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Plait the Prison
Planet
The Saga of the Grey Ranger
Issue #3
by Tom Zjaba
Chapter Three
The Storm
The winds start to pick up as the caravan descends into a valley. As the Grey
Ranger looks down into the valley, he sees there are other caravans already
there. He also sees there are many snorts that have been untied and are roaming
around the valley. Most are grazing on the vast vegetation while others are
drinking from the lake in the valley. The scene seems so relaxed that it is hard
to believe they are preparing for a storm. The winds are blowing the trees some
but overall it is pretty calm. The sun is shining down and the world is at
peace. As the caravan moves down the hill, they head towards a cave towards the
left. Around the valley is a steep wall of rock. There is just the one trail
that leads in or out. Along the base of the wall are caves. Most of the caves
are occupied by caravans. Out of the eight caves, six are filled.
As the caravan reaches the cave, the driver stops the snorts. He then signals to
Azrael and climbs down. All the men climb out of the caravan and head towards
the snorts. Azrael motions for the Grey Ranger and Tredd to stay. They both
climb out to watch as this is both new and interesting to them. The men head
over and start untying the snorts. They work as a team and it soon becomes
apparent that they have done this many times. Within ten minutes, the snorts are
untied and then led to the field. Once the shaggy beasts are out of the way, the
men start pushing the caravan into the cave. They push one wagon at a time. Once
they start pushing, Azrael motions for the two of them to come over and help.
"These are heavy, we need all the muscle we can get." he says as he joins in the
pushing. The Grey Ranger gets behind the oversized wagon and starts pushing. He
concentrates on the task and soon it is moving faster than before. As he pushes
harder, it becomes apparent that he is doing the bulk of the pushing. One of the
men stops pushing and soon another joins him. As each man leaves, there is
almost no drop in speed. One by one, they all stop pushing. Before long, only
the Grey Ranger is pushing the wagon. Even Tredd has stopped pushing. The ranger
realizes he is the only one pushing but continues. This is a good opportunity
for him to show his dominance without any bloodshed. The men on this planet
respect brute strength. They all stare in awe as this one man is pushing a wagon
faster than the fifteen men were doing together. Even Azrael cannot believe it.
He has always been the toughest man on the caravan, but he can see that he has
dropped to a distant second. The Grey Ranger pushes the wagon all the way to the
back of the cave and then stops as it bumps into the back wall. He turns and
heads out the cave, only to see the rest of the men staring at him. Even Tredd,
who has seen his abilities in action, is amazed. Azrael does break the spell as
he yells out "Just because he can move the wagon himself is no reason not to
help. Get moving and get the other wagons in that cave. Now!" The men rush to it
and quickly finish the task.
As night falls on the planet, the men make a fire outside and begin cooking some
game they killed. They are cooking a rooter. The giant bird is so named because
it has a habit of uprooting trees to knock down prey and then chase it down and
eat it. The bird is quite large, with a full grown male standing fifteen feet
high. They have thick legs with very long toenails. The toenails are used to dig
into the ground and hold the bird in place when the storms come. It's head looks
much like a parrot with a bright crest and a large multicolored beak. The beak
is hooked and sharp and can easily tear through flesh and even snap bone. The
bird is flightless but it does have adapted feathers. Instead of the soft
feathers of most birds, they are more like leather plates. They are thick and
tough like leather and overlap each other. They are actually extensions of the
skin and can change colors with the mood of the bird. An angered rooter will
send more blood into the feathers and it will change a bright red color, which
makes the bird more frightening looking. Like most animals on Plait, they have
adapted to the storms. The birds will crouch down and dig its toenails into the
ground. They then hide their heads under their wings and roll up into a ball.
Their thick feathers fit so well together that they have little wind resistance.
Coupled with their ten inch toenails, they are hard to move and can withstand
the harsh storm. But this defensive posture makes them easy prey and caravan men
have learned to look for them and kill them for food. A full grown rooter can
provide over two hundred pounds of meat and their flesh is quite tasty.
