Epic - Saving my People

Hunters Turned Hunted

I called Grelt close and set about trying to convince him of the danger I knew we faced ahead. In the end he agreed to my plan to set an ambush for the ambushers on the basis that if there was a foe then I was right, and if not then I was mad! We made our way up to slope with a little difficulty and then tracking along the contours until we reached a position above the ambush site that I remembered. We stopped and dismounted, as I wanted to observe and not be seen until I knew that the foe was in place. Thankfully I was proven not to be mad, as the Kharash arrived and began to set up the ambush. I pulled back out of sight and gathered our small force, ordering a charge into the foe and to maintain the pressure so that they could not regroup and organise a defence as they had the advantage of numbers.

They were taken by surprise and scattered as we bore quickly down on them, one falling to his death as my halberd lifted him from the rocks. We gave chase and I was grateful to see Fulgar calling to me as we crested a spur on the mountain side. Grelt looked ashen-faced at the sight of the wolf-man closing with us, and I yelled that Fulgar was a friend and to leave him alone. Fulgar asked if we were attacking or fleeing, and I urged him to join us in harrying the foe before they realised how few we were. At that he charged into them and literally ripped one apart! I later learned that Fulgar had spoken to his father about the threat and had been heeded; he had directed them to the sacred valley and they were amassing their pack, but had warned them to stay away from the Githyanki due to the power of their minds and their ability to strike down warriors without fighting. They were gathered on the side of the valley, seeing that the people had not yet been attacked, and Fulgar had come looking for me.

I continued my charge to aid Fulgar, and between us two more of the foe fell dead. I rode into the rear of them, disrupting their line, but urged Grelt to go back and get the runestone and the tiger to the safety of the city. Fulgar was slashed by one of the Kharash weapons, but he swiped at the attacker with his claws and another body rolled down the slope as he moved on to the next prey. One of the monks was killed, and I was stabbed as I tried to get back to support them but kept myself in the saddle. Fulgar took another hit, but thankfully we were about to be reinforced.

Garuk had arrived with the warband he had spoken of, effectively outflanking the foe and leaving them vulnerable. Their leader, Mardhan, conjured magic missiles that struck Fulgar's attacker, killing him. Garuk had spoken to Mardhan about the real reason for their mission, that he was to be captured in order to understand the Githyanki intent and that the rest of them were expendable. Now that he had the knowledge from our adventures there was no reason for lives to be lost and he convinced them that they should head to the valley if they wanted to thwart the Githyanki plans. We were glad of that as they were just in time to stop the Kharash from mounting an effective defence.

Garuk's people, the Githzerai, engaged from the rear; more magic missiles streaked from Mardhan into one of my attackers, and Garuk himself cut a foe in half from top to bottom. Fulgar disembowled another and hungrily ate what I guess he considered to be particularly tasty organs, blood splattering all over him. He then lifted the heart from the body and held it aloft shouting "Shang-Ti in your honour we kill those that don't follow the way" dropping it into his jaws. Grelt and the monks finished off the lone Kharash in their way and started to withdraw as I had directed.

Garuk killed another as Mardhan shouted to the remaining Kharash to surrender or die. Thankfully they saw sense and threw down their weapons and sank to their knees. Fulgar warned that a warband was moving towards the valley, and I told him to go and be with his pack, saying that we would follow as quickly as we could. He changed into his wolf form and loped off. We could see about a score of Kharash riding down the valley looking to slaughter the people there, but Mardhan offered to help me stop them. I took him on horseback to the valley floor and he dismounted to throw a fireball that exploded within the enemy troops. I turned away at the intense flash and a wave of heat washed over me; when I looked back there were only four of the riders left alive and they were not really a threat. I took Mardhan back up the slope to where he wanted to rally his people.

We saw another warband further down the valley, so I dropped him off and spurred my horse to charge at them. Mardhan conjured strands of thick web across the rocks around them and trapped four within them. I continued my charge beyond that, skewering one of the foe and charging past. I shouted, hoping it would serve as a warning to the citizens below (more were still arriving unaware of the danger): "beware the Kharash are here; for Shang-Ti"!

Garuk restored his mind using a scroll, wary that Githyanki might attack at any moment. I was hit with an arrow as the Kharash started to respond - these were better organised than the last band we surprised. I wheeled around and killed another foe but this time a bardiche caught my armour and unhorsed me. Thankfully it was that moment that the Hengeyokai pack joined the fight and Fulgar made the first kill, eager to lead the attack. I got to my feet and leapt into the saddle again, riding up and down shouting "Shang-Ti protects! The Kharash cowards would attack the innocent, defeat them!", and struck one with my halberd and followed up to kill him as Garuk arrived and felled another.

