Bekzham's Plan

We Dzarraf do not drink heavily as a rule, but Hezurak can really down his liquor.  I gave up trying to match him drink for drink.  By the end of the night when we went for rodent nibbles, I was feeling much worse for the ale, but it barely seemed to have touched my friend.

Yesterday morning, the day after our night of 'Beer Fun' I did not feel well, and it didn't help that I still had to work to complete.  I journeyed out to Kazaral, where Geshr Bekzham has been staying.  It's only a few hours ride by mule and cart under normal conditions, but this time it took me most of the day.  For once I wasn't worried that the (new) mule was slow.  It was quite a relief; slower is quieter.  During the afternoon I even spent a few minutes walking alongside the cart rather than riding, that helped lift some of the pain of my hangover and the monotony of the journey.

I've been to Kazaral many times over the years.  It used to be where Harik's father lived, but the last thirty years, as Harik has expanded this land, the administrative hub has followed him.  The extensive civic building is still used as offices, but it's ornate rooms are largely empty  It had been handed to Bekzham for use while he stayed in this region.  Bekzham is a plain talking Dzarraf, who doesn't try to use words to out-manoeuvre you.  I like him immensely, and it was he who first nominated me for the investigation service sixty years ago.  And it was he who convinced the other Geshrs that I was the right man for the senior job in the service when it became available eight years ago.  I owe him a lot personally, but he seems to expect much in return.

He had not summoned me, my visit was intended as a social one and a chance to talk over Harik's security ideas for this new dig (which could be quite useful as many of the volunteers would be coming from Bekzham's region).  He was pleased to see me again, but I noted that there was something particularly odd about the way he described my visit as 'fortuitous' as I walked into his office mid-morning.  The social talk soon fell away as he preferred to talk of matters of politics that have been causing him some headaches.  We discussed the incursion by the Gurgam, and he showed me some of the reports his troops had made.

The situation is worse than I had though it to be among the Gnaeblin.  There have been real raids.  There have been Gnaeblin killed, and this turns it from being a threat to be watched into a threat to be acted upon.  Also, it looks like the number of Gurgam involved is more than we though.  There could be hundreds – this isn't a small incursion, its almost the size of an  invasion.

Bekzham told me that he'd had to exert a little pressure on Banneghenn, one of the senior Gnaeblin in this region, because he had been reluctant to ask for help.  He now has an official invite to go and bust some Gurgam heads.  We have no mandate to officially intervene in any fighting that Banneghenn's generals organise, but the invite reads like a party invitation - 'there's a fight going down, do come and join us to kick some Gurgam bottom'.

Banneghenn, I was told, felt that his troops were more than capable of dealing with this threat (in fact, they were really enjoying it if the reports could be believed) but as always with Gurgam, it's better to meet them with an overwhelming force in both size and ability.  That way few of them return to fight you again.  They are not the sharpest picks on the rack, those Gurgam.

As this is a military matter, Hushmaz has been ordered to head a force of two hundred armed Dzarraf who will be leaving in a couple of days.  They will be joined by another two hundred fighting troops in a week, once some of the most enthusiastic reservists have been called in.  At the same time as that force, Bekzham feels we should also be helping out in other ways.  That, he says, is a role for me.

I should have known this was coming.  Harik must have known this was approaching, and when I met Hushmaz a few days ago he would surely have known too.  Bekzham wants me to attend the court of Banneghenn so the Gnaeblin can consult with me about ways to improve his border security, they need to talk about improved defence strategies for the long haul, but most importantly to help the villages withstand raids by Gurgam.  No wonder this was a 'fortuitous' meeting.  I'd just saved him a week - he no longer had to send a message and wait until I'd arrived.

I nearly refused to go, I have work to do at home and my first duty is to the safety of the delves.  Bekzham was insistent, though, and this is, as he pointed out, a sure way to help guarantee the safety of the delves.  He is sending messengers to Mishrune to allow him to keep my department functioning for a week or so while I am away.  Bekzham has taken care of everything.  Damn.

Despite the pressure Bekzham had applied to let us join in, Banneghenn had asked for this help himself – he needs experienced practical help with organising his border security.  From what I understand Bekzham may have built me up quite a bit.  He told the Gnaeblin that he'd be sending his best Dzarraf, someone he trusted completely, and whose skill he'd relied on uncountable times before.  This may be a slight exaggeration, and I'd have liked to have gone in quietly.  But now I'm going to be a bit of a celebrity.  One of the perks of the visit is that I'll be treated like an honoured guest.  That means I'll get the finest food, both rodents and surface animals, and the plushest of inns.

It'll make a change, I suppose.  It's not often I get to enjoy international travel as a security and safety consultant for the delve, and even less frequently that I get treated like royalty.