They all slept fitfully. Those who were not accustomed to sleeping in the wild found the mats and blankets not nearly enough comfort, even with the blind of branches and leaves that kept the rain off of them. The more wilderness-oriented teammates also would not fall into a deep sleep; the thought of weapon-bearing killers lurking through the forests crept through their thoughts. Even Laur-Q, who normally trusted her hearing and smell to alert her long before any creatures could find her, kept remembering the spider attack and the events from long ago that she had told her friends. At least they were fairly safe, with Tauron's lizard near and with the ring of thorny shrubs that Eluthera had grown in a circle around their campsite. Any attackers would be forced to chop or push their way through the obstacle to reach the group, giving them enough time to wake and prepare. And of course the half-dryad had her own watcher up in the trees.
They broke camp at sunrise and ate a quick meal, cold leftovers from the night before with crackers. They quickly found the trail in the dim light of dawn, noting that even fresher tracks marked the pathway, and slowly followed the tracks. They kept their marching order from the previous day except that Laur-Q did not range as far ahead, knowing that enemies might be close. However, in the end, they underestimated the wilderness skills of those they followed. Up ahead and off the trail about 50 foot distance stood another hidden blind, not even as tall as the squirrel-maiden.
The team from the castle did not consider how a creature could post its own sentries in their own clever way, like a short trench they could stand in so only their shoulders and heads were above ground. With the shrubs in front of the hole, in the dim light of morning, you really could only see a tiny shine from the eyes of the creatures that watched the team stalk up the path. In harsh, growling whispers, they discussed what to do, and then the female, the one with the least fighting ability, rose up from the trench, crawled a short distance, and when she could hide no more from the oncoming group she stood and sprinted away from them!
"GNOLL," Tauron shouted through the trees as soon as he spotted the creature! It resembled a tan-furred humanoid canine or hyena. "It will warn its tribe."
"What do we have to catch it," Arthos asked, "If it is alone, I don't want to just kill it."
"If we get close enough, I have ways," Eluthera barked as she broke into run.
As a unit, they gave chase, although Tauron quickly began to outpace his partners. He focused on the fleeing figure, noting no weapons although it could carry something small like a knife. He also didn't see the gnoll's own companions until they jumped out and blocked the path!
These gnolls held weapons;, spears with sharpened stone heads and knives at their wastes. They wore little more than sparse tattered leathers for clothing. In fact, as Tauron halted his run, he thought that the gnolls looked too thin. Accompanied by a yipping, snapping hyena, these two gnolls stood with their teeth bared and the fur on their necks and backs standing up. They were ready to fight. Tauron's friends caught up with him and as a unit freed their weapons.
There was a long minute with both sides staring at each other, ready to counter the first move that the other side made. Arthos gritted his teeth and asked himself why they weren't attacking. Eluthera watched the hyena, deciding her first course of action.
"With the dog, there are only three," Cobb hissed, "Can we take them?"
"Most likely," Arthos said, "but the other one is likely going for reinforcements."
"Then we should kill them," the elder hunter spat.
"Yes, that is tactically sound," Arthos responded. He paused before continuing, "I'm not comfortable killing something that does not attack me first. That is dishonorable."
The moment continued, and then one gnoll barked at the other. Then the gnolls did something completely unexpected; they lowered their weapons, assumed a more relaxed stance, and one commanded the hyena to lie down. They were still very tense, that was clear, but they made themselves vulnerable.
"Wait," one of them growled in barely understandable common tongue, "Speak."
"Can we trust them," Cobb asked, fear in his voice, "If they bring reinforcements and decide to attack, we are done."
"Yes," Tauron said to him, "but it is unusual that they are even asking for commune. Gnolls are known for fighting first, speaking later."
"Those of us with magic," Eluthera hissed quietly, "Prepare something and hold it. Be ready."
And the reinforcements arrived very shortly, at a run when the group first saw them, six more of the creatures, several with better steel weapons. Deep in his soul, Arthos wondered if he had made an error, but even deeper, his soul told him that an honorable death is better than dishonorable murder. So much was on the line in this mission, however.
