The Saga of Flogi Arthursunus in the Land of Meswet

A holy man he was, shielded by the gods and favoured by the elves. He was not always so... During his passage to Tanysira to take up a position as a doctor at one of the new hospitals there, his ship had been struck by lightning and storm. Knocked out by some falling debris, he woke up alone and adrift in a lifeboat. For three months he had been trapped at sea, without company nor regular supplies of water, but he had been blessed. When his thirst grew so great that he felt he could not withstand it anymore, rains would shower down or a coconut would come to him. When his hunger gnawed at his mind, flying fish would appear and provide him with nourishment. When he would scream for someone to hear him, the waves would babble to him in words he half understood.

It was in this raft that he received his visions. The gods, specifically those of healing, had made a contract with those of the sea. For his life, he would need to seek out a city near pyramids where they had once known the old friends of his people. He would need to journey through jungles, desert, grasslands, and over mountains until he came to a great desert. From there, he would need to find a river that opened up into a large bay and follow it until he came to one of the cities of the people he must seek. There, he would have to heal the sick and spread his holy mission to others.

At first, Flogi rejected this mission. While a doctor, he did not wish to spend his days in foreign lands until he died. The gods grew upset with him over this, and so sent another storm. His boat was rocked and he was turned out, with the boat then being smashed against the waves. He nearly drowned five times that night, but just before the final wave came to snuff him out, he cried out 'I'll do it!' and he was knocked out by a piece of driftwood. When he came to again, he was on the shore of the land of Ifriq.

Naked and alone but for a staff of knotted wood, he began his journey. The lands around him were at first quite lush, jungle like. It was in this jungle that he found a great dead auroch and there that he ate of its almost rotting flesh. Taking this as divine providence, he broke a stone and used its sharpened edge to skin the beast, before then cleaning the hide and dressing himself in it. He then once more set off but not before first collecting some berries in a container he fashioned from bark.

So provisioned, he made his way into the east until the trees began to give way and he came across a grassland. There he wandered for several weeks until by chance, he was set upon by some native slavers. They were a mix of some simply dusky and those with skin of ebony, plus a few in-between. He was added to their haul of goods and marched to the south-east. For months, they would drag him from simple village to oasis to town, sometimes launching raids, sometimes selling, and sometimes buying. It was in this captivity that his first divine activity was required, as after one such raid, his captors were about to kill a young boy who had been injured.

Feeling compelled to act, he ran over to the boy and began treating the wounds with bits and pieces he had picked up. He splinted the leg with two bits of wood and then tore off some of his hide garment to act as a binding. While at first his captors hit him and shouted at him in their incomprehensible tongue, they soon stilled when they realised what he was doing. After he had finished treating all the wounds, he was given some basic tools and extra water and food. The slavers were pleased by his skills. He was now to help heal those injured, no matter how minor or great.

This pattern of things continued on for three more months, with him becoming trusted by his keepers. He became content in this way of things until he came to a town at the foot of a mountain range. There, when he looked at the mountains, his mind was set alight and he remembered his oath. It was such pain that wracked him, that he writhed on the floor and was even given a bed to rest in after he passed out.

When he awoke, he found himself alone except for one sleeping guard. Knowing that staying would not be accepted, he stole money, clothes, and supplies quietly from the surrounding rooms and then left the place via a window. He then stole across the roofs of buildsing until he came to the town's walls and he jumped, trusting the gods to protect him. As he fell, the wind picked up and caught him and he was gently placed on the ground.

With his escape effected, he began the climb over the mountains.