TALES FROM THE RENGE: THE PROHPECY FULFILLED

WARRIORS OF THE DARK RING: THE FRIDYANS

A great and horrible battle cry rose above the temple of Frahd, the high deity of the Fridyans. The cry seemed to grow louder as the voices of other, more distant, yet less warlike bands of mages joined across the lands of the Renge. All knew their beautiful lands were in danger. Pacifistic manners held no sway this time. War was inevitable. Those whose magicks would not kill were readying themselves to serve as healers and protectors. Yet, with the leader they now had at the head of the armies that gathered, their magicks would take on new and more horrible aspects.

Times had changed too quickly. Many ‘outlaw’ mage societies were pledging their loyalties to the great army that had begun to assemble. Warriors long thought as dead were beginning to re-emerge from obscurity. The Fridyans’ Master had seen these days coming. Many of the Masters had. The Renge was no longer a place of great beauty. The Inquisition had seen to that.

And the Inquisition had worries of its own. On the fringes of its main territory, just beyond Valthrid, Seekers were being found dead. The threat did not bear the marked traits of the Cyrtian Order, though, and it was beginning to spread a dread and panic amongst the Seekers and demons alike in the city. This new enemy skinned those unfortunates it caught alive, and then hung the screaming tortured soul upon an impaling pole high above the forests that dotted the countryside.

The Fridyans knew the Inquisition’s new enemy well. They had dealt with them in the war that had given them their power. They were small, dusky, almost olive colored men known as the Ashashinidii. Assassins, they were. And mages without compare. They hated anything that smelled of evil and corruption, for the most part, but served as mercenaries if the price was right.

This time, though, seemed different. They seemed to sense a weakness within the Inquisition’s ranks, almost as if it’s Master was at the end of his tortured life of hatred. And it was at this weakness that they struck. Without a fluid leadership, the Inquisition was weak. It was as if the Ashashinidii knew that Golmagug could no longer protect or control his pets.

The Fridyans and their allies were more than willing to let the Ashashinidii attack Valthrid’s inhabitants. They had other concerns with which to consume their time. They knew the massive army beyond the river. It seemed to be growing at an alarming rate…