In the Tomb

Craven was still fiddling with the console when Niven felt moving air coming from the remaining door.  He grabbed Craven and let him down the passage and through the door.  When they entered the chamber, metal doors at the other end slid silently into the side walls, revealing a short, open-topped passage ending a rocky outcropping. The air was hot, dry, and thin. There were no clouds. The sky was pink, and there was a large moon before them.

Into the Fight

They emerged from the tomb to discover a battle in progress.  Craven saw a giant, four armed, green being with one of those strange rifles get shot by a blast of energy and fall.  Looking around the corner, he saw a Native American looking man holding the rifle that had fired the shot.  Craven approached the red man.

Beyond the cliff before them, more of the four-armed advanced wielding great two-handed swords.  A lone caravan guard remained to stop them.

Niven approached and examined the dead marksman.  It was about seven feet tall, and had four humanoid arms.  The skin was rough and hairless. Tusks jutted out from its lower jaw.

The surviving guard killed his opponent before it could engage him. Another took its place.  Several others attempted to climb up the ten foot cliff.  Niven, Craven and the red man shot the green-skinned warriors. The Earthmen used their Lee-Enfields.  The red man used his energy rifle. Nearly every shot killed one.

Down below, the lone guard slew the green beings with abandon, while the others quickly dispatched the ones that reached them on the ledge. When all was done.  The two Earthmen, the two red men, and four of the bipedial reptiles that they used for mounts were the only survivors.

Introductions

The red shooter was awe struck by Craven.  He addressed Craven as Zak Arras, but Craven thought that that was the red man’s name. Craven realized that he understood the red man’s language.

The shooter introduced himself as Kallor Muldane.  He asked what the appearance of Zak Arras, the hero of legend, after 1000 years meant. Craven introduced himself and Niven, and said that he was not the man Kallor thought he was.  Niven could not understand the red man, but hearing Craven speak their language, was able to make sense of the conversation.

The Story of Zak Arras

Kallor was not convinced, and recounted Zak Arras’ legendary exploits:

The tribal leader Borak Tor was a visionary leader. While scouring the deserts for artifacts, he encountered an Earthman lost in the desert. The man knew not how he had gotten there or who he was, or even his own name.  He sought out the old technologies in search of a way to find his way home.  Borak Tok named him Zak Arras, which meant “lost in the sand.”

Borak found him fascinating. Through many an adventure, he guided Zak Arras to new ruins, and long lost sites. There he studied the most basic, elemental knowledge that lay hidden. Fired on by Zak Arras, Borak began to dream new dreams.

Zak Arras looked towards the ruins of old Korium.

The canal gave the tribe an opportunity to no longer wander the wastes, but to sink down roots and stay in place. By settling, he told the tribal leader, Borak could better protect their hold upon the water – and by settling, he could evolve his people into something more:  they could become civilised.

To make tools and weapons, not merely trade for them. To generate wealth – not extort it from hapless travellers. But to move on and away from the past, advancing rather than looking back. Perhaps to discover new sciences to replace the old. To stop the slow decay of their world and become a new people, proud and glorious.

The site of Old Korium gave the needed base for a new city. The rubble provided ready building materials, and several vast towers were intact. The city sat at the edge of the canal, able to water itself, irrigate any fields the nomads chose to make. Borak led his tribe to the city site. For the first time in generations, Red Martians struggled to build anew, and not merely scavenger and repair.

The stones that once made palaces now formed mighty city walls, defending the settlement against the predations of other Martians, both Red and Green The old rubble was levelled, and entirely new houses were built using the stone. Wars were fought as other cities thought to prey upon the new settlement – but the Red nomads of New Korium were fierce and cunning. Led by Zak Arras, who seemed to understand the Red Men’s technology, they struck at the air ports of their enemies, stealing their very ships out from under them. The once-nomads now took to the skies to defend their home.

Zak repaired fallen air ships, bringing life to damaged engines. The airships linked the new city to new trade routes, bringing life flowing into Korium’s veins.

Korium was a city again.  But she had no radium generators – only windmills and water wheels, introduced by Zak Arras, that provided a trickle of electric power. The only radium weapons Korium possessed were those won in battle from her enemies. But Korium was alive. And as the first centuries of her new existence passed, the city began to prosper.

