The Badfangs - Bonesplitterz of Aqshy, part 6. Animosity II

Pilgrims of the Stones

The Badfangs had been dispatched into the forested hills and valleys outside Tsatraya by Wurrgog Prophet Hogrog Ug Weirdklaw. They had been given the task of finding the resting place of the bones of a great beast, but there were many distractions along the way...

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Urgog and the Badfangs padded through the ruined and tumbled gravestones and mausoleums of the Stone Crop. The air was sharp and cold in the wintry Shyish underworld of Lake Bykaal but the near-unclad Bonesplitterz didn’t care about cold or heat.

Something moved in the darkness and they all stopped, peering into the shadows under the arches. Thin purplish moonlight filtered through the racing clouds, momentarily illuminating a group of wretched looking robed figures huddled together under the porch of a partially ruined mausoleum; they were also   motionless, also peering into the dark. But they were looking the wrong way.

Urgog looked round at Azgrok, Bortusk and Toofdrakk and used hand-signals to send the three Arrowboys off to find a high perch among the ruins, where they could overlook the graveyard.

He signed to the Morrboys to spread out: Umclaw and Zogfang went left, Rukbeast and Mogrok went right, Urgog considered for a moment and went right too - he didn’t entirely trust Rukbeast.

The five of them moved forward slowly, making use of the darkness and the angular stone forms around them. As they got closer to the wretched Pilgrims they could hear the low, guttural squabbling. Wordless noises, hisses and growls.

Urgog looked back and saw the Arrowboys were in position. 

He raised his bone club into the air and signalled the start. With a whistle and a thunk, three arrows arced through the gloom and landed in two of the robed wretches. They howled in pain and the other Pilgrims panicked and scattered! Urgog roared and the Morrboys charged!

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The Badfangs did not celebrate their small victory over the Pilgrims - they were not worthy of even a mention in the saga. They were not great beasts so they did not have the power of Gorkamorka in their bones or teeth.

The skulls of his two former rivals (hanging from his belt) whispered taunts. They were always complaining or criticising, but they were especially annoying when they offered unwanted advice. Urgog ignored them, as he always did, but that didn't ever shut them up.

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I have no idea when I will be actually playing again but setting up dramatic dioramas around a story for an online campaign is an okay-ish stand-in for now! You can join this campaign too! The campaign website is here Animosity II – The Burning Winter