Kava, Aldebaran, and Ritter's weapons slaughtered their foes with ease as Eurysa picked off the Vashimi spear throwers with her perfectly placed arrows. Mayitso seemed to be in his element in the woods, much as Kava would be in the swamp. The lycanthrope's fangs tore apart the wiry Vashimi with startling efficiency. Soon the Vashimi were dead and Kava declared the area was safe.
“Odd, this is a bit out of their territory,” the vodyanoi croaked, “I expect some scouts, maybe a trap or two, but not an assault. This is unusual.”
Mayitso snorted and then sniffed at the corpses and the ground. He growled and then moved off. The rest of the mercenaries followed. The lycanthrope had the best senses of the group by far, at least in hearing and smell. Eurysa's eyes might be sharper, but it was hard to tell. Soon the group saw what the lycanthrope had sensed. There was a Shimese village being built outside the swamp.
“Oh this really isn't right at all,” Kava said, “They would not build here unless they had to. The Vashimi like to hide and the marsh is excellent for places to hide and camouflage. This part of the forest is too open for that.”
“You can speak their language, right?” Eurysa asked.
“Ugh,” Kava croaked, “I know several enemy languages, yes.”
“Then we should question them,” the gorgon replied.
“Oh that won't go well. This is a cannibal tribe. Though I suppose if we kill enough of their warriors, the others might be afraid enough to talk. If we can catch any before they all run away.”
“Wonderful,” Eurysa said, “Mayitso, do you think you can grab us a prisoner to have a chat with?”
The great wolf nodded.
“Get a female,” Kava said, “Especially if she has children nearby. The males won't talk but their breeding females will be skittish about our power to slaughter her children.”
The lycanthrope looked to Eurysa. The gorgon nodded as Ritter felt slightly ill to his stomach. At least the group was not actually going to hurt the children, but instilling that fear felt wrong to the Halz. Mayitso soon returned with an unconscious female Vashimi. She wasn't wearing any clothing and had no weapons of note. Her sharpened teeth were still dangerous, as was her ability to yell out. Kava sat on her chest and waited with an oversized grin. The vodyanoi's frog-like maw could be quite disturbing.
Eventually the Vashimi woke and Kava spoke in Shimese, “We need to talk.”
The woman started to scream but Kava croaked, “I would not do that if you want your children to live. We can grab them as easily as we grabbed you.”
The woman glared at Kava with pure disgust and hate, “What do you have to say, monster?”
Ritter could see the woman's reactions. He half wished that he could hear what the vodyanoi and Vashimi were saying. His rational side knew that he was better off not knowing what horrible things Kava was talking about. The language was nearly as abhorrent in sound as the Vashimi seemed to be in appearance. Eventually the conversation was complete.
“Well, this is an interesting problem,” Kava croaked in Nuvro with obvious glee.
“If Kava is happy about it, than this can't be good,” Eurysa sighed.
Enzi's Irregulars #0028
“It seems that the troglodytes are making some sort of move,” Kava croaked, “They have driven this tribe out of the marsh. We probably just killed most of the warriors they had left.”
“So it isn't an invasion into Hirkan territory, it is a flight,” Ritter replied.
“Yes, and with no warriors, we have two fun choices,” Kava said with a manic look, “We can slaughter the villagers. Or we can make their home safe by slaughtering the slimy lizards.”
Ritter knew why Kava had grinned. Either situation appealed to her murderous streak. He imagined she would prefer killing the lizardfolk. They would put up a real fight. The vodyanoi's ploy with slaughtering the village was meant to get an immediate reaction to fight her most hated enemies. Kava was cunning and could be manipulative. The combination of a sharp intellect and an unrelenting lust for blood made her predictable, however frightening the combination might be.
“There is another option,” Ritter replied, “We can actually try talking to the lizardfolk and learning why they are on the move.”
Kava glared coldly at the Halz.
“You can speak their language, and most of the lizardfolk are not the kind to attack first if we come in peace,” Eurysa said, “You know Ritter is right.”
