EFUPW Forums

It began not with calamity and surprise attack, nor with naked aggression and troops marched, but with simple declaration. And oddly honorable forecasting of terror to come.

Quote from: Senior Scribe Bashir, Hziran 23rd, 7788With the dragon slain, Iakmes leaped down into the pit of combat. He grasped his sceptre, from which ancient magicks eminated outwards, stunning each and every Ephian in such a fashion that we could not move. During our stupor, he made his intentions clear. He was going to wage war on the entire Disc, in order to free it from what he sees as "invaders" and "interlopers". During this speech, three strange figures garbed in silvery robes appeared, and began critizing Iakmes. These three seemed to represent some Age of Silver, whereas Iakmes affliated himself with Bronze. After the exchange of words, the trio left, leaving a strange trail of metal in their wake.

Now, Ephia's Well is at war. The fickle skirmishes of the past are gone, as our enemy turns their fully focused gaze upon us, and us alone. While we mourn the brave souls that gave their lives in service of the Well, we should not let their sacrifices be in vain. As such, preparations for war should begin immediately, and allies should be sought as soon as possible.

The Orc'ah as they call themselves, the Children of the Axe. To Kulkund of the North they are known as malicious weapons of The Murderer, to Ynys Eilir a persistent threat and nuisance to every newborn, to the Sibilant Remnants of the South a persistent thorn and foe of Diakos' Forces, to Qa'im they are flesh and bone and flame to shatter their metal legion, to Ka'esh they are fermented of dissident and defiance to be put ruthlessly to the axe by the Grand Serdar - and any who stand with them. To the Seekers-After-Death they are a desperate plea to upend the Great Ash's status quo of permissive atrocity. To Baz'eel they have been a woe ever since Silverknee sought to split the Twin Cities.

To Ephia's Well they are the single greatest existential threat since Red Hill - a time in which undiscly atrocities from the Stars were unleashed by the Humans who sat in rule in drastic measure, weaponizing the Q'tolipan resulting in Blood Plague and more. Now there is talk of "Total Victory", now there is talk of Conscription - to some, Slavery. Now there is talk of Bombs, of titanic Air Ships, of drastic and increasing atrocities by Ka'esh upon the Eastern Front.

This shall serve as record. For better or worse of deeds and actions, of judgements, of victorys and defeats.

This shall serve as a chronicle.

Of Ephia at War.

End Volume I

There can be no greater word than the Sultan's. So I will not expound.

Quote from: The Sultan's Explicit Word, as relayed by Majordomo Siursum avak Res, Hziran 24th, 7788"Now. I arrive today bearing the explicit word of his Magnificence, Osman al-Maribid. I present them to you here.

First. His Grace intends to convene Kardesler. In this his mind is steel. It is marble.

Second. I do not need to educate you, his most loyal and loving subjects, regarding the ongoing threat posed by Qa'immi agression. The balance of power is delicate. The might of Baz'eel is trained upon the Edutu. Therefore, Osman, in his great and infinite wisdom, has decreed that it shall be Ephia's Well that prosecutes the great struggle against this barbarian horde. This trust is a blessing, a great and shining duty. Do not disappoint him.

Third, adjunct to the second decree. It shall behoove the Legates and the Accord to form a War Cabinet to prosecute this war. It is suggested that the Legates nominate a Warmaster, on whom overall responsibility for tactical and strategic decisions will rest. It is imperative to the Sublime Garden that the democracy of Ephia's Well continues to function throughout this period of crisis. Therefore it would be inappropriate for a Legate to assume command of military forces. In case of electoral defeat, disgrace, et cetera. Any other functionaries of this Cabinet - whether Bey of Spies, Ambassdor General, et cetera - the Sublime Garden leaves to the discretion of this Assembly.

Finally, let it be known: all the economic might of Baz'eel, Her great mercantile houses, Her consortiums and factories, Her counting-houses, temples, shipyards, granaries... all the great conglomerate of the City of Gold... All this shall turn to thy succor and aid. Let it be known, that it is the opinion of the Sublime Garden, that Ephia's Well must first turn towards any allies that it might gather. A coalition must be formed. Kardesler may writ these in stone... but it is the slippery work of diplomacy that shall avail you. Even now, our diplomats inform us that the Emirate of Kha'esh is raising troops.

Do not tarry on this. Act swiftly, and with decision.

One final thing... This shall be a long war. Steel yourselves. Embrace your loved ones. Gruelling months lie ahead of us. These are the sentiments, desires and commands of the Sublime Garden, and he that inhabits therein - OSMAN, al-Maribid, Sultan of Baz'eel, Sultan of Ephia's Well, Sultan of Qa'im, Protector of Il Modo, and Alkab, Qadira and Kha'esh. Protector of the Great Ash Desert, and the Sea of Pearls.

That is all."

End Volume II

And by Pyramid of Dual-Purple Legate was chosen - Lieutenant Rennik Colmes. A Refugee arriving to Ephia's Well among the great exodus of 7787. Whose exploits in Ephia's Well would name him one of the more influential soldiers of the modern era of the Sultan's Fourth Legion.

Quote from: Deputy Chief Scribe al-Samar, on Rennik ColmesSummary: Once a simple Outring hunter and... Lieutenant Rennik Colmes has come a long way from his roots... Losing his family on the long journey toward the Ash Desert, he came to the Well one more lost refugee...succor within the caring arms of Elossi...But all was to change...took his place among the Sultan's Janissary, his hunger...narcotic replaced...one for Truth.

Colmes rose Swiftly...hunting skills now turned upon those who flaunt the Laws...Trapping others in lies with the same ease...The Arrest...of Shane Gallows...Brooker Merizad, The Investigation...Autopsy of...John Syter... Lawless Nature of the Cinquefoil Rose with...Colmes Doctrine...has seen Colmes be the first of the New Refugee Generation rise to the Esteemed Rank of Lieutenant, and his efforts continue ever onward.
...

...declaration of War against Iakmes...election...the Accord to put forth individuals...as dictated by our Illustrious Sultan...Lieutenant Colmes garnered...most support from...the Accord.

And in Declaration of Warmaster Rennik Colmes himself, "In the days to come, the following individuals deserve your ear, your attention and your assistance, should you be called to provide it-- for they act in concert against Iakmes' hoards. Zain al-Saiba. Naelin Karstwen. Bashir Khatara. Aurelio d'Lyon. Mirielle Rosseau. Zol Nur. Sister Selsi.".

And act his War Council would. With alacrity and purpose an immediate march southward was declared. That for the first time since the Red Hill would the Accord in singular unison with righteous mandate from the Holy Sultan, agreed by the Assembly, a singular and unbreakable force would be mustered. Not one to be solved in a decisive battle but from the sacred Divan a lengthy campaign. Long into the night and for many hours they would debate and strategize...

...Come morning The first great battle of the Age of Bronze would come.

End Volume III

"Live and Drink!" - These words rang out in Hziran 31st, 7787. The Funeral of John Syter in which mourners raised blindingly strong liquor and Ephia was graced by princess presence.

Hziran 31st, 7788 brought similar solemnity. As Warmaster Colmes' forces marched southward on the heels of harrowing news: That unshackled by the Sibilant defeat in the south, a Troglodyte King was open to negotiations with Iakmes. A combination of forces of old which would mean dire portent for Ephia's Well and further amassed monstrous force.

A bolstering of such forces would amplify the difficulties faced by the nascent War Council and yet untested forces of the Accord against the newly bolstered Thousand Clans beneath the Grey Grasp of Iakmes. At the risk of deviation the largest tactic espoused by Ephians in facing the Orc'ah is "Avoid Fire". Thus Bolstering the ranks of Iakmes with the remnants of the Sibilant Host would be dire. For a great many veterans remember the horrors of Red Hill and the Troglodyte Gas Fanatics who brought lungrot among survivors and throatblistering death upon the field. To see Gas, to see Acid, to see more added to their arsenal and tactics a crippling portent.

It is with these stakes in mind did the Warmaster's forces march upon the Ruins of Lakkar. A twisted and winding labyrinth which would go on to prove as dangerous in terrain as it did in the fetid Troglodytes and vile Orcs seeking treaty in its depths. And it would be there that first blood drawn, as tusks shattered and scales sundered.

For upon the Chips would the Bellows ring far, ring wide - Ephia was Victorious. Iakmes would not purge the Disk with such ease. Ephia's Well would stand in defiance. The Warmaster's forces would draw line in the sands of the Great Ash.

The Skirmish of Sundered Scale was won.

...But not without Cost.

Quote from: The Fallen of Hziar 31st, IY 7788...On Hziar 31st, in the Imperial Year 7788, did the Thousand Clans under Warlord Iakmes, enter treaty with the Troglodytes of the shattered Sibilant Host. In the disruption of this Treaty, in ensuring the Clans garnered no allegiance that day, did we lose several of our own:

Of the Balladeer College:
Balladeer Siegward Eyck, and Student Rani Amra.

Of the Banda Rossa:
Recluta Gard Gisault, Recluta Rathal Luceros, Recluta Theron Vlasc

Of the Fourth Legion:
Scarab Siegfried Wolfhart

Of Ephia's Citizenry:
Peporette the Jester, Jimmy Janosch, Pauvera Contadino, Danir Zarim, Badger Dedmarsh...

End Volume IV

It is easy in times of peace to espouse the virtue of war. It is easier in times of war to espouse the virtue of war when that war is cast kilometers, leagues, in incomprehensible scope of distance away from your home. In what would become one of the first truly monumental choices made by Rennik Colmes' War Council would be a tactical decision cast in black and white. The Request of Arslan and the Request of the Boundarymen. The logistics involved in any battlefield decision cannot justly be weighed nor judged by those outside the minds of the commander. It is the duty of those who raise Chronicle to only share what the outcome of those choices come to be.

It was so decided that upon Tammuz 4th, IY 7788 that the Warcouncil's Forces would march to the aid of the Mercenary Fortress in what would soon become one of the most grim and brutal conflicts that Ephia Well has seen to date in the fabled "Battle of the Boundary".

To march for the self is preservation, heroism is to march for others without reservation. And in the rallying efforts of the Accords, would twelve brave souls board ashsail and make trip Southwards. Far south, far and beyond safety and reasonable venture. To the edge, the aptly named boundary fortress in what would be a Massacre without reinforcement.

Ephia though did not act out of purely the generosity of its heart. For a company of Mercenaries indebted, saved from certain defeat, would certainly find way to repay such a cost in the ongoing struggles to come. But that does not diminish the heroic efforts undertaken by the daring dozen.

It would prove to be one of the most violent skirmishes as the Thousand Clans lived to their name. However so too the danger did not merely come from the conflict - for the forces of Iakmes are tended by a cruel cunning. Be it the working of the Orcish Void Caller plotting the starchart or merely Agaslakku's fury upon the peace-loving Ephians there on the horizon came a storm.

Racing against the horizon did the Ash Sail streak out of view from Ephia into the maw of the massive and swirling clouds of Ash itself. The steadfast Sixth Legion, plying their lessons from the Baz'eelan Academy brought to bare Geomancy woven to buttress the brazen.

