An airship in the service of the City of Hands had set out some one or two weeks ago, carrying the "Unlucky One", and a small crew. Among them were two of the Twelve-times-Twelve – neither of them members of the original group, but rather more recent recruits from the shamans of tribes that have come to the City. After all, there were vacancies made when the Twelve were formed from this august assembly, and the Twelve-times-Twelve are by no means immortal.

"Calm-Sky" was the air mage, a "shaman" who operated in secret in one of the cities of captivity of the Savanites. "Stone-Hand", an earth mage, was from one of the "feral" tribes, and his namesake was his right hand … permanently clenched into a warped fist, thus hindering his ability to sign.

Now, though, Jynx finds himself on the ground, away from the ship, with only a beautiful green-eyed cheetah as his companion. Those shamans never DID give him a proper debriefing, and somehow in all the confusion, he only ended up with whatever basic equipment he usually carries on his person. Thankfully, that includes two daggers.

A hungry howl echoes through the night, the sound of one of the unseen denizens. The green-eyed cheetah – whatever her name is – doesn't seem the least bit concerned. "This way," she signs, as if she should somehow have an edge over the magical talisman that Stone-Hand gave to Jynx … the rock on a string that is currently around Jynx's neck, and is as cold as the stone it should be made of.

The black cat grumbles a bit. He's off to find the most destructive known object on the face of the planet, and all he has is a little food and some knives. Sighing, he hefts his pack over his shoulder, and nods to his fellow traveller."You lead, I'll-," he pauses at the howl, "follow… " He clutches the talisman, wanting to get this over with.

The green-eyed cheetah nods and smiles at Jynx. She leads the way, but keeps casting glances to Jynx, perhaps merely to make sure he's keeping pace, but perhaps not. None of the beasts approaches the pair. Perhaps the wind is in their favor. But then, there is a great commotion from somewhere off to one side and a bit behind the two felines. A glance reveals some barely-seen points of light that hint at shuttered lanterns a good distance off the ground. The shadowy vessel moves forward, revealing itself to be the undercarriage of an airship … an undercarriage on wheels, with its envelope missing or deflated and folded away. The airship is rolling through a large gap in the warpwood grove … and as it slowly gets closer, the strains of music can be heard. Music played on a lute.

Jynx does at double take at the strange vessel. "What in the name of the Star… " He dives to the ground, looking to see if his companion does likewise. "What on Sinai is that?" He perks his ears to the music; how strange…

Although the airship is approaching, its course is not one that gives Jynx any chance of being run over. The path cut through the warpwood trees – wide enough to let an airship on wheels through, of course – is off to the right. Jynx's cheetah companion seems utterly unconcerned. She casually steps behind one of the warpwood trees, and, at a glance, seems to blend in rather impressively … as if she were but some more branches growing off from the side.

Music is indeed being played … and responded to by howls and whinnies and other noises from creatures below. A small army of bestial people pull taut cables, towing the wheeled airship behind them. At the prow of the ship, a garishly-attired elderly poodle strums a lute. "Pull, pull onward," he sings, his voice occasionally breaking into a croak, but his hands dancing across the strings and producing a melody that would please the ears of royalty.

Others stand on the deck of the airship, and as the ship gets closer, the lantern light is enough to illuminate their forms. One is a huge Rhian – as most Rhians are – with wicked scars that run from the edges of his mouth, as if someone wanted to carve a smile upon his face, and a doctor had to sew up the damage later. He has an emerald-green Creen perched on his shoulder, who scrawks barely-intelligible phrases every once in a while, such as "Walk the plank! (cree!) Yo ho ho!"

A sleek female Khatta – white, save for a black patch of fur over one eye – stands on the other side of the poodle.

The Rhian loudly brays, "I say we move the Artifact NOW, before those spotties get here! It's about TIME you showed me where you stashed the rock. And it's obvious it needs to be hidden more thoroughly, if all and sundry know how to FIND it." He snorts loudly enough that this can be heard as well.

The black Khatta blinks at the Savanite. What is she doing? Has she seen this before? He slowly gets up and begins to make his way over to her, then pauses as he looks at the strange trio aboard the ship. He shivers at the sight of the Rhian, whose booming voice carres easily across the jungle-scape. His ears perk up as he realizes what has just been said. "The Artifact," he whispers to himself, then creeps up behind a nearby tree to hear better. Maybe he can finally find the accursed artifact…

The poodle keeps playing, but pauses in his singing, to rasp to the Rhian – and again, Jynx can hear him over the din perfectly. "Do not be impatient, Captain Swiftkick. I know your motives well enough. But you are not ready for the Artifact. You know well what happened to Calderas. In any case, I am well aware of the plot of the 'spotties'. I have my spies among them. They are far less secure than they think. And there will be a little surprise for them before they arrive here."

