Adventure 10 - Captive and Restless

In the silence of the tent, the bald Poquoi spoke. He spoke a short burst of speech that no one could understand... no one but Hamish. Hamish understood the man to say brokenly, "Why you come here?" in an ancient dialect of the Noisu tongue.

<We've come to hump your women.> Hamish said with a grin, making light of the group's precarious situation.

The bald Poquoi stared at Hamish for a moment, then turned and left the makeshift tent.

Tension mounted over the next few hours, as the heroes were unsure what fate was in store of them. Keigan, in an attempt to test the limits of his captors, thrashed about to move and loosen his bonds: he received the sharp thrust of a spear in his leg for his trouble. It was evident that the party's captors were deadly serious.

Without warning, Neelan and Hamish were dragged off from the group and thrown down in another tent. The bald warrior returned to them and demanded to know why the group were here. As Hamish explained that they were scouts, the man nodded and seemed pleased with the truth. Through their short conversation, the bald one revealed that his tribe had had dealings with the Noisu peoples before, far to the north, and with the Muzamil peoples, far to the south, and both proved to be truthful tribes. Hamish knew of legends of some Noisu leaving their homeland and never returning, but Neelan was surprised to hear of his tribesmen in the New World.

Hamish and Neelan were returned to the main tent to rejoin their party. Water was brought by a young Poquoi warrior woman, as well as a meal of vegetables and strips of meat. The group ate ravenously, although Keigan avoided eating the meat, worried about its origin.

The camp was struck the next day, and the Poquoi - apparently not a warparty, but rather a full tribe, consisting of men, women, and children of all ages, some 200 strong - headed west, into the mountains. The companions were separated from the main group, mounted on their horses without their belongings, bound to their saddles by well-tied rope, and surrounded by a dozen Poquoi guards. The young warrior woman tended to ride nearby, taking charge of the captives' care.

Over the course of the next few days, Hamish conversed with the bald Poquoi leader - named Sengal - and the warrior woman - named Kewatha - at great length. He learned that the Poquoi are nomadic people, and made up of a number of different tribes. Sengal suggested that the tribes all paid homage to one warleader, a powerful chieftan known as Shivo, and that Sengal's people were travelling to meet him at what Hamish guessed to be some sort of council.

All of the Poquoi tribes had been told by Shivo that the 'white devils' (colonists from Stanholm) had come to delight in mayhem and destruction: burning down the forests, befouling the rivers, poisoning the soil, slaughtering the animals and native peoples... and all for no purpose other than the joy of laying waste. When all the land was black and barren, Shivo said, the devils would dance in the ash and go back to whatever hell they came from. Hamish reassured Sengal that, while the Stanholmians didn't have the same culture as the Poquoi, that they were simply trying to live life as they knew how and were not demons. Sengal seemed to believe Hamish, at least in part because of his experience with the tribe of Noisu he claimed to know.

Some tribes did not question Shivo's wisdom, and viciously attacked the white devils to drive them away.

At one point in their journey - which was taking them farther and farther from Fort Farholde and deeper into the western mountain ranges - Hamish (under Keigan's furious direction) was busy trying to convince Kewatha that Keigan needed his 'medicine', when the small group of prisoners and guards unexpectedly caught up with the main tribe. The larger group of Poquoi had stopped travelling as they met a fellow tribe on the move. The group looked across a wide open space, filled with the two peoples and scanned the crowd for Sengal.

The bald Poquoi was easily spotted talking to a member of the other tribe. The other man was younger than Sengal, and his head was shaved down to a single strip of hair that ran from his forehead over his head to the nape of his neck. His face was also either painted with dye or tattooed in an intricate design. Their discussion appeared to be rather animated, but the pair were too far away for Hamish to make out what was said.

At one point, the tattooed Poquoi noticed the group of prisoners. He appeared shocked, but in a pleased way, spoke but a moment longer, then kicked his horse into a gallop towards the captives. When he drew near (followed prompty by Sengal), he surveyed the group appraisingly with a cruel glint in his eye. He continued his conversation with Sengal, but also called out to some of his own tribesmen. They brought forth a single horse with an aged white man bound, injured, and only semi-conscious: this tribe had a prisoner of their own.

