Tearlach (Chapter 30)

Template:Tearlach nav In happier times, when outsiders attacked the highlands, the sons of Bul-Kathos met them on the plains and plateaus. Springing out of ambush, a charge with a few war cries was usually enough to send the southlanders squealing in terror back to their own lands. Those lacking the wit to flee that first rush were slaughtered... think of it as culling the herd. What Qual-Kehk demanded now was different. By the old ways, each warrior fought for his own honor and glory, then the honor of his clan, but the old way would not win this war. Their foe outnumbered them by an unthinkable margin, and did not flee -- their masters frightened them far more than any shouting. The hour was late, but hope was not lost: a few more had trickled into Harrogath, besides those rescued from the cages. Now armed, fed, and ready, a smaller but wiser band might yet snatch victory.

Qual-Kehk told them what he expected of them. The key to this battle was Baal himself. His army was far too numerous to defeat, and even if they did, he would simply summon it again. To win, they must kill Baal, but finding him would be impossible. Qual-Kehk's plan was wily: if you cannot reach the enemy, have him come to you. Their goal was the ice caves under Arreat's peak. Baal had been searching for the entrance to the Worldstone's chamber for days. If they could destroy the army massing on the plateau, but retreat to the caves, he would think the entrance must be there. He would follow... and the caves are one of the best places on the mountain for an ambush. It would be a hard battle - he would certainly have his strongest minions with him to protect his foul carcass - but killing his slaves and minor demons again and again would not win the war.

Of course, they had to defeat Baal's army, and leave warriors alive to make an ambush work. This would take new tactics, fighting to stay alive and reach the caves. Each man was to carry portal scrolls, and attach no shame to using them. Keep your eyes on your brother, keep him and you safe. Move in slow, harass the enemy until you've whittled them down to size. Tearlach listened, and approved; much of this was nothing more than his usual combat strategy, learned from painful experience. Not everyone shared his opinion.

"It sounds..." Drus frowned, thinking. "It is unmanly, to cower and run from Baal's slaves."

"Is it manly to die against them?" Tearlach snorted. "Too many of our proud warriors lie dead, their crimson life fluid staining the unhappy earth. Even a slave can kill."

"What can yoo say that we should listen to, lack-kin?" a man called Hrothgar sneered. "A man with no clan is like a blasted tree standing lonely on a hilltop."

"Yoo can sit under a tree to get out of the rain," Tearlach snarled. "A dead man does no one any good. Did I pull yoo out of their stew-pots to insult me?"

"I will not fight alongside a Snake!" Drus spat on the ground.

"Nor I beside a Bear!" Tostig hissed. "My cousin Tharr was killed by a Bear clansman, and I have sworn a blood-feud against all his kin."

"I know yoo, Tearlach," Hrothgar glowered. "I know yoo from yoor youth. Yoo want us to go slow so yoo can take yoor fancy jeweled axe and get all the kills for yoorself!"

As they argued, Cain sidled up to Qual-Kehk. "I beg your pardon, but is this they way decisions are usually made here?"

"Yes," Qual-Kehk sighed. "And no. I expected argument. Only a fool would think proud warriors would forget all they have known and fight a new way."

"Listening to them, I am reminded of Tearlach when I first met him. How strange that his should be the voice of reason now."

"None will say it, but they are afraid. When southlanders came in the past, we knew the fight would be easy, and it was easy to set differences aside. Now, any excuse will do for them to sit at home by the fire. It makes me sick to see it."

"Why don't you just tell them that?"

"It would shame them into battle, and they would fight and die. I want them to fight and live. It is disgraceful to say, but the exile is right; it does no good to stand and die."

"Hmm..." Cain thought. "I think I have an idea."

The fight among the Barbarians was growing louder by the moment; Cain was sure it would come to blows soon. With a sweet smile, he hobbled into the middle of it and looked up at Tearlach. "Pardon me, but I am a bit confused about something."

Tearlach sighed theatrically. "What do yoo want now, wizard?"

"Well... I know perfectly well that none of you are afraid of dying..."

"Of course not!" All the Barbarians laughed, a bit longer than they needed to. "Death comes to all, there is no call to fear it!"

"I have also heard you sing many songs to honor those who die a glorious death."

