TEXT: ™
  
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  BY  KRAIG BLACKWELDER, GENEVIEVE COGMAN, DANIEL DOVER, 
  MICHAEL KESSLER AND ANDREW WATT
  TM
  
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  TABLE OF CONTENTS
  INTRODUCTION 
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  CHAPTER ONE: THE HISTORY OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS 
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  CHAPTER TWO: THE HEART OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS 
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  CHAPTER THREE: WARLORDS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS 
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  CHAPTER FOUR: THE CITY OF TEMPLES 
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  CHAPTER FIVE: EMPIRE OF THE DEAD 
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  CHAPTER SIX: LAST BASTION OF THE SCARLET EMPIRE 
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  CHAPTER SEVEN: THE EMPTY CITY 
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  CHAPTER EIGHT: GODS AND MONSTERS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS 
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  TM
  
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  INTRODUCTION
  An association of men who will not quarrel with one an-
  other is a thing which has never yet existed, from the greatest 
  confederacy of nations down to a town meeting or a vestry.
  —Thomas Jefferson, Letter, June 1, 1798
   
  INTRODUCTION
  INTRODUCTION
  Since the fall of the Dragon-Blooded Shogunate eight 
  centuries past, the Scavenger Lands have forged their own 
  destiny in deﬁ ance of both the odds and the forces of the 
  Scarlet Empire. Shattered by the twin blows of the Great 
  Contagion and the subsequent invasion by the Fair Folk, 
  the former River Province of the Shogunate rebuilt itself, 
  eschewing the Realm’s help and its dominance. Defending 
  their independence again and again over the centuries, the 
  states of the Scavenger Lands have grown into economic 
  powerhouses and bastions of freedom that are the envy and 
  inspiration of the rest of the free world.
  HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
  The Compass of Terrestrial Directions, Vol. I—The 
  Scavenger Lands is a setting book designed to provide players 
  and Storytellers with all they need to play games set in any 
  of the numerous states of the Confederation of Rivers. From 
  the deiocracy of Great Forks to the Realm puppet-state of 
  Greyfalls, from the military dictatorship of Lookshy to the 
  myriad tiny nations that make up the so-called Hundred 
  Kingdoms, there are settings aplenty for every type of group 
  and style of play, complete with dominion traits for Exalted’s 
  optional Mandate of Heaven rules.
  Chapter One: The History of the Scavenger Lands
  This chapter offers a detailed overview of River Prov-
  ince history. From its First Age origins as the breadbasket 
  of the Old Realm to its present incarnation as the deﬁ ant 
  Confederation of Rivers, this region has always inﬂ uenced 
  the affairs of nations Creation-wide.
  Chapter Two: The Heart of the Scavenger Lands
  This section focuses on Nexus, the most populous city of 
  the Scavenger Lands. Crouched like a bloated spider at the 
  conﬂ uence of the River Province’s three greatest waterways, 
  the lawless city of Nexus exerts enormous inﬂ uence on the 
  
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  Scavenger Lands and beyond through its web of trade routes 
  spun by economic powerhouse, the Guild.
  Chapter Three: Warlords of the Scavenger Lands
  Chapter Three focuses on Lookshy and one of its mar-
  tial allies, the Marukan Alliance. From the fortress-city of 
  Lookshy, the mighty Seventh Legion sallies forth to defend 
  the Scavenger Lands from its many enemies, be they imperial 
  legions, barbarian invaders or even the unfathomable Fair 
  Folk. Yet the Seventh Legion does not operate alone. Tied 
  by treaty to the other states of the Confederation of Rivers, 
  the ﬁ eld forces of Lookshy have often operated alongside 
  the armies of other River Province nations. One of its most 
  respected allies is also detailed here, Marukan, home of the 
  rightly feared horselords.
  Chapter Four: The City of Temples
  This chapter concerns itself with Great Forks, one of 
  the Confederation’s most powerful states and one ruled 
  directly by three powerful gods: Spinner of Glorious Tales, 
  Weaver of Dreams of Victory, and Shield of a Different 
  Day. Eschewing the Immaculate faith, the people of Great 
  Forks share their city with a number of minor divinities and 
  God-Bloods, many of whom immigrated to the city because 
  of its renowned tolerance.
  Chapter Five: Empire of the Dead
  This section covers Thorns, a totalitarian state suffering 
  under the despotic rule of the Deathlord Mask of Winters. 
  Once loyal subjects of the Realm and devout followers of 
  the Immaculate faith, Thorns’ people now slave for the 
  Deathlord and his Abyssal champions and are forcibly 
  converted to the blasphemous ancestor cult.
  Chapter Six: Last Bastion of the Scarlet Empire
  Chapter Seven concerns itself with the ﬁ nal outpost 
  of the Realm in the Scavenger Lands, Greyfalls. Ceded to 
  the Empress by the treaty ending the Realm’s third inva-
  sion of the River Province, Greyfalls was long considered a 
  provincial backwater to which were sent the dregs of Realm 
  society. Thanks to the efforts of House Nellens, however, the 
  country has enjoyed a rebirth of sorts and now threatens to 
  use its newfound economic and military might to expand 
  into sovereign Confederation territory.
  Chapter Seven: The Empty City
  In the heart of the Hundred Kingdoms lies the lost First 
  Age city of Denandsor. Protected by a cursed miasma and 
  an army of robotic guardians, its greatest treasures still wait 
  to be uncovered by the Exalts clever or tenacious enough 
  to best its defenses.
  Chapter Eight: Gods and Monsters of the Scavenger Lands
  The Scavenger Lands is a dangerous place, and this 
  chapter outlines some of its deadliest denizens. From the 
  Emissary of Nexus to giant maggots that crawl beneath the 
  ﬂ esh of the Mask of Winters’ corpse-fortress Juggernaut, 
  over 25 threats native to the region are given full traits for 
  use in Exalted series.
  
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  CHAPTER ONE • THE HISTORY OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  
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  CHAPTER ONE
  CHAPTER ONE
  THE HISTORY OF THE
  THE HISTORY OF THE
  SCAVENGER LANDS
  SCAVENGER LANDS
  The Scavenger Lands lie to the east of the Realm, across 
  the Inland Sea. To the Scarlet Dynasty, they are a constant 
  thorn and irritation, a source of shame and a drain on re-
  sources. To those who would rebel against the Realm, the 
  Scavenger Lands are where heroes raised a banner of deﬁ ance 
  and built a group of kingdoms that still hold ﬁ rm and free. 
  To their inhabitants, they are home, soaked in the blood of 
  the ancestors who fought for their freedom, protected by the 
  gods they worship, hallowed by the ancient dead who still 
  watch over them.
  That said, only one who closed his eyes to reality could 
  deny that the Scavenger Lands are full of danger, chaos and 
  war. The hundreds of tiny kingdoms constantly squabble 
  with each other, restrained only by the bindings of the Con-
  federation of Rivers and the military supremacy of Lookshy. 
  Scavenger lords pick over the relics of the First Age and 
  arm themselves with ancient weapons and half-understood 
  sorceries. The Fair Folk strike from the boundaries of Cre-
  ation, and the Deathlords threaten both the living and the 
  dead. (One, the Mask of Winters, has even conquered the 
  province of Thorns and set his corpse-fortress, Juggernaut, 
  prowling across the bone-strewn land.) The Scavenger Lands 
  are free, but that freedom comes at a high price.
  The Scavenger Lands are also full of wonders and glo-
  ries. The Shogunate-era towers of Lookshy, the plains of the 
  Marukan Alliance, the great aeries of Mount Metagalapa, 
  the shrouded city of Sijan—where the living spend their 
  lives honoring the dead—the god-ruled city of Great Forks, 
  Thorns—where the Mask of Winters spreads his dark power 
  outward—Greyfalls—the last bastion of the Realm—the 
  silent city of Denandsor… First Age manses lie undiscovered 
  in hidden places, and the tombs of long-dead Solars and 
  Lunars have lain undisturbed for centuries, ﬁ lled with the 
  relics of those who ruled before the Usurpation.
  This chapter gives an overview of the history of the 
  Scavenger Lands, from its birth as a set of nations at the 
  time of the Realm’s founding to the present day. The picture 
  is incomplete, of course. Many heroes have passed into his-
  
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  CHAPTER ONE • THE HISTORY OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  tory and been forgotten, 
  many alliances have died 
  along with the kingdoms 
  that gave them birth, and 
  many wars have left only bones 
  and ashes in their traces, rather than 
  descendants who could remember them. 
  Nonetheless, in spite of the Realm’s constant ef-
  forts to conquer and absorb them, the Scavenger 
  Lands still remain free and hold fast against 
  invaders from all sides. In this time of turmoil 
  and war, they could be the deciding factor that 
  tips the balance of the world’s future.
  THE HISTORY OF THE RIVER 
  PROVINCE
  In the First Age, the River Province 
  was the heartland of the Realm, a place of 
  natural bounty, fabled for its mineral wealth 
  and fertile soil. Dozens of glorious cities rose 
  along its many rivers, and merchants came 
  from across the world to trade for metals, 
  grains, livestock and ﬁ nished goods. The 
  raw materials of the East were shipped 
  north or south to cities on the Yanaze River 
  and then transported downstream to cities at 
  the river mouth, thence to be shipped to all 
  corners of the Realm. Even the Usurpation and 
  the wars of the Shogunate did not damage the River 
  Province as much as it did some areas. Although Solars 
  died there and manses fell and cities were shattered, still 
  much continued as it had always done. The people 
  thrived, and the land ﬂ ourished.
  Then the Great Contagion and the sub-
  sequent invasion of the Fair Folk struck the 
  River Province and shattered it. Cities 
  were decimated, ﬁ elds were salted, 
  mines were shattered and ruined, and 
  wide swathes of landscape were twisted 
  by the Wyld. Shadowlands sprang up 
  where the death toll was highest, and 
  many of the region’s great manses suc-
  cumbed to abandonment and decay. 
  And still the Fair Folk came, sweeping 
  in from the south and east and north, 
  harrying those who still lived like 
  hares before hounds. The remainder 
  of the Dragon-Blooded forces in the 
  area rallied to the strongest remaining 
  command, the Seventh Legion, which 
  coordinated defense from the ruins of 
  the city of Deheleshen (later rebuilt as 
  Lookshy), but even they could do little to 
  hold back the forces of the Wyld.
  
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  When the Scarlet Empress used the Realm’s ancient 
  defenses to drive back the Fair Folk and reestablish the bound-
  aries of Creation, few in the River Province understood what 
  had transpired. In many places, the defense systems caused as 
  much devastation as the attacks and plague and Wyld that 
  had gone before. The Scarlet Dynasty might have been born 
  that day, but the River Province neither knew nor cared. Its 
  people were preoccupied with their own survival.
  Refugees from throughout Creation made their way to 
  the River Province, drawn by tales of the region’s great wealth 
  and fertile land. They found a blasted, war-torn country, where 
  the cities were in ruins and the battleﬁ elds stretched from 
  horizon to horizon. Yet they also found survivors, and areas 
  where the Contagion had not bitten too deeply, and most of 
  all, they found heroes and leaders. Despite their often stark 
  differences, local survivors and refugees worked together to 
  rebuild. Fifty years later, when the emissaries of the Scarlet 
  Empress came to demand oaths of fealty, a number of city-
  states had risen on the ruins of pre-Contagion towns and 
  cities. Few of these new powers saw any need to acknowledge 
  the Empress’s claim to the imperial throne—or to sacriﬁ ce 
  their newly found independence.
  For ﬁ ve years, the Realm’s diplomats tried to cajole, bribe 
  or coerce the new city-states of the River Province into fealty 
  to the Realm. They had some successes along the coastline, 
  where they could use the Realm’s navy to add threats to 
  their diplomacy, but most of the “upstart nations” (the term 
  “Scavenger Lands” was not yet common) refused any sort of 
  To the so-called Scarlet Empress, self-proclaimed Ruler of the Blessed Isle and 
  Defender of the Realm,
  I must inform you that I reject your claim to the title of Empress. While you 
  certainly command a number of legions and can, therefore, claim to control the 
  Blessed Isle, these alone do not make you the Shogun. Your actions in reactivating 
  the ancient defenses of the Realm and casting back the fae are commendable, but 
  they do not make you the Shogun either.
  Shogun is a title you must earn, and I cannot support your claim to it. You 
  are unknown to me, and so, I must assume that you are a low-ranking officer 
  who happened to be in the right place at the right time. You have not yet dem-
  onstrated strategic acumen or political ability. I will not submit to the rule of a 
  functionary, nor will I turn control of this legion over to you or your emissaries. 
  If you wish to become the true Shogun of the Dragon-Blooded, you will have to 
  defeat me in battle and prove you deserve the title.
  My last official orders from my daimyo were quite clear: defend the River Province 
  and provide what support I can. This I have done, and this I shall continue to do as 
  long as my lungs draw breath. Come and get us if you wish. We will be waiting.
  Chumyo Nefvarin Gilshalos, Lord of Lookshy Manor, Commander of the Seventh 
  Legion of the Dragon-Blooded Shogunate
  alliance with the Realm. Foremost among the independent 
  nations was the newly established Lookshy, whose example 
  served to hearten many of the others.
  In the 57th year of the Empress’ reign, the Forth Imperial 
  Legion invaded the River Province. Using what are now the 
  cities of Port Calin, Celeren and Marin Bay as staging grounds, 
  the legion drove systematically eastward, leaving garrisons 
  and puppet rulers in each city they conquered. The legion-
  naires soon found that, while conquering the River Province 
  was relatively easy, keeping it paciﬁ ed was not. Even in the 
  cities they controlled, the legionnaires faced sneak attacks 
  and ambushes. In the countryside, they controlled only what 
  they could see. Resistance was unorganized, undisciplined 
  and unprepared, but also ﬁ erce, determined and equipped 
  with First Age weapons.
  After two years of ﬁ ghting, the Realm controlled the 
  province’s major cities and most of the smaller cities and 
  towns, with two notable exceptions. One was Sijan, which 
  the Realm left undisturbed out of respect for the dead. The 
  other was Lookshy, where negotiations continued with the 
  Seventh Legion. The Seventh Legion’s commander, Chu-
  myo Nefvarin, was a strategic prodigy and had collected 
  large stocks of First Age weaponry in the period just after 
  the Contagion. Few of his contemporaries were willing to 
  challenge his battleﬁ eld acumen, and his troops were better 
  equipped than even the forces of the Realm.
  Despite its ferocity, the resistance would have eventually 
  failed due to its lack of coordination and structure. New cadres 
  
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  CHAPTER ONE • THE HISTORY OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  sprang up almost as swiftly as others were wiped out, but the 
  imperial legionnaires were used to dealing with uprisings and 
  revolts. As time passed, however, resistance attacks decreased 
  in number but drastically increased in coordination and ef-
  fectiveness. The resistance cells became better organized and 
  more sophisticated, due to the behind-the-scenes assistance of 
  the Seventh Legion. Through the months of negotiations with 
  the Realm, legion troops at Lookshy had been secretly training 
  the most promising cells in the tactics of revolution. Knowing 
  he could not hope to defeat the entrenched imperial troops 
  surrounding his city, Chumyo Nefvarin set out to wear down 
  the Empress’s forces and to build an army that could support 
  his efforts to force the Realm out of the River Province.
  In the 67th year of the Scarlet Empress’s reign, the River 
  Province exploded in a storm of violence against imperial 
  outposts and units. Patrols were ambushed by organized, 
  battle-trained guerillas; warships were burned to the water-
  line in ports or sabotaged on the open water; and isolated 
  encampments and fortiﬁ cations were besieged and sacked. 
  For two years, the Realm legionnaires fought a losing battle 
  against these guerilla ﬁ ghters while having to simultaneously 
  remain alert for a counterattack from the Seventh Legion. 
  Eventually, early in the 69th year of her reign, the Scarlet 
  Empress withdrew her troops back to allied territory.
  THE SECOND INVASION
  Many in the River Province celebrated, believing they’d 
  driven off the Realm for good. Nefvarin knew better. He took 
  steps to solidify the tenuous lines of communication formed 
  during the revolt and shepherded the ﬁ rst overtures toward 
  a formal alliance between the free countries of the River 
  Province. Several of the small city-states on the Yanaze began 
  building warships to patrol the rivers and escort merchant 
  vessels along the shores of the Inland Sea as trade between 
  nations recovered, while the inland kingdoms began drilling 
  their newly established armies for a renewed attack. The city 
  of Nexus was quickly growing from the First Age ruins of the 
  city of Hollow as a locus for trade.
  The assault was not long in coming, and it was far worse 
  than anyone had expected. In RY 75, the Scarlet Empress 
  invaded again, with a total force of four fresh imperial le-
  gions. Lookshy was besieged, and the newly formed Nexus 
  was captured and occupied. Provincial warships caught on 
  the rivers were destroyed, while those that had been at sea 
  when the invasion occurred were reduced to privateering, 
  acting primarily as raiders and destroying the occasional 
  Realm warship. Even Sijan, spared during the ﬁ rst invasion, 
  was garrisoned during this round of warfare.
  Once again, the imperial legions found that taking ground 
  was easier than holding it. Despite their early successes, the 
  Realm offensive quickly bogged down. The countryside was 
  in open insurrection, and Lookshy withstood siege for over a 
  year, inﬂ icting heavy casualties against several assaults.
  In RY 76, the tide turned. Lookshy smuggled a powerful 
  First Age weapon into the surrounding imperial camp, one 
  that shattered the souls of all who heard its deadly song. The 
  Seventh Legion then sallied forth to slaughter the few surviv-
  ing imperial troops. After this bloody victory, the Seventh 
  marched to the site of what is now the city of Great Forks, 
  where it engaged and destroyed the imperial Fourth Legion. 
  In Nexus, the mysterious Emissary proclaimed that all Realm 
  forces must withdraw from the city and never again enter 
  it. In response, Realm troops besieged the Council Tower, 
  killing two Councilors before being slaughtered in turn by 
  the Emissary. Within a week, every ofﬁ cer above the rank 
  of talonlord in Nexus was slain, and the remaining impe-
  rial forces in the Province, bereft of their best leadership, 
  regrouped and withdrew down the Yanaze River.
  THE THIRD INVASION
  The Realm made a ﬁ nal effort to invade in RY 88, land-
  ing with seven legions of imperial foot and at least twice that 
  many auxiliaries raised from tributary states. By this time, the 
  Realm had to defeat the River Province or live with it as a 
  permanent shameful reminder that it was not omnipotent. The 
  resulting conﬂ ict was a war that saw the use of a great deal of 
  First Age magic, including some very powerful weapons. The 
  city of Lookshy was once again besieged, and the Seventh 
  Legion ﬁ eld forces were cut off from their base.
  The war was short, brutal and ugly. Troops from Me-
  levhil and Nathir harried the imperial forces in the Gray 
  River basin, while the Seventh Legion tied down several 
  imperial legions. The ﬁ nal battle took place in the ﬁ elds 
  outside Melevhil, between the Empress’s Own Guard and the 
  Seventh Legion Mobile Force. Over 100 Dragon-Blooded 
  heroes on both sides took the ﬁ eld, and all of the Guard’s 19 
  warstriders were cut down by the battle’s end. The forces of 
  the Realm were driven back, having lost many of their First 
  Age weapons and best ofﬁ cers. Melevhil itself was shattered 
  by the conﬂ ict, and only its ruins remain today. The Realm 
  ﬂ eet was scuttled in a surprise attack by saboteurs during the 
  battle, and the Realm was forced to evacuate its troops with 
  merchant vessels.
  THE FORMATION OF THE LEAGUE
  The third invasion gave rise to a defensive alliance 
  among the powers of the Scavenger Lands. This alliance 
  was known as the League of Many Rivers, and the treaty 
  that created it was signed in RY 95. The League was more a 
  compact of mutual assistance than an actual organization. It 
  was an agreement between the states of the Scavenger Lands 
  (the River Province had by now been given this name by 
  the invading Realm forces) to band together against outside 
  foes and prevent conquest through divide-and-rule politics. 
  Though Lookshy was unambiguously the de facto regional 
  leader, the compact made no speciﬁ c allowances for the 
  Seventh Legion to command regional forces in times of 
  war. (History suggests that this leadership was not so much 
  granted as it was simply understood, with Chumyo Nefvarin’s 
  prowess fresh in the minds of all.)
  
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  punctuated by border raids and diplomatic incidents, while 
  the local states built up their militaries and trained them to 
  professional caliber. Lookshy, however, was the only state 
  with known large stocks of First Age weapons.
  Almost unnoticed at the time by the warring states, 
  Brem Marst founded the Guild in RY 99. He united the River 
  League, a caravan network of Scavenger Land merchants, 
  and the philosophies of the Counters, a confederation of 
  merchant-philosophers based in the Lap, with the support 
  of merchant houses from Sijan, Nexus and Chaya. While it 
  ventured as far northwest as Whitehall and as far southwest 
  as the Lap, the Guild was primarily a River Province institu-
  tion for the next four decades.
  During the next few decades, a number of coastal states of 
  the former River Province foreswore their fealty to the Scarlet 
  Empire and petitioned to join the nascent League of Many 
  Rivers. (They were assisted in this by the Guild, which funneled 
  money and supplies to them in order to expand its own trade 
  base.) After much deliberation, these states were allowed to 
  join the League. Toothless protests from the Blessed Isle (still 
  rebuilding from its earlier losses) were ignored.
  Despite frequent attempts by the Realm to enlist the 
  Guild as an ally, Brem Marst knew that his Guild would 
  be stronger without a permanent debt to the Realm. In 
  RY 117, he treated with the Council of Entities of Nexus 
  and established that city as the permanent headquarters 
  of the Guild.
  Events in the region ﬁ nally boiled over in a sustained 
  major conﬂ ict in RY 265, when the Laris and Velen admin-
  istrative districts went to war over water rights to the Sandy 
  River, in a dispute that had its roots in First Age conﬂ icts 
  between the two regions. The resulting war drew in most of 
  the regional states, exhausting the resources of nations that 
  could barely afford to support standing armies. It was also 
  the last war in the area in which First Age weapons ﬁ gured 
  prominently, since most states had depleted their treasuries 
  and arsenals by the time it was over. (Lookshy had refrained 
  from getting involved on either side.) The states involved had 
  also done so much damage to the remains of their physical 
  and human First Age infrastructures that the region could no 
  longer support governments of any appreciable size. Power 
  devolved to a prefecture level, and only in the next century 
  did larger states re-emerge.
  The Realm made another venture (it scarcely deserved 
  the title of war) against the region in RY 301, just after the 
  collapse of most of the provincial combatants. The Realm sent 
  two legions and a large contingent of auxiliary forces drawn 
  from various satrapies, including a substantial contingent of 
  Linowan. The Seventh Legion deployed two ﬁ eld forces, caught 
  the imperials in a pincer movement just south of Sijan and 
  routed them. They took thousands of prisoners, including a 
  satrap and two dragonlords, whom they ransomed back to the 
  Realm for a princely sum. The resulting scandal ultimately led 
  to the public disgrace of House Iselsi and ended the Realm’s 
  ambitions in the area for the next few centuries.
  HEROES OF THE REALM WARS
  The most striking feature of the Realm Wars was 
  not that they were fought, but that the Scavenger 
  Lands won. At the time, the people of the region were 
  poorly organized, ill-coordinated, few in numbers and 
  unready for any sort of major war. Indeed, many of 
  the smaller cities had trouble keeping brigands from 
  their gates, let alone imperial soldiers. Their advan-
  tage lay in the talent, determination and heroism of 
  their leaders.
  Names such as Chumyo Nefvarin Gilshalos, 
  Birk of Neverwater, Mortician Aldis Nerin of Sijan, 
  Warlord Kerin and Dictatrix Alix Brightsword are 
  known in fable and history as the leaders of the wars, 
  but around them orbited a constellation of other 
  heroes. Among them were dedicated talonlords of 
  the Seventh Legion, the infamous spy Mara, Garil 
  of the Horselords (the nomads who later settled in 
  Marukan), the mercenary Order of the Sword and 
  Axe, and a host of others. Without these courageous 
  and gifted individuals and groups, the River Province 
  would have fallen to the Realm, becoming just one 
  more subject territory.
  These heroes form the mythology of the Scav-
  enger Lands. Festivals are held in their names and 
  great deeds are done in their honor. Legendary 
  deeds, wise sayings and traditions are ascribed to 
  them. Children learn their names; adults strive to 
  emulate their example. Their ghosts still appear oc-
  casionally, delivering portents and signaling events 
  of great import.
  The agreement openly embraced regional conﬂ icts and 
  speciﬁ cally permitted member-states to resolve disputes 
  through military force. Nevertheless, the League pledge 
  gave the region an identity and sent a signal to the Realm 
  that the River Province was willing to unite to protect its 
  independence in the face of aggression.
  EARLY DISPUTES
  Most of the early states in the region were originally 
  based on the territories of various Shogunate daimyos and 
  centered on their capitals or fortresses. As a result, most had 
  contentious relations, despite the diluting effect of refugees 
  from outside. The Seventh Legion’s political core consisted 
  of the regional superdaimyo’s household troops, and most of 
  the major states saw Lookshy’s own political maneuvering 
  as an attempt to assert overall dominance.
  These early days of independence saw several vicious 
  scufﬂ es over power, in which Lookshy fought most of the other 
  states at once and in various combinations. (Sijan stayed neu-
  tral, as ever.) The Province drifted into a sullen quiescence, 
  
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  CHAPTER ONE • THE HISTORY OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  THE ARCZECKH HORDE
  In RY 364, the League faced a new foe: the Arczeckh 
  barbarian horde, no longer content to raid caravans, but 
  driving up from the southern wastelands into the River Prov-
  ince itself. The barbarians were led by Mokuu, chief of the 
  Chalan tribe, who had welded the diverse Arczeckh people 
  into a uniﬁ ed whole. Through promises of wealth for all, the 
  surreptitious murder of chieftains who refused to cooperate 
  and a near-supernatural charisma, he assembled a horde that 
  invaded the southern reaches of the League.
  Over the next ﬁ ve years, Mokuu’s forces overwhelmed 
  several League cities, including Matetha, Darangin, Aryvyras 
  and Cho-Holuth. The Arczeckhi were poised to strike at the 
  major trade centers of Meresh and Nechara when the armies 
  of the League ﬁ nally turned them back. After serious losses, 
  the horde retreated, only to return two summers later to raze 
  Meresh and plunder Darangin, Matetha, and Cho-Holuth a 
  second time. Taimyo White of Lookshy responded with an 
  ambush at Nechara, in which the Seventh Legion caught 
  Mokuu’s forces against the Maruto River and crushed them 
  decisively. The two leaders’ personal guards fought for almost 
  an hour. Their titanic battle ended when White used powerful 
  sorcery to call down ﬁ re from the open sky, slaying Mokuu 
  but critically injuring himself. White is to this day honored 
  as a patron hero of Nechara.
  Without Mokuu’s leadership, the horde broke up and ﬂ ed 
  back to Arczeckh territories. Though the tribes continue their 
  raiding to this day, they have never again banded together to 
  attack the Scavenger Lands. Some war-leaders have tried to 
  unify the Arczeckh tribes, calling on the spirit of Mokuu (now 
  a minor god of war), but none have succeeded. Nonetheless, 
  they remain a constant concern to the southern members of 
  the Confederation of Rivers to this day.
  THE FAIR FOLK ATTACK
  In RY 547, after nearly two centuries of relative peace, 
  an alliance of Fair Folk nobles opened hostilities against the 
  Hundred Kingdoms region of the River Province. Though 
  they brought great behemoths from the Wyld with them, 
  all the Fair Folk taking part in the assault were shaped and 
  formed to exist in Creation—this was a war of conquest 
  rather than destruction. This conﬂ ict marked the end of the 
  League of Many Rivers. Most of the League states were eager 
  to lend forces at the beginning of the war, recognizing the 
  mutual threat, but none were prepared for the sheer length 
  of the ﬁ ghting.
  The Fair Folk had prepared well and had gathered a great 
  host of hobgoblins to serve as ground troops. Even with the 
  Scavenger Lands’ iron weapons, the war ground on. Most of the 
  Fair Folk could not stand against the humans in open battle, 
  but they used their powers of glamour to move and strike swiftly 
  
  14
  and to remove human commanders and enslave key ﬁ gures in 
  the human forces. Only after seven years of campaigning were 
  the Fair Folk driven from the Scavenger Lands, primarily by 
  Nexus mercenaries and Seventh Legion troops.
  During the last three years of the war, sheer exhaustion 
  forced almost every small League kingdom to quit the fray. 
  Lacking direction and ability to cooperate, and with the heroes 
  of yore having passed away, their armies were set upon and 
  cut apart. The war against the Fair Folk starkly illuminated 
  the League’s weakness.
  This weakness was remedied by the Treaty of the Con-
  federation of Rivers, brokered and signed in RY 557, which 
  established a forum for shared deliberations and allowed 
  a greatly superior level of backchannel communications 
  and behind-the-scenes negotiation. It was no longer a 
  time for heroes; it was a time for diplomacy, cooperation 
  and self-limitation.
  The Guild strengthened its trade routes through the region. 
  The Shogunate, the First Age and the Great Contagion 
  receded into the past and stayed there.
  THE WAR WITH THORNS
  In RY 748, the hereditary Autocrat of the kingdom of 
  Thorns died. Thorns had always been an ally of the Realm, 
  of the sort that provided vocal support and tribute but only 
  minimal military assistance. The Realm approached the heir’s 
  younger brother, and offered him the throne if he would 
  declare war on the Confederation—with Realm support, of 
  course. Hungry for power and discontented with the centuries 
  of peace, he agreed.
  With the help of a dozen Dragon-Blooded advisors, the 
  younger son seized the throne and threw his new kingdom 
  into a frenzy of preparations for war. Alerted by its spies, the 
  Confederation prepared its defenses. When Thorns deployed 
  its forces outside its borders in RY 752, the Confederation was 
  ready. The Seventh Legion struck ﬁ rst, staging a night assault 
  on the Thorns camp, but the Confederation as a whole was 
  reluctant to meet the Thorns forces in open battle, hoping 
  to resolve the matter with minimal casualties. Despite its 
  Dragon-Blooded leaders, the army of Thorns remained the 
  hastily assembled force of a rural puppet state, dogged by 
  operational ineptitude and incompetent small-unit leaders. 
  The army of Thorns fell back in disorder in the autumn of 
  752 after several inconclusive months and spent the next 
  year retraining.
  In the early summer of RY 754, Thorns took the ﬁ eld 
  again and achieved temporary success, mauling a force of 
  Seventh Legion and Confederation troops at Deren’s Ford. 
  The remaining Confederation forces fell back to Mishaka, 
  where the Thorns troops besieged them for several months. 
  Unfortunately for Thorns, this siege kept its own armies tied 
  down there as well, where they had to face combined forces 
  from Lookshy, Nexus and various Confederation states. Both 
  sides used First Age weapons on the battleﬁ eld, and although 
  the Scavenger Lands held the ﬁ eld at the end of the day, 
  all of the units involved took serious losses, with the light 
  foot from Great Forks being wiped out almost to a man. No 
  armistice was served, but the Battle of Mishaka marked the 
  end of the war. Thorns was too exhausted to ﬁ ght on.
  RECENT EVENTS
  During the Calibration of RY 763, the Empress vanished. 
  This news was greeted in the Scavenger Lands with attitudes 
  ranging from delight to distrust, with few being willing to 
  take it at face value. As the strategists realized, however, 
  this disappearance did not lessen the forces that threatened 
  them. Many in the Realm were still eager to conquer the 
  Scavenger Lands—all the more so, as Lookshy’s stocks of 
  First Age weaponry might well tip the balance should the 
  Blessed Isle erupt in civil war.
  In RY 764, the Deathlord known as the Mask of Winters 
  made his move. He seized the weakened city-state of Thorns, 
  THE CONFEDERATION TREATY
  The Confederation Treaty is deliberately vague 
  in some respects and strict in others. It speciﬁ cally 
  deﬁ nes how many troops, as a percentage of a given 
  country’s able population, can be requested for the 
  Confederation’s defense, and under what conditions. 
  It deﬁ nes the circumstances under which signatories 
  can preemptively interfere in the affairs of other 
  signatories. It makes vague references to honoring 
  trade and commerce agreements, and even mentions 
  trade regulation, but these strictures have never been 
  spelled out or rendered into any sort of law. Its most 
  important function is to make sure that, in the event 
  of future invasions, the Confederation will have 
  armies to meet them.
  THE LONG PEACE
  The Confederation itself went untested for almost 200 
  years, during which no deﬁ nite threat to the Scavenger Lands 
  emerged. On a smaller scale, however, the kingdoms of the 
  Confederation had several opportunities to ﬁ ne-tune their 
  alliance. Nowhere in the Threshold was free of political 
  turmoil, banditry or barbarian incursions, and for almost two 
  centuries, the relatively minor problems of sacked towns, civil 
  wars and trade disputes were the backbone of Confederation 
  politics. In that time, the Confederation became a political 
  entity in its own right, very different from the League. Where 
  the League had been a gathering of heroes, larger-than-life 
  individuals who were capable of great deeds but also great 
  cruelties, the Confederation was a gathering of nations. It 
  developed distinct goals, agendas and an institutional identity. 
  Regular alliances between nation-states became something 
  that children grew up with and had lived with all their lives. 
  
  15
  CHAPTER ONE • THE HISTORY OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  slaying or enslaving the Dragon-Blooded still propping up the 
  puppet ruler there, and established his fortress of Juggernaut, 
  converting the area into a vast shadowland. Since seizing 
  Thorns, the Mask of Winters has varied between proper 
  diplomatic channels and deniable skirmishing with the rest 
  of the Scavenger Lands, with his deathknights—including 
  Seven Seasons Widow, the Abbot of Hunger and Dust, and 
  Prince Resplendent in the Ruin of Ages—all having slain 
  Dragon-Blooded from Lookshy.
  The Scavenger Lands have never known a time without 
  war or the threat of war. Despite the positive aspects of the 
  Empress’s disappearance, the potential dangers can only 
  grow more severe without the Realm’s defenses to deter the 
  enemies of Creation. The region’s last few harvests have 
  been excellent (except in Thorns), and local leaders have set 
  much of their produce aside as insurance against hard times 
  to come. During these brief years of plenty, the rulers of the 
  Scavenger Lands are arming their people and preparing for 
  dark times ahead.
  THE SCAVENGER LANDS TODAY
  Though the name “Scavenger Lands” was ﬁ rst given to 
  the region as an insult by the Realm, it has since become 
  its name to all folk outside its borders. The region’s natives 
  call it the Confederation of Rivers on the rare occasions 
  when they ﬁ nd it necessary to discuss the area as a whole. 
  The Confederation is a loose collection of satrapies, duchies, 
  kingdoms, principalities, republics, democracies, theocracies 
  and other, stranger forms of government—a crazy-quilt of 
  people and Exalted and gods, rich in potential, wealth and 
  strife. This polyglot collection of cultures has formed its 
  own language, the patois known as Rivertongue, a debased 
  form of Old Realm ﬁ lled with words borrowed from every 
  corner of the world, created by refugees in the aftermath of 
  the Great Contagion.
  The gently rolling landscape of the Scavenger Lands 
  contains dozens of streams and small rivers, the ﬂ ows of 
  water that were and still are the region’s transport network, 
  RIVERS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  Although four main rivers—the Yellow, the Gray, the Maruto and the River of Tears—dominate the Province, it 
  is the countless smaller rivers that gave the area its name and play vital roles in trade and irrigation. Even where the 
  Wyld has dried up a river or changed its course, signs of the waterways’ presence remains. Cities deep in the interior 
  possess street names such as “Dockside” or “Wharfrun,” and massive First Age river-gates and sand-ﬁ lled locks remain 
  where rivers once ﬂ owed.
  The following list covers the region’s most important waterways.
  Avarice: The Avarice is a short, narrow river that empties into the River of Tears and supplies water to Sijan 
  along the way. It is famous for the wars that have been fought along it, and some say it runs red with blood at Cali-
  bration.
  Gray: The Gray is broad and shallow, running northwest from the southern jungles and ﬁ nally meeting the Yel-
  low to form the Yanaze. It’s one of the biggest rivers in the Scavenger Lands.
  Maruto: The Maruto is a swift and treacherous river that runs through the eastern reaches of the Scavenger 
  Lands. Hazardous for travel, some parts of it can be traversed only via portage trails or canals.
  Meander: This aptly named river wanders through the forests of the eastern Scavenger Lands and ﬁ nally splin-
  ters into a hundred smaller streams and brooks deep in the woodlands. The river is a famous haunt of brigands and 
  smugglers.
  The River of Tears: Created during the First Age as a mega-engineering project, this river passes by Sijan on 
  its way to the Yanaze, the Inland Sea and the White Sea. Its banks are low, and its waters are brackish, with salt ﬂ ats 
  and marshes scattered along its length, and unnatural forms of life dwelling in its depths. Most communities along 
  the River of Tears are located on one of its tributaries in order to secure fresh drinking water.
  Rock: The Rock River is not named for the rocky landscape it cuts through, but for the towed barges that carry 
  ore from the mountains down to Nexus. The Rock River is relatively bandit free due to the logistical difﬁ culties of 
  hijacking large quantities of raw ore. Interestingly, two of its tributaries are also called Rock River. To differentiate 
  the three, the main river is often referred to as the Greater Rock, its small northern tributary is called the Shorter 
  Rock, and the longer tributary is referred to as the Lesser Rock.
  Rolling: The Rolling River is a short tributary of the Yellow River, passing close to Great Forks and handling a 
  lot of the water transport to and from that city.
  Yanaze: Sometimes called the “mighty Yanaze,” this is the widest river in the Scavenger Lands. At places, it is 
  wide enough that a man cannot see from one bank to the other, and it is deep enough for ocean-weight ships to sail 
  up it as far as Nexus. It is spanned at several points by huge bridges surviving from the First Age.
  Yellow: The Yellow River is the longest river in the Scavenger Lands, running from Mara’s Kick deep in the East 
  all the way to Nexus, where it joins with the Gray River to form the Yanaze.
  
  16
  and that gave the River Province its original name. These 
  countless waterways are tributaries of the province’s three 
  largest rivers; the Yellow, the Yanaze, and the River of Tears. 
  Since the First Age, these fertile watercourses have shaped 
  life in the Scavenger Lands.
  Rich as the land is, trade is the region’s lifeblood. Raw 
  ore ﬂ ows from mines in the northeast down to Nexus, where 
  it is reﬁ ned, forged and sold to merchants who carry the 
  ﬁ nished products across the Inland Sea. Grain is grown in 
  the Southeast, loaded onto barges on the Yellow River and 
  carried to the port cities of Nexus, Goodharbor and Port 
  Calin, while other ships carry more exotic foodstuffs back 
  upriver from the coastal towns. Logs from lumber opera-
  tions in the Far East are ﬂ oated downriver in huge rafts to 
  waiting sawmills, to be cut into lumber and shipped across 
  the world. A common Confederation proverb runs, “The 
  business of the Scavenger Lands is business.” The power-
  ful Guild inﬂ uences trade across the whole Confederation 
  (and Creation as a whole), but there is still room for smaller 
  merchants as well.
  Trade has brought prosperity to much of the Scavenger 
  Lands, but it has also brought peril. Fast-moving bandits 
  strike at convoys on land, while river pirates are common 
  on the waterways. Often, these “outlaws” are actually forces 
  of the local authority operating under false pretenses. 
  Some of these brigands, such as the Dragon-Blooded 
  outcaste Maren Sidaris, are respected for their gallantry 
  and renowned for their honor, while others, such as the 
  infamous river pirate Blackedge, are hated and feared. 
  Blackedge himself is a wanted man in more than half of 
  the Scavenger Lands, and a tale to frighten children with 
  throughout the Confederation.
  MILITARY POWER
  Much of the world outside the Scavenger Lands sees 
  the Confederation as a military machine ready to swing 
  into action at a moment’s notice, guided and spearheaded 
  by the famous armies of Lookshy and armed to the teeth 
  with First Age weapons. While the Confederation does 
  little to disillusion those around it, such is not actually 
  the case. The truth is that the many elements of its armies 
  are too diverse, too different in training and too caught 
  up in internal rivalries to form a coherent force. If the 
  Confederation tried to gather all its troops to assemble an 
  army, it would take a month to get them in one place, a 
  year to make them ﬁ ght coherently and a century to stop 
  them ﬁ ghting each other.
  Confederation commanders don’t try to accomplish the 
  impossible. Different units ﬁ ght in local formation, using their 
  favored tactics, while carefully kept records of local politics 
  and methodologies help the overall commanders coordinate 
  the forces. This arrangement is not always successful, as 
  proven by the disaster at Deren’s Ford in RY 754, where the 
  soldiers of Great Forks’ light foot were left without proper 
  support and slain where they stood.
  THE COUNCIL OF THE CONCORDAT
  One explicit section of the Confederation Treaty 
  concerns the creation of a Council of the Concordat, 
  less formally known as the Confederation Council. Each 
  member nation selects a single representative to act 
  as its voice in the Council, which theoretically serves 
  as the Confederation’s governing body. Because most 
  people in the Scavenger Lands see the Confederation as 
  hardly better than a joke, those assigned to the Coun-
  cil are often dilettantes, time-servers or idiots, with 
  the occasional competent but politically undesirable 
  individual donated by a homeland that would rather 
  do without her. Not surprisingly, the Council is gener-
  ally ineffectual except in wartime. At such moments, 
  it abrogates all responsibility to the military experts. 
  Most representatives have a nose for real danger and 
  know when to call in the professional soldiers.
  The Council makes its home in Marita, an 
  otherwise unremarkable city on the western fringe of 
  the Hundred Kingdoms, by the Yellow River. Its sole 
  distinguishing feature is its relatively central location 
  in Confederation territory. It has no real industry or 
  trade and exists solely to cater to the whims of the 
  representatives and their entourages, which vary 
  from scant handfuls for smaller kingdoms to dozens or 
  hundreds sent from major cities such as Great Forks 
  or Lookshy.
  Despite its grand name, the Confederation Council 
  has little real power. It cannot levy taxes or troops, 
  except in a crisis, and a three-quarters majority must 
  agree for crisis status to be ofﬁ cially declared. It cannot 
  enact edicts, sign treaties, enforce policy or do anything 
  publicly useful. What it does is serve as a convenient 
  locus for backroom deals, bribery and moderately civil 
  debate and discussion. Most representatives know only 
  that some action is being taken about some threat or 
  other, that someone will have known all along that it 
  was a bad idea if it fails, and that their necks are on the 
  chopping block if their country suffers as a result.
  Countries outside the Scavenger Lands are allowed 
  to have Council representatives, but few bother sending 
  envoys. The two notable exceptions are the Realm, 
  which has perceived the Council’s true value, and the 
  Mask of Winters, who takes his diplomacy seriously 
  and who frequently orders one of his deathknights to 
  attend the Council.
  The sharp contrast between the Council’s apparent 
  skill in dealing with genuine threats, and its incompe-
  tence at all other times, has given rise to dark suspicions 
  of hidden conspiracies, “inner councils,” spirits or gods 
  assisting the Council from behind the scenes, Anath-
  ema intervention and other possibilities.
  
  17
  CHAPTER ONE • THE HISTORY OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  This organization would be far more difﬁ cult to man-
  age were it not for the legacies of the First Age and the 
  Shogunate. Most nations of the Confederation organize 
  their military forces on classic Shogunate-era legion models, 
  with base units of 100 soldiers and with similar ﬁ eld signals 
  for soldiers and ofﬁ cers alike. This general uniformity gives 
  Confederation troops some basis for cooperation, and these 
  practices are encouraged by the Confederation Council and 
  by advisors from Lookshy.
  The result is an army that is disjointed during its 
  early days in the ﬁ eld, but that rapidly gathers cohesion and 
  strength as operations continue. The Confederation Council 
  (and its military advisors) select forces that can cooperate. 
  The component forces, usually skirmishers and light troops, 
  operate each under its own command, but coordinated by 
  the Confederation general on the scene. The Lookshy ﬁ eld 
  forces and Nexus mercenaries provide the crucial crack 
  troops and heavy units.
  While everyone employs mercenaries, few trust them. 
  The exceptions to the rule are Lookshy mercenaries (mili-
  tary advisors, trainers and elite troops), Guild mercenaries 
  from Nexus (known for their professionalism) and the odd 
  company that has managed to make a name for itself as re-
  liable and trustworthy. Many countries also sponsor ofﬁ cer 
  exchanges with Lookshy, sending gifted young ofﬁ cers to 
  serve with the Seventh Legion for a while in order to learn 
  tactics, training and logistics. Lookshy encourages these 
  exchanges, valuing both the general improvement in other 
  kingdoms’ military forces and also the network of contacts 
  (and informers) that it gains.
  NAVAL POWER
  The Confederation has no formal navy, but every 
  country has its own share of vessels for local defense and 
  patrol, from swift-running galleys and corsairs to heavy, 
  ﬂ at-bottomed river warships. Lookshy, Calin and several 
  other kingdoms also possess a number of seaworthy vessels, 
  the largest being the massive First Age warships of Lookshy, 
  while Sijan’s black-sailed galleys are recognizable throughout 
  the Scavenger Lands and beyond. Captains work together 
  unofﬁ cially, sharing patrol routes and intelligence, knowing 
  that their ﬂ eets are the ﬁ rst line of defense against an attack 
  by the Realm. They also wage a constant war against pirates, 
  knowing that trade is the lifeblood of the Confederation. 
  The Guild likewise maintains its own navies and attempts to 
  crack down on smugglers and pirates, though it has a rather 
  more ambivalent (and lethal) attitude toward unafﬁ liated 
  traders than do the navies of separate countries. Proﬁ t is 
  proﬁ t, after all.
  ENTERING THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  For centuries, ships from throughout the River Province 
  were allowed to sail up the Yanaze to Nexus and beyond with-
  out inspection or papers, except for known robber barons. A 
  recent incursion by Lintha pirates, who managed to sail some 
  distance upriver and ravaged several towns and ports, has 
  prompted Lookshy to begin searching every upriver-bound 
  ship not bearing Guild or ambassadorial markings. Several 
  smaller Confederation states have expressed concern about 
  this new policy (and at least one is selling its ambassado-
  rial markings at a signiﬁ cant price), but so far, no one has 
  deliberately challenged Lookshy’s ships. Of course, should 
  Lookshy start doing more than checking for Lintha—in-
  specting goods, for instance, or restricting imports—then 
  matters will change.
  On land, kingdoms and city-states patrol their borders 
  closely, and most people are alert and wary of strangers. Any 
  outsider might be a criminal, a barbarian scout, an agent of 
  the Fair Folk, a ghost or spirit, or simply an untrustworthy 
  visitor from the kingdom next door—people of the Scavenger 
  Lands keep their grudges fresh and fertile. Large groups of 
  travelers can expect to be stopped by a border patrol, to have 
  their goods inspected and taxed and to be shaken down for a 
  reasonable amount in bribes. Individuals on major roads or 
  waterways will probably be stopped and questioned and may 
  be detained if they seem suspicious. Groups caught sneak-
  ing across borders will be treated as smugglers, spies or even 
  invading forces. At least one petty war has been touched off 
  by goat-raiding. Some places in the Hundred Kingdoms are 
  ferociously paranoid about spies, demanding travel papers 
  from all visitors to the area.
  SCAVENGER LORDS
  The scavenger lord is a social class with its origins in 
  the Scavenger Lands, but one that has rapidly spread across 
  Creation in search of First Age relics—and any other items of 
  interest. They are called many things: savant, explorer-prince, 
  relic hunter, grave robber and less polite names. “Scavenger 
  lord,” however, is the term most frequently used to describe 
  those who seek out lost secrets and attempt to restore the 
  treasures of the First Age.
  A successful scavenger lord is part merchant, part scholar, 
  part mystic, part thief and part leader. Few of them work 
  alone, as even the most subtle and cunning explorer-princes 
  need someone to watch their backs. Digging up cities that 
  are claimed by earth-spirits, haunted by the dead, watched 
  over by insane gods or simply in the middle of disputed terri-
  tory between two warring kingdoms requires a wide range of 
  abilities. For supernatural problems, a scavenger lord might 
  perform sacriﬁ ces and rituals to appease the divine or the 
  dead. For practical ones, he might need hundreds of diggers 
  and sifters. For political ones, he might have to depend on 
  his social skills, his diplomatic abilities, his allies and ap-
  propriate payoffs to relevant authorities.
  Many First Age devices such as daiklaves or powerbows 
  are easy to understand, but others are far more enigmatic or 
  difﬁ cult to turn toward a practical use. (“Practical” meaning, 
  a use that will enhance the scavenger lord’s personal power, 
  allow his patron to conquer a wider territory or simply prove 
  lucrative.) Successful scavenging involves not only ﬁ nding 
  
  18
  and identifying First Age devices, but also discovering a way 
  to make a proﬁ t out of them.
  The shabbiest sort of scavenger lord is a walking carnival 
  of broken toys, half-assembled relics and tattered scrolls of 
  ancient lore. She is willing to demonstrate a malfunctioning 
  wonder of the First Age or spin a tale about a ruined city’s past 
  in return for a pitiful few coins or a night’s lodging. More suc-
  cessful explorer-princes walk among the nobility, are respected 
  by scholars, barter with princes and generals, and sleep on 
  silken sheets paid for by their discoveries, before setting out 
  on expeditions that will become the stuff of legend.
  Becoming a scavenger lord’s apprentice is a singular 
  honor across the Scavenger Lands, except for in Sijan and 
  Lookshy. In Sijan, scavenger lords are considered little better 
  than grave robbers and despoilers of the honored dead, and 
  are despised as such. In Lookshy, scavenging is considered 
  a necessary but undigniﬁ ed job—rats might crawl in the 
  gutter, but no warrior would ever seek to emulate them. Ev-
  erywhere else in the Confederation, however, children dream 
  of becoming an explorer-prince’s apprentice, of traveling 
  to far-off lands, risking their lives in ancient tombs, facing 
  down horrendous ghosts and ghastly monsters, and rescuing 
  the inevitable handsome or beautiful captive, depending on 
  personal taste.
  Many ruins have been thoroughly looted by successive 
  waves of scavengers, but new discoveries still occur frequently 
  enough to keep hope high and expectations bright. The 
  Confederation is positively littered with ancient tombs, lost 
  temples, forgotten shrines, ruined observatories, forgotten 
  manses, haunted castles, cities depopulated by the Great 
  Contagion, forges long abandoned by their Solar users, blood-
  soaked battleﬁ elds littered with the remains of First Age 
  weapons and remnants of the past cut off by the Wyld from 
  the rest of the Scavenger Lands. The reason the profession 
  of scavenger lord was ﬁ rst practiced here is that there are so 
  many promising—if potentially lethal—opportunities.
  All of these places have their own peculiarities 
  and dangers. Physical problems such as disrepair, decay, 
  uncertain terrain and geographical location; problems 
  resulting from the passage of time, such as finding that 
  the city scheduled for exploration was drowned under a 
  lake 100 years ago; traps and guardians, whether physi-
  cal or mystical; Wyld-twisted predators or even Fair Folk 
  and ravagers; Deathlords and shadowlands, a particular 
  danger if the area being explored was the scene of a bloody 
  battle; and, in some ways worst of all, other humans and 
  other scavenger lords. When information comes to light 
  regarding some past event or battle, or a particular clue 
  giving the location of a long-hidden fortress, it is rarely 
  confined to a single individual. Once word starts getting 
  around, every scavenger lord in the vicinity is likely to take 
  an interest—or to be waiting outside the area, in order to 
  collect the booty after someone else 
  has done the hard work of finding 
  and retrieving it.
  Scavenger lords collect every-
  thing. They don’t make distinctions. 
  Anything from the First Age is poten-
  tially valuable, either commercially 
  or to a collector of antiquities. (The 
  popular comparison of scavenger lords 
  to hordes of locusts stripping the area 
  bare has a strong basis in fact.) The 
  two biggest areas of proﬁ t, however, 
  are weapons and luxuries. Everyone 
  buys weapons, and the privately rich 
  are always ready to buy luxuries.
  Weapons from the First Age, 
  whether meant for Exalted or un-
  Exalted troops, command a huge price 
  tag—and huge potential danger, from 
  the enemies of the potential buyers, 
  who might be prepared to take lethal 
  steps to prevent certain items ending 
  up in the hands of their foes. The 
  Seventh Legion’s purchasing agents 
  deal in good faith with anyone who 
  offers them goods, but they’re very 
  low payers. Buyers willing to offer 
  more might also be willing to cheat 
  or murder the seller. An experienced 
  
  19
  CHAPTER ONE • THE HISTORY OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  scavenger lord knows where and how to dispose of his ﬁ nd-
  ings. Life-enhancing artifacts, such as light crystals, stoves 
  that burn without fuel, magniﬁ cent First Age clothing and 
  so on, all command excellent prices from wealthy individu-
  als. They rarely bring the astronomical proﬁ ts that military 
  hardware commands, but they also avoid the risks that go 
  hand in hand with those proﬁ ts.
  Lunar Anathema are known threats and have led barbar-
  ian hordes to vex the Scavenger Lands in the past. Terrestrial 
  Exalted, while feared, are more accepted—everyone knows 
  of Lookshy’s Dragon-Blooded and has seen them ﬁ ght for 
  the Confederation. Really, when one considers all the gods, 
  God-Bloods, Fair Folk, Wyld-twisted mutants, mortal sorcer-
  ers and other extraordinary individuals in the area, a Solar 
  doesn’t necessarily stand out much. Many can get away with 
  being considered just another powerful magic being.
  THE BIG SCORE
  While it might seem a legendary and heroic thing to 
  do, experienced explorer-princes dread discovering truly 
  unique or world-shaking artifacts. Not only are these 
  devices often cursed or incredibly dangerous to handle, 
  they also attract the wrong sort of attention. Having 
  Anathema, God-Bloods, deathknights, Realm agents 
  and every ambitious being in the vicinity descend on a 
  quiet, proﬁ table little excavation is not what a scavenger 
  lord wants—either as a scholar and archaeologist or as a 
  proﬁ teer and tomb robber. Even the most scrupulous and 
  virtuous of Exalted might feel moved to interfere for the 
  best of reasons, which can result in the scavenger lord 
  having to escape from an area that has suddenly become 
  ground zero for Confederation-spanning battles—and 
  without anything to show for it.
  Even if a scavenger lord should safely excavate such 
  an item, she is then faced with the problem of what 
  to do with it. Anyone with the wealth and resources 
  to buy such an item is likely to be unscrupulous to the 
  highest degree and will probably want the scavenger 
  lord dead in order to keep the whole thing secret. The 
  safest thing might simply be to bury the item, walk away 
  and forget it. Of course, there is always the option of 
  using it to carve out a kingdom, and this has been the 
  stuff of legends in the past…
  EXALTED IN THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  Tolerance is the watchword throughout much of the 
  Scavenger Lands, and the Immaculate Philosophy commands 
  little respect outside of Lookshy—and even there, it is the 
  local variant of the Philosophy that holds sway, rather than 
  standard Realm dogma. This tolerance doesn’t make the 
  Confederation safe, however. Myths of the Anathema are as 
  common here as they are elsewhere, and Solars are as likely 
  to be feared and hated as they are to be praised or worshiped. 
  Even those who suspect that the Immaculate Order and the 
  stories of the past are less than accurate still consider the 
  Anathema dangerous. After all, gods are common in the 
  Scavenger Lands, and they’re extremely dangerous.
  TOMBS OF THE ANATHEMA
  At the time of the Usurpation, some Solar Exalted 
  were taken to Sijan and entombed in deep graves there; 
  others were buried where they fell. Their tombs were 
  raised by Earth-aspected Terrestrial Exalted and sur-
  rounded by terrible enchantment and traps, to keep 
  the slain Exalts trapped in their own graves. Because a 
  large number of Exalted who escaped the great betrayal 
  made their last stand in the River Province, many of 
  them are buried there.
  Some of these tombs were carefully marked or 
  obvious, like the ones in Nexus. Others were hidden, 
  to prevent grave robbers or Solar loyalists from ﬁ nd-
  ing them. After all this time, most of the region’s 20 
  or so tombs are long forgotten. Half a dozen of them 
  lie in or close to Nexus—and are actually part of the 
  city’s infrastructure and watched by the Emissary’s 
  agents—while a dozen more are scattered throughout 
  the Scavenger Lands. Some have been looted, but 
  many are still inviolate, as impregnable as when they 
  were erected over 1,000 years ago.
  While the Wyld Hunt can’t work openly in the Scavenger 
  Lands, agents of the Bronze Faction can operate incognito. In 
  extreme cases, the Hunt might secretly enter the Confedera-
  tion in order to ﬁ nish off particularly dangerous Anathema, 
  possibly receiving deniable assistance from local authorities 
  who want the Solar gone.
  There are legends of Exalted who dwell deep in the forests 
  or high in the mountains, or even hidden in the cities, who 
  have kept their identities secret in order to avoid persecu-
  tion. Since the disappearance of the Empress, such stories 
  have grown more common and more credible. Whatever the 
  truth of the tales, there are certainly those in the Scavenger 
  Lands who believe them, and who might be willing to help 
  a Solar in need, however dangerous it might be.
  
  20
  TIMELINE OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  Realm Year 
  Event
   
  -1 
  The Seventh Legion, under the command of Chumyo Nefvarin Gilshalos, arrives at Deheleshen to 
  discover it has been razed by the Fair Folk. The legion bivouacs there and, following the ﬁ nal command 
  of the region’s daimyo, begins to fortify its position.
   
  1 
  Great Contagion ends.
   
  20 
  Engineers of the Seventh Legion begin construction of the city of Lookshy on the ruins of Deheleshen 
  to house and protect the refugee settlement that has formed there around the Legion’s fortiﬁ cations.
   
  45 
  Emissaries of the Scarlet Empress approach the leaders of various Scavenger Land city-states, demanding 
  oaths of fealty. Several cities swear their allegiance. Most, including Lookshy, do not. Threats of reprisal 
  convince a number of additional cities to change their position and sign on.
   
  52 
  The Council of Entities takes control of Nexus.
   
  57 
  First invasion of the region by Realm forces is launched from coastal city-states loyal to the Realm. The 
  forces of the Fourth Imperial Legion begin a systematic campaign of conquest, while notably bypassing 
  the entrenched forces of the Seventh Legion at Lookshy. Scattered resistance quickly intensiﬁ es, and 
  the Fourth Legion soon discovers that it controls only the area its forces currently occupy, and often not 
  even that.
   
  69 
  After enduring 12 years of increasingly brutal guerilla resistance, the Fourth Legion retreats to the Realm’s 
  allied city-states.
   
  75 
  The Realm invades the Scavenger Lands with four full legions. Lookshy is besieged, and Nexus itself is 
  occupied. Resistance throughout the region is determined but disorganized.
   
  76 
  The imperial forces laying siege to Lookshy are obliterated by the discharge of a powerful First Age 
  weapon and a subsequent sally by Seventh Legion troops. The Seventh Legion endures a forced march 
  to the location of present-day Great Forks, where it engages and destroys the Fourth Imperial Legion. 
  After nearly two months of occupation, the Emissary of the Council of Entities declares that Realm 
  forces must withdraw from Nexus as, according to the Incunabulum, none may keep an army within the 
  city. In response, the Council itself is attacked and two of its members are slain by Realm soldiers, who 
  are themselves brutally slaughtered by the Emissary. Within ﬁ ve days, all Realm ofﬁ cers above the rank 
  of talonlord are dead. The surviving legionnaires vote to end the occupation and accept exile when it 
  is offered to them. The Realm again withdraws its forces from the Scavenger Lands. 
   
  83 
  Ships of the Imperial Navy engage in allegedly unofﬁ cial and unsanctioned attacks on merchant vessels 
  near the Scavenger Lands. In response, various Scavenger Land nations issue letters of marque against 
  the Realm and begin constructing their own warships.
   
  88 
  The forces of the Realm invade the region for a third time. Seven full legions are ﬁ elded by the Scarlet 
  Empire, including the Empress’s Guard, and are supported by local allied forces. The military aggression 
  of the Realm is turned back, though with great difﬁ culty. The ﬁ eld forces of Lookshy pin down several 
  imperial ﬂ ights, while the combined forces of Melevhil and Nathir conduct a guerilla campaign that 
  decimates the Realm’s remaining forces.
   
  89 
  The Empress’s Guard is destroyed on the ﬁ elds outside of Melevhil, in part due to the defection of Taimyo 
  Vondy Beulen, his command staff and several dragons of troops loyal to the Seventh Legion. This battle 
  marks the last instance Realm troops are deployed in force against the Scavenger Lands.
   
  95 
  The various free city-states of the former River Province form a loose confederation, signing a treaty of 
  mutual aid and support. The membership of this League of Many Rivers includes Lookshy, Nexus, Sijan 
  and more than a dozen other Scavenger Land cities. For simplicity’s sake, borders for the area’s nations 
  are based on the old administrative districts of the Dragon-Blooded Shogunate.
   
  99 
  Brem Marst forms the Guild.
   
  103 
  In order to quell dissent and frustration in the Realm’s Threshold satrapies and client states, the Scarlet 
  Empress founds the Deliberative.
   
  104-109 
  Coastal states of the former River Province foreswear their fealty to the Scarlet Empire and petition to 
  join the nascent League of Many Rivers. After much deliberation, these states are allowed to join the 
  League. Protests from the Blessed Isle are derisively ignored.
   
  117 
  The Guild moves its base of operations from Great Forks to Nexus.
   
  174 
  The Nine Duchies rebel against the Realm. The rebellion fails, however.
  
  21
  CHAPTER ONE • THE HISTORY OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  TIMELINE OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  Realm Year Event
   
  263 
  Tensions heighten between the Laris and Velen administrative districts over water rights concerning the 
  Sandy River. In truth, this conﬂ ict harks back to First Age border disputes between the two districts.
   
  265 
  Velen administrative district militia forces seize control of a number of irrigation and viaduct pumping 
  stations along the Sandy River and destroy several others. Laris retaliates by destroying the dikes at both 
  Lowground and Sutter’s Marsh, ﬂ ooding the towns. War erupts between the two powers and draws in 
  most of the regional states. 
   
  301 
  House Iselsi sponsors a quasi-ofﬁ cial Realm invasion of the region that ends in disaster. The resultant 
  scandal catalyzes the fall of the Great House.
   
  364 
  The Arczeckh Horde invades the Scavenger Lands from the South, ravaging several cities of the Hundred 
  Kingdoms. The Wyld barbarians are routed by a coalition of Hundred Kingdom forces, mercenaries hired 
  by the Guild and a ﬁ eld force of Lookshy regulars and retreat to the wilderness.
   
  547 
  The Fair Folk and the forces of the Wyld assault the Hundred Kingdoms.
   
  554 
  The Fair Folk are driven back.
   
  557 
  In the wake of the Fair Folk invasion, representatives from the Scavenger Lands’ major powers forge a 
  stronger defensive alliance, the Confederation of Rivers.
   
  748 
  The Autocrat of Thorns dies. His younger son conspires with the Realm to invade the Confederation 
  of Rivers in exchange for the throne of Thorns. The Realm sends a complement of Dragon-Blooded 
  “advisors” to aid the younger son in his bid for power. Afterward, the Scarlet Empress legitimizes the 
  usurper. The Realm then sends additional “advisory” forces to Thorns, along with a large supply of First 
  Age armaments, under the pretense of loaning them to the Realm’s new ally.
   
  752 
  The army of Thorns, bulwarked by Realm troops, invades the western states of the Confederation of 
  Rivers. The war quickly turns against Thorns, as its soldiers are unused to war, while the troops of the 
  Scavenger Lands’ heartlands have been hardened by the region’s constant state of conﬂ ict. Urged on by 
  his Dragon-Blooded advisors, the Autocrat of Thorns has little choice but to pour more and more jade 
  and lives into the conﬂ ict.
   
  754 
  The forces of Thorns and their Dragon-Blooded allies are defeated at the Battle of Mishaka. With its 
  military annihilated, Thorns teeters on the brink of civil war. The Autocrat maintains his rule only 
  thanks to his Dragon-Blooded allies.
   
  763 
  The Scarlet Empress vanishes.
   
  764 
  The forces of the Deathlord known as the Mask of Winters easily conquer Thorns.
   
  768 
  The present day.
  
  22
  
  23
  CHAPTER TWO • THE HEART OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  CHAPTER TWO
  CHARACTER
  CREATION
  CHAPTER TWO
  CHAPTER TWO
  THE HEART OF THE
  THE HEART OF THE
  SCAVENGER LANDS
  SCAVENGER LANDS
  On a peninsula jutting out between the Gray and Yel-
  low Rivers where they join to become the Yanaze stands the 
  renowned city of Nexus, called various epithets as positive 
  as the Threshold Jewel and as negative as the River Harlot’s 
  Legs. It is the largest city in the East and one of the most 
  populous cities anywhere. Almost a million people shelter 
  behind its walls, despite its dubious reputation. For, in ad-
  dition to being a wealthy and cosmopolitan trading port, 
  Nexus is also a poisonous stew of diseases and home to the 
  most brutal and unforgiving oligarchy in Creation.
  HISTORY OF NEXUS
  No city becomes the wealthiest and vilest population 
  center in Creation overnight. Yet, just as Nexus occupies a 
  position of geographical importance, it occupies a position 
  of historical importance. The city has shaped the destiny 
  of the Scavenger Lands in numerous ways. Its citizens have 
  fought in many of the major wars of the last 500 years, its 
  mercantile families have bound Creation together in nets of 
  trade, and its leaders have successfully thwarted the Realm’s 
  ambitions on several occasions. So it is with cities at the 
  crossroads of the world: They also stand athwart the Loom 
  of Fate, changing the destinies of great and small alike. The 
  rulers of Nexus have often sought to use their geographical 
  importance to affect the course of history.
  HOLLOW
  The origins of that quest can be discovered in the ruins 
  of the First Age city that lie below the streets of modern 
  Nexus. Scholars believe it to be the city of Hollow. An 
  important trade and university town before the Anathema 
  were put down, Hollow was the capital of the whole River 
  Province. The original center of Hollow eventually became 
  the district of Firewander, and many of the most graceful 
  buildings of Nexus are actually structures surviving from 
  Hollow.
  
  24
  Hollow was largely destroyed during the wars of the 
  Usurpation. Several wrecked buildings in Nighthammer 
  demonstrate that a massive battle took place there. Even 
  1,500 years later, their slagged ruins withstand wrecking 
  crews and Essence cannons. Six tombs of the Anathema 
  stand in Nexus, acting as landmarks for modern city residents 
  and warning of the horrors of earlier times.
  CONTAGION AND RENEWAL
  Modern Nexus owes its origins to a later period in 
  history. After the Great Contagion ended and Firewan-
  der District was lost when the invading raksha set off a 
  Wyld-weapon in the old provincial capitol, survivors from 
  Hollow and refugees from other lands cleared the worst of 
  the rubble from the streets and canals of the ancient city. 
  Numerous small villages appeared in the ruins and sought 
  ways to rebuild their lives and their communities. Some 
  were simple democracies; others were little more than 
  organized crime gangs; still others were treasure hunters, 
  scouring the ruins for First Age devices. At ﬁ rst, the older 
  parts of Hollow were unsafe, and the refugees concentrated 
  their settlements in and above the shallows at the western 
  end of the peninsula. These early settlements consisted of 
  a dozen houses surrounded by a ditch and a wooden wall. 
  Most communities distrusted each other greatly, since they 
  all wanted a share in the plunder from the old city upon 
  which they lived.
  By the time the Scarlet Empress took the throne of the 
  Blessed Isle, the swampland villages had formed a single 
  community, which took the name of Nexus. Nexus had 
  begun to be a trading community as ﬁ rst the Nightham-
  mer Pool and then the Nexus Pool were reopened to trade 
  after a hiatus of centuries. It took another 50 years before 
  the villages of Cinnabar, Sentinel’s Hill and Bastion joined 
  the Nexus townships. Firewander was only reluctantly 
  persuaded to join.
  THE EMISSARY
  In RY 52, the Emissary made his appearance. Robed 
  in white and wearing a silver mask, the Emissary claimed 
  to speak for a body called the Council of Entities, which 
  now laid claim to the city of Nexus. Those who opposed 
  the Council, it claimed, would die. Some leaders attacked 
  the Emissary directly and died horrible deaths: choking on 
  their own blood, being suddenly turned inside out or turn-
  ing their own weapons on themselves. Other leaders who 
  ignored the Emissary’s proclamations were killed by more 
  mundane methods: poison, garroting, arrows from dark 
  alleys and kidney stabs from hired assassins. By the end of 
  the year, the Council of Entities—its will enforced by the 
  Emissary—had control of Nexus.
  The Council claims not to be a government and that it 
  rules by suggestion. Visitors sometimes see this as a deliriarchy 
  (i.e., rule by the insane). Most citizens know better: While 
  less than ﬁ ve percent of the city population receives any 
  
  25
  CHAPTER TWO • THE HEART OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  salary from the Council Ofﬁ ce building in Nexus District 
  or works in the Council Tower on Sentinel’s Hill, perhaps 
  15 percent of the citizenry of Nexus are involved in spying 
  and informing on their neighbors. In addition, the Council’s 
  decrees often include a mechanism to compel obedience, 
  in the form of wages paid to a mercenary company to act as 
  enforcers. Nor is the Council without magical aid. While 
  individual Councilors have at times been mortal, the Emis-
  sary has served on the Council since its ﬁ rst appearance, 
  and numerous beings in the presence of the Emissary have 
  died horriﬁ c deaths.
  REALM INVASIONS
  The Emissary and the Council proved their control 
  over Nexus in the next 50 years, as the Realm committed 
  troops on three separate occasions to the conquest of the 
  River Province. In the ﬁ rst invasion, the Fourth Legion of 
  the Realm engaged with the River states in a haphazard 
  way and was forced to withdraw after 12 years. Nexus hired 
  mercenary companies for the defense of the city but never 
  actually put those forces into the ﬁ eld. The Fourth Legion 
  had other problems and chose not to attack the largest city 
  in the River Province.
  In the second invasion, the Realm sent in four legions, 
  one of which actually occupied Nexus in RY 75. After two 
  months of occupation, the Emissary politely informed the 
  legions that it was time for them to depart, as the laws of 
  the city forbade the presence of an army within the walls. In 
  response, the Seventh Legion attacked the Emissary and the 
  Council, successfully slaying two Councilors, though all of its 
  assault troops were themselves killed in the attempt. Over the 
  next ﬁ ve days, every Imperial ofﬁ cer of the rank of talonlord 
  or higher died mysteriously—the commanding ofﬁ cer of the 
  Seventh Legion died choking on his own leg, which he had 
  eaten from the toes up, right to the bone. On the ﬁ fth day, 
  the surviving legionaries surrendered and accepted exile 
  when it was offered to them. Denied the right to return to 
  the Realm for their cowardice and ignominy, some of them 
  later formed the Nightarrows mercenary company.
  For the next 10 years, Nexus was only peripherally 
  involved in the war with the Realm. The Council occasion-
  ally issued letters of marque and reprisal against Imperial 
  shipping but mostly went about its business. Nexus again 
  hired mercenaries at the time of the third Realm invasion 
  in RY 88 and this time sent them into the ﬁ eld rather than 
  waiting for an attack to come against it. Nexus-hired troops 
  were present at the battle of Melevhil, and Nexus hosted the 
  conclave of River Province states that led to the formation 
  the League of Many Rivers in RY 95.
  THE GUILD
  With the political independence of Nexus and the 
  other River Province states now ﬁ rmly established, the 
  city got back to the business of trade and industry. By RY 
  110, Nexus had the largest, most sophisticated and most 
  successful iron-working operations in Creation. It also 
  had the largest docks complex in the East and the greatest 
  number of mercantile houses and factors’ ofﬁ ces. Close to 
  the point where ocean-going vessels could no longer travel 
  upstream, Nexus made sense as a transshipment point and 
  transport hub, where goods could move easily from river 
  barge or wagon to deep-water cargo hull, and vice versa. 
  It made sense that the Guild, which was then a growing 
  network of traders and artisans, should petition the Council 
  of Entities for the right to move its headquarters within 
  the walls of Nexus. The Council accepted, and the Guild 
  moved into its present headquarters building a few years 
  later, in RY 117.
  The collaboration was a natural one. To all appearances, 
  the Council believed in minimal government, maximal 
  revenue and free trade. The Guild, meanwhile, was using its 
  capital to break down trade barriers and disrupt obstreper-
  ous governments and working to make huge proﬁ ts for its 
  hierarchs and merchant princes. The Guild could work out 
  of Nexus without fear of being reined in, while the Coun-
  cil could expect generous revenues from an organization 
  bringing its massive proﬁ ts home. It was a match made in 
  Yu-Shan—or Malfeas, depending on your perspective.
  There were no major disruptions in Nexus itself over 
  the next several hundred years, though several wars broke 
  out in neighboring territories. The Emissary put down the 
  Nighthammer Revolt of RY 373 personally, slaying hundreds 
  in a street-by-street action. The Hooded Executioners did 
  little more than haul bodies away for a month. Mostly, the 
  city remained calm.
  PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES
  Nexus greeted the news of the Empress’s disappearance 
  with its usual shrug and raised prices. The news of the fall 
  of Thorns to the Deathlord Mask of Winters caused much 
  more consternation, but similarly rising prices. For the most 
  part, Nexus goes about its business as it always has, certain 
  that nothing is really likely to change. The Council will 
  remain in charge, the Guild will continue to make proﬁ ts, 
  and the corpses of the naïve, the clumsy and the stupid will 
  still litter the streets at dawn.
  GEOGRAPHY
  Nexus’s position at the conﬂ uence of two great rivers 
  helps the city accumulate wealth and excess population. For 
  every corpse sent to Sijan or ﬂ ushed out of the city using the 
  canal sluices, a dozen more individuals approach the gates, 
  hoping to gain entry as new residents. Farmhands come 
  in from the country looking for work. Barbarians come, 
  hoping to join a mercenary company. Thieves and mer-
  chants—and who can tell the difference these days?—line 
  up to pay the entry fees. Some turn back at the noise and 
  smell, but most enter, fearful of what would be said of them 
  at home: that they went to Nexus but turned back before 
  they ever got there.
  
  26
  SURROUNDING COUNTRYSIDE
  Such malicious gossip forgets that the writ of the 
  Council runs beyond the city walls. Fully 30 miles out from 
  the eastern gates of the city lies a subtle arc, invisible to 
  the naked eye and yet marked by a line of crudely carved 
  statues of the Emissary. Within that line is the city-state of 
  Nexus. Beyond that line, anything goes.
  The countryside of Nexus is neither beautiful nor grace-
  ful. No pretty villages or digniﬁ ed market towns dot the 
  landscape. Instead, teahouses and ill-kept hostels mark the 
  three main roads into Nexus every ﬁ ve miles, interspersed 
  with large estates with high walls for the wealthy. Heavily 
  taxed to keep them from competing with the hostelries 
  within the city, these businesses are designed to encourage 
  people to hurry on to the city. Visitors often see chain gangs 
  of slaves and animals keeping the roads in repair and tending 
  paddies for growing “swamp rice,” the staple diet of the city’s 
  poor. Chewy and barely edible, swamp rice will grow even 
  in the polluted waters around Nexus, though its prolonged 
  ingestion tends to shorten the life span of whoever eats it. 
  Much of the countryside around Nexus is ﬂ at plain or rolling 
  hills, and nearly all of its territory is terraced or otherwise 
  modiﬁ ed to support crops, whether swamp rice in the valleys 
  or apples, peaches and nuts on higher slopes.
  Ten miles out from the city walls on each of the roads 
  stands a plain black column topped by a bust of the Emis-
  sary. These Stones of Exile represent the outer border of the 
  city’s judicial policy. Anyone exiled by the Council must be 
  beyond these markers by sundown, or he will die. Usually, 
  exiles are granted an additional 24 hours to pass by the 
  outer boundary statues. The ground around the Stones of 
  Exile is sometimes littered with corpses, however, and exiles 
  generally hurry along as quickly as possible to the frontier. 
  It is best not to depend on the Council’s mercies.
  FLOOD CONTROL
  None of the rivers around Nexus is particularly tame. 
  The Yellow often breaks its banks, sending a sluggish wall 
  of water two or three feet high through the low-lying streets 
  and canals of the city. The Gray ﬂ oods less frequently, but 
  to a greater extent, usually ﬂ ushing seven to 10 feet of water 
  into Nexus. The Yanaze ﬂ oods least of all, but a storm swell 
  from the Inland Sea can put 12 to 15 feet of briny wash into 
  the streets with virtually no warning at all.
  The Council might choose to do something about ﬂ ood 
  control in such an environment, but it does nothing. The 
  region around Nexus is amply supplied with ﬂ ood control 
  systems, many of which date from the First Age. Unfortu-
  nately for the mortals of Nexus, many of these systems require 
  Essence to operate. Moreover, they seem to be dependent 
  upon the existence and operation of two great dams on the 
  Yellow and Gray Rivers. While the remains of these dams 
  do exist, the Council has put much effort into seeing that 
  they are neither repaired nor used.
  The Yellow River dam’s primary function these days is 
  as the only bridge carrying cargo and people from north to 
  south. Standing on piers 600 feet above the river, the road-
  way is as white and perfect and imperishable as it was in the 
  First Age. Between the piers are six channels or grooves for 
  carrying the bulk of the dam up out of the riverbed, where 
  it has been hidden away since before the Contagion. Since 
  calling the dam into existence out of the riverbed would 
  close the river to boat trafﬁ c, and create a lake upstream 
  that would extend as far as Marita, and drown Great Forks 
  beneath 50 feet of water, the Council of Entities has forbid-
  den anyone from seeking to raise the dam.
  The Gray River dam, though apparently made of the 
  same imperishable material as the Yellow River dam, was 
  blown open by some great force, and now lies in ruins about 
  30 miles south of Nexus. Approximately 400 miles down-
  stream, a huge jade glyph set in the riverbed can apparently 
  prevent storms from ﬂ ooding the Yanaze. No one knows, 
  however, if this First Age mechanism will also impede river 
  trafﬁ c, so no one has tried to turn it on.
  WALLS AND RIVERS
  The city of Nexus itself is deﬁ ned by its walls and rivers. 
  On the north side of the city lies the Yellow River, while 
  on the southwest is the Gray River. To the east is the city 
  wall, only 15 feet high and punctured by 11 gates. It is less 
  a defensive barrier than a tool for collecting entry fees for 
  the Council—a fee of one silver dinar is assessed on each 
  person or animal entering Nexus, and a fee of one dinar 
  per 10 dirhams of value is assessed on all cargo. Similar fees 
  are also charged at the two main dock areas of Nexus. On 
  the Yellow River, the main port is Nexus Pool, lined on the 
  riverside by an island referred to as the Outer Docks and on 
  the city side by the so-called Inner Docks. Cargoes landed 
  at Outer Docks are usually being transferred to other vessels 
  and will not be sold in Nexus directly. Cargoes landed on 
  the Inner Docks are destined for Nexus markets. In Night-
  hammer Pool, on the southwest side of the city, the islands 
  of Outer Nighthammer and Dungtown serve as transship-
  ment points for mercantile companies and businesses. The 
  Nighthammer Docks hold cargoes of metal ores intended 
  for the smelters and forges of Nexus. 
  THE FLOODING HILLS
  Between the city walls and the Yanaze lies a city of 
  canals and hills. The western end of the city was once a 
  fetid lowland swamp, and early inhabitants canalized the 
  swamp and ﬁ lled in the campi, or blocks, on which the 
  city now stands. As a result, many canals crisscross the 
  Nexus and Nighthammer Districts. The largest of these 
  is the Grand Canal, running from northeast to southwest 
  between Nexus Pool and Nighthammer Pool. Approximately 
  20 yards wide and four yards deep, it provides a clear path 
  through the city for poled barges, oared boats and gondolas. 
  
