The Most Unfortunate Khatun Part 2

The next day, Bo-Jing, Tetsukichi, and Bangqiu met members of the Eagle Clans who explained the horrors of what they had experienced over the past several months. A group of beastmen, led by a sizeable number of giants, broke off from the larger force of invaders to pillage the lands of the Eagle Clan. They had invaded the khan’s stronghold, killing him and many of his people, driving away the rest. The heroes agreed that before proceeding to Khanbaliq, they should plan a sneak attack against the giants.

The Eagle Clan, together with the combined forces of Bo-Jing and Tetsukichi would give each other mutual protection while an elite number would find a secret way into the hall of the hill giants and make a sudden strike to compromise their ability to terrorize the Eagle Clan. Naransetseng of course would stay behind, under the protection of her brother.

The Eagle Clan had provided helpful directions and the heroes found the Eagle stronghold that had been overrun by the hill giants. The attack was very successful. They quickly and quietly eliminated the two giants who guarding the entrance and then began searching through the stronghold. An advance party of invisible scouts, including Bangqiu and Bo-Jing located and entered the central hall, where a large number of giants were gathered, feasting on the animals they’d stolen from the Eagle Clan. Making use of the Coin of the East, Bo-Jing created an atmosphere of confusion while Bangqiu trapped them in a wall of fire. While the majority of the giants fought each other in a confused rage, Tetsukichi led the rest of the party in a coordinated attack against the rest of the giants.

Next, the party found the smaller hall where the chief giant was in council. Using a similar combination of explosive magic, subterfuge, and expert swordsmanship, the chief giant and his strongest warriors were also killed. The party found their way to the dungeons below the stronghold and freed several dozen captives.

The heroes led the captives to safety and made an overnight camp outside the stronghold. The next morning, they broke camp and reunited with the Eagle Clan. They were of course glad to be reunited with their people, but they had some disturbing news. Two nights after the heroes set out to attack the stronghold, they were themselves, discovered by the evil flying deer and then attacked by hundreds of beastmen. Batzorig and Bo-Jing’s troops were ready to die to defend Naransetseng, but she would have none of it. She slipped out of her brother’s tent and then ran down to surrender herself to the beastmen. Batzorig, after surving many grievous wounds fighting waves of beastmen in front of his tent, did not understand the reason for their sudden retreat; he staggered into his tent and collapsed in exhaustion, not understanding his mistake until morning.

The Most Unfortunate Khatun Part 1

 When, Bo-Jing and his war band returned to Banua, the two sides had reached a stalemate.  Dead beastmen and other monsters littered the ground.  But the defending archers had nearly run out of arrows and the surviving monsters were seeking ways to clamber up the walls to the archers’ catwalk.

Bo-Jing and his war band, though tired from their long ride, were ready to relieve the exhausted archers. They charged into the compound on their horses in tight formation, methodically killing or driving out the remaining monsters.

Bangqiu, with Naransetseng, arrived in Banua late the day. He and the Khatun had found there way down from the mountains and camped outside another night, next to a stupa.  Naransetseng was greeted warmly by her brother and by Bo-Jing who presented to her once more her lost necklace, which she once more joyfully received.

 The joy of Naransetseng’s safe return did not spread far or last long.  The next morning, Ganbaatar summoned Bo-Jing to inform him of the bad news that everyone already new.  Naransetseng was not a member of the Bolad horde and the people of Banua had limited duty to protect her.  She should leave within three days and be prepared to leave sooner should the beastmen return.