I was joined by Fulgar and between our blows another Kharash fell quickly, and Fulgar pushed into them, ripping the throat of another open. Garuk killed one too, and the Githzerai were doing damage to the Kharash although they still held. I rode around and thrust my halberd into another, estimating that they were about halved in number. Fulgar was in amongst them now, ripping one apart from behind as his pack fell upon them from the front. The ones left alive threw down their weapons in terror and surrendered, trying to avoid being eaten. I knew the Hengeyokai had honour, but the Kharash might not so when the pack started feeding gruesomely on the fallen some of them soiled themselves.

Turning away from the slightly disturbing scene, I looked across valley and saw both Kharash and Githyanki riding down from the far ridge into my people. I had to do something! Garuk said that he would come with me, so we set off with Garuk holding on desperately. There were some figures left up on the ridge, so I headed for them thinking perhaps they were leaders of some kind. The riders between us intercepted me so I stuck one with my halberd and drove through. Thankfully his own weapon glanced off my armour. Fulgar stayed on the ridge, fearing for his unprotected mind as well as his pack. I charged past their main force and spurred the horse on towards the couple at the back. There were people being slaughtered but there was nothing I could do with just the two of us, all I could hope was that attacking the leaders might draw some off.

I speared what I hoped was the enemy leader with my halberd and he was lifted off his horse and fell dead to the ground. He had braced, though, and I took a solid hit in return. I reined my horse in, hoping that Garuk would dismount to fight the other figure, as it was clear now that he was Githzerai. There was no point, though, as the honourless coward was riding away! Garuk's people were moving carefully into the valley using their minds to attack the Kharash at range, but were wary of being ridden down if they got too close.

I gave chase to the Githyanki and caught up enough to strike with my halberd. Realising he could not escape he turned but aimed his attacks at Garuk rather than me. A mental battle went on between them, and I think he had tried to strike at me in some way but it hadn't worked. He rode off again, with us on his heels, until he reached the sacred caves farther up the valley. He quickly dismounted and rushed into the central cave... perhaps this was another means of traveling between worlds? There was certainly no sight of him and we got a dangerous sense of foreboding if we approached. We could retrieve a fire mouse offering from another cave, but we did not understand how to honour Shang-Ti properly there so we were forced to leave and return to the fight down the valley.

We passed the bodies of innocents slaughtered by the cowardly attack, and struck out to the north in an attempt to head off the attackers before they reached the nobles and priests that would be farther back. We could not face them in open battle with just the two of us, injured as we were. I rode hard and reached the first nobles with troops a mile or so from the valley. I spoke quickly with those that I knew to pass the warning back and managed to muster some defenders, about a dozen of them. We would charge the foe to slow them down and give people a chance to get to safety.

We charged valiantly, head on, and I held my attack to aim at one towards the rear, a magic user by the chanting he was doing. I killed him with the first charge, but it was just too late as a dreaded fireball exploded in amongst the troops behind me. Five fell, along with a couple of foe, and many more were hurt. Garuk was among them, and was severely wounded. We killed a few more, but we needed to get Garuk and the unseated riders out of there quickly. I managed to get Garuk onto my horse, and another brave rider picked up another, but we were so badly damaged that we had to withdraw, less than half of us now. We rode hard away and I sent the others straight back along the rode as I veered off into the mountains to try and split the enemy and draw them away.

A group of Kharash followed with one of the Githyanki. We carried on, drawing them out of sight of the road, then after dropping over a fold in the land I stopped, let Garuk get off, and turned to attack. I charged back and struck one of the riders, carrying on through and headed towards the Githyanki. He ignored me, though, pushing forward and looking for Garuk. Garuk conjured caltrops around himself as a defence against the riders, but the Githyanki was able to reach him anyway. Garuk pulled out a scroll to read and a thunderclap echoed around the mountains as a wave of force pushed out from Garuk in a circle. The Githyanki's horse was killed and its rider badly hurt.

We both suffered strikes from the Kharash, so I wheeled around and finished off my attacker before pulling up on the high ground. It looked like Garuk was trying to strangle the Githyanki, but if he was he was not doing it well as the foe squirmed free. The Kharash were trying to attack Garuk, but were having difficulty and he seemed to be holding his own for the moment. As they turned to ride at him again I charged forward, meeting one and killing him with my halberd connecting solidly as we passed. My horse was in pain, though, and now I realised why the Kharash had been struggling - seeing the caltrops for the first time. The Githyanki had got to his feet but as he tried to back off he stepped on a caltrop and fell, another caltrop pierced his eye and he was dead.

I wheeled and charged again, clashing hard with another Kharash rider. He was unseated, falling awkwardly and breaking his back on the rocks. I rocked back and felt a searing pain as his weapon punched through, but was able to keep myself in the saddle. One of the other riders lost his horse to the caltrops and ended up prone on the floor, and the last rider thought better of continuing the fight and rode away hard. I dismounted and ran to aid Garuk, killing the last foe as he was finding his feet, but I was also damaged by the caltrops and badly hurt with multiple wounds. I stopped moving to avoid any further damage.