  27
  CHAPTER TWO • THE HEART OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  Overhanging bridges prevent any vessel with a mast from 
  making the trip.
  The eastern end of the city has many fewer canals, 
  since it is dominated by Cinnabar Hill, Bastion Hill and 
  Sentinel’s Hill. Firewander lies in a pocket valley deﬁ ned 
  by these three rocky prominences. The East Canal runs 
  roughly parallel to the Grand Canal and the City Wall, but 
  it is narrower and grimmer and less fun to travel. The Night 
  Canal, which passes through a tunnel drilled directly under 
  the Cinnabar District, is wide enough for only two gondo-
  las or a single barge. A whole series of canals run through 
  Firewander. Many of them were originally intended to be 
  reﬂ ecting pools for Shogunate-era government buildings, 
  but now they are at least partially ensconced within the 
  Wyld zone that afﬂ icts this district.
  As a result of these canals, the poorer sections of the 
  city ﬂ ood regularly, while the wealthier neighborhoods 
  never do. Moreover, since the poor tend to live in shod-
  dily constructed houses of salvaged wood and straw, poor 
  neighborhoods tend to be swept away in ﬂ oods. Meanwhile, 
  the ﬂ oods often wash the grime from the surviving First Age 
  buildings, leaving those bastions of wealth and privilege 
  sparkling and clean.
  ARCHITECTURE
  The months immediately following a ﬂ ood are a won-
  derful time to observe the city’s architecture. As the poor 
  and middle classes rebuild their neighborhoods, they tend 
  to throw up structures of wood, straw, salvaged iron and 
  salvaged stone. Nexus is not a city for professional architects, 
  by and large. Only the wealthiest can afford buildings that 
  favor form over function.
  Scattered throughout the city, but concentrated for 
  the most part in the Nexus and Firewander Districts, are 
  a number of First Age buildings and roads. Often six to 10 
  stories tall and composed of numerous towers joined at the 
  upper ﬂ oors with bridges, the graceful and airy structures 
  soar above their neighborhoods and provide landmarks to 
  visitors and locals alike. Constructed of a yellow-cream 
  colored stone, they are decorated with arabesques and 
  ﬂ oral motifs. Many seem to be of one piece, and not even 
  the Guild’s ﬁ nest artisans have successfully dismantled or 
  replicated a single First Age building in Nexus. The Guild 
  makes its home in the second largest tower in the city, a 12-
  story building at the corners of the Knife and Onion Canals, 
  and a two-minute walk from a pulley-car station.
  POOR MAN’S BREATH
  The higher one lives and works above the ground in 
  Nexus, the greater one’s wealth and the longer one is likely 
  to live. Not only are the streets and canals not safe because 
  of crime, they are often ﬁ lled with a fetid black fog from 
  the city’s smelters and iron forges. For this reason, Nexus is 
  sometimes called the City of Black Snow, since a constant 
  rain of ash falls on the western half of the city. The fog, 
  called the “poor man’s breath,” also chokes many inhabitants 
  before they reach middle age. It becomes particularly bad 
  during Ascending and Resplendent Air, when the winds 
  tend to carry the fog right into the heart of the city.
  THE UNDERCITY
  The fog also sinks through a number of cave openings 
  and ﬁ lls the levels of the city under the Sentinel’s Hill and 
  Cinnabar Districts. Here, the heights of the city also conceal 
  its depths, where a series of underground levels, passages 
  and markets lit by torches provide additional housing for 
  the city’s poor and lower middle classes. Three major routes 
  pass all the way through the Undercity. The ﬁ rst, running 
  east to west, is the Night Canal, which is lined with broth-
  els catering to the mercenary trade. Mushroom Way, lying 
  beneath the Parko Llana, the largest green space within 
  the city walls, is home to the city’s drug trade. Running 
  north to south between the Night Canal and the surface-
  level Switchback Street is the Wind’s Way, which is large 
  enough to ventilate the system and prevent the caverns 
  from becoming too stiﬂ ing.
  TRANSPORT
  The most basic form of transportation in Nexus are one’s 
  own two feet. The streets of Nexus run up stairs and down 
  ramps, zigzag on hillsides to keep them more or less level, 
  meander beside sewage-choked canals and splash through 
  muddy pools under overhanging laundry. In some places, 
  public thoroughfares climb ladders up to rooftop walkways 
  and shuddering suspension bridges, or plunge down steep 
  ramps to underground plazas to rush between white stone 
  columns supporting First Age structures. Couriers and 
  coolie-boys haul messages and goods in shoulder satchels 
  and on carry-yokes along all these routes. On more or less 
  ﬂ at routes, wheelbarrows and small carts supplement the 
  human labor necessary to move goods. Yeddim, horses and 
  large animal-drawn vehicles are conﬁ ned by decree to the 
  largest, most important streets.
  The web of streets follows no set pattern or guiding 
  principle, except that many streets vary in width consider-
  ably over relatively short stretches. Alleys tend to be narrow 
  enough that a drunkard bounces from wall to wall; ways are 
  wide enough for two or three to walk side by side; streets are 
  usually wide enough for a cart; avenues are wide enough for 
  two carts. Yet some alleys widen into streets for a hundred 
  paces, creating a courtyard in the midst of a slum, while 
  some streets narrow into an alley to create chokepoints 
  (and escape routes) in certain neighborhoods.
  PULLEY-CAR LINES
  One of the simplest methods of transportation around 
  Nexus consists of the three surviving pulley-car lines that 
  crisscross the city from east to west. The main line, the 
  Wander Street Line, connects the Nighthammer Docks with 
  the center of Firewander, very near the edge of the Wyld 
  
  28
  zone surrounding the old provincial capitols. A second line, 
  the Cinnabar-Nighthammer Line, joins the same docks with 
  the Cinnabar District, near the center of the mercenary 
  barracks. The third line, called the Riverlaine Line, runs 
  almost from west to east through the city from River Park 
  almost to the city wall in the Bastion District.
  Each pulley-car line consists of a pair of massive drum-
  wheels at each end of the line, with a jade-steel cable strung 
  between the four wheels. Somewhere along each line, the 
  jade-steel cable goes around another drum-wheel, which puts 
  a bend in the line and creates necessary tension throughout 
  the system. Below ground, troops of hired workers turn 
  massive capstans attached to the end-wheels and cause the 
  jade-steel cable to be in constant motion, endlessly rotating 
  from one end of the system to the other. Cars built of wood 
  and metal, and equipped with brakes and cable clamps, can 
  then attach themselves to the cable anywhere on the line, 
  and likewise stop anywhere along the line. Usually, each line 
  has six to ten ofﬁ cial stops, but travelers can pay an extra 
  fee to the conductor or clamp-man aboard, who will stop 
  at a chosen location for debarkation. All passengers must 
  board at a designated stop, however. By Council decree, 
  the pulley cars may stop to pick up passengers only at the 
  ofﬁ cial stations.
  Travel by pulley car is slow and tedious, but all three 
  lines stop within 100 yards of one another in the Big Mar-
  ket, and all three also make the big climb over the ridge of 
  Sentinel’s Hill and the Cinnabar District.
  CANAL SYSTEM
  Provided one plans to stay within the western half 
  of the city, hiring a gondola is a faster and more efﬁ cient 
  method of travel, as more than 20 miles of canals connect 
  the Nexus and Nighthammer Districts. Most merchants 
  prefer using boats to transport their cargoes to porters in 
  the streets, and most houses have both a canal address and 
  a street address.
  Traveling in the canal system can be both hazardous 
  and exhilarating. The waters are shallow, the ways are nar-
  row, and nearly everyone is in a hurry. Agents working for 
  various merchant houses often overturn the boats of their 
  competitors. In addition, the rivers push water through the 
  canals at quite a speed. Therefore, boats left unattended or 
  unguided may be smashed to pieces, before they are gradu-
  ally ﬂ ushed out of Nexus and into the Yanaze through the 
  Canal Sluice. More than one life has been saved by the 
  pack of boys who cluster by the Canal Sluice, who rescue 
  (and then ransom) anything of value before it can be swept 
  downriver.
  GOVERNMENT
  Some outsiders believe, mistakenly, that Nexus is a 
  happy anarchy. Others regard it as a mercantile city with 
  limited government. Actual citizens tend to be more 
  conscious of the truth: A brutal oligarchy governs Nexus, 
  through a combination of secret police, paid informants 
  and magical totalitarianism. This government ruthlessly 
  promulgates “Civilities” designed to strip the rights of the 
  poor, in order to maximize the tax revenues of the Council 
  of Entities and create a positive trading environment for 
  the wealthy. By limiting participation in government to a 
  very small elite, the Council imposes a learned helplessness 
  on the lower classes, and by placing virtually no limits on 
  economic activity, the Council forces every enterprise, no 
  matter how minor, to be proﬁ table or to be destroyed. Escape 
  from this intense combination of despair and competition 
  is nearly impossible. Still, it takes visitors at least a little 
  while to see that this arrangement is not an unfortunate 
  accident or by-product of Nexus’ history, but rather the 
  result of deliberate and careful design.
  THE EMISSARY
  The Emissary seems to be the being most responsible for 
  the present state of Nexus. First appearing in RY 52 issuing 
  the series of decrees now called the Dogma, the Emissary 
  is a white-robed, androgynous being wearing a silver mask. 
  Most scholars of such things (who tend to work at some 
  distance from Nexus, because the Council takes a dim 
  view of too much investigation of its affairs) believe that 
  the Emissary is the same being today who ﬁ rst appeared in 
  RY 52. A minority, however, believes the robes and mask 
  to be First Age devices capable of cloaking any individual 
  with the illusion of being the Emissary.
  The Emissary is the public face of the Council. While 
  other members are known to the public at large and are 
  frequently seen coming and going from the Council Tower 
  on Sentinel’s Hill, the Emissary seems to be the only one 
  constantly available. Usually, the Emissary is at the Coun-
  cil Tower from dawn until mid-morning, when it travels 
  downhill to the Council Ofﬁ ces near the Big Market. 
  There, it announces any new decrees issued since dawn by 
  the Council before retiring to its “courtroom” to harshly 
  mediate any disputes between merchants. In the early af-
  ternoon, it moves to the center of the Big Market and in a 
  booming voice announces any new decrees. Afterward, it 
  returns to the Council Ofﬁ ces, where scribes post the ﬁ nal 
  version of the day’s decrees on a notice board outside the 
  Ofﬁ ces. The Emissary then returns to the Council Tower, 
  where it hears non-mercantile disputes for a while, depart-
  ing from public view some hours after sunset. From time 
  to time, the Emissary will vanish for several days, before 
  appearing suddenly (and occasionally violently) in the 
  midst of conspirators or criminals. Before it kills anyone 
  in public, the Emissary always cites the Dogma or Civility 
  under which it is empowering itself to act. The Emissary has 
  never been bribed, or visibly wounded, or anything other 
  than perfectly loyal to the Dogma and the present version 
  of the Civilities.
  
  29
  CHAPTER TWO • THE HEART OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  THE COUNCIL OF ENTITIES
  No one is quite sure whether the Emissary is subordinate 
  to or in charge of the Council of Entities. It hardly matters. 
  The Council’s members are individually and collectively 
  responsible for writing the decrees called Civilities, so the 
  governance of Nexus, such as it is, is in their hands.
  The Council itself rarely meets more than three times 
  a month. When it does, the Councilors usually devote a 
  great deal of time to settling issues that have arisen between 
  themselves, and issue a block of Civilities in a state of rare 
  unanimity. Decrees issued by a meeting of the Council often 
  make the most sense and are the most carefully phrased. 
  (“A ship landing at the Outer Nexus Docks shall pay at 
  the Harbor Master’s Ofﬁ ce one silver dinar for each mast, 
  three dinars for each paddle wheel and one dinar for each 
  ton of cargo she carries. Any ship that fails to pay within 
  24 hours of landing is to be seized by mercenaries of the 
  Hooded Executioners, and the vessel and its cargo are to 
  be auctioned in the Big Market. Ten percent of the sale 
  price will go to the Executioners, and the remainder will 
  be delivered to the Council Ofﬁ ces. The Harbor Master 
  will pay a ﬁ ve percent ﬁ ne to the Council Ofﬁ ces for each 
  ship so seized and auctioned.”)
  The rest of the time, each Councilor may issue any de-
  cree she likes, whether it relates to her area of responsibility 
  or not. Many of these Civilities are prosaic—”No one shall 
  interfere with the workmen building the new library,” or, 
  “The road repair crew on Luna’s Walk shall not be abused 
  with foul language or physical violence on pain of slow 
  and painful death.” Sometimes, however, they seem highly 
  frivolous—”When one takes a meal, he must never do so 
  in darkness.” Many Councilors have large townhouses with 
  gardens in Bastion or on Sentinel’s Hill, and they often 
  attend gatherings around the city. While the Emissary has 
  not proved open to corruption, the same cannot be said of 
  the other Councilors, who take bribes and issue decrees 
  accordingly. It is no wonder that Councilors are among the 
  wealthiest individuals in the city.
  The one check upon their corruption is that any 
  Councilor may issue any decree. Therefore, a Councilor 
  may issue a decree on behalf of a ﬁ sherman requiring all 
  single persons to eat thabi ﬁ sh before sundown, but another 
  Councilor may issue a different decree requiring all single 
  persons to abstain from thabi ﬁ sh for three days. Whichever 
  decree was most recently issued is the only one enforced, 
  so, the ﬁ sherman may be left with nothing but a market 
  stall ﬁ lled with rotting thabi. Laws based on bribery that 
  beneﬁ t only one or two individuals rarely remain on the 
  Civilities list for long.
  CURRENT MEMBERSHIP
  The members of the Council are a varied lot. The 
  bronze tablet commemorating fallen Councilors reveals 
  widely different predecessors: Some were mortals, others were 
  spirits, and others were Exalted or God-Blooded. Artisans, 
  merchant princes and the independently wealthy ﬁ ll the list. 
  Few ever got the job because of their parents, though some 
  were the nieces and nephews of other Councilors.
  The present Council, as usual, has nine members 
  including the Emissary. Their titles have not changed in 
  centuries. The Emissary usually appears to be ﬁ rst among 
  equals—though at times he appears as a mere servant of 
  the other Councilors.
  Three Councilors control Nexus’s trade and foreign 
  policy. The August Councilor of the Eclipse runs the 
  city’s docks and waterways, and the collection of taxes on 
  them. The current ofﬁ ce-holder is a former Harbor Master, 
  Thalevar, and after the Emissary, he is the most regularly 
  seen Councilor. His home is on Sentinel’s Hill, where he 
  hosts gatherings for visiting dignitaries. Some see him as 
  the unofﬁ cial head of state and director of foreign policy. 
  Ephiselle, as Midnight Queen, oversees the throngs of in-
  formants and spies who watch Nexus for the Council. It is 
  unlawful to write, sing or speak about her ofﬁ ce within the 
  city walls. The Dawn Sergeant, a woman named Pellicia, 
  hires and commands the mercenary companies residing in 
  Nexus and sees to city’s overall defense.
  Three manage the city’s public business and serve as 
  guardians of domestic policy. Brueghel, the Evening Mas-
  ter, holds sway over the city’s secret and public business. 
  He maintains the city archives and libraries and licenses 
  all teachers and educational institutions in Nexus. Hayle, 
  the Midday Husband, has charge over artistic expression 
  and public entertainment in the city, as well as the city’s 
  overall good health. Among other things, he monitors 
  the sewer workers and hires entertainers for the theaters 
  and the Plaza of Rebirth. Master Gen, Minister of Ways, 
  examines the District Assayers who collect the city’s taxes, 
  tariffs and duties.
  Then there is Kratz, the Astrologer. A woman of osten-
  tatious tastes and strange behavior, Kratz has successfully 
  predicted everything from famine and riot to sudden price 
  shifts and bountiful harvests through her knowledge of the 
  heavens, so the Council tolerates her extreme behavior. 
  Though the Civilities of Kratz often seem to be some of 
  most ridiculous ones issued by the Council, they often 
  prove to make perfect sense in hindsight. In spite of her 
  rather nebulous responsibilities, she commands the largest 
  entourage of all the Councilors.
  Last of all is Udelph, the Doctor, who allegedly speaks for 
  the city’s ordinary folk. His Civilities end feuds and promote 
  harmony in the city. In practice, however, the Doctor can 
  be just as ruthless as his colleagues. On his orders, ofﬁ cials 
  raze city blocks and exile families to prevent disease. Many 
  compare him to the surgeon who recommends cutting over 
  changes in diet or medication, who demands payment no 
  matter if his patient lives or dies.
  
  30
  TAXES, TARIFFS AND RENTS
  Perhaps the most important piece of business the 
  Council conducts annually is the review of the city’s taxes, 
  licensing fees, tariffs and rents. First are the entry and exit 
  tariffs. Every person, every ship and every cart entering or 
  leaving the city is assessed a small fee relative to its value. 
  These taxes affect every person differently—but largely, it 
  is a light burden to bear. Yet, the Council collects these fees 
  from everyone: Failure to pay usually bars that individual 
  from entering or exiting the city permanently. Those already 
  outside die suddenly if they violate the ban, while those 
  inside face the prospect of exile if they leave.
  Property taxes form the second category of revenue 
  for the Council. The District Assayers visit each property 
  in Nexus at least once a year, sometimes more often in the 
  event of construction or a major ﬂ ood, and set a tax value 
  on the property. One full season after the assessment, the 
  owner of that property must pay the assessed tax. The usual 
  assessment is normally no more than three percent of the 
  property’s value. Any who fail to pay these taxes are evicted, 
  and the property is put up for sale.
  Licensing fees form the third type of civic revenue. 
  Anyone wishing to start a business, open a shop or prac-
  tice a trade or craft must pay a license fee to the city tax 
  collectors. A license is good until the end of Calibration, 
  and then, it must be renewed. The license costs a dinar for 
  each month remaining until Calibration, plus ﬁ ve dinars 
  for the Calibration days.
  By Civility, all the First Age structures in Nexus are the 
  property of the Council, and all residents of these buildings 
  must pay rent. Estimates suggest that the Council’s revenue 
  from the rental of First Age buildings surpasses the revenues 
  from all other sources combined. Each building is assessed 
  a different total rent based on its square footage and loca-
  tion, and the building’s residents themselves are charged 
  with making an equitable division of the money between 
  them. In practice, this means that the weaker, less capable 
  tenants pay more, and the stronger tenants pay less. The 
  Guild’s annual payment for its 12-story building is a bar of 
  jade, paid annually on the ﬁ rst day of Calibration directly 
  to the Emissary. It is by far the largest such rental payment 
  in the city, and one the Guild begrudges not at all.
  The Civilities make payment of these minimal taxes the 
  responsibility of the entity taxed. For example, a rickshaw 
  driver is responsible for making his monthly tax payment at 
  the appropriate District Assayer’s ofﬁ ce, rather than waiting 
  for the ofﬁ cials to seek him out. If the Assayer must seek 
  him out, it is entirely possible that the driver’s neighbors 
  will discover his corpse ﬁ rst, its skin carefully ﬂ ensed from 
  ﬂ esh and neatly folded beside him. The death penalty for 
  tax evasion encourages others to pay their taxes on time 
  and in full, especially when those taxes usually run about 
  nine percent of one’s income for the year.
  The Councilors are not shy about where the money 
  goes. Each district or operation of the city is expected to 
  pay for its own operations out of pocket. For example, the 
  libraries charge entry fees, and that money must pay for 
  the building, the collection and repair of the books inside, 
  the salaries of the employees and the property tax on the 
  building. The city docks must also collect enough money 
  from ships entering and leaving to keep the docks in repair 
  and the pools dredged, to pay the stevedores’ salaries and to 
  pay their taxes. The property taxes and other money col-
  lected ends up in the city treasury, where two-thirds of the 
  revenue is divided among the Councilors as their reward for 
  a job well done. In essence, the city functions as a siphon 
  for funneling money into the purses of its nine wealthiest 
  citizens. They, in turn, rely on their own formidable pow-
  ers and the Emissary to protect them from reprisal from 
  disgruntled citizens.
  LAW AND LACK OF IT
  Nexus is not a city of laws, exactly, but this is not to 
  say there is no law. The Dawn Sergeant regularly hires out 
  mercenary companies to patrol the streets, particularly 
  around the major marketplaces. The Emissary arbitrates 
  disputes between artisans and merchants, usually to the 
  dismay of both parties. The Midday Husband closes down 
  the galleries of avant-garde artists who offend the sensibili-
  ties of the citizenry. All of these actions are rooted in the 
  decrees of the Council, which themselves are rooted in 
  the Dogma.
  THE DOGMA
  The Dogma is the closest thing Nexus has to a consti-
  tution. It consists of a set of six general orders issued in RY 
  52, and to violate them means death. The orders are fairly 
  vague, and they allow the Council and the Emissary the 
  widest latitude in their interpretation. The Emissary repeats 
  the Dogma at least once a month, and almost every citizen 
  of Nexus can recite it from memory.
  The Dogma is:
  No taxes shall be raised, save by the Council.
  None shall obstruct trade.
  None shall bring an army into Nexus.
  No one shall commit wanton violence.
  None may falsely claim the Council’s name or sanction.
  None shall harbor a fugitive from the Council’s wrath.
  The means of death assigned to violations of the Dogma 
  are ghastly and horrifying to observers. Blood turns to quick-
  silver in the veins; mucus coagulates to steel in the lungs; 
  bones mutate to hornets’ nests; intestines turn to poisonous 
  snakes in the belly. Muggers out for someone’s purse will 
  quickly apologize if their victim misinterprets an attack as 
  a demand for tariffs or as being based on location and not 
  mischance. Con artists prefer to represent themselves as 
  Guild representatives, rather than suggest they are associ-
  ated with the Harbor Master or the Clerk of Weights and 
  
  31
  CHAPTER TWO • THE HEART OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  Measures. Mothers turn in their only sons for shoplifting 
  rather than risk harboring a fugitive who obstructed trade. 
  Even mercenaries whose companies have barracks in the 
  Cinnabar District make a point of peace-bonding their weap-
  ons at the city gates and going home in casual groups of ﬁ ve 
  to eight. They travel through the city streets in formation 
  only when working under contract for Nexus itself.
  THE CIVILITIES
  Draped over the Dogma are the individual decrees of 
  the Councilors, called the Civilities. A great many Civilities 
  are issued by a single Councilor, though some are issued by 
  the whole Council. It is not at all uncommon for a Civility 
  issued in the morning to be counteracted by a second or 
  even a third Civility by noon or sundown. 
  The most ordinary Civilities are usually prosaic and 
  common sense: “Dock workers shall not be impeded in their 
  business.” “No uninvited guests shall attend any wedding 
  party.” “Corpses shall not be ﬂ ung into the canal system.” 
  The general tone of these Civilities can be summed up thus: 
  “Mind your own business and don’t complicate other people’s 
  lives unnecessarily.” Dozens of such decrees may be issued in 
  a week, but only ﬂ agrant violations are usually punished.
  A second set of Nexus Civilities tends to drive most visi-
  tors mad, since they create rules and customs found nowhere 
  else in Creation. Teahouses, restaurants and taverns always 
  seat customers who arrive alone at a common table together 
  after nightfall, since a law prohibits a single person to eat alone 
  in darkness. Brothel customers interested in rough play must 
  pay for it up front, to avoid being punished for breaking the 
  Civility that states, “Striking a harlot is akin to breaking an 
  artisan’s wares without purchasing them.” An unusual number 
  of nursemaids hang around mercenary barracks, since many 
  companies buy two-year-old boys as long-term investments 
  in servants and trainees. No older children may be acquired 
  in order not to break the Civility that requires that, “A child 
  may not be sold after his third year of life.”
  Nexus natives seem to understand the ebb and ﬂ ow of 
  the Civilities instinctively and adjust to new decrees quite 
  rapidly. Foreigners and visitors ﬁ nd it quite difﬁ cult to deal 
  with, however, and many hire messengers or runners to 
  remind them when they are about to break a decree.
  The sum total of all extant Civilities, together with the 
  Dogma, is contained in a massive book called the Incunabu-
  lum. Only two ofﬁ cial copies exist. One is in the Council 
  Ofﬁ ces in Nexus District, where a capable staff is on call to 
  look up all Civilities and to interpret them. The other lies 
  in the Council Tower, where Council members and their 
  administrative staffs may consult it. The Incunabulum is under 
  constant revision, with pages constantly being removed and 
  added and individual decrees crossed out or edited.
  CRIME AND JUSTICE
  Ofﬁ cially, the city of Nexus has only two punishments: 
  death and exile. The Council’s spies and informants deliver 
  
  32
  regular denunciations to the many letter-drops found near 
  each of the District Assayers’ ofﬁ ces and other ofﬁ cial city 
  buildings. Once a denunciation reaches the Midnight 
  Queen, it is rare for more than 48 hours to pass before she 
  executes sentence. Only in the case of conspiracies against 
  the Council or the Guild does she stay her hand, waiting 
  for more information to bring the whole plot to light. She 
  frequently sends her favorite mercenary company, the 
  Hooded Executioners, to handle the details of exiling minor 
  offenders. Wealthier or more prestigious violators usually 
  earn a visit from one of her hired assassins—or sometimes 
  even a visit from the Emissary itself.
  In rare instances, the Council will issue a direct sen-
  tence of exile or an ofﬁ cial death warrant. Habitually, the 
  Council prefers exile for those individuals or organizations 
  that are already broken, for such persons are unlikely to 
  seek revenge. They prefer to quickly kill more powerful 
  entities, who might desire to avenge their dishonor at the 
  Council’s hands. From time to time, the Midday Husband 
  will announce a general hunt for a miscreant of middling 
  ability by the populace. If the individual escapes detection 
  for two full days, he is rewarded with amnesty and a pouch 
  of silver before being urged to seek his fortune somewhere 
  other than Nexus.
  It tends to be the victims of crime in Nexus who handle 
  much of the city’s petty thefts and muggings. A thief who 
  steals bread might ﬁ nd himself pinned down by the baker’s 
  neighbors, and no law prevents the baker from beating him 
  senseless, other than the Dogma prohibiting wanton vio-
  lence. Neighborhood watches will hunt down a footpad who 
  frequents their streets too often, and the watch will usually 
  pay their costs by restraining her and making her available 
  to her former victims, as a punching bag or worse.
  THE CIVIL SERVICE
  The Council of Entities pays the salaries of approxi-
  mately 30,000 civil servants, who are divided into six ranks 
  and 10 divisions. The divisions correspond to the six tax 
  districts within Nexus, the city wall and out-wall territory, 
  and the two ports; the two Council buildings form the ﬁ nal 
  division. Each division’s members wear a colored and knot-
  ted cord on their right shoulders to indicate their division, 
  as well as a hat or turban to signal rank.
  The ﬁ rst, highest rank holds only 30 ministers, who 
  wear crimson turbans with blue silk tassels. These Master 
  Assayers are assigned in groups of three to each Division, 
  with one holding daylight responsibilities, another holding 
  nighttime responsibilities and the Twilight Assayer cover-
  ing for both at sunup, sundown and on festival days. They 
  answer directly to the Council for any failures of proﬁ tability 
  in their division.
  The second rank wears red hats shaped rather like 
  mushrooms or round loaves of bread. They are the city’s ac-
  countants and senior clerks. They tend to the Incunabulum 
  and keep the city’s records. Below them, the junior clerks 
  hold the third rank and wear round blue skullcaps. They 
  issue licenses, make copies of decrees and write much of 
  the Council’s routine correspondence. The fourth rank of 
  bureaucrats are the Assayers, who wear yellow skullcaps 
  and actually visit each property in their districts in order 
  to determine the property tax burden for the year.
  The ﬁ fth and sixths rank of the civil service consist 
  of the work crews who manage the pulley-car system, load 
  and unload ships in the harbor and build and repair civic 
  structures. The supervisors of the ﬁ fth rank wear rounded 
  black hats with broad brims, while the ordinary laborers of 
  the sixth rank wear blue hats of the same shape.
  The Council also employs somewhere between 30,000 
  and 70,000 informants and spies, both paid and unpaid. 
  Many are civil servants in their public lives, but many more 
  are not. They tend to be invisible and unnoticeable until 
  exactly the wrong time. 
  ECONOMY
  Proﬁ t makes the wheels turn in Nexus: on pulley cars, 
  on wagons, on cargo cranes on the docks. From the Big 
  Market to the Night Market, from the studios of Firewander 
  to the foundries of Nighthammer to the dinner tables of 
  Bastion, every being in Nexus is either looking for an angle 
  and the next scheme… or is out to do something really 
  devious. What follows is a brief glimpse into the top four 
  money markets of Nexus.
  TRADE
  The main business of Nexus is trade. Situated at the 
  conﬂ uence of ocean and rivers, where caravans and cargo 
  vessels meet, Nexus exists to put small shipments together 
  with larger ones and to break up large shipments into smaller 
  lots. Over 60 caravans a month enter the city from north-
  ern and southern destinations, while literally hundreds of 
  ships come from west and east to trade. All come bearing a 
  bounty of goods and raw materials: timber, ceramics, house 
  kits, crystal, stone, metal work, raw ore, weapons, armor, 
  ﬁ redust, ivory, bones, medicines, recreational drugs, oil, 
  feathers, thread, cotton, silk, linen, wool, alpaca cloth, 
  leather, ﬂ owers, seeds, paper, books, antiques, antiquities, 
  junk, animals, plants, insects, machinery, gold, silver, pre-
  built temples, clothes, orichalcum, jade, copper, bronze, iron, 
  furs, dyes, potions, nostrums, furniture, beer, wine, liquors, 
  spices, grains, vegetables, fruits, seafood, gems, jewelry, ships, 
  boats, barges, beads, glass, seashells, First Age oddities and 
  more. The whole essence of Nexus’s markets is to put the 
  right combination of goods in the right quantities on the 
  right ship or in the right wagon train. Buy low, sell high is, 
  as always, the rule of the game.
  WHOLESALE
  The biggest money is to be made in the wholesale 
  business, with crates, barrels and amphorae of speciﬁ c com-
  modities sold in lots of 100 or more. Stevedores deliver goods 
  
  33
  CHAPTER TWO • THE HEART OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  from the docks or the gates to warehouses, which usually 
  maintain visiting hours for prospective buyers. The seller 
  presents samples at the Big Market, where 1,000 tents and 
  pavilions play host to auctions with dozens, if not hundreds, 
  of buyers. 
  The Nexus market is highly efﬁ cient. Coffeehouses 
  and chocolate parlors around the Big Market have large 
  chalkboards listing recent prices for goods. Loduba’s special-
  izes in raw materials, while Tokunoti’s lists only shipments 
  of cloth. Garaga’s Coffee Emporium is the most general 
  establishment, listing 1,100 spices and related commodi-
  ties from abalone to yeast. Brokers interested in particular 
  goods tend to eat and drink in these establishments between 
  auctions, and the auctions usually take place just outside 
  the front door. Trade in what you know is, as always, the 
  rule of the game.
  RETAIL
  The Little Market offers smaller lots for sale for those not 
  interested in ﬁ lling several cargo holds or a dozen wagons. 
  Small caravans rarely need to buy 100 sets of dishes, and 
  even eastbound river barges cannot sell 500 barrels of beads. 
  Hundreds of merchants in Nexus specialize in buying large 
  cargoes in the Big Market and then selling those cargoes 
  in smaller lots. The Little Market provides the outlet for 
  these small lots, dealing in bolts and yards of cloth, instead 
  of bales. Hundreds of tents ﬁ ll the market square, with knife 
  sharpeners cheek-by-jowl with spice merchants and rag 
  dealers. Stores catering to more demanding clients ﬁ ll the 
  surrounding streets, canals and neighborhoods.
  The Little Market is not exactly a bargain hunter’s 
  paradise. Sharp tongues and sharp trading are the norm 
  here; the same families have haggled here for decades, 
  and reputations and fortunes are on the line. Still, good 
  quality can be found for fair prices, provided one can shut 
  out the incessant noise of callers and bargaining going on. 
  As a general rule, itinerant merchants occupy the stalls, 
  while the shops belong to long-term Nexus residents, but 
  quality—and garbage—can be found everywhere. Let the 
  buyer beware is, as always, the rule of the game.
  BESPOKE
  Of course, the wealthy prefer not to bargain for their 
  clothes and furnishings and prefer one-of-a-kind pieces to 
  items made for the general public. In the neighborhoods 
  between the Little and Big Markets are the showrooms of 
  bespoke artisans, who create lavish goods, clothes and deco-
  ration for the wealthy of Nexus and Creation as a whole. 
  Often, the clothes are made elsewhere in the city, but the 
  upscale showrooms are located in warrens of pedestrian 
  streets too narrow for most carts. Dyertown produces ﬁ ne 
  clothes, while Redsmith produces custom weapons for duel-
  ists and fops alike. Sawdust Square specializes in wooden 
  toys, boxes and furniture, while Little Cogging manufactures 
  clocks and wind-up toys. Sand Alley and the Diamond are 
  ﬁ lled with goldsmiths, glass-wrights and jewelers, and Paper 
  Lane is home to bookshops, scribes, ink-grinders, cartogra-
  pher shops, instrument makers and papermakers.
  The items that come from these showrooms command 
  high prices, and the shops in each area band together in 
  merchants’ associations to pay for security at night. Of 
  course, bespoke shops and ordinary retail stores often share 
  walls in this part of town, owing to the proximity of the 
  major marketplaces. Knowing which store to go to for the 
  best supplies it as least as important as knowing what you 
  want in the ﬁ rst place. Nine-tenths of everything is shit is, 
  as always, the rule of the game.
  METALWORK
  Nexus has the largest forges and smelters in Cre-
  ation—and some of the most technologically advanced. 
  Most of the energy of these facilities is directed to iron 
  production, for weapons and armor and tools, which are 
  then shipped all over Creation (though most stay in the 
  East). Nexus is also, however, home to three bell foundries 
  working in bronze and hundreds of studios that make copper 
  and tin cooking vessels. The docks of Nighthammer Pool 
  concentrate exclusively on bringing ore and coal into the 
  city to fuel these metalworking operations, and the city’s 
  main market for bulk ironwork is at the south end of the 
  Nighthammer docks.
  Spies from the Realm, Lookshy and elsewhere tend to 
  keep a sharp eye on metal production in Nexus. A rise in 
  armaments production tends to mean a rise in the number 
  of mercenary companies or in the likely outbreak of a war 
  somewhere else. The Arsenal neighborhood lies within 
  Nighthammer, at the edge of Sentinel’s Hill, and strangers 
  are rarely welcome unless they come with a production order. 
  Still, though the workers here tend to be tight-lipped, it 
  is easy to count how many ore carts go in and how many 
  wagons ﬁ lled with spears go out.
  BANKING
  Yinhang Square, northwest of the Little Market, is 
  the center of commercial banking operations in Nexus. 
  Forty-seven banks keep their vaults here, usually high in 
  the First Age towers that shroud the square in constant 
  shadow, even at midday. A side street leads from here to 
  the Guild Tower, though most people approach by one of 
  the nearby canals.
  Banking in Nexus is a precarious affair. Banking relies 
  upon trust to function, and many foreigners have a difﬁ cult 
  time trusting their money to banks in a nation with no 
  laws. On the other hand, several Civilities of long standing 
  protect both bankers and clients, and at least ﬁ ve locally 
  headquartered banks have been in business for more than 
  100 years. For those still nervous about depositing their 
  cash, 15 of the banks are actually headquartered outside 
  Nexus, in places such as Great Forks and Melevhil—so 
  that if the laws in Nexus change suddenly, the money in 
  
  34
  the bank doesn’t necessarily vanish, although withdrawals 
  become a major issue at times.
  EXCHANGE
  Most banks hold relatively few deposits in Nexus, 
  anyway. Their main function is to govern exchange rates 
  and issue banknotes based on their reserves. People bring 
  money to Nexus from all over Creation and expect to 
  trade for goods made everywhere. There needs to be some 
  commonality in how different traders view different curren-
  cies—one shopkeeper cannot accept cowries while another 
  refuses them; likewise, no one is prepared to exist solely 
  on a silver standard such as the Guild uses or the hardly 
  impartial jade scrip of the Realm.
  Therefore, the banks serve Nexus as a clearinghouse for 
  different currencies. Merchants can deposit cowries, silver, 
  jade or jade scrip with a bank, and the bank then provides 
  banknotes so the merchant can pay for goods and services 
  without lugging bags of silver around. Those who receive 
  banknotes can either go directly to the issuing bank or 
  turn a banknote over to their own bank and redeem it for 
  the currency of their choice. Once a week, with Yinhang 
  Square under tight security, all the banks trade banknotes 
  with each other, returning notes to their issuers for prompt 
  payment in silver, jade, jade scrip or cowries—whatever 
  they feel they will need in the near future. In this way, the 
  individual banks maintain their cash reserves, and the banks 
  keep each other honest about their holdings.
  INSURANCE
  The Guild tightly controls most of the insurance busi-
  ness in Nexus, as it does throughout the River Province. 
  Gongfangs in Nexus compile monthly risk tables on various 
  types of cargo and precious materials and sell insurance on 
  that basis all over the East, and insurance agents travel 
  with many of the larger caravans so that prompt payment 
  on claims can be made. Nexus itself is the center of the 
  Guild’s insurance business, with ofﬁ ces on Gongfang Row 
  near Yinhang Square, on the Nighthammer Docks and on 
  the Outer Nexus Docks. 
  LOANS AND ESCROW
  Many banks do make loans, but usually only for genu-
  inely proﬁ table endeavors. Nexus uses a salt rate averaged 
  between those set by the spirits of the drying pools in 
  Calin, the salt deposits in Marukan and the drying pools 
  at Marita. This tends to make loans cheaper and more 
  stable, while retaining their security and proﬁ tability for 
  the banks themselves. 
  Another function of the banks is to serve as an escrow 
  service for merchants who do not particularly trust one 
  another. A buyer may transfer money and a fee to a bank 
  to pay for a set of goods he does not think the seller will 
  deliver. The bank conﬁ rms to the seller that it holds the 
  money and gives the seller 10 days, usually, to hand over 
  the purchased goods. If the handover is delayed, the bank 
  refunds the money to the seller.
  CREDIT
  Banks will occasionally extend credit to particularly 
  powerful, market-savvy and stationary individuals and orga-
  nizations. The Guild’s hierarchs, the Councilors and senior 
  factors of important mercantile organizations in Nexus all 
  have the connections, social clout and economic muscle 
  to get banks to fork over cash with little to no collateral. 
  Most traveling merchant princes lack those connections, 
  and as a matter of policy, banks do not lend to Exalts or 
  Anathema at all, since their futures and economic security 
  tend to be shaky at best.
  LABOR
  The fourth major economic powerhouse in Nexus 
  is the labor market. All Creation runs on animal muscle 
  power, human muscle power or Essence—and Essence relies 
  upon the hiring of mortal thaumaturges or the Exalted, rare 
  commodities indeed. As a result, the markets for muscle 
  power—whether the Brood Market for livestock, the 
  Cofﬂ eblock Market for slaves, Livery Square for mercenaries 
  or the Great Forks Bazaar for hired labor—are crowded to 
  bursting every day. 
  The old covered bazaar near the Great Forks Gate 
  is probably the most unusual trading area in Nexus. 
  Here, people offer themselves—or more speciﬁ cally their 
  skills—for sale. Trained military engineers from the Realm, 
  sorcerers and alleged sorcerers, musicians, architects, master 
  builders, military ofﬁ cers and bodyguards can all offer their 
  abilities to a buying public. Some offer their skills for sale 
  solo. Others, such as the Muniﬁ cent Road-Builders Crew 
  of Bastion, work in crews with their fellows (though true 
  mercenary companies usually hire out of Yuruga’s Hall in 
  Livery Square). The buyers can be as exotic as the sellers: 
  Gods come by, looking for colleges of priests or architects 
  for their sanctums, and Lookshy regularly buys up military 
  engineers defecting from the Realm.
  MERCENARY HIRE
  For kingdoms and city-states looking to ﬁ ght a few 
  battles, one needs to go to Yuruga’s Hall, a stately brick 
  structure overlooking Livery Square. Representatives of all 
  of the mercenary companies lodged in Cinnabar District 
  have their booths here, with elaborate displays showing 
  their soldiers in action, trophies and medals received from 
  previous engagements and usually some of the toughest 
  troops in the unit manning the booths. Livery Square turns 
  into a parade ground a few times every week, as prospective 
  employers put down enough of a deposit that they can see 
  the goods offered.
  Because the Dogma forbids anyone from bringing an 
  army into Nexus, the mercenary companies do their best to 
  keep a low proﬁ le. Every company is also required to post a 
  
  35
  CHAPTER TWO • THE HEART OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  substantial bond with the Council, equal to a mina of jade 
  for every talon of troops garrisoned within the walls. If a 
  talon then riots, causes disruption or threatens to act against 
  the safety of the city or the Council, the mina is forfeit, and 
  every ofﬁ cer and sergeant in that talon dies. Messily.
  In fact, the single most important body of contractors 
  for mercenaries is the city of Nexus itself, the various neigh-
  borhoods, districts, merchants associations and operations 
  areas such as the docks and city walls. Nearly everyone wants 
  police service some of the time, as well as bodyguards, riot-
  control forces and warehouse guards. Companies presently 
  stationed in the city derive much bread-and-butter income 
  from these sorts of duties, though ﬁ ghting in a genuine 
  battle tends to bring them substantially more money in a 
  single shot.
  SLAVERY
  Slavery occupies a strange middle ground in Nexus. 
  On one hand, slavery is illegal in the city itself, though in 
  the ﬁ elds between the city walls and the outer borders, it 
  is somewhat nebulously governed. Just because slavery is 
  illegal, however, a slave entering Nexus is not automati-
  cally set free. A thousand or more slaves pass through the 
  Cofﬂ eblock Market every day, giving lie to claims that Nexus 
  is a free city. Legal theorists argue that only enslavement 
  itself is illegal in Nexus, but that since a slave had no rights 
  before coming to the city, the Civilities grant a slave no 
  rights between arriving and departing.
  In truth, the slave market concession in Nexus brings in 
  thousands of silver talents in revenue to the Council every 
  year. Prohibiting the slave trade would cause revenues to 
  drop, cause some merchants to seek out other ports, force 
  the Guild out and possibly lead to the emergence of an 
  economic and political rival to Nexus among the River 
  Province states. An anti-slavery campaign would also create 
  powerful enemies. Despite these dangers, there is a growing 
  grassroots effort, collectively called the “Liberating Ones,” 
  who lobby the Council and the civil service to pass anti-
  slavery Civilities.
  ORGANIZATIONS
  Humans crave organization and guidelines for living. 
  Hence, many people in Nexus belong to any number of 
  groups: neighborhood associations, temple societies, support 
  groups, funeral clubs, sports teams, choral singing alliances, 
  amateur theatrical societies, bands and more. Notice boards 
  in many neighborhoods announce meeting and performance 
  times for many of these organizations, all over the city.
  Some groups are sufﬁ ciently powerful to require care 
  on the part of visitors. The Artisans Leagues work to keep 
  prices high for locally made goods. They even have some 
  political clout since they can afford to pay frequent bribes 
  to the Councilors. The District Associations also command 
  a great deal of respect, and their leaderships sometimes 
  act as unofﬁ cial polling groups for the Councilors. No one 
  overlooks either the Guild or the mercenary companies 
  based in Nexus, however.
  THE GUILD
  The Guild is the single largest mercantile organization 
  in Creation. Operating a far-ﬂ ung network of overland 
  caravans and merchant ships, the Guild began to bring 
  traveling merchants, artisans, slavers, shopkeepers and 
  local commercial establishments together about 600 years 
  ago. It has since grown into a vertically and horizontally 
  integrated monopoly in many parts of the world, acting as 
  the exclusive supplier for more than 1,000 inland towns 
  and states in the East and dozens of cities in both the South 
  and the North. By choosing what to trade and when, the 
  Guild has founded kingdoms and started wars, as well as 
  crippled states and ended conﬂ ict, all in the name of busi-
  ness and a proﬁ t. Even in Nexus, where restricting trade 
  is a capital offense, the Guild controls roughly half of the 
  city’s commerce.
  The Guild’s headquarters is in a 12-story First Age 
  tower near the center of the Nexus District. The lower 
  three ﬂ oors are a high-quality combination of department 
  store and brothel where everything and everyone is for sale. 
  Beautiful men and women model the latest fashions and 
  hawk the latest high-quality goods. The upper nine ﬂ oors 
  hold the central ofﬁ ces of the Guild’s banking, insurance 
  and caravan operations, as well as apartments for its senior 
  leadership, the Directorate.
  MERCENARY COMPANIES
  While not major players in the politics of the city, the 
  15 mercenary companies based in barracks at the northern 
  end of the Cinnabar District are signiﬁ cant contributors to 
  the city’s economy. The Council regularly hires mercenary 
  units to patrol the fashionable parts of town, the city’s 
  parks and major streets and, occasionally, to ﬁ ght its wars. 
  In addition, much of the money the companies raise in 
  ﬁ ghting abroad winds up getting spent in Nexus once they 
  return home.
  Every company has a different procedure for admitting 
  new members. Some units have probationary periods up 
  to a year in length. Others, such as the Bronze Pioneers, 
  require prospective employees to ﬁ ght a randomly chosen 
  company member to the death.
  Each company maintains a barracks area in Nexus to 
  which outsiders are rarely admitted. These walled compounds 
  usually contain multistory halls suitable for several hundred 
  soldiers each, private and semi-private quarters for senior and 
  junior ofﬁ cers, a mess hall, a training salle, a small parade 
  ground and an inﬁ rmary for soldiers likely to recover from 
  injuries. A small neighborhood of brothels, taverns, teahouses, 
  armorers and other businesses catering to soldiers usually 
  cluster around each compound. Mercenaries tend to stick 
  close to these neighborhoods, as entering the neighborhood 
  of another company is a friendly invitation to brawl.
  
  36
  The companies maintain a level of courteous, profes-
  sional rivalry within Nexus, but friendships between ordinary 
  soldiers are discouraged. The soldiers might ﬁ nd themselves 
  on opposite sides of a battleﬁ eld someday, and it is best not 
  to get too attached. Fraternization between ofﬁ cers is en-
  couraged to some degree, however, and the Nexus Military 
  College operates year-round as neutral ground for ofﬁ cers 
  to build their knowledge and reputation.
  THE HOODED EXECUTIONERS
  Description: The Executioners have largely become 
  the police force of Nexus by holding down the most 
  Council contracts for police work for 38 years running. 
  Their commander, an outcaste and former Imperial Army 
  ofﬁ cer, assembled the company 85 years ago. The Hooded 
  Executioners operate mostly in fang- and scale-sized units, 
  occasionally putting together a full talon.
  Commanding Ofﬁ cer: Dragonlord Johoda
  Armor Color: Blue, with leather hoods with crimson crests
  Motto: “Yield or die.”
  General Makeup: 400 fangs of light infantry; 60 mixed 
  scales of a fang each of light and medium infantry, slingers, 
  archers and medium cavalry.
  Overall Quality: Fair. Scales tend to be of higher quality.
  Magnitude: 1–3
  Drill: 3
  Close Combat Attack: 3 Close Combat Damage: 3
  Ranged Attack: 3 Ranged Attack Damage: 3
  Endurance: 6 
  Might: 0 
  Armor: 1 (-2 mobility 
  penalty) 
  Morale: 3
  Formation: Four hundred fangs at the main barracks in 
  Cinnabar; 10 scales at secondary barracks in each district 
  of the city. The Executioners hire out fangs, scales and, 
  infrequently, talons.
  THE BRONZE PIONEERS
  Description: The Bronze Pioneers are a heavy infantry 
  unit specializing in urban combat. The Council calls upon 
  them when necessary to quash rebellions and riots in the 
  city. More frequently, however, they serve outside the city 
  walls, in the Hundred Kingdoms and in the South. Actively 
  disliked by most Nexus residents, the Pioneers return the 
  favor by keeping to themselves, and hunting the leaders 
  of any riots or those on whom the Council imposes the 
  death penalty. The Pioneers lease troops in fangs, scales, 
  talons and wings.
  Commanding Ofﬁ cer: Jurgen Iceﬁ st
  Armor Color: Bronze lamellar
  Motto: “First to battle!”
  General Makeup: Four dragons of heavy infantry, three of 
  light infantry, two talons of archers, two wings of cavalry.
  Overall Quality: Excellent 
  
  37
  CHAPTER TWO • THE HEART OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  Magnitude: 1–4
  Drill: 4
  Close Combat Attack: 4 Close Combat Damage: 3
  Ranged Attack: 2 Ranged Damage: 2
  Endurance: 8 
  Might: 0 
  Armor: 2 
  Morale: 4
  Formation: Its infantry dragons are based in the main 
  barracks; cavalry wings are stationed beyond the walls of 
  Nexus. 
  THE NIGHTARROWS
  Description: The Nightarrows are well-liked in Nexus, 
  although they hold the Council contract on carrying out 
  the death penalty. They provide the force for guarding the 
  city’s parks, which endears them to many despite their 
  dark reputation. The Nightarrows lease men in talons or 
  in wings.
  Commanding Ofﬁ cer: Dageru Yohotima
  Armor Color: Black lamellar
  Motto: None
  General Makeup: Four dragons of medium infantry, two 
  dragons of slingers and javeliners, one dragon of archers, 
  one dragon of mounted archers.
  Overall Quality: Fair
  Magnitude: 3–4
  Drill: 2
  Close Combat Attack: 2 Close Combat Damage: 3
  Ranged Attack: 3 Ranged Damage: 3
  Endurance: 5 
  Might: 0 
  Armor: 2 (-2 mobility 
  penalty) 
  Morale: 4
  Formation: Five of the Nightarrows dragons are usually 
  on extended contract away from Nexus at any given time; 
  usually one wing of archers is based in Nexus to meet the 
  Council contract.
  THE NIGHTHAMMER IRON LEAGUE
  Description: The Iron League began as a neighborhood 
  watch in Nighthammer and now hires itself out as a neigh-
  borhood security force within Nexus. Armed with cudgels, 
  knives, staffs and spears at best, the League’s members are 
  seen as “mercenaries of the people,” and their rates justify 
  it. A fang of the Iron League costs Resources 1 for a week’s 
  service, compared with Resources 2 for most of the others. 
  What they lack in threatening demeanor, they make up 
  for by being ﬁ erce and numerous: The Iron League has the 
  equivalent of a legion and a half of active-duty soldiers.
  Commanding Ofﬁ cer: Kemetu of Nighthammer
  Armor Color: Varied
  Motto: Get them!
  General Makeup: Light infantry.
  Overall Quality: Fair
  Magnitude: 1–5
  Drill: 1
  Close Combat Attack: 2 Close Combat Damage: 2
  Endurance: 3 
  Might: 0 
  Armor: 1 (-1 mobility 
  penalty) 
  Morale: 2
  Formation: The Iron League maintains ofﬁ ces in each 
  district, but has no main barracks; it has a parade and 
  training ground on the south side of Nighthammer District. 
  New members of the company serve as probationers for a 
  full year.
  THE IRON BROTHERHOOD
  Description: Master Fedekiro is a renegade Immaculate 
  monk and a Dragon-Blood of the Earth Aspect. His Iron 
  Brotherhood ﬁ rst appeared during the Wyld War, and it has 
  since fought all over the Hundred Kingdoms. Although his 
  mercenary company has only 300 soldiers, Fedekiro’s disci-
  pline and training makes the Brotherhood one of the most 
  feared military units for its size in the East. Operating in fangs 
  within Nexus, the Brotherhood keeps order in high-prestige 
  neighborhoods such as Brindel and East Parko.
  Commanding Ofﬁ cer: Master Fedekiro
  Armor Color: Maroon with blue laces.
  Motto: “Fight!”
  General Makeup: One scale archers, two scales light infan-
  try, three scales medium infantry, two scales heavy infantry, 
  one scale medium cavalry, one scale martial artists, one scale 
  siege engineers, one scale light cavalry.
  Overall Quality: Elite
  Magnitude: 1-2
  Drill: 5
  Close Combat Attack: 4 Close Combat Damage: 3
  Ranged Attack Rating: 3 Ranged Damage: 3
  Endurance: 9 
  Might: 0 
  Armor: 3 
  Morale: 4
  Formation: The barracks complex at the north end of Liv-
  ery Street houses the entire company, and it has a private 
  dock; the Brotherhood is the only mercenary company in 
  the city that can leave without using the main city docks 
  or the gates. It costs Resources 3 to hire them.
  DISTRICTS OF NEXUS
  The Council has divided the city into six districts for 
  the purposes of tax collection. Streets and canals further 
  divide these districts into neighborhoods and wards, each of 
  which has its own character and sense of itself. Most people 
  spend a great deal of time in their home district. Few travel 
  abroad without a weapon and friends by day or night. 
  NEXUS
  Nexus District is the one exception to this rule. Its 
  borders touch on Nighthammer, Cinnabar and Sentinel’s 
  Hill, and it is so much the center of the city’s commerce 
  and business that the main thoroughfares connecting it 
  with other districts are patrolled around the clock. Numer-
  ous canals both divide and unite the district into 20 small 
  islands, every one crowded with both First Age towers and 
  modern ediﬁ ces three and four stories high. This used to 
  
  38
  be the city of Hollow’s commercial district, so it continues 
  to be in present-day Nexus. The Big Market, the center of 
  Nexus’s wholesale market, faces east onto the Grand Canal, 
  and all three pulley-car lines stop here before diverging.
  To the northeast lies the Brood Market, for animal sales. 
  Directly north is Imperium, where most Realm merchants 
  have their warehouses. To the west are all the specialty 
  neighborhoods of the Diamond, Redsmith, Sand Alley, Paper 
  Lane, Yinhang Square (where the Guild’s headquarters rises 
  over the city), Dyer Square and Gongfang Row. Amid all 
  those specialty neighborhoods is the Little Market, center of 
  the city’s retail trade, with Sawdust Square and Little Cog-
  ging to the south, joining up with the Cofﬂ eblock Market 
  and the slave pens. East of the Diamond is the Council 
  Building, where the Emissary makes his pronouncements. A 
  heliograph on its roof transmits messages up to the Council 
  Tower on Sentinel’s Hill. Southwest of there, on Fishmar-
  ket Street, is the Harlotry, the city’s high-priced red-light 
  district. Nexus Pool forms the northern boundary of the 
  whole district. There, the inner and outer dock complexes 
  bustle with ships unloading cargo to lighters and couriers 
  who transport it down the city’s canals. At the eastern edge 
  of Nexus, just south of the insurance agents of Gongfang 
  Row, is the dubious pleasure of the Night Market, where 
  all goods are sold that the Council says may not be sold 
  by daylight.
  NIGHTHAMMER
  Curving around Nexus District on the west side, and 
  cupping it like a left hand, is Nighthammer District. So called 
  because of the constant pounding of metal and the roar from 
  the foundries and smelters of the ironworks, Nighthammer 
  is a series of working class wards and neighborhoods, ﬁ lled 
  with bustle, energy and “Nexus snow”—a combination of 
  ash from the furnaces and gangue from the burning ore. At 
  the easternmost end of the district is the Arsenal, where the 
  city’s main weapons manufactories are located. Close by is 
  the Iron League’s parade ground. Where Fishmarket Street 
  ends is the Ironmarket and the Fishmarket, practically right 
  on top of the Nighthammer docks.
  Nighthammer Pool is larger than Nexus Pool, but 
  shallower. Most of the ships here carry ore in or ﬁ nished 
  ironwork out, and the pool must be dredged regularly to 
  keep it from ﬁ lling up with tailings. At the north end of 
  the docks is the tenement ghetto of Nightside, where the 
  rent is inversely proportional to the frequency of ﬂ oods and 
  proximity to the smelters and forges. The so-called Uni-
  versity of Nexus began here 20 years ago, and scholars and 
  students with little money meet here to trade knowledge 
  and speculation.
  The district then bends east and north again, wind-
  ing through canals and the highly dangerous stretch of 
  Riverlaine and River Park, the least-patrolled park in the 
  
  39
  CHAPTER TWO • THE HEART OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  city and the most frequently ﬂ ooded. Nighthammer ends 
  in the relatively quiet neighborhoods of Sijantown, where 
  the city’s dead are hastily embalmed before the voyage to 
  Sijan, and Lookshy-town, where the Seventh Legion sta-
  tions its embassy and purchasing agents.
  CINNABAR
  Cinnabar is the city’s cultural district in many ways. 
  Though Livery Square and many of the mercenary barracks 
  are located here along the river, a number of Nexus’s schools, 
  monasteries, libraries and upscale retail shopping areas 
  are situated there, as well. There are numerous residential 
  areas, as well, which tend to be elegant row houses and 
  small-scale estates modeled on those in Bastion. Cinnabar 
  proudly counts art galleries, public ballrooms, theaters, small 
  stadiums and parks among its many cultural offerings. The 
  district is well patrolled by mercenaries who remind scrufﬁ er 
  visitors to mind their manners.
  At the south end of the district, near where it joins 
  Sentinel’s Hill, is the 200-acre Parko Llana, the city’s largest 
  park. A long rectangle running east to west, it is divided 
  into formal gardens, concert lawns, a botanical garden and 
  athletic ﬁ elds. The Bastion pulley-car line runs along the 
  north side of the park, and the houses in the immediate 
  vicinity are highly prized dwellings. Even here, however, 
  neighborhoods have distinct characters: West Parko is very 
  much a neighborhood of artisans, poets, sculptors, fashion 
  designers and fresco painters, while East Parko is more a 
  quarter for the moderately wealthy and the mistresses of 
  the very wealthy.
  Three of the more famous establishments of Cinnabar 
  are the main branch of the city library, at the southeast 
  corner of the Parko Llana; the Players’ Menagerie, a theater 
  and acting school on a main street in West Parko; and the 
  Plaza of Rebirth. The city library is the only thing in Nexus 
  that is free to citizens (although proving one’s citizenship to 
  a Nexus librarian can be a tricky thing), and many scrolls, 
  tomes and codices are available there. The city archives 
  are closed to anyone who does not have a permit from one 
  of the Master Assayers, however. The Players’ Menagerie 
  performs a wide variety of classical and modern plays, operet-
  tas and musicals, tending more to the ribald and the risqué 
  over the digniﬁ ed. The Plaza of Rebirth is actually the city’s 
  largest public assembly hall. The private rooms there serve 
  as reception spaces for elegant weddings and coming of age 
  parties, while the main hall performs many functions: It has 
  seen large public parties, dances and musical performances. 
  It has even functioned as a dueling ground, a gladiatorial 
  arena and as a venue for athletic competition.
  BASTION
  Located on the heights between Cinnabar and the 
  city wall, Bastion is the most afﬂ uent neighborhood in the 
  city, ﬁ lled with the estates of the supremely wealthy and 
  powerful. Well-heeled merchant princes, the hierarchs of 
  the Guild and the Council of Entities all have large estates 
  here. Bastion’s broad streets are paved with well-shaped 
  cobblestones and are occasionally spangled with gold dust 
  and ﬂ owers at festival times. Many of the houses here are First 
  Age wonders, with elegant walkways, fountains, solariums 
  and gardens. Most have more servants than residents, and 
  the prohibitions against slavery in the rest of the city are 
  to some degree in abeyance here.
  Undesirables are stopped in this neighborhood by units 
  of the Bronze Pioneers or the Hooded Executioners, who 
  patrol the district with almost fanatical vigilance. On one 
  memorable occasion, a near riot broke out when the Pio-
  neers stopped a shady gang apparently casing houses, and 
  the “gang” turned out to be the Iron Brotherhood’s men, 
  hired to guard the estate of a new resident.
  Few of Bastion’s neighborhoods have names. Rather, the 
  individual streets serve as a pecking order for the residents, 
  with Dawn Lane being a more prestigious address than Lilac 
  Street for instance. The one exception is Brindel Way. The 
  dead-end street has more than 100 houses, all very elegant 
  and well proportioned. No one seems to know who lives 
  there, however. The district has a number of shops of very 
  famous repute on Bastion Road and Great Forks Gate Road, 
  though the old bazaar just inside the gate has been converted 
  into a specialty labor market. Many of the Hundred King-
  doms and Confederation states maintain embassies in this 
  area, usually in a house prominently displaying the nation’s 
  ﬂ ag. The wealth of a kingdom can often be assessed from 
  the size of its ambassador’s dwelling.
  If the University of Nexus is home to the city’s least-
  well-off students and teachers, the School of Philosophy is 
  home to the wealthiest students and some of the brightest 
  lights in the scholarly establishment of Nexus. Its four 
  buildings are located on Wall Street, with a landscaped 
  campus going down to the Solstice Canal.
  SENTINEL’S HILL
  Lying between Nexus, Nighthammer, Firewander, 
  Cinnabar and Bastion, the Sentinel’s Hill District could 
  lay claim to being the center of the city. Atop the heights 
  of the hill where Switchback Street joins Wander Street 
  stands the Council Tower where the Council of Entities 
  meets. A short distance away stands the Tomb of Candle-
  Eyed Skulls, and the Shrine of the Immaculate Order is 
  only a short walk downhill from there. Were it not for the 
  massive but makeshift Sentinel’s Wall dividing the district 
  from Firewander, it might almost be thought a safe place 
  to live.
  In fact, Sentinel’s Hill used to be a cleared buffer zone be-
  tween the Wyld-overwhelmed Firewander and the rest of the 
  city. As time passed, the Council allowed more of Sentinel’s 
  Hill to be occupied until it is now completely crowded with 
  tenements, apartment buildings and townhouses. Many of 
  the streets are too narrow to pass except on foot. The only 
  exceptions are the horriﬁ cally steep Switchback Street and 
  
  40
  the remains of the Shogunate’s Great Eastern Road (now 
  renamed Carter Street), which runs along the shores of the 
  Gray River and frequently ﬂ oods. Mercenaries still staff the 
  district’s towers, but as the Wyld activity in Firewander has 
  decreased, this guard has been increasingly relaxed. The 
  southern base of Sentinel’s Hill is home to several ethnic 
  neighborhoods: Forkstown, Calintown and Maruktown all 
  cluster there along Carter Street.
  There are few First Age buildings here. Most are wood, 
  lath and plaster. Fires regularly sweep through. Shops and 
  tearooms ﬁ ll lower ﬂ oors. Laundry hangs over main streets, 
  even ﬁ ve stories above the roads. It is a popular place to 
  live, since rents are cheap, and it is comfortable dwelling 
  for both middle class artisans and successful businessmen 
  who dislike the staid comforts of Bastion.
  FIREWANDER
  Firewander was the true center of Hollow until the 
  Great Contagion, when Fair Folk targeted the district and 
  rendered it uninhabitable. Now, the golden dome of the 
  provincial capitol is rarely visible, due to the constant ﬂ ame, 
  smoke and lightning. Scholars believe the Fair Folk set off 
  some sort of weapon under the dome, creating the Wyld 
  zone that still persists.
  Many residents live in huts and hovels around the edge 
  of the Wyld zone, and the neighborhoods of Filth, Tellnaught 
  and Brookside remain strong despite the rising number of 
  mutations in their midst. Residents of Firewander tend to 
  be among the poorest and most pitiful in Nexus, yet the 
  Council sends tax collectors to them anyway. A few shady 
  commercial areas exist in Firewander, and some adventurous 
  merchants even risk eating in Firewander restaurants.
  THE SIX TOMBS OF NEXUS
  Many Anathema lived in Hollow at the time of their 
  overthrow, and six died within the city boundaries. The 
  Dragon-Blooded built tombs for them where they fell, 
  partly to placate their spirits and partly to prevent others 
  from rousing them. The Council of Entities decreed that 
  attempting to open or loot the tombs shall be punished by 
  death or exile, but the tombs seem to have their own methods 
  for defending themselves against unlawful intrusion. Each 
  tomb is about a block square. Three are aboveground, and 
  three are below.
  The Tomb of Candle-Eyed Skulls stands on the ﬂ anks 
  of Sentinel’s Hill. A broad plaza ringed by an iron fence 
  surrounds a three-story structure built entirely of human 
  skulls. At night, the skulls’ eye sockets become lit from 
  within by what looks to be candle ﬂ ames. Anyone living 
  who enters the plaza within the fence during the day dies 
  suddenly, their bodies turning to dust after a minute, while 
  unliving beings simply crumble to dust. At night, ﬁ re shoots 
  from the eyes of the skulls to consume all intruders.
  The Tomb of Red-Hot Iron, in Nighthammer, is now 
  sheathed almost entirely in ﬁ rebrick and forms the foun-
  dation and heating coil for an iron smelter above it. Tools 
  
  41
  CHAPTER TWO • THE HEART OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  and weapons touching it, even those of First Age materi-
  als, melt to slag instantly, while ﬂ esh or other combustible 
  materials carbonize.
  The Tomb of Keening Spirits in Firewander is a plain, 
  ugly vault of gray stone with no visible entrances. Twenty 
  chanting specters ring the tomb, pausing only to attack 
  trespassers who approach within 20 feet—pulverizing them 
  with spectral ﬁ sts and sucking out their Essence. Over 100 
  ghosts used to patrol the tomb and wake the district with 
  their noise, but many have faded away over time.
  The Tomb of Singing Blades in Bastion is a faceted 
  dome ten yards high, apparently constructed of diamond, 
  ﬁ tted with an orichalcum door facing west and a matching 
  orichalcum roof spike. This spike draws numerous lightning 
  strikes and might be part of the defenses of the tomb. The 
  tomb’s main defense consists of thousands of whirling dag-
  gers that orbit the tomb at a distance of 10 yards, screaming 
  through the air like a madwoman’s ululation. These blades 
  instantly target anyone who approaches the tomb, and cut 
  Nexus, a Magnitude 5 Dominion
  Military: 1 
  Government: 3 
  Culture: 4
  Abilities: Awareness 3, Bureaucracy 3, Craft 4 (Universities +1), Integrity 2 (Secret Police +3), Investigation 3, 
  Occult 5 (Savant Academy +2, Supernatural Etiquette +1), Performance 1, Presence 3 (Imperious Demands +2, 
  Organized Crime +1), Stealth 3, War 1 (Defense +3)
  Virtues: Compassion 2, Conviction 4, Temperance 3, Valor 3
  Virtue Flaw: Conviction Current Limit: 7
  Willpower: 7
  Bonus Points: 25 External Bonus Points: 15
  Notes: The number of potential savants and sorcerers in Nexus is uncountable, considering its absurdly high level 
  of supernatural activity. At the very least, every member of the Council of Entities may be considered a sorcerer 
  with Legitimacy, and they almost certainly have at least a few powerful dominion-affecting Charms among them. 
  Its external bonus points, gained from the dozens of treaties it has signed and the military protection it claims 
  from the Confederation of Rivers, are invested in one dot of War, the War specialty, the Occult (Supernatural 
  Etiquette) specialty and the last dot of Valor. The rest of its bonus points are the other specialties and the last 
  dots of Occult, Craft and Stealth.
  The City of a Million Lice is renowned all over the world for its savage, cutthroat economics and the “survival of 
  the ﬁ ttest” philosophy of most of its inhabitants. Its population is rarely swayed by such considerations as honor, 
  glory, mercy or, for that matter, ethics. In Limit Break, nothing will matter to them but proﬁ t and survival.
  her, her armor, her weapons—and on one occasion, even 
  her warstrider—to pieces in moments.
  The Tomb of Ice beneath Nexus District is an elaborate 
  structure of translucent blue ice based on hexagons that 
  appears similar in design to a honeycomb. Tunnels near the 
  tomb have a distinct chill, and anything that actually comes 
  into contact with the tomb freezes instantly. Tools wielded 
  against the tomb shatter with a single blow, and people and 
  animals that touch it become ﬂ ash-frozen.
  The Tomb of Night, located only 500 yards from the 
  Tomb of Ice, is a 100-yard-radius sphere of darkness that no 
  light can pierce and that emits no sound. Those who touch it 
  feel a pleasant coolness, and some have even put their arms 
  inside without apparent ill effects. Once someone enters 
  the darkness fully, however, he never returns. Attempts to 
  hold hands or rope explorers together have all failed. The 
  ropes can be pulled free with knots untied and adventurers 
  vanished, even if they enter for no longer than a blink.
  
  42
  
  43
  CHAPTER THREE • WARLORDS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  CHAPTER THREE
  TRAITS
  CHAPTER THREE
  CHAPTER THREE
  WARLORDS OF THE 
  WARLORDS OF THE 
  SCAVENGER LANDS
  SCAVENGER LANDS
  LOOKSHY
  Lookshy is the most powerful state in the Scavenger 
  Lands and the nerve center of the Confederation of Rivers’ 
  military power. Coming from a rigorous military society 
  primarily descended from the Seventh Legion, Lookshy’s 
  armies are the most loyal, disciplined and capable forces in 
  the region. In addition to raw might and impressive numbers, 
  Lookshy also possesses more potent First Age weaponry than 
  any armed force in Creation.
  HISTORY OF THE SEVENTH LEGION
  The Seventh Legion was originally called the Seventh 
  Legion of the Dragon-Blooded Shogunate (Reinforced) 
  and was the Shogunate’s primary security force south of the 
  Yanaze and east of Great Forks. This force became fragmented 
  during the Contagion as desperate battles raged against the 
  Fair Folk. Some talons wandered for months without news. 
  Many puzzled and weary taizei led their charges in circles, 
  while others frenziedly laid waste to all in their path, seeking 
  an end to the raksha, with no heed to the lives and nations 
  destroyed in the process.
  Chumyo Nefvarin Gilshalos reunited much of the 
  Seventh Legion at Deheleshen. The legionnaires found the 
  great city razed and blighted by the raksha, with few survivors 
  huddled in the ruins. Though the greatest of the Deheleshen 
  structures, the Teocalla of Tu Yu, the Deheleshen Lighthouse 
  and the Palace of the Maximum Fallahshu still stood, the 
  city appeared as if it had been abandoned for 1,000 years. 
  Once-great walls now crumbled at a touch, and ancient, 
  fortiﬁ ed towers lay toppled in the streets.
  Soon after, the Seventh Legion met the raksha force known 
  as the Villanua Potenci in battle at Deheleshen. Led by the 
  raksha general No-Lion, the Villanua Potenci was an infamous 
  brigade of Fair folk soldiers who burned villages, slaughtered 
  peasants and fathered half-fae children along the Yanaze.
  
  44
  Though weary, the Seventh Legion drove the Villanua 
  Potenci into retreat. Nefvarin and 30,000 men pursued the 
  enemy for many skirmish-ﬁ lled days until the raksha were 
  ﬁ nally thrown back by the Realm’s defenses.
  The Seventh Legion had nowhere to go once the con-
  ﬂ ict ended. Homes throughout the East had been ravaged, 
  families slaughtered and the Shogunate crushed. Most who 
  had not been killed by the invaders years before succumbed 
  to the last vestiges of the Contagion. Some took their own 
  lives in despair. Scarred survivors who could not understand a 
  world without constant violence and grief went off in search 
  of new enemies. Those who were weary of strife remained, 
  intending to build a better world out of the ruins.
  Twenty years later, the new city of Lookshy stood among 
  the remains of Deheleshen. Even in those early days, Lookshy 
  was already an important outpost for military action and for 
  trade. Ideally located as it was on the coast of the Inland 
  Sea, it stood at the head of most of the region’s trade routes. 
  In another dozen years, the Seventh Legion dominated the 
  countryside, providing safety for traders, travelers and settlers. 
  As word spread, thousands journeyed to Lookshy to enjoy 
  protection from a world now unfamiliar and dangerous. 
  WOULD-BE CONQUERORS
  As chumyo, Nefvarin commanded the rebuilding effort. 
  Many of Deheleshen’s survivors, eager to see their city great 
  again, welcomed Nefvarin and the Seventh Legion.
  But there are always those who believe they are wiser 
  or stronger and therefore more ﬁ t to rule. Dozens of local 
  warlords claimed sovereignty over the promontory in the 
  years that followed. Most were easily defeated or otherwise 
  persuaded to end their suits. Others proved more obstinate. 
  Very few are remembered by history.
  Perhaps in reaction to the emergence of the Scarlet 
  Empress on the Blessed Isle, one obscure shozei, Fallaha 
  Gherin, conspired to have Nefvarin assassinated and himself 
  named Shogun. This brief episode lasted only nine days and 
  would have been unworthy of note if Fallaha had not claimed 
  true descent from the Shogun and had evidence to support 
  his claim. While historians now argue several minor points 
  concerning the lineage of the Shogunate, none can say for 
  certain whether Fallaha’s documents were authentic, as they 
  were lost in the swirl of arrests and executions. Fallaha’s 
  family, who publicly denounced him as a liar, relocated to a 
  neighboring community and obscurity as the incident was 
  largely forgotten.
  THE REALM ENTERS THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  Soon after the wars with the Fair Folk, engaging but 
  unreliable tales spread to Lookshy of a powerful Empress who 
  activated the Old Realm defenses and repelled the raksha 
  threat, a ruler now solidifying her rule on the Blessed Island. 
  Some claimed she was either a god or a demon. Others touted 
  her beauty and might. While it was clear to Lookshy folk 
  that someone had ended the invasion, few cared to speculate 
  further. While travelers might arrive with news of the heroes 
  found on the Blessed Isle and their magniﬁ cent ruler, Lookshy 
  now had its own heroes and legends. The deeds of foreigners 
  were of little interest.
  In time, the Scarlet Empress addressed Nefvarin with 
  an ofﬁ cial writ, in which she claimed sovereignty over the 
  legions of the old Shogunate and demanded that the Sev-
  enth Legion fall into line with the rest. Nefvarin refused 
  to support her claim, citing doubts about the legitimacy of 
  her rule. These communiqués were civil in tone, but ﬁ rm, 
  while the Empress’s letters used vague insinuations, but no 
  particular threat.
  In Realm Year 45, dozens of emissaries from the Scarlet 
  Empress arrived in Lookshy, demanding oaths of fealty to the 
  Empress. Nefvarin and his ofﬁ cers did not ﬂ atter them or 
  hide their contempt for the “soft worms in serpents’ dress,” 
  as he wrote of the ambassadors in his reply to the Empress. 
  Over the next few years, Nefvarin received a number of 
  progressively imperious communications from the Blessed 
  Isle. Nefvarin replied to none of them.
  As other city-states and civilizations gave their allegiance 
  to the Scarlet Empress, Lookshy developed a reputation for 
  being a place of haughty folk who thought themselves better 
  than their neighbors. During that time, a famous epic, The 
  Garrulous Citizen, was published in Nexus, about an obnoxious 
  leader who constantly invoked the superiority of his homeland 
  and its people. This extended allegory gained popularity with 
  the help of the Realm’s propaganda ministers, who relished 
  the opportunity to turn Lookshy’s neighbors against them. 
  Another work, a political pamphlet called, The Twilight of 
  the East, spoke of the Scavenger Lands as poor and ruined, 
  blaming such conditions on Lookshy’s refusal to bow to the 
  Scarlet Empress, whom the work labeled “the most worthy 
  and gentle potentate in all the ages of man.” These works 
  fomented anti-Lookshyan sentiment throughout the region 
  and are still read to this day.
  CONSTRUCTION AND DISCOVERIES IN 
  A CITY OF WONDERS
  The prevailing attitude of Lookshy’s citizens was that 
  they would rather die than give up to the Empress what they 
  had worked so hard to achieve—for now Lookshy was truly a 
  wonder. In less than half a century, Lookshy was transformed 
  from ruination to marvel. While smaller than the modern-day 
  city, Lookshy was already the greatest city in the Scavenger 
  Lands, boasting a hearthstone-powered First Age light rail 
  system, unrivaled roads, three prestigious military academies 
  and, most signiﬁ cantly, a satisﬁ ed and active citizenry.
  The Palace of the Maximum Fallahshu was renovated in 
  RY 48. The Lookshy Manse was the result, a massive fortress 
  in the heart of Lookshy that met with fanfare from Lookshy’s 
  citizens and shocked amazement from foreigners. It is even 
  said that Tien Yu herself took notice of the sublime design 
  and personally rewarded the sorcerer-engineer responsible on 
  
  45
  CHAPTER THREE • WARLORDS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  the stairs of the manse. Accounts of this reward vary from a 
  passionate kiss to torrid oral sex on the manse stair (though 
  in the present conservative era, legend favors the former).
  The next great public work, a very faithful reconstruc-
  tion of the Teocalla of Tu Yu, was accomplished in RY 55. 
  The grand pyramidal structure used many of the original 
  30-ton granite blocks and furnishings left intact following 
  Deheleshen’s fall. The new temple retained the original shape 
  but included a domed chamber at the pyramid’s apex to be 
  used as a ceremonial center and celestial meeting chamber. 
  Tu Yu approved of this function and returned to the city 
  those superintendents that had been removed during the 
  Contagion.
  In RY 62, the Lower City fortress known as the Port 
  Citadel was completed. The building’s design rivaled the 
  Lookshy Manse in function, if not in beauty. Upon its 
  completion, the citizens of Lookshy boasted that Lookshy 
  was nigh on impregnable from land or sea.
  INTERNAL STRUGGLE
  Certain factions in the city thought Lookshy should 
  align with the Empress. While most had little inﬂ uence, a 
  few posed signiﬁ cant problems for the ﬂ edgling state.
  Puso Varkei, a popular statesman during the ﬁ rst century, 
  used rhetoric, accusations and lies to convince thousands 
  of Lookshy’s destitute to ﬁ ght for the Empress during the 
  ﬁ rst Realm invasion. Unfortunately for Puso, the uprising 
  quickly became an unruly mob more interested in pillaging 
  than noble goals. When the mob was contained, Puso was 
  whipped and demoted for his unpatriotic intentions. He 
  spent the remainder of his life in disgrace.
  Where Puso failed to target the proper audience, Weng 
  Saxoshin, a noted military commander and Realm spy, built 
  his power base among his own men. He gradually realigned 
  the faith and loyalties of his troops over a period of 10 years, 
  and by RY 65, they were secretly loyal to the Scarlet Empress. 
  Some living in the outlying community of Scareng, where 
  Weng’s men were stationed, also found themselves part of 
  Weng’s cabal and helped plan to upset Lookshy’s defenses 
  long enough for the Fourth Imperial Legion to force its 
  way into the city. The scheme might have worked, if Weng 
  himself had not spilled the secret to an acquaintance. While 
  the details of this confession are not known, the results are. 
  Weng was hanged, and his soldiers were scattered when the 
  news of their treachery broke. Many were tried for treason 
  and drowned in the Inland Sea.
  THE REALM INVASIONS
  In the year 57, the Realm dispatched the Fourth Imperial 
  Legion to the Scavenger Lands in a campaign to persuade 
  holdout regimes to submit to the Empress’s yoke. While the 
  Fourth Imperial Legion avoided Lookshy and the Seventh 
  Legion in the early days of the campaign (due to negotiations 
  deliberately prolonged by both parties), Lookshy still man-
  aged to play an important role in the defense of its neighbors. 
  The Seventh Legion rallied local tribes and provided arms, 
  training and detachments of ofﬁ cers and infantrymen to 
  neighboring states, which managed, in a few cases, to hold 
  the Fourth Imperial Legion at bay for years.
  In RY 69, the Fourth Imperial Legion ended its assault 
  on the Scavenger Lands, retreating to the safety of conquered 
  cities and leaving the few free states in relative peace. These 
  wars caused ruinous damage throughout Lookshy’s hinter-
  land and the wider region. Entire communities suffered, 
  and many daimyos approached Lookshy for aid. Lookshy 
  welcomed these daimyos as clients, subjecting their lands 
  and people to Lookshyan rule in return for the Seventh 
  Legion’s protection.
  Six years later, the Realm disgorged four legions to the 
  Scavenger Lands, one of which confronted Lookshy directly. 
  Thanks to the Seventh Legion’s foresight, though, Lookshy 
  was ready. The city had spent years strengthening relations 
  and communication with neighboring states, and it used 
  this network to devise land and naval defenses. While these 
  operations were sometimes seen as unfairly lucrative for 
  Lookshy, most partners in such contracts had little issue with 
  the results, as their communities saw the fruits of Lookshy’s 
  efforts in the form of safe trade routes and shipping lanes. 
  War did come home for Lookshy, however. After several 
  unsuccessful attempts at a promontory invasion, the Fourth 
  Imperial Legion broke through the Lookshy Wall and burned 
  the hinterland beyond, slaying thousands and destroy-
  ing everything in its path. By the time the Fourth Legion 
  reached Lookshy, however (having wasted days burning and 
  pillaging), the city was locked up tight, siege-response plans 
  in development for decades were enacted, and the city was 
  transformed into a self-sufﬁ cient fortress. Far from starved, 
  Lookshy’s population held their city for over a year and 
  repelled the attackers. The Fourth Legion’s siege engines 
  were no match for Lookshy’s highly organized defenses and 
  anti-siege devices.
  As the Realm’s invasion forces suffered defeat after 
  defeat, the Seventh Legion smuggled a soulbreaker orb into 
  the surrounding imperial camp. This device destroyed the 
  souls of more than three quarters of the enemy’s numbers 
  and left the rest battered, confused and in retreat. These 
  survivors were cut down as chaos ensued on the ﬁ eld of battle. 
  Intent on ending the threat once and for all, the Seventh 
  Legion extended its victory by marching to Great Forks, 
  where it met and destroyed the remainder of the Fourth 
  Imperial Legion.
  Soon after this defeat, the Realm withdrew from the 
  region but continued to molest merchant vessels along the 
  coast. While some nations responded to this aggression by 
  issuing letters of marque, Nefvarin ordered the formation of 
  a navy and the production of new naval craft, to protect the 
  shipping lanes from “the Empress’s marauders.”
  The Realm’s ﬁ nal, and largest, assault on the Scavenger 
  lands began in the year 88 and lasted for less than a year. 
  Lookshy itself was once again besieged, and ﬁ ghting spread 
  
  46
  throughout the promontory and beyond. By this time, the 
  Seventh Legion had redoubts placed in key strategic points 
  across the Scavenger Lands. This network managed to isolate 
  the Realm’s forces, disrupt their communications and prevent 
  the easy installation of reinforcements. Despite Lookshy’s 
  preparedness, however, this ﬁ nal assault was also the bloodiest. 
  Thousands perished as the Realm unleashed potent sorcery 
  and the fury of its greatest First Age weapons on the land 
  and its people. Their efforts weren’t enough, as the Empress 
  ﬁ nally recalled her armies in the wake of defeat after defeat, 
  but the toll was high for Lookshy and its surroundings. Dozens 
  of formerly free cities came to Lookshy for aid and protection 
  and agreed to become its clients.
  THE LEAGUE OF MANY RIVERS
  Lookshy threw in with the various free-city states to 
  form the League of Many Rivers in RY 95 to foster good 
  relations with its trading partners and to better provide for 
  the defense of the region. Knowing that Lookshy stood at 
  the probable doorstep of any further Realm invasion and 
  that the fate of the region likely depended on Lookshy’s fate, 
  Nefvarin sanctioned the various treaties and agreements fully 
  committing Lookshy to the League.
  THE CLIENT WARS
  In RY 111, ambassadors from the client states of 
  Mugadesh, Helz, Lugwaal, Starshalla and Werendut, and 
  many citizens of these places and others, ﬂ ocked to Lookshy 
  to complain of the many abuses wreaked upon them. “We 
  fought for independence from the Scarlet Empress with you,” 
  their petition read. “We spilled enemy blood by your side 
  and fought with as much valor and courage as you. And yet 
  you forever despise us, as a father treats with an unforeseen 
  stepson.” The complaint hinged upon the General Staff’s 
  refusal of even helotry rights to the client states and the 
  steep taxes levied on them. When the General Staff re-
  fused to consider the matter, pointing to signed and ratiﬁ ed 
  contracts, the client states launched a problematic, though 
  unexpected attack.
  The client states were, of course, no match for the 
  Seventh Legion. While the conﬂ ict lasted, the General Staff 
  referred to it not as a war, but as an unfortunate political 
  misunderstanding. The foe—poorly armed farmers and other 
  ill-trained, desperate men—did not warrant the application of 
  potent weaponry or entire ﬁ eld forces. Rather than crush the 
  rebellion, the General Staff dispatched small units, hoping 
  for a politically quiet campaign and for as little damage and 
  as few casualties as possible. In spite of their inadequacies, 
  the client states carried on for seven weeks and managed to 
  expel a number of garrisons (most of whom had been ordered 
  to refrain from entering combat with the clients) from their 
  lands before ultimately surrendering.
  Following the laying down of arms, the General Staff, 
  many members of which had been moved by the clients’ 
  valor, held hearings on how to proceed with such unhappy 
  foreign subjects. They decided that those who would vol-
  untarily relocate to Lookshy and free whatever slaves they 
  possessed would be granted helotry and all the rights and 
  responsibilities accompanying such an honor. As a result, 
  Lookshy’s population grew eightfold over the next year, 
  necessitating the construction of several new districts and 
  hinterland communities. For those who wished freedom, they 
  could have it, but Lookshy would not remove its garrisons. 
  Lookshy ceased taxation on the client states as well. These 
  concessions halted the rebellion, and even though ﬁ ghting 
  continued sporadically for another several months, the Cli-
  ent Wars came to an end.
  Never again would Lookshy engage in any form of 
  imperialism. The mere suggestion of taking a state as a cli-
  ent, through war or otherwise, is even today looked upon as 
  unthinkable and obscene.
  CIVIL WARS
  With the Realm no longer perceived as a threat, the River 
  Province states had time to reﬂ ect on regional politics and 
  their relative wealth and power. What many leaders of the 
  age realized was that Lookshy, savior that it was, controlled 
  the destiny of the region through military might and com-
  mercial brilliance. Great Forks, Nexus, Sijan, the Marukan 
  Alliance—all the signiﬁ cant powers of the Scavenger Lands—
  made their dissatisfaction known at League conferences 
  and in secret conferences held among themselves. Perhaps 
  they were encouraged by the General Staff’s evenhanded-
  ness with the client states a decade before, for they brought 
  forth a list of requests—worded as demands—guaranteeing 
  Lookshy’s continued services to the River Provinces, only at 
  drastically reduced expenses. Lookshy’s ambassadors howled 
  with laughter and accused their neighbors of being ingrates 
  and cravens before the entire conference, infuriating not 
  only the complainants, but the League entire. Many nations 
  that would normally have sided with Lookshy took issue 
  with such arrogance and remained neutral. Others joined 
  with Lookshy’s critics.
  Over the next dozen years, skirmishes and brief wars 
  erupted throughout the region. These conﬂ icts were almost 
  always restrained exercises, as no nation wished all-out war 
  with Lookshy. Lookshy, for its part, preferred to keep its forces 
  spread throughout the Scavenger Lands to better defend it, 
  rather than to consolidate it for the sake of an internecine war. 
  The battles with Lookshy were curious and unprecedented and 
  ill fated, for Lookshy was in the peculiar position of having 
  largely trained and armed the enemies it now faced. While 
  the deﬁ ant nations attempted to develop their own tactics, 
  their entire military structure had been built according to 
  the Seventh Legion model, allowing the Seventh Legion to 
  almost effortlessly predict its enemies’ next move.
  This series of conﬂ icts came to a zenith over a minor 
  water rights dispute that drew in nearly the entirety of the 
  River Province. Many of these nations ﬁ nally committed to 
  all-or-nothing war with Lookshy, calling up all reserve forces, 
  
  47
  CHAPTER THREE • WARLORDS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  and putting every last resource and weapon at their disposal 
  on the battleﬁ eld. Even with such drive, the depletion of 
  treasuries and thousands of lives lost, Lookshy put down 
  the enemy forces, but at a terrible cost. The Sandy River 
  region was devastated by the aftermath—fallout energies 
  from First Age weaponry burned and scarred the countryside 
  and poisoned the waters, entire peoples were extinguished, 
  and the bitter truth was ﬁ nally made painfully apparent. 
  Lookshy was master, whether anyone liked it or not. While 
  some believed it for the best, others would never forgive it 
  for how their neighbors, their cousins, were so unceremoni-
  ously swept from Creation.
  FURTHER INVASIONS
  Three foreign invasions commenced on the heels of 
  the previous century’s civil wars. The ﬁ rst, from the reliably 
  hostile Realm, came just a few years after the ﬁ ghting ended, 
  in 301. The Seventh 
  Legion’s swift re-
  sponse to the attack 
  earned back some of 
  the faith it had lost 
  in recent years. In 
  fact, the near-instan-
  taneous defeat of the 
  Imperial legions by 
  the relatively spent 
  and haggard Sev-
  enth Legion, a force 
  that had not stopped 
  ﬁ ghting for decades, 
  seemed more like an 
  afterthought. The 
  defeat, just south of 
  Sijan, earned Look-
  shy a princely sum 
  from the ransom of 
  significant person-
  ages, which Lookshy 
  used exclusively for 
  the fortiﬁ cation and 
  renovation of its four 
  remaining foreign re-
  doubts, constructing 
  not merely stronger 
  walls and armaments, 
  but barracks enough 
  to house troops 
  native to their re-
  spective regions. As 
  a ﬁ nal display of good 
  faith, the redoubts 
  ﬂ ew the ﬂ ags of their host countries, maintaining that nation’s 
  laws as well as Lookshy’s. Lookshy still holds this ofﬁ cial policy, 
  though Lookshy’s laws are considered primary.
  Later, in 364, the Arczeckh tribes invaded the League’s 
  southern reaches. While the horde never menaced Lookshy 
  directly, the Seventh Legion was on hand to assist assailed 
  nations. It did so most notably toward the end of the con-
  ﬂ ict at the site of Nechara, where Taimyo White and the 
  Fourth Field Force clashed with the Arczeckh chieftain 
  Mokuu and his army. While the horde fought savagely, the 
  barbarians were no match for White’s terrible sorcery, as he 
  called eyes of blood-red ﬁ re to gaze down upon the enemy, 
  dripping ﬂ ames from the sky, incinerating them where they 
  stood. Mokuu himself was reduced to snowy ash, and even 
  White himself eventually died from the aftereffects of the 
  occult ﬂ ames.
  In 547, the Fair Folk invaded the Scavenger Lands once 
  more, invoking terror throughout the region, but in Look-
  shy most acutely. For the average citizen, Lookshy stood a 
  very real chance of being destroyed, and many considered 
  Lookshy’s people and 
  culture in danger of 
  being lost to history. 
  Rumors spread that 
  the Villanua Potenci
  had returned with 
  No-Lion, now an all-
  powerful fae ghost, 
  at its head. Every 
  ship that appeared 
  on the horizon was a 
  raksha war galley to 
  their minds. Many 
  helots hid in their 
  homes for months. 
  This rather unusual 
  behavior belied the 
  fact that the Seventh 
  Legion had faced the 
  raksha many times 
  over the centuries. 
  But this instance 
  seemed different. As 
  time progressed, news 
  came of nations laid 
  waste, great armies 
  cut down, ancient 
  spirit kings devoured. 
  While the Seventh 
  Legion played its part 
  for the region, its ﬁ eld 
  forces could not be 
  everywhere at once, 
  and there were still 
  those who would not 
  welcome them into their lands. As the war ended, a new 
  military alliance was proposed, and the Confederation of 
  Rivers was born.
  
