[WSUCougar]

Vasheliave slowed his horse’s gate a bit and shifted in the saddle so as to address the paladin.

“You know better than that,” he said, and grinned wryly. “No, I’m afraid Lord Pelspin has other things in mind for me. The theft of his property has rattled him greatly. Plus I’ve got some things in mind myself…namely a good night’s sleep.”

The captain chuckled lightly, then pointed to a distant cluster of scrub trees on the horizon. “See yonder grove of trees? We’ll head there for starters, and then shift our course for the rendezvous with the wemic. I’ll leave you in his hands at that point…err, well, you know what I mean.”

The terrain was rather arid in this Prytian border province of Rekelzyan. The province bore another olden name, still whispered by some, which dated back to the era which followed the disastrous end of Britau. The Path of Ruin. The remnants of Britau’s citizenry had fled this way, and despite the passage of centuries it still bore the faded but bitter stain of defeat.

Now the region was occupied by burbeast ranchers, a few scattered towns and villages, and the ever-present provincial patrols. The Skelitik Wastes and the Great Desert lay to the east. The ruins of Britau –Wootmerry – lay to the northeast.