The gnolls slowed as they approached the standoff, but the warriors did not draw their weapons. A smaller gnoll took the lead, a female by the look, one in somewhat finer cloth and a dull red-dyed leather vest. She growled quietly to the two gnolls that had been at watch, and then stepped forward. She did not carry a visible weapon, and she held her hands out with opened palms in a very human gesture of peace.
"I thank you for giving my warriors their lives," she said in a light growling but near perfect common, "From what I see, you are stronger and would have killed them quickly. Who leads here?"
After their discussions the previous day, Arthos hesitated and glanced at Tauron and Eluthera, then he said strongly, "I lead." He did not wish to give information about the nature of the mission. "I must admit, it surprised me that your warriors did not attack us first. When our races cross paths, there is usually a fight."
The gnoll female nodded, "We are yet rare," she replied, "but some of us choose a different path for our tribe. I am called Nurrta. I currently lead this tribe."
Eluthera widened her eyes in surprise at this. Gnoll tribes were reputedly male dominated and led by the strongest male in the tribe.
Nurrta regarded them all, taking a moment to look at each member of the team. She stepped forward gracefully and stood before Silva, who did not retreat but reared back a little with apprehension. She reached up and gently touched the dragon tooth amulet Silva carried.
"I would not be able to do this if I meant you harm," Nurrta asked softly.
"No, you would not," Silva replied with a hiss.
"Whose symbol is this," the gnoll chieftess probed.
"I fight for Bahamut," the white haired girl again replied.
"I have heard of that one," Nurrta said with a nod, "and I can sense your intent. Swear to me on your Bahamut that you will not harm my tribe if we do not harm you."
Silva glanced at her comrades, and Eluthera nodded. "I would not attack without provocation either way," Silva stated, "If any of us attack your tribe without cause, by will of Bahamut they will be punished."
"My thanks," Nurrta said breathily, "You will appreciate my concern. We must contend with hatred from many of your kind and our kind as well. We do not follow the traditions of many gnoll tribes. But as I said, I have heard of Bahamut, and I know he would oppose the temple."
Now all of the companions stared at the chieftess. "Temple," Arthos asked slowly.
"I cannot give you an oath upon any deity," Nurrta said, "but I would ask that you come to our camp. We will warm you and feed you. For your security, I will always stay by you so that, if my warriors attack you, you can kill me first."
Cobb spoke up. "It could be a trap," he grunted, "They are different than other gnolls, but they could just be more clever."
Nurrta stepped closer to Cobb, and he moved backward away from her. Nurrta took one more step forward, dropped to one knee, and raised her snout into the air, baring her neck to the human.
"I beg you," she whispered, "We need aid."
There was an uncomfortable pause, and then Eluthera spoke up. "Gnolls have many canine traits, and one of them is grabbing another by the neck to show superiority. To convince you, she is submitting herself to you and to whatever abuse you wish to do to her. It is not an easy thing for gnolls to do."
Cobb grappled with the situation then he slumped his shoulders. "Fine," he barked.
Nurrta rose. "Follow. We will speak further at our camp."
The camp was not very far away, and the group was amazed at how well hidden it was. It stood at the top of a slope just a short hike off of the game trail. The gnolls had rearranged some deadfall trees and had created blinds out of branches that still held leaves for their guards to watch from, and their camp was made up of holes with sloped entrances for them to sleep in. Walking up the slope, approaching creatures could not see any part of the camp, and encroachers could literally find themselves right on top of the tribe if the gnolls let them get that far. It was a very simple camp and the tribe did not seem to have much of even basic equipment.
"We have a fire pit near a tree to splinter the smoke," Nurrta mentioned, "We will not take offense if you cook your meat."
So they found a spot near that firepit and sat down. With the gnolls around, Tauron's lizard friend had disappeared. Besides the five hyenas that this tribe kept, the only wildlife visible was another owl at the top of a tree a short distance off. The tribe produced what appeared to be two huge frogs, their bodies larger than Laur-Q and with huge, meaty rear legs. One of the warrior gnolls dutifully began to peel strips of meat off the nearest carcass and lay them on a rock for the castle group. Another brought a pot of water to drink. Tauron, without hesitation, began to eat some of the raw meat while the others cooked theirs. None of them in the group or the tribe truly relaxed for a long time.