Garuk helped me out, knowing where to walk safely, but not before he searched the Githyanki and found a book of spells. There was jewellery too, which he offered to me, but I was not really interested. My main concern was to get out of the death trap here, bind my wounds, and help my people.

Messenger of Shang-Ti

While we were engaged in this fight, Fulgar had moved to investigate the holy caves but was confronted by a serpent of the air appearing out of nowhere. He dropped to his knees, pledging service to Shang-Ti, as this was a messenger from Shang-Ti himself. Fulgar was told that Shang-Ti wished him to hunt those that corrupted the holy place and seek the device they held that could join the path to this place. Not only must he realign the paths in this place, though, but all eleven other temples! He was also told that someone he traveled with could make use of the device, which confused him for a moment, but the messenger meant Garuk... perhaps it was linked to his people in some way?

Suddenly the serpent issued an urgent warning; there were non-living creatures approaching! The "door" had been left open, he said, and then before disappearing: "they come quickly"! Fulgar turned to escape as a misshapen twisted human form emerged from the central cave with two other non-living following behind. Fulgar made it almost to the river below the slope when he saw Kharash to his left on horseback. They moved to avoid the foul creatures behind him, though, and he crossed over the river safely before starting to climb the other side.

The things were relentless, though, and his muscles burned with the climb. Eventually they closed on him and he took damage from one's claws. He punched back hard, smashing a weird boney creature into bits. In the end it was a one-sided fight and Fulgar made short work of them, but he was worried about his wound as it seemed like it was starting to fester. He headed north to look for us, eventually spotting us crossing a valley ahead of him as we tried to make our way back towards the road to see if we could help my people further... and perhaps seek aid from them for our wounds.

He called out as he closed with us, and we were glad to see him return. I dismounted and went to greet him but then noticed puss dropping from his arm which smoked evilly on the ground. I backed away quickly, saying that he seemed unwell and needed aid. Fulgar asked if there were a priest of Shang-Ti that could help, or at least a place to shelter. I said that there were plenty of both, but I was concerned that he might not make it if we could not find aid quickly. Garuk healed some of his wound with his wand, but then watched it crumble afterwards; it was not clear whether it had just exhausted its energy or whether the disease Fulgar carried had affected it.

As we paused, searching for ideas that might help, the air serpent that Fulgar had been visited by before appeared again. It was the first time we had seen it, so my first instinct was to ready a defence, but Fulgar spoke to it as if he were familiar with its form so I relaxed slightly. He told us that it was a servant of Shang-Ti, and I dropped to my knees in deference. It slowly began to unravel its coils drawing them into a loose circle around us, and then we felt strength returning and pain easing as light rose from the earth and passed over our bodies. When it had gone we found that all of our wounds were healed, and Fulgar had been cured.

I said "Shang-Ti be blessed!" in awe, echoed by the others. The serpent seemed unmoved and introduced himself as "Yang-Ti, avatar of Shang-Ti and his servant in this place". He warned that the gate in the temple (which I knew of only as the holy caves) was open but that the path was not correctly aligned. Those that would desecrate this land must be stopped, he said, and asked "will you do this"? We quickly and eagerly affirmed that we would gladly enact Shang-Ti's will, and then Yang-Ti disappeared in a wisp of air.

We were left to ponder what we had just agreed to, and how we might achieve it. Garuk sought leave to join his clan, but worried that Fulgar's vision was the true way to oppose those that would fight the Gods themselves. He had no clear path now... but Shang-Ti had offered one that made sense. We agreed to follow Shang-Ti's guidance together. Fulgar asked about Garuk's ancestor, the one that Garuk spoke of almost like a God, that he called "Zerthimon". Fulgar then did something strange, to my mind anyway, carving the name (not a short one either) into the skin on his arm. Garuk, seeing this, did the same and made an oath of blood to act as "one pack". I decided that my word was enough and no blood shed was required!

All of this was cut short as a massive floating ship appeared above us. I had not seen the like, even counting the floating ships we had seen before. This could have been as much as three hundred feet long, and equally tall with its masts and rigging. We dove into rocks in an attempt to hide. Garuk took off his backpack and sought out a phial which he unstoppered and a mist rose to form the shape of a tent. The ship was descending silently into the valley and we could see three riders making their way to meet it. I slapped my horse to make it ride off and ducked into the tent with the others, trusting Garuk that it would hide us in some way.

It did seem to, as after an hour we were able to emerge undetected. It was getting darker but Fulgar could smell horses north of us, and he led the way towards them. I was excited as we got closer as I realised one of the riders was Chimeg the traitor! She was with Gask and an escort. I urged an attack, eager to avenge the fallen innocents, but the others were wary and it was too dark for me to take the fight to them alone. A Githyanki appeared and something was passed from Chimeg to it, and then another (smaller) ship appeared and each party departed.

Garuk conjured the tent again, in the same way, but I was angry and frustrated and sought only to run through some martial drills in an attempt to take my mind away from the missed opportunity. Curse it!