That neighing sound is Placidus’ laugh. “And we were so close! Now, that’s a shame.” He leans forward, clumsily picking a fragment of stone. “Pretty, that.”

Karogo surveyed the area, his anger slowly growing. The Wellstone was a mockery towards anyone who lived and hunted in the desert. If this was a test from some desert god, then it was one that did not amuse Karogo one bit. He glared at the strange, blue horned man which was carved into the stone and let out a low growl. There were legends of ancient giants, and of the men who had the strength and courage to rise up and do battle with them. Karogo did not know if this stone was related to those legends, but they filled him with further inspiration and anger towards the one who had done this.

“Do not give up just yet, friend.” He said to Placidius “When the caravan arrives we will move this stone. I only regret I cannot strike down the one who saw fit to seal off the water for the desert travelers here.” Karogo hoped that even the laziest and stupidest of the caravan would help move the stone, after all, their life depended on it.

Following the tracks of Karogo and Placidus has been an easy task and Saathrag has had much time to think upon the way. The caravan will take some time to catch up and the sun is nearing the horizon, now. Hopefully the odd duo following the tracks and the water will have found the oasis by now, with palm trees for shade and water to quench his parched throat… And maybe even some game to hunt. The hunger is starting to burn almost as much as the thirst. He must find food soon…

But now, as Saathrag crests the last dune and discovers the ruins of the city before him, he is taken by surprise by the weird vista. This is… unexpected. The ruins are ominous, but he can find beauty in such a desolate place, especially since it’s as if the desert has split open to reveal this small place that used to be part of civilisation. On the other hand, the vultures nesting at the top of some of the buildings are a lot more sinister.

There is death here… and water! Yes! I can smell it!

Hurrying down the sandy slope and reaching some kind of square, Saathrag sees Karogo and Placidus standing near what appears to be a stone well… with some sort of stone monument sitting on top of it.

“A thousand praises on you for finding this well! Did the tracks lead you here?” he says smiling while approaching the well, already imagining water gushing down his throat–looks their faces, and the well… and realises that there is no water to be drawn from it.

Growling, hackles rising in anger, Saathrag spits “What kind of dark joke are you playing? Is this to be our reward for our perseverance?”, and rages at the sky “DOES THIS AMUSE YOU?!”, his scream echoing endlessly in the forbidding silence of the approaching sunset and disturbing the vultures in their nests.

Saathrag starts breathing regularly, slower and slower, calming and steeling himself.

Curse you, One Eyed, One Eared. Curse you!

Grumbling darkly and ignoring the carvings, he resolutely starts examining the block of stone atop the well, searching, groping, trying to find an edge, a chink that might help them move it or at least split it in half.

Maybe some kind of leverage here… or here… could that make it topple over? I must find a solution…

Placidus smiles “Perseverance is its own reward. We will move this rock when the others join us, but for now we wait.”

They’d followed the tracks in, so surely they’d already followed them away from this place. Surely no one was lurking nearby – the Hound would have seen to it. Surely Fahsil could worry about their security later, once he’d finally had a drink.

Stepping disdainfully over the decorated stone fragments peeping out of the sand, he bows thankfully to Placidus and Karogo.

“I dare say you two have all but delivered us from our demise, though this,” gesturing with a smile to the massive stone, “has to be the biggest but I’ve ever seen.”

The sooner they uncovered that well, the sooner they wouldn’t have to walk for the rest of their journey south.

“Perhaps once the head of the caravan joins us, we’ll be able to wedge their wagon under one end of the stone, and lever it up just enough to pivot it out of the way. Of course, that’s assuming they’ll lend us their wagon…”

Fahsil was quite familiar with the value of proper leverage, and considering he’d been dealt the short stick, he’d need all the muscle he could find.

“Would anyone be willing to help me borrow some tools?”

“Yes, man, I will. Now, tell me, what do you make of that? People say you are wise.” Placidus carefully hands Fahsil the fragment of stone.

“Ah, do they? Well, better that than lazy,” quips Fahsil, accepting the fragment with equal care and looking it over.

“This… it would seem I’m not wise enough to know it’s true meaning. Although,” holding it at arm’s length and marching it back to where it had been pulled from the bottom edge of the Wellstone, “perhaps it says that this stone is weathered enough for us to break apart, if we must.”

The blue-faced figure on the Wellstone glowers from above the fragment, sending a chill down Fahsil’s spine and forcing his attention back to the others.

“I-It’s certainly a good find,” he declares, carefully returning the fragment with deep nod and a bit of a tremor. “Thank you.”

“Now, who else will join us?”

So there is water after all, excellent. This puts her in the perfect place to be recalled to her fellows as one who was instrumental in its discovery. A wise and clever woman, well worth trading with.

“We’ll need rope,” she announces. “Come friends, sweet water awaits only a small effort more. Friend Fahsil has requested tools and we have beasts to help us pull. This is surely the largest well cap we’ve ever seen, but it is only that.”

She strides over to where her party from earlier has gathered near the well. “What’s your plan then?” she addresses Fahsil in the main part though she’s not sure he’s any better suited to moving stones than she is. Perhaps Placidus has experience with such. “I know more about who has what than I likely ought to but we need to get organized before we all dry up and blow away.”

Placidus snorts: “Whatever the plan, I know who will end up doing the pushing and pulling. All right, I’m getting ropes and help.” He trots towards the caravan nearby.

Karogo stayed silent and was happy that the caravan was coming together to move the stone. He followed Placidius to the caravan to help gather rope. Either they would move the stone together, or it would break into pieces under the strain of their effort, either way they would reach the precious life sustaining water inside. “I have strength to help us pull, I hope the caravan decides it wants to help pull rather than die of thirst,” he said loudly, hoping that members of the caravan would be shamed into action. He looked around at the men at the front of the caravan, wondering if the other Hounds had caught up yet. “Perhaps Balazazi would grace us with his mighty aid, if he has made it this far, that is.”