  48
  TURNING POINT
  The middle of the sixth century marks the ﬁ rst major 
  turning point in Lookshy’s history. Lookshy’s ﬁ rst 550 years are 
  notable for demonstrating its vitality and power. Born out of 
  the ashes of a fallen city-state, Lookshy’s citizens carved out 
  a civilization remarkable for its mastery of military tactics, 
  individualistic philosophy and noble character. While this 
  period is largely a history of war, the period following the 
  second raksha invasion marks the beginning of more subtle 
  developments in government, public works, economics 
  and politics. While many other nations’ recent history is 
  noteworthy for inﬁ ghting and a general inability to unite 
  for a common cause, Lookshy’s leaders tended to look past 
  trivial divisive matters and concentrate on the importance 
  of a singular vision guiding the nation’s progress.
  With many other nations in the Scavenger Lands, 
  Lookshy become a signatory to the Confederation of Rivers 
  in RY 557. While many of the signatories viewed the Con-
  federation as a political shield or means to legally make war 
  on other nations, the General Staff took (and continues to 
  take) it very seriously. The General Staff was tired of being 
  at odds with every nation in the League and was adamant 
  that this new confederation should last.
  In 559, a plan was put into action to construct many public 
  buildings in every district and hinterland community, including 
  baths, courts of justice, civicals, monuments and parks.
  In 577, Gens Amilar commissioned the construction of 
  a paved civic square in the hinterland community of Wasuvi. 
  This miniature complex of buildings housed state-of-the-art 
  bath facilities, a civical with ﬁ nely apportioned ofﬁ ces and 
  in-house court of justice, and a recreational area with gardens 
  and sports grounds. Two months later, Gens Karal, another 
  prominent family, commissioned a new military bastion, 
  training grounds and command center to be constructed 
  in Javasavi, another community in Lookshy’s hinterland. 
  The family criticized Gens Amilar for wasting money and 
  resources on such a frivolous display.
  Hence began the tradition of hinterland sponsorship, 
  a combination of civic goodwill and inter-Gentes one-up-
  manship that has managed to transform Lookshy’s outlying 
  farming, ﬁ shing and craft communities from dens of poverty 
  to palettes of largesse. Soon after the Gentes got caught up 
  in the practice, other wealthy families made their own, at 
  ﬁ rst modest, endowments.
  RECENT EVENTS
  The Seventh Legion was instrumental in putting down 
  Thorns’ army during its recent Realm-assisted invasion of the 
  western Confederation states. While the conﬂ ict continued 
  for two years and Lookshy was brieﬂ y besieged, the Seventh 
  Legion was methodical and exacting in its defeat of many 
  Dragon-Blooded-led ﬁ eld forces. The most trying battle, the 
  battle of Mishaka, in which Thorns was ﬁ nally defeated, 
  involved a coalition of many nations accompanied by the 
  Seventh Legion’s First and Third Field Forces. The battle 
  is modern legend, and is still spoken of with excitement 
  almost 15 years later.
  The rumors of the Empress’s disappearance and the news 
  of the Mask of Winters’ invasion of Thorns have once again 
  awakened Lookshyans to the possibilities of political instabil-
  ity and war. While Lookshy has always had enemies and its 
  people have never been strangers to war, a dire electricity 
  prevails in the city, as if everyone knows they are sitting on 
  the cusp of a new Age.
  PEOPLE OF LOOKSHY
  The warriors of Lookshy believe in a brand of freedom 
  that comes from honor, integrity, honesty and valor. They 
  have little time and few words for foreigners who do not 
  share their outlook, and they commonly treat such folk with 
  open disdain. Lookshyans are a proud, energetic people, as 
  famous for their patriotism as for their mastery of military 
  strategy. They also value self-control, limiting their leisure and 
  keeping to personal dietary, exercise and training regimens. 
  In addition, Lookshyans are a politically active community, 
  with very few eschewing civic duties.
  Lookshy exists to support the Seventh Legion, which 
  itself exists to ensure the security of the city and the whole 
  of the Confederation. All residents of the city accept and 
  embrace this ideal. Over the centuries, it has become the 
  very meaning of their lives.
  LOOKSHYAN OUTLOOK
  The people of Lookshy hold a philosophical credo that 
  is as self-serving as it is objectively unjust, while at the same 
  time preening themselves as the guardians of justice in the 
  Scavenger Lands. Boiled down, this credo states that only 
  Lookshyans, who have earned their just laws through trials 
  and ﬁ erce determination, deserve to live according to them. 
  As such, not all men are worthy of justice. Such a doctrine 
  is puzzling, especially when it is not unusual to hear a typical 
  Lookshyan utter in the same breath that tyranny is evil and 
  should be eradicated when possible.
  Lookshy’s philosophical outlook is a creation of the 
  General Staff’s propaganda machine, at once legitimizing 
  its rule and glorifying its achievements—a feature hardly 
  unique. In Lookshy, however, the propaganda is not merely 
  believed, followed and repeated by its lower class residents. 
  Rather, it is a weapon, a tool, a warning to other nations that 
  Lookshy really is united. Instead of being used by Lookshy’s 
  elite as a blunt instrument to dominate its own populace, 
  the propagandistic outlook unique to Lookshy is more like 
  a ﬂ aming sword wielded by all.
  LEISURE
  Most daily activities in Lookshy center around either an 
  individual’s profession or her family, with not much time to 
  spare. Factor in rest and meals, and it seems like Lookshyans 
  live rather joyless, robotic lives. It is true that they spend 
  much less time participating in leisure activities for their 
  
  49
  CHAPTER THREE • WARLORDS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  own sake, but they do ﬁ nd time for social gatherings, games 
  and other more personal hobbies. 
  Reading out loud from popular books is a favorite way 
  to relax for soldiers in barracks, as is playing The Boneyard, 
  a dice game relying as much on guts and creative challenges 
  as on luck. Helot card guilds meet monthly, wherein members 
  spend an evening catching up on gossip, meeting old friends 
  and sampling the newest imported drink over various games 
  of strategy, skill and daring, which are preferred over games 
  relying on pure luck. Games with a military theme, and exotic 
  games imported from the South, are especially popular.
  Many Lookshyans of all ranks and classes learn to lay 
  a musical instrument. Most of them play brass instruments, 
  the most popular being the zithyramb, a long, thin, seven-
  valved trumpet. A few others play the quirethin, a rather 
  complicated baritone apparatus with a brass mouthpiece 
  and 14 thick sinews that the player plucks to create rhythm. 
  Lookshyans have a reputation for being very studious musi-
  cians who ﬁ nd it easier than most to technically master their 
  instruments, but who also play with very little emotion or 
  feeling. Many enjoy singing—military songs are learned from 
  childhood—but few are talented. Nonetheless, evenings 
  often include the sounds of residents tunelessly (and loudly) 
  caroling their way home.
  Lookshyans appreciate good food. That said, they do 
  not often encounter it at home. Foreign spices have become 
  popular as a measure to make the local fare more exciting, 
  but most agree that nothing compares with sensoulaisa from 
  a real Chiaroscuran kitchen. Standard meals at home usually 
  feature Marukan beef and cheeses, locally produced breads 
  and vegetables and mostly imported beverages such as wines, 
  teas and trebolash, a syrupy brew enjoyed by children and 
  the elderly. Most meals are prepared according to foreign 
  recipes and heavily spiced with Chiaroscuran hot peppers, 
  powdered green mustard and mastixa seeds (touted as the 
  most painfully hot substance to come out of the West). New 
  dishes are dreamt up daily, as rare ingredients aren’t always 
  available; this suits most Lookshyans, who will usually try 
  anything on their trencher.
  Residents typically like to dress in blue- or red-dyed robes 
  when not uniformed, with little variation in style between 
  the wealthy and the poor, though wealthier persons favor 
  imported silks and sateen over the locally produced cotton. 
  Members of the General Staff wear blue robes with one 
  shoulder uncovered. Furs are generally avoided. In winter, 
  thick, woven military jackets are the fashion. Many wear 
  swords as a part of their daily ﬂ air. Whiskers are not in fash-
  ion, though moustaches and beards are common in retired 
  men. The typical Lookshyan wears little jewelry, except the 
  occasional ﬁ nger ring made of local materials. A common 
  mantra, even among the very rich, goes, “We have little use 
  for beads or their makers here. Bring me a sharp sword, and 
  I will show you the greatest of gems.”
  VIRTUE AND VICE
  While Lookshyans pride themselves on their discipline, 
  they are not averse to revelry and carousal during personal 
  time. It is no vice, they believe, to indulge in casual drink or 
  drug use that does not interfere with their duties and those of 
  others. On the other hand, it is considered unpardonable to, 
  say, appear for duty drunk or under the inﬂ uence of powerful 
  drugs. Those doing so inevitably face lectures, extra duties, 
  courts martial or other, less orthodox penalties.
  Dragon-Blooded citizens are more likely than mortals 
  to indulge excessively, but due to their well-known passions, 
  they are permitted the occasional lapse, especially while 
  young. Those caught succumbing to one vice or another in 
  a manner dangerous to self or others, however, usually face 
  court martial proceedings and are duly punished. Those found 
  irredeemable ﬁ nd themselves unceremoniously dismissed 
  from service or even executed.
  Lookshyans consider their families to be sacred aspects 
  of their lives. In general, this means loyalty to family elders 
  and the provision of aid and support to the family’s youths, 
  though competition with contemporaries is acceptable. With 
  the exception of certain Dragon-Blooded societies, Look-
  shyans do not stress reproduction as a good for its own sake. 
  It is a civic good but not one that is forced upon residents. 
  As a result, same-sex marriages are not forbidden and carry 
  with them no social stigma.
  There is very little class warfare in Lookshy. Poverty 
  is a condition, but it is not a mind-set and certainly not a 
  vice. To confess oneself as poor is no great shame, for there 
  are many great families and time-honored heroes who either 
  came from or fell into poverty. It is much worse to be marked 
  as dishonorable, a coward or a liar.
  RESIDENTIAL RANKS
  Three distinct rankings separate folk in Lookshy. The 
  ﬁ rst is based on civil status: Every person in Lookshy is 
  either a citizen, a helot, an indentured servant or a metic. 
  The second distinction is based on a family’s wealth and 
  fame. These two rankings are in no way correlated—there 
  are wealthy or widely famed helots just as there are poor or 
  obscure citizens. The third is based on military service. While 
  all residents (citizens, helots and indentured servants) are 
  de facto members of the Seventh Legion, on-duty soldiers 
  are accorded special consideration.
  Soldiers: Nearly all of Lookshy’s inhabitants report for 
  active military duty during their lifetimes (only the inﬁ rm and 
  the mad are exempted). During this period of civil service, 
  they are accorded the highest honors and treated with due 
  deference by the rest of Lookshy society. 
  Citizens: All citizens are free in all respects but one: 
  They may be called upon to serve at any time, whether in 
  defense on the city or in one of the Seventh Legion’s numer-
  ous military campaigns, spy missions, recon runs, et cetera. 
  Once their military obligations are fulﬁ lled, which is variable 
  
  50
  but usually consists of three tours of duty, they are free even 
  to leave Lookshy and seek their fortunes elsewhere. Few do 
  so, however, as most take pride in their city and hold dear 
  their citizenship. Only citizens, of which there are a little 
  over 10,000, may aspire to public ofﬁ ce, speak at council or 
  enter into contracts with indentured servants. Those citizens 
  who choose to leave Lookshy may always return but must do 
  so as helots (though they may petition the General Staff for 
  restoration of their citizenship).
  Wealthy citizens are expected to patronize one of the 
  hinterland communities, which usually takes the name of the 
  patron family. There are no set guidelines on what form this 
  support should take. Some of the wealthiest families shower 
  their patron villages with luxuries and civil improvements, 
  all in their own honor, while others provide little more than 
  their name, and the corresponding communities live mean 
  lives of poverty.
  Poor citizens are expected to keep up appearances as 
  well as they are able. Families fallen on hard times tend to 
  cling to their civil rights and responsibilities—participation 
  at council, service to sponsored communities—as well as 
  they can, as it is frequently all they have left with which to 
  distinguish themselves.
  As a group, citizens tend to be suspicious of novelty or 
  any suggestion that Lookshyan society is outmoded, archaic, 
  obscure or otherwise due for a change. They generally trust 
  the system that has worked well for centuries. The laws in 
  Lookshy are practically static, therefore, as few citizens see 
  a need for reform.
  The state provides for elderly citizens if their families 
  cannot. Those who require care are granted a modest stipend 
  and accommodations in one of the residence districts.
  It is considered uncouth for citizens to have, or at least to 
  show, a distaste for helots. Even the rude and unsophisticated 
  helots living in the hinterland do not receive much disregard. 
  Instead, it is considered a sign of good grace to treat helots in 
  an almost patronizing fashion, though without irony.
  Helots: Numbering over 100,000, helots are the back-
  bone of Lookshy society, making up Lookshy’s serf class 
  and the bulk of its infantry. Over the centuries, helots have 
  contributed the most to political stability during peacetime 
  and remain enthusiastically committed to Lookshy’s inter-
  ests in time of war. Helots do most of the actual work in 
  Lookshy, from papermaking to carpentry, food production 
  to road maintenance.
  Despite their contributions, helots do not enjoy the same 
  rights and freedoms as citizens. Although they may attend 
  council, they cannot speak there. They may, however, join 
  trade organizations and elect a member to speak on their 
  behalf. They cannot own land but are free to own any other 
  personal property they can afford.
  Helots are paid for their work according to the value 
  of their labor, not their social status, with many earning as 
  much as citizens (and sometimes more). As such, some hel-
  
  51
  CHAPTER THREE • WARLORDS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  ots have managed to accumulate considerable wealth. The 
  possession of wealth, however, does not bring with it the 
  opportunity to move into more desirable accommodations. 
  The Seventh Legion provides standardized housing for all 
  helots, regardless of means.
  Like citizens, helots are provided for in their old age. 
  Although the retirement stipend is modest, it is sufﬁ cient for 
  the needs of the average helot. (For some it is a windfall.) 
  Retired helots often join reserve legions that offer support to 
  soldiers should the city ever fall under attack. These legions 
  have not entered combat in centuries, however.
  While they don’t enjoy all the beneﬁ ts of citizenship, 
  helots generally do not think of themselves as second-class 
  citizens. After all, when Lookshy goes to war, citizens and 
  helots stand side by side as soldiers. Helots consider the dif-
  ferences between citizens and themselves as more economic 
  and familial, rather than political. They tend to see citizens as 
  deserving of the rights given them, whether through valor on 
  the battleﬁ eld or descent from a great family. They believe this, 
  partly, because they each have the opportunity to elevate their 
  station, as helots can be promoted to full citizenship status 
  with the endorsement of the General Staff. Indeed, once per 
  year, the General Staff selects a number of worthy helots to 
  promote to citizenship. The criterion for selecting worthies is 
  not set, nor is the number of helots to elect. Some years pass 
  with few, or even no, helots being granted the honor, while 
  in other years, dozens are elevated. Most helots chosen for 
  promotion have proven themselves in battle or possess some 
  famous quality, such as genius, civic loyalty, artistic ability 
  or, in the case of wealthy helots, philanthropy.
  While they do not hate the citizens as a class, the helots 
  of Lookshy have little patience and no respect for even the 
  highest-ranking citizen who gains his wealth or position 
  dishonorably. When the helots discover such improprieties, 
  blood ﬂ ows in the streets.
  Helots cannot independently leave the promontory 
  without travel papers, which the General Staff grants only 
  with good reason. Many helots travel extensively as soldiers 
  and, with few exceptions, are pleased to spend their off-duty 
  days on the promontory.
  Metics: Traders, ambassadors, foreign merchants and 
  students at the various salons and military academies are 
  considered metics. They are usually under observation and 
  treated with guarded suspicion. Only through honorable 
  action can metics gain Lookshy’s trust. In general, metics 
  are tolerated, and even treated graciously at times, but never 
  seen as friends without the evidence of action.
  Though they have fewer rights than even the helots, 
  metics have a deﬁ nite legal status. Their names are on ﬁ le, 
  and their comings and goings are closely recorded. While 
  they may live in Lookshy, they cannot journey beyond the 
  Fourth Ring or the Lower City without a transit pass. They 
  pay a higher tax rate than citizens and helots, but they may 
  demand the same protections. They may own property, but 
  not real estate (though they can rent). They may enter into 
  contracts, but disputes are almost always arbitrated in favor 
  of Lookshy’s native residents. Metics may even marry into 
  Lookshyan families, though any resulting children are still 
  considered metics.
  Indentured Servants: Those who ﬁ nd themselves in 
  economic misfortune, or those found guilty of a serious 
  crime, may be forced to sign themselves into service to a 
  citizen in exchange for room, board, a modest stipend and 
  forgiveness of debts.
  Indentured service contracts must be notarized by the 
  Adjutant General. They are of variable length but cannot 
  exceed ﬁ ve years. At the conclusion of the contract, the 
  servant regains his former social status. While the contract 
  is in force, however, an indentured servant relinquishes most 
  rights. While they pay no taxes, indentured servants cannot 
  appear at council or even work legally outside of their contract, 
  nor can they enter into any other business contract.
  Indentured servants cannot be assaulted or otherwise 
  abused by their heritors. Like other residents, indentured 
  servants can be called to active duty to defend Lookshy, with 
  no prejudice as to where they are stationed or the duties with 
  which they are trusted.
  DRAGON-BLOODED CITIZENS
  Lookshy is the largest enclave of Dragon-Blooded 
  outside the Realm—nearly one in every 100 residents is of 
  Terrestrial blood. 
  The Dragon-Blooded of Lookshy are always considered 
  to be on active military duty, even if they technically are 
  not. Therefore, they stand at the highest echelon of society 
  throughout their lives. Beyond the honors accorded soldiers, 
  however, they receive no special beneﬁ t with respect to the 
  law or tradition. Their natural advantages are considered 
  beneﬁ t enough—and they are expected to outperform those 
  not similarly gifted.
  Lookshy accepts Dragon-Blooded refugees from all over 
  Creation, including the Realm. It does not do so blindly, 
  however, carefully screening each applicant. Refugees typi-
  cally begin their careers in the foreign service and remain 
  under close observation for years or until their command-
  ers are certain of their loyalty and good character. Those 
  deemed unﬁ t are politely asked to leave. Those who are 
  accepted gain citizenship rights and are permitted to live 
  in Lookshy, to marry into other Dragon-Blooded families 
  and to pursue a profession (though military careers are 
  always encouraged).
  Many of the Dragon-Bloods in Lookshy are the result of 
  very deliberate breeding programs. Dragon-Blooded marriage 
  societies arrange marriages between historically compatible 
  types. These societies publicly promote the good breeding 
  and fertility of Terrestrials for the good of the state and are 
  praised for their civic-mindedness in assuring the long life of 
  the city. In practice, they tend to be hard-line manipulators 
  
  52
  obsessed with strengthening bloodlines. Of the highest value 
  to these societies is a mating that produces the most number of 
  children who Exalt—and Exalt well. Most Terrestrial families, 
  and all of the Gentes, are afﬁ liated with one or more of these 
  fraternities. As such, most Dragon-Blooded do not marry for 
  love, though they are expected to remain monogamous (so 
  as not to disturb any ongoing eugenic programs).
  THE GENTES OF THE SEVENTH LEGION
  The typical Lookshyan is proud of his nation and its 
  reputation. It is a pride that extends to a healthy self-esteem 
  in many aspects of Lookshy natives’ lives, regardless of social 
  station or wealth. Belonging to an important family is also 
  considered important in Lookshy society, not because of all 
  of the nepotistic possibilities in being aligned by blood with 
  the likes of the powerful, but because it augments their pride. 
  Being a member of a great house in the greatest city is, for 
  many, an honor beyond all others. To malign one of these 
  houses is to invite retribution, though the vengeful act will 
  usually involve more political strategy than swordplay, unless 
  the initial insult was violent as well.
  The ﬁ ve major Gentes of Lookshy are the most powerful 
  families in the city. They are each built around major Terrestrial 
  bloodlines, venerable family histories, traditions of martial 
  prowess and collections of First Age technology. Tracking 
  genealogy is a favorite pastime for the Gentes, and most have 
  accurate accounts of their family history dating back to the 
  Contagion. Some families claim descent from First Age heroes 
  or spirits, but most of these claims have no basis in fact.
  The Gentes’ children have a few advantages over others, 
  in that members of their family, and all of their friends, are 
  always looking out for them and their interests. This also 
  means that such children are expected to comport themselves 
  in a way that shows their Gens in the most honorable light. 
  Children who bring dishonor to the Gens in any way are 
  usually dealt with harshly.
  Gens Amilar (Air): The youngest of the Gentes, this 
  house is based on the bloodline of Taimyo Vondy Beulen. 
  Like Gens Karal, the Amilar family made the bulk of its 
  fortune early in Lookshy’s history, dealing in rare books and 
  manuscripts. As such, Gens Amilar has the most extensive 
  private library in the city and operates many public ones as 
  well. The family’s hinterland community, Wasuvi, enjoys a 
  ﬁ ne collection housed in a stately hall. Gens Amilar produces 
  more teachers and lay artisans than any other family. Most 
  of Gens Amilar’s scions are Interventionists, though the 
  younger generation tends to be Purists.
  Gens Karal (Fire): The Karal family traces its bloodline 
  from the ﬁ rst Camp Liaison Ofﬁ cer, Karal Shan Zu, and 
  takes great pride in its military heritage, with many military 
  leaders among them. Traditionally, its scions are always the 
  ﬁ rst to suggest marshalling troops for war, so long as it is a 
  good cause and serves Lookshy’s interests. This Gens has a 
  respectable fortune, earned and invested long ago. Karals 
  tend to be frugal with their resources, but have provided 
  well for their sponsored hinterland community, Javasavi. 
  Few merchant princes or sorcerer-engineers belong to this 
  family by blood, though a few have married into it. These 
  SLAVERY
  The helots of Lookshy are not slaves. To suggest as much is cause for dispute or, at worst, assault. This point 
  of view is not reserved to the helots. The very idea of any Lookshy native being taken as a slave is repugnant to 
  all. And for a citizen of Lookshy to hold slaves is nearly as offensive. Not only is it a grave dishonor for a city that 
  claims to love freedom, it is a serious security risk, inviting attack. For this reason, slavery is a crime worthy of social 
  demotion and imprisonment.
  The few slaves living in Lookshy are not considered residents, are not included in the ofﬁ cial census and have 
  no legal standing. But they are not considered slaves. These are war captives and the slaves of conquered foes who 
  have nowhere else to go or no desire to return to their homes. Some languish in prison. Others sell themselves as 
  indentured servants. All are generally ignored by the populace at large, and those who are not ofﬁ cial state prisoners 
  must ﬁ nd creative or illegal ways to survive if they wish to exist anywhere above the level of mere subsistence.
  Lookshy affords slaves few rights. They have no right to speak at council and cannot serve the Seventh Legion 
  in any ofﬁ cial capacity (which severely limits their employability). Like metics, slaves cannot travel beyond the 
  Fourth Ring or the Lower City without a transit pass, which, for them, are nearly impossible to come by. Slaves are 
  protected from unnecessary violence and other injustices such as theft, and they can marry metics, helots or inden-
  tured servants (with the approval of the servant’s heritor). They are also permitted private ownership of personal 
  effects (books, tools, musical instruments and such), but not real estate or weapons.
  Slaves who are married to Lookshy residents are still considered slaves. The children of slaves may be emanci-
  pated and granted helot status. This is done on a case-by-case basis with the approval of the Adjutant General. If 
  the parents are both slaves or if only one parent has raised the child, for whatever reason, three sponsors of at least 
  helot status must attest to the parents’ loyalty to Lookshy. If the Adjutant General’s ofﬁ ce accepts these statements, 
  the slave’s children become helots.
  
  53
  CHAPTER THREE • WARLORDS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  individuals are usually treated with caution, however—even 
  those who have been in the family for decades—and they are 
  never given any kind of access to the family purse strings. 
  Politically, the Gens Karal are Mercenaries, with Interven-
  tionist leanings.
  Gens Maheka (Earth): Founded in Realm Year 323 by 
  a well-placed combat engineer, this family has acquired great 
  wealth through its controlling interest in many of Lookshy’s 
  foundries and weapons manufactories. Known to be scrupu-
  lously honest and upright, the family is also the most loyal to 
  the Shogunate Bureaucracy and the biggest martinets with 
  regard to the Legion’s mandates and the Immaculate faith. 
  Gens Maheka is considered the model family, and even the 
  Yushoto look to it for proper modes of behavior at times. 
  The Mahekas’ hinterland community, Langtang, is modestly 
  apportioned but by no means lacking in comforts. Politically, 
  they are nearly all Mercenaries.
  Gens Teresu (Water): The Teresu family traces its 
  lineage back to Admiral Teresu Mitaki, Chumyo Nefvarin’s 
  ﬂ eet admiral. Since that time, the Gens has preserved its 
  inﬂ uence over naval matters and has developed a minor 
  but thriving sea trade reaching as far as the Western Islands. 
  This family produces many naval leaders in both navies 
  and, consequently, has a signiﬁ cant inﬂ uence in the state’s 
  naval matters. The Teresus’ hinterland community, Patna, 
  is a place of splendor sitting along the banks of the Yanaze, 
  containing many First Age ruins and state of the art naval 
  training facilities. Politically, the family is split between 
  Isolationists and Mercenaries.
  Gens Yushoto (Wood): This family’s origins include 
  many celebrated heroes who fought during the Contagion, 
  but the individual revered for bringing such great individu-
  als together was Yushoto Baraka, the Seventh Legion’s chief 
  sorcerer-engineer. Gens Yushoto is involved in many aspects 
  of Lookshy society and does not seek to pressure its children 
  into any particular career. Politically, the Yushotos have 
  no allegiance to any particular faction. The Gens Yushoto 
  hinterland community, Birat Bazaz, is well taken of, but it 
  does not contain any extravagant structures. The Yushoto 
  family is quite egalitarian, however, and its members gener-
  ally shun extravagance, seeing themselves as little different 
  from the helots. They have even unofﬁ cially adopted several 
  helots from Fansari (who’s sponsor Gens has fallen into 
  obscurity) to whom they have taken a particular liking. 
  The Yushoto family is also somewhat aloof from the other 
  Gentes, preferring to keep its drama to itself. Other Gentes, 
  especially minor ones, tend to see the Yushotos as proud for 
  the wrong reasons.
  MINOR GENTES
  While the major Gentes are the strong pillars of Lookshy 
  society, the minor Gentes ebb and ﬂ ow according to the wiles 
  of fate. Many remain important for centuries, while others 
  attain no lasting signiﬁ cance. At any given time, a dozen 
  or so families have favor, wealth, inﬂ uence and popularity 
  enough to make their mark. These minor Gentes are built 
  from the same bedrock as the major Gentes, though Ter-
  restrial breeding is more or less a concern, depending on 
  the Gens. Some minor Gentes, like the once-prominent 
  Nefvarin, model themselves on the great Gentes. Others are 
  more concerned with political inﬂ uence or wealth. Mortal 
  Gentes, of course, have no interest in Terrestrial breeding, 
  but they have their own ideas on the production of a ﬁ ne 
  pedigree. Their notions are often derived from the breeding 
  philosophies of the major Gentes, though.
  GOVERNMENT
  Lookshy’s government is dominated by the Seventh 
  Legion’s General Staff, a six-person assembly of mortal and 
  Dragon-Blooded military ofﬁ cers. Most are like-minded on 
  defense but have different non-military interests.
  Lookshy’s government is non-expansionist, though not 
  quite isolationist. They are exclusionists, favoring a tightly 
  controlled and defended city-state that welcomes outsiders 
  under strictly maintained conditions, with deﬁ nite boundaries 
  in place between those who belong and those who do not.
  COUNCIL OF THE GENERAL STAFF
  The General Staff presides over the Council, which 
  meets weekly or as needed in emergency cases. Citizens 
  and helots are welcome to attend, though only citizens and 
  certain elected helots may speak. Each Council is divided 
  into two phases, the politic and the public. Most matters 
  discussed in the politic phase concern military personnel 
  matters and dry, policy-related minutia, though, occasion-
  ally, war proposals, moral orations and patriotic odes awaken 
  the slumbering helots and invite prideful cheers. This phase 
  is rigidly scheduled according to topics, with a member of 
  the General Staff giving a short primer on the topic before 
  it is discussed.
  The Council is also the place where public opinion can 
  be given voice: Complaints, suggestions, endorsements and 
  castigations can all be heard here on a fairly regular basis 
  during the public phase of the proceedings. Those who 
  wish to speak during this phase must ﬁ rst present their case 
  to a legator (a functionary of the General Staff) before the 
  proceedings. Speakers have three minutes to speak, though 
  anyone permitted to speak may move to permit an extension 
  if the topic so warrants.
  POLITICS
  While Lookshy’s primary outlook is one of cooperation 
  and unity of purpose, the ﬁ nitude of resources demands that 
  difﬁ cult decisions must be made on how best to allocate them. 
  Each industry, military branch and civil concern has argu-
  ments supporting the primacy of its needs, and each political 
  faction has a philosophical outlook it deems appropriate for 
  the times. Enter politics. While Lookshy’s political struggles 
  
  54
  are rather stoic compared to other places, and none have 
  ever led to (open) bloodshed, tempers do ﬂ are and perhaps 
  unfortunate words are spoken when one group’s best interests 
  are selected over another’s. But large-scale conﬂ icts between 
  political factions or other large concerns are rare. For the most 
  part, no political entity is willing to compromise Lookshy’s 
  security by making the nation appear divided and weak.
  Historically, the rate of change in Lookshy’s political 
  arena is staggeringly slow. This is not surprising, given both 
  that the government and the conservative military are one 
  and the same and that well-functioning policies have been 
  in force for centuries. For matters that do not require imme-
  diate action, the General Staff rarely enacts policy changes 
  without years of study and contemplation.
  Most organized political factions do not concern them-
  selves with speciﬁ c industries or military branches. Their 
  outlooks are more general and concern Lookshy’s role in 
  the wider region of the River Province. Five major factions 
  occupy the stage, though many minor, less popular outlooks 
  are also represented.
  Imperialists: Imperialists support covert interference in 
  foreign regimes and the wooing of powerful foreign houses so 
  that the Seventh Legion can someday claim sovereignty over 
  other states. This faction is the least powerful of the ﬁ ve major 
  ones, as its ideals are still out of fashion. Recently, however, 
  with the incident at Thorns and the disappearance of the 
  Empress, the Imperialists have gained in popularity, as many 
  feel that the best way to guarantee security in such uncertain 
  times is to control as much of the region as possible.
  Interventionists: Lookshy is quite active in River 
  Province politics, actively defending much of the territory, 
  training and arming foreign armies and participating in the 
  Confederation of Rivers. Interventionists would have Lookshy 
  participate even more, perhaps to the point of dominating 
  the political landscape and resurrecting the Shogunate Bu-
  reaucracy. Why not, they reason, have a single army under 
  a Lookshy-dominated Shogunate? That would surely make 
  the Confederation more secure.
  Isolationists: The Isolationists believe that Lookshy 
  has its ﬁ ngers stretched too far and sunk into too many pies. 
  They presume that Lookshy’s wealth and military resources 
  should beneﬁ t Lookshy alone. They see the Confederation as 
  irrelevant at best, potentially involving Lookshy in struggles 
  a thousand leagues away that in no way impacts it. The most 
  extreme of these Isolationists seek to cut all non-commer-
  cial ties to other nations, dismantling foreign redoubts and 
  recalling all garrisons.
  Mercenaries: The most powerful faction in Lookshy, 
  the Mercenaries believe that the current state of affairs is 
  optimum for guaranteeing the security of Lookshy. Hence, 
  they do whatever they can to preserve the status quo. Their 
  opposition to the other parties’ lines of argumentation has, in 
  recent years, become somewhat contentious and accusatory 
  as these rivals gain more support from the people. While the 
  Mercenaries would like to see a return of the Shogunate, most 
  are willing to await the coming of a true heir.
  The Pursuers of Immaculate Purity (Purists): The 
  Purists advocate a moral crusader policy, pitting the Seventh 
  Legion as tool to be used against the wicked and heretical in 
  the Scavenger Lands. They wish to restore the Shogunate 
  as soon as possible, but only in order to spread the faith of 
  the Immaculate Dragons. Most of Lookshy’s citizenry shies 
  away from this party, adherents of which can often be seen 
  on Third and Fourth Ring street corners accosting passersby 
  with their pitches.
  Helot Factions: Helot factions are concerned more 
  with the interests of a particular community or industry than 
  general philosophy. While helots, as individuals, cannot 
  speak at Council, groups of them may elect a spokesman 
  to do so. Even though they do not carry the inﬂ uence of 
  the ﬁ ve major factions, most are content just to have their 
  voices heard.
  ALLIANCES
  Lookshy does not form alliances with cowards or those 
  it cannot trust. That said, it is no surprise that the city has 
  few true allies. Despite contracts, vows and treaties, most 
  Confederation states cannot be called friends. With few ex-
  ceptions, these nations frequently seek to discover loopholes 
  in contracts, to fabricate false dangers and to stage inane 
  protests in pursuit of their own ends. Lookshy considers itself 
  the parent that is taken advantage of by children that it must 
  protect for their own good, so these obvious ploys are often 
  overlooked or dealt with calmly.
  Great Forks: While it might seem strange at ﬁ rst blush, 
  Great Forks is one of Lookshy’s most dependable and stable 
  allies. Ofﬁ cers from Great Forks are the most common for-
  eign students in Lookshy salons, and Great Forks’ traders 
  have reserved spots in the District of Trade’s markets. Many 
  Lookshyans deal with the people of Great Forks as they 
  would any other foreigner, though their ofﬁ cers and merchant 
  princes often merit superior treatment in the eyes of most 
  Lookshyans. Generally welcoming, Lookshyans have no real 
  reservations about the folk of Great Forks aside from their 
  insistence on heresy (which only Lookshyan Purists take great 
  issue with) and their tendency to dwell on certain ignoble 
  aspects of Lookshy’s past.
  The Marukan Alliance: Lookshy is currently very closely 
  allied with the free-spirited Marukan “horselords.” All of the 
  seventh Legion’s horses are Marukan steeds, widely known 
  as the ﬁ nest available. The Marukan Redoubt is a welcome 
  ﬁ xture in Marukan lands, and the two nations exchange 
  training and intelligence on a regular basis. Lookshyans have 
  a romantic fascination with the Marukani, who live such 
  different lives and yet are so similar in their love of liberty.
  Metagalapa: While not generally known in Lookshy, 
  most of Metagalapa’s Dragon-Blooded trace their ancestry 
  back to a talon of Seventh Legion scouts. Their lineage and 
  
  55
  CHAPTER THREE • WARLORDS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  battle prowess have earned the favor of Lookshy, which has 
  signed many lucrative contracts for various metals in exchange 
  for grain, arms and training. Most of Lookshy’s helots do not 
  know where the visiting hawkriders come from. While tales 
  abound—some believe they are spirits—only those who have 
  served extensively in Hundred Kingdoms’ territory and the 
  few lucky scouts given the chance to train with the hawkriders 
  on their ﬂ oating mountain know exactly whence they come. 
  When the hawkriders arrive, it is a minor wonder.
  ENEMIES
  It is the Lookshyan way to make light of the enemy. 
  This mindset, applicable in the case of all enemies but the 
  raksha, stems from the Lookshyan sense of national superior-
  ity. Lookshy’s people respect their enemies insofar as they are 
  worthy combatants and dismiss all others as insigniﬁ cant.
  Linowan: The Linowan, commercial pirates, allies to the 
  Realm and often friends to the raksha, have been chronically 
  troublesome. While the Seventh Legion has no desire to con-
  front the Linowan directly in a formal war for fear of brewing a 
  larger conﬂ ict (even though its ofﬁ cers are certain of victory), 
  it by no means treats the Linowan with a gentle hand. Linowan 
  pirates and raiders are considered fair game for the Seventh 
  Legion, and open war is not out of the question. Lookshy has 
  been at war with the Linowan three times in the past 200 
  years. Typical Lookshyans consider the Linowan hangers-on 
  and bores. If not for the Realm or the raksha, the Linowan 
  would be less than nothing, many Lookshyans believe. This is 
  in the face of many successful attacks on Lookshy’s economic 
  interests, some resulting in the ruination of Lookshy families. 
  While the Linowan are not the noblest or the most powerful 
  of enemies, they are certainly cunning and have managed to 
  become a serious concern for Lookshy’s merchant princes.
  The Raksha: The people of Lookshy hate and fear the 
  Fair Folk. While not technically at war, Lookshy will not 
  enter into any kind of agreement, treaty or contract with the 
  raksha and will treat with them under only the direst circum-
  stances. The raksha have not appeared on the promontory 
  in force for centuries, but the Seventh Legion has assisted 
  other River Province nations against them dozens of times 
  over the years. Should the raksha manage to attack Lookshy 
  directly, it would be difﬁ cult to maintain order.
  The Realm: The General Staff treats the Realm with 
  wary hostility during the best of times and has never shown 
  it what the Empress would have referred to as “the proper 
  respect.” While Lookshy signs treaties of non-aggression at 
  
  56
  times, it does so with the knowledge that the Realm’s navies 
  will violate them within months. Lookshy never trades with 
  the Realm and does not ofﬁ cially permit its residents to travel 
  there. Unofﬁ cially, the Intelligence Directorate has many 
  spies placed throughout the Realm, with a dozen or so on 
  the Blessed Isle itself.
  The citizens of Lookshy widely consider the Realm’s 
  people to be soft and spoiled, akin to children who have been 
  handed every luxury, only to squander it on corruption and a 
  lumbering empire. As such, Lookshyans have no fear of the 
  Realm, believing that they possess more First Age tactical 
  weaponry than the Realm and have better trained soldiers.
  Thorns: The Mask of Winters is the true tyrant of 
  Thorns—no one in Lookshy wishes to make war on Thorns’ 
  suffering citizenry. Currently, the General Staff considers 
  the Deathlord to be the greatest potential threat facing the 
  security of Lookshy. It is unlikely in the extreme that the 
  General Staff will ever agree to any contracts, trade or trea-
  ties with Thorns until its tyrant is ousted. Any movement 
  by the Mask of Winters into the River Province region will 
  result in open war.
  While the people of Lookshy have heard of the Mask 
  of Winters’ coup, they do not understand who or what the 
  Deathlord is or what he is capable of. As a result, the Council 
  ﬂ oor has been rife with motions to send troops to Thorns 
  in a measure to dethrone the Mask of Winters. There has 
  also been recent talk of annexing Thorns for the foreseeable 
  future to prevent further incursions. As time goes on, more 
  and more are willing to accept this proposal.
  OTHER POLITICAL CONCERNS
  Lookshy is a worldly nation, with ambassadors, military 
  contingents and spies placed throughout the Scavenger 
  Lands, the South, the North and even the Blessed Isle. Given 
  the scope of the arena in which it chooses to operate, it is 
  noteworthy that politically, Lookshy is more of a homebody, 
  entrenching itself so much in regional politics that it has 
  not time or energy left for the concerns of the wider world. 
  This is no accident, but a part of Lookshy’s foreign policy, 
  which focuses on regional security to such a degree that no 
  nation would dare attempt an invasion. As Lookshy is not 
  imperialist, the General Staff has little interest in the move-
  ments of foreign armies, unless they approach too closely to 
  the Scavenger Lands.
  The Anathema: While the Solar Exalted are not hunted 
  or shunned in Lookshy, their arrival is not considered good 
  news. Peaceable Anathema have come to Lookshy and found 
  cordial accommodations for the length of their visits, but 
  their unpredictability combined with the raw power at their 
  disposal makes them difﬁ cult to befriend.
  The Confederation of Rivers: Lookshy’s history with 
  nearly every nation in the Confederation is a spotty one at 
  best. Without Lookshy, however, the Confederation would 
  be an empty exercise in solidarity. Everyone is aware of this, 
  Lookshy most keenly. Where some nations might use this 
  leverage to extract even more lucrative contracts and assert 
  more dominance of the region, Lookshy has been rather 
  paciﬁ c with the Confederation since the incident at Thorns. 
  Preferring to focus on the threat at hand, Lookshy’s ambas-
  sadors have stressed cooperation, the extension of treaties and 
  their willingness to negotiate fairer contracts with member 
  nations for the sake of preparing a uniﬁ ed front should the 
  Mask of Winters turn his eyes northward.
  The Delzahn and Chiaroscuro: Lookshy seems endlessly 
  fascinated with the cunning and mystery of the Delzahn 
  culture, not to mention the spices and other exports the 
  city provides. Merchants, merchant-spies and high-ranking 
  Lookshy ofﬁ cers have been invited to the Tri-Khan’s table, 
  and Delzahn warriors occasionally put into port at Lookshy, 
  causing commotion and thrills throughout the city.
  Gethamane: The empire-building Haslanti League, 
  with its superior technology, has recently ignored treaties 
  and attacked several of Gethamane’s outlying military 
  posts with no provocation, making its intentions no secret. 
  Gethamane’s leaders see nothing but war and misery on the 
  horizon, and Lookshy, formerly a friend, has been no help. 
  Because Lookshy has been courting the Haslanti League in 
  preparation for lucrative contracts, it has refused to come 
  to Gethamane’s aid. Letters of protest have been sent to 
  Lookshy, but the General Staff, loath as it is to abandon 
  Gethamane, has not responded.
  Greyfalls: As a loyal Realm territory, Greyfalls is tech-
  nically an enemy of Lookshy. Its distance from the Imperial 
  City has led to a certain laxity with respect to ofﬁ cial Realm 
  policy, though. Over the last century, there has been little 
  ofﬁ cial communication between Lookshy and Greyfalls, and 
  the Seventh Legion has had few encounters with Greyfalls’ 
  forces, none of them violent. The silence from Greyfalls wor-
  ries the General Staff, but as there does not appear to be any 
  threatening movement from Greyfalls, the General Staff is 
  content to wait for Greyfalls to make the ﬁ rst move.
  The Haslanti League: The Haslanti League is a co-
  nundrum. Many in Lookshy desire friendly relations with 
  it, for the Haslanti nation is rich and has much to trade. 
  Just as many think that the Haslanti are not only amoral 
  and unworthy of Lookshy’s friendship, but present a danger 
  to River Province security. The Haslanti are efﬁ cient impe-
  rialists, and the General Staff would prefer it if they would 
  keep their distance, but they also offer many business and 
  technological opportunities of which the most powerful 
  Gentes wish to take advantage. A trio of ambassadors from 
  Gens Maheka has managed to secure contracts with the 
  Haslanti that provide for an exchange of technologies. This 
  is much to the dissatisfaction of critics who see the escalating 
  relationship as foolish and dangerous.
  The Hundred Kingdoms: There is concern that the 
  Hundred Kingdoms might one day unite into a single, for-
  midable power, but this possibility seems very far off indeed. 
  
  57
  CHAPTER THREE • WARLORDS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  Currently, their middling military strength is spent on internal 
  conﬂ icts and their economy and trade potential are of little 
  interest. When necessary, the Seventh Legion operates cau-
  tiously in Hundred Kingdoms territory, not out of fear, but 
  to avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings. For their part, 
  the Hundred Kingdoms’ armies give the Seventh Legion a 
  wide berth, but any sort of alliance is very unlikely.
  Nexus: Most Lookshyans would rather forget about 
  Nexus. They see Nexus as a den of rampant and unfocused 
  commercialism and an overall undisciplined and irresponsible 
  turmoil. Nexus has its own complaints, however, and accuses 
  Lookshy of scapegoating and warmongering and generally 
  disrupting business. Nexus’s people also have a long memory 
  and still blame Lookshy for many citywide catastrophes dur-
  ing the last raksha invasion. The Guild is welcome to do 
  business in Lookshy, but only on such a limited basis that it 
  is not worth maintaining a larger presence. The facilities it 
  does have are mostly devoted to moving products through 
  Lookshy on to other destinations.
  Sijan: Why Sijan is not a formal ally is a mystery. They 
  have never been in conﬂ ict, and they enjoy several lucrative 
  contracts. Lookshy mercenaries routinely patrol Sijan’s borders 
  and maintain garrisons outside the city to ensure its security, 
  an arrangement with which Sijan seems happy. In exchange, 
  a company from Sijan’s Morticians’ Order manages the inter-
  ment of many of Lookshy’s dead in local crypts. Sijan insists 
  on remaining neutral, however, though it frequently supports 
  Lookshy’s causes at the Council of the Concordat.
  Whitewall: Lookshy’s friendly overtures with the Haslan-
  ti League have strained its relations with many of Haslanti’s 
  Northern neighbors, but none more than Whitewall. Formerly 
  on friendly terms, if not quite allies, Whitewall has since 
  cancelled all of its Lookshy contracts—even for mundane 
  items from Lookshy’s merchant princes—and refuses to ne-
  gotiate new ones. This friction has caused minor economic 
  instability among Lookshy merchants who did considerable 
  business in Whitewall. It has seen the near fall of the Oculoi 
  family and countless metics who rely on good relations with 
  Whitewall. While Lookshy is certainly agreeable to trading 
  with Whitewall, the General Staff has made only a cursory 
  effort to resolve the matter.
  THE SEVENTH LEGION
  The Seventh Legion is not considered the supreme mili-
  tary force without reason. Its weaponry is unrivaled among 
  any army in the Scavenger Lands and even surpasses the 
  potency of the Realm’s armaments. Its soldiers are trained 
  from youth and drilled throughout their lives. The location 
  of Lookshy on the promontory allows the Seventh Legion 
  to restrict access to and from the Yanaze, while the Lookshy 
  Wall provides tight security against land forces. High city 
  walls, natural springs, networks of underground passages and 
  hinterlands speciﬁ cally developed for defense contribute to 
  one of the most defensible cities in the Scavenger Lands.
  RANK
  The Seventh Legion uses the old Shogunate rank 
  structure with a few minor tweaks. Note that few mortals 
  advance beyond the rank of shozei, and none beyond kazei, 
  mostly due to their relatively short life span.
  The Seventh Legion stresses the proper chain of com-
  mand and insists that orders be passed down the chain by the 
  proper commander to his charges, who pass them on down 
  the line, as appropriate. Therefore, it is unusual to see, say, a 
  kazei issuing direct orders to a lowly sochei except, perhaps, 
  in the heat of battle.
  Lookshy does not employ a linear promotion structure. 
  A nitei, for example, may be promoted to whatever rank ﬁ ts 
  both the Seventh Legion’s needs and the nitei’s abilities. While 
  vast jumps in the hierarchy are nearly unheard of, they are 
  possible. Bukane Tava Quan, a brilliant soldier and strategist, 
  was promoted from gunchei to shozei for leading her fang to 
  several victories during the recent conﬂ ict with Thorns.
  Nitei: The lowest rank of the Seventh Legion and the 
  majority of Lookshy’s ﬁ ghting force. Helots and citizens 
  alike begin their service here. Those who do not decide on 
  a military career usually remain at this rank all their lives. 
  Reports to gochei.
  Gochei: The rank passes orders from chuzei to the nitei 
  in their fang. The gochei is recognized as the leader and 
  ﬁ gurehead of a fang. Fangs are often referred to by the name 
  of the gochei. Reports to chuzei.
  Haichei: These soldiers are the majority of the Seventh 
  Legion’s technicians and hardware specialists. While they 
  may be promoted to shonai, most helots remain at this rank, 
  which is considered equivalent in rank to the gochei.
  Sochei: This soldier is the administrative aide for a scale. 
  She manages the distribution of supplies, leave schedules, 
  post delivery, pay distribution and other clerical duties. 
  Reports to chuzei.
  Shonai: This enlisted class operates, maintains, adminis-
  ters and manages the Seventh Legion’s equipment and support 
  personnel. They are also counted on to offer counsel, advice 
  and solutions to support the command. Reports to chuzei, 
  but is often called upon by ofﬁ cers of higher rank.
  Chozei: The lowest ofﬁ cer class, most Dragon-Blooded 
  citizens begin at this rank after graduating from a salon or 
  academy. Their emphasis is on training enlisted personnel. 
  They also manage standards of performance and the profes-
  sional development of their talon. Reports to chuzei.
  Chuzei: Recognized as one of the most difﬁ cult posi-
  tions in the Seventh Legion, chuzei are responsible for all 
  sub-ofﬁ cer activity for a scale or talon. Day-to-day operations 
  for a chuzei are a balancing act between strategy meetings, 
  observing training operations, paper-pushing and problem-
  solving. Most are masters of delegation and multitasking. 
  Reports to taizei.
  Taizei: Taizei command a talon or wing of troops and 
  concentrate on military organization, preparedness, special-
  
  58
  ing within his dragon. While a daunting thought, the kazei 
  relies on reports from various underlings and is commonly 
  ignorant of most details. Reports to taimyo.
  Taimyo: There are two types of taimyo, ﬁ eld-force 
  commanders (taimyo-yin) and administrative overseers 
  (taimyo-tuva). Taimyo-yin lead the Seventh Legion’s various 
  ﬁ eld forces. Taimyo-tuva act as leaders of the Seven Director-
  ates. Traditionally, the two oppose one another in Council, 
  though this is more theatrics than real hostility. Reports to 
  General Staff and the Chumyo.
  Chumyo: The leader of the Seventh Legion, the chu-
  myo is the ﬁ gural power of Lookshy. She is the leader of 
  the General Staff, but never to the point of domination or 
  abuse. The chumyo can be removed by a majority vote of 
  the General Staff, though this has happened only once in 
  Lookshy’s history.
  Daimyo: A provincial leader appointed by the Shogun. 
  There are as many daimyos as the Shogun wishes, and each 
  possesses as much power as the Shogun wishes him to have. 
  Currently, there are no daimyos in the Seventh Legion.
  Shogun: The traditional leader of the Shogunate, 
  appointed by birthright. The Shogun’s bloodline was lost 
  during the Contagion, but hope still exists that an heir will 
  someday surface.
  Sazei: A skyship’s captain, ranked as a taizei. Each sazei 
  is responsible for the operation of one skyship.
  Haizei: A skyship pilot, ranked as a chuzei. At least two 
  haizei are needed to pilot each skyship.
  TYPES OF LEGIONNAIRE
  Several different types of soldiers make up the Seventh 
  Legion. 
  SECOND FIELD FORCE HEAVY INFANTRY TALON
  Description: These men are 
  representative of the Seventh 
  Legion’s front-line grunts.
  Commanding Officer: Taizei 
  Bukane Tendo
  Armor Color: Forest green
  Motto: “Ever Resolute!”
  General Makeup: 125 heavy 
  infantry armed with slashing 
  swords and shields and wearing 
  normal lamellar armor of ﬁ ne 
  construction.
  Overall Quality: Excellent
  Magnitude: 3
  Drill: 4
  Close Combat Attack: 5 Close 
  Combat Damage: 2
  Ranged Attack: — 
  Ranged Damage: —
  Endurance: 8 
  Might: 2 
  FIRST AGE ARTIFACTS
  Lookshy possesses a massive cache of First Age 
  weaponry and other potent artifacts. These items were 
  largely collected by Chumyo Nefvarin in the years fol-
  lowing the Contagion, although there is a continuous 
  effort to claim such objects—now exceedingly rare—in 
  modern times. These artifacts are stored throughout 
  the city and in caves beneath the promontory.
  Lookshy’s arsenal is no secret. First Age weap-
  onry and technologies developed from such items 
  are in constant use by the Seventh Legion. Powerful 
  daiklaves, Essence cannons, sorcerous power armor 
  and other powerful devices accompany nearly every 
  Seventh Legion unit. Even more powerful items, such 
  as starmetal assault chambers, skyships and red jade 
  siege engines are relatively common.
  The Seventh Legion also possesses very potent 
  devices that it uses on a last-resort basis, as their effects 
  cannot be predicted with accuracy. The most famous 
  example is the soulbreaker orb, which has not been 
  used since the third Realm invasion. This device is 
  still spoken of with fear among Lookshy’s enemies 
  and acts as a reliable deterrent. What its enemies, 
  and most of even Lookshy’s population, do not know 
  is that this single-use device has been inoperable since 
  it was used during the third Realm invasion. Certain 
  sorcerer-engineers under memory-controlling sorcery 
  have been at work on rebuilding it for some time, but 
  as it was originally intended to be operated by Solar 
  Exalted, an adequate power source has been difﬁ cult 
  to develop. Another device, the terras mortar, ﬁ res 
  explosive rounds that multiply in the air and detonate 
  over several square miles, birthing billions of tiny, 
  though deadly, ﬁ re elementals than engulf the area, 
  destroying everything. 
  With a slowly fading understanding of First Age 
  technology and diminishing supplies of spare parts, the 
  fascinating and useful tools, weapons and appliances 
  that made Lookshy both a wonder to behold and a 
  nation not to be triﬂ ed with are slowly disappearing 
  from use. 
  ized training and the suitability and availability of equipment. 
  Reports to shozei. 
  Shozei: Shozei command a wing or dragon of troops. 
  This ofﬁ cer is responsible for collecting reports from the 
  taizei under her command and ensuring that all units work 
  together, taking disciplinary measures when necessary. Re-
  ports to kazei.
  Kazei: Kazei command a dragon of troops. This ofﬁ cer 
  reports directly to the taimyo regarding all activities ongo-
  
  59
  CHAPTER THREE • WARLORDS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  Armor: 4 (-2 mobility penalty) 
  Valor: 4
  Formation: This particular unit is stationed at the Nasaru 
  Redoubt, though units like it are stationed throughout the 
  Scavenger Lands.
  SECOND FIELD FORCE ARCHER SCALE
  Description: This is 
  a unit of soldiers specially 
  trained with bows. They also 
  carry short swords and wear 
  lamellar armor.
  Commanding Officer: 
  Chuzei Taroketu Shiro
  Armor Color: Forest green
  Motto: “Ever Resolute!”
  General Makeup: 25 archers 
  in lamellar armor armed 
  with strongbows and short 
  swords.
  Overall Quality: Excellent.
  Magnitude: 2
  Drill: 4
  Close Combat Attack: 4 
  Close Combat Damage: 2
  Ranged Attack: 4 Ranged 
  Damage: 3
  Endurance: 8 
  Might: 2 
  Armor: 3 (-2 mobility 
  penalty) 
  Valor: 4
  Formation: This is one of two archer scales reinforcing 
  Taizei Bukane’s heavy infantry talon. This unit is also based 
  at Nasaru Redoubt.
  SEVENTH LEGION ASHIGARU
  Description: Mortal soldiers outﬁ tted with artifacts 
  weapons and armor. In battle they wear specialized armor 
  and carry an array of weapons: ﬁ re lances, shock pikes, storm 
  lances, slashing 
  swords and other 
  rare or experimen-
  tal artifacts. The 
  ashigaru are a mili-
  tary order, reserved 
  for mortals, with 
  strict entrance 
  qualifications 
  and a daunting 
  training regimen. 
  Those accepted 
  are expected to 
  dedicate their lives 
  to military life in 
  general and the 
  science of combat 
  in particular. They 
  are ranked from 
  chuzei and above.
  Commanding Ofﬁ cer: Varies
  Armor Color: Varies
  Motto: Varies
  General Makeup: 125 soldiers in ashigaru skirmish ar-
  mor armed with Essence-powered weaponry and slashing 
  swords.
  Overall Quality: Excellent
  Magnitude: 3
  Drill: 5
  Close Combat Attack: 4 Close Combat Damage: 3
  Ranged Attack: 4 Ranged Damage: 4
  Endurance: 9 
  Might: 3 
  Armor: 4 
  Valor: 4
  Formation: Each Seventh Legion wing contains one talon 
  of ashigaru. Units with large Dragon-Blooded contingents 
  may be reinforced with additional scales.
  SEVENTH LEGION GUNZOSHA
  Description: The gunzosha are mortal soldiers who 
  have been ritually and surgically prepared to use gunzosha 
  commando armor. This armor is widely considered to be the 
  strongest in Creation. To enable mortals to use gunzosha 
  armor, aegis-inset amulets are surgically grafted to their 
  bodies, forming attachment points for the combat armor 
  plates, only the bulkiest of which can ever be removed. The 
  life span of a gunzosha soldier is drastically curtailed once 
  the procedure is performed (10-15 years maximum after the 
  procedure), and there is no way to reverse the procedure. 
  Gunzosha cannot be found outside the Seventh Legion, as 
  Lookshy closely guards the secret of the armor’s production 
  and the implantation procedures necessary to create these 
  super soldiers. Gunzosha can be of any rank.
  Commanding Ofﬁ cer: Varies
  Armor Color: Varies
  Motto: Varies
  
  60
  General Makeup: 125 gunzosha commando armored soldiers 
  armed with Essence weapons and great swords or great axes.
  Overall Quality: Excellent
  Magnitude: 3
  Drill: 5
  Close Combat Attack: 4 Close Combat Damage: 5
  Ranged Attack: 4 Ranged Damage: 4
  Endurance: 10 
  Might: 4 
  Armor: 4 
  Valor: 4
  Formation: One talon of gunzosha accompanies each Sev-
  enth Legion dragon.
  FIRST FIELD FORCE RANGER FANG
  Description: As 
  one of the primary spe-
  cial-operation units in 
  the Seventh Legion, 
  these rangers engage 
  in operations that the 
  General Staff would 
  rather keep quiet and 
  that other units would 
  ﬁ nd impossible: assas-
  sination, infiltration, 
  reconnaissance, sabo-
  tage, rescue. On-duty 
  rangers wear enchanted 
  masks to hide their iden-
  tity or their presence. 
  While rangers tend to 
  be Dragon-Blooded, 
  there are no member-
  ship restrictions. Rangers 
  master a variety of weapons (dependant on mission and 
  personal taste) and wear light, strong armor. Ranked from 
  chuzei and above.
  Commanding Ofﬁ cer: Kazei Kiragasa Nico
  Armor Color: Black
  Motto: “First in.”
  General Makeup: A ﬁ ve-man fang of lightly armed and 
  armored Dragon-Blooded special operatives.
  Overall Quality: Excellent
  Magnitude: 1
  Drill: 5
  Close Combat Attack: 5 Close Combat Damage: 3
  Ranged Attack: 4 Ranged Damage: 3
  Endurance: 9 
  Might: 4 
  Armor: 3 
  Valor: 4
  Formation: Operating either singly or in ﬁ ve-man fangs, 
  Lookshy rangers are deployed in operations throughout the 
  Scavenger Lands and beyond.
  SEVENTH LEGION ARTILLERIST TALON
  Description: Artillerists handle dangerous and some-
  times volatile artifact siege equipment such as implosion 
  bows, specialized 
  siege warstriders and 
  haze shields. Ranked 
  haichei and above.
  Commanding Of-
  ﬁ cer: Varies
  Armor Color: Varies
  Motto: Varies
  General Makeup: 
  25 artillery engi-
  neers operating 
  artifact siege engines 
  and wearing buff 
  jackets.
  Overall Quality: 
  Excellent
  Magnitude: 3
  Drill: 4
  Close Combat 
  Attack: — 
  Close Combat Damage: —
  Ranged Attack: 3 Ranged Damage: 7
  Endurance: 6 
  Might: 5 
  Armor: 1 
  Valor: 2
  Formation: One talon of artillerists usually accompanies 
  each Seventh Legion dragon.
  SEVENTH LEGION JUSTICAR SCALE
  Description: Justicars 
  are law-enforcement and 
  military-police personnel, 
  making sure that Lookshy’s 
  laws are followed in the 
  city and wherever the 
  Seventh Legion is sta-
  tioned. The justicars are 
  more rigidly deﬁ ned as 
  a career path than most 
  other specialized positions, 
  as those accepted are ex-
  pected to remain in law 
  enforcement. These sol-
  diers have duties detailed 
  in the “Justice Directorate” 
  section of this chapter. 
  Justicars frequently carry 
  enchanted slashing swords 
  (higher-ranking officers 
  carry reaper daiklaves), as well as equipment and instruments 
  useful in the administration of justice. Justicars can be of any 
  rank, and there are no restrictions on who can join, apart from a 
  review of each applicant’s military and criminal records (which 
  should be spotless) and the satisfactory completion of mental 
  acuity tests.
  Commanding Ofﬁ cer: Varies
  Armor Color: Varies
  
  61
  CHAPTER THREE • WARLORDS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  Motto: Varies
  General Makeup: 25 military police in white lamellar armor 
  wielding slashing swords.
  Overall Quality: Excellent
  Magnitude: 2
  Drill: 4
  Close Combat Attack: 6 Close Combat Damage: 3
  Ranged Attack: — Ranged Damage: —
  Endurance: 9 
  Might: 2 
  Armor: 2 (-2 mobility 
  penalty) 
  Valor: 4
  Formation: Each dragon of the Seventh Legion contains a 
  scale of justicars.
  SEVENTH LEGION WARSTRIDER FANG
  D e s c r i p -
  tion: These 
  units are primar-
  ily used against 
  siege weapons 
  and other large-
  scale threats, 
  but they have 
  their place on 
  the conventional 
  battleﬁ eld as well. 
  The machines 
  used are widely 
  variable in power 
  and specializa-
  tion, as are the 
  weapons these 
  units’ members 
  choose to employ. 
  Most warstrider 
  pilots are Drag-
  on-Blooded, but 
  there are no spe-
  ciﬁ c restrictions.
  Commanding Ofﬁ cer: Varies
  Armor Color: Varying colors of jade.
  Motto: Varies
  General Makeup: Five warstriders of varying type with vari-
  able weaponry plus a fang of rangers, two scales of ashigaru 
  or gunzosha and up to 10 shugan-junai.
  Overall Quality: Good
  Magnitude: 1
  Drill: 4
  Close Combat Attack: 5 Close Combat Damage: 7
  Ranged Attack: 4 Ranged Damage: 4
  Endurance: 7 
  Might: 6 
  Armor: 8 
  Valor: 4
  Formation: Each Seventh Legion dragon usually has access to 
  two warstrider fangs and the requisite support personnel.
  WAI TAN-JUNAI (SORCERER-
  ENGINEERS)
  Description: These officers 
  (chozei and above) invent, maintain 
  and research artifacts and First Age 
  technology. Each dragon has two, with 
  several shugan-junai working under 
  them. These are non-combat person-
  nel. Many senior wai tan-junai are 
  stationed permanently in the city for 
  research purposes (as their genius is too 
  valuable to risk on the battlefield).
  SHUGAN-JUNAI (SORCERER-
  TECHNICIAN) SCALE
  Description: Shugan-junai have 
  two functions. First, they assist wai 
  tan-junai in the maintenance of exist-
  ing artifacts and the enchantment of 
  new ones. Second, they are combat units 
  who provide sorcery combat support. Each 
  talon has one scale, each of which may act 
  as sorcerer special character for an individual 
  fang if necessary.
  ORGANIZATION
  Although the Seventh Legion uses the 
  same basic structure as the Realm to organize 
  its forces, or at least the same titles, its ﬁ eld 
  forces are much more diversiﬁ ed. There 
  has been pressure from many sides—even 
  among those who support the return of the 
  Shogunate—to abandon the current struc-
  ture in favor of one that can accommodate 
  the Seventh Legion’s massive numbers and 
  increasing diversity. Such calls for change 
  have fallen on deaf ears thus far, however, 
  or at least those who listen are not quite ready for such a 
  complex undertaking.
  Fang: A unit of ﬁ ve soldiers, always of the same type, 
  commanded by a gunchei or gochei. 
  Scale: A unit of ﬁ ve fangs, frequently of the same type, 
  commanded by a chuzei or sochei. 
  Talon: A unit of ﬁ ve scales, commanded by a chuzei or 
  taizei. Independent talons usually have one scale of infantry 
  or specialists and one scale of support personnel.
  Wing: A unit of ﬁ ve talons, commanded by a taizei or 
  shozei. Wings are usually reinforced with up to a talon of 
  specialists in scale-sized units and a scale of support person-
  nel if operating independently.
  Dragon: A unit of two wings, commanded by a shozei or 
  kazei. Usually reinforced with up to three talons of specialists 
  in scale-sized units and one support talon.
  
  62
  Field Force: A unit of ﬁ ve dragons, commanded by a 
  taimyo. Usually reinforced with a dragon of specialist and 
  reinforcement units, mostly talon-sized, and a dragon of 
  support personnel.
  SEVENTH LEGION FIELD FORCES
  Casually called “legions,” these ﬁ eld forces combined 
  represent the entirety of Lookshy’s military forces. All soldiers, 
  regardless of their rank or specialization, receive assignments 
  in one of the ﬁ eld forces, each of which amounts to approxi-
  mately ﬁ ve dragons of soldiers, though some ﬁ eld forces, such 
  as the foreign legions, expand and contract regularly. Each 
  ﬁ eld force has a purpose or specialty, though they are not 
  strictly governed by their particular strengths (i.e., the First 
  Field Force has a few talons of battleﬁ eld units).
  THE FIRST FIELD FORCE
  The First Field Force is composed of various special 
  forces, reconnaissance units and highly mobile troops who 
  are called in for specialized tasks. Units from this ﬁ eld force 
  are often used in urban warfare, forest and jungle settings 
  and other close-quarters operations where smaller, faster 
  and more potently armed troops are appropriate. The First 
  also has several units specializing in extreme environments 
  such as deserts, steppes and tundra. Each talon from this ﬁ eld 
  force consists of elite shock troops and reconnaissance units 
  and highly specialized heavy units such as ashigaru. These 
  units are reinforced by warstiders, combat engineers, dragon 
  warriors (the Lookshyan designation for dragon-armored 
  Terrestrial Exalts) and rangers.
  The First Field Force is an elite force, with access to 
  powerful and sometimes experimental weaponry and vehicles. 
  Only the most focused, intelligent and highly skilled soldiers 
  are accepted to it. Soldiers from the First Field Force can be 
  stationed anywhere, with established quarters in all of the 
  known and secret redoubts and many other foreign encamp-
  ments and fortresses in and beyond the River Province.
  Taimyo Karal Linwei leads this ﬁ eld force. The General 
  Staff is loath to contract out First Field Force units to other 
  nations except in emergency cases, in service to close allies 
  or in cases where the contracted fee makes the expense 
  worthwhile. Its soldiers wear red armor.
  THE SECOND FIELD FORCE
  This ﬁ eld force is Lookshy’s main front-line battleﬁ eld 
  unit. It is normally activated only in cases of open war. The 
  rest of the time, its soldiers conduct exercises and war games 
  on the promontory inside the Lookshy Wall. Units from the 
  Second Field Force are often contracted for foreign service 
  as well. 
  The Second Field Force consists primarily of heavy 
  infantry, archers and a wing’s worth of horse skirmishers, It 
  is not a comprehensive force, and it requires special opera-
  tions reinforcement from the Home Guard. This ﬁ eld force 
  is considered by many to be the backbone of the Seventh 
  Legion. Its soldiers wear forest green armor and conical helms 
  and are led by Taimyo Yushoto Marana.
  THE THIRD FIELD FORCE 
  This ﬁ eld force specializes in siege warfare. Having a large 
  supply of heavy weaponry, it is usually the force dispatched 
  to deal with dangerous Wyld creatures and behemoths as 
  well. Due to their large, unwieldy and dangerous equipment, 
  most Third Field Force units are stationed in fortresses on 
  the promontory inside the Lookshy Wall.
  This ﬁ eld force consists primarily of heavy infantry and 
  archers with specialized siege-weapon training, reinforced with 
  warstriders and combat engineers. Soldiers wear jade-green 
  armor in battle, but switch to similarly colored jackets for cer-
  emonial purposes. They are led by Taimyo Maheka Lespa.
  THE FOURTH FIELD FORCE
  Led by the progressive Taimyo Teresu Zen Wu, this ﬁ eld 
  force has become a melting pot of new methods of organiza-
  tion and tactics. As a result, the Fourth Field Force has a large 
  number of small, functionally independent units that excel 
  in non-textbook situations. When not contracted out on 
  unusual missions, units constantly drill in new, experimental 
  techniques and tactics as well as develop novel methods of 
  defeating recognized threats.
  Taimyo Teresu considers it advantageous to have all 
  sorts of units on hand to test his battleﬁ eld theories and to 
  explore all possibilities for any tactical situation. Soldiers of 
  the Fourth wear silver armor that they polish to a high sheen 
  every morning as a part of their daily exercises. This armor, 
  which is worn in battle and ceremonially, is a source of pride 
  for all of this ﬁ eld force’s soldiers. Although this ﬁ eld force 
  has the highest battle casualty rate, it is also a great theater 
  for distinguishing oneself as a soldier in difﬁ cult, uncertain 
  situations. For this reason, it also has the highest number of 
  granted citizenships in the Seventh Legion.
  THE LOOKSHY HOME GUARD
  Like the First Field Force, the Home Guard has a high 
  concentration of a wide variety of specialists (about half the 
  force). This force mainly serves as a source of specialist units 
  that reinforce other ﬁ eld forces. The soldiers who are not 
  specialists are primarily heavy infantry and archers. This force 
  is ofﬁ cially stationed in the District of Barracks, though most 
  units can be found attached to other ﬁ eld forces.
  Taimyo Maheka Varil, the Home Guard’s leader, is 
  notoriously militaristic and tries to have as many of his 
  units actively engaged in missions as possible. The Home 
  Guard wears purple armor, with white cloaks added for 
  ceremonial events.
  THE LEGION RESERVE
  All Seventh Legion soldiers who have served one tour 
  of duty and have not decided on a military career are auto-
  
  63
  CHAPTER THREE • WARLORDS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  matically enrolled in the reserve, or “the Gray Legion” as it’s 
  also known. By last count, the number of Gray legionnaires 
  equals more than six full ﬁ eld forces. The reserve has not been 
  activated in over three centuries, but retired soldiers continue 
  to drill once per week, though the exercises tend to be more 
  devoted to civil engineering and disaster preparation than 
  actual battle training. Some in the General Staff claim that 
  the Gray Legion is unneeded or in dire need of organization, 
  but its commanding ofﬁ cer, Taimyo Taroketo Stoneﬁ st, an 
  old soldier of many campaigns himself, adamantly opposes 
  making any signiﬁ cant changes. 
  The Gray Legion’s members usually wear gray, loose-
  ﬁ tting uniforms. Many are mortal helots with important 
  professions and enjoy the respect of the community despite 
  having retired from military service.
  THE NAVAL FORCE
  Lookshy’s navy functions primarily as troop transport, 
  merchant vessel escort and river patrol. While the Seventh 
  Legion possesses over a dozen First Age vessels in working 
  order (and a further dozen in various states of repair), its naval 
  forces are middling compared to the great navies of Creation. 
  Naval ashigaru, soldiers and sazei make up this force’s talons, 
  each one of which are assigned to a pair of ships, called a 
  seabrace. The Naval Force has 75 conventional ships and is 
  commanded by Admiral Sirel Sogrun.
  Naval Force seamen wear navy blue armor with small 
  white skullcaps. In ceremony, they wear long, dark blue wool 
  coats over their uniforms.
  THE SKY GUARD
  The only functioning fleet of First Age skyships in 
  Creation, the Sky Guard is the pride of Lookshy. Skyships 
  are continually being retired, as their age, their general 
  wear and tear, and the city’s limited maintenance capabili-
  ties make it difficult to preserve such venerable machines. 
  Because of its equipment’s delicacy, the Sky Guard rarely 
  enters combat. Routine assignments include patrolling 
  Lookshy’s districts and environs, troop transport and 
  surveillance missions. There are 115 working skyships 
  currently in operation. Each is manned by 15 Sky Guard 
  specialists and supported by 10 ground-crew technicians. 
  Five manned skyships and their support staffs make up 
  a talon.
  Because the skyships are few and military operations ongo-
  ing, the Sky Guard’s services are frequently in demand. Taimyo 
  Nefvarin Shou-Yu leads the Sky Guard. Sky Guard soldiers wear 
  sky-blue armor with small dark-blue skullcaps. In ceremony, they 
  wear long, white wool coats over their uniforms.
  THE LOOKSHY MANSE GUARD
  Lookshy’s last line of defense, the Manse Guard is a 
  primarily mortal force of well-armed soldiers permanently 
  stationed in the city. This force maintains Lookshy’s defen-
  sive operations and devices. In times of war, its commander, 
  Taimyo Bukane Winter Rose, has authority over all military 
  operations in the city. 
  While important, duty in the Manse Guard is not par-
  ticularly desirable for those who crave battle, and it has been 
  dubbed “the Yellow Guard” by the rank and ﬁ le. Its soldiers 
  wear black armor and add silver sashes in ceremony.
  THE FOREIGN LEGIONS
  The Seventh Legion maintains several foreign operations 
  too remote or too politically tenuous to easily accomplish 
  with standard forces. Therefore, fortresses, redoubts and other 
  foreign troop encampments are occupied by troops from 
  the foreign legions. These troops are often former slaves, 
  mercenaries, criminals or refugees from other lands wishing 
  to put the past behind them in exchange for protection 
  from those who would hold them accountable for past deeds 
  (moneylenders, law-enforcement ofﬁ cials, etc…).
  When recruited, the new foreign legionnaire is given a 
  new name and modest equipment, then intensively trained 
  in one of the secret redoubts for one year. If she survives 
  the rigorous training program, she graduates into a new life 
  as a janissary legionnaire. More than half quit before the 
  ﬁ rst month has ended. Only 10 percent make it through 
  the program.
  Janissaries technically fall under the command of the 
  Second Field Force, but the foreign legion has evolved over 
  the years into a practically separate entity. Most janissar-
  ies do not rise above the rank of gochei, and cannot be 
  promoted above taizei. While the foreign legions are under 
  Seventh Legion supervision while stationed in redoubts or 
  while accompanying other ﬁ eld forces, they frequently ﬁ nd 
  themselves “on their honor.” No redoubts are manned solely 
  by janissaries, though some minor fortresses are.
  Janissaries are granted eight weeks’ leave every other 
  year and are given a version of a transit pass granting them 
  free passage through Confederation territory, a right more 
  or less honored depending on the nation. Some journey to 
  Lookshy itself.
  The foreign legions wear no standard uniform in battle. 
  They are given refurbished armor and weapons from the vari-
  ous ﬁ eld forces such that the armor is usually multicolored 
  and faded and the weapons well used. 
  THE GENERAL STAFF
  The General Staff is the Seventh Legion’s administrative 
  command group, as well as the political engine that controls 
  nearly all aspects of life in Lookshy. It is composed of two 
  groups, the Martial Staff and the Administrative Staff. 
  The Martial Staff, comprising six senior ofﬁ cers and 
  the Seventh Legion’s chumyo, primarily concerns itself with 
  military matters.
  The Administrative Staff ﬂ uctuates in size, with an 
  average of 23 seats. The chumyo leads the Administrative 
  Staff but cannot dominate it completely.
  
