Lexicon/GatheringStormAssault
Gathering Storm Assault
From the writings of Chaste Smile, Twilight Caste of the Scavenger Lands
It is strange to see Gentle Morning fight in battle, these days. He used to be very refined and dedicated, always prepared for whatever the chaos of battle would throw at him -- treating it more like a thing of logic and order, as opposed to the Fae-eaten chaos it always seemed to me. I think this is part of why we would always get along, before his corruption. He had been shaped by his military beliefs, and we were almost different sides of the same coin. Both orderly and logical, devoted to planning and careful use of resources -- him in war, myself in the search for wisdom and lore. We worked well together, even were friends.
He'd told me a bit about his life, before he was Exalted. He'd been a mercenary in the Southwest -- in the kingdom of Tilang (a place I had never heard of before; apparently a common reaction). He was a member of a military order that practiced a school of fighting called the Gathering Storm Assault. The monks of the Stormhead Order maintained a solitary temple off in the mountains far to the north of Gem, where they taught the arts of war. It was not a religious order, in whole, though they did worship several war-gods: Ahlat, Mela, Siakal, and a few other gods I'd never heard of before like Mitza the Winnower, and Six Claws Striding.
As Gentle Morning described it, the key to the Gathering Storm Assault was the slow marshalling of all the assets at one's command. Like a storm cloud slowly building, you would assemble, until your forces were as potent and undefeatable as a mighty thunderhead. In addition to warriors, devotees of the Gathering Storm gathered other advantages to them -- knowledge of their enemies, planning on possible moves, reconnaissance of their foes, and constant awareness of their surroundings. Even my lore and learning, Gentle Morning would tell me, were assets that could prove of use in a battle -- a sentiment I most heartily agreed with!
Maybe these beliefs can play a role in saving him from the corruption of the blade? It is certainly possible...
See also:
-- CrownedSun
