Battle Of The Baggage

Lady Talia speaks:

What a palaver that was! Eseseku gets an eye for Minny which gets General Anarash riled, and his wife Lady Talia too, for he'd his eye on her (Minny that is) and she'd her eye on him (Eseseku that is). So when General Anarash 'accidentally' kills Eseseku in a raid on Big Jan's baggage train, and the General thinks he's done well, he's not reckoned on Samra being there. She lets Hwarin Dalthippa know all about it, so Eseseku gets resurrected, poor old General Anarash gets crucified. Samra gets inquisitorial with Lady Talia, dipping her hand in dragon's blood and all sorts, twisting her mind into knots.

And now, Lady Talia, Big Jan, Eseseku and Samra, well they're all on a mission together. Lovely!

Samra speaks:

How absurd! My humble efforts to determine the truth behind this lamentable incident could hardly be described as inquisitorial and certainly never involved dragon's blood. I fear that the Lady Talia's mind was unhinged by her subsequent experiences with the Imperial interrogator, following her refusal to co-operate with my inquiry. This might explain why the earnest attempts of that estimable, but rather unnerving lady, which almost certainly were accompanied by a degree of persuasion, have become confused in her mind with my altogether gentler line of questioning.

Eseseku speaks:

Damn all Dara Happan commanders who won't listen to their scouts to the deserts of Hell! We told the fool that the column of barbarians we met were the Zaladorings who were loyal to us, but oh no, he'd vowed to slaughter the next set of barbarians he met and wasn't going to back down. Well, at least we warned them and helped get the women in the train away, including the two Darseni priestesses, even though we got cut down in the process, along with most of the men of the tribe. Those of us who survived got shafted for our pains - those of us who weren't executed by those thrice-damned Alkothi! 

And now, our final revenge is near!

What really happened:

General Anarash was leading a battle group in the hills, trying to wipe out the rebel barbarians hiding in the uplands. Unfortunately, the rebel tactics did not involve giving pitched battle but involved an ambush attack followed by a rapid retreat before melting into the wilderness. After several weeks of this, the General was getting extremely frustrated by his failure to bring the rebels to battle and vowed to slaughter the next group of barbarians he met. Eseseku and his men were providing the scouts for this battle group, and happened across the trail of a column of men; upon investigation they discovered that it was a group of Zaladorings sent to re-supply the battle group. The scouts reported this to the General.

The General only heard the one word - barbarians - and ordered the attack. Eseseku protested this order saying it was a loyal tribe sent to re-supply the battle group and was struck in the face and put on report. The General stormed off to lead his men to a glorious victory against the filthy barbarians. Eseseku ordered his men to get ahead of the attacking troops and warn the tribesmen of the impending attack; this they managed, and saved many by their actions, including two Darseni priestesses.

Alas for Eseseku and his men, the General saw what they had done and ordered them to be cut down along with the rebels. Those of them that survived were impaled for aiding the enemy. However, the Darseni priestesses reported to Hwarin Dalthippa and she ordered an investigation. As part of the investigation, Eseseku and his scouts were resurrected in order to obtain their reports. Well, about half of them got resurrected - the half that weren't surreptitiously sacrificed by the Alkothi in the General's battle group. Eseseku was lucky; the General personally oversaw his execution - along with that blood-thirsty Carmanian bitch he'd married, telling him that Eseseku wasn't going to defile any more pure Dara Happan women. (Pure! She was hot to trot and no virgin to boot! He'd obviously got there first.)

So the inquisitors question all of the groups involved, including some resurrected tribesmen, and question all none too gently at that. The truth comes out, and the General was crucified for his actions and not being in better control of his troops (who were decimated - except the Alkothi who were all executed - hah! Unauthorised sacrifice was the term used.) Sore and bitter, Eseseku left the army along with the survivors of his men; Hwarin Dalthippa arranges employment for them with a Holayan mercantile association, and they spend the next few years doing occasional jobs for the army and various jobs up and down the river with various Holayan mercantile associations.