The feline purrs, "I hope you do not kill the 'Unlucky One', Alto. I would like to meet him. He sounds like quite an intriguing man… " She purrs again, smiling wistfully. "I would like to play with him for a while." She bares her teeth. "And then show him how much I miss darling Dash."

The poodle gets a sour look on his face. (Amazing just how good Jynx's eyes are!) "No, the black Khatta will die by my hand. For too long, I have suffered the indignities of the legend of Shikouju … and how that scoundrel stole the deeds of the Musician – Palao Alto – to call them his own! No more! The legacy of Shikouju shall END, once and for all! And no one – not you, Swiftkick, nor you, Garrote, nor the whole City of Hands, shall cheat me of that!"

The airship keeps rolling along. It's now getting ahead of Jynx, and heading toward a rocky ridge ahead that provides one of the few breaks in the otherwise flat terrain of the Beast Lands.

Swiftkick whinnies, "Calm down, Alto! Fine, fine … you can kill the kid. He's no Shikouju. Just a young, lucky punk. I'll let you have the honors."

Jynx's fur bristles; these people know about the hunt for the artifact? How? The words of the female Khatta make Jynx's heart sink, but it feels as though it will explode when he hears the words of the poodle; Palao Alto, the poodle musician from the Compass Rose – still alive! The black Khatta's knees feel as though they will fall out from under him. It seems everyone had it in for Shikouju, and now his grandson as well. Forcing himself to stay calm, he begins to follow behind the ship, motioning for his cheetah tracker to follow.

As the beast-pulled airship continues on its route, it heads right up to the ridge. Soon, it is evident that there is a large cavern opening there. The bard plays all the more loudly, and there is a pause before the airship continues on in. It fits neatly inside, and no attempt is made to seal or hide the opening.

Jynx sneaks his way as close to the cavern as he can, yet being careful not to give himself away to the occupants of the air-, er, groundship it would seem. He peers back at the Savanite, keeping his ears turned towards the cave.

The green-eyed Savanite is again, totally unconcerned by the look of things. More howling and roaring can be heard inside the cavern, as the airship rolls deeper within. Near the entrance are several smaller holes and tunnels branching off. A bit of steam rises out of one of the holes, and for just a moment, the lantern-light glints off of something that might be scales. If scales, then those of a very, very large reptile, possibly as big as the airship, sleeping within one of those tunnels.

Palao Alto plays another song, and the brutes that pulled the ship stop hauling, and stand and listen … then, they start bounding away, scattering into side-tunnels, and even spilling past Jynx, out of the entrance! None pay the slightest heed to him. They are comprised of many races – Khattas, Jupanis, Rhians – but brutish in proportions, with barely anything in the way of a forehead, and exaggerated forelimbs, claws and fangs.

The black cat looks puzzled at the cheetah. How can she be calm at a time like this? He turns his attention back to the cave, trying to get a good look at the various tunnels and caves. Seeing the scales of – whatever it is – takes Jynx off his guard, and he trips to the ground as he is nearly run over by the strange, malformed beasts.

The wild beasts have now scattered. Ahead, the pirates disembark from the airship, carrying their booty and supplies, heading up a wooden ramp and into a side tunnel. Along the sides of the cavern can be seen many cages with squirming animals inside. A Rhian woman is stooped over next to one of the cages, and the sound of her weeping can be heard from here. She stands in the shadow of the airship cast by lights that come from the far side of the cavern chamber.

Jynx quickly scrambles to his feet, and bolts for better cover, hoping he hasn't been discovered yet. They're controlling the beasts? They must have the artifact! Making sure that the pirates are occupied, he sneaks closer to the cave mouth, noticing the Rhian woman, and tries to peer at what she is crying over.

