BurgerSlave/ChapterOne

Chapter One: Prologue

"If it weren't for your maturity
None of this would have happened
If you weren't so wise beyond your years
I would've been able to control myself
If it weren't for my attention
You wouldn't have been successful
And if it weren't for me
You wouldn't have amounted to very much"

--Alanis Morisette, 'Hands Clean'

My name is Mist. I am nineteen years old, and I am Annalist of the Sun Company, First of the Free Companies of Nexus. I'm still not sure what that means, but the Captain likes to say it an awful lot. Since I write these Annals so that those who come after us may remember, it's my job to note things like this down as correctly as possible. Besides, if what the Captain says is true, these Annals will become the holy text of the new Sun-faith he hopes to one day establish. Before Thorns, I probably would have considered him daft. But having seen the things I have, and having been saved by Sol Invictus Himself, I know better now, and I am honored that His mouthpiece, Captain Flint, would choose me to be his Annalist. He could have had anyone else, but he chose me. "The Company sticks together, Mist," he said. "We have no family besides ourselves. Remember that, and you'll do well." This, then, is the First Book of Mist, and the Chronicle of those Exalted by Sol Invictus, called in the language of the Realm The Unconquered Sun.

What of myself? My life isn't an interesting story, not like the Captain's. I grew up a common thief and pickpocket in the Little Market District of Nexus. I spent my early years dodging the slavers and keeping one step ahead of the Night Watch. I faniced myself an incarnate god of thieves, for none had the wit to catch me in the act. That is, of course, until the day the Captain grabbed me by the scruff of my neck with my hand stuffed in his pocket. But rather than turn me over to the Night Watch, he took me in. 'Conscripted', he called it. He said that, so long as I behaved myself and did as I was told, he'd give me a roof over my head and food in my belly. At first, I thought he'd want other favors out of the deal as well, but then I met Lady Trina, and she drove all such thoughts from my mind.

So I became something of a mascot for the Jade Company. Soon as I was old enough, I started drilling with the men. Captain taught me how to fight with the sword and spear, and how to shoot a bow and march in step. I was so eager to please the Captain that he made me the Company's standard-bearer, and began teaching me how to read and write. Little did I know that he was grooming me to take his place as the Company's Annalist. Having studied the previous volumes of the Annals, I should have known. But then, Captain didn't enlist me for my sterling wit, though he often praises me for my penmanship.

There's no need for me to recount the Company's betrayal at the hands of the Council of Entities. That event, and the end of the Jade Company, is recounted elsewhere in these Annals. I do not remember the days afterward very well. I have fleeting images of Captain forcing bitter-tasting berries and acrid rainwater down my throat. The first thing I do clearly remember is waking up in the Palace of Five Orchids, somewhere in the Northeast. I had been bathed and given clean clothes to wear. There was a kindly woman named Cinnabar there who fed me broth while my strength returned. She even found me paper, ink, and a brush with which to begin these Annals.

Now, having grown up in Nexus, you get used to seeing strange people. But the only Exalted I ever got to know well was Lady Trina. Here in the Palace, there are six Dragon-Blooded and six of Sol's Chosen! I have even heard tell that a Chosen of Luna is coming as well. I might have been afraid before, but Captain wouldn't have wanted me to be fearful. He tells me that the Sun rewards those who help themselves. He reminds me to respect the Chosen of Heaven, but to be proud of my own accomplishments as well. I told him I haven't really accomplished anything. He just chuckled and ruffled my hair. "Give it time, laddie," he told me. And that was the end of it. He seems to think that I'm destined for greatness. May all the gods have mercy on me if that's the case!

Captain seems to have endeared himself to the other Chosen of Sol here. They form a Circle, he said, and we will be travelling together. He tells me that they are part of the Sun Company, whether or not they know it yet. I try not to draw their notice overmuch. They may seem like nice people, but they are Exalted, and I don't want to offend them by pretending familiarity with them. That may be all right for Captain, but I'm only a poor Annalist. I am learning much about the Castes that serve Sol Invictus, and the functions of each.

