In the Seven Hundred and Sixty Eighth year of the Glorious Scarlet Realm, Ragara Julinei was once again elected to the position of Master of the Deliberative by her peers. Under her practiced and steady hand, the business of governance carried on much as it had for the preceding six centuries, with motions sponsored, submitted and brought before the twin Halls of the Deliberative for ritual debate. One might almost allow themselves to believe that the Empress had not disappeared, and that there truly was a plan for coherent governance in her absence.

Perhaps most pressing among the gathered business of state was the matter of the budget. Traditionally, the Empress alone held responsibility over such things, adjusting the various stipends and allowances afforded to various Houses and official bodies of the Realm, dictating the basic interest rate of all loans in relation to the Salt Rate (the approved value of sacrifices offered to the gods of salt, expressed as a percentage of the market value of the salt they allowed to be harvested) and appointing the officials who administered such things on her behalf. Yet with the Empress absent, the existing budget threatens to become increasing moribund and unresponsive, to say nothing of the growing burden of income lost to corruption at all levels.

Into the fires of such challenge stepped the senators of House Cathak, bringing forth a series of motions designed in close cooperation with the Empress' Exchequer, Bal Keraz - motions that would grant the famously incorruptible Exchequer the right to perform such financial duties as required in the Empress' absence, and to hunt down and punish corruption at all levels of the bureaucracy, until the Realm once again had a functioning budget and faith that all funds marked on the accounting scrolls were in fact entering the Imperial vaults.

Article:

Political Project - Securing the Budget

Initiator: House Cathak, in cooperation with Bal Keraz
Duration: One Turn
Difficulty: Major

• At least fifteen (15) Influence must be assigned for this measure to pass.
• Additionally, a total of ten (10) Insight is required to fully hunt down various corrupt officials.

Success: The Realm's budget is stabilised, and its financial system becomes independent. The Initiator gains three influence. All Houses lose three wealth as their extra-legal funding dries up (including House Cathak - Bal Keraz plays no favourites).
Failure: The Realm's financial woes continue. Cathak Curuk, presently head of the Honest Assessors (the tax collectors) is assassinated, and his House loses three influence. All others who supported this project lose one influence.

Factions: This project is pro-Custodian, anti-Separatist, neutral for all others.

Realm Divide: If this project succeeds, it will reduce Realm Divide by two points.

Only slightly less critical was the matter of the Home Office. The Honourable and Humble Caretakers of the Common Folk, to use the ministry's full title, hold responsibility for the common peasantry, works of public infrastructure and most forms of law enforcement across the Blessed Isle. The last official to hold the post of Just and Magnanimous Custodian, Sesus Sereda, was assassinated four years ago, and now the Deliberative turned its eyes towards appointing a successor.

The candidate with the most support for the role was one Sesus Amirada, an experienced official personally familiar with the ministry after her years of service within it. She was supported not only by her own House, but also by senators from House Mnemon - who, it was swiftly noted, were doubtless hoping to benefit from Amirada's long-standing and fruitful marriage to a man of their own House.

Other Houses grumbled, but no specific rival candidate was found or put forward - instead, the most notable opposition came from members of House Peleps, who proposed that the authority of the minister be devolved to her subordinates, who had after all been undertaking the necessary duties in the minister's absence for some years now. More regional officials would, they proposed, permit a degree of fluid responsiveness and diligence.

Article:

Political Project - A New Minister for the Home Office

Initiator: House Sesus, House Mnemon
Duration: One Turn
Difficulty: Routine

• Ten (10) points of influence are required to appoint a new Home Minister

Success: Sesus Amirada becomes Minister of the Home Office. Houses Sesus and Mnemon gain two influence, and benefit from a one-level difficulty reduction for future projects working through the Home Office. All other contributors gain two influence. Start-of-turn briefings for the Blessed Isle are enabled for all players.
Failure: The office is left vacant.

Factions: This project is pro-Custodian, pro-Immaculate, neutral for all others. Due to opposition (see the miscellaneous projects) it may now be considered Pro-Inheritor (Mnemon) at the discretion of the contributing House.

Realm Divide: If this project succeeds, it will reduce Realm Divide by one point.

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Political Project - Reducing Inefficiency in the Scarlet Realm's Unified Provinces (Devolving the Home Office)

Initiator: House Peleps
Duration: One Turn
Difficulty: Major

• Fifteen (15) points of influence are required to push this motion through.
• Additionally, at least ten (10) points of Insight and/or Wealth are required to secure necessary votes and appoint subordinate ministers.

Success: House Peleps gains 3 influence. All Houses gain a one-step difficulty reduction on Home Office projects aimed at their own homelands and territorial holdings.
Failure: The existing arrangement remains in force.

Factions: This project is Pro-Separatist. Opposing it is Pro-Supremacist. All other factions are neutral.

Yet while most of the business of the Deliberative was focused upon refining and adapting the existing institutions and ministries, it did not escape the notice of the assembled Senators that other bodies were being left entirely uncontrolled. The All Seeing Eye, for example, historically reported solely to the Empress, and in her absence none of the Eye's intelligencers could be found... at least, not publicly, for all that rumour swirled that various individual Houses had found or suborned local branches of the Eye to their control.

House Kerem had the solution. Long regarded by the ignorant as little more than a collection of bureaucrats and bookkeepers, and regarded with some wariness by the more informed for their ruthless expertise, the Lesser House offered to step up and perform the tasks that the All Seeing Eye currently could not, in service to the Deliberative and - of course - whoever was ultimately confirmed as the new Empress.

All they needed was the authorisation to act...

Article:

Project Name: The August Decree of Watchful Fangs
Project Type: Political
Project Description: With the All-Seeing Eye inaccessible in Her Majesty's absence, someone needs to be able to defend the Isle from subtle threats. Petition for a charter granting House Kerem an open-ended licence to operate Security Projects on the Blessed Isle, to aid against peasant uprisings, anathematic infiltration or treason.

Project Initiator: House Kerem
Project Duration: 1 Turn

Project Difficulty: Major

• Fifteen (15) points of Influence are required to pass this motion.
• Ten (10) points of Insight are also required in order to demonstrate appropriate skill and capability to take up the role.

Success: House Kerem gains five points of Influence and Insight. They also gain complete authority to run security projects upon the Blessed Isle for the indefinite future, and opposing or impeding them in their duties is considered to be opposing the Deliberative. All supporters gain two influence. The All Seeing Eye is stirred into motion.
Failure: House Kerem loses three points of influence.

Factions: This project is Pro-Custodian for Kerem, but otherwise neutral for all factions and Houses.

While it was always the policy of the Deliberative to consider matters domestic far superior to matters foreign, this is not to say that the governing body of the Realm was unconcerned with the world beyond its own borders. The Wise and Knowledgeable Advisors of Foreign Tributaries - which was to say all foreign polities, regardless of the current state of their expected tributes - had presented the Deliberative with their usual briefing, and now the honourable Senators contemplated how they might wish to respond.

House Cynis, represented by the respected and dramatically persuasive Cynis Belar Ceriec, was the first to propose a motion before the current sitting of the Deliberative. The House had their eye upon the North East, a direction of Creation largely regarded as... not worthless, a full eighth of Creation could never be that, but certainly less worthwhile than any other. Torn apart by plague and civil strife, positively infested with barbaric tribals and courts of the unquiet dead; even the Empress had turned her back upon the direction in the past, and small wonder. Yet House Cynis evidently believed there was something to be gained there, and in pursuit of it they presented to the Deliberative a series of bills and investment opportunities designed to harness it.

Article:

The Northeastern Expeditions
Type: Political
Initiator: House Cynis
Project Duration: 1 turn

Project Description:
In the mind of the Deliberative the Northeast is sort of a toss up between a long-life disaster dump of plague pits and live occult munitions rusting in the forests and just ("just") a haunted backwater where reports of shit like, and I quote, "a hooded spirit commanding a flock of plague-ridden, bloodthirsty bat-winged frogs" occasionally filter back to the Isle. Who wants to fight over that? Sure the Senators from House Cynis talk big about the importance of re-establishing contact with scattered and semi-orphaned Realm populations in the area, of re-connecting the Silver River with the Scarlet's trade networks and pacifying the region with monks and ministers from the Foreign Office in tow. But as long as they're not expecting anyone else to shoulder the risks or exorbitant expense of mounting the actual expeditions well...

More power to them if to chase those marginal gains. Hopefully authorizing all this, the diplomacy and necessary military operations, is the kind of business the Deliberative could knock out before lunch without too much trouble.

Difficulty: Routine

• Ten (10) points of influence are necessary to grant House Cynis the necessary permits and authorisation documents.

Success: Cynis are authorised to begin military and diplomatic projects in the north east. All other Houses will be required to invest in Cynis-initiated projects, or obtain Cynis permission to undertake their own projects.
Failure: Cynis lose two influence and are denied permission to operate in the North East.

Factions: Pursuing this project is Pro-Custodian for Cynis. All other factions are neutral.

Article:

The Honorable Silver River Trading Company
Type: Development
Initiator: House Cynis
Duration: One turn

Project Description:
Cynis Belar Ceriec, in a careful collaboration with Cynis Falen's mercantilist minded faction, is of course shamelessly self dealing and stacking the deck. House Cynis ready to fling themselves right out the gate with a flotilla of heavily armed trading vessels and support tenders, sailing straight for the Silver River mere weeks after the Deliberative's authorization comes through.

Difficulty: Minor plus

• A minimum of five (5) manpower and five (5) wealth must be invested to set up the Trading Company.
• Additional resources can be invested to generate thematically appropriate assets - cohorts and investments would be the most obvious. The base rate is, as always, two points of resource per value of the desired asset. Wealth, Influence and Manpower would all be appropriate. It is possible to create more than one asset with this project.

Success: Cynis create a mercantile organisation that will permit the House to begin operations across the North-East. Cynis and all other Houses who invested gain two points of wealth. All Houses who contributed resources earmarked for asset creation generate the appropriate assets.

• House Cynis will be informed of the assets that other Houses are seeking to create here, and may veto any at their leisure. Said Houses are informed of the refusal, but do not recoup their invested resources.

Failure: All Houses who invested will lose two points of Wealth.

Factions: Neutral to all Factions.

Meanwhile, other senators wished not for peace, but for war. That representatives from House Tepet desired an official declaration that the Realm remained at war with the Bull of the North surprised few (though it did earn a few pitying chuckles); that they bundled the declaration with a similar proposal for continued war against the Anathema infested the sacred Caul raised a few eyebrows. Still, they were not entirely alone in this, for House Cathak duly informed the Deliberative that they too were investing in the defence of Faxai, and called upon all dutiful daughters of the Realm to do likewise.

House Ledaal was not so concerned with restraint, instead placing a bill before the Deliberative that would authorise them to provide military support to any declared Wyld Hunt, on the Isle or abroad, without further recourse to the political procedures of the Realm. This caused some degree of muttering, especially when certain other Senators observed that the Wyld Hunt was more a tradition than an institution, and that a cynical woman would regard this as Ledaal disdaining governmental oversight entirely... but then, was slaying the Anathema not the sacred duty of every Dynast - nay, of any true Exalted?

The debate grew predictably heated.

Article:

Name: War of the Sun and Moon
Type: Political (Deliberative)
Duration: One Turn
Description: House Tepet motions that the Deliberative permit military action be taken against the Anathema upon the Caul and against the Bull of the North - who remains, technically, a target of Imperial ire, as the Empress' order was never carried out.
Initiator: House Tepet

Difficulty: Routine

• Ten (10) points of influence are required to secure standing authorisation to wage war

Success: War is authorised for all Houses against the Bull of the North and the Anathema upon the Caul. This permission will continue until the relevant threats are defeated.
Failure: War and other military projects against the designated foes remains a restricted action.

Factions: Pursuing this project is pro-Custodian for Tepet. It is pro-Immaculate for everyone.

Article:

Development - Reinforcing the Caul
Initiator: House Cathak
Duration: One Turn
Description: The Caul is bereft of troops and its fortresses are crumbling. It is time to dispatch substantial reinforcements to Faxai to rebuild the surrounding fortifications and defend the last Terrestrial city from further incursions.

Difficulty: Routine

• Ten (10) points of Manpower must be invested in order to provide Faxai with the necessary labourers to bring its fortifications up to par.
• Ten (10) points of either Wealth or Might will be required to provide soldiers to stand upon those walls and see off the Anathema.

Success: Faxai's fortifications are upgraded; any Incursion or Anathemic attack on the Caul will be delayed by at least one turn, plus an additional turn for every ten additional points over the difficulty contributed, or until the Realm Divide stage advances, whichever comes first. House Cathak will gain 3 influence. All other contributing Houses will gain one influence, or two if they contributed at least five points of resources and/or value.
Failure: Faxai is insufficiently defended. On turn two, Sha'a Oka, the Black Lion, will launch an assault upon Faxai.

Factions: This Project is pro-Immaculate.

Article:

Political - Legalising the Shadow Crusade
Initiator: House Ledaal
Duration: One Turn
Description: Grant House Ledaal standing Deliberative permission to deploy military force to reinforce and assist the Wyld Hunt in eliminating Anathemic threats

Difficulty: Heroic

• Twenty (20) points of Influence must be used to essentially convince the Deliberative to abrogate its own authority.
• Fifteen (15) additional points of Insight or Wealth must be used to support the claim.

Success: House Ledaal will be granted standing permission to undertake military projects anywhere in Creation, provided the foe is an Anathema or otherwise condemned by the Immaculate Order. House Ledaal gains three Influence and two Might. All supporters gain two influence.
Failure: Permission is denied. House Ledaal loses three influence, all supporters lose two.

Factions: This project is Pro-Immaculate and Anti-Custodian. All other factions are neutral.

Realm Divide: The introduction of this project increases Realm Divide by one. Should it succeed, Realm Divide will be raised by two more, as the government cedes military authority to the state religion.

While the Empress ruled the Realm, only three of the Great Houses were permitted to maintain and deploy legions of their own. In her absence, those who once answered only to the Throne were carefully partitioned among all the Houses of the Dynasty; no ambitious general would be mounting a coup to place herself upon the Throne, and no Matriarch would find herself and her children defenceless should a true war of succession break out.

