The Fate of the Caravan

In the afternoon, we saw a speck in the sky. Slowly, the speck grew, and we began to realize that this speck was someone -- some thing -- flying toward us. It was a man on a Vulture Drake. He landed near us and dismounted. He walked toward us and greeted us.

He looked like a human. He wore a cloak around him. The most notable things about him were the incredible number of scars crisscrossing his arms and the bird claw that was his left hand.

"My name is Yolori," he said. "I'm looking for a caravan of 4 wagons. The wagons are being pulled by lizards, and one of the carts is blue."

"Why do you seek this caravan?" Kale asked.

Yolori seemed puzzled with this question. "I don't know why. I just need to find it. The High Lord Chimera demands it."

We learned that the High Lord Chimera was the Lover of the Raven Queen made real -- the incarnation of the Lover in this world.

"We did meet some riders on lizards earlier in our travels," Bran noted.

"Finder, where were these lizards?" Yolori asked.

"Near Sour Well."

"No. That is in the wrong direction."

Ryn asked, "Are there others looking for it?"

"Yes. There are 3 of us looking for it. But if you find the others, don't tell them that I'm looking for it."

"Is there a reason why you need to find it?"

"It is not for us to question the Lord Chimera's will."

"Are the people in the caravan dangerous?"

"No, not dangerous. Probably not."

Tiny whispered to us that Yolori seemed incredibly imperturbable. Yolori didn't seem to be cued in to any social distinctions.

Garg looked over Yolori's Vulture Drake. "Where can we buy drakes like that?" asked Garg.

"In Lordahl."

"How far is Lordahl?"

"About 4 to 5 days."

Yolori walked back to his Vulture Drake and mounted it. "I must continue my search for the caravan," he said, and he took to the sky.

After he left, Caleb explained Yolori's odd behavior to us. "Chimerics are like that. They tend to fly around and do things."

"Should we -- "

"We are in the Lover's world," Caleb cautioned us. If he wants something, he can take it. We just mind our own business and don't cause trouble. The Lover doesn't care about us."

"Why did the Lover take over this world?" asked Bran.

"I don't know," Caleb replied. "You need to ask someone who is more book learned."

Later that night, Clarence (our blue Servitor Animata) returned to us after completing his task. He came toward us from a direction not very far from Lordahl. We slept for the night and woke up the next morning.

Kale instructed the Servitor Animata to retrace its steps, and we followed it. It was evening when we stumbled across something. Something terrible.

It had, at one point, been a caravan. But the men and lizards were no longer breathing, and the chests they carried were now destroyed.

It looked like they had time to prepare for the fight. They tried to defend themselves, but one by one, they were tracked down and slaughtered. There were no survivors.

They had been killed with some sort of weapons. It wasn't clear what weapons were used.

They seemed to have been merchants who were selling rope and iron bars. Bran took some of the rope.

We found a lockbox that had been split open. 400 gold pieces were spread on the ground. We took the gold.

It was early evening at this point. Caleb remembered that we passed a good area for a camp, so we walked back and made camp.

As we prepared to rest, a group of people approached us from the site of the slaughter. They wore dusty leather hats and capes.

"You are accused of slaughter!"