Landing was hostile, immediately. Tales varying far and wide of the total sum of Iakmes' forces unleashed amidst the storm and swarm. The details of those of the Accord varying from Rose to Cinquefoil to Janissary, but what is known is this excerpt from a local Toast that has overtaken the wateringholes and mizzar dens of Ephia-


For the first time in the course of this strife Ephia did Bleed ranking blood. Officers of the Accord. Former Legates. Men and Women who meant a great deal, to a great many. It is said by many that the Battle of the Boundary, the clash of Bronze, sits the true start of this War.

...For it is easy to espouse the virtue of war when it is far away.

Another thing entirely when burying Hero.

Quote from: The Fallen of Tammuz 4th, IY 7788On Tammuz 4th, in the Imperial Year 7788, did the Thousand Clans march on the Fortress of the Mercenary Order known as the Boundarymen. Weeks prior, did they request the aid of Ephia's Well in repelling this invasion, and answer the call did Ephia's Well. In ensuring the Thousand Clans did not seize this strategic outpost, nor slay the brave defenders, did we lose several of our own:

Of the Tower of Q'tolip
Apothar Cosine Mevura

Of the Fourth Legion
Sergeant Atreya Lightdew

Of the Banda Rossa
Recluta Baako Mahmoud

Of Ephia's Citizens:
Former Legate Akna Ymir

End Volume V

Honor. Glory. These tenants of The Axe, The Protector, the Warrior, The Murderer, Agaslakku. The code by which the Orc'ah have been bred, raised, and hammered into bronze to champion. Taught from hidden Lodges to more public displays of violence and battle amidst the Great Ash. That they know not fear in the face of defeat. That their glory eternally carved when their deeds weighed upon death. That their legends carved into the very memories of the world. That they stand eternal.

Mankind, I and others who have come to learn the humans of this Great Ash Desert, are not so bound. These ragged survivors who wander the wasteland growing increasingly desperate, thirsty, hungry. They are capable of tremendous charity but by equal measure unbridled atrocity. Their knack for adaptation to circumstances is undeniable as an asset. But it is so too equally measured by their depravity when pushed to the brink. When pressured. When threatened.

Warmaster Rennik Colmes is a great many things - But the forces of Iakmes learned first hand: Honorable is not one of them. Honor, battlefield engagement, glory. These festering wounds of pride and hubris has no place in Wroth's gaze. Upon Tammuz 10th did the Sabotage smirk with glimmering glee. For Battlefield was disregarded in favor of Sabotage of a more traditional sort.

in the wake of the Battle of the Boundary, Ephia was reeling. Their cups raised in victory but it was a bittersweet one. Beloved Officers of the Accord buried, but not forgotten. Emotions gave way to tension. Adapting to the circumstances when word came of threat not from the south, but upon the Eastern Front, did the Warmaster introduce new tactics to the newer front - Cruelty.

A training camp for novices and fledglings, tusks barely beginning to jut, was amassed to the east of Ephia's Well and just south of the Lover's Gap. A Great Bridge was secured and being used to transport the unbloodied of the Orc'ah, cargo, and more as a vanguard for a greater force to come in the coming weeks. Hundreds though had begun to amass and assemble under the auspices of a staging ground for the Bronze Butcher's eastern front to conquer the Great Ash Desert and purge the Disk of all "Interloper".

Ephia's Well though would not lose its Officers without taking its pound of flesh. Enter the Sagebrush Scouting Corps. A raggedy band of once-politically avoidant refugees fleeing the Torchbearers for their political aspirations, turned champions of the Gold League of Ephia's Well with Prelate a heartbeat away from Legate. This force of outriders and explorers favoring independence from most affairs and buttressing the Legion - having made robust fortunes head-hunting for the Fourth upon outlaws when not scouting forward Orc'ah posts.

On the fateful day in question though, along with Engineer Mark Miller and the Missing Mage Zuli, did the Warmaster's strike force cut discreetly into enemy lines. Traversing the dangers of the Vanguard Encampment with soft step, cowardly invisibility, and Worth's unbridled malice. Like specters traversing the dunes they made their way past the numerous training pits of the Novice Orc'ah. Beyond the Feasting Tents where the Orc'ah Hunters prepared meal. Through the Tented Camps where they lay to rest.

A rare glimpse of the Orc'ah at peace. Placated. Uprepared. Ripe. Through clever machinations and a well timed detonation of Mark Millar's tinkering tonnage, a massive eruption of flame engulfed the bridge. Smoke billowed and wafted high into the sky while chunks of Orc'ah meat sprayed across the Lover's Gap. In a fury the survivors attempting to find the perpetrators of such a disgraceful act - but Ephia's force had fled the field moments after the detonation.

The Eastern Advance, now halted, through cruel and potent means. Flames burning so bright even the Orc'ah would burn, augmented by odd and potentially heretical cogswork. Thousands of Orc'ah would be unable to so easily traverse the pass, and a proverbial line drawn explosively in the sand. Another route would be forced to take, more delays to their efforts, their path stymied. Above all though - A new tone set for the War.

The Southern Front would become isolated pockets of resistance upon which the Grey Grasp of Iakmes was the tide. As spear and tusk descended like plague of locusts upon fortifications as if they were livestock and hearty grains. Baz'eel and the Purple League's rallying cries of Ephia Invictus would ring out amidst the many sieges, find itself scrawled on abandoned and shattered wagons, palisade, and more along the Rampart Nusrum. Hope that if they called loud enough that those of Ephia would descend and be their salvation.

The other though.

The other Front would take a far differing tone.

From early in the war The Sultan's warning of Ka'esh's barbarism mustering for a march eastward. La Banda Rossa's scouting efforts and unofficial and undocumented activities no doubt living to their terrifying reputation. And now Warmaster Colmes and the Sagebrush Strikeforce's defying the Agasian rules of engagement to slaughter novice to buy a few weeks delay in deployment.

...In response to the delay the Orc'ah would go on to prepare some grotesque, cruel, and hideous siege piece among newly dug in Eastern fortifications. The full extent of which to be revealed at later stage of the War.

How Ephia would respond to such, time would tell, but this proved the first documented time that the Eastern Front was introduced to the Gold League's War philosophy by way of their Sagebrush Supporters - Total Victory.

End Volume VI

In the wake of the Lover's Quarrel, the successful sabotage of the Lover's Gap Bridge, came a groundswell of Gold League support for the operation's success. So much so that six days later came Legate Balstan Gloamingdaith of Sandstone College to the First Seat of Legate. The Purple Pyramid was cast aside as now the austerity of Baz'eel's Ephia Invictus philosophy would be weighed against the Gold League's pursuit of Total Victory.

As the Eastern Front was stymied and the Southern Front quelled for the time being the mission of the War Council would take a dramatic shift towards Diplomacy. Kardeslar was demanded by the Sultan and the Warmaster Colmes would abide such a Mandate. Runners would be sent to the four winds in search of those who would be so bold to stand aside Ephia's Well in rebuking the onslaught of Iakmes. To Banafsi, to Tlonsiyya, to Ka'esh, to Il Modo, to Kulkund, and beyond were diplomatic seals stamped by the delicate fingers of Vizier Bashir and gifted to couriers for the dangerous task of striding into the Dunes.

As in most things, be it Red Hill or otherwise - It would be Ka'esh to first answer the Call. At the behest of Ambassador Tariq audience was to be had with both Legates immediately. A dispatch had arrived of invitation from the illustrious Emir Jaiyan himself. A party was assembled, but as they were heading to leave a declaration was made - That Vizier Azarmidokht the Golden wished the famed mask of the deceased Apothar Cosine Mevura.

...To the Vizier's Chagrin upon arrival it was claimed to have been lost. However did Champion Aurelio of the War Council give forth a promising offer from the Cinquefoil Rose on behalf of his Grandmaster. It placated the Emir and Vizier enough to continue negotiations but it was far from the robust offerings of others who had sought to court Ka'esh. As after all Ka'esh is so beloved, by so many, for its military might and magical immanence.

Though negotiations began rocky with Ephia's former allies of Red Hill, ultimately terms would be set:

Quote from: Seat of Diplomacy Transcript, Tammuz 18 IY 7788The Emir and Vizier made it quite clear...offended by the lack of communication after the Battle of Red Hill, especially regarding...The offense was ...ploy to make...demands of us, in exchange for Kha'esh attending Kardesler as "a brother"...

As we left...curious figure...seen standing next...Emir and Vizier. I suspect that this might've been...diplomat of...some sort.

Water, Knowledge, and History would be the demands of the oft Dinar ravenous Ka'esh. Negotiations would continue for a time, but it would be through the Sisters of Cinquefoil Rose that attempt made to solidify Ka'esh's arrival to Kardeslar.

Regrettably, amidst the negotiation of the Sisters did the Assembly of Ephia's Well break down into feud and strife, resulting in a potentially calamitous affair.

Quote from: Sister Selsi, Tabbah 20, IY 7788It comes to pass that...is quiet, and we have peace to speak...
The Vizier asks for our offer. I begin to negotiate. It is provided.
We speak...of power and guides.
The Vizier laughs...We smile.
We speak of...lost in the dark...of lights.
The Vizier laughs...We smile.
There is a disturbance...Bellows in relation to...Assembly...Vizier privy to feuds...in Ephia...its peoples scheme...undermine these talks as they happen.
We speak of...knives driven into each other...
...Vizier laughs. We smile.

Amidst highest stake negotiations regarding the Sultan's demand for Kardesler, the conflicting concerns of Ephia Invictus and Total Victory come to a precarious head. Upon the tip of a knife the future of Kardesler, of the War, of the Disk would hang in the very balance.

Quote from: Tabbah 20, IY 7788Ambassador Zafirah Tariq
Let it be known that the Legates have altered the terms they agreed to before all and sundry before the Assembly of Ephia's Well. The alteration is thus: they refuse to provide Kha'esh with the passphrase, most precious.

I go now to relay this information to the Vizier, the Golden One. His wrath and fury shall be unrelenting.

Quote from: Sister Selsi, Tabbah 20, IY 7788...The Vizier does not laugh as much this time....

The negotiations would drag long into the night within the Caravansari of Ka'esh. The magical powers of Ephia's Well in the Sisterhood seeking to undo the damage done by Assembly, negotiating with the magical powers of Ka'esh in Azarmidokht the Golden.

Ultimately it would come to pass that they would indeed arrive to the Sultan's Kardeslar.  Their price though, and their demands, and their recompense for these breaches of trust would only come to be known at the Valley of Wisdom.

What would later reveal to have been a ploy by the Astronomers of Q'tolip, Apothar Mae Stern of the League of White was banned for life from the Divan by Warmaster Rennik Colmes. The cause for potentially sundering these negotiations before they even began in proclaiming the Mask's whereabouts unknown. She was furthermore banned from any Diplomatic envoys for the duration of the War.

Where Ephia knows well how to win a victory in battle, success in Asterbadian politics and City-State Negotiation continues to be elusive.

...as only all too well highlighted by the fateful trips Regarding Banafsi and Il Modo in the weeks to follow this near catastrophe.

