Excerp From "Sand Tithes"

From one of the numerous necropolises of Zandri, great disturbance tore through the chambers of King Ishimerohz's.His fury so great that it was manifesting itself in chilling display of supernatural.All of his sentries baled with blue guttering flames, standing perfectly disciplined as they burned with the rage of their king.A wind without apparant source was blasting through the necropolis and carrying with it the intensifying roar of Ishimerohz.Skeletons swept by the wind joined their King in his cry of fury.His ire overwhelming their senses.The soldiers of his powerful host rallied to their master's demands for blood.Each perfectly aligned with the next as they assembled for war within the vast chambers of his Necropolis, holding a discipline that could never be held with life.His vizier stood patiently and at a distance, as King Ishimerohz reacted to the proclamations sent from Ghitza.Finally, enough reason returned to Ishimerohz that he was able to speak.Who is this King Akimenon? he spoke the name as if it were a disgusting curseword, Who is this filth of the oasis to direct such threats to the Master of Vitae's Gateway?! Vitae was the mighty river that cut through Nehkara and had once been the lifeblood of the lands.Nowadays the water was greatly reduced by the unrelenting heat andsands and had been poisoned beyond saving by the Accursed One,Nagash.Despite the toll upon the impressive stretch of water, still the river was a deep and broad stretch of water and Zandri maintained and patrolled the lands that saw the river meet the Great Ocean.I will destroy them! I shall see all within the walls of this befouled jackal filled dungheap destroyed.I will tear this fool from his sarcophagus and have him watch from a spike as I burn his remains!His vizier, Qu'apre, remained silent until he realised that the lull in his King's anger was leaving him in his Lord's attentions.Ghitza is a city close to a dozen moons march from the Pharoah's illustrious city.Lord Akimenon is ruler of Gitza and has preceded over them for two centuries.Their city shares the curse of Kalima and finds itself perpetually claimed and consumned by the deserts.Yes and now that they have been vomited back out, they think they have the right to interfere with the divine plans of their rightful ruler.I shall see to it that when the sands once more flow over them that it shall be to conceal their unworthy ruins from the gaze of Ptra.The Pharoahs host is assembling.We are all but prepared for war, my Lord and King.Then why do you stand before me, fool?! Settle the arrangements and see to it that my host is ready to send these serpents to the pits.Master of All He Surveys and Wielder of Sorrow, it is customary and appropriate to answer these declarations by ritual duel.Ishimerohz seemed to tower in his ill-contained rage, he moved quickly towards his vizier and lifted him with such ease it were as if Qu'apre weighed nothing.The Pharoah's carnal breath hissed over him and Qu'apre felt the hammering of terror birth inside of him.He did not believe the Pharoah would kill him for such an act would see his Lord sent to the underworld to face the judgement of the gods but his Lord was not known for his kindness or levelheaded reasoning.Do you dare to tell the Bringer of Fire what is appropriate?The gods decide, King Ishimeronz, and where they do not, the Lion of the Desert speaks instead. It is custom and is due to all kings of Nehkara.King Ishimerohz growled to hear the title of Settra, the enemy and oppressor of Zandri.His hatred and anger grew to such a proportion that for one moment he almost obeyed the urge to tear the leathery head from his advisor.Instead he released the withered priest and stormed to his throne to brood.His eyes filled with balefire and his aura one of reddened darkness.Qu'apre smoothed himself out and bowing his head, spoke again, Ghizta have drawn dispute over your claims for Kalima and must be treated as tradition dictates, then with those words, he retreated from the chamber and his King's wrath.

