Tichi-Huichi's Raiders

"Tupyn tzlaga anapaq quito qrizliz" 

(rough translation: Get out of the way because the Horned Ones are thirsty!) -Warcry

On the five thousandth cycle of the sun, at the equinox of Topec, on the meridian of the Serpent Star a spawning occurred in the sacred pools of the ruined temple Enxilada. All sacred plaques which might have predicted this spawning had long since been destroyed. The temple was remote from  the city of Zlatlan in the South Lands and had been abandoned for a long time. No Slann Mage-Priest had turned their minds in this direction for many years and the spawning went unnoticed. Indeed it was a sporadic spawning, evoked purely by the unusual portents and astral conjunctions. It was perhaps the mysterious will of Sotek.

Only one mature Lizardman was there to witness the spawning. It was Tichi-Huichi. He watched over the ruined temple and chanted the salute to the sun as it rose every day. He was the last Enxilada, all others having perished years ago from a mysterious pestilence.

Tichi-Huichi saw that the markings upon the Skink spawn in the sacred pools were good. They were indeed favored by the gods. He felt somehow privileged and chosen for such a thing to occur in his time. He watched as the tadpoles reached maturity and came out upon the land to bask. He could see that they were of the greater crested kind, the sort who could master the Cold Ones. This thought gripped the mind of Tichi-Huichi and he went to look in the dark caverns deep below the ruins. His expectations were correct and a symbiotic spawning had occurred here as well. The eggs had hatched and the tiny Horned Ones, a rare race of Cold Ones, bore similar markings to the Skinks. It was certainly the will of the Old Ones that these spawnings should occur at the same time.

A few years later Tichi-Huichi had trained the rising generation of Skinks in all the lore of Enxilada that he knows that he knew. They looked upon him as their mentor and leader. Over the same time the Horned Ones had grown to full size and already the Skinks were taming and riding them. It happened almost naturally, the empathy between the species was preordained. One became master to the other.

It was at this moment that the mind of the Slann Mage-Priest in far away Zlatlan focused on Enxilada. Profound thoughts were evoked within the alert mind of Tichi-Huichi. Now his purpose became clear. His duty to the Old Ones was to lead the chosen regiment that had been spawned by their will. It was the season of monsoon. In the fetid, steamy nights that followed, Tichi-Huichi was troubled by dreams. He perceived far away places, and strange races and creatures. In their midst he became aware of the presence of great treasures- potent talismans of the Old Ones, things which had been looted from Enxilada and other places, sacred artifacts which the Old Ones desired him to bring back.

Now Tichi-Huichi knew his mission and the purpose of the spawning. His destiny was clear. It was he who had been chosen to go out into the wider regions to find and bring back the relics that the Old Ones had revealed to him. Following his instinct and allowing the thoughts of those greater then himself to direct his plans, Tichi-Huichi set out, leading his fine regiment of Cold One Riders. They had not been idle during the monsoon. They had mastered the techniques of riding and fighting from Cold Ones. It had come upon them as if by instinct. Instruction had hardly been necessary.

On encountering the first settlement of 'new ones', who happened to be a nomadic tribe of Arabians, Tichi-Huichi remained enigmatic, seeking only to follow the current of events unfolding before him by the will of the gods. The Arabian Sheikh, awe-struck at the sight of a real Al Saurim before his very eyes, seemed eager to hire Tichi-Huichi's regiment. Many treasures were cast upon the sand before him, but he merely blinked his yellow eyes at their brightness in the glare of the sun. Then he caught sight of a sacred talisman that he had seen in his dream and let out a rasping croak of delight. The Sheikh laughed and gave it to Tichi-Huichi. A deal had been struck. The regiment rode with the Arabians on many raids into the land of Nehekhara. Tombs were pillaged in the outlying necropolises of that desolate land. Then came the day when Skeleton warriors rose up from the sands and then slew the Arabians to the last man, but Tichi-Huichi'sRaiders fought them to a standstill in the scorching sun. Then the Liche Priest raised his staff and stayed the Skeleton warriors. He brought out a bundle of rags and unwrapped the object concealed with in. Tichi-Huichi saw the sacred plaque of his second dream. Tichi-Huichi signaled for the standard to be dipped. The priest understood. The quarrel was ended and instead, Tichi-Huichi was recruited into the army of the Tomb King, who sat enthroned within his pyramid and seemed to be animated with an inspired thought, as if from afar. There followed years of fighting along the northern margins of the desert. Dwarfs were the quarry. They were easily pursued and caught as the vainly tried to escape, laden down with plunder.

One day, Tichi-Huichi pursued for several days and ventured too far. The Dwarfs were standing ready to die, and there was an uneasy pause before the last charge. Then Tichi-Huichi saw a statue of the monkey god out of a rucksack of a Dwarf. A well-aimed dart struck the strap, and the bag fell open. The golden statue tumbled out. As the Dwarf struggled to gather up his ill-gotten loot, his lord's hefty, hob-nailed boot imprinted itself upon his round behind: "Leave it, Grongi!" he snarled "It's our only chance, lad!" The Dwarfs edged back and Tichi-Huichi signaled forward a Skink to recover the sacred statue; the one revealed in his third dream. The Dwarfs warily turned and began to march away, shadowed at a distance by the Skink Cold One Riders.

So it went on to this day. The Dwarf Lord of Barak-Varr, in a strange meeting in which the Dwarf Lord believed he was advised to hire the Skinks by a long-dead ancestor, hired Tichi-Huichi. Even so, the bargaining had been long, but three gold plaques had done the trick better than a massive chest of gems. Strange creatures these Lizardmen, thought the Dwarfs, but great value for the money! And so a Dwarf would think! One who was accustomed to valuing gold by its weight alone; a creature ignorant of the intentions of the gods; one for whom sacred plaques are just so much metal to get melted down! Did they not know that the Old Ones wrote on gold only because is imperishable! And so Tichi-Huichi's Raiders fought against Orcs and Goblins. Then they were hired them in their turn, serving Goblin chiefs who were convinced that Mork or Gork or both had inspired them. They fought battles and regained many more lost relics. With every change of the fortune, a sacred artifact appeared. Though the masters he served might flee or be wiper out utterly, strangely Tichi-Huichi's Raiders were still there at the end of every battle. Mysteriously their foes always saw the wisdom of hiring them, and the futility of a fight in which the Skinks would slaughter many before dying themselves. Without knowing a word of mannish or Orcish or Khazalid or Elvin tongue, a deal was always struck. Were the thoughts of their foes directed by some greater mind, enthroned upon a pyramid temple in Zlatlan perhaps? Inscrutable are the ways of the Old Ones!

Source

 * Regiments of Renown