Eluthera finally spoke up. "Nurrta, you said something about needing assistance, and you mentioned a temple. I have noticed that many of your tribe appear malnourished. We will listen to what you wish to say to us."
Nurrta sniffed the air and nodded. "Yes, our tribes have business," she rumbled. "Yes, my tribe has not eaten well in recent days. These, "she said while motioning to the gigantic frogs, "are the first large prey we have caught. This will do much to strengthen my warriors, and there will be more."
"For you to understand, there is much I must tell," Nurrta stated, "and I may not always know the proper words for what I wish to say. If you know about my people, you know that females rarely lead. In truth, I am leader only for now, because my wisdom and knowledge will keep us alive long enough to build up our force. My mate was our chief, and he was truly strong."
"Was," Arthos questioned.
"Yes, he is dead now, killed by those that drove us from our tribal home."
The team from the castle said nothing, but every one of them were shocked. They knew that gnolls had been part of the attackers on more than one occasion, but it never crossed their minds that there might have been more than one group of the creatures nearby.
Nurrta continued, "There is a complex of caverns to the North and East, and our tribe homed in one of those caves for many generations. We worked hard to not cross the other intelligent creatures in this region without reason, simply wishing to hunt and grow the tribe, not war with others. Since we were stronger than the others in the complex, we lived unbothered by them. But almost four seasons ago, some foul humans with dark dwarven diggers arrived and took possession of a cave that had remained mostly empty. They dug tunnels and created a temple there and at the same time, approached the creatures living in the caves with treaties and offers of alliances. Admittedly, we were not wise about dealing with them and believed they only wanted a treaty of peace between us. We have learned much about those dark clerics."
Arthos cut in, "What kind of temple?"
Nurrta replied with a little malice, "A temple to Nerull."
"The Reaper of Flesh," Silva spat, as if bile had welled up from her innards.
"Now you understand why I asked for your oath," Nurrta said, and Silva nodded.
"Followers of Nerull are cruel and vile," Silva told her companions, "Bahamut urges his warriors to counter any evil that they are working towards."
"We did not know of the Death Lord then, and we did not know of their plans for the caverns, so my mate spoke with them and trusted them. At first it seemed like a good arrangement for our tribe. But these men did not simply want peace treaties, they wanted our warriors to fight for them. They offered us treasures and feasts and promised that when they were finished, they would leave all of the caves to my tribe.
"Of course they lied," Nurrta said with sadness.
"A few at a time, more humans and others arrived to join the temple as time passed. Then the bugbears and hobgoblins moved in, driving some unintelligent beasts out of the complex or killing them. Goblins and orcs lived in the caves for a long time, but a second tribe of orcs also arrived with the temple chieften keeping the two tribes from fighting each other. The hobgoblins manipulate the goblins, often making them do as the hobgoblins wish with the goblins believing it was their idea. Even then, we did not see the danger. We knew that the hobgoblin and the newer orc chiefs were beholden to the temple leaders but did not realize the harm."
"With the alliance, your security came under threat," Arthos said.
"Agreed," Nurrta said angrily, "Finally, the temple began to exert its demands on us. At first, we were not asked to join the raiding parties, just to be ready to defend the caves if the complex was attacked, and they provided flesh for us to eat. We thought their raiding parties were just hunting until they began to bring back humans. But they finally decided it was time for the gnolls to join their activities and be loyal.
"It was such a dishonorable plot. My mate often asked me for my wisdom, but he was chief because he was the strongest of my tribe. So that we did not lose good warriors in confrontations within the tribe, a combat can be called to see who is strongest, a duel. The temple sent a gnoll unknown to us to challenge my mate's dominance, and demanded that the challenge be family with myself and our son fighting as well. We agreed. We were tricked! The gnoll challenger revealed his supposed wife to be a bugbear, larger and stronger than our warriors, and since they did not have any children, they had an armored hobgoblin stand for them. My mate had accepted the challenge and felt he could not back down honorably. The three of us knew fighting, but the hobgoblin knew more, had been trained to battle, and the gnoll challenger used magic in the duel! In the end, we lost.
