The brute struck by Shenba's claws staggers backwards, grunting loudly... but amazingly, it does not die, despite having had Shenba's talons pierce directly through its head. Obviously these creatures possess truly inhuman resilience.

Asaki's attempt to free Tamrissa is ended when a brutal blow to the back of her head makes her black out. Kasei, sputtering in anger, is lifted off the ground and promply stuffed into a metal-mesh sack. Tamrissa runs as fast as she can... but to her horror, she feels the thud of a metal sphere on her back mere metres from where she started running. Her desperate ploy to escape is cut short before it even truly began as another metallic web bursts out around her and wraps her back up.

Even when badly wounded, the creatures do not seem to be slowed or weakened, and it does not take long before all the companions have been captured. After ensuring that all active members of the group have been secured, and paying particular attention to confining Gulver and Thisias, the creatures then proceed to enmesh all the unconcious members of the party. They seem unpertrubed by Keseno's otherworldly wings, but tie him up just the same. The brutes go about the task of rounding up everyone, while the leader fires a brightly burning flare into the air with a large crossbow-like contraption.

In a few minutes, a huge wagon, drawn by more of the horse-like creatures, appears over the crest of a nearby hill. Brutes open the doors to the domed cage at the back, and hurl the companions in one by one. Soul Reaver lets out a grunt of pain as he hits the metal floor - it would seem that he is coming to. After locking the door, the leader sneers at them.

"You are lucky we do not kill you for the injuries you inflicted upon us. However, the KOHAL TREGO is currently being held in our capital - I am certain you will make entertaining additions to it. Who knows, perhaps one of you will even be named Slave King!"

With that, the leader takes up a position at the side of the wagon. The other riders also surround the cage. With the reinforcements that joined them on the convoy, the riders now make a formidable force, and keep a constant eye on the companions. It would seem that escaping would be ill-advised.

After a few painful minutes in the lurching, squeaking cage, the metallic webbing slowly melts off the companions, leaving their cut flesh bare - but once more allowing them to move and speak.

Soul Reaver seems to have re-awakened, though dried blood mats the hair on the right side of his head. He seems very grim as he looks outside the cage at the hilly, rock-dotted landscape passing by.

(ooc: Again, here's a chance to get Soul Reaver to explain what's going on. He's been here before and he KNOWS what's up... but he needs to be asked about it before he'll say anything.)

Soul Reaver's mouth goes into a thin, straight line as Tamrissa and Shenba ask their questions. He leans backwards against the bars of the cage as he goes to explain the situation.

"Yes, Shenba. I have been here before, many many years prior. But look upon their capital now, for it may help with my explanations."

As Soul Reaver says this, the points out of the cage, in the direction the wagon is heading. As the wagon rises over the crest of the final hill, it reveals the vast capital of GURDEKUK sprawling beneath them in the setting sun. The buildings are massive and built with a fine precision and artisanship one might not have expected from these brutish beings. Domed roofs and large spires jut from the city.

But two locations in particular catch the eyes of the companions. The first is a distinctive tower - a huge, slim, hexagonal edifice that dwarfs all other structures with its height. The tower is made from some sort of black, metallic substance, with large bolts of steel driven into it. Huge chains extend from the top of the tower's six corners, and are anchored firmly into the ground in the city to help hold it upright. On the tip of the tower is an open platform, studded with curving spikes. And suspended between those spikes is a huge, shimmering orange crystal. It takes little knowledge to realise that this tower is in some way very significant indeed.

The other notable structure is a series of large domes, each at least twice the size of the others around it. The largest, central dome is half as tall as the huge spire. Intricate carvings and statues adorn the domes - many of the statues show the brutish creatures weilding chains and swords in battle. Even from here, shouts and cheers can be heard flowing from the structure.

Once he has allowed the others to take this all in, Soul Reaver continues.

"I first came here about a millenia ago. At that time, this world was very different to what it was now. This capital was a different city indeed - in fact, the entire planet was ruled by a race known as the Inja 'Del. The brutes, or OGHRUN as they call themselves, were no more than slaves to these creatures. The Inja 'Del were a race of powerful sorcerers. Physically they were frail and weak, but their sorcerous powers allowed them to enslave the mighty OGHRUN race.

