over at CDO. To Uther, the Hazcuz are the Infernal Dwarves of the Torture Valleys, while the Quezquz are the Dwarven Holds of the Wrathful Mountains. The Hinkha are the imperial expansionary DH of said range:
Ok a bit more. Tried to assimilate Gargolocks ideas in as well. Hope you like.
The great condors of the Wrathful mountains have long dominated the skies there. Indeed their very presence had long benefitted the Quezcuz as the flying reptiles of the saurians avoid the territories of these great birds assiduously. However it was the taming of the great condors by the Hinkhan Quezcuz that proved decisive in their development. The condors provided control of the skies allowing the Hinkhan Quezcuz to project power. They could outmanoeuvre their enemies on the field of battle and when the other Quezcuz retreated to their cities they allowed the Hinkhan to control the terraces that produced their food eventually forcing them to come to terms. The condors also allowed the Hinkhan to control their vast empire once it was established. Only the great condors could travel easily between the isolated Quezcuz cities situated high on their mountain peaks.
It was under the young priest emperor Khuaynir Khapaz that the Hinkhan began to look beyond their traditional mountain territory. The great condors soared high scouting the land below. So it was that the Quezcuz discovered the lands of their despised cousins once more. Their scouts watched the Hazcuz cities from afar not wanting to alert them to their peri. Confident in their power the Hinkhans prepared for war.
The Hinkhan army approached slowly from the North east. Above it squadrons of the great condors circled ready to swoop over the enemy troops to spread fear and panic. However the lands they advanced over were eerily deserted. As the force approached the great city the infantry found itself increasingly confined to the wide roadways that converged on the city and its great stepped pyramid, by the numerous irrigation channels and canals that criss crossed the wide valley.
The Hinkhan had split the infantry into three columns that aimed to converge on the city itself. The foremost of the columns was still 5 miles out from the city when it came across the first signs of life. The Hazcuz had lined the roadway with stakes on either side. ImpLed upon each stake was the still writhing form of a slave. Human, green skin even dwarf prisoners moaned they final agonies, forming a grisly honour guard for the advancing Hinkhans. The groans of the dying and the foul buzzing of flies accompanied the final advance of the Hinkhan infantry upon the forbidding city.
The three columns were still a mile out from the gates when the first sign of opposition was seen. In silence the three great gates opened an ranks of Hazcuz warriors field out in silent phalanxes to block the roadways. The Hinkhans pounded their war drums in challenge but not counter challenge came. The Hazcuz stood in eerie silence. Inexorably the Hinkhans advanced stopping 300 yards short of their foe. The traditional challenges were made, the ritual insults hurled, the Great War drums sounded. Yet no answer came. The Hazcuz ranks stood in silence, their reptile skin shields locked and their war clubs readied.
The Great War drum of the Hinkhan general Akhuwalka started a slow beat. This was picked up by the drums throughout the three armies. Then the elite warriors of the Hinkhan vanguards began to beat their shields in unison to the drums. Slowly but surely the tempo of the drums picked up following the generals war drums’ beat. Then the Hinkhan Vanguard began their advance. In perfect lockstep to the beat of the drums. Each step echoed by the clash of war gear. Slowly the beat picked up. Slowly the advance quickened. At 300 yards they stepped. At 250 yards the vanguard started to chant. At 200 yards the were marching. At 100 yards they were trotting. At 50 yards the roared and charged. The drums beat a mad tempo and a thousand elite warriors raced upon the Hazcuz. Who never moved. Who never spoke. Who never flinched.
The Hinkhan charged the last 100 yards. They never noticed the small lines of stones stretched across the roadway. Each stone daubed in colour on the side facing the Hazcuz, each line a different colour. At 40 yards the saw the strange darts rise from the 3rd and 4th ranks of Hazcuz. Squat javelins 2ft in length, with feathered canes and flint points. They saw the bulbous pottery weights set on the shaft back from the points. But their wicker shields were strong and they raised them as they ran and roared their defiance. The darts struck the shields. Their points stuck futilely in the wicker. Very few found their mark. Many crashed to the floor harmlessly. The impact of the darts barely slowed the charge as the pottery weights slid down the shafts and smashed. At 25 yards the front ranks of the Hinkhan vanguard erupted in a sheet of flame. It was the first time the Honkhan has come into contact with the sticky combustible fluid known as Zanghazteg (the’blood of Haztec’). It would not be their last.
