TALES FROM THE RENGE: THE PROPHECY FULFILLED

THE ASHASHINIDII

The Ashashinidii were not a small Order, but rather, a whole nation within the boundaries of the lands of the Renge. They had migrated into the region long before the arrival of the gods or the Ring or even the establishment of the aristocracy that had become weak-minded and incompetent. They had established themselves as a part of the lands long before the wars and had lasted far longer than any of the many pantheons of deities that had caused unrest. They had refrained from many revolutions and had tested the mettle of the more ‘civilized’ peoples who’d come into the Renge to establish themselves.

Power meant nothing to them. Rulership had no real worth to them. They had their simple chieftains and their simplified system of government and that had always been enough. The strongest among them led, but had no absolute power. They voted on important issues that benefited all, but left all other decisions to their leader.

As assassins, they were feared. Perhaps it was their stark and terrible methods of display and warning to others, but they always left a clue as to who had done the deed. They weren’t violent by nature, but had their own methods of dealing with what they saw as decadent and evil ways. For the most part, the citizenry of the Renge was safe from them, but the nobilus was not. Nor were mages or Masters.

Most of all, the Inquisition had become a hated regime to these people. Almost invisible, they seemed to pass the notice of Golmagug. They seemed invisible to the Seekers and demons sent to investigate them. It was as if they did not exist. But they did exist. Their existence was well known to the Dark Ring. Each Order had dealt with the Ashashinidii as one point or another. Some of those experiences were good; others were at the end of an assassin’s blade. Depending on how decadent a Master became, they were always there to serve as a force of justice and equality. And the Ring knew it.

And since they were not an Order, they were not true members of the Dark Ring. They were outsiders who were called upon to serve as great equalizers and arbitrators. And their word was heard and harkened to. None wanted to end up on one of those impalement poles, high above the forests and battlements of the surrounding countryside.

The Ashashinidii had a strict code of law. There were no wrongs that went unpunished. If one of their own did wrong, they would end up on a pole…just as dead. Their society was an ancient one. Far more ancient than those within the Ring. It had existed intact for millennia. They had adhered to laws far older than time its self. No god had given them the laws they clung to with a religious fervor not quite experienced by the Ring or its Orders. Yet, they did not try to press upon any that which they held to. They merely held to it.

And yet, they were a whole race of mages. Some said that they were the only true Sorcerers Supreme. It was said that there was no living being, not even a god, who could defeat them. Their weaponry and armor, though antiquated, seemed to make them indestructible. Their magicks seemed to make them invisible to those who sought them for evil purposes. Their wisdom made them a great voice of reason within the Renge. Their example made them the most respected peoples.

And their intolerance of evil made them the worst enemy t Inquisition could have. And now, that intolerance had come to a head and had been unleashed upon the hated regime in full force. The time had come. The war had become open for all to see. The Renge would be freed from its oppressors, and their allies would be crushed.

Within the interior, the Ashashinidii carried the war to the Inquisition in the only way it knew how…assassinating the Seekers and demons that got within their reach. Soon, Valthrid would fall. soon, Golmagug would meet with his end. Soon, thie war would be in full swing…