Chapter 6 - EFU: Sands of Intrigue - Rumors, Gossip & Tales of the Desert

[Bearic]

Tammuz 4th, IY 7788



The Well is all activity, now. Spears are sharpened and shields tested for cracks. In homes, through toasts, in furtive embraces in the shady corners of the Well - farewells are spoken. For today is the day that Ephia's Well enters the fray.

It is said that Rennik Colmes, Warmaster of the Heron, has decreed that a force shall be dispatched to offer aid to a beleaguered fortification far to the south.

A voice, crisp and clear, resounds across the Bellows

'Those who march, gather at the Divan.'



Above the Well, the great terrace of the Sultan is awash with activity. The Water-Priests of B'aara are lively in their intonations. Their voices can be heard, deep and sonorous: 'O! B'aara! Mother Most High, weep for thy belov'd dead...'

An Ash-sail in deep Janissary green, bearing the Caliphal numeral 'VI', glides into dock above. Two tiny figures can be seen departing..

Below, about the Pyramid, all eyes look towards the leadership. Those who seek to lend their arms to the day's sport head towards the Pyramid, their countenances grim, yet tempered by a fluttering anticipation..

First Blood. Clanging Bronze.


Tammuz 4th, IY 7788.




While elections, laws and leisure continue onward in Ephia's Well, War has begun. The Office of the Legates and much of the bellows overrun with issue over the new "Accorded Governance" law which sees all those members of the accord, past or present barred from service to the government of Ephia's