The Creation of Tshaharks

The Alliance was waging war against the Insects but the war had stagnated. Now and then there had been some battles but a decisive advantage was lacked in the both sides. The new clerics of Asral, who had adopted the mankind, did their job but they were not enough to fight against the Insects with only the elves, humans, halflings and dwarves of the Legion on their side.

The wisest of all gathered to speak in ArboRea: the Matriarch Queen of the Elves and her delegation, the Dwarven Godfathers, the Halfling Delegation and the nobility of the humans as well as the leaders of ArboRea, the Dragonlords.

They held Council for days, unable to decide what to do. But then, they were interrupted by black robed priests that charged through the door into the council room. The priests introduced themselves, calling themselves the True Brotherhood. They said that many belonged to that secret organisation but none revealed it. According to their leader, there was a way indeed to force the Insects back, to gain the victory of the war.

The priests called themselves magicians. The Queen of the Elves shouted immediately: "These are foul men!" but many others wanted to listen what they had to say. "The victory must be paid with human blood and sacrifices", said the leader of the magicians. He told the Council of the Wise of a way to change bodies, twist them, make them into fierce lizard warriors.

A saurian creature was dragged into the council room. It hissed to all, wanting to kill every single living soul in the room. "By Taniel, destroy that foul creature!" shouted the Matriarch but one of the Dragonlords commanded the warriors not to engage. The Brotherhood's plan was simple: using the saurian blood the would create an army of lizard men, change them for the ways of war.

The saurian, understanding few words of what was spoken, understood its destiny. It shouted and charged away from its captors only to throw itself at a sword of a warrior. Quickly, the leader magician commanded the warriors to carry the corpse into a tower that was hidden. On the top of that tower, a group of other magicians was waiting, five pentagrams drawn on the ground and a circle connecting them all. The saurian creature was placed in the middle and five magicians, preparing themselves for the change, stepped inside the pentagrams.

A group of six in addition to the leader magician surrounded the corpse, chanting syllables that were not anything like heard before. The leader magician made strange gestures and a shimmering blue runes started appearing in front of him, floating in the air. Soon, the runes leaped at him, burning him to death. After that they leaped into the saurian corpse and it exploded. The magicians in the pentagrams wringed in pain!

Six remaining magicians, standing inside the circle, felt the change coming upon them. One of the Dragonlords - the Council of the Wise had followed the magicians - commanded his warriors to enter the circle. Many entered and scouts were sent for even more! The remaining group of the magicians stood still, staring at the happenings.

Suddenly everyone inside the circle started changing. Their faces were twisted and their tongue changed into one fitting for a snake. Scales thrusted through their skin, a tail emerged at their backside! The first words shouted from one of the now long-gone magician was: "Tshaharks shalazar shasshagarash!" He was trying to speak the tongue he knew, but the words were gone. What he was trying to say was, that "Warriors we have become!". Yes, the Tshahark race was born out of magic, twisted from the human carcass.

The magicians thought they had to stay inside the pentagrams to keep the spell in effect, so they kept doing so. Shifts were created: when one magician became tired, another was there to take his place. So the spell was kept endured.

The Tshahark Army grew and they were sent to hunt the Insects. Many were good, but it seemed that their intelligence was quickly droppping due to the saurian blood. Legion Commanders were ordered to command the Tshahark Army in order for it to be efficient. But yet, it took years for the Insect Hive to be located and destroyed, it was done 41 A.A. After this, the scattered groups of Insects were hunted and destroyed - at least that was believed.

Year 50 after the arrival: the Tshaharks had long been enduring the constant mockery of other races. This resulted in an order from the Dragonlords to stop the ritual that endured their lives. The magicians, one after another, stepped down from the pentagrams. The magical humming stopped. All was silent... But the Tshaharks continued to exist.

In twenty years there were many battles between other races and the Tshaharks. The Tshahark Wars were battled and these creatures were forced to flee - they did so and went to the Dwarves in order to find a home. There they stayed, helping the Dwarves in killing the Dragons of Giat. As a payment for this, the Dwarves built them a castle where they could sleep in the cold caves below. Many Tshaharks went to sleep, to wake up years after. But some stayed awake, reminding the other races of the past, of the deeds done by the Tshaharks and their value.

Racism continued to exist, as it always does, when a society isolates itself from the other societies.