Continue cooperation with the inhabitants of this settlement. You and Ben spend some time in this place.

So you and Ben are free now.

But your salvation is only the result of a lucky coincidence...

What would have happened to you and Ben if there had not been a sudden attack on the caravan of cruel **** traders?

The answer is obvious.

The fate of both of you would be extremely tragic. And, in this case, d e a t h would not be the worst outcome...

Life in a friendly settlement lasts about a week.

You are helping local inhabitants. You and your friend often go to the forest, which is located north and east of this small settlement. The goal is to find food. Edible roots, berries, mushrooms, small animals that are convenient to hunt. Another important aspect: you can fish in the river (to the north of the village, through a wooded area, a large river flows, which recedes into the distance beyond the horizon). The forest east of the village is more hilly (if you fly higher, you can see that this area of ​​forest extends all the way to the foothills of a large chain of mountain peaks).

Mountains…

Tall, majestic mountains connected into a giant chain of natural obstacles that seem insurmountable for wingless creatures...

Among these mountains lies the place you long to return to.

Your home.

Nest of our tribe of windriders.

Tribe of Skyblooded.

With a mixture of bitterness and nostalgia, you remember your home, your fellow tribesmen, your former way of life...

Questions that arise in your mind: "Windriders... What are they doing now? Did some trouble happen to them too? What is Tina doing? How did the shaman Ashandra perceive the tragic events that happened in the ruins with our group of scouts?"

This type of mood triggers conflicting thoughts in your mind.

You promised the leader of a friendly settlement an alliance and help from your tribe of windriders. Union and assistance in the fight against numerous armed groups of **** traders. This tall man with many scars on his face and a bandage over one eye listened to your promises...

But what did he think about the feasibility of fulfilling these promises?

Dont clear…

However, he told you a lot about this wasteland region.

The information you learned does not inspire optimism at all: the city of **** traders is called Babili; This is a very large city - many thousands... or even tens of thousands of persons live there. Inhabitants of Babili are warlike, numerous and well armed. Their armed detachments constantly patrol the surrounding area for many miles in different directions.

The goals are quite clear.

Capturing new slaves.

Capture useful resources.

Robbery and **** of anyone who refuses to comply.

Expansion.

The settlement you and Ben are currently in is called Fred's Hangar (the name comes from the fact that the settlement was founded in a massive old dilapidated metal structure; the metal walls are covered in rust; the remains of strange ancient mechanisms have also long since rusted and are used as primitive household items – as elements of furniture, parts of walls of individual dwellings, etc.).

Fred is the name of that tall man with many scars on his face and a bandage over one eye. He is a local leader. Judging by his stories, this settlement was inhabited not so long ago - about ten years ago. Then a group of traveling mercenaries, led by Fred (even then he was known as Fred the One-Eyed Seeker), explored these rusty ruins in search of useful supplies, weapons or ancient pieces of equipment. This place was then inhabited by aggressive beasts. The group of Fred was able to eliminate the threats. He himself and some of his fellow mercenaries decided to stay in this place and organize a settlement. The reason for this is that there is a forest and a river nearby. This means that water and food (fish, plants and forest animals for hunting) are close enough. Over the course of ten years, the population of Fred's Hangar grew to three hundred people. The advantageous location attracted outcasts from small steppe and desert savage tribes.

In recent times, those who were runaway slaves began to often flee to this place...

Therefore, conflict with the city of Babili was inevitable.

Inhabitants of Fred's Hangar hated slavery. This is quite logical: the bulk of the local residents were either from freedom-loving wild tribes of the steppes, or runaway slaves.

So, Fred's Hangar is one of those few settlements that continue to resist the brutal dominance of the city of Babili in this wastelands region. Many other villages were either destroyed or submitted to the brutal rule of the city of Babili.

And you made promises to these freedom-loving people...

Promises of alliance, trade relations, assistance in battles and intelligence...

But the problem is that you are now away from your home. You are away from your tribe of windriders.

Tribe of Skyblooded.

How can you make promises on behalf of the entire tribe?

In accordance with ancient customs, your tribe is governed by two persons.

Shaman. This is a spiritual leader. This is an experienced healer and one who performs sacred rituals. This is the one who is able to speak with the Spirits of the Mountain Peaks.