Of course, merely having the Legions was not sufficient. The real question was what one would choose to do with them. For some, the answer was obvious, and best made obvious; both Houses Cathak and Nellens spent large portions of RY768 organising grand military parades through their holdings, the pride and might of the Realm on full display, all onlookers invited to admire and applaud and, perhaps, to think twice about their more seditious plans. House Nellens in particular paired the move with an extended recruitment drive, throwing salons and galas and myriad other social affairs all aimed at convincing Exalted officers to join their names to the House in the months and years to come.

Article:

Ten Thousand Leaping Dragons (Military)

Initiator: House Cathak
Duration: One Turn
Description: As a show of House Cathak's might, and a way to improve the coordination of her legions and the skill of her officers, commit to a major military exercise in the Northern Threshold. This show of force should cow the restive priests of Fajad, demoralize the Anathema-worshiping barbarians, and improve our prestige. Other loyal forces are of course welcome.

Difficulty: Routine

• Ten (10) points of Might are required to demonstrate a suitable level of martial superiority.
• Ten (10) points of Wealth and/or Influence are required to turn that martial superiority into a lasting propaganda victory.

Success: House Cathak gains 2 influence. All other contributing Houses gain 1 influence. The northern threshold is reminded of Imperial might, and all attempts at rebellion or notable unrest are prevented for turns two and three.
Failure: All contributing Houses lose one influence. The Realm appears weak, and rebellions will begin in the north.

Factions: This is a Pro-Supremacist project.

Article:

Name: Glorious Scarlet Parades to Demonstrate Our Realm's Might
Type: Political

Initiator: House Nellens
Duration: One Turn
Descriptor: House Nellens invites all and sundry to come show off their military prowess in Juche. With banners raised bearing the mighty mons of our Houses, we will demonstrate to all and sundry that the Realm stands strong and tall and united, and that any who stand against us will be defeated. This will be a great display, with marching displays, instrumentals from the military bands, and mock battles on the plains around the city.

Difficulty: Routine

• Ten (10) points of Influence are required to make a suitably striking parade
• Five (5) points of Might are required to actually have sufficient soldiers to do a parade with

Success: House Nellens gains two influence. All other contributors get one influence. Rebellion and unrest is suppressed throughout the southern Blessed Isle for turns two and three.
Failure: All contributing Houses lose one influence.

Factions: This is a pro-Supremacist project.

Article:

Name: The Many-Coloured Dragon's Wings Are Wide And Generous
Type: Political
Initiator: House Nellens
Duration: One Turn

Descriptor: House Nellens is just moving in the salons and in the galas to recruit as many talented outcastes, minor houses, and Lost Eggs as possible, as to reinforce the weak blood of the House fresh inflows - especially those of them who were formerly in the legions, or who are still in a House Legion but are considered politically unreliable. The House is willing to offer marriage to Nellens family members, adoptions (following all the proper procedures in the Deliberative), and well-paid jobs to get them on side.

Difficulty: Routine

• Ten (10) points of either Influence or Wealth are required to make a compelling pitch to potential new recruits.
• Additional resources invested above this amount will generate Character assets; wealth, influence and insight are all appropriate.

Success: House Nellens gains two influence and gets first pick of the current crop of potential new Exalted recruits. Future recruitment projects by other Houses are made more difficult. House Nellens generates at least one new character asset, and may generate others in proportion to the additional resources (beyond those necessary to meet the difficulty) invested.
Failure: House Nellens loses one influence.

Factions: This project is neutral.

Of course, not all of the Great Houses were entirely satisfied with the soldiers they had managed to secure. House Ledaal thought that their armies were insufficiently well equipped for the dangerous work that would be asked of them, and so began a massive investment in new forges and foundries across Arjuf in order to address the perceived lack, while House Cynis had... other problems.

Article:

The Fires of Industry [Development]

Initiator: House Ledaal
Duration: One Turn
Description: Create a [5/5] Cohort Asset - Arjuf House Armories, to equip House Ledaal and its legions with all the arms and armor necessary to fight the Anathema and those who threaten the realm.

Difficulty: 10

• Ten (10) points of manpower are required to construct and staff the new armoury
• Five (5) points of Wealth are required to meet the necessary budget

Success: House Ledaal generates the related asset. All other contributors gain one Might, representing a stake in the arms manufacturing business.
Failure: No effect
Faction: Neutral

Article:

The "Heartwood Problem"
Type: Security
Initiator: House Cynis
Duration: One Turn

Description: It's a testament to General Cynis Petalin's genuine skill and the dedication of her staff that Cynis has two whole legions that function more or less as legions. Sure the Deeproot Legion has never had anything as uncouth as blood or dust stain their beautiful uniforms and artfully worked armor, but at least they drill well, flex proficiently, and run a tight, well-kept garrison. Sure the Wind Blossom Legion is a bunch of dead-eyed psychopaths on horseback with a hunger for violence and a taste for plunder but that's basically every pre-modern cavalry army to ever exist. Character flaws aside, they know their work.

The Heartwood legion is a problem. The Heartwood legion is such an obvious problem that there's almost certainly been plenty of anxiety and recrimination inside the House and speculation and gossip outside the House as to how things got this bad. All the laxities and failures and habitual evils, small and large, of House Cynis distilled, concentrated, and on full display. The debts incurred by countless ad hoc decisions coming due all at once as the Realm lurches drunkenly towards crisis.

Cynis Belar Ceriec and the rest of the Belar clique want to assess the Heartwood Legion and compile a report on the current state of the legion's readiness, moral hygiene, and overall morale as they languish in their barracks. Put the facts to paper so that they may be, finally, confronted. The deficit tallied in full.

Difficulty: Minor

• Five (5) points of Insight are required to successfully identify all relevant problems
• Five (5) points of Manpower and/or Might are then required to fix them.

Success: House Cynis redesigns the tags on its Legion assets, professionalising their military force. Future military operations run no risk of unauthorised slave-taking, brutality or recreational terrorism. All contributing Houses gain one point of Might due to experience.
Failure: More "traditional" elements within House Cynis are victorious. The reform fails and no future reform can be attempted.

Factions: Neutral, arguably pro-Supremacist if the House in question wishes it.

Of course, when the Imperial Legions were partitioned between the Great Houses, scarcely any thought was paid to the Lesser Houses - be they cadet or patriciate, the general opinion among the Dynasty was that they ought to find a patron to hide behind and be content with that. Some were willing to do just that, either for reasons political or pragmatic, but others were not.

Among the first to try and correct what seemed to them to be an intolerable inequality was House Morori, residing in the barren lands of the Plains of Rusted Iron.

Article:

Name: Gravewardens into Roadwardens
Type: Development
Initiator: House Morori
Duration: One Turn

Description: House Moroi has always maintained an informal network of gravewardens to guard the various crypts and graveyards under their care. With the prolonged absence of the Empress making the dangers of the already unruly Plains of Rusted Iron grow ever more numerous it is becoming clear that in order to protect its holdings and people House Moroi must expand its protection. The existing network of gravewardens is too be expanded ten fold with a mixture of strong armed local peasants, skilled Clovnian mercenaries and Moroi officers in order to keep the peace and protect the roads and villages of The Plains of Rusted Iron.

Difficulty: Routine

• A total of ten resource points are required to found the new Wardens. These points may be Manpower, Might or Wealth, as appropriate.

Success: House Morori generates a Value 3 Military asset. All other contributing Lesser Houses gain one might.
Failure: House Morori fails to recruit the asset and cannot make a similar attempt until at least turn 3.

Factions: This is a Pro-Separatist project (due to Morori's existing court). It is otherwise neutral.

By law of the Realm, all land belonged to the Empress. By long-standing tradition, the vast majority of it was leased out to the various Houses, who repaid her largesse by providing clear-sighted stewardship of the land and the people therein. How effective, motivated or altruistic such stewardship was in practice may have varied, but few were the Houses entirely uninterested in developing and growing what Imperial grace had bestowed upon them.

Of such diligent stewards, none matched the practiced skill or pious dedication of House Mnemon, who began RY 768 by constructing a great temple in Deijis Prefecture. With dedications both to the Empress, Mother of Mnemon, and to Pasiap, the wise master who passes on teachings and responsibilities to the new generation, the work was hardly subtle in its intended meaning... but then, it hardly needed to be. Nor did the accompanying work of sculptors from House Thusenn, who dedicated themselves to constructing a number of "stone gardens" intent on immortalising the Matriarch and her virtues for all to see.

Less obviously partisan, however, was the work that the Great House and its supporters sought to begin on the island province of Radimel's Seat. Once a balmy and hospitable land, geomantic sabotage by a circle of Lunar Anathema decades ago rendered half the province scorched and lifeless, precipitating a major refugee crisis and economic downturn across the southern Isle. The Empress had ordered repair work to begin, but it only managed to stabilise the situation prior to her disappearance - that Mnemon should continue her mother's work, should take up the burden of time and effort and expenditure to see the land flourish again under her guiding hand, was a statement of virtue and intent that none could possibly ignore.

Article:

Name: Construction of Pasiap's Sheltering Wings Temple
Type: Development
Initiator: House Mnemon
Duration: One Turn

Description: A lavish temple monument in Deijis Prefecture, constructed in honour of the Scarlet Empress, and of Pasiap in his capacity as a master and teacher who passes on secret knowledge and responsibilities to the next generation of Dragon-Blooded. Reverent, but not subtle in its choice of theme.

Difficulty: Routine

• 10 points of Manpower are required for the construction of the temple
• 5 points of Wealth are required to fund the construction

Success: A new temple is constructed. Mnemon gains two influence, all other contributors gain one.
Failure: Construction stalls. Project continues next turn.

Factions: This is a Pro-Immaculate, Pro-Inheritor (Mnemon) project.

Article:

Name: Stone Gardens
Type: Development
Initiator: House Thusenn
Duration: One Turn

Description: A sculpture garden, in honor of Mnemon, in her role as master architect, sponsor of the arts, and, notably, patroness of The Balustrade of Glorious Harmony. It is intended to work at multiple different levels - in the sculptures themselves, in the architecture the sculptures are built into, and in the geomantic flows that the sculptures and the architecture evoke. Basically, though, this is "a whole bunch of artists and architects came together to honor and express appreciation for Mnemon". Intended primarily to make Mnemon look good, but also to provide yet another way to reinforce the culture of the Empire and show its magnificence.

Difficulty: Minor

• Five points of manpower are required to perform the construction
• Five points of wealth are necessary to fund it

Success: House Thusenn and House Mnemon gain two influence each. Other schools begin considering the wisdom of visibly aligning themselves with certain patrons.
Failure: No effect.

Factions: This is a Pro-Inheritor (Mnemon), pro-Supremacist project.

Article:

Name: Repairs to Radimel's Seat
Type: Development
Initiator: House Mnemon
Duration: Two Turns

Description: Undertaking to resume repairs on the island of Radimel's Seat, a part of the Realm's heartland still rendered half uninhabitable by Anathema magic. As a gardener uproots troublesome weeds, so too must the Princes of the Earth purge such corruption from the land.

Difficulty: Heroic

• Twenty (20) points of Manpower are required this turn to begin the laborious work of charting and realigning the geomancy.
• Fifteen (15) points of Wealth are required to fund the exceptional expense of the project.
• Five (5) points of Might are required to subdue the predatory and destructive spirits who nest among the ashes.

Success: Geomantic stability is returned to the land, allowing work to continue next turn. House Mnemon gains two influence, all other contributors gain one (further awards will come if the project is finished on turn two). Residents begin to return to their homes.
Failure: Repair work stalls and no progress is made. Should the total resources fall short by at least ten points, a natural disaster will begin as the situation escapes control.

Factions: This is a Pro-Immaculate, Pro-Custodian project. It may be Pro-Inheritor (Mnemon) at the discretion of the contributing House.

Realm Divide: If this project is successful and at least three Great Houses contribute, the show of unity reduces Realm Divide by one. Lesser Houses count as half of a Great House for this calculation.

Other Great Houses began works of their own during this year, each seeking to demonstrate their generosity and virtue, and by extension their right to rule. House Nellens invested heavily in grain silos, warehouses and other food reserves, seeking to shield the peasantry of the Isle from any number of potential disasters that might befall them in years to come, while House Ragara began a major investment in roads, bridges and other forms of transport.

Article:

Name: The Benevolent And Verdant Palm of Sextes Jylis
Type: Development
Initiator: House Nellens
Duration: Three Turns

Descriptor: With great generosity, House Nellens has reached out to begin the construction of granaries in cities and towns across the southern Blessed Isle. These granaries will hold food reserves, to be distributed with the aid of the Immaculate Order, in case of failed harvests, inclement weather, or other such mishaps striking our most blessed homeland. Additionally, they will help to level out the year-on-year price of grains, storing excess in good years (keeping the price up) while selling off their stock in poor years. This act of private charity will remind all of the duties that the Great Houses owe to safeguard and protect their lessers. And of course, it might reduce the leverage that grain-producing barbarians have by reducing the capacity that Threshold trouble has to cause rises in grain prices.

Difficulty: Heroic

• Twenty points of Manpower are required for the mass construction projects this undertaking represents
• Fifteen points of Wealth and/or Influence are required to fund new construction or bring existing facilities under the common banner

Success: Land is secured and construction begun. All contributing Houses gain one influence, and the option for greater rewards next turn.
Failure: Construction stalls. No immediate effects.

Faction: This is a Pro-Immaculate project. It may be either Pro-Custodian or Pro-Separatist at the discretion of a contributing House.

Article:

Name: The Gold Roads
Type: Development
Initiator: House Ragara
Duration: Three Turns

Description: In a refreshingly direct form of naked self-interest, House Ragara has been making investments in road expansion and maintenance across the empire. The House may be erecting toll roads and directing certain networks to Ragara-owned cities, but it is still a boon for the Realm's economy overall.

Difficulty: Heroic

• Twenty (20) points of Manpower are required for massive public works projects.
• Fifteen points of Wealth and/or Influence are required to fund the work and exert control over where the tolls go.