  64
  Seven directorates support the Seventh Legion and 
  provide for Lookshy’s security. Each directorate, led by a 
  taimyo, is responsible for a certain arena of duties, some of 
  which overlap and all of which are necessary for the opera-
  tion of the Lookshy nation.
  THE DIRECTORATE OF THE ADJUTANT GENERAL
  This directorate is responsible for personnel and their 
  training. As all employment and training of Lookshy’s residents 
  is state-sponsored, the Adjutant General’s ofﬁ ce is a very sig-
  niﬁ cant directorate. It manages each resident’s education and 
  employment records and calculates aptitudes and strengths, 
  then assigns appropriate responsibilities. A resident’s ﬁ rst unit, 
  any specialty military positions and post-military career is all 
  managed by the Adjutant General’s ofﬁ ce. 
  Residents may petition the Adjutant General in writing 
  to request an assignment or career change, but the requests 
  must usually be in line with the individuals’ education or 
  experience to be granted, though especially resourceful or 
  intelligent residents may be given special consideration.
  The Adjutant General’s ofﬁ ce also manages the housing 
  assignments for all residents. In general, residents are assigned 
  residences in the same district or community as their family 
  by default. Requests for a change of residence are almost 
  always denied, unless the resident can demonstrate a busi-
  ness-related need. Housing is also arranged for metics, new 
  helots and citizens and estranged slaves.
  Funerary arrangements are the directorate’s ﬁ nal re-
  sponsibility to a citizen. While morticians from Sijan handle 
  the actual interment, the Adjutant General’s ofﬁ ce handles 
  all expenses and provides for any of the deceased’s disabled 
  dependents in a ﬁ tting manner, should there be no family 
  members able to do so.
  THE JUSTICE DIRECTORATE 
  Law enforcement for the Seventh Legion is in the hands 
  of the Justice Directorate. It has a bad reputation, not for 
  being overly corrupt or severe, but for being, in general, soft 
  on crime. Word on the street is that, as long as you stay out 
  of their way and don’t call attention to yourself, the justi-
  cars will leave you alone. This is exactly what the Justice 
  Directorate wants.
  Minor crimes are often overlooked or closely contained. 
  Arrests don’t occur until a situation endangers the populace 
  (notably citizens). As long as a criminal operation is small, 
  justicars usually look the other way.
  The justicars also handle many major crimes without 
  resorting to arrest. They often allow known foreign spies to 
  continue operation, for instance, but deliberately surrounded 
  them with Security Directorate agents who feed them false 
  information. Violent major crimes, however, receive serious 
  treatment and swift action.
  With a few exceptions, fangs of justicars patrol each 
  district and any place where the Seventh Legion has a pres-
  ence. Most of their time is spent resolving minor disputes 
  REDOUBTS
  Lookshy maintains six large redoubts in strategic 
  areas throughout the River Province on lands per-
  manently deeded to the Seventh Legion from their 
  respective nations. Each is a combination of fortress, 
  supply depot, command center, skyship landing strip 
  and staging area for the Seventh Legion. 
  A General Staff-appointed taimyo commands each 
  redoubt, operating semi-independently, as the taimyo 
  makes only one trip to Lookshy per year to report to 
  the General Staff. 
  Redoubts have been placed in a variety of strategic 
  areas and terrains: on Marukan lands (Marukan Re-
  doubt), at the edge of the Hundred Kingdoms’ territory 
  (Nasaru Redoubt), among the southeastern city-states 
  (Nechara Redoubt) and just outside Marin Bay (Marin 
  Bay Redoubt), among other places (at the Storyteller’s 
  discretion). The native populations appreciate their 
  presence in direct proportion to the threat level. The 
  Marukani, for example, are glad to have the resources 
  on hand, as they believe it has managed to dissuade the 
  Mask of Winters from invading their lands. Nasaru’s 
  neighbor’s, however, would more than likely rather 
  see them leave.
  In addition to the six publicly known redoubts, 
  four additional redoubts have been built in secret loca-
  tions. These redoubts are meant to serve as secondary 
  command headquarters for the Seventh Legion should 
  Lookshy and one or more redoubts fall. Their secondary 
  purpose of each is to guard one of Lookshy’s Thousand-
  Forged Dragons (a ﬁ fth lies inoperable in the caverns 
  beneath Lookshy Manse).
  Redoubts can house from 8,000–10,000 troops, 
  and many have several ambassadorial ofﬁ ces. All are 
  manned by highly trained and well-armed units and 
  have stockpiles of artifact weapons for their use.
  and incarcerating petty criminals. In such cases, judgments 
  are often handed down on the spot, with punishments rang-
  ing from minor ﬁ nes or reduction in pay, to publication in 
  the Black Lists. Black Lists are publicly accessible records of 
  dishonorable deeds and those who perform them, hung in 
  public bath houses and municipal buildings all over Look-
  shy once per month. In the case of active-duty soldiers, the 
  offenders’ commanding ofﬁ cer is notiﬁ ed before any action 
  is taken. For repeat offenders, the Justice Directorate works 
  with the reprobate’s shozei to arrange a reduction in rank. 
  Metics receive harsher judgments, as they commit the ma-
  jority of crimes.
  Justicars must investigate more complicated major-crime 
  cases. Investigations require the involvement of a justicar of 
  chuzei rank and a judge, who administers the case and hands 
  
  65
  CHAPTER THREE • WARLORDS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  down a verdict once the investigations have been completed. 
  Punishments tend to include heavy ﬁ nes, imprisonment, 
  caning or, in the worst cases, death by beheading.
  Any judgment can be appealed in the appropriate district 
  Court of Justice. Given the practice of summary judgments for 
  minor infractions, few appeal them. Punishments issued for 
  major crimes and capital offenses are often appealed, though 
  verdicts are rarely overturned. In some cases, additional or 
  more severe punishments result.
  Soldiers always maintain the right to demand a military 
  tribunal of ofﬁ cers if they so desire before any punishment is 
  carried out by the Justice Directorate. Many prefer to simply 
  handle the matter with as little fuss as possible, however.
  Lookshy is a civilization where deeds are primary and 
  words so much air. As a result, threats, slander, libel, even 
  vocal sedition, are not punishable offenses, though very few 
  Lookshyans would ever take advantage of such freedoms. 
  While these things are not illegal, however, they carry certain 
  social ramiﬁ cations that the populace itself tends to ensure. 
  While reactions to slander are variable, those known to 
  have seditious intentions are watched carefully and usually 
  shunned socially.
  Judges cannot hand down exile as a punishment to 
  residents of Lookshy. It is a particular point of Lookshyan 
  pride that they can take care of their own and not force the 
  rest of the world to eat their bad apples. In fact, judges are 
  much more inclined to ban hardened criminals from ever 
  leaving Lookshy. Metics, on the other hand, are routinely 
  banished for major crimes.
  Minor crimes include petty theft, dueling, barehanded 
  assault, speaking at Council without leave or right, disregard 
  for public property and trespassing. Major crimes include 
  rape, assault with a weapon, major theft and smuggling. 
  Capital offenses include murder, treason, conspiracy and 
  unsanctioned espionage.
  THE SECURITY DIRECTORATE
  Counterintelligence and military security are the prov-
  inces of this directorate, which uses rigorous surveillance 
  methods, disinformation and cryptographic security to ensure 
  Lookshy’s safety.
  The surveillance and registration of foreigners is ac-
  complished by the directorate’s Civilian Affairs ofﬁ ce and 
  includes the distribution of transit passes and work permits. 
  All foreigners entering Lookshy territory through any of the 
  Lookshy Wall entrances or Port District landings are registered 
  and at least cursorily investigated. Massive ﬁ les, detailing 
  every individual who has legally entered the city for the last 
  500 years, are kept in the directorate’s headquarters.
  This directorate is responsible for the registration and 
  possible conﬁ scation of First Age artifacts coming into the 
  city. The directorate’s sorcerer-engineers investigate all con-
  ﬁ scated items. If an item is deemed to be safe, it is returned 
  to the owner with a registration permit, which must be kept 
  with the item at all times. Investigators may offer fair sums 
  
  66
  for items deemed worthy of inclusion in Lookshy’s stores. 
  First Age weaponry is always of interest, but books, com-
  munication devices, vehicles, apparatus that enhance skills 
  and Charms and other items are also routinely purchased at 
  fair prices, such that scavenger lords tend to visit Lookshy 
  regularly. Items considered too dangerous or volatile, such that 
  they may compromise the safety and security of Lookshy are 
  kept in one of many secret storage locations in the tunnels 
  on the promontory. All items of this sort must be reclaimed 
  at the Blue-Green River Gate.
  As a further security measure, directorate agents routinely 
  vet foreign legion personnel for spies and saboteurs. Unan-
  nounced site-visits of redoubts by agents disguised as Marukan 
  horsemen or Seventh Legion ofﬁ cers are standard practice.
  THE STORES DIRECTORATE
  This directorate manages the acquisition, storage and 
  disbursement of all arms, equipment, vehicles and clothing 
  to the soldiery. All requests for new equipment must be made 
  through the central Stores Directorate ofﬁ ce.
  Under the umbrella of the Stores Directorate can also 
  be found the Arsenal Staff, a government-run ﬁ rm engaged 
  in the research, design and construction of military artifacts. 
  State sorcerer-engineers design and build new weaponry, 
  while masters of the arsenal are on hand to repair, maintain 
  and store them. The Arsenal Staff also trains soldiers to 
  use created items. All artifacts conﬁ scated by the Security 
  Directive are turned over to the Arsenal Staff. Those that 
  are purchased or kept become state property and are added 
  to the Arsenal Staff’s catalogue.
  The Store Directorate maintains storage facilities all over 
  Lookshy, though most are kept in the Warehouse and Port 
  Districts. Many artifacts are kept in the Academy of Sorcery, 
  but the most powerful items are stored in the underground 
  network beneath Lookshy Manse.
  THE LIAISON DIRECTORATE 
  This directorate manages all civil concerns in Lookshy 
  and its holdings abroad. It employs examiners—usually older, 
  retired citizens or conscientious objectors of good reputation 
  and family—to manage the day-to-day needs of each district. 
  These are usually life-appointments, unless an individual 
  bungles things to the point of catastrophe. The Liaison 
  Directorate is the least military-afﬁ liated bureau in Lookshy 
  and is considered an acceptable alternative profession for 
  those who object to more war-oriented careers. That said, 
  examiners and their staffs must still be intimately familiar 
  with emergency siege-prep procedures and other military 
  details necessary for district security.
  Examiner Superior—Part public-works inspector, part 
  municipal accountant, this ofﬁ cial oversees the various 
  examiners inferior. She also manages major repairs and new 
  construction projects throughout the city. The examiner 
  superior employs a staff of 40 administrators.
  Examiner Inferior—These officials, one for every 
  district, are responsible for the everyday upkeep of roads, 
  sewers and defense fortifications. They are also respon-
  sible for rubbish removal, snow removal, ice breaking and 
  window washing.
  Hinterland communities, redoubts and other holdings are 
  treated the same as districts, in that each is assigned its own 
  examiner inferior. Most patron families take responsibility 
  for new construction projects in the hinterland, though all 
  plans must be approved by the Examiner Superior’s ofﬁ ce. 
  Examiners inferior assigned to foreign redoubts, temporary 
  encampments and other holdings are also trained as nego-
  tiators and must interact with local governments to secure 
  provisions and adequate land accommodations, to arrange 
  for passage rights and to settle disagreements between the 
  Seventh Legion and the local citizenry.
  THE INTELLIGENCE DIRECTORATE
  While the Security Directorate is concerned with keep-
  ing Lookshy and the Seventh Legion safe from saboteurs, 
  spies and terrorists, the Intelligence Directorate focuses on 
  the collection and analysis of raw intelligence pertaining to 
  the politics of the wider region and beyond, to foreign troop 
  movements and to the growth of potentially threatening 
  regimes. This directorate employs many spirits, demons 
  and elementals, along with mortal and Dragon-Blooded 
  agents, that act as spies (often posing as merchants or 
  ambassadors), message carriers, inquisitors, contacts, co-
  debreakers, safe-house operators, administrators, recruiters, 
  costumers and trainers. While everyone in Lookshy knows 
  that the Intelligence Directorate exists and what it does, the 
  directorate operates quietly for the most part. Only rarely 
  is the directorate’s taimyo seen in public, and she makes 
  only infrequent pronouncements.
  The Intelligence Directorate operates listening posts and 
  safe houses throughout the region, many of which are located 
  underground, with others in hidden treetop bungalows or 
  disguised as normal country residences. 
  THE OPERATIONS DIRECTORATE
  This directorate is a planning commission and think 
  tank made up of the Seventh Legion’s greatest military strate-
  gists. All planned military operations must be approved, if 
  not designed, by this directorate’s strategoi. Each wing of 
  soldiers usually employs at least a scale’s worth of Opera-
  tions consultants. The directorate also manages the proper 
  procedures for the delivery of orders through the ranks and 
  develops elaborate war-game scenarios.
  FOREIGN CONTRACTS AND RELATIONS
  Lookshy provides troops, arms and training to Confed-
  eration members. Here are the general policies the nation 
  follows when considering contract proposals.
  
  67
  CHAPTER THREE • WARLORDS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  TROOPS AND ARMS
  Lookshy supplies troops and arms to other nations for 
  military campaigns and defensive measures throughout the 
  River Province. This is a heavy burden, but the General 
  Staff does not take this responsibility lightly. Hundreds of 
  requests for aid come from all over the Scavenger Lands 
  every year. Some are dismissed out of hand, some are ac-
  cepted with ready enthusiasm, but all are considered.
  Proposals for aid involving either the invasion of 
  any Scavenger Lands nation or intervention in internal 
  insurrection are never supported. Likewise, dishonest or 
  baldly manipulative ones are treated with scorn. Other 
  proposals can be refused for reasons dependent on the 
  circumstances, as Lookshy will not support lost causes or 
  proposals that will result in a longstanding commitment 
  to hold foreign territories.
  Many proposals made to the General Staff are worthy 
  but still cannot be supported for one reason or another 
  (perhaps not enough troops are available or the proposal 
  contains tactical plans that cannot succeed). In these cases, 
  the General Staff frequently works to ﬁ nd an amicable 
  solution. Few legitimate petitioners are sent away with an 
  outright denial.
  Ofﬁ cially, Lookshy is politically neutral when consider-
  ing contract proposals. Even when two parties are vying for 
  Lookshy’s support for similar proposals, Lookshy’s policy is 
  to accept the ﬁ rst suitable proposal presented. While this 
  usually holds true, political circumstances do unofﬁ cially 
  determine these decisions. Parties with more desirable 
  proposals may be allowed to present ﬁ rst by means of ar-
  ranged delays, last-minute provisions, “lost” post messages, 
  et cetera. Members of the General Staff may be aware that 
  this practice is not exactly fair, but they do not consider 
  it corruption if done for what they believe is the good of 
  all. These individuals understand that Lookshy, being in 
  the best position to aid the region’s regimes, owes it to the 
  Confederation and its people to undertake operations that 
  it believes have the greatest chance of success. If they hap-
  pen to accept contracts with close political allies more than 
  others, that is only because these allies are more worthy, 
  smarter and have better intentions, rather that any sort of 
  nepotistic partiality.
  NEUTRAL NEGOTIATORS
  Lookshy also manages negotiations between regional 
  parties in dispute. These negotiations commonly take place 
  in politically neutral territory, either in one of Lookshy’s 
  fortiﬁ ed redoubts or, if no redoubts are close by, a city not 
  associated with the dispute at hand that agrees to the arrange-
  ment. Particularly violent disputes are negotiated in Lookshy 
  itself to guarantee the safety of all parties. No foreign troops 
  associated with such disputes are permitted to approach the 
  city beyond the Lookshy Wall.
  Some disputes that do not reach the negotiating table 
  in time require intervention to preserve regional security. 
  Negotiators usually resolve such instances before major 
  hostilities erupt, but at times, the Seventh Legion must 
  dispatch peacekeeping forces to prevent regional conﬂ icts 
  or ill-conceived wars with foreign powers. While, of course, 
  no formal contract is binding between Lookshy and the 
  other parties involved, the General Staff is never late in 
  presenting a bill to culpable parties, a bill they are strongly 
  advised to pay.
  TRAINING
  Lookshy provides military training to River Province 
  nations. While this service is not inexpensive, it is also not 
  available anywhere else, especially given the quality of the 
  resultant soldiers.
  Mobile instruction units from one or more of the Seventh 
  Legion’s combat units perform most training operations. Large, 
  dedicated areas must be cleared and made ready according 
  to their speciﬁ cations. These areas closely resemble scaled-
  down versions of Lookshy’s Barracks District.
  Some nations send their ﬁ nest soldiers to Lookshy itself 
  to train in more specialized areas. Many foreign ofﬁ cers can 
  be found in Lookshy undergoing such training.
  Training programs are a means for Lookshy to keep 
  tabs on its neighbors’ behavior and customs. They also keep 
  Lookshy informed about how every River Province nation 
  has been trained, what their strengths and weaknesses are 
  and how they might be best deployed against an outside 
  aggressor (or defeated if an unavoidable conﬂ ict arises).
  BETTER THE DEMON YOU KNOW
  The General Staff is loath to enter into, or cause, a 
  situation that is unfamiliar or uncontrollable. Up until 
  now, Lookshy has managed to keep the region stable 
  amid very contentious nations. While many of these na-
  tions are not exactly allies, they are at least predictable. 
  Overturning troublesome River Province governments 
  or otherwise seeking to eradicate problematic elements in 
  the region seem like desirable options, but Lookshy has 
  learned its lesson. While such problems exist, they are 
  inﬁ nitely preferable to chaos, distrust and uncertainty.
  This is not to say that Lookshy will always look 
  the other way when one of the River Province nations 
  gets out of hand. Unmanageable regimes that seriously 
  threaten the region’s security or become pariahs to their 
  neighbors are taken care of swiftly.
  A MERCENARY ECONOMY
  Because Lookshy’s government is synonymous with 
  its military, military concerns and the economy are more 
  closely related than in other places. In many ways, Lookshy’s 
  
  68
  transfer sensitive information in a pinch, with the use of 
  fairly secure heliocodes. The Legion Post is slow but very 
  reliable, and it is commonly used in areas not covered by 
  heliograph. The relay system used employs horsemen who 
  switch steeds and exchange messages and packages at way 
  stations every 50 to 100 miles. The Seventh Legion never 
  uses this method for sensitive communications. The Legion 
  Post also operates commercially, with message and package 
  delivery service throughout the Scavenger Lands.
  LOOKSHY’S IMMACULATE FAITH
  Traditionally, most Lookshyans see ofﬁ cial Immaculate 
  Philosophy as a naked tool of the Realm. Even the helots 
  spit upon it. Lookshy’s version of the faith is much more 
  private, less dogmatic and not at all evangelical. It depends 
  not on dogma, but on the simple emulation of the Immaculate 
  Dragons. Their faith states that, Exalted or not, people are 
  judged (and rewarded) according to their adherence to the 
  path of righteousness. Honor, Loyalty, Prowess, Compassion 
  and Resolve are the ﬁ ve pillars along the path, and each 
  must be mastered in order to become the Righteous War-
  rior (the Lookshyan concept of the perfectly wise soldier). 
  Lesser virtues are mentioned as well in the ecumenical lore 
  as well as steps to each pillar. Most Lookshyans believe that 
  their version of Immaculate faith is truer and more faithful 
  to the path followed during the Shogunate era.
  Some Lookshyans strive to attain enlightenment through 
  this philosophy, even though they know that the Righteous 
  Warrior is an unattainable ideal. Others follow it to a lesser 
  degree, or not all. Faith such as this is considered a matter 
  of personal choice. 
  Most Lookshyans do not worship or revere gods any 
  more than they would a great warrior or fearsome, dangerous 
  beast. They refer to beings of worship (whether god, spirit 
  or ancestor) as patrons. Temples, even those dedicated to 
  Lookshy’s dead, are less houses of prayer than places where 
  business is transacted. These temples contain no images of 
  their gods, but often display the more impressive treasures 
  offered to the temple’s patron. The wealthiest families help 
  preserve their dominance by purchasing miracles and services 
  from certain patrons.
  Most Lookshyans consider Tu Yu, the old god of Dehe-
  leshen whose massive temple sits in the Old City, to be the 
  prime patron of Lookshy. He lives in his temple and can be 
  seen doddering around the districts, telling stories of the 
  Shogunate. But it is Tu Yu’s daughter (though others claim 
  she is his sister, mother or lover—or all four at once), Tien 
  Yu, who is the spirit of Lookshy. She represents Lookshy 
  in Yu-Shan and lives in a golden citadel there. While she 
  seldom involves herself in mortal affairs personally, she has 
  been known to manifest during times of crisis, taking the form 
  of a tall, silver-haired ofﬁ cer in black jade and moonsilver 
  dragon armor.
  The Seventh Legion venerates Sunipa, Eastern goddess 
  of war, patron to soldiers and a relation to Shield of a Dif-
  economy and trade policies are just additional weapons in 
  its arsenal. Because Lookshy supplies so many regimes in 
  the region with troops, training and arms, the General Staff 
  can refuse to supply such regimes as a way to pressure them 
  into abandoning corrupt or unappealing policies. While this 
  is not standard procedure—Lookshy does not frequently 
  interfere in the business of other regimes so openly—it is a 
  viable option.
  Ofﬁ cially, Lookshy has little formal interest in trade 
  agreements with those outside the Confederation of Rivers, 
  though there are exceptions. Most pacts are one-off deals. 
  Trade treaties are considered to be bad for the business of 
  defense. That said, Lookshy has no formal ban on any sort of 
  trade, except trade with those nations or persons considered 
  hostile to Lookshy. 
  Existing trade agreements center around a fairly broad 
  agricultural and crafts community. Sheep, quail, cattle and 
  bees are the primary livestock. Various starch roots, tea and 
  oil-bearing seeds and wild barley are the main crops. 
  COMMUNICATION
  Reliable, fast communication is vital to Lookshy’s sur-
  vival. Military personnel rely on efﬁ cient transfer of orders, 
  at times over distances of hundreds of miles. Merchants 
  must be aware of market data and political news impacting 
  business. Clandestine operatives stationed in other cities 
  require secure methods to secretly transfer information to 
  and from their superiors. To these ends, Lookshy has devel-
  oped many inventive technological, magical and mundane 
  communication systems.
  The Seventh Legion and several large Lookshy busi-
  ness concerns use both First Age technologies and various 
  applications of sorcery to send messages of high importance 
  or high sensitivity. Most signiﬁ cantly, the Seventh Legion 
  possesses the Chiang Savi Array, an artifact that can send 
  short, approximately 15-second messages, from the Lookshy 
  Manse to relays hundreds of miles away. This artifact requires 
  a large expenditure of power and effort to operate, however, 
  and the relays are rarely placed in any but the most secure 
  fortresses. The major redoubts all have them, but their place-
  ment elsewhere is rare.
  Certain sorceries, such as those that enhance Lin-
  guistics and Lore Charms, are more common in arranging 
  for long-distance communication. Spirits, elementals and 
  demons also have their uses, but almost never for sensitive 
  communications.
  Non-sensitive communications are usually sent via 
  heliograph or by Legion Post. Heliograph communiqués 
  are preferred when the areas of communication are not 
  over a few hundred miles. Although it can be used for 
  longer distances, the equipment becomes unreliable, with 
  a 10 percent chance of failure for every 100 miles distance 
  beyond 200 miles. Heliograph technology is usually used 
  only for everyday communications, but it can be used to 
  
  69
  CHAPTER THREE • WARLORDS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  ferent Day (see p. 142). Sunipa sometimes pays attention 
  to individual soldiers during battle and rewards those who 
  ﬁ ght economically, using just enough power and skill in 
  besting their enemies as well as those who ﬁ ght only when 
  it is proper and right to do so. She is pale-skinned, silver-
  haired and jet-eyed and wears armor forged of impossibly ﬁ ne 
  steel. She carries Delicate Scarlet Blossom, an ancient ﬁ re 
  lance, and a sword of unmelting ice from the Far North. She 
  monitors the conﬂ icts in the East from her Yu-Shan citadel. 
  In Creation, a retinue of automaton warriors known as the 
  Sun Guards accompanies her.
  THE CITY OF LOOKSHY
  At the edge of the promontory at the mouth of the 
  Yanaze sits Lookshy, a sprawling city of blue stone. Built 
  upon a massive, jade-infused stone masonry foundation, 
  Lookshy is a wonder. Colossal guardian statues of Nefvarin 
  Gilshalos and Tien Yu watch over the Eastern Gate. Huge 
  ﬂ ood embankments protect the coastal districts to the west. 
  The city’s streets are mostly planned, and the majority of 
  them are paved. The widest thoroughfares are 40 feet wide, 
  though many are as narrow as 12 feet.
  Housing in Lookshy is standardized, with a dozen or so 
  basic designs. Most have ﬂ at-roofs, which are covered with 
  either white cement, for wealthy estates, or bitumen, for poorer 
  homes and tenements. The more spacious dwellings, estates 
  of wealthy families, are laid out around a central courtyard 
  where guests are received, food is prepared and servants do 
  their daily chores. These estates are usually furnished with 
  wells, plumbing, private baths with connections to the public 
  drainage system, glazed windows and wall facings of dressed 
  stone, but present a plain outer façade, as it’s deemed uncouth 
  to ﬂ aunt wealth. The poorest families live in single-room 
  tenements, with shared toilet facilities, lacking all but the 
  most basic cooking arrangements and natural lighting.
  Public buildings come in two breeds. The rebuilt and 
  restored First Age buildings are resplendent structures of 
  alabaster and gold. Newer buildings are fashioned either in 
  respectful homage to Deheleshen architectural styles or in 
  a sort of nouveau-Deheleshen mode, marrying the ancient 
  with tasteful, utilitarian ﬂ ourishes. Courts of Justice, public 
  baths, sentry-houses and administrative buildings incline 
  toward austere façades, while shop arcades and salon alcazars 
  lean toward more cosmopolitan embellishments.
  EMBEDDED DEFENSES
  The River Province region is possibly the most belligerent 
  in Creation. It has been rent by an almost continuous series 
  of dynastic, religious, civil and national conﬂ icts. That said, 
  the defense needs of any one city tend to be concentrated in 
  space and chronologically intermittent—alas, the Seventh 
  Legion has but infrequently been in a position of defending 
  Lookshy from foreign invaders. Lookshy has taken steps, 
  unique in the Scavenger Lands, allowing for maximum defense 
  value should an enemy attack, but also preserving a livable 
  and aesthetically pleasing environment for residents.
  The most direct and persistent effects of such embed-
  ded fortiﬁ cations are the negative restrictions they impose 
  on growth and development. City defenses are costly ﬁ xed 
  investments that cannot respond easily to urban expansion or, 
  conceivably, contraction. Therefore, expansion, construction 
  and reconstruction of any structures is carefully considered, if 
  TRANSIT PASSES AND ACCESS
  Residents and visitors use transit passes to enter areas to which they would not normally have access. These 
  passes can be acquired at Security Directorate satellite ofﬁ ces, located in all districts. Each pass bears the carrier’s 
  name and the name of the accessible districts. Passes are issued for a variety of different purposes, each a different 
  color. They must be carried at all times during the user’s stay in the district in question. Some passes may be granted 
  for a limited amount of time; these fade in color to dull gray over time, marking them as invalid. Due to their very 
  speciﬁ c enchantments, transit passes are very difﬁ cult (difﬁ culty 4) to counterfeit.
  Visitors and metics have access to the Fourth Ring and the Lower City. A green visitor’s pass is necessary for 
  travel beyond these districts. These passes are valid from one day to one week and are granted as long as the Security 
  Directorate has no reason to suspect foul play. 
  The Liaison Directorate grants a blue janissary pass to Foreign Legion soldiers every two years. These passes 
  can be used as travel papers to enter the city and function as visitors’ passes valid for entrance to any district for up 
  to two weeks (beginning on the date of entry).
  Priority transit passes are bright red, allowing the carrier to bypass checkpoints and to skip to the head of 
  queues or waiting lists. Such passes are granted only for very special circumstances with sufﬁ cient justiﬁ cation. 
  These passes are carefully accounted for and even more difﬁ cult to forge (difﬁ culty 5). Such a pass does not allow 
  its carrier access to any district to which she is not normally permitted.
  Silver emergency passes grant access to any district at any time and allow their carriers to skip all checkpoints 
  and queues. These are almost never issued and are almost impossible to forge (difﬁ culty 6).
  
  70
  not discouraged, by most authorities. Erecting new structures 
  makes the defense difﬁ cult by requiring military ofﬁ cials to 
  alter their security strategies along with hosts of administra-
  tive and municipal hindrances with which most bureaucrats 
  would rather not contend. The General Staff believes that its 
  defensive plan for Lookshy currently provides the optimum 
  achievable security against any sort of enemy. To alter the 
  layout of the city in any signiﬁ cant way would destabilize 
  defenses by forcing the use of imprecise, unreliable, ad hoc 
  tactics. For this reason, by law, the city of Lookshy and her 
  districts cannot be altered in any signiﬁ cant way without the 
  approval of the General Staff.
  THE FOURTH RING—”THE FOREIGN QUARTER”
  Most metics live here, as they are not permitted to jour-
  ney beyond the Foreign Quarter or the Lower City without 
  a pass. This ring consists largely of metic-run businesses and 
  warehouses, guild houses, marketplaces, apartments, temples 
  and salons.
  Fourteen battle towers here buttress the jade-infused 
  porous blue granite outer wall of the city. These towers are 
  always manned with 20–70 Seventh Legion regulars (50 
  percent of whom will be Dragon-Blooded) armed with both 
  stationary First Age missile weaponry and potent melee 
  weapons. The main gate leading into the District of Trade 
  is always open, except in times of crisis.
  Regular patrols of justicars and mercenaries make this 
  quarter safe to travel through, as long as one stays to the main 
  thoroughfares. Thieves, spies and worse lie off the beaten 
  path, in the shadows.
  The District of Agriculture—The largest district out-
  side the Old City, the Agricultural District consists mostly 
  of small, meticulously well-maintained ﬁ elds of vegetables, 
  fruits and herbs, as well as warehouses and granaries. The crops 
  grown here are meant to supplement hinterland production 
  and serve as an emergency source of food in times of siege 
  or some other emergency. The ﬁ elds are maintained by this 
  district’s examiner inferior.
  The District of Trade—The ﬁ rst sight of Lookshy for 
  those entering the city by land is of Lookshy’s center of land-
  based commerce, a bustling, mystifying marketplace that 
  never sleeps and where most anything can be purchased for 
  the right price. Four large, open market squares dominate this 
  district. Anyone is free to set up shop here for a small fee.
  Many of the streets are lined with shops of all kinds, 
  with barkers standing outside nearly all of them, egging on 
  potential customers. Above these shops are apartments, 
  taverns, burlesque theaters and brothels.
  The majority of this district’s population comprises 
  metic traders and shop owners and those who cater to them 
  
  71
  CHAPTER THREE • WARLORDS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  by running the district’s groceries, teahouses, temples, baths, 
  et cetera. Some non-residents maintain permanent shops 
  and warehouses that open when the vendor arrives, usually 
  bi-annually, with new stock. The Guild maintains a satellite 
  ofﬁ ce in this district, as well as a small trade hall and auction 
  house. While the Guild does brisk business in Lookshy, it 
  is by no means the largest business concern in the city or 
  even in this district.
  The District of Blades—Bladesmiths, weaponsmiths, 
  armorers and martial instructors of all kinds can be found here. 
  All of the foreign-run salons in the city, and some Lookshy-
  based ones, can also be found in this district, as well as many 
  informal training halls and freelance instructors.
  Security is understandably very tight here. Mercenary 
  scales from the Hexagon patrol this district night and day, 
  supplemented by regular hourly justicar patrols.
  The Hexagon—This district houses Pel Kan’s Ordinaries, 
  a famed mercenary company allied with Lookshy. Its huge, 
  gated military compound dominates the district. In the winter, 
  the entire company resides here. During the rest of the year, 
  one to three units reside there, along with convalescing war-
  riors, the rare spouse or child and messengers.
  Through contract with the Justice Directive, the Or-
  dinaries provide peacekeeping patrols for the Hexagon and 
  the District of Blades. Other trusted mercenary companies 
  may also enter into this contract, especially during the non-
  winter months when the Ordinaries are away.
  The District of Craftsmen—This district houses work-
  shops and warehouses and ﬁ rms involved in the manufacture 
  of non-martial products such as leather goods, clothing, 
  candles, furniture, vehicles, construction materials and farm-
  ing equipment. Freelance sorcerer-engineers conversant in 
  First Age technology can be found here, if one looks hard 
  enough, but they are rare.
  This district’s workers typically dwell here, though some 
  business owners are from wealthy families and dwell with 
  them in the inner city.
  THE THIRD RING—”THE SAVANT QUARTER”
  Although the third ring is the home to more than just some 
  of the most learned savants in the East, the “savant spirit” is alive 
  in this quarter of schools, invention, and sorcery. This quarter’s 
  districts are rife with eager students, famed savants, reclusive 
  philosophers, mad artists, honey-tongued and destitute poets, 
  curmudgeonly sorcerer-engineers, crackpot street-sophists 
  and gregarious epic-peddlers, as well as enough dormitories, 
  teahouses, libraries, amphitheaters, game-lodges and smoke-
  hookahs to make the streets lively and interesting.
  The Green Hunt—This district is a wild space, or as 
  wild as a place can be in the middle of a bustling walled city. 
  Many Lookshyans come here to relax away from the com-
  motion of the city and forget about the worries of the day. 
  At any given time, from 100 to 1,000 people can be found 
  in the district’s trails, game ﬁ elds, feast pits, tree-lodges and 
  zoos. Roughly half of the Green Hunt is deliberately left 
  undeveloped and is technically off limits. The intention is 
  to give young Lookshyans safe places to explore.
  Few people live in the Green Hunt. The grounds crews 
  and maintenance staff reside there, as well as a select few 
  minor families with permission to do so. The examiner in-
  ferior, Yushoto Cudgel-Arm, an elderly Dragon-Blood, lives 
  in the Green Hunt as well. His estate, the Vined Xavatet, 
  is the restored hunting lodge of the O-Daimyo, who once 
  stalked these woods for game.
  The Green Hunt is also a place to honor the dead and 
  war-fallen, with giant victory-plates and triumphal arches 
  erected in unexpected places. Some have been forgotten in 
  overgrown copses, while others stand in prominent, well-
  landscaped positions. Several tombs, as well, are tucked 
  away in odd corners of the district. These are modest granite 
  structures displaying long memorial homilies of the deceased’s 
  great deeds. In places such as these, the ghosts of Lookshy’s 
  fallen heroes visit to collect offerings and prayers.
  The District of Schools—The city’s ﬁ nest academies 
  and three prominent hospitals are the main attractions of 
  this district, though many are also lured by the fashionable 
  teahouses and shops. Prestigious dojos, salons and training 
  halls abound, though they are very exclusive, and some are 
  open only to well-placed (or highly skilled) residents.
  The hospitals in this district are, by many accounts, the 
  ﬁ nest to be found outside of Great Forks or the Imperial City, 
  thanks to an able staff largely trained in Great Forks.
  The District of Artisans—While many artisans ply their 
  trade in the District of Craftsmen, the best make their way 
  here, where expertise is not a rarity and astonishing sights are 
  no further than around the corner. The very best glassworks, 
  jadeworks, ingenious and useful gadgets, furnishings, fabrics, 
  musical instruments, jewelry, ceramics, chattels and tools can 
  be procured here for moderate to exorbitant prices.
  The streets of this district have been ornamented over the 
  centuries with some of the ﬁ nest examples of decorative artistry 
  ever created. Because this district contains some of the city’s 
  most valuable items (apart from the city’s First Age technology), 
  it is constantly monitored from the air by skyships.
  The District of Savants—Those entering these twin 
  districts ﬁ rst notice the smell of the foundries and the warm, 
  sooty air. The factories and millworks here produce pollu-
  tion and plenty of noise, but also raw materials for use in 
  the construction of Essence-powered weaponry, buildings, 
  ships and machines.
  The pollution produced in this district is offset by a 
  sorcerous engine commissioned by the examiner inferior, 
  Maheka Tablu. This engine is located in the district’s northern 
  corner, and it prevents any pollution from entering any other 
  district. It does little for the noise, however.
  Because of the potential for accidents, this district houses 
  considerably more ﬁ re brigades and emergency personnel 
  than other districts. 
  The Academy of Sorcery—This institution, recently 
  relocated here between the twin Savant Districts before 
  
  72
  the expansion proscriptions, is quiet and frightening at 
  once. A sense of danger is in the air, as all residents know 
  that hazardous experiments and unknown researches are 
  constantly being hatched. This is the place where untested 
  First Age artifacts are brought to be puzzled out and experi-
  mental devices tested.
  This academy is also home to three fortiﬁ ed warehouses, 
  where artifacts conﬁ scated from scavenger lords and other 
  visitors are stored. Most of these items have been deemed 
  benign but are taken here to give curious sorcerers the oppor-
  tunity to examine them and divine their secrets. Potentially 
  dangerous artifacts are taken to secret fortiﬁ ed warehouses in 
  the hinterland, far away from Lookshy’s populace.
  THE SECOND RING—”THE WAR QUARTER”
  The streets of the War Quarter are a little bit richer, 
  the lights a little brighter and the level of security leaps and 
  bounds above the Third and Fourth Rings. Most citizens and 
  many helots dwell and make their respective livings here. 
  Most of the buildings date from the time following the Realm 
  wars, while many others, especially residences, are of more 
  recent construction. 
  Many of Lookshy’s administrative ofﬁ ces can be found in 
  the War Quarter’s districts, as well as the barracks of the Sev-
  enth Legion and the magniﬁ cent Deheleshen Lighthouse.
  The Port District—This district, the headquarters and 
  home of Lookshy’s naval operation, slopes upward to the 
  east, affording sightseers a striking view of the Inland Sea. 
  Lift tubes powered by First Age machinery deliver naval 
  personnel, merchant lords and travelers from the docks 800 
  feet below to the Sava Heedra Terminal, which also services 
  the few (and expensive) commercial skyship ﬂ ights. Most 
  naval personnel without notable or wealthy families make 
  their homes here. These homes are typically stucco affairs, 
  with many foreign embellishments, while those of the of-
  ﬁ cer class dwell in blue granite bungalows. Towering high 
  above all is the magniﬁ cent Deheleshen Lighthouse, the 
  glimmering spire that is the pride and symbol of Lookshy’s 
  naval forces. All naval barracks are also located here; each 
  houses one talon. 
  The Lookshy Naval Academy is located in the north 
  section of the Port District. Residents are not permitted to 
  leave campus without consent. These people live in bare 
  accommodations: mess hall, spare bath facilities, standard 
  barracks with no privacy, parade- and drill-grounds and 
  administrative buildings.
  The eastern section of the district is famed for the fabu-
  lous homes of the resident merchant princes. These eccentric 
  palaces host rich, exclusive galas, and their owners produce 
  the dishiest gossip (intentionally or not). 
  Sava Heedra Terminal is a massive building where all 
  the lift tubes from the Lower City emerge. It also features 
  a small commercial landing strip on the roof. During the 
  First Age, this building was a light rail station, but the rail 
  engines failed around Realm Year 340, and the system fell 
  out of use. Most of the rail in the city was torn out during 
  the last reconstruction.
  The Deheleshen Lighthouse is the oldest structure in 
  Lookshy, and no one knows the details of its origins. Thirty 
  stories high and only scalable by the stairs spiraling around 
  its exterior, the free-standing, slowly-tapering shaft houses 
  an Essence-powered lantern that can be seen for leagues in 
  every direction, serving as the region’s primary navigational 
  beacon. This unique lantern is a stationary artifact embedded 
  into the jade-infused crystal of the lighthouse and cannot 
  be removed. Some sorcerer-engineers have theorized that it 
  does not produce light on its own; rather, it lures the light 
  from the stars down into its machinations, then issues dense 
  beams of starlight out over the horizon.
  The Secretary Admiral, a refugee from the Realm named 
  V’neef Olagar, carries out all administrative functions of the 
  district and is also its examiner inferior. 
  The Warehouse District—The Warehouse District 
  is primarily used for the storage of exports and dry goods 
  intended for military use. Only two gates, one into the Port 
  District and one into the Barracks District, afford access, with 
  narrow alleys connecting the massive warehouses. 
  Warehouse workers live in rooms above the central 
  complex of lunch houses, syndicate ofﬁ ces, personnel ac-
  quisition agencies and odd shops, though a small percentage 
  dwell in other districts and travel to work en masse in man-
  propelled wagons.
  This district is kept scrupulously clean by the examiner 
  inferior’s crack maintenance team.
  The District of Barracks—This district houses soldiers 
  stationed in Lookshy. Large barracks, parade grounds, target 
  ranges, training halls and administrative buildings are inter-
  spersed with occasional blocks of dining halls and shops. 
  The barracks here are large enough to sleep one talon 
  each. Most afford no privacy to the soldiers living there, who 
  sleep side to side in moderately comfortable beds. Ofﬁ cers’ 
  quarters have private rooms, though some taimyos prefer to 
  stay with their units. Bath facilities are located outside the 
  barracks and are used by all soldiers, regardless of rank.
  On-duty soldiers are not permitted to leave the District 
  of Barracks without their commander’s permission. 
  The District of the Legion—Prior to the Contagion, 
  this was the city of Deheleshen’s Business District. The 
  military administrative ofﬁ ces here have made the best of 
  ﬁ tting themselves into facilities that were never intended 
  for such use. The Operations Directorate, which is based 
  in this district, as well as ancillary ofﬁ ces of every military 
  branch are housed here in faded, once-grand ex-hotels, the 
  backrooms of long-abandoned tobacco-shops and the hovels 
  above neighborhood groceries.
  Operations Directorate headquarters can be found 
  in the former Tivi Sava Loan Commission Building (the 
  unmistakable sign still hangs on the building’s roof), a 
  washed out yellow and orange building comprising an 
  entire city block.
  
  73
  CHAPTER THREE • WARLORDS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  The District of Justice—This most heavily guarded 
  district has only one entrance—from the District of the 
  Legion—and is the headquarters of the Justice and Security 
  Directorates and the location of the Nightwatch Citadel, 
  Lookshy’s high-security prison facility.
  The Justice Directorate headquarters was completed 10 
  years ago to great acclaim. It is a pyramidal bright-indigo crystal 
  grown out of the earth using what was the last dying gasps of 
  the Overtir Maga, a sentient First Age architectural growth 
  engine, an action that depleted its power in a single use. The 
  building stands 300 feet high, with a 600-foot-wide base.
  The Nightwatch Citadel is a domed two-story black 
  and silver building. All its prisoners are kept in locked cells 
  (one man per cell) located in underground cell blocks. Justice 
  Directorate agents in guard towers and fenced checkpoints 
  keep the building under constant surveillance, and skyships 
  always loom overhead. The Citadel is a level-3 Earth-aspected 
  manse whose hearthstone is a stone of judgment.
  Residential Areas—Residential accommodations of all 
  types are located in these areas. Mansions, estates and the 
  compounds of the Gentes occupy the majority of the north-
  ernmost sectors, while apartments and smaller dwellings tend 
  to be found in the southern areas. The westernmost sector is 
  host to various ambassadorial mansions and commemorative 
  parks, and this sector is under heavy guard and constantly 
  patrolled. The eastern sectors house poorer families, with the 
  northern and southern sections housing richer and poorer 
  residents, respectively, and are patrolled by ﬁ ve scales of 
  justicars each. 
  THE OLD CITY
  The Old City has never fallen to an enemy invader. 
  Even the raksha, who devastated the rest of the Deheleshen, 
  could not breach its fortiﬁ cations. As a result, most of the 
  buildings in the Old City are, with a few minor restorations, 
  just as they were before the Contagion. Most of the buildings, 
  once fortresses and mansions, are now given over to various 
  government agencies for use as administrative ofﬁ ces.
  Lookshy Manse—This heavily armored and equipped 
  fortress is both the zenith of Deheleshen military design 
  and a marked departure from the popular trends of the day. 
  Its minarets and spheres stand out as a strikingly discordant 
  design even in the present Age.
  Lookshy Manse is a fortress intended to be both a launch-
  ing point for long-range weapons and a last-stand stronghold 
  and retreat point in case an enemy would somehow breach 
  the Old City. Essence cannons have been carefully camou-
  ﬂ aged within the structure’s ornamentation, while the walls 
  themselves are jade-fortiﬁ ed steel. Lookshy Manse is a level-5 
  Earth manse. It is also an entrance to the caverns and the 
  stores of weaponry that lie beneath the city. 
  
  74
  The Aviary—Another intact Deheleshen structure, 
  the Aviary is a towering obelisk with numerous outer plat-
  forms and doors running up and down each side. The Sky 
  Guard’s skyships berth here, with hundreds of technicians 
  on hand for repairs and maintenance. The lower platforms 
  are reserved as construction zones for new skyships, while 
  the inner structure of the obelisk accommodates ofﬁ ces and 
  repair garages. Several lift tubes provide access to each area. 
  The lowest sub-basement is an entrance to the caverns.
  The Aviary has enough space within and without 
  to allow Lookshy’s entire fleet to dock. It is a level-5 
  manse, Air-aspected, and its hearthstone is the gem of 
  the wind’s secrets.
  The Teocalla of Tu Yu—The Teocalla of Tu Yu is the 
  ceremonial center of Lookshy. It is a massive pyramidal 
  structure housing Tu Yu and his functionaries and guests.
  THE LOWER CITY
  The Lower City sits 500 feel below the Old City on the 
  promontory. The district is protected from the sea by a high, 
  ancient wall and a massive citadel.
  This district never sleeps. Workers constantly transfer 
  cargo to points in the Lower City and the Warehouse District. 
  Even when the commercial docks close for the evening, 
  maintenance personnel repair and reﬁ t triremes under the 
  light of sunstone lamps.
  Few people live in the Lower City on a permanent 
  basis. Most housing is short-term for sailors and their crews, 
  while Lookshy’s dockworkers usually live in the city above. 
  As such, the economy in the district is generally restricted 
  to lunch bars, taverns, teahouses, nautical equipment stores 
  and craftsmen devoted to the maritime trades. 
  Forty-seven lift tubes run from the Lower City to the 
  Port District, with roughly half of these fully functional at 
  any given time. The lifts are Essence-driven elevators, the 
  engines of which are mounted to the retaining wall sur-
  rounding the city-section of the promontory. A lift working 
  to full capacity can carry up to seven tons and can be used 
  to carry equipment, machinery, cargo or passengers. The 
  trip lasts between one and 10 minutes (assuming it does not 
  break down, which is by no means rare), depending on the 
  weight of the cargo and the particular lift’s state of repair. 
  Most lifts have a cargo chamber of 25 feet by 30 feet, while 
  a dozen or so smaller models exist that can accommodate a 
  dozen or so people. During the hours of peak use, one might 
  wait two to three hours in the queue, while after midnight 
  the wait is signiﬁ cantly less—perhaps one hour. Soldiers and 
  governmental ofﬁ cials of rank may, with ample justiﬁ cation, 
  jump forward or skip the queue altogether. The lift lines are 
  a fact of life in Lookshy. Most accept it with a shrug.
  Some residents prefer the system of stairs, ramps and 
  ladders running all along the retaining wall. Anywhere 
  from several dozen to caravans of hundreds of people can 
  always be seen snaking their way up or down the promon-
  tory. These stairs, like the tubes, begin at several spots in the 
  Lower City, but all terminate at the Sava Heedra Terminal 
  in the Port District.
  Those who do not wish to be seen entering the Upper City 
  may attempt to scale the retaining wall, which is a (Dexterity 
  + Athletics) task, difﬁ culty 4, in good weather.
  Port Citadel—The last line of defense between sea 
  invaders and the Upper City, the Port Citadel is an imposing 
  structure, nearly as massive as the Lookshy Manse, built into 
  the blue granite walls of the Lookshy Promontory. Naval forces 
  and talons of soldiers from other units man the Citadel’s 17 
  towers, each one mounted with Essence cannons. 
  The Port Citadel is a level-3 Water manse, and its 
  hearthstone is a freedom stone.
  THE CAVERNS OF LOOKSHY
  The Lookshy Promontory is honeycombed with caves 
  and tunnels. Some descend far below sea level, while others 
  extend for miles eastward into the wilderness. The Seventh 
  Legion uses most of these caves for the storage of emergency 
  supplies, foodstuffs, weapons and other caches deemed neces-
  sary for an eventual siege. Many First Age weapons, some 
  secret, some unfathomable in power, are stored in caverns far 
  from the city under heavy guard and securely warded. 
  The passages beneath the city and beyond also provide 
  a means of communication. Couriers familiar with the 
  caverns’ twists and turns carry messages between districts. 
  One passage leading eastward extends beyond the Lookshy 
  Wall to a hidden redoubt. Lookout points have been placed 
  throughout the caverns, especially those that run outside the 
  city itself. These outer-city points double as listening stations 
  that monitor the Lookshy Promontory at all times. 
  Several large chambers function as secret training facilities 
  for Lookshy Special Forces. Some of these chambers contain 
  exact replicas of signiﬁ cant buildings throughout the Scav-
  enger Lands and are used as staging grounds for mock assault 
  in preparation for an invasion, should one become necessary. 
  The largest chamber, deep underground, contains an enormous 
  underground lake where covert naval exercises are staged.
  THE HINTERLAND
  The hinterlands east of Lookshy to the Lookshy Wall 
  are sparsely settled alluvial plain communities, with man-
  aged ﬁ elds, well-built modular bridges and wide, paved roads. 
  Home Guard regulars are stationed in guardhouses on out of 
  sight side roads, where training ﬁ elds are also hidden from 
  casual sight.
  The land has been developed with a military purpose in 
  mind. Streets are laid out for optimum defensive advantage. 
  Roofs are ﬂ at to accommodate lookouts and ambushing sol-
  diers. Drainage and irrigation ditches are made of concrete 
  and can easily be converted into defensive trenches. Even 
  copses of trees are carefully spaced and maintained to provide 
  for optimum defensive use.
  Hinterland communities are led by elected elders and 
  their assigned examiner inferior. Each community contains 
  
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  CHAPTER THREE • WARLORDS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  a public building, each identical, that functions as a court of 
  justice and permanent town hall. These are 90-foot-square 
  pillared halls made of Lookshy’s trademark porous blue granite. 
  Public baths of bitumen-sealed brick grace each as well.
  A few farming communities exist in the now dry riv-
  erbed where the Ehloze River once ﬂ owed. The Ehloze was 
  obliterated by the raksha during the Contagion, and even 
  the work of Lookshy’s greatest engineers cannot make water 
  ﬂ ow there again. Farming communities use river silt as a 
  natural fertilizer. Communities with wealthy patrons possess 
  impressive irrigation and ﬂ oodwork technology.
  Miners of agate, carnelian and blue granite live fur-
  ther east in the furthest and the most heavily garrisoned 
  communities.
  THE LOOKSHY WALL
  The Lookshy Wall stretches across the promontory, 
  limiting all land access from the East. The wall is 30 feet 
  tall, with heavily fortiﬁ ed guard towers every ﬁ ve miles. The 
  three public gates are continuously monitored and guarded. 
  The three gates are: the Blue-Gray Sea Gate, overlooking 
  the ocean, the Blue-Green River Gate, which looks out over 
  the Yanaze, and the Forest-Green Center Gate, the largest of 
  the gates, which sits midway between the other two. At least 
  four hidden sally gates exist, but their locations are secret 
  (and can be determined by the Storyteller).
  THE MARUKAN ALLIANCE
  The Marukan Alliance is a loosely knit band of in-
  dividualists who have eschewed conventional civilization 
  in favor of life in small, fortiﬁ ed ranch compounds (called 
  range towns) of 50–60 people. The Marukani are famous 
  for their ruggedness, for their frank manner and for being 
  master horseman.
  While there has been no ofﬁ cial census, there are be-
  tween 600 and 900 such settlements in the region south of 
  Deren’s Ford and north of Thorns. These communities contain 
  extensive pasturage for horses, cattle and sheep, as well as 
  fruit and vegetable gardens and ﬁ elds for the cultivation of 
  grain. One solitary city, Celeren, serves as the administrative 
  center of the nation. Together, these communities form the 
  Marukan Alliance.
  THE RANGE TOWNS
  Rivers, forests, savannas, ﬁ elds of tall grasses and wild 
  grains, even twin fjords, can all be found in Marukan. The 
  rivers are usually fordable and cannot accommodate water-
  borne vehicles other than rafts or canoes. Hundreds of range 
  towns dot the landscapes.
  Range towns are diverse in design, as each is an organic 
  settlement built around speciﬁ c trade and production needs. 
  Some feature vast ﬁ elds of cotton or wheat, while others 
  focus on raising cattle. All maintain large stabling facilities 
  and raise, train and trade horses.
  Ten to ﬁ fteen large, wooden, two-story stables are usu-
  ally built in a square or hexagon in the middle of the town. 
  Horses graze in the large grassy area in the center. An outer 
  ring of smaller longhouse residences is usually built in a 
  similar fashion 40–50 feet out from the stables, forming a 
  kind of outer wall (all doors face the stables). A single outer 
  reinforced gate keeps out wild animals and brigands. Within, 
  though sometimes outside the walls, one can usually ﬁ nd a 
  general store, which sells everything from plug iron to used 
  books to odd First Age machinery. Each town also has two or 
  three high stone watchtowers and a stable-armory containing 
  Lookshyan swords and ﬁ rewands.
  Some of the southernmost range towns have been 
  reinforced with Lookshy’s assistance, in anticipation of an 
  assault from Thorns.
  CELEREN
  Celeren is the only Marukan city. It is located on the 
  edge of the Confederation of Rivers’ southern border and 
  is the closest city of reasonable size to Thorns. Celeren was 
  Lookshy, a Magnitude 4 Dominion
  Military: 4 
  Government: 3 Culture: 1
  Abilities: Awareness 2 (Heliograph +1, Superior Dragon-Blooded Diplomats +2), Bureaucracy 2, Integrity 2 
  (Steadfast Ideals +2), Investigation 2 (Due Diligence +2), Occult 2 (First Age Weaponry +3), Performance 3 
  (Rousing Rhetoric +1, Sabre-Rattling +1), Presence 2, Stealth 1 (Sabotage +3), War 4 (Defense +1)
  Virtues: Compassion 1, Conviction 3, Temperance 3, Valor 4
  Virtue Flaw: Valor Current Limit: 3
  Willpower: 8
  Bonus Points: 20 External Bonus Points: 6
  Notes: Lookshy’s noble families, the Gentes, would make excellent sources for Dragon-Blooded savant and sorcerer 
  characters with Legitimacy. Its bonus points are tied up in the third dot of Performance and Specialties, while its 
  external bonus points — from the Confederation of Rivers — have been spent on the eighth dot of Willpower.
  The honor, loyalty and pride of Lookshy is legendary, and the idea of failing to ﬁ ght to defend their own is, in its 
  citizens’ eyes, utterly absurd. Its Virtue Flaw causes the city-state never to back down from a battle.
  
  76
  once used by the Realm as a launching point for its various 
  invasions into the Scavenger Lands. Once the city was lib-
  erated by the Seventh Legion, the Marukani took the city 
  apart, stripping it of all Realm embellishments.
  When the time came to rebuild Celeren, much was 
  left as it stood. Although new buildings were erected, sev-
  eral areas were simply swept up and earmarked for open-air 
  marketplaces. In one instance, the former site of a complex 
  of mansions once used for imperial administration was 
  simply covered with a great mound of dirt. It is now known 
  as Backson’s Hill and is thought to be a prison for the evil 
  ghosts of imperial soldiers killed long ago.
  While technically a city by population, few traditional 
  buildings can be found in Celeren. Shops, civic centers, 
  temples and amphitheaters are all open-air affairs that operate 
  rain or shine. The city is walled, but the gates rarely close, 
  as riders are always coming and going.
  Most Marukani do not visit Celeren on any regular basis, 
  except for the Spring Market.
  SPRING MARKET
  The highlight of the year is Spring Market, a celebration 
  of Marukan culture from horse-breeding exhibitions and 
  races to local arts and crafts exhibits and enough singing, 
  dancing and drinking to ﬁ ll several weeks of revelry. There is 
  a carnival, an annual yearling auction, contests to determine 
  who has grown the largest melon or raised the fattest pig. For 
  a ﬁ nale, the Marukani put out all of the ﬁ res and honor their 
  dead under the light of the stars in a riotous nationwide wake. 
  Wagons are stuffed with the remains and favorite possessions 
  of their honored dead and sent in trains to Sijan, where they 
  are interred in ancestral mausoleums. Heroic and otherwise 
  famous horses receive the same honors.
  The Marukani are famous drinkers, but most require a 
  number of days to recover from the Spring Market festivi-
  ties. Tradition holds that business is generally suspended 
  for 10 days following the celebration, though enterprising 
  folks often use this time to gain a market advantage over 
  neighboring competition.
  THE PEOPLE
  The Marukani like to do things themselves. They shoe 
  their own horses and build their own houses. They make their 
  own clothes and don’t like to take charity, always insisting 
  on giving as much as they get in any business dealings. They 
  also don’t use slaves, considering the very practice a black 
  eye on the region’s history. Marukani are not scholars, and 
  the few Dragon-Blooded they produce are usually ill suited 
  to sorcery. On the other hand, they are very good with a 
  whip or a ﬁ rewand. They talk little, eat a lot and curse up a 
  storm if enraged. They are drinkers and brawlers, and they 
  never go anywhere without their horses, their pipes and 
  their cowhide hats.
  Marukani are self-starters and pioneers, unafraid to stake 
  their lives on their own freedom and that of their nation. 
  They also love their horses, a tradition that dates back to 
  before the Marukani were united as a nation and existed 
  in virtual servitude under ﬁ rst the Shogunate’s imperious 
  daimyos (who constantly warred over the region’s fertile 
  farmland) and then the Realm’s iron hand. Neighboring 
  nations joke that the Marukani treat their horses better 
  than they treat their own mothers, but it’s no joke. There 
  are more statues of beloved, heroic horses in Celeren than 
  of “horselords.”
  The Marukani believe that a man’s word is sacred. To 
  defame someone is a crime, though only punishable by the 
  maligned, who is expected to repay the slight with some 
  appropriate action. In such cases, the law steps aside and 
  allows justice to take its course. If the maligned can subdue 
  her defamer (clan members can help), she is free to take 
  one action that will balance the slight done to her. This is 
  a delicate matter, as some are poor judges of such things. 
  Branding a man for insulting your prize horse is acceptable 
  (though a bit harsh), while whipping someone half to death 
  for overly maligning one’s old, rickety wagon is not. (A 
  slap in the face would do ﬁ ne.) To do nothing after being 
  insulted is to invite scorn, though to react inappropriately 
  is even worse. Overreacting can lead to clan feuds as each 
  family tries to raise the bar higher until either they see 
  reason and just agree to hate one another or the conﬂ ict 
  escalates to actual crime (in which case the authorities 
  take over the matter).
  The Marukani frown upon slavery. Captives taken 
  in battle are commonly held for ransom and taken on as 
  employees if ransom cannot be paid. These servants are 
  extended certain rights, paid a fair wage, may own property 
  and can eventually buy their own freedom. Under Marukan 
  law, this period of indenture can last only four generations, 
  though most earn their freedom much sooner.
  Marukani wear clothes that are well made and 
  durable. Most provincials wear heavy garments such as 
  overalls, chaps and smocks while working, but they trade 
  such clothes in at the first opportunity for comfortable 
  wool garments. Celeren styles range from colored silks 
  and finer wool to soft lambskin. Men and women wear 
  trousers, loose shirts and wide-brimmed hats to keep out 
  the sun. Ornate and sometimes ostentatious clothing is 
  common—even armor tends to be emblazoned with family 
  crests and other ornamentation.
  The Marukani eat fast meals of grilled or boiled beef and 
  bread, with some gravy. They don’t go in for spices and don’t 
  savor their food. Food is considered fuel while on the range. 
  Only during the Spring Market do they indulge in delicious 
  dishes for their own sake (which they do with gusto).
  RELIGION
  The Marukani are not overly concerned with the wor-
  ship of spirits or gods. While they participate in a version 
  of the traditional cult of the dead, few of them consider it a 
  vital part of their daily lives, which are more concerned with 
  
  77
  CHAPTER THREE • WARLORDS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  the state of the land, the speed of their horses and whether 
  invaders will appear over the horizon.
  Some spirits extract offerings in exchange for decent 
  weather conditions, but beyond this kind of relationship, 
  the Marukani have little interest in worship.
  Most Marukani who do worship a god worship Hiparkes, 
  patron of horses and their riders. This spirit, who often 
  takes the form of a noble gray stallion, watches over horses 
  throughout the region. He favors the Marukani and their 
  friends for the superior treatment and successful breeding of 
  equines. His servants frequent the Spring Market to judge 
  the year’s brood.
  CLANS
  Each clan is led by an elder, speciﬁ cally the oldest 
  living member, who dictates how life is to be lived by all 
  clan members. The wise sayings and salt-of-the-earth man-
  ner of the elder set the tone of family business and how 
  family members conduct themselves in public. Elders also 
  settle disputes between clan members and may reproach 
  those who mistreat other members of the clan as they see 
  ﬁ t. While most incidents are minor and result in minor 
  punishments, some serious crimes against the family have 
  earned banishment or even hanging.
  Most Marukan families see no purpose in fame and 
  fortune, being content to live off the land, protect their own 
  and sell of their surplus. A few, however, have become rich, 
  famous or infamous on account of uncharacteristic ambition, 
  wickedness or simply the wiles of circumstance.
  Mayhiros: One of the only signiﬁ cant Dragon-Blooded 
  Marukan families, the Mayhiros are certainly the most 
  powerful. Through a series of perhaps underhanded business 
  deals, the Mayhiros gained control of the Celeren Manse, 
  which they have since made their ancestral home. Some 
  other families take issue with this clan’s preeminence, which 
  seems to exclude many other clans from the luxuries the 
  Mayhiros have claimed, but most have no interest in the 
  clan’s riches or its closely guarded position as dominators of 
  Marukan politics. In addition, those who have attempted 
  to bring the issue to the Council of Elders have found out 
  the hard way that the Mayhiros do not tolerate meddling 
  in family business.
  The Mayhiros are petty dilettantes and bullies, but they 
  are not soft. Some of the greatest Marukan horsemen have 
  been of this clan.
  Arbogassu: One of the oldest Marukan clans, the Ar-
  bogassu have deﬁ ned the Marukan way of life for centuries, 
  living off the land, ﬁ ghting for their nation’s freedom and 
  producing ﬁ ne horses and riders. Considered the ideal, this 
  clan has taken part in many historic events, often heroically. 
  Its members live throughout a number of range towns 40 miles 
  south of Celeren. The Arbogassu have never produced any 
  Dragon-Blooded, and family tradition prohibits marrying 
  outside the family (most marry cousins, but brother-sister 
  marriages are not forbidden). Legend holds that this clan 
  has the ability to communicate with horses (most have Ride 
  3 or above).
  Turrin: The Turrin clan members are scoundrels, inter-
  preting the Marukan ideal as a free pass to take what they 
  want, say what they please and run amok wherever they go. 
  Having long since abandoned their range town (some would 
  call it being evicted), they have roamed from place to place 
  in their busted-up wagon trains, creating havoc across the 
  countryside. Some are imprisoned for various minor crimes, 
  others have long since been hanged, but most have evaded 
  the law thus far.
  HORSELORDS
  Much of Marukan culture centers around the horse. 
  The economy is based on the sale and care of horses and 
  the training of Confederation horsemen. This requires 
  careful breeding, maintenance of horse-care facilities and 
  scrupulous attention to details such as feed quality and 
  proper horseshoe ﬁ t. It is not a life that anyone else would 
  accept, let alone prefer. It is difﬁ cult and frustrating and 
  potentially ruinous.
  Marukani train their children in horsemanship from 
  a young age. As their lives revolve around the creatures, 
  most aspire to at least proﬁ ciency with handling them. The 
  Marukani do not treat their horses as pets or simple beasts 
  of burden, but rather as friends and loyal companions no less 
  beloved than their closest friends and family.
  While the Marukani understand that other nations do 
  not see horses as they do (and consider them the poorer for 
  it), they cannot abide those who abuse or misuse horses and 
  will not trust them. “The man who beats his horse would not 
  balk at any betrayal,” a popular phrase goes.
  GOVERNMENT
  The Marukani are governed by a Council of Elders 
  that convenes at the Celeren Manse. The Council is led by 
  the Mayhiros clan elder, who has generously “donated” the 
  facilities so that he can have easy access to all proceedings 
  and whatever elders he would attempt to sway. While the 
  Council concerns itself with many internal legal concerns, 
  its main focus is on foreign diplomacy.
  Members of the Council are elected by each range town 
  or rancher collective and serve a maximum of 10 years, though 
  most resign after one to return to the range. Elections occur 
  when one community’s elder dies, retires or resigns, resulting 
  in a constant (though at times slow) turnover. 
  CIRCUIT RIDERS
  The Council employs swift circuit riders to deliver the 
  results of deliberations and other important announcements, 
  disseminating news swiftly to even the most remote range 
  town. Circuit riders are also postmen, border patrol soldiers 
  and, most signiﬁ cantly, the primary law-enforcement agent 
  of the Marukan Alliance.
  
  78
  Circuit riders are licensed to treat miscreants how they 
  see ﬁ t. Few are overly cruel, but most have an intuitive ap-
  proach to justice, devising imaginative punishments that 
  more often than not perfectly ﬁ t the scoundrel’s crime. Ac-
  cused criminals may request a trial by a jury of elders, but 
  circuit riders need not grant one. Most prefer to assign swift 
  sentences before moving on to another town. As such, they 
  only rarely sentence someone to imprisonment, while whip-
  pings, brandings, ﬁ nes and even death, for extreme cases, are 
  common. Crimes internal to one clan are frequently left in 
  the hands of the clan elder to resolve, no matter the severity. 
  While circuit riders are not known to be the most vigilant 
  in pursuing petty criminals, they are famous for driving off 
  invaders, rounding up horse thieves and bringing the odd 
  murderous varmint to justice.
  POLITICAL CONCERNS
  The Marukani have always had problems with foreign 
  states that wish to conquer them, barbarians who want to 
  slaughter them and steal their horses and spirits who simply 
  do not understand them.
  Lookshy: Lookshy is Marukan’s greatest ally (and cus-
  tomer). The nation’s alliance with Lookshy has led to the 
  greatest windfall in its history. The Marukani rely on Lookshy 
  for arms, training and protection from the Mask of Winters. 
  Lookshy’s largest redoubt is in Marukan lands.
  Thorns: Celeren is the city closest to Thorns, and this 
  worries the Marukani, who fear the Mask of Winters will set 
  his sights on them. Of particular worry is the fact that the 
  Deathlord has discussed military alliances with many smaller 
  nearby states but has not approached the Marukani.
  Nexus: Several Marukan range towns supply horses to 
  the Guild but have little interest in pursuing close relations 
  with a people so diametrically different from themselves. On 
  one recent occasion, the Council of Elders issued a letter of 
  refusal to the Council of Entities, which wished to divert 
  several slave shipments through Murakan lands. Since then, 
  there has been little ofﬁ cial contact with Nexus.
  MILITARY
  While some consider the Marukan Alliance a disor-
  ganized society of ranchers ripe for conquest, most of the 
  Marukani’s neighbors know that the Marukani possess one 
  of the most skilled and dangerous armies in the Scavenger 
  Lands. In addition, most of their weapons and armor come 
  from Lookshy and are of the highest quality.
  Due to the continuing military alliance with Lookshy, 
  several fortresses and at least one redoubt (rumor speaks of a 
  secret one hidden in one of the Murakan forests) have been 
  placed in Marukan territory. Here, Marukani and Lookshyan 
  soldiers train and exchange battle tactics. These points also 
  serve as Lookshyan embassies.
  The Marukan armed forces consists of two branches, 
  the Guards and the Cavalry (which include lancers, arrows 
  and hammers). Guards and hammers are the only full-time 
  soldiers. The others are conscripted from the range towns 
  nearest to troubled locations, as the need arises. Local mili-
  tias, which usually amount to most of a range town’s adult 
  population, consist of lancers and arrows, led by one or two 
  full time soldiers who visit periodically.
  GUARD SCALE
  D e s c r i p t i o n : 
  Guards are typically 
  heavily armed infan-
  try with light, strong 
  armor, small bucklers, 
  spears and swords. They 
  are primarily used in 
  offensive maneuvers 
  such as frontal assaults 
  and sieges, as well as 
  city defense.
  Commanding Ofﬁ cer: 
  Varies
  Armor Color: Black 
  and tan
  Motto: “For Marukan!”
  General Makeup: 25 
  medium infantrymen 
  in lamellar armor, 
  equipped with spears, chopping swords and bucklers.
  Overall Quality: Good
  Magnitude: 2
  Drill: 3
  Close Combat Attack: 3 Close Combat Damage: 3
  Ranged Attack: — Ranged Damage: —
  Endurance: 6 Might: 0 
  Armor: 2 
  Valor: 3
  Formation: Such scales are to be found in outposts throughout 
  the Marukan Alliance.
  LANCER SCALE
  Description: Lancers 
  are highly mobile skirmish-
  ers on light, fast horses. They 
  fight saddle-to-foot with 
  swords, maces, morning-
  stars and short spears.
  Commanding Ofﬁ cer: Varies
  Armor Color: Varies
  Motto: None
  General Makeup: 25 light 
  cavalrymen in lamellar 
  armor, each armed with a 
  short spear and a backup 
  hand-to-hand weapon.
  Overall Quality: Good
  Magnitude: 2
  Drill: 3
  Close Combat Attack: 3 
  
  79
  CHAPTER THREE • WARLORDS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  Close Combat Damage: 2
  Ranged Attack: — Ranged Damage: —
  Endurance: 6 
  Might: 0 
  Armor: 2 
  Valor: 3
  Formation: These horsemen are Marukan locals conscripted 
  to ﬁ ght off invaders.
  ARROWS SCALE
  Description: Arrows are horse-
  borne archers who carry composite 
  bows or ﬁ rewands.
  Commanding Ofﬁ cer: Varies
  Armor Color: Varies
  Motto: None
  General Makeup: 25 archers in la-
  mellar armor, armed with composite 
  bows or ﬁ rewands.
  Overall Quality: Good
  Magnitude: 2
  Drill: 3
  Close Combat Attack: — 
  Close Combat Damage: —
  Ranged Attack: 3 
  Ranged Dam-
  age: 2
  Endurance: 6 Might: 0 
  Armor: 2 
  Valor: 2
  Formation: These archers are 
  Marukan locals conscripted to ﬁ ght 
  off invaders.
  HAMMER SCALE
  Description: Hammers are 
  cataphractoi wearing lamellar 
  armor, armed with maces and 
  lances.
  Commanding Ofﬁ cer: Varies
  Armor Color: Black and tan
  Motto: “Strike!”
  General Makeup: 25 profession-
  al light cavalrymen in lamellar 
  armor, armed with lances and 
  maces.
  Overall Quality: Good
  Magnitude: 2
  Drill: 4
  Close Combat Attack: 3 
  Close Combat Damage: 5
  Ranged Attack: — R a n g e d 
  Damage: —
  Endurance: 8 Might: 0 
  Armor: 3 Valor: 4
  Formation: Such scales are to be found in outposts throughout 
  the Marukan Alliance.
  The Marukan Alliance, a Magnitude 3 Dominion
  Military: 2 
  Government: 1 Culture: 3
  Abilities: Awareness 3 (Geographic Knowledge +1), 
  Craft 3 (Horse-Related +3), Integrity 2 (Tight-Knit 
  Culture +2), Investigation 1, Performance 2, Presence 
  2, Stealth 2 (Riding Raids +1), War 3 (Cavalry +3)
  Virtues: Compassion 3, Conviction 3, Temperance 
  2, Valor 2 
  Virtue Flaw: Conviction Current Limit: 3
  Willpower: 6
  Bonus Points: 15 External Bonus Points: 8
  Notes: It is likely that savants could come from the 
  leading clans, but as governmental structure and hi-
  erarchy in Marukan are loose at best, being a sorcerer 
  is more difﬁ cult. The Alliance’s bonus points are tied 
  up in one dot of War and the specialties. Lookshy’s 
  military support has granted Marukan further military 
  resources (their external bonus points account for the 
  last two dots of Marukan’s War score).
  The independent, idealistic Marukani love freedom 
  above all else, and their Virtue Flaw demonstrates 
  their unwillingness to bind themselves too closely. 
  In Limit Break, they will not take orders even from 
  their country’s leaders unless they coincide with their 
  own desires.
  
  80
  
  81
  CHAPTER FOUR • THE CITY OF TEMPLES
  CHAPTER FOUR
  CHAPTER FOUR
  THE CITY OF TEMPLES
  THE CITY OF TEMPLES
  Called the City of Temples or the House of Festivals 
  by some, known simply as Decadence to others, cited as an 
  example of god-ruled slavery by Immaculates across Creation, 
  cursed by the Deathlords and famous throughout the Scav-
  enger Lands, Great Forks is one of the most prosperous and 
  enlightened cities in the Confederation of Rivers. Known 
  for tolerance, art, culture and learning, but also for revels, 
  drug production, slavery and direct rule by immortal gods, 
  Great Forks is a favorite destination of those looking for a 
  good time—if not necessarily a relaxing one.
  THE HISTORY OF GREAT FORKS
  Great Forks came into being almost 500 years ago, in 
  RY 278, when three groups of refugees from ongoing regional 
  conﬂ icts arrived simultaneously at the conﬂ uence of the Roll-
  ing and Yellow Rivers. Each band of refugees had been granted 
  a deed to the land by one of the nations that had laid claim 
  to the area, and each was accompanied by a powerful spirit 
  that had protected the refugees during the journey.
  THE THREE SPIRITS
  The ﬁ rst spirit was Spinner of Glorious Tales, often 
  shortened to Talespinner, who protected a group that had 
  ﬂ ed from the fallen petty kingdom of Arosh. Arosh had 
  been a prosperous patch of land, watered by the Sandy 
  River and serving as a trading nexus for both the Laris and 
  Velen administrative districts. It was destroyed when they 
  came to war, and the breaking of the dikes at Lowground 
  and Sutter’s Marsh ﬂ ooded the land between them, leaving 
  Arosh and other kingdoms prey to the rising waters and the 
  feuding armies. The few thousand surviving citizens turned 
  to the god they had always known as a patron of travelers 
  and wanderers to lead them, but never truly accepted life 
  on the road. They were among the most desperate of the 
  refugees to settle again.
  The second spirit was Weaver of Dreams of Victory, 
  more commonly known as Dreamweaver. It chose its people 
  rather than them choosing it, appearing to them while they 
  were already on the road. The people, the Delathri, had 
  
  82
  come from a group of villages to the east, driven from their 
  homes by the encroaching Wyld, and had seen their god 
  eviscerated and devoured before their eyes by the Fair Folk. 
  Praying and sacriﬁ cing on the way to any protective spirit 
  who would spread her aegis over them, they were overjoyed 
  when Dreamweaver appeared to them in their dreams and 
  promised to lead them to safety and to a new and greater 
  home. The Delathri were already accustomed to having 
  multiple local leaders but being guided by a single divinity. 
  Of the refugees, they were the most willing to join with other 
  groups while being ruled by gods.
  The third spirit was Shield of a Different Day, called 
  Dayshield by ordinary mortals. Dayshield had led its fol-
  lowers from the beginning; they had come from the north 
  of the Scavenger Lands, from the city of Semaden. Plague 
  had struck the city, and a shadowland began to take root in 
  its graveyards as the bodies of the dead crowded each other. 
  Dayshield saw the futility of the battle against the disease 
  and called on those who were still strong to follow her and 
  gain a new land for their own. Many of those who accepted 
  her leadership were members of the city guard or the army 
  and their families, lending a military order and nature to 
  her group of followers. They would gladly have turned to 
  Lookshy, but Dayshield herself was wary of the city-state’s 
  order, fearing she would not receive proper worship if her 
  refugees settled there.
  As the three groups readied for battle over the land that 
  they had traveled so long to ﬁ nd, the spirits negotiated. The 
  area where they had met lay north and east of the shadowland 
  now known as Walker’s Realm, an area of land where the 
  fragile grass grows through pale bones and no winds trouble 
  the still air. This piece of land, a burial ground where the 
  bodies of Contagion victims were piled in mass graves, was 
  ruled at the time by the Deathlord Princess Magniﬁ cent with 
  Lips of Coral and Robes of Black Feathers. The Deathlord 
  was ill-disposed toward her neighbors, which was a major 
  cause of the region’s abandonment, and the reason why those 
  neighbors had been so quick to yield an area of fertile land 
  to these wandering refugees.
  The spirits knew that a war between their people would 
  leave the victor too weak to withstand an attack from the 
  shadowland. In fact, the act of war and the resulting deaths 
  would only strengthen the Princess Magniﬁ cent and give her 
  more troops to swell her armies. The gods also found that they 
  had much in common: All three of them wanted worshipers 
  of a particular sort, ones who could tell stories, who could 
  dream dreams and who could build cities based on visions. 
  Each of them looked at the people who followed the other 
  two. Talespinner heard the stories of heroism and wander-
  ing warriors that Dayshield’s folk told; Dayshield listened 
  to the lessons of defense and protection that the old among 
  Dreamweaver’s folk taught the young; and Dreamweaver saw 
  how Talespinner’s refugees shared their stories to create a 
  greater dream they could all enjoy. They agreed to share the 
  lands they all claimed and to make their peoples one.
  It was a comparatively simple thing, in the end, to merge 
  the three peoples. They were so glad to have found a home, 
  and not to be facing immediate bloody war, that they were 
  mostly prepared to accept the worship of two more deities and 
  to have to share the lands with the other refugees. (As there 
  were comparatively few of them at the time, and the land was 
  rich and fertile—prime territory, if not for the shadowland 
  to the northeast—it could have been a lot worse.) While a 
  few malcontents objected, and carried their grudges down 
  to later generations, almost all of the refugees accepted the 
  will of their gods and turned their attention to building and 
  settling their new home.
  THE DEATHLORD’S FLIGHT
  Talespinner and Dreamweaver together created a story 
  of a mighty victory over the Princess Magniﬁ cent, while 
  Dayshield warded the people and her spirit allies behind 
  wards of invisibility and mists of illusion. The tale that the 
  two spirits created was part dream, part lie and part reality. 
  Spinner of Glorious Tales told of a simple hero who found 
  the secret to the Deathlord’s destruction, while Weaver of 
  Dreams of Victory prepared to spread that secret across the 
  Scavenger Lands, so that any child who desired might slay 
  forever the Princess Magniﬁ cent with Lips of Coral and 
  Robes of Black Feathers.
  Had the Princess Magniﬁ cent deigned to notice their 
  work while they were preparing the tale, she might well 
  have been able to halt the spell, but she did not. Instead, 
  she was convinced to go elsewhere under fear of her ﬁ nal 
  demise and was driven away to humble herself before her 
  Neverborn masters. If she harbors any resentment toward the 
  three guardian spirits, she hides it well, lest they conclude 
  their story.
  THE RAISING OF GREAT FORKS
  With the Deathlord gone, the Three set about creating 
  a city for their people to inhabit. Dayshield laid out fortiﬁ ca-
  tions that had risen in the dreams of great generals, while 
  Dreamweaver led all the people in one united dream of a 
  mighty future and Talespinner told stories of previous great 
  cities. The Three also sent word to lesser godlings, God-
  Bloods, elementals and spirits, bidding them to assist in the 
  task and offering them home and shelter in the future city. 
  Within a year and a day, Great Forks arose from what had 
  been plains and beaches. Within a decade of its founding, 
  the city had grown prosperous and united enough to survive 
  the demise of the three states that had ceded this territory 
  to the three refugee groups. 
  The growing Great Forks avoided the Realm expedition 
  in RY 301, being far enough south that the imperial troops 
  didn’t even come close. Instead, the city afﬁ rmed its ties to 
  the Guild, acquired a plentiful supply of slaves to work the 
  ﬁ elds and built strong links for its export of intoxicants and 
  drugs. (The city’s famous vineyards and its qat, marijuana 
  and tobacco ﬁ elds had already been planted, though were 
  
  83
  CHAPTER FOUR • THE CITY OF TEMPLES
  far smaller than their modern expanse.) Trade routes were 
  quickly forged between Nexus and Great Forks, and between 
  Great Forks and the rest of the Scavenger Lands. The city 
  also increased its dependence on its supernatural denizens, as 
  spirits from elsewhere in the River Province took advantage 
  of the Three’s offer of shelter in return for service. God-
  Blooded children, as well as those infants who had only a 
  dash of spirit blood, became more common as the years went 
  by, and semi-divine traits grew to be a source of pride in the 
  city rather than grounds for ostracism.
  Great Forks similarly managed to avoid the Arczeckh 
  Horde, being far enough north to escape its ravages. The 
  city was a charter member of the Confederation of Rivers, 
  signing the articles in RY 557. While it didn’t provide the 
  level of military support that some other states did, it was a 
  source of logistical assistance and medical drugs, together with 
  jade to bankroll operations—always going to great lengths 
  to maintain good relations with its neighbors.
  The greatest tragedy to strike Great Forks, and the one 
  from which it is still recovering, was the Battle of Mishaka 
  in RY 754. While the Confederation forces emerged victori-
  ous from that battle, the army of Great Forks was wiped out 
  almost to a man. Of the 3,000 Great Forks troops sent to 
  Mishaka, less than 100 returned. The Great Forks military 
  has spent these past several years slowly recovering from 
  that shattering loss, which robbed it of its best troops and 
  its most experienced ofﬁ cers. The military still includes 
  individuals with formidable martial skill and discipline, 
  and on paper, Great Forks once again boasts a sizeable army. 
  The city’s forces suffer from weak, inexperienced leadership, 
  however, and the Confederation as a whole knows it. Only 
  a fool would rely on them in a crisis. The current military 
  is barely adequate for enforcing the city-state’s borders, so 
  Great Forks must rely on the power of the Three to protect 
  it from external threats. The Three themselves believe it 
  will take at least another decade to rebuild the army into 
  an effective ﬁ ghting force.
  GREAT FORKS TODAY
  Great Forks retains its justiﬁ ed reputation as a festival 
  city, a nexus for temples, a haven for scholars, a home of 
  the God-Blooded and a supplier of drugs. Despite its cur-
  rent military weakness, it is supported by the rest of the 
  Confederation and has ﬁ rm links with Lookshy. While it has 
  long-standing disagreements with Sijan, their differences are 
  not likely to blossom into war. Indeed, of all the cities of the 
  Scavenger Lands, Great Forks is one of the least likely to 
  be destroyed and burned down and have the grounds sown 
  with salt, simply because it is so potentially proﬁ table and 
  useful to any conqueror.
  That isn’t to say that everything’s perfect in the herb 
  garden, however. The city’s army was slaughtered little more 
  than a decade ago, and not only is everyone conscious of the 
  current state of military weakness, they know it could happen 
  again. Subversive murmurs abound about rule by humans 
  rather than by deities and about Realm agents looking for 
  weaknesses to exploit. The Guild hopes to take advantage of 
  the city’s lack of army, if only by encouraging dependence on 
  its own mercenaries, while the Deathlord Walker in Darkness 
  maintains his small realm to the southwest and improves his 
  relationships with his living neighbors. Things could get worse 
  very easily indeed, and while Great Forks is still living in a 
  constant festival, the gaiety has the febrile edge of a party 
  that may come to a very abrupt and dangerous stop.
  GEOGRAPHY AND STRUCTURE
  Great Forks was built to last, and to accommodate future 
  expansion. Even today, some sections of the city are sparsely 
  populated, despite having been raised centuries ago. Large 
  stores of food, water and weapons are set aside in storage 
  vaults underground, and the city’s walls are thick and strong. 
  Great Forks was constructed by refugees who never forgot 
  how to be afraid of hunger and never dared imagine total 
  peace and security.
  The city lies at the conﬂ uence of the Rolling and Yellow 
  Rivers, situated on the south bank; large docks lie outside 
  the city walls to the south, capable of serving even small 
  warships. The walls are good ﬁ rm granite sheathed in pale 
  marble, so that the city is not only sturdy but also beauti-
  ful. At the center of the city is the Palace of the Three, a 
  domed work of art in opalescent alabaster that houses the 
  Three themselves and their temples, and also contains the 
  Council Hall. The other civic buildings are laid out around 
  it in a grid pattern that was designed by Dreamweaver itself, 
  and that resembles an abstract spider’s web, with the spokes 
  allowing clear transit through the city, but the cross-strands 
  tangling and confusing to outsiders.
  The main buildings around the Palace of the Three are 
  the House of Functionaries to the north (the nexus of the 
  city’s bureaucracy), the House of Soldiers to the southeast 
  (the focus of the city’s army), and the House of Learning (the 
  city’s university) to the southwest. The area between these 
  three buildings and the Palace itself is normally known as 
  the Temple District and is full of temples for many different 
  gods, cults and godlings—even shrines to the Elemental 
  Dragons and fanes to the Unconquered Sun and to Luna. 
  Scattered around them are small playhouses, fairgrounds, 
  inns, teahouses, parks and pleasances, arenas, gymnasiums, 
  villas, markets, gardens and sorcerous frivolities. Further out 
  live the middle classes, with their private houses, tenement 
  blocks, markets that serve the necessities of daily life rather 
  than the luxuries of the frivolous and so on. On the edges 
  of the city live the poor, in high tenement buildings or low 
  hovels. Every day, they travel toward the center of the city 
  to work as servants and menials or outward into the ﬁ elds 
  beyond the city, to supervise slaves or to toil at those tasks 
  too complex for slaves but too lowly for wealthier citizens.
  In the west quarter of the city lie the tanneries and 
  drying houses, and the buildings that house those more 
  
  84
  delicate operations where drugs are dried, reﬁ ned and pack-
  aged. Thaumaturges and God-Bloods gifted with powers 
  over the wind see to it that the air in that quarter is blown 
  out of the city, where it will not offend or even harm those 
  nearby. In the eastern quarter are the city’s parade grounds 
  and military barracks, where the dust ﬂ ies up daily from the 
  marching step of soldiers in training as Great Forks strives 
  to rebuild its army. In the south, easily accessible from and 
  to the docks, are the great warehouses where goods are 
  kept for transport and where baled drugs give off an odor 
  so strong that it would set a man dreaming at 100 paces. 
  And to the north are the long barns and dormitories in 
  which the city’s slaves are housed, sheltered and fed—and 
  kept drugged and docile so that they will till the city’s drug 
  ﬁ elds day after day.
  In a wide arc around the city lies its greatest source of 
  wealth: the drug ﬁ elds. Watered by gentle rains, soothed by 
  fresh winds, nourished by spells of fertility incanted by some 
  of the city’s best sorcerers and tended by slaves, the qat and 
  marijuana and tobacco ﬁ elds stretch out for acres upon acres. 
  The vineyards and orchards, and the herb gardens that produce 
  more exotic drugs, are tended by paid citizens. These more 
  unusual products could too easily be bruised or damaged by 
  the clumsy hands of slaves. Thrice-daily patrols of soldiers 
  travel out from the city to sweep round the edges of these 
  ﬁ elds, watching for runaway slaves, enemy incursions and 
  bandits or smugglers. This task is considered a demeaning 
  one and is usually assigned as punishment duty.
  THE CENTER
  The center of Great Forks is undeniably the most wealthy, 
  gorgeous and exotic part of the city. While it is dominated 
  by the Palace of the Three and the Houses of Functionaries, 
  Soldiers and Learning, it is also full of glorious temples and 
  shrines and embassies, and has playhouses, arenas, gymna-
  siums, restaurants and brothels that cater to the best and 
  wealthiest citizens and tourists.
  The Palace of the Three holds the Council Hall, where 
  the Council of Ministers meets. It also holds a large temple for 
  each of the Three, one at each point of the triangular build-
  ing (Dreamweaver in the north, Dayshield in the southeast, 
  Talespinner in the southwest). Other rooms include areas for 
  receiving embassies, ballrooms for throwing parties, salons 
  for conducting unofﬁ cial meetings with foreign diplomats, 
  chambers for holding war councils, treasuries, storerooms of 
  particularly rare and dangerous drugs, private rooms for the 
  priesthoods of the Three, and so on. Dayshield and Dream-
  weaver are usually either in their temples or elsewhere in the 
  city, while Talespinner wanders more widely, often leaving 
  Great Forks for extended periods of time.
  
