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their pages now so brittle that the lich avoided handling them unless
absolutely necessary. Szass
Tam still kept his mentor with him as one of the undead skeletons that
patrolled the zulkir's property. It was not out of a perverse sense of
superiority, Szass Tam knew. The lich just hated to let dead bodies rot when
they could be animated and made to serve him.
Szass Tam drew his arms about the crystal in a protective and covetous gesture
and ran his fingers over the cool, perfect surface. With the lich's mental
coaxing, the sphere began to pulse with light, appearing a thing alive, and
colors azure, rose, gold, and pale green danced inside it. The ball glowed
more brightly, and the lich moved his face closer. His eyes, appearing as hot,
intense pinpoints of red light, peered through the crystal and beyond the
confines of his keep, past two villages and to harvested farmland. He
concentrated, and the colors parted, revealing a puzzling scene being acted
out many, many miles away amid dried, broken cornstalks a spirit naga
castigating a unit of gnolls.
The naga, whom Szass Tam had been observing in Zulkir Maligor's company for
the past few years, slithered back and forth in front of a dozen nervous
gnolls, gesturing grandly with her arms as her tail swished wildly, obviously
berating them for something. Beads of sweat stood out on the creatures' shaggy
brows, causing the lich to wonder what they had done wrong.
"Again!" Szass Tam heard the naga yell, her voice as clear through the crystal
ball as if she were standing in the same room with him. "You will try it
again!"
The twelve gnolls paired off so that each had an opponent. Half assumed a
classic defensive stance that the lich remembered seeing several years ago in
one of the military books in his library. The others were clearly on the
offensive and moved forward, howling and swinging with the flat of their
blades. Szass Tam smiled. The naga was not using the gnoll force well.
Overall, gnolls, which were reasonably numerous in Thay, were savage, and
their shaggy, wild-dog visages made them fearsome foes. But they were inclined
to fight awkwardly with swords, finding it difficult to wrap their pawlike
hands about the hilts of the weapons. Their swings rarely varied, making them
too predictable. Szass Tam decided the spirit naga would have been better off
leaving them to fight with their claws and long, sharp teeth. It would be more
natural for them and probably would have better results. "Civilized" fighting
was not always the best approach.
Szass Tam believed his own army to be the strongest in Thay. Skeletons,
zombies, ghouls, ghasts,
wights, and worse made up the bulk of his forces. The undead required no food,
except for the ghouls, which usually ate their opponents. The undead did not
sleep, and they were fierce because they were bound to the lich and did not
fear death. Like any army, the undead had generals; these were the vampires,
who possessed a horrible cunning and cruelty, and they did a superb job of
ordering about the undead troops.
The lich's generals didn't waste time instructing skeletons in the art of
swordplay or teaching zombies how to defend themselves. They simply pointed
their charges at a target and demanded they move in. The only drawback was
that not all in his army were able to move about during the day. Because of
this, Szass Tam also relied upon living soldiers.
Szass Tam continued to observe the naga, whose face took on a rosy tint, the
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blush of anger. He concentrated again, listening through the crystal to
capture her words.
"Clowns!" Asp screamed. "I lead an army of clowns and fools! You are sluggish,
clumsy oafs! You're far too predictable. You'll never stand long against a
well-organized foe. Listen to me! I can turn you into warriors the likes of
which Thay has never seen. And if you pay attention to me now, you just might
live through the upcoming battle." Her eyes narrowed and her tongue snaked out
over her red lips as she reviewed the assembly. In the background, more than
three hundred gnolls stood at attention, intently watching their dozen
brothers who were the current object of the naga's wrath.
Asp slithered among the twelve, who awkwardly jumped to attention. With
amazing speed, her arm shot forward and grabbed a broadsword from a startled
gnoll.
"Watch me!" she hissed, motioning for one of the soldiers to step forward. The
disconcerted target complied quickly, and she began to circle him, rising and
falling on her snake body, making him feel ill at ease.
"Defend yourself, clown!"
The naga waited for the gnoll to draw his weapon, then smiled when she noted
that it wavered in his trembling hand. She circled him as more sweat gathered
on his face, then moved closer and nodded for him to assume the defensive
stance he had been practicing. His brothers backed away to give the pair room,
and she lunged out at him, striking like a cobra and swinging her sword so it
clanged loudly against his. The gnoll fought to retain hold of the weapon and
bent his knees for a better defensive position. He seemed afraid to return her
swing, a fatal mistake in Asp's eyes.
"Good," she said as she ran her finger along the edge of her blade. "You've
mastered the right defensive stance. Now, everyone observe this, and we'll see
just how well your fellow can preserve his mottled hide."
Asp continued to slash at the gnoll, and each time he brought his sword up to
parry hers. She was toying with him, having picked a soldier less competent
than most for her morbid demonstration. She made three more swings, each
stopped by the soldier. Then the naga tired of the game and changed her
rhythm, catching the gnoll off guard and slicing through his shaggy hide and
into his rib cage. The gnoll howled in pain, dropped his sword, and held his
hands over the wound in an attempt to keep the blood from spilling out. He
backed away from Asp, thinking the demonstration over, but the naga pressed
her attack, swinging at his right arm.
Two swings and the gnoll's arm fell to the ground, blood spurting from his
shoulder and jetting onto the naga. The creature fell to his knees, pleading
for his life but receiving no support from the others, who remained at
attention as they watched the scene in horror.
"Vary your sword thrusts as I have shown you. Keep your opponent guessing.
Keep your eyes locked onto his, and show no mercy," Asp instructed coldly.
"Above all, show no mercy!" With that, the naga placed both hands on the hilt
of her sword and brought the weapon down with all her strength, cleaving the
gnoll's head in two. He crumpled, and she presented the bloodied sword to the
soldier from whom she had borrowed it.
"I hope this demonstration has been of some help," Asp stated without emotion
as once again she began to slither back and forth in front of the gnolls.
"Soon you will be joined by two other forces, both larger than yours, and you
will march on a mission of great importance, a mission in the name of Zulkir
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