Success: House Ragara gains two points of influence. All contributors gain one wealth. The work continues.
Failure: The project stalls. No immediate effect.

Factions: No faction has a particular interest in this project.

In the western regions of the Isle, House Peleps had every intention to perform similar works, excavating the caves and undercrofts of Bittern to expand the port city and allow room for future development. Unfortunately, a shortage of funds and a few poorly chosen words in public environments produced a backlash from local peasants, and soon the half-started excavations were being threatened by crowds of protestors and striking work-crews.

Article:

Under-City of Bittern Excavation (Development)

Initiator: House Peleps
Duration: One turn

Description: Centuries ago, the city of Bittern began collapsing. Though the city entire was saved from falling into our beloved sea by the Shogunate, whole districts remain entombed in sinkholes and seacaves, carrying away wealth, criminal elements, and the morality of the city all in one. Smugglers, unapproved cultists, unlicensed arenas and other criminal enterprises- all must be brought to account, and quickly. A mapping project to see what space down there is still usable and what must be fumigated is in order. Perhaps one day there will be two cities- Under and Over Bittern! The surface to grow food, sea-caves to build ships, temples and tenements built into sinkholes. And for Celesa, maybe, just maybe, a getaway house in a lovely sea-grotto that looks onto the sunset...
Protection of the city's mortals, expanding the space available to the city, and a chance at a fight- By all the gods, I LOVE being efficient!

Difficulty: Routine

• Ten points of Manpower are required to properly chart, clear out and explore the lower levels of Bittern
• Five points of Wealth are required to fund the work. Note that House Peleps cannot contribute this resource themselves, due to Starving Giant.

Success: Bittern is expanded. House Peleps gains two manpower and two wealth. All other contributors gain one wealth.
Failure: The work stalls. Should the difficulty be missed by five or more points, a Disaster begins as Bittern's foundations are weakened and it begins to collapse.

Factions: This is a Pro-Separatist project for House Peleps, and otherwise Neutral for all contributors. It may be Pro-Immaculate at the discretion of the contributing House.

Article:

A Growing Sentiment
Type: Unrest
Initiator: Western Barbarians!

Description: The West has gone ablaze with the fires of labor, and its embers have landed in Bittern. The Labor Movement in Bittern has exploded into a general strike, halting all production and force projection. Watchful eyes have spotted dead-eyed saboteurs, wearing the castoffs of Western nobility.

Difficulty: Routine

• This Unrest may be suppressed by assigning Wealth, Might or Influence to it, depending on the chosen methods of restoring order.
• Note that House Peleps has Fervent Patriots from their Separatist faction. Any attempts to aggravate the people (and sabotage attempts to subdue the unrest) will suffer a 10 point surcharge.

Success: The Unrest is quelled and evidence pointing to precisely which form of Western barbarians are responsible is uncovered.
Failure: All other development projects in Bittern fail automatically.

Factions: Suppressing Unrest is Pro-Custodian. Using military force would be Anti-Immaculate.

Of course, not all Houses were possessed of the resources necessary to undertake such development work. Patrician families were often wealthy, but restricted from direct rulership over the mortals, while Cadet lines typically had the opposite problem. As the need for such tools became more apparent, several decided to solve the problem in their own way.

Article:

Magical Labour
Type: Development
Initiator: House Amanthi

Description: We'd like to get some of our sorcerers focused on summoning creatures or constructs to use as brute labor. We'll also work on building them a dedicated work zone for this purpose. We don't have a lot of natural manpower, of course, so we'll focus on creating it another way.

Difficulty: 8

• Eight manpower and four wealth are required to conduct the relevant summoning rites.

Success: House Amanthi generates a value four cohort. All other contributors gain one manpower.
Failure: No effect.

Article:

Propitiating the Gods of Architecture
Type: Development

Initiator: House Simendor

Description: Chalan should be developed into a glimmering gem worthy of House Simendor. Human architecture is all well and good, but to truly showcase our splendor we must develop our domain our way - using the sorcerous skills that we are envied for across the whole of Creation. To that end, it is fitting to entice local spirits and gods of architecture to enter into our service long-term as a new Cohort asset.

Difficulty: Variable. The usual rate of 2 points of resources (in this case, manpower) for one value of a resulting asset applies.

Success: Simendor creates a new cohort asset representing allied gods and spirits. Other contributors gain one manpower.
Failure: Nothing happens.

While the Realm remained without a doubt Creation's premier superpower, its position among the nations was not uncontested. There were rival states of course, claimants either crushed or incorporated into the growing empire by turns, but far more persistent and insidious was the threat of the Anathema. No matter where the Realm turned, always the ancient enemy was there waiting, or else prone to rising up in its wake. For combatting such foes was the tradition of the Wyld Hunt instituted, and in RY768 there was no shortage of quarry to pursue.

In the North West, the Principality of Skullstone - long a blight on Creation, ruled as it was by the undead from within their half-real islands - pursued a policy of diplomatic outreach and economic integration with numerous scattered nations. The Sable Order, as the nation referred to their gross parody of the Perfected Hierarchy, was already an insult to the Realm and its way of life; that it was championed by a foul Anathema, his brow marked with a hollow, bleeding circle, only made it worse. This threat, House Ledaal undertook to destroy.

Article:

Countering Skullstone [Security]

Initiator: House Ledaal
Duration: One Turn

Description: Covertly eliminate Skullstone's anathemic diplomat in the North-West to sabotage their attempts to build influence through military and mercantile ties with the region.

Difficulty: Routine

• Ten points of Insight are required to locate and hunt down the Anathemic diplomat
• Five points of Might are required to leverage sufficient force to kill the creature

Success: Skullstone's influence in the North West is curtailed. All contributing Houses gain one influence and one wealth.
Failure: Skullstone undermines western trade ties. House Ledaal loses two influence, all Western economic projects are made one step more difficult.

Factions: This is Pro-Immaculate and Pro-Supremacist.

Elsewhere in the West, rumours of an independence movement in the valuable island chain of Wavecrest brought considerable alarm to House Peleps, who held the relevant satrapy and had great plans for its exploitation. Rather than descending on their political opponents with naked force, however, the House chose a more subtle method - by placing infiltrators and false converts into the ranks of the organisation, they would be able to drive the movement towards a level of radical extremism that cost it significant public support, thereby allowing local forces to move in and crush the insurrection without the House ever needing to get (publicly) involved.

Article:

Operation Seawall
Type: Security
Initiator: House Peleps
Duration: One Turn

Description: Wavecrest is crucial for any and all plans by House Peleps. Any attempts at independence must be curtailed with all speed. Sending loyal agents to infiltrate such a movement and discredit it among the people of the island is a good place to start. Installing a few of The Brave Ones should help. Once they are in, they can drive moderates away from the movement with radical and drastic action, allowing our comprador The Feathered One room to safely denounce them. Perhaps they can even take a page from Our Beloved Empress, and split the group up to make them more manageable!

Difficulty: Major

• Fifteen (15) points of Insight are necessary to fully infiltrate, radicalise and expose the movement.
• Ten (10) points of Influence are necessary to control the public reaction to the movement and its destruction.

Success: The movement is crushed. No further rebellions are possible in Wavecrest for the duration of the game. House Peleps gains three influence and two wealth; all other contributors get two points of influence.
Failure: The radicalised activists launch an outright revolution. An Incursion is begun in the West, and House Peleps loses three influence.

Factions: This project is Pro-Custodian. It may be pro-Inheritor at the discretion of the contributing House.

In the satrapy of Harbourhead, rumours swirled that Ahlat, God of Cattle and Southern Warfare, had taken a student from among the ranks of the Solar Anathema. Though the god denied this when questioned, it did not escape the notice of the local garrison and its Immaculate monks just how mild his protests were, nor how obstinate he remained in refusing admission to his temples and private estates.

Fortunately, the god and his cult had their own enemies in Harbourhead, who might yet prove willing to remove a threat to the Realm without the Houses needing to dirty their own hands in the process. A few words in the right ears, some obols in the right pockets, and the student would perish without the Master having any clue...

Article:

Opportunity: Divide and Conquer
Duration: One Turn
Initiator: Harbourhead Urbanites

Difficulty: Routine

• Ten points of Insight will identify local agents that could be stirred to destroy Ahlat's student without being linked back to the Isle.
• Five points of Wealth and/or Might will provide them the strength to accomplish this deed.

Success: Ahlat's student is exposed and slain. The Southern God of War has no target to vent his wrath upon.
Failure: Provoked, Ahlat's student takes command of the god's Brides and begins an Incursion to conquer Harbourhead and the nearby South.

Note - Contributing any asset that does not generate Insight to this project will likely be detected by Ahlat, and succeed or fail, the War God will not be pleased.

Factions: This is a Pro-Immaculate project.

Yet none of these undertakings would shock the dynasty quite so much as House Tepet's renewed assault on the Bull of the North.

After Futile Blood, most had assumed that the House was a spent force - its legions broken, its scions slain, its wealth and resources confiscated by other Houses like so many vultures. They had died well, slaying two of the Bull's companions and crippling the warlord himself with a horrible lingering wound, but die they had. Many within the House itself thought likewise... but not Matriarch Tepet Wrea.

House Tepet would finish what it had started, or it would die in the attempt.

Article:

Name: Blood For Futile Blood
Type: Military (War)
Initiator: House Tepet
Duration: Two Turns

Description: As a preliminary phase to the war against the Bull, Tepet (and any other Houses that wish to do their duty) begins raids into the Bull's Empire, aiming to scout the terrain, strip away the outermost edge of his territories, and begin to make contact with any remaining Realm friendly forces or factions still remaining in the region.

Difficulty: Heroic

• Twenty (20) points of Might are required to force the Icewalkers and their Anathemic allies back.
• Fifteen (15) points of Wealth, Manpower or Insight are required to secure the relevant territory and reunite with scattered remnants of local forces.

Success: The Bull of the North is pushed back to his capital, Plenilune. House Tepet gains three influence and three might (doubled to six each by their trait). All other contributors gain two points of influence and a point of wealth.
Failure: House Tepet is devastated, and many abandon the House or die fighting. It loses five points of Wealth, Influence and Might. All other contributors lose two points of whichever resource they invested the most of.

Note - Yurgen the Bull is accompanied by three other Solar Anathema and stands at the head of a mighty army. He will not die quietly. Any and all assets contributed to this project will lose an additional point of health, win or lose.

Factions - This is a Pro-Immaculate project. At the discretion of the contributing House, it may also count as Pro-Inheritor or Pro-Supremacist. If House Tepet's political project to obtain war permission fails, then it will be Anti-Custodian, restricted and raise Realm Divide accordingly.

Like many cultures in the Second Age, the Realm claims descent from the Shogunate of old - even its name, "Realm", is a modern translation of the term most often used in those elevated, half-forgotten times, and the Empress was herself once an officer in the mighty armies of the last Shogun. Near eight hundred years later, much has changed about how the people of the Scarlet Dynasty live their lives, but the strength of that heritage is a common element that many politicians and demagogues are quick to call upon.

House Ragara, for example, claimed fealty and virtue as the motivation behind their public advocacy for all manner of officials and public figures. When scions of the House led the way in cooperating with official investigations, when they opened their houses and vaults to those public servants in need, when they were scrupulously attentive to the details of law and procedure in a thousand different ways - this was, they assured any who would listen, a sign of just how important it was that the Dynasts of the Realm remember their roots.

The bills they introduced in the Deliberative to ruin those Dynasts foolish enough to rely on foreign, non-Ragara income streams - why, that was just more of the same.

Article:

The Realm Stands Strong

Type: Political
Initiator: House Ragara
Duration: One Turn

Description: The distrust in the Realm's inclination to follow its own laws is not without reason. For now. Move to shore up faith in the supremacy of the Realm's legal and cultural institutions, so that their members are better able to sleep at night and do their job.

Difficulty: Heroic

• Twenty points of influence are required to get the message out there (and to be believed)
• Fifteen points of wealth or manpower or insight are required to properly target those who could benefit from a 'reminder', and to persuade them to work with it.

Success: For every House that contributes at least five resources or one asset to this project, Realm Divide is reduced by one.
Failure: Realm Divide increases by three. House Ragara loses three influence.

Factions: This is Pro-Supremacist, Pro-Custodian, Anti-Separatist.

Article:

Motion to Reduce Foreign Interference In Realm Economics

Type: Political
Initiator: House Ragara
Duration: One Turn

Project Description: Outside powers are taking an increased interest in the finances of the Realm. Ragara introduces a motion to change that, giving special mercantile privileges to holders of a specific Imperial Merchant's license, issued by the deliberative, while also reducing the access of economic powers without such a license.

Difficulty: Major

• Fifteen points of influence are required to get this motion through the Deliberative
• Ten points of wealth and/or insight are required for the necessary bribes, threats and favour trading

Success: House Ragara gains two Wealth. All other contributors gain one. All Separatist houses gain half as much wealth from Foreign Backers as they previously did, rounded down.
Failure: House Ragara loses two influence. All Separatist Houses gain two wealth.

Factions: This is a Pro-Supremacist, Pro-Custodian, Anti-Separatist project.

Others were less concerned with celebrating and defending what they already had, and more interested in sharing that great cultural triumph with the world at large. Be it House Sesus seeking to 'educate' the poor barbarians of the South, or House Kenzho hosting distinctly Realm-flavoured Immaculate celebrations, the Dynasty would not be satisfied until their superior ways were adopted by all.

Article:

Name: Educational Department for the Modernisation of Chiaroscuron Culture
Type: Political
Initiator: House Sesus
Duration: One Turn

Description: The Scarlet Dynasty is the greatest nation to ever grace the face of Creation, and the satrapy of Chiaroscuro one of the shining jewels in its crown. As such, House Sesus is implementing an office responsible for diligently sharing the culture, ideology and civilisation of the Realm with the delightfully exotic yet sadly unrefined peoples of the Jewel of the South, to bring their social architecture and customs up to a suitable standard.

Difficulty: Routine

• Ten points of influence are required to introduce the southern barbarians to proper culture.
• Five points of Might are required to force the southern barbarians to not respond in a way they will regret.

