The Fate of Karshi: the rise of the Devouts

After he saved Karshi from Caiphon and Oleck, Sharki became king of Karshi. His first decree as king, however, was to pull some of the surrounding countryside into his benevolent arms. This, of course, angered the karshians who still opposed star magic, who saw this act as tyrannous as Caiphon’s cultist’s rule! One day, 3 angry dwarfs formed an alliance, which opposed what they saw as corruption of the crown of Karshi, who called themselves the Devouts! Seeing this as treason, King Sharki banished the devouts and ordered their leaders to be burned for treason towards Karshi and its crown! The devouts, who saw this as tyranny, decided that they would overthrow the crown by taking some of its land for themselves. After hearing of this news, Sharki declared war against the devouts!

“What’s our strength?” Sharki said with a solemn look in his eye. “100,000 trained soldiers and 4,000 untrained conscripts.” Lt. Kaishor said with a wise, yet calculating glare. He was a tall, regal man with plate armor that shined like the morning sun and a sword with a custom blade, tipped with a shape that was shaped like a moon. “Your highness, we have a problem. 1,000 devout archers are positioned in the highlands 2 score miles from here, and they sure are trained!” Gramblur, Sharki’s top squire said with many arrows in his back, which caused him to bleed extensively with every word. A few seconds later, the heavily wounded squire collapsed, dead from excessive bleeding. “Time to punish these vile, yet zealous, devouts! Take a regiment to silence the ambushers!” Sharki shouted to his lieutenant. “Yes your highness! These traitors will be removed to clear the path to this fort! Soldiers go and bring your longbows! We will fight these guerillas with great oppression!” Kaishor shouted to the anxious army. “Fight until all of the foul devouts have been dealt what they have brought to us TENFOLD!” Sharki said, confidently, with his fist raised in the air.

After an hour’s march, the karshian regiment reached the ambush point fully equipped for the skirmish ahead, but the devouts were prepared for them. As soon as the regiment arrived, a single glowing arrow streaked through the air, hitting a single soldier in the front, who soon yelled and shot an arrow himself to his attack’s origin, killing his attacker point-blank. Soon after this exchange of fire, the rest of the regiment opened fire, killing almost all of the rebel devout artillery, and captured the survivors. “Yes! Take that, rebels! Soldiers, place a flag here to show that we reclaim these acres from devout rule!” Kaishor said with pride. “Report, lieutenant! How much fatalities on our side?” Sharki said, scanning the highlands beyond. “Thankfully, none! How is the mercenary hiring going?” Kaishor said with respect. “Good. I have hired 1300 novice adventurers, and 590 elite adventurers. The megalopolis nearby sure has a good population of mercenaries that are so inspired by my cause, they will die for it for no cost at all!” Sharki said with great hope. “This is great news! We might put these traitors down without many fatalities on our side! Ok then; send 100 of each mercenary experience level to aid us in our advance! Godspeed!” Kaishor said joyously.

After marching many miles through the highlands, defeating many devout skirmishers on the way, the marching regiment came to a misty vale with 2 obelisk columns made of obsidian as black as night at its entrance. The fog was so thick that you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. “Let the power of Karshi give your vision clarity!” Sharki preached to the weary regiment as his scar started glowing blood red, dispelling most of the thick fog for a few feet. “Let the magic of our king guide us through this obscure location! Onwards, men! To victory or we shall fall!” Kaishor said zealously. Suddenly, 100 bloodscale dragonborn raiders, whose tribe was famous around the land for their brutal ambushes, jumped down from the vine-choked trees above. Among them was a distinct leader with a scar that was like a sideways ring on his face. “Give them no quarter for trespassing into our territory!” the raiding party’s leader snarled, his eyes locked on Sharki. “Once they are defeated, take their leader hostage to my camp!” “Yes, Master Kayem! Allies, you heard the master. Give these trespassers no mercy!” one of the raiders yelled with zeal.