As the men are eating the rooter, they look up and see the winds growing. The
surface always gets hit harder than the valleys. The first winds will go over
the valley. But soon the winds will find their way down the valley and there is
always the massive twisters that can hit anywhere at any time. There is also the
threat of falling rock from the walls that surround the valley. As the men sit
around and enjoy their food, the snorts are all moving towards the center of the
valley. There the mighty beasts will gather in a circle and lay down. With their
massive weight, they have no problem making it through the storm. Only a twister
will hurt them. They have learned to move the center of the valley to avoid
avalanches. The beasts spent the entire day eating and drinking to build up
their reserves. They know they will not eat again for almost two weeks. Also the
bulk better cushions them for the storm.
As expected, the winds start heading down the valley and soon the flames of the
fire are blowing wildly. The men rush to put out the fire and pull their rooter
into the cave. They will not be able to go and hunt for more food, so they need
to make this last. While they have brought rations along, they cannot compare to
the taste of freshly cooked meat. They all head into the cave and light up their
lanterns. A by product of the rooter is their feathers secrete an oily substance
that protects their feathers. But it also works well as an oil for lanterns.
They also burn the dung of the snorts. Since they are strictly grass eaters,
their dung is just undigested grass. It burns well and once dried, it does not
give off any odor, which is good since they are cooped up in a cave.
The storm is now full blown and the valley is full of debris that is being blown
around. Leaves, branches and other debris are flying everywhere. The men stay a
distance from the opening of the cave to avoid being hit by debris. Every so
often they will see a tree fly past. It is hard to see much as the dirt and
grass fills the air. The storms are a time when most of the plants send their
seeds out. Most of the trees are fast growing and set deep roots. The storms
will rip off most of their trunks, but their roots will stay in the ground and
within months, a new tree will grow in its place. Many tree trunks fill with
seeds and when the trees are snapped by the strong winds, the seeds are released
and spread. The smaller birds and insects are also adapted to the storms. They
grow quickly, mate and will dig deep burrows to lay their eggs. Then when the
storms come, they die from the winds or twisters, but their eggs will hatch and
a new generation of animals will arise. Only the largest animals or the ones
that have learned to build underground homes will live through the storm. The
Grey Ranger stands and watches the chaos outside the cave. He stands in awe of
the power of nature. From the powerful winds to the bolts of lightning that keep
striking to the baseball sized hail that pelts the ground, he is amazed at how
wonderful and dangerous it is.
Two weeks drags by as the storm finally comes to a halt. The sun comes out again
and the sound of blowing wind is a memory. The men all rush from the cave and
charge towards the herd of snorts. Once the first group rushes out, the rest of
the caves are emptied as all the men rush out to claim their snorts. While no
one knows one snort from another, it is important to get yours before they are
gone. Quite often a snort or two will get hit by lightning and die. When this
happens, the last group out will be short a snort or two. There are often fights
over the beasts and men have been known to kill each other. But this time there
are no casualties. Once everyone realizes the snorts are all still here, they
calm down. Within an hour, all the snorts are claimed and hitched to their
wagons.
With the caravans all ready to leave, the next order of business is leaving the
valley. Since the way out can only hold one caravan at a time, the rest must
wait their turn. This is another reason for running to the snorts, the quicker
you get ready, the faster you can get out of the valley. Azrael knows this and
that is why he was among the first to the snorts. And with the Grey Rangers help
moving the wagons, they were able to beat the other caravans and be the first
one out of the valley.
Once they are out of the valley, they look around at the landscape. It looks so
much different than when they entered the valley. All around are snapped trees
with most of their trunk missing. Branches, leaves, dead birds and insects
canvas the ground. They hear the sickening sound of crunching bones as they run
over the dead birds and small mammals that are everywhere. In the distance, they
see the rooters are up and eating the dead animals. While they are great
hunters, this time of year they become scavengers. There are other scavengers
roaming around eating the carcasses. The rock bears are out in force, eating the
dead animals and plants. They resemble a cross between an armadillo and a bear
with the long snout, furry face and paws and stub of a tail. But they have a
shell that covers the top of their body and like an armadillo, can roll into a
ball. The shell is flexible but strong. During the storm, they dig a hole into
the ground and lay into it, exposing only their tough shell to the elements.
While they can roll into a ball, they only do it when they face a greater foe.
Since they weigh nearly a ton and have claws that can rip through just about any
animal, they rarely have to roll into a ball.