End Volume VII

War. War never goes as predicted. It is oft said by scholar and soldier alike that the moment the choice is made it cannot be unmade shy of peace or obliteration. More often than not even Peace itself is a falsehood unless it is borne of erasing an entire culture - for Culture in all its forms is a history of deeds, of acts, and of purpose. The story does not end merely because you demand it so. Burn the books and the Hakawati shall spread tale.

Diplomacy though is equally tumultuous and though budding agreement was formed between Ka'esh and the nascent War Council of Ephia's Well it is not the only power in the realm. The small island city-state of Banafsi was widely reknown for its textiles. Now it is known only for its civil strife, its Archon pledging to dread Qa'im, its peoples beleaguered by Djinn, and its "True governance" in a state of fled exile.

This would be the stage for one of the most tragic tales of the war, while not the first time the unified Ephia came to strife, it would be the first time in recent memory and in the throes of war. Once more Ephia's Well would be called to court and treat with a foreign power. The promise of aid for the War, the promise of soldiers by the proclaimed numbers so high it's hard to believe, the promise of alliance towards bringing about resolution to the Chief of Chiefs, Iakmes.

Answering the clarion call of Diplomacy was a motley band of Torchbearers, Cinquefoil, Nadiri, and a newly arisen coterie to Ephia's Well. The court of the exiled Prince Arjuna of Qadira. Some called a bastard, some called a Tiger, some called a fraud, others merely a pirate with a panache for performance. As this force made its way to aid Banafsi - the tales therein begin to muddle.

Some say it was borne of the pride of two men, a Student and a Pirate Prince. Others that it was entirely orchestrated from the start as their size of their coterie eclipsed most if any other organized force presence - bolstered by mercenary and sellsword. That amidst a mission of gravity and diplomacy the festering gash of wounded pride took hold. While some men and women fought to press the mission onward - The Prince and his Coterie stood firm refusing to partake for some sleight or another.

As many great tales however the details stop being told of the scenery as the stage is set. A legend begins to swirl about of greater proportions and overtakes what may be considered the truth. The tension, the drama, the tragedy, these begin to give momentum. That special and difficult to codify magic that turns some tales to immortality and some merely cast in the wayside of history.

For amidst battle itself did the Pirate Prince Arjuna cut down student Devlin Cross of the Cinquefoil Rose. The considerations of what draws to men of such action - it is said there was some manner of conflict over pride in the past, or perhaps on the island, that lead to the forces of Qadira to stand down a portion of the battle. This led to words, to tensions, to details which are lost as the grains of salt in the sea itself.

What is denoted though is when the Student of the Cinquefoil Rose was cut down an irrevocable choice was made. This ceased to be a tale of Ephian Diplomacy, of bolstering march and mission on behalf of the Exarch of Banafsi. This became a tale of bloodshed, of woe, and of tragedy the likes of which Ephia's Well has not seen in so very long. With alacrity lines began to form - The Banda Rossa in some form or another bound to Arjunda - oft patroned by Argent Argyris of the Gold League to hunt Orcs - a man who all would come intimately familiar with in the coming days. Opposed by which the more steadfast and dutiful Balladeers, Torchbearers, and others of Ephia's Boardworkers.

La Banda Rossa, torn between two conflicting contracts, is said to have moved in one form or another to defend Arjuna after he cut down the Student. Sellswords following Gold is not unheard of, doubly so if it is the Gold League. Those of Purple and White and Rose and more however took great umbrage at the downing of the man. What they failed to realize however as lines were drawn and tensions rose -

Tigers have claws.

They say it was not as quickly over as it seemed. That the forces of the Qadira-by-Gold ally of Ephia and the Torchbearers, Rose, and more fought for a time as positions shifted, as spells flew, and as blood spilled. Yet what is known and was well documented by many was while some of Ephia's forces moved to curtail the Qadirans - a number, a great number, gracious such a number of them. They merely stood and watched the spectacle unfold. Of those would be heroes and would be villains of this grand tale clashing on stage set by Banafsian Diplomacy 'neath the Curtain of War.

When the smoke settled, when the dust cleared, what was seen is not what any would have anticipated in any capacity. For Ephia is no stranger to bloodshed, it is no stranger to violence, but it has in its peace come to grow complacent. To grow sporting of violence, as spread by Agasian Virtue and Cinquefoil nobility. A Tiger though, while it has claws, also has teeth.

Corpses. Men and women of Ephia's Well. Voiced. Voiceless. Students. Executed. The fate of the mission was overtaken by grief, by woe, by tragedy of this tale. On swift wings did word begin to spread far and wide. That the tale of the Banafsi Mission Massacre would reach Ephia's Well.

That members of the Accord were executed by Gold League war asset. That Torchbearer and Banda Rossa crossed steel. That the Bastard Prince of Qadira had ripped out the throat of Alejandro Benjazar after his sharp claws raked him to the dirt.

That the Minister of Culture of Ephia's War Council was dead. That no longer would his hidden poems be left behind like sprinklings of joy wherever he hid them for intrepid explorer. That no longer his thousands of tales would flit across the verdant stage of the Krak de Rose.

Not by Orc, not by casualty of this Mission, but by pride and politic. The first non-mission casualty to reach the War Council.

Eyewitness Accounting with immediacy upon return to Ephia's Well by the Survivors lead to a firestorm of movement. The Qadiran Prince and his sycophants who fled the mission after the massacre were roundly exiled by Balstan Gloamingdaith, Legate of the Prelate who had so emboldened the Pirates against the Forces of Iakmes. Calls were raised far and wide for Janissaries, for Justice, for Wroth.

QuoteClarissant Llancarfan
The Banda! The Prince and his whole Court! They murdered Caddick, and several of her students. Others too! Among them, Alejandro of the Warcouncil.

They also repeatedly intimidated the Exarch and his men. Not only are they damaging relations with our allies but they have sabotaged us by slaying our greatest and a standing member of the Warcouncil. They are all traitors.

The impending chaos brought with it many actions, with swift succession. Firstly - The mass exile of the Bastard Prince and his coterie, men and women of all walks of life who had taken to serve him as mercenary. Secondly the woman, Marigold Boffin, was revealed to have been a Gold League plant within his organization - though some claim this if fallacious and duplicitous - to ensure if it came to it the Tiger would be slain. Thirdly a Blockade that was in place from Qadira upon Ephia's Well was immediately lifted - for what little that gained with so much of the Sea of Pearls abstaining from the War or embroiled with Feud or Treachery with Qa'im. Fourthly a mass-seizure of tens of thousands of Dinar worth of property and possessions from the mercenary outfit of the Prince which held Voiced Property in the Plaza, numerous rooms in the Krak de Rose, the Trade Hall of the Souk, and more in glorious trade with the Gold League.

But just as the Gold League gives, they operate on Merit. And with their merit dissolved did Legate Balstan see the full force of Ephia thrown at the perpetrators of the Banafsi Mission Massacre.

Many would weep, many would morn, but to many - It was the first introduction on the grand stage to the Prelate Argent Argyris. Who in the wake of this tragedy is credited with the Execution of the Qadiran Bastard Prince, arriving from the Creep with a bloodied tiger pelt in tow. Who would go on to become an instrumental figure in the Kardesler of the Sultan, in the coming weeks diplomacy and politics, and ultimately himself run for Legate of the Second Seat in the month of Maribeh.

Who by word of his Legate Candidate Rival Sephidra Niridhe, Captain of the Torchbearers, and Survivor of the Banafsi Mission Massacre, paints a very different picture.

QuoteSephidra Niridhe
I ask you to not be so easily deceived. Argent was Arjuna's closest friend. His own hired killer Marigold fought for Arjuna when the Balladeers confronted him for Devlin's murder. Argent was crying over the bellows because Arjuna made him look like a crook. And he killed him for it.

I fought Arjuna on that cursed island. Tried to defend the citizens that died in vain. I only stood down after they had fallen or been killed. And left when ordered too by the victor. I am the one who saw them exiled.

And yet the legates have failed the people who died on that island. Tempo, Devlin, Alejandro. Because the five people who enabled Arjuna. Who gave him the means to commit these atrocities. They cannot be held accountable. The Janissaries have tried. But the law is poorly written.

And this is one of the most pressing issues I wish to address in the coming term! Our lawbook has been chipped away at the past year. But the only people benefitting from this are the crooks. With your help in committees and assemblies both, I will see them all checked and expanded upon.

...But let us not get ahead of ourselves in this tale.

There is yet much to come of Diplomacy and the War before the Dragon of Ephia takes Flight.

End Volume VIII

Upon the back of Groknak did the Envoy of Ephia's Well set off. They embarked with nary but a prayer to the Wheel and a hope that they may prevail where others failed. Legate Marcellus Saenus famously being bamboozled and tricked by the slippery and savvy Il Modan politicians to "Recognize" Il Modo's independence from Baz'eel and part with barrels of water for barrels of "Eel Oil".

Accompanying the Legate Balstan Gloamingdaith were Prelate Sephidra of the Torchbearers, Vizier Bashir, the illustrious Floating Fantasia, and others. The Floating Fantasia though for those unfamiliar are a wondrous troupe of fire-jugglers, lion tamers, strong men, clownery, and even the "Largest Baby". A veritable spectacle wherever they set foot with gusto and celebration following in their wake. The sort of thing that children clamor for and men and women yearn to enjoy to distract from the harsh reality of War.

While their invitation was a shrewd one, it is unfortunate that with near immediacy was the visit to the Grand Ducal Palace marred with embarrassment.

Quote from: Senior Scribe Bashir, Maribeh 2nd, IY 7788At the Grand Ducal Palace...became evident that we were considered unwelcome guests...tense atmosphere, Legate Balstan presented the Council with a gift... necklace from the era of the Caliphate....was not well received, as the Council thought it was meant to message a return to that era's power...which the Modini have no fond memories of. Prelate Niridhe also produced...necklace, related...history of Il Modo and Qadira...did not produce much of a reaction....

Where History failed the scholar though, his companions did not. The Floating Fantasia was supremely beloved by the Council of Il Modo for their games, gimmicks, and jaunty tunes. The dazzling displays from the lands afar brought to the floating Isle in dramatic fashion. And then...

The Disc's Biggest Baby. Uproarious howls, cheers, amazement, shock, a degree of revulsion but only in that way which makes one only more excited by the prospect. How is it so large? Is this the work of the Wheel? Of the strange waters of Ephia's Well? Do the Giants yet walk among the Great Ash to produce such offspring? The questions were manifold and even Paula herself took to amazement at the display.

With gifts and merriments abounding it came time for negotiation. The Il Modan gift for negotiation was put on full display as last time the request was a few barrels - now, with the war on, with the threat to come, with all that such entailed - 100 Barrels of Ephian Water!

Ever the shrewd negotiator the Legate Balstan offered 80 Barrels, to counter such Paula requested that a signature be placed recognizing Il Modo's Independence. A step beyond merely Marcellus speaking the words. A cunning trap. For a time the Game of Knives gave way to a dance of words and negotiation, before we found the demand - 100 Barrels and arrive as "Friends". Friendship though was omitted by Il Modo in the next round of negotiations and merely 100 barrels, and they found themselves squarely where it began, and around and around the dance went, until -  Well. Some matters of history are  Best summed up by first person recollection.