Captain is of the Zenith Caste, and he is the holy voice of the Sun. I have seen his power at work, driving back the shadows and putting the dead to rest. When he chooses, he can speak and make his voice heard, no matter who is listening. He was my best friend even before he was Chosen, and I will follow him to the lowest circle of Malfeas, if that is where he leads me. He fills me with strength and hope, and I consider myself blessed beyond recounting that he would choose to have me at his side. He is the the father of the Sun Company.

Xiao Shan is the biggest man I've ever met. He stands even taller than Blue Boar did, and is almost twice as wide as me. He is of the Dawn Caste, and he is the sword of the Sun. He carries a daiklave like Lady Trina's, except it would be two feet taller than I am if he were to stand it up against me. The blade is inlaid with the same shiny gold metal that the Company standard's head is made of, rather than blue jade. He calls it Dawn's Massacre, and I'm sure he could cut a grown man fully in half with it. Like my fallen brothers, he is a warrior, and will be well suited to life in the Company, I think. He's a little scary, but he's also very kindly, and I would like to be friends with him.

Justin Nightbringer is of the Night Caste, and he gives me the creeping collywobbles. He isn't much to look at. I am given to understand that he also grew up in Nexus. Whatever it was that turned him into such a cold-blooded bastard, I don't care to find out. He doesn't look at you like you're a person. I don't think he looks at anyone as being human. Since he's reportedly a master of Snake Style martial arts, that makes sense, somehow. The few times I've heard him speak, he claims to be the eyes of the Sun. He may be part of the Company, and I have to respect him as one of Sol's Chosen, but I'm going to give him a wide berth anyway. His creepy might rub off on me, and then nobody would want to be my friend. If he's at all lonely, he doesn't show it.

Shi'ara is a Linowan princess, and is of the Twilight Caste. She and her little brother Tug have been wandering around with Justin for some years, I am told. They say that she is a sorceress, although I have never seen her cast any spells. She's very pretty, but Justin hangs over her like a protective cloud. Not even Captain's taken a pass at her, so I've refrained from doing so myself. Tug seems like an all right kid, for a barbarian. I imagine he and I'll be spending a lot of time together, since we're both humble mortals in the company of Chosen. Funny thing, though. He doesn't act like Shi'ara is Chosen. When I get a chance to talk to him, I'll have to give him a crash course on how to properly address the Exalted.

Orym Nightshade and Ledaal Wyndham are both of the Eclipse Caste, and I've come to think of them as opposite sides of the same coin. One is light, the other is shadow. One is a sorcerer, the other a necromancer. Both are reputed to be courtiers, but Orym prefers a flowery, graceful form of speech whereas Wyndham is forthright and direct. I would have expected the opposite to be true, since Wyndham is part of the Scarlet Dynasty and Orym is a mortician from Sijan. As wierd as it sounds, I've found Orym to be more approachable, even though he talks to ghosts. I thought he'd be scarier than he is, but he's really nice and interesting to talk to. I asked him what made him different from the Mask of Winters, and he took his time telling me about the Four Monarchs that rule the Empire of Stygia, and how the Deathlords are usurpers. "Life and Death should be perfectly balanced," he told me. "One or the other was never meant to rule supremely." I tried to approach Wyndham to ask him about the subject, but he wasn't really interested in talking. According to Orym, the ghost of his son haunts him, so I can understand why he'd be distracted. By all accounts, the Dynasty's Immaculate Order frowns upon ancestor worship. For some reason.

Brother Frost is the last member of Captain's Circle. Like Captain, he is Zenith Caste. But whereas Captain is a leader, Brother Frost keeps his own counsel. I am told that he is wise in the ways of woodcraft and that he can talk to animals. Since he is a priest of Sol Invictus, I've been hesitant about approaching him. He seems nice enough, but the last thing I want to do is offend one of the Voices of the Sun. The few times I've heard him speak, he's seemed very wise. Whereas Captain wants to lead men to righteousness and speaks like a firey preacher, Brother Frost seems more interested in discerning wisdom from falsehood and imparting that wisdom to those who would listen. I think I like him, but my first loyalty is to Captain. I sure as hell don't want him pissed at me!

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