There's a whinnying squall from within one of the cages. A kittenish mew can be heard from another. Those are no small animals inside those cages … they're cubs and colts – CHILDREN! The Rhian woman stoops down to a cage where a baby Rhian can be seen inside, and tries to stuff some grain inside. The baby, possibly not even old enough for such food, clumsily waves its hands around, but is unable to reach for it, or even to focus on anything. Captain Swiftkick strides up, preventing Jynx's approach – if he cares to remain secret. "Away, woman!" the pirate captain calls out, slapping the woman down. "The only food for these runts is the power of the Artifact! Get back to your chores!"

It's easier to see now what lies beyond the airship. There is a great idol, its hands holding flaming braziers that light the chamber. The cages are all positioned to be exposed to the idol, though there is no sign of any "artifact" held by it. And surely this idol couldn't be hauled about so easily!

The black Khatta's fur feels like it's burning in anger – children! This is how the beasts came to be? What kind of horrible monsters are these people? He barely restrains himself from bolting out to attack the pirate, and clenches his paws to his daggers. He rips his attention as best he can from the two Rhians, and looks up at the strange idol. What does this thing have to do with the artifact?

The green-eyed female Savanite smiles and points to the idol. "This way," she signs. "There's a secret passage." While the captain abuses the woman, the green-eyed feline slips past, heading right up to the idol! Most of the pirates are gone, and none of them look her direction. She stops, looking back to Jynx, still smiling.

The idol is a brutish construction of indeterminate but humanoid species. It looks vaguely reptilian, and may have once represented a Shiga, but it has worn badly over time, becoming smooth save for jagged and random breaks and cracks.

It is large enough that Jynx could climb up and stand on one of the outstretched hands, if it weren't for the brazier that would scorch his feet.

Jynx blinks in amazement. What kind of audacity is this? Shrugging, he follows quickly behind the smiling cheetah, his tail like a bottlebrush, partly at the Rhian, and partly at the eerieness of this strange Savanite. He slips up next to her, getting a good look at the reptilian idol. He ponders its purpose, keeping an ear towards the Rhian to be safe.

The cheetah smiles, leans close to Jynx as if to whisper something to him … then suddenly pecks him on the cheek! She swiftly moves right up to the idol … then walks THROUGH it! As if it were nothing but an illusion! Of course, it would seem that this is exactly what it IS, all things considered…

The ebon Khatta is taken aback, and his ears blush a deep bright crimson. He quickly recovers from the kiss as the Savanite disappears through the idol – taken aback even more this time. Momentarily frozen to the spot in amazement, Jynx paces up to the idol, carefully at first. Then, eyes shut, he tries to press his way through the idol.

The black Khatta passes through … and then finds himself in a cavern chamber behind the idol. In the center of the chamber is a shallow pit. In the center of that rests a crystalline misshapen form, that glows and pulsates, casting light upon the room. It looks as if it might be molten, and would spill out of Jynx's fingers if he were to pick it up. It's about the size of a large kyootcumber, though there's no telling how heavy. The green-eyed cheetah stands next to Jynx, and signs, "You made it. You've come. I've been waiting for you." She walks closer to him, a mischievous glint in her eyes, and that everpresent smile on her face. She extends her hands to Jynx.

Jynx marvels momentarily at the strange object, then turns to the Savanite with a perplexed look (which he seems to be using a lot today). "You've been waiting for… me?" The cat gets an uneasy feeling, but nevertheless extends a paw to the cheetah. The Twelve-Times-Twelve sent her after all. "W-who are you?"

Suddenly, Jynx feels a tug at his neck. Then another. Then a snapping sensation as the stone pendant breaks free. Then he feels the Savanite shaking him by his shoulders, as he falls back, back … onto the ground … onto … a bunk? Everything goes dark, save for a dim light … the light of sunlight shining in and being filtered through closed eyelids. And someone IS still shaking him by the shoulders.

The Khatta fights to keep his balance at the falling sensation, until all goes dark. Eyes squeezed shut, he reluctantly opens them to get a view at what just happened. Now he's more confused than ever.

Jynx is on board the airship. He never left it yet. Calm-Sky is shaking his shoulders. Of course, since his hands are occupied shaking the Khatta, he's not signing an explanation. The broken string of the stone amulet can be seen dangling from one of the hands. Calm-Sky seems to notice it as well, and tosses the amulet aside, then signs, "While I was casting my spell, I sensed magic! You were under the influence of the Artifact!"

Sitting up and clutching his head, Jynx gives the mage a strange look. "Where… where am I? How did I get back here?" His mouth drops in amazement, "But… but I was down in the cave, and we found the artifact!" The cat pauses as he reads the cheetah's sign, "Under the influence of the Artifact? What are you talking about?"