  85
  CHAPTER FOUR • THE CITY OF TEMPLES
  The House of Functionaries, to the north, is the main 
  point of the city’s bureaucracy. It houses the clerks who 
  keep the city’s system of registration and taxes functioning, 
  the paperwork that the system generates (including all tax 
  receipts, wills and marriages), the city’s histories and, it is 
  rumored, the city’s spies. The Enforcers are based next to the 
  House of Functionaries, and they work together with the 
  clerks as necessary to establish cases of fraud or to identify a 
  criminal. While it is not the most glamorous building in the 
  Temple District, it is a handsome ediﬁ ce of black and gray 
  marble and is certainly one of the busiest buildings in the 
  area, with people constantly coming and going.
  The House of Soldiers, to the southeast, holds the city’s 
  military command and records. (The actual parade grounds 
  and training barracks are in the eastern quarter of the city.) 
  These days, it is painfully empty, compared to previous 
  decades. Although General Blood Linnet is working to re-
  staff the military, competent ofﬁ cers are harder to ﬁ nd than 
  common soldiers, and many rooms in this gold-and-onyx 
  building stand empty and gather dust. A small altar near 
  the entrance celebrates all warlike gods, whether present in 
  Great Forks or elsewhere in Creation, and it is customary 
  for visitors to drop a pinch of incense as they come in. The 
  military records (supplies, registration and pay) are stored 
  in the basement. Many doctors visit here as well as at the 
  House of Learning, to consult on medical care for the armed 
  forces in the ﬁ eld.
  The House of Learning, to the southwest, is the city’s 
  university and one of the gems in its crown. It is a triumphal 
  construction in rose and gold, shining with all the colors of 
  the dawn, with a dozen domed towers from which astrolo-
  gers can chart the stars by night. Scholars from across the 
  Scavenger Lands and beyond come here to share their learn-
  ing. Savants and scavenger lords discuss First Age devices; 
  surgeons and physicians perform life-saving procedures with 
  crafted tools and rare drugs; and historians and theologians 
  chronicle what they know of the past and discuss what they 
  know of the gods. Members of the Immaculate Order are 
  free to visit but are expected to refrain from undue spiritual 
  rigor or accusations of heresy. (In fact, Terrestrial Exalted 
  scholars visit quite frequently and have taken a number of 
  highly important medical and sorcerous advances back to the 
  Realm.) Many savants and scholars vacation in Great Forks, 
  in townhouses subsidized and staffed by the government in 
  exchange for lecturing at the university.
  The area around the Temple District contains many 
  luxury establishments but also has a number of discreet, 
  unobtrusive buildings that provide housing for local servants, 
  storage of luxury goods and other necessities that would 
  spoil the general artistic impression if out in public view. 
  They often connect to the tunnels under the city, and to the 
  storage vaults hidden down there. Such buildings are often 
  semi-concealed down side streets or hidden off back alleys, 
  and only a tactless newcomer to the city would refer to them 
  or ask about them. The Enforcers regularly search them to 
  make sure that criminals aren’t using them as hideouts or to 
  store stolen goods.
  THE NORTH QUARTER
  While the great slave dormitories and housing are the 
  main feature of the north of the city, the general quarter 
  is somewhat less beautiful and glorious than the rest of 
  the city. This is the closest that Great Forks has to a slum 
  quarter: The people who live here, cheek by jowl with the 
  slaves and keen to assert their superiority over them, are 
  the lowest level of the city. This is where the fruit-tenders, 
  street-sweepers, building-washers and other menial work-
  ers dwell. The main roads are kept clean and tidy, but the 
  side streets and alleys are dangerous; especially so for rich, 
  helpless tourists.
  THE TEMPLE DISTRICT
  The central area of the city is quite literally packed 
  with temples. On every corner, a new shrine offers 
  ecstasy to its worshipers and material beneﬁ ts to its 
  devotees. Most temples have adopted the approach 
  of attracting the tourist trade and satisfying the lo-
  cal followers with frequent festivals. Offering basic 
  education and lessons in reading and writing means 
  that they get to indoctrinate the next generation as 
  well, resulting in a well-educated population. While 
  the Palace of the Three is unquestionably the largest 
  temple, many of the others are a quite respectable size, 
  and well decorated, with alabaster, mosaics, lapis and 
  gold, onyx and marble, silks and velvets and incense. 
  The district includes a couple of dozen large temples, 
  50 or so medium ones and over 100 small shrines 
  barely the size of a house. Some are kept empty on the 
  orders of the Minister of Worship, so that they will be 
  available if new gods come to Three Forks.
  From time to time, a religion has a sudden boost 
  in popularity and requires larger quarters. If this hap-
  pens, it can either present a request to the Minister 
  of Worship, negotiate an exchange of quarters with 
  another temple or buy territory elsewhere in the city 
  and build there. Unfortunately, all the property in 
  the Temple District is already owned by the Three 
  themselves, or by private owners, and no little god 
  wants to resettle outside the Temple District.
  The Temple District is always busy, throbbing 
  with city business, festivals, processions, Enforcer 
  patrols, visitors seeing the sights, ambassadors paying 
  their respects, learned scholars, scavenger lords and 
  common worshipers. Even at night, it throbs like a 
  beating heart, and the drums and torches below can 
  rival the stars above. Despite the wide roads, trafﬁ c 
  control can be an issue, and wise visitors invest in 
  muscular guards or litter-slaves.
  
  86
  This is also where the city’s thieves can be found. The 
  embezzlers and racketeers, who are rich, dwell elsewhere, 
  but the pickpockets, the burglars, the assassins, the forgers 
  and the spies for pirates and raiders outside the city can 
  be found in this neighborhood. Old Mother Raiton is the 
  acknowledged person to go to if you need to hire talent for 
  something illegal. She dwells in one of the small blocks of 
  private housing, surrounded by her extended family. Savage 
  Wraith is very much alive, despite his name, but is one of 
  the most famous thieves in the city, and is currently hotly 
  sought after by the Enforcers. He is currently looking for a 
  really challenging theft, such as an excuse to steal something 
  from the Palace of the Three.
  THE EAST QUARTER
  These days, an atmosphere of sorrow and depression 
  often shrouds the east quarter of the city. It has always been 
  the favored place of the military, containing its barracks, its 
  parade grounds and its soldiers’ preferred playhouses and inns. 
  These days, with so many of Great Forks’ soldiers new to their 
  trade or mourning the loss of old comrades, the quarter has 
  an oddly quiet, fragile air to it.
  Another feature of the eastern quarter is the number of 
  healers and surgeons who dwell here. By tradition, visiting 
  scholars with a particular expertise in healing are given vaca-
  tion lodging in this quarter, but the frequent injuries suffered 
  by soldiers and by those around them were a natural magnet 
  to healers considering where best to place themselves in the 
  city. Glowing Morning Radiance, a healer partly descended 
  from a goddess of the dawn, is one of the best known in the 
  quarter and has inherited altruistic instincts from his divine 
  ancestor, as well as golden skin and hair. Knife Jackal, on 
  the other hand, is a skilled surgeon but a profoundly morose 
  and cynical individual. He frequently visits other cities to 
  compare techniques and is one of the Minister of Research’s 
  best spies.
  THE SOUTH QUARTER
  The south is a reasonably quiet part of the city. Much 
  of it consists of the great warehouses where goods traveling 
  in both directions are stored; this is also the area where the 
  dockhands, the manual laborers, the clerks and similar social 
  grades live. Enforcers and private guards regularly patrol by 
  night, watching for thieves, making it one of the safest parts 
  of the city. Most roads are kept clear and easily traversable, 
  both for the tourists entering the city from the docks and 
  for the trade materials that have to be carried through the 
  streets. Collisions do occur from time to time, however. One 
  of the most notorious, last year, involved a couple of visiting 
  members of House Cynis, a circus retinue and reﬁ ned opium 
  due to be transported downriver. The resultant midstreet 
  carnival lasted till sunset the next day.
  
  87
  CHAPTER FOUR • THE CITY OF TEMPLES
  THE WEST QUARTER
  In the city’s western quarter lie the buildings that deal 
  with the drying, reﬁ ning, distilling, mixing and packaging 
  of drugs. This venture is a vitally important part of Great 
  Forks’ economy and gets an appropriate share of the city’s tax 
  revenues. The raw materials are brought in from the ﬁ elds to 
  the north, processed here in the west and then transported 
  through the south gate to the docks or elsewhere in the city. 
  Huge warehouses are full of the odor of drying herbs, tobacco, 
  opium and marijuana; vats and winepresses are worked day 
  and night; some drying sheds are kept in absolute darkness 
  and tended only after sundown, so that the light will not 
  touch the herbs within.
  The Enforcers in this district are headed by Captain 
  Sword-Betrothed, a middle-aged woman who ﬂ ed to the city 
  to avoid marriage and swore before the Three that she would 
  marry her own sword before ever taking a man or woman to 
  bed. She is an expert martial artist and a competent ofﬁ cer 
  and is on viciously hostile terms with most of the merchants 
  who own warehouses and distilleries in the district. Their 
  drive to cut costs frequently results in inadequate safety 
  procedures, openings for theft and attempts to defraud taxes, 
  causing that much more work for her.
  GOVERNMENT AND ORDER
  The Three rule the city by decree and example, but 
  below the Three, a merit-based human bureaucracy runs 
  the city from day to day. This civil service is coordinated by 
  the Council, a group of nine Ministers (with deputies) who 
  serve directly under the Three and who report to them as 
  well as transmitting their orders to the departments below 
  them. The Ministers rise through the ranks on ability but 
  are appointed to their posts by the Three, who can equally 
  well remove them from their positions (and their lives) at 
  a moment’s notice.
  The ﬁ rst three Ministers are the Minister of the Military, 
  the Minister of Residency and the Minister of Research. 
  These three Ministers fall into Dayshield’s sphere of inﬂ uence 
  and answer to her. The next three are the Minister of Trade, 
  the Minister of Worship and the Minister of Logistics. They 
  serve under Dreamweaver, as much of their work is to do 
  with Dreamweaver’s afﬁ nities. The remaining three are the 
  Minister of Lore, the Minister of Diplomacy and the Minister 
  of Other Matters, all of whom are responsible to Talespin-
  ner. While the Three cooperate, there is always a degree of 
  jockeying for territory between the Ministers—especially in 
  matters where their spheres of authority overlap or where 
  there is an opportunity to increase their own power at the 
  expense of a rival.
  THE MINISTERS
  The following people are the current Ministers. Some 
  have held their posts for decades (and one even for centuries), 
  while others are comparatively new arrivals. Each of them 
  has a Deputy who is theoretically capable of ﬁ lling his post 
  if the need arises and who is the logical candidate to become 
  Minister in turn. While there is less backstabbing between 
  Deputies than between Ministers—indeed, quite often Depu-
  ties come to mutually beneﬁ cial arrangements with an eye 
  on the future—there is a great deal of competition to secure 
  a Deputy’s position. Many Deputies have been blackmailed, 
  framed for some crime or lured into breaking the city’s laws, 
  so that an ambitious junior can secure their positions. It’s 
  impractical to unseat a Minister this way, as they tend to be 
  too powerful and too much in the public eye, but Deputies 
  are more vulnerable.
  General Blood Linnet is the Minister of the Military 
  and also overall commander of the army of Great Forks. She 
  has held the post for only six years and is very conscious of 
  her lack of experience. Blood Linnet was one of the few to 
  survive the massacre at Mishaka, being a commander at the 
  time, and has risen since to her position—partly due to the 
  lack of other experienced ofﬁ cers, partly due to genuine tal-
  ent and devotion on her part. She is a muscular, well-built 
  woman who wears armor habitually, even to Council, and 
  her white hair is cut short to ﬁ t under a helmet. Her arms 
  are covered in faded crimson tattoos that date back to the 
  indiscretions of her wild youth. The General is attempting 
  THE DOCKS
  Great Forks’ docks are busy all day and most of 
  the evening, all year round. Whether ofﬂ oading food 
  and luxuries and timber and stone and metal, or load-
  ing drugs and wine and tobacco, a constant stream 
  of trade moves in both directions, in and out of the 
  city. Since there are no regulations on the import or 
  export of drugs, there is little in the way of regular 
  customs and excise. Visitors are expected to register 
  “dangerous items of sorcery or other constructs of the 
  First Age,” however. Clerks are present at the docks 
  to assist, and there is a guardpost near the city gate. 
  (While nobody will necessarily recognize magical or 
  First Age items, the Three fear the widespread damage 
  such items could cause, so they seek to know if any 
  enter the city.)
  Parts of the docks are clearly for trade and heavy 
  loading, while other quays are for passenger ships and 
  important visitors. Fair Folk, God-Blooded, Terrestrial 
  Exalted and normal humans may enter the city freely, 
  unless they are known outlaws. Solar, Lunar and Abys-
  sal Exalted traveling openly will be politely stopped 
  at the gate and then escorted by a detachment of 
  Enforcers directly to the Palace of the Three, for an 
  immediate interview with one of the Three.
  
  88
  to forge closer ties with Lookshy in an attempt to boost the 
  recovery of Great Forks’ army, but this action is opposed 
  by the Ministers of Trade and Diplomacy, who don’t want 
  Great Forks too indebted to Lookshy. Dayshield is neutral 
  at the moment. The General’s Deputy is Colonel Devarth, 
  a stolid, by-the-book type who is paranoid about Deathlord 
  inﬁ ltration of the city.
  The Minister of Residency, a Terrestrial Exalt named 
  Maheka Aydahj who originally came from Lookshy, has the 
  thankless job of coordinating the city’s housing situation. He 
  is required to work with all the other Ministers to provide free 
  housing for scholars, to negotiate temple and cult boundaries, 
  to make sure the slave dormitories stay within their allotted 
  bounds, to handle immigration and to do anything else that 
  relates to physical territory. Aydahj is an agreeable, friendly 
  man, and an excellent communicator. He has held his post 
  for 20 years now and is barely in his 90s. Aydahj rarely moves 
  in high society, preferring to spend time with his family (his 
  wife and their three children) or to enjoy the dramas at 
  various playhouses round the city. The Minister is a short 
  but muscular man, with stone-dark hair and eyes, and still 
  possesses the muscles from Lookshy military training in his 
  youth. He is currently pressing for more funds, as he expects 
  an inﬂ ux of refugees in the near future if the situation in the 
  Confederation worsens. His Deputy is Marikus Straightarm, 
  a young man of Northern blood who is spying on his superior 
  on behalf of Lookshy and who will threaten and blackmail 
  Aydahj if Lookshy requires it.
  Everyone knows that the Minister of Research is in 
  charge of the spy service. Lady Jozakura, the daughter of a 
  human mother and a condor-spirit from the slopes of Mount 
  Metagalapa, watches everything around her with a keen eye 
  and a hunger for secrets. She has held her current position 
  for 50 years now and shows little sign of aging; her skin is 
  still as ﬂ awless as white jade, and her long hair as green as 
  fresh grass. Jozakura moves in high society as well as in the 
  bureaucracy, taking reports from agents scattered across Great 
  Forks, and has many friends among the merchant caravans. 
  This is partly due to the fact that her Ministry is willing to 
  provide general (and accurate) information on the trade 
  situation elsewhere, for a modest payment, to the general 
  population, as well as its more secret services to the Three. 
  While many ﬁ nd her mildly disquieting, her falsely approach-
  able attitude generally hides her more vicious side. She is 
  on good terms with all the other Ministers, especially when 
  they want information from her to justify higher budgets. Her 
  Deputy is a scholar and thaumaturge named Second Wing, 
  a dark and sullen young man whose talent for investigation 
  compensates for his lack of tact.
  The Minister of Trade, Constantly Smiling, is a spirit 
  of learning and commerce who has held its current post for 
  two centuries. Members of the Guild admire and loathe it 
  simultaneously, as Constantly Smiling handles all negotia-
  tions with them, as well as managing other aspects of the 
  bureaucracy that deal with trade, merchants and customs. It 
  manifests as an androgynous young man with a lizard’s eyes 
  and tongue. The god always goes robed in rainbow-hued 
  silks and eats sugared larks’ feathers as a favored snack. 
  Constantly Smiling works for love of the task rather than for 
  any salary and handles much of its work personally, rather 
  than delegating it to its Deputy. The Minister likes to make 
  a proﬁ t for Great Forks and is almost incapable of accept-
  ing a deal where it comes off worse, unless doing so leads to 
  a greater gain further down the line. While it favors good 
  trade links with other cities, it does not want Great Forks 
  to be too indebted to any of them, so it often argues against 
  the Ministers of the Military and Diplomacy in Council. Its 
  Deputy, a pretty young socialite named Marble Hands, is a 
  competent administrator who spends a lot of time attending 
  social functions or drug parties while Constantly Smiling 
  gets on with work.
  The Minister of Worship, Fountain of Virtue, is re-
  sponsible for coordinating the demands and needs of the 
  various deities and spirits that make the city their own. 
  Fountain of Virtue is in his late 60s and has held the post 
  for 10 years now, after 20 years as a Deputy to the previous 
  Minister. When arbitrating disputes between little gods 
  over territory or festival dates, he works with utter courtesy 
  yet glacial speed, resulting in many spirits settling matters 
  between themselves just to get the problem sorted out. He is 
  also responsible for recruiting and assigning spirits and petty 
  gods to the city’s bureaucracy and services. He has dossiers 
  on almost every spirit in the city and works closely with the 
  Minister of Research. Fountain of Virtue is tall and thin and 
  dresses in rigorous gray linen. He keeps his long white hair 
  and moustaches in neat braids and has a great interest in 
  First Age spirit lore. His Deputy, a vigorous young deal-maker 
  named Pillar of Duty, is actually his nephew. While Pillar of 
  Duty obtained the post through merit, he has endured many 
  veiled accusations of nepotism.
  Sari Heartknot is the Minister of Logistics, working with 
  the Ministers of Trade and Residency to make sure that the 
  city’s needs in terms of water, food and jade are all met and 
  that the hidden stores beneath the city are kept well sup-
  plied. She also has the duty of negotiating with the various 
  spirits of fertility and farming in the area to make sure that 
  Great Forks’ harvests are as rich as possible. Unfortunately, 
  she and Fountain of Virtue have never been friendly, which 
  makes both their tasks more difﬁ cult. (This is partly due to 
  a highly passionate secret romance when they were both 
  young, which was forbidden by both their families. Each 
  now blames the other for the relationship’s failure.) Sari 
  Heartknot is a digniﬁ ed woman in her 70s who keeps her 
  hair golden with expensive dyes and is never seen without 
  half a dozen rings on her hands. She is an excellent plan-
  ner and organizer but rather dull in general conversation. 
  Her Deputy, Luthia Redbird, is a middle-aged woman who 
  has clawed her way up from the gutters through hard work, 
  merit and backstabbing, and who plans to advance further, 
  as soon as possible.
  
  89
  CHAPTER FOUR • THE CITY OF TEMPLES
  The Minister of Lore is Karreth Doublegift, and his tasks 
  are to watch over the city’s university, to encourage prominent 
  scholars and thaumaturges to settle inside the city, and to be 
  alert for any dangerous experiments or personal conﬂ icts that 
  might cause trouble. Karreth is God-Blooded; his mother was 
  a goddess of passionate love and fertility, and his affairs with 
  prominent citizens of both sexes are a constant inspiration 
  to the city’s satirists. Outside of his job, he is irresponsible 
  and lighthearted, but while doing his duty, he is extremely 
  charming and incredibly persuasive. He is tall and sinewy, 
  with bronzed skin and dark hair and eyes that sparkle with all 
  the colors of the rainbow. His clothing is usually disarranged, 
  but always stylish. He has had a succession of Deputies who 
  have actually seen to the practicalities and logistics of the 
  job while Karreth charmed all the scholars into agreeing. 
  The current Deputy is Chiming Bells, a hard-working young 
  man who is hopelessly in love with his superior, and who will 
  probably lose his post from overwork and exhaustion within 
  the next couple of years.
  Silver Dove is the Minister of Diplomacy. Her depart-
  ment handles formal (and informal) negotiations with other 
  Confederation members and also with outside powers, such 
  as the Realm. She works closely with the Ministers of Trade, 
  the Military and Research. While she is not empowered to 
  make policy without the Three’s agreement, she controls 
  the city’s diplomats and embassies, and has a wide degree of 
  latitude in interpreting the Three’s orders. Silver Dove has 
  spirit blood somewhere in her family tree, as can be seen from 
  her white-irised eyes and the feathers in her eyebrows, but 
  it is too far back for her to be sure of the ancestor. She is in 
  her 70s but still hale, and she attends many social events in 
  order to deal with visiting ambassadors. Of late, she has been 
  studying both Sijan and Thorns, trying to decide if one can be 
  played against the other or if Great Forks should strengthen 
  or weaken its ties with both. Her Deputy, a middle-aged 
  man named Devishen Latoth, has been pursuing his own 
  researches in an attempt to demonstrate his efﬁ ciency, and 
  has been consuming increasing amounts of ghost ﬂ ower tea 
  to talk to local ghosts.
  Vandereth Senzak is the Minister of Other Matters, a 
  catchall Ministry that handles everything unexpected, un-
  planned for and not covered by the portfolios of the other 
  Ministers. Many in the city view it as a symbolic sacriﬁ ce 
  for times of trouble. It’s a position that can be very powerful 
  in the hands of an ambitious public servant or a sinecure 
  for someone who’s willing to sign off all the decrees that 
  the other Ministers suggest. It’s also the Ministry that gets 
  all the criticism and penalties if something unexpected goes 
  badly wrong. The previous Minister lost her position over 
  the Mishaka battle, and Vandereth (her Deputy at the time) 
  took her place. Since then, he’s done his best to work with 
  the other Ministries rather than try to carve out his own 
  political empire, being more interested in job security than 
  personal power. He is possibly the Minister who is most sin-
  cerely concerned for the city’s welfare rather than his own 
  interests, because he is aware that he is personally vulnerable 
  if anything goes wrong. Vandereth is a polite and graceful 
  man in his mid-50s, slender and graying at the temples. He 
  is in many ways the perfect party guest, family patriarch and 
  helpful bureaucrat. His Deputy is a young woman named Erika 
  Rednails, who lacks the experience to realize how dangerous 
  the Ministry is and sees it as her personal route to city-span-
  ning power—once she has disposed of her superior.
  LIFE IN THE CITY
  The average inhabitant of Great Forks is much like that 
  of any other city in the Scavenger Lands. Although Great 
  Forks is commonly regarded as “soft” by the region’s other 
  powers, its people still live in the savage Second Age of 
  Man. They enjoy civilized pleasures, education and festivals, 
  but they know violence is never far away. The recent loss 
  of so much of their armed forces has only strengthened this 
  feeling. If anything, an undercurrent of tension pervades 
  the parties and festivals, fed by the knowledge that they 
  are vulnerable.
  The people of Great Forks delight in athletics and ﬁ tness, 
  as well as in festive dances and feasts thrown by the city’s many 
  temples. Their attitude is that the body is to be enjoyed and 
  celebrated. While some abuse their bodies to the snapping 
  point, others ﬁ nd it more appropriate to develop them and 
  enjoy the results. Most citizens don’t have to work very hard 
  compared with their counterparts in other states. They earn 
  their livelihoods as part of the city’s bureaucracies or in the 
  markets, the university, the leisure industries, managing slave 
  gangs or preparing drugs. The relatively leisurely lifestyle is 
  part of what makes the city’s constant festivals and parties 
  possible, and all of it is founded on the backs of slaves.
  Most citizens are capable of reading and writing to basic 
  levels in Rivertongue, and a surprisingly high number are 
  respectably literate. This high literacy rate is partly due to 
  the city’s status as a center of learning and partly due to the 
  bureaucracy that is a fundamental part of the city’s workings. 
  Many temples offer basic training in reading and writing to 
  their worshipers, especially the children. Citizens also tend 
  to have a high tolerance for drugs and alcohol.
  Local clothing varies depending on the weather and on 
  particular religious beliefs, but is usually luxurious (not to say 
  decadent) and designed to display an athletic body. Loose 
  robes, open tunics, slit skirts and kilts and tight breeches 
  are all common. While the upper classes favor silk in the 
  summer and furs in the winter, even the lower classes have 
  at least one decent cotton or linen garment for public festi-
  vals. Children wear loincloths or simple tunics until the age 
  of nine, at which point they don more adult clothing and 
  start an apprenticeship or formal education or are enrolled 
  in a particular priesthood. While it used to be fashionable 
  to wear military trappings and pseudo-uniforms, these days, 
  after the Mishaka disaster, it is considered improper unless 
  the character can genuinely use his weapons and armor.
  
  90
  While nobody in Great Forks is actively snobbish about the 
  rest of the Scavenger Lands, visitors are frequently conscious 
  that citizens of Great Forks consider themselves lucky to be 
  living in the city. A man of Great Forks will sincerely and 
  with the best of intentions say that someone from Lookshy or 
  Sijan or Greyfalls isn’t to be blamed for parochial beliefs or odd 
  behavior—it’s not his fault he wasn’t born in Great Forks, after 
  all. While Great Forks is very friendly to visitors, this attitude 
  of gentle sympathy can be occasionally annoying.
  LAW IN GREAT FORKS
  Many of Great Forks’ law-enforcement ofﬁ cers (known as 
  Enforcers) are spirits or God-Bloods, and the entire department 
  falls under the Minister of Worship. While the Minister of the 
  Military can provide soldiers to back up the Enforcers in the 
  case of widespread riots, doing so requires authorization from 
  the Three or (if they are not available) from a majority vote of 
  the Council. Many Enforcers have Charms or spells that allow 
  them to travel rapidly across the city, meaning they can turn up 
  unexpectedly fast on the scene of a crime. Their actual base is a 
  dour gray marble building next to the House of Functionaries, 
  but they make regular patrols through the city.
  Since Great Forks entertains so many tourists—particu-
  larly rich, dangerous ones—law enforcement tends toward 
  the “arrest everyone quietly and sort it out discreetly” model. 
  While bloody murder or highway robbery in the streets will 
  prompt loud chases and public arrests, other matters will 
  generally be dealt with unobtrusively and without too much 
  public disturbance. Not only is it better for business, it avoids 
  such events as drunken Terrestrial Exalted objecting violently 
  to their arrest and burning down half the neighborhood.
  There are two sorts of offenses: civil and criminal. Civil 
  offenses are such things as failure to pay taxes, destruction 
  of goods, killing of slaves, obstructing the worship of others, 
  and so on. These infractions incur ﬁ nes. Criminal offenses 
  range from assault to rape to murder, and include the unusual 
  charge, “Assault on another’s will,” which covers cases such 
  as forcible englamorment by Fair Folk or divine brainwashing 
  by small gods. (Technically, this charge applies only when 
  someone feeds on another’s will or steals his worship, which 
  means that Dragon-Blooded and others can get away with 
  the use of Social Charms. If the bureaucracy really wants to 
  level charges against an Exalted visitor, however, this charge 
  could apply.) Criminal charges are punished by ﬁ nes, maiming 
  or execution, depending on the severity of the crime. The 
  inﬂ uence of drugs or alcohol is never considered an excuse 
  unless it can be proven that the criminal did not take the 
  drugs knowingly or willingly.
  Since the multitude of gods and ways of worship has 
  resulted in a multitude of different sorts of marriage and 
  inheritance, the actual law requires registration of all mar-
  riages and wills by the bureaucracy, but permits and honors 
  
  91
  CHAPTER FOUR • THE CITY OF TEMPLES
  any sort of living arrangement. If a dead person leaves no 
  will behind, then his property goes to his oldest living child 
  present; failing that, to his parents; failing that, to any reg-
  istered partners; failing that, to the city and the Three. All 
  wills are stored at the House of Functionaries under heavy 
  security—though no security is perfect.
  Incidentally, it is illegal to publicly compare Great Forks 
  favorably to Yu-Shan. The Three do not want to attract that 
  sort of divine attention, and the inhabitants of Yu-Shan can 
  be notoriously petty about that sort of thing.
  SLAVES
  Great Forks thrives on the slave trade, most frequently buy-
  ing slaves from the nearby Hundred Kingdoms region. Without 
  slaves, the city’s qat, marijuana and tobacco ﬁ elds would be, at 
  best, half the size they are now. The only part of Great Forks’ 
  agriculture that doesn’t depend on slaves is the fruit crop, which 
  is tended by paid citizens. Likewise, the city’s arenas would be 
  much emptier without slave gladiators, its gymnasiums less at-
  tractive without their slave masseurs, its houses of entertainment 
  emptier without the slave courtesans, and so on.
  Slaves have many rights in Great Forks. They can own 
  property or marry; they may be subjected to only certain 
  forms of punishment; they may not be cut off from their 
  families. Manumission is possible, at a set price. Slaves are 
  still property, though, and are treated as such by law. Killing a 
  slave is a civil rather than a criminal offense. Whipping and 
  conﬁ scation of money or property are the usual punishments 
  for crimes or misbehavior. An attempt to escape is punished 
  by having all the slave’s property conﬁ scated, her marriage (if 
  any) formally ended and the cost of her manumission being 
  set at 10 times what it previously was.
  Most of the city’s slaves live in the great dormitories in the 
  north of the city or in the smaller buildings around them, in the 
  area referred to as the “Slave Village” by many locals. Those 
  with the money can use it to secure better living conditions, 
  and families are automatically housed together where possible. 
  Many private citizens (such as merchants or farmers) who own 
  slaves arrange for them to be housed with the communal city 
  slaves, paying a small extra fee to the city for the privilege. 
  Most ﬁ eld slaves receive a daily ration of mete (pro-
  nounced meh-teh) leaf, a plant similar to qat that acts as 
  a physical stimulant while dulling the mind and memory. 
  Ingesting mete makes the subject perfectly suited to dull, 
  repetitious tasks that require little concentration or mental 
  ability. An individual who has eaten mete will work meekly 
  all day, stopping only when ordered to and will remember 
  little of the tedium, recalling instead a dull euphoria and 
  waking dreams brought on by the drug.
  MEDICINES AND POTIONS
  Drugs, chemicals and philters are part of everyday life 
  in Great Forks. The city’s markets abound with sellers of 
  nostrums, euphorics, love potions, herbal tonics, alchemical 
  mixtures, heal-alls, poisons, intoxicants and the components 
  and recipes needed to make them all. Distillations of lotus, 
  poppy and willow are sold for pain, and concoctions decanted 
  from simmering vats of rotting fruit and herbs are used to 
  chase away fevers and chills. Other, stronger medicines and 
  drugs can be found by those who know who and where to 
  ask. Most of the city’s denizens recognize that the difference 
  between curing and killing can be merely a matter of dosage 
  and are willing to supply the substance and leave the possibly 
  poisonous administration to the customer.
  Not only are drugs a part of daily life in Great Forks, but 
  so is knowledge about them. Every mother knows how to dry 
  willow bark for a febrifuge, or brew maiden tea, or boil up an 
  antiseptic to stop bleeding and clean a wound. Older residents 
  know even more, and the average Great Forks grandmother or 
  grandfather would be accounted a master of the art in other 
  cities. Local authorities are equally knowledgeable in such mat-
  ters, however, and poisoning deaths rarely go undiagnosed.
  The city exports some of the ﬁ nest wines and cordials in 
  Creation, though local vintners and distillers keep the best in 
  Great Forks for their own consumption. Homegrown qat and 
  mete are popular with slaves, craftsmen, traders and farmers alike. 
  Tobacco and marijuana are also grown in quantity, and while 
  not as good as that raised elsewhere, they are strong and cheap. 
  Small amounts of other drugs and potions are also exported, but at 
  prices so high that few can afford them. True connoisseurs come 
  to Great Forks themselves in order to purchase the substances 
  they need; all the more so if those substances are particularly 
  rare or can be used only for illegal purposes.
  Great Forks also has the trade advantage of being directly 
  upriver from Nexus and Lookshy. It is a comparatively easy 
  matter to ship large quantities of drugs and wines straight 
  downriver. While a few cases of thefts have been reported, 
  these incidents were usually on small merchant convoys rather 
  than large Guild shipping. It would take a truly impressive 
  force of raiders to hijack one of the major drug shipments 
  downriver to Nexus. (It would also be difﬁ cult to get it past 
  Nexus afterward: It would have to be disguised or split up and 
  smuggled overland.) While some of the trade goes by land 
  rather than water, the majority of shipping takes advantage 
  of the rivers for which the Confederation is named.
  SUPERNATURAL DENIZENS
  Spirits and elementals make up an important part of 
  Great Forks’ population, assisting in everything from military 
  matters to bureaucracy and agriculture. Water elementals 
  coax ﬁ sh into the city’s nets, ifrit guard the Palace of the 
  Three, and wood spirits scout the forests and grasslands that 
  surround the city. These spirits serve the city for the same 
  reasons mortals do: gratitude, obligation, from a sense of place, 
  because it is expected of them or even for payment—though 
  spirits, unlike mortals, are rarely paid in jade.
  People with spirit blood are common in Great Forks, and 
  many inhabitants claim descent from a minor godling or greater 
  elemental. Many of these bastard offspring of the little gods 
  exhibit a variety of powers. Though no match for an Exalt, they 
  
  92
  are often physically superior to mortals, and many have magical 
  insight or even the ability to use a few spirit Charms.
  Some Fair Folk also live in Great Forks, drawn in num-
  bers to a city so devoted to the expression of passions. The 
  Three generally let the Fair Folk be, as long as they do not 
  hurt anyone (without consent) or attempt to extend their 
  inﬂ uence among the population. 
  Celestial Exalted are free to dwell in Great Forks, after 
  an interview with one or all of the Three. For their part, the 
  Three see the Exalted as potentially useful tools or allies, 
  depending on their power level. A weak Celestial Exalt is 
  an asset to be trained, while a powerful Celestial Exalt is 
  an ally to be courted with potential promises of assistance. 
  Abyssal Exalted are dangerous and untrustworthy, but they 
  will be tolerated if bound by oaths and if it was somehow to 
  Great Forks’ advantage to do so.
  RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER CITIES
  Great Forks is on friendly terms with most of the rest of 
  the Confederation. It is particularly close to Lookshy, provid-
  ing many of the civilian delights and luxuries that military 
  Lookshy cannot offer, and backing the Confederation up 
  with jade and logistics where necessary. The Three all feel 
  that Great Forks’ destiny is closely tied to that of Lookshy, 
  so they work to keep the two closely allied.
  The only city-state that Great Forks is not on particularly 
  friendly terms with is Sijan. All the worship in Great Forks 
  goes to gods, so there is none left to spare for the dead or for 
  ancestor-spirits. While particularly loved corpses might be 
  shipped to Sijan for funerals, this does not bring the cities 
  any closer together. Great Forks is not actively hostile to 
  Sijan, but the gods living there don’t wish to see any of their 
  Essence being diverted to the dead. As such, they have no 
  interest in fostering closer ties.
  Great Forks distrusts Thorns and the Mask of Winters, 
  like everyone else does. For the moment, it is a reasonable 
  distance away from the Deathlord’s territory and can afford 
  to engage in diplomacy. The Mishaka military disaster is 
  still fresh in everyone’s memory, though, and Great Forks’ 
  inhabitants know they are desperately reliant on Lookshy 
  in the case of outright war. For the moment, Great Forks is 
  walking softly and waiting to see what happens next.
  ARMED FORCES
  Great Forks used to have about 3,000 troops, before 
  Mishaka. It now has approximately 2,000 soldiers that can 
  be put on the ﬁ eld, ranging from inexperienced to moderately 
  experienced, with very few actual veterans. While the city 
  can also muster a handful of minor divinities and sorcerers to 
  help with defense, these forces vary according to the season of 
  the year, the climate, current conditions of faith and worship, 
  and the enemy that Great Forks is currently ﬁ ghting.
  GREAT FORKS IRREGULARS
  Description: The city’s main unit of armed forces. 
  Before Mishaka, it was of Excellent to Elite quality; now 
  it’s merely Fair. It currently consists of approximately 2,000 
  soldiers, 2/3 male to 1/3 female. All carry chopping swords 
  and a couple of doses of alchemical potions that can restore 
  four health levels. They wear reinforced buff jackets and 
  carry target shields.
  Commanding Ofﬁ cer: Colonel Gold Banner
  Armor Color: Brown with scarlet sleeves
  Motto: “Under the day’s shield!”
  General Makeup: Light infantry
  Overall Quality: Fair
  Magnitude: 7
  Drill: 2
  Close Combat Attack: 3 Close Combat Damage: 3
  Endurance: 5 
  Might: 2 
  Armor: 1 (-2 mobility 
  penalty) 
  Morale: 2
  Formation: The army is based in the barracks in the east 
  quarter of the city. At any given time, however, the equivalent 
  of one dragon is patrolling the countryside.
  CITY ARCHERS
  Description: An unit of archers, with both self bows 
  and longbows. Before Mishaka, it was of Excellent to Elite 
  quality. Again, it is now merely Fair. It currently consists 
  of approximately 400 soldiers (previously 1,000), 1/2 male, 
  1/2 female. Many carry thaumaturgical talismans to boost 
  their aim and improve their accuracy. They wear reinforced 
  buff jackets.
  Commanding Ofﬁ cer: Colonel Millenus
  Armor Color: Scarlet with black sleeves and helms
  Motto: “Trueshot!”
  General Makeup: Archers
  Overall Quality: Fair
  Magnitude: 5
  Drill: 2
  Ranged Attack Rating: 2 Ranged Attack Damage: 3
  Endurance: 4 
  Might: 2 
  Armor: 1 (-1 mobility 
  penalty) 
  Morale: 2
  Formation: These archers are housed in the soldiers’ barracks 
  in the east quarter of the city.
  
  93
  CHAPTER FOUR • THE CITY OF TEMPLES
  Great Forks, a Magnitude 3 Dominion
  Military: 1 
  Government: 2 Culture: 3
  Abilities: Awareness 1 (Superior Diplomats +3), Bureaucracy 2 (Red Tape +1), Craft 3 (The Arts +1, Universities 
  +2), Integrity 1, Investigation 1, Occult 3 (Supernatural Etiquette +3), Performance 3 (Festivals +2), Presence 2, 
  Stealth 0 (Spies +3), War 1
  Virtues: Compassion 4, Conviction 3, Temperance 1, Valor 2
  Virtue Flaw: Compassion Current Limit: 7
  Willpower: 7
  Bonus Points: 15 External Bonus Points: 8
  Notes: In case it wasn’t obvious, Talespinner, Dayshield and Dreamweaver are all sorcerers with Legitimacy. If more 
  were to be needed for some reason, they could be drawn from the Ministers; moreover, the many powerful super-
  natural beings in Great Forks might make for some interesting and surprising savants. Because of the sad state of its 
  own military, Great Forks’ entire War score is accounted for by external bonus points, while trade agreements and 
  general cultural power give it a third dot of Performance from external bonus points as well. The dominion’s own 
  bonus points are entirely invested in specialties.
  Great Forks’ population loves to lose itself in aesthetics, pleasure and philosophy. With irresponsible, joyous abandon, 
  they will refuse to take anything seriously or focus on important issues when in Limit Break.
  
  94
  
  95
  CHAPTER FIVE • EMPIRE OF THE DEAD
  CHAPTER FIVE
  CHAPTER FIVE
  EMPIRE OF THE DEAD
  EMPIRE OF THE DEAD
  Upon the southern shores of the Scavenger Lands, dark 
  waves lap at bone-white cliffs, and a faded sun sets upon one 
  of the great cities of Creation. Pale rays creep across the 
  darkened bay and paint looming, black marble ediﬁ ces in 
  hues of silver and gray, casting long shadows across a slowly 
  decaying city. Wide boulevards ring with iron-shod footfalls 
  as silent, unliving soldiers slowly parade beneath the dead 
  ﬂ owers that cling to black-timber arches. The wind sweeps 
  along quiet streets, lifting stray leaves and carrying with it a 
  heavy stench of rot and decay. Within hollowed-out ruins 
  and empty-eyed houses, ﬂ ashes of color appear and vanish 
  as bright-eyed residents peek from their homes, the rustle of 
  their furtive conversations, the scent of their cooking food 
  and the slow beat of their still-living hearts subtly remind-
  ing the city that it too once lived. In the grandest square, 
  beneath the towering walls of governmental palaces, a 
  black-iron statue of a dictator raises falsely benevolent hands 
  to support croaking rations, his smiling mask looking with 
  pleasure upon his conquest.
  Once, this city rivaled Lookshy’s prestige and Nexus’s 
  might. It stood just beyond the simplistic barbarism of the 
  Scavenger Lands and remembered its place in the Sho-
  gunate. When other nations turned their backs upon the 
  Realm, it honored its debts and offered up tribute to the 
  Scarlet Empire. As a reward for its civility and sophistica-
  tion, it became a center for skilled artisans, thoughtful 
  intellectuals and honorable warriors, and each lifted their 
  hands to make their city beautiful. Their might grew so 
  great that the city, with its Dynastic allies, threatened the 
  Scavenger Lands itself with the greatest war in the city’s 
  living memory. But with power came pride, and the city’s 
  hubris made it vulnerable at a crucial moment. Almost 
  literally overnight, the dead rose up to swallow the city in 
  an apocalyptic storm of pain and horror. When a mountain 
  of rotten ﬂ esh stopped at the city gates, it brought with it 
  a new ruler, and the rest of Creation turned a blind eye. 
  None speak the city’s name now, and it lies only upon the 
  pages of scholarly tomes.
  
  96
  But Thorns is not dead. Although Creation has forgot-
  ten it, it has not forgotten Creation. Most shadowlands in 
  Creation have existed for some time or formed slowly over 
  the course of a tragic war or the spread of a plague, but a 
  shadowland blossomed in Thorns in a matter of days, and 
  only recently. The dead march through its streets and pull at 
  the strings of its Puppet King, but the living still huddle and 
  hide in the ruins of their once great city. They whisper to 
  their children tales of the warm, golden rays of an unﬁ ltered 
  sun, they trade stories with one another of bygone glories, 
  and they remember a time when the people of the city smiled 
  and laughed. Many have fallen into the gray despair of the 
  dead that surround them, submitting to the Mask of Winters’ 
  rule, but a few hearts still beat with the pride that once made 
  Thorns great. These few struggle quietly to ﬁ nd a way to free 
  their city while their brothers and sisters slave in industrial 
  pits or behind bureaucratic desks. They hope against hope 
  that some hero will remember their city and their plight, 
  and that a hand will reach out for Thorns before it drowns 
  completely in the miasma of the Underworld.
  THE THORNS THAT WAS
  During its height, Thorns was one of the greater cities of 
  Creation. Where Nexus had its wealth, Lookshy its military 
  strength and Great Forks its decadent appeal, Thorns ﬂ owed 
  with sophistication and cultural achievements. The people of 
  Thorns valued excellence above all things, and they struggled 
  for perfection in whatever occupation they chose, often com-
  peting ﬁ ercely with one another. While the blades of Thorns 
  might not have had the ﬁ ne quality of a Lookshy sword or the 
  quantity of rapidly produced Nexus weaponry, the ﬁ ligreed hilt 
  and elegantly etched blade made by a master craftsman from 
  Thorns invariably took a buyer’s breath away.
  The people of the city also valued beauty, for excel-
  lence was nothing without style. Sweeping architecture 
  decorated the skyline, garlands of white ﬂ owers hung from 
  timber archways over the city’s wide boulevards, and the 
  lush trees of the parks and the rich herb gardens hanging 
  from the windows of the homes of the wealthy gave Thorns 
  a pleasing fragrance. Thorns valued the cultural arts, and 
  ﬁ ne paintings lined the walls of wealthier residences, and 
  even the poor had a hanging or two in their hovels, even if 
  it was a simple, homemade quilt. Musicians sang on street 
  corners, poets wept ﬂ owery words in restaurants, and orators 
  boomed out their philosophies in well-appointed theaters. 
  Tailors lavished the courtiers of the Autocrat’s palace with 
  richly colored silks and lace, and the courtiers themselves 
  added more color and style to the courts with a secretive 
  language of emotion and intent expressed entirely through 
  the use of decorative fans. Thorns’ passion for personal 
  excellence made for poor soldiers but ﬁ ne warriors, and the 
  often-romanticized duelists of Thorns fought highly stylized 
  battles to redeem a comrade’s stained honor or to catch the 
  eye of a disputed lover.
  Thorns often cast a wistful eye to the past, especially to 
  the Shogunate Era, and disdained the inhabitants of many 
  of the surrounding nations as barbarians. Its people saw the 
  Realm as the true heir to the glories of the First Age, eagerly 
  submitting to the Scarlet Empress’s demands for tribute. 
  Indeed, they saw the Realm as a valued ally rather than a 
  dangerous, imperial power. The folk of the city showered 
  visiting Dynasts with attention and artistic endeavor in an 
  attempt to impress them, and satraps received open-armed 
  welcomes. The Immaculate Order achieved high popularity, 
  and several temples lay scattered through the city. 
  The Empress’s blatant machinations of their succession 
  in the twilight years of the city’s history gave the citizens 
  pause, but few spoke out against it. The shift in the city’s 
  industry from the arts of culture to the arts of war troubled 
  a few more, but most swallowed their complaints. Indeed, 
  the new Autocrat promised glory as Thorns asserted itself as 
  a rightful ruler of the Scavenger Lands, bringing civilization 
  to lands that knew only barbarism. His repeated defeats ﬁ rst 
  infuriated the people of Thorns and then disillusioned them. 
  The winds of change swept through the city well before 
  the Mask of Winters crushed it, and left to its own devices, 
  Thorns would not have continued the path it was on. But such 
  speculation is immaterial, for the Mask of Winters grasped 
  the city in his ﬁ st and wiped it from the map of Creation.
  THE THORNS THAT IS
  Thorns’ legacy is gone, washed away in a wave of undead 
  ﬂ esh and ghostly ambition. The memory of Thorns’ fall stands 
  stark in the hearts and minds of its living residents, for it 
  was a nightmare made real. Necromancy tore the sky open, 
  and droplets of blood and bone rained upon the citizenry. 
  An impossibly massive hand rose and shook the ground with 
  the force of its descent, its tattered ﬂ esh exposing bony claws 
  that dug furrows into the earth as it dragged a titanic form 
  forward into the light of the moon. A nauseating wave of 
  shambling corpses swept forth, and the people cried out for 
  protection. Twenty Dragon-Blooded warriors, each more 
  glorious than the last, rode forth to slay the zombie hordes, 
  but when the last corpse fell, the Dynasts shining brilliantly 
  with Essence, the massive hand rose and fell again, dragging 
  the monstrosity forward once more, and a second, more hor-
  riﬁ c wave rode forth. The exhausted Dragon-Blooded had 
  no defense against these Anathema-like horrors, no way to 
  counter their dark magic, and within moments, the dead 
  carried the corpses of these royal scions into the fortress 
  atop the mountain of ﬂ esh. And then, its hand rose and fell 
  once more, and the stink of it overwhelmed the city, a low 
  groan issuing forth from the creature, and the third and ﬁ nal 
  wave issued forth. Thorns had weakened itself too much in 
  the recent war with the Scavenger Lands to protect itself, 
  and worse, a traitor threw open the gates and damaged many 
  of the city’s defenses. It had no hope against the unliving 
  hordes, the laughing, shrieking ghosts and the necromantic 
  
  97
  CHAPTER FIVE • EMPIRE OF THE DEAD
  A TRANSCRIPT OF THE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE MASK OF WINTERS
  ADDRESSING THE COUNCIL OF THE CONCORDAT
  I thank the representative of Great Forks for her words and wish her family further health and 
  prosperity. Her achievements are matched only by her beauty. I thank, too, the Council for affording 
  me this opportunity to speak at such an august and wise body and express my hopes that satisfactory 
  resolutions can be achieved on this day. Many speak out against the Council, calling it a useless body 
  ﬁ lled with meaningless debate and corruption, but I dismiss their criticisms. I have seen with my own 
  eyes that the Confederation of Rivers has taken many great strides forward and represents a beacon 
  of progress to all of Creation.
  But the stink of rank hypocrisy creeps into these chambers, and the smell of it worries me. I listen 
  to the harsh and undeserved words leveled against my ﬁ ne city by the representatives of Lookshy and 
  Marukan, and I wonder why this respectable body allows such deceptive, twisted rhetoric to be spoken 
  here? If not truth, what does the Confederation of Rivers stand for?
  We are not your enemies. Thorns was once an oppressive puppet regime that sought to expand its 
  territories and waged war against all of the River Lands, but our armies have stopped them, liber-
  ated their people and given all of the Confederation of Rivers a new chance at peace. For this, we are 
  accused of butchery. Why? Within your very midst lies Lookshy, a nation built upon war, a nation 
  that prospers from death. Its people have unleashed far more devastating weapons in many of their 
  ill-conceived campaigns than we have, and yet, you turn to us and accuse us of saber-rattling and the 
  death of innocents?
  Or perhaps you fear my nation because we allow the dead to walk side by side with the living? 
  Sijan is honored today—and I greet her representative—but how is Thorns any different from this ﬁ ne 
  nation? In both, the dead are honored alongside the living. Indeed, the people of Thorns greet their 
  long lost ancestors with joy and revel in their newfound sense of legacy. If you do not fear Sijan, why 
  would you fear us?
  If you would speak of oppression, look to the vile trade of slaves in your very midst. Thorns stands 
  boldly with Nexus in condemning this abominable practice. Man should not bend before man, but stand 
  before him as an equal. We work diligently with the Guild to provide the walking dead as a substitute 
  for the denigrating practice of slave labor, so that when mortals have shed their crude husks of meat 
  and bone in favor of the ﬁ ner garments of ghostly gossamer, their bodies can continue to work for the 
  betterment of their descendants.
  Concerns have been raised over the Marukan situation. We have apologized for an accidental 
  incursion of soldiers into Marukan territory. They were engaging in a war game and accidentally 
  strayed too far. For the loss of life and damage to property, a settlement has already been reached and 
  the sum of money travels even now to the Marukan capital. Regarding the two disputed villages of 
  Shenden and Three-Steeds-Dancing, the ﬁ rst was always the property of Thorns, and I encourage the 
  representative of Marukan to brush up on his history and re-examine his maps. The second chose of 
  their own will to overthrow their local government and pleaded with Thorns to accept them as vas-
  sals. We could not refuse their request. This can be negotiated, but the ﬁ nal decision falls to the people 
  of Three-Steeds-Dancing.
  I hope we can allow truth to freshen our breaths and wipe away the stink of dishonesty. Only when 
  we can stand with one another as brothers, assured that we can trust one another, can we be strong. 
  Any disunity among us will only weaken us, making us easy prey for our enemies.
  I surrender the ﬂ oor to the speaker of the Council. Thank you.
  
  98
  powers that tore apart dragon lines and soaked the city 
  streets in foul blood. The sky darkened with clouds, and a 
  new, everlasting night fell upon the city, never more to feel 
  the unﬁ ltered light of the true sun.
  With its defeat so ﬁ nal, Thorns could never return to 
  the city it had been. The Mask of Winters’ skeletal ﬁ st closed 
  about the souls of Thorns’ living residents, subsuming them 
  and their city into his will. His minions tore down the delicate 
  palaces and reﬁ ned government that ruled the city before and 
  replaced them with monolithic structures, places of power that 
  loomed over the citizenry. Then they erected smiling statues 
  of their new lord in major plazas and crossroads, black iron 
  sentinels that watch over the citizenry. They gutted ancient 
  temples to the Immaculate Order and replaced them with 
  self-serving shrines to the ancestor cult, demanding that 
  living residents attend the shrines and pray, infusing their 
  domineering masters with yet more power. Most of the liv-
  ing, for their part, resigned themselves to their fates, for what 
  could they hope to accomplish against so mighty a lord? These 
  dull-eyed slaves toil endlessly in mines, in bureaucracies or on 
  the Mask of Winters’ frontlines. They eat what food the Mask 
  of Winters offers them but watch the granaries slowly empty, 
  their children’s cheeks hollow and the spark fading from their 
  spouses’ eyes. They know the city has already died and that 
  they are just the last vestiges of life within it.
  But where most have surrendered to the idea of slavery 
  to the dead, some hearts still burn with deﬁ ance. Thorns was 
  once a proud city, one that founded itself upon principles 
  of excellence, valor and pride. These malcontents ﬂ it from 
  house to house, huddled in the ruined portions of the old 
  city, their bright cheeks and ﬂ ashing eyes adding color to 
  the drab undertones of the shadowland. Their laughter and 
  conversation disrupt the otherwise complete silence of this 
  ominous city, and they refuse to forget the glory of the city 
  that once was. Proud parents whisper stories of the past to 
  their children, passing on the pride of the fallen Thorns to 
  the next generation. As though simply living in this deathly 
  land wasn’t deﬁ ance enough, these people actively plot 
  against their undead masters. Caravans of food fall to ban-
  dits, a state-sponsored performance on the behalf of visiting 
  dignitaries is disrupted, and barracks of occupation soldiers 
  ﬂ are up in brilliant, crimson ﬂ ame that crackles and roars as 
  it consumes the shrieking spirits within. The faith Thorns 
  placed in the Immaculate Order has not failed the city, for 
  while the Dynastic advisors all perished in the destruction 
  of the city, many mortal Immaculate monks survived. These 
  holy men hide in the rebellious underground, employing their 
  sacred thaumaturgy and their hard-won martial techniques 
  against the unrighteous dead, acting as leaders and inspira-
  tion for the resistance.
  
  99
  CHAPTER FIVE • EMPIRE OF THE DEAD
  THE LIVING
  When the Mask of Winters came to Thorns, he uprooted 
  the old caste system that governed the city before and turned 
  the hierarchies of the city upside down. While vestiges of 
  the old systems remain for the pretense of self-rule, many 
  old nobles hide in the streets and many old peasants now 
  work in the higher echelons of government. But all people 
  in Thorns serve the dead. No real balance exists, and even 
  the most powerful living members of the city must bow to 
  the dead who stalk their streets.
  Most people within Thorns who serve the Mask of 
  Winters in any capacity are slaves. Oh, their burdens are far 
  easier than those of most slaves in the rest of Creation, for 
  mindless zombies perform most of the truly back-breaking 
  labor that the Deathlord requires for his slowly expanding 
  empire, but the living remain second-class citizens whose 
  only purpose is to labor until death. These poor souls include 
  foremen in smoky factories of black iron and roaring furnaces, 
  who direct shambling corpses throughout their jobs, and quiet 
  or mousy bureaucrats who hide behind desks counting beans 
  and ﬁ lling out paperwork for their pale masters. All mortals 
  within the city struggle for survival, and while the Mask of 
  Winters does nothing to make their lives more difﬁ cult than 
  it already is, he also doesn’t bother improving their plights 
  beyond occasionally importing grain for his more favored 
  servants. The Deathlord cares little if his mortal servants 
  perish, for he can merely place an appropriate mark upon 
  their brow and receive an intelligent ghost and a shambling 
  corpse where a once living person stood. Still, the living can 
  do things that neither ghosts nor zombies can do, so those 
  who make themselves useful ﬁ nd they still have a few years 
  of breathing left to enjoy.
  A precious few who enjoy the favors of the Mask of 
  Winters’ reign are the traitors of the city. These mortals 
  turned their eyes away from the plight of their fellow citi-
  zenry and, instead, cared only for themselves and their own 
  families. Some among these numbers are cruel, greedy men 
  who betrayed the city to the forces of death and received 
  rewards for their loyalty, but more are simply mortals who 
  saw the writing on the wall and knew where the fate of the 
  city lay. These sad mortals tend to their families, do whatever 
  the dead require of them and try to ignore the cries of guilt 
  that wrack their dreams. A few self-sacriﬁ cing mortals realize 
  that the Mask of Winters isn’t likely to be defeated in their 
  lifetime, so they offer their services to him not out of desire 
  for rewards, but out of hope that they can inﬂ uence his edicts 
  and protect the city from the worst of his excesses.
  For whatever reason they serve him, these mortals per-
  form vital tasks for the Mask of Winters. Foremost, they act 
  as his living representatives. The Deathlord allows Thorns 
  to feign self-rule, and these well-dressed mortals attend the 
  court of the Puppet King, debating meaningless policies and 
  entertaining foreign dignitaries. In a city where the citizenry 
  has come to associate the dead with oppression, the presence 
  of a warm voice and a soft hand can greatly ease otherwise 
  difﬁ cult situations. Many former artisans turn their talents 
  to state-sponsored art and plays, creating vast murals that 
  depict the Mask of Winters’ beneﬁ cence or plays ﬁ lled with 
  propaganda for the ancestor cult. Some among the living act 
  as playthings for the dead, whether as beautiful courtesans 
  or playing some role in a ghost’s fantasy (such as a motherly 
  ghost hungering for a mortal “child” upon whom to dote). 
  These sad mortals whore away their lives for the sake of their 
  family—and enjoy greater prosperity as a result. Finally, the 
  most terrifying of these mortal servants, the Thornguard, 
  receive Hardened Killer training at the hands of the Mask of 
  Winters’ Abyssal servants and form an elite guard and secret 
  police. All of these “traitors” receive the Mask of Winters’ 
  mostly benevolent attentions, and while some in the city spit 
  upon their actions, their families are well-fed and clothed, 
  and their voices are heard.
  Still, not everyone in Thorns accepts the rule of the 
  Mask of Winters. Many simply exist outside it, hiding away 
  in the ruins of their old city, struggling to live life as they can. 
  These street-rats often dress in rags, their hair disheveled and 
  dirty as they run from alleyway to alleyway with pounding 
  hearts and ragged breath, avoiding the clutches of ghostly 
  soldiers. Others remember the old ways, the living sun, the 
  pride of their people, and they remain determined to see the 
  city restored to what it once was. They trade propaganda 
  in the Undercity, reminisce about old times and plan for 
  quiet assaults or forms of deﬁ ance against their ruler. This 
  underbelly of rebellion and survival crosses paths and mingles 
  with crime, still rampant throughout the city as mortals take 
  to less savory means to ﬁ nd a way to live. Indeed, for some 
  of the more “respectable” citizens of Thorns, rebellion and 
  crime have become synonymous, as unwashed, rag-clad 
  bandit-warriors are the only faces of deﬁ ance.
  THE DEAD
  Without a doubt, the dead rule Thorns. While some 
  shadowland cities offer equal accommodation to the living 
  and the dead (such as Sijan) or at least pretend to (in the 
  Skullstone Archipelago capital Onyx, for example), the Mask 
  of Winters seldom bothers with any such pretensions beyond 
  the comfort of the mortal elite that serves him. Thorns fell 
  in war and suffers the same pain and ignominy that befalls a 
  conquered city. The living huddle over meager portions of 
  food while the dead march their streets, enforce their strange, 
  atavistic laws and prime Thorns for further war. When they 
  have a free moment from their service to the Mask of Winters, 
  the dead enjoy spending time among the living, soaking up 
  the reafﬁ rmation of existence, the intensity of emotion and 
  the prayer that only the living can offer. And so, when the 
  Mask of Winters closes his courts and departs his halls, the 
  streets of Thorns ﬁ ll with emotion-starved ghosts.
  Despite the situation, however, most of the Mask of 
  Winters’ ghostly minions do not reside in Thorns. Rather, they 
  dwell in the Deathlord’s citadel—or in Juggernaut itself. True, 
  
  100
  they do enjoys its bounty, and the mortals of Thorns, many 
  still unbroken by their short experience with shadowland 
  life, provide a bountiful feast of passion for the Deathlord’s 
  minions, allowing them new levels of melodrama in their 
  stagnant unlives. But Thorns is not their city. It is their 
  trophy, their victim, their plaything, and when they tire of 
  it, they return home. Thorns matters to the Mask of Winters 
  and his forces not for what it is, but for what it can do for 
  them. Once they have wrung it of its usefulness and broken 
  its citizenry of their life and passion, they will discard it, a 
  broken and uninteresting part of their growing empire.
  Not all of the dead in Thorns serve the Mask of Winters, 
  though. Thorns has a long and proud history—and many 
  famed ancestors who found their way into folklore and leg-
  end. Fed by the trickle of memory and praise heaped upon 
  these folkloric heroes, the ancestors of Thorns lingered in 
  their city well before the Mask of Winters descended upon 
  it. For the native ghosts of Thorns, the fall of their city was 
  a horrendous event. Few can turn a blind eye to the suffer-
  ing of their own descendants, and while they deeply enjoy 
  the ability to walk among their kin, to interact with them 
  and live with them once more, the humiliation of Thorns’ 
  subjugation is too much for them to bear.
  Those who have resolved to see an end to the Mask of 
  Winters’ reign are divided on how to go about it, though. 
  The legacy of the Immaculate Order leaves many ancestral 
  spirits weakened and self-conscious. They have deﬁ ed their 
  natural place to remain in the city and do not consider it 
  right to allow their kin to exist in this half-living, half-fallen 
  state. Yet, like all ghosts, they enjoy the chance to interact 
  with their families and the living world once more. These 
  ghosts grudgingly bow their heads and seek a way not only 
  to free Thorns, but to rid the city of its vast shadowland. 
  Other, more self-serving ghosts have dismissed the Immacu-
  late Order. Either they feel they left the Immaculate Order 
  behind when they chose to resist the pull of Lethe, or they 
  weren’t especially strong adherents in the ﬁ rst place. These 
  ghosts revel in their newfound connection with their kin, 
  and while they wish to oust the Mask of Winters and liberate 
  their city, they don’t see why Thorns cannot simply remain a 
  “WE WANTED TO BE SAVED… JUST NOT BY YOU”
  Weeping children, jack-booted ghosts, an ancient city groaning beneath tyranny, a smiling, despotic undead 
  sorcerer-king: These things might inspire players and Storytellers alike to seek stories of redemption and rescue, 
  with the players’ characters storming the city with their armies and battling the Mask of Winters in an epic duel. 
  In many ways, this chapter is about precisely such stories (though others are possible), and Storytellers should not 
  be discouraged from running such a series. Thorns exists to be saved (or to add a note of tragedy and darkness to 
  your series). But if players expect parades and ﬂ owers to be thrown at their characters’ feet after the liberation of 
  the city, they might have a few surprises coming their way.
  The people of Thorns were deeply proud. Many still are, and they cling to this pride as their only means of 
  maintaining hope in the face of so much misery. These people also rely on their deep-seated faith in the Immaculate 
  Order to pull them through these dark times, often attending hidden Immaculate ceremonies to rekindle their faith. 
  Those who do not retain their pride and adhere to the faith often turn to the Mask of Winters’ generous hands, 
  soaking themselves in indulgent excesses and betraying their city. The former dream of a day when the Realm will 
  save them, while the latter hope to delay any rescue so that they need never answer for their crimes.
  Solars (or most any Celestial Exalted) who save the city will ﬁ nd themselves reviled as demons. Citizens who 
  follow the Immaculate Order closely will believe Thorns has merely exchanged one despotic monster for another, 
  and the Solar Exalted might ﬁ nd themselves battling the same resistance the Mask of Winters had. Those who served 
  the Mask of Winters might serve the Solars, but do the Lawgivers truly want such vipers in their service? Even those 
  who are willing to see the Solars as true rescuers will have their pride wounded, for it took outsiders to save them.
  While Dynasts will have an easier time pacifying the city after liberating it, they too will face troubles. While 
  the faithful citizenry will celebrate them, the members of the former regime will not, fearing retribution for their 
  actions. The old Thornguard and bureaucracies will work against their rescuers to either regain the city for the Mask 
  of Winters or take it for themselves. Worse, these people have the most experience ruling the city in recent days and 
  make the best choices to appoint to bureaucratic positions. Even among the faithful, some resentment will linger 
  over the length of time the Realm ignored their plight, and this will worsen if the Realm treats Thorns’ poorly.
  Of course, not everyone will hate their rescuers. Many will forsake the Immaculate Order after hearing the 
  inspiring speeches of Lawgivers and watching these golden-wreathed warriors duel with the champions of the Mask 
  of Winters. Dark men will repent of evil deeds and bow before their new rulers, hoping to work together to improve 
  the city. This sidebar merely raises the point that not everyone will be so inclined and that the rescue of Thorns 
  needn’t be the end of a series.
  
  101
  CHAPTER FIVE • EMPIRE OF THE DEAD
  shadowland. After all, Thorns has a legacy they can be proud 
  of, and they wish to unite the famed ancestors of old with 
  the heroes of a new generation, envisioning a utopia of the 
  living and the dead, working together to further the glory of 
  their city. Whatever their leaning, the ancestors of Thorns 
  work tirelessly to help whatever resistance they can ﬁ nd in 
  Thorns. They even travel to other parts of the Underworld 
  to seek assistance against the Mask of Winters’ tyranny.
  THE SHAPE OF A BROKEN CITY
  When the Mask of Winters conquered Thorns, the people 
  lost more than their lives and freedom: The very nature of 
  their land changed as the Deathlord’s magic withered the 
  region and broke its dragon lines. Once, cheerful waves 
  splashed in a natural harbor, but now, black water lies like a 
  still, ominous mirror beneath the bone-white cliffs that sur-
  round the lagoon. The pleasant rolling hills and pasturelands 
  that surrounded Thorns have fallen silent, their hills covered 
  in a silvery-gray grass that whispers in the wind, roads lined 
  with gnarled trees that support nooses, a grim reminder of 
  the price of forsaking the Mask of Winters. To the south, 
  where legendary vineyards once produced ﬁ ne wines, the 
  towering mass of Juggernaut rises up, a literal mountain of 
  rotted ﬂ esh, spreading his vile stink. The occasional ﬂ ash of 
  violet lightning or shaft of moonlight illuminates the broken 
  stone spires of the Mask of Winter’s abode, high atop his 
  undead behemoth-steed.
  The ﬁ rst and foremost change the Mask of Winters 
  wrought with his coming was the formation of a sprawling 
  and ever-growing shadowland that engulfs the city. This 
  shadowland is unusual in size, as most shadowlands that 
  engulf this much space have formed over long centuries 
  of warfare, accumulated tragedies or terrible and recurring 
  curses. Yet, the shadowland around Thorns swallowed the 
  city within the space of a few weeks. More interestingly (or 
  horrifyingly), a sprinkling of shadowlands have sprung up all 
  across the region that Thorns used to control, slowly envel-
  oping local towns and homesteads. These shadowlands too 
  grow until the main one connects with them and swallows 
  them up, like a spreading pool of darkness consuming the 
  droplets it touches.
  Not every village in the region is consumed in a shadow-
  land, and the Mask of Winters makes use of local, still-living 
  villages as prosperous farmland for his mortal servants. While 
  the farms of shadowlands still produce food, the fertile soil of 
  Creation bears better crops, and those villages that remain 
  healthy ﬁ nd themselves hosting grim-faced nemissaries and 
  tired-eyed mortal soldiers who hold the villages in an iron grip 
  to better feed those who still live in Thorns. Until, that is, the 
  shadowlands swallow those villages up too, leaving everything 
  under a blanket of a silent, clouded, Underworld sky.
  Precisely why the Thorns’ shadowland operates the way 
  it does mystiﬁ es those rare few scholars who bother to study 
  the subject. Most speculate that, when the Mask of Winters 
  
  102
  invaded, he unleashed levels of necromantic energies unseen 
  in this world before. Creation has endured mighty sorcerous 
  conﬂ icts, but never apocalyptic necromantic wars. When 
  he struck, he seemingly broke the dragon lines within the 
  city, and evidence supports this claim, as many manses col-
  lapsed during his assault, and entirely new, Abyssal-aspected 
  demesnes formed. These savants further postulate that the 
  damage to the fabric of Creation in that region of the world 
  makes it susceptible to new shadowlands forming more easily, 
  so where a single murder might merely fray a few strands of 
  Creation, in Thorns, it might cause irreparable and genuine 
  damage. As a result, the depredations of the Mask of Winters 
  make sure that the shadowland will continue to spread until 
  it has engulfed all of the nation of Thorns, at which point 
  (hopefully), it will stop.
  Some scholars suggest a more horrifying scenario, though. 
  When the Mask of Winters struck, they say, the traitors within 
  the city served him up a vital asset: the City-Father of Thorns. 
  The Mask of Winters took this proud and colorfully-dressed 
  warrior-poet and skewered him upon a stake, letting him slowly 
  slide down its length while his blood dripped forth. The death 
  of this powerful entity tore apart the dragon lines of Thorns, 
  and with each drop of blood, with each minute loss of life, 
  the shadowland will grow until the god comes to a rest at the 
  base of the spike, and the shadowland’s growth will cease. Most 
  scholars, of course, dismiss this theory as madness.
  Regardless of how the shadowland formed, the effects 
  of the war the Mask of Winters waged upon the city left 
  lingering effects upon it, some stranger than others. When 
  the Mask of Winters struck, he drove Thorns more deeply 
  into the Underworld than most shadowlands, and while it 
  operates as a normal shadowland does, it lies closer to the 
  Labyrinth than most shadowlands do. The natural catacombs 
  and sewer-ways mixed with the strange nightmare-physics 
  of the Labyrinth to create a weird and ever-shifting under-
  belly to the city that many Thorns inhabitants refer to as 
  the “Undercity.” Monsters stalk the Undercity and the less 
  secure portions of Thorns, hunkering over corpses or pool-
  ing beneath the feet of wanderers and sucking them into 
  inky maws. Some are creatures of the Abyss, but others are 
  unique to Thorns, such as former gods deformed and driven 
  into madness by the changes to their city.
  The powerful, necromantic effects the Mask of Winters 
  and his minions used in the assault on Thorns left another 
  legacy. Strange pools of Essence radiation still linger in the 
  city and act as temporary, Abyssal-aspected demesnes. Too 
  fragile to be made into manses, they usually dry up after a 
  few years, though occasionally new pools occur. These dark 
  Essence hotspots vary in appearance. Some are places ﬁ lled 
  with shifting regions of cold and slow moving shafts of ghostly 
  white light, while others merely age the buildings in which 
  they rest, giving the places an ominous feel. Regardless, these 
  pools of dark Essence radiation bend the rules of reality within 
  their borders, usually in small ways that people who know 
  them can exploit. Mortals who spend too much time in such 
  a place slowly change, mutating into creatures neither alive 
  nor dead, and some join the ranks of monsters that haunt the 
  edges of life in the city of Thorns. (Treat them as Wyld mutants 
  in all aspects, save that those who grow too mutated to “leave 
  the Wyld” have instead become creatures of the Underworld, 
  growing weak or insubstantial in Creation, while remaining 
  strong in the Underworld. In general, use mutations that reﬂ ect 
  their darker, more ghostly existence.)
  THE SHROUDVAUNT DISTRICT
  In the center of Thorns, where the cobblestones of the 
  wide boulevards angle upward, the city center rises above the 
  rest as though Shroudvaunt is trying to shed the uglier parts 
  of the city from itself. Monolithic structures of black marble 
  loom above the city streets, watching everything with impos-
  ing, stone visages. In every major plaza and at the center of 
  every major crossroad, statues of the Mask of Winters peer 
  down at his subjects, attended by unkindnesses of croaking 
  raitons that perch upon his unmoving arms or peck at seeds 
  at his feet. The streets bustle with important bureaucrats and 
  visiting dignitaries, their black robes slashed with colorful 
  violet or crimson, golden jewelry glinting upon their ﬁ ngers 
  and throats. Thick perfumes adorn the wealthy who live here, 
  and a strong potpourri of ﬂ owery scents hides the smells of 
  decay well. Still, the voices that whisper here have a certain 
  desperate quality despite their afﬂ uent accents and careful 
  poise, and the eyes of these powerful men and women are 
  ﬁ lled with resignation. Except for the lyrical soliloquies of 
  state-sponsored poets and the calls of the Mask of Winters’ 
  birds, Shroudvaunt has a peculiar quiet, as though the whole 
  district holds its breath in wide-eyed worry over the Mask of 
  Winters’ next move. In many ways, when visitors describe 
  Thorns, they speak of Shroudvaunt.
  When the Mask of Winters conquered Thorns, he 
  rewrote the district lines that had governed the city for 
  centuries to better rule it as he saw ﬁ t. He blended the Scion 
  district, where the old government had been, with a portion 
  of the wealthy and palatial Shenjin district to create a new 
  district that was both efﬁ cient and lovely. Here, the Mask 
  of Winters set the seat of his government. In contrast with 
  the rest of Thorns, Shroudvaunt is exceedingly pleasing to 
  the senses, and her people force smiles upon their faces. The 
  Mask of Winters needs a place where visiting dignitaries 
  can be impressed by his benevolence and sophistication, so 
  Shroudvaunt acts as a sort of tourist trap, a place where the 
  Deathlord can entertain his guests. Not everyone buys into 
  the trick, but many allow themselves to be swept away by 
  the illusion. Better that than forcing oneself to acknowledge 
  the Mask of Winters as a dangerous threat.
  ASPIR HAVEN
  To the west of the city, black water soundlessly rises and 
  ebbs against the harbor shore. Ships creak in their moorings 
  while silent zombie work crews, their faces ashen and blue, 
  shufﬂ e on and off ships carrying heavy loads without complaint 
  
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  CHAPTER FIVE • EMPIRE OF THE DEAD
  or emotion. A vast military-industrial complex consumes most 
  of this district, with old, quaint seaside homes and storefronts 
  crushed between spires of silvery steel and tightly constructed 
  factories of black iron. Here, the stench of the rotting sea 
  falls away in favor of the sterile scent of metal, and the low 
  hum of machinery is punctuated by the occasional haunting 
  cry of a whistle. To the north, the harsh efﬁ ciencies of this 
  industrial section give way to more mercantile streets that 
  abut the ﬁ ner part of the Haven, ﬁ lled with lovely shops and 
  nice, if somewhat out-of-fashion, homes. The murmuring 
  comforts of the marketplace or the forced friendliness of the 
  inns draws in the wealthy sea-merchants and Guildsman with 
  whom the Mask of Winters wishes to deal. But the cold of 
  the harbor’s winds seeps into the very souls of its residents, 
  for the mortals here shiver beneath the burning eyes of their 
  taskmasters and, watching the ungainly steps of the zombies 
  that slave here, know their eventual fate.
  No part of Thorns changed more than Aspir Haven. 
  Once Brighting Harbor and the other half of the Shenjin 
  upper-class residential district, the Mask of Winters chose 
  it as a place to establish the industries necessary to build up 
  his armies for the eventual conquest of Creation. Brighting 
  Harbor already had formidable production capability, and 
  the Mask of Winters merely increased its capacities until 
  the entire district literally hummed with machinery. But 
  the Mask of Winters also needed to present the same kindly, 
  sophisticated face he shows in the Shroudvaunt District to 
  visitors who come by sea, so the lovely ocean view homes of 
  Shenjin remained, crafted into an entertainment street that 
  catered to the needs of Guildsmen and merchants.
  Aspir Haven serves as an economic nerve center for 
  Thorns. While a great deal of trade goods come overland by 
  cart and caravan, more come in from coastal traders. The 
  Mask of Winters puts every effort into wooing the Guild and 
  other ﬁ nancial contacts as he struggles both to expand his 
  power and to improve his image. Primarily, Thorns imports 
  raw materials that it cannot mine or farm, such as exotic 
  ores needed for war machines or ﬁ ne foodstuffs to feed the 
  growing social upper-crust that devotes its time to the Mask 
  of Winters’ service. The Deathlord offers unusual goods un-
  available outside of the Skullstone Archipelago and recently 
  struck up negotiations with the Guild to provide legions of 
  zombies as low-maintenance workforces. Strangely, Thorns 
  engages in little slave trade. Having an entire city of mortals 
  at his beck and call and limitless zombies to undertake physi-
  cal labor, the Mask of Winters has little need to purchase 
  slaves. Having too few skilled mortals to spare, he sells few 
  slaves to the Guild. And while he has no objection to drugs, 
  few in his city can afford them, though the wealthy and af-
  ﬂ uent servants of the Mask of Winters make heavy use of 
  them when they can.
  LEGACY
  Unlike the well-cared-for Shroudvaunt and Aspir Haven 
  districts, the rest of the city slowly decays. The skeletal remains 
  of unwanted houses huddle over narrow streets, occasionally 
  groaning as they settle on their foundations and mortar sifts 
  into rooms below. Amidst the gray buildings, however, an 
  occasional ﬂ ash of color suggests that people still live here. 
  A ﬂ icker of blond hair ﬂ ashes in the alleyway, and then, blue 
  eyes peer out a window. Deeper in the old city, the dancing 
  ﬁ res that shabbily dressed residents huddle around for warmth 
  add a pleasant red glow to the windows of aging structures. 
  Furtive citizens fall silent as the clash of iron-shod boots 
  against cobblestones announces the presence of soldiers, 
  come to drag some accused criminal screaming and weep-
  ing to her fate. For the bulk of Thorns, misery accompanies 
  every waking dawn.
  THE TWILIGHT AMPHITHEATER
  Less than a mile from the palace, the other great 
  monument to power and culture within Thorns 
  makes its mark upon the skyline. While not as tall as 
  the Autocrat’s palace, it manages to impress visitors 
  nonetheless with its intriguing architectural design. 
  The amphitheater itself rests in a depression in the 
  ground, dug deep by its foundation-layers, and the 
  scent of freshly turned soil still permeates the theater. 
  Above it, a vast dome of glass and black-iron latticework 
  shades the audience from any rain or wind. Candles 
  hang from the metal framework, providing warm illu-
  mination while the tear-drop mirrors that surround the 
  candles break up the light, sending occasional, shifting 
  rays down upon the stage. When rain falls upon the 
  dome, a mixture of the light and latticework makes 
  it seem to glow and sparkle like ﬂ owing jewels. The 
  Mask of Winters designed the Twilight Amphitheater 
  himself using long-lost secrets of the First Age and 
  his own architectural brilliance. The acoustics of the 
  Amphitheater are nothing less than legendary, and a 
  constant, soothing whisper washes over the audience 
  like the waves of the sea, but the voices of the actors 
  or performers cut the whispers away with but a word. 
  According to some, the whispers are the echo of every 
  word ever uttered in the Amphitheater, and the Mask 
  of Winters sometimes stands silently upon the stage 
  when the theater is emptied, simply listening.
  The Twilight Amphitheater offers only the ﬁ nest 
  of entertainments, usually state-sponsored pageants 
  of a vast scale or operas written by the dead in the 
  service of the Deathlord. The Mask of Winters uses it 
  as another apparatus of his vast propaganda machine, 
  often bringing visiting dignitaries, whether diplomats or 
  Guild representatives, to impress them with the beauty 
  of his city and the culture it still retains. The elite of 
  the city often attend, reinforcing their own wilting 
  commitments to the service of the dead.
  
