Oleg and Zmija stand chatting as Loukas walks up to them carrying his gear.

Oleg carries some rope and his falchion and is clad in studded leather armor. Zmija carries nothing and has lost his heavy outer garment. He wears breeches boots and a simple tunic...all dark colored.

Zmija smiles at Loukas and says..."No, you will not have to travel alone so soon!"

Loukas returns the smile and as he does so he notices that while Zmija is dressed so lightly and bears no equipment at all. He can not help but feel a bit self-conscious. After all, he is supposed to be joining Zmija's order, but here he is wearing his studded leather armor with his shield and a quiver of arrows on his back, and Akribis Alitheia at his side. In his hand is his bow, a dagger strapped to his leg, the rope and grapple, and, finally, his dark gray woolen cloak... He suddenly feels rather over-dressed.

"What a pleasant night upon which to be slain," Barmak says as he approaches the group, smiling and flush from the drinking and dancing, though his jest still has an edge of fatalistic resignation to it.  He adjusts the straps of his fine new leather armor, and the quiver of arrows he's tied to hang between his shoulder blades, along with his Persian curved shortbow.  A cunningly-crafted falchion, taken from the Pecheneg spoils, hangs at his side, and the decorated pommel of Eagle's Talon juts from the top of his boot.  Lastly, he has coiled his magical rope over his shoulder, wearing it close to his body.

"You look troubled," he says to Loukas as he makes certain his kit is prepared.  "If it would lighten your heart, I would still be willing to part with some of the booty I claimed."  He grins, seemingly in better spirits than he has displayed since landing ashore.  "I am but a sinner in the eyes of Allah, and my greed has gained the better of me.  Surely I do not need as much gelt as I have claimed."

In reply to Barmak Mahvand (msg #4):

Barmak's comments cause Loukas to snap out of his rumination, "If your generosity and good spirit do not mitigate your God's anger, then he is unworthy of you, my friend. I thank you for both your offer and concern, but I am happy with my gains in this venture so far. What you detect is not unhappiness. I am merely contemplating a personal matter in my impatience to get out there an avoid being slain on this fine evening!

"We will be fine as long as we stick to the shadows and do our best not to engage the enemy in an open fight. The dark will be our greatest ally tonight."

"Zmija speaks wisely. Shall we be off then?"

Have not heard from Jaleh but no biggie, she was slated for this expedition so we will have her tag along silently.

The small party moves south through the shadows of the city and even along the rooftops where they are able to. Zmija takes the lead, less from his need to lead everything and more from the basic fact that he moves like the wind on a gusty day. Loukas does his best to keep up and seems to have a bit of an easier time than some of the others. Poor Oleg is trailing behind the party.

At about ten blocks the party still sees nor hears of any sign of the Pechenegs. DO they continue south or head east or west?

The Varangian finally catches up saying..."I have done my fair share of thieving and lurking about but this pace is killing me!"

He looks to Jaleh and says..."You and A'kos headed south yes...where did you go from here?"

"Perhaps we should flip a coin?" Barmak suggests, half-jesting.  "Unless Jaleh has some insight, I think I would prefer not to go too much deeper into the city.  If we do run into trouble, I should like to be as close to the others as possible, and not have our avenue of escape cut off.  So I suggest east or west."

Loukas nods in agreement, "I think you speak wisdom, Barmak."

"We traveled east on the Church Street and saw nothing."

"Let us go west, then," Barmak says, "and see what may be seen."  He glances about the intersection again to make certain the coast is clear, and then he begins to move again.

The party takes the West road with Barmak taking the lead.

All is quiet until the group travels about a 1/4 mile more west and they begin to hear the sounds of horses and most likely an encampment. The locals are staying indoors and there is not hide no hair of them seen. The street then heads south for a bit, then north again...basically a u shape.

The sounds come just north of the road passed the buildings into what was the open market.

See game map liked at the top of the page

Zmija takes the lead and soon the party is close enough that they can see and hear what is going on in the market square. The monk holds up his hand for silence as he waits for the others to see what he is seeing.

As your eyes grow accustomed to the glare of several fires in the dark surrounding the open market, the grisly scene becomes clear.

Stakes surround the outside of the encampment of possibly 500 Pechenegs. These stakes all seem to be topped off with a human head, or other body part and in some cases the bodies of human children.

The Pechenegs themselves seem to be drinking heavily and feasting on something that just cannot be believed...in the dark it really looks like they are eating the remains of humans but it is just too hard to tell for sure from this distance.

As for the Pechenegs themselves, there does not seem to be even one fully human member of the tribe here in this square, instead it seems like those of mixed orcish and human blood prevail with more than a few full blooded orc about.

Barmak scans the scene with a growing sense of horror and disgust.  "Barbarians," he whispers, wide-eyed.  "Animals.  Hellspawn."  He glances back at the rest of the party.  "We must inform the others of this.  Should we continue to scout the city, or should we return with this news?  I would guess that this is their primary encampment, though I cannot rule out the possibility that greater numbers may yet camp elsewhere within the city walls."

He glances up at the stars, trying to determine how much more time they may have before daybreak.

The disgust and anger Loukas felt was evident on his face, but his tone was even as he replied quietly, "We ought to have time to make certain of their situation here as well as whether or not there are any other encampments nearby before reporting our findings."

it is still very early....no later than midnight.

Zmija sighs as he looks on at the carnage then says..."Yes, let us circle their encampment and make sure we look in the surrounding neighborhoods for others before returning to Dobrynya. I am sure he will be most unhappy for this report."

Zmija once again takes point and leads the party in a circular direction around the encampment. After two or three hours it is clear that while there are other small groups scattered throughout the city that this one in the open market is indeed the main group.

"Let us return now...we must take care we remain unseen. This information must reach Dobrynya."

Barmak nods his agreement, still grim-faced after the grisly and dispiriting discovery of the main Pecheneg camp.

"If naught else," he says to the band, "my resolve to see these dogs' lifesblood spilt has been made stronger by our foray.  May Allah deliver justice by our blades!"

Loukas nods his agreement keeping his thoughts to himself otherwise. Despite the silence his resolve seems etched across his face. The Pecheneg would pay for what they have done...

The small party makes their way back to the encampment at the North Gate without incident. Once back they relate their findings to Dobrynya himself who is furious at the news and says that messengers will be sent within the hour letting the Pechenegs know their route through the North Gate is open.

The party is fed and sent to the barracks for some rest before the slaughter of the mongrels in the afternoon. You all see that the group sent to fix the aqueduct has already returned. and are resting comfortably in the same barracks.