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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 1295895" data-attributes="member: 8530">Epilogue: November 20th, 1019:Wurgul awakes Rizah from his deep slumber on this cold morning.  They arise and look out from their temporary quarters, a dilapidated shack situated behind the larger inn.    A dusting of snow covers the ground, the first snowfall of the year.   “What an odd thing, this ‘snow’”, Wurgul comments.   Rizah states agreement with his chief bodyguard.  The world where they came from had a warmer climate and snow only existed atop the highest mountain peaks.   They both head over to the back door at the inn and knock.  The human cook opens the door and passes them a platter of food that they take back to the shack.  After consuming the majority of the food they then approach the slumbering bugbear in the far corner, awakening him and giving him the plate of remaining scraps.   The bugbear named Ploth gobbles down the food quickly and then asks if there is more.  Rizah replies “That is all they gave us.  Dress and go ask the human for more.  We are hungry too.”    The bugbear gets dressed up in some fine woolen clothing, a fur cloak, and gold-plated cloak clasp, rings, necklace and bracers.    Speaking in the gnoll language Wurgul comments “This ruse disgusts me.”  Rizah replies, “And myself as well, but that bugbear tribe ruled our valley for many generations.  It is to our advantage that all outsiders believe that they still do.”  The three head to the side door of the inn and go inside, remaining in the hallway outside of the dining room.   The human trader Eberton is eating with his sons and then notices them, stands, and approaches the trio.   The bugbear asks in broken common “The sale today?”  Eberton replies, “Yes, in around two hours.  Go and ready the wagon.”  “Need more food,” the bugbear replies.   “Are you animal creatures always hungry?” Eberton rhetorically asks, grabbing up a bowl of fruit and cheese from a side table and handing it to them.  They eat the food and then head over to the stable and get the horses and wagon hitched up.   While waiting for the human and his two sons to join them Rizah reflects back upon the prior two months.  After leaving the town of Gheldaylin, Rizah and his twenty-six gnoll followers traveled first to the south and then to the west, avoiding all humanoid settlements along the way.  They used the lizard-riders to scout, but only sent the wyvern high aloft at the first light of dawn and last light of dusk, to avoid being seen.   The aerial reconnaissance proved valuable, as it helped them to steer clear of the dwarven land of Northumberland.  The group stuck to less traveled roads, sending their cavalry troops ahead to scout, and all hid whenever groups of three or more travelers approached.  Lone or paired travelers were stopped and interrogated for information before being killed, stripped of possessions, and buried where the bodies would not found.   The group was eventually told of a valley where gnolls of this world resided, deep in the Thenossian Mountains, which then became the group’s destination. They arrived to discover the gnoll tribe was subservient to a sizeable tribe of bugbears that ruled over the great valley and the surrounding mountains.   Rizah learned that a second tribe of gnolls and a very large tribe of goblins also resided in the area and were vassals to the bugbear sovereign.   Rizah invited the head of each of these three subjugated tribes to join his Leader’s Council and they then collectively plotted a revolt.    On a warm day in mid-October the King of the Bugbears was taken by surprise, being grabbed up by the wyvern.   He was flown aloft and then dropped into the midst of the tribe from a great height.   His sudden death immediately demoralized the remaining bugbears while simultaneously signaling all of the gnolls and goblins to attack their masters.   No prisoners were taken, soon resulting in a group of only fifty bugbear survivors.  These were predominantly women and children, holed up in the most defensible section of the cave lair.   Those were then betrayed by the cowardly bugbear Ploth.  He told Rizah of a secret entrance to the lair in exchange for the life of himself and his mate.   The only other bugbears besides that couple who were left alive were infants and toddlers, as they were deemed young enough to be re-educated into the new tribe. Rizah was named Chief and he appropriated the previous bugbear lair as his home and headquarters.   The eight members of the Leader’s Council were each given the title of Sub-Chief with all honors accorded thereof.  The combined tribe is now comprised of nearly 400 gnoll and goblin warriors, with each of the gnolls from Rizah’s original command given the rank of Kegyai or higher.   For the past month these troops have engaged in military training exercises and raids upon any neighboring creatures that might prove to be a threat to his valley.   