  104
  In truth, the Mask of Winters needed Thorns as a beach-
  head into Creation, an access point from which to implement 
  his plans. With an enormous labor force of zombies, ghostly 
  artisans and legions of undying soldiers, the Deathlord had 
  little use for the bulk of Thorns’ population.
  So, he left most of them to rot.
  Legacy, sometimes called the “Old City,” or referred to 
  by their old district names, comprises most of Thorns, hidden 
  away from visitors who come to see Shroudvaunt or Aspir 
  Haven. It originally consisted of Rhiannan, a section of the 
  city that contained a large marketplace for common goods 
  and a renowned hospital; Isaac’s Folly, a bawdy part of town 
  ﬁ lled with shabby theaters and cheap brothels; and Mend, 
  the residential section for the lower classes. Now, the Mask 
  of Winters simply lumps them all together into one district 
  and ignores it. In theory, it acts as housing for his mortal labor 
  forces, but in reality, he mines the place for misery and allows 
  his hungrier minions to indulge their passions here. For the 
  mortal population, survival matters most, and the residents 
  quietly quest for food, shelter and clothing in any way they 
  can. Without the watchful eye of the Mask of Winters con-
  tinuously on them, many preserve the old portions of the 
  city and try to keep the spirit of Thorns alive. Needless to 
  say, the resistance has a strong following in Legacy.
  THE STOWING LANES
  Behind shuttered windows, huddled in dark alleys 
  and hushed behind closed doors, the would-be refugees 
  of Thorns struggle to ﬁ nd an avenue out. The roads 
  from Thorns are closed to them by the prying eyes of 
  nemissary-possessed raitons and wolves, and those who 
  try hang from the trees, their necks snapped by a noose, 
  as examples to others who would ﬂ ee the Deathlord’s 
  “benevolence.” But the Mask of Winters dotes upon 
  outsiders who visit his city, and if a Guildsman wishes 
  to take, say, a sweet child from the streets or a lovely 
  youth and enjoy her hospitality upon his ship as a 
  slave, the Mask of Winters is certainly willing to look 
  the other way.
  Some rare few among the Guild and outlying na-
  tions aren’t as greedy or brutal as they pretend to be. 
  They see the plight of those in Thorns, and while they 
  speak honeyed words to the Mask of Winters, they turn 
  to the concerned people of the city behind his back and 
  offer secretive passage aboard their vessels. Sometimes, 
  the stowaways simply hide in the cargo hold. Other 
  times, the captain pretends to take the refugee on as 
  a sailor or as slaves, dropping the pretense only when 
  they reach their ultimate destination. This secretive 
  escape from Thorns is fraught with peril, for the Mask 
  of Winters will grow angry if he learns of the trick, 
  and families entrust their children with strangers who 
  could easily use the process as a ruse to steal away a 
  lovely young woman or wide-eyed young man. Still, 
  a surprising number of “former slaves” with haunted 
  eyes in the Scavenger Lands are actually some of the 
  few who have survived the escape from Thorns intact. 
  Needless to say, they are silent about their origins.
  THE SHACKLE MAW PENITENTIARY
  Deep within the bowels of the Legacy district, 
  an occasional sob breaks the lazy buzz of ﬂ ies. A mas-
  sive and foreboding complex—once the Hoshosen 
  Hospice, located in Rhiannan district—rises up from 
  the clutter of abandoned structures around it. Grim 
  sculptures jut out from its corners, and still-shivering 
  corpses decorate the black-iron barbs atop its fences. 
  The dark bricks and thick mortar of the place stink 
  with rot and fear, and within, the heady miasma grows 
  nearly unbearable. Prisoners in tattered garments cling 
  to metal bars, and skeletal, starving hands reach out 
  into the cramped hallways, clutching at those who pass 
  by, pleading with them to stop, to help them, that this 
  is all a mistake. This is the Shackle Maw Penitentiary, 
  the most dreaded place in all of Thorns.
  The Mask of Winters needed a place to house 
  unruly mortal prisoners, so he transformed the hospital 
  into something more… suitable. The conditions within 
  are abominable, but the Deathlord wished it so. He cre-
  ated the prison as a place of torment and torture so that 
  those who died within returned as festering spirits that 
  he could use to haunt the living and expand his reign. 
  When he created the prison, he used a variation of the 
  necromantic spell that summons a citadel, infusing the 
  old hospital with the essence of the Labyrinth. Deep 
  below the prison itself, narrow and straight corridors 
  lined with metal and soulsteel and lit with pale lanterns, 
  form an underground necrosurgical laboratory complex, 
  where dying prisoners are taken for their ﬁ nal moments. 
  Skilled necromancers tear the twin souls of the mortal 
  from her mortal frame, leaving a suitable corpse for 
  zombiﬁ cation or other necromantic projects, a raging 
  hungry ghost and a weeping soul bound to the Mask 
  of Winters’ will. While the prison exists, in theory, to 
  contain prisoners, in practice, the population swells 
  with whomever the Thornguard can haul off the street 
  whenever the Mask of Winters needs to increase the 
  population of his zombie work gangs.
  THE UNDERCITY
  Beneath the streets of Thorns, the Labyrinth met the 
  catacombs and sewers of the city, and changed them into… 
  something else. Claustrophobically narrow tunnels riddle 
  
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  CHAPTER FIVE • EMPIRE OF THE DEAD
  the underbelly of the city, giving way to sudden yawning 
  chasms or vast chambers that house secretive residences 
  or even small, improvised villages of metal and stone. Blue 
  lanterns with mesh housing or the pale glow of luminescent 
  mushrooms punctuate the darkness of this subterranean maze, 
  and half shadows dance and move just beyond a watcher’s 
  vision, tempting him to depart from his path. Some parts of 
  these strange tunnels are safer than others, and where people 
  reside, metal walkways ring with footsteps, and gutter trash 
  dressed in colorful rags watch visitors with hungry and amused 
  eyes. Beyond settled tunnels, water drips quietly in dank pas-
  sageways, false echoes tease the spelunker, and occasionally, 
  massive things shift and rumble with inhuman needs.
  The Mask of Winters either does not know of this place 
  or does not care. Regardless, except for occasional forays into 
  the tunnels closer to the surface to nab a ﬂ eeing criminal, 
  the Deathlord’s forces leave the place alone. This makes it a 
  haven for those who wish to live their lives just beyond the 
  tyranny of the Mask of Winters’ grasp. Immaculates set up 
  temporary shrines to worship in peace, partisan ﬁ ghters gather 
  to meet and discuss plans, bandits bring their loot into their 
  hideaways, and anyone seeking contraband or anything rare 
  knows their best bet is with the unsavory denizens that live 
  THE SEVEN-TIERED SANCTUARY
  Those who seek to escape the constant tribulation of Thorns or who desire unattainable goods often search 
  out the storied Sanctuary hidden deep within the Undercity. Spider-gauze curtains drift lazily on half-felt breezes, 
  ghosting around the patron who enters this den of iniquity. Within, half-melted candles paint a heavy pall of drug-
  smoke a shade of yellow, and the subtle laughter and sighs of contented debauches ﬂ oat in the air. The thick miasma 
  of smoke contains many pleasing toxins that dull the senses, making time seem to slow and lines seem to blur (-1 to 
  Perception checks, and players may make a [Stamina + Resistance] roll, difﬁ culty 1, for their characters to resist). At 
  the center of the Sanctuary, past baroque, wrought-iron railings that prevent a stumbling drug-addict from tumbling 
  to his doom, one can peer into an open pit that reveals each of the ﬁ ve layers of the Sanctuary. Each tier is dedicated 
  to one of the Five Immaculate Antitheses, and each caters to a different immoral indulgence, such as prostitution, 
  gambling or recreational chemicals. The top and bottom tiers (the ﬁ rst and the seventh) contain the proprietor’s 
  ofﬁ ces and a storage house for weaponry and ill-gained goods, respectively. Rough-looking thugs of various size and 
  armament guard the place with bemused, brutal demeanors and allow no Immaculate priest to enter.
  A gentleman by the name of Silken Laughter owns the place and commands the rufﬁ ans and bandits who protect 
  it. He is tall and slim, with delicate bones and elegant, beautiful features. Dark, silken hair covers half of his porcelain 
  face, for Silken Laughter has only one good eye and vainly hides his imperfection. A short cloak falls from his narrow 
  shoulders to his hips, a tight shirt of pale silk clings to his torso, and loose trousers ﬂ are over his feet, hiding them from 
  view. Amongst pleasant company, his face always bears a smile and his deep, liquid voice easily charms those around 
  him with quick quips and strange anecdotes. He takes no lovers, and torrid rumors insist that his heart belongs to 
  someone he can never have, that his love goes forever unrequited. In battle, he wields slim daggers with frightening 
  accuracy and works unusual magic with a unique, specially decorated set of mah-jongg tiles. Silken Laughter isn’t 
  human, though what he precisely is remains a matter of conjecture. He has been witnessed battling a deathknight 
  to a stalemate, however, suggesting he is a creature of some power.
  While an absolutely immoral bandit-lord and rogue, he opens up his Sanctuary to the resistance movement in 
  Thorns, allowing them access to his resources and small army of thugs. This practice makes him popular with the 
  downtrodden of Thorns, and he is, perhaps, the most vital member of the resistance, but his open mockery of the 
  Immaculate Order makes many traditionalists suspicious of him and his motives.
  beneath their feet. Still, the Undercity exchanges one set 
  of dangers for another. Although those beneath the streets 
  evade the Mask of Winters’ grasp, they must contend with 
  pools of Essence radiation, strange lurking monsters and 
  patches of unstable tunnels more akin to the Labyrinth than 
  to familiar reality, always shifting and changing their path. 
  Those who have lived here for the past ﬁ ve years have a solid 
  understanding of their subterranean world, but new visitors 
  should heed their advice, for the Undercity is a dangerous 
  place indeed.
  THE COURT OF THE PUPPET KING
  At the heart of the Shroudvaunt District lies the Palace 
  of the Autocrat, an impressive and beautiful structure that has 
  changed little since the fall of Thorns. At its base, where a 
  mighty statue of the founding Autocrat of Thorns once raised 
  his ceremonial hammer above a forge, the Mask of Winters 
  now stands in black-iron relief, his head bowed in supposed 
  piety while a wicked grin remains afﬁ xed to his face. Behind 
  the statue, a wide ﬂ ight of stairs leads to a broad pavilion ﬁ lled 
  with thick timber pillars that support the curling eaves of 
  black-tiled roofs. The multi-tiered palace lifts high into the 
  skyline, each ﬂ oor slightly smaller than the last to create a 
  
  106
  pyramidal structure, and at the very top sits a small balcony 
  from which the Autocrat would survey his city. The balcony 
  has not been used since the fall of Thorns.
  The busy atmosphere that thrives within the spacious 
  halls of the Autocrat’s palace surprises many visitors as 
  they ﬁ rst step past the gilded doors that mark the entrance. 
  Nervously smiling ministers in black and red robes murmur 
  behind the back of a bored and expressionless ghost as he 
  drifts by. Loud debates ﬁ ll the wide rooms that dot the mul-
  tiple ﬂ oors and both wings of the expansive structure. Yet, 
  when silence falls, it is complete, for there are no echoes in 
  the palace, and the air itself is cold enough to make mist rise 
  from lips of the living. Within the throne room itself, pillars 
  decorated in gold foil support a ceiling mosaic that depicts 
  legendary ﬁ gures from Thorns’ past, while mirrors that show 
  the dead as only wispy half images line the walls, making the 
  throne room seem to extend inﬁ nitely. And at the far end, 
  upon a basalt throne too large for him, sits the Autocrat of 
  Thorns, often called the Puppet King. He is a withered gray 
  man with ﬂ esh that hangs loosely from his bones and an 
  iron crown sown into his brow. His mouth hangs open, his 
  wispy beard spills onto his chest, and indistinct strands of 
  shadowy black rise from his joints until they fade from view 
  high above. Occasionally, he twitches to life long enough to 
  shut his slack jaw and make a pronouncement with jerking 
  motions of his hand, only to fall into his half-slumbering 
  state once more.
  Real power in Thorns resides not in this cleverly de-
  signed showcase, but in the hands of the mad sorcerer-king 
  who rests in a citadel atop Juggernaut. Most don’t bother to 
  pretend otherwise, except to be diplomatic, and the court 
  often ignores the presence of the Autocrat except at formal 
  functions. Real law is dictated by ghostly representatives of 
  the Mask of Winters, and real enforcement comes from his 
  Thornguard. Most debates and legal proceedings are merely 
  a bureaucratic circus, meant to entertain visiting dignitaries 
  and keep the tremulous elite of Thorns busy.
  Still, the Mask of Winters has no wish to microman-
  age every affair of his city, and he is not always available to 
  express his desires, so the councils within Shroudvaunt can 
  pull a few tricks from their oversized sleeves. In small, day-
  to-day affairs, such as the precise wording of a tax form or 
  who should be hired to ensure the quality of street artists’ 
  performances, the local bureaucracies wield a great deal of 
  power, and clever bureaucrats manage to turn these minor 
  procedures into real clout. Few aristocrats wish to be both-
  ered with a sudden explosion of red tape surrounding the 
  education of their daughter, for example, and many wish to 
  keep various embarrassing facts from being discussed aloud in 
  court. In this way, minor ofﬁ cials gather their meager powers 
  into real strands of authority.
  Most politics in Thorns centers on gaining the Mask 
  of Winters’ ear, though, even if only for a moment. Usually, 
  this is done through the Mask of Winters’ representative 
  in the city, the Unrepentant Soldier. A few mortals within 
  the city have real pull with the Deathlord, however, primar-
  ily excessively useful servants (such as the Captain of the 
  Thornguard) or the traitors who helped the Mask of Winters 
  conquer the city, whom the Deathlord indulges to illustrate 
  the beneﬁ ts of well-placed loyalty. Politicians and courtiers 
  cluster around these ﬁ gures, trying to gain their attention, 
  offering gifts and compliments and denouncing other courtiers 
  who get too close.
  A few factions have been particularly successful at gain-
  ing inﬂ uence within the courts of Thorns:
  THE UNREPENTANT SOLDIER, THE EXILES AND 
  THE GHOST-DANCERS
  When the Mask of Winters’ chief representative steps 
  into the throne chamber of the Autocrat, silence descends, 
  followed by nervous compliments and trembling sycophantry, 
  for few are feared more in the court of the Puppet King than 
  the Unrepentant Soldier. The stink of preservatives and dust 
  oozes from him, for his ﬂ esh is not his own. As a profoundly 
  skilled nemissary, he wears the androgynously beautiful 
  Patchwork Regalia, a masterpiece of necrosurgery crafted 
  from the mortal remains of the Dragon-Blooded who dared 
  to defend Thorns from the Mask of Winters. The long, ﬁ ery 
  locks of a Fire Aspect surround his lovely face and fall upon 
  his broad, statuesque shoulders. The liquid onyx eyes of an 
  Earth Aspect watch those around him with ill-tempered 
  disdain. The soft, feminine lips of a Wood Aspect part to 
  sigh with boredom. Combined of the ﬂ esh of 20 Dynasts, it 
  mottles magniﬁ cently, slowly gliding from the shale white 
  of his Earth-aspected shoulders to the snow white of his Air-
  aspected waist, with a myriad of patches and hues of pale skin 
  visible between. If one looks closely enough, the subtle lines 
  and markings of the stitching trace swirling patterns beneath 
  his skin. The warrior wears long, ﬂ owing pants and a curving 
  soulsteel reaper daiklave named Parting Sigh but little else, 
  so that all may behold the beauty of his corpse-garment.
  In life, the Unrepentant Soldier was a Lookshy legion-
  naire who perished in the Gunzota Incident. In death, 
  the Unrepentant Soldier was among the Mask of Winters’ 
  most favored warriors, and for his service, he was awarded 
  the Patchwork Regalia and a position as representative in 
  Thorns, able to drink from its passions and vices at his whim. 
  But the Unrepentant Soldier has grown discontent with his 
  post and prize, for he has quietly begun to suspect that he 
  is in exile. Watching the deathknights eclipse the favor of 
  nemissaries with other Deathlords, the Unrepentant Soldier 
  fears the same is occurring with the Mask of Winters, and that 
  Abyssals are replacing him and his kind as the preeminent 
  powers among the dead. This suspicion makes him brood, 
  yearning to return to Juggernaut, and his ill temper leads to 
  bloodshed in the court, as he’s cut down three courtiers for 
  offending his sight. The courtiers tread carefully around the 
  nemissary now, dependent upon him for his ties to the Mask 
  of Winters, but terriﬁ ed of offending him.
  
  107
  CHAPTER FIVE • EMPIRE OF THE DEAD
  Those who cluster the closest to him take one of two 
  forms. The mortals who manage to win his favor are those 
  who truly admire the dead. Often rebellious youths enamored 
  of nihilistic hedonism, they smear their faces with ash or 
  paint themselves in gray, dressing in the fashions of the dead 
  and supporting their actions with an unreasoning fury. The 
  courts have named them “Ghost-Dancers.” The dead who 
  enter the Unrepentant Soldier’s inner circle are those who 
  feel themselves exiled from the Mask of Winters’ presence. 
  They tire of Thorns and wish to move on to bigger, better 
  things, such as conquering the rest of the Scavenger Lands 
  or simply doing something other than suffering the presence 
  of petty mortals. The Exiles make use of the Ghost-Dancers 
  as playthings, which amuses both sides greatly, as tormenting 
  some ash-masked teenage boy brings a moment of respite to 
  the Unrepentant Soldier’s passionate malaise.
  The Ghost-Dancers and the Exiles ally most closely 
  with the Silken Faction, for the Mask of Winters seems to 
  favor Wisdom Whispered, and they wish to gain the favor of 
  the Deathlord. The other factions, however, work tirelessly 
  to gain the Unrepentant Soldier’s ear, in hopes that he will 
  speak well of them to his master.
  WISDOM WHISPERED AND THE SILKEN FACTION
  Next to the Unrepentant Soldier, the court swirls around 
  Wisdom Whispered, a powerful mortal thaumaturge skilled 
  in the Art of Necromancy. Sometimes called “the Little Ty-
  rant,” he is neither admired nor feared, but tolerated for his 
  apparent popularity with the Deathlord and for the beneﬁ ts 
  he can gain his friends. Wisdom Whispered is remarkably 
  short and very conscious of this fact, and those who are wise 
  to his temper sit when he approaches to offer the illusion that 
  he is taller than they are. He wears expensive clothing of the 
  most recent fashion, but his unruly, thick brown hair refuses 
  to remain in the braid he tries to tie it in, and scowl-wrinkles 
  have formed at the edges of his eyes and lips.
  Once called Kuntao, he worked as an advisor to the 
  former Autocrat but grew discontent with perceived slights 
  while his lust for the queen knew no bounds. Tempted by the 
  whisperings of the dead, he struck a deal with the Mask of 
  Winters, sabotaging his own kingdom wherever he could with 
  subtle curses, venomous advice and seditious acts. When the 
  Mask of Winters conquered the city, he rewarded the traitor 
  with prestige and power, making him the “chief advisor” to 
  both the Unrepentant Soldier and the Autocrat himself. 
  Now calling himself Wisdom Whispered, the thaumaturge 
  
  108
  viciously wields his inﬂ uence to indulge his long-repressed 
  desires and petty revenges.
  Those who cluster near him, the so-called Silken Fac-
  tion, subscribe to Wisdom Whispered’s bleak ideology: “Eat, 
  drink and be merry, for tomorrow we shall die.” Wealthy 
  merchants and greedy bureaucrats whisper praise into the 
  hungry ears of the Little Tyrant, and he offers them deca-
  dence in return for mild favors. Those who betray him ﬁ nd 
  themselves assaulted with blackmail and savage bureaucratic 
  manipulations, so most who ﬁ nd their way into his service 
  remain there. Together, they slowly drain Thorns of its wealth, 
  beautiful youths and ﬁ ner foods, but the members of Silken 
  Faction don’t care for the rest of the community as long as 
  their appetites are sated.
  LILIA AND THE PUPPETS
  Wherever Wisdom Whispered goes, his pet follows. Once 
  the Queen of Thorns, she has been reduced to a concubine, 
  Wisdom Whispered’s sexual plaything. Her majestic features 
  are pearly white, she wears her black curls up to expose her 
  swanlike neck, and her long, colorful robes hang low on her 
  arms, exposing the depth of her cleavage. A delicate, silver 
  collar adorns her neck, and bags of exhaustion mark her 
  eyes, though they are usually covered by the paint she uses 
  to make herself more beautiful. Despite her position, she 
  has lost little reﬁ nement. Her words have a sophisticated 
  accent, and she remains exceedingly proﬁ cient with the 
  fan-language used in the courts before the Mask of Winters 
  conquered her city.
  Lilia gave in to the demands of Wisdom Whispered to 
  protect her children from harm (her son has been inducted 
  into the Thornguard, but her daughter hides in the Undercity) 
  and to maintain what little power she had remaining. But she 
  hates it. She hates him. His very touch makes her skin crawl, 
  and she slowly goes mad with fury, resentment and despair. 
  She would kill him, but she knows that would only result in 
  her death, and Thorns still needs her. For now.
  Nor is she alone. Some in the court still respect the 
  Autocrat and the old order. Called the Puppets by the rest of 
  the court for their respect of the Puppet King, they do what 
  they can to support Lilia, who technically became Thorns’ 
  rightful ruler after the death of the Autocrat. Outwardly, they 
  maintain sympathy for her, but do not act against Wisdom 
  Whispered. Secretly, however, they have contacted the 
  resistance and do what they can to bring down the reign of 
  the Mask of Winters, or at least to return Lilia to her throne. 
  To facilitate this, they have devised a code using the old 
  fan-language, and when Lilia or one of her agents ﬂ utters 
  their fan, they communicate with one another under the 
  cover of merely expressing approval or disdain of something 
  occurring in the court itself.
  STERN ASHAKAWA AND THE CLOSED FISTS
  Where Wisdom Whispered is the domestic advisor of 
  the court, Stern Ashakawa is its military advisor. Living up 
  to her name, this icy woman has cruel features and ﬂ inty 
  eyes. She wears her white hair cut short, and she prefers to 
  wear either a formal Thornguard uniform (though with a 
  black armband, rather than red, for she is not yet a member) 
  or ﬁ nely tailored skin-tight reinforced leather bodysuit. She 
  never goes anywhere without her weaponry, and she favors 
  the blade, the shield and the bow.
  During her youth, Stern Ashakawa served as a footman 
  during Thorns’ ill-advised attempt to conquer the Scavenger 
  Lands on the behalf of the Realm, and she has felt since that 
  day that the armies of Thorns failed to live up to the legacy 
  and prestige of her grand city. When offered the position of 
  military advisor, she gladly accepted, determined to wipe out 
  weakness within the armies of Thorns and right what her 
  ofﬁ cers had done wrong. She fully intends to build Thorns 
  into the empire it was meant to be.
  DOESN’T HE KNOW?
  The Mask of Winters is one of the greatest spy-
  masters in Creation, and yet, a rebellion blooms within 
  his own city. Insurgents lurk under his very feet and 
  ﬁ ll the court that rules his city. How is it possible that 
  such a brilliant and ancient mind is so easily blinded 
  by the actions of mere mortals? Shouldn’t he already 
  know of their plots?
  Of course he does. He’s just biding his time.
  The Mask of Winters is, before all things, dead. 
  Like the rest of the dead, he is ﬁ lled with passion, for 
  it is all he has left. While merely eliminating the rebels 
  would be enough for an efﬁ cient, mortal king, the dead 
  prefer to play games. They prefer melodramatic events 
  with spectacular climaxes. The Mask of Winters doesn’t 
  want to defeat the rebellion. He wants to let the hopes 
  of the people rise up to untold heights before crushing 
  the rebellion completely in a breathtaking showdown 
  that will destroy the spirit of Thorns utterly. He already 
  has plans in motion, including double agents like 
  Silken Laughter planted at the highest levels of the 
  resistance, and when the time is right, these traitors, 
  these Thornguard hidden in their midst, will turn on 
  their own. The resistance will tear itself apart while 
  undead soldiers stalk the streets, torching the homes 
  of their families and rooting out the last vestiges of 
  insurgency. And then, Thorns will know that the Mask 
  of Winters is all-seeing and invincible, that rebellion 
  is pointless.
  The resistance, then, is doomed, for the people of 
  Thorns simply lack the assets to defeat their undead 
  tyrant. Not, that is, without help from someone truly 
  brilliant and capable of standing up to the Mask of 
  Winters, in which case, his hubris and hunger for 
  melodrama could prove his undoing.
  
  109
  CHAPTER FIVE • EMPIRE OF THE DEAD
  Stern Ashakawa despises weakness in all forms. She 
  regularly takes the time to mock Lilia for her pathetic posi-
  tion, and she ruthlessly upbraids anyone she feels doesn’t live 
  up to her standards. The court of the Puppet King frustrates 
  her, however, for she wishes to see the armies of Thorns 
  move, to take to the ﬁ eld, but she perceives the decadence 
  of the Silken Faction as slowing this process down and hold-
  ing back her empire. She struggles to gain the Unrepentant 
  Soldier’s attention to alert him to this—and to rid the court 
  of Wisdom Whispered’s inﬂ uence so that she can begin the 
  conquest of local lands in the name of the Mask of Winters. 
  Those militants and hawks who agree with her cluster around 
  her in support and call themselves the Closed Fists.
  Stern Ashakawa is not without weakness herself, how-
  ever. To her great shame, her every application to join the 
  Thornguard has met rejection. She yearns for this ﬁ nal honor 
  and deeply admires the Abyssal who trains them. The captain 
  of the Thornguard sympathizes with the Closed Fists, but her 
  envy of his position and training makes it impossible for the 
  two to work together.
  SENOSKE MALCOLM AND THE SANDAL FACTION
  Completing the triumvirate of councilors, Senoske 
  Malcolm serves as religious advisor. Malcolm is a young 
  man, gentle in demeanor, with long hair and pretty eyes. He 
  dresses in simple robes and speaks with a soft voice, almost 
  always smiling compassionately when he is not frowning in 
  thought. When he was a youth, his family lived in squalid 
  poverty, but with the coming of the Mask of Winters, his was 
  among the families raised up to make a new aristocracy in 
  the city. When he announced he would serve the Deathlord 
  as a religious advisor in the Court of the Puppet King, his 
  family rejoiced. So Malcolm has seen little wrong with the 
  coming of the Deathlord. Indeed, he sees only the beneﬁ ts 
  that his coming has reaped.
  In short, Senoske Malcolm buys into the Mask of Winters’ 
  propaganda wholeheartedly.
  The charismatic youth isn’t blind to the suffering of 
  Thorns, but he believes much of it stems from irrational fear 
  of the dead—fear he tries to assuage with carefully placed 
  words and glowing testimonials. More troubling to the boy 
  is the friction between the ancestral spirits of Thorns and 
  the occupiers that serve the Mask of Winters, but he believes 
  that careful negotiation between the two sides will help 
  them understand one another better. His aura of serenity 
  and his passionate words have sparked a following in the 
  court, which the courtiers call the Sandal Faction for their 
  penchant for walking the streets of Thorns to see events 
  ﬁ rsthand. Malcolm and his faction dream of a day when the 
  ancestor spirits, the soldiers of the Mask of Winters and the 
  living come to accept their situation and work together to 
  create the utopia of which the Mask of Winters speaks so 
  often. Unfortunately, the Silken Faction’s crass abuse of the 
  city only worsens the situation, so Senoske Malcolm does 
  what he can to limit the inﬂ uence of Wisdom Whispered, 
  but even his legendary patience is wearing thin at the Little 
  Tyrant’s antics.
  THE UNDEAD MIGHT OF THORNS
  With the fall of Thorns, the Mask of Winters subsumed 
  its paltry army into his own. While mortal components still 
  exist in Thorns’ military, he has added his own shambling dead 
  and ghostly forces into the mix and has seriously upgraded 
  the quality and training of the mortal soldiers he now com-
  mands. These three aspects make up the majority of his forces, 
  with undead war machines making up the ﬁ nal component 
  as he slowly builds his forces for an eventual expansion into 
  Creation. Details of these various troop types, their numbers, 
  their tactics, their deployment and their statistics for use in 
  an Exalted game are given. (Some of these statistics have 
  been reprinted from the Exalted Storyteller’s Companion
  for ease of reference.)
  Currently, the Mask of Winters plays a careful game of 
  political cat-and-mouse with the nations of the Scavenger 
  Lands, unwilling to reveal the full extent of his ambition. 
  In his impatience, however, he has turned his armies against 
  the Marukani and the small principalities that surround 
  Thorns. No ofﬁ cial declaration of war exists, and most of the 
  actions are secretive and precise, meant to swipe small pieces 
  of terrain or “persuade a village to defect.” Whenever the 
  Marukani protest, the Mask of Winters is quick to apologize 
  for “accidents during training exercises” and grease the palms 
  of the bureaucrats in the Council of Rivers. His ambition 
  won’t remain in check for long, however, and the moment 
  he detects real weakness, his forces will strike.
  THE SHAMBLING DEAD
  Description: Zombies make up, by far, the largest portion 
  of the Mask of Winters’ soldiers. Easily created, the Mask 
  of Winters typically deploys them as a front-line assault to 
  wear down his enemies and demoralize them. During the past 
  ﬁ ve years, however, the Mask of Winters has been unable 
  to use such an obvious hammer against his enemies and has 
  turned many of his zombie hordes into a sort of simplistic 
  labor force, doing jobs such as clearing rubble.
  The Mask of Winters deploys zombies in hordes of 500 
  zombies or breaks them down (on occasion) into talons of 
  100, usually for deployment with agents such as Abyssals 
  or nemissaries. Most hordes are organized and led either 
  by more intelligent undead created by the necromantic 
  spell “Summon the Greater Servitor” or a nemissary. Most 
  hordes require a team of necrosurgeons to tend to damage 
  after battle or to repair the fallen corpses and make new 
  zombies. In Aspir Haven, a large resurrection pit has been 
  crafted in the military complex near the necrosurgery labs 
  for just such a purpose.
  Commanding Ofﬁ cer: Varies
  Armor Color: N/A
  Motto: None
  General Makeup: 500 zombies with a battleﬁ eld support lab 
  
  110
  staffed by approximately 50 mortal and ghost necrosurgeons 
  and necrotechs.
  Overall Quality: Low
  Magnitude: 5
  Drill: 0
  Close Combat Attack: 3 Close Combat Damage: 2
  Ranged Attack: — Ranged Damage: —
  Endurance: N/A 
  Might: 1 
  Armor: 1 
  Morale: N/A
  Formation: The Mask of Winters has roughly 60 hordes (the 
  numbers vary as zombies fall into disrepair or new ones are 
  raised). Approximately 45 of these hordes remain in Thorns, 
  serving as labor crews or simply waiting for deployment. Five 
  hordes have been split into talons and divided among agents 
  who work against the Marukani, slowly swallowing more 
  and more territory, and the remaining 10 are split up into 
  talons working for agents in other parts of the Underworld 
  or Creation.
  THE PALE HOSTS
  Description: The dead make up the most reliable portions 
  of the Mask of Winters’ forces. Skilled in Arcanoi of various 
  types, they display power and endurance that no mortal army 
  can match. In the day-lit world of Creation, however, it costs 
  valuable Essence to materialize, so they remain primarily a 
  force used in the Underworld. Still, they work perfectly for 
  delicate assignments, such as the raids in Marukan, able to 
  make their attack and then fade into insubstantiality.
  War ghosts form fellowships of 30 ghosts each, and three 
  such fellowships (plus added ofﬁ cer staff) form a full host 
  of 100 ghosts. The Mask of Winters currently controls 50 
  hosts, organized into 10 separate divisions called phalanxes. 
  (Note that units deploy in phalanxes only in the largest of 
  battles, and this distinction generally represents administra-
  tive organization rather than actual tactical organization.) 
  Nemissaries usually act as ofﬁ cers, but they occasionally form 
  elite units as well, and three fellowships (one full host) are 
  composed entirely of such soldiers. While the dead require 
  little in the way of food, they prefer it, and they technically 
  don’t require sleep, but they often Slumber, so the pale hosts 
  require as much maintenance as a human army overall. In-
  deed, the steep cost of equipping ofﬁ cers with jade artifacts 
  makes them expensive units to ﬁ eld. When long journeys 
  must be made quickly, the dead can forgo more necessities 
  than humans can, and the expense of maintaining pricier 
  ofﬁ cers pays off in units capable of powerful magic. 
  THE TRUE MIGHT OF THE MASK OF WINTERS
  Thorns has a formidable army by the standards of many nations in Creation, but compared to the truly great powers 
  of the world and the Mask of Winters’ foremost enemies (such as Lookshy and the Realm), they are less impressive. 
  Further, when compared to the might of the other Deathlords, the Mask of Winters seems even less threatening. He 
  lacks the might and military genius of the First and Forsaken Lion. While he is smooth and cunning, he cannot bend 
  the hearts of mortals and gods with the casual ease of the Lover Clad in the Raiment of Tears. The Mask of Winters is 
  renowned in the arts of necromancy, but the Dowager of the Irreverent Vulgate in Unrent Veils is clearly his superior. 
  So whence comes the arrogant self-assurance of this, the youngest of Deathlords?
  Part of it is simply hubris. He was unbearably proud before his death, and the words of the Green Lady have 
  worsened his pride. He assumes victory because he has been promised it and because he has always been victorious 
  before. Not all of his pride is undeserved, for while he is the youngest of the Deathlords, he is so because he was one 
  of the longest surviving Solars of the First Age. And, indeed, his self-assurance often leads his enemies to double think 
  their opposition to him, for certainly he must have some unique tricks available if he is so certain of victory.
  But the Mask of Winters isn’t stupid. He does indeed have an ace up his sleeve, a resource that he controls with 
  greater facility than any other Deathlord in the Underworld does: spies. The Mask of Winters is the master of treachery 
  and deceit, able to play unparalleled games of trickery and backstabbing. The Mask of Winters has spies in nearly every 
  nation in Creation and has even managed to plant spies at the highest level of the Walker in Darkness’s trust.
  Should players want their characters to lock horns with the Mask of Winters, Storytellers should keep this fact in 
  mind. Certainly, the Mask of Winters’ forces will match or exceed the forces of the players in most any circumstances, 
  and his spells are devastatingly powerful (but can be matched by the might of a Solar Circle sorcerer), but the Mask 
  of Winters doesn’t play fair. If he sees the players’ characters are a growing threat, he may well head them off by of-
  fering to ally with them, rather than ﬁ ght, aiding them against some mutual enemy (such as the Realm or rampaging 
  raksha). Failing that, he’ll put his vast spy forces to work, uncovering the characters’ secrets and planting traitors in 
  their midst. He’ll know who they love and who they hate. Trusted ofﬁ cers will wait in the night to stab their beloved 
  commanders, and lovers will be kidnapped as leverage. If the players have any weaknesses, the Mask of Winters will 
  exploit them, bring them to their knees and then gloat over them before he destroys them. Those who ﬁ nd the Mask 
  of Winters to be “easy meat” grossly underestimate his capabilities, for he’s already turned his cunning into the ﬁ rst 
  major Deathlord holding in Creation.
  
  111
  CHAPTER FIVE • EMPIRE OF THE DEAD
  Commanding Ofﬁ cer: Varies
  Armor Color: Black
  Motto: None
  General Makeup: 100 war ghosts wearing lamellar armor, 
  bearing target shields and wielding axes.
  Overall Quality: Good
  Magnitude: 3
  Drill: 3
  Close Combat Attack: 4 Close Combat Damage: 3
  Ranged Attack: — Ranged Damage: —
  Endurance: — 
  Might: 3 
  Armor: 3 (-2 mobil-
  ity) 
  Morale: 3
  Formation: Of the 50 hosts, 25 remain garrisoned in Thorns, 
  where they train and wait. 15 exert the Mask of Winters 
  inﬂ uence in other parts of the Underworld, helping control 
  the ghostly parts of his empire, and the remaining 10 act as 
  commandos, controlling the zombie incursions into Marukan 
  or engaging in police actions or pirate raids in other parts 
  of Creation.
  THE LIVING ARMY
  Description: Thorns has not forgotten how to ﬁ ght, 
  despite its twin defeats at the hands of the Scavenger Lands 
  and the Mask of Winters. The natives are a defeated people, 
  however, and many do not wish to serve the Mask of Winters 
  and die in battleﬁ elds of his choosing. Of course, while the 
  Mask of Winters prefers volunteers, he isn’t above drafting 
  reluctant youths into his forces. Living soldiers prove exceed-
  ingly useful, especially in Creation. They learn quickly, they 
  need no Essence to battle in Creation, and when they die, 
  both hungry ghosts and zombies can be crafted from their 
  lower souls and corpses. Most of the young men and women 
  who wear the heraldry of Thorns today do so with resignation 
  and despair. Only fear of the Mask of Winters keeps them 
  from desertion.
  The Thornguard, in contrast, serves the Deathlord with 
  terrifying fanaticism. These elite soldiers have trained at the 
  hands of Abyssals, who sheared away their compassion and 
  showed them the beauty of death. Now they act as perfect 
  killers, coldly reveling in bloodlust, and more soldiers have 
  distinguished themselves from the common ranks of their 
  fellow soldiers in these units than any others. (As a result, 
  the Thornguard has more heroic mortals in its ranks than 
  the rest of the mortal forces in Thorns do.) These dreaded 
  soldiers often patrol Thorns in their dark armor, wearing the 
  blood-red armband of their station proudly. In battle, they 
  always wear masks to hide their identity, not out of shame, 
  but because the Mask of Winters sometimes wishes to deploy 
  them as spies. Many fathers and mothers in Thorns have no 
  idea that their sons or daughters have lost their humanity 
  to the Mask of Winters’ deathknights. They know only that 
  their children disappeared shortly after the Deathlord took the 
  city, and that they are grateful to have them back. When not 
  in battle, those Thornguard soldiers with permission to act 
  
  112
  openly often dress in a formal uniform made of a black buff 
  jacket and thigh-high boots with an array of well-polished 
  buckles, as well the ubiquitous red armband.
  The Mask of Winters organizes mortals in talons of 
  125, and four talons combine to create a dragon in larger 
  battles. Nemissaries or Thornguard elites usually act as of-
  ﬁ cers. Thorns contains 20 dragons of mortal soldiers and 
  ﬁ ve dragons of Thornguard. Twelve of the mortal dragons 
  garrison in Thorns while eight work against the Marukani, 
  aid allies of the Mask of Winters in battle or otherwise exert 
  inﬂ uence in Creation.
  Commanding Ofﬁ cer: Varies
  Armor Color: Black, with red armband
  Motto: “For the Mask of Winters and for Thorns!”
  General Makeup: 500 soldiers wearing chain hauberks and 
  wielding chopping swords supported by 150 archers in buff 
  jackets using self bows
  Overall Quality: Elite
  Magnitude: 5 (Note that units deploy in this size only in 
  the largest of battles, and this distinction generally repre-
  sents administrative organization rather than actual tactical 
  organization)
  Drill: 5
  Close Combat Attack: 4 Close Combat Damage: 3
  Ranged Attack: 3 Ranged Damage: 3
  Endurance: 9 
  Might: 2 
  Armor: 3 (-3 mobility 
  penalty) 
  Valor: 4
  Formation: Of the ﬁ ve dragons of the Thornguard, two 
  garrison in Thorns and act as elite police units, two work 
  in Creation, and one works without uniforms to act as the 
  enforcement arm of the Mask of Winters’ secret police or 
  spy agencies.
  WALKING WAR MACHINES
  The Mask of Winters is a master necromancer and has 
  at his disposal a large variety of war-engines. The foremost of 
  these is Juggernaut, his ultimate weapon against large forces 
  or heavy fortiﬁ cations. Sometime in the future, the Mask of 
  Winters hopes to use the enormous maggots that feast upon 
  Juggernaut’s mountainous corpse to act as inhuman beasts 
  of battle, swallowing the forces of the Scavenger Lands and 
  the local Underworld in their frenzy. (For more information 
  regarding Juggernaut, see page 154.)
  The Mask of Winters also deploys a variety of other 
  war machines, including no less than 50 spine chains and 
  a few other artillery pieces or siege equipment meant to 
  support his forces in battle. In addition, he has crafted 200 
  loathsome osseous shells, metal and bone exoskeletons 
  crafted by the Mask of Winters as an answer to the Seventh 
  Legion’s gunzosha armor. While these artifacts have yet to 
  see the battleﬁ eld, the Mask of Winters intends to equip his 
  Thornguard with them to create ruthless killers unstoppable 
  by the common soldier.
  Thorns, a Magnitude 4 Dominion
  Military: 2/4* 
  Government: 2/3* 
  Culture: 3
  Abilities: Awarness 3 (Superior Diplomats +1), Bureaucracy 2 (Red Tape +1), Craft 2, Integrity 2 (Thornguard +2, 
  Tight-Knit heritage +1), Investigation 1, Occult 3, Performance 3 (Propoganda+2), Presence 2, Stealth 3 (Spies 
  +3), War 3
  Virtues: Compassion 4, Conviction 3, Temperance 1, Valor 3
  Limit Break: Compassion Current Limit: 8
  Willpower: 7
  Bonus Points: 20 External Bonus Points: 10
  Notes: Wisdom Whispered, the Unrepentant Soldier, Stern Ashakawa, Senoske Malcolm and, of course, the Mask 
  of Winters himself are all sorcerers (though only the Mask of Winters has legitimacy). Lilia, Silken Laughter and the 
  Captain of the Thornguard are savants. Thorns’ bonus points are tied into Presence, Occult and various specialties, 
  while its external bonus points are tied up into War (raising it twice) and spies (raising it twice). Thorns hasn’t in-
  creased its magnitude in a over a decade and sits at the cusp of expansion, if only the Mask of Winters can eliminate 
  the resistance and ease social tensions between the living and the dead (in other words, successfully reduce Limit). 
  The Attribute numbers after the slash represent current values due to previous actions, particularly the Mask of 
  Winters’ constant military build-up and his direct intervention with the government.
  The Virtue Flaw represents Thorns’ passions and pride. Though conquered, the people still remember what they once 
  were, and damaging that pride has a negative effect on the populace. 
  
  113
  CHAPTER SIX • LAST BASTION OF THE SCARLET EMPIRE
  
  114
  CHAPTER SIX
  CHAPTER SIX
  LAST BASTION OF THE
  LAST BASTION OF THE
  SCARLET EMPIRE
  SCARLET EMPIRE
  Situated on the east side of the Lesser Rock river, at the 
  head of navigation below the 763-foot high Grey Falls, the 
  city of Greyfalls is the last bastion of the Realm in the River 
  Province. For 200 years, the town was a dumping ground 
  for the dregs of the Dynasty and the worst criminals of the 
  Blessed Isle. Almost a penal colony, it gradually and success-
  fully transformed itself into a prosperous transshipment port 
  that provided the Realm with almost 1,200 talents a year 
  in trade value. Now, the city has become an armed camp, 
  with the Imperial Army stationed here awaiting the day the 
  Hundred Kingdoms attack—or the Realm orders them on 
  the offensive.
  GEOGRAPHY
  Greyfalls is the largest city in a roughly triangular ter-
  ritory measuring 100 miles on a side, with the Lesser Rock 
  and Greater Rock rivers deﬁ ning two sides of that region. 
  Low, rolling hills deﬁ ne a land of broad, shallow streams and 
  Eastern hardwoods, punctuated by huddled towns set about 
  with ﬁ elds of hemp, ﬂ ax and cotton. In more open country, 
  fortiﬁ ed cattle ranches raise cows for meat, dairy and leather, 
  while sheep herding and horse rearing are important second-
  ary pastoral projects.
  There is virtually no stone in the country, and most 
  construction is of brick or wood. Local soils tend to produce 
  yellowish brick, and so, most towns have a sandy color to them 
  as they rise from green ﬁ elds. Each town is situated beside a 
  stream or river, with a bridge leading to the town’s central 
  plaza. The plaza, shaded by trees and cooled by a fountain, 
  serves as the town’s living room and a place to rest from the 
  heat of the day. A shrine to the Immaculate Dragons, with 
  its onion dome and minaret, usually stands on the western 
  side of the plaza, with the governor’s house on the north 
  side. The best teahouse in town is usually in the southeast 
  corner of the plaza. A net of streets and alleys branches off 
  the plaza, connecting the center to the city wall with a maze 
  of confusing streets.
  
  115
  CHAPTER SIX • LAST BASTION OF THE SCARLET EMPIRE
  Every child growing up here becomes aware early of her 
  place in the world. To the north and west, the mountains of 
  the Metagalapan Range rise above the horizon, lightly whit-
  ened with snow. The sunrise is tinged green every morning 
  due to the vast forests in the East. The roar of the Grey Falls 
  echoes over the land and can be heard up to 30 miles away 
  on days when the wind is right. Such a wide-open country 
  lends itself to thoughts of freedom.
  OCCUPATION
  Yet, freedom is not on the minds of most residents—not 
  with the country habitually patrolled and inspected by units of 
  the Imperial Army. Each town in the district has a governor, 
  and while that governor is usually a local, he holds his post 
  at the discretion of the satrap in Greyfalls. Some governors 
  respect local traditions of consultation and consensus. Others 
  rule by decree and gangs of hired thugs.
  Occupation has brought a number of important beneﬁ ts 
  to the region. Thanks to Realm sorcerer-engineers, a series of 
  deep wells makes rich water reserves available for irrigation 
  of crops and herds. Six high-quality roads splay out into the 
  countryside from Greyfalls, speeding the distribution of goods 
  to local markets. Fortlets on the roads and on the Lesser Rock 
  and Greater Rock have reduced instances of banditry and 
  piracy. The people dwelling here are considerably safer and 
  better protected than anyone in the neighboring Hundred 
  Kingdoms.
  A WIDER ROLE
  The Realm was not always a good friend to the area. Call-
  ing it the River Province Administrative District, it installed 
  a tax ofﬁ ce, a customs house and a legion garrison. As long 
  as Greyfalls sent its tribute on time, the Empress paid little 
  heed to any complaint coming out of the East. For 100 years, 
  the satraps came from House Cynis. After that, Tepet, Iselsi 
  and Cathak traded it between them for almost ﬁ ve centuries. 
  None of the Great Houses treated the region well.
  About 100 years ago, House Nellens secured the franchise 
  from the Empress and made signiﬁ cant investments in the 
  infrastructure of the district. It built the roads radiating out 
  from Greyfalls, including one that approaches the Metagala-
  pan Mountain Range. It restored the locks on an old First Age 
  canal that bypassed the Grey Falls, increasing the distance 
  that ore barges could travel to upland mining communities 
  by almost 100 miles. Then, it built manufactories for glass, 
  crystal and porcelain, to take advantage of local sand, lead 
  and kaolin deposits. More recently, Nellens paid for deep 
  wells that boosted ﬁ ber plant irrigation and lent assistance 
  to local families in the weaving and papermaking industries 
  to start workshops of their own.
  Their investment fueled a construction and attendant 
  economic boom. Despite being politically suppressed, 
  Greyfalls and the region around it became an economic 
  powerhouse, producing 1,266 talents of value in raw and 
  processed goods a year. Yet, House Nellens failed to anticipate 
  how much a proﬁ table satrapy needed to be defended from 
  enemies foreign and domestic. In the last 20 years, Greyfalls 
  has become an armed camp, and Nellens has relinquished 
  much of its income to the needs of the Imperial Army.
  FROZEN WOOD
  Two hundred and ﬁ fty miles east of Greyfalls lies 
  the shadowland called the Frozen Wood. Even in the 
  height of summer, icicles hang from the winter-bare 
  branches of trees standing knee-deep in snow, and 
  the narrow and shallow Boulder River on its eastern 
  ﬂ ank runs cold year-round. The Frozen Wood runs ap-
  proximately 100 miles from north to south, but is rarely 
  more than 15 miles wide. It was the site of a large but 
  ultimately futile battle between River Province forces 
  and Realm legionnaires that occurred late in RY 90, 
  just as the peace treaty granting Greyfalls to the Realm 
  was being hammered out.
  THE CITY OF GREYFALLS
  Greyfalls the city occupies a spectacular location, on 
  the eastern slopes of the Lesser Rock River below the Grey 
  Falls. The yellow-brown of the city’s defenses and public 
  buildings contrasts with the shimmering waterfall, easily 10 
  times the height of the city’s tallest minarets. Red-tile roofs 
  are the rule, but occasional ﬂ ashes of blue tile lend some 
  color. Many of the city’s streets are adorned with wall murals 
  and patterned mosaics, though few iconic depictions exist. 
  Greyfalls nominally follows the Immaculate Philosophy.
  About 55,000 people live in Greyfalls and its suburbs, 
  while an additional 475,000 live in the larger territory. The 
  rambling walls with their round towers 65 feet high enclose 
  a circuit of seven square miles. Greyfalls is a typical district 
  town writ large, with promenades of yellow brick circling 
  tree-shaded plazas. A shrine to the Immaculate Dragons or 
  one of the local gods anchors each plaza. Most structures are 
  three or four stories tall, with shops on the ground ﬂ oor and 
  ofﬁ ces or apartments above. Many wealthier families build 
  towers too, so Greyfalls is a city of domes, spires and mina-
  rets rising out of the fog. Many captains time their arrival 
  to twilight, when sunset wreathes the city in an illusion of 
  ﬂ ame and smoke.
  Six districts deﬁ ne the city. Closest to the falls and lowest 
  on the slope, is Mist-town. Nooji Plaza lies slightly downriver 
  and higher on the slope. Canal Gate is the main docks and 
  warehousing area at the downriver end of the city, where 
  the Nellens canal joins the Lesser Rock River. Above Canal 
  Gate is a middle-class neighborhood called High Quarter, 
  with the fancier garden district of Alder Plaza behind it. On 
  the highest point overlooking the city is Garrison Heights, 
  where the satrap and the legion dwell secure.
  
  116
  MIST-TOWN
  While the Grey Falls are quite beautiful, the spray and 
  fog rising from the falls is damp and cold. The value and 
  prosperity of a given property increases in direct proportion 
  to its distance from the waterfall and the expanse of its views. 
  Closest to the falls, Mist-town’s working-class streets are 
  perpetually ﬁ lled with fog. The waterfall’s thunder echoes 
  in the streets as a perpetual booming sound. Everything 
  here is green, as moss, lichen and ivy worm their way into 
  mortar and brick. People who live here tend to be poor and 
  relatively sickly, but proud. A few Nellens factories along 
  the river here make use of the fast-churning water to pound 
  plant ﬁ bers to the mush used in papermaking.
  NOOJI PLAZA
  Nooji Plaza lies slightly downriver of Mist-town. While 
  less foggy and damp than Mist-town, Nooji Plaza is somehow 
  less inviting. The city’s brothels and beggars congregate here, 
  and kaffés on the plaza sell pastries laced with opium, hashish 
  and other chemical pleasures. A syphilis outbreak began here 
  10 years ago and continues to wrack the community.
  When the Shogunate ruled, the Lesser Rock Bridge 
  crossed into Greyfalls here. The bridge’s arch fell into the 
  river long ago, and the Realm uses security as a justiﬁ cation 
  for not repairing it. Across the river stands the eastern edge 
  of the Hundred Kingdoms, so the garrison prefers the bridge 
  remain closed to trafﬁ c coming from that direction. Instead, 
  40 small ferries transporting about a dozen passengers each 
  make the round trip several times each day between shores. 
  On the Hundred Kingdoms side, the Great Eastern Road 
  begins, which ploughs a straight-as-spear course through the 
  Hundred Kingdoms to Marita before turning and making 
  its way to Melevhil. The road surface consists of well-ﬁ tted 
  stones on a bed of heavy gravel.
  CANAL GATE
  Canal Gate, at the city’s southern end out of the fog, 
  is a triangular patch of ground between the ﬁ rst lock on the 
  Nellens canal around the Grey Falls and the Lesser Rock 
  River. Here, on a corniche built of imported stone, ships from 
  the Realm and all the states of the Confederation of Rivers 
  tie up, in order to trade River Province goods and materials 
  for Realm manufactures. Warehouses overhang the river in 
  places, and slave-powered cranes draw bales of goods right 
  out of cargo holds. Taverns, teahouses and brothels line side 
  streets, along with ﬂ ophouses and shrines for migrant sailors 
  and workers. Coal and ore barges exit the lock on their way 
  downriver or transfer their loads to ships from Nexus. The 
  crowded streets ring with Rivertongue, High Realm and 
  more exotic tongues, and professional translators hawk their 
  services on many street corners.
  
  117
  CHAPTER SIX • LAST BASTION OF THE SCARLET EMPIRE
  At the center of Canal Gate is Market Plaza. Brightly 
  colored tents stand in orderly rows, which ofﬁ cials have care-
  fully measured and taxed. No one bothers to organize similar 
  goods together. Instead, ragmen and knife sharpeners deal 
  side by side with traders in porcelain and silk. Legal trading 
  hours run from sunup to sundown, and the price of a booth is 
  Resources 1 for a small stall (barely large enough for a seller 
  and buyer to stand together) to Resources 3 for a large stall 
  (enough space for six or seven tables of goods).
  Khanzar’s, a three-story establishment specializing in 
  chocolate drinks and delicacies on the southwest side of 
  Market Plaza, is the unofﬁ cial headquarters for Guild busi-
  ness in Greyfalls. Each of the Great Houses of the Realm also 
  maintains an ofﬁ ce and showroom on the plaza.
  HIGH QUARTER
  A series of ramps and alleys leads out of the bustle of Canal 
  Gate into the more sedate High Quarter. Nine small plazas divide 
  this area into several separate neighborhoods. Most Greyfallers 
  involved in legitimate business have shops, showrooms and 
  homes in this district. The wealthiest neighborhoods are located 
  on the west side of town, overlooking the falls. The four plazas 
  on the east side of the ridge, however, are quiet and pleasant 
  and no less sought after than the ﬂ ashier residences.
  Fanaze, considered the best papermaker in the Threshold, 
  has her shop in the High Quarter, on the eastern side where 
  the fog will not ruin her wares. Several times, she and her 
  family have been almost kidnapped to the Realm to work 
  there, but Bronze Faction Sidereals have collaborated to foil 
  these plots, preferring to use her as a cat’s-paw locally.
  ALDER PLAZA
  A single ramp with a gate leads out of the High Quarter 
  into Alder Plaza, considered the highest-class and wealthiest 
  neighborhood in the district. Inhabited by the wealthiest local 
  merchants and by Realm families without the clout to live on 
  Garrison Heights, the houses here are usually cloister-like, 
  with large garden courtyards in the center. 
  GARRISON HEIGHTS
  On a diamond-shaped platform atop the city stands 
  Garrison Heights, which is not so much a neighborhood as a 
  fortress. Reached by a narrow winding ramp through the city, 
  or by a gate that opens directly onto a platform beside the Nel-
  lens canal’s second lock, Garrison Heights houses the Realm’s 
  satrap, the legion that defends him, a priory of the Immaculate 
  Order and the palace of the Scarlet Empress. Windswept and 
  virtually devoid of trees other than in the palace and priory 
  gardens, the Heights command the city and enjoy a spectacular 
  view in every direction, for planning a military campaign—or 
  watching the approach of an invading army.
  GOVERNMENT
  Few satrapies are ruled so directly by the Realm as 
  Greyfalls. Since the River Province Administrative District 
  actually produces genuine income, the Thousand Scales insists 
  on having a signiﬁ cant say in local affairs. As a result, the 
  development of local government is stunted and half-stillborn, 
  with many locally appointed ofﬁ cials regularly checking in 
  with Imperial supervisors. Newcomers from the Realm ﬁ nd the 
  process tedious and exasperating but soon learn the wisdom 
  of the system. Lacking ﬁ nely honed political instincts, the 
  natives defer to the Realm’s desires often in contradiction 
  to their own best interests. As a result, Greyfalls has been 
  solidly wedded to the surrounding region, without any signs 
  of the incipient nationalism that has been so troublesome 
  to the Realm elsewhere.
  THE IMPERIAL SATRAP
  The chief Realm ofﬁ cial in Greyfalls is Nellens Rombulac, 
  a thin, elegant Dragon-Blood of the Water Aspect. His swift 
  brush sweeps out rivers of ink, commanding the whole district 
  to bend to his desires. For almost 50 years, he has held this 
  prestigious assignment without often resorting to military 
  force. He’s done his job by keeping the peace: Troops cost 
  money and eat into proﬁ ts. For most of his tenure, Rombu-
  lac assumed that he, plus a squad of four Dragon-Blooded 
  magistrates, a vartabed of the Immaculate Order and two 
  Terrestrial Exalts commanding a dragon of troops each, would 
  be enough to keep the region in line, especially since each 
  of the eight Exalts had at least 500 followers. 
  How times change! Rombulac’s face sours at the thought. 
  Since the Empress’s disappearance, the satrap has had more 
  than double that number in his territory. His relatively 
  disciplined Peleps troops are gone, replaced by a disheveled 
  and arrogant legion of criminals led by a pack of cashiered of-
  ﬁ cers. There are four warstriders parked on Garrison Heights! 
  The army siphons off men and materiel that used to pay the 
  annual tribute and administer the province peacefully. The 
  Order brought in three more Exalted monks. When one of 
  the magistrates was killed a year ago, three more joined the 
  three that remained. Ostensibly, the new ones are searching 
  out the murderers. Rombulac knows they are only avoiding 
  the assassins who are hunting down magistrates back on the 
  Blessed Isle, though.
  For all that, there are still judges to appoint in the 
  market towns of the hinterland, a court to oversee, taxes to 
  adjust, and merchants and emissaries to placate. The satrap 
  supervises almost 1,000 bureaucrats, both Realm-born and 
  local hires, and an expensive network of spies and informants. 
  Rombulac is overworked and no longer commands the same 
  respect he once required to do his job. He clearly believes 
  the world is slowly going mad.
  THE SCARLET MAJOR-DOMO
  Bretegani Wild Grove is the major-domo of the Scintil-
  lating River Palace, the theoretical home-away-from-home 
  of the Scarlet Empress. A stocky brown-haired patrician in 
  his 40s, Wild Grove received the appointment 10 years ago 
  when his daughter Exalted and was adopted by the Peleps 
  
  118
  family. Simultaneously exiling and promoting him to a distant 
  satrapy cut familial ties and gave him his reward. His wife 
  still has not forgiven him. How could she? Wild Grove still 
  hasn’t forgiven himself.
  Wild Grove has thrown himself into a new kind of work 
  for the Realm, even so. As major-domo of a palace the Em-
  press never used, Wild Grove organized a series of dinners, 
  banquets, hunting parties and Gateway tournaments to honor 
  local notables and visiting dignitaries. Structured around 
  loyalty to the Realm, these gatherings developed Greyfalls’ 
  middle and upper classes as conscientious citizens of the 
  Scarlet Empire. In the elegant rusticity of the River Palace, 
  nobility and merchants mingle, playing at being patricians 
  in a manse at some Dynast’s grand party.
  Wild Grove knows the boors who make up this mockery 
  of a noble class have atrocious manners. They are crude by the 
  Realm’s standards, poor in both wealth and knowledge. Yet, 
  ruling over them and playing host to these gatherings gives 
  him a small taste of what it would be to be like his daughter—a 
  Prince of the Earth and a lord of men. Unfortunately, his 
  gatherings are not so pro-Realm as he believes. Conspiracies 
  hatch there often enough that Rombulac is worried.
  THE GENERAL
  General Cathak Kitono, an 87-year-old Dragon-Blood 
  of the Fire Aspect, commands the Twenty-Third Imperial 
  Legion. He holds his soldiers in high regard—they are merely 
  dogs as opposed to rats or dung beetles. Often surrounded 
  by a faint nimbus of blue-orange ﬂ ame, Kitono shows open 
  disdain for the major-domo and subtly subverts the satrap. 
  He is really in charge in Greyfalls, and these lesser men are 
  merely overcautious old fools.
  Ordered to Greyfalls by the Deliberative after the 
  disastrous destruction of the Tepet legions, Kitono brought 
  only his immediate general staff and a handful of scouts and 
  sergeants. He sent the Peleps house troops home and recruited 
  from the slums and prisons in Greyfalls and the surrounding 
  principalities. As his ofﬁ cers joined him in ones and twos, 
  Kitono brought more and more dragons into existence, gradu-
  ally calling a genuine imperial legion into being, hundreds of 
  miles to the east of Lookshy. He even managed to smuggle 
  four warstriders upriver into Greyfalls, where they hunker 
  behind the Garrison Heights walls, invisible to the city 
  below. Bribery and overland hauling brought several lesser 
  weapons such as Essence cannons and implosion bows to the 
  city, and his engineers have used local materials to construct 
  catapults and trebuchets.
  Now, Kitono waits for orders—ofﬁ cially. Unofﬁ cially, 
  he has sent scouts into many of the neighboring territories. 
  His immediate staff ponders the information and tries to 
  determine which state is weak enough to fall without much 
  ﬁ ghting. His goals are to bring about the replacement of 
  
  119
  CHAPTER SIX • LAST BASTION OF THE SCARLET EMPIRE
  Rombulac with a Cathak satrap and to double the size of 
  the Realm’s footprint in the East.
  THE VARTABED
  As the representative of the Mouth of Peace and the 
  Immaculate Order, Sister Cloud Hands leads a monastic 
  establishment of three additional Dragon-Blooded. Together, 
  the four preside over two monastic communities (one for 
  women, the other for men), 56 temples with full-time acolytes 
  and 185 minor shrines. Over 400 monks, nuns, vartabeds, 
  acolytes and her own Dragon-Blooded colleagues look to her 
  for guidance, and she has good words for them all.
  This does not keep her from becoming stressed out, 
  though. Kitono’s blatant militarism gives her ﬁ ts; she feels 
  awkward playing the living legend at Wild Grove’s parties; 
  and Rombulac is only pious when the tax accounts balance, 
  which is rare these days. She personally hunted down four 
  Anathema in the last 50 years (with some help, she would 
  modestly admit) and took down her share of obstreperous 
  gods. Guiding the religious life of hundreds of thousands of 
  people is far more challenging to her. 
  Her greatest challenge is the custom of portraiture in 
  Greyfalls. Many people have little cabinets or niches in 
  their houses with pictures or statues of local gods, spirits and 
  elementals, and people only smiled when she railed against 
  them in her sermons. Now, however, the Air Aspect bites 
  her tongue on the subject, for the devout have begun carry-
  ing pictures of her. The steady trickle of Essence from their 
  devotion has led Sister Cloud Hands to some dangerously 
  heretical ideas.
  LOCAL GOVERNANCE
  The Realm received the town of Greyfalls and “attendant 
  territories east of the Lesser Rock and west of the Boulder and 
  Pebble Rivers” in the peace treaty of RY 91. At least in part, 
  this agreement was reached because no one else wanted that 
  particular stretch of land. It was poor for agriculture since there 
  was little surface water, it lacked any great mineral wealth, 
  there were no First Age ruins worth mentioning, and there 
  was virtually no government to speak of. The country was a 
  series of sheep and cattle posts in wild country, interspersed 
  with trading outposts and farms: lightly settled and sleepily 
  unwilling to join the larger world.
  The Realm inadvertently wrought much change in the 
  passage of nearly 700 years. Greyfalls’ role as a transshipment 
  port opened its people to new luxuries. Not silk and jade, 
  of course, but new cooking spices, a broader range of foods, 
  ﬁ ne pottery and glassware, books and paper. With these 
  latter luxuries came new ideas: education, medicine, sani-
  tation and even the idea of villages and towns. The Realm 
  planned on staying for the long term and invested in the 
  country’s infrastructure: the city of Greyfalls itself, the roads 
  and caravansaries and postal hostels, the military watchtow-
  ers, the Nellens canal, deep wells to reach the aquifers and 
  planned market towns in the hinterland. It hired workers to 
  help build them and trained others to maintain and regulate 
  them. From the Realm’s point of view, these improvements 
  were necessary investments in what amounted to a family 
  business over three Dragon-Blooded generations.
  Yet, to the people of Greyfalls, living a mortal life span, 
  their world is prosperous farmland netted together with a 
  web of towns and roads—towns and roads they themselves 
  built and now maintain. The Terrestrial Exalts hear stories 
  from their grandparents about hunting komodo rats in the 
  Greyfalls region, but mortal mothers tell their sons about their 
  great-grandmother “who started the stock exchange” or their 
  great-great-great-grandfather, “who was the ﬁ rst merchant in 
  town, when this was just a village.” The komodo rats are but 
  dimly remembered in the tales of heroic ancestors.
  Many a town now has a school, a regular market, a 
  seasonal fair and a set of common laws. The river towns of 
  the Greater Rock have set up a uniﬁ ed weights-and-measures 
  commission to write a common legal framework for trade. 
  Banks write complex ﬁ nancial instruments, insurance agents 
  write elaborate policies, and museums and antiquarian societ-
  ies arise. Many towns have a courthouse with a judge who 
  might have been appointed by the satrap, but might just as 
  likely have been appointed by the town council. Some towns 
  are highly democratic, others are deeply oligarchic, and still 
  others are miniature tyrannies run by small bands of thugs. 
  There are simply not enough Dragon-Bloods in Greyfalls to 
  notice these sorts of things. The Princes of the Earth might 
  be able to do anything, but they cannot do everything.
  Most of the populace remains committed to the Im-
  maculate Philosophy and respects the Dragon-Blooded 
  deeply. Towns look to the Realm for ideas in fashion, in 
  education and in government. Many people cannot help 
  but look around and wonder exactly what it is that the 
  Dragon-Blooded do, though. Greyfallers look everywhere 
  and see their own achievements, barely recognizing the 
  Realm-built infrastructure as the foundation on which the 
  origins of their nation stands.
  At present, the greater Greyfalls satrapy is divided into 
  seven districts, divided from each other by the military roads 
  radiating out from Greyfalls. In order, from northwest to 
  southeast, these districts are Canal, Mountain, Briarwood, 
  Brown Clay, Sweetrose, Sandhill and River. The small towns 
  of Foggy River, Flamerock and Division mark the eastern 
  border of Greyfalls’ territory and are famous for smuggling 
  and lawlessness.
  ECONOMY
  Greyfalls almost could not exist without the Realm, 
  which is the source of its wealth, its prestige and its security. 
  Were the Realm to leave, the current standard of living would 
  almost certainly evaporate. Still, the infrastructure that the 
  Realm installed would yet remain, and that would continue 
  to help the land prosper to some degree. Maintaining that 
  infrastructure, and the tax revenues that accrue from it, is 
  
  120
  critical to the Realm’s continuing involvement in Greyfalls. 
  It is a source of pride to the Greyfallers themselves, as well, 
  and would likely help Greyfalls become a major power in 
  the East, were it given a chance. Although they mock it as 
  a tool of the Realm, Greyfalls’ neighbors look on with envy. 
  The Guild, above all, considers Greyfalls a potential prize 
  of incalculable value. It remains to be seen how much of 
  this value is genuine, and how much is a chimera, likely to 
  vanish unexpectedly.
  TRADE
  The heart of Greyfalls’ wealth is its trade with the Realm. 
  Ofﬁ cially, imperial trading companies may not trade with the 
  states in the Confederation of Rivers in certain goods: The 
  actual list of prohibited items runs over 100 pages. Greyfalls, 
  as a protectorate of the Realm, can trade with whomever 
  it wishes. Therefore, cargo ships travel hundreds of miles 
  upstream from the towns of the Yanaze—away from the 
  Realm—in order to deliver goods and raw materials destined 
  for the Blessed Isle.
  Greyfalls merchants receive the goods, sell them to 
  their sponsoring Realm trading partners and pocket a small 
  commission charge. Realm vessels then transport these 
  purchases downriver on imperial cargo vessels, making 
  good use of both wind and current. The signiﬁ cant costs of 
  the upstream journey are borne by Confederation trading 
  compacts, or the Guild, rather than the Realm, which only 
  bears the downstream costs.
  Some costs are involved in sending Realm ships so far 
  upriver, but such costs are mitigated to some degree by bas-
  ing shipyards in and around Greyfalls, which construct cargo 
  vessels and load them with Realm-purchased goods. Realm 
  companies can then sell used hulls in Port Calin, and transfer 
  the crews to new vessels coming downriver from Greyfalls, 
  already loaded with cargoes for the Blessed Isle. Greyfalls 
  agents can even take possession of used ships in Port Calin, 
  and take the crews from the new ships to sail them upriver 
  trading as they go. In this way, Greyfalls makes use of the 
  free port at the river mouth to manage trade all the way to 
  the headwaters.
  There is a precarious balance involved in the whole 
  operation. With the Empress gone, more states along the 
  river feel entitled to stop, search and tax individual ships 
  from Greyfalls or the Blessed Isle. More merchants are also 
  willing to travel across the Inland Sea directly and bypass 
  the usual restrictions with bribes. As Greyfalls grows in 
  wealth, it becomes more expensive for merchants to do 
  business there.
  REALM OPERATIONS
  The Realm involves itself in a large number of different 
  operations in Greyfalls. Many of these are agricultural or 
  industrial in nature and tend to be large scale. The White 
  Jade Porcelain Factory in the Brown Clay District, for ex-
  ample, produces 500 sets of formal dinnerware every month. 
  The Wood Dragon Shipyard in the Canal District launches 
  30 cargo hulls a year. Sandhill Crystal produces more than 
  1,000 crystal bowls every week. Even high-end papermak-
  ers such as Fanaze make hundreds of sheets at a time. The 
  Realm proﬁ ts because House Nellens has inculcated a serious 
  work ethic and a pressure to meet international standards 
  of excellence in the whole native population. Exert tight 
  controls on a country’s education system for 20 generations, 
  and such things are possible.
  Nellens also introduced the idea of individual compacts 
  to Greyfalls. In this way, a petty bureaucrat from the Blessed 
  Isle could befriend a few Greyfalls families, and her salary 
  (while low at home in the Realm) could help her buy the 
  start-up equipment necessary to some business the Greyfallers 
  wanted to begin. Good record keeping meant that families who 
  cheated the Realm in the early years often lost out decades 
  or centuries later. Now, many individual Realm bureaucrats 
  own pieces of Greyfalls businesses, either as silent or active 
  partners. This ownership often leads to conﬂ icts of interest, 
  but it also helps create new wealth and new businesses for 
  the Realm’s accountants to tax.
  Greyfalls is now internationally renowned for its por-
  celain, its glassware and its paper, but other industries are 
  catching up to these high standards. Greyfalls shipbuilding 
  is now widely regarded as equal to the West’s in some ways. 
  Furniture making, house kits and other wood products are 
  becoming important. Brass-works and bronze-works are 
  gaining in reputation as well, and book-copying (achieved 
  with dozens or hundreds of scribes in long, well-lit rooms) 
  is becoming as important as papermaking in the area. Some 
  enterprising courtesans have hit on the idea of printing books 
  of their erotic adventures, with woodblock illustrations, and 
  even this scandalous business has a few discreet bureaucrats 
  funding it.
  INCIPIENT NATIONALISM
  All things must come to an end, and the Realm’s 
  dominion in Greyfalls could be next. Wild Grove’s par-
  ties have spawned a slow conspiracy among a number of 
  landowners eager to turn Greyfalls into a new Nexus. 
  They are prepared to back a likely candidate—perhaps 
  even an Anathema—to a throne in Greyfalls, if he will 
  throw off the yoke of the Realm and install them as the 
  country’s nobility. At present, they have been reluctant 
  to admit any of the merchant families to their schemes, 
  but the plotters have been working on raising a private 
  militia, designing banners and recruiting local gods 
  to their cause. In the absence of the Empress, many 
  gods are eager to endorse the idea of home rule—and 
  worship of a local pantheon.
  
  121
  CHAPTER SIX • LAST BASTION OF THE SCARLET EMPIRE
  GUILD OPERATIONS
  By law, vessels and caravans operating under Guild aus-
  pices may not trade anywhere but Greyfalls itself; the outlying 
  country is closed to them. As a result, the Guild maintains 
  only an unofﬁ cial station in Greyfalls, though individual 
  merchant princes are welcome to set up shop there if they 
  require. Two minor caravan routes roughly skirt the edges of 
  the satrapy, carrying on independent trade with folks living 
  on the fringes of imperial control. 
  The Guild is trying to learn from the Realm’s investment 
  patterns. It regularly sends individual agents into the satrapy 
  with sacks of silver, attempting to reach people with good 
  ideas who barely exist in the sight of regular bureaucrats. Pick-
  ing out good ideas for investment is much more challenging 
  without a centuries-long tracking system for separating scams 
  from genuine intentions. Nothing can prevent even a likely 
  investment from turning sour, of course.
  Still, the Guild has managed to accumulate a few suc-
  cesses, so it secretly owns shares in many businesses where 
  it is not able to operate ofﬁ cially or legally. Many of these 
  operations are small: jewelry stores, brothels, inns, teahouses, 
  small wineries and paperworks, nurseries and orchards. A 
  few are larger, however. The Guild has had some success in 
  ﬁ nancing the construction of a few covered markets in some 
  towns and has explained the concepts of stock exchanges, 
  banks and insurance agencies in others. As a result, the Grey-
  fallers have been slowly educated about a variety of ﬁ nancial 
  systems, and a shadow economy has grown up alongside the 
  legitimate Realm economy.
  LOCAL MATTERS
  The Realm’s greatest difﬁ culty is that, by turning Grey-
  falls into a transshipment port, it has robbed itself of the 
  potential to make money in truly splendid fashion. Goods 
  made on the Blessed Isle are expensive in Greyfalls; the cost 
  of making them and shipping them across half of Creation is 
  substantial. As a result, many Greyfallers buy products made 
  by the Confederation of Rivers. These manufactures may be 
  of poorer quality, but they are certainly serviceable—and 
  cheaper. Laws prohibiting satrapy residents from trading 
  with Nexus or the other River Province towns for goods to 
  be used locally would only underscore the distance between 
  the Realm and the local populace.
  Moreover, Greyfalls produces a broad spectrum of goods, 
  and much of what it produces is high quality. Not weapons, 
  of course: The Realm tries to avoid letting its dependencies 
  produce military equipment. Still, the satrap and the general 
  and numerous soldiers and bureaucrats and monks have all 
  noticed that their own tables are set with Greyfalls glassware 
  and ceramics, that they write their orders and decrees on 
  Greyfalls paper and that many of the ships in the canals 
  and rivers are Greyfalls-built. The ofﬁ cers from the Realm 
  notice, especially, just how many of their own troops are 
  Greyfalls-born.
  Now, thousands of miles from the Imperial City, every 
  citizen of the Blessed Isle ponders a complicated question: 
  Is Greyfalls a place of exile, far from home… or is it home? 
  How they answer that question determines, in large measure, 
  who their friends are and how much they are prepared to 
  invest—ﬁ nancially, spiritually and militarily— in the future 
  of Greyfalls.
  CULTURE
  For those who see Greyfalls as home, there is much here 
  to celebrate. For most of the last 600 years, it has known 
  only banditry and barbarian raids. Unusually for anywhere 
  in Creation, no great armies have marched through in over 
  200 years. Even the Fair Folk invasion in the mid-500s ham-
  mered into the Hundred Kingdoms, west of Greyfalls. The 
  satrapy was a second-rank target, to be overwhelmed after 
  the neighboring states were conquered and destroyed.
  Yet, the absence of barbarism does not necessarily mean 
  the advance of civilization. Music, drama, literature, dance 
  and even storytelling tend to promote the appearance of 
  dangerous ideas such as mythology, theology, philosophy, 
  politics and independent thinking. Culture, if you will, leads 
  to nationalism, and forbidding the emergence of national-
  ism is high on the satrap’s list of priorities. Satrap Rombulac 
  discourages the construction of theaters, music halls and 
  dancing establishments. Poets, writers and singers are taxed 
  and harassed. One of the satrap’s predecessors successfully 
  eliminated the national instrument, the double-theorbo, from 
  even the consciousness of the people of Greyfalls by killing 
  every player and every instrument builder and importing 
  thousands of cheaply made lyres and ﬂ utes for 100 years.
  The result is a general paucity of native art forms, other 
  than the small statuettes and portraits of gods and spirits on 
  household altars. Even these are risky, since an Immaculate 
  monk could subject offenders to months of relentless philo-
  sophical education, sometimes with the hammer of her ﬁ st. 
  Tavern singers tend to learn songs of the Blessed Isle and 
  the Realm, professional storytellers focus on the deeds of the 
  Dragon-Blooded, and even slave-girl dancers are a deﬁ nite 
  oddity in Greyfalls.
  THE NURI
  There are a number of ethnic groups in Greyfalls. Jew-
  elry and clothing styles tend to be the main distinguishing 
  marks between them, although facial features play a role as 
  well. The Nuri are the most powerful of these ethnicities: 
  The Realm draws from this tribe for judges and local ofﬁ cials 
  quite frequently, as the Nuri were the original inhabitants 
  around the city of Greyfalls itself. The Nuri have curly red-
  black hair and gray-brown skin. They tend to wear silver and 
  amber jewelry, and the men dress in caftans and trousers, 
  with elaborately wrapped turbans on their heads. Women 
  wear long cotton or silk saris embroidered or woven with 
  elaborate patterns. The Nuri like bright colors and startling 
  
  122
  contrasts: a yellow tur-
  ban might be matched 
  with a blue caftan or a 
  purple sari with a bright 
  green veil. They are the 
  second-smallest but sec-
  ond-wealthiest ethnic 
  group in Greyfalls.
  The Nuri were 
  once a tribal people, 
  locally reviled and fre-
  quently enslaved, but 
  the Realm released 
  them from bondage and 
  armed them. In return, 
  the Nuri became the 
  Realm’s loyal servants. 
  Over time, they have 
  become a caste of mer-
  chants and magistrates. Endowed by the Realm with the 
  symbols of power, they have relished and retained them for 
  more than 600 years. Other ethnicities in Greyfalls resent 
  them for controlling so many of the best opportunities for 
  work. The Nuri constantly worry that a new satrap might 
  replace their faction with another.
  THE TANU
  The Tanu, with yellow-
  brown skin and straight yellow 
  hair, seem to be a product of 
  more northerly climates. Wear-
  ing their hair in braids or 
  dreadlocks, adorning themselves 
  with citrine or amethyst beads, 
  they dress in four or more lay-
  ers of different shades of brown 
  and gray. Originally arriving in 
  Greyfalls as refugees out of the 
  Hundred Kingdoms during the 
  time of the Arczeckh Horde in 
  the mid-300s, the Tanu now form 
  the largest ethnic group in the 
  satrapy. Despite their long-term 
  residency, they remain distinctly 
  second-class citizens, working as 
  skilled and unskilled laborers in 
  factories and on the docks. Few of them accumulate enough 
  wealth to penetrate the upper levels of society. 
  THE MIRUDA
  The Miruda, frail and absurdly tall, with turquoise skin, 
  tightly coiled black hair and six long ﬁ ngers on their left hands, 
  were changed to their present form in the Fair Folk invasions 
  of the mid-500s. Barred by imperial law from holding any 
  high ofﬁ ces because of their Wyld taint, the Miruda have 
  nevertheless proven their usefulness to 
  Greyfalls as skilled artisans, where the 
  extra ﬁ nger comes in handy. The Miruda 
  operate smithies, pottery studios and 
  crystal manufactories, and their skills as 
  gem-cutters are legendary. The Miruda 
  form the core of Greyfalls’ middle class. 
  Unable to rise in the hierarchy but not 
  suited to heavy labor, they have carved 
  a niche for themselves in society and 
  seem quite content with it.
  THE ZARANTHI
  Squat and well-built, with mottled 
  brown skin and little body hair, the 
  Zaranthi are the descendants of a barbar-
  ian horde defeated and enslaved 
  at Foggy River in RY 177. Dif-
  ﬁ cult to master and ill-suited to 
  slavery, the Zaranthi now exist 
  in a quasi-free state as a rural 
  working class. They run hemp 
  farms and cotton plantations 
  and show a surprising knack for 
  getting unruly plants to grow 
  in difﬁ cult places. Virtually no 
  paths to economic or political 
  advancement are open to them 
  except through the Realm’s army. 
  Remembering their ancestors’ 
  lineage as warriors, they follow 
  imperial ofﬁ cers with almost 
  fanatical devotion—sometimes 
  even serving under the same 
  Dragon-Blooded commanders 
  who slew their multi-great-grandfathers.
  THE CONFEDERATES
  A growing number of Greyfalls 
  residents come from the states 
  of the Confederation of Rivers. 
  While not exactly citizens, they 
  often bring substantial wealth to 
  invest in mercantile businesses 
  and manufacturing ventures. This 
  wealth lends the newcomers cred-
  ibility and social status they would 
  not have otherwise.
  The Confederates are the most 
  potent source of change in Greyfalls. 
  Most are ﬁ rst- or second-generation 
  immigrants, seeking closer political 
  and economic ties to the Realm. 
  Yet, they have none of the local 
  aversions to art and entertainment. 
  
  123
  CHAPTER SIX • LAST BASTION OF THE SCARLET EMPIRE
  Their tastes for music, drama and art are bringing about a 
  slow revolution in the attitudes of Greyfalls’ more restrained 
  citizenry. Although barred from holding political appoint-
  ments, many Confederates become active in local town 
  councils where elected leadership positions are available. 
  Many Confederates are wealthier than the Nuri.
  THE ISLANDERS
  The Islanders, as citizens of the Realm are called, are 
  the smallest and wealthiest ethnic group in Greyfalls. Num-
  bering approximately 10,000 
  adults, they ride through the 
  city and country as if they own 
  the land, and in large measure, 
  they do. Approximately half of 
  them form the backbone of the 
  local bureaucracy and the ofﬁ cer 
  corps and support staff of the 
  army. Many of these Islanders are 
  single and have only a few slaves 
  or locally hired servants to take 
  care of their needs. The others 
  are typically merchant factors 
  or patricians connected to the 
  trading establishments of the 
  Great Houses. Often, they are 
  in residence with their spouses, 
  children, servants, slaves, major-
  domos and numerous cousins and distant nephews.
  Despite being such a small percentage of the popula-
  tion, the Islanders leave a large footprint. Even the poorest 
  bureaucrat or junior ofﬁ cer can own a large townhouse with 
  a complete staff of gardeners, housemaids, footmen and 
  butlers. Most Islanders don’t stop with a townhouse but 
  treat themselves to a hunting lodge or country residence as 
  well. More than a few manage four or more dwellings—a 
  lodge in the north for hunting, a country house a few hours’ 
  ride out from Greyfalls, a river estate for ﬁ shing and a main 
  residence in the city itself. Nor do they live small. They eat 
  off the best porcelain, dress in the best silks and send letters 
  on the best paper using the Realm-style postal service. The 
  Islanders throw lavish parties for one another on a regular 
  circuit of events through the year. These parties, with unusual 
  entertainments not found in Greyfalls, are rarely open to any 
  but other Islanders. Yet, Nuri hostesses and Confederation 
  spies ply servants with money, drink and gifts for informa-
  tion about who attends, what was served and what was done 
  and said.
  The differential between the wealth of the Islanders and 
  the wealth of the Nuri is substantial. Even the wealthiest 
  Confederates ﬁ nd it almost impossible to match the Realm’s 
  standard of living. The Nuri and the other tribes rarely get to 
  attend such functions. With the exception of Wild Grove’s 
  events, even wealthy Greyfaller natives are almost invisible 
  to the citizens of the Realm. 
  The same cannot be said of the Realm’s citizens. 
  Their parties, their doings and their movements are widely 
  known and widely reported. By ignoring their servants and 
  looking past the people of Greyfalls, the Islanders have 
  created a potentially dangerous situation: They know 
  almost nothing of the land, but the land knows nearly 
  everything about them.
  MILITARY
  As the Realm’s last important territory in the East, 
  Greyfalls is surrounded by numerous and hostile forces. To 
  the north are the hawkriders of Metagalapa, to the west are 
  the petty principalities of the Hundred Kingdoms, to the 
  southwest is the Confederation of Rivers, and to the southeast 
  and east are the forest tribes, the Lunars and the Fair Folk. 
  As a result, Greyfalls is more solidly defended than most of 
  the Realm’s other satrapies. Yet, for several centuries, this 
  defense was little more than a paper screen, as the Realm 
  sent its more useless military ofﬁ cers and weakest bureaucrats 
  to this remote territory, pushing them out of the seething 
  cauldron of imperial politics.
  Recently, however, those ofﬁ cers and bureaucrats, 
  recognizing how unwelcome they were in the Realm, chose 
  to build a lasting organization in Greyfalls. Recruiting from 
  the Zaranthi and the other native peoples, they have built a 
  legion trained to imperial military standards and numerous 
  other forces worth their salaries. Cathak Kitono has led this 
  effort personally in several ways. In part, he seeks to wipe 
  away the stain on his reputation from military failures in the 
  Southwest several decades ago. He also believes, though, 
  that Greyfalls could be cut loose from the Realm in the 
  near future and might have to go it alone for a time. He is 
  thinking about dividing his legion into two and training up 
  of enough soldiers to put two legions in the ﬁ eld. To do so 
  would be far outside his orders, though, so he is dithering about 
  putting this plan into practice. Solid news of Anathema in 
  the region, or aggressive actions by neighboring states, will 
  certainly prod him to action.
  Kitono has four warstriders but feels trapped in a Yozi’s 
  bargain. Taking them out of the city on maneuvers will 
  reveal their capabilities to all his potential foes, while not 
  using them will put his troops at a disadvantage if Kitono 
  actually needs them. Additionally, Kitono knows that he is 
  not in legal possession of them. Cathak agents liberated them 
  from imperial warehouses, and it is conceivable that Kitono 
  himself could be punished if the wrong people ﬁ nd out he has 
  them. For now, he leaves them on Garrison Heights, though 
  he might send them into the ﬁ eld if compelling urgency 
  persuaded him to risk them.
  REALM FORCES
  The core of the Realm’s forces in Greyfalls is a fully 
  trained imperial legion, headquartered in Garrison Heights 
  within the city walls. The Fire-aspected General Cathak 
  Kitono leads them and commands the 10 Dragon-Blooded 
  
  124
  who serve as his legion’s dragonlords. He also commands four 
  dragons of medium infantry household troops lent to him by 
  House Cathak, though these troops are not ofﬁ cered by any 
  additional Dragon-Blooded.
  Kitono faces the same challenges of any warlord of any 
  city-state in the River Province. He must hold the city and 
  the port in order to keep control of his territory. Yet, he must 
  hold the surrounding region in order to feed his city and keep 
  his port open. A threat could come from anywhere.
  Accordingly, Kitono has dispersed his house troops in 
  talon-sized garrisons throughout the country. In each of these 
  16 fortresses, Kitono’s orders are that two scales are to be on 
  patrol, two are to be on guard duty and as a reserve force, and 
  one is off duty at any given time. Twenty-ﬁ ve men on leave in 
  a town will cause some trouble, but they will stick together and 
  show the ﬂ ag, while two groups of 25 men on patrol are enough 
  to give most bandits pause, and a garrison of 50 is enough to 
  deter many attacks. House troops may be poor quality, but 
  they are skilled enough to deal with most bandits.
  Kitono keeps his main legion, his crack troops, close 
  to home. His ofﬁ cers exercise each dragon on a fairly strict 
  schedule, with four of the 10 dragons on patrol out from the 
  city every day. Two dragons stand guard duty within the city, 
  and three stand guard along the Nellens canal and the lower 
  stretches of the Lesser Rock River. The remaining dragon is 
  off-duty. Once a month, Kitono schedules a general train-
  ing exercise for six of his dragons, with the remaining four 
  assigned to guard duty. Once a season, Kitono pulls house 
  troops into the city and canal districts and runs his whole 
  legion through a series of exercises.
  23RD LEGION, FIFTH DRAGON
  Description: The Fifth Dragon of the 23rd Legion is 
  a medium infantry unit, consisting of 750 mortals between 
  the ages of 19 and 25; most are Greyfalls natives, usually 
  Zaranthi. Trained to ﬁ ght with spear, sword and in reinforced 
  lamellar armor, the 500+ legionnaires are devoted to their 
  commander, as are the 250 slingers who support them. They 
  are less fond of Tatoru, the dragon’s thaumaturge, whom they 
  see as dangerous, shifty and unprofessional.
  Commanding Ofﬁ cer: Mnemon Ice Hand, a Dragon-Blood 
  of the Water Aspect, leads the Fifth Dragon.
  Armor Color: Blue with white diamonds
  Motto: “To Battle!”
  General Makeup: Four talon-lines of medium infantry.
  Overall Quality: Elite
  Magnitude: 6
  Drill: 4
  Close Combat Attack: 4 Close Combat Damage: 3
  Ranged Attack: 2 Ranged Attack Damage: 2
  Endurance: 8 
  Might: 1 
  Armor: 2 (-2 mobility 
  penalty) 
  Morale: 4
  Special Characters: Mnemon Ice Hand, Dragonlord; Tatoru 
  Yereva, Thaumaturge; Brother Fair Eye, unit doctor and 
  chaplain.
  Formation: Due to Ice Hand’s skill at manipulating water, 
  the Fifth Dragon’s usual assignment when not on training 
  maneuvers is to guard the upriver end of the Nellens canal 
  and prevent raiding from the Hundred Kingdoms. 
  4TH CATHAK LION-TALON
  Description: The Cathak Fourth Lion is a light-infantry 
  unit stationed until recently in Harborhead. General Cathak 
  Kitono cashed in a number of favors owed him by his House 
  to have the unit, renowned for its bravery and battleﬁ eld 
  successes against overwhelming odds, reassigned to Greyfalls, 
  all part of his long-term plan to expand the Realm’s presence 
  in the Scavenger Lands through military means.
  Commanding Ofﬁ cer: Kuruga Numo, a patrician associated 
  with House Cathak.
  Armor Color: Tawny yellow buff jackets.
  Motto: “Hear us roar!”
  General Makeup: Talon of light infantry, trained with 
  javelins and slashing swords. Supported by 30 slingers, 10 
  archers and 10 cavalry scouts.
  Overall Quality: Fair
  Magnitude: 3
  Drill: 2
  Close Combat Attack: 3 Close Combat Damage: 3
  Ranged Attack Rating: 2 Ranged Damage: 2
  Endurance: 5 
  Might: 1 
  Armor: 1 (-1 mobility 
  penalty) 
  Morale: 3
  Special Characters: Kubus Rasaluda, the Fourth’s best com-
  mander and tactician, commands the third scale. If his training 
  regimen were put into effect, the talon’s overall effectiveness 
  would rise by one dot across the board.
  Formation: The Fourth Lion holds the garrison at Silver 
  Lake, on the Rock River. Holding the easternmost point 
  of Greyfalls territory, they are considered the best troops in 
  the Cathak forces.
  
