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ToastyPigeon

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SpringDragon

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"I'm Lieutenant Anu and now in charge of Fort Glory until further notice. First things first, did you accomplish your mission?

"Mission accomplished, we killed them all lieutenant. All of their warriors, all of their women, all of their babies, pets, their leader, all of them."

"Well always helps to be sure. Which brings me to the next point. Your man Gerald is currently in the stockade. In fact he may be facing execution."

"Might I inquire why, sir?"

"I'd say you'd probably know as much about it as I do, but if I had to guess? Captain pervert put the moves on him and your man took exception to it and killed him. He claims it was an accident, but there's no way the captain twisted his own head ALL THE WAY AROUND just by tripping and falling over."

"If Gerald says it was an accident, then I believe him sir."

"Okay look, I'm not going to sit here and say that the captain wasn't complete scum. I should know I had to serve along side him for the past five years. I saw how he'd have teenage boys brought to his office. Now I know you guys are these Eternals that we've all heard about, but dammit man, we can't just have murders within the ranks, we have to respect some sort of order here!"

"We're all about respecting order sir…I suppose if it is absolutely necessary to execute Gerald, then that will be regrettable. I would however say that Gerald's actions actually contributed to more order here and will better for the Empire in general."

"How so?"

"The removal of captain Pollo, has allowed you to move up in rank and judging by your feelings on this matter you are a person who respects military decorum. I have no doubt, the fort will be run more efficiently now."

Lieutenant Anu chuckles a bit. "I'd almost think you were trying to butter me up to save your guy, but I already know you genuinely believe what you're saying and you're right anyway. (Sigh) Well…I suppose accidents do happen. Nobody here is going to miss Pollo, so I'll have Gerald released and write up a report."

"Sir, can I make a request?"

"Don't you think you're pushing your luck?"

"Not my intention sir, but I was going to ask if there's anything my group could do here that's a little more challenging than killing kobolds?"

"Hmm, yes I imagine you would feel that way...well on the furthest southern edge of the province there have been bands of nomadic raiders and there have been rumors of them organizing under some sort of shaman. Dunno if it's true or not. Of course we could also transfer you someplace where the battle is a little more suited to your violence level."

> You face the raiders

You decide that it might be wise to maintain a presence here, after all there is still work to be done and you're confident that things will be better at the fort now. Lieutenant Anu nods and says you can set out in a couple days to the town of Jekka. He mentions that the nomads have never been a problem like the kobold are, but lately they have been reaching that level. He also says they aren't native to Nalin, but rather the desert land south of it.

You spend the next couple of days at the fort are spent honing your weapon skills and telling your team to do likewise. Gerald joins you after being released from the stockade. He looks a little embarrassed and you reprimand him for his lack of finesse, but welcome him back.

Eventually you set off for the southern Nalin border. The journey isn't as uneventful as the first mission and you encounter a few kobolds attacking travelers along the roads. You easily dispatch them of course.

The town of Jekka is in much better shape than Dalt, but its obvious the people here have been suffering from attacks.

"Empire soldiers? Here? I thought you lot were chasing down kobolds to waste time with the likes of us." A man says to you. He looks to be some sort of town sheriff.

"All Empire towns are under our protection citizen. We have heard this one is suffering heavy raids from the desert nomads."

" Well, we've been doing okay so far, but a few of the other border villages have gotten it pretty bad. One of them was totally destroyed. Those lizard riders have never been this bad or numerous before. The weird thing is, they just destroy and kill, they don't actually do any proper raiding or looting, not that it really matters. but for the past few months."

"We heard rumors of a shaman uniting them."

"Yeah that's the rumor, but really nobody knows what's going on with them. They make quick attacks and then run back to their accursed desert. So when are more Empire soldiers coming?"

"They aren't."

"What?! We've been holding out for months with no hope in sight and now that you give us a little bit, you take it away again?"

"Citizen, I advise you to calm yourself." You warn, wondering if you're going to have to make another point like you did in Dalt. You don't since thought since the sheriff has more sense.

"Alright, alright, but I'm telling you there are a lot of those lizard riders! I hope you're more than just regular Empire soldiers. You guys Shadow Guard or something?"

"We're Eternals."

You set up your staging point in Jekka. The desert raiders will probably attack this town again as usual, so you might as well take advantage of the fact. The waiting is tedious, but eventually after few days it pays off.

Several of the raiders appear in the distance and make no hesitation in their attack. The raiders are trying to rely on intimidation, because they sure aren't relying on strategy and only attack the town from one direction. The lizard creatures that the raiders ride might be intimidating to the average citizen, but you've fought bigger creatures during training. They're rather clumsy beasts actually and when you and your team begin to use your own hit and run tactics, they start to collide into each other causing problems for the raiders.

As for the raiders themselves, they prove to be barely better fighters than the kobolds after dismounting several of them. Underneath the desert protection gear they wear, they don't appear to be human or any other race you're familiar with, but they bleed just like all them and that's the important thing.

As many battles often go, this one is over quicker than it felt. The remaining raiders run off and you order your people to mount up and chase them down which is fairly easy to do.

Jekka suffered some damage and a few dead, but overall the townspeople couldn't be happier with the outcome and most shower you with praise. However, you get the impression that you're going to be facing more of these raiders in the near future and you're right.

A couple days pass and another raid on the town of Jekka occurs in the same exact manner, then again a few days after that. A week passes and there are no more raids, but that doesn't mean they've stopped. You already know they've been attacking several settlements, so you tell Warrick and Roldan to scout out the closest ones to see what their situation is while you try to build some proper defenses for Jekka.

