The Wars of the Tri-Cities

In the Rhuzak province of Quezachult there lie three cities: Ura’ram, Ferzirg and the grand capital Drazak. Each city is spread out equally like a triangle, held strong by thick obsidian walls, and unique turrets, with dark crimson gems spiralling within them, tainted by the death and despair of the damned that live within them. These unfortunate natives are none other than the Gith, a once human race, deprived of their free will and forced into a horrific physical change. They had been caught by surprise by their opposition, appearing inside and enslaving Drazak within the same day.

Those with such power were the Mind Flayers, using their psychological trickery and magic to their full advantage, removing their leader, King Gaeti and Queen Saeeda, and causing mass panic within the settlement. Once settled, having thousands of slaves beneath them, they expanded out to retrieve the remaining Gith from Ura’ram and Ferzirg. Just like Drazak, they fell instantly with no preparations for a full-scale attack within the walls. This was the downfall of Rhuzak.

For years, the Gith were enslaved, brutally tortured, and killed having nothing in their arsenal to fight back this incredible power of the Flayers. It became harder and harder for them as time went on while ‘The Elder One’ took home in Drazak’s Gartoe Castle, enhancing the power of its Mind Flayers and tainted turret battlements. The name given to this overlord was Cerebellum, The Elder Brain.

With returning Gith coming back from travelling the world outside of Rhuzak, adventuring and fighting in various wars, they were also taken into captivity, shackled, and thrown back out to work. One Gith called Ellelya, who came from an ending war, had been enslaved for a year and half, she decided enough was enough and began planning an escape, using everyone who she worked with to set up the getaway. This took two years to plan and three months to initiate. As soon as the Flayers had gone to speak with ‘The Elder One’ they had sprung into action and began scaling the thick tainted walls with their improvised grappling hooks. A good few hundred escaped before the flayers splattered the brains of those who didn’t make it over.

This started the ‘Wild Grass Rebellion’ against Cerebellum and its Mind Flayers.

Ellelya took her small army and hid them within the Drakaen Mountains far from the trine of cities. After heavy planning over the few months they sieged Ura’ram with their grappling hooks and stone chiselled weapons, they obtained over the months, but they were outmatched and quickly lost the battle, losing almost half of her army. She knew to continue this rebellion she needed a great deal of help and being an eldritch knight, magic was going to be the winning factor. Seeking help from Graz’zt, The Dark Prince, she offered her soul and those of who she kills, in exchange for greater power. This power led to her death, killing her outright. But not long after, her body returned, rotten to the bone, missing hair as her scale faded and magic oozing from her ribs and hands. She had become a Lich. With this newfound power, she set the siege once more leading a small army of Gith, reinforced by demons and her own powerful spells. They succeeded, in retaking the city, forcing the flayers to flee back to Drazak and the Gith to join the ranks among Ellelya.

Now having a fortified city at her disposal, she began training the Gith in martial combat – learning the ways of sword play, archery, and the basics of magic. This was the start of the Githyanki ranks. Ellelya knew she needed strong fighters to continue this war, so she created a trial, called ‘The Lone Yanki’. This consisted of slaying a Mind Flayer in single combat, beheading it, and returning it back to her with a clean cut. Many triumphed but many more died through the trial as finding a solo slayer was a rarity.

Once the ranks filled with strong fighters – and defending Ura’ram from the small attacks from Ferzirg – Ellelya sent her forces to take back the city. Just like Ura’ram it fell quick, this time slaughtering the entire population of Mind Flayers that inhabited the city of Ferzirg. This was a great victory for Ellelya and her forces, bringing joy to those around her. Apart from one. Pax Vobiscum. His beliefs did not match that of Ellelya, seeing her seek for evil power was vile to him and saw her no different to Cerebellum. This caused a civil war between the Gith’s and Githyanki’s, leading to more deaths than both the sieges combined.

Pax eventually took control of Ferzirg, leading the Gith that followed him to push out the remaining Githyanki back to Ura’ram. This angered Ellelya causing her to retaliate in a force of her own, sending the majority of her army towards Pax but it was not met with Gith, instead an army of Mind Flayers and intellect devourers. This allowed Pax to do a trial of his own, creating the less aggressive, magic infused Gith calling them the Githzerai. Their trial was simple, to drink a cup of Mind Flayer blood and gain the magic abilities they had. Although it was an easy way of gaining such powers, there was a low chance of them surviving the trial. So, having less of an army and more of a cluster of mages, Pax was ready to fight back at Ellelya, The Lich Queen of Graz'zt. Thus was the stage set for the deadly War of the Tri-Cities, that has lasted over ten years.