Success: House Sesus gains two influence. All other Supremacist Houses gain one influence. Chiaruscuro becomes a power keg, liable to explode.
Failure: All Supremacist Houses lose one influence as southern barbarians make a surprisingly compelling case for their own culture.

Factions: This is Pro-Supremacist. All other Factions are Neutral.

Article:

Immaculate Revival Across Calin
Type: Political
Initiator: House Kenzho
Duration: One Turn

Description: With corruption and disorder everywhere, the people of Calin turn to Immaculacy with renewed fervor and raised expectations. House Kenzho helpfully stages dialogues between the mainstream order and the Calinti sect to improve ties, and pours unprecedented resources into the yearly Harvest Festival, working to impress their neighbor's peasants with the strength and glory of the Realm.

Difficulty: Routine

• Ten influence is required to make the dialogues successful
• Five wealth is required to fund the lavish festivals

Success: House Kenzho gains two influence. Any future projects made to evangelise Immaculate doctrine or take advantage of Immaculate aid in the Scavenger lands are one step easier.
Failure: The parties are enjoyable, but unexceptional. Nothing happens.

Factions: This is Pro-Supremacist, Pro-Immaculate.

And then, of course, there were those who simply desired to celebrate their culture through the most traditional of means - by throwing the most glorious and extravagant party imaginable. House Viper, long a purveyor of drugs and other alchemical remedies to the Dynasty, announced a grand gala to be held upon the waters of the Serpentine River, promising to honour and entertain their hosts in ways that could scarcely be imagined. Bold words from a Lesser House... but perhaps worthy of some interest?

Article:

Party Boat
Type: Political
Initiator: House Viper
Duration: One Turn

Description: The Alchemical Ambassador Ophidian Vhillous hereby invites you, honored Dragonblooded, aboard the Reveler's Ark. The guestlist includes Matriarch Kerem, Matriarch Thussen Seldra, or representatives of either house should their presence be inconvenient to organize due to distance or time, alongside representatives of House Cynis aboard the Reveler's Ark. Imbibe, party, gamble, and gossip to your hearts' content. The ship will sail along the Serpentine River from its docks in the Blossoming Flower region and return to port after several nights.

Difficulty: Routine

• Ten influence is required to make sure that the guestlist is sufficiently prestigious
• Ten wealth and/or manpower is required to provide suitable entertainments for the most discerning guests

Success: House Viper gains two Wealth. They also gain one influence for every Character asset assigned to this project. All other contributors gain one influence or wealth, their choice.
Failure: House Viper are embarrassed. All character assets either belonging to House Viper or in attendance lose one additional health due to social humiliation.

Factions: This is Pro-Supremacist, otherwise neutral.

As the Deliberative convened to settle its decision for the position of Home Minister, what was originally thought to be a fairly straightforward affair was suddenly complicated by the intervention of House V'Neef. Speaking eloquently on the need for a competent, level-headed and experienced woman at the helm of the Caretakers, the V'Neef senators put forward their own candidate for the position - one V'Neef Rose Blossom, a woman elevated through adoption into the family from the patrician Rose family, and married to a young man from House Cynis.

Article:

Political Project - An Alternative Minister

Initiator: House V'Neef
Duration: One Turn
Difficulty: Routine

• Ten (10) points of influence are required to appoint a new Home Minister

Success: V'Neef Rose Blossom becomes Minister of the Home Office. Houses V'Neef and Cynis gain two influence, and benefit from a one-level difficulty reduction for future projects working through the Home Office. All other contributors gain two influence. Start-of-turn briefings for the Blessed Isle are enabled for all players.
Failure: The office is left vacant.

Factions: This project is pro-Custodian, pro-Supremacist, neutral for all others. It may be Pro-Inheritor (V'Neef) at the discretion of the contributing House.

Realm Divide: If this project succeeds, it will reduce Realm Divide by one point.

NOTE - This project is mutually exclusive with the Mnemon-Sesus "A New Minister for the Home Office" project. Should both succeed, the one with the highest total investment will take priority. Consequently, that project has now also become optionally pro-Inheritor (Mnemon), to reflect the obvious competition between the two daughters of the Empress.

No sooner had the debates (and associated duels and assassinations) for that question settled, then another point of conflict threatened to spark into a wildfire. A coalition of senators from several Houses put to the assembled Deliberative a question of law - namely, with the Empress absent and no replacement for her soon to be agreed upon (the mortal regent Tepet Fokuf being generally regarded as inherently worthless), how were violations of imperial law to be addressed? Who held the authority to determine if such a violation had even taken place at all?

The coalition had a solution in mind, of course. In the absence of an acknowledged monarch upon the throne, who better to rule on such things than the Empress' Own Court? This panel of judges, appointed by the Deliberative and traditionally chosen from among the oldest, most respected and most experienced Judges on the Isle, currently heard appeals from those Dynasts, Patricians and Outcastes convicted of capital crimes. Surely they could be trusted to rule upon other matters of such weight?

Article:

The Empress' Own Court
Type: Opportunity
Initiator: Custodians
Duration: One Turn

Description: A court of judges, appointed by the Deliberative, are granted authority previously held by the Empress alone - to rule on and punish crimes against the Throne and the Realm as a whole, such as treason, sedition, gross dereliction and so forth.

Difficulty: Major

• Fifteen points of influence, Wealth and/or Insight are required to see this legal reform through to conclusion.

Success: The Court is established. It becomes possible to use Deliberative political motions to charge other Dynasts with capital crimes, and see them executed or otherwise punished accordingly. The three Houses who contribute the most resources to this project will produce the judges who sit on the Court, reducing the difficulty of said projects by one step for themselves, and raising the difficulty of projects to wield the law against them by one step.

Failure: The reform effort fails. It becomes publicly known that there is currently no legal penalty for treason. Realm Divide rises by two points.

Factions: This is a Pro-Custodian project. Opposing it could be argued to be Pro-Inheritor, at the discretion of the sabotaging House (who presumably do not wish to fight for a weakened Throne)

In the absence of a Home Minister to assemble and present reports of unrest and civic issues across the Isle, problems only come to the attention of the Deliberative when they reach a point where it is almost too late to do anything about them. Such was the case in RY768, as what was once rumours of unrest became undeniable reports that surely demanded some manner of response.

Article:

Dragon's Blanket Unrest

Initiator: Escaped slaves and dispossessed
Duration: One Turn

Description: A growing population of escaped slaves and dispossessed peasants are hiding out in the hills and valleys of Dragon's Blanket, threatening to become an organised host of bandits that may prey upon the surrounding countryside.

Difficulty: Routine

• Ten points of Insight are required to track down the rogues in their hiding places
• Five points of Might are required to root them out and disperse the threat.

Success: The escapees are returned to their masters and order is restored. All contributors gain one manpower and one wealth.
Failure: House Cynis loses two wealth and one manpower to organised bandit raids. Problem reoccurs next turn, targeting other neighbouring Houses such as Sesus.

Faction: This is Pro-Custodian.

Article:

Tarpan Wastes Unrest

Initiator: Tarpan Wastes Tribesfolk
Duration: One Turn

Description: The tribes of the Tarpan Waste have begun to coalesce around a leader of some kind, believed to be an Outcaste Dragonblooded, who intends to seize a better future for her people through force.

Difficulty: Major to disperse, Minor to appease

• 10 points of Insight and Five points of Might are required to hunt down the tribal leader and scatter her coalition.
• Alternately, five point of Insight and then five points of Influence and/or Wealth are sufficient to forge successful diplomatic ties with and appease the warlord.

Success: The threat is neutralised, potentially permanently depending on method chosen. If peaceful, contributors may reduce the difficulty of future projects to recruit the tribals to one's banner, or turn them against your enemies.
Failure: The tribes of the Wastes form an army with Exalted leadership. They will pose a threat to the nearby Houses of Tepet, Ledaal and Morori.

Factions: Any success is Pro-Custodian. Appeasement is anti-Supremacist.

THE HARBORHEAD REPORT



-/-

Blood for Futile Blood

Three years ago, the Bull of the North destroyed the Tepet Legions. At the Battle of Futile Blood, hundreds of Exalted scions of one of the Realm's oldest and proudest Houses perished, alongside tens of thousands of mortal soldiers and at least two Anathema. The House reeled, gutted and leaderless, easy prey for the ambitions of its rivals, yet the Bull's nascent empire was scarcely better off. Though he retook much of his lost territory as he harried the remaining Tepet from the North, the Solar Warlord was all but crippled by an injury dealt to him in the final battle, and as years passed and no improvement in his condition came, it became an increasingly open question just who had won the war in the first place.

In RY 768, House Tepet returned to settle the matter. So what if they had but a single legion, a mere tithe of the soldiers and material with which they had waged their first disastrous campaign? So what if the walls of Lord's Crossing bore the names of dead unnumbered, that what little strength they had left had been stolen by so many strutting rivals, that even the most generous strategist deemed their cause noble-yet-doomed? Honour demanded that they slay the beast that wounded them or die in the attempt, and where honour did not suffice, spite was more than ready to pick up the slack. It would have been a glorious end, to be sure, one final march into the night, one final strike against the monsters that bayed for the blood of men… but it was not to be.

The Scarlet Dynasty had stood by and watched as Tepet was gutted. Now, their hunger satisfied, they rallied to their fallen cousin and raised their spears together, sisters in arms against the night. If the hypocrisy bothered any, if their blatant change of heart kindled bile, then the remaining Tepet knew better than to mention it. And so it came to pass that, under the overall leadership of General Tepet Ejava, a combined force of six Legions and twice as many independent support elements fell upon the towns and cities of Malice Bay.

Tarrack fell first - the great city of raiders and tradesmen at the mouth of the bay, taken in a lightning assault by the ships of the Imperial Air Fleet and the marines of the First Peleps Legion, a force as irresistible as lightning from a clear sky. In a grand ceremony, Admiral Peleps Aramida welcomed General Ejava to the captured foothold and formally handed over control of the city to her, watching with keen eyed interest as her new superior led the charge.

Alnome and Porcellana had risen in revolt against the Bull's forces months before the invasion arrived, and legions from House Cathak were sent to secure each in turn, opening up room for an implacable advance from the Ledaal First and Second to sweep through southern Astragal and bring the crumbling city of libertines back under the protection of the scarlet banner. As for Ordonel, nearest of the Saltspire League to the Bull's capital of Plenilune; that, General Ejava took for herself, leading her Vermillion Legion in a textbook assault that swept the garrison from the walls and garrisoned the city almost before word could reach the enemy capital of its fall. She would have preferred to have her kinsmen with her, but the Yamabushi were needed elsewhere; instead, the spear-saints of House Kenzho and House Amanthi's Worthy Companions added the edge she needed.

The Anathema did not, of course, go without a fight. Every step the Realm forces took into contested territory was marked by vicious raids and irregular warfare by Icewalker elites, lent terrifying skill and potency by the presence of the Forsaken warlord Crimson Antler, while those towns and cities taken often found themselves wracked with insurgencies and terrorism by stay-behind elements that Houses Kerem and Ragara applied themselves to hunting out. Perhaps the greatest act of resistance occurred during a conference at Alnome, where the assembled commanders met with local dignitaries to negotiate the terms of the occupation - at the worst possible moment, the witch Samea unleashed the Demon Lord Stanewald, and a hasty evacuation had to be mounted as whole swathes of the city were consumed by magma and slid like cast-off leaves into the frozen waters of Malice Bay.

Even so, the sheer degree of force brought to bear was only going to end one way, and as the various forces settled in for winter garrisons, only defiant Plenilune remained… and it shorn of at least one of its mightiest champions, as the Dawn caste Crimson Antler withdrew from the field of battle alongside her Icewalker tribe, ill-content to die for the Bull's futile attempts at glory. Yet three still remained, alongside thousands of Icewalkers and all the myriad horrors a full circle of Anathema could surely be relied upon to produce when their backs were placed against the wall.

Countering Skullstone

A chill wind whips through the streets of icy Nagisko. It fans the flames that feast on the grand palace and lick at the wooden bridges that tie the rocky islands together. The moon is dyed red by the smoke that fills the air.

On one side, red-armoured figures in serried rows. There are armoured monks and nuns flanking them. Tied to stakes before the burning palace, the prince of Nagisko, his two wives, his heir, his heir's husband, and the high priestess of the city father. And the commander of her force., her nose crooked from a former break, her armour as red as blood and her great two-handed axe held casually in one hand.

On the other, a lone figure. She is dressed in elegant white, she wears a silver mask shaped like a gull's beak pushed to one side, and her brow drips blood from a pair of concentric circles on her brow. At her hip is a sheathed blade, short and straight and handled with bone.

Sesus Chenow Mareq grins at the anathema. "It is all your fault," she says, her Seatongue thickly accented but understandable. "You must understand I didn't want to do this."

"Lies." The voice of the lone figure is soft. The Gull of the Falling Tide stares over at the Sesus legionaries with unadulterated hate. "You are lying. Your heart cries out with joy."

That draws a hearty chuckle from the woman. "You are correct. I have had great fun here in the West. Normally people are always going on about the 'laws' of war. About 'honour'. But there were all these houses falling over themselves to give me monks, give me information, give me everything I wanted for this." She gestures with her free hand. "Look at this! Is it not lovely to have a warm fire on this cold day? All these elegantly carved wooden… how do you say it, facades? All these elegant wood carvings here in Nagisko. They burn so well. The bridges burn so well. And I wouldn't have had the excuse to have this fun if it were not for you, Lady Gull.

"Because you are the one who came to them. You are the one who has been reaching out with your 'Sable Order' and promising them you would protect them from the Realm. Promising them you would protect them from me." She raises her voice. "Tell me, Prince Uvian. Did it work?"

The man stirs, but is too beaten to speak.

"He was much more talkative earlier," Sesus Chenow Mareq says amiably to the Anathema in front of her. "Told me all kinds of things about the arrangement you had with him, Deceiver. About the oath he had sworn. It was delicious to force him to break it. So I suppose his current misfortune is your fault."

The Gull of the Falling Tide flinches back at that. "You… attacked before you knew?"

The woman doesn't answer, but the fires reflected in her eyes from the burning city are all the answer she needs.