“Do you really think they would talk to one of my kind without fighting first?” Kava asked, “We had a bitter battle. As far as most of them know, they wiped out every last one of us.”
“Oh I think we can pull this off and get everything in order,” Eurysa said, “And don't think I won't know if you are sabotaging things.”
“Hey now,” the vodyanoi said, “I may want to slowly peel their scales off one by one as painfully as possible, but I am honest.”
Ritter smirked. Kava was right about that. She was very honest. Bluntly honest, in fact. It was part of what made Enzi's Irregulars work. Each member could be counted on to do their part, even if they did not like it. Such dedication was expected among the Halz, but it had seemed quite rare among the humans. The group released the poor Vashimi woman after Kava said a few words to her. The mercenaries made their way towards the marsh.
Ritter felt the slight change in the ground before he noticed anything else. The softer ground was only one change. The air held more moisture as well. Kava had perked up considerably. The trees had begun to change as well. What grew in the swamps seemed to have drooping greenery. Between that and the vines and odd tangles of plants that made up the underbrush, the whole area felt alive with plants. It was almost overbearing. As the ground became more soggy the underbrush began to disappear, replaced by shallow pools of murky water.
The scent of sulfur could be found on the wet breeze. It reminded Ritter of the forges of his home. However, as the scent grew stronger, the Halz quickly decided it was nothing like home. Without the heat of the forges and the dry air of the caverns, the sulfur seemed to settle everywhere. Ritter expected it would take more than one bath to wash away the stench when this mission was complete. A horrific burping and whistling sound awoke the Halz during their camp that night.
All the camp was awake except Kava. When woken she laughed at the group's description. It was a sulfurous fumarole. The burping sound came from it erupting through the boggy ground. The whistle was the gas release as it continued afterward. While the group returned to sleep or watch, none but the Vodyanoi were able to get comfortable again. The next morning they slogged through the increasingly marshy area until Kava pointed out a light. The group crept closer and saw a large group of lizardfolk sitting in the remains of a Shimese village.
“This is not a war party,” Kava croaked, “These are smaller males. They work the land to provide food for the tribe as a whole. Still, there should be more warriors. This strikes me as odd.”
“Then let us learn more,” Eurysa hissed, “Time to get their attention. Call out to them that we wish to talk.”
Kava sighed, then made some horrific noises. Something about that language made Ritter's skin crawl. There was an odd power to it, something primal that made him feel an instinctive fear. He shook it off, the Halz had nothing to fear from primitive humanoids like this. They were powerfully built, but no match for the hardy Halz and their advanced technology. He watched as several warriors came forward. They wore no armor and carried large but simple spears.
There was some obvious shock among the lizardfolk upon their sighting of the vodyanoi as well as suspicion. They seemed most aggravated over Ritter, but calmed quickly as Kava talked with them. Their language was harsh and guttural, but the Halz was surprised at how well things seemed to be going. Kava was not exactly diplomatic, but he wondered if her simple, blunt manner might not work better with these savages. Finally the vodyanoi turned to the group with a slightly puzzled look.
“It seems some humans stol
e some relic of theirs,” Kava croaked, “They thought Ritter might be a human at first. After some discussion, I got the point across that there are different tribes of humans, much like there are different tribes of troglodytes. The female they work under had ordered them to slaughter all humans in their path. As we are not humans, we are safe for now. They are pushing northwards to set up a major war camp in the far north. This area should be safe for the Vashimi to return in a few days.”
“Won't they slaughter the Vashimi again on their way back?” Ritter asked
Kava shrugged, “I doubt it. Once they get their stupid rock back they will slaughter the people around it and forget about continuing revenge. Especially as discussion of different tribes filters through their people. They mostly ignored the humans as only the Vashimi were foolish enough to live in the swamps.”
“This is over a rock?” Ritter asked.
