Chapter 6 - EFU: Sands of Intrigue - Rumors, Gossip & Tales of the Desert

[Bearic]

Tammuz 4th, IY 7788



The Well is all activity, now. Spears are sharpened and shields tested for cracks. In homes, through toasts, in furtive embraces in the shady corners of the Well - farewells are spoken. For today is the day that Ephia's Well enters the fray.

It is said that Rennik Colmes, Warmaster of the Heron, has decreed that a force shall be dispatched to offer aid to a beleaguered fortification far to the south.

A voice, crisp and clear, resounds across the Bellows

'Those who march, gather at the Divan.'



Above the Well, the great terrace of the Sultan is awash with activity. The Water-Priests of B'aara are lively in their intonations. Their voices can be heard, deep and sonorous: 'O! B'aara! Mother Most High, weep for thy belov'd dead...'

An Ash-sail in deep Janissary green, bearing the Caliphal numeral 'VI', glides into dock above. Two tiny figures can be seen departing..

Below, about the Pyramid, all eyes look towards the leadership. Those who seek to lend their arms to the day's sport head towards the Pyramid, their countenances grim, yet tempered by a fluttering anticipation..

First Blood. Clanging Bronze.


Tammuz 4th, IY 7788.




While elections, laws and leisure continue onward in Ephia's Well, War has begun. The Office of the Legates and much of the bellows overrun with issue over the new "Accorded Governance" law which sees all those members of the accord, past or present barred from service to the government of Ephia's Well.

The Purple League has managed to secure a powerful majority headed by once more Legate Marcellus Saenus and the once Prelate for Gausim al-Marain, Nasreen Shabani. Gausim al-Marain served a short period before rumors gave way to some reason they may have vanished. Reasons range from being called back to Baz'eel in protest of the upcoming War, needing to see to a sick relative, to being abducted by the tormented below. No one really knows, and it doesn't matter.



War is here, the truth of it cemented violently as if a concussion. Prayers and rites to the Wroth are given in dark depths, in simmering agony. Four names are spread across the Well by Legate Marcellus Saenus. The details of the assault are lost in the fog of anguish. A victory traded for lives of those bright and promising. A Zenithar laments a future that was never to be. A Star Falls. War is here.

Heed me, people of the Well. I bring news from the South. Both of joy and of sorrow. The Battle of the Boundary was victorious. We have won. But, four of our brave people will not return to us. Lift your cups to the heroes of the Battle of the Boundary. Apothar Cosine Mevura, Sergeant Lightdew... Legate Akna Ymir... Recluta Baako Mahmoud. May their bravery never be forgotten. Live and drink.

This is another one of your flights of fancy, isn't it boy? Well.. I don't find it amusing. Get ah- get back to the Tower, on the double. You're needed...

High atop the Eagle's Mount, just beneath the clouds, a terrible display of lights as one man begins to hurl burning fire and scalding ice into the skies.

Faint sobbing, some swear, could be heard above the incessant winds on high.

[Howlando]

Rumors spread of the latest diplomatic mission to Il Modo.

Despite a cold welcome and an uneasy start (it is said that the long-winded Legate Gloamingdaith may have inadvertently offended the Modini with his choice of gifting an old Caliphate amulet and a certain lack of clarity regarding his view of Modini sovereignty), it is reported that the troupe of performers - the "Floating Fantasia" - were a popular & appreciated spectacle.

It is also reported that Legate Gloamingdaith and his advisors succeeded in persuading the Modini to dispatch a representative to attend the Kardesler conference.

But at what price? It is whispered - in tones of shock and amazement - that the Ephians agreed to offer a gift of One Hundred Barrels of Well Water in exchange for this attendance.

Such a huge quantity of sacred waters (representing nearly an entire month's worth of discretionary production) being handed over to slimy eel-merchants and strange Sage-worshippers is widely considered to have been a colossal gamble. Many of the faithful of Ephia's Well are particularly angered by the decision and consider it a huge scandal, whereas others urge caution.... after all, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Perhaps the Legate is right and this distant naval power could in some way be persuaded to offer its help against the threat of the Thousand Clans...?

[DangerousDan]

Except from the Maribeh Edition of Sublime Parchment, Baz'eeli Paper of Record

Op-Ed: TODAY, UNION. TOMORROW, CALIPHATE?

With the signing of the so-called Union of Kardesler (signatories Baz'eel & her minor Satrapies, Kha'esh, Banafsi and the Hold of Got Valdhazr) inagurates a moment not beheld since Uspek abdicated the Caliphal throne: the peoples of the Great Ash Desert united together, in common cause, beneath the suzerainty of Baz'eel.