"You are a monster," says the Gull. "You are the bared fangs of that dying dragon that squats in the heart of the world." And her words roll out with dark indignation, a condemnation that strikes at the armoured legionaries behind their leader, which makes them pale as sudden guilt strikes them and—

"Yes. I am. And you still came, Lady Gull. I believe the arrangement was this - you would come and fight me to the death, and if you slew me, I would not make examples of Riga and Jogaku and Hotan for the deals they had made with you. And that I would free my captives. here in Nagisko."

"Yes."

The wind picks up, and sour-smelling smoke gusts across the square before the burning palace. There is a sizzle of falling snow that lands on hot metal and boils into steam.

"Well, let it never be said that I am not a woman of my word. Come, then! Come!" Sesus Chenow Mareq slams her free hand into her plate, a clatter of violence. "Let's fight!"

One breath, the Gull is still, and in the next she comes apart into shadow. Her blade whimpers as it carves out a leaden line through the smoke. Mareq takes the draw-cut straight on the haft of her great axe, sparks flying in an arc — but the Gull is shadow and flits through her, stabbing backwards in one clean movement. Her moaning blade does not pierce the solid plate, but screams and scrapes along it.

Then Mareq is turning, bringing that huge axe around in an arc. The Gull comes apart into shadows again, sheathing her blade once more, to draw it into a cut that seeks Mareq's head. It does not take it, but ruby paints a line across her face, narrowly missing an eye. Blood drips from the cut. Mareq curses.

The Gull exhales, her breath not steaming in the cold.

"I didn't come alone," she says quietly. Something howls in the distance. Mad and full of pain. Seeking revenge. "There are a lot of people who want your head."

Mareq grins, a happy smile of a woman doing what she loves, and throws herself at the Gull before the other woman can draw again. Her great two-handed axe glows white hot on the edge, scything through the smoke and the shadows alike, and the Gull cannot get her footing. She is a master of her blade, that is true, but the callous aggression of the Sesus warmonger speaks of much more experience. And the smoke that twirls and twines across the battlefield is her ally, veiling the difference between a feint and a true attack, making it harder to judge distance.

The Gull strikes again, her blade Tragic Ending coming out in a perfect cut aimed at the arrogant woman's head. And there is the sound of a great bow loosed and desperately the Gull has to twist her blade like a serpent to cut the arrow from the air. Despite that it jars the blade in her hands. She can feel the ache in her shoulder from how the force carried down her bones. And Mareq is on her, and without the force of the draw she cannot prevent that monstrous axe from sending her skidding back across the icy tiles.

"Looks like neither of us came alone," Mareq says, hefting her blade once again. She begins a brutal sequence of overhead chops, each one intended to cleave the Gull from shoulder to groin, and she has to give way, has to step back, the shadows aiding her retreat.

"Se-sus! Se-sus! Se-sus!" chant the legionaries, pounding their blades into their shields.

The sizzle of that superheated axe through the smoke and the snow is terribly close, and whenever the Gull tries to open some distance to reset her stance, more arrows come out of the darkness. There are at least two archers. Stationed in the shade of the walls, skilled and practiced. One arrow makes its way through her guard to punch into the unarmoured cloth just below her armpit, and hot pain spikes into her cold body. She goes to rip the arrow out, and finds it has grown into the wound, spouting thorns and roots. The pain tells her she can't do that. Instead she is forced to cut the arrow, leaving it where it is - and that is a distraction she can ill afford in the face of how damnably fast that axe moves.

She must end this. She flits back, feeling her soul ignite in blacks and greys shot through with pink-red veins. It isn't her sword hand that hurts. She bends her knees. She adjusts the sit of her hand on Tragic Ending. She can see the flaw in the Sesus monster's stance. Too much aggression - she relies on keeping the upper hand, she relies on forcing the opponent back. If she can get in, within the reach of that monstrous axe, she can take her head. She can save the disciples of the Sable Order—

— but in truth, in this moment, she hates the Sesus woman more and in the back of her head she feels the dark hatred of the murdered dead raise a paean to the death of this woman.

The Gull closes her eyes. She lets the dark impulses tell her where to strike. And—

Pain comes first. Only then the heat. Because Sesus Chenow Mareq has exploded forwards, her footsteps molten on the stone paving, and the arc of her axe is an inevitability. Instead of an overhead, she stabbed forwards with the spike on its tip, treating it like a spear. The breastplate that the Gull wears below her robes cannot stop that white-hot tip, and it forces all the breath from her body. When she exhales, she feels her throat burn from the heat within.

In one awful motion, Mareq lifts the Gull up on the spike of her weapon, and smashes it down into the ground, impaling her there like a bug. Bones break and flesh sears and pain is her only companion. And then the woman is on her, not with her axe but with her armoured fists that hit like hammers.

It doesn't take long.

---

"What are our losses from the Dead?" Mareq asks, while one of the monks (she didn't bother to learn her name) cleans out the cut on her brow.

"Low," her aide de camp says laconically. "The salt did its job - it would be polite to send House Ledaal a note thanking them for their kind donations - and Honourable Early Peach and his people dealt with the big thing. They've scattered into the rest of the city."

"Tch." Mareq lets the cleaning continue. "I think we'll give them another hour or two before we relieve the 'good people' of Nagisko from the Dead they invited among them. Give them a chance to see what vipers they invited in. Perhaps we'll come earlier if they come to beg us to save them from the man-eating spectres. Oh, and send the note to the Ledaal, of course. There's no reason to be rude. I suppose we can also send letters of appreciation to all the other Houses who made piss-ant contributions too."

"Yes, my lady." He makes a note of this, and pauses. "My lady, the prince and his family are still your captives. Who are you expecting to beg you for clemency?"

That draws a chuckle from Mareq. "Well, not the prince. He tried begging and it didn't work last time. Though I'm not sure why he thought it would work." She considers the question. "I think he's outlived his usefulness as bait. Three Bear, extinguish the line. I think we'll sell the prince's title to whichever of those nobles are willing to give us the best price."

"Yes, my lady. I will give the orders."

"Hmm. Three Bear?"

He paused at the door.

"Riga, Jogaku or Hotan. Which name do you like least?"

The Home Office

The Just and Magnanimous Custodian was a position of considerable weight and import, one that many of the Realm's premier Houses wished to have securely under their thumbs. Small wonder, then, that when political battle lines were drawn and deliberations began, no fewer than three Great House matriarchs were involved. On one side, Mnemon, eldest daughter of the Empress and titan of the political arena. On the other, V'Neef, young and vibrant and well known to have been the departed monarch's favourite. Hoping to play queenmaker, Cynis Belar Ceriec (assumed by many to be in the ascent within his House, officially titled Matriarch or not), lending his support to V'Neef's cause while authorising allotments of jade and slaves for several of Mnemon's other projects. Around them all, representatives from numerous other Houses, ranging from Sesus spies to Ragara financiers to the matriarchs and representatives of lesser Houses such as Kerem and Amanthi.

(And as for any alternatives, the suggested idea that perhaps the Minister's various duties be devolved to her various subordinates - this, in the end, received little support. Even the senators from House Peleps who had first submitted the motion seemed barely inclined to support it, at least once the scale of the opposition became clear, and it was soon forgotten by the tacit consent of all involved.)

The struggle for control was brutal and prolonged, with later estimates placing the toll at over a hundred lives lost and careers ruined, blackmail flying freely and spies both mundane and supernatural listening in on every stray word spoken by either side. Debates were held, scuppered, rescheduled and repeated, bribes paid and refunded, votes promised and forfeited, until at last the Master of the Deliberative lost all patience and called for a final, binding vote on the proposed nominees for the office.

Ultimately, it was the elder daughter who prevailed, and Sesus Amirada who was dutifully sworn in as the new Just and Magnanimous Custodian, with all appropriate pomp and ceremony and carefully worded expectations as to the significance of her new position. While V'Neef Rose Blossom and her supporters were clearly disappointed by the result of the vote, they were still first in line to congratulate the new minister - and Amirada, in her turn, was quick to invite her erstwhile rival to a semi-private salon to smooth over the cracks potentially opened by their patrons' seismic battles.

Appearances must be maintained, after all, now more than ever.

The Realm Stands Strong

The cold early months of RY 768 saw a great public outpouring of support for the Realm, fuelled by great expenditures by some of the Great Houses and their Lesser cousins. The Realm could not be allowed to appear unsteady; neither peasants nor rapacious foreigners could be allowed to see a trace of doubt in their betters.

House Ragara was the first and most enthusiastic in these endeavours. Some would say that it was an act of returning the grace the Realm had given them back to its people; others would instead point at the risk that an unsteady Realm result in defaults. But surely that was uncharitable. The famed Ragara Banoba devised a scheme where villages competed against each other in displays of national pride and public hygiene, and those villages who put on a particularly impressive display saw prizes such as favourable contracts, gifts of jade scrip, and debt relief (the latter two proving highly motivating). Soon, places throughout the Realm were bedecked in scarlet bunting and saw newly cleaned streets and re-painted houses. It was all in the name of harmony, he said, smiling. If villages which consorted with bandits, engaged in fraud in their taxes, or were generally bad sorts might have seen heavy-handed actions by imperial authorities who had been paid extra remittances such that the old bribes were no longer enough, well, that was just moral vice on their part.

The controversial artist Tepet Wrea also involved herself in these matters, with several of her less esoteric art pieces making the rounds in more liberal and less Immaculate centres of civic life. Yes, representative art wasn't exactly in line with Immaculate doctrine, but when it showed such wonderful sights as red-coated infantry crushing barbarian savages, perhaps a little risque watercolour or ink work could be forgiven. But in truth it was her other more public role as matriarch of that wounded beast where she had the greater impact. The ill rumours around her only aided her in her endeavours in frightening certain of the more lax elements of the Thousand Scales back into line. She lacked the official power to order an inspection of an office, but she made it quite clear; if ill rumours reached her of the conduct of certain ministers or their underlings, she might ask questions. And no one wanted an unfavourable comment from a matriarch. It would be, at best, career-ending.

In the sodden lands of the Wading Crane Rookery Prefecture, a hurricane hit early in the year, a bad omen that it made landfall after Calibration. As was common in that coastal region, the shifting of the eroding landscape revealed strange oddities of the Realm Before, but this was of no concern to the common folk who lived among these relics of a forgotten age. Of more concern to them was the damage to the bridges and roads — and it was there that the extravagant treasure-hunting sorceress Ledaal Elisa decided to lend her aid. Strange hopping demons tore up forests to reconstruct torn-down bridges and pulled apart hillocks to repave roads, while the sorceress herself in an act of great and obvious charity personally performed a great spell to repair the levees near the town of Humble Hound. Stories of how she asked for no pay for her work, and how quickly even small villages were visited by her servants to survey the scope of the damage quickly spread, reassuring the peasantry that the Dynasts still remembered the virtues of charity and would be there to repair the work of inclement nature.

Certain among the Lesser Houses joined in. The efforts by House Kerem were entirely out of keeping with the general atmosphere of their betters, with cheaply printed missives and fictional pieces distributed by the Stellar Deer teahouses which were also instructed to organise festivals for their neighbourhoods. The famed peasant-born poet Husugo was hired for one of the printed works, and this collection of poetry on the beauty of various cities in the Realm - while not up to Dynastic standards - nevertheless proved so popular that it saw no fewer than nine editions in a single year. And if things discussed with loose tongues in a Stellar Deer teahouse ended up making its way up to someone in House Kerem, well, said loose-tongued gossip had its own price.

By contrast, the sorcerous prodigy Aliya Amanthi seemed to be intent on one-upping her betters, working for a whole year to prepare a great display of sorcerous panache in the fields before the Pangu, a display ending in the culmination of a great burning image of a phoenix being called to fly thrice around the city before dissipating into sweet petals which floated down to delight small children and concern those diplomats and members of the Guild visiting that port city.

It was only later that the whispers started. About how much of this was seemingly a top-down thing by a small group of Heptagram graduates. Had there been some kind of back-room deal? Why were sorcerers and peculiar sorts being so public in their affection for the Mother Realm - and why only sorcerers and peculiar sorts?

Not that there was anything… odd about being publicly supportive of the greatest nation in the world, that scarlet dragon ruling resplendent over the lesser nations as a dragon looms over chicks. Of course not.

It was just… a little unsettling.

Chiaroscuro

The Delzhan, rulers of the Southern satrapy of Chiaroscuro, home to the ancient city of the same name, have long enjoyed many privileges rare among the Realm's satrapies. Centuries ago, they rode to the aid of the Realm in the face of Anathema-backed rebellion, claiming the city for their own and presenting the satrap with the heads of the rebel leaders. This earned them significant concessions from the Empress as reward for their faithful service, never revoked. Tributary subjects like the people of all the satrapies, but powerful, wealthy, and respected subjects. As such, despite the success of the Immaculate Order in the city, the Delzhan have maintained their unique cultural practices in the face of all the Realm's imperial influence, many of which differ starkly from those of the Blessed Isle. Lately, House Sesus chose to launch an organised effort to 'civilise' the Delzhan, to preach the clear superiority of the Realm's way of life, cultural moores, and gender roles. To many Delzhan, this could only be taken as a clear, unprovoked, and calculated insult launched in the absence of the Scarlet Empress.

The effort received copious political support — artists, poets, and teachers were induced to leave the Blessed Isle to support the gentle reeducation of the barbarians of the famed glass city. Most surprisingly was the support of Simendor Eshi, a sorcerer-prince of dead Chalan, in her person. This last in particular was a strange and worrisome move from a house that has long brazenly eschewed any of the Realm's cultural values or traditions where they conflict with its own far more ancient practices, leaving many to worry about Eshi's motivations. Through a series of misplaced or incorrect movement orders, unexpected delays, and strange tricks of fate, however, the fledgling education department's security detachment never fully materialised beyond several fangs of poorly equipped guards.

