instincts no longer scream at you as they did before. The visual distortions in the air are gone. Surveying the area you are certain you are not anywhere you have been before or recognize it as someplace you heard of. This will make returning home a bit . . . . difficult.

Taking to the sky Arc moves cautiously and scans for regular shapes and straight lines. As you get above the treeline then higher still you see a river east of you with a fork to the north-east. West and south the area is thick with vegetation and looks swampy. Far to the north of the are looks more open. The west is also more clear but looks to have more hills. Besides the abundant plant life of the area you realize that this area must have some unusually large animals based on their apparent size when seen at a distance. Some look to be larger than houses. There are flocks of flyers near the river fork and tower as well al more to the south, mostly near the river.

North of the fork you spot a tall vertical structure. To your north you spot what looks to be a road or track running west/east towards where the tower is. Picking the tower as your destination you glide down to an area that looks solid and begin trekking towards the road. Using your wings to bypass the muddier sections you make good time.

As you move you try reaching out to some of the animals. Most are skittish but you manage to get a couple of smaller ones to answer a few basic questions. They fear predators, many many predators. None are aware of people in rocks or dead trees, towns or villages. Then you get a lucky break and talk with a falcon resting on a high perch. It confirms the road and tower has people but that is beyond it's normal hunting area due to the multitude of "sky fishers". Likely the large flocks you saw are territorial and prevent the falcon from hunting in that area.

You reach the road after about half the day has passed. The track is little more than a set of ruts in the grass, this area being higher and dryer than the swamps to the south where you appeared. As you turn to follow the track to the east and the tower you are slightly surprised by the size of the track. Most carts and wagons are about 6-8' wide but these are well over 12' and their wheels are also thicker than normal. Giants? Whoever drives these they do not use normal horses or cattle.

In the midst of your musings you hear a rustle in the grass to your right . . .
A small pack of 4 lizard like creatures, with feathers on their top and sides, running on their 2 hind legs rushes form the grass. 3 move to surround you as one charges in and slashes at you with its rear talons. A nasty cut on your thigh quickly wells up with blood from the vicious cut. 1 damage to you

The three remaining raptors are very agitated at the loss of their quarry but after looking around, possibly for places to launch from for better elevation, and a couple of hisses of frustrations the trio breaks their circling maneuvers. They quickly dash towards some cover.

You have time for one more shot if you wish or you can just continue on your way.

Arc fires another shot but they manages to avoid his arrow as they run quickly towards cover. The small pack runs nearly silently till they reach cover then one of them gives a short chirping yelp Satter, regroup and all three split up as they enter the nearby wooded section.

You can follow and shoot once more. After that you will need to roll to try a tracking check as they try to lose you if you want to to pursue them further.

Arc realizes that though he may be able to communicate with the beasts. They are still beast and much of their motivations are driven by instinct. The pack likely simply saw a solitary target and moved in for the kill. Had he not been able to fly the fight could well have turned out differently. Now that they have a failed hunt and slain companions their hunger and fear is driving them to flee from a more powerful predator, Arc himself. If he could corner one he might be able to converse with it. As things stand it is doubtful they will answer any of his calls.

As Arc flies he realizes he is getting close the the circling flocks of larger flyers and he seems to have caught some of their attention as they glider high overhead, angling out to get overhead.

After landing you easily get the flying shapes above to lose interest in you by concealing yourself in some oveergrowth and waiting a while. While waiting you keep an eye out for any land bound predators. While none near you present themselves you do spot some creatures walkging int the tall grasses between the thickets that dot this area. At first you are not concerned until one of the herds with fewer members wanders closer and you realize these beasts are much larger than you. using your new perspective yo ulook back to some of the other herds and realize many if not all that you see are heerds of even larger beasts (dinosaur). Some are likely lafter than the common room of the in you left just yesterday. The "Sky fishers" turn out to be a winged variant of the large beast. Most have rough skins with some few, both flying and running, sporting feathersCautiously continuing on your way you get encounter a few smaller beasts that linger long enough to answer a few questions before nerves, hunger, or other instints drive them on. A few birds are aware of the " stone finger" further east and north and all confirm that this area abounds with large beasts. There are some smaller, like the ones you dove off, but there are also insects, birds, and a few small herds of other "two legs" you interpret to mean people. One flier confirms that the people are closer to the tower and the road will get you there.

You make your way along the road, that skirts the edge of the swamp to the south and begin seeing buildings only to realize they are now ruins. Many structures must have stood here once but now most have crumbled and become overgrown. you see a few larger structures to the north but the road continues east. You finally geet a glimpse of the tower but it is too far to gain any detail so decide to follow th3 road closer.

The road leads you to the edge of a swamp and into it. The rode here is much better cared for and shows signs of heavy traffic to your seasoned merchant eyes. As you near th swamp you spot a small wooden watch tower, about 20' tall, next to th road. A couple of figures can be seen moving atop and at the base of the structure.