Over the course of those three days, there was also some good news in the form of the arrival of Tetsukichi, a renowned warrior from the well-respected Sansar horde, whose herds roamed over lands to the west.  The Sansar were strong allies of the Eagle clan and Tetsukichi had answered his allies’ calls for help, riding with 60 able warriors.  And of course, Tetsukichi counted both Bangqiu and Bo-Jing as longtime friends, having joined them in many incredible adventures, most recently in thwarting the advance of the Master’s armies.  They agreed that the best way to protect The Bolad horde, the Eagle Clan, and the Valley of the Five Fires itself was to make the threat posed by the Master visible to the Emperor.  And the safest place for Naransetseng would be in Khanbaliq.  If the beastmen horde tracked her there, then the Emperor would be forced to fight them.  They had confidence that the Emperor armies would triumph, and if the Emperor were weakened in the process, that was also a gain, at least in the eyes of Bojing who abhorred the Emperor’s practices of slavery and concubinage.

Bo Jing and Tetsukishi, together with their friends and companions and a total of 200 warriors on horseback set out from Banua, with the aim of escorting Naransetseng to Khanbaliq.  As they reached the lands of the Eagle Clan, they founds signs of devastation greater than what had been visited upon the lands of the Bolad horde.  There were dead animals and people. Scores of bodies were hung in trees and splayed on rocks. For leagues, all trees had been cut and the scrub vegetation had been burned.  At the end of the second day of travel, strong cold winds from forced them to make camp in a shallow valley, sheltered from the winds on three sides.

Siege of Banua Day 4

 It was easy to follow the fresh tracks of the refugees. And it was also easy to note the fresher tracks of a huge number of beastmen; these tracks stayed with those of the refugees, an ominous confirmation of Bojing’s theory that Naransetseng was still alive and still being pursued.  Based on this, and seeing know other way to reach the Nergui refugees before the beastmen did, Bangqiu took the form of a falcon and soared into the sky.

Bangiqu, in falcon form, pulled away from his companions and before long had reached the horde of beastmen, half-encircling the Nergui encampment.  There was no fighting.  Instead, a group of wizened men wearing red caps and wielding long, barbed swords were parlaying with a number of Nergui warriors. Narnuteng was clearly the chief point of negotiation.  She stood alone on a small mound, eyes darting and hands twitching, at once terrified and terrifying, like a small animal ready to fight for its life..  The Nergui spearmen surrounding her – at a distance, were guarding her in both senses of the word, protecting her while preventing her escape.

Bangqiu soared higher into the sky directly above Naransetseng, and then resumed human form, using his magic boots to ease his freefall descent as he reached the earth. Using his magic understanding, he same Naransetseng a secret sign to persuade her that he meant no harm. Then he took hold of her, cloaked them both in a thick cloud and reascended into the gloomy sky. Enraged, the beastmen attacked the Nergui refugees . . .

 That evening and night, Bangqiu summoned all his natural human strength to hold onto Naransetseng, while his boots carried them higher into thin air and away from the terrible sounds of battle and slaughter below.  Naransetseng clung tightly to Bangqiu with arms and legs; her tears mixed with the stinging rain on both their faces. A steady wind from the east blew them into the mountains guardin the valley of the five fires.  When he was certain they were far from the battle and marauding beastmen, Bangqiu lowered them toward a grassy mountain slope.  Reaching the solid ground, they collapsed into exhausted slumber. 

By the time Bo-Jing and the war band reached the remains of the Nergui camp, the few survivors encountered were too traumatized to explain much of what happened.  The “deaf witch” had disappeared, and the beast men took vengeance by killing everyone they could before scattering to the four winds.  Bo-Jing thanked the survivors and convinced them to return with him to Banua, promising them his personal protection

As Bo-Jing would learn later, one of the four winds brought a group of beastmen, yeti, and fanged flying stags north to Banua. They attacked in a series of poorly-organized desperate raids.  Ganbaatar invited all non-combatants the take refuge within the inner walls.  Archers lined the outer walls and targeted the beastmen as they charged through the broken gate.  The beastman destroyed property and killed animals, but found no human victims in the outer town.  Nor could they reach the inner town.  Although the gates had been destroyed by the giant demon-badger, the pit it created was nearly impassable.  A line of brave warriors armed with spears on the other side of the pit made it a death trap for the attacking beastmen and yetis.  Most dangerous to Banua were the flying stags.  But, happily for Banua, the mercurial magician Hyamsam emerged from the shadows to protect his adopted home.  He blasted the flying monsters with magic missiles, a ball of fire, and a cloud of steam, killing several of them and driving the rest away. 