A week passes and you learn more about your foes from a villager who survived the destruction of his home. The desert raiders (or the Usksha as you've come to find out their proper name) have indeed been united under one banner by a shaman of some sort. The villager says he saw this being with his own eyes and was spared for the sole purpose to warn all that the Usksha will no longer tolerate a foreign presence encroaching on their desert. This shaman said he has been chosen personally by their god Usk to destroy all those that do and that the town of Jekka will not be able to resist the inevitable destiny that it will fall.

"So, he's coming here then? Good, saves us the trouble of hunting him down." You reply.

"Combined with this information and based on what Warrick and I have scouted out, it sounds like there will be even more of them. Possibly a full blown army. We might need reinforcements from Fort Glory." Roldan says.

"Reinforcements? Hah! We've beaten them several times with ease!"

"Would they even get here in time? We don't exactly know when the attack will come." Brenda asks.

"They might or they might not, still we should try. Find out who the best runner is in this town and have them travel to Fort Glory with this news. We can continue to prepare in the meantime." You say.

The next morning several Uskshas appear in the distance like the other times you fought them. Then more show up, then even more. The town sheriff completely panics and says he's never seen this many before. This of course causes most of the other townies to panic as well. You slap him and tell him if he and anyone else aren't going to be helpful then they need to stay out of the way and find someplace to hide.

They come at you screaming and yelling in their barbarian language and suddenly a huge worm thing comes out of the ground in the center of town.

"Ha ha! At last a real fight!" Edgar yells and runs at it immediately as it destroys the nearby tavern. You order Kane to come with you to help Edgar while the rest try to delay the rest of the usksha. You just hope the barricades hold up long enough for them to greatly whittle the numbers down.

You, Edgar and Kane approach the great worm, which bashes its great body into the side of another building, killing many townspeople hiding inside.

"YOU! You think you can destroy me? I am an avatar of Usk! How can you destroy a god when you are, but a mere child of a corrupt empire?" you suddenly hear in your mind.

It takes a split moment, but you realize that this beast is the shaman. He has used magic of some kind to transform himself into this thing. It doesn't matter how much favor he has from his god though, he isn't one and will die like the rest.

Using his daggers like climbing gear, Kane jumps as high as he can and sink them into the shaman, while you and Edgar attempt to chop at his body like it was a tree. The shaman roars and attempts to smash you with his body, but you pull Edgar out of the way and Kane jumps off before being crushed. The shaman burrows back into the hole he came from and a few moments later he breaks through in another area of the town and begins destroying the barricades. You reach the shaman just in time for him to sink back into his hole again, while usksha pour in through the broken wall.

"Shit!" Edgar shouts in exasperation.

"Plug up that opening with their dead bodies!" you shout as you chop off the head of one their lizards before doing the same to the fallen rider.

Holding the back the tide of usksha isn't exactly what you want to be doing though, you want to take down that shaman, do that and this battle is over.

When you hear him break through the ground again elsewhere in town, you tell Kane and Edgar to hold the line here, while you go see if you can get him.

You see him near the center of town again trying to finish destroying the buildings there. You chop down a few usksha near him and resume attempting to bring him down. He uses his crushing attack like last time, but this time you anticipate and not only dodge, but you manage to run your sword into his eye when his head is at your level. He bellows in pain and attempts to escape again, but you won't let go of your sword and pull it towards you as he pulls backwards. You fall to the ground as the sword finishes slicing through the shaman's flesh leaving a gapping wound where his eye and part of his "face" would be.

You then see the worm collapse to the ground and begin to glow. Some of the others nearby, human and usksha alike stop fighting to stand and watch in wonder. The shaman transforms back into his natural form, his head and body displaying heavy wounds.

"No…can't…you…why…we hate you…you aren't…wanted…your empire will die…we will reclaim what is oursss…" are the scattered words you hear in your head as you approach the shaman's broken body.

"Stop talking." You say and run your sword through his other eye.

It is at this point you hear the howls of several usksha as their mental link with their leader has been severed. You, your team and even a few vengeful townspeople butcher the remaining usksha that don't get away while attempting to retreat.

Jekka is half in ruins and many are dead, but the battle has been won.

The following day a detachment of troops arrive from Fort Glory. They look at the carnage and the platoon leader reports to you.

"I'm Corporal Delan and I'm here to help you with…shit, what the hell happened here?"

"Victory, corporal. Victory." You say.

"So…the threat is gone?"

"I wouldn't say it's gone, but it won't be rearing its head for a long time."

"I say we should march into that desert and wipe them out permanently, then we'd never have to worry about them ever again!" Edgar says.

"Well, if you decide to do that, we'll help. I know you've been busy down here so I don't know if you've heard, but we've made great strides in eliminating the kobolds, so Captian Anu told us to help you with this problem as much as we can.

> You march into the desert

The usksha are broken and on the run, the opportunity to eliminate them as a future threat is certainly there, along with extending the Empire's influence south of the Nalin province. Your recent victories have filled you with confidence and you agree you should mount an attack on the usksha.

"You can't be serious! Look I know you guys are Eternals, and I won't deny that you're the best warriors I've ever seen, but even you won't be able to conquer the usksha in their desert! They've lived there for centuries, even before the Empire existed! They know it like nobody else, you'll be outnumbered and fighting the elements themselves!" the Jekka sheriff exclaims. Somehow he survived the battle by hiding no doubt.