• Main Page

Brehark
The late autumn winds had increased over the past few weeks, mighty waves bashed against the steep cliffs at the western front of Brehark Island. High up on the banks stood a group of people, seemingly unimpressed by the forces of nature. They had a good view over the harbour down in the south, where vessel after vessel arrived, marking the end of a long journey from unknown lands. Groups of tents had been erected by the travellers who had already arrived earlier, scattered seemingly at random throughout the entire valley. Prominently in the centre stood a exceptionally large tent, surrounded by heavily armoured guards.
To the north, the Khullog island was blocking the view to the main land. Thin wafts of smoke emerged from crater of the mighty volcano that stood prominent in the centre of the island. At the rim, ocean winds picked up the smoulder and carried the smell of sulphur across to Brehark.
The men had seen enough and make their way down to the valley, heading straight to the large tent. Their access was blocked by the guards however as there was another meeting still ongoing inside. One of the captains had lost half of his men to scurvy during the traverse and was questioned. He had failed to bunker sufficient provisions for the long journey, the assigned carrier who was to deliver the required money for the goods had not appeared and the captains own funds hadn’t been sufficient by far. He had been forced to buy all but rusk bread and some dried meat, in the hopes to be able to restock during the travel. But they had never passed any land on their route and the option had become moot.
Now he had to face the consequences for his failure. It had of course not been his fault, but that was besides the point. He had failed and he had to suffer the consequences. Simple, but strict was the codex these men followed and so he was asked to choose his own punishment. The more severe, the higher the grade of restoration of status. Many recognized means of penalization ended with lasting constrictions of ones health or left prominent signs, rendering the culprit identifiable for everyone.
To harmstring oneself was very common and the accounts of this rather gruesome custom was widely visible as quite a few men lacked one or more fingers, an eye or an ear. Some even had chopped off major parts of their own limbs in order to restore their reputation. These rites were the provenance of their unmatched skills with amputation appliances and an own caste of men had developed, dedicating their lives to the making of surrogate limbs.
After a brief reflection, the captain however opted for the wheel and upon receiving an approving nod from the commander, the condemned was taken outside to receive his dealings.
The wheel had already been erected, its use apparently anticipated earlier on. Its diameter was just short a mans height and it was mounted upright, attached to an axis enabling the soon to be torturer rotation at will. The mountings had been done in such a way that there was some distance between the outer rim of the wheel and the ground thus allowing a brazier to be placed below. Burning coals were shoved on a warriors metal shield and brought over from the campfire, pored into the brazier and additional coals were added. The delinquent was strapped to the wheel and one of the guards started to rotate it slowly. The mans head, his hands and feet barely touched the red hot coals every time he passed the brazier. Depending on the speed the wheel was spun, this was of course more or less painful. He endured the first few turns in silence, teeth clenched, hot and cold sweat clamping his hair to his face, the smell of burned hair and skin slowly began to pollute the air. Soon his hair was gone, first blisters appeared on his face, scalp, hands and feet, but still no sound came.
The commander had left the tent to witness the punishment, seemingly lost in thought and untouched by the ghastly scene, when he suddenly issued the guard to stop the wheel and have the captain untied.
“That will be enough”, he said, “I have something else for you. Get some treatment and when you can walk again, come see me. Bring your best three men with you and don’t let me wait long.”
With that he left the assembly and retreated back to his tent. The captain was swiftly carried away to the medics, dismayed the remaining guards shot him gloomy glances, feeling deceived of the amusement.

The next morning the captain was able to stand up, but he was still in great pain. Ignoring his sufferings, he called for his men and hobbled to the main tent to receive his orders. He was to wait until darkness before carrying out the commands, which gave him the time to receive some additional treatments.
Shortly after sunset they set off to the harbour, entered a small vessel and the four set sail, heading to the main lands. They passed Khullog, the volcano gave an impressive view with its activity, the clouds above reflecting the spewing lava in dark red. It took them most part of the night to reach the main lands, cautiously they scanned the shore for signs of unbidden observers or any signs of settlements. It was of great importance that their presence remained undetected, they had shortened the sails a while ago and were using rudders with great caution. Eventually the captain spotted a good landing site, the vessel was pulled across the sands and the parts hidden between bushes after they had dismantled their transport.
All four were mightily relieved when they had disembarked as the two companions they had been ordered to take along were gruesome at best. Nobody in his right mind would voluntarily spend only a moment in the immediate vicinity of these creatures, their sheer presence turned the mightiest warrior into a meek fishwife. The strangest facet these creatures featured however was their ability to render themselves invisible. The men though were trained in the talent to make out at least the outlines, but none of them was even slightly proud about it, albeit the necessity of it was quite clear to them. Typically emotions like pity were rather foreign to them, but even their worst enemy would earn some sympathy if he were as unlucky as to have an encounter. The Grinhaks disappeared with blinding speed, having received orders of their own and the four men set off to the Thari Cees, their moods brightening by the minute, finally being spared the presence of the beasts.
They were not aware of the greater plans their leaders had forged, but some information had leaked, maybe even intentional, however what they knew was that the enemy forces were not to be underestimated. Spy reports indicated that the Beakil Khum were great fighters with mighty weapons and they outnumbered the forces that had been sent many fold. They were not worried though, being experienced fighters themselves, having clashed in uncounted battles. Not to forget the mission they were set out to. If they succeeded, they would win themselves the means to annihilate the entire main lands without a lot of men-to-men quarrelling. The item they were to retrieve was located in the capital city of the Gemlats, an ancient folk whom they had fought battles against in the past when their unsuspecting scouts had dared to set food on the homeland. The Gemlats had been driven out again swiftly, but at the time were able to hide their own origin. The Grinhaks had failed in uncounted missions to learn about the location until the day where they had a fateful yet educational encounter, which should alter the destiny of all men in the known lands.