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'There is no freedom for me. I have only traded one set of captors for another, and then another.
'The Ordâkhai want me dead. The Kindred freed me from them... but only so they might have... the privilege of seeing me slain. And these Elves...'
Balakhâd weakly raises an arm to gesture at the Kintai nearby. His mouth drops open with an expression of disgust and alarm.
'What... what is wrong with this one?'
Background
Balakhâd lives at the mercy of the Kintai of Shonith, and may have information concerning Azagath and Nakási that will be of use to you... if he can be convinced to share it with you.
Objective 1
Silirtas stands by Balakhâd at Shonith, in Khûd Zagin.
- Balakhad: 'What is wrong with this She-Elf?'
- Silirtas: Silirtas stands beside the wounded man, her expression slack and her eyes empty and unseeing. Balakhâd stares up at her with an expression of disgust visible on his sun-damaged face.
Objective 2
Balakhâd is behind the pavilions north of the water in Shonith.
- Talk to Balakhâd in Shonith
- Balakhad: 'She lives... but she is unaware of her surroundings? She works some vile Elf-magic against us?'
- Sigileth murmurs dangerously
Objective 3
Sigileth is behind the pavilions north of the water in Shonith.
- Balakhad: 'What is wrong with this She-Elf?'
- Sigileth: 'Remember that you live only at the behest of the Kintai, Balakhâd. You would be wise to keep a politic tongue in your head, or you may find yourself once again left to die in the desert.
- 'That is what happened to you, is it not? You left Nirgambâr in the company of Azagath and Nakási, but your new friends thought to abandon you within the inhospitable waste. They exhausted whatever use they had of you, and left you to die.'
Objective 4
Balakhâd is behind the pavilions north of the water in Shonith.
- Talk to Balakhâd in Shonith
- Sigileth: 'That is what happened to you, is it not? You left Nirgambâr in the company of Azagath and Nakási, but your new friends thought to abandon you within the inhospitable waste. They exhausted whatever use they had of you, and left you to die.'
- Balakhad: 'They are no friends of mine!' he hisses, and you are surprised to see the quivering of his eyes: if he was not so parched, he might weep.
- 'If I tell you what they said... you will let me go? You will not allow these Elves to work their terrible enchantments upon me?'
Objective 5
Balakhâd is behind the pavilions north of the water in Shonith.
- Balakhad: Balakhâd seems almost desperate to earn your promise that the Kintai will not enchant him.
- 'I will tell you what they said! I will tell you everything!'
Objective 6
Balakhâd is behind the pavilions north of the water in Shonith.
- Talk to Balakhâd in Shonith
- Balakhad: 'They led me out into the desert with a ragged cloth tied over my eyes. We walked for most of the night. At last Nakási hit me upon the head with the hilt of her weapon, and senselessly I collapsed into the sand.
- 'When I awoke, there was no sign of them; the wind had covered their tracks. I sought to make my way northward under the burning sun, but thirst and delirium slowed my progress. I fell down rocky slopes and considered giving up, letting the sand cover me, but as death approached I resolved not to let it end that way. Always I stood again, and continued my desperate march from the desert.
- 'Did I survive the desert only to fall victim to the unnatural sorceries of Elves? No. No!'
Objective 7
Sigileth is behind the pavilions north of the water in Shonith.
- Talk to Sigileth in Shonith
- Balakhad: 'Did I survive the desert only to fall victim to the unnatural sorceries of Elves? No. No!'
- Sigileth: 'The Kintai will do nothing against your will, Balakhâd, unless you want not the healing of your body and your mind.
- 'But I am most concerned with your description of the glass phial Nakási kept upon her person. From this account it appears they possess a small quantity of Narghâk, and seek to obtain more by making use of the map Azagath took from the Mâkhda Khorbo.
- 'My knowledge of this substance is limited... but it sounds very dangerous.'
Objective 8
Silirtas is behind the pavilions north of the water in Shonith.
- Talk to Silirtas in Shonith
- Sigileth: 'I am most concerned with your description of the glass phial Nakási kept upon her person. From this account it appears they possess a small quantity of Narghâk, and seek to obtain more by making use of the map Azagath took from the Mâkhda Khorbo. My knowledge of this substance is limited... but it sounds very dangerous.'
- Silirtas: At some point during Balakhâd's tale, Silirtas regained her awareness. She turns now to you with her eyes alight.
- 'I am intrigued by this man's story, and wish to know more about the villains who tortured him so. If I might help you prevent them from reaching their goal, I would do so. Such an adventure will surely forestall my fading, but that is not my only reason for suggesting it. I have before heard of this Narghâk, this Hungry Fire, and my people will be endangered for as long as such a thing exists in the world.
- 'What more can this Balakhâd tell us of the Hungry Fire?'
Objective 9
Balakhâd is behind the pavilions north of the water in Shonith.
- Talk to Balakhâd in Shonith
- Silirtas: 'What more can this Balakhâd tell us of the Hungry Fire?'
- Balakhad: Balakhâd grimaces with pain and refuses to speak any further.
Objective 10
Silirtas is behind the pavilions north of the water in Shonith.
- Talk to Silirtas in Shonith
- Balakhad: Balakhâd grimaces with pain and refuses to speak any further.
- Silirtas: 'He knows more than what he wishes to say to us.
- 'If we can better ease his pain, he may be willing to speak further of the Hungry Fire.'
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![[45.1S, 72.8W]](/wiki/File:Kh%C3%BBd_Zagin_map.jpg){kind=link}