Quote from: Senior Scribe Bashir, Maribeh 2nd, IY 7788Prelate Niridhe told Legate Gloamingdaith...go ahead and sign...thus...hundred barrels...promised for Il Modo's attendance at Kardesler...also allowed us to hire Modini mercenaries, yet...this was a mere trifle that we could've done without the Council's permission, anyway....did not have enough time to recruit any Modini mercenaries...our ship left.

Though in time many would come to try and refute that 100 barrels but a drop of the Well's water output, it was given as a charitable gesture and freely. Many say the Gold Legate acted supremely Baz'eelan with such charity. Others say it was once more a Legate of the backwater refugee outpost of Ephia's Well finding themselves bested in the political arena by Il Modo. Those who were given so much, so freely, for merely sitting in upon a diplomatic meeting of the ongoing War. Among the White and Purple it became commonplace to throw this accusation at the Legate, with the Warmaster Rennik Colmes coining the phrase 'Hundred Barrel Balstan'.

Time would tell if this was a shrewd gamble by the Gold League's Legate, a scholarly sort of Sandstone College. If the old portents and ancient texts scoured showed some enlightened gamesmanship and path to negotiation with Il Modo of whom few if any have ever successfully out maneuvered.

...Or if this would show first hand why Sandstone College is roundly mocked by the Greater Academies of Baz'eel.

End Volume IX

Deep within the Valley of Wisdom, carved into the very bedrock of civilized life from aeon past lay the sacred site of Kardeslar. An assembly of gravity, weight, and prestige among the Great Ash Desert in which the Powers-that-Be assemble to debate, negotiate, and plot the course of the Future of all who dwell within their kingdoms. Graciously it is allowed that spectator permitted. And in each ceremony the fate of the Disc shifts and changes upon the wisdom espoused therein.

As ever from proximity, Ephia's Well was the first to arrive to discover her magnanimous self - Princess Shaimela - A firm believer in constitutional monarchy and the rule of law seated in presiding. Soon then would come the parade of City-States. Some would come gleefully, some ruefully, and some in Frostports case, outright insulted.

For brevity I include small samplings of the exchanges:

• For while Banafsi's woes are known to many did Sergeant Reyer attempt to sway his old friend the Exarch promising "One Million Men" - though to date none have been seen.
• Did Senior Scribe Bashir take to flattery and more to try and sway Tlonssya to little avail
• Gold Prelate Argent Argyris offering Arjuna's Tiger Pelt to the sobbing young woman from Qadira to no aid
• Gold Legate Balstan's pleas to Il Modo fallen upon deaf ears, interrupted by that scoundrel Dashir al-Dashir the Il Modini Bravo revealing to be Rashid al Rashid, spilling the brought barrel of water and protesting Il Modan involvement
• Purple Legate Marcellus granting Ka'esh's feared General known as Yatagahn granted the title of Grand Serdar, with full control over the war
• Frostport sending a rancid hunk of meat to sit and bake in the sun upon the chair gifted their attendance, with many bemoaning the wrong man was sought by the War Council for invitation.

Amidst this though came one shining light - The Dwarves of the auld hold of Got Valdhazr.

QuoteThat hold of dwarves, who in time immemorial swore vengeance against the 'Children of the Axe' - the Thousand Clans - and have, since that day, waged terrible war against them.

Little is known of they, save that what few people resist the onslaught of Iakmes to the south have taken refuge behind the heavy stone walls of the hold.

It is generally agreed, however, that the fate of the war shall rest upon their shoulders.

A rallying force out of the storybooks of old as these proud, grim, oft said doomed dwarves coming forward sacrificing Kulkundic pride to ask for Alliance. For Aid. The gravity of this gesture lost on no one.

For now the Union assembled had rallying call.


The new Union formed at Kardesler with eyes for the Eastern and Southern Theaters of War.
The new direction taken by the Grand Serder with a focus upon the Easter in preparation for Southern salvation.
The new pledges of old allies, embarking on not merely a war for survival but with direction.

While previously was written of the Eastern Front descending into a brutal campaign, and the Southern front being highlighted by a Salvation effort, Kardeslar all but solidified such.

To the East, Total Victory.
To the South, Ephia Invictus.

And while Kardeslar gave new momentum for fresh new victories,

Upon the horizon unbeknownst to all...

Internal strife looms upon the horizon...

Insurgency, Conscription, Financial Crisis, and more...

...As a Dragon's wings begin to spread.

End Volume X

The Monochromatic Pyramid, a victory first seized by the White League. The result of which was a Coup, Trial, and suicide of Legate Ricario Cassella. The Dual-Purple Pyramid was accused of austerity measures, favoring a bloated treasury over services to the peoples. What then would the Gold League cast as its spell upon the Stele? What awaited of the fiercely independent, merit-focused, supporters of "Total Victory, Nothing Less".

It began of course, as politics often does. Titles. Within the first half hour a number of new positions were etched into the Stele. Palatial Architect, Expeditionary Captain, a White League rival (suspected plant) raised to Vizier, and more. This though is not an anomaly in Ephia - an Election is over, the supporters shall enjoy their time in the shade.

Swiftly though matters grew terse as tensions rose with the Purple League and the Warmaster Colmes. Numerous accusations against the newly raised Vizier two days after his trial, overseen by Legate Balstan. Now the more grandiose and bombastic Argent rising from Prelate to Legate - and in the Dragon's wake tension swirled. While some politicians balk at such he reveled in it. Billowing smoke rings amidst the crows and cries of those deemed lesser. On more than one occasion gladly espousing that if he is to be cast as a Villain, he shall act as one - If it means the District raised, if it means the War won, if it means Total Victory.

A number of political overtures swirled despite the best efforts of the entrenched purple political bureau. While tensions rose with the Scribes of Baz'eel, the Janissaries of the Fourth, there was little or nothing that could stymie the continued and compounded might of the Gilded Pyramid. Legal Reform brought sweeping changes to what many beleived were bedrock laws - new classifications of what it means to be voiced or voiceless, disobeying a Legate a punishable offense, Janissary dragging their feet on cases put to task, and the undermining of legates a capital offense.

On the backs of such came a spltiting of Ephia through its usual lines. The Accord, the Political Leagues, and the Adventuring Populace. A rare conjunction occurred however in the failed effort of "Conscription".

That men and women of Ephia's Well, be they old Voiced or new Refugee, will and must commit to Total Victory. What began as a Warmaster's effort to bolster forces for higher risk missions to ensure victory over mercenary apathy turned into a Gold League watershed - Who decides merit, who decides conscription, who decides what goes where. In the chaos many made their fortunes, as is the want of opportunist, but a number of loyalists found themselves given pause.

But we get ahead of ourselves... for the tenure of the Dragon is a lengthy one - and amidst sweeping changes towards "Total Victory" in Ephai's Well - Upon the horizon begins to billow plumes of smoke.

For while Ephia has adopted the philosophy of Total Victory espoused on the Eastern Front? Ka'esh created it. Harsh mercenaries taken to a free enterprise, doing whatever in their power to maintain that freedom and hold position precariously between Baz'eel and Qa'im - yet managing to out-maneuver both by any means, by the only means.

Incredible magics of its Vizier. And the ruthless conquest of its General now named the Grand Serdar of the War. The Eastern Front would shift to become the focus of both Ka'esh and the Gold League in the coming weeks.

...At Any Cost will be put to the fullest test.

For now the Dragon celebrates victory with large smoke rings and lounging on its throne. Scholar Balstan given the supportive co-Legate to enact many of his philosophical queries and academic proposals put into real world practice. An unconventional but wholly effective partnership that began as Legate and Prelate but would go on to be one of the most impactful pairs to ever sit upon the Assembly Chamber.

But impactful is a loaded word, with many outcomes. For soon? Soon comes Arslan....

End Volume XI

"Total Victory. At any cost." - As written of previously, this statement was the clarion call of the Gold League in counter of the Purple League's Ephia Invictus. A stylized Ka'eshan practice of asymmetrical warfare eschewing Agasian Honor and embracing a singular notion that the Ashfolk have espoused since the Twin Cities began their ancient feud - War is unsavory. Where others may shy from its brutality and hardship the Gold League's call of Total Victory. At any cost. Sympathy and mercy may be had during recovery if one survives the war.

In time though would the Eastern Philosophy begin to bleed southward as Iakmes amassed victories - unconventional as they may be. Maribeh 18th came word that the city of Arslan had fallen - surrendering to Iakmes believing it shall spare them fate. This was discovered by a band of Slaves freed from Orcan caravan by the Torchbearers and Cinquefoil Rose as it crossed the Exodus.

QuoteToday...Maribeh 18 7788...rescued slaves from a clan convoy...people...rescued were from Arslan...had opened...gates to the clans...surrender, believing...would be spared. But they were put to...axe. Most of the women, children and elderly...killed...rest...captive. The captives...not know why...being transported north.

Arslan...now held by the Clan. We do not know if...all of the people that had been taken into slavery or...yet more in Arslan.

Acolyte Narwen Alendiel
Seat of Research and Culture

Supplication. Surrender. Yielding - met with massacre, with enslavement. This would go one to set the tone for the entirety of the Gilded Pyramid as the tragedies brought by the Clans upon Arslan removed any sympathetic thought or notion of coexistence. That this was not a war over territory, or resources. That this was a war for Survival. That if Total Victory was not achieved would Ephia's Well meet the same fate. Women and Children slaughtered in the street the likes not seen since La Banda Rossa was unleashed upon Ibithal's reign of this place. That the survivors would be sold into slaves and sent "Northward" for reasons unknown. That life as it is known in the Great Ash would come grinding to a halt as Boardwork, luxury, and all carved here cast to ruin.

Eleven days later did the armies of the Grand Serdar reach Arslan from Ka'esh. Upon Tabbah First it would be seen first hand by a dispatching from Ephia's Well. As the forces of Ka'esh razed Arslan and purged the lands of any would by sympathizers. Tales and reports vary as they are want in these affairs but I have through archaeological practice attempted to string together a cogent understanding.

Beginning first with the records of Senior Scribe Bashir, of the Diplomatic Seat.

QuoteBashir Khatara
Live and drink... The toll of war is heavy... To the east, not much remains of the communities of Ghrep, or Tu'ral Tur... If you had loved ones who lived there, you have my deepest and most sincere condolences...

This was the first showing of what was to come, as matters escalated further. What was witnessed in Arslan was not spread far and wide, but the implications of such began to be felt across the populace at large.

First from seats of power...

QuoteCouncil,

...outskirts and streets are now swelling once again with refugees...from Arslan, a place made a ruin...a fortress by the generals of Iakmes.  ...observe, hear, and confirm any news about this place.

I am opening this file so that we might...would like interviews conducted of the refugees from here...numbers tabulated if possible.  Can they be armed?  Are there useful folk among them?

