Hex Crawl 23 #41: Brushy Banks of the Shi-Ar

One hex north, three northeast of Alakran.

  

The Shi-Ar meadowlands mentioned in hex # 23 turn richer a few miles downstream, the desert verges cloaked in bushes of oleander and juniper, with low stands of tamarisk, acacia, willow, and terebinth trees closer by the water.

As this run of the Shi-Ar is currently the border between the territories run by Junjeh and Leetakh, we should not leave it without mentioning the gnoll rite of territory and dominance, the takhakh. When Raghru took things over on the west bank, she summoned her allies, including the cult of Pazuzu, the Band of Bronze, and their far-flung hirelings known jocularly as the Three Tough Guys. At the river at dawn they showed up to posture, make noise, and give an accounting of their ferocity to Junjeh, who had similarly ordered a show of force from her troops. Although fewer in number, the west side's displays of sorcery and the gaunt hulk of the demon Chuzema convinced the other side to yield a tacit, grudging peace along that border.

Hex Crawl 23 #9: Leetakh's Gnolls

One hex north, one northeast of Alakran.

 

Fringed by totems (see hex #3), this flat, dry stretch is the home territory of a band of gnolls ruled by pack mother Leetakh. They shoot red-feathered arrows and worship the demon Gorgo. 

Their base is a ruined village of adobe houses that once was a hub of trade and manufacture for the goat and camel herders of these western Dulsharna plains. Now only a few refugees, scattered to the winds, remember its name. The gnolls only visit there to drink from the well or seek refuge from extreme heat, rain, or sandstorms.

Leetakh's order of battle is as follows; refer to Brian Berg's Altered Beasts: Gnolls or devise your own special types fitting the description:

Leader: Demon Possessed Gnoll
2 shamans, level 3 (warlocks)
10 gnoll troops (heavy hand weapons and longbows)
15 Howlers (terrifying lightly armed berserkers, demoaic fanatics)
14 males (weaker, spears)
10 whelps
12 hyenas

For a year now Leetakh has been possessed by the spirit of a nabassu demon which gives her exceptional strength, ferocity, and resistance. If she is killed the demon attempts to possess the strongest being within 10.'

So devoted are these votaries of Gorgo that they own little treasure in their ruin, except for scavenged arms and armor to equip 20 soldiers, and a chest where they collect opaque semi-precious stones in ruddy shades sacred to Gorgo - carnelians, rhodonites, striated rhodochrosites, and agates. One of them is impressive in size, a pink rhodonite carved with skill in the form of an eye, open on one side and closed on the other, and worth about 160 gp. The others would go for about 50 each.

Campaign note: The northwest side of this hex was the site of the decisive rout of Leetakh's pack by the combined forces of the Band of Bronze, Raghru's gnolls, and the cultists of Pazuzu to the north who commanded (after a fashion) the demon Chuzema. The Battle of the Two Demons (21 Dumuzu 7021) was noted for the problems that demon possession of the party cleric posed afterward...