Episode 3: Bimar

You join the tikbalang warband and flee. You see two more of their number fall to the maggot swarm before you lose sight of it. The warriors lead you through a maze of gorges and ravines, and gradually you notice that you are now moving downhill on the Bimari side of the mountain range. Running for your lives, there is no time for introductions or talk of any kind, though it's obvious the one who leads the newcomers outranks your guide, Makisig.

At length you emerge into the lush valley on the far side of the mountain. Here the mountainside has been shaped, as if by titans' hands, into terraced rice fields dotted with simply built but sturdy abodes. You pass female tikbalang heading home in the slanting afternoon light after working the fields, and even some young at play. These sights of bucolic idyll are surreal after the horrors you have just been through.



The warband enters the center of the village, whooping triumphantly. You see that some of them carry goatman heads still dripping dark blood. They usher you to the front of a longhouse decorated with ornate wood carvings where the village chieftain is holding court over a circle of elders.

The kampilan-wielding leader steps forward and bows to the elders. He opens his mouth but before he can speak the chieftain silences him and the entire whooping warband with a flick of his right hand.

In a deep voice the chieftain growls at the warrior, "You bring outsiders to our home, Makabo. That is forbidden."

"But father–"

"SILENCE! I did not give you leave to speak."

The chieftain turns to you. "Tell me why I should not decorate my spears with your heads."

What do you do?

"There is more," Urban says, stepping forward. With the chieftain's permission, the paladin speaks of Sardo Numspa and the wererats' involvement in the abduction of The Golden Child. He describes the gibbering horror that lurked in both the sewers of Pradesh, and in the bottom of the rat temple's well. He shudders as he shares what he glimpsed and sensed in the space beyond the portal.Disquiet, anger, and yes, even fear ripples through the assemblage as the enormity and depravity of the plot becomes apparent. Forgetting themselves, some of the more impetuous warriors call for an immediate assault on the kalding and the rat-men, hunt them down and exterminate them. The chieftan rises to his feet, prompting the rest of the elders to do the same. The crowd grows silent.

"Faced with those who would end the world, it is our duty to do two things: FIGHT, we must, yes. Just as importantly, we must LIVE. Do this in defiance of those who abhor life. Do this now. Be with your loved ones. Honor those who fell today. Tonight, we feast. Tomorrow, we make war!"

The tikbalang cheer and whoop and bang their weapons on their shields, then begin to disperse. The chieftain's speech was rousing, but it was also a dismissal. It's a war council now, and it doesn't look like you're invited. You see Apo Tagipusuon headed for the healers' tent, where Makisig is being tended.

It's still some time before nightfall. You've been given freedom to explore the village.



Buluyagon, one of Makabo's lieutenants, sidles up to you.

"HOY let's celebrate! Tomorrow, we stick it to the goat turds or we all die. Either way, I could use a drink. Come on!"

What do you do? Do you go with Buluyagon? Follow, Apo Tagipusuon? Something else?