  125
  CHAPTER SIX • LAST BASTION OF THE SCARLET EMPIRE
  Greyfalls, a Magnitude 3 Dominion
  Military: 2 
  Government: 3 Culture: 1
  Abilities: Awareness 2, Bureaucracy 3 (Red Tape +2), Craft 2 (Public Works with no Local Flavor +2), Integrity 1 
  (Immaculate Edicts +3), Investigation 2, Occult 1, Performance 2, Presence 3, Stealth 1, War 2
  Virtues: Compassion 3, Conviction 2, Temperance 3, Valor 2
  Virtue Flaw: Temperance Current Limit: 5
  Willpower: 6
  Bonus Points: 15 External Bonus Points: 8
  Notes: Sorcerers in Greyfalls will tend to be Realm ofﬁ cers, such as the satrap, Nellens Rombulac. There could be 
  savants among the locals — likely of the Nuri — but probably no sorcerers. The city’s inherent bonus points are 
  wrapped up in, as always, specialties, as well as the last dots of Presence and Investigation.
  House Nellens appreciates and protects its satrapy, providing everything from economic assistance to legions when 
  necessary; its entire War score, for example, comes from the external bonus points granted by the Realm. Nellens’ 
  resources have, however, lately become reallocated, and Greyfalls does not enjoy quite as much investment as it 
  used to. Even so, it should be noted that most of Greyfalls’ power still comes from the Realm — if the Realm were 
  to leave, it would probably lose a lot in consequence; potentially, it could even fall apart and drop an entire dot of 
  Magnitude.
  Subjugated for so long, the people of Greyfalls have had ineffectuality beaten into them. Dreamy and cautious, 
  if they manage to do anything, it is whisper of revolution — but they never actually accomplish much. In Limit 
  Break, they will not take any positive action whatsoever.
  
  126
  
  127
  CHAPTER SEVEN • THE EMPTY CITY
  CHAPTER SEVEN
  CHAPTER SEVEN
  THE EMPTY CITY
  THE EMPTY CITY
  DENANDSOR, PROUD AND 
  HOLLOW
  Near the southern edge of the Scavenger Lands, in the 
  small (some might say forgettable) country of Melekin, two 
  weeks journey south from Great Forks and due east of Thorns, 
  lies the city of Denandsor—or at least its beautiful, well-pre-
  served corpse. Cities, by deﬁ nition, are places where people 
  live and work, and Denandsor, the so-called “City of Makers,” 
  is no longer such a place. All that remains of Denandsor is an 
  extensive collection of stunningly beautiful First Age build-
  ings harmoniously laid out along empty streets, the blue gems 
  of its beautiful and placid cooling ponds, an amazing array 
  of mechanical entities and a pervasive miasma of madness. 
  Not even the ghosts of the dead can escape the effects of the 
  city’s curse. Consequently, Denandsor is a blighted treasure 
  house of First Age wonders that has succeeded astonishingly 
  well in keeping its secrets to itself.
  THE NOBLE PAST
  At the peak of the High First Age, Denandsor earned 
  the sobriquet “the City of Makers” because it was a city of 
  artisans, craftspeople, tinkerers, enchanters and like-minded 
  folk all sharing one driving motivation: to create clever, 
  innovative, high-end goods of all description. The goods 
  they produced ranged from tableware to jewelry to weapons 
  to sculpture to buildings. There was little that lay beyond 
  the creative capacities of Denandsor’s Exalted artisans. The 
  population consisted largely of craftspersons and those who 
  supported them in their creative work. Twilight Solars, No 
  Moon Lunars and even occasional Mountain Folk visitors 
  gathered in Denandsor to design, build and sometimes even 
  sell the fruits of their inspired minds. Any First Age Chosen 
  with an interest in craft likely served an apprenticeship in 
  Denandsor. The factory-cathedrals of Denandsor were hailed 
  as some of the most comprehensive and efﬁ cient in Creation, 
  and wealthy Exalts could rent them by the week to create 
  wonders beyond the limitations of their home workshops.
  
  128
  With a relatively small metropolitan area, Denandsor 
  itself wasn’t large enough to hold all the artists and would-be 
  artists who swarmed to the City of Makers in hopes of being 
  apprenticed to a great craftsperson. Outside the city proper 
  were a number of artists’ colonies with specialized facilities 
  for speciﬁ c kinds of crafts. It was possible to ﬁ nd workshops 
  specializing in everything from blown glass to clothing design 
  to the smelting of moonsilver. The industrial arts were well 
  represented in the city. Weapon crafting, though, was slightly 
  underrepresented in Denandsor (as it was over-represented 
  in so many other cities), but many of the most powerful 
  warstriders in Creation were forged here nonetheless.
  It is important to note that Denandsor was not an armory. 
  While the city was home to a handful of weaponsmiths, they 
  were members of a pronounced minority. That said, the armor 
  and weapons that were produced in the City of Makers were 
  among the most astonishing ever seen in Creation and were 
  often the favored possessions of the eldest and most powerful 
  Exalted warriors.
  The presence of the ﬁ nest workshops and factory-
  cathedrals known to the First Age attracted a select and 
  industrious crowd to Denandsor. The city held its artists in 
  high regard and fêted them regularly. The Solar Deliberative 
  held an annual competition in Denandsor to determine the 
  most accomplished Solar, Celestial, Terrestrial and mortal 
  craftsperson in Creation, and even mortal winners of that 
  title were almost certainly assured incredible wealth as the 
  demand for their wares—and the fees they could charge for 
  them—surged. Over the years, this competition resulted in 
  the creation of some of the most powerful, useful, elegant 
  and whimsical wonders ever seen by mortal eyes. Many of 
  these items, the cleverest of them in particular, never left 
  their makers’ shops after the competition. Even when their 
  creators saw ﬁ t to release their work, these magna opera 
  often remained in Denandsor’s many galleries, symbols of 
  the city’s prestige.
  In particular, jewelry from Denandsor was considered the 
  most beautiful and most cleverly designed in all of Creation. 
  To get a piece from Denandsor, the wealthy elite of Creation 
  would pay a thousand times what they would pay for a ring 
  or a brooch from anywhere else, and with good reason: The 
  quality of crafts from Denandsor was higher than elsewhere, 
  and quite intentionally so. Artisans who did not uphold the 
  city’s high standards of craftsmanship were banished before 
  they could bring shame to the city (a practice that resulted 
  in many of the city’s worst conﬂ icts, as no artist wanted to 
  suffer the shame of being cast out of the City of Makers).
  While Denandsor’s Celestial Exalted were engaged in 
  great feats of design and creation, they largely left the gov-
  ernance of the city to their Terrestrial lieutenants (though 
  the hierarchy of the Exalted allowed the Celestial Chosen to 
  reassert their authority at any time). Denandsor’s merchant 
  princes, well-situated Terrestrials for the most part, capital-
  ized on the city’s reputation as “the workshop of the divine” 
  and did a brisk trade in all manner of metals, gems, tools 
  and crafted goods, particularly among other Terrestrials and 
  the un-Exalted. In truth, much of the wealth generated by 
  the city ﬂ owed to the causes of the Twilight Exalted if not 
  directly into their pockets.
  THE TREASURE OF DENANDSOR
  Denandsor’s enormous library held a respectable trove 
  of general-interest tomes, but its collection on crafts-related 
  texts was unparalleled in Creation. Any topic a craftsman or 
  savant-engineer might be interested in was represented in the 
  extensive aisles and scroll rooms of Denandsor’s library. Texts 
  on smelting technology and industrial systems, engineering 
  texts written by Mountain Folk, the Construction Sutras 
  of Autochthon, treatises on plant and crystal technology 
  written by enlightened Dragon King masters, exegeses on 
  the relative strengths and weaknesses of demonic artisans, 
  catalogues of thaumaturgical glyphs, tomes of crafts-related 
  sorcery, catalogues of prayers to mollify technological least 
  gods and so on were the heart of the library’s collection.
  Like much of the city, the library was built by Twilight 
  Solars as an enormous campus of smaller buildings holding 
  more specialized collections. Denandsor was to crafts and 
  artistry what Sperimin was to more generalized sorcery and 
  thaumaturgical lore.
  THE AGE OF SORROWS BEGINS
  In the Second Age, Denandsor’s infrastructure remains 
  intact to a startling degree, but the same cannot be said of 
  its industry, its population or even the ghosts of its former 
  residents. Once a thriving metropolis filled with the hiss 
  of molten metal, the thrum of Essence-channeling devices 
  and the clang of hammers, the City of Makers is now silent. 
  Its extensive cooling ponds, kept pristine by old magic, are 
  now perturbed by nothing more than occasional breezes. 
  Its former gardens riot through the streets and take over 
  structures built for men. Trees and weeds grow in its streets 
  and take root where they will, but no animal, no human 
  and no ghost can be found there. The city has spirits, but 
  most are in deep slumber as if enchanted (or cursed), and 
  those that are not quiescent are hostile or utterly alien 
  and incomprehensible.
  The precise cause and nature of Denandsor’s fall remains 
  a mystery, though vague accounts of its last days can be found 
  alongside other tales of the horrors of the Great Contagion. 
  The few fragmentary accounts of Denandsor’s demise can be 
  found in Lookshy and in the archives of the Heptagram.
  The fall of the City of Makers took place in the last 
  days of the Shogunate, as the Great Contagion devastated 
  the population of the city. Surviving records suggest that the 
  city’s Dragon-Blooded daimyo ransacked the old vaults from 
  the High First Age in a frantic search for an artifact capable 
  of stopping the Contagion. By the end, he was activating 
  any artifact whose function he could not discern, until at 
  last he triggered a reaction he could not control. What this 
  device was and whether the daimyo used the device as it 
  
  129
  CHAPTER SEVEN • THE EMPTY CITY
  was meant to be used or somehow broke it to trigger the ef-
  fect that cursed his city remains the subject of much debate 
  among certain of the Chosen (mostly Sidereals).
  Most savants who know anything of the city’s fate believe 
  that the city’s daimyo either activated an artifact that had 
  malfunctioned due to age or that he triggered two artifacts 
  in close succession whose powerful enchantments did not 
  mix well. The results were dramatic: Every man, woman and 
  child, Exalted or not, was overcome with fearful hallucina-
  tions and went violently insane. The Great Contagion 
  was forgotten as craftsmen murdered their apprentices 
  with hammers and mothers dashed their children’s brains 
  out on the nearest stone surface. Nothing could be done 
  to stop the madness, and no one had the presence of 
  mind to even try, as the Great Contagion had already 
  undermined any ability the Shogunate might have had 
  to intervene. A handful of Dragon-Blooded escaped 
  through sheer good fortune to leave the account of 
  Denandsor’s demise. Their good fortune was short-
  lived, however, as they succumbed to the Contagion 
  shortly thereafter.
  Theirs was the last account of the inhabitants 
  of the City of Makers. Nothing more was heard 
  from Denandsor after that night.
  THE HUSHED PRESENT
  Sometime between the night of Denandsor’s fall 
  and the modern day, the curse that afﬂ icts the City 
  of Makers underwent a change of some sort—fading 
  caused by the passage of time, perhaps, or by design 
  of whatever twisted artifacts the daimyo triggered 
  in his shameful panic—but the city remains too 
  blighted even to be haunted.
  In the Second Age, the City of Makers 
  is undefended, but apparently impreg-
  nable. Even setting foot in the city 
  ﬁ lls creatures—animal and human, 
  living and dead—with a gut-
  churning sense of dread. No 
  one willingly stays in the 
  city for more than a few 
  hours. Those forced 
  to stay longer are 
  either driven 
  
  130
  into a catatonic state by the experience, or they disappear 
  amid the ruins. The longer an entity remains in the city, the 
  stronger the sense of anxiety grows until it ﬁ nally blossoms 
  into an insuperable desire to ﬂ ee the city at top speed. The 
  sense of dread lingers a while even after the victim is beyond 
  the reach of Denandsor’s curse, but extended exposure to the 
  city increases a person’s susceptibility to the city’s curse and 
  shortens the time it takes to succumb. When questioned 
  afterward about why they ﬂ ed, would-be plunderers can’t or 
  won’t say. All they agree on is that, at the moment of their 
  ﬂ ight, they would rather be anywhere than Denandsor.
  Scavengers from across Melekin, usually youths who can’t 
  believe anything could make them feel such fear, occasionally 
  enter the city, ostensibly hunting for relics and treasures. In 
  truth, any plunder they do take from Denandsor is entirely 
  incidental, as the real motive for entering Denandsor these 
  days is to test one’s courage against the city’s curse. Thus far, 
  the city’s curse has won every time, and few who taste that 
  fear ever return for a second helping.
  The curse’s area of effect covers all of Denandsor proper 
  and much of the surrounding countryside as well. Since only 
  those with the strongest wills can make themselves suffer the 
  horror of Denandsor for any length of time, little of Denand-
  sor proper has been entered even brieﬂ y, much less looted. 
  The abandoned artists’ colonies around the periphery of the 
  city are near enough to the edges that they have yielded 
  up some few of their treasures, but even they still contain 
  wonders that raiders have not lingered long enough to see, 
  much less seize.
  Denandsor proper is another story entirely, and the 
  dangers of making one’s way through the city itself are much 
  greater than anything an explorer will encounter on the city’s 
  outskirts. Denandsor has magical defenses, complex mechani-
  cal traps and an array of functioning (and semi-functioning 
  and malfunctioning) guardian automata. Additionally, raid-
  ers must contend with problems of a more mundane (and 
  humbling) nature, such as gaining access to buildings that 
  have no obvious portals of any sort, and whose imperishable 
  materials are extraordinarily resilient to those tools that might 
  be possessed by the denizens of the Age of Sorrows.
  THE CLOSED CITY
  Sometime before triggering the device(s) that resulted 
  in the city’s curse, the Daimyo of Denandsor (or someone in 
  a similar position of authority) activated the city’s magical 
  defense system. Because of its cache of advanced technology 
  and its relative wealth, common wisdom held that the City 
  of Makers was a prime target for raids by hostile daimyos. 
  Therefore, the city’s various craftsmen had constructed and 
  put into place a myriad of clever (and often lethal) traps that 
  could be activated should the city ever be threatened. These 
  defensive systems were activated during the Contagion, and 
  the city’s manses continue to provide the guardians and traps 
  with power to this day.
  THE TOMBS OF THE MAKERS
  Unlike most First Age cities, the craftspeople of De-
  nandsor were not content to let others design their tombs 
  after they were dead. It was common for Exalted residents 
  nearing the end of their long spans to design and build their 
  own tombs as a swan song at the end of their long careers. 
  This was a relatively common practice in many First Age 
  cities, but it was de rigueur in Denandsor, and due to the 
  city’s high population of craftspeople, Denandsor is known 
  to boast an astonishing collection of very cleverly devised 
  tombs and burial vaults. When Denandsor’s Dragon-Blooded 
  slew the city’s Solars, they were careful to inter the dead in 
  their chosen tombs lest they return as powerful and vengeful 
  hungry ghosts.
  Archives from the First Age describe all manner of 
  clever tricks, both magical and otherwise, worked into 
  Denandsor’s tombs. One tomb manifests fully in the city 
  only during Calibration. Another burns ﬁ ercely day and 
  night without ever being consumed. A third is made of 
  stone that bursts into colorful bloom every winter and loses 
  its ﬂ owers every spring.
  Although the tombs of Nexus are the best known First 
  Age tombs, the tombs of Denandsor exceed those in both 
  variety, engineering and elegance.
  THE GUARDIANS OF DENANDSOR
  The sentinels guarding Denandsor are the most immedi-
  ately recognizable symbol of the city—or they were in the First 
  Age. In the First Age, the city had a reputation for being home 
  to a variety of Exalted craftsmen and mortal practitioners of 
  thaumaturgy, many of whom saw the creation of automata as 
  the apex of their art, and the city’s assorted automata are the 
  greatest remnant of that ethic. During the Dragon-Blooded 
  Shogunate, Denandsor was the only city that refused to de-
  stroy or disassemble its population of automata. Many in the 
  city—including the daimyo, apparently—felt that automata, 
  golems and the like were an important part of their city’s heri-
  tage from the First Age. While a handful of particularly strange 
  or potentially dangerous automata were consigned to a sealed 
  storage vault beneath the city, even they were left intact on 
  the off chance that the craftsmen of Denandsor might again 
  rise to the prominence they held in the First Age and be able 
  to mine the devices for their secrets.
  As a result of its unique pro-technology stance, De-
  nandsor relied on automata to keep the peace and protect 
  its citizens right up until the panicked deeds of its daimyo 
  laid the city low.
  The devices commonly called the guardians of Denandsor 
  are potent devices. Resembling giant suits of super-heavy plate 
  armor, these automata were loyal defenders of the peace and of 
  the city. They served as the city’s police force and as bodyguards 
  for nobles, merchants and valued guests. In testimony to the 
  astonishing engineering techniques of the ancients, many of 
  Denandsor’s guardians still function today.
  
  131
  CHAPTER SEVEN • THE EMPTY CITY
  In the absence of any threat, most of these guardians 
  have put themselves into a state of mechanical sleep or stasis, 
  and they’re likely quiescent when ﬁ rst discovered. If they are 
  left unmolested, and if the area they are assigned to guard 
  is likewise left undisturbed, the guardians normally stay in 
  mechanical hibernation. If characters deface or break into 
  buildings, engage in violence or enter the city clad for war, 
  with weapons drawn, the guardians will rouse themselves 
  from their metallic rest.
  The speciﬁ c reactions of Denandsor’s guardians depend 
  on the last set of instructions they received. Some will attack 
  immediately, while others will attempt to discern what intrud-
  ers are doing or to apprehend them. Attacking a guardian 
  or failing to obey its instruction brings swift retaliation as it 
  silently calls its brethren for assistance.
  DENANDSOR GUARDIAN
  The vast majority of Denandsor’s guardians look like 
  DENANDSOR’S MIASMA
  The eerie ruins of Denandsor are afﬂ icted with some manner of curse, and any character approaching closer 
  than ﬁ ve miles from the walls will begin to feel the effects. The blight’s area of effect is largely circular, but not 
  perfectly so. It seems to ﬂ ow out from the center the city along the roads, and characters sticking to the roads will 
  feel the effects of the blight before those who approach from the dense woods that have sprung up around Denand-
  sor. Once one comes within a few miles of the city, however, there is no avoiding the unease that radiates from the 
  once-proud City of Makers. Horses and non-magical mounts stop and refuse to go nearer well before their riders feel 
  anything. Familiars, too, are subject to this effect, but they can sometimes overcome their fear out of sheer loyalty. 
  In such cases, roll the character’s Familiar Background rating. Failure indicates that the animal will go no farther, 
  though the character may try again the following day. Success allows the beast to go as far as the city’s walls, though 
  no farther without some manner of magic.
  Denandsor’s miasma counts as a form unnatural mental inﬂ uence that quietly ﬁ lls those entering the affected 
  area (the city and its outlying areas) with dread and a strong urge to ﬂ ee.
  From the moment a character enters the outskirts of Denandsor to the moment she’s entirely clear of the city, 
  she’s effectively engaged in social combat with the psychic miasma that permeates the city. (Rules for social combat 
  are on pages 169-175 of Exalted.) The taint that hangs over the city is persistent and inescapable, like a ringing 
  in the ears or an ache in the heart. As long as the character remains in the affected area, this effect has an effective 
  dice pool of 15 dice to instill intruders with a sense of dread, despair and horror that makes them want to ﬂ ee the 
  city. This social combat is a dramatic action. A character wishing to defend against the creeping dread instilled 
  by the Empty City does so with sheer resolve and stubbornness (i.e., Dodge MDV). Parry MDV is inapplicable for 
  defending against the dark suggestions of Denandsor.
  Normal mortals and ghosts check their Dodge MDV against the miasma’s effects every ﬁ ve minutes. Heroic 
  mortals, God-Bloods and ghosts check every 10 minutes, and Exalted check every 15 minutes.
  If the character’s Dodge MDV exceeds the number of successes rolled for the city in that check, she success-
  fully ﬁ ghts off the urge to ﬂ ee. Any time the city’s attack exceeds a character’s Dodge MDV, the character must 
  either spend a Willpower point or ﬂ ee the area at top speed. Once the character has been reduced to 0 temporary 
  Willpower, she loses a point of permanent Willpower and gains a derangement, but her temporary Willpower pool is 
  refreshed. A character forced against her will to endure the psychological ravages of the city’s curse will be reduced 
  to a catatonic husk with a permanent Willpower rating of 0, and should she ever somehow regain a Willpower rat-
  ing, she’ll have one derangement for every point of permanent Willpower she lost to the city’s miasma.
  As usual, spending Willpower to negate unnatural mental inﬂ uence causes Exalted to accrue Limit.
  The usual penalties to Dodge MDV apply. Arguing or making persuasion attempts while in Denandsor inﬂ icts 
  penalties to Dodge MDV.
  Solar (and only Solar) Integrity Charms can render a Lawgiver brieﬂ y immune to the effects of Denandsor’s 
  psychic assault. Spirit-Maintaining Maneuver renders the Exalt immune to the miasma for 15 minutes. Transcendent 
  Hero’s Meditation renders a Solar Exalted immune for 24 hours, though if the Exalt’s companion’s do not possess 
  this Charm, he’ll be forced to discover the wonders of the City of Makers on his own. 
  The miasma originates in an open vault beneath the daimyo’s manse. If characters ﬁ nd their way to the central 
  armory beneath the manse, they’ll see the undisturbed bones of the old daimyo surrounded by an array of inscrutable 
  First Age devices—and a contingent of six of Denandsor’s guardians.
  Adamant Circle Countermagic cast directly on the dissonance engine cancels the enchantment and effectively 
  opens the city up for looting by any oaf with a sword and a wagon.
  
  132
  overly large, beautifully crafted suits of armor. All of them 
  follow a general theme, but the various artisans who forged 
  the guardians took a great deal of artistic license within 
  that theme.
  Attributes: Strength 7, Dexterity 4, Stamina 6; Charisma 1, 
  Manipulation 1, Appearance 4; Perception 5, Intelligence 
  3, Wits 3
  Virtues: Automaton: Never fails Valor checks, never makes 
  others
  Abilities: Archery 5, Athletics 3–5, Awareness 5, Dodge 6, 
  Integrity 2, Linguistics 2 (Native: Old Realm; Forest-tongue, 
  High Realm), Martial Arts 6, Melee 6 (Sword +2), Presence 
  1, Resistance 4, Stealth 2–5, War 2–5
  Join Battle: 8
  Attacks:
  Punch: Speed 5, Accuracy 8, Damage 7B, Defense 9, Rate 3
  Kick: Speed 5, Accuracy 7, Damage 10B, Defense 5, Rate 2
  Clinch: Speed 6, Accuracy 7, Damage 7B, Defense –, Rate 1
  Slashing Sword: Speed 4, Accuracy 13, Damage 10L, Defense 
  12, Rate 3
  Firewand: Speed 5, Accuracy 10, Damage 12L, Rate 1, 
  Range 10
  Soak: 12L/15B (Armor plating, 9L/9B, Hardness: 7L/3B)
  Health Levels: -0/-1/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4/Incap
  Dodge DV: 5 
  Willpower: 10
  Other Notes: Denandsor’s guardians are adept at using ﬂ ur-
  ries and coordinated attacks to weaken the defenses of their 
  quarry. They were even known for being able to defeat some 
  of the Chosen when necessary.
  STYLES OF GUARDIANS
  Throughout the High First Age, it was the tradition in 
  Denandsor for the Solar winner of the city’s craft competition 
  to create a new guardian to serve the city. Within basic ap-
  pearance parameters, the Lawgiver was allowed to innovate 
  and improve upon the capacities of the old design as he 
  saw ﬁ t. This poses a signiﬁ cant danger for those attempting 
  to loot the city of Denandsor, as no two guardians can be 
  assumed to share the same (or even similar) capabilities. 
  An intruder who enters combat with a guardian anticipat-
  ing a hail of shuriken, per past experiences, might well be 
  lethally surprised when the automaton sprays forth a gout 
  of ﬂ ame instead.
  Some guardians look sleeker and more sinuous, while 
  others possess a cruder, more rustic mien. Ironically, it’s the 
  sleeker models that are older. The more rustic models were 
  constructed closer to the end of the High First Age when 
  aesthetic tastes had grown tired of sleek lines and moved 
  toward an admiration of a bolder, more primal design. 
  While they look older or more primitive, they actually 
  move more quickly and have more weapons systems then 
  the smoother models.
  THE MIND OF THE GUARDIANS
  Most of Denandsor’s guardians are guided by a central 
  mind unit (a First Age crafted consciousness) located in the 
  vaults beneath Denandsor Manse. Since all sensory signals 
  go through this cognition unit, destroying it effectively shuts 
  down the majority of the city’s guardians at once. Neither 
  reaching nor destroying the central mind unit is easy, how-
  ever. The unit itself resembles a thorny crystal pillar that 
  could easily be mistaken for a piece of exotic First Age art 
  or a weapon in its own right. The cognition device is located 
  behind a thick orichalcum shell with a hardness of 15 and a 
  bashing and lethal soak of 20 each, and it can take 50 health 
  levels of damage before it’s destroyed. What’s more, even that 
  outer shell is disguised as a stone wall (requiring four or more 
  successes on a [Perception + Awareness] check to detect). 
  The moment the ﬁ rst blow lands on the shell of the central 
  cognition unit, the device emits a silent signal that brings 
  no fewer than 10 guardians to defend it.
  Should a character opt to look for a way into the de-
  vice instead of attempting to damage it, he will likely ﬁ nd 
  one. Touching the disguised wall with the daimyo’s seal of 
  authority opens the case immediately. The white jade seal 
  remains where it has been for the last eight centuries or so: 
  on the daimyo’s now-weathered lacquered writing desk up 
  in his scriptorium. Other, less honest means of opening the 
  orichalcum casing can be used as well (requiring a minimum 
  of seven successes on an [Intelligence + Larceny] roll to open 
  it without the seal).
  Once the shell is open, the central cognition unit is laid 
  bare. Should a character reprogram this central unit, she could 
  turn all of the city’s guardians to her defense or assign them 
  to carry out any task she desires as long as they stay within 
  the walls of the city. Reprogramming the central cognition 
  unit entails an extended dramatic action and requires 20 suc-
  cesses on an (Intelligence + Lore) roll, with one roll allowed 
  for every four hours of solid effort. The Savant Background 
  may explicitly be used in association with this roll.
  ASSORTED AUTOMATA
  While Denandsor’s city guardians are the most threat-
  ening of the city’s animate devices, they are not the only 
  automata remaining in the city. In the First Age, the City of 
  Makers was known for the beautiful and strange array of au-
  tomata walking its streets. They composed one of Denandsor’s 
  many legendary attractions—animate symbols of the magical 
  craftsmanship for which the city was famous.
  During the First Age, Denandsor was known as the City 
  of Makers for a reason. Many of the crafting competitions 
  resulted in automata that had been built, not with any task 
  in mind, but only to show off their creator’s skill. Many of 
  these myriad golems, androids and assorted sentient sculptures 
  were donated to Denandsor after the competition. The larger 
  and sturdier of these were assigned the task of preserving the 
  peace (working in tandem with the city’s ofﬁ cial guardians) 
  and serving Denandsor’s public. The smaller or more beautiful 
  automata were assigned other civic functions according to 
  
  133
  CHAPTER SEVEN • THE EMPTY CITY
  their design and strengths. Some were sentient assistants aid-
  ing the city’s Chosen (and might have enough information to 
  give a character a Craft or Lore specialty, at the Storyteller’s 
  discretion). Some became public toys (or caretakers) for the 
  city’s children, others were animated entertainment pieces, 
  walking the streets as mobile performing sculpture pieces, 
  and still others became monitors, transmitting all that they 
  saw and heard back to the city’s Exalted defenders.
  In the Second Age, the city’s golems and automata are 
  in disarray. Most have long since ceased to be active, but 
  those with built-in Essence collectors might still function just 
  as easily as they did over a millennia ago, although age and 
  erosion might have reduced some of their capabilities—or 
  at least changed their appearance for the worse.
  THE TREASURES OF DENANDSOR
  Denandsor didn’t lose as much during the Shogunate as 
  many cities did. Its many well-stocked workshops and stocks 
  of components dating back to the Solar Deliberative era al-
  lowed it to hold on to the technological dreams of the First 
  Age longer than most cities after the rise of the Shogunate. 
  Accordingly, the city’s list of wonders was long and astonish-
  ing even by the standards of the First Age. Any non-unique 
  item in Wonders of the Lost Age might be found there, 
  for instance. In the Age of Sorrows, the treasures that lay 
  behind the walls, in the treasury and in the storage vaults of 
  Denandsor are beyond measure. Although the city’s daimyo 
  triggered many of the old weapons from the High First Age 
  in his panic, a number of them have reset themselves since, 
  and many others were never touched. In the Second Age, 
  few First Age ruins remain as pristine and undisturbed by 
  looters as Denandsor.
  More amazing even than the city’s collection of First 
  Age artifacts is its collection of workshops and factory-ca-
  thedrals. Any Twilight Caste Solar or No Moon Lunar in 
  Creation would ﬁ nd the quality of Denandsor’s workshops 
  to be beyond anything they’ve ever seen. No other factory-
  cathedrals in Creation, including those in Lookshy and the 
  Heptagram, are so well stocked with tools and components. 
  Some of the Chosen might ﬁ nd themselves having ﬂ ashbacks 
  to the last incarnation of their Solar or Lunar Essence if that 
  incarnation had the privilege of working in one of the city’s 
  grand workshops.
  For those interested in design and craft, the workshops 
  of Denandsor are among the most desirable treasure caches 
  in Creation. Those of a more mercenary bent will ﬁ nd that 
  
  134
  even the tools taken from this city can easily fetch a price 
  equal to Resources 5 from either the Realm or Lookshy, the 
  only buyers likely to have the ﬁ nancial wherewithal to pay 
  what they’re really worth. Having such devices come on 
  the market, however, would likely result in both states, and 
  no small number of independent parties, launching a major 
  investigation into the source of such powerful artifact tools. 
  The list of those who would be interested in acquiring the 
  tools of Denandsor (or acquiring the city itself) is long and 
  includes many of the most powerful denizens of Creation 
  (and many outside of it), up to and including the First and 
  Forsaken Lion. While the Sidereal Exalted and certain very 
  old Lunars might know the use of some First Age tools, it’s 
  likely that only the Chosen of the Sun have the power to 
  use many of them.
  THE MANSE OF DENANDSOR
  At the center of Denandsor is the manse once occu-
  pied by the city’s Solar prince in the High First Age and its 
  daimyo during the Shogunate. A level-5 manse of First Age 
  construction, a successful (Wits + Occult) roll will reveal 
  that this manse was originally Solar aspected but has been 
  reﬁ tted to be Earth aspected. Any savant would likely be able 
  to change the aspect back if she so chose, though doing so 
  would likely be a lengthy and difﬁ cult undertaking.
  As would be expected in a city so fascinated with design 
  and craft, Denandsor Manse is a structure of supreme elegance 
  in ﬂ awless harmony with the ﬂ ow of Essence through the city 
  and the surrounding lands. Its superlative geomantic proﬁ le 
  is reﬂ ected in the fact that its garden has grown huge and 
  lush since the Contagion, a primeval forest behind walls. Its 
  ponds still contain large, healthy water lilies and thriving 
  populations of koi.
  The vaults beneath the manse function in the capacity 
  of both armory and treasury. They open automatically at the 
  touch of the daimyo’s jade seal. Otherwise, they require six 
  successes on an (Intelligence + Larceny) roll. Denandsor 
  was a wealthy city right up through its fall, and its treasury 
  vaults—though guarded by more of the city’s guardians—are 
  full of jade as well as silver. A character capable of claiming 
  such a treasury will effectively have Resources 5+.
  The hearthstone of Denandsor Manse is a rough, round 
  brown stone. Called the Jewel of the True Self, the hearth-
  stone subtracts ﬁ ve successes from all attempts to target its 
  bearer with any manner of Shaping effect.
  
  135
  CHAPTER EIGHT • GODS AND MONSTERS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  
  136
  CHAPTER EIGHT
  CHAPTER EIGHT
  GODS AND MONSTERS OF THE 
  GODS AND MONSTERS OF THE 
  SCAVENGER LANDS
  SCAVENGER LANDS
  THE EMISSARY OF NEXUS
  The only being in Creation who can truly claim to rival 
  the Empress in power and inﬂ uence over Creation is probably 
  the Emissary of Nexus. Just as the Empress tamed her nation 
  during the ﬁ nal days of the Contagion, the Emissary too rose 
  up in the dawn of the Second Age to pacify Nexus. And as the 
  Empress lifted up the Realm to be a shining beacon of power 
  to the world, so too did the Emissary make Nexus great. But 
  where the Realm’s power stemmed from martial and magi-
  cal might, the Emissary demanded only one thing from his 
  city: wealth. In so doing, he created a haven for all kinds of 
  trade—and corruption—within Nexus. The Emissary stands 
  at the center of Creation’s vast web of commerce. Every road 
  seems to wind its way, at some point, to join Nexus’s dirty 
  streets and every trade, no matter how debauched or illicit, 
  lurks beneath the city’s grimy veneer. And wherever money 
  changes hands, the Emissary stands quietly behind it, waiting 
  for his due, slowly tugging at the delicate strands of com-
  merce with his decrees 
  and silences, playing the 
  economies of Creation 
  like a puppeteer behind 
  a paper screen.
  People who hear 
  tales of him seem sur-
  prised when he stands 
  no taller than most 
  mortals in the Scavenger 
  Lands. Yet, his presence 
  fills rooms, for when 
  he speaks, his rolling, 
  baritone voice silences 
  all others. Smooth, ﬂ aw-
  less white robes whisper 
  about his body as he 
  moves, and long, pale 
  hair falls around the 
  
  137
  CHAPTER EIGHT • GODS AND MONSTERS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  featureless silver mask that hides his face. At his side, he 
  carries a long staff of yew, topped with a silver and steel cap 
  that holds twin rubies.
  The Emissary does not hold court. Technically, he speaks 
  for the Council of Entities, existing only as their voice. In 
  practice, of course, he is the power behind the Council, and 
  should he choose to speak for the Councilors on a matter 
  they have not decided (or decided in a manner he disagrees 
  with), none object. Still, the Emissary holds his tongue when 
  he is not on ofﬁ cial business. Those who attend meetings 
  with the Council sometimes note his presence in the back 
  of the room, watching silently behind the expressionless 
  eyes of his mask, awaiting the decision. When not attending 
  ofﬁ cial business, he lingers in the penthouse of the graceful 
  tower where the Council meets, in spacious but sparsely 
  decorated apartments with walls and ﬂ oors of snowy white 
  and simplistic, ergonomic furnishings. Only books spoil the 
  empty tranquility of his home, with shelves and shelves of 
  them decorating the walls of his library and sleeping cham-
  bers, mostly ancient books in the tongue of the Old Realm 
  or ledgers ﬁ lled with every transaction of Nexus.
  But who is the Emissary? What is he like? Most function-
  aries for the Council describe him as “quiet” or “mysterious,” 
  and use a variety of other unhelpful adjectives. He guards his 
  agenda and identity closely and allows none to even glimpse 
  his nature and heart. Rumors abound about him: that he is 
  a monster who murders to maintain his immortality, that 
  he is a benevolent sorcerer come to protect the Scavenger 
  Lands, that he is a new god. The Emissary only nods to such 
  tales, lifting a single, slim ﬁ nger and murmuring in his deep, 
  authoritative voice that the people of Nexus are certainly 
  inventive storytellers.
  BEHIND THE MASK
  The exact nature of the Emissary is left entirely in the 
  hands of the Storyteller, for each series has different needs 
  and a secret as juicy as the Emissary’s shouldn’t be spoiled for 
  any player who cracks the pages of this book. Nor are traits 
  offered, for the needs of a series will vary wildly. Even his 
  gender is left blank, for while most suppose he is male (and 
  this text uses the masculine pronoun when referring to him 
  for the sake of convenience), beneath those voluminous, 
  concealing robes, he could easily be a she.
  For those seeking inspiration, ﬁ ve suggestions of his pos-
  sible nature are included here. Again, they offer no traits, but 
  some offer some shorthand suggestions for those Storytellers 
  who need a more concrete Emissary for their series.
  THE LAST SOLAR
  Not every Solar perished in the Great Purge. Some hid in 
  secret manses, while others held out in powerful fortresses. One, 
  a powerful sorcerer of the Eclipse Caste, ﬂ ed from his pursuers 
  and locked himself in a spell that cast him out of time. His 
  escape was complete, and his hunters abandoned the chase, 
  though powerful Sidereals occasionally hunt for traces of him 
  to this day. When the Great Contagion came, it wracked not 
  only the living, but the Essence of the world, and the sorcerer’s 
  failing spell ﬁ nally came apart at the seams, casting him into 
  an unpleasant new world. Fearing his hunters would pursue 
  him again, he quickly crafted a mask to hide away his Essence 
  and identity and then set about understanding this new world. 
  Wroth that the Dragon-Blooded had destroyed his once great 
  Realm with their incompetence, he set out to wreak havoc and 
  tear apart the last vestiges of order in Creation. He grasped 
  a nearby city ﬂ oundering in misery and forged it into the 
  economic capital of the world and then used his inﬂ uence to 
  slowly ruin the Realm and Creation around it. The resurgence 
  of the Solars gave him pause, however, for suddenly, he had the 
  opportunity to re-create the Old Realm. The millennia within 
  his time-bubble have dimmed his madness somewhat, and he 
  ﬁ nds letting go of revenge easier than he imagined. But he has 
  yet do decide quite what he wants to do, so he bides his time, 
  plays his games and watches his Solar brethren, wondering if 
  any will recognize him.
  Mechanics: The Last Solar has an Essence of 8, with 
  superhuman levels of Bureaucracy, Socialize, Occult, Intel-
  ligence and Manipulation. In battle, he relies on delicate, 
  long-forgotten martial arts of the Celestial level and spells of 
  the Solar Circle. As an Eclipse, he has picked up more than a 
  few divine tricks that he can use to throw off those looking for 
  clues to his nature. His mask prevents others from reading his 
  nature or real identity, and even powerful Sidereal magic cannot 
  penetrate it. Using any peripheral Essence would damage his 
  disguise, though, thus limiting the amount of Essence he can 
  access. The wounds he took during the Usurpation remain with 
  him to this day, occasionally forcing him to lean on his staff 
  heavily and rest. As a result, he has fewer health levels than 
  one would expect for a being of his power. He has any Solar 
  Charm the Storyteller feels like granting him, including a few 
  Bureaucracy and Socialize Charms that allow him to subtly 
  manipulate entire nations with but a word and an action. He 
  also has the ability to encourage or discourage unrest (if using 
  the Mandate of Heaven rules, he can increase or decrease the 
  Limit of a Dominion by one every action), as well as a perfect 
  defense against negative economic consequences for Nexus. 
  Further, he is a Solar Circle sorcerer with every published 
  spell. He regularly deals with demons, though he is not an 
  infernalist, and he knows spells of which others sorcerers only 
  dream. He would make an excellent mentor for characters, but 
  the removal of his mask would endanger his life to Sidereal 
  hunters who remain as powerful as he once was.
  THE RESURRECTED MAN
  In Creation, the dead can never return to life, but some 
  beings break the laws of Creation with their very existence. 
  Some rules should never be broken, and the Emissary is 
  living proof of this.
  Something exists beneath Nexus. The creeping illnesses 
  that plague the city are no natural diseases, but emanations 
  from it. When a powerful sorceress lost her lover, she scrambled 
  
  138
  for some way to bring him back, for some way to make the 
  fusion between body and soul complete. The Neverborn 
  beneath Nexus offered its aid, and she foolishly accepted. She 
  destroyed herself after she saw what her magic wrought.
  The Emissary is no longer human. He is a puppet upon 
  the ﬁ ngers of a monstrous, undead god. His mask is the last 
  sliver of his mortal soul, worn upon his face to hide the cor-
  ruption that ﬂ ows through his veins. Sometimes, though, 
  even the mask is not enough, and Creation reacts to his 
  presence. The rising plagues, the horrible executions and 
  the deadly events within Nexus are, in fact, byproducts of 
  the Emissary’s very presence, loosely directed by his hand as 
  he sloughs off his mounting Underworld taint. Currently, 
  he slowly gathers the threads of commerce into his hands 
  to corrupt the world. His ﬁ ngers taint any silver that he 
  owns (and his whispers helped encourage the Guild to use 
  silver as its primary currency). The taint encourages the 
  weak-willed to throw away their inhibitions and act cruelly 
  or violently—or, like a necromantic drug, to acquire more 
  tainted silver. The Emissary’s blood money slowly poisons 
  the veins of Creation’s economies as it pools in magically 
  signiﬁ cant locations, a ﬁ rst step in a patient agenda to drag 
  all of Creation into the Underworld.
  Mechanics: The Resurrected Man has an Essence of 9, 
  as well as superhuman levels of Stamina, Intelligence, Per-
  ception, Occult, Lore and Larceny. He has a vast variety of 
  powerful Charms at his disposal, similar in nature to Abyssal 
  Charms. He also has powerful Charms that allow him to slay 
  any single mortal in Nexus in a gruesome manner with but 
  the lift of a ﬁ nger, to taint silver as described and to increase 
  the crime and corruption in any nation whose trade touches 
  upon Nexus. Further, the Resurrected Man is a powerful 
  necromancer, with access to all published necromantic spells 
  up to the Void Circle. The humanity within the Emissary 
  occasionally manages to hold down the waves of necrotic 
  power coursing through him, during which times he locks 
  himself in his room, whispering, writing strange missives or 
  trying to get others to understand what is happening—until 
  his Neverborn master silences him once more.
  THE UNNAMED MAIDEN
  An Age is more than a historical demarcation marked 
  arbitrarily on paper by some savants. It marks the end of the 
  Tapestry of Fate, when the last spools of thread run dry and 
  the pattern spiders sit idle, waiting for the Maiden who will 
  sacriﬁ ce herself to form more thread. At the end of each 
  Age, a Maiden dies and a new Maiden is born, waiting for 
  her time and letting the world mark her, so that she may 
  ﬂ avor the threads of the next era. That is what the Emis-
  sary is—a goddess for an Age yet to come. She sits at the 
  center of Nexus because she must. She nests at the center 
  of activity and life in the world, drawing on all experience 
  with wide eyes and silent lips. She watches, whispers and 
  learns. In Nexus, she sees humanity at its purest, its most 
  decadent, its most honest, and she learns what the next Age 
  will bring. Behind her mask, her face holds the shape of the 
  Third Age, already formed, waiting to be revealed. But not 
  even she knows what it looks like, and she will know only 
  when the spiders pull away her mask in those ﬁ nal moments 
  before her destruction and the birth of her child.
  Mechanics: The Unnamed Maiden has an Essence of 
  8, the weakest of the Maidens for she is not yet fully ma-
  tured. She has superhuman levels of Perception, Dexterity, 
  Charisma, Awareness, Investigation and Stealth. She has 
  any and all godly powers the Storyteller sees ﬁ t to grant her, 
  plus powers that allow her to intuitively grasp the shape of 
  the future (but not the past) and to roughly shape events in 
  the present by knowing their outcomes in the future. Still, 
  her revelations, her powers, even her nature, shift from 
  day to day. As the events in the world alter the future for 
  Creation, they alter her as well. In particular, she is drawn 
  to powerful Exalts, for they actively shape fate, rather than 
  passively waiting for it to shape them. The consequences of 
  her premature death are unknown, for no Unnamed Maiden 
  has ever died before her time.
  THE SCAM ARTIST
  The Emissary is precisely what he has always claimed 
  to be: a man who spoke for a council of powerful entities, 
  never a real power in and of himself. The Council cleaned 
  and ruled Nexus in its formative days, merely empowering 
  a ﬁ gurehead to speak for them to the people. A mortal, they 
  reasoned, would be better equipped for such a role. The duty 
  of Emissary is sacred, and the Council constantly watches 
  for a new candidate when the old one perishes, at which 
  time they imbue the new Emissary with Essence (making 
  him God-Blooded) and teach him their tricks. Nexus is 
  currently on its third Emissary, though he grows old and 
  must be replaced soon.
  Mechanics: The Scam Artist has an Essence of 3, with 
  a variety of divine Charms, thaumaturgy and Terrestrial 
  Circle Sorcery. He can match a starting Celestial in power, 
  but do little more.
  (NB: In various pieces of Exalted ﬁ ction, the Emissary 
  is portrayed as exceedingly powerful, and the standard as-
  sumption is that he is far greater than human. This option 
  exists for those Storytellers who wish to have a lower-key 
  Emissary, one who won’t overshadow their characters, should 
  they wish to conquer and control Nexus.)
  THE INNER COUNCIL
  The Emissary is not one man, but several. A horriﬁ ed 
  Sidereal donned the silvery mask when he set out to aid the 
  world in a less indirect manner, using his Charms to defend 
  Nexus directly. A friend helped him, and a young Lunar 
  came across their project and asked to join. Soon, a small 
  cadre of Celestial Exalts governed the city, a secretive council 
  within the Council, taking turns wearing the silver mask as 
  they decided the best course for their city and Creation. The 
  resurgence of the Solars caught them off guard, and they 
  
  139
  CHAPTER EIGHT • GODS AND MONSTERS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  discuss among themselves whether they wish to induct a 
  Solar into their ranks.
  Mechanics: Each member of the Inner Council has 
  unique traits, but most have Essence scores between 5 and 6, 
  with powerful Charms, sorceries and a few unique tricks up 
  their sleeves. Their exact identity and make-up is left to the 
  Storyteller to decide. Like the Scam Artist, this option creates 
  an Emissary weaker than foregoing sources would suggest, 
  but it exists as a compromise between the ﬁ rst three, more 
  powerful, options and the weaker Scam Artist option.
  SPINNER OF GLORIOUS TALES
  Mortals who suffer misfortune and setbacks often comfort 
  themselves with tales of Talespinner’s mortal life, for he is proof 
  that even the lowliest mortal can advance to divinity if he’s 
  clever and wise enough. Talespinner was a lazy mortal boy 
  who enjoyed stories and constantly sought the horizon. He 
  often told lies to avoid work and responsibility, but as his lies 
  grew more creative, he turned his 
  storytelling into entertainment, 
  and then proﬁ t. He delighted in 
  the fantasies his words conjured as 
  he mastered the craft, and the life 
  of the road suited him. According 
  to legend, as Talespinner grew old, 
  he discovered the day of his death 
  from a friendly astrologer and then 
  won passage into Yu-Shan dur-
  ing the Carnival of Meeting. He 
  encountered three different gods 
  in three different parties, and to 
  each, he told a riveting tale that 
  metaphorically centered upon the 
  experiences of the god. (Some 
  extravagant stories claim these 
  gods were the Unconquered Sun, 
  Luna and the Maiden of Journeys, 
  but more modest stories claim 
  Amoth City-Smiter, Ruvia, Captain of the Golden Barque, 
  and the brightest of the Golden Star sisters.) Right before the 
  climax of each story, Talespinner noted the hour, bowed out, 
  and promised to ﬁ nish the tale the next day. All three came 
  to him the following day, begging to hear the end of their 
  tales, but Talespinner confessed that he was dying, and with 
  but a single breath left, he could only speak the ending of a 
  single story. Hearing this, all three agreed to impart to him a 
  portion of their power, granting him divinity and immortality. 
  Springing from his deathbed with full vitality, he whispered to 
  each how the story ended and capered back into the mortal 
  realm. All the gods were pleased except for Amoth (or the 
  Unconquered Sun, depending on which story you believe), 
  whose story ended badly.
  An aura of wanderlust and enchanting mystique hangs 
  around the Spinner of Glorious Tales like a warm, pleasant 
  cloak. His eyes glint with excitement, and his smile draws the 
  interest of men and women alike. He appears in his natural 
  state as a middle-aged mortal man with sun-leathered features, 
  graying hair and travel-worn clothing, but a halo of yellow 
  surrounds his features, clearly marking his divinity. Talespin-
  ner is a clever shapeshifter, though, capable of borrowing 
  the form of any traveler, be it that of a poor mendicant, an 
  adventuring prince or even a migratory ﬁ sh or bird. Yet in 
  whatever form he wears, he wears a set of small trinkets or 
  talismans about his neck or in his hair and his low, pleas-
  ing voice crackles with the promise of adventure. He often 
  travels with a rough-hewn walking staff at his side, both as 
  his defense and as support for his weary legs.
  Of the three gods of Great Forks, Talespinner spends 
  the least time actually within the city, often traveling the 
  roads to and from his beloved home to visit those places 
  connected to Great Forks. He carries with him the allure 
  of his city, which settles like a spell over the communities 
  he rests in, tempting rebellious or dreamy-eyed youths to 
  ﬁ nd their fortunes in Great Forks. True to his name, he also 
  enjoys a good story and will engage in storytelling contests 
  with those mortals who think they are good enough to best 
  him. Those who win often walk away with a talisman or his 
  staff, but those who lose ﬁ nd the luster in their eyes gone 
  and gray coming to their hair earlier in life.
  Sanctum: Talespinner has no speciﬁ c home within Great 
  Forks, but along any road between Great Forks and a destina-
  tion, careful searching with spirit-eyes (or All-Encompassing 
  Sorcerer’s Sight) might reveal a secret path that leads to a 
  small cottage with a tiled roof and cobbled walls. Copper 
  pots hang from the eaves, and a ﬁ re crackles merrily in the 
  hearth. The bed is warm but never slept in, and upon the ﬁ re, 
  a pot of ambrosial stew boils that tastes of the memories of 
  home. Talespinner is seldom found here, however. He only 
  enters his home when he is entertaining guests.
  Motivation: To inspire Great Forks to greatness.
  Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 5, Stamina 6; Charisma 5, 
  Manipulation 5, Appearance 3; Perception 4, Intelligence 
  3, Wits 5 
  Virtues: Compassion 4, Conviction 2, Temperance 3, 
  Valor 3 
  Abilities: Athletics 3, Awareness 4, Bureaucracy 1, Craft 
  (Wood) 1, Dodge 4, Integrity 3, Investigation 4, Larceny 
  3, Linguistics (Native: Old Realm; Others: Forest Tongue, 
  High Realm, Rivertongue, 3 tribal dialects) 4, Lore 3, 
  Martial Arts 1, Medicine 1, Melee 2 (The Dancing Stick 
  +1), Occult 2, Performance 5 (Storytelling +3), Presence 
  4, Resistance 3 (Travel +3), Ride 2, Stealth 3, Socialize 2, 
  Survival 3, Thrown 1
  Backgrounds: Allies 2, Cult 3, Followers 2, Resources 3, 
  Sanctum 1
  Spirit Charms: 
  The Call of Home—Once Talespinner has stepped foot 
  upon a road that will lead him to Great Forks, he may pay 
  10 motes to instantly arrive in his home city. This Charm 
  
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  manifests as Talespinner’s walking staff, the Dancing Stick, 
  and he can offer the staff to another, giving up the Charm 
  so that the recipient may use it. Alternatively, a clever thief 
  might steal the staff, gaining the Charm for himself. Finally, 
  Talespinner can spend a day crafting a new staff and imbuing 
  it with the Charm for 15 motes and 1 Willpower and offer 
  it to someone, in which case, Talespinner loses nothing. 
  Regardless of how the recipient gains the Charm, it lasts no 
  longer than a week for him.
  The Call of the Horizon—The sparkle in Talespinner’s eyes 
  lures youths and world-weary men away from the warmth of 
  their beds and to the hardships of the road, always seeking 
  what lies beyond the next bend. By spending four motes, 
  Talespinner may instill a sense of wanderlust into a target 
  (with a successful Compassion roll). One or two successes 
  inspire the curiosity and restlessness already within the tar-
  get, but more successes can make even the most hidebound 
  recluse feel the call of the road. Against a Solar with an 
  appropriate Virtue Flaw (at the Storyteller’s discretion), use 
  of this Charm can add one Limit per success. Talespinner’s 
  sleeping presence sometimes evokes a similar effect, and 
  when Talespinner rests, roll his Compassion when he wakes. 
  Anyone within the house he slept in with less Temperance 
  than the successes rolled feels the call of the road. Those 
  under the effect of this Charm often make their way, at some 
  point, to Great Forks.
  Dancing Pathways—For 10 motes and 1 Willpower, Talespin-
  ner may tangle the roads and pathways that lead to and from 
  Great Forks. This Charm affects only one traveling character 
  or party and shifts the destination of their chosen road, guiding 
  them either toward Great Forks or away from it. A successful 
  Perception + Awareness roll at a difﬁ culty of 3 is required for 
  a traveler to notice anything has gone awry.
  Essence Plethora (x3)—Talespinner has 30 additional motes 
  of Essence in his Essence pool.
  Fortunate Misfortune—Talespinner dabbles in the powers of 
  fate and fortune, and some call upon him to turn their luck 
  around, though this often comes at a price. For ﬁ ve motes, 
  Talespinner can convert all of the ones in a roll to successes. 
  He can do this only if his roll suffers a botch. He still suffers the 
  effect of the botch, but also “luckily” snatches success from the 
  jaws of failure. He may break his staff or lose his footing, for 
  example, but through sheer fortune, his weapon still strikes 
  home. Talespinner wears small trinkets in his hair, talismans 
  that he can offer to others. By spending 10 motes and giving 
  such a talisman away, Talespinner applies Fortunate Misfortune 
  to the recipient, without further cost. This charm affects a 
  single roll during the story, after which, the talisman is useless. 
  A clever thief can steal a talisman from Talespinner’s hair (a 
  suitably daunting task), in which case, the thief must spend 
  ﬁ ve motes or two Willpower to activate it. Talespinner never 
  has more than three talismans in his hair in a single story.
  Measure the Wind—Talespinner has an innate sense of the 
  power and capabilities of those nearby, and he treats the 
  knowledge casually. 
  The Perfect Tale—Talespinner began life as a mortal, during 
  which time he utterly perfected the art of storytelling. This 
  trick allowed him to achieve divinity by impressing the gods 
  of Yu-Shan. By spending 15 motes and one Willpower, Tales-
  pinner can extemporaneously craft the ideal story for a target 
  audience. He requires a target from within the audience to 
  “inspire” him, and the story, at least metaphorically, revolves 
  around the target. The Storyteller then makes a (Compas-
  sion + Performance) roll for Talespinner at a difﬁ culty based 
  on how “fateful” the target is. A common peasant might be 
  difﬁ culty 5, while a hero whose deeds will be remembered 
  in song and story for generations would be difﬁ culty 1. If 
  the roll is successful, the audience ﬁ nds the story appealing, 
  entertaining and engaging, regardless of the hostility or 
  difﬁ culty such an audience might normally put forth. The 
  story touches upon the targets’ fate, and those who listen 
  carefully can get a glimpse of their future. Talespinner has no 
  direct knowledge of their fate, and any clues gleaned come 
  from his spontaneous story rather than his own knowledge 
  of a character. Further, Talespinner can “nudge” the story, 
  consciously changing the narrative to introduce a slightly 
  altered fate into the target’s tapestry. Talespinner can use this 
  Charm as often as he wishes, but the tale he tells about a 
  given target remains essentially the same for the duration of 
  the story. This Charm is rather advanced, and an Eclipse or 
  other character (such as a God-Blood) who wishes to learn 
  this trick might, at the discretion of the Storyteller, need the 
  knowledge of another Charm involving storytelling (such as 
  a Performance Excellency) as a prerequisite.
  Principle of Motion—Talespinner has seven extra actions 
  ready in his pool.
  Reserve of Will (x2)—Talespinner stores two additional 
  temporary Willpower.
  Shapechange—For ﬁ ve motes, Talespinner can change into 
  the form of any creature (mortal or animal) that travels, be 
  it a wandering prince or a migrating bird. The change alters 
  none of Talespinner’s traits (though he gains normal abilities 
  based on the animal, such as ﬂ ight from a bird form), and 
  the change lasts for a scene.
  Talespinner has the First, Second and Third Excellencies 
  for the following Abilities: Athletics, Awareness, Dodge, 
  Investigation, Larceny, Stealth, Performance, Presence, 
  Socialize, Survival.
  Join Battle: 9
  Attacks: 
  Clever Hand Punch: Speed 4, Accuracy 8, Damage 3B, 
  Defense 5, Rate 3 
  The Dancing Stick: Speed 5, Accuracy 11, Damage 10B, 
  Defense 6, Rate 2*
  * The Dancing Stick quickens the step of the wielder, adding 
  two to his Dodge DV as long as he wields it. Talespinner pays 
  nothing for this, but those who wish to wield it must commit 
  motes to the staff. This value is already included below.
  Soak: 6L/12B (Divine resilience, 3L/6B; Hardness: 3L/3B) 
  Health Levels: -0/-1/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4/Incap
  
  141
  CHAPTER EIGHT • GODS AND MONSTERS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  Dodge DV: 9 
  Willpower: 7 (9 temporary)
  Essence: 5 
  Essence Pool: 115
  Cost to Materialize: 60
  Other Notes: Talespinner is generally encountered alone, 
  but he has cults dedicated to him spread throughout the 
  Scavenger Lands. A bevy of minor road spirits and lesser 
  ofﬁ cials from Great Forks serve him, and those who wish to 
  give him a message can go through those channels.
  In general, Talespinner enjoys a match of wits, and those 
  who get caught trying to steal from him in a clever manner 
  will gain his admiration, rather than his enmity.
  WEAVER OF DREAMS OF VICTORY
  The least understood of the three gods of Great Forks, 
  Dreamweaver never speaks of her origins and only smiles with 
  polite amusement at speculations whispered in her presence. 
  The tribe she brought to Great Forks remembers only that she 
  came ﬁ rst in their dreams, slipping in like a familiar presence 
  to coax and advise. She seemed to coalesce from everyone’s 
  expectations, and her encroachment was so subtle that none 
  remember when she took over the 
  reigns of leadership. It simply… 
  happened. And it felt right. Some 
  savants try to probe deeper, to 
  determine what, precisely, she 
  was. Some speculate that she was a 
  turncoat raksha who betrayed her 
  people during the Great Conta-
  gion for the love of a mortal child, 
  and so enwrapped herself in the 
  dreams of Creation that she has 
  forgotten what she was. Another 
  popular theory is that she lived in 
  Yu-Shan in an airy palace built of 
  gossamer ambrosia and mortared 
  with hopes. She wrote fanciful 
  dreams for mortals and sent them 
  on the wings of dream ﬂ ies until 
  she wanted to see the mortals to 
  whom she sent the dreams. When she did, she was appalled 
  by the condition of the world they lived in, so she chose to 
  remain in Creation to help them achieve the splendors of the 
  dreams she imagined for them. But the most popular, yet least 
  spoken, speculation is that she was formed in the mind of Hu 
  Dai Ling, the Shogun of the Crimson Banner. She dreamed and 
  fantasized of a perfect companion, but Dreamweaver wanted 
  the freedom to explore the world, so she tricked Hu Dai Ling 
  into setting her free and ﬂ itted away into Creation, hiding in 
  the dreams and hopes of the mortal population.
  Dreamweaver materializes less than the other two gods of 
  Great Forks do, preferring to interact with her people through 
  their sleeping minds. When she must manifest, she has no true 
  form that remains consistent from person to person. Instead, she 
  appears as an amalgam of various people the viewer has met in 
  his life. In the same negotiation, one merchant might ﬁ nd her 
  reminiscent of his mother and his wife, but with the eyes of a 
  southern woman he fears and the voice of merchant woman 
  he admires. His companion might describe her as vulpine 
  and sensual, not unlike his sister and a girl he once met but 
  never had the courage to court. She always appears dreamlike 
  and indistinct, with her features ﬂ owing and shifting, and she 
  usually, but not always, appears in a feminine aspect.
  Dreamweaver believes in Great Forks, and she believes 
  in the united destiny between the three peoples who settled 
  it. Her words soothed the tensions of war between the three 
  when they ﬁ rst met, and her whispers brought them together 
  to ﬁ ght Princess Magniﬁ cent with Lips of Coral and Robes 
  of Black Feathers. Where Talespinner crafts Great Forks 
  grandeur and appeal, and Dayshield offers the city hope 
  and order, Dreamweaver forges a sense of community and 
  connection between its residents and their gods.
  Sanctum: Those who travel the dreams of Great Forks might 
  ﬁ nd a palace that belongs to no sleeping mind. A patchwork 
  of fantasies, Dreamweaver’s home is at once a part of every 
  dream in Great Forks and a unique whole. Those who enter 
  invariably ﬁ nd just what they expect, whether they under-
  stood their expectations or not, and space and time operate 
  on a surreal schedule. The only way to reach Dreamweaver’s 
  home is through sleep, careful meditation or the activation 
  of proper spells. Dematerialized beings can slip into the 
  dreams of mortals to ﬁ nd a path to the sanctum in a more 
  mundane fashion.
  Motivation: To maintain a sense of community within 
  Great Forks.
  Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 6, Stamina 2; Charisma 5, 
  Manipulation 5, Appearance 5; Perception 5, Intelligence 
  5, Wits 5 
  Virtues: Compassion 5, Conviction 3, Temperance 4, 
  Valor 2
  Abilities: Awareness 4, Craft (Dream) 4, Dodge 3, In-
  tegrity 4 (Mercurial Mind +1), Investigation 3 (Empathy 
  +2), Linguistics (Native: Old Realm; Others: High Realm, 
  Rivertongue) 2, Lore 3, Martial Arts 1 (Gentle Touch +2), 
  Medicine 3, Occult 4, Performance 4, Presence 5, Socialize 
  4 (Social Connections +1), Stealth 2
  Backgrounds: Allies 2, Contacts 3, Cult 2, Followers 3, 
  Resources 4, Sanctum 3
  Spirit Charms:
  Dream-Dancing Quick-Step—When attacked, Dreamweaver 
  can spend ﬁ ve motes and one Willpower to instantly and 
  temporarily dematerialize and avoid the attack completely 
  and perfectly. This Charm has no effect against attacks that 
  strike immaterial targets.
  Dream-Walking—When immaterial, Dreamweaver may 
  escape to her sanctum for a cost of 10 motes or enter any 
  nearby dream for 15, where she appears as a suitable denizen 
  to that dream, usually escaping notice unless she wishes to 
  make her presence known.
  
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  Essence Plethora (x5)—Dreamweaver has 50 additional motes 
  of Essence in her Essence pool.
  Flowing Features—Dreamweaver’s features naturally ﬂ ow 
  and shift, always appearing to be what her audience expects. 
  She can also control how her visage appears to a degree. By 
  spending ﬁ ve motes, Dreamweaver can adjust her appear-
  ance to resonate with ﬁ gures from her viewer’s past. When 
  intimidating a young man, her voice might take on the angry 
  power of his father’s fury while her eyes ﬂ ash like those of a 
  bandit who once stole his money. Were she to seduce him, 
  her whispers might remind him of his ﬁ rst lover, and her eyes 
  might be reminiscent of a girl he met only in his dreams. 
  This Charm inﬂ icts a penalty upon the target’s MDV by a 
  value up to her half her Essence (rounded up). This penalty 
  depends on the character’s past, for a young Dynast who has 
  never feared anyone in his life might suffer little when she 
  attempts to intimidate him (granting, perhaps, a -1), whereas 
  an orphan who has shivered in fear most of his life might suf-
  fer the full penalty. Should an Eclipse Caste Solar learn this 
  Charm, he must pay a total cost of 15 motes to invoke the 
  natural, dreamlike visage that Dreamweaver normally wears 
  before he can manipulate his features more precisely.
  Gentle Touch—Dreamweaver’s slim, cool ﬁ ngers inﬂ ict little 
  harm on her foes, but her touch can drain their will to ﬁ ght. 
  If her damage roll comes up with any successes, she may 
  instantly spend three motes after striking a foe, and drain 
  a single point of Willpower instead of dealing damage. She 
  does not gain this Willpower. An Eclipse or God-Blood who 
  learns this Charm uses his own punch traits to activate it, 
  not the Gentle Touch traits given below.
  Measure the Wind—Dreamweaver sees past the ﬂ esh of those 
  around her, intuitively understanding their nature and power 
  through this Charm. 
  Principle of Motion—Dreamweaver has nine extra actions 
  ready in her pool.
  Sleeping Eyes—For ﬁ ve motes, Dreamweaver can witness the 
  contents of any dream taking place within Great Forks
  Sleeping Hands—For 10 motes and one Willpower, Dream-
  weaver may manipulate the contents of any dream taking place 
  within Great Forks, whether she is a participant in that dream 
  or not. This Charm inﬂ icts no lasting harm upon the target, 
  no matter how awful she makes the dream, but particularly 
  pleasant or unpleasant dreams can offer a penalty or bonus 
  to the target’s Conviction roll when he wakes.
  Tie-Forging Whispers—By slipping into dreams and manipu-
  lating both the ties that surround the target and the dreams 
  he has, Dreamweaver can forge a powerful new connection 
  with events or individuals around him. She can, for example, 
  give a magistrate an intense dream of an innocent maid who 
  works in his palace and then forge a connection between the 
  two so that he realizes that the girl is somehow important to 
  him. This Charm reﬂ ects advanced knowledge, and at the 
  Storyteller’s discretion, any Eclipse or God-Blood who wishes 
  to learn it must have knowledge of either a dream-manipula-
  tion Charm or a fate-manipulation Charm.
  Touching Strands—By spending ﬁ ve motes—and the Sto-
  ryteller making a successful (Compassion + Investigation) 
  roll—Dreamweaver can glimpse the connections inherent 
  between people and events. She might note that two indi-
  viduals are lovers, or that they should be lovers, or that a boy 
  is deeply tied with a recent war. The difﬁ culty of the roll is 
  based on how obscure or tangled the connections are. This 
  Charm does not perceive the future or the past. It will not 
  reveal that two people once hated one another or that they 
  will eventually, only that they currently do.
  Unfolding the Inner Heart—Dreamweaver can reach out 
  and twist a target’s mind inside out, so his dreams surround 
  his body, rather than the other way around. This creates a 
  perfect, illusory waking dream that Dreamweaver can ma-
  nipulate with Sleeping Hands. Any damage inﬂ icted by the 
  dream-illusion isn’t real, but death within the waking dream 
  requires a successful (Stamina + Integrity) roll, difﬁ culty 1, 
  or the victim falls into a deep slumber for a number of days 
  equal to Dreamweaver’s Essence. The duration of Unfolding 
  the Inner Heart is Instant, but its effects can seem to last 
  up to a day for the target. This Charm costs 20 motes and 
  an additional point of Willpower per target. Fair Folk are 
  effectively immune to this Charm, for while the dream-il-
  lusion does blossom up around them, they are as capable of 
  manipulating it as they are of manipulating the Wyld. This 
  Charm requires advanced knowledge of dreamcraft, and an 
  Eclipse or God-Blood who wishes to learn it must ﬁ rst have 
  an Essence of 3 and (at the Storyteller’s discretion) knowledge 
  of a Charm that manipulates dreams or the Wyld.
  Dreamweaver has First, Second and Third Excellencies for 
  the following Abilities: Investigation, Occult, Socialize.
  Join Battle: 9
  Attacks: 
  Gentle Touch: Speed 5, Accuracy 10, Damage 1B, Defense 
  6, Rate 3
  Soak: 20L/20B (Dream resilience, 19L/18B; Hardness: 
  15L/15B) 
  Health Levels: -0/-1/-1/-1/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4/In-
  cap
  Dodge DV: 7 
  Willpower: 9
  Essence: 5 
  Essence Pool: 145
  Cost to Materialize: 70
  Other Notes: Dreamweaver’s high soak and hardness comes 
  from the difﬁ culty of harming a dream. However, if she takes 
  damage, she quickly ﬂ ees and goes immaterial. She prefers 
  not to ﬁ ght.
  Dreamweaver has a small army of dream ﬂ ies at her disposal, 
  which serve in her palace, play court with her guests or ﬂ it about 
  Great Forks, dispensing the dreams she requires of them.
  SHIELD OF A DIFFERENT DAY
  The First Age was a more elegant time, one in which a 
  warrior could battle peacefully and the mere presence of a 
  soldier was enough to move nations. Dayshield once worked 
  
  143
  CHAPTER EIGHT • GODS AND MONSTERS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  in Yu-Shan, serving in the Division of Battles for the Bu-
  reau of Battles as an agent covering all matters of peaceful 
  war, battles that consisted of nothing but positioning and 
  war-through-diplomacy. When the Solars fell, however, her 
  portfolio of cases diminished, and her superiors shifted her 
  to less savory duties. With the fall of the Shogunate, peace-
  ful warfare evaporated completely, and rather than involve 
  herself more deeply with the corruption seeping into her 
  division, she stole some ﬁ les for insurance and ﬂ ed Yu-Shan 
  to seek a new fortune for herself in the mortal realm of Cre-
  ation. Her time in the cruel, harsh world of the Second Age 
  changed her, and her gentle ways and elegant uniform gave 
  way to cold armor and sharpened steel, though she retains 
  her protective instincts and civil manners.
  Dayshield often walks the streets of Great Forks in 
  material form, her presence comforting those around her. 
  For a goddess of war, she is strikingly beautiful, with the soft 
  curves of the woman each soldier dreams about returning to. 
  Long tresses of raven hair fall around handsome features, and 
  granite-colored eyes gaze upon her soldiers proudly, the eyes 
  of a sergeant who has trained her soldiers well. When she 
  speaks, her alto voice rolls across the masses with a patriotic 
  tenor, inspiring hope in those who hear her. Her armor is 
  clean and polished, and her shield gleams in the sunlight. 
  Those who stand behind her feel a wellspring of conﬁ dence, 
  knowing they will see the morning’s dawn.
  Dayshield focuses primarily on the defense of Great 
  Forks, and she is the most practical of the city’s three gods. 
  Her soldiers police the city and see to its defenses, but her 
  training doesn’t prepare them for battle nearly as much as 
  it prepares them for the positioning of war and peacetime 
  garrison duty. Both she and her soldiers prefer peacekeeping 
  operations or taking care of civilians in emergencies. Conquest 
  suits them poorly. When battle is required, she usually takes 
  the ﬁ eld in material form, protecting her vulnerable, young 
  soldiers behind her vast, impenetrable shield and doing all 
  she can to make sure they will return home to their lovers 
  and families. 
  Sanctum: Dayshield often works in the Palace of the Three in 
  material form. Her sanctum lies atop and within its Council 
  Hall, appearing as an aging, out-of-date fortress ﬁ lled with 
  old and new knickknacks and trinkets side-by-side. To get 
  there, one need only shut a door within the Council Hall 
  ofﬁ ces, open it once more and step through as an immate-
  rial being.
  Motivation: To defend and maintain Great Forks.
  Attributes: Strength 5, Dexterity 4, Stamina 5; Charisma 5, 
  Manipulation 4, Appearance 4; Perception 3, Intelligence 
  5, Wits 4 
  Virtues: Compassion 3, Conviction 4, Temperance 3, Valor 
  4
  Abilities: Archery 4, Athletics 2, Awareness 2, Bureaucracy 
  4 (Logistics +1), Dodge 4, Integrity 4, Linguistics (Native: 
  Old Realm; Others: High Realm, Rivertongue) 2, Lore 2, 
  Martial Arts 3, Medicine 2, Melee 5, Occult 1, Performance 
  2, Presence 3, Resistance 3, Ride 2, Socialize 3 (Wartime 
  Negotiations +2), Survival 3, Thrown 3, War 5 (Defensive 
  Warfare +3)
  Backgrounds: Allies 2, Cult 1, Followers 4, Resources 4, 
  Sanctum 2
  Spirit Charms: 
  Dissolution of Battle—By spending 30 motes and three Will-
  power, Dayshield can bring a battle to an end. Morale slips, 
  soldiers tire, the weather changes, and by unvoiced agreement, 
  the battle simply ends. She may not activate this Charm before 
  the battle has begun to favor one side or another (Storyteller’s 
  discretion), and it does not change the outcome of the battle, 
  only ends it more swiftly and with less loss of life. Dayshield 
  can activate this Charm while immaterial.
  Dove Conquers Hawk Approach—Dayshield once governed 
  peaceful warfare, where the maneuvering of soldiers and 
  clever diplomacy garnered territory and conquered peoples. 
  By spending 10 motes, Dayshield may (if the Storyteller uses 
  the optional Mandate of Heaven rules) substitute her region’s 
  Government or Culture trait for Military for the purpose of 
  rolls involving the keywords: At War. Her nation need not be 
  at war with her opposing nation (thus ignoring the needs of 
  the keyword), but it must have a Military trait that matches 
  the requirements of the action (as one still needs the soldiers 
  to properly intimidate a foe). This magic no longer works in 
  Creation, however. The fabric 
  of war has changed a great deal 
  since the fall of the Lawgivers, 
  and this Charm is but a relic in 
  Dayshield’s arsenal, a sign of 
  what she once was.
  Essence Plethora (x3)—Day-
  shield has 30 additional motes of 
  Essence in her Essence pool.
  Insurmountable Defense—When 
  Dayshield deploys her shield 
  (from which she gains her 
  namesake) in the defense of 
  another, she may spend ﬁ ve 
  motes and one Willpower to 
  make the parry a perfect one. It 
  cannot fail to defend. She can 
  deploy this Charm only if she 
  is defending another, and the 
  magic is actually tied up in her 
  shield. She may give the shield away to another, in which 
  case he may use the Charm (and she may not), or the shield 
  can be stolen, offering similar results. Either way, the shield 
  returns to her after a week’s time. She may also manifest this 
  Charm in mass combat, in which case, the shield defends an 
  entire unit (one she is leading). Doing so will even defend 
  against attacks that cannot be reasonably parried, such as 
  shunting aside an artillery barrage. She may use this Charm 
  in mass combat while immaterial, in which case it manifests 
  as fortune and favor protecting a single unit.
  
  144
  Measure the Wind—Dayshield remains constantly alert for 
  tactical threats, gauging her opponents and guests with 
  this Charm.
  Principle of Motion—Dayshield has seven extra actions ready 
  in her pool.
  Reserve of Will (x3)—Dayshield stores three additional 
  temporary Willpower.
  Tomorrow’s Victory—Dayshield knows that defeat today can 
  lead to victory tomorrow, and she offers up hope to her troops 
  when morale ebbs. When Dayshield has battled a foe and, 
  at the Storyteller’s discretion, lost (or drawn) the battle, she 
  may commit ﬁ ve motes. The next time she battles the same 
  opponent, she may release the Essence she committed and gain 
  +1 success to her attack rolls for the duration of the battle. 
  If she chooses, she may keep her Essence committed and, if 
  she loses again, commit another ﬁ ve to “stack” the bonuses 
  for a future ﬁ ght. She may have no more than ﬁ ve (equal to 
  her Essence) instances of this Charm “stacked” at any one 
  time. This Charm may also apply to mass combat, in which 
  case, it applies to her entire unit, but only if the unit lost a 
  previous battle against the enemy it currently ﬁ ghts.
  Dayshield has the First, Second and Third Excellencies for the 
  following Abilities: Archery, Bureaucracy, Dodge, Integrity, 
  Melee, Presence, Resistance, Socialize, War.
  Join Battle: 6
  Attacks: 
  Defender Fist Crush: Speed 4, Accuracy 8, Damage 6B, 
  Defense 7*, Rate 3
  Broken Dawn Lance: Speed 5, Accuracy 12, Damage 12L, 
  Defense 9*, Rate 3
  Bright Star Arrow: Speed 6, Accuracy 9, Damage 11, Range 
  350, Rate 2
  * Dayshield’s unbreakable shield grants her +2 to all of her 
  Parry DVs. This bonus is included in the Defense Values.
  Soak: 10L/20B (Brilliant armor, 7L/15B; Hardness: 6L/6B)
  Health Levels: -0/-1/-1/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4/Incap
  Dodge DV: 7 Willpower: 9 (12 temporary)
  Essence: 5 Essence Pool: 125
  Cost to Materialize: 70
  Other Notes: None
  TU YU, CITY FATHER OF DEHELESHEN
  The god of Deheleshen is old. Wrinkles line his aristo-
  cratic features, and dust riddles his exquisite, if out-of-date, 
  robes. Surprisingly tall, he always stands one head taller than 
  any other Lookshy citizen he entertains, and even Tien Yu 
  fails to measure up to his height. A sophisticated rattle issues 
  forth from his dry lips when he quietly regales his audience 
  with grand tales of a more elegant time. His mannerisms are 
  archaic but charming, and a small gesture, well-timed joke or 
  delightful anecdote quickly sets anyone at ease.
  He’s also quite mad. Heir to a forgotten time, he is a relic, 
  a god of a city that no longer meaningfully exists. He writes 
  furious letters to Yu-Shan ofﬁ cials who no longer hold ofﬁ ce, 
  holds court in empty rooms 
  and sends gifts to long dead 
  officers of the Seventh 
  Legion. He expects people 
  to behave in a manner they 
  once did and is continually 
  shocked when they fail to 
  live up to, or even under-
  stand, his expectations. 
  Still, the eccentric old god 
  keeps to himself, shufﬂ ing 
  around the Old City in 
  insubstantial form, just a 
  dusty breeze that rustles 
  past pedestrians.
  Yet, old Tu Yu loves his 
  city dearly, even though he 
  understands on some level 
  that it is no longer truly 
  his. He cannot guard its present, but he ruthlessly guards its 
  past. Those who seek to dig up secrets best left buried quickly 
  face his wrath, and those who have investigated too closely 
  into the Gunzota Incident, the actual events surrounding 
  Lookshy’s rejection of the Scarlet Empress’s power or some 
  of the pre-Contagion scandals that marred Deheleshen 
  sometimes vanish. The last thing they see is Tu Yu’s mad, 
  yellow-toothed smile, and their corpses are discovered later 
  in forgotten catacombs beneath the Old City.
  Sanctum: Tu Yu’s sanctum spreads all across the Old City 
  as one of the larger sanctums in the Scavenger Lands. His 
  primary abode looks completely unchanged from what it 
  was millennia ago, though much of the food and furniture 
  has a shiny, plastic quality to it. Outside of his ﬁ ne palace, 
  the rest of his sanctum shows Deheleshen exactly as it was 
  the day before the Great Contagion changed it forever, but 
  everything is two dimensional and rough, as though drawn 
  on paper boards and moving about, carnival-like, for Tu Yu’s 
  amusement. He invites a few guests to his sanctum, particularly 
  Tien Yu, and most ﬁ nd it a charming reminder of days gone 
  past. Tien Yu, in particular, values her time there.
  Motivation: To protect the legacy of Deheleshen (and by 
  extension, Lookshy).
  Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 4, Stamina 4; Charisma 6, 
  Manipulation 5, Appearance 2; Perception 4, Intelligence 
  6, Wits 5 
  Virtues: Compassion 3, Conviction 4, Temperance 3, 
  Valor 3 
  Abilities: Archery 1, Awareness 3, Bureaucracy 4 (Conspiracy 
  +2), Craft (Air) 1 (Calligraphy +3), Dodge 2, Integrity 5, 
  Investigation 4, Linguistics (Native: Old Realm; Others: High 
  Realm) 1, Lore 3 (Shogunate Era Lore +3), Martial Arts 4, 
  Melee 2, Occult 3, Performance 4, Presence 5, Socialize 6, 
  Survival 2, War 5 (Shogunate Tactics +3)
  Backgrounds: Cult 2, Followers 3, Inﬂ uence 3, Resources 
  3, Sanctum 3
  
  145
  CHAPTER EIGHT • GODS AND MONSTERS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  Spirit Charms: 
  Charming Patriotic Forgiveness Technique—Tu Yu can disarm 
  those who express worries or fears over Lookshy’s present 
  or past with a delightful anecdote or clever play on words. 
  After the Storyteller gains more successes on a Presence 
  or Socialize roll than the target’s Conviction, Tu Yu may 
  reﬂ exively spend 15 motes and one Willpower to dull the 
  memory of what worried the target in the ﬁ rst place, replac-
  ing the concern with happier images of Lookshy’s past and 
  future. A young woman concerned by the disappearance of 
  her brother, for example, might walk away with a sudden 
  conﬁ dence in the Lookshy police to investigate the mat-
  ter thoroughly, her concern over the exact circumstances 
  surrounding his absence fading. Players who want their 
  characters to resist the effects may spend a Willpower point 
  for their characters to momentarily remember their original 
  concern. After spending a number of Willpower points equal 
  to the total extra successes Tu Yu rolled on his Presence or 
  Socialize roll, the effect is countered permanently. Tu Yu can 
  use this Charm while immaterial, but he must rely upon the 
  successes of another who verbally defends Lookshy against 
  the target. Tu Yu may activate this Charm in conjunction 
  with a Presence or Socialize Excellency.
  Essence Plethora (x2)—Tu Yu has 20 additional motes of Es-
  sence in his Essence Pool… a rather small total, but Tu Yu 
  has fallen far from his glory days.
  Hurry Home—Tu Yu always has one foot in Deheleshen. 
  Sometimes, when he walks, the streets around him slowly, 
  subtly change until he is once more in the Old City of Lookshy. 
  He does this without meaning to, at times, and can take a 
  traveling companion with him (much to her chagrin).
  Measure the Wind—Tu Yu knows who his guests and company 
  are, even if he doesn’t necessarily understand what he knows. 
  When he ﬁ rst meets a Dragon-Blood, he might mistake her 
  for a long-dead ancestor; Sidereals register as servants and 
  functionaries; and the presence of a Solar can drive him into 
  fury and fear, as he mistakes them for long-dead overlords.
  Nostalgia Imparting Blessing—For 20 motes and one permanent 
  Willpower (the Willpower point will return to Tu Yu after a 
  few years, but regardless, he uses this Charm sparingly), Tu Yu 
  can empower someone with the same concerns for the past 
  that he has. The target gains a permanent dot of Essence and, 
  for mortals, they become God-Blooded attuned to Tu Yu, often 
  gaining streaks of white in their hair, a scent of dust around 
  them and an elegant taste for bygone fashions and foods. The 
  target also permanently changes a mortal’s Motivation to 
  match Tu Yu’s. Tu Yu can speak to his “helpers” even when 
  he’s immaterial, and he can spend three motes to send them 
  impressions and needs even when he’s not in their presence. For 
  ﬁ ve motes, he can issue commands that control the “helper,” 
  who must spend a point of Willpower to resist the command. 
  This Charm cannot be used upon unwilling targets unless Tu 
  Yu spends 10 additional motes. The target’s endowment and 
  change are suppressed, and the character behaves normally, 
  but Tu Yu may spend 10 motes at any time to “activate” the 
  “sleeper.” When he does so, the unwitting target’s Motivation 
  changes, and she may be commanded and manipulated just 
  as any other helper. Such a change can happen only at night 
  and ends when the sun rises. The very fact that Tu Yu uses 
  this Charm on mortals is a grave offense in heaven, and he 
  would suffer great punishment if discovered. An Eclipse who 
  learns this Charm may use it on himself or others, but they 
  become beholden to Tu Yu, not to the Eclipse.
  Principle of Motion—Tu Yu has seven extra actions ready in 
  his pool.
  Reserve of Will (x3)—Tu Yu stores three additional temporary 
  Willpower.
  Watchdog of Former Glory Method—Whenever Lookshy is 
  threatened, Tu Yu reﬂ exively and automatically spends three 
  motes to become aware of that danger. This Charm works 
  only if the danger comes from Lookshy’s past, however. If 
  some aspect to Lookshy’s legacy threatens it today, such as 
  an exposé on the Gunzota Incident that endangers Lookshy’s 
  stability, Tu Yu knows about it. But if some new threat rises 
  against Lookshy, such as a criminal Lintha subversion, it 
  slides past Tu Yu’s notice.
  Whispers Behind the Page Meditation—Tu Yu pens a letter in 
  ﬁ ne, ﬂ owing Old Realm and then spends six motes and one 
  Willpower to infuse some publication in Lookshy, whether it is 
  a propaganda brochure or a recent book, with hidden meaning. 
  Anyone marked with Nostalgia Imparting Blessing immediately 
  receives the message (whether she knows it or not), as well as 
  anyone Tu Yu speciﬁ cally targets as a recipient. A (Perception 
  + Linguistics) roll, difﬁ culty 5, will uncover the secret code. 
  Tu Yu can also use Charming Patriotic Forgiveness Technique 
  with this Charm, though in this case, the Storyteller must roll 
  Tu Yu’s (Wits + Craft [Air]), relying upon the beauty of his 
  message to dull the fears of the past.
  Tu Yu has the First, Second and Third Excellencies for the 
  following Abilities: Bureaucracy, Lore, Martial Arts, Pres-
  ence, Socialize, War.
  Join Battle: 8
  Attacks: 
  Punch: Speed 5, Accuracy 9, Damage 4B, Defense 10, Rate 3 
  Kick: Speed 5, Accuracy 8, Damage 7B, Defense 6, Rate 2
  Clinch: Speed 6, Accuracy 8, Damage 4B, Defense –, Rate 1
  Soak: 8L/10B (Stubborn defense, 6L/6B; Hardness: 8L/8B) 
  Health Levels: -0/-1/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4/Incap
  Dodge DV: 5 
  Willpower: 7 (10 temporary)
  Essence: 4 
  Essence Pool: 95
  Cost to Materialize: 55
  Other Notes: Tu Yu generally remains insubstantial but 
  spends more time in Lookshy than Tien Yu does. His Cult 
  Background reﬂ ects the reverence Lookshy still offers him 
  (though not outright worship), and his Followers Background 
  reﬂ ects the band of co-conspirators and sleepers he has as-
  sembled over the years with Nostalgia Imparting Blessing. 
  Storytellers should note his insanity, and while he is quite 
  skilled in War and Bureaucracy, the solutions he offers are 
  often impractical by today’s technology.
  