"All men die," Hrothgar said. "Only a warrior's reputation lives forever, through the sagas."

"Yes. So, if you all die against Baal's troops, who will sing to honor you?"

There was a long, painful silence. Cain continued, "Especially against those slaves, who have no honor at all. To die facing Baal, that I can understand... but why are you arguing about who kills the most slaves? I don't think it matters to Baal if you kill them."

"Erm..." Drus shuffled his feet. "True, there is little honor in it."

"We've all slain plenty of them," Tearlach said. "A few more makes no difference."

"I'm still not fighting beside a Bear," Tostig murmured darkly.

Cain nodded. "That is very wise. It would be terrible if you were to save his life, and have his clan owe you a debt. All your clans have suffered greatly, and they might have difficulty compensating you. It would bring them dishonor."

Quietly, Cain glanced around; a few of them were confused, some looked offended, one or two had a crafty look in their eyes. "Wizard, are yoo trying to get clever with us?"

"No, no! Forgive me, I do not understand your ways. I was confused, especially knowing Qual-Kehk's plan could be what destroys Baal and avenges all your kin."

"Aye... there's that," Hrothgar scratched his shaggy beard. "No point killing his slaves if he cares not about the loss."

"More important, he can't find the Worldstone," Drus said.

"Aye! He seeks it above all else. All his thought is on it," Tostig nodded sagely.

"So..." Tearlach's eyes narrowed as he thought, "if he thinks it's in the caves, he'll go there and we can get him!"

"Damn!" Hrothgar shouted, "we have to get that army out of the way now, before it's ready to march! What are we all standing around here for? For GLORY!!"

With a mighty shout, all Harrogath's warriors charged out the gate. In the now deserted square, Qual-Kehk shook his head. "Outlander, that was disgustingly manipulative."

Looking not a little smug, Cain quietly shrugged. "Sometimes, people simply need to be reminded of what's important to them. Strange... they seemed more eager to fight when they thought it was their own idea."

Qual-Kehk laughed. "Of course! My people do not take orders, all of us are equals. That was one thing I always admired about elder Aust. He had a golden tongue, and a gift for fine speech. He never gave orders to anyone. It was always his greatest pleasure to let them do exactly as he wanted."

When they reached the plateau, a few of the Barbarians abandoned their battle partners and ran on ahead. Others with more experience moved in slower, wary and light on their feet. Tearlach grabbed Klatu and stuck close to him. Let the others charge in; they'd soon learn caution, if they lived. Very few sagas will be sung about fighting slaves; even dying against Baal would be a better fate.

At first, there were only a few scattered slaves, lost and confused after the first Barbarians' rush through their ranks. They were easy to mop up. Tearlach noted, to his infinite disgust, that Klatu was a Crane fighter through and through. He was constantly moving in and out, dodging and weaving, occasionally swinging his sword; he couldn't just stand still and bash. Granted, he didn't need much more than one carefully-placed swing, but it was still annoying. Tearlach stood behind his shield and chopped, killing two or more for every one of his.

Finally, he had enough. "What the HELL are yoo DOING?"

Klatu looked at Tearlach. He had heavy-lidded eyes, and always looked half-asleep. "What are YOO doing?"

Grunting as a slave detonated on his shield, Tearlach replied, "Killing! What are yoo doing?"

"Killing."

"No, what's with all the dancing around and crap?!"

Klatu was now weaving around a slave master, avoiding its whip and slowly slicing it to bits. "The little ones explode, yoo know."

Tearlach shook half of a slave's head off his helmet wing. "I noticed."

Long after they had both finished off the slave master and moved on to the next, Klatu continued his thought. "They hurt less when yoo'r far away."

"Nah, step back when yoo see them swell up. Problem solved."

Klatu seemed to consider this for a while. "Aye, that might do it."

"Yoo should do it. Gods, yoo get chewed up. I'm sick of yoo taking all the potions!"

"Yoo drink a bunch of them. Yoo even drink the blue ones."

"Is it my fault I get thirsty? Tough work, this."

"Aye." Silently, he watched as Tearlach searched the fallen. "Findin' anything there?"

"Just Cathan's Mesh. Sorcerer crap. Let's move on."