“They call it a dragon egg,” the vodyanoi replied, “But I've seen the troglodytes worshiping lots of silly things that are supposed to be dragon related. Many of the tribes are obsessed with this sort of thing. I figure they found a large egg shaped rock they couldn't break and worshiped it. It was probably a chunk of halzium or something like that. Some of the odd trinkets I have seen them worship are downright odd. Things they claim to be of dragon origin but obviously are not. At least obvious to those with an intellect. There is no such thing as a dragon. My people lived in these marshes for generations and never saw anything even remotely dragon-like.”
“Well, other than letting the Vashimi and the Hirkans know what is going on, I guess this is all finished,” Ritter said.
“Yeah, this was too easy,” Kava replied in a depressed tone, “We barely got to kill anyone.”
The trip back to the Shimese camp was surprisingly uneventful. Ritter strode in first, letting his armor take a few hits as Kava stayed behind him and yelled out what all she had learned. The rocks soon stopped pelting the Halz as questions came. The Shimese people quickly calmed and swarmed out to hear the news. Ritter was surprised at how human and peaceful they seemed. The tales of the cannibal tribes and their vicious and heartless nature seemed hard to grasp
It made the Halz wonder if they were the same as any outcasts. If they might share a kinship with Enzi's Irregulars. Life had not treated them well. They fought to survive. It was what all living things did. Ritter wondered if there was any way to bring all living things together to live in peace. He knew such a thing had to be impossible, but it was a beautiful dream. If it wasn't for all those who sought selfish desires, perhaps the world would be perfect.
Even that made him pause. How many of his desires were selfish? The desire to live was certainly selfish. The Halz may have been well educated with a strong background in complex subjects, but pondering on philosophy was beyond his comprehension. So many things seemed like they might be the correct path. So many ideas looked like they might bear fruit. In the end, every philosophy seemed to be flawed. It made him wonder if life itself was flawed.
Soon the group was on its way back towards the edge of the forest. The trip back to the wagon was also surprisingly uneventful. Ritter was wondering if Kava would ever get a chance to really satisfy her violent nature. Eurysa explained all that had happened to Enzi and the Feergrus man left to chat with his Hirkan contact. When Enzi returned, the wagon moved off towards the northwest. That quickly brought them into drier lands. Over the next few days the ground grew rockier. Ritter knew they had to be near the border to Feergrus.
“Well, now we can follow the border to Feergrus northwards. We should be safe here,” Enzi explained to the group as they made camp, “I expect some jobs near the border to Agon. I am hoping to get a chance to prove ourselves to the people of the area after the debacle we had earlier.”
“Hopefully it involves lots of violence,” Kava growled.
The trip northwards was quiet for several days. However after five days the wagon rolled to a stop. Three Feergrus men were standing in its path. None of them appeared to be armed or armored. Knowing what Enzi was capable of, this fact only worried Ritter more. One of the dark skinned men stepped forward.
“Enzi's Irregulars,” he said in Infernus with a deep, booming voice, “Exactly who we were looking for.”
Enzi's Irregulars #0029
Enzi looked down at the three men, “Looking for us? This is a vast world to find us so easily.”
“We were given a few acceptable choices of who to hire for this job, people that could truly be trusted,” the leader of the men replied, “That we found you first is merely fate.”
“I don't believe in fate,” Enzi said.
“And I did not believe that you should be on the list of trusted mercenaries. I have heard many things about your group, but I will not question my superiors on their choice. They know more than I.”
“You might be surprised at how often that is not true,” Enzi said.
The man grunted, “We have a great need for your aid. We need someone to protect an acolyte as she travels to the coast and perhaps further.”
“An acolyte?” Enzi asked.
“Yes, a young acolyte in service to the temple of Chasar. Her skills are extraordinary and she is headed to Ravalei as part of an exchange of young talent to learn from each other,” the man stated, “However, she is threatened by Ahk separatists. To ensure that her protectors are not separatists that infiltrated our ranks, we were ordered to hire outsiders.”
It was Enzi's turn to grunt, “Ahk separatists. I have a few scores to settle with them. We are in.”