The other scavenger that is seen in abundance is the rat hound. This strange
animal looks like a greyhound that has evolved into a rodent. It has many of the
same attributes of a rat, the ability to dig even in stone, quick reproduction
and the ability to climb almost any surface. But it also has features of a
greyhound dog. They are thin, have little fur and can run very fast. They are
the cleaning crew on Plait as they eat anything. From dead bodies to rotting
vegetation, they move along and clean up the messes. While they can hunt, they
always scavenge first. They are no match for any of the larger animals by
themselves, but packs of rat hounds have been known to number in the hundreds
and a group that large can even take down a snort. Their teeth are both sharp
and strong and they have small but powerful claws that can dig through just
about anything on Plait. Anything but the fortresses. The early designers
quickly found out the importance of thick steel fortresses as their stone ones
were decimated by packs of rat hounds. While they generally shy away from
humanoids, they will attack a lone humanoid. They stand about three feet at the
shoulder and have a large, rat like face. With their slender build, they can run
up to forty miles an hour in short distances and will chase a prey up a tree.
While attempts have been made to domesticate them, most have failed. They are
raised in some villages for food and for fighting. One of the few sources of
entertainment on Plait is rat hound fights. Sometimes it is a battle between two
animals. Other times it will be man versus beast or even in rare instances, they
will put a rock bear or a rooter against a pack of rat hounds. Arenas have
popped up in many of the cities and are quite popular. But it takes a facility
with steel walls to contain a rat hound as it will always try to escape before
fighting.
As the caravan makes it way towards its destination, they near a pass between
two mountains. The pass is a long and narrow path that makes the journey much
quicker between the fortresses. The mountains are high and dangerous and going
around would takes a few extra weeks. While the pass is wide enough for two
wagons, they travel in a single file line. There is no way of knowing when
another caravan is coming and the last thing you want to do is run into each
other. So Azrael instructs the wagon to the left side of the pass. You always
travel on the left side so your sword arm is facing the coming traffic. But it
is not the caravans that Azrael fears. The pass is also a favorite ambush site
for bandits. They can block a caravan in and then pick them apart from above.
Azrael is hoping that they can get through the pass before the bandits arrive
from their hiding places during the storm. He has already battled bandits and
while he has lived to tell about it, many of his former crew members were not so
lucky. And he has lost several wagons, which is tough to explain to his boss. He
looks into the narrow pass and says a prayer to his pagan god.
The caravan moves along as they look up for any sign of bandits. The mountain
walls on both sides restricts their movement and makes it next to impossible to
turn around. Bandits know this and also know that snorts do not move backwards.
They can move backwards, but trying to get one to do it is another matter. As
they move along the pass, they listen for the sound of falling rock. Another
problem is avalanches do happen and can wipe out a whole caravan. They can also
block the path and slow down a caravan as they are forced to remove the rocks
from the path. So far there is no sign of either one. But everyone is on high
alert as they know the dangers of the pass.
Slowly, they move along the twists and turns. Everything is deadly quiet as they
snake their way through the pass. As they make their way around a curve in the
path, they are greeted by one of their worst fears. The path is blocked by a
pile of rocks. Upon seeing this, Azrael stops the caravan and instructs the men
to arm themselves. While the roadblock may be left from the storm, he fears it
could be manmade. With the snorts stopped, the men slowly get out of the wagons
and look around. They do not see any bandits, but there are plenty of places
above them for bandits to hide in. Azrael pulls out a pair of home made
binoculars and scans the cliffs. He is looking for any movement at all. So far
he sees nothing. But as he keeps looking, he something moving around. It looks
like three or four objects moving around some large rocks. He then sees the
source of the movement as four Takken archers rise from the rocks. The Takken
warriors are among the fastest warriors and their aim is uncanny. They resemble
large birds of prey, only they have no wings. They stand five to six feet tall,
are thin with hollow bones and have amazing eye sight. They can literally see
for a mile and can see the most minute detail. Their hollow bones, while quite
fairly strong, make them move quickly. What they lack in sheer strength, they
make up for in speed and accuracy. When Azrael sees the Takken warriors, he
screams out "Ambush!"
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