"The temple's dishonor did not end there. They were afraid of my mate's influence, so during the duel, our son was killed and my mate was taken away to be imprisoned to keep him away from the tribe. They did not consider me a threat and let me stay. Then the new chief Tammuz gave the temple most of our valuables, even a magical weapon! They also moved us out of our cave and into a smaller, dirtier cavern while they let some new ally take our home. We even learned that the hobgoblin who had fought my family was not a simple warrior, he was the chief of the hobgoblin tribe and fully in support of the temple." At this point, small flecks of spittle dripped from Nurrta's mouth and her black lips remained curled as she spoke, "I spoke to my tribe in secret, told them how this temple had broken so many of our ways and did not deserve our loyalty, but many of our people were afraid of the powers exhibited by the temple and the gnoll adept. In the end, only a portion of my warriors came with us. We left our puppies with the part of the tribe who stayed for their safety.
"Other like-minded gnolls are joining our cause, so our numbers should grow quickly. Soon we will return to the caverns and take our den back!"
A short silence followed the gnoll chieftess' story. The adventurers, each in his own way, pondered the information they had just heard. It was Karle, ever thoughtful, who spoke first.
"You mentioned needing assistance," the mystic began, "What would you want from us?"
Nurrta composed herself, leveled her breathing and wiping her mouth. "As I have said, I am one who thinks and understands more than some of my brethren. I can see that you are not allied with the temple, not unless everything you wear is a deception. With the attacks on your people and the threat to your fortress, with you hunting through the forest instead of travelling the main road, I believe you are hunting them, either to learn more about your enemies or strike against them." The gnoll maid leaned forward just a bit before saying, "Any action you take against the temple and any damage you do to it and its allies will help my tribe. We know where the temple is and know which tribe homes in which cave. We can give you much information toward your goals if they are against the Temple of Nerull."
"What would you ask in return," Silva asked.
Tauron answered for the gnoll chieftess, "The idea benefits both our groups, sister. Nurrta is correct, anything we do to damage the caves is one less thing that this temple can use against the tribe when the gnolls return. Likewise, if they wish to reclaim their cave and the rest of the tribe, that is one or two less obstacles in our paths.
"Yes," Nurrta agreed, "when we approached our tribe, we will not fight all of them, just the false chief and any who support him. Some would choose to rejoin the tribe if given that choice. At this time, if we attempted such a challenge, the tribe would likely be destroyed by the other denizens of the caves by the order of the temple priests."
Arthos looked at his team. "What do you all say," he asked, "How do you feel about this suggestion?"
"I am for it," Silva said instantly, "While the gnolls are not innocent, they also do not have evil auras. I do not believe they deceive us."
Arthos turned back towards Nurrta. "You mentioned the temple's motivation for its attacks," he said.
"They wish to take over your castle," the chieftess growled softly, "They would continue to use it as a waystation as it is now, but also as a center for their activity. They will kill any who would resist their goal."
"How many creatures live at these caves," Cobb interjected.
"We do not know that," Nurrta answered, "Twenty adults remain in our den, but we are not that familiar with the other tribes."
Arthos wore a mask of seriousness on his face as he asked his next question. "What would the temple do with any living prisoners that they captured during a raid?"
Nurrta nodded. "I understand. That is why you search. Normally, bodies and prisoners will be given to the bugbears for food, although some living beings will be granted to the hobgoblins for slaves. The other races eat mostly the animals that are killed and brought back, like horses and cattle. The bugbears will eat the dead first and save any living prisoners for when they run out of carrion. Sometimes the temple will take some of the humanoid dead for its own reasons that I do not know."
"I can imagine," Silva huffed.
"And you will tell us how to reach these caves," Arthos added.
"Better. I will send a warrior to show you," Nurrta said with a slight, canine smile.
