The Githyanki were a race of pirates who lived on the Astral Plane. In the monster compendium Elminster had given him, the Great Sage had labeled them raiders and advised against facing them alone.
The Githyanki descended from an ancient race once enslaved by the Space Mind Flayer empire. Exactly when their enslavement began could no longer be determined. This race had tried again and again to overthrow the empire, only to be crushed every time, enduring endless suffering and torment.
No one knew what this race had looked like before the Mind Flayers enslaved and altered them. Had they been tall or frail? Kind or selfish? Elegant or savage?
That ancient history had been buried beneath the dust of ages over the course of their long enslavement.
Until a leader named Gith rose to prominence.
Through a series of wars of resistance, Gith led his people through one bloody battle after another until they finally won their freedom and escaped the Mind Flayers' control. Yet, just as Elminster had scornfully observed, the dragon slayer had once again become the dragon. To resist the Mind Flayers, Gith had built a "powerful organization" through militarized rule and the exploitation of every individual. After their ultimate victory, it began to rot. The evil within the organization gradually outweighed the good, and righteous rebels became ruthless conquerors.
Gith went to meet Tiamat and never returned. Every attempt to contact him failed, and his people split. Some continued to follow their great leader Gith's deputy, the lich queen Vlaakith. These gradually became the cruel and violent "Githyanki," meaning followers of Gith. Others abandoned their brutal life of plunder to seek inner peace and tranquility, becoming the "Githzerai."
What had these astral pirates come to the Material Plane to do?
Aaron watched the place where