While the Sultan at present sits de facto as the symbolic head of this new Union, wise heads in the Sublime Garden note that Marib himself was noted as the symbolic head of the people at Kardesler before he was invested with the White Spear.

What chance, then, that this new Union heralds the inauguration of a new golden age beneath our beloved sovereign, Osman VI?

ARSLAN SURRENDERS

The City of Arslan, which, as regular readers shall know, is a hive of unsettling Izdur heterodoxy, has surrendered to the forces of the Thousand Clans. Refugees fleeing the city report that the Grand Tutors (the so-called 'Council of Old Men') were publicly executed by the Thousand Clans. Unverified reports speak of a general massacre of the civilian population.

Our reporters suggest that Arslan has now been re-fashioned into a formidable outpost of enemy power.
The faithful note that such events tend to befall the heretrodox, and that all right-thinking people should tend to their prayers, and heed the theology of the Temples.

KHA'ESH SCOURGES THE EASTERN STATES

Tughril Yataghan, the so-called 'Great Serdar' of Kha'esh, has begun a punitive campaign against recalcitrant allies in the eastern mountains. It is said that the Serdar and his 'Wild Brothers' have fatally undermined Orcish gains in the eastern territories, leading to a vast expansion in the city's sphere of influence.

One eye witness said: "The Kha'eshi hate two things: tabbouleh and cowardice. Thank god no parsley grows in the mountains."

GOT VALDHAZR INVESTED

The dwarven hold of Got Valdhazr, a previously unknown settlement, has been besieged by a grievous host. It is said they are heavy with refugees from the southlands, and that food supplies remain scarce.

It is reported that a delegation from the hold has arrived at Ephia's Well, led by a member of the royal line.

'FORT EPHIA' RESISTS, THANKS THE SIXTH LEGION

The so-called outpost of Fort Ephia continues its resistance against the armies of the Eater of Eyes. A journalist who visited the Boundrymen Mercenary Company, spoke to their commander - a rather brusque man who referred to himself only as 'Duck'.

He said: "Thank the Gods for [the Epicrasis]! We'd be [defeated] if it weren't for [the Sixth Legion]."

BANAFSI'S WHITE SPEARS ACCUSED OF CRIMINAL MASSACRE

The so-called 'White Spears', that notorious company of Orentid exiles, have reportedly conducted a brutal massacre of civilians amidst the civil war in Banafsi. Survivors described their leader, the self-styled 'Komes', as a blood-soaked butcher who delights in slaughter.

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[DangerousDan]

More refugees come in, ever more. Slaves that have escaped from bondage. People who have trudged, alone or in convoy, through the great desert.

All bearing tales of woe, all with one refrain upon their lips:

"We are from Arslan, which opened the gates to The Eater of Eyes, and was rendered a ruin by his command."

[DangerousDan]

Trouble with refugees, it seems. More filter from the camps at the peripheries into the Plaza and Souk proper. There they make trouble, protesting loudly at the cost of grain and the paucity of their water rations.

They stand darkly in the cool corners, and spit curses as harsh as wicked Tabbah itself.

Everywhere the stones sizzle, in discontent. The Ashfolk have retreated inside, and are rarely seen except for under the blessed respite of the Celestial Disc.

[Bearic]

Tabbah 23rd, IY 7788

The war drags on, failures and victories roll into a an economical struggle to the benefit of survival. The "Dragon" Argent Argyris, claimed a seat amidst the heart of the war, with his fellow Golden Legate Balstan Gloamingdaith. They vowed widely the notion of Total Victory, and through much difficulties secured the funding for the new district, in entirety. Whether these things are to go as so planned is a heated topic.

Promises and arrangements has been stretched thin and made tense. It is a confused matter who will have majority control of the new structures, and more importantly, how they will operate. Though, much of it seems due to the matter of Conscription.

With the continued asylum of refugee, the strain on resources and proper protections is obvious. And as the enemy host continues its assault, drastic actions were taken. Men sent to march on the eastern front, piled with the security of a future in Ephia's Well, have brought one step of Victory Further, or died trying. These securities bought the men on the Eastern Front by the Lover's Gap enough time to set up siegeworks and hammer down upon even now the blasting walls of the Thousand Clan's Encampments there.



This aid from the scattered masses was cut short, the night before the completion of a Massive Weapon that it is rumoured when tested, took a large chuck out of a mountain side. The reason for the appeal was obvious, as the Grandmaster herself decried the horrible treatment of Conscripted Quarry workers, and told the self-named Dragon that it must cease.

