[Abe Sargent]

It is still dark when Quang wakes you up. The glowing embers of the campfire illuminate the interior of the shelter with a dull amber light by which you and the Watchers are able to gather your equipment and make ready to leave.

Bai and Chao venture outside and go forage for some edible foliage with which to feed the horses. There are plentiful puddles of rainwater and Quang makes sure the horses drink their fill before Bai and Chao return. Dawn has broken by the time the horses have finished feeding and you mount up and begin your woodland journey to the village of Jueng.

It is mid-morning when you happen upon an old hunting track. It is mostly overgrown with foliage, but it provides you with a south-easterly route through the forest which is easy to follow. The rain stops and your woodland ride is blessedly uneventful. The forest is rich with berries, nuts, and edible flora that are sufficient to sustain you and your companions throughout the day. Shortly before dusk you come to a wide and muddy highway. Bai and Chao recognize this road at once for it connects the town of Klatii with the village of Jueng. They have travelled this highway many times in their youth. Bai, who was born and raised in Klatii, remembers that there was an old woodsman’s hut near here, just a mile or two to the south in the direction of Jueng. He leads you to it and you spend the night here before setting off to Jueng at first light.

The journey to Jueng village is completed without any delays or unforeseen complications. The muddy highway makes the going easy, despite the worsening weather. Heavy cloud and torrential rain accompany you throughout on your long ride. You reach the outskirts of Jueng shortly before nightfall. Chao can hardly contain his joy when he sees the lantern lights of his home village aglow in the distance. He has been away from his family for more than a month.

Upon entering this pretty Chai settlement, Chao invites you all to come and stay at his house overnight. Lieutenant Quang thanks him for his generosity, but he is hesitant to accept his kind offer. He knows that Chao’s house is small and his family is large. He does not want to cause any inconvenience to his wife and five children. He proposes you all vote for your preference: stay with Chao and his family, or seek accommodation for the night at the village inn. Chao, of course, wants to stay at his family home. Bai, too, is in favour of this. But Quang and Deng prefer to stay at the inn. This leaves you to cast the deciding vote.

(Stay!)

Quang and Deng accept your decision with good grace. Chao is delighted and eagerly he leads you along the main street to his modest home on the eastern edge of the village. You dismount and tether your horses beneath an open-sided shelter at the side of the two-storey house. Chao leads you around to the front door and knocks four times. You hear the sound of scurrying feet and the door swings open. Before you stands Shen-Yin, Chao’s wife. She beams with delight when she sees her husband and throws herself into his open arms. She is clearly overjoyed by his unexpected return. Chao motions you to enter and you go through into a parlour where five young children are sitting in a circle on the pine wood floor in front of a brick fireplace. They are happily playing with their toys. They look at you with quizzical expressions, but when they see their father in the doorway behind they leap to their feet and rush to embrace him.

Shen-Yin relinquishes her hold on Chao and welcomes you to their home. With some difficulty, Chao gently extricates himself from the grip of his excited children and introduces you to his wife. Bai needs no introduction for he has visited here many times in the past. Chao tells Shen-Yin that you are bound for Valus on imperial business and that you can only stay here overnight. She is understandably disappointed to hear that her husband will be home for such a short time, but she puts on a brave face and draws comfort from the fact that they are together again, albeit briefly. She gathers the children and shoos them upstairs so that you have the parlour to yourselves. Then she disappears into the kitchen to prepare some tea and food for you all.

After a simple but reviving meal and copious cups of tea, Chao and Shen-Yin retire upstairs leaving you and the others to sleep on the parlour floor. There is not much room but you are all thankful to be out of the rain and in warm home on this bleak and stormy night. You fall asleep with ease but you do not rest easily. You are haunted by dreams filled with sinister shadowy images and premonitions of impending loss. Thrice you awaken during the night, drenched in cold sweat, and each time you do you find it hard to go back to sleep. Due to your poor night’s sleep and the chilling nightmares you have suffered, you lose 2 ENDURANCE.

Chao wakes you all up at dawn. While you are checking your equipment and preparing for another long day in the saddle, Shen-Yin prepares breakfast and brings it to you in the parlour. While you are eating, Quang tells you that it is a thirty mile ride from here to Valus and he wants to reach the town by late afternoon. You finish your food while listening to the sounds of the children playing in their room above. When the time comes to leave, Quang, Bai, and Deng go and feed the horses while you and Chao help Shen-Yin to clear away the breakfast dishes. You bid her thanks and walk to the front door to go and assist the others. Chao holds his doting wife in a warm and loving embrace and assures her that he will return soon. You are touched by the deep affection they have for each other. Quietly, you exit the door and see Quang leading two horses, yours and Chao’s, out of the shelter by their reins. You climb into the saddle and hold Chao’s horse alongside. Soon you are joined by Quang, Bai, and Deng astride their mounts and patiently you wait for Chao to appear. After a few minutes, Quang calls out:

‘It’s time to go, Chao!’