Calm-Sky holds up the amulet – a stone pendant made from pebbles and grit from Jynx's boots, and some sort of ritual of the Sphere of Earth. He sets it aside, then signs, "I sensed some sort of link between this and a force far ahead." A couple more cheetahs burst into the room. Stone-Hand can be seen just outside the door.

Jynx stares at the amulet, "You mean… it was making me dream all that?" He sits up on the bunk as the other cheetahs enter. "It seemed so real… I swear it did… "

Calm-Sky spins around, facing Stone-Hand. "Your amulet works, but it is too strong a link! We must keep careful watch on it the closer we get to the Artifact. It must be a potent device indeed!"

The black Khatta nods, "It must be strong, I swear that was the most realistic dream I've ever had. All those beasts, the pirates, those… children… " A concerned look crosses Jynx's face.

"Children?" signs Stone-Hand, at half the speed of the others, since he has only one good hand to work with.

Jynx looks at the cheetah mage, and nods. "Yes, children. In my dream, these pirates… They had an airship that traveled on the ground. They came to this cave, with an idol in it, and they had cage upon cage of little children, extremely young." The Khatta's expression deepens, "And they controlled the beasts of the Wild Lands. I think they were using the children for something, maybe to make more beasts." He looks down at the ground, "There was also this… strange Savanite tracker, with green eyes. She was my guide, I guess, and led me to the Artifact – or I suppose it was the artifact." He then looks embarassed,"She, er, kissed me, then extended her paw to me, and that's when I woke up."

Stone-Hand makes a scornful smile and shakes his head. He quick-signs, "Just young boy's dream about girls." He waves his good hand in dismissal, and steps out of the chamber.

His ears blushing furiously in further embarassment, the Khatta stands up from his bunk, avoiding eye contact with the earth mage. "But I'd almost swear to the Star that these people were real! They all had names, and … and I knew one of them, or who he was at least."

The earth mage remains just outside the door, still looking in, once he sees the others aren't following.

The air mage makes a "go ahead" gesture.

Jynx swallows, "Well, the artifact, it seemed to pulsate, or something like that. Almost as though it were liquid. The pirates were a Khatta, a Rhian, and a poodle named Palao Alto," he grimaces, "My family has some history with him, none of it good. Anyways, they led their ship, which was pulled by those beasts, inside a cave, and it was there that all the children were, and a giant stone idol. We approached the idol, but seemed to go through it as though it weren't there, and that's where the artifact was." The Khatta looks up to see what reaction the story has on the cheetahs.

Stone-Hand's ears flick in alarm. The air mage looks curiously at Jynx, then to the others. "A vision granted by the Artifact? But for what purpose?"

"I- I guess you could call it a vision… " he blinks, "but I don't know why it would want to give me one. The strange woman cheetah… she seemed to want me to follow her, and was happy to see me, but never told me why, or who she was."

"She said, 'I've been waiting for you,'" the Khatta adds.

The air mage signs, "All right. So the Artifact must have detected your presence, then. Is there anything else you saw in this vision? Anything of importance?"

Jynx tries to remember, "Well, besides the cave, pirates, cheetah, the ship and the artifact, I only remember a Rhian woman crying, trying to feed her baby, or I guess it was hers." He fights back tears, remembering the dismal scene. "And I know it was in the forest, and they seemed to control the savage ones."

The air mage signs, "Who are 'they', again? And what were they doing?"

"The pirates," Jynx replies. "They had this ship that traveled on the ground, and there was a poodle, a Khatta lady, and a Rhian. I think their names were Lady Garrote and… Swiftkick I think. But they were talking about the Artifact, and the poodle, Palao Alto, seemed to have it in his possession. They… all seemed to have it out for me."

"How so?" signs the air mage. The earth mage disappears from sight. "And what did they say about the Artifact?"

Jynx thinks for a moment, "The Rhian was talking about the artifact, and that they should move it before the Savanites get there." He looks up with a grimace, "I think they know we're coming. But the Rhian didn't know where the artifact was being held, I guess Palao Alto was hiding it from him. The lady Khatta was mad at me over the Captain Dash incident, and Palao Alto wanted me dead for… family reasons." He frowns.

"They know we're coming?" signs the air mage. "But if that's so … why haven't they simply attacked us?"