Let this file be...for all our concern...regarding this aggrieved nearby neighbor.

-ARGENT,
LEGATE,
DRAGON

While the Gilded Pyramid's focus was on potential use of the refugees as allies and forces for the coming strife with Iakmes, after all those who lose their homes to Orcs may well be eager to march upon Orcs anew. There came from other reportings inklings of possibilities on the wind, of a more clear and organized effort. Reports scattered and sparse.

QuoteBuried cache of weapons...discovered during a journey to the Ayyabas...weapons were iron, lacking any maker's mark...and of a quantity to supply roughly twenty to forty warriors... recently hidden. As the Orc favor bronze...likely that these weapons were intended for another. I have my suspicions about exactly who...

...The weapons cache was destroyed by the Vizier. Too hastily...reaching out to the Astronomers to see...dummy box...buried in its place...warded as to alert us...uncovered by its intended recipient...we will want to know.

Lt. R. Colmes
Warmaster

Influx of refugees...odd hidden weapons caches... A picture begins to paint itself.

Though hindsight is forever the utmost clarity that any diviner could ask for rather than foresight, I share a simple message overheard many weeks later between Balestriere Mirielle Rosseau and Legate Balstan in the Krak de Rose.



A choice was made to aid the Boundarymen over Arlsan, prior to the fabled Battle of the Boundary in Tammuz. It was objectively decided by the War Council that the Boundary would be prioritized over Arslan. In that time since Tammuz did Arslan be reached by the Orcs, surrender, suffer and be enslaved, scatter to the winds, and find death at the hands of the Grand Serdar and Ka'esh's armies.

...and in the coming days the Seekers-After-Death would remind all of Ephia's Well of that fact.

With their own version of Total Victory, at Any Cost. As Tabbah would be the month the entire scope and scale of the War would be forever changed.

...as Tabbah 8th, control of Ephia's Well would change hands for the first time since the fall of Ibithal.

End Volume XII

As the Gilded Pyramid began its robust efforts there were so many undertakings. Broadening of travel, boosting of trade, a rise of merchants visiting, negotiations underway with Gohari Heavy Industries of Baz'eel, and more. The Maestro's Union, after small quarrel with the Glaziers of the White League, building an economic hegemony within the Souk of Salt and Spices. Prosperity abounded as new political titles gave way to new wealth circulated and new business. Yet there is a saying among the Great Ash Desert. Spread far and wide across the sands by caravaneers, boardworker, Stonefolk Laborers, and more:


For every two dinar changing hand, there were refugees baking in the cruel sun. Sweltering beneath the misery of Tabbah. Amidst them - whispers of inequity. Tabbah 8th was a day as so many in Ephia's Well. Janissary tending their patrol, Boardworkers tending their contract, Senior Scribe Bashir cleaning up another of Martin Ashbury's unfortunate mistakes, Apothar Estellise Azimi stoking conflict with the local denizens, the Maqbara's call to prayer and mourning, and so much more. For Ephia is a large place housing many and there is always something going on.

Until the quiet of the morning was shattered by a chant of "Bread and Safety, Bread and Home" rising on high. Not from the Bellows as usual feud taken, not in the Plaza with copper cups partaking of water and Voiced debate of antiquity. These were the Refugees, so lauded by the Whites as in need of help. So lauded by the Purple as those that must be protected if they are leal. So lauded by the Gold League as potential allies if they show merit.

A prince in distress, shook the city.

QuoteZosmere Never-Crown
RIOTS...IN THE SOUK. FIRE...SPLINTERED WOOD.
Gather...courage, your discipline...resolve, and extinguish the fire of unrest.

In the sweltering sun chaos ruptured like a blister. Upon the steps of the Temple of B'aara did battlelines begin to draw between the Golds and Whites, between the populace and the Cinquefoil, between fury and anger. A clash of Merchants and Refugees that threatened the age old political feud of the settlement of Ephia's Well. Smaller fires gave way to larger fires, cracks in wood gave way to splinters, and above on high did the Demon merely laugh and laugh.

Such delicious tumult. The chaos long bubbling beneath released. Would these refugees assimilate as the Tonsured accepting the Yoke of Voiced and will of Baz'eel? Would these refugees embrace-

Before any questions could be answered came a call of distress that sent a chill through the spines of all who bore the small clay chip upon their Toga's lapel. All who stuffed the small clay chip into their Worminger's sack. All who stuffed the small clay ship into their potion satchel to hear of the next boardwork contract.

QuoteBashir Khatara
A great throng of orcs is amassing at the Echoing Canyons! They're coming! Please assist in thwarting their passage if you are able!

From the west a massive host of the Orc'ah, the Bronze of Iakmes descending!

They.

Are.

Coming.

Amidst the clarion call of Legate Balstan Gloamingdaith did Commander Rosseau of the War Council begin to amass forces. One of the largest hosts in memory assembled upon the Sand Gate, to march westward and meet the Orc upon the Field lest they reach Ephia's Well and the least defended of its many gates.

As their march began the shade took to rippling with the barest flickers of ash, mixing with the fires coming from the Souk's riot that continued without relent - a number of Janissaries making to secure the outer gate and prevent it spilling into the public space. Orders given that the Refugees outside the Walls - primarily the Gate of Sand where attack expected, were permitted entrance into the City. En Masse they raced and rushed to the fortress of the Krak de Rose in terror and panic.

While reports of the skirmish in the Echoing Canyon vary it is said that by the moment did the Ash grow thicker and start to burn the lungs. Raising ankle deep as Orc'ah rangers and scouts blended and tore through the Ephian Militia with coordinate precision. As the Storm worsened though came call from the Astronomers of Q'tolip - That the storm to the West makes way for Ephia proper. That Citizens should seek refuge beneath the Shade.

While the tale is gripping it is important to take pause. For this is where the stage is set.

Within the Souk at this time the Riot had taken on a robust Gelleman glee, was it a party, was it a riot, was it wanton for the sake of? None I have spoken with could give clear answer but what is known and flung about assemblies even to this day is that Lyrist Domergue and others had sided with the Refugees in arguments vouching for their points and purpose. Ever the champion of the Downtrodden as the White League's impact on history time, and again. Wherever there is injustice they shall aspire.

Within the Krak de Rose, after the Gold Legate's Decree of Sanctuary, did the refugees pour in droves into the city abandoning their makeshift tents and squalor to huddle as throng among the Fortress of the Cinquefoil Rose. A reprieve not only from the threat of orcs to come but the Storm that was expected to ravage much of the region with Ash.

To the West engaging the forces of Iakmes was one of the largest hosts that Ephia has amassed since the War, spurned on by the fact that the Orcs were this time not on the defensive but the Attack - making a direct marching path towards Ephia's Well for the first time in this Conflict.

And in the Plaza of the Pyramid begins to be a fourth outbreak of chaos - The Janissaries of the Fourth Legion begin to redirect their patrols - pulling back from the Gates, pulling back from the Krak de Rose, while they maintain perimeter of the Souk to prevent the riots from spreading further.

And in the cracks between, smiles the Sabotage. As all the chaos comes to a screeching halt. A dead silence overtakes Ephia's Well. The chanting of the Souk dulls to a low din as the despondent no longer worry over the inequity of taxation, the scared whimpers and concerned pleading in the Krak de Rose to allow the throng to stay muted as the blood begins to rung cold.

QuoteScribe Martin Ashbury
[Quivering.] Uhm...

.. help.

The Palatial Pyramid, the seat of the Sultan, the home of the Stele, the path to the Divan of War, the beating heart of Ephia's Well and denoted symbol of Baz'eel's colonial efforts, the very source of the strength of the Accord.

...barred and sealed.

QuoteShe-The-Annihilate
[The voice of the demagogue who, just hours before, caused such chaos among the Souk, resounds crisp across the Bellows.]

Hark now...the voice of the dispossessed. To the voice of life.

We have taken...your Pyramid... hostages. Great notables...fetid Voiced...Scribes.

Try to force your way in...we will kill them all. Try to slither in...furtive, we will kill them all. We know...your secret ways, your passages. We know the shape of your heart.

We wish to negotiate...

For on Tabbah 8, The Battle of Broken Inkwells had begun.

...Ephia's Well had Fallen.

End Volume XIII

The attack of Tabbah 8 would call not only the security of the once aspired "Fortress Ephia" into question, but the very path of Ephian politics for the first time since the death of Legate John Syter and the reveal of Diakosian betrayal. Blood pooling in the streets of the Well as the Pyramid taken, as Martin Ashbury executed, as negotiations undertaken, as orcs attack the Well in full, as Sabotage attempts of the Shade.

As many would anticipate the Government response of the Gilded Pyramid was the pursuit of Total Victory. The long debated, defanged, refanged, and contested "Conscription Act" was put into effect with immediacy. Overnight what was a growing city with aspirations of Metropolis, engaging in war afar, was thrust into the horrors of the Axe brought to the very heart of the city.

Human sympathizers alongside the Orc'ah collaborating during an Ash Storm to exploit Ephia's greatest weakness - It's morality and trust. Masquerading as Refugees upon the Walls, learning the lay of the land, the ins and outs of the politics. Watching, learning, growing. Until the single perfect opportunity to rip at its very soul.

In the aftermath came a swath of mixed emotion - for some, fury. Unbridled fury. Revenge and Wroth spitting across the Bellows. For others, dread. A life of Voiceless hardship in Ephia's Well was now giving way to the orders of Conscription.

La Banda Rossa's rising Balestriere Emiliana Laurenitis was empowered to command the host of Conscripts Voiceless, the Accord were free to "Pick and Choose" among the Voiceless who would make up their hosts, and the Voiced were given a leisurely time period to decide which force of the Accord they would choose to side with.

Scribal hands shaking not from too much coffee, but from the last sobs of Martin Ashbury before being thrown from the top of the pyramid, enacting these new laws and commands as quickly as they could muster. But in the cracks of a vengeful governance the wounds would begin to fester.  Civil blood smeared across sacred stones by most uncivil and violent means.

Ten days later. amassed the force of Cinquefoil and Legion Conscripts, dozens sent to crash the gates of a nearby Orcan encampment. Promises of vengeance, of a better life, of a future draped in Baz'eelan riches. Of the many sent - only a mere five would return alive, be gifted their voice, and be lauded.  Total Victory, at any cost.

This news sent shockwaves through many already unsettled, particularly among the Krak de Rose as quiet consternation grew to open dissidence.  A handful of days later amidst a flurry of calculating declarations by the Dragon Argent - The Grandmaster of the Cinquefoil Rose and Warmaster would march in tandem up to the Pyramid's steps with host behind them in confrontation at the Chamber of Rule.

Tension gave way to debate which gave way to resolution - With a demand that she bow with an actor's aplomb, Conscription was ended with the ease it began.

Lives spent with uncertainty gave way to a question of future upon the battlefield.

...And on the eve of another march that had been scheduled well in advance by the Warmaster to march Conscripts against the great Siege Engines of the Orc'ah.

Only now such would be done without Conscript. Amidst political turmoil at home, conflict abroad, and many still processing their grief as only Ephian's may - Through boardwork, Wine, and Mizzar.