Siege of Banua Day 3

Banua After the Siege

As later recounted in the Chronicles of the Northern Frontier

Bo-Jing rose early, his breath misting in the cold air as he stood atop the ramparts of shattered Banua. The fires had been stamped out, the beasts driven off. Victory, of a kind, had been won.

The warriors of the Bolad horde honored him with raised voices and lifted blades. They had seen him stand against horrors not born of nature — war machines vomiting flame, beastmen with the eyes of demons. Under his command, they had not broken. His companions, strangers just weeks ago, had shielded the innocent, destroyed siege weapons, and carved paths through the worst of the enemy.

But even as those cheers echoed in the narrow alleys, another sound rose — bitter, sharp, and raw. Grief.

It came from the Nergui.

They had buried their best beneath the rubble. Fathers, sons, daughters. The elders said they had been lured here, promised protection — and instead corralled into a slaughterhouse. Bo-Jing met their words with reason. You came of your own choice, he reminded them. But truth, in that hour, was no salve. Only salt in the wound.

And so the Nergui answered not with words, but with action.
“If we are to die,” they said, “we will die standing — not as shields for Ganbaatar and the Bolad.”

They did not speak again. They simply packed what was left: battered tools, limping beasts, orphans in tow. They left their dead where they fell, to be buried by the Bolad.
And then, they turned not west — not home. But southeast. Toward the lands of the Eagle Horde.

All save one.

Batzorig, son of Nergui, stood by the gate and watched them go. He did not weep. But he did not hide the tremble in his hands.

When they were gone, he turned to the ruins. His sister, Naransetseng, had been in Banua. She had not walked out with the others. No body had been claimed for burial. Her ger had burned.

He searched the rubble with Bo-Jing beside him, neither speaking much. Salt stood nearby, head bowed. Even Bangqiu — ever aloof — seemed touched by the loss. It was Bo-Jing who found it, beneath the blackened remains of the ger wall: Naransetseng’s necklace, unbroken, untouched by flame.

Batzorig fell to his knees. Clutched it like it might still be warm from her skin.

Bo-Jing looked to the smoke curling toward the eastern sky.

“She was not killed here,” he said. “I think she fled. Cast the necklace as a decoy. The beasts did not attack Banua — they passed it by. They’re still hunting her.”

Batzorig lifted his head, eyes red with dust and hope.
“Then I go after her,” he said. “Alone, if I must. Or with all the brave men who love what is beautiful and good.”

Bo-Jing clasped his arm. “You won’t go alone.”

And by dusk, the host rode out again. One hundred warriors, led by Bo-Jing, Bangqiu, Nar-Nuteng, and a man with hope clenched in his fist like a blade — chasing smoke trails and the memory of a woman who might still be alive.

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.

Siege of Banua Day 1

As the sun went down, the people of Banua feared an attack from the besieging horde outside. Beyond the walls, bonfires blazed, and gusts of wind carried the sounds of aggressive chants punctuated by screaming; in certain parts of the city, a deep rumbling in the ground shook the tent poles. The sky flashed red with fire to illuminate the forms of giant flying lizards. When the horde charged, the archers of Banua were ready. Arrows rained down on the onslaught of beastmen, trolls, and yetis. Still the monsters pressed in a crazed fury, many with multiple arrows embedded in their flesh. Pondering behind the hordes of beastmen was an enormous wagon with an iron head. Arrows bounced off it harmlessly. Beastmen who stumbled before it were crushed underneath its thick, spiked wheels. As it reached the gates of Banua, the town’s defenders began to pelt it with stones. These missiles barely damaged the juggernaut, and did nothing to slow its progress. When it reached the entrance to the town, it began to rock back and forth, ramming its iron-shod head against the wooden gates. Bo Jing directed the defenders to direct their fire at the beastmen who were scaling Banua’s walls.