Helmut Gassenberg stood under the punishing heat of the sun, yet despite the sweat and burning heat he couldn't stop from shaking.A seafaring trader, he had seen much in his lifetime.He had seen Kraken rise up from the waters to steal galleons from the surface, he had been in the midst of cannonade battles with crude orc battleships, watched sea serpents take to the sky and turn water into burning pitchfields and evaded and fought numerous corsairs, pirates and even once seen a ship of metal destroy a naval fleet with impunity; yet this was surely the strangest time of his life.Less than a year ago, his ship,The Marionette,had been travelling back from a visit to Araby.He had spent weeks gathering exotic spice, animals and materials and had struck some good bargains with thetraders of Copher.It had been a gruelling journey and the lands of Araby were renown for their cutthroats and swindlers, fortunately Gassenberg was quick to recognise his own kind and avoided any real problems.True, two of his crew never returned but that could have been for numerous reasons and he had had no time to wait around for them.The return journey had started off well enough, with good winds seeing them make progress and the salt airs helping to clear his head of the strong opiates he had discovered in Copher.It was on the third day of their journey that his lookout, a boy called Pedtre, had spotted the small fleet of Arabyian pirates.They were speedy vessels and looked to be in hot pursuit withThe Marionette.It had been a game of cat and mouse for the next eighteen hours, as Gassenberg's experienced crew had utilised the winds and currents to optimise their speed and they had even been forced to jettison some of the cargo but Gassenberg realised it was to no avail.Worst still, they realised that they were being coralled and pushed back towards the shores of Araby.As Gassenberg frantically pulled charts and measured for any possible escape route, his crew furiously steered and tried to lose their pursuers.It was then that the Arabyian Pirates drew into range, close enough to attack.It had been completely unexpected, asThe Marionettediscovered that on board one of the pirate ships was a battlemage.Huge fireballs had materialised from the leading pirate ship and arched towards their vessel.The first had been a close miss and spread alarm and panic through the crew, who pressed harder to avoid the pirates.The second fireball had scorched the bow of the ship and fires began to take on the wooden vessel.The third ball of flames had directly connected with the portside of the ship and it was only good fortune that prevented theships's supply gunpowder from blowing them into a watery grave.It was at this point that the frantic and heaving lookout had spotted the river entrance and bellowed for all his worth.It had been a risky maneouvre and greatly foolish but Gassenberg knew that it had been their only escape route.Amazenly, it had worked.As soon as the ship had taken to the river, their pursuers called off their chase and the smoldering ship made good it's escape.The ship's crew hurriedly worked on recovering and maintaining the ship.Asthey continued down the river, it was Pedtre who first saw hints as to why the pirates had called off their chase.Huge statues of animal headed men stood towering over the banks of the river.One a man with a crocodile's leering head and the second a vast eagle-like headed man.They wore symbology that Pedtre swore resembled the Arabyian language.Not many of the crew had even noticed the statues, so busy were they dealing with the damage from the attack and attempting to recage or subdue panicking animals, but those who did were wary and swore of superstitions and danger.And so they continued down the river, a broad and stretching water that made the Great Riek look like a trickling creek.The men muttered and wrung their hands as they spoke of how close to blood the river appeared and how dead the lands around it appeared.Gassenberg had dismissed them as a band of craven children and pointed out that the soil must create the illusion of blood and which desert didn't appear dead to the untrained eye.He then returned to his charts and tried to establish exactly where they were.When he worked it out, he prayed he was wrong and felt deep apprehension in telling his crew what he had discovered.The river was mentioned or marked in only a handful of his most esoteric or archaic of charts and its route ran through land that was largely unmarked and unshaded but those that depected the river all shared one feature.The dire warning scrawled over the unexplored land, The dead walketh here.He had drank four flasks of the strongest spiced wine that he had upon reading this and locked in his cabin had wept and laughed at the damnation they possibly sailed towards.The next day, feeling foolish and very hungover, he acted as if everything was fine and made his efforts to reassure his crew and keep them busy.Itwas two days later that Pedtre had spotted the city that they learned was known as Geetzar.Pedtre, dehydrated and hoarse had clambered down from the crow's nest and chokingly reported the sighting.As he spoke, his lips and tongue were coated in fine sand and his eyes were scratched and raw.His hands were shaking from the effects of exposure to the blinding, unrelenting heat.Gassenberg gladly thanked the boy for his report and then demanded Pedtre go down below to rest and eat.The news had brought Gassenberg a deep sense of forbodding, for he knew that the crew would all expect to hold port there to finalise repairs and rest.He knew they would grow curious about the city.He had heard the tales of the Dead Cities.Each were reported to be dripping with gold and jewels and all manners of rare and powerful artifacts and devices.Those myths always stood side by side the tales of the dead who rose up to slaughter trespassers and cause whole armies to disappear.Fear combining with heatstroke had left Gassenberg feeling very disorientated and in terror of the unknown point but still he had the clarity torecall the events that lead to him returning to Geetzar less than a year later.

It had been madness, a strange vision that unsettled and defied logic.As they approached the city, they saw evidence of life.The crew had cheered and whooped.They had danced and kissed each other.Richmond had boyantly asked if they could celebrate with rum.Gassenberg had remained stoney jawed as he tried to see beyond the glaring heat, using his telescope.Even as he saw it, even as he realised the tales were true, he wanted to deny what his eye was seeing.Skeletons in simple boats threw and drew empty nets from the blood red water.Skeletons scrubbed and beat clothing on the shore.Further in the horizon, larger ships were landlocked and he could see skeletons clean and what appeared to be performing repairs on these ships.At the docks, even more skeletons worked and bustled.They appeared to pass back and forth crates and boxes, at times miming the performance but nothing to pass or receive.To all intents and purposes they appeared to be parodying life on the river.Gassenberg had hissed for his crew to silence their yapping heads and passed the telescope to his first mate, Alexio.Alexio was a man who had seen a great deal and if any knew stories to frighten and alarm after a few jars, it was he.He had grimly witnessed the skeletons at work and then grunted through the side of his mouth, So, the stories are true then, Captain.