  146
  TIEN YU, GODDESS OF LOOKSHY AND 
  THE SEVENTH LEGION
  When the Great Contagion threatened to consume all 
  of Creation, Deheleshen should have died like every other 
  city in the Shogunate, and Tu Yu should have faded with it. 
  Instead, as he staggered through the dying streets of his city, 
  he bowled over and vomited up blood and a god-child. To her, 
  he cried, “Protect me, protect my city.” She looked up at him 
  and nodded. He took the strength of Deheleshen’s walls and 
  forged her armor. He took the steel of her people and crafted 
  it into weapons. Then he fell asleep behind her as she stood 
  watch over his city and became its new guardian.
  Or so goes but one of many stories of Tien Yu’s birth. 
  Others whisper that she sprung from an illicit encounter 
  between Tu Yu and a handmaiden of Luna, or even the God 
  of the Imperial Mountain and Luna herself. Whatever her 
  origin, she is young for a goddess and powerful for her age.
  When she bothers to manifest, she appears as a beautiful 
  Lookshy legionnaire, with pale green eyes peering out from 
  behind the tall collar of her moonsilver-laced black jade 
  dragon armor. Her skin glimmers with the color of night, and 
  her short silken hair gleams a metallic hue of silver. Centuries 
  ago, she lost her voice and regained it only 50 years ago, and 
  she sometimes forgets that she can speak over a whisper. 
  But she loves to sing, often entertaining her 
  father/lover/sibling, Tu Yu, with her voice. 
  She prefers an immaterial state though, and 
  most Lookshy soldiers describe her less as a 
  being and more as a presence that ﬁ lls their 
  spirits and quickens their step, the “ﬁ re of 
  Tien Yu.”
  She usually remains in Yu-Shan, act-
  ing as an advocate for her city and advising 
  Sunipa, the Eastern goddess of war. She 
  regularly bests the Central god of war in 
  practicing duels, much to his disgrace, and 
  some feel she is too powerful for her station, 
  but she dutifully obeys Sunipa’s words, so 
  she is shielded from bureaucratic censure. 
  When she comes to her city, she enjoys the 
  company of soldiers, watching them quietly 
  and invisibly. When one catches her at-
  tention, she may bed him for a night—but 
  never twice—and passes off the results of 
  such unions as orphan Dragon-Blooded, quietly brought 
  into Lookshy’s care.
  Sanctum: Tien Yu resides in a minor mansion in Yu-Shan, 
  an exceedingly modern establishment riddled with relics she 
  has collected from Tu Yu. When in Lookshy, she bunks in Tu 
  Yu’s sanctum, listening to his stories or sharing his bed.
  Motivation: To maintain Lookshy and the Seventh Legion.
  Attributes: Strength 7, Dexterity 7, Stamina 10; Charisma 
  6, Manipulation 3, Appearance 4; Perception 4, Intelligence 
  5, Wits 4 
  Virtues: Compassion 2, Conviction 4, Temperance 3, 
  Valor 4 
  Abilities: Archery 5, Athletics 2, Awareness 3, Bureaucracy 
  4, Craft (Magitech) 3, Dodge 4, Integrity 5, Investigation 3 
  (Internal Affairs +1), Linguistics (Native: Old Realm; Others: 
  High Realm, Low Realm, Rivertongue) 3, Lore 3 (Shogunate 
  Era Lore +2), Martial Arts 6, Medicine 2 (Battleﬁ eld Medicine 
  +1), Melee 6, Occult 3, Performance 3, Presence 4, Resistance 
  3, Ride 2, Sail 2, Socialize 3, Survival 2, War 6
  Backgrounds: Allies 1, Cult 3, Inﬂ uence 2, Resources 4, 
  Sanctum 3
  Spirit Charms: 
  Lookshy cannot last forever, so fate has decreed. The pattern 
  spiders have already woven the fall of Lookshy, and Tien Yu 
  has seen it. She knows Lookshy’s days are numbered. Many 
  of Tien Yu’s more powerful Charms erode Lookshy’s remain-
  ing time, just as every battle Lookshy engages in erodes its 
  arsenals. Therefore, she uses these Charms sparingly. Any 
  Eclipse Solars or God-Bloods who learn these Charms and 
  use them also erode Lookshy’s remaining fate.
  All-Seeing Battle-Eyes—For 10 motes and one Willpower, 
  Tien Yu gains perfect knowledge of the battleﬁ eld on which 
  she stands. This knowledge affects only a single combat, 
  whether mass combat or personal, and lasts for a single scene. 
  In addition to an intuitive understanding of troop strength 
  and positioning, her knowledge of the battleﬁ eld prevents 
  surprise attacks and increases her defensive capabilities. 
  While this Charm is in effect, Tien Yu ignores the onslaught 
  penalty to her Defense Value and may apply her Defense 
  Value even against surprise attacks. Manifesting this Charm 
  costs Lookshy a single day of fate.
  Essence Plethora (x6)—Tien Yu has 60 additional motes of 
  Essence in her Essence pool.
  The Fire of Tien Yu—Tien Yu does not possess individuals. 
  She possesses units of men. For a cost of 15 motes and two 
  Willpower, Tien Yu enters the bodies of an entire unit of 
  Lookshy soldiers. Those soldiers feel a sudden surge of joy and 
  serenity within their hearts, a certainty of victory. The unit 
  immediately gains Perfect Morale and a +1 bonus to Might. 
  Further, Tien Yu may manifest any of her Charms to aid the 
  unit, as though she was a manifest sorcerer within its ranks. 
  Finally, this Charm represents a real danger to Tien Yu, for as 
  the soldiers die or ﬂ ee, she weakens. Every loss of Magnitude 
  to the unit inﬂ icts the previous Magnitude value in unsoakable 
  lethal health levels of damage to Tien Yu. (For example, if a 
  unit fell from Magnitude 5 to 4 while possessed by Tien Yu, 
  she would take ﬁ ve health levels of lethal damage.)
  Hurry Home—When Lookshy needs her, Tien Yu can enter 
  the city at a moment’s notice, but only once per day.
  Impenetrable Shogunate Mantle—Tien Yu spends 10 motes and 
  calls upon the power of Lookshy’s arsenals. Her armor shifts and 
  changes, growing more mechanical, gleaming with power as it 
  expands. When the Charm ﬁ nishes manifesting, she is shrouded 
  in divine, nigh-impenetrable dragon armor that increases her 
  capacity for battle. While wearing the Impenetrable Shogunate 
  
  147
  CHAPTER EIGHT • GODS AND MONSTERS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  Mantle, Tien Yu increases her lethal and bashing soak by 10 and 
  her hardness by 10. Further, she adds two dice to all attack and 
  damage rolls and increases her Parry DV by one. This Charm 
  lasts for one scene and reduces Lookshy’s fate by one day. An 
  Eclipse Caste or God-Blood who learns this Charm must don 
  armor before he can use the effects of the Charm.
  Lance of a Fallen Era—Tien Yu summons the total power 
  of the collected Lookshy arsenal into a single, annihilating 
  blast of destruction. A brilliant, white-hot lance of ﬁ re erupts 
  from her hands and destroys her target. She spends one mote 
  per die of damage, to a maximum of 50 or her target’s total 
  health levels, whichever is more, and she chooses whether 
  the damage will be lethal or aggravated. The Storyteller rolls 
  (Dexterity + Archery) for Tien Yu to strike her target, adding 
  a number of successes to the attack equal to her Essence. For 
  lethal damage, each success on the damage roll (i.e., each 
  health level of damage dealt) costs Lookshy a single day of 
  fate. For aggravated damage, each damage die (before soak) 
  costs Lookshy a single day of fate. The maximum range on 
  the attack is one mile. Tien Yu can manifest this Charm in 
  mass combat as a unit-busting blast, in which case, she pays 
  two motes per die, and inﬂ icts two damage to the unit per 
  success. The costs to Lookshy’s fate remain the same (and 
  note that lethal damage subtracts one day per success, not 
  per damage inﬂ icted). At the Storyteller’s discretion, all 
  Magnitude destroyed through the use of this Charm reﬂ ects 
  dead soldiers, rather than merely wounded or ﬂ eeing soldiers. 
  God-Bloods or Solars of the Eclipse Caste may learn this 
  Charm, but it represents advanced knowledge and power, and 
  the Storyteller might require that the character already have 
  learned another of Tien Yu’s Charms, or some massive Essence 
  discharge Charm, and have an Essence of (at least) 3.
  Legion of One—For a cost of eight motes per action, Tien Yu 
  summons up shadows of every legion that has ever served her. 
  Dark, dragon-armor-clad soldiers appear from the shadows to 
  stand by her side. This Charm manifests in two ways. In per-
  sonal combat, she manifests a number of shadows equal to her 
  Essence, all of which have traits identical to hers except they 
  have only three health levels and follow the rules of extras. 
  Each has one action. In mass combat, she manifests far, far 
  more soldiers, though each is less capable. Tien Yu gains a unit 
  of elite extras with a Magnitude equal to her Essence, perfect 
  Morale, a Drill of 5 and a Might of 1. This Charm reduces 
  Lookshy’s remaining days by one for every scene used.
  Measure the Wind—Using this Charm, Tien Yu scans the 
  capacity of her foes and guests with a glance.
  Principle of Motion—Tien Yu has 10 extra actions ready in 
  her pool.
  Tien Yu has the First, Second and Third Excellencies for 
  the following Abilities: Archery, Dodge, Integrity, Melee, 
  Martial Arts, Presence, Resistance, War.
  Join Battle: 7
  Attacks: 
  Gauntlet Strike: Speed 5, Accuracy 13, Damage 14B/20L*, 
  Defense 7, Rate 2/1* 
  Reaper Daiklave (Unadorned Razor): Speed 4, Accuracy 18, 
  Damage 13L, Defense 8, Rate 3
  Long Powerbow (Rain-of-Honor): Speed 6, Accuracy 15, 
  Damage 14L, Range 500, Rate 1
  * By spending three motes, Tien Yu may “supercharge” her 
  gauntlets with Essence for a single action, using the traits 
  after the slash.
  Soak: 25L/25B (Armor of Lookshy, 20L/15B; Hardness: 
  20L/20B) 
  Health Levels: -0/-1/-1/-1/-1/-1/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-
  2/-4/Incap
  Dodge DV: 9 
  Willpower: 10
  Essence: 6 
  Essence Pool: 170
  Cost to Materialize: 80
  Other Notes: Tien Yu seldom battles beside the Seventh 
  Legion. Not only does she fear what her Charms will do to 
  the city, but she respects her soldiers’ independence and as-
  siduously follows the path of the Immaculate Order—which 
  states that it is not her place to interfere with Creation. She 
  aids her city in a manner that is proper: from the bureaucra-
  cies of Yu-Shan. Still, quite a cult has popped up around her, 
  and many soldiers include icons of her in their Immaculate 
  shrines. Chaplains frown on this, but as each man’s worship 
  is his own, they do little to stop it… one of the facts that 
  infuriates the Immaculates of the Realm. 
  HIPARKES, STALLION-LORD OF THE 
  MARUKAN PLAINS
  When the world was young and the horizons farther than 
  they are today, the Maiden of Journeys rode a storm-dappled 
  steed who could cross Creation in less than a day. But as the 
  years wore on, the steed found himself resting in his stables 
  more and more, yearning for the freedom of the open plains, 
  until he was forgotten in a spirit stable in Creation. When 
  the Great Contagion struck, more than just the mortal realm 
  was harmed, and the steed found himself maddened and 
  wild, racing the plains of the Scavenger Lands until a young 
  girl from the Marukan 
  tribe rode upon his 
  back and reminded 
  him of who and what 
  he was.
  Hiparkes takes 
  many forms. When he 
  manifests as a human, 
  he appears as a tow-
  ering, silver-skinned 
  man with a thick mane 
  of smoky black hair. 
  In his right hand, he 
  bears a lance, and in 
  his left, he bears a bow. 
  Riding leathers adorn 
  his legs, and he leaves 
  
  148
  his powerful chest bare. Sometimes, he appears as a herd 
  of wild horses led by a single stallion, and except for the 
  stallion, one cannot tell where one horse ends and the next 
  begins. His favored form, however, is that of a massive horse 
  16 hands high with a cloud-gray dappled hide and a thick 
  mane of silvery hair. In whatever form he takes, his low voice 
  rumbles like a thousand pounding hoof-beats, and his large 
  liquid eyes hold wisdom, compassion and pride.
  Hiparkes governs horses and their riders, ruling over 
  the unity between steed and man. Therefore, his interests go 
  far beyond the wild herds of horses that roam the Marukan 
  plains and delve into the very cities of his favored people. 
  Any horse who serves his master well has a place in Hiparkes’ 
  heavenly stables, and any mortal who treats his steed well 
  earns the horse god’s respect. Pubescent children earn special 
  kindness from Hiparkes, who will freely allow them to ride 
  upon his back if he ﬁ nds them lost in the wild, bringing them 
  home to their parents.
  Sanctum: Hiparkes rests in a ranch that lies at the end of 
  the secret paths wild horses sometimes tread. Dedicated 
  mortals occasionally ﬁ nd their way to this equestrian heaven 
  by following herds of horses into narrow gullies that seem to 
  dead-end. Hiparkes’ ranch rests upon a vast ﬁ eld of green hills 
  where horses run freely. Stables that stretch for miles house 
  the most virtuous of steeds, those horses who have proven 
  themselves loyal to their riders and worthy of Hiparkes’ hos-
  pitality. Within the ranch, Hiparkes dines with his guests, a 
  myriad of mortals and the ghosts of worthy riders who have 
  won Hiparkes’ respect. Occasionally, if a supplicant proves 
  himself, Hiparkes may gift him with a legendary horse or a 
  place at his table.
  Motivation: To perfect the horses and riders of Marukan.
  Attributes: Strength 6, Dexterity 5, Stamina 6; Charisma 5, 
  Manipulation 3, Appearance 5; Perception 3, Intelligence 
  3, Wits 3 
  Virtues: Compassion 3, Conviction 3, Temperance 2, 
  Valor 4
  Abilities: Archery 4, Athletics 4, Awareness 3, Bureau-
  cracy 1, Craft (Water) 2, Dodge 3, Integrity 3, Linguistics 
  (Native: Old Realm; Others: Rivertongue, 3 various tribal 
  tongues) 2, Lore 1, Martial Arts 3, Medicine 3 (Veterinary 
  Arts +2), Melee 4, Performance 2, Presence 5, Resistance 
  5 (Long Journeys +1), Ride 5 (Being Ridden +3), Socialize 
  3, Survival 2, War 4
  Backgrounds: Cult 3, Followers 5, Resources 5, Sanctum 5
  Spirit Charms: 
  The Barbs of Hiparkes—A blow from Hiparkes’ lance or arrows 
  can permanently cripple a horse or temporarily cripple a mortal. 
  Once Hiparkes has struck his target, he may spend six motes to 
  instantly inﬂ ict a crippling wound. The wound always cripples a 
  leg. Mortals will heal the wound naturally after a week, while 
  horses suffer the afﬂ iction permanently (unless healed through 
  surgery or magic—the permanence is not magical in nature). 
  The Charm resides within Hiparkes’ lance and arrows, so 
  Hiparkes may give away his lance (and thus the Charm) or 
  it may be stolen from him. In either case, the lance returns 
  to him in a week. The arrows may be offered to another for a 
  cost of 10 motes, which grants three arrows (i.e., three uses of 
  the Charm). A thief may take them but must pay 10 motes to 
  fully empower the arrows. Hiparkes retains the Charm after 
  giving away (or losing) arrows. Hiparkes must be material to 
  use his lance, but he can strike horses with his arrows while 
  he is immaterial. This Charm does not affect Exalts or other 
  beings that cannot be maimed easily
  Essence Plethora (x5)—Hiparkes has 50 additional motes of 
  Essence in his Essence pool.
  Hurry Home—Hiparkes may appear anywhere in the Marukan 
  plains once per scene.
  The Kiss of Hiparkes—By spending 15 motes and one 
  Willpower, Hiparkes marks a target. The mark is invisible, 
  but those with the ability to see the insubstantial note a 
  primal tattooing upon the target’s skin. Gods (or anyone 
  with Measure the Wind or similar Charms) will intuitively 
  understand that the target “belongs with” Hiparkes and that 
  Hiparkes will guard him. This Charm does more than just 
  mark a target, however. It also creates a bond between rider 
  and steed, and instantly grants a single dot of the Familiar 
  Background to the target. The Familiar is always a horse, and 
  if the character has no horse, fate will make sure that he will 
  discover his steed. This mark is permanent (unless somehow 
  destroyed) and can be granted to only a willing target, and 
  many in Marukan beseech Hiparkes for the Kiss. Hiparkes 
  may grant his blessing while immaterial.
  Measure the Wind—Hiparkes’ dark, liquid eyes and wide nostrils 
  instantly sense the power and nature of a being he meets.
  Principle of Motion—Hiparkes has eight extra actions ready 
  in his pool.
  Reserve of Will (x2)—Hiparkes stores two additional tem-
  porary Willpower. 
  The Scourge of Hiparkes—For 10 motes, Hiparkes may level a 
  curse upon those who treat their loyal animals cruelly. This 
  curse appears as an insubstantial mark, invisible to mortal 
  eyes, but the savage, barbed tattoo appears clearly to those 
  with supernatural sight. Horses shy away from the target of 
  the curse, and the target suffers a -2 penalty to all Ride rolls 
  for the duration of the Charm. The Charm lasts for one week. 
  Hiparkes may use this Charm while immaterial.
  Shapechange—Hiparkes can change form for a cost of six motes. 
  The change lasts for a day, and he can manifest as any speciﬁ c 
  Marukan horse, deliberately imitating a speciﬁ c animal, or as 
  a rider, though this form is generic and mimics no one. When 
  imitating an animal, the rider’s player can make a (Perception 
  + Ride) check, difﬁ culty 3, to spot the difference, possibly 
  gaining a bonus based on his relationship with the animal 
  (Storyteller’s discretion). Any attempt to mimic someone’s 
  familiar automatically fails, as such a close relationship cannot 
  be fooled. Hiparkes can also manifest as a mighty-thewed man, 
  a massive stallion or a herd of heavenly horses.
  
  149
  CHAPTER EIGHT • GODS AND MONSTERS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  A Single Day’s Ride—By spending 20 motes and one Willpower, 
  Hiparkes, and one passenger upon his back, may ride to any-
  where in Creation in a single day (from sun-up to sundown, 
  or visa-versa). The ride takes the whole day, and Hiparkes can 
  bring his rider only to someplace reasonably accessible to horses 
  with two exceptions: He may ride across water and leap gaping 
  canyons. He cannot bring his rider to a small chamber that he 
  does not ﬁ t in, however, nor may he ride through walls. Hiparkes 
  cannot use this Charm to take his rider to someplace outside 
  of Creation, but he may bring her to the edge of Creation. For 
  example, he can take his rider to the edge of Cecylene, but not 
  into Malfeas itself. To do that would require normal riding, 
  rather than Charm-enhanced travel.
  The Star Bridle—Leather as dark as night, studded with ﬁ ne, 
  sparkling diamonds, makes up this magniﬁ cent bridle. Should 
  Hiparkes mount it upon a horse, whether mortal or divine, and 
  spend 10 motes and one Willpower, the horse is instantly tamed, 
  performing whatever tasks the bearer requires of him. Hiparkes 
  wore the bridle when he was a heavenly steed, and he now keeps 
  it locked away in his study. He never uses it (he has no need), 
  but he can either give it away, or a thief could take it from him. 
  In either case, Hiparkes loses the Charm, and the current bearer 
  gains it. After a week has passed, the bridle returns to Hiparkes. 
  Hiparkes prizes this object and would never willingly give it up 
  unless truly dire circumstances compelled him.
  Hiparkes has the First, Second and Third Excellencies 
  for the following Abilities: Melee, Presence, Resistance, 
  Ride, War.
  Join Battle: 6
  Attacks: 
  Kick: Speed 5, Accuracy 10, Damage 12B, Defense 4, Rate 1 
  Trample (herd form only): Speed 6, Accuracy 15, Damage 
  16L, Defense 1, Rate 1
  Lance (The Heaven Spur): Speed 4, Accuracy 12, Damage 
  14L, Defense 6, Rate 2
  Short Bow (The Bow of Hiparkes): Speed 6, Accuracy 10, 
  Damage 10L, Range 250, Rate 3
  Soak: 8L/18B (Equine resilience, 5L/12B; Hardness: 
  4L/4B) 
  Health Levels: -0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-
  4/Incap
  Dodge DV: 7 
  Willpower: 8 (10 temporary)
  Essence: 5 
  Essence Pool: 140
  Cost to Materialize: 65
  Other Notes: Herds and herds of horses, both divine and mortal, 
  attend Hiparkes. These horses, and his cult within Marukan, do 
  his bidding, quietly manipulating events in the plainlands at his 
  behest. His horses are the ﬁ nest in the Scavenger Lands (some say 
  Creation), and he will make gifts of them to honorable servants 
  or impressive visitors, but only if they prove themselves a friend 
  of horses. Hiparkes behaves, in many ways, like a matchmaker. 
  He values his horses but feels they live their fullest when they 
  have a rider. If he meets a worthy rider, then, he is quick to try 
  to pair them up with a matching steed.
  SHALRINA, DAIMYO OF FACES
  Hidden away behind crooked streets and blind alleyways, 
  a small store lies amidst the crumbling brick buildings of 
  downtown Nexus. Most never notice it. A few step into it 
  by mistake, and marvel at the stunning collection of varied 
  and exotic masks, some so lifelike they seem to watch the 
  accidental customers. An unassuming, attractive girl smiles 
  at them, offers a few masks and then sends them on their 
  way. But some patrons seek the store out, taking in the musty 
  scent of discarded lives and pleading with the owner to give 
  them a new identity, a new beginning. Shalrina, the Daimyo 
  of Faces, can do all of that… and more.
  Where most see a magical mask-maker or a minor godling, 
  Shalrina is actually a powerful goddess who abandoned her rich 
  mansion in Yu-Shan for life in the streets of Nexus. Precisely 
  why she did this or why she changes her face from decade to 
  decade remains her closely guarded secret, and none of her 
  customers pester her with questions. Her former compatriots 
  in Heaven assume she tired of the endless games of Yu-Shan 
  and abandoned it for an exotic tryst in Creation.
  In reality, Shalrina maintains tabs on Yu-Shan and 
  continues to play a crafty game of politics using 
  her customers as pawns. All of her services cost the 
  buyer a single favor, often a small prayer offered to 
  a god of her choice, the theft of a small trinket or 
  some similar minor task. She carefully manipulates 
  all these small favors to draw more power into her 
  hands, and her reach extends far beyond what most 
  people could possibly imagine from the simple, shy-
  eyed shop owner.
  Shalrina can manifest in whatever form she 
  wishes, but she generally appears as an attractive 
  young woman with long brown hair and kind eyes, 
  wearing the latest fashions.
  Sanctum: Shalrina lives in her shop. She makes her 
  sanctum available to any mortal she feels should enter 
  it. When present in the real world, it wedges itself 
  between two larger buildings as though it has always 
  been there. When it’s hidden, nobody notices that the 
  mask shop that was there yesterday has vanished.
  Motivation: To increase her power in Creation.
  Attributes: Strength 5, Dexterity 7, Stamina 5; 
  Charisma 5, Manipulation 5, Appearance 6; Perception 5, 
  Intelligence 5, Wits 5 
  Virtues: Compassion 3, Conviction 4, Temperance 4, 
  Valor 2
  Abilities: Awareness 3, Bureaucracy 6, Craft (Wood) 6 
  (Mask-Making +3), Dodge 4, Integrity 4, Investigation 3, 
  Linguistics (Native: Old Realm; Others: Forest-Tongue, 
  Guild Cant, High Realm, Rivertongue) 4, Larceny 4, Lore 
  5, Martial Arts 4, Occult 5, Socialize 2 (Demure +1)
  Backgrounds: Allies 5 (whoever currently owes her a favor), 
  Contacts 5, Cult 3, Inﬂ uence 1, Resources 4
  
  150
  Spirit Charms: 
  Essence Plethora (x4)—Shalrina has 40 additional motes of 
  Essence in her Essence pool.
  Face-Craft Mastery Spirit—For 15 motes and one Willpower, 
  Shalrina can craft a talismanic mask permanently imbued with 
  minor powers. These masks often appear as exotic exaggerations 
  of their effects. (A mask that elicits fear, for example, may be 
  grotesque, while a mask that makes the wearer stealthy may be a 
  simplistic half-white, half-black, featureless mask.) Crafting the 
  mask takes an hour and a successful (Conviction + Craft) roll. 
  Success creates a mask that grants the wearer two bonus dice to 
  a speciﬁ c task, usually as speciﬁ c as a specialty. “Fighting” is too 
  general, but “Swordsmanship” is not. These masks are generally 
  cheaper than her other services, requiring a single favor and 
  an amount of money equivalent to Resources 3 (though this 
  price varies, depending on the favor asked and the customer in 
  question). Shalrina can make more powerful masks, but such 
  masks follow the normal rules for artifact creation, rather than 
  the simple imbedding of power into leather and wood that 
  Face-Craft Mastery Spirit entails.
  Face-Trading Grasp—For 10 motes and one Willpower, Shal-
  rina can take the minds and hearts of two willing individuals 
  and trade them. Each has a new body, a new face and a new 
  life thereafter. This Charm is her most sought trick, and 
  those with problems often come to her, pleading for a new 
  life. She demands half of her customer’s wealth and a single 
  favor to be given at some later time. Most agree, and she 
  carefully chooses a suitable switch among her clientele. (She 
  might, for example, trade the form of a poor young pauper 
  who wishes for a life of luxury with that of a wealthy old man 
  who wishes for a chance at youth again.) This Charm cannot 
  trade Exaltation, however. An Exalt who “switches faces” 
  retains Exaltation in his new body. This Charm does fool fate, 
  however, and the targets gain each other’s fates, including 
  Sidereal fate effects. Therefore, a prince doomed to die can 
  escape his fate by trading faces with someone else.
  Hurry Home—Shalrina has a single key at her belt that, 
  when used upon any door, opens to the back door of her 
  shop, allowing her to return immediately home.
  Mask-Melting Kiss—For 10 motes and one Willpower, Shalri-
  na’s lips can drain away the features of someone’s face, leaving 
  them unrecognizably generic. The eyes of observers will slide 
  past them, as though they are little more than a feature of 
  the scenery: just another peasant, for example, another face 
  in the crowd. This Charm permanently drops the target’s 
  Appearance to 1 but reduces the difﬁ culty of all Stealth rolls 
  by one and increases the difﬁ culty of any Awareness rolls to 
  recognize him by two. In most cases, not even the target’s 
  family will recognize him after this. Shalrina uses this Charm 
  on customers who need to escape some dire consequences 
  immediately. As usual, she demands half their wealth and a 
  single favor to be performed at a later date. This Charm also 
  fools fate to a degree, increasing the difﬁ culty of fate-effects 
  “ﬁ nding” the target by two. Shalrina can use this effect on 
  herself, in which case, it lasts only for a scene.
  Measure the Wind—Shalrina sees beyond all masks and 
  intuitively grasps someone’s nature and power when she 
  ﬁ rst meets them.
  Mind-Draining Touch—If Shalrina strikes someone in combat, 
  she may spend 10 motes and one Willpower to reﬂ exively 
  activate this Charm and tear away his personality. Roll damage 
  for the attack normally, but each success, rather than inﬂ icting 
  health levels of damage, eliminates one point of temporary 
  Willpower instead. If all of a character’s Willpower is drained 
  in this manner, he becomes a husk without mind, without 
  personality, free to be ﬁ lled with a new mind at her leisure. 
  She often keeps these husks in the back of her shop, offering 
  the more attractive ones to customers as new bodies. She may 
  not target anyone with this Charm who has an Essence equal 
  to or higher than her own. An Eclipse or God-Blood may 
  learn this Charm, but if he does so, he uses his own “punch” 
  traits to make the attack, not the traits listed here.
  Principle of Motion—Shalrina has eight extra actions ready 
  in her pool.
  Shapechange—Shalrina can appear as anyone who has entered 
  her shop. Her shape and features are always human, and she 
  usually favors a feminine form.
  Shalrina has the First, Second and Third Excellencies for 
  the following Abilities: Bureaucracy, Craft, Investigation, 
  Larceny, Occult, Socialize,
  Join Battle: 8
  Attacks: 
  Face-Stealing Touch: Speed 5, Accuracy 13, Damage 12B, 
  Defense 6, Rate 3
  Soak: 20L/20B (Tough seeming, 17L/15B; Hardness: 10) 
  Health Levels: -0/-1/-1/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4/Incap
  Dodge DV: 9 
  Willpower: 8
  Essence: 6 
  Essence Pool: 140
  Cost to Materialize: 70
  Other Notes: None
  FIVE DAYS DARKNESS
  When the Primordials bid the Unconquered Sun to 
  ﬁ rst ﬂ are with all his glory, his light cut away the strange 
  half-twilight that had covered Creation’s half-formed face 
  until then. His brilliance ﬂ ooded all parts of the world, 
  but it also cast a shadow, as all light, all virtue, must. This 
  shadow ﬂ ed the light of its creator and hid in the dark 
  places of the world. The shadow suckled at the teat of the 
  Ebon Dragon and learned the secrets of the world. Yet, 
  he yearned to return to his proper place in Creation, for 
  he was a god after a fashion. Yet when he approached his 
  creator, the Unconquered Sun, he found he could not bear 
  the brilliance of the lord of Yu-Shan. Nor could he stand 
  before the light of Luna or the Maidens. He turned, instead, 
  to the calendar spirits, seeking to join their number, offer-
  ing his knowledge of secrets and his Charms over peace 
  and security in an effort to gain them as allies and friends. 
  They rejected him. 
  
  151
  CHAPTER EIGHT • GODS AND MONSTERS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  “How can we trust a being who turns away from the 
  bright center of Creation? One that cannot bear the light 
  of the Unconquered Sun?” they asked.
  Humiliated and resentful, he ﬂ ed to Creation and took 
  up the title of Five Days Darkness. The powers of the year 
  would not have him, so he would seek his revenge and rule 
  the ﬁ ve days they could not, enacting complicated plots to 
  humiliate them and bring them under his inﬂ uence.
  Five Days Darkness wears many forms as he walks the 
  face of Creation. He appears most often as a tall, slim man, 
  beautiful in countenance and powerful in body, a perfect 
  replica of the images of the Unconquered Sun except for the 
  inky darkness of his body, as though he was void made ﬂ esh. 
  Other times, he appears as an amorphous blob of darkness 
  or as an animal with jet-black, unreﬂ ecting eyes. His voice 
  throbs low and powerful, echoing the voice that last spoke 
  to him. In whatever form he wears, Five Days Darkness ex-
  ists only at night. The moment the ﬁ rst ray of light strikes 
  him, he vanishes, only to reappear when the last vestige of 
  the sun-disk has slipped over the edge of the horizon, with 
  no knowledge of events that have occurred in the interim. 
  This weakness complicates his plots considerably.
  Many who learn of Five Days Darkness’s existence as-
  sume he is a creature of evil or one that stands in opposition 
  of the Unconquered Sun. Nothing could be further from the 
  truth. Five Days Darkness is deeply attached to the being 
  that created him, constantly yearning for, but never able to 
  touch, the glory of the sun. He avoids the Exalted of the 
  Unconquered Sun, but not out of distaste. He enjoys their 
  company, particularly that of the Night Caste and willingly 
  aids them if asked. Only, he feels uncomfortable in their 
  presence, particularly when they shine forth with the power 
  of the sun. Likewise, he despises the Dragon-Blooded and 
  enjoys using their own Immaculate techniques to defeat 
  them, and he disdains the Abyssal Exalted, whom he sees 
  as a corruption of the Solar Exalted.
  His wrath, therefore, does not focus upon the Incarnae, 
  for they did not reject him. He saves it for the calendar spirits 
  who humiliated him and disdained him. By whispering into 
  the ears of mortal rulers and petty godlings, his plots draw the 
  calendar spirits into his debt or craft embarrassing scenarios. 
  He offers subtle power and secrets gathered from the dark 
  places of the earth to those who aid him in his machinations. 
  Outside of his intrigues with the fractious calendar courts, 
  those who meet him describe his as honorable and wise, with 
  a hint of tragic loneliness in his dark, dark eyes and an edge 
  of dry sarcasm to his tongue.
  Sanctum: Five Days Darkness has no spiritual abode to call 
  home. He wanders the world, an outcast of Yu-Shan and 
  Creation alike.
  Motivation: To humiliate and control the gods of the 
  calendar.
  Attributes: Strength 9, Dexterity 8, Stamina 14; Charisma 
  5, Manipulation 5, Appearance 5; Perception 5, Intelligence 
  7, Wits 5 
  Virtues: Compassion 2, Conviction 5, Temperance 4, 
  Valor 3
  Abilities: Archery 4, Athletics 4, Awareness 5, Dodge 5, 
  Integrity 4, Investigation 3, Linguistics (Native: Old Realm; 
  Others: Flame Tongue, Guild Cant, High Realm, Low Realm, 
  Rivertongue, Seatongue) 6 (Poetry +3), Larceny 3, Lore 5, 
  Martial Arts 6 (Immaculate Techniques +3), Occult 7, Perfor-
  mance 3, Presence 5, Resistance 5, Socialize 5, Stealth 6
  Backgrounds: Resources 3
  Spirit Charms: 
  Damping the Inner Light—For 20 motes and one Willpower, 
  Five Days Darkness may offer direct, divine power to another. 
  He leans forward and kisses the willing target, who accepts a 
  sliver of Five Days Darkness into her, gaining his dark nature 
  in exchange for power. Damping the Inner Light grants a 
  permanent increase of Essence by 1 to the target. This costs 
  the target no experience points, and mortals gifted with this 
  Charm become, effectively, God-Blooded. The target forever 
  forsakes a single dot of Virtue, however. A single Virtue of the 
  target’s choice loses one dot, and the maxi-
  mum possible value drops by one. Further, 
  the target becomes “a creature of darkness” 
  for the purpose of Charms and powers that 
  affects such beings. Often, changes to the 
  target accompany this Charm, such as a 
  darkening of the eyes or hair. An Eclipse 
  may learn this Charm, but to do so requires 
  him to give up a single dot of a Virtue and 
  lowers the maximum possible value of that 
  Virtue by one, just as if he were under the 
  effects of the Charm (but hadn’t gained an 
  extra dot of Essence). He may not use the 
  Charm on himself and must have (at the 
  Storyteller’s discretion) previously learned 
  another of Five Days Darkness’s Charms or 
  a Charm that imbues another with power 
  for an extended period of time. Further, the 
  Eclipse must have an Essence of at least 5. 
  Mortals whom the Eclipse endows with this 
  Charm become God-Blooded related to Five Days Darkness, 
  not the Eclipse.
  Essence Plethora (x6)—Five Days Darkness has 60 additional 
  motes of Essence in his Essence pool.
  Immaculate Martial Arts Techniques—Five Days Darkness has 
  mastered all ﬁ ve Elemental Dragon Styles. A rough guide 
  to their effects can be found in the Exalted Storytellers 
  Companion, pages 22-31, or their full effects may be found 
  in The Manual of Exalted Power: The Dragon-Blooded.
  Measure the Wind—Five Days Darkness uses this Charm 
  to intuitively sense the power and nature of someone in 
  his presence. 
  Principle of Motion—Five Days Darkness has nine extra ac-
  tions ready in his pool.
  Reserve of Will (x3)—Five Days Darkness stores three ad-
  ditional temporary Willpower.
  
  152
  Shadow-Plumbing Gaze—For ﬁ ve motes, Five Days Darkness 
  may slip behind the shadows of the world, watching the skeins 
  of discarded fate-threads that form behind the curtains of 
  Creation for insight into a long-hidden secret. Each activa-
  tion of this Charm allows the Storyteller to make a single 
  (Temperance + Investigation) roll in an extended test for 
  Five Days Darkness to uncover a single secret that he wishes 
  to know. The difﬁ culty of the roll depends on how well-hid-
  den the secret is: 5 might be enough for the dirty laundry of 
  a small city’s mayor, but the location of the Empress would 
  require more than 25. If the secret has “seen the light of day” 
  (e.g., enough people know it, the secret has been discussed in 
  broad daylight, or some physical aspect of the secret, such as 
  a murder weapon or a body, has touched sunlight), then Five 
  Days Darkness simply cannot ﬁ nd the information he seeks. 
  This Charm is best deployed when hunting for secrets hidden 
  away indoors or beneath the ground. Five Days Darkness may 
  use this Charm only while he is immaterial.
  Shapechange—Five Days Darkness can appear as any animal 
  or any mortal, though he cannot deliberately copy individu-
  als. His inky black eyes give away his presence, and when 
  disguising himself, he must put effort into hiding his eyes 
  from others.
  Unearthed Riches—For ﬁ ve motes per Resources dot, Five Days 
  Darkness may summon up the jewels and rich metals of the 
  earth. The riches he calls up have to have never touched the 
  light of day, so he cannot steal them from a Guild’s caravan, 
  for example. Every ﬁ ve motes spent generates a single Re-
  sources dot’s worth of gems and precious metals, enough to 
  make a single purchase. (Enough gems and gold to purchase 
  a rich palace would cost Five Days Darkness 25 motes, for 
  example.) The touch of his shadow taints the riches, however, 
  and anyone who accepts them suffers a -1 reduction in her 
  Temperance trait for the space of three nights. Her Temper-
  ance remains normal during the day, though.
  Void-Slumber Meditation—For 20 motes, Five Days Darkness 
  offers another the peace and bliss that only complete absence 
  of consciousness can bring. The willing target vanishes from 
  this world, entering Elsewhere in a quiet slumber for a full 
  night and a full day. Once the sun slips below the horizon 
  on the following night, the character reappears in the exact 
  spot she left, with all of her wounds completely healed. All 
  damage vanishes after this single day. Further, the slumber 
  is exceptionally peaceful, and the character gains two ad-
  ditional dice on her Conviction roll to regain Willpower. 
  This Charm cannot heal aggravated damage.
  Five Days Darkness has the First, Second and Third Excellen-
  cies for the following Abilities: Dodge, Investigation, Larceny, 
  Martial Arts, Presence, Resistance, Socialize, Stealth.
  Join Battle: 10
  Attacks: 
  Punch: Speed 5, Accuracy 18, Damage 9B, Defense 19, 
  Rate 3
  Kick: Speed 5, Accuracy 17, Damage 12B, Defense 15, 
  Rate 2 
  Bite (animal forms only): Speed 6, Accuracy 15, Damage 
  12L, Defense 5, Rate 1
  Soak: 15L/30B (Umbral form, 8L/16B; Hardness: 
  10L/10B) 
  Health Levels: -0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-
  4/Incap
  Dodge DV: 10 
  Willpower: 9 (12 temporary)
  Essence: 7 
  Essence Pool: 175
  Cost to Materialize: 80
  Other Notes: For the purposes of the Zenith Anima effect 
  and any Charm that targets such creatures, Five Days Darkness 
  is considered a creature of darkness. This doesn’t reﬂ ect his 
  morality, rather it reﬂ ects his nature. If bathed in the light of 
  a fully totemic Solar Anima (in other words, the character 
  spent more than 15 peripheral motes), Five Days Darkness 
  suffers a penalty to all actions equal to the Solar’s Essence. 
  If the Solar exerting the anima has an Essence higher than 
  Five Days Darkness, the god vanishes just as though he was 
  struck by daylight and does not return until the Solar’s anima 
  light no longer touches the area.
  MONSTERS OF THE 
  SCAVENGER LANDS
  ARAD THE HUNTER
  At the peak of every food chain, mortal and immortal, 
  there strides an apex predator, a hunter without peer. In the 
  dawn-time of Creation, long before the Ages of Man, one 
  such creature roamed the young world, a monster that cowed 
  gods and slew immortals: Arad the Hunter. Created by the 
  Primordials as the ﬁ rst and greatest of hunters, this behemoth 
  pursued anything that intrigued him. Entire species vanished 
  from the face of early Creation simply because they gave him 
  sport. The ground trembled with fear as he hunted the Dragon 
  of Earth. Flame roared in deﬁ ance as he wrestled down the 
  Dragon of Fire, and forests shuddered and fell silent when he 
  raised his spear over the Dragon of Wood. Each surrendered 
  power to him, imbuing his spear, Usilk, with enchantments 
  and agreeing to forever withhold their claws from his ﬂ esh. A 
  wood goddess named Pula loved him once, and he returned 
  her passion with passion of his own, reverently slaying her 
  and forging a bow from her bones and heart. Emboldened 
  by his conquests, the master predator turned his eyes to the 
  heavens. His spear slew many stars, sending their dying ﬂ esh 
  plummeting to the earth below, until the Maidens uncovered 
  his designs. He hunted the moon, but she hid her face from 
  him and danced across the sky, hunting him in return. He 
  struck at the Sun to test him, and the return stroke burned 
  and darkened Arad’s hide. So, the great hunter lowered his 
  head and returned to the terrestrial sphere, content to remain 
  its lord even if he yearned to hunt the skies.
  His ascendancy did not last forever. When the heavens 
  imbued mortals, a prey he had ignored as too clumsy and 
  too slow for good sport, with Exaltation, suddenly Arad the 
  
  153
  CHAPTER EIGHT • GODS AND MONSTERS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  Hunter found himself on the run. Glorious warriors burned 
  with the heat that had once scorched his hide and sent hounds 
  after him that shifted as the moon did. The champions of 
  the stars revealed his hiding places, and the armies of the 
  earth, the woods and ﬁ re denied him his easy escape routes. 
  Licking his wounds, he ﬂ ed beyond the edge of the world 
  and hunted the madness of the Wyld.
  But Arad the Hunter is immortal. When the walls of 
  Creation fell during the Great Contagion, he crept back 
  into the world, evading the barbarian tribes and their shape-
  shifting gods. He hunted quietly and slowly, for that was all 
  he knew, and he came to understand the new shape of the 
  world. He contented himself by pursuing small game, such 
  as minor Lunars, Forest Kings and escaped demons. When 
  he caught word of the return of his greatest enemies, the 
  Solars, and their strange, new dark kin, the Abyssals, his 
  heart beat with a passion he had not felt since he felt Pula’s 
  blood in his hands while he forged her heart into a bow. Now 
  his feet carry him toward the center of Creation, eager to 
  ﬁ nd his favored prey.
  Towering over a dozen feet tall and half so wide at the 
  chest, Arad the Hunter melds the ﬁ nest traits of earthly 
  predators into a humanlike form. An ugly, ﬂ at face stares out 
  from behind a matted mess of dark hair with glinting, cunning 
  eyes. Long, heavy arms dangle past his bandy knees, and scars 
  crisscross the sun-scorched, black hide that stretches over 
  thick, sinewy muscle. Arad the Hunter carries a gray-dappled, 
  bone-and-sinew bow named Pula’s Heart and an iron and 
  jade spear named Usilk. He wears no clothing, and when he 
  speaks, his low voice growls with the combined hunger of 
  every predator in Creation.
  Although Arad the Hunter belongs to an era long gone, 
  his cunning remains sharp and dangerous. Far from the 
  rampaging monster some ancient lore depicts him as, the 
  greatest of hunters is inﬁ nitely patient. Once he chooses his 
  prey, he watches and he waits. He learns all he can about it 
  as he slowly stalks it. He cuts off its escape routes, isolates it 
  from its companions, weakens it with traps and trickery and 
  only engages in battles he is certain he can win. Arad doesn’t 
  hesitate to ﬂ ee and isn’t so proud that he can’t stop to rest 
  and reevaluate his strategy. Those he hunts know the terror 
  brought on by a truly immortal, inhuman predator.
  Motivation: Hunt.
  Attributes: Strength 12, Dexterity 10, Stamina 13; Charisma 
  5, Manipulation 2, Appearance 1; Perception 8, Intelligence 
  5, Wits 6 
  Virtues: Compassion 1, Conviction 3, Temperance 3, Valor 
  5
  Abilities: Archery 7 (Pula’s Heart +3), Athletics 5, Awareness 
  7, Craft (Wood) 1 (Traps and Snares +3), Dodge 4, Integrity 
  2, Linguistics (Native: Old Realm; Others: 20 varieties of 
  Southern and Eastern tribal dialects, some extinct) 4, Lore 
  2, Medicine 2, Martial Arts 5, Melee 7 (Usilk +3), Pres-
  ence 5, Resistance 5, Stealth 7, Survival 6 (Tracking +3), 
  Thrown 4
  Backgrounds: Artifact 5
  Essence Powers:
  Animal Life Eating Technique—Arad does not hunt to eat 
  and survive as other animals do. He hunts because it is his 
  nature to do so. Still, he gains sustenance from his kills after 
  a manner. After consuming the heart of his prey, he gains a 
  number of his prey’s Charms (of his choosing) equal to his 
  prey’s Essence. Each Charm can be used only once, and he 
  must pay for the costs from his own Essence pool, but he need 
  not meet any of the Charms’ requirements. Arad can store 
  multiple “copies” of a given Charm. At any given time, Arad 
  usually has a solid stock of divine Charms (at least 50 copies of 
  various Charms), as well as a variety of more exotic Charms, 
  such as Lunar Charms or ghostly Arcanoi. In general, Arad 
  usually has access to Principle of Motion, Measure the Wind 
  and various Excellencies of Archery, Athletics, Awareness, 
  Dodge, Melee, Stealth and Survival. The precise Charms 
  Arad the Hunter has access to at any given point varies and 
  remains up to Storyteller discretion.
  Predator’s Mien—Arad is the greatest 
  of predators, and any who encounter 
  him know, in their bones, that they 
  are prey before him. The player of 
  anyone who faces Arad the Hunter, 
  whether raksha or Exalt, god or mor-
  tal, must ﬁ rst make a Valor check at 
  a difﬁ culty of 2. Those whose players 
  fail must ﬂ ee. While fearful, the re-
  treat is not necessarily a panic-ﬁ lled 
  ﬂ ight (though most mortal animals 
  will ﬂ ee thus). Rather, the character 
  intuitively takes the role of prey, 
  running from Arad in any manner 
  possible, with her wits about her and 
  heart pounding. The sole excep-
  tion to this effect are the undead, 
  automata or any other creature that 
  simply cannot know fear.
  Rhythm of the Hunt—Arad’s heart 
  pounds with the thrum of battle, and he exults in it. By 
  spending 10 motes, Arad attunes himself to the conﬂ ict 
  around him, intuitively evading attacks. For the remainder 
  of the scene, his Dodge D V increases by half of his Essence 
  (rounded up).
  Unerring Sense of the Hunter—By spending 10 motes, Arad 
  automatically (i.e., without requiring a roll) succeeds at 
  tracking his prey, provided the trail is less than a month 
  old and his prey uses no Charms or Essence powers to hide 
  her tracks. Beyond those limitations, Arad can track a 
  trail no matter how well disguised, muddied, washed away 
  or faded. Against prey using Essence to hide her tracks, 
  Unerring Sense of the Hunter and the protective Charm 
  cancel one another out, and both characters resolve their 
  tracking rolls normally.
  Join Battle: 13
  
  154
  Attacks: 
  Punch: Speed 5, Accuracy 16, Damage 12B, Defense 17, 
  Rate 3
  Kick: Speed 5, Accuracy 15, Damage 15B, Defense 13, 
  Rate 2
  Clinch: Speed 6, Accuracy 15, Damage 12B, Defense –, 
  Rate 1
  Spear (Usilk): Speed 5, Accuracy 22, Damage 20L*, Defense 
  7, Rate 2
  Bow (Pula’s Heart): Speed 5, Accuracy 20, Damage 18L, 
  Range **, Rate 2
  * Because of the Charms placed upon Usilk by the Elemental 
  Dragons, Usilk may strike and harm immaterial spirits.
  ** Because of enchantments laid upon Pula’s Heart, it ef-
  fectively has limitless range. The only limit is how far Arad 
  can see.
  Soak: 25L/30B* (Tough hide, 18L/17B)
  * As long as Arad bears Usilk, he gains +10L/+10B and a 
  hardness of 10 against weapons and attacks of wood, metal/
  earth and ﬁ re. Elemental air and water attacks bypass this 
  protection.
  Health Levels: -0/-0/-0/-0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-1/-1/-1/-1/-1/-1/-1/-
  2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4/-4/-4/-4/-4/ Incap
  Dodge DV: 10 
  Willpower: 9
  Essence: 6 
  Essence Pool: 96
  Other Notes: Because Pula’s Heart is crafted of the body 
  of a goddess, it resists the touch of mere mortals or magical 
  beings unworthy of it. Any character with an Essence less 
  than 6 ﬁ nds the bow too heavy to wield and the string too 
  taut to pull.
  Usilk, Arad’s spear, is crafted of simple iron adorned in jade. 
  He may reﬂ exively summon Usilk to his grasp as long as it 
  remains within a mile of him, and he can sense its presence 
  if it remains within 100 miles of him.
  Arad heals one bashing health level every ﬁ ve ticks and one 
  lethal health level every minute. He regenerates one mote 
  of Essence every 10 minutes (six per hour), but only while 
  he refrains from battle.
  JUGGERNAUT
  The Maker of Rubble. The Slayer of Nations. By these 
  names was the living Juggernaut known. A titan of incom-
  prehensible size, he terrorized the peoples of the early days 
  of Creation, his feet crushing the cities of the Dragon Kings 
  and their mortal servants alike. His arms wrestled with the 
  Elemental Dragons, and he laughed with joy. He was invin-
  cible, for the Primordials had written into fate the day of his 
  death, and nothing could slay him before his appointed time. 
  Yet in the waning days of the First Age, when the Dragon-
  Blooded prepared to strike down their masters, a Circle of 
  mighty Lawgivers managed to wound him grievously, laying 
  him low. He rested in that spot, moaning as his life blood 
  formed dark rivers in the Far Eastern lands, until the Mask 
  of Winters, by great fortune, stumbled across him.
  Juggernaut is not dead. Many who see the moaning, 
  dragging carcass assume that it is simply the body of a dead 
  behemoth animated by the Mask of Winters’ magic. Noth-
  ing could be further from the truth. The Mask of Winters’ 
  necromancy controls it, directs it and forces it to lay upon 
  the ground, for given its own will and strength, the Slayer 
  of Nations would rise again to stomp across Creation and 
  feel the warm ﬁ res of destruction against its ﬂ esh once 
  more. But Juggernaut is slowly dying. The taint of necrotic 
  Essence, the necromantic slavery and the maggots that 
  infest its ﬂ esh slowly sap its strength. It rots as it lives, 
  its ﬂ esh tattered, its bones bare. In its misery, it hates its 
  master and yearns either for the glorious freedom it once 
  had or for ﬁ nal release.
  Actually treading upon Juggernaut is an experience few 
  forget. The stench overwhelms any mortal nearby, a rancid 
  miasma almost visible at times as a yellowish mist. The meat 
  squishes beneath the visitor’s feet, and groves of mushrooms 
  grow upon the banks of dark rivers of blood and sweat. Within 
  Juggernaut, cavernous tunnels of meat and bone rustle with 
  the constant chewing of maggots, and the occasional groan 
  rattles through Juggernaut’s body like a tremor. The dead 
  clean pathways in the ichor, leading to the steps of the Mask 
  of Winters’ citadel, a cold and sterile palace of soulsteel and 
  basalt, almost a welcome relief after the gruesome horror of 
  the ﬂ esh-mountain upon which it rests.
  Motivation: Juggernaut is torn between two motivations: 
  to ﬁ nd release, and to walk free and healthy once more, 
  rampaging across Creation. Someone who offers him either 
  quickly gains his loyalty.
  
  155
  CHAPTER EIGHT • GODS AND MONSTERS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  Attributes: Strength 45, Dexterity 1, Stamina 20; Charisma 
  1, Manipulation 1, Appearance 0; Perception 1, Intelligence 
  2, Wits 2
  Virtues: Compassion 2, Conviction 3, Temperance 1, 
  Valor 3
  Abilities: Athletics 1 (Crawling +2), Awareness 1, Lore 2 
  (Ancient Memories +1), Martial Arts 3 (Striking Massive 
  Units/Creatures +3), Resistance 5
  Backgrounds: None
  Essence Powers: 
  Long ago, as the Rubble Maker, Juggernaut had a great number 
  of powers, including invincibility, massively damaging attacks 
  and the ability to start natural disasters. These abilities are 
  irrecoverably lost to him now, for he is just the steed upon 
  which a Deathlord’s citadel rides. The dead within him have 
  Arcanoi, however, and nemissaries often employ them on 
  his behalf in battle.
  Join Battle: 3
  Attacks: 
  Falling Arm Crash: Speed 10, Accuracy 4, Damage 45B, 
  Defense 2, Rate 1*
  * Falling Arm Crash is so large that it may not be parried 
  by anything smaller than a behemoth (at the Storyteller’s 
  discretion, someone in a Royal warstrider might be able to 
  parry it with a stunt), or with a suitable Charm. In mass 
  combat, Juggernaut gains a +3 bonus to attack suitably large 
  units (gained from his listed specialty) and inﬂ icts double 
  damage (two health levels per success on the damage roll) 
  against units in close formation.
  Soak: 30L/40B (Insensate corpse-ﬂ esh, 20L/20B; Hardness: 
  15L/20B)
  Health Levels: -0x5/-1x30/-2x30/-4 x 5/Incap
  Dodge DV: 0 
  Willpower: 4
  Essence: 6 
  Essence Pool: 90
  Other Notes: Juggernaut’s ﬂ esh remains rich with Essence, 
  though he can no longer access his Essence pool. Instead, the 
  Mask of Winters’ giant maggot hordes constantly feed upon 
  that Essence, gorging themselves and growing larger.
  Juggernaut may engage in mass combat as a solo unit with 
  an effective Magnitude of 9. This trait reﬂ ects his enormous 
  size and, as such, does not increase his effective health levels. 
  Even if incapacitated, Juggernaut only falls into a deep, ﬁ tful 
  slumber for a lunar month, and he will not die before his 
  appointed day. He heals quickly, despite constantly rotting 
  and regenerates all bashing damage and 10 lethal health 
  levels every night when the sun falls below the horizon.
  MOTHER BOG
   Deep in the east of the Scavenger Lands, a living  slowly 
  crawls across the land. Asleep, it appears no different from 
  any other marsh: wet and unpleasant, but not sinister. Awake, 
  however, its entire demeanor changes. Warm, moist wind, 
  rich with the scent of decay, ﬂ ows back and forth across tepid 
  ponds as she breathes. Knotholes in rotting logs gape curiously 
  at travelers, hanging leaves and vines rustling and whisper-
  ing softly to them. If angered, the swamp rises up and drags 
  down a new victim or slowly pulls itself toward the home of 
  the interloper, swallowing more and more ground into itself. 
  The villages that border her offer her living tribute, usually 
  animal, sometimes human, to keep her satisﬁ ed until she loses 
  interest and leaves. They call her Mother Bog.
  Mother Bog predates humanity, an ancient being born 
  sometime in the primordial dawn of Creation. She doesn’t 
  remember the moment she ﬁ rst became aware of the world 
  around her, but she does remember hunting living prey and 
  learning how to catch it so she would never go hungry. She 
  remembers mortals tricking her out of a prized bauble, and 
  she learned magic so mortals would bring her gifts, rather 
  than stealing them away. She remembers the searing pain 
  of the blade of a Solar, and she learned to birth champions 
  so that no one could directly strike her again.
  Today, she roams the land, stopping near rural villages 
  to demand tribute through the voice of her “daughters,” 
  constructs she builds herself from the corpses of offerings. 
  She swallows the land of those who fail to appease her. 
  While a living swamp is difﬁ cult to damage, Mother Bog 
  is far from invulnerable to humans, and she keeps a careful 
  distance from Lookshy, remembering difﬁ cult and trouble-
  some battles in the past. When she isn’t eating, she slowly 
  explores, ﬁ nding lost secrets and burying them into her soil-
  ﬂ esh, and by now, she has a magniﬁ cent collection beneath 
  her surface. With the return of the Solars, her wanderings 
  grow quicker and more purposeful. She still remembers the 
  Solar that wounded her, still hates the pain he caused. She 
  knows he is reborn, and she will have his soul as a plaything 
  or, barring that, destroy it.
  Motivation: To grow. Mother Bog is somewhat alien (what 
  does a living swamp want?), but expansion, whether of form, 
  knowledge or power, drives her more than any other desire.
  Attributes: Strength 12, Dexterity 6, Stamina 8; Charisma 
  6, Manipulation 6, Appearance 4; Perception 6, Intelligence 
  7, Wits 6 
  
  156
  Virtues: Compassion 2, Conviction 4, Temperance 4, 
  Valor 3
  Abilities: Athletics 3, Awareness 6, Craft (Wood) 6, Dodge 
  6, Integrity 6, Investigation 6, Linguistics (Native: A primal, 
  forgotten tongue that predates human language; Others: Old 
  Realm, Rivertongue, 6 various tribal dialects and extinct 
  languages) 3, Lore 7, Medicine 6, Martial Arts 6 (Clinch +3), 
  Occult 8, Presence 3, Resistance 6, Stealth 6, Survival 6
  Backgrounds: Artifact 5, Cult 3, Followers 5, Manse 5, 
  Resources 5
  Essence Powers:
  Craft Children—Rather than ﬁ ght directly, Mother Bog gath-
  ers the corpses of offerings given to her and crafts champions 
  from them. Shamblers, warriors and defenders resembling 
  a mass of vegetation, require a large sacriﬁ ce, often a man 
  and an expenditure of 50 motes. Daughters, Mother Bog’s 
  beautiful, feminine diplomats, require a well-preserved 
  female corpse and 100 motes. Creepers, small, sorcerous 
  creatures crafted entirely of sludge, require the corpse of a 
  small child or a beloved pet and 150 motes. She often has 
  many of these children on hand to send out at any given time. 
  When dealing with interlopers, she usually sends at least one 
  Shambler per invader, one Daughter per two Shamblers and 
  one Creeper per group. she doesn’t have an inﬁ nite supply of 
  children, however (as she has a ﬁ nite number of corpses at 
  her disposal), so she must husband her resources, sometimes 
  preferring retreat to a ﬁ ght.
  Terrestrial Circle Sorcery—As a powerful sorceress, Mother 
  Bog knows all published Terrestrial Circle spells and a few lost 
  spells that nobody in Creation currently knows about. While 
  she could teach these spells to others, she is loath to give up 
  any secrets to anyone who might harm her or is unworthy of 
  her attention. While she has no obvious body, she can work 
  her magic through her swamp: vines twitch themselves into 
  ritually signiﬁ cant shapes, rings of mushrooms blossom and 
  the warm, wet wind of the swamp breathes ritual incanta-
  tions, clearly indicating the casting of the spell.
  Essence Infusion—Mother Bog is the swamp. Her nature infuses 
  the soil, the water and the air. She can make that Essence 
  available to her children simply by offering it to them. The 
  air crackles with power, and as the pool is spent, her presence 
  becomes clearer and clearer. She can invest any amount, but 
  she typically invests ([X+1] x 40) motes, where X equals the 
  number of daughters and creepers engaged in the battle. All 
  of her children gain equal access to the pool, and as they 
  typically have only a very small amount of Essence available 
  to them, this pool reﬂ ects the majority of their resources.
  Manifest Avatar—For the cost of 100 motes, Mother Bog can 
  create a vast, humanoid version of herself. In this form, she 
  can battle directly with her foes and affect the world in a 
  very real, physical manner. When she does so, she uses the 
  listed traits directly, rather than indirectly as usual. Mani-
  festing represents a real danger to her, however, for she may 
  be damaged in a normal manner. Therefore, she seldom as-
  sumes this shape anymore—and cannot as long as her heart 
  is split between four manses as it is now. Yet while using 
  her Essence, she displays a shadow of her uniquely beautiful 
  avatar looming above the battleﬁ eld, not unlike the anima 
  display of the Exalted. When visible, moss and vines drape 
  her clearly feminine form, and eyes like still pools of water 
  stare out at her foes.
  Join Battle: 12
  Attacks: 
  Suspicious Accident: Speed 10, Accuracy 13, Damage 12B, 
  Defense 6, Rate 1*
  Dragging Earth: Speed 9, Accuracy 18, Damage **, Defense 
  3, Rate 1
  * “Suspicious Accident” represents subtle attacks using the 
  body of the swamp. A rotten log falls upon a target or a 
  vine trips someone up. Damage and accuracy are given as 
  guidelines, and Storytellers are invited to alter the traits to 
  reﬂ ect differing attacks.
  ** Dragging Earth reﬂ ects the sucking mud of the swamp. 
  This attack clinches its foe and deals no damage. A successful 
  clinch inﬂ icts a -1 external penalty to all actions. A second 
  successful clinch inﬂ icts an additional -1 external penalty 
  (for -2 successes total). A third successful clinch buries the 
  target, who suffers from suffocation. Should the victim suc-
  ceed at the clinch roll, she manages to negate the penalties 
  as she drags herself free. Allies may attempt to beat Mother 
  Bog’s clinch total to drag their friends to safety.
  Soak: 20L/* (Marsh body, 16L/*)
  * Mother Bog is immune to all bashing damage
  Health Levels: -0x10/-1x40/-2x40/-4 x 10/Incap
  Dodge DV: 10 
  Willpower: 8
  Essence: 8 
  Essence Pool: 1,000
  Other Notes: Mother Bog doesn’t interact directly with the 
  world. Rather, she uses her swamp-body to manipulate the 
  world on a grosser, larger scale. She grapples with hills, not 
  with individual mortals. As a result, these traits are listed as 
  rough guidelines should a roll be necessary, and the physical 
  traits represent a more speciﬁ c point within the swamp. A 
  mortal struggling against a tree limb deals with her listed 
  Strength of 12. Against an entire fortress wall, however, 
  Mother Bog has considerably more strength. In her avatar 
  form, use the traits listed above directly.
  As a piece of mobile land, Mother Bog cannot be meaning-
  fully hurt by mortal hands. A single man with a spear is no 
  danger to her. A thousand men with shovels, on the other 
  hand, are more problematic. Mother Bog ignores the damage 
  of individuals, and she cannot be engaged in standard combat. 
  She may be engaged in mass combat, however, where she is 
  considered to have an effective Magnitude of 9. (This trait 
  does not increase her health levels, though. Her listed health 
  levels take the Magnitude of her being into account.) Those 
  who wish to harm her must have a Might of at least 1 or 
  engineering tools appropriate to the task at hand. Individuals 
  of suitable potency may engage her on a mass-combat scale: 
  a suitably powerful sorcerer, for example. Harming her in 
  this way isn’t lasting, and she heals any damage taken in 
  
  157
  CHAPTER EIGHT • GODS AND MONSTERS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  this manner at a rate of one health level per day, presuming 
  she has fresh land to consume. She may be incapacitated 
  through mass-combat damage, but not slain, and she will 
  recover even from incapacitation after a few weeks.
  To truly deal her lasting harm, her heart must be found and 
  destroyed. Knowing this, she split her heart into four parts, 
  took them to the four corners of the world and hid them in four 
  different manses. Removing them will destroy the manses in 
  which they reside, and once assembled, they can be damaged 
  directly (following the listed traits for soak and health levels). 
  Once the hundredth health level is inﬂ icted to the heart, it 
  explodes, inﬂ icting 100 bashing damage on everyone within 
  100 yards, and Mother Bog dies, leaving a 100 mile wide desert 
  in her place. She slowly reforms after a millennium, and then, 
  it takes another millennium to regain her full strength.
  Because her heart is attuned to four separate, powerful manses, 
  she regenerates 80 motes an hour. Her Manse Background 
  reﬂ ects this fact.
  The traits for her creepers, daughters and shamblers are 
  listed on pages 158-160. Her Followers Background reﬂ ects 
  these beings.
  Mother Bog has vast stores of artifacts and treasures hidden 
  away in her body that she can regurgitate to offer as bar-
  gaining chips. Her Resources and her Artifact Backgrounds 
  reﬂ ect these items.
  BEASTS OF THE
  SCAVENGER LANDS
  EMPEROR RAT
  As worrisome as giant rats are, they fail to elicit the 
  whispered, wide-eyed fear that their larger, more horriﬁ c 
  cousin the emperor rats do. Sometimes called rat-hydras, these 
  monsters writhe with a dozen heads, as though several large 
  rats had been pressed together into the body of one massive 
  rat. Furious claws and wild eyes press out in all directions, 
  biting and clawing at anything they can reach. The hulking 
  central rat can grow to the size of a bull, and the image of a 
  lion-sized horde of claws and rat faces bearing down its prey 
  is enough to unnerve anyone. Not as intelligent as their 
  cousins, emperor rats tend to use their bulk to rule their 
  brethren, demanding sustenance be brought to it and eating 
  anything it can catch. Still, despite the occasional loss of a 
  townsman to their gullets, the people of Creation have man-
  aged to proﬁ t from their presence. Mercenaries make good 
  money hunting them down, some wealthy debutantes keep 
  them as exotic pets, and audiences thrill to their ferocity in 
  pit ﬁ ghts and gladiatorial matches.
  GIANT MAGGOT
  An innumerable horde of these unpleasant creatures 
  riddles the ﬂ esh of the Mask of Winters’ Juggernaut, feasting 
  upon his body as they swell in size. Each is pale white and 
  translucent (and as tall as a horse at the shoulder and twice 
  as long), with a skein of purple and red arteries visible just 
  beneath its skin. The foremost portion of their segmented 
  bodies is eyeless, surmounted with a jawless mouth ringed 
  with sharp, meat-rending teeth. The Mask of Winters cul-
  tivates these pets, allowing them to grow large and strong 
  upon a meal of Juggernaut’s Essence, waiting patiently for 
  the day that his corpse-mountain bursts, overﬂ owing with 
  maggots that he can direct toward his foes. Currently, 
  however, they content themselves to remain in their warm, 
  decaying home, and generally, the people of Creation only 
  encounter them when visiting Juggernaut or exploring the 
  outskirts of Thorns.
  GIANT RAT
  Rats are among the most durable species in Creation. 
  They can survive everything from exposure to the Wyld to 
  sorcerous contamination… but not unchanged. Living in the 
  warrens beneath many overpopulated cities or digging out 
  burrows beneath rural villages, rats sometimes grow larger 
  than hounds, and many become intelligent. Some farmers or 
  
  158
  and nearby districts. While certainly not intelligent (and 
  one cannot reason with them), they are cunning enough 
  to evade traps and to engage in hit-and-run tactics. The 
  Council hunts them as best they can, but karmeus roost in 
  the highest buildings and ﬁ ght viciously if cornered in their 
  nest, making extermination a difﬁ cult process.
  THE LOOKSHY REBEL
  Centuries ago, seditionists within Lookshy gathered to 
  complain against the military order imposed upon them by 
  their city. They retired to their host’s cellar, conspiring late 
  into the night before impulsively deciding that their opera-
  tion needed a larger lair and to expand the cellar. Digging 
  into the walls revealed a strangely light and hollow orb of 
  rusted iron. They argued among themselves over who owned 
  it, until one impatiently 
  cracked it with a shovel 
  to see what lay within. 
  Moments latter, a hulking 
  form stumbled out of the 
  house, a hulking amalgam 
  of all of the conspirators 
  wrapped into a single, 
  misshapen form. The 
  Dragon-Blooded watched 
  in horror that slowly 
  turned into amusement 
  as the creature fumbled 
  about ineptly, shouting 
  out anti-Lookshy slogans, 
  and then, they cut it 
  down, dumping the body 
  into the bay. That should 
  have been the end of the 
  problem, but it wasn’t. It 
  returned again and again, 
  still clumsy, still hateful, and every time, they tore it apart 
  and burned the pieces, only to watch it return some years 
  later. Sometimes, it appears as it did before. Other times, 
  it seems to be a melding of new people. Each time, it takes 
  more innocent lives. While it centers its activity on Lookshy, 
  some travelers report seeing it in other locales throughout 
  the Scavenger Lands, particularly in places allied to Lookshy. 
  Scholars who research the tale speculate that the iron orb 
  contained some manner of Wyld energy and that, to truly kill 
  the Lookshy Rebel, the orb must be found and resealed.
  THE CHILDREN OF MOTHER BOG
  CREEPER
  The strangest and least seen of Mother Bog’s creations, 
  these sorcerous blobs of mud contain the bulk of her power. 
  She crafts them from the corpses of children and beloved 
  pets, and they resemble small, vaguely shaped children 
  disenfranchised citizens report waking to ﬁ nd rats watching 
  them in their sleep, rubbing their paws and chittering quietly 
  to one another. Strange letters appear clawed into the walls 
  of half-forgotten cellars. As though peasants hadn’t enough 
  to fear from them, these oversized vermin often transmit 
  plague with their bites. Those that stray too far into the 
  Wyld return with even more mutations, and hobgoblins 
  sometimes drive acid-spitting rat-monsters before them or 
  ride armor-shelled rats into battle.
  KARMEUS
  These Wyld-twisted birds make their home in Nexus, in 
  the Firewander District, occasionally foraying out into the rest 
  of the city. Their wings span nearly three yards, adorned with 
  glittering black feathers. Their eyes burn with green ﬁ re, and 
  between their stone-cracking beaks, an all-too-human face 
  spits obscenities in a grating voice. When a karmeus hunts, it 
  latches onto its target, dragging it high into the air and then 
  dropping it far below. They prefer small, soft prey—usually 
  lone children. Because they enjoy the taste of rotted meat, 
  they often leave the body of their prey to hang for a time, 
  and small corpses dangle from high rooftops in Firewander 
  
  159
  CHAPTER EIGHT • GODS AND MONSTERS OF THE SCAVENGER LANDS
  made of mud. They avoid attention wherever possible, and 
  a warband usually contains at least one, often hiding in the 
  shoulders of a shambler. 
  When daughters need 
  aid dealing with a recal-
  citrant village, a creeper 
  might journey with them, 
  providing magical sup-
  port. Rarely, a creeper is 
  seen alone, using stealth 
  and sorcery to assassinate 
  one of Mother Bog’s foes. 
  Creepers have an Essence 
  of 3 and 30 motes avail-
  able to them (though as 
  always, they have access 
  to the pool of Essence Mother Bog grants the group). Their 
  only Charm is Invoke the Circle of the Earth. By spending 
  15 motes, they may cast Terrestrial Circle spells for the re-
  mainder of the scene (at normal cost and activation times). 
  They typically know three spells, though which spells are 
  up to Mother Bog. 
  DAUGHTER
  Mother Bog’s daughters interact with the rest of the 
  world as her diplomats. Always crafted from female sacriﬁ ces, 
  the daughters’ corpses are ﬁ nely preserved in peat, gaining 
  astonishing ﬂ exibility and grace. Normally pallid or the color 
  of peat, they can use their magic to become more appealing 
  and indistinguishable from a living mortal. A daughter has 
  an Essence of 2 and 20 motes 
  available to her, though she 
  may access the pool of Essence 
  Mother Bog invests in her chil-
  dren. Most of a daughter’s powers 
  take the form of dances. Perform-
  ing the Dance of Death costs 15 
  motes and requires a Dexterity + 
  Performance roll. Each success 
  reduces her wound penalties for 
  the scene by one, and increases 
  her Martial Arts score by one for 
  the scene. Further, all Martial 
  Arts damage is considered lethal. 
  The Dance of Inﬂ uence costs 10 
  motes and requires a (Dexterity 
  + Performance) roll. Each suc-
  cesses grants a bonus die to all 
  Social rolls for the remainder 
  of the scene, to a maximum bonus of her Appearance (nor-
  mally 1). The Dance of Motion makes her ﬂ uid and swift, 
  reducing by one the number of ticks she has to wait until 
  her next action for every three motes spent, to a minimum 
  of one tick. Finally, the Daughter may assume the Illusion 
  of Life by spending 10 motes. Doing so makes it impossible 
  to tell by mundane means that she is a reanimated corpse, 
  and magical means suffer a -1 external penalty. Further, her 
  Appearance increases to 5.
  SHAMBLER
  Mother Bog’s warriors are her most commonly witnessed 
  children, whether they meander across her lands or assault 
  her foes in battle. Constructed from the largest corpses in her 
  stock, these hulking brutes seem made as much of vegetative 
  matter as ﬂ esh. Vines cover their bodies, leaves decorate their 
  head masses, and the scent of fungi permeates the air around 
  them. Shamblers 
  have an Essence 
  of 1 and 10 motes, 
  though they may 
  draw upon what-
  ever Essence Mother 
  Bog makes avail-
  able to the group. 
  They have access 
  to four Charms. For 
  ﬁ ve motes, one may 
  double the damage 
  gained from success-
  es for the remainder 
  of the scene (Bark 
  Fist), extend its neck 
  and limbs by up to six 
  yards for the remain-
  der of the scene (Creeper Vine Reach) or become rooted to 
  the spot it stands on, becoming completely immovable so 
  long as it remains motionless (Deep Root Immovability). 
  For 15 motes, it may activate Walk Through Plants and, for 
  the next hour, merge with living plants, ﬂ owing up vines to 
  get into buildings, racing through thick bramble patches or 
  crossing a grassy ﬁ eld unseen.
  
  160
  Name 
  Str/Dex/Sta Per/Int/Wits/Will Health Levels 
  Attack (Spd/Acc/Dmg/Rate) 
  Dodge DV/Soak
  Emperor Rat 
  5/3/5 
  4/1/3/2 
  -0x6/-4x4/I 
  Dominant Bite: 5/6/6L/1,  
  2/2L/5B
   
    
   
   
  Small Bite: 3/5/3L/3,
   
    
   
   
  Claw: 5/6/4L/5
  Abilities: Athletics 2, Awareness 4, Dodge 1, Integrity 2, Martial Arts 3, Presence 4, Resistance 5, Survival 3
  Giant Maggot 
  4/4/5 
  2/1/1/1 
  -0x3/-1x2/ 
  Bite: 5/7/7L/1 
  3/7L/8B
   
    
   
  -2x2/-4/I
  Abilities: Athletics 2, Awareness 1, Dodge 2, Integrity 3, Martial Arts 3, Presence 2, Resistance 3, Stealth 2, Survival 2
  Giant Rat 
  4/3/4 
  3/2/3/2 
  -0/-1x2/ 
  Bite: 4/5/5L/1, Claw: 5/5/3L/3 
  2/2L/4B
   
    
   
  -2x2/-4/I 
  Abilities: Athletics 2, Awareness 2, Dodge 2, Integrity 1, Investigation 1, Martial Arts 2, Presence 2, Resistance 4, 
  Stealth 3, Survival 2
  Karmeus 
  3/5/2 
  4/1/2/2 
  -0/-1/-2x2/ 
  Beak: 4/9/5L/1,  
  5/2L/4B
   
    
   
  -4/I 
  Wing Buffet: 5/8/8B/2,
   
    
   
   
  Claw: 5/8/6L/4
  Abilities: Athletics 4, Awareness 1, Dodge 5, Integrity 1, Investigation 1, Martial Arts 4, Presence 2, Resistance 2, 
  Stealth 2, Survival 2
  The Lookshy  
  5/1/5 
  2/3/2/2 
  -0x10/-1/-2/ 
  Punch: 5/5/5B/3,  
  1/5L/10B
     Rebel 
    
   
  -4/I 
  Kick: 5/4/8B/1
  Abilities: Athletics 1, Awareness 1, Dodge 1, Integrity 4, Investigation 1, Martial Arts 3, Presence 2, Resistance 2, 
  Stealth 2, Survival 2
  Creeper 
  1/4/3 
  3/3/3/4 
  -0x3/-1x2/-2/I 
  Bite: 6/4/1L/1 
  3/1L/3B
  Abilities: Athletics 3, Awareness 2, Dodge 1, Integrity 3, Investigation 3, Martial Arts 1, Occult 5, Resistance 3, 
  Stealth 5, Survival 3
  Daughter 
  2/3/2 
  3/2/3/3 
  -0x3/-1x2/ 
  Slap: 5/4/2B/3 
  4/1L/2B
   
    
   
  -2/-4/I 
  Abilities: Athletics 2, Awareness 2, Dodge 4, Integrity 4, Investigation 2, Martial Arts 1, Performance 5, Presence 4, 
  Resistance 3, Socialize 3, Survival 3
  Shambler 
  6/2/6 
  4/1/3/2 
  -0x3/-1x2/ 
  Punch: 5/8/6B/3 
  1/3L/6B
   
    
   
  -2/-4/I
  Abilities: Athletics 3 Awareness 1, Investigation 1, Integrity 2, Martial Arts 5, Resistance 4, Stealth 2, Survival 5
  
  ISBN 1-58846-687-6 WW80200 $24.99 U.S.
  PRINTED IN CANADA
  www.white-wolf.com/exalted
  Forged from the shattered remains 
  of the Dragon-Blooded Shogunate 
  and tempered in the ﬁ res of war, 
  the so-called Scavenger Lands 
  continue to stand in deﬁ ance 
  of the tyranny of the Realm, 
  as they have done for eight 
  centuries. Ranging from mighty 
  Lookshy in the west to 
  the eclectic Hundred 
  Kingdoms in 
  the east, the 
  states of the 
  Confederation of 
  Rivers offer a treasure 
  trove of First Age wonders, 
  minor dominions and mortal 
  followers for the returned Solar 
  Exalt who’s willing to risk the 
  wrath of the Seventh Legion 
  to claim them.
  The ﬁ rst of ﬁ ve Terrestrial Direction 
  books devoted to ﬂ eshing out the 
  bare bones of Creation presented 
  in the Exalted
  Exalted core book, this book 
  includes:
  • Mass combat traits for the Seventh 
  Legion and for other Confederation 
  forces, as well as dominion traits 
  for the Mandate of Heaven
  • Traits for the Scavenger 
  Lands’ native gods and 
  beasts
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Storyteller [multi]/Exalted/[ww80200] The Compass of Terrestrial Directions volume 1 - The Scavenger Lands.pdf