For in a matter of hours would be a massive conflict at the Eastern Front.

End Volume XIV

Upon the eastern front - one day after Conscription had failed, a new weapon deployed: The Kan'zuzu,

By utilization of the Wroth and a heavy price paid in ritual curse taken upon himself, Lieutenant Colmes was able to crack a Ninth Spoke sealed missive and secure answer at long last - How the Melek were able to master the Kan'zuzu. Along with Professor Flint and his favored Sandstone Student turned Scribe Celybuin Hui'nalyw, research efforts bore fruit and a possibility was made to sway the newly raised Kan'zuzu into a brutal and effective fighting force. Swayed by the workings of the dwarven bard Thrasamund Sorrow-Marked, it proved a strong showing of the alliance between the Dwarfhold of the South and the forces of Ephia's Well.

A new aspect of Total Victory was enacted. Asymmetrical warfare.

Read plain the accounting of the Warmaster himself, Rennik Colmes of Ephia's Well.

QuoteThe completion of the Enemy's war machine forced a change in plans, as is all too common. I am told that the weapon was fired, obliterating a mountain in the process of calibrating its aim. The destruction of the device was deemed prudent, and Sergeant Ashworth was provided with a bomb capable of reducing it to rubble.

The Kan'zuzu proved instrumental in providing us with a clear path into the basement of the Enemy's fortress. From there, we encountered heavy enemy resistance as we progressed past traps and barricades, endured the onslaught of spears and spells before reaching the top of the tower, where the bomb was set and detonated. Losses were incurred, but the tower was taken.

The Orc garrison remains. We are in a better position than we were before, but the threat has not yet passed. They will not take long to gather themselves, and I suspect in two days, perhaps three, they will rally and advance. The ruins still present our best chance at pulling their forces into tighter quarters.

Lt. R. Colmes
Warmaster

For in "Total Victory" espoused rhetoric came the notion that new and differing ideas of war would be implemented. The Agasian Methods of the past, of Ephia Invictus, and more would be set aside. This is not a war to be won with honor, nor with pride, but with canny and cunning. If the Warmaster could not send Conscripts to crash their gates, he would deploy the very beasts and insects of the world to burrow beneath their feat. For there was little that could be stopped when Got Valdhazr and Ephia worked in conjunction.

Rather than all four of them being feasted alive, the Warmaster and Dwarf, Gnome and Elf, find their way to coax the Kan'zuzu queen to favor. And with canny enlist her brood to war. Victory was achieved and the Tower was taken, the siege weapon destroyed.

The next day, while the dead mourned, was Legate Marcellus Saenus returned to the throne of Ephia's Well. Now to sit opposite of Legate Argent.

...Who in a canny last ditch effort with Balstan Gloaimingdaith, instituted a myriad of legal, bureaucratic, and political problems for the incoming Legate Argent.

A financial crisis as the treasury near bankrupted during the time of war
Naming of differing postings and appointments
The cost of Voice raised to 15,000 dinar
And much, much more.

Though Ephia snatched a costly victory absent their long planned conscripts thanks to asymmetrical warfare, a political trap had been sprung.

Legate Saenus came in to a boiling cauldron of camel feces with a week of chaos and mayhem.
Legate Argent retreated to Ka'esh to prepare efforts and scout the front for one week's time.

...and amidst such a time came pressing news from the Front.

Quote from: BearicAn open missive arrives to all in Divan operations, this one is marked as "VITAL"]

VITAL! Communique in regards to Eastern Efforts at the Lover's Gap War Encampment: VITAL!

Besiegement is holding.
Kan'zuzu forces have been exhausted, they won't be available for any further operations.

The Enemy Host has been broken in the far east by the Kha'eshi.

Remainders of this host have fled towards the camps by the bridge and work their way towards the ruins before Lover's Gap. Some eight thousand orcs.

A forward force will be needed to rout the Enemy and meet in the center kill zone, and slay Zthae'ikos, The Spear.

A secondary force will be needed to make passage through the western most camps, set fire and ruin to them.

Joined forces can then claim the Hill.

THIS NEEDS TO HAPPEN SOON. We need to clear a path for our allies from the East, and secure them from any treachery along the path.

- As dictated by Sergeant Seymour Duncan.

...A city in political turmoil and locked governance.
...A city near bankruptcy with its treasury hemmoraghing.
...A city with its military force reduced from Conscriptions overturn.

And arrives word on Illul 5th. That upon the 6th, Zthae'ikos, The Spear would be struck. Lest all would be lost. Unbeknownst to many soon would come The Battle for Lover's Gap - Which would come to be known colloquially as Samton's Last Stand, the last unified effort of Ephia's Well and Got Valdhazr...

...The battle which would serve as macabre audition and setting stage for the monumental Attack on Arslan...and all the chaos that entailed from such.

End Volume XV

The Legion's taking of Lover's Gap proved to be a turning point in the war effort of Ephia's Well. Absent of its conscription, absent of its Imperialist ambitions of the Sultanate, absent of Ka'esh's salvation, absent of anything it was left to stand on its own.

For hours did the fighting drag on, as Champion Aurellio battered the Western Gate to no avail as one by one his support waivered but his spirit never did. Allies falling to orcan spear. From time to time did the Nadiri Celybuin try and coax reinforcements from the main charge but time and again it was shirked, a sparse few one, two, answering the call. They refused to leave Legate Saenus' side as he charged time and again into the maw of the beast, only to be rebuked when the Orcan calvalry slaughtered the back camp.

Over. Over and over. There was no shift in tactics. There was no shift in approach. Men and women on the Western Front were dying. Men and women in the main front were dying. It did not matter. Rally. Cry for the Axe. Rush once more into the breach. Again. Again. They've struck the Camp. The Ballistaemen of the Legion are being butchereed. Retreat. Retreat. The flank is secured. Rush once more into the breach. Again. Again. They've struck the Camp again. Retreat. Retreat. The Flank is Secured. Rush once more.

Six times. Six times did the order come from the rear to charge into the breach and then retreat when the flank was exposed. The west was being torn to pieces. The rear flank was being torn to pieces. There was no wise calculation, there was no scholastic tactic, there was no learned approach to this matter by the once lauded Priest of Izdu. Nothing changed. Nothing evolved. It was the same over and over. In this grim and endless stage-show of Ephian live spent upon the western front, upon the rear front, so Legate Saenus could lead yet another failed charge. Nothing changed.

That is - Until Legate Saenus was wounded and rushed by stretch back to Ephia's Well.

It was at this point command fell to Sergeant Samton Ashworth and the ardent support at his side of Prince Zosmere Never-Crown. Portion of the main charge was broken to the western front despite the protest of some of the Purple Legate's loyalists.

"THEN WE WILL FIGHT WITH FEWER. GO. THEY NEED YOU." bellowed the large sergeant turned giant upon the field.

For even surrounded with the threat of death, for even forced six times into the breach, he would send relief to the beleaguered western front. With fewer men at his side, with less support...

He would square his shoulders. He would nod to the dwarven prince.

And he would lead a seventh charge. It would be the final charge.

Sergeant Samton Ashworth, beloved by many of Ephia's Well, was given an impossible challenge. Which was harder - An expertly raised series of Orcan Palisade with thousands battle-hardened Agasian fanatics behind it... or his Head?

On Illul 5th we had the answer.

Sergeant Samton Ashworth would drive head first and crash the gates. He would rally the Eastern and Western Fronts. He would march through the camp of Lovers Gap with aplomb slaughtering all who dared stand in his way, flanked by Prince Nevercrown. He would through the army of orcs cut a bloody swath to the beleaguered and bravest Champion Aurellio and the last few of his men surviving on the Legate neglected Western Front. He would reunite the force of Ephia's Well.

And up the hill they would charge.

He wouldn't live to see the Gardens of Zthae'ikos, and the first glimpse by many of Ephia of the odd meditations and peace of the Orc'ah high command contrary to its ravenous legions in a terrifying juxtaposition of how dangerous Iakmes truly was.

He wouldn't live to see the Betrayal of Zosmere, who he stood by so many times, and forged the bonds of Got Valdhazr before its prince was salughtered and Keep sundered as so doomsayed.

But even if the Demon itself descending from the Sky?

No power on or beyond the Disc could stop that man, on that day, from taking that hill.

It would be a hill he would die upon.

But gods, it would be his.


End Volume XVI

QuoteGwilym Bitter-Oath
HARK, YE TRAITORS, HARK WELL!

We are condemned to death, to ruin, to doom. We of Got Valdhazr shall lose estate, honour, our lives, and all. This is our fate. This is our prophecy.

From when I were but a babe, 'ere three-centuries long past, I saw this moment in a dream. Now it comes to be. Remember us, for so long as you draw breath. Remember the blood on your hands, remember our faces, our voices. REMEMBER.

Condemn us. Let it not be in vain.

These words cracked the night of Illul 11. The arrival of the Dwarven peoples at Kardeslar was declared a single unifying moment. In which the Princess Shaimela, the Vizier of Ka'esh, the Legates of Ephia's Well, and the Elder of the Holdfast stood in harmony. In unity. In defiance. They so roundly declared they would rise together. An oath made in sacred place of boons and dominion.

...That is until the gleaming treasure of Arslan glittered. Until the thirst for vengeance upon the Seekers-After-Death took root in Ephia. When the marred jewel of the Great Ash Desert took to its basest instincts. Of treasure. Of vengeance. Of promises of victory - if only they would march with Ka'esh to put the traitors to spear and flame. Surely it would draw forth Iakmes.

And in this single decision a turning point in the war. The Dwarves who were promised so much... that Ephia would send aid and food through the blockade, that Ephia would march to salvation, that Ephia would march to honor its agreement. All thrown aside.

From the lips of the Prince Never-Crown spewed auld and ancient curse upon the Divan of War. He and his peoples storming out, departing for the Tablet or beyond.

The words of Champion Aurelio ringing across the Chip.

QuoteAurelio d'Lyon
Live and drink Ephia's Well. I have some important words to share with you all, but in particular, to you Prince Zosmere I must address.

We of the Cinquefoil Rose have stood by the dwarves of Got Valdhazr since your arrival. We have planned and enacted great efforts to see your holdfast secured, to see relief to the beleagured within. Some of us, have even walked into the maw of the fiery depths of our world to find you salvation.

And now? You know what you have done Zosmere, I do not fault you for your anger. Yet in your anger you have struck against us. Against our belov'd citadel. So I must regard you there for what you are. A foreign prince who has wrought harm to my home.

I am sorrowful and torn, my heart broken by all that has happened. I wish dearly to save Got Valdhazr but I cannot. I beg you only plead your cause to my Grandmaster, for now, you have - as you know it true - comitted yourself to your fate.

Send word if you wish to appeal to her bless'd wisdom, that great Grandmaster Elizabetha and her heart, she holds much love for the peoples of the world. Yet do not come to the Krak des Roses seeking succour otherwise. I shall have to turn thee away.

Yet there are those who say the Champion himself bade the Prince to speak upon the Divan, standing aside him as the words of curse thrown. While the Rose offers with one hand -

It takes with the other.

