The Gish

KieranHinter, student of the obscure, speaks.

Thegith races are truly efficient warriors in that they combine all disciplines intheir tactics; it is probably the case that the only race to even approach thismulti-disciplinary approach to combat is humanity itself. The githyanki,arguably the most aggressive of the gith races, combine magic, psionics andswordplay in a single, terrifying wave of assault. The most significant exampleof this can be found in the gish, students of both the magic word and the magicsword. Although no githyanki would dare admit it, shocking parallels existbetween the gish and the githzerai’s zerth caste. Both groups serve a somewhatreligious purpose, focusing on the ideals that define the race. It is said thatthe gish are the reminders to all gith of what it means to be a true specimenof the githyanki.

 Of course, not all gish are thesame; like any other example of any of the gith races, no two are alike.However, the majority of gish are sorcerers rather than wizards - as opposed towarlocks who tend more towards wizardry. Gish of both varieties can beencountered, however, and are equally likely. Bardic gish are not unknowneither, and indeed psionic gish could also be encountered too - indeed the termgish means ‘skilled’, and is generally used to describe a githyanki whohas studied more than one discipline. For the purposes of my discussion here,however, I choose to define a gish as a githyanki who has studied both arcanemagic and the art of war.

 It is at this stage that we findthe first difference between the gish and the zerth; zerth warriors, althoughrespected and revered by all githzerai, are viewed as somewhat politicallydangerous by their wizard-king, Zaerith Menyar-ag-Gith. This is certainly notthe case when considering the gish and the githyanki lich-queenVlaakith. She positively encourages githyanki to take up the mantle of thegish, encouraging a sense of racial identity which, as anyone in the know willtell you, is amplified to murderous xenophobia.

 In terms of alignment, gish tendtowards true evil, and are known to commit acts of atrocity on the battlefieldmatched only by the dreaded githyanki knights. However, their grasp ofbladework and magic means that they are, if anything, more inventive in theirviolence.

 On the battlefield, gish tend toserve a very peculiar role. Not as devoted to the sword as the warriors andknights, and yet not as proficient with magic as the warlocks, gish combine thetwo in lethal ways. Typically they use their spells to amplify their fightingability, making use of bull’s strength, cat’s grace and endurance (if onthe Prime Material Plane), true strike and other such spells to ensurethat their strikes, although not made as often, are terrifyingly decisive.Furthermore, their ability to cast magic weapon and greater magicweapon give the lower ranks a temporary edge in combat that, due to theirlowly status, would not be afforded them in the form of magical weapons.

 When engaged in battle withtheir ancient enemies, the githzerai, gish will attack zerths before any otheropponent. Each sees the other as a distorted, misguided and subverted imitationof the other, taking the basic teachings known to all githkind and twisting itaccording to the ideals of their own perverse species. When fighting illithids,gish revert to their typical role of ‘special forces’, finding ways ofenhancing the gith forces without having to pit their powers against the mindflayers’ spell resistance.

 A crucial factor tounderstanding the gish is that they see themselves as agents, not ofVlaakith, but of the will of Gith herself. Attempting to speak knowledgeably ofGith in their presence is often viewed as blasphemy, an unforgivable offence;only the queen is considered above such reproach. Many gish are called upon toprovide moral guidance, although the spiritual side of this is comparativelyminor. It is said that gish possess a religious text analogous to thegithzerai’s Unbroken Circle of Zerthimon, known as Gith’s Sharp-EdgedCodex, although these texts are guarded as jealously as the silverswords. Gith’s Sharp-Edged Codex is not a conventional spellbook,however; new spells cannot be entered into it, although spells can be divinedfrom it. The Codex is a multitude of overlapping blades, most of whichare no larger than daggers or razors. Each of them is, however, very, verysharp. A skilled gish knows how to operate it without hurting him or herself,but all others must take their chances and risk a few cuts. Like the UnbrokenCircle, the Sharp-Edged Codex is a device that can be arranged intomany different configurations. The spaces between the blades in eachconfiguration form runes that teach Gith’s lessons; the hatred of illithids,the use of spells and swords, and so on and so forth. The way in which theselessons are expressed is at once both technical and emotive, meaning that bothwizardly and sorcerous gish are able to learn spells from the text.

 As executors of Gith’s will,gish also serve as the chief liaisons with the red dragons on the Prime MaterialPlane. All gish speak Draconic as a matter of course, and if a ring ofGith’s bargain is to be found, it will be with a gish. In addition, when aparty of githyanki are found riding on the back of a red dragon, one of themwill always be of the gish caste, given the task of speaking to the dragon.Because of this trait, gish enjoy a certain prestige among their fellowgithyanki, and while Vlaakith does encourage her subjects to take up this role,it would be folly to assume that there is not some element of politicalconflict between the gish and her chosen, the knights. On the one hand we havethose who represent the will of Vlaakith CLVII, the Revered Queen. On theother, there is an elite who represent something older and more essential tothe githyanki. Who is to say that there may not at some time be tensionsbetween them? Time will tell; or in the case of the Astral Plane, its closestequivalent will.

NPC Githyanki Gish

StartingAbility Scores:Str 15, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 13

IncreasedAbility Scores:4th, Cha 14; 8th, Str 16; 10th, Cha 14 (16);12th, Cha 15; 16th, Cha 16 (20).

ClassFeatures: 2nd,Summon Familiar.

Feats:1st,Combat Casting, Weapon Focus (longsword); 3rd, Improved Initiative,Lightning Reflexes; 6th, Spell Penetration; 7th, WeaponSpecialisation (longsword); 9th, Point-Blank Shot; 11th,Power Attack; 12th, Craft Magic Arms and Armour; 15th,Weapon Focus (composite longbow).

Armour: Breastplate (1st),masterwork breastplate (2nd-5th), mithral breastplate (6th),+1 mithral breastplate (7th-10th), +2 mithralbreastplate (11th-12th), +3 mithral breastplate(13th-16th).

Longsword(Melee): Masterwork(1st-7th), +1 (8th-11th), +2(12th-16th)

CompositeLongbow (Ranged): Normal (1st), mighty [Str 14] masterwork (2nd-8th),+1 mighty [Str 16] (9th-14th), +2 mighty [Str16] (15th-16th).

Arrows: 20 normal (1st),20 masterwork (2nd-12th), 10 masterwork (13th),10 +1 (13th), 20 +1 (14th-15th),20 +2 (16th).

Scrolls: 2 bull’s strength (2nd-11th),2 magic weapon (2nd-3rd), shield (2nd-3rd),cat’s grace (3rd-4th), dispel magic (3rd-5th,7th-13th), 3 shield (4th, 6th-13th),2 cat’s grace (5th-13th), keen edge (5th-8th),5 shield (5th), 2 keen edge (9th-13th),invisibility (9th-13th).

MagicGear: 3 potionsof cure light wounds (1st-5th), 4 potions of curelight wounds (8th-16th), +2 cloak of Charisma(10th-15th), +1 ring of protection (11th-13th),wand of magic missile (5th-level caster) (13th), wandof magic missile (9th-level caster) (14th-15th),+2 ring of protection (14th-16th), +2 amulet ofnatural armour (15th-16th), +4 cloak of Charisma(16th), wand of enlarge (16th), wand of bull’sstrength (16th), wand of invisibility (16th).

OtherGear: dagger(1st-16th), 3 thunderstones (1st-16th).

Theabove table assumes that gish advance as fighters, acquiring sorcerer abilitiesevery other level.