"I don't know," the Khatta replies. "They must be waiting for us, if any of this is true of course." He looks up at the air mage, "Why did the Artifact contact me? And who was that Savanite woman?"

The door slams shut, and something can be heard being wedged against it. The cheetahs spin around – Two crewmen and the air mage are all that are in the room with Jynx.

Jynx spring up from his bed, "What in the… !" He runs over to the door and pounds on it, "Hey! Open up! What's the meaning of this?" He realizes he's wasting his time with the cheetahs, but continues yelling nonetheless. "Open up out there!"

A little stone hand serving as a coat-hanger, attached to the wall, starts to flex. Another stone hand, curled into the sign for "Peace", serving as a decoration on an end-table, starts to move as well, forming the sign for "Doom".

The Khatta jumps back from the door, mouth agape at the strange stone hands. Wait… Stone Hand! "Let us out, Stone Hand! Why are you doing this?" He stares at the cheetahs in the room with him, then, feeling trapped, runs to the door again, pounding on it as forcefully as he can.

The air mage starts digging through his pouch of components … but if he's going to cast a spell, it's likely to take far too long to be of any good. Stone hand decorations in the room spring to life … and start elongating, stretching and coming to life. It is much like a story Jynx once heard about Shikouju and his fate…

Thankfully, the ceiling isn't made of stone, and isn't lowering. There's just a bunch of hydrogen in an envelope above the roof, after all.

Getting nowhere fast, Jynx moves back away from the door, and spies the talisman on the floor. Scooping it up, he looks for any sort of exit out of the room, even climbing up on one of the bunks and pushing at the ceiling. "Hurry! Help me find a way out!"

A stone hand launches across the room, curling into a fist, slugging Jynx in the ribs!

Another cheetah takes a hit from a stone hand … a hard hit to his head. There's a sickening crack, and he goes down.

The wind getting knocked out of him, Jynx falls hard to the bunk, clutching his bruised side. His heart jumps up in his throat as he sees the Savanite fall to the stone missle. Forcing himself to his feet, he dives off the bunk and looks for cover.

It would seem that stone hands have been strategically placed everywhere in the room. Everywhere except for under the bed, but that would hardly seem to be a means of exit. A few gaps in the planks forming the walls let in light from outside, but nothing so much as a true window – for stealth and privacy, supposedly.

As for available props, there are just a couple of daggers kept close at hand, at the bedside, a bundle of personal belongings, a lantern, and some pillows and blankets, pretty much. As well as the furniture (some of which is very hostile at the moment).

Still clutching his side, Jynx's pulse beats wildly. There seems to be no way out of this! He looks down quickly at the poor struck Savanite, then gets an idea. Dodging the various hands, he sets himself in front of the door, holding still and watching the fists.

A fist launches toward Jynx, aiming for his skull…

The black Khatta nimbly jumps aside, just in time for a stone hand to smash into – and through – the formerly sturdy wooden door … and into the cheetah standing behind it.

At once, the stone hands in the room stop moving, some crumbling into rubble as their elongated forms can't support their own weight.

Getting back to his feet, Jynx pauses only breifly to watch as the stone hands cease to be animated, then sprints to the door, shoving it open as best he can. "Hurry, let's get out of here!"

The air mage gets up, another cheetah following. The one on the floor remains there, unmoving. They clamber outside, over the prone body of Stone-Hand.

Other cheetahs on the deck are surrounded by stone implements, and the scene suggests a similar adventure to what happened in the cabin.

Jynx pants, looking down at the body. He kneels down and feels for a pulse, wondering if the mage is dead. Looking up to the crewman cheetah, Jynx signs, "You'd better get your friend out of there, and quick!" He looks around the deck, frowning at the scene, then turns to Calm-Sky. "Why did he do this? Do you think he is the reason those pirates know we're coming?"

"He's dead," the standing crewman signs, of the one on the floor. And it appears the same is true of Stone-Hand.

The black Khatta stands back up, his brow furrowing angrily. "Why did he betray us like that? If these pirates can get a member of the Twelve-Times-Twelve to work for them, they must be powerful!" He shivers, burying the thought for now. "We should do something for the bodies, and see who else is injur – " His signing is cut off as he falls to the deck, his injured ribs flaring up now that his adrenaline rush is over.

And then the world shuts itself off from Jynx again. He dreams again, but for now the Artifact of Calderas leaves his dreams alone. For now.