***
The Feergrus town of Zubayr was not a lot to look at. It was a border town near the Disputed Lands. But it was a starting place. Now Enzi's wagon would be riding down well maintained roads. This was a land that Enzi had long fled for the safety of himself and his family. It was unlikely that anyone would recognize him now, but he wore a cloak anyway. It would be about a day and a half ride to the next town, an equally small town called Golbahar.
After that Enzi would have to decide whether to head to the city of Tafresh or to Badarash, They would have to backtrack away from where they wanted to go if they went to Tafresh, but that would have to happen at some point. The rocky badlands made roads the only safe way to get anywhere. One could not always go exactly the way they wanted to. In the end they had to reach the city of Iskandar on the north edge of the Boneyard. Tacking southwest to Tafresh would put them on the edge of the Boneyard and then the group could just follow the roads that circled that dangerous place.
The Boneyard was one of the major tourist attractions in Feergrus, while also being a place people wanted to avoid. Creepy stories were often told of the place. Enzi had been there. It was merely a vast area where a great many creatures had gone to die. Ancient sun bleached bones had fossilized across the area. Great walls of bones had formed in some places. No one knew why so many creatures went there to die, but many myths were made up to frighten the superstitious. The real danger there came from the scavengers that lived there. Such a place of death attracted a great many creatures that were not afraid to gnaw on the recently dead.
Enzi decided he would go ahead on to Badarash and then make the southwestern trip from there, heading to Khaymah. From there they would circle the Boneyard, heading to Dashkotan and finally to Iskandar. In total, Enzi expected about a ten day ride from Zubayr to Iskandar. He imagined if there was a road straight between the two cities that the group could shave three or four days off their travel time. He decided he might as well make some use of the extra time. Feergrus had several laws that could hinder the group.
“Well for camp tonight we get to begin a discussion of rules and laws in the country of Feergrus,” Enzi stated.
“Ugh,” Kava croaked, “I don't do rules, you know.”
“I will try to appear sad at your funeral,” Enzi quipped back.
Kava snorted, “You are not that good an actor. Although I would totally pay to watch as the giant hooved furball over there
cries his eyes out missing me and my awesomeness.”
Aldebaran rolled his eyes as the rest of the mercenaries settled in to listen. They quickly learned that they would be encountering several odd things. Menial tasks in Feergrus were usually handed by mindless undead creatures raised by the necromancers of the country. There was nothing to worry, they followed the commands given to them mindlessly. They could be dangerous in large numbers, but the real threat would be whatever necromancer would dare disobey the laws of the land to bring harm using the undead. They were considered tools and nothing more.
A more dangerous thing to encounter would be a Feergrus panther. These large dark furred felines could easily kill or maim someone. There was a problem in dealing with them, however. Harming them was illegal, even in self defense. It was not uncommon to see them stalking through the great cities of Feergrus. Of course, not all the panthers one saw were actually panthers. Some of them were the Feergrus themselves, ones who had learned the ability to use magic to shapeshift. These sentient panthers kept the normal ones in line. The two species had learned to live together, although there were still accidents from time to time. The panthers were wild animals after all.
The next evening, Enzi went over the basics of the Ahk separatists. Back when the country of Feergrus was forming, there were two groups of people fighting to rule. One were the followers of the three deities. The others were the powerful necromancers that had planned to rule over a vast nation of undead. They were known for their chant of Adhabu Hatari Kifo. Roughly translated it meant pain, danger, and death. They thought that life was pain and that becoming undead was a release from the suffering. They offered immortality as sentient undead. Enzi could only speculate on the rest of their philosophy. Their forces had been crushed. However, that had not stopped their movement.
The Ahk separatists were a group that claimed to follow the ideals of the original undead necromancers. They wished to at least make their own country but their real goal was to usurp the whole world under their thumb, starting with Feergrus. They were one reason why the necromancers of Feergrus only created mindless undead. The highest ranked necromancers of the land learned the techniques for the more powerful sentient undead certainly, their knowledge was a weapon. It allowed them to more easily control or defeat such undead.