It was on his next return to town that Malah stooped him. Many more warriors were coming back to have their wounds tended before they went out again, but she didn't want to talk about that. Elder Aust's only child, his daughter Anya, had survived the death of her father, but vanished soon after. She was sure elder Nihlathak was responsible. Tearlach smiled and assured her he'd look for her, but didn't have the heart to tell the poor old woman she was surely dead. Anya was supposed to be the most beautiful girl in the land, and one of the wisest, as her father gave her many of his secrets. But no woman, neither the wisest nor the strongest, could survive long outside of Harrogath's walls.

There were a few encampments on the plateau, with a few dead women, some of them still in bed or sitting by the fire. Tearlach was surprised they hadn't been eaten. Maybe demons like beef better than veal. Behind a wall was another hell-pit; the cursed things must be all over Mt. Arreat. Standing at the entrance, Tearlach looked around. Despite stopping for loot, he and Klatu seemed to be well ahead of the others. They had formed little knots of two or three sword-brothers, and were taking the demons on with ease. It was important to get to the ice caves, but if they were coming up through these portals, it would be just as important to kill everything down below too. And besides... there was sure to be loot there, better loot than he was finding up here, all his for the taking.

The red portal took them to another string of islands in the lake of fire. In spite of it being his first time in Hell, Klatu took it well. The fire and stench made him nervous, but Tearlach took no notice. The Crane was a decent fighter, even if he took too long to kill things, and besides, Hell is supposed to make a man nervous. The only time he had to be rough with him was when a gigantic bull-man, a genuine Hell Lord, attacked with his pack.

"That's a big 'un, he is."

"RETREAT!!"

"Yoo can't be running away! He's not that --"

Tearlach grabbed Klatu by the collar of his breastplate and dragged him away. "Damn it, when I scream like a girl, pay attention!"

"I didn't expect yoo to turn coward!"

"Keep running! I'm no coward! We've got to string those bastards out and take on that big bastard alone or we're done for!"

"Doesn't look that much bigger than the others..."

When they got to a safe distance, Tearlach stopped. "You see that red glow around him? That's a spirit aura, and the most dangerous kind."

"So it glows. Yoo think it'll glimmer us to death?"

"Yoo wait and see. But don't attack when it has friends. Get it alone!"

It took running, leaping over gaps, and more fancy footwork than even Klatu liked, but they finally isolated the Hell Lord with only one of its cohort. That was about as good as it was going to get, Tearlach realized, so they attacked. Repeated war cries confused the minion, but bull-head hit faster and harder than anything Tearlach had yet felt. Both of them reeled under the repeated blows, delivered in a frenzy of bloodlust. It took three purple potions to keep them alive, but finally they killed it.

As they stood there gasping, Tearlach handed Klatu a potion. "Drink."

"Aye," he gurgled. "By all the Ancients... I thought yoo'd been here before?"

"I've been. Hell of a place."

Klatu shook his head. "Aye."

After that, the rest of the island was child's play. At least there weren't any big-heads, just slaves, masters, and bulls. Back on Mt. Arreat, near the pit, was another Horadric waypoint.

"Damn it, wizard," Tearlach asked as he dropped off another load, "how by all the Light did those damn mages build all these things? They're up and down the mountain!"

"Mages all over the world have long debated Mt. Arreat's purpose. It is no surprise that the Horadrim came here at some point, to try and answer their many questions about the mountain and its secrets. Thankfully, they did not explore it completely, or Baal would not need to do so now. Have you had any luck in the ice caves?"

"I'll be there soon, and so will the others. Luck is smiling on us. These demons aren't any tougher than any of the others, once you find their weaknesses."

"Good, good. There are a couple of things here I think you should look at. In particular, this note. The handwriting looks familiar."

Hey Big McLargeHuge!

Ooooh, that Minotaur was nasty! Wish I got this to you sooner. The amulet is a good one, a Resonant amulet of Life Everlasting, reduces damage by 21! That'll help a whole big fat hairy bunch with those guys. Wear the chain gloves for the lightning resistance, and the great sword is for your friend. Leeching and speed keep the help helpful. Hasta la vista, you big lovable bulkhead, you!

-- The Mule