17th and 18th of Garm-mah 641 SC

The History of the Jandicary 600-700 SC

As recorded by Ayatollah Nabil ibn Moriad, 720 SC

The Umbar-Shard creeps up the Targyr river untill the belly of the shark scraped along the shallows and there emerged silently in the middle of the river. Violent desolation lay on both banks. The charcoal skeletons of huts and a smouldering pier all that remained. In the distance, the relentless thud of giant trebuchets and the steady hum of powerful magic and warding spells, enough arcane energy to make the hairs on the back of Rafiq's neck stand on end.

Outside the Umbrian craft the visceral stench of war hangs thick in the air. Each side of the river is lined with the carcasses of the dead, human and beast mixed together in defiance of the last rites of the dead and the Holy Divine. More bodies floated in the river, bloated and trapped by the wreckage of the once proud pier.

Quietly into the water the Umbrian leads the way. Never truly comfortable away from the burning sands of the Caliphate, Maissa slips off the railing and into the water. A party of Dharvaki are now alerted to their approaching judgement. Shaking off the stupor of wine and bloodshed and all things dark and infernal besides, the Dharvaki draw hammer and crossbow. Clanging weapon against their armour and hurling garbled curses they arrange themselves beside the river to meet the heroes as they reach dry land.

Drawing blade and staff the party of Maissa the Blessed charge up onto the banks. With the strength and courage of the Holy Divine coursing through their veins and down through to their weapon hands they smite a powerful blow against the cowardly group of Dharvaki. The party emerges triumphant and unscathed, forcing the twisted Ritter Blackfist to his knees. Put on trial as a traitor to the Caliphate and enslaver of the people of the Holy Divine, Maissa performs his execution swiftly. Beside the battle site, two tents stand. One but smouldering wreckage due to a wayward bolt of dark power unleashed by Ritter the Traitor. The second contains half a dozen slaves, bound by hand and foot and chained together. A plea for mercy and freedom rises and all are cut free from their restraints by a blow of the Umbrian’s scimitar.

Sending the freed-men away from the burning City of Saphire, one of the rescued captives offers the heroes help in breaking through the line of Dharvaki surrounding the walls of Shushan. So Mabrouk Kafar leads the party a little way beyond the city to an abandon shed, a secret entrance for the Sukhout,  thieves quick to profit from the desperate crippling hunger already gripping besieged citizens of Shushan.

Down into a secret tunnel, Raouf the Elusive leads the way checking for traps, until the party reaches the sewers proper and clamber up a nearby ladder up into a warehouse. Not quite empty, two ruffians guarding sacks of grain and wheat confront the party of Maissa al-Bahari. With a flourish of longsword and scimitars, darting stabs of poisoned daggers and flashes of arcane magic, the attackers soon lay bloodied and beaten on the threshing floor. A quite creak of the warehouse door and the party spill out into a large square right in the centre of Shushan.

At one corner of the square a few citizens scurry home. Looking out over the low rise buildings the righteous Jandicary spots the looming blue dome of the Great Mosque. Leading the way past a Pasdari blockade, Maissa and the party reach the entrance to the Mosque. Inside the old, infirm and those too young to yet pick up a blade and defend the city walls sit in fervent prayer beseeching the Holy Divine to remember His servants and to show mercy to the City of Sapphire.

Finding an enclave overlooking the praying masses, Maissa sinks to her knees joining in the prayers and meditation of the people with the stoic dragonborn standing beside her. Impatient, the Umbrian harasses the quiet scholars until exasperated he is sent outside with the remaining members of the party to do the bidding of Jabbar the Giant, the peaceful half-Gondehmar. Thus put to manual labour, Rafiq the Soft-hands has his high born feathers ruffled.

Prayers finished and the people of Shushan duly seen to, the Holy Warrior approaches this Ayatollah and lays her flaming sword at his feet. She pledges to do all in her power to lift the iron grip of the Dharvaki upon the city for the glory of the Holy Divine . Blessing her with the power of Holy Wrath, this Ayatollah tasks the Jandicary to strike at Almnos leader of the Black Fist mercenaries and cut off the head of the Dharvaki force.

The party makes their way back outside the city walls and once more at the hideout of the Sukhout they meet up with Mabrouk. Here the party rests and gathers their energy for the coming battle before the wily thief leads them to a watchtower, themakeshift headquarters of the Dharvaki vanguard. As they arrive they see that the mercenary force is preparing for a final assault on Shushan.

A fierce battle of the forces of good and evil ensues, with the alien Umbrian paying the ultimate sacrifice as he lays down his life for a God that he did not know. Yet the forces of darkness are no match for the power and might of the Holy Divine, as the party of the Jandicary defeat the foes of Shushan. Lifting up her mighty longsword Maissa removes the head of Almros leader of the Black Fists as a warning to the enemies of the Holy Divine.