However, plans quickly shifted on the frontlines, any hopes in capturing the Fortress and this Weapon now lost. Through quick action a Kan'Zuzu force assembled by works led under direction of Warmaster Rennik Colmes, and driven by the strange guidence of Thrasamund Sorrow-Marked, sapped underneath the castle and within.

The halls were spoken to be a nightmare, even with the outside distraction and siege. The many of Ephia's Defenders worked there way to the top of the Fortress, with Sergeant Samton Ashworth detonating a massive bomb to destroy the Weapon. Even in this victory, they could not celebrate, and the many had to work their way back down the castle and back through the now collapsing tunnels. Soldier of the Fourth Legion Duncan MacGregor and one Antonio Caravari were lost in this effort.




Even on the foot of victory, things remain uncertain. The Rampart Nusrum has fallen almost completely into the Thousand Clans Control, and efforts South remain likewise besieged. As the election ends, Purple Legate Marcellus Saenus takes a victory over Gloamingdaith. The golden majority ends, but the war and the expenses compiled to its efforts and this new district are hardly finished.

[DangerousDan]

BAZ'EEL INTERROGATOR:

EMERGENCY BULLETIN - WAR ISSUE IV: Illul 3


VICTORY FOR THE GREAT SERDAR

The Interrogator can exclusively report there has been a great battle fought between the Grand Army of Kha'esh and the forces of Iakmes, far to the east. It is said that great flocks of carrions circle the field, and that a train of plunder has been claimed by the Kha'eshi for the Emir. After months of guerilla war, the Serdar Yataghan has forced the Orcs into a confrontation. There, he has defeated them in detail and annihilated them.

"Our work here is done. Now, as promised to my second, the Warmaster Colmes, my forces shall begin the slow march west to unite with our allies - the people of the Heron. Together, we shall destroy this Iakmes and drive him howling back into the hovel from which he came."

SEEKERS-AFTER-DEATH MASSACRED IN BAZ'EEL, SAVAGE THE TRADE ROUTES

A cadre of so-called Seekers-After-Death have been discovered and slaughted in the Great Tablet of Baz'eel. It is said this cell of malcontents were plotting an assassination attempt against our beloved Sultan. They were slain to a man by the First Legion, who pounced upon them as they sought to recieve a shipment of arms upon the Osmani Canal. A network of informants and collaborators has also been uprooted within the tablet. The Death-Seekers continue to harass trade upon the highways, forcing more merchants into seabound or ash-sail shipments.

SULTAN ACCLAIMED WITH GARLANDS AT EDUTU

The graceful Osman VI conducted a rare visit to the Edutu Delta this week, where the Kulamet Priests greeted him with flowers and garlands. He reaffirmed his stewardship of the Delta, and promised that no Qa'immi would step foot upon her eastern bank while he drew breath.

[Bearic]

Illul 7th, IY 7788

EPHIA VICTUS!


TOTAL VICTORY!


THE EASTERN CAMP IS WON!

Word spreads like wildfire that the Lover's Gap is pacified. The Weapon there destroyed. The forces pushed west, fleeing the Kah'eshi, routed. Zthae'ikos, The Spear, dead.


A broken detachment lead by Sergeant Seymour Duncan finds its company halved. Those brave enough to sully forth to meet the host, count among them dead names listless as poets and historians work to put them to phrase and prose.


The Banda Rossa make jab and cheer for the victory of the Well and despite their discounted involvement. Removed from the War Council days prior to this entanglement, they toast the death of Janissaries who rebuked them and the victory won that much more difficult.




The assembly prior stirs its own strange energy, rumors of children being bartered for the securities of the western front work through the ears of stranger and friend alike. A foul taste fills the mouths of those with concern like ash. Surely it was all jest. A princess was present and some insane halfling was said to have broken into the event and flung disgusting gases twice if not three times or more before the Janissary put a stop to it.



Perhaps this is an upswing for Ephia's Well in the conflict, even if matters domestic are muddled.

[DangerousDan]

From the Sublime Parchment

A GLORIOUS VICTORY

The forces of the Union of Kardelser have triumphed against the forces of Iakmes in a stunning victory before the walls of Arslan. The Orcish host, gathered in numbers not seen for centuries, was utterly routed by the combined forces of Osman VI and Kha'esh.

A glorious first since the dark days of the Harrowing, the two cities united together under a common banner and a common leader - Osman the Sixth, rightful Caliph of the whole desert.

Under the able command of Rennik Colmes, Warmaster of the Fourth Legion, the Clans were encircled and annihilated. So great was the slaughter, it is believed it will take the Clans four generations to recover their former strength.