Bo Jing called on the power of the Coin of East to freeze the wheels of the juggernaut. He and his henchmen joined the defenders in killing the attacking beastmen; their bodies began to pile up at the foot of the walls. Once the beastmen’s onslaught was neutralized, the defenders resumed their efforts to destroy the incapacitated juggernaut. The strongest men attacked it from above, casting down huge stones and barrels of flaming oil. At this moment, Bo Jing received word of another attack in another part of the town. Dragons had descended from the clouds into the midst of the crowded mass of yurts behind the Khan’s palace. They were devouring people and setting fire to their homes.

Bo Jing and his men, rallied the most capable of Banua’s defenders and dashed to the rear of the town to confront the dragons. There were two fearsome beasts, surrounded by burning wreckage. Bangqiu and Salt, from the safety of the Khan’s palace, blasted one of the dragons with magic missiles. Enraged, it took wing, flying toward them. Bo Jing and his men to attack the second dragon, striking it from all sides with swords and spears. The dragon thrashed from side to side, desperate to seize and devour a hapless spearman. But Bo Jing, with astounding bravery and quickness, stayed at the dragon’s head, slashing at its eyes and mouth, denying it the opportunity to strike. The dragon weakened and Bo-Jing saw his opportunity. He rushed toward it, feinted to the left and, as the dragon went to the right, dashed past its open maw and slashed its throat with his long sharp sword. Black blood gushed out and the dragon died. The flying dragon, meanwhile, had made itself a target for archers throughout the town. Pierced with many arrows, it floundered and crashed to the ground, never to rise.

Defending the Lands of the Five Fires 05 (First Khazu-Kala and then Banua)

Bo-Jing, Bangqiu, and Salt decided they would go to Khazu Kala. Expecting a difficult battle, Bo-Jing ordered that they make a comfortable camp and rest for a couple days, giving their wounds a chance to heal. 

And so, by the time they reached Khazu Kala, the battle was all but over. A single wizened creature, wielding a rusty wicked sword, stood surrounded by a dozen Nergui warriors—and also dozens of corpses. Bo-Jing and Ses-Hami arrived by air and Bo-Jing attacked the strange fiend with a flying leap. With his fiery sword, Bo-Jing dispatched his foe and won the admiration of the Nergui. 

 Gansukh was dead and his name had the taste of ashes. His duplicity had brought his own death, the deaths of his loyal bodyguards, the deaths of the people who depended on him. With little argument, the survivors of the attack, both the warriors and the people, agreed they would join Bo-Jing. Yes, even in rejoining the Bolad horde in Banua.

It took three days to arrive within sight of Banua and the arrival was not a cause for celebration, but another serving of hardship. For the proud city of the steppe was surrounded by an army of beastmen, dragons, and monsters. Bo-Jing himself cursed bitterly at how the pettiness of Gansukh had brought such horror among the people he had agreed to protect. But Salt would not allow her friend the luxury of despair. She directed his gaze from his foes to the people who now trusted him. With courage and faith, he could bring these people into Banua. Reuniting the people of Bolad and Nergui did not guarantee their survival but preserved their hopes for another day.

Bangqiu became invisible and rose into the air, surveying the enemy camps, and determined the safest route to the city. Bo Jing received the information and led the way. The warriors of Nergui rode in two files with the people and their animals between them. They rode with their swords in the air, shouting a battle cry and in this way represented themselves as attackers of Banua rather than its allies. The beastmen cheered their passage. Bangqiu, invisible, flew into the city and alerted the defenders to the ruse. When the gatges were opened, Salt and Bangqiu blasted the band of beastmen who tried to join the people of Nergui. The unarmed people passed into the city. Bo-Jing and the warriors stayed to defend their entry, warding off more attacking beastmen. Only when the innocents had entered the city did the warriors follow. Bo-Jing entered last of all and the gates were closed.