Drowning Xiabai
Rain poured like spilled ink over the Xiabai basin, driven by gale-force winds that nearly swept us off the cliff face. Down below, the city of Xiabai was drowning in smoke and ash. Imperial banners fluttered victorious over the battlements, while General Yuan Fei’s broken rebel flags lay trampled in the mud. A desperate rearguard of a few hundred rebels held the mouth of the valley, trying to buy time for the stronghold of Mallard Hall.
Standing in the howling deluge was our elite squad of rebel agents.
The Shady Shaman & The 3-Day Countdown
Three days ago, this whole nightmare started in General Yuan Fei’s command tent. The General had ordered us to accompany Senior Engineer Gao and a team of demolition specialists upriver to destroy the massive dam above Xiabai.
Why? Because the General’s personal diviner predicted a colossal monsoon would hit in three days. Blow the dam during the deluge, and a tidal wave would wipe out the occupying Imperial garrison in one fell swoop.
There was just one tiny problem: the diviner was creepy as hell.
She looked human at a glance, a foreigner maybe, but her skin was chalk-white, her hair a pale blonde, her eyes glowed sulfurous yellow, and most unnervingly, she had an uncharacteristic five fingers on each hand. A mutated freak or something far worse. When our squad voiced concerns about the tens of thousands of innocent civilians in Xiabai, the diviner brushed it off with a cold smirk: “It is for a just cause. The flooding will save far more lives in the end.”
Classic villain logic, right?
Bribing Bears and Bashing Boulders
Flash-forward to the present: Senior Engineer Gao and his crew were ready, lugging a heavy cart packed with volatile fire powder. Agent Wu took charge immediately, deciding the safest route to the dam was through an old cavern network.
Inside the pitch-black cave, lanterns flickered against damp stone. We found clues of past travelers, a pristine crossbow bolt stuck between some rocks and a weathered parchment fragment. But before we could ponder who dropped them, Stonehead’s twitching Skritling ears caught a low, rumbling sound.
Sleeping bears ahead.
Despite our best efforts to tread lightly, the echoing clack-clack of Engineer Gao’s wagon wheels woke the beasts. Two massive juvenile bears stepped into the lantern light, snorting softly.
Instead of drawing weapons, Agent Ci Bei pulled off the ultimate diplomatic play: tossing a fresh pack of rations straight at the bears! The bears were smart enough to realize the funny-looking humanoids were dangerous, so they patiently waited for us to back away before diving into the free snacks.
Further down, the tunnel hit a dead end, a cave-in blocked the sunlight. No problem! Stonehead and Wu spat on their hands and put good old-fashioned elbow grease to work, heaving massive boulders aside until the path out was clear.
Battle at the Wheelhouse (And The Flying Crane Escape!)
We emerged on the high cliff path overlooking the rushing river, a quiet farming village, and the towering wooden wheelhouse near the dam.
Imperial soldiers had already swarmed the village. An armored Lieutenant was roaring at the wheelhouse doors: “Surrender and submit to the Emperor!” Inside, the barricaded villagers were putting up a hilarious fight, sticking broom handles and wooden poles through every door crack to poke the Imperials in the face!
Agent Wu stealthily slipped ahead through the tall grass. Across the river, he caught sight of giant, white-feathered crane beasts hidden near the huts, but he had a target to hit first.
BOOM—CRACK!
Wu released a arrow straight into the Imperial Lieutenant’s spine. The impact was so massive it shoved the officer forward five feet! Spitting blood, the Lieutenant spun around and barked combat orders to his squad.
Then came the surprise: the Lieutenant yelled to a diminutive, heavily armored Lagocavian named Sergeant Raven to flee and warn the Emperor! Sergeant Raven let out a piercing whistle. From across the river, two gigantic white cranes swooped down! Raven and his hooded squad leaped onto the birds’ backs and soared into the storm clouds before Wu could take another shot!
Rooted, Shot, and Shot Down
The remaining Imperial squad tried to hold the line. The Lieutenant cast Entangling Roots, binding Stonehead’s legs in thick vines while crossbowmen opened fire from behind rice-paddy fences.
It didn’t matter. With Shan Tien messing with their heads, Ruo Xi shouting battle chants, Ci Bei rallying nature, and Stonehead breaking free to smash skulls, the Imperials were completely overwhelmed. The last surviving soldier dropped his weapon and turned to run, only for Agent Wu to drop him with a single arrow between the shoulder blades.
Combat over. Time to blow the dam.
The Cold Calculus of War
Wu called out to the wheelhouse. The heavy oak doors creaked open, and out stepped a 16-year-old rebel recruit wearing a red bandana, followed by a handful of trembling, elderly villagers.
The kid dropped to his knees, tears streaming down his mud-stained face. “Thank you! Did General Yuan send you to save us? How did you even know we were trapped here?”
Agent Wu didn’t blink. He looked the boy straight in the eye and delivered the coldest line of the campaign:
“We aren’t here to save you. We’re here to blow the dam and drown Xiabai.”
The joy on the boy’s face turned to pure horror. He and the elders fell to their hands and knees, kowtowing in the mud, sobbing and begging for the tens of thousands of innocent civilians living inside Xiabai’s walls.
Their pleas fell on deaf ears. Wu turned to Engineer Gao and gave the order: “Light it.”
The Deluge and The Horned Specter
Fuses sparked. The party scrambled back as a deafening explosion shattered the canyon. The base of the dam buckled, and millions of gallons of raging, monsoon-swollen water unleashed in a terrifying wall of destruction.
The tidal wave tore down the valley, smashing straight into Xiabai. We watched in stunned silence as the water engulfed the city walls, sweeping away buildings, Imperial troops, and innocent citizens alike. Beside us, the young rebel clung to the weeping elders, calling out for his mother as the roar of the flood echoed off the mountains.
Mission complete… right?
As we turned to head back toward Mallard Hall, a bone-chilling weight settled over the air. The temperature plummeted.
Agent Wu turned around. Standing in the rain behind us was a massive, pitch-black goat with a single, razor-sharp horn protruding from its forehead. Flanking it were two terrifying figures: on the left, a dark-faced entity in black official robes; on the right, a chalk-faced entity in pure white robes.
The one-horned goat stepped forward, fixed its unblinking eyes on Wu, and spoke in a voice that vibrated in our very bones:
“Sinner…”
~Junior Engineer Xia
Characters
Imperial Spearhead
General Yuan’s Agents
- Agent Wu – A sharp-eyed, pragmatically lethal Crowlike Coralaxi Archer.
- Agent Stonehead – A brawny Skritling Warrior who lets his muscle (and ears) do the talking.
- Agent Ci Bei – A Safyrian Animist with a knack for creature diplomacy.
- Agent Ruo Xi – A Lagocavian Bard keeping team morale alive.
- Agent Shan Tien – A Safyrian Mentalist wielding subtle psionic power.