The door opens and Chao and his wife share a final embrace in the doorway before Chao, sheepishly, bids a final farewell to his wife and climbs into the saddle. With a wave, Shen-Yin bids you goodbye and Godspeed as you set off along the highway heading east from Jueng.

It is shortly before midday when you come to a wooden bridge that carries the highway across a swollen stream. On the other side of the bridge is a farmstead surrounded by a split pine fence. Chao informs you that this farmstead belongs to his wife’s brother, Genzu. It comprises a farm house, a large barn, and several small outhouses and pig pens. It seems to be deserted and Chao says this is very odd. Genzu employs more than twenty farmhands and this place is usually very busy, even when the weather is bad.

Lieutenant Quang decides to take a closer look. He has a strong feeling that something is amiss. You ride through a gap in the fence and along a muddy track that leads directly to the farm house and barn. Chao calls out to Genzu but he gets no reply.

‘Maybe he’s in the barn,’ he says, and he trots his horse towards its open double doors. Quang tells Bai to go and see if anyone is inside the farm house. Bai dismounts and hands the reins of his horse to Deng before running across the muddy ground towards the farm house door.

‘No sense us standing out here in the rain,’ says Quang, and he motions you to follow him to the barn. Chao is searching the lower part of the barn when you ride in. You see that there is an expansive loft overhead that occupies the apex of the roof and is stacked with bales of straw. You dismount and join Chao to look for anything that could explain why the farm has been abandoned. Meanwhile, Quang and Deng climb the ladder that leads to the hay loft.

You are searching along the west side of the barn, close to the timber planked wall, when you catch something moving out of the corner of your eye. Through a gap in the planks, you see several figures approaching. At first you think it could be Genzu and his farm hands returning from the potato fields, but when you press your face to the gap and magnify your vision you are shocked by what you see.

‘Skarada!’ you cry. ‘To the west. And closing fast!’

Your warning chills the hearts of Quang and the others. As they hurry to peer through gaps in the plank wall, Bai comes running into the barn shouting.

‘Skarada! And Chagarashi too!’

(I have AM and a high level of skill)

You focus your improved Grand Master Discipline at the nearest Chagarashi and order it to halt. The creature shudders as the power of your command grips it like a steel vice. For a few moments, the accompanying Skarada stop dead in their tracks and regard the frozen creature with looks of bewilderment. Then they growl with disdain and continue their advance. They split into two groups and come rushing around the sides of the barn. The moment they disappear from your view, you shout to the others:

‘Let’s get out of here!’

Quang and the Watchers rush to their horses. Rapidly, you mount your horse and spur him towards the open doors. You are halfway across the barn when two Chagarashi appear in the open doorway and throw their arms wide. They spread their sinewy fingers and their razor-sharp talons glint in the dull light. They are attempting to block your escape.

You are almost upon them when your horse rears up in fright. The Chagarashi seize this opportunity and leap forward to attack.

2 Chagarashi Scouts: COMBAT SKILL 45 ENDURANCE 45

You struggle to control your terrified horse throughout this combat. Its wild and erratic movement makes it hard for you to strike these enemies with precision. Deduct 4 points from your COMBAT SKILL for the duration of this fight.

(I need to use MB to get my +11 back! I toss a 3, and then another 3, then a 4 and a 7. They die and I took 7 total damage)

The smell of spilt Chagarashi blood makes your horse whinny with fear. You draw on your Magnakai Discipline of Animal Control to calm him, and you rally Quang and the Watchers with a stirring battle cry you know they will respond to: ‘For Chai!’

The Skarada are now fast closing in around the open barn doors. They are armed with flint axes and long-bladed bone daggers. You dig your heels into your horse’s flanks and jolt him forward in a desperate effort to escape before the Skarada can block the exit. Your horse is back under your control and he responds at once to your actions. He bolts through their closing ranks and you gallop away along the muddy farm track. Quang and the Watchers follow in your wake. The snarling Skarada slash and stab at them as they race out of the barn, forcing to them run a deadly gauntlet before they can get away.

You come to the end of the farm track and turn your horse to the east. When you look back towards the barn, you are relieved to see that all of your companions have escaped and are galloping along the track towards the farm entrance. By the time the Skarada reach the farm’s split pine fence, you are all racing along the highway in the pelting rain with your heads down and your cheeks pressed close to your horses’ necks.

Only when you can no longer see the farmstead and the Skarada do you signal to Quang and the others to bring their horses to a halt. Your mounts are breathless and their sweaty flanks steam in the pouring rain. Your companions, too, are weary. They slump in their saddles and struggle to regain their composure. Quang comes forward and halts his horse alongside yours.

‘That …  was a close thing,’ he says, gasping for breath. ‘We’ve you to thank for getting us out of that barn alive.’

Then you hear a loud splash behind you and immediately you sense that something awful has happened.