WttSS session 39: 'The Great Caravan'
General Summary
The desert tribes of the Great Caravan welcomed the party into their mix on the edge of the Deep Desert and a repaired Caliban Crow now sits on the perimeter of the gathered vehicles, some 200 or so vehicles circled for defence. The tribes have come in crawlers of all sizes from sand buggies to large-wheeled transporters, protected by drones, grav-shuttles and grav-bikes, and by many armed Xinghur.
Kahina and Ifrahan greeted the party and formally accepted an alliance between the humanites of Ghodar and of the Rimward Reach, details to be discussed. As Masruq dealt with the negotiations, the Xinghur offered to free Kerman and his people from the chains of old masters but he decided this should be dealt with by his tribe's elders and arranged for a storyteller from the Ghodar tribes to return with him to Lubau when this is all over.
A time for ritual
The tribes plan to officially gather this evening in spiritual preparation for the journey ahead. They request the PCs' official attendance and until then, give them the freedom of the camp. Kerman is given 2 air purifiers for the PCs to use. As the crew of the Caliban Crow want around the Xinghur camp, the desert folk bow to them instead of the expected nod of mere acquaintances.
Before the evening meeting, the party takes its second sleep in middle of the day, a different time of day to the colonists of Juldizin Demalisi, which has a greater effect on some member's constitution than others but is welcome nonetheless. In the rest of the time, they look through what the Xinghur plan to leave here and negotiate for some more valuable supplies, loading the Caliban Crow up with a supply of scrap, tools and survival gear - and one track-wheeled tractor, which Kerman declares come in handy and which fits well enough in their cargo hold.
Many speeches
At the designated time the party gathers in the centre of the camp, where one of the largest, transporter crawlers has been set up as a small stage from which a speaker might address the multitude of tribes spread beyond.
Two leaders are sworn in to lead the Great Caravan:
- Ta-Nehisi, son of Hamida, Sure-call, of the Great Caravan - commander of the Great Caravan
- Ibtesam, granddaughter of Jarah the Seer, The Watchful, of the Great Caravan - spiritual leader of the Great Caravan
After they make the prayers to the Star Singer and Deckhand and their dedication to the safe voyage of the Great Caravan, the stage is given over to the party.
Masruq steps up first, invoking a blessing of the Star Singer. Throughout the Long Night his people, the Jangahir Nomads, trusted well to the Star Singer and he hopes this will give him connection to the desert people now. He declares them allies and friends in the journey, and though he comes from a different world, he hopes this will bring different skills to the benefit of the Caravan.
Khalil comes next. He declares himself a scholar who seeks truth of the past and of the Horizons. He is concerned here about the influence of the Dark as he is in the wider Horizon but swears to fight to preserve sacred things.
Zarzur requests Masruq speak for her but is still seen. She is intent on stopping the Legion and seeking a new home. The party agrees it is wise to reveal the truth to their hosts and Masruq speaks of her mystic power to commune with technology. The crowd is astounded and Zarzur's 'dance card' immediately fills for the evening.
Murad also asks Masruq to speak for him. He is a seeker of the truth of himself. He feels a kinship to the Xinghur as he does all humanites and shares a wish to live free of masters. He hopes to discover his nature that he can better advance the cause of both peoples.
Kerman speaks last and for himself. As a Xinghur of Lubau he is a brother to the tribes and hopes he may follow their example.
The group is well received. The crowd was once placed on edge at Khalil's free use of the name of 'that which we will not name, its presence be rightly feared' but all the party's declarations of intent match exactly the desires of the desert tribes and so they are warmly welcomed.
A quiet night
Thereafter, the party enjoys an evening with the tribes. It is an evening nothing like the wild celebrations of the Founding in Juldizin Demalisi, as the tribes do not approve of dancing and their understanding of the word 'excess' is much more limited than that of the colonists. However, a pleasant time is had by all.
Kerman quickly gains an audience for his stories, adult and child alike. Free to speak here without reporters and fear of Faction presence, he tells the full story of everything the party has done, though assiduously leaves out the demon ship summoning. He also alters any reference to an evil sorcerer being in the City of Brass, for fear of worrying his hosts, altering tales of sorcerers to be ghost stories, with one such ghost being somewhere in the Deep Desert, which is quite believable to the Xinghur who already know the dangers tomorrow will bring.
Masruq comes across a child sitting on the bonnet of one of the large transporter crawlers and conducting blessing ritual for journey to Deep Desert. She fears for the safety of her family. Masruq applies his blessing in aid and she thanks him, making sure he is aware of the signs of danger: that when the sand shakes without quakes, the desert itself is awakening. It is a hungry though generous place, and when the sand shakes it is the sign of its mouth opening, a sign that can also be appreciated with spirit glasses that let you see the formation of a tornado of strange energies on the wind.
Caravan leaves
In the morning the Great Caravan assembles and commits to the Deep Desert, the Caliban Crow at its back, flying low.
In the desert scanners fail to see as far as they should and even human eyes become tricked beyond a few tens of metres at best, meaning an odd rock or dune can appear suddenly, forcing the caravan to slow its pace. However, Zarzur creates a network of the party and the caravan's drones, making use of one pair of spirit glasses even, creating a more normal view of the sand ahead. This allows the caravan to make better time, cutting a day off the journey.
Khalil spends his time constructing a chain-lightning canon atop the Caliban Crow
It's a trap
A day and a half into the journey, an aurora appears in front of the caravan. As the party has first-hand experience of these atmospheric phenomena, they recommend the caravan turns to avoid it. Though the crawlers might happily drive under the phenomenon it doesn't seem worth the risk.
As it turns, the party also sees a downed
Youtab Class, Legion ground assault ship like the one that landed near them at the Abouelkassem facility. Lying on its side, it is half submerged in the sand and appears to have been there for quite some time. Knowing the Deep Desert as they do, the Xinghur declare it a trap. However, Murad and Kerman decide to ride out on their grav bikes to investigate.
It is trap. However, it is a Legion trap rather than one from the Dark, though no doubt the Dark will enjoy playing with it nonetheless. Flickering in and out on long-range scanners, Zarzur sees 3 somethings at extreme range behind the caravan and something just as far off but to the right, beyond the downed ship. The desert won't let her see what they are but somehow they can detect the caravan well enough to fire and five rockets appear in the skies. She manages a miracle with the Caliban Crow's countermeasures system (Zarzur always rolls a lot of successes when the need is great) and three rockets explode.
One rocket makes it to the sands near the aurora. Seemingly exploding harmlessly, it instead angers the very sand itself, which rises up in a curtain tens of metres high, ripping across the desert to cleave the caravan in two. Three quarters of the caravan drives on but the tail end is force to swerve even further away.
The final rocket hits the sands near a transport crawler carrying supplies and equipment and the sand begins to shake, though there is no earthquake and the drone with spirit glasses sees a small tornado of strange energy begin to form over the angry sand.
As the crew on board the Caliban Crow try to co-ordinate with the parts of the Great Caravan and attempt to get a better view of their attackers, Kerman and Murad spin their grav-bikes in mid-air and head for the kit crawler. Landing perfectly with a mid-air dismount they slide to a halt across the crawler and survey the scene: will the tackle a worried driver or the angry sand first?
