The whole group makes it in good time: Chris (Dojango Sangaree), Chuck (Arnoux Urag), Paul (Marik) and Tim (Antok of the Storm Tribe). Bruce tries to weasel out of running his game, but Chris points out that he had made some idle promises to the effect that he would.
Having learned that the town of Dith Lun has a good warning system, the characters withdraw from the greenery and rest at their camp in the abandoned town for the night. Their plan is to follow the outbound tracks of the graau riders the next morning.
Early next morning everyone wakes and heads out to the location of the outgoing tracks. Marik and Dojango Sangaree take the lead in tracking, while Antok of the Storm Tribe and Arnoux Urag complain bitterly about how the terrible, terrible sun burns their fragile albino skins. Marik ignores them as he determines that the group consisted of four wagons and at least forty people on foot, in addition to the forty riders.
Some hours after the characters start following the trail, they see a large herd of pandith grazing on a barren hillside some distance away. Pandith are common kangaroo-like herbivores about four feet high with light-colored skins. Dojango Sangaree knows that the creatures are often herded, as they are quite good at surviving on the scraggly plants still common in the Garden. His own people, the Grosh Tribe, have significant pandith herds. Alerted to the possibility that these creatures might not simply be meat on the hoof, Arnoux looks around for herdsmen. He spots a couple of white, naked-skinned dogs lurking around the edge of the herd. The characters approach closer, and quickly become aware of two Sangorn human herders sitting on a rock near the center of the herd. The two are dressed in leather clothing (probably made from tanned pandith hide) and are armed with long staves and slings. The two herders notice the characters at about the same time, and one of them uses a heavy wooden flute to tell the herd dogs to move the pandith down the hillside, away from the characters' approach.
After a short interlude in which the characters determine that the two herdsmen are able to speak Quir Ap (if badly), the two groups introduce themselves. The herdsmen are Ram and Vul, of the Red Hills Tribe. Eager to avoid their rations of uru, the characters negotiate with the tribesmen to buy a pandith for 30 red clavars. Pleased to have made such a deal, Ram and Vul are more than happy to butcher and barbecue the creature for the characters, who in turn share the meat.
During the meal, the characters ask Ram about the local political situation. He tells them that his tribe draws it's name from the reddish hue of the nearby hills, a side effect of their high clay content. The tribe lives in the foothills of the Bag Peaks. Ram says that he knows about the raiders. They come from the distant city of Bao Lat, and are led by the warrior Pargat, called Arrow-Eater. They first appeared in the area about two Voyages ago. They attacked the steadings of the Red Hills Tribe in their early raids, taking many captives that the other tribesmen never expect to see again, but the tribe dealt with the problem by moving their steadings into more defensible locations.
The characters ask if the Red Hills Tribe ever deals with Dith Lun. Ram says that the Red Hills Tribe never talks to the Dith Lun people, because the Dith Lun people don't eat animals. Dojango expresses disbelief as he smacks and drinks some pandith blood. In his opinion, the city folk have nothing to offer the Red Hills Tribe, and vice versa. However, he also admits that even if the city folk did have something the Red Hills Tribe wanted, they still wouldn't talk to them.
Ram proves to be very opinionated about the motivations of the raiders. He suggests that the thrux Virators in the towns behind the Zhao Shan mountains are ultimately responsible for the troubles, as the thrux use slave labor on their plantations. He has seen the raiders taking hundreds of Dith Lun people down towards Dith Lun, and is certain that they are bound for the thrux slave pits.
Marik, ever obsessed with finding new ways to get drunk, collects some pandith blood and makes a drink by fermenting it with some herbs. He manages to produce a thick beverage about as strong as strong beer. The drink has an odd, herbal taste. Both Marik and Arnoux get drunk on the stuff.
The characters spend the night at the herders' camp, located near a strangely organic-looking well of Yaggo-stuff. Ram explains that the well probably leads down to the Bilges as he draws water up out of it. Dojango speculates that he would feel much better about drinking the water if only it didn't come from a place called "the Bilges."
In the morning the characters bid their farewell to the two herders and head towards Dith Lun, determined to talk to the locals. They make no effort to be subtle, walking straight up to the main gate. They find that the gate is an impressive artifact, two huge doors of bronze decorated with a large "X" sigil at the center. Marik tries hammering upon it, to no avail.
The characters notice that there are a few fishermen working on the docks. As the characters watch, the fisherfolk all abandon their tasks and head down the river. The characters are unimpressed with the hospitality of the people of Dith Lun. They decide to press the issue: they make camp very obstinately and refuse to move.
The characters spend two days encamped in front of the gates of Dith Lun before they see any significant activity. The great doors of the city groan their way open and a procession emerges. Three figures in the traditional all-enveloping robes of Dith Lun lead the way and a line of spearmen in robes and tall bronze helmets bring up the rear. The characters are hopeful. They are even more hopeful when the first of the three people in front introduces himself as the Envoy of Dith Lun.
