Lexicon/MaidenShadowWar

As documented by the The Stalwart Wasteland Prince in a missive to Chejop Kejak:

Found in records kept by a certain Ages Fluttering Sage of the Varang City-States, having occured in 1480 Pr.U.E. as measured by this particular savant, the Maiden and Shadow War occurred not very long before the Usurpation at all. (His calendar being based around his calculations of the Usurpation, his dates are kept in Pre-Usurpation Era and Post-Usurpation Era. The fact that he knows about the Usurpation at all is highly disturbing, and signifies that he may in fact be Anathema. The Agents stationed locally have already been notified, and he is to be placed under intense scrutiny.)

The War seems to have been precipitated by a rogue member of the Brotherhood of Certain Fates. Having lost patience with the careful and methodical progress (or, perhaps, lack thereof) of the Brotherhood, Zenith caste Meridian Blaze entered Yu-Shan and, in a fit of rage, cast his gauntlet upon The Maiden of Secrets.

War abruptly broke out between the powerful Zenith and the Five Maidens, each calling to their sides their appropriate allies and causing much upheaval both in Heaven and in Creation; that night was later given many names, such as Night of Wandering Stars, intended to describe some of the madness caused by the battles, but none of them fully do it justice.

It was felt by the majority of the Brotherhood of Certain Fates that the crippling of the Maidens would be sufficient enough a blow to the Sidereals to upset any future plots, and joined Meridian's battle. After three days of battles being waged back and forth in urban warfare through the streets and canals of Yu-Shan, aerial combat engaged in arcing leaps from aerial rickshaw to aerial rickshaw, the Calibration Gate was torn asunder, and through it streamed a horde of greater demons; at their head was one with a pentagon, each point of which had a hanging Soul Bell.

It was in the attempt to use the device upon the Maidens that it was revealed Meridian Blaze was an Infernal Agent, his actions successfully disrupting any chance the Solars would have of preventing the Usurpation, as well as wreaking havoc on the Maidens of such potency as to suggest that the Sidereals would never achieve their former power. (Some savants in our order, master Kejak, continue to debate whether or not the massive injuries sustained by the Maiden of Secrets may have contributed to the sensitivity of the Mask which would later result in our occultation from Creation.)

Upon the revelation of Meridian's true allegiance, the Brotherhood of Certain Fates immediately fractured; some attempted to defeat the demons, others to defeat Meridian, others deciding that Meridian was the lesser of their worries and that they ought to try and use this opportunity to defeat the Maidens while still possible.

Meridian Blaze was annihilated and his demons chased out of Yu-Shan by the Unconquered Sun (who, having just lost his turn at the Games to Luna, decided to emerge from the Jade Pleasure Dome and put down the infernal racket that had disturbed his concentration). The Maidens had fallen prey to the Soul Bell device for several moments before an on-the-scene Celestial Lion quickly escorted it out of the nearest gate; for the time they were captured by its effects, the stars stuttered and skipped across the sky. The rest of the Brotherhood of Certain Fates survived that night; some of them didn't last long, but a surprising number found ways to survive the wrath of the Celestines, each more resourceful than the last.

See Also:

• Brotherhood of Certain Fates
• Meridian Blaze
• The Treaty of Bells
• The Night of Wandering Stars
• Enchantress of Nine Ice Swans
• The Cascade Years

• Other M Entries

-- Miedvied

Comments

This contradicts the Brotherhood of Certain Fates entry, which clearly states that the Night of Wandering Stars came at the beginning of the Maiden and Shadow War, rather than at the end, and also notes that the fates of the Brotherhood diverge wildly at this point; "they all died right then" isn't exactly a litany of divergent fates. - Quendalon

Fixing (Miedvied asked me to) -- noted the Night thing at the beginning, and blatantly changed the entry so that the Brotherhood mostly survived. Hopefully other writers can address the divergency.
~ Shataina