Commando Part 25

For an entire day they waited for these pirates and mercenaries to return. Maurice and the Vestrisians hoped the other would have any ideas on what was going on outside the boundaries of the Unknown Lands. To neither' of their avail none of them knew what was going on. The locals did not know much except for the goings on in the villages and the city they were tied to. It was very close to midnight when Maphai, here mercenaries, Odeliah and her pirate crews arrived at the docks of Kunmar. While the Vestrisians slept in an empty shelter transformed into a storage for meat Maurice, Brittany, and Amonif spoke with the two leaders.

All three compromised about where they could take these Vestrisians and who would transport them. Maphai suggested they take them to a city in the far south west, but that city took them towards Caligari and her Syndicate. Maurice insisted they take them as close to Borvadosian borders. To Maurice's dismay that was too far away. They spent time trying to come up with where they could take the found Vestrisian Soldiers. Odeliah's face lit up and suggested they could take the Vestrisians over to some smuggler they knew southeast of here. This smuggler was an elf from one of the island nations in the southeastern seas. He was known among the underworld, underground trade, black markets, pirates, smugglers, and privateers as Laura Adah the sneak.

The mention of a smuggler helping them out sounding like the best way to get the missing Vestrisian soldiers out of the Unknown Lands. Within moments the trio of leaders agreed for Odeliah and her small crew of pirates to take the Vestrisians over to this smuggler. On the next day the pirates set off with their Vestrisian passengers who joyfully agreed to come along as long as they could get out of these jungle-swamps.

Once the missing vestrisians and pirates set out the others returned to their temporary headquarters. There the mercenaries and sarcagosee looked over some maps of the roads. As they scanned the maps of the southern parts of the unknown lands the inn received more patrons who glanced over at who they were and what they were doing. Maphai and Maurice decided to head straight for the city of Tsubib Pajibe. Both groups agreed on this destination and immediately packed up for the journey towards the south. When Maphai paid for their stay the two groups exited the inn. The mercenaries went to their yacht and the sarcagosee warriors went to their jumbo cat steeds. At the stables they came across a small group of merchants and their Uxane bodyguards and guides who had just arrived at the docks.

The leading merchant-tradesman asked if they could buy four of these steeds for themselves and their Uxane guardians. Maurice, Eyanosa, and Taregan conversed over this for a few minutes until Brittany disrupted it forcing them to make the trade. After she interrupted the conversation Maurice was given no choice than to hand over the steeds to the merchants who were happy to receive extra steeds for their journey. In moments the sarcagosee aroused the cat steeds, mounted and were off. Their steeds slowly trotted through Kunmar until they reached the end of the settlement. At the beginning of the continued road the sarcagosee found their steeds taking off at full gallop down the wooden planked road.

In the lead Maurice saw the world around him blow by due to the speed of the jumbo cat. All he heard was the galloping of the large cat and his breathing. Even at the full gallop Maurice could still direct the steed on the road. From time to time he allowed it to leap over branches and hop from trees to the other section of the road avoiding a longer route. Just going at this speed made it feel like they were soaring above through the swampy jungles. The commando noted the amount of distance their steeds were able to cover in such great strides and galloping. To him they would be at Tsubib Pajibe if they kept at this pace. He felt overconfident that they would reach Tsubib Pajibe. For hours they rode along the roads through the swamps not stopping unless they actually had to rest. Despite the speed they were going the vastness of the unknown land's swamps and jungles still had an edge on them in terms of distance. As they kept going down the road with no signs of any outposts or settlements Maurice's confidence shrank. He had his steed slow down to a trot forcing the rest of his companions to do the same.

Dusk was not too faraway showing they had ridden the entire day. Even though they rode all day and covered a great amount of distance it still seemed pointless. The road , the trees, and the foliage looked the same all around. Not much was said since they rode all day but still did not reach any outposts or settlements between Kunmar and where they were on the road. He turned to see Amonif, Hilastes, Brittany, Taregan, Eyanosa, and their Ranger following him close behind. Each one of them were a slow trot giving their steeds some time to breath. Some of them couldn't help but wonder if the road they took did not have any settlements connected to it. That they could have taken another route so they could find another place to stop. As Maurice looked around he noticed the trees and foliage backed away from the road showing it was built in a more open area. What his eyes saw was unbelievable at the moment. Two villages lay ten to thirteen miles away and they had to take this route.