Their hopes are then dashed when the Envoy tells them, "I am the Envoy of Dith Lun. I speak the rituals of refusal. You have no goods we are interested in. Dith Lun stands alone, and we will be judged alone." Various characters do their best to convince the Envoy that there are a lot of very good reasons for him to have a nice, productive conversation with the group. The Envoy remains unconvinced, eventually stating, "I speak the rituals of refusal. The Spears are the symbols of the defense of Dith Lun. By their presence I invoke you to leave." The characters first suspect that they are going to be attacked, then are somewhat surprised to realize that both the Envoys and the Spears are withdrawing back into the city.
Dojango helps himself to some salt fish from the (abandoned) docks, passing out shares of his catch to the other characters. The characters decide to hang out and wait here. Arnoux speaks for everyone when he says, "These people are religious fanatics, so set in their ways that they'll be dead in a year." Nobody disagrees with him.
The next day, the Envoys and the spears reappear and play out the exact same charade once more. Marik decides that the people of Dith Lun are all insane.
After the characters' second profitless discussion with the Envoy, they decide to leave Dith Lun. On the way out of the greened area, the characters see a single figure running towards them with almost desperate haste. After a moment, it is obvious that the runner is the tribesman Ram. He reaches the characters with his last reserves of breath, and appears near to collapse until Antok uses his body magics to infuse him with new fatigue.
His vigor suddenly restored, Ram tells the character that Pargat and his raiders are coming. The characters, curious to see what happens, decide to wait in one of the greened areas and watch. They select an area of shrubbery and low bushes about 1.5 meters high. Antok and Arnoux place punji stick traps all around their refuge, on the chance that the raiders might stumble across them.
While the two albinos prepare their traps, Dojango talks to Ram. He tells Ram that the tribesman's initial assessment was dead on: the people in the city don't want to talk to anyone. Both of them make crude jokes about the foolish (suicidal) city folk.
The characters are easily able to see fifty raiders ride up to the gates of Dith Lun, mounted upon their graau. The raiders appear to be a mix of Faian humans and what Ram calls "Yierdo people" (Yierdo dwarfs). Some of the raiders are heavily equipped with metal armor, shields, lances and heavy maces, while the rest are much more lightly encumbered and armed with bows.
The entire raiding group pulls up some distance from the gates and listen as the Envoy appears on top of the walls and yells various rituals of refusal at them. Some of the raiders visibly laugh at the Envoy's efforts. The situation is broken when a couple of the archers take shots at the Envoy, who swiftly disappears from view. The "resistance" broken, one of the Yierdo dwarfs rides up the gate and holds a large bronze talisman in the shape of an "X" up to the gate. He speaks a short incantation. The talisman glows with a bright shimmer that spreads to the X-shaped indentation on the gate. The characters watch as the gate simply opens up and the raider column heads into the city. The characters lose sight of them, but they are able to hear screaming from within the walls, and they speculate that it isn't coming from the raiders.
The characters decide that they need a better view of the raiders' activities inside the walls. Arnoux Urag takes the lead, clambering up and disabling the nearest alarm staff (which starts going nuts as soon as he tops the wall) by throwing it into the woods below. He ties down a rope, which most of the other characters use to join him. The obvious exception is Marik, who simply levitates his way up.
The characters see that the people of Dith Lun are doing nothing to stop the raiders' activities. Groups of raiders are rousing large numbers of disoriented-looking Yaggo humans from several of the dome-shaped buildings. Many of the townsfolk are clad only in loincloths or trousers. The townsfolk are obviously not sure what is happening, and many of them are clearly humiliated by the fact that their bare skin is visible. Watching the raiders round them up and tie them into strings, Antok is hit with a revelation: "They were all in hibernation! I know why this place is so effective at restoring the Garden! Most of the people are asleep most of the time!"
During the time the characters watch, they do see one act of successful resistance against the raiders. One raider rides close to the Unspeaking Citadel and is intercepted by a shining white form that rushes from the Citadel to envelop him. The shining form returns to the Citadel just as fast as it emerged while the desiccated bones of the raider tumble off the back of the graau. Dojango Sangaree, noting that none of the other raiders approach the Citadel at all, provides a public safety tip to the rest of the group: "Nobody go near Death Ray Citadel!"
By the time the characters start thinking about taking action against the raiders, the raiders have already largely finished their business. They head away from Dith Lun in groups of ten and fifteen, each group escorting a large string of prisoners. The last group of raiders to leave the city is led by a single imposing figure in a spiked helm. The characters speculate that this is the infamous Pargat Arrow-Eater.
With the raiders disappearing into the distance, the characters enter Dith Lun to have a look around. They find the place deserted, though it is obvious that several larger buildings are occupied. A surprise guest soon joins them: the lead Envoy, who is abruptly cast out of one of the buildings.