The most successful of these raids was against a mother wyvern, which had four baby wyverns that were still at an age where they could be domesticated and trained for use as mounts. Rizah saw to it that the carcass of the mother wyvern was skillfully skinned, knowing that it would be of great value as a trading commodity.  He also had the organs and blood of the creature packed in mountain ice to preserve as components for spells or magic items.   The bugbear tribe had traded with some distant human communities and a wagon was loaded up with the wyvern body.   It was decided that they would approach these humans, presenting Ploth as the new Bugbear King with Rizah and Wurgul acting in the role of his servants.    In two days they reached the town of Almwell.  The human trader Eberton agreed to take them to a large city some thirty miles west of his town where he would broker the sale of the items in exchange for one-third of the price which Rizah, through Ploth, agreed to.   They traveled through the mountains and around Mount Karjjil, the continent’s highest peak, arriving in the city of Karjjil Valley two days ago.   The city has a population of 25,000 with the residents being  predominantly human.  However, ogres and orcs had once ruled this mountainous region and a considerable number of half-ogres and half-orcs continued to live there.   This tolerance towards monster-types meant that while Ploth, Rizah and Wergul received an occasional stare by passers-by nobody actually questioned their right to be there.   This morning’s wait ends, breaking Rizah from his thoughts as Eberton and his sons climb up onto the wagon.  They leave the inn and proceed towards a large stone building in the center of the city.   The building has no exterior walls, the roof being supported entirely by columns.  It serves as an open marketplace and is presently crowded with people hawking their wares and a large number of shoppers.   They circle around on the roads near the building, eventually locating an available space to park the wagon.  Eberton heads into the structure, returning with three individuals, two humans and an elf.  One human is a tanner, who shows interest in the wyvern hide.  He offers a sum of 900 gold pieces that Eberton says that is considerably low, asking for 1,600 instead.  A sum of 1,230 is eventually settled upon.   The other two individuals appear to be wizards or sorcerers and they are interested in purchasing the other wyvern components.   Each wants different items, except for the heart that appeals to them both, and Eberton initiates a short auction for it.    At the end of the transaction a total of 3,258 gold pieces are pledged.  Arrangements are made to deliver the items to the homes of the three individuals and then collect the payments.  At the home of the elvan wizard a rather talkative apprentice helps with the unloading of the items and Rizah is able to glean considerable information from him about the city and continent.   Rizah discovers that this city is the continent’s capitol and that a human female is the current ruler.  Furthermore, she does not have a standing army, relying instead on three teams of adventurers for protection.   The loquacious human goes on to tell Rizah what he knows about the invasion in central Kralt two months earlier, where two of these adventuring teams had to be mobilized to stop a giant beast that had a gnoll city atop its back.   The apprentice tells him “The leader of the invasion was a Hound Archon, a creature of the celestial race, who had claimed to be the gnoll deity Yeenoghu.  The Hound Archon escaped capture and is rumored still on the continent, attempting  to raise a monster army somewhere deep in the forests and hills of eastern Kralt.”  When the transactions are complete the group prepares to exit the city.   Rizah is still processing all that he has heard, concluding that the entire continent is incredibly vulnerable and that the Queen is too overconfident.  He concludes that the creature claiming to be Yeenoghu made the  mistake of not understanding how this land was organized, and that with a little preparation the invasion could have been an overwhelming success.   Rizah thinks to himself “Well, his loss has become my gain, and will continue to be so.  If he is truly not Yeenoghu then I should be able to use that information to add his new forces to those of mine.”  As they pass near the outer gates of the Queen’s Palace, Rizah whispers something to Ploth.  The bugbear tells Eberton “Stop the wagon.  One of my servants has a cramp and needs to get out and stretch his legs.”   Rizah climbs down from the wagon and approaches the large iron fence surround the outer castle grounds.  He surveys the sizeable stone structure and the many stone walls surrounding the castle, evaluating all of its defenses.   A human guard on the castle grounds eventually notices the gnoll standing there and approaches.  The guard states from inside the fence “Hey, you flea-bitten mutt.  What do you think you’re looking at?”  Rizah gives the man a toothy grin, and replies in well-articulated common, “I am looking at my future home.”   The End 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