For the first centuries of her new life, guided by Zak Arras, Korium was preoccupied with her own birth struggles: war against marauding Greens and Red cities, construction, exploration and founding industries. She was outside of the cut and savage thrust of Red Martian politics. But her ties to the Nomads that lived about her in the wastes were strong. And when the nomads suffered, Korium came to her aid.

To the south of Korium, at the rim of what is now known as the Baltan Confederacy, lay the terrible city of Ghutan. The slave lords of Ghutan were a horrific tyranny – a city of brainwashed, terrified slaves driven by sadistic lords and masters. City after city fell before them, swelling the slave pits with bodies, and filling their army with more terrified, beaten soldiers. But the Ghutanian overlords required more and more living cattle to fuel their ongoing conquests. They raided into the deserts, seizing red nomads as slaves.

Swayed by an impassioned speech by Zak Arras, Korium’s air navy came to the defence of the nomads, and the empty skies of the desert lit red with battle.  Korium took a fearless stand against the warlords of Ghutan. The great slave empire of Ghutan demanded first trade subsidies, and then protection money from all of the smaller states to the north. Most cities paid – but Korium proudly refused.

Thus began the siege of Korium. The shambling slave army headed north, and swarmed about the walls of Korium like ants. They met the sheer fury of Korium – nomad skills blended with the determination of civilised men. The outnumbered air navy of Korium fought like Chu’grahk, raiding and boarding – swelling her own ranks with ships taken from the hands of the slave drivers.

Against all odds, Korium held her own.

As the siege continued, Ghutanian assassins slew Korium’s King, expecting resistance to crumble. But a commoner arose, endorsed by Zak Arras, who rallied the people, and raised an army that held the besieging hordes of Ghutan at bay. This brave stand gave time for the other city states to break their bonds and rise up against the Bandit empire.

The Ghutanian army was defeated in the great ‘battle of the bones’ – a savage battle between the alliance of free cities and the armies of Ghutan. Defeated in battle, the Ghutanian slave army disintegrated. Their capital was attacked, destroyed, and untold numbers of their captives set free.  However, Zak Arras was also lost in the battle, never to be seen again.

Back to the Present

Craven knew somehow that the mounts were called gashants.  The horse-size creatures had sharp clawed feet and the grace of birds of prey.  They all had tack and were laden with bags and crates.  Two of the gashants had been trained to fight at the rider’s command.  These were called war gashants.  The other two were pack gashants.

Three of the gashants were unharmed, and one was slightly injured but capable of travel. They salvaged food and water for a couple of days, and some trade goods from among the supplies of the expedition. Kallor explained that it was a 5 karad (180 miles) journey to Korium, the nearest free red city, but the Sardai tribe was camped only 30 zodes (three days) ride from their current location.

The nearest red man center was Marukal, their original destination, a city north of the Baltan Confederation, but it had been conquered by the green warlord Valish Borkan two years ago, and unless they approached with an appearance of strength, they would be attacked and enslaved.

When asked why Kallor was heading to Marukal if it was such a hostile place, Kallor explained that he sought to rescue his true love, Rillia. Her father, the archeologist Kah Vukan, took her to Marukal to continue his researches into the lost tomb of Emperor Noldes before it was conquered. They had parted on bad terms, and he wanted to come to her rescue and win her back.

Through the Green Wastes

They rode through the vast sandy openness of the region, known as the Green Wastes as only the green men could survive for long there, for rest of the day.  Niven noted that the “sand” was not the same as Earth sand.  It was more akin to powdered volcanic stone, but reddish in color.

As the sun was setting, they were passing through a ravine, where it was cooler, when DH realized that there were approaching a Cazarn (Desert Wasp) nest.  A moment later, three giant insects emerged from the top of a small pile in the center of their path.

The guard dismounted and engaged with his twin scimitars.  A Cazarn approached and he sliced into three pieces.  Niven and Craven shot with their pistols from their mounts and killed the other two insects.

Three more emerged from the top of the mount before them.  Kallor and Craven spurred their war gashants to attack.  Craven attacked one in mid-air leaping over the chasm that was the nest entrance, but missed.  Niven dismounted and shot one with his Lee-Enfield.

Six more appeared.  The guard slew the insects with every strike.  The gashants and the swords slew the rest until no more appeared.

The Team

  • Sir Lyton Niven, Gentleman Thief and Spy
  • Capt. Philip Harrison Craven, WWI Flying Ace
  • Kallor Muldane – Red Martian Explorer
  • The Lone Caravan Guard