Reports about what exactly sparked the riot are many and conflicting. Was it officials associated with the new office putting offensive notions in the heads of local young women, urging them to cast off their responsibilities and their honour to behave as domineering Realm ladies do? Rumours of invisible demons creeping through the streets to whisper into the dreams of the cityfolk, inspired by tales carried by sailors and merchants of Chalan and its sinister rulers? Or perhaps it was simply a teahouse brawl between a group of hotheaded young men and a trio of deeply unfortunately Realm scholars the day before. Whatever the cause, The Educational Department for the Modernisation of Chiaroscuron Culture was unprepared to withstand the furious crowds that gathered on its doorstep.

By the time that the satrapial garrison deigned to intervene, several people were dead in the street or seriously injured, and the office itself had been set ablaze. The almost imperishable red glass of the building it had been housed in stood firm, but the office's contents — the books, the art, one extremely unfortunate poet — were reduced to ashes and charred rubble within.

Altogether, it was not touted as a success.

Ten Thousand Leaping Dragons

"A true soldier must polish their sword, armour and boots. They must remain well-groomed when not on campaign, and maintain cleanliness. A true soldier must appear as an all-conquering war god, never defeated in 1,000 years. In this way, a force of one hundred such soldiers may cow a force of two hundred lesser troops, a force of one thousand may cow ten thousand bandits, and a force of ten thousand may force even the monstrous lords of Hell to quiver in fear."
- The 10,000 Correct Actions of the Upright Soldier, Chapter 3, Section XI - "On Standards Within the Army"

The demonstration of military power planned by Cathak was something only the greatest of empires could manage; for while thousands fought and died in the war against the Bull of North, House Cathak could without interference or fear, organise a grand military exercise to demonstrate the Realm's might to the Northern Threshold.

Organised and overseen by the Cathak matriarch herself, the heart of the exercise was the Cathak's much storied 6th Legion, accompanied by a menagerie of less prestigious troops from other Houses. Despite the intended scale, it was the kind of event that was routine for House Cathak. As a result, nobody was surprised when a few small issues arose. Wagon trains of supplies were never sent, or were sent too late. Angry locals disrupted preparations, requiring horses to be rounded up after being let out of stables, or brawling with soldiers who had snuck off to local watering holes. In any military operation, these things were inevitable, and a canny general could anticipate them and adapt to them.

But when those problems became almost endemic, eyebrows had to be raised. The very experience that caused Uriza to shrug off the minor issues alerted her—and the officers of the Legion—that something more was going on behind the scenes. Had it not been for the legion that House V'Neef had sent to demonstrate their commitment to House Cathak's interests, with a supply train and organisation flush with the profits of the Merchant Fleet, the exercise may very well have turned into a disaster.

Thousands flocked to the streets to witness the Realm's forces march in perfect order, never knowing how close they had come to witnessing instead, an embarrassing show of internal disorder and disorganisation. Spies and diplomats from all across the satrapies came home with grim faces and bitter sighs; the Realm maintained its stranglehold yet.

Many Coloured Dragon's Wings

What was Nellens? A mongrel House, barely worth the scorn of their betters, according to countless "wits" across the Dynasty. But to the peasant in their field, the merchant in their office, a Great House was a Great House, a force of incomparable might and wealth.

To the Great Houses who contributed to it, the parade that snaked its ways through Juche was a clear demonstration of their superiority to House Nellens. Oh, Nellens' troops lead the vanguard, and brought up the rear—but between those paltry offerings were a full five Legions, not a single one carrying the mons of Nellens on their banner. Two from Sesus, sneering at the house that claimed their ancient grandsire's name out of a whim of the Empress. One from Ragara, proud and glittering. One from Cathak, disciplined and experienced. Even Cynis had sent their renowned "Deeproot" Legion, resplendent in their uniforms and perfect in their parade formation.

Certainly, the Dynasts could sneer, as they always had. But Nellens had lifted their hand, and five Legions had appeared at their announcement, marching through their lands in perfect order, and the banner of Nellens hung both ahead and behind them. To the peasant in their field, to the merchant in their office, they saw in Nellens a House as great and terrible as any other.

The New Deliberative

As RY768 dawned and the worthies of the Realm were presented with the ever-growing list of issues facing their glorious empire, one truth became so apparent as to be undeniable; the Realm needed an Empress. Quite aside from questions of legitimacy or moral authority, on a strictly procedural basis the position needed to be filled. Conflicts of jurisdiction within the Thousand Scales, judgement of serious crimes by the social elite, the administration and redistribution of satrapies - all of these and more were powers reserved solely for the Throne, and without an Empress to assume command, each was as a piece of grit in the mechanisms of state, threatening to bring the whole thing grinding to a halt.

To appoint a new Empress was no simple task, yet the times did not allow for sloth - and so a clique of senators and their backers produced something resembling a solution. The Empress had trusted the Deliberative to manage whole swathes of her Realm while she yet reigned, consulted with the august senators repeatedly and given their words much consideration - surely, then, they could be trusted as a collective to wield such vital authority in her absence?

Somewhat to the surprise of many, the notion proved exceedingly popular, and throughout the legislative session several substantive reforms were passed in pursuit of this goal.

First was the question of the budget. Concerned with the possibility of financial corruption and the subsequent loss of state capacity, senators from House Cathak introduced a bill aimed at granting sweeping new powers and authority to the Empress' Exchequer, Bal Keraz. Empowered not just to distribute funds and organise the budget, but also to oversee the collection of tax from across the Realm and levy harsh punishments on those who dared to interfere with the payments, the hoary old bureaucrat became at a stroke one of the single most powerful individuals in the entire Realm, and he was not shy in using his authority to the utmost. Dynasts and patricians from virtually every House were investigated, arrested and punished, often in painful and humiliatingly public fashion, while whole sections of the bureaucracy were purged and reformed according to the Exchequer's vision.

By year's end, Bal Keraz had narrowly avoided over a dozen separate assassination attempts (often by grace of plainclothes bodyguards from House Cathak)… but the Realm's economy was stable once more, and funding resumed to all the various organs of state.


Second was the question of legal authority - with the Empress absent, there was technically no single individual or body within the Realm with the authority to punish members of the Dynasty for the most severe crimes such as treason or sedition. The solution that was settled on was to empower the Empress' Own Court, previously granted authority over appeals made by Exalted of all origins against serious crimes.

When the issue was raised in the Deliberative, only House Peleps stood openly opposed, disdaining such a presumptuous measure to lay claim to the Empress' legal authority. Their opposition was not enough to kill the measure, only to remove them from the contest to determine who took up a position on the court. After furious negotiations and favour trading, the Court was established and suitably empowered through Deliberative mandate. Judges from Houses Ragara, Nellens and Cynis were selected to stand on the panel, though as of yet there were no cases to be put before them.


Thirdly, there was the notion of expanded remits for the Houses. Long had the Realm accorded its dynasts with great authority and exclusive rights to better aid in the administration and righteous rule of Creation, and now several sought to continue that tradition even in the absence of the one who had originally granted it to them.

House Ledaal's attempt at securing blanket authorisation to strike against the Anathema wherever they may arise was, by and large, rendered dead in the water. Only the representatives of House Morori saw fit to campaign for the motion, a discrepancy that saw many amusing jests made in the halls of power, while considerable opposition was brought forth from many different quarters. It wasn't that the powers that be did not trust House Ledaal with such sweeping authority, of course - merely that they did not see any need to surrender the powers that they, through the Deliberative, were so recently coming to enjoy.

House Kerem's efforts, by contrast, were far more successful - the Matriarchs of Houses Kerem and Viper led the charge, while support of various kinds was offered from numerous quarters and no significant voices stood in opposition. Soon the House was granted its charter, officially licensed to perform many of the functions of the All Seeing Eye so long as they reported their findings to the Deliberative, and the shadows gained a new and inquisitive warden.

Bittern

Celesa looked down from a shaded window into Bittern. Not in the Governor's Palace, that was far too distant from the action on its high hill. This was a townhouse owned by a- well, the important part was, It let her see the city clearly. Crowds filled the streets, as normal, but instead of the usual teeming mass of disorganized civilians shopping, working, begging, she was treated to a line of protests. Handmade signs, sigils of unity, and stoic faces. General strike. A door behind her opened and closed, a pair of feet taking the stairs two at a time to the third floor office where she watched.

"Kindling Bloom," she said without turning around. "Your report?" She feels more than hears his knee hit the ground.

"Matriarch. I've collected the information you asked for. The full writeup is in my bag, but for alacrity- The leaders of the strikes are a number of mortal skilled professionals from the Western satrapies, and their closest associates are mostly foreign born or first generation immigrant labourers. Though they count a great number of Realm-born mortals among them, these all appear to have joined due to the former's charismatic rhetoric and organization. They claim the The House is incapable of paying the wages they demand for their skilled labour on the proposed excavation projects, and have brought work in much of the city to a halt until various concessions on labour conditions can be met. So they claim, at least. Their true masters, with evidence pointing to Skullstone, no doubt have some other nefarious motivations."

"Very good. Keep looking into the backers and instigators. I will be going down to the leaders here."

"Matriarch?!? These treasonous dogs don't deserve the honour of your blade!"

Celesa sighed. "I'm not going down there to kill them, Bloom. As you say, they are but workmen- they haven't earned such glory, and like it or not, good deaths do depend on good work behind the lines. if you die because you had no weapon, because you had angered the men who make them, is that a good death?"

"I-"

"No. No, it is not. I am going to talk to them. Our project only benefits from the mortals and Slow Ones believing that The House acts in their interest. Whether we do or not is less important, but they must believe it to be so. Here are the mortals- they can be shown the path, if one is only patient with their Slowness."

---

"It is said that one of the Exalted is worth a thousand mortals. And here I see over one thousand mortals. To join together to safeguard yourself from a greater threat is the way of the realm, and commendable. But you must grow if you wish to truly succeed. Others than I would not be so benevolent. Even now in other provinces, across the realm, across the seas, there are those who are not protected from the depredations of the mighty and wicked. The people of Skullstone languish under the rule of the Anathemic Dead, sure that their only option is service! You would protect your fellows from penury- this is commendable. But your fellow from across the bay, across the Isle, across the great sea, is not so protected. Do her fellows stand with her? No! If you would be virtuous, you must protect her as well! If you would be courageous, join hands with your sisters! If you would see the world safe, go forth, and spread! Your Matrician wills it!"

-Peleps Celesa's "One Thousand Mortals" Speech to the Workmen, summarized, embellished, and published in the Bittern Daily Orator alongside grants of the guilds' demanded concessions

---

MISSION REPORT:
IMMEDIATE FAILURE, LONG TERM SUCCESS?
Attempts at riling up labour unrest in Bittern suborned by local leadership
Long term ramifications: subordinate trade associations within Bittern cowed by seeming benevolence from local leadership. Potential for future action elsewhere on isle as sympathizers and organizers disperse
Complication: trade guild membership now convinced of Peleps' beneficence

Your loyal servant


Operation Sea Wall

The seeds of rebellion in Wavecrest were not laid in a day. It began quietly, with the withdrawal of the Legions, and the sickening sliver of doubt that the Realm would abandon them entirely rather than fight a war for their protection if it came to it. It festered with the increased tribute demands and every rumor of tension and turmoil on the Blessed Isles, as nobles and merchant houses that had once grown fat and happy supplying the Realm began to chafe. It took root quietly, in tavern halls and ship hulls, as many wondered if they would be better if they put the vast flow of tribute that flowed east to their own purposes, for their own defense, rather than hiding behind the Realm's skirts.

The movement only served to grow more brazen and outspoken in recent years, as many became comfortable with voicing their thoughts publicly. More radical factions grew, giving the once formless mass of discontent organization and leadership. Some developed naturally, though most were in fact the work of House Peleps. Thoughts that hid in the hearts and minds of men, but never acted upon, could not be punished. Only by enticing them out into the light of day could they be truly crushed.

The tension was greatest in Seahaven, a bundled mass of dry kindling below a volcano. The first spark came when a Peleps sailor was stabbed to death outside of a tavern, their body left from their gulls by their assailants for the morning dockworkers to find. The second when a warehouse on the wharfs that stored supplies for the local Peleps garrison burned to the ground in the dead of night. Peleps had the justification they were looking for, and quickly leaned on the Feathered One to declare a curfew over the city as they began preparing to unravel the various radical cells they had created. That was when the third match struck. Shamsan, a well-known merchant captain, married to one of the princesses of the Kaiko merchant clan was caught breaking curfew and beaten within an inch of his life and detained for three days before eventual release. The Kaiko were furious, and despite their history as stalwart supporters of House Peleps demanded that the marines that had assaulted him be punished.

Then Shamsa, along with his wife, disappeared. Most of the servants in his home were killed, though one young girl survived, and told the story of women in House Peleps spiriting away her master in the dead of night, never to be seen again. This was the match that finally set the tinder box alight, as many of the nobility demanded that the popular captain be released and various dock workers rioted in support. House Peleps, left confused and rudderless as they had not ordered the arrest, could not release someone they didn't have in their custody and rather than admit fault doubled down. Riots erupted throughout the entire city, and a mob stormed the Realm Embassy, and though the ambassador managed to escape many of her staff were captured and sacrificed to volcanos.

The Feathered One demanded the Realm restore order, and a desperate House Peleps ordered every available marine into the city to restore order by any means necessary. What followed was a massacre, hundreds died by the blades of the Realm and thousands more died when a fire erupted into packed city streets and ancient trees that had stood for centuries and could not be extinguished for two days.

Rumors and wild speculation spread through Wavecrest, as sea captains who had only managed to glimpse the glow of the fire over the horizon or had desperately set sail in the chaos. Some claimed House Peleps had launched a coup, killing the Feathered One and placing the city under martial law. Others said the Azurites had launched a full scale invasion and sacked the city. Others claimed a massive volcanic eruption had engulfed the entire city, a sign of the Gods displeasure.

Fear and uncertainty gripped the entire archipelago as the situation spiralled out of control. Rioting and looting was common in many cities throughout Wavecrest, as civil order began to fray. Perhaps the worst hit was Starfall, where raiding from the Azurites had left the local Peleps garrison on edge and wary. Worsened by the fact the local Peleps admiral was new to her post, promoted for gallantry against the Lintha in the South-west after her predecessor had retired due to age. When riots began amongst the dockworkers she demanded the local Wavecrest naval forces assist her in dispersing them. The Wavecrest captain, unsure what exactly was happening, refused. At which point the Peleps officer ordered him detained. A rumor then quickly spread amongst the Wavecrest officers that their captain was to be executed and a mob swarmed the Marines attempting to bring him to the Realm naval base.