For soon after with near immediacy came an all too familiar crooning of the Mirliva upon the Bellows.

QuoteEmilia Laurentis
The exile, and enemy of this /war/ has been captured. His head, that of the Dwarven Prince, shall be removed beyond the Gate of Roses within moments. You who revel in the result of battle can give witness.

We of the accord march, unified at last, against the host of Iakmes. You who stand against it will be met with this fate. So speaks the Mirliva of the Well, Balestriere of the Banderossi. From Blood to coin to ash.

Skirmish lets fly blood, spell, and steel upon the Gate of the Rose as a phyrric attempt is made to thwart the execution of the Nevercrowned. The Cinquefoil Rose offering with one hand, and taking with another as the Banda Rossa's premiere head-hunters rip Zosmere from the depths of the Creep. A fate that many of the Orentid remember all too well.

The duality of humanity on bare display: Word honored and word broken. Aid offered, and head taken.

If to sprinkle fine Ghulati Salt into the wound came further bellow:

QuoteEmilia Laurentis
Sub Overseer Uz'Khalak, the Banderossi await our payment at the fortress of the Rose. Legate Argent, the cursed traitor, cultist, and enemy of the well -Never Crown-, shall indeed never bear a crown. His head is removed.

To the Senate of Low Kulkund did the Banda Rossa's Mirliva pledge both contract and head of the severed prince.

To those by the Assembly in the past deemed vile and enemy for their attempts upon the Torchbearer.
To those by the Legates in the past declared false and unworthy of recognition for their claim over Mount Kulkund and the auld Holds.
An Officer of Ephia pledged fealty, so long as the bloodmoney were to come.

And in one fell swoop the promise of Princess Shaimela raised at Kardesler thrown to dust. Agreement thrown by the wayside. For there is no place for promises in Total victory. No matter the cost. And in every instant of Total War- The first casualty is honor, the second casualty is decency, and soon comes blood.

For to fight Iakmes is to not preen the glory of war, nor its medals, nor the heroism of the Balladeers of the Grandmaster. To fight Iakmes is to fight extinction. And when pushed so far to the brink, Humanity will do as it will ever do.

It will survive. No matter the cost.

Seven days later would Iakmes' forces take the Holdfast of Got Valdhazr, butchering the Dwarves to the last as the Siege Broken. Ephia's focus shifted to Arslan.

And in this singular action did the true face of the Cinquefoil Rose take to show.

The Balladeers' decline from Hero to idle observer falling by the wayside. The Grandmaster's great tales of glory given way to the brutal efficiency, professionalism of La Banda Rossa. Little did the Lyrist and Balladeers know they know it would cost them much face, much support, and much Dinar at the assemblies in the wake of Arslan and elections to come. This would be the cost of Victory.

But with the promise of at last ending the threat of Iakmes? Nothing mattered more. The teeth of La Banda Rossa shall be borne.

And woe to the Dwarves, to Iakmes, to the Balladeers, to the Legion, and any others who stood in their way.

Condottiero Mirielle Rosseau had entered the Theater of War.

And Arslan would be her masterpiece.

End Volume XVII

Total Victory. No matter the cost. These six words beaten into the heads of the Ephian citizenry at every turn with the Gold League's meteoric rise to power amidst the doldrums of the war. That through a focused effort they would adapt the policy of Ka'esh and warp it into a truly ephian identity. The mercenary boardworker lauded in medals, the Accorded officer gleaming on high in honor and victory on behalf of the Heron, the Legates taken to the field of war while other leaders of other settlements watch on. The difference however between the Assault on Arslan and the previous battles falls into a singular category:The Astronomers of Q'tolip

Exiled from glorious Baz'eel for their defiance of heterodox philosophy and magical theory the Astronomers have been part and parcel of Ephia's existence since its conquering in 7777 and its division among the Three Powers. While Nadiri and Apothar alike have partaken of the War against Iakmes in many shape and form it would be at the Assault of Arslan their full powers once more on display in a stunning showcase of Magical prowess not seen in the Great Ash Desert since the Battle of Red Hill, made famous by Meteor Mae's decimation of the Sibilant Forces.

In a veritable showcase of magical projects a great deal of resources and undertakings were unveiled for what the Warmaster deemed the turning point of the War. Among a litany of other projects taken to the field and theories put to practice were:

QuoteDM Shout: Apothar Mae Stern presents some new fangled invention from the Tower of Q'tolip in the Krak des Roses...

DM Shout:
Three mannequins stand motionless, covered in thick, heavy fabrics, connected by tubes to a helmet companion, cradling in their arms a strange device, glass containers filled with some strange, swirling chemical mixture.

Maepalm Launchers and Prototype Suits

Though the details are proprietary three prototype suits and launchers, suitable for use by the non-arcanist, were introduced into the field in Arslan. One for the La Banda Rossa, one for the Janissary, and one for the Unaffiliated. To take them as they please for deployment upon the front.

This powered armor and accompanying mobile launchers offered a differing approach than the Tenth Legion's artillery barrage. A horrifying chemical compound spewed upon the masses of oncoming orcs that would not permit their usual battle-hardened resistence to flames to hinder. Raw, unmitigated power and ingenuity pressed to the killing fields resulting in a high volume of Orc'ah Casualties.

The suits protecting the user from both Orcish magics as well as potential crossfire,

[close]

QuoteDM Shout:
A harrowing exchange takes play over the Eagle's Mount... a fluffy of purple and bright rainbow magics breaks into a strange silence

The Banners of the Heron and Tapestry

In a robust and splendid craft of artisan skill mixed with esoteric magics the Nadiri Zain lead a project of creation of Banners of the Heron. These pieces worked with Senior Scribe Bashir, traders in Baz'eel for the highest quality silks, and a great many Nadiri of the Tower and Apothar Isaac Naught saw a splendid ritual undertaken.

Utilizing the Nadiri's thesis works on Tulpal Manifestation the very essence of artistry and imagination tempered with hope and prosperity were woven into the very threads. A patriotic symbolism emboldened by Aspectral Prism of indomitable spirit, of clarity of purpose, of pride and zeal against the encroaching extinction broached by Iakmes and his terrible legion.

As well as the very lifesblood of Nadiri Zain himself, spilled as Senior Scribe Bashir executed him with a long needed hammered directly into his skull to bleed out upo the Tapestry in ultimate sacrifice - to die for the Well.

It would go on in the field to assist robustly in rebuking the foul machinations of the War Groknak but so too the lingering influence of Iakmes' scepter.

[close]

QuoteDM Shout:A strange light has fallen, somewhere in the desert. It hangs where it fell, mostly bled, but lingering like an aurora. A covetous hue to the sky, like gold.

DM Shout: That which had alighted upon the desert vanishes, for those who watch from afar. A zone of little color, dull drab, drained replaces it.

DM Shout: The moon shines bright tonight, down onto the sands. Pale and bright, O' Moonlight.

DM Shout: Moonlight fights with something else in the east. A patch of sky that has had many hues tonight flickers, but holds...

DM Shout: Once. Twice. Thrice. Something... snaps.

The Killing Light

It is a light.

It kills. Anything else you had to have been at Arslan to witness the raw power of.

[close]

And lastly, attended to by Zol Nur Apothar, Nadiri Shum Sheroy, Nadiri Voutan Mair - Zenithar Ishakr's pride and joy.

The Mobile Shade Prototype. Enclosed an excerpt from his research and orders of Deployment.

QuoteWe have been in close discussions with the Sultanate over the past days....detachment...of...safeguard the headquarter...With all due caution... we have agreed to break apart a portion of the Shade...carry it onto the field...Safety paramount... overwhelm the camp, it would be...unparalleled disaster...

- Ishkar

The Mobile Shade and Advanced Ashstorm Prediction

If the Ash were able to overwhelm the Camp, it would be an unparalleled disaster. And with the portents and readings of the Tower's many lenses it was anticipated that a Storm would be cresting upon the horizon at the time of the Battle as chosen by Ka'esh for maximum disruption of the Orc'ah. Fortunately however the Astronomers of Q'tolip have at our disposal magics and occultism unparalleled.

Attended by the Apothar and the Nadiri the main headquarters was protected from a storm that would have otherwise crippled both logistics and claimed countless lives - it allowed not only environmental refuge but in the swirling of the storm itself were the forces of Ephia able to rest, regroup, and reprepare for the next push in the engagement.

A reprieve in a long day of fighting is a rarity and can make all the difference between victory and defeat, in life and death. For if an army marches on its stomach, it battles on its respite. And with new vigor and zeal were the forces of Ephia able to marshal and prevail.

A far preferable outcome to the skin of our Accorded Officers, Legates, Artilleriest, and other warriors sloughed off and burned as their Risen corpses rose burning and in agonizing screams.

[close]

It was the culmination of these Projects spearheaded by Apothar and Zenithar, and other lesser projects undertaken by the Nadiri in the days leading to the War that lead to a tipping point in the conflict. For while the Orc'ah had much - They were unable to contest the sophistication and complexity of the High Zenithar Q'tolips many students working in synchronized harmony.

With such tools at her disposal was Commander Mirielle Rosseau, serving as overseer of the Conflict while Warmaster Colmes ambushed and missing in action, was Ephia able to take the day.

while Ka'esh suffered much, While the Seekers-After-Death suffered much, While Iakmes suffered much, While the Legion loosed its artillery on our own forces due to the Sisterhood passing flares to the untrained - by the workings of the Tower, Ephia's suffering mitigated. And far more returned home than would have absent of such complex and dutiful invention.

As the Second Star shone over Arslan, sparked by the Q'tolipans on Illul 20, did the banners of the Jackal and Heron fly victoriously.

End Volume XIII

It was meant to be a showcasing of victory. Of fun, of games, of the Champions of Ephia's Well draped in laurel and finery to strike a blow upon the wretches of Iakmes and his champions captured by the Jackals of Ka'esh.

The glory and festivities of the day would be lost to the sands, for in one terrifying instant did History return to the Present. As above, so below. The Titants of Bronze and Silver, the cruel machinations of Cyraxes the Ancient Giant resurfacing at the same time the Seekers-After-Death and Iakmes' forces stage their breakout of the Grand Arena of Ka'esh.

For weeks the sands had been quiet - only to erupt into a blind horror that gripped the imagination of even the newest awoken refugee. These titans undercutting all notion of what the brave and true Boardworkers knew to be so. To quaff many brews, to leap headlong into contest, to brazenly and with highest bravado strike with daring-do.

...Only to have every piece of magic stripped from you, absorbed by the Titan, and used to turn your best friend, your cousin, your League-member, your co-soldier, your fellow recluta, and anyone in proximity into what may only be described as a puddle of muddled wine in the sand. For it was not the Orcs that returned to the Great Ash Desert.

It was fear. Fear that cut to the core of the Boardworker, while the Accord leapt immediately to toil. The Cinquefoil Rose and its many thorns binding new paths to malign them. The Legion keeping shrewd eye and harsh watch. And the Astronomers designing mean and method to sunder them to ruin where they belong.