The swooping five of the condors has been timed to perfection. Aiming to hit the rear ranks of the Hazcuz just after the vanguard hit. The wall of flame that burst upward spooked the great birds. Most banked away but several were caught either by the updraught or stray darts. Suddenly aflame they panicked desperately seeking to escape their own immolation and disrupting the careful formations of their riders. Amidst this chaos hundreds of diminutive winged forms rose like gnats from their cages hidden behind the city walls. Strange stunted creatures, greenskins but tailed like monkeys with wings like bats. In swarms they assailed the great birds. Though tiny and feeble compared to these masters of the skies their sheer numbers proved decisive. Overwhelmed several birds wheeled from the city only to crash into the wide grasslands that surrounded it, great lions overwhelmed by termites. Other birds sought height fleeing their tormenting enemies.
On the ground the Hinkhan advance was in chaos. Pressed forward by the masses bodies behind them the vanguard was forced into the burns he’ll in front. Wave after wave of the dreaded darts (Tuskhazteg ‘teeth of Haztec) rose and fell. The great drums rapidly began to beat the retreat.
From the city walls great balls of twisting daemon in flames rose at the behest of the priest sorcerers of the Hazcuz. Many vanished harmlessly as the spell eaters of the Hinkhan battled this foul magic. Yet enough found their mark, burning and twisting the Hinkhan warriors they touched.
Focussed on the disaster unfolding in front the Hinkhan generals did not see the threat from the rear. Far out across the grassland strange shapes sprang from hidden ditches. Great flightless birds ( Hreaz) streaked across the ground to the Hinkhan rearguard. Leaping the irrigation ditches and narrow canals that watered the lad with ease the giant birds closed on the Hinkhan. Atop each bird sat a Hazcuz warrior. The nobles of their race. Too late the Hinkhan realised their danger. Yet the rear ranks turned well and locked their shields. The ranks behind the readied their javelins. But the shock of the charge never came. 30 yards out the Hazcuz released their Tuskhazteg and wheeled away. Carried by the momentum of their steeds the darts rose and fell with a terrible inevitability engulfing the rear ranks in flame. Again and again the Hreaz charged and their riders released their deadly gifts just out of javelin range.
Assailed from front and rear, their great condors harried and in disarray and with flames spreading to either side through the grasslands, the Hinkhan broke. Their famed discipline gone they fled. Many died in the fires that raged around the roadways. Others trampled by their comrades and drowned in the irrigation ditches. Others still hunted down and clubbed to death by the Hazcuz nobles on their great Hreaz. Few escaped save those condor riders that had survived the initial assault above the city walls. Great Alhuwalka was led in ropes from the field. The priest king of the Hazcuz city is said to have used him bound as a mounting block for his Hreaz for years afterwards.
The disaster of the torture valleys shook the Hinkhan empire. The myth of their invincibility was shattered. The empire was convulsed by rebellions and civil war for decades after. Eventually order was returned and the Hinkhans ventured once more to the Torture valleys. This time there were to be no easy victories for either side. A state of perpetual low grade war has existed ever since
The great victory of Mokhe field is celebrated by all Hazcuz city state for all sent troops. The Quezcuz may have forgotten the Hazcuz in their struggles against the saurians And long wars of empire. The Hazcuz never forgot. For years they had watched the eastern approaches. The first scouting flights of the condors had been marked and plans laid. Hreaz from all city states had been gathered. As had the strange Ghordhuz, the Simi Yate vicious winged greenskins that had surprised the great condors. These are bred in great numbers by the Hazcuz and used as slaves messengers and scouts.
The great birds are based on South American
RheasThe teeth of Haztec are based on roman
plumbata with pottery weights carrying Greek fire
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