Siege of Banua Day 3

Early the next morning, Bo-Jing surveyed the state of Banua. He was cheered by the people of the Bolad horde. They had seen him nightmarish monsters; his associates had minimized the damaged caused by the war machines. Under his leadership, the horde’s warriors had stood bravely against the demon-crazed beastmen.

But there was another story and it was loud and bitter. There were casualties, many, among the Nergui
horde. Their best warriors. Their families. Children. They had been lured to Banua. Herded. The town
had been a slaughtering pen. Bo-Jing’s efforts to answers the invectives of the Nergui elders by
reminding them that they had come to Banua of their own free choice only made them more angry.

The anger of the Nergui turned to grim determination. If they were going to die, let them die free on the open lands. They would not die as shields for Ganbaater and for the Bolad horde. The gathered their remaining animals and packed their remaining possessions.  They left their dead to be buried by their Bolad cousins.

By early afternoon, most of the Nergui horde filed out of Banua. 

They did not go west toward the Nergui lands, but southeast, toward the lands of the Eagle Horde.

Batzorig did not go with them.  Standing near the breached gate, he watched his clan file out, scanning their faces while hiding his own eyes.  After they were gone, Batzorig spent the afternoon sifting through debris .  Bo Jing worked him and it was Bo Jing who found what they both were looking for in  among the remnants of burned ger-- Naransetseng's necklace.  

Bo-Jing consoled his new friend and ally  Salt, Bangqiu shared in his sadness.  The mystery of her importance to the beastmen added a sense of absurd tragedy to the loss.  All agreed that she deserved a proper funeral.  Batzorig, clutching the necklace dug through the debris looking for anything that might remain of her body.

He found bones and burned bodies and bits of clothes, but none that he could hold and know had belonged to his sister.  In the burned-out ger, he found weapons and tools, all badly damaged and lumps of metal that might have been jewellery.  How strange that the necklace had survived fully intact.

Bo-Jing voiced his opinion that Naransetseng had not been killed by the dragons, but had cast her

necklace aside as a decoy and fled Banua with the other Nergui refugees. And this, suggested Bo Jing

was why the beastmen had marched right past Banua. They were pursuing their quarry. The grieving

Batzorig eagerly greeted this ray of hope. “Then I must go after her, either alone or with the help of all

brave men who love what is beautiful and good!”

And so Bo-Jing and his men, together with NarNuteng, Bangqiu, together with 100 brave warriors, went in pursuit of the Nergui horde.

Siege of Banua Day 2

At dawn, watchers on Banua’s towers saw the enemy encampments stirring. Beastmen began withdrawing, marching westward toward a long ridge. Despite their rout the night before, they still outnumbered the defenders three to one. Strangely quiet and efficient in their movements, they no longer resembled an undisciplined horde. It was as if an alien intelligence had assumed command.

Sensing deception, Bangqiu and Salt cloaked themselves in invisibility and set off to scout. Skirting around yetis scavenging the battlefield, the two magicians crept to the ridge’s crest—where they beheld a disturbing sight: the beastmen were clustered around a deep pit, excavating with inhuman speed. Lines of them marched out carrying dirt. Something was tunneling toward Banua—fast.

Among the monstrous laborers stood a solitary human in black armor. Without hesitation, Bangqiu and Salt unleashed a barrage of magic missiles, driving him into his tent. To compound the chaos, Bangqiu summoned a stone wall and dropped it across the mouth of the tunnel. Then, taking the form of an owl, he flew back to Banua. Salt, cloaked and cautious, made her way back on foot.

That night, few slept. Red flashes lit the sky. The ground trembled. Rumors raced: the well water tasted wrong. People heard screams beyond the ridge.

Before dawn, watchmen saw movement: beastmen advancing again—this time with giants and juggernauts.

Ganbaatar organized the defense. Armed soldiers manned the battlements. Citizens were herded into the inner barracks.

Then, the earth split.

Right beneath the inner gate, a colossal claw burst through the ground, ripping stone and earth apart. The gate crumbled. Up rose a monstrous, red-eyed badger—taller than two men, its snout dripping with hunger. It lunged. A slash of its claws cleaved a soldier in half. Its jaws snapped a horse’s spine.

Soldiers fled. The beast pursued, killing, devouring.

Then came Bo-Jing. With him stood his henchmen, his stalwart companion, Nar-Nuteng, and the bravest warriors of Banua. Long spears drove into the beast’s flanks. Arrows peppered its back. At first, it seemed unstoppable. But a spear found its underbelly. It halted. Bo-Jing leapt forward, slashing deep into its face. Nar-Nuteng struck beneath its foreleg. Surrounded and bleeding from every side, the beast collapsed—its death shaking the earth again.

But chaos reigned.

Beastmen had scattered into Banua, setting fires, slaying unarmed townsfolk, killing livestock. The juggernauts arrived next—three immense engines of war—rolling toward the outer gate. With the city’s defenders drawn inward, the gates fell. The juggernauts rolled into Banua.

But the magicians were ready.

Bangqiu, Hyamsam, and Salt struck the wheels of the lead juggernaut with fireballs and magic missiles. Flames erupted. The behemoth veered, tumbling into the pit torn open by the badger. The others crashed in behind.

Still, the beastmen pressed toward the marketplace—toward the tents of the Nergui refugees. Arrows rained down from the rooftops, but the monsters moved from tent to tent, slaughtering the defenseless.

Then Bo-Jing and Nar-Nuteng returned.

Rallying Banua’s remaining warriors, they charged. This time, the beastmen broke. Driven into a corner of the marketplace, they were caught, surrounded, and destroyed.