Overtime though matters would dwindle - The Rose, embroiled in an internal conflict and a tale to be told in the next volume, would begin to grow insular.

The 4th Legion, attending its many duties, would only be able to attend so much. So much atop the countless other demands imposed by the Purple League, the Sultanate, the Scribes, and more. They must keep order during war time, no small task.

The luxury though of the Tower - while less occupied minds tend the mundane nature of bureaucracy, we are able to glimpse 'pon the horizon. To see, to know, to anticipate, and to study the world around us.

Herein lay fragment of transcript from Zenithar Obam himself, of what would be come to known merely as "Task 028".

QuoteNadiri, Astronomers,

I have...oversight of...research of these shards.

We are working...conjunction with...Stonebreakers...as well as the Golden Vizier....

As we understand, these shards - and I welcome your individual reports on examinations - these shards radiate ... quite unlike any currently in use...striking similarity in energy reading to certain ancient...

...they can be used in a manner as fuel. We will need to gather many...wherever they appear, to power the 10th Legion's 'Titan Cannon' in the coming phase of the war.

Gather them, collaborate, research, propose. Do as you would, but know that...they charge...the cannon.

Zenithar Obam

And so would begin the salvaging, archaeological efforts against the reanimated husks. Procuring a great many of the shards by all means possible, as Nadiri and Apothar alike secure them away from the opportunistic, the greedy, and the, as the Apothar Azimi puts it "Misguided Fools of Brimstone College".

While theory proven in experiment and practical testing, while the blueprints and shards ferried to the testing site and sent beyond the hands of the Tower of Q'tolip...

...Down below in Ephia's Well would absolute chaos take hold.

When a Lieutnant of the Fourth dragged before a neophyte Magistrate Awoken, a Balestriere of La Banda Rossa.

In what would become one of the most tumultuous, and for 163 refugees, the most bloody and uncertain days of Ephia's Well since the Fall of the Citadel.

End of Volume XIV

Beware. Tesrin Hray. A Time when Doors ought to have been sealed. Thrust and flushed open...

Quote from: Bashir Khatara, Tesrin Hray 18, 7788A Legate, or a member of their cabinet is required. Promptly. [His voice is shaking like a leaf.]

The Marishyen. Who in their wake leave chaos and destruction, who in their wake leave twisted corpses and blackened hands. Who in their wake leave uncertainty among the resolute, who give pause among the brave, who give hesitation in moment of largest opportunity. For it is said wherever they grace their feet, plague and misery to follow. Wherever their words are heard cattle give still-birth and famine grips harvest. That upon the annals of history even their deeds - sparse and terrifying, are so chronicled.

Though the myth and folklore of such any organization that endures since time immemorial gives root to boundless myth, wild rumor, errant, and more. It is not unheard of even in our own times - the Sisters of the Sybaline Vine, those humble and charitable sisters, so eager of their many cloisters to offer barest charity in 7787... in 7788 have taken on a new and differing hue, focusing now most publicly on far different agenda.

It is only natural to presume that overtime the Marishyen may have developed harsh consternation from their rivals. Until one begins to dig deeper. That there lay from decades, centuries, signs and portents of their works.

Quote from: Who are the Marishyen, Author Unknown...Wherever strife and discord occur...can be seen in the shadows...said that they whispered...the ear of Zojhir...worked his first heresies.

...Did rile up Fulmizid Silverknee...and his Thousand Clans wrought ruin over the Ash...

...Even distant...tutelage of the Magi, it is said...whispered in the hear of Marib...caused Great Consternation in the Houses...

These works are innumerous, found littering the Great Ash Desert from Forgotten Villages burned to ash to doomed paths amidst pits of blackest ichor where piglrims perish having sought hope. The specter of danger. And while the more brazen and bold are quick to declare with surety that these are only myth, that these are mere rumors, that these are Tales of Fairydust to scare children, to scare the ignorant, to scare the superstitious, or to scare the politician. I offer you this.

My first hand account, as the Warmaster of Ephia's Well asked of me simply to share with him of the Marishyen.

Quote from: Celybuin Hui'nalyw, Letter to the Warmaster and his Council, Tesrin Hray 27, 7788Since time immemorial they have arrived upon the moments of climax, a preamble to a grim denouement in which obstacles grow fiercer, in which surety becomes doubt, in which valor is replaced with trepidation and in which all that was becomes all that it should not be.

In the harshest sense of the word I cannot express their danger. While some call such coincidental, we of Q'tolip have long studied the stars. The celestial bodies that so many take to calling "Random Chance", that so many take to calling "Unpredictable". But as one studies, as one learns, as one grows, one begins to see patterns.

The same can be said of Archaeological works, The same can be said of histories. When one studies, when one learns, when one digs, one begins to see patterns.

And I can emphasize this in no greater fact than this:

FIVE AND A HALF HOURS AFTER THEIR ARRIVAL,
MOST OF WHICH SPENT IN TRIAL,
BALESTRIERE EMILIA WAS SENTENCED TO HER FATE.

Less than an hour later, came the darkness. When blood shed in the street, when chaos gripped the hearts and minds of many, when tensions rose, when threats levied, when chaos and danger and more draped over the Citadel like a black banner.

For in the dull and splendid glow of the Celestial Disc that is the moon, much can be revealed. And in this instance it took only five hours after their arrival for Balestriere Emilia to be executed in the streets. For blades to be drawn, for curses to be hewn, for howls of rage to be echoed.

Quote from: Sultan's Janissary, Tesrin Hray 18, 7788Orders of the Bey! Orders of the Bey! Janissaries are to return to the Garrison. Calm is bidden!

Quote from: Mirielle Rosseau, Tesrin Hray 18, 7788Presmir Talvenir has brought us to the brink of war. This can be averted by returning my Balestriere to me. Bring Emilia Laurentis to the Krak des Roses immediately. I am tired of waiting.

Quote from: Alice Helerath, Tesrin Hray 18, 7788Small amendment - The Janissaries produced the body of prior Balestriere, their new scarab, the now dead Emilia.

Quote from: Argent Argyris, Tesrin Hray 18, 7788On a day I wished to celebrate as a victory, where I stood with the united forces of our citadel to free a captive ally and friend, I must instead mourn the death of peace.

Quote from: Aeronwy Caddick, Tesrin Hray 18,7788You let your men kill an officer of the Rose today.

Quote from: Mirielle Rosseau, Tesrin Hray 18, 7788There will be blood for this. That is all!

Quote from: Carrot GrimesThat is all Condottiera? There will be blood? A death threat after you attempted to kill a magistrate. And where is your evidence of their reason? In the sentencing of a known brooker in the worst kept secret of the well that you somehow managed to be the only one ignorant of despite being her master?

Quote from: Presmir Talenvar, Tesrin Hray 18, 7788And I will make this clear, and hope that you heed me well, Miriam Rosseau. Let your attempt on my life be forgiven as a foolish act of grief, and let the taste of sand in your mouth serve a gentle lesson in humility. But if you should try it again, pray that you strike true.

Quote from: Rennik Colmes, Tesrin Hray 18, 7788There will be no officer handed over to anyone to maim, torture and murder to satisfy anyone's urge for bloodshed. The same follows for the Magistrate. If there is an Accord to be broken here, that fault will lie with the Banda Rossa.

This was but one day, one night, one brutal and horrific evening... that would lead to days of increased tension, of scheme and politic, of threat, of danger sown in the streets, of uncertainty. All at a time in which the Titans roamed, all at a time in which the Orcs raised force.

A White League Magistrate's attempted assassination by a Condottiera.

La Banda Rossa would be once more withdrawn from the War by the orders of their Condottiera over the sleight of their Officer's massacree.

The fate of Sergeant Carrot Grimes, uncertain, said by some to be sent to death and said by others to be given leniancy if he is stentanced to death, leading to consternation and uproar among the Leagues. Politics would swirl, knives would sharpen, lives would be lost.

For a great many day's time matters would boil over into feud and strife. And while eventually - and at exceedingly high cost of over a hundred thousand dinar - dinars that could have been put towards so many restorative projects and more to aid this city. Dinars that could have been put towards greater works of the war effort in any capacity.

Dinar was given. Bloodmoney. Weregild. For the life of an Officer given a Medal of honorific from the Legates, stuck like a pig and bled into the sands on the street. No amount of Dinar could rebuild the trust that was shattered. The death threats and sabers rattled over the bellows, in the streets, the black oaths to dark gods and pleas of mercy from the benign. That there would be blood. That there would be vengeance. That there would be wroth.

And there is no telling what next shall be wrought from their works upon this City, when it is said the march to The Scald to come, the most dangerous and terrible leg of this campaign of extinction.

...All because the Marishyen were invited. All because in Tesrin Hray, the Doors which ought remain sealed, were so graciously opened.

End Volume XV

With the looming of the most cruel and enduring march of the War Effort, nestled outside the Gate of Sand lay not the fabled Industrial District, the illustriou dream of the Gold and Purple Leagues and Gohari Industries first factory. The opposite in fact - Not the builder of walls. The billings from the massive smokestack outside the Gate of Sand is not the forges and inspiration of the izduan mechanical loom. The belching fury, akin to ripping open a hole in the ground and spitting forth from the mouth of Djinn Lord the most roiling flame.

The Breaker of Walls. The Shattering Voice of the Q'tolip. The Mighty Kuşatma. Known among the layfolk as The Titan Cannon, Zenithar Obam's masterpiece of craft. The subtle interlay of grace and terror. The off-white stones, like bone. The subtle curvature. The imprinted sigils - embossed and raised just ever so slightly as if carved by a master artisan. The blend of artistry and decay, engineering and magic, beauty and ruin.

Forged and operated by the Sultan's 10th Legion it represents a pinnacle of the workings undertaken in the face of Iakmes. The preparations for this long and final march - the combined efforts of the Tower of Q'tolip, the Sultan's Legion, and the Battle-Mages of Ka'esh.

Utilizing proprietary magics the Shards of the Titan are inversely served as repulsive accelerator, launching its salvos with a force of energy not seen since the crashing fall of the Summer Palace. Massive, sweeping craters left in the sands from its field testing. Soldiers of the Tenth joking that it holds "Magnitude beyond the powers of any artillery thus far into the field. If at Arslan a shot could kill four, five Recluta. This? This a Battalion of them."

As if by divine providence at the time Ephia's Well finds itself in the throes of a religious fervor and zealous feud betwixt the servitors of the Wheel and the Dome, the forces of mortals assembled in defiance of the Thousand Clans efforts of extinction have created perhaps the single most destructive force in the modern era.

...The only difficulty awaiting?

Traversing the horrific and blistering Scald, and the inevitable dangers that await each time the Camp assembles to move. For undoubtedly the Elements, Iakmes, the Seekers-After-Death, Brooker, Baharu, Hundred Prince, Melek, Blood Plague, and more shall be awaiting southwards.

If though the Accord and its tag-along sellswords, if Ka'esh and its Wild Brothers, battle mages and camp followers, and assembled mercenaries such as the Silent Ones, Big Chums, and more can converge...

Total Victory. No matter the Cost.

End Volume XVI