It is said that the cataphracts of the Second dealt a grievous wound to the warchief amidst a thundering charge, and that he cursed the arms of the Sultan as he withdraw weeping from the field.

Colmes was asked for comment in the aftermath of his victory. He said:

"I dedicate this victory to Osman VI, he of the glorious name, and the brave soldiers of the Sultanate. They died with the Sultan's name upon their lips."

From Evrensel, Special Bulletin

TENSIONS AT ARSLAN

The fate of Arslan hangs upon a knife edge in the aftermath of the rueful victory at the Gates of Dawn. Uncertainty swirls about the city, with the forces of Yataghan occupying the city proper, while the Sultanate keeps an uneasy watch from their baggage.

Evrensel can report that no Janissaries have yet been allowed to enter the city, under flimsy pretexts that grow more threadbare by the hour.

The city itself suffered grievously from the sack, with food supplies now scarce. Hassan Ibn Ghalish of Ghalish & Sons is leading the charity efforts, and has consulted Asterabadi concerning the right and fruitful way to alleviate suffering. Ghalish is emerging as a powerful voice for the true victims of war: the civilian population.

It is the opinion of this journal that this situation must be resolved with all due urgency, in the spirit of friendship that delivered such a glorious victory to allied forces.

WHERE NOW THE CLANS?

Scouts and travellers report that the Thousand Clans have abandoned their defensive fortifications north of the Rampart, and can be found abroad not at all. Concerned factions at court are skeptical of the alleged 'annihilation' of the Clans, and consult the chronicles with much consternation for guidance as to where they may gather their wounded strength.

[DangerousDan]

From the Sublime Parchment

The Sultanate reels tonight. The picture still is not clear, and this newspaper cannot verify all reports, as the Garden has yet to formally comment upon these events.

THINGS OF MYTH?

Titans of uncertain provenance roam the  Desert. Eye-witnesses report them 'rising, things of molten metal, with grotesque theatre-masks upon their faces'. These great hulking things stalk the desert, glancing at the sky, else issuing a strange kind of song which causes the heart to shiver and the ears to bleed. What are these things? Where have they come from? As for now, they have become an ominous feature upon the horizon.

KHA'ESH ASSAILED

A victory celebration at Kha'esh was derailed by a surprise attack by savage guerillas in the pay of Iakmes. It is said the city was thick with fighting until the early hours of the morning, and much of the city remains on fire. Many of her outlying garrisons to the east are reported abandoned, as her troops rush to secure the city and protect her from any further assaults. The sky overhead was thick with mage-fire, yet the sound and fury of combat has abated for now, and the city appears safe, albeit wounded.

ARSLAN QUIET

The City of Arslan remains secure, and her garrisons have not moved. Kha'esh appears determined to hold onto its prize.

THE RAMPART BROILS

The Rampart Nusrum seethes with fresh activity, and many barbarian fortresses and camps long-abandoned have been reoccupied. Yet there is no sign as-of-yet of the hosts which imperilled the Desert before they were utterly broken at the Plain of Arslan.

[DangerousDan]

Sublime Parchment:

Tesrin Hray Bumper Volume!


Nest of Barbarians Found - Allies Resolve to March

Through some flash of serendipity (or, it is rumoured, the genius of His Majesty's Consulate) the location of the legendary BET NAPPAHI has been uncovered. It is said that it lies beyond the boiling, arid desert named the SCALD.

The Union of Kardesler has tentatively agreed upon a daring response: to march upon the Orc, and overthrow him there utterly.

There are those who question the wisdom of this course, and say that instead the allies should focus upon ridding the desert of the cursed Titans of Dawning.

Sultanate Imperilled

The Thousand Clans continue their dramatic recovery from their alleged defeat at Arslan Plain. Flying columns strike at small, unprotected villages and unwary merchant caravans, then vanish into the desert.

Seemingly nowhere is safe from this heathen scourge, with the raids striking deep into the heart of the civilized world. Only Baz'eel herself, shining, remains unharried.

Small comfort is that the Warchief is yet to gather his forces into the great hosts that threatened Kha'esh and the Well at the war's outset.

The so-called 'Titans of Dawning' continue to stoke mayhem. Evrensal can exclusively reveal that just yesterday the antique town of Şehzadeler was levelled by the monstrosities, it's people scattered into the desert with little more than the clothes upon their backs.

As the war enters a new and dangerous period, this newspaper brings you shocking reports from the nightmare Satrapy of Ephia's Well.

