It was finally time to try my newly constructed portal.
Penfavasta had told me that beings on the astral plane were not subject to the ravages of time. I decided I had better look into the possibility of one day retreating there. To be sure there are many arcane ways to prolong life but why take the chance.

I cast a dimension door to activate the portal, one of four spells that would do the trick.

The white marble turned milky and cloudy as the portal glowed. It appeared to be a success and I carefully ventured out into the void known as the astral plane.

At first I had the sensation of falling, but soon I realized that I was sort of just "drifting." Explain silver cord.

As I moved farther in, or outward as the case may be, the misty ether parted revealing a most wondrous site. Floating before me was one of the most powerful and foreboding fortresses I have ever seen. It was over 700 feet wide and over 200 feet high. It was made of materials I could not identify. The castle walls were made of a smooth olive green with silvery domes for the roof of the main structure and surrounding towers. The highest points had red roofs at their pinnacles. Golden lights shone out from the windows. A lone watch tower stood out from the main structure. The whole fortress rested upon some kind of floating rock.

In hind sight I was foolish to approach the citadel but I was so captivated by it that I could not force myself away. I drifted closer and closer till I landed on the "bridge" between the main fortress and the watch tower. Before me was stairs leading up to the grand entrance of the castle. Two glowing orbs flanked the bottom of the stairs on either side.

I heard a noise behind me and turned to see four humanoids coming from the large watch tower. They were tall and thin with gaunt faces. Their skin was rough, and yellow with coarse black hair pulled straight back. Their eyes gleamed darkly, and their ears were pointed and serrated in back. They wore elaborate dress with many gems and baroque armor.

They spoke to me in a strange tongue and I greeted them in common. They replied in broken common. "Come, you follow," they said. They took me to their leader, a powerful warrior who introduced himself as Zetch'r'r. He wore black armor with a black gem embedded in his right eye socket. A black raven was perched nearby on a stand.

"Well met," I said introducing myself.
"Greetings, who are you?" He asked. I explained who I was and where I was from and that this was my first foray into the Astral Plane. I told him I meant no harm and I presented him with an amulet. It was a minor magic item of protection I had brought with me. It had a thick silver chain and a red ruby set in a silver disk. He regarded the bauble coolly as he took it from me but it must have had the desired effect because he seemed to relax around me and I thought I caught a slight smile at the corner of his small mouth.

"Who are you and what race are you?" I asked.

He invited me to sit down and we talked for hours as he told me the story of his people, a people known as the Githyanki.

He told me that illithids, commonly referred to as Mind flayers enslaved entire races, including the githyanki forerunners. Centuries of captivity bred hate, nurtured resolve, and finally instilled fantastic mental powers. With mental armaments of their own and a powerful leader to rally behind (the legendary Gith), the slaves instigated a crossplanar struggle that, in the end, threw down the mind flayer empire, bringing freedom to the surviving slaves. Unfortunately, the former slaves soon split into the racially distinct githyanki and their mortal enemies, the githzerai. Each constantly attempts the extinction of the other. This animosity has burned through the centuries.

Zetch'r'r seemed rather sad about this part of his story.

Both peoples' hatred of the mind flayers knows no bounds, though, and they will break off hostilities to slay illithids if the opportunity presents itself.

We walked to the top of his tower as he told me their race was lead by a lich-queen named Vlaakith CLVII. Looking out the windows he pointed to their home world in the Astral Plane, the city of Tu'narath. Mighty stone fortresses revolved around the massive city. The city was situated on a huge rock that was shaped with an abdomen and several "arms" that extended out from the main body.

Beyond the city, floating in the Astral medium were thousands of strange looking ships lined up in tight rows and formations.

"What are those?" I inquired.
"War ships, Planar Raiders, Astral Brigs, and Skiffs. The queen is preparing an incursion to the Prime Material Plane."

"An incursion?"

"Yes. She will open many gates and our warships will pass through carrying our troops."

"What is their destination?"

"A small world known as Pharagos. It has three main continents, one ruled by your kind, another by the short stout men…dwarves who war with the orcs there, and the last is a swampy land where half-men with furry feet and lizardfolk live."

"What is the purpose of the invasion?"

"We will conquer Pharagos. Resources are limited here in the Astral Plane and we have basic needs that can only be met on the Prime Material plane. Natural healing does not take place here nor does aging or growth. Githyanki are hatched from egg sacks. They must grow and therefore all of our hatcheries must be placed on the prime material plane and protected. And finally we can infiltrate their Underdark and find the despised mind flayers and hunt them down."

It was then I noticed the great red flying beasts circling and weaving among the Githyanki Ships.

"Are those red dragons?" I asked, amazed at the numbers I saw.

"Yes, Gith, our original leader that freed us from the illithids and brought us here, struck a pact with Ephelomon, Tiamat's red dragon consort in the nine hells. He gave the first queen, Vlaakith a septer binding the red dragons to our service. Gith was never seen again and Vlaakith I became our queen and ruler."

Suddenly nine purple diamond shaped portals appeared in the sky and the ships slowly began to file through the openings.

"The invasion begins. Our current queen has cheated death by becoming a lich. In addition she summons our most powerful warriors and "grants" them a glorious death by absorbing their essence. She goes too far. She has begun to create a new breed of gith, called Duthka'giths. She has infused githyanki with red dragon blood. These half breeds can now spawn offspring of their own. Even more abominable she creates her personal guard by turning many of our fighters and rangers into undead warriors known as Tl'a'ikith. Some of us fear she is perverting our proud race with these monstrous creations. Some of us would see her reign come to an end. We are merely biding our time while we wait for the right opportunity to oppose her."

He seemed to be speaking to himself as we watched the invasion take place.

I shuddered at the thought of the lich-queen ever setting her sights on Toril.

I turned and thanked the githyanki warrior for his hospitality and a glimpse of his people. He thanked me for the amulet. I hasted back to my portal following the silver cord that keeps one attached to the Prime Material Plane.