After many hours of fending off the raiders, the army won the battle with only 6 dead. “Now that we have defeated the raiders, I will defeat their leader! Kaishor, lead the army farther into this domain and locate the devout base. I will locate you after I deal with this murderous general!” Sharki said with valorous intent. “Ok, my king. You do what you must do. Men, onwards!” Kaishor said with pride in his voice. Soon after the orders, the army advanced through the vale and Sharki chased the now-fleeing general, who was called by the raiders “Master Kayem”, down a separate path in the vale. Soon, Sharki and Kayem ended up in a clearing with only a glimmer of sunlight piercing the fog. “Give up, Kayem! Your murderous raiding days end here!” Sharki yelled, his scar glowing bright with power. “Fine then, though I will not go down without a fight!” Kayem responded, his scar glowing as green as an emerald.

Sharki and Kayem fought, each exhibiting their powers in a superhumanly manner. When Sharki summoned a meteor, Kayem summoned a demonic bone wall to absorb the impact. Sharki, in seeing that, knew exactly what to do. He would use the powerful, yet sneaky move that he developed, the same one that was the undoing of Caiphon. He would fire 5 star bolts at 1 location to distract Kayem, and then use his finishing move, Star Combustion, to exploit any openings that the initial attack left open. Of course, his plan worked, and Kayem was soon mortally wounded and out of spells. “Argh! You are more powerful than even me, Master Kayem, King of the Bloodscale dragonborn! I will concede,” Kayem said before finally collapsing, dead from heavy wounds. “May you cleanse yourself of your misdeeds in the Mists. Farewell for now, Kayem.” Sharki said, bowing in respect to his slain opponent.

After an hour of navigation, Sharki caught up with Kaishor and the regiment, who were waiting at the heart of the vale. The beauty of the location was stunning. The trees glowed with druidic magic and the mist seemed just as thick as to let little beads of sunlight through, which drew attention to a tree in the center, which seemed to glow with supernatural power. “Kaishor, I’m going to go search that strangely unnatural aura radiating from that tree! Have the men in ready stance, just in case I get in trouble,” Sharki said, observing through his third eye. Suddenly, a part of the trunk opened, and a devout regiment came charging out, sword in hand. “ Stand your ground, men! Only charge when you see the fear in their eyes!” Kaishor said, watching the fray closely, “Now!” With his word, the regiment unsheathed their swords and charged at the devout rebels, who quickly tried to retreat, but the regiment was quicker, even in plate. Soon enough, the devout skirmishers were either slain or mortally wounded. “What are your orders now, your majesty?” Kaishor said, kicking a dead devout nearby. “Raid the tree! Kill any devouts and capture any important leaders and allied villains! Godspeed!” Sharki said passionately. “You hear the king! Charge, men!” Kaishor said with a clenched fist.

The devouts fought with great passion, fending off the regiment long enough for most of their leaders to escape. However, one of their leaders, one of the 5 founders of their organization, came to the fray wielding a huge bow, which he used to fire 5 arrows. The arrows missed, but gave Kaishor a good idea of the villain’s location. “Good thing the dwarves of Loch Exnoer taught me how to use this!” Kaishor said as he pulled out, and loaded, a golden blunderbuss with a serrated bayonet. He twirled the blunderbuss around 2 times then fired 3 consecutive shots. These enchanted shots each exploded like a grenade when they hit the ground, which killed not only the leader, but 1,000 of the devout defenders. “Yes! Success! Ok, your majesty, we have cleared the base.” Kaishor said, soaking up his glory. “Find the escapees! I want them alive! Also resurrect that boss the general just slayed, but take the bow! Onwards!” Sharki said, observing the battlefield with his third eye, looking for secret passages that the rest of the devout leaders would’ve used.

After hours of delving the oak’s depths, the regiment captured all of the leaders and confiscated the surviving devout’s arsenal, declaring victory over the devout base and, possibly, the devouts as a whole. “Today is a proud day for Karshi. We captured the devout leaders and raided their base. We seem to have stopped the devouts’ operations for now. I thank all who supported Karshi in this civil war, and condemn all who aided the devout rebels. Though the war came with many fatalities, we assure you it came with a great reward. We have viewed our new empire and have come to appreciate our king even more. Long live King Sharki!” Kaishor said, proud of their victory over the rebellious, yet super zealous, devouts “It would appear Karshi is in peace...... for now.”

TO BE CONTINIUED!!!!!!!!