Life's One Long Party for Azarmidokht the Golden

The Harem of the Golden Vizier is the place to be this social season, as the great sorcerer celebrates his release from captivity in style.

It is said that the party is as decadent as it is sensuous. The Vizier and his guests are attended to by a specially hired coterie of Modini Mummers.

The theme is "Sisters & Sibilants", with the ladies attending dressed in the distinctive habits of the notorious Sibylline Sisterhood, and the men wearing elaborate costumes in imitation of the fearsome lizard empire.

An entire shipload of Alkabi Syrah was diverted for the celebrations, and that another has been waylaid after the revellers guzzled the wine in the course of the three ecstatic evenings.

Just don't try and sneak past the battlemage bouncers. Gatecrashers have reportedly been magically turned into hares, voles and chickens!

Arslan Tutors Go Begging

The Grand Tutors of Arslan are complaining to anyone who will listen about the continued occupation of their City by the forces of the Great Serdar Yataghan and his mercenary host.

It is said they are looking for patrons to help them assert their claim, but so far they have found little more sympathetic counsel.

Ill Omens Invited In!

In yet another shocking display of ineptitude, it seems that Ephia's Well has some new guests. None other than the dreaded MARISHYEN.

Forgive your correspondent for naming them. Their return to the affairs of the Great Ash Desert is nothing short of a historic catastrophe.

The ill omen are like weeds. It took the great Caliphs of elder times much effort to uproot them from their gardens.

Details are thin on the ground. We know only the name of the one who invited them in: 'Big Bash'. Is this a wicked sorcerer, who has long plotted the downfall of Ephia's Well? Or perhaps it is a pseudonym for an agent of malign Qa'im. Whatever the case, Big Bash is clearly a dangerous menace and MUST BE STOPPED.

Tesrin Hray, IY 7788 - a Time When We Open Our Doors To Notorious Harbingers Of Woe?

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Kha'esh Gathers Its Might

The City of Kha'esh is gathering its forces from its far flung holdings, a glittering host such as the City has never assembled.

They are rumoured to be preparing to gather at a staging post, whose location remains strictly confidential.

Boffin Says: Give 'em to Qa'im!

"Give them to Qa'im" - who can forget that chilling refrain?

Well, an industrious inventor from our very own Sublime Garden claims he has found a novel solution to the problem of the Titans.

"The thing to understand about these Titans is that they are fundamentally unthinking automata, much akin to animals and other lesser orders of being. With my patented pheromone mixture," says the swot, "All we need to do is douse my mixture all over the Tantalatum Gate of Qa'im, and the Titans will be driven into an insane frenzy of heat! The object of their desire? The loathsome Qa'immi."

What do we think, readers? Two birds with one stone?

Scuffles at the Satrap

Another day, another bloody brawl upon the steeets of Ephia's Well.

The fragile 'Accord' in the turbulent satrapy of Ephia's Well has fallen into disarray in the past days. Yet again, chaos on the streets of that place threatens all in the Sultanate. The Misfortune and so-called 'Cinquefoil Rose'* have yet again fallen to brawling in the streets.

In the aftermath of these thuggish displays La Banda Rossa - a Modini Mercenary company employed by the Cinquefoil - have supposedly quit the field in the struggle against the Thousand Clans.

If the reports prove true, the rumoured march against the Barbarians in their nest could suffer a disastrous reversal. It is said the La Banda have quit the field, leaving the Fourth and their Kha'eshi allies sorely pressed.

Yet again the Sublime Garden is forced to turn its gaze from the great matters of state towards its disquiet satrap. How many reports like this must this paper write? How many missteps until the Great Asterabadian Experiment is declared an utter failure?

That the holy Well is routinely blasphemed by these infantile scuffles is nothing short of appaling.

Something must be done.

*Editor's note: for more upon the precise origin and meaning of this name, see Eusti Turmenulu's On the Nature of Savage Appellations.

[Bearic]

Kanon Hray 27th, IY 7788. A time when doors are opened to all guests,


As the war etches on and devastates much of the unprotected regions of the desert, the flow of dinar into Ephia's Well has skyrocketed. Dozens of lost settlements, bands and treasure troves emptying into the safer option. The Gold League's choke-chain of affairs has proven a net positive, at least for those with enough dinar to afford the voice.


Word swirls of the cost of all this. A refuge camp maintained for military drills destroyed completely by these Titans of Dawning. White League Legate Ahmet's Disappearance and later replacement with Legate Asherias brings more questions than answers and raises further worries of unstablity. The elephantine cannonade's firing still rings in the ears fresh of those that have heard it; the whistling ether of vibrant energies carving across the sky. Total Victory.