Incensed, the Peleps officer ordered the rebellious auxiliaries to be subdued, and the brawl became an outright battle in which several ships were burned to the waterline with their crews still onboard. A terse report of the seditious elements was sent, but a missing character instead gave the impression of widespread support for sedition to the Admiralty. Who moved swiftly to crush what they saw as widespread support for this insurrection they had somehow missed, whereas many in the Wavecrest Guard and naval forces saw this as confirmation that House Peleps was in fact performing a coup and took up arms against it.

A full-blown rebellion followed, with bloodshed in the streets as House Peleps desperately tried to maintain some form of order. The bloody actions against Skullstone only served to inflame it further, as many now saw the situation had escalated to the point where their only hope of survival was the wholesale ejection of the Realm from Wavecrest or else they and their families would die to the Realm retribution.

The Benevolent And Verdant Palm of Sextes Jylis

Yet again, Nellens raised the banner. The least of the Great Houses (as some would say) called for a grand construction - a network of granaries across the Blessed Isle, in alliance with the Immaculate Order, to ensure that farmers got their proper reward in years when their harvests were abundant, and to ease the specter of famine in years when harvests were lean.

Yet again, Nellens raised the banner. Yet again (some of) the Great in their manses quietly scoffed. Yet again, many of them opened their purses and sent our their work-crews and answered the call anyway... and in the eyes of the peasantry, yet again, Nellens raised the banner... and the power of a Great House was revealed in tangible, visible change.

Tepet did not scoff. The other Houses that contributed, greater and lesser, did so for the favor of the immaculates, or some vague sense of noblesse oblige, or to garner a bit of additional influence for themselves. Their motives were distant. For Tepet, with its remnant armies of widows and orphans, it was a very personal thing indeed, and they dug deep into their treasuries - the least of the Great Houses in alliance with the cripple. Still, even crippled... well, a crippled Great House is still a Great House, and their treasury still a mighty thing.

Now, the task is not yet done. The grandiose dreamers of House Nellens did not limit themselves to the sort of task that could be finished in a single year, even with the powers at their disposal. Still. Even so. Even half-built, granaries all across the Blessed Isle now stand, testament to the power of House Nellens, and very physical promise of the benefits to come with their completion.

The Gold Roads

Where Nellens led the charge, Ragara opened the way. The Realm already benefitted from public infrastructure and a transport network to kindle envy in the heart of any Threshold potentate, the imperishable and enchanted stones of the Great Coast Road most notably - but if there was one thing that the Imperial Bank understood, it was that there was always room for more. More roads, more bridges, more labour contracts waystation supply runs. A whole network of upgraded and future-proofed infrastructure, stretching from one coast to the other, and all of it bearing the Ragara mon. Yes, this was a dream worth pursuing.

This did not, however, mean it was a dream that Ragara had any great intention of paying for themselves. They had not become the richest House in Creation by spending frivolously - no, this was a time for partners, for collaborators, for investors. It just had to be presented the correct way.

Mnemon architects? A chance to demonstrate their superior craftsmanship. Peleps engineers? Repayment in kind for aid in the Bittern excavations. Tepet jade mines? A reliable source of work as toll-takers and tavern-keepers for injured veterans. Sesus' foreign partners and supply contacts? Best not to discuss it. In his manse atop the long stairs outside Corrin, Ragara Banoba studied the plans and the credit agreements, and he smiled.

Radimel's Seat

"Oh, you have no idea how good it feels to see my home again. I was a young lady when those moon-touched demons - may the Empress burn their souls for eternity - broke the old manses and cursed the land to flames, and I was beginning to think my own daughter would have nothing but an old woman's stories to inherit when the Dragons call me to my next life. Certainly we've had no wealth and little future, just another set of refugees able to contribute brute labour for as long as she has been alive... but no longer! No longer, indeed."

"Truly, the Lady Mnemon is her mother's daughter. Pious, diligent, and responsible, a true Prince of the Earth, just like in the stories that old monk used to tell me. I wonder where he is now... hm? Oh, yes, forgive me dear. The mind tends to wander at my age. Like I was saying, it seems hard to imagine a better heiress for the Throne than Lady Mnemon - and it seems I am not the only one to think so! So many mons on those workers, and on the soldiers who protected them... Peleps, Cynis, Cathak... more that I don't even recognise! Thusenn, you say? And Amanthi? Well, I can't claim to know them, but they have demonstrated their virtue here today, sure as the mountain."

"They tell me the land is safe again now. All that remains is to rebuild what was lost to the burning years, and that shouldn't take more than a year or so. I will live in my mother's house again before I die, and that is a comfort I cannot even begin to express. All praise to Lady Mnemon! All praise to the Princes of the Earth!"

Free Enterprise

"Corruption? I'm afraid I must submit to the chamber the evident notion that my honourable peer does not know the meaning of the words he speaks - though perhaps that is to be expected, given his night time excursions at the Spiral Academy during time that wiser souls spent studying. Only to be expected from a Nellens, I suppose, and… my good boy, if you cannot control yourself you will need to be removed from the chamber, and I don't imagine your House will be terribly pleased by that, now will they?"

"Very good. Now, allow me to educate you, as your tutors so clearly failed to do so. There is an order to this world, a perfected hierarchy that governs the path to enlightenment. In service of that order, our Glorious Realm has taken on the stewardship of Creation at large - how, then, can it be corruption to allow our cousins from House Cynis to take the lead in elevating the barbarians of the north east to something resembling civilisation? And as the righteous are rewarded in this life and the next, so too are those who invest in our cousins' great works rewarded in their turn."

"My own House's bill, placed before us for consideration today, is an extension of that same principle. There is nothing so disgraceful as a steward who sabotages her charge, and I think we can all agree that permitting foreign goods and foreign coin into our Realm without proper scrutiny is nothing less! Those who wish to deal honestly with our merchants will find it no burden to undertake the necessary paperwork, while those who merely used our largesse to slide a knife into our ribs will find themselves far more hard pressed. This is not only sensible, it is righteous!"

"Thank you, honoured peers. I yield the floor… hopefully to one with a basic grasp of elementary linguistics…"

• Senator Ragara Mileni, later caught in bed with Nellens Dogora (the same peer she was criticising)

When word of the authorisation came down, House Cynis barely paused long enough to celebrate. Within weeks, great treasure ships and bulk transports were plying the calm waters of the Inner Sea en route to ports and anchorages across the North-East, while barbarian halls and petty courts played host to Cynis emissaries by the hundred. Yet for all their preparations, the sheer hunger demonstrated by their other Houses still nearly flooded the whole operation.

A major deployment of the Earth Fleet's famed pirate-hunters ensured the expedition's safety, and surely Cynis would not object to assisting Peleps in constructing forward operating bases for the Navy across the region in exchange? Ragara had thousands of experienced auditors and scribes ready to assist the hapless locals in assessing a proper value for their goods, and expected nothing in return but that Cynis join them in riding the economic tidal wave to new heights. Nellens had local contacts and satrapial loans all set up ready to act as collateral, their investment helmed by the Matriarch herself, and had a keen eye for humble goods like furs and silver. Even the lesser Houses got involved - Kerem auditors, Viper alchemists, Kenzho middlemen (led by its matriarch, no less)... on and on it went.

Cynis Belar Ceriec permitted himself to wonder, in his brief moments of free time, if this was why the Empress had never allowed one House to take up such a position as this. Then he took another pinch of stimulants and got back to work.

Such a massive movement of lives and material could not help but draw a response, and soon rumours and reports were flooding into the offices of Matriarchs across the Realm. The Shadow Fang Vanguard, a regional alliance of bestial warlords, rogue spirits, outcaste Exalted and Lunar Anathema, had begun mobilising their forces in response to what seemed like news of an impending invasion of their core territories.

My noble patron, I've attached the broadsheet for your perusal, but this is a bunch of aggrandizing hogwash paid for with Mnemon coin, much like the temple itself. Mnemon and her minion houses - Thusenn and Amathi might claim otherwise, but their actions speak loudly - stamped this temple out of the ground in record time and while the geomancy really is immaculate it is an incredibly unsubtle monument to Mnemon's claim to the Throne. Would not recommend visiting; if you've been to Mnemon-Darjilis you've seen all of what you'd see up there, gorgeous architecture and all, but you'll save yourself a week's worth of travel uphill.
- yr. obdt. svt., Jade Plum Tree


-/-

An Immaculate Revival Across Calin

Beautiful Calin! Resplendent Calin! Redoubtable Calin! Land of masks, land of traditions! What could anyone ask of Calin in this day and age?

Some demand masks. Others, wine. Culture, and art, and the shadow-plays of the Great Game.

But there are some who demand something else. They are the steadfast, the loyal, the true, and above all else the daughters of Pale Satrapy, those Calinti who never abandoned the beneficent mantle of the Dynasty. Hearken unto their words, for they demand neither skill at arms nor the intricate play of politics.

For it is by the hand of Kenzho Namir that there is a call both new and old, a call to faith, a call to piety, a call to the Perfected Hierarchy of the Immaculate Order. Hearken, the call goes to peasant and patrician, and know the noble truths.

Itinerant monks travel to the villages, day in, day out, for all the weeks of all Creation's fifteen months, and many a time do the lively debates between the learned masters of the orthodox and Calinti sects enliven village squares.

But there is more than that: From far and wide come goods bearing the mark of House Kenzho to the townships and the cities, guarded by pious hands and keen eyes. Hearken, they say, and know that those who bear the Blood of Dragons have not forgotten you. Celebrate the glory of the harvest with us and for us, for such is the Perfected Hierarchy.

What can a peasant say, when their elect and Exalted masters remember the obligations the Perfected Hierarchy demands of them? What can a peasant say but thank you, noble master, may your bloodline rule for a thousand years?

What can the talented and the skilled say under such circumstances but thank you, noble Master, I would serve your line for a life time, and my family beyond that?

What can the pious do but make it a Harvest Festival not seen in centuries, where for a few days leisure and ease replaces the harsh demands of labour? What can good souls do, in such days, but know the truth of the Perfected Hierarchy?

For House Kenzho has exemplified it all, our dear provincial cousins, and the people under them have rejoiced for it. Perhaps there is some wisdom found in the bucolic simplicity of their lifestyle.

- Travelogue of Cynis Falen Ganzorig, publ. by the Mangrove-and-Seagrass Press, RY 768

"There is, I think, no trade more pious than that of the sculptor. To take the very stones of the earth, the gift that Pasiap has bestowed upon us, and guide them into new and more fitting shapes? To forge not just a single day's memorial, but a legacy that will endure as long as the mountains themselves? The very process is an act of devotion to the dragons and their teachings, and through such devotion it serves as a reminder of the proper order of the world, which we as Princes are called upon to uphold."

"If you need an example of such virtue to inspire you, then you need look no further than the Great Lady Mnemon, eldest daughter of our beloved Empress. See how she commands the earth to rise with a wave of her hand, how she masters the teachings of Pasiap in strengthening her own body, how she shapes and cultivates the family that looks to her as mother and matriarch."

"What is good for the family is good for the Realm - this, indeed, is the principle upon which our Empress built her Dynasty. She was mother to us all, in some ways literal and others figurative, and one need only look at what her children have achieved to see the worth of her blood and her teachings. So too must any who seek to succeed her demonstrate their virtue in like manner, strengthening us all through wise and pious leadership. Through the trade of sculpture, we come to understand this most fundamental of truths."

"Now, let us take up our tools and begin. First, you must study the stone, identify its shape and character…"

• Excerpt from speech given by Thusenn Aloai, guest lecturer at the Balustrade of Glorious Harmony

"It is the privilege and burden of the Exalted to serve as stewards for Creation; to lead the mortal races and our less enlightened brethren with wisdom and foresight. A worthy leader will see her charges flourish like flowers beneath the hands of an attentive gardener, while a foolish one will squander such potential and see only ruin and squalor as a result."

"But what makes a worthy leader? There are a hundred virtues to consider, of course, but I contend that first among them is a keen eye and a sense of empathy. One must truly understand one's charges in order to get the best out of them - must know their strengths and weaknesses, their focus and their foibles, must be able to predict which methods they will respond well to and which will see their spirit curdle like old milk. A mistake in sculpting can be repaired with time and effort; a mistake in rearing a child lingers until their dying day."

"The true test of a sorcerer lies in her ability to understand that this truth applies to more than mortal charges. A demon does not think like a person, does not require the same consideration or respond to the same incentives, but they have their own needs and desires, and those who can perceive these levers can understand and control them likewise. An elemental is likewise shaped by the principle of Creation which they embody, but a heartflame and a garda bird cannot be treated the same with any hope of success."

"Now, let us take up our tools and begin. Copying the diagram precisely, trace the outline of your summoning circle upon the ground…"

• Excerpt from a speech given by Amanthi Pearl-of-Wisdom, sorcerer and project lead

"Urgh. Have you ever had the dubious pleasure of listening to one of our exalted cousins giving a speech? They're all so tiresome and unimaginative. Burden of rulership this, natural order that, 'the diligent precepts say' and so on and so forth. Their souls burn with power, their blood calls on them to rule, and what do they do? They wrap themselves in chains of jade and bray like donkeys, convinced that it makes them virtuous."

"You want to know what the essence of rulership is? It is power. The ability to speak a word and see the world itself bend to your will, all former forms and allegiances forgotten. Forget the philosophy, the self-righteous justifications, the bleating appeals to doctrine and dogma. Power justifies itself. I wished the world to be thus, and so it is. I wished to look upon my domain and see my glory reflected back at me, and so it was. I wished the gods themselves to bind themselves to my cause, to make my city beautiful, to build a monument to Simendor's glory that will outshine anything the world can see, and by my will and by my power the world has made it so."

"We are Princes of the Earth, and I for one intend to act like it."

