Hauk was labelled a troublemaker for speaking out against limiting the types of spells available to battlemages. The new Arch Mage started by banning Necromancy and proceeded by introducing a code of conduct for the members of the Mages Guild, starting with the battlemages. Although Travis could not ban other schools of magic, he declared it not becoming a battlemage to use spells of Illusion and Conjuration. Hauk disagreed.

With the war of words escalating, Hauk felt he wasn’t too far off from being labelled a necromancer and put on the other side of the divide. He didn’t want that and decided to go away for a while, let things cool off. He boarded a ship bound for Antaloor and was gone.

The ship moored somewhere along the coast of the Savannah of Erimos. It wasn’t even a real port, just a beach with some caves. No matter, Hauk had arrived in Antaloor as agreed, so he disembarked, found a horse and went looking for civilisation.

The Savannah was warm, dry and the ground felt solid under the horse’s hoofs – a welcome change after several weeks at sea. Hauk came across some strange animals not found in Cyrodiil – giant ants, big flightless birds on long legs, huge tough skinned creatures with a single thick horn on their nose – but also some familiar creatures like boar, just as aggressive and deadly as in Cyrodiil. The flightless birds were easy to kill with a few fireballs and tasted better than rats when roasted. Hauk could have stayed in Savannah by himself for a long time, were it not for the lack of water. He came across a few abandoned hamlets and villages, finding their wells all but dried out. “People must have fled the drought” – he thought. “I need to find a larger settlement.”

Going North, he found Bayan. It was full of people, many of whom indeed came from the empty villages that he passed. There was water but no food – the town didn’t have enough supplies for everyone and the drought killed their crops. They took to eating horses! But horses were also their livelihood, so they tried to leave horse meat to the last resort. Hauk shared some of the flightless bird meat with the locals – they were ever so grateful. “Why don’t they just go out into the Savannah and hunt those birds themselves?” He wondered. But he was a battlemage, and they were not, and the Savannah had a lot of hostile surprises for one who could not toss a fireball or two.

“Are you a mercenary?” – someone asked. Hauk never thought of that, but it seemed the logical thing to do. Yes, he would be a mercenary!

“There is work for hunters and mercenaries, you know. Talk to Alima – our leader – she’ll tell you what needs doing. Besides bringing more of that Ostrich meat, that is.”

Alima was the local healer for people and horses alike, but preferred horses. She welcomed an offer of help from Hauk and even promised to give him a decent horse if he got some medicinal roots for it first. “Are you trying to tell me that your best horse is sick?” This did sound fishy.

“I promise I am not trying to cheat you!” – protested Alima. “It is indeed our best horse but it got poisoned by a giant ant. I can brew a potion to clear the poisoning, I just need mint roots for that.”

“Ok, where do I find these mint roots?”

“You don’t. They are roots – they are in the ground and you don’t see them.”

“Whaaa-”

“Calm down. Ostriches like them. Kill a few ostriches, cut out their stomachs, retrieve mint roots. Unsavoury but simple.”

“You sure do have strange ways…”

“Welcome to the Savannah! And watch out for those giant ants – they are both tough and poisonous.”

Ostriches were easy prey, and soon Hauk had a good horse – and it was in fact a good strong horse, not a weak one that he was riding before. Alima also gave him a book on Antalorian flora and fauna – useful both for brewing potions and for making roasts.

“Anything else I can do for you?” – Hauk was hoping for a job.

“Well, you could try to help us with our drought and famine problem” – Alima offered. “It won’t be easy, but if you succeed, there’ll be a good reward in that, as well as a regular payment and our gratitude. You need to convince our neighbours in Halnin to resume trading with us again.”

That sounded easy enough, but Hauk knew that it wasn’t. Easy tasks do not have a reward as well as a payment attached to them. He came to Antaloor seeking adventure, and this was it.