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Warlord Tulgar had retired to his yurt for the evening when the words of the scouts had reached him. Ogres spotted on the surface meant war and Tulgar knew he needed to move his people out of the Kashun Valley at first light. The ogre host was reportedly large enough to exterminate every man, woman, and child of Tulgar's Tribe, the Tuzah Tribe. Fortunately for the Tuzah, they spotted the ogres before walking into an ambush and being cut off from the one possible escape route out of the valley and toward their allies in the other eight tribes. Before the night was over, Tulgar had ordered his people to prepare to move. The convey of the young, the elderly, and those who could not fight were led by a small group of Tulgar's least experienced fighters and two elementalists. The convey was protected from behind by archers and the remaining elementalists who in turn were protected by a formation of the tribe's mounted and foot soldiers. The Tuzah were far from the largest of the Nine Tribes but Tulgar had seen many battles, even for a northern warlord, and his army was among the most experienced of the Nine Tribes. He knew how to press his advantages and had his elemntalists leave magical earthen traps that would maim, if not kill, any ogre wandered too close. Any time the pursuing ogres closed the gap between the armies, Tulgar's archers would rain arrows to slow them. When the ogres would send smaller groups sprinting ahead to force an engagement, the warlord would send his mounted forces to cut down the separated beasts. The battle continued in much the same way through the remainder of the day, that night, and the next morning when the Tuzah reached the ford in the Yinsei River from the west. The ford was narrow enough to slow their crossing and the soldiers at the front of the convey had too little time to prepare proper fortifications. Though he would not show it, even the old warlord did not expect his troops could stop and hold the ogres long enough for the convoy to cross. The battle raged as ogre weapons severed limbs, spears pierced hides finding ogre organs, and magical explosions and torrents of fire reduced ogres to indiscernible burnt chunks. While most of the Tuzah celebrated as the dozen ogres where overwhelmed, Tulgar was filled with dread as he knew this to be deceit. A mass of ogres began spilling out from caves concealed by brush to the south, flanking Tulgar's forces on the west side of the river. The warlord saw his men breaking formation and considering crossing the deep, unforgiving Yinsei as the ford was blocked by the last quarter of the crossing convoy. Tulgar bellowed to his men "Fall in! Attention! Forward March!" And with that, they knew their duty. They charged into certain death in order to buy time for their families to escape. As their number dwindled, Tulgar turned and saw the last of the convoy cross as two elementalists scarified themselves to fuel magics to sink the ford and render the Yinsei uncrossable. Tulgar laughed defiantly, skewering one last ogre as he died. Remember this tale every time you venture into Hamgyong Nam-Do, the depravity of the ogres and Tulgar's last stand. Show them no mercy. Ferrun | |