• Private commentary by Simendor Aksaja, Lady of Chalan

My Dear Cousin

Forgive the lateness of my reply, but it has taken me until now to fully recover in body and wit from the festivities. I must say, the Reveller's Ark truly lives up to its name - never have I experienced such delights, and to tell the truth, it has been some time since I have even heard of an event that exceeded it. To win a ticket was a stroke of true fortune, and to hear that you had declined to attend a terrible heartbreak.

You should have been there, Amira! The concoctions on offer were truly astounding in their potency and variety, the musicians were first class, the fireworks bright enough to wake the dead, and as for the company - well, let us just say that I had my pick of the most obliging boys, many of whom benefitting from enough stimulants to rival a true dragon's child in 'potency'. House Viper are a strange lot, but when they throw a party, they settle for nothing except the best.

And yes, if you must know, the guest list was suitably burnished. There were few from the Greater Houses - though I did see a few strapping young fellows from House Ragara enjoying themselves - but this was I think always intended to be a celebration for the patriciate and our threshold cousins. The matriarchs of Thusenn and Simendor were there, as well as the oldest child of the Kerem - to say nothing of our generous hosts. They were suitably feted, of course, and I expect they managed any number of more private negotiations out of view. Whatever happens in the next few years, I expect something that was talked about tonight will play a significant role.

In any case, I will be visiting next week as planned, so we can talk more then.

Your Cousin
Rose Amaryllis

The Tepet come before the Deliberative beaten, but unbowed. Five years ago, we set forth at the command of the Empress to hunt the Bull of the North. Four years ago, we were driven back, and dealt grievous wounds.

We were dealt grievous wounds, but we are not yet dead.

House Tepet still stands, with blood in our veins, stone in our bones, breath in our lungs, life in our limbs, and fire in our hearts. We have a mission from the hand of the Empress and we do not intend to let it fail by cowardice. We have had four years to catch our breath, to lick our wounds, and to recover what we could. We have had four years, and we can wait no longer. House Tepet will march against the Bull of the North this year. If the Dragons are with us, we will drive him back, corner him, and kill him. If they are not, we will die. Either way, we will be done with the stench of failure.

Senators of the Deliberative, I do not come to ask for your permission. We have permission from the hand of the Empress herself. I do not come to beg for your assistance, though we of course welcome any who would wish to join us in this Hunt. I come merely to ask your formal blessings on this endeavor, that certain unfortunate misunderstandings might be avoided. Tepet will march regardless. We can do naught else.

---Tepet Adana, speaking before the Greater Chamber. She received moderate applause (and a small amount of immoderate applause from a few very enthusiastic Nellens) but no objections. Others came to speak in support, including a series of short but moving sermons by a set of five immaculate monks. None chose to speak against. The Resolution of Formal Support and Reaffirmation was moved, seconded, and carried by unanimous consent within the day.


For centuries the Realm and the Silver Pact have warred mercilessly over the Caul, an island sacred to both sides. The Caul is a place where the march of time has, in some ways, been suspended; where the ravages wrought by the fall of the First Age and the march of the Fair Folk were not complete. It is a land of secret power, of wild demesnes, and of five ancient shrines where the Five Elemental Dragons were said to have once cloistered, and where the Silver Lady walked Creation hand in hand with Gaia in a paradise made to contain them. When the Empress disappeared and the legions were partitioned among the Great Houses, the barbarian hosts of the Silver Pact were swift to take advantage, rising up out of their hidden places to seize all but one of the shrine-cities in a storm of violence and bloodshed. All save Faxai.

Faxai, the Walled City! First step upon the pilgrim's road, the primordial nest of Pasiap. Countless peoples mingle on Faxai's broad plazas and within its low stone buildings. The city is a gateway to the fabulous wealth of the West and Southwest. Merchants come from as far as Port Calin or the White Sea to procure spices and incense, gemstones and jade, ivory tusks as large as a man, tamed claw striders, petrified demon eyes, sapient crystals and other treasures. Now, at the bidding of House Cathak, the city plays host to a great gathering of forces, and its many walls resound with the tramp of armoured boots and the echoing voices of roaring dragon-blooded officers.

Here are work-crews from Myion, clearing out foliage that might shelter incoming forces and digging new ditches to spoil their charges. Above them, sorcerer-engineers from House Ragara direct legionary detachments to repair and reinforce the millennia-old enchanted walls. Generals of the Cathak legions hold strategy meetings in their new barracks, while reinforced patrols drawn from the most vicious of the Sesus military launch punitive raids against nearby villages suspected of helping their enemies, receiving supply and reinforcements from convoys escorted by the Fire Fleet. Meanwhile, quartermasters counted funds and manpower allocated to the support by over a dozen other Houses and private interests, seeking to make sense of it all. And everywhere, the monks of the Immaculate Order held services and spoke openly of the coming crusade - a war to reclaim what was lost.

For surely, that was what the Houses intended. Surely, they had not come solely to bulk out the defences and then depart once more. Surely, they were not so easily satisfied, so limited in their engagements, so… impious.

Surely.

Ledaal Kurim brought her hammer down, breathing deeply of the smell of the forge. It smelled like hard work, and solid results, and victory. Admittedly, it was not a grand victory, or hard-fought. The process of standing up the Arjuf House Armories had involved time, effort, and organization, but it had never really been in doubt. At the same time, her home now had another major industry to bring purpose to its people, and the ever-harried artisan guilds had an institution with some real throughput available to take some of the load off their shoulders. Oh, the Armories would never be able to match them for quality, but that was hardly the point. The Armories would be good enough, and "good enough and lots of it" was exactly what the armies of House Ledaal were going to need. So - a small victory, and one that would firm up the foundations for larger victories to come in the future.

---

Thusenn Seldra received word of her first small shipment with a delighted smile. It was just like she'd told the other girls at her salon. She'd invested a bit of money here, a bit of expertise there, and in return she was going to draw a dividend of weaponry to help improve her house's embarrassingly poor military presence. She really was thankful to House Ledaal for the opportunity. Lovely people, the Ledaal. They were just so devout, and so dedicated, and their efforts had allowed for some wonderfully advantageous deals. Lovely people.

---

The word came in with the morning briefing. The Ledaal had completed their new armories, and brought them up to full production. Great. Just great. By itself? It didn't seem such a terrible thing. Why shouldn't House Ledaal invest in the industry of the Blessed Isle? There were a great many similar investments in industry and infrastructure going on all over the place, to general acclaim. The wider view painted an uglier picture, though. The brutal crackdown that had soured relations with much of the West, the abortive attempt to get the Deliberative to just hand over military authority to the Immaculates... it painted a picture. It painted a picture of a House Ledaal that was lunging against the chain, so eager to go to war against the enemy that they were willing to discard all manner of restraint. This, then, was the House Ledaal that had just dramatically increased its ability to produce weaponry in large quantities.

Well. Cynis Belar Ceriec sighed, took another pinch of stimulants, and moved on to the next issue - the latest reports coming in of the Lunar Anathema Ketzepah Narrow-Ways, leading a rebellion that would be in a position to threaten some of his House's most precious southern holdings. His own, and that of House Ledaal, a fact that had gone some way towards justifying his own investments in the Shadow Crusade's latest venture.

If there was one thing that could be said for House Cynis, after all, it was that they made even the oddest bedfellows feel welcome.


The tribesfolk of the Tarpan Wastes had always been a proud sort, the descendants of those unwilling to accept the Scarlet Empress's poisoned generosity. For that pride, they have suffered, scrounging for resources amidst a barren plain while their traitorous cousins lie in luxury. The military might of the House of Bells loomed over the Wastes like an oncoming storm, far away but ever-present, while the riches of Lord's Crossing lay just out of reach. But now the Empress was gone, and Tasu of the Wastes had risen from the heart of Ashara, and the Tarpan had flocked to her banner. Now was the time for the Tarpan to carve out a better life for themselves and their kinfolk, no matter the cost.

How they got from that to this, Tasu thought idly, sitting next to Ledaal Vikat and wiping the blood off of her Tepet-forged Direlance, she wasn't quite sure.

It had started simple enough, an audience with a representative of a Great House and an uneasy peace. House Ledaal were many things, few of them flattering, but rarely liars. That, and the bribes, blackmail, and concessions that Ledaal Vikat had brought with her were enough for the Tarpan to at least consider putting down their blades. It was simple, the demon-blooded Exalt smirked, annoyingly charming. The Tarpan were warriors, and good ones at that. In a time like this, with enemies across the Isle and Anathema across the threshold, good warriors were a valuable commodity. They were far better served leveraging their inherent worth into a better life than striking at the Realm and getting cut down by the Legions.

And what would happen to the Tarpan once there were no more enemies to fight? Tasu asked, raising an eyebrow as she glanced over the dossiers she'd received from House Tepet days earlier. Were they to retreat meekly back to the wastes, only valued when the Realm deigned to use them? At that, Vikat only blinked, honestly confused. After all, if there was one truth Ledaal knew well, it was this: There were always more enemies.

Tasu nodded, considering for a moment. Then how would Vikat feel about proving it? Tepet scouts had seen the Sesus "Sirroco" Legion stalking through Seven Stars, armed to the teeth. There was only one foe worth the name in the area, and Vikat was sitting across from her. If House Ledaal was serious about this partnership, then Tasu could use some aid springing her own trap.

Ledaal Vikat's answer was less a smile and more a baring of teeth.

They laid their ambush two weeks later, Ledaal house guards hidden in the rocks alongside Tarpan tribesfolk, watching from the cliff faces as the Sirocco Legion passed through a canyon. The first sign of an assault was bound Light Spirits thrown into the midst of the convoy, exploding in plumes of light that dizzied the senses and shook the spirit. The next was two Dragon-Blooded leaping down from the cliffs.

As their followers raced after them, Tasu of the Wastes and Ledaal Vikat reaped a bloody toll amongst the Sesus that had come here to push the Tarpan back into subjugation, Reaper Daiklaive and Grand Direlance singing in harmony. The two made a deadly pair, Tasu scattering entire divisions with sweeping strokes of her spear, while Vikat took the heads of any champions foolish enough to stand in their way.

There, in the bloody sands of Seven Stars, cleaning her Direlance as the remnants of the Sesus slunk back into the desert, Tasu of the Wastes nodded to herself. This seemed like a much better arrangement.

A Dynastic Tradition

From a certain perspective, the problems facing House Cynis in RY 768 were almost inevitable. No one had envisaged a crisis like an empty throne, and so nobody had prepared for it; indeed, those few who had taken steps in that direction had drawn the justifiable ire of an Empress who did not care to see her descendents drawing plans based on her abdication. Consequently, what armed forces the House could command were specialised formations intended to fulfil its actual, day-to-day needs - to secure prosperous satrapies against the threat of rebellion, and to keep the vast quantities of human chattel necessary for the House's economic dominance placid and obedient. When the time came to divide the Legions and replace the former officers with those that could be trusted to fight in Cynis' interests, it was to these formations that the House turned to fill out the rank.

Each step was explicable, predictable and quite possibly unavoidable, and the end result was still a disaster - fully one third of House Cynis' legions, the troops that they would be entirely reliant upon as and when the succession crisis turned outwardly violent, was in essence little more than an undisciplined pack of murderous thugs more suited to terrorising slaves than fighting in a line of battle. Something would have to be done, and if that meant pulling the Legion back to its barracks for a head-to-toe overhaul, then that was what would be done.

The plan had its detractors, of course, for there were those within the House who either saw no issue with a legion specialised in such dirty but necessary work or who had more political reasons to oppose Ceriec's initiative, but when the balance was weighed they clearly had nowhere near the accumulated favours, influence and polished rhetoric to swing the day. Their most valuable card, the presence of escaped slaves and a nascent rebellion in the hills and caverns of Dragon's Blanket that surely required the Heartwood Legion to address as they were, was countered by the intervention of House Sesus, which dispatched a legion of their own to oversee the hunt alongside paramilitary units from Houses great and small, many of whom went home with whole coffles of new merchandise as a result.

(The horrors of the purge, the broken suffering of those who had imagined themselves free only to be dragged back into chains, the deeds of the Fifth Sesus "Shadow" Legion as they put their vaunted stealth techniques to use - these things did not trouble the Dynasts in their manses. Few of them even felt the desire to make themselves aware of the quiet, sordid details. That was what Cynis was for, after all.)

So it was that the Heartwood Legion was called to task, and a great reform effort enacted, though some thought it closer to a political purge (and not without reason). With consultants from House Cathak, moral hygiene officers from House Ledaal, and intelligence briefings and blackmail portfolios provided with a smile by no less than three different anonymous contributors, the worthies of House Cynis set to cleaning out the barracks. By the end of RY 768, they felt content that they had done their work well.



Gravewardens into Roadwardens

The Morori Gravewardens were an old and storied institution, one of a hundred different minor fighting forces and Shogunate remnants scattered across the Blessed Isle - to say nothing of the countless more within the Satrapies. Such was the way of things for generations; three Great Houses may have held the Legions and a fourth may have held the Navy, but the other institutions of the Realm were by no means defenseless. With the disappearance of the Empress, however, the Great Houses had decided to partition the Legions amongst themselves. Nine Houses held armies, where only four had before, and that opened the door for others following suit.

House Morori was simply the first to take advantage of the precedents their larger brethren had set, citing obscure laws even as they recruited peasants and mercenaries into a force meant to patrol their territory and keep the peace. On paper, it was nothing more than an escalation of existing efforts to guard the crypts that were their empress-given remit. In practice, it wasn't uncommon to see companies bearing the Roadwarden's banner range further afield, 'visiting' Morori farmsteads or 'travelling' their roads. They were smaller than a Legion, of course, unable to muster the same amount of Dragon-Blooded or sorcerous might as the pride of the Realm, but that didn't much matter to the bandits that were crushed or the peasants that saw their gleaming emblems.

The leadership of House Morori and the watching eyes of the other Lesser Houses waited with bated breath for some sort of Imperial sanction, a magistrate politely informing Matriarch Teodorae that her Roadwardens were no longer needed, a letter from the Deliberative, something. And they would keep waiting. Amidst campaigns in the North and West, influence disputes in the East, internal politicking and massive infrastructural projects on the Blessed Isle, things simply… fell through the cracks.

It was a good lesson to learn, for those willing to learn it.