Hamish whispered to Kewatha, asking what was happening. Kewatha told him that the tattooed man, whom she named Ketch, had caught a white devil himself, and Ketch's tribe was keeping him prisoner because he was forced to make music for the tribe.

If Hamish was any judge, Sengal wasn't terribly pleased to have met Ketch's tribe en route to wherever they were going, but that did not prevent the two tribes from striking camp early on that spot. The prisoners were shuffled into their tent for the remainder of the day, where they busied themselves by staring at the rough hide walls and listing to the sounds of life and activity around them.

Night fell, and the group fell asleep under the watchful eye of their guards.

Keigan twitched awake, to see the guards leaving through the open tent flap, held open by none other than Ketch. When the last guard left, Ketch entered the tent, alone with the captives. Keigan watched the Poquoi as he silently approached.

Ketch smiled his maniacial smile, and placed four fingers of one hand against his lips, as if to suppress a giggle borne from some silent, insane joke. Then, pulling a knife from his belt, he slashed a large gash in Keigan's thigh. As the large man roared in pain and outrage, Ketch buried his face in the wound and drank deep.

The noise roused the rest of the tent from slumber, but Ketch tumbled out of the tent and into the night. Kewatha soon arrived with the missing guards, Keigan's wound was bound, and commotion could be heard from outside the tent. The group explained, through Hamish, the danger they had just endured, and Kewatha promised to tell Sengal immediately.

When morning broke, the group were brought from the tent to their horses as usual. Upon stepping outside, it became obvious that Ketch and his tribe were gone. The commotion from the night before was apparently caused by Ketch's tribe breaking camp and making haste amidst the darkness. Sengal wouldn't speak of the incident, riding with the majority of the tribe and leaving the prisoners in Kewatha's care.

Horses tied together and bound to their saddles, the prisoners were escorted by a number of guards and Kewatha onward into the mountains. Hamish asked Kewatha why Ketch would choose to attack Keigan in that fashion, and the warrioress tried to explain something about "stealing the large one's strength". Despite declaring the whole business rubbish and poppycock, Keigan looked a little nervous and demanded more medicine in his booming voice.

Sometime midmorning, the group began to cross a wide, shallow river when they were stopped by figures on the opposite bank. A few riders, Ketch smiling expansively amongst them, called for the group to halt. He made some demand which Kewatha replied to, and then attacked.

Most of the group began worrying at their bonds. Armourless, weaponless, and bound, they were no match for armed and bloodthirsty assailants and had to rely on the prowess of their guards. Neelan easily slipped out of his confines (having loosened them covertly the night before, and again on the morning's ride), and tried to battle Ketch directly. A few of the party, having no luck escaping, demanded that their guards cut their bonds to defend themselves. With a few tense glances at Kewatha, the guard looked for approval. She nodded, and ropes were slashed.

The assailants were powerful fighters, but Sengal's chosen guardsmen were no pushovers either. In an extended battle, confused by river water, horses, stolen knives and thrown rocks, Ketch and his men were driven off into the woods, most escaping on horseback. Neelan's agility and prowess did allow him to disarm and steal Ketch's sword before the villain could disappear, however.

Now armed and unbound in the river glade, the prisoners turned and faced their captors. After a moment's hesitation, Neelan offered his stolen sword to Kewatha hilt-first, and the rest of the party followed suit. Kewatha apparently took this as a sign of honour, and decreed that the prisoners' arms and armour should be returned to them. She also expressed the need to talk to Sengal immediately.

Experience Awards

Dinsdale (L4): 8520 + 2000 = doesn't matter, left campaign
Hamish (L5): 11844 + 1750 = 13594
John Henry (L5): 11729 + 2000 = doesn't matter, left campaign
Keigan (L5): 12104 + 1750 = 13854
Neelan (L5): 13409 + 1750 = 15159
Pennyworth (L4): 9552 + 2000 = 11552 (level up!)