ABA
ABD
CBD
ABD
CBD
ABD
BBA
ABA
BBA
CAC
ABA
CBD
BBC
CBC
CAC
BBA
CAD
CAD
Assassination:
A – 6
B – 4
C – 8
Cult:
A – 4
B – 14
Info:
A – 6
B – 0
C – 4
D – 8
***
Chapter 5.4: Mehlu
“O Dreadful One, Mehlu will soon be here. Shall we get into position? Shall we strike the first blow of our rebellion?” The cultist bows, not looking you in the eye. He speaks with a respectful tone, eagerly anticipating your orders.
You stop adjusting your rags and look at the cultist. “Dreadful One? What is that supposed to mean?”
“The Mistress revealed that you were the Dread Master, son of Ereshkigal who will bring death to the enemies of our God!”
You stop him before he begins babbling, and give the order for positions to be taken. Garam was slightly gullible and fervent in his belief, which was why Sekhenun had recommended that you work with him on this mission. At least, he would obey your orders. You had been camped out at a rocky ledge overlooking the road with about twenty other cultists for the past two days, awaiting Mehlu’s arrival. The plan was to disguise your assassination as a bandit raid, as you didn't fancy your chances of wading single-handedly through a hundred men to get to Mehlu's head with just your current strength. A distraction was needed. Bandit attacks seemed to happen more frequently nowadays, and even Marduk’s patrols were occasionally raided if they thought they could get away with it. The inspection task force also brought with them supplies with which to reinforce the fort – if you were lucky, you would make away with those supplies in addition to taking Mehlu’s life. The attack did not need to be thorough, as you figured a quick ambush would throw the forces into disarray enough for you to do what you came here to do. With Mehlu dead, the soldiers would be too panicked to guard the supplies. That was the best case scenario. The only way this plan would fail would be if Mehlu was stronger than you thought… you would just have to fight as hard as you could.
***
Sure enough, the Gieloth appeared on the road, riding at the head of his men. He cut a handsome, darkly tanned figure, decked out in ornate bronze armour, with a three-pronged golden spear that was rumoured to have been ripped from the hands of his former best friend. The supply caravans were trailing at the end of the line. Bandits would not usually attack a force a hundred-men strong – Mehlu apparently felt no need to be cautious. It seems that he was overconfident about his recent victories, and pleased with his new position. Grinning, you raise your ragged scarf, masking your nose and mouth. The cultists did the same. You raise your hand, readying the archers to fire.
Then, there was something else. You sense many humans, on the other side of the road, where a high cliff made it impassable. Their heads begin appearing over the top of the cliff. You hold fire; it would be better to err on the side of caution for a while. A few seconds later, rocks begin raining down from the cliff-side, taking Mehlu’s men by surprise and disabling quite a few. Ropes flew off from the edge, hanging down the side of the rocky wall. As you watch in astonishment, men began climbing down the ropes swiftly and as naturally as walking on a straight path. They leapt upon the Babylonian soldiers, weapons at the ready and screaming a guttural warcry. There were maybe thirty of them fighting fiercely. Were they bandits?
“Gutians!” whispered Garam. “There were rumours of a tribe of them still remaining here in the west, engaging in petty banditry like the savages that they are, but to come so close to Babylon…”
You remember hearing about the Gutians when you were last in Sumeria, many decades ago, though you did not pay their tale much attention as they were a spent force by the time you reawakened. The Guti were a barbarian people, a nation of many tribes. When he was young, Sargon himself had campaigned against them, driving them further into the mountains to the east. After Shulgi's second defeat, coalition of about a dozen tribes had swept in to take advantage of the power vacuum, terrorizing the city states of Sumer. Although Akkad had been burnt to the ground before that, the rebuilding city was razed again by the Gutians, scattering whatever people still lived there once and for all. For a while, the Gutians nominally ruled all of Sumeria, demanding tribute and grabbing kingship by the force of arms. Their reign soon collapsed on itself. Unused to 'civilized culture', they were also unable to administer the empire that they had stolen. As the riches of Sumeria declined under their stewardship, the Gutians began quarreling over spoils and power. Barely a hundred years after their arrival, the Gutian dynasty broke up and each tribe grabbed its own city to rule… and all of them were defeated soundly when Marduk forged the Babylonian Empire from the ashes of Akkadia.
The God-King had apparently practiced a no-tolerance policy towards the Gutians – those that did not flee back east, from where they came, were put to the sword with no exceptions. The elderly, women, and children; none of them were spared. Any Gutians remaining so close to Babylon, Marduk’s seat of power, must have tremendous guts.
“… they have tremendous balls.” Garam mutters, with a look of appreciation. You can understand that, as the Gutians were wreaking havoc on Mehlu’s ranks. “Should we attack now, O Dreadful One? This could be a good chance!” Looking at the battle again, you think that the Gutians would be retreating soon, with nothing but dead to show for it. They fought bravely, but Mehlu’s spear was darting out with terrible accuracy, wounding and killing the barbarians with ease. A large Gutian suddenly barrelled into Mehlu, knocking him from his horse. Raising a ridiculously large sword, he began attacking the Gieloth general, who barely had time to defend himself. A momentary flash of panic ran through Mehlu’s mind, and you could see the tendrils begin to writhe from his wounds…
***
A. You order the cultists to begin the attack immediately. You might still be outnumbered with your cultists joining the fray, but the Gutians have fought well and you would like to aid them while they are still on the battlefield. You are confident that you will be able to pull off the assassination while Mehlu is distracted with the large Gutian.
B. You hold off your attack for as long as possible. Your cultists are inexperienced, and throwing them into a battle when you are unsure of how the Gutians would react would be folly. The confusing melee that results would be the death of them. Once the Gutians have fled, you will attack while the wounded Babylonian soldiers are distracted by taking care of their dead brethren.
However, for an explanation why I'm sticking with my vote in this particular instance, re-read that quote. The voices tell me to vote A, and what man dares disobey the voices? Most certainly not I, no sir...