The characters find that the Envoy is on the verge of tears. He introduces himself as Bauen, and confesses that he has been cast out of the city for his failure to get the characters to leave.
The characters find this hard to believe.
Bauen rather tearfully continues his story as the characters listen in amazement. He says that he is a hardened criminal, and that he was "sentenced to Envoy" in punishment. He further explains that Envoy is just about the lowest-status position in Dith Lun society, lower even than the common laborers and the Spears.
The characters comment that they had heard that there was once a different Envoy. Bauen says that they are correct. The office of Envoy had been filled by a criminal so infamous that he had been sentenced to Envoy for life. Bauen goes on for some time about the previous Envoy's various faults, including his inability to perform the rituals of refusal, rejection and exchange properly; his love for material objects; his inappropriate joining with one of the female citizens (a desperate criminal in her own right); and (most despicably) his desecration of the Garden by deliberately plucking the colorful blossoms of several plants from the greened tracts outside, and then giving them to the woman he coveted. During this time, Bauen and all the other townsfolk who had been sentenced to Envoy spent their time attempting to learn the correct forms of the necessary rituals.
Dojango Sangaree listens to this description and is instantly disgusted by a people so screwed-up that they consider a man a criminal because he gives flowers to his girlfriend.
Marik brings the discussion back to the present by asking Bauen what happened to his predecessor. Bauen explains that when the Outsiders first arrived, the old Envoy attempted to make them leave. He did an incredibly poor job of performing the ritual of rejection: instead of speaking the words of the ritual, he took a bow up to the walls and tried to shoot the Outsiders' leader. The leader swallowed the arrow, and then slew the Envoy for his trouble. The old Envoy's woman was slain by the Outsiders soon after, leaving Bauen as the most senior replacement.
The characters get the idea: the previous Envoy had been a capable businessman born into the wrong culture, and died defending his city the only way he could. Marik makes the obvious connection and asks Bauen if the old Envoy had a place where he lived. In response, Bauen leads the characters to a building near the gates that proves to be furnished with a style far out of place for Dith Lun. The characters do what comes naturally and loot the place, removing all the small, portable valuables they see:
The characters also retrieve the Alarm Staff from where Arnoux threw it. They silence the thing by tying the bronze clappers down with cloth.
The characters also persuade Bauen to taken them on a tour of the rest of Dith Lun before they depart. He shows them the sights of the town (aside from Death Ray Citadel), but the only other thing they find of interest are the Garden Ponds and the lalatto ferns growing in them. Bauen admits that the old Envoy never traded the lalatto extract to Outsiders, in spite of its many uses. Marik manages to locate to small bottles of the stuff.
The characters leave Dith Lun with Bauen in tow, borrowing one of the townspeople's fishing boats to make the journey easier. They pause to pick up the grayfeather stork parts at their camp before continuing downstream to find the Induway Traveler. Antok manages to shock Bauen beyond speech by playing with the grayfeather stork's beak in front of him.
The characters continue downstream until they finally locate the Induway Traveler, or what is left of it. They find the ship burned to the waterline, with no sign of any surviving crew. Dojango speculates that the crew simply anchored in midriver and assumed that nothing dangerous could get to them. Nothing like raiders with River Stepping powers.
The characters continue downstream after a moment of silence for the crew of the Induway Traveler.
The characters drift downriver for several days, speeding their journey with Marik's flight magic. They finally reach the Su Tai trading post at the confluence of the Yanyan and Go Lin Rao rivers. They dock, hoping to arrange passage upriver back to Doorway City.
They are met at the docks by a gaggle of bausker boatmen and an old clockwork named Twelve Cogs, who introduces himself as the Dockmaster. Twelve Cogs listens to the characters' story, then brings them to Pangrin, the paturki who owns the trading post.
Pangrin is deeply concerned by the characters' report of raiders from Bao Lat, especially raiders operating so close to Doorway City. He agrees with the Red Hills tribesman Ram's assessment that the thrux Virators beyond the Zhao Shan mountains are ultimately responsible. He also tells the characters that Bao Lat is one of the remaining centers of power for the Gua Far faction, the faction that originally brought the thrux into the Garden as mercenaries.
Pangrin asks the characters if they know anyone in Doorway City. When the characters explain that they are working for the trader Jomon, Pangrin asks them to take a letter to him. He offers to pay their passage upriver in exchange. The characters agree to this offer, and accept Pangrin's letter.
Having arranged their passage upriver, the characters find themselves with some time on their hands as they wait for the next boat to depart. They spend the time shopping. Antok buys a 2-point Powerstone from Pangrin for a blue clavar and a yellow clavar, while Marik spends his time looking for nice miscellaneous magical objects. Arnoux satisfies himself by taking Bauen to the local wine-seller and getting Bauen seriously drunk for the first time in his life.
The session ends with the characters at the Su Tai trading post at the confluence of the Go Lin Rao and Yanyan rivers, waiting for a boat to take them back to Doorway City. Each character gains three experience points.