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| − | = <b>INTRODUCTION</b> =
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| − | This is a game I'm running for a couple of my old-time buddies; because the intricacies of real life scheduling make it difficult to cut through the huge volume of information a player sometimes needs to know to share enough of a mutual understanding with the GM to allow them to roleplay, so this serves a dual-purpose to allow me to provide them with easily accessible information on the setting and their characters while also hopefully providing some entertainment for whoever chances upon this page.
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| − | Our story takes place 16 years before the events of the Corebook.
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| − | The Scarlet Empress has not disappeared and her rule remains strong, as can be seen through the indomitable success of the Wyld Hunt even with the apparent increase in Anathema sightings.
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| − | It has been one year after the Battle of Emerald Tears - a disastrous clash precipitated when the beastmen armies of a Lunar Anathema made use of forbidden sorceries to close in and take several of the Lookshy redoubts, a feat that took advantage of a medium-scale military exercise to test the susceptibility of those very forts to capture. On the final day of that battle, four Lookshy regulars were Exalted as their units clashed with the Lunar Vorash No-Foes-Remain.
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| − | There were only a handful of survivors of that battle and so, even now few know how close the Lunar was to victory before he was manipulated into accepting a duel with a unknown warrior whom the Unconquered Sun smiled upon at the most opportune of moments. Barely beaten, but beaten nonetheless, he was forced to withdraw his forces until the seven years he had agreed to had passed - but he has not given up his dreams of conquest, and the Lunar horde has nothing if not time.
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| − | In the days that follow, the four revealed themselves to the General Staff of Lookshy; their reactions ranged from panic to hostility to opportunism. It was the last reaction that allowed them to remain in the Seventh Legion, helped in no small part by the support of Tien Yu, goddess of Lookshy city.
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| − | Re-assigned to a special four-man ranger unit while the General Staff pondered the political and military repercussions of openly accepting the four Anathema under its flag, the four report directly to selected members of the General Staff.
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| − | But one year has passed, and it is slowly becoming clear to the General Staff that the four must be re-assimilated into the Lookshy military structure: their talents are undeniable and the words of a goddess are weighty indeed. With the whispers of force being mustered from the lands of the Hundred Kingdoms, the increasingly bold economic manipulations of the Guild and political unheaval in the North, that time is surely coming soon...
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| − | == <b>MAIN CHARACTERS</b> ==
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| − | [[/KARAL SHIN]]
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| − | <br>Night Caste Tactical Specialist (Chuzei, 22 years old)
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| − | <br>A tactical genius whose tough lessons losing his men in the Battle of Emerald Tears has awakened him to the responsibility he bears as a lieutenant in the Lookshy military.
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| − | <br>Specialities:
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| − | * Archery
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| − | * Athletics
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| − | * Quick movement
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| − | * Tactical deployment
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| − | [[/HIROSHI]] a.k.a. Righteous Dirge
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| − | <br>Dawn Caste Meleeist Field-combat Specialist (Chuzei, approx. 20 years old)
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| − | <br>Once the god-blooded son of a deposed god of war, he was once an amnesia-stricken mercenary whose talent resulted in his recruitment and naturalisation into the city of Lookshy.
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| − | <br>Specialities:
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| − | * Bladed weapons
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| − | * Mass Infantry Combat
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| − | * Sorcery (Support)
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| − | * Social skill resistance
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| − | * Occult Theory
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| − | * Lore
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| − | [[/KEIJI]]
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| − | <br>Eclipse Caste Strategoi-Diplomat-Spy (Chuzei, approx. 20 years old)
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| − | <br>A young man of exceptional insight and charisma, orphaned at a young age, he is rumoured to have made forbidden pacts to unknown spirits in his youth, hence resulting in the tattoos that cover most of his body.
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| − | <br>Specialities:
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| − | * Essence replenishment/transference
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| − | * Investigation
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| − | * Manipulation
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| − | * Stealth
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| − | * Strategy
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| − | * Martial Arts (Quick Takedowns / Skillful)
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| − | * Travel
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| − | [[/REIA]]
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| − | <br>Changing Moon Scout-Skirmisher (Chuzei, 19 years old)
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| − | <br>A Gunchei (sergeant) in the First Field Force whose unit was slaughtered in the Battle of Emerald Tears. By choosing to survive despite her wounds, she opened herself up to the Lunar Exaltation.