The OGHRUN are naturally tough and strong. The resilience that you witnessed is natural to them - they feel little pain, and virtually no exhaustion. The nerves and neurons in thier body are capable of recombining almost instantly to bypass damaged areas, allowing them to survive injuries that would cripple most races. This made them perfect for perfoming the cruel manual labour of the Inja 'Del, who refused to 'stoop' to the level of performing such tasks themselves.

When I arrived here, the OGHRUN had already been enslaved for many centuries. I felt angered at their plight, and joined a resistance movement against the Inja 'Del. Together with them, we researched and eventually forged a Vortex Gem - the object you see upon the central tower of the city."

Soul Reaver points towards the tower to emphasise his point.

"Creating the Gem was a difficult task, but with my Warp-Travelling abilities I had the necessary mobility needed to gather the materials for its creation. Once made, the Gem did not have a proper focus for its powers, but its effects were instant. It drained most mystical power from the immediate area in moments. The Inja 'Del had suddenly lost their edge. They would watch in horror as their magics sputtered weakly while the OGHRUN attacked them with their chains, snapping their frail bodies in half with their terrible strength.

The ensuing revolt was a bloody massacre. The OGHRUN, free at last after hundreds of years of tyranny, rose up against their masters and hunted them into extinction. The Vortex Gem was mounted by the OGHRUN upon a central tower that fully focused it's energies. Now, it radiates over an area of over five hundred kilometres in each direction - as one approaches the tower, its draining effects become more powerful."

Soul Reaver seems almost mournful for a moment. As the wagon enters the city, he points outside again.

"Look upon the NERKAN - the 'Liberator'. He is the champion of these people!"

The wagon passes a statute of a massive humanoid surrounded by OGHRUN reaising their chained fists in victory... and as they approach, the companions realise it is a statue of Soul Reaver. However, certain details seem to have been changed. Most notably, the stony Soul Reaver upon the pedestal stands at least a metre taller than the OGHRUN. The statue's visage also looks distinctly younger and more idealistic than the real thing - more handsome than a human could perhaps ever be in real life.

"Heh. I never realised that I was so great in stature and so handsome of face."

Soul Reaver gives a humourless smile before continuing.

"I left the OGHRUN to their own devices then, foolishly believing that I had done a good deed. But the OGHRUN had become bitter and hate-filled after their centures of slavery. As I saw on my few discreet return-visits to this world, they did not learn their lesson. They developed a terrible hatred against not only the Inja 'Del, but against all magic-using creatures. They call magic-users 'Sorcerous Ones'. The slaves have become the enslavers, as the OGHRUN now chain those unfortunate magic-users that come here to their service until the end of their lives. It says something for the cruelty of the universe that the OGHRUN would not themselves learn a lesson from their own terrible enslavement and instead perpetrate this evil upon others instead."

He then looks at Tamrissa specifically.

"And Tamrissa hunch is correct. We have arrived during the time of the KOHAL TREGO - the 'Final Uprising'. It is meant to be a symbolic re-enactement of the days when the OGHRUN threw off their chains and hunted down the Inja 'Del. The battles are fought mostly between the slaves of the OGHRUN - the irony behind this escapes them. The OHGRUN have mostly lost sight of the true meaning behind this celebration and instead simply enjoy the bloodshed and pain that these battles inflict."

Soul Reaver breathes deeply once.

"It seems that we are to be fighters in the KOHAL TREGO."

Soul Reaver shakes his head.

"Not necessarily, my pupil. Fortunately it would be unproductive to kill off all but one of the slaves participating. Thus, we may not have to fight each other at all. If we are fortunate, our group will be allowed to fight side-by-side... but I can make no such guarantees.

The battle is not one of attrition until there is only the Slave King left. Instead, two slaves will eventually be chosen for the final bout to decide the overall winner. I am afraid that our fate is entirely in the hands of our captors."