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Chapter 2

"A Clash of Threes"

the Set-Up
The Dragon-Blooded from the Realm have arrived. They came to Kirighast in the night, arriving in the rain and the dark, descending from the Blessed Isle in the Airship "Star of Julan". The Anathema would be pushed back, the spread of the Shadowlands halted. Kirighast, the Dynasts of the Realm said to the frightened and belabored people of Harbourhead, would not fall to the Deathlords like had Thorns to the Mask of Winters.

Lo, the Terrestrial Exalted's words were proven true!

The Deathknights struck out like wounded animals at the Palace of Kirighast, striking for the King and his heirs. Some of royal blood fell to their blades, but the greater blood of Harbourhead remained. One of Kirighast's own, the hero Seria Ox-Blood, felled one of the demons with her Jade Daiklave while fighting in battle side-by-side a Child of Mela. Though she died in the process, she was proven worthy of the divine blood she bore. The State Funeral she received, presided over by the Cult of Ahlat and the Dragon-Blooded themselves, was lavishly appointed and grand indeed! Even as the Demon she slew burned in a pyre, she was laid to rest with all the fanfare her rich life deserved.

Nor did the Dragon-Blooded meekly proclaim victory and leave things aside; the great Hunter, Mnemon Chandon, hunted after the Deathknights like a Bloodhound and dealt them humiliating defeat after defeat. The greatest of their Manses in Creations was taken from their hands and given back to the Immaculate Dragons. The Shadowlands that infringed upon Harbourhead were cleansed of foul things and salted, never again to threaten the Children of the Bull God or his kin. The Deathlords, so feared, snuck back to their hidden places and hid from the might of the Dragons. They might rule in the Underworld, but Creation was the birthright of the Exalted, and they would do best to remember this.

Cultists are found and executed. Mercenary companies turned to the service of the Deathlords are put to the sword. No minion of the Deathlords, no matter how small, is spared from the efforts of the Wyld Hunt.

This is what the Dynasts said.

The Immaculate Order grows in popularity as the Dynasts shed blood and fight against the forces of darkness that Kirighast had so long feared. The King of Kirighast, in thanks and perhaps in fear, prepares his great tribute back to the Realm -- paid in full, for the first time in five years. The Realm might be missing its Empress, but it is still a force to be feared.

That is what the Dragon's say...

The fierce folk of the Dobi Nation have been beaten.

Once feared throughout the South, powerful raiders and strong warriors, they now live half-lives in the eyes of their ancestors. They work the land as near slaves to the Guild, so their chieftains and nobles may be made rich and weak and pathetic. "As long as the rains are good," the Civilized Folk of the South say, "there is little to fear from the Dobi."

Where once Kirighast bled to face the men of the hills, now they laugh at their own jokes.

Then came the Golden-Eyed one. A demon with the stolen power of the Moon, son of a chieftain who grasped for power and glory, slaying his father and taking up command of those barbarians too uneducated and foolish to not turn him away. The South looks at the hills now, their jokes tinged with fear. Surely the Dobi are too weak and pampered now, with drugs and servitude, to stand against the armies of the South. Caravans disappear; the heads of Guild Merchants return with wide-eyed men who talk of madness and devil-charms.

Chieftans pledge featly and service to the Golden-Eyed one, or they fall to his silver blade and are replaced by those of passion and prowess. Those who abused their birthright too greatly are not even offered the choice; their blood goes to feed the soil they loved so much, though there will soon be no one remaining to farm it. The Dobi are gathering for war.

They will come, and the South will bleed again.

Session Summaries

• CrownedSun/Abyssparttwo/SouthernAbyssals14 -- the Awakening of the Princess