Maurice and his companions brushed that off their shoulders realizing they should just keep going until it grew dark. There was no point in gloating over this since they did cover as much road as their steeds could in a single day' of travelling. At a slow trot they continued on the road a little further. Maurice's gaze was fixed on the villages wishing they had gone that route instead. In moments someone whistled a few times drawing their attention towards their right. The commando and his companions turned to face the source. Coming up to them was the mercenary's' yacht with Maphai at the bow whistling for their attention. Attached to the yacht's stern was a floating platform used for barges or floating docks. This platform was tugged along through a connection of ropes and chains. It had a cover over it for those riding along.

Maphai encouraged them to get on board to save themselves an extra few hours of travelling by road. One by one the sarcagosee leaped on board with their steeds. As they dismounted the mercenaries greeted them cheerily enough in their own way. The sarcagosee warriors left their steeds out on the deck with Eyanosa, and the Ranger to keep an eye out for any trouble while settling the steeds down. With the platform in tow the yacht sped up a little allowing the new passengers to move without falling over or forced to grab on to something. On board the commando's companions were shown some empty quarters for them to sleep and rest while the yacht took them on the rest of the journey.

Maurice climbed in a bunk with Brittany while Amonif took the top bunk. The rest of their companions slept in a bunk room across from their own. For the rest of the night they slept until they woke up to knocking on their doors. Each woke up to see the Drow Nanim and the Fornith Oroz summoning them to the mess hall of the yacht. It was at the request of the Captain who had invited them on board. Drowsily the commando and his companions made their way to where they would dine with the mercenaries. This Yacht seemed much bigger on the inside than it did on the outside even though it was large for a yacht. The mess hall was the typical set up with booths along the sides of the walls, the bar and kitchen in the back of the room. As they sat down the mercenaries and sarcagosee dined together.

For the whole day they traveled by yacht along a winding route through the swamps. Although they did not follow along the road itself they still saw it intertwined in the trees and roots of the swamps. While they rode along the more natural and partially hand made path the two parties played games, conversed, and slept or just relaxed. At the helm of the yacht was Cagan the Orc and Nanim as the copilot or co-driver. Everyone else was at the top sundeck watching for any signs of the road, outposts or other villages of the Tsubib Pajibe territory. Three hours of the day went by as the afternoon dragged a little. Many of them had their eyes focused on the areas of road, and land closest to them. Maurice kept his eyes focused on the parts of the road they passed by keeping an eye out for travelers or travelling caravans. When they slowly passed a large patch of gnarled swamp trees whose branches hovered over the road like a tunnel a group of figures caught his attention.

He called for the yacht to slow down which Maphai ordered for the helmsmen to slow down and stop along the wooden road. Slowing down they all caught sight of a large caravan of thirty mounted figures dressed in colorful robe like kimonos with tribal designs and beads sewn in decoratively. Some wore a sash with beads or bones sewn in, several wore shawls or animal pelts. Others had modern garb to go along with their clothing showing extensions of trade with other regions. By the time they were speaking distance of this caravan Maurice noticed they were all Uxane in appearance and several donned basket like hats to shield them from rain. Maphai informed him this caravan were all part of the Ojinawa nation-tribes people, one of the eleven known Uxane tribes and nations of the Unknown Lands. She caught their attention and asked if they were close to the edges of Tsubib Pajibe.

An older looking Ojinawa turned his mount which was a spotted jumbo cat. He pointed behind him directing them to followed the rest of the road to an outpost. Taking the Ojinawa merchant's directions they steered the yacht towards the south west before steering it towards the east. As they followed the rest of the route they came to an out post bearing a tall totem with the shape of a demon's face on top, a coiled snake and a humanoid figure on the bottom. At the outpost were seven warrior-soldiers in traditional skirt-sarongs and shawl looking shirts. Each one of them donned a conical helmet wrapped in a purple dyed cloth. All of them wielded a bolt action rifle, mak axe pole-arms, and different looking knives. It appeared they have come to the very borders of Tsubib Pajibe.