Now this status is possessed by the wise old female windrider shaman Ashandra. You remember her skepticism towards your reconnaissance expeditions. She always believed that you should explore your surroundings less to avoid getting into trouble. Now you have to admit that her fears were justified - a series of sad events of the recent past are evidence that you would have avoided a lot of sorrows if you had not been so keen on exploring various dangerous places...

Probably, the tragic events of the recent past will only strengthen the isolationist aspirations of Ashandra.

The second important person who controls the tribe of Skyblooded is the War Chief.

This status is currently held by Satlon, an elderly and experienced windrider warrior who had extensive experience in reconnaissance expeditions in his youth. In peacetime, he organizes training for windrider scouts.

Do you remember his stern face, short gray hair, many scars on his skin and the look of bright blue eyes like the sky...

Satlon in the past has only encouraged your desire to actively explore the terrain during reconnaissance expeditions. However, he was unhappy that you relied too much on the speed, mobility and stealth of the windriders. From his point of view, you neglected the need to provide windriders with powerful weapons. And one more thing: he was dissatisfied with your manner of communication with representatives of “wingless” communities - in his opinion, you were too soft-spoken to be an effective leader.

Ashandra and Satlon.

These are the ones who now rule tribe of Skyblooded.

These are the ones who make decisions about alliances.

Not you.

You could try to convince the leaders of your tribe. But for this you need to return to nest of Skyblooded.

Judging by the words of the local inhabitants, the mountain peak on which your home is located is a place where it will take a long time to get there...

The journey through wooded foothills and mountain passes will probably take about a week.

Or even more time.

So, sooner or later you have to make a decision.

You and Ben have been living in Fred's Hangar for a week now.

In addition to helping find food and water, you both are **** to participate in repelling raids by armed groups of babilian thugs.

Unfortunately, attacks by such small armed groups in border areas are becoming increasingly frequent. The number of wounded and killed inhabitants of Fred's Hangar increases every day. It is not difficult to guess that such incessant pressure from small reconnaissance groups of raiders is nothing more than a harbinger of full-scale aggression. The city of Babili has a large population, which means they have a lot of warriors. And the **** owners of Babili clearly did not forgive the inhabitants of Fred's Hangar for the attacks on their caravans and for the liberation of slaves.

You realize with fear that if nothing is done, the fate of this settlement will be simply terrifying...

Fred the One-Eyed Seeker, at his next meeting with you, demandsly asks how soon you can contact your kins from tribe of Skyblooded. The help of windrider warriors would now be very useful in defending Fred's Hangar from attacks by babilian units.

The only thing you can answer to a logical question is phrases about friendship and promises of speedy help.

You just need to get to your home.

And then you will definitely persuade the leaders of your tribe...

At least that's what you hope...

This answer clearly does not satisfy Fred.

He orders his subordinates to provide you and Ben with the necessary minimum supplies (food, water) and primitive weapons (a couple of spears with iron tips).

Then he tells you, "Tomorrow you and your friend will set off. You must get to your home as quickly as possible to bring help here. Your winged warriors are needed to protect our settlement. If your promises are worth anything, then your warriors are obliged to help us in defense against the enemy. If your promises were just irresponsible chatter, then I will be **** to look for other ways to save the lives of my people!"

You leave the office of Fred with anxious feelings in your soul...

The next day, you and Ben say goodbye to the local inhabitants.

As you leave the guarded perimeter of the settlement, you notice near one of the outposts a small group of strange-looking people who are communicating with the outpost guards.

Traders?

Travelers from distant lands who go to Fred's Hangar?

Some of them have scary metal structures on their faces! One of the strangers has lifeless metal emitting a reddish glow for his left eye! Another person has some kind of ugly metal resemblance instead of the flesh of his right hand!

You and Ben quickly move past them.

However, you manage to hear individual phrases of the strangers’ conversation: “We are an official delegation of ambassadors... A meeting is scheduled for today with the local leader... You will have to accept the only possible solution - submission to the stronghold of order in the wastelands. Your life has been riddled with weakness. Only the unyielding will of the Law of Steel can reorganize your way of life and save you. Fortunately for you, the fort of Steel Alliance has recently been erected to the northwest... Fort Hardwill is nearby... Now you have a chance to survive... I hope that your leader has no illusions and that he will not delay the negotiations..."

Thoughts in your head: “It seems that if I don’t make it in time or if I can’t persuade the leaders of my tribe to help, then the consequences of this will be the most drastic for the local inhabitants...”

You and your friend Ben quickly move away in an easterly direction.

You will have to move through the forested foothills to reach your home.