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| − | <br>Specialities:
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| − | * Infiltration
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| − | * Presence
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| − | * Stealth
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| − | * Scouting
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| − | * Survival
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| − | * Taunting
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| − | * Unarmed Combat (Unearthly Strength / Brutal)
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| − | [[/HOUSE RULES]]
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| − | == <b>SUPPORTING CAST</b> ==
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| − | <b>Taimyo Karal Linwei</b>
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| − | <br>A member of the Lookshy General Staff, leader of the First Field Force and the father of Shin. Linwei's clout was partly responsible for the four being allowed to remain in Lookshy, under his supervision and subject to the observation of any members of the General Staff, pending a decision on their status.
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| − | <b>Shozei Maheka Kahn</b>
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| − | <br>Leader of the detachment of Seventh Legion troops on retainer to Sijan. An air aspect.
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| − | <b>Chuzei Teresu Leena</b>
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| − | <br>A young and beautiful Chuzei in the Fourth Field Legion, leader of Ranger unit 8. Leena and Hiroshi were acquaintances in the House of the Five Winds who found each other in the Hundred Kingdoms during the events of Hunters Hunted, when her ranger fang was found and rescued by the Circle while in hiding from Vorash's forces.
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| − | <b>The Three Spirits of Great Forks</b>
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| − | <br>The Three ruling spirits of the city-nation of Great Forks. They are the Spinner of Glorious Tales, the Weaver of Dreams of Victory and the Shield of a Different Day. Keiji made unknown bargains with them for their assistance in infiltrating the Ebon Spires of Pyrron, citadel of the Deathlord Walker in Darkness.
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| − | <b>Steran</b>
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| − | <br>Though he looks a boy, Steran is the City Father of the ruined First Age city Lacheron. His master and father, the High Emperor Stephran, a Twilight Caste master sorcerer had used forgotten magics to bind his essence with that of Lacheron’s city defences, while simultaneously binding him to follow certain rules as to running the city, to keep both the spirit and the city safe from corruption. Ironically, it was these rules that forced Steran to slay the father he loved when the Solar’s own excesses came to threaten the city.
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| − | <b>Karal Xiaoyin</b>
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| − | <br>A member of the Sorcerer-assistants, niece to Karal Linwei and cousin to Shin. Xiaoyin's aptitude for exploration, investigation and the occult have made her one of the Seventh Legion's brightest young sorcerer-assistants. Her talent is such that she is given reign to devote up to half her time seeking out First Age ruins for devices that would be of interest to Lookshy; the rest of her time is spent working on her apprenticeship.
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| − | <b>Lord Vikran</b>
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| − | <br>A seemingly young and flighty spirit, apparently obssessed with beauty and life. He gave his titles as the Prince of the Eastern Flowers and the Master of the Seven-Coloured Valley, the region within the Hundred Kingdoms where he lives
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| − | <b>Rei'nar Silverfox</b>
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| − | <br>Deceased
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| − | <br>A fox-totemed Lunar of the Changing Moon Caste and one of Vorash's packmates. Silverfox attempted to bring his people around to considering the right that civilised people had towards life, rather than the outright dismissal the barbarian ways suggested. He was a tactician and an accomplished diplomat of sorts, a go-between in the volatile world of spirits, gods, and Fae. He was killed in the ruins of the First Age city Lacheron during a skirmish. Shin was the one who struck the finishing blow.
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| − | <b>Eesha Sparrow-in-ice</b>
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| − | <br>A bird-totemed Lunar of the No Moon Caste and another of Vorash's packmates. Apparently a sorceress of great power. She is the twin sister of Algran Hawk-in-Winter.
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| − | <b>Algran Hawk-in-Winter</b>
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| − | <br>A hawk-totemed Lunar of the Full Moon Caste and another of Vorash's packmates. Though not having been witnessed as such, he is said to be an archer of prodigous skill and bearing, and a warrior not to be triffled with. He is the twin brother of Eesha Sparrow-in-ice and is said to be fiercely protective of her.
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| − | <b>Rends-by-Night</b>
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| − | <br>A weasel-totemed Lunar of the Full Moon Caste and another of Vorash's packmates. An accomplished warrior and the wielder of the direlance Devil's Fang, which seems to speed both his movement and aid the speed and accuracy of his attacks and parries. He has promised to repay the debt he owes Shin for the death of his packmate Rei'nar Silverfox.
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| − | <b>Sakthar</b>
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| − | <br>Deceased
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| − | <br>A lizard-totemed Lunar of the No Moon Caste and a known chimera. Sakthar was once shaman to a tribe of Wyld barbarians in the East reaches before she was chosen by Luna; she was taken in by the Silver Pact, who attempted to school her in the proper ways of her kind and turn her from the path of the Wyld. Sakthar fled into the Wyld and returned later after the events of the Exodus of the Silver-forged Chain, leading a band of lizard beastmen and a Fair Folk love slave, bearing power impossible for her youth.
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| − | She was beaten and slaughtered by Hiroshi, the Black Wind after a tense and long battle on the Iron Gate Wall.
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| − | <b>Sapphire Blossom</b>
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| − | <br>Appearing as a beautiful young woman, Sapphire Blossom was Sakthar’s love slave before she was released by Hiroshi Black Wind. From her revelations, it is known that she was once a Fair Folk noblewoman before Sakthar slaughtered her brother and took her for her own. Blossom dresses in the eastern style of the Old Shogunate, like most in the Scavenger Lands, though her clothing is usually so light and thin as to hide nothing.
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| − | <b>Mycella</b>
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| − | <br>A Fair Folk princess of the Lost Wood Court, she replaced Sapphire Blossom and joined the Circle on their journey, but to what ends?
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| − | <b>King Oakheart of the Eastern Throne</b>
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| − | <br>A strong and influential spirit that governs wood in the Eastern forests. He had extended an invitation to Shin and his Circle to join in talks of an alliance; Shin has yet to accept or decline.
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| − | <b>Sirrion</b>
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| − | <br>Little is known about this apparent Fair Folk noble. Witnessed having once led an entourage of other Raksha through the eastern lands beyond the Iron Gate Wall, he dresses as a noble in the way of the South, though his wood-brown and emerald-green features mark him as a noble of the Eastern Fair Folk. He wields a thin rapier-like blade he names Blackwillow.
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| − | <b>Ducein</b>
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| − | <br>Deceased
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| − | <br>Another apparent Fair Folk noble, seemingly built of tougher stuff than his counterpart Sirion and apparently the more serious of the two. He leads his own entourage, more war-band than noble hunting party. Little else is known.
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| − | <b>Edrus, Steward of Lacheron</b>
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| − | <br>A young man chosen by Keiji to watch over and rule the remains of Lacheron in his stead.
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| − | <b>Zhong Yu</b>
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| − | <br>A dispossed war god whose desperation drove him to seek out one of the previously lost treasures of the First Age; to reaffirm and bind its power to him, he had to perform a ritual using the blood and life of his child, Hiroshi. Interference in the ritual resulted in a great explosion that apparently destroyed his sanctum as well as the people within. Hiroshi, however, survived with the God-of-War / Deathsong in his possession, but has no memory of his life before then.
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| − | <b>Vorash No-Foes-Remain</b>
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| − | <br>A young Lunar warlord of considerable strength who sought to plunder Lookshy's First Age weaponry in the Battle of Emeral Tears but who was manipulated into accepting a duel he would lose. If he honours that agreement, No-Foes-Remain will not again engage Lookshy until seven years are passed.
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| − | <b>Yumi</b>
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| − | <br>The aging mortal mother of Reia. She works as a seamstress. Like the majority of Lookshy, she is blissfully ignorant of her daughter's new status as one of the Anathema.
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| − | <b>Tien Yu</b>
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| − | <br>The goddess of Lookshy city and a considerable ally of the four. Though she is young, her business in Yu-Shan educated her in the truth of the Usurpation, thus she sees them as they are, rather than the demon princes the Immaculate Faith makes them out to be. It was her intercession at the iniquiry into the Battle of Emeral Tears that lent weight to Keiji's arguments that the Celestials should be allowed to continue their term in the Lookshy military, subject to further observation pending a review of that status.
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| − | <b>Artarus</b>
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| − | <br>Also called the Dragon of Galudron and the Sword of the Morning. Artarus is the ghost of the Dawn caste solar and the current leader of Sijan's Sunshields, a new order of ghostly protectors comprising of ghosts once lost and forgotten in the Fields of the Dead. He continues to lead them in defence of the city that had once forgotten them, but which will forget them no longer.
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| − | <b>The Green Lady</b>
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| − | <br>Little is known of this trusted advisor to Walker in Darkness. She is thought to be capable of foretelling the future by her reading of the stars.
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| − | <b>Shards of Basalt to Her Army</b>
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| − | <br>The Dusk Caste warrior and leader to the Walker in Darkness’ vanguard.
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| − | <b>Countess of the Crimson Fields</b>
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| − | <br>The Dusk Caste marital artist trained by the Walker in Darkness’ trusted lieutenant, the Green Lady. The Countess remembers little of her life before the Black Exaltation, though Demon of Eight Secrets revealed to Hiroshi upon interrogation that she was a recent addition to the Deathlord’s stable, a Dawn Caste Solar corrupted to his cause. Hiroshi fights hard to rescue her from the Walker’s control.
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| − | <b>Eyes Etched in a Moment of Sorrow</b>
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| − | <br>The Moonshadow Caste who speaks with the Walker in Darkness’ voice in Stygia.
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| − | <b>Spear of the Forbidden Heart</b>
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| − | <br>The Dusk Caste warrior, a stripling recently pledged to the service of the Walker in Darkness. He led the Order of the Hundred Obsidian Lances before he was felled also by Hiroshi at the gates of the Ebon Spires of Pyron, but apparently not killed. His chosen weapon, an unnamed soulsteel direlance was taken by Hiroshi upon his defeat.
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| − | <b>Demon of Eight Secrets</b>
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| − | <br>Deceased
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| − | <br>The Daybreak Caste sorceror and deathknight savant of the Walker in Darkness. He was believed to be a greater servant of the Deathlord for he was never mentioned by the Countess of the Crimson Fields, the Dusk caste warrior that Hiroshi had tried to save. Demon of Eight Secrets was defeated in Sijan during a tower-top battle with Hiroshi. He wielded great sorcery in the battle, which the Dawn shielded himself from, at great cost. His army, the Swords of Unnamed Destiny suffered a fate unknown – not all their number was spent in that battle. Demon of Eight Secrets was taken prisoner and interrogated, after which he was given his freedom by the Dawn, who left Sijan shortly after to hunt the other servants of the Walker in Darkness. He died under mysterious circumstances.
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| − | <b>Jewel of the Black Nile</b>
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| − | <br>Deceased
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| − | <br>The Midnight Caste sorceress disciple of the Walker in Darkness. She led a legion of ghosts known as the Blood Diamond legate, who were broken by the Dawn Hiroshi at the same time their mistress was assassinated by Keiji and Reia in their last known camp, south of the Crypt of the Windrider. She carried an assortment of artifacts, including a pair of crystal orbs the purposes of which have remained unknown.
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| − | <b>Ingrar of the Blue Flame</b>
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| − | <br>Supposedly a scholar of the Underworld and a ghost in existence since the toppling of the First Age, Ingrar pledged his help to the trio in the hopes that they might somehow unseat the Deathlord Walker in Darkness, and thereby bring about some hope for freedom in the afterlife. Keiji's intuition leads him to suspect the ghost, yet he rides with the Circle because the Eclipse's charms indicate that his presence will be important in fulfilling their goals.
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| − | == <b>EVENTS OF NOTE</b> ==
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| − | <b>The Battle of Emerald Tears</b>
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| − | <br>4th to 7th Day of Ascending Air, Realm Year 746
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| − | <br>More accurately described as a massacre, the Emerald Tears takes it name from the loss of a Dragon's (1'250) worth of soldiers drawn from the First Field Force and the Whitewall Redoubt. It consisted of several days of guerilla warfare executed by No-Foes-Remain's horde and took advantage of Lookshy field manoeuvres that ironically sought to test the redoubt's defences by pitting it against elite units meant to simulate a similar attack; units 'disappeared' as what part of the exercise, but when the real reason for their loss was discovered, it was too late.
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| − | The Battle ended on the final day, as the four Celestials Exalted but only the handful of survivors and the General Staff know about this; the official report cites an attack by Vorash's barbarian horde but states instead that the brave sacrifice of its people had weakened them enough to force them into retreat.
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| − | == <b>PLACES OF NOTE</b> ==
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| − | <b>The House of the Five Winds</b>
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| − | <br>4th to 7th Day of Ascending Air,
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| − | Year of the Phoenix,
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| − | Mercury Era of the 11th Epoch of the Dragonblooded Shogunate,
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| − | (Realm Year 745)
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| − | <br>Ranked among the most prestigious military schools in Lookshy, graduation from the Five Winds virtually guarantees appointment to a position of reponsibility in the Seventh Legion. Here, the scions of the major houses mingle with promising young talents given scholarship by the General Staff, as was the case with our heroes.
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| − | <b>Song of Water and Fire</b>
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| − | <br>8th Day of Ascending Earth,
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| − | Year of the Phoenix,
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| − | Mercury Era of the 11th Epoch of the Dragonblooded Shogunate,
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| − | (Realm Year 745)
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| − | <br>On this night, the city of Sijan was saved from conquest. The ancient and forgotten ghosts of the Fields of the Dead were roused under the leadership of the First Age King Artarus, Dragon of Galudron, and together with the people who could still do so, they repelled the attack long enough for three brave heroes to defeat the army at their gates.
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| − | The legends of born tonight include those of Artarus the Dragon-Come-Again, who led the defense of the city, the Dread Tiger of Night (Hiroshi), who alone quashed the army’s weapons of war and defeated their fearsome general.
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| − | <b>Bone Beast Night</b>
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| − | <br>29th Day of Ascendant Earth, Realm Year 745
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| − | Year of the Phoenix,
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| − | Mercury Era of the 11th Epoch of the Dragonblooded Shogunate,
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| − | <br>On this night, the city of Sijan was defended against the surprise attack of the deathknight Demon of Eight Circles. The Dread Tiger of Night struck again and defeated the general in a battle waged atop the highest of the city’s towers; unfortunately, it took place away from prying eyes, else his legend would surely have grown.
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| − | The Silver Spear Princess (Reia) was born tonight, as her indefensible skill burned the bone creatures that attacked like fire tears through dry wood. In the aftermath, the people came to thank the Heaven Blessing Scholar (Keiji) for his able skills in rebuilding their war-shattered land.
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| − | <b>The Exodus of the Silver-forged Chain</b>
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| − | <br>17th Day of Resplendent Fire
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| − | Year of the Phoenix,
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| − | (known on the Blessed Isle as Realm Year 745)
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| − | to
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| − | <br>14th Day of Resplendent Air,
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| − | Year of the Salamander,
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| − | Mercury Era of the 11th Epoch of the Dragon-Blooded Shogunate
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| − | (known on the Blessed Isle as Realm Year 746)
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| − | Also known in the Scavenger Lands as the Season of Silver Binding, the Exodus refers to the conquest of many cities in the Hundred Kingdoms by Vorash No-Foes-Remains. The meagre defences of these lands were defeated and their people taken prisoner to unearth the First Age city of Lacheron - sorcery could not be used for it was unknown if its defences were still active and operational.
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| − | The people were freed from two camps by the work of the Circle yet many of those rescued would be hard pressed to identify their captors or their rescuers.
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| − | In the battles that followed, Shin would slay Rei’nar Silverfox in battle, earning the legend of Foxkiller among the Forest Peoples. Hiroshi would become the Slayer Equal to God for his prowess in battle, where Reia would gain the legend of Sword Rebuking Beauty for hers. Keiji would be the The Sun That Shone Three Days for his place in three days of almost endless negotiation between the Solar and Lunar camps.
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| − | == <b>ITEMS & ARTIFACTS</b> ==
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| − | <b>Deathsong a.k.a. God-of-War</b>
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| − | <br>Hiroshi's grand daiklave, a First Age treasure of the nth degree that was made to embody physically the concept of war. It bears a double-edged blade forged of an unknown and average-looking iron-grey metal; the blade curves gracefully on one side and is plastered with a number of ancient prayer strips in a forgotten language, retelling a poem on the beauty of war. When any of its powers are called forth, two fist-sized balls of blue flame float about the weapon's hilt, marking out in Old Realm the words 'War' and 'God'.
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| − | Even in its reduced state, it is a weapon of considerable power, one that will inevitably be coveted by any who know of its importance. God-of-War has 5 hearthstone slots.
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| − | <b>The Sun in the Night</b>
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| − | <br>An ancient ring belonging to Shin in his previous life, it is an inconspicuous thing made of a mixture moonsilver and orichalcum. It is an assassin's tool, allowing its master to call the shadows around him and to become shadow himself, for a short time; more importantly, it allows him to summon from nowhere a bow (and ammunition) of roiling dark energy with which to dispatch his enemies.
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| − | <b>Aspect of the Lost Moon</b>
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| − | <br>An armband of exquisite moonsilver make, Reia found this relic in a forgotten tomb in her earlier adventures seeking out members of the Silver Pact. The power of the Lost Moon cloaks its wielder and hides the marks of her Exaltation as well as making it harder to detect the Lunar's tattoos or Tell; it seems to allow Reia some limited use of her Lunar powers without changing form.
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| − | <b>Aspect of the Hidden Sun</b>
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| − | <br>An armband of solid orichalcum make, and possibly the matching piece to Reia's Lost Moon found together in the duo's early adventures in seeking other Lunars to help fix the young Lunar's form. The powers of the Hidden Sun are currently unknown even to those in the Circle.
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| − | ===== External Notes =====
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| − | Hate to do it to you, but you're totally violating BestPractices . Page names should never have underscores in them, and thus, this should all be at SonsOfTheSeventhLegion . I'm hoping you'll go along and do your stuff over there, to avoid cluttering the wiki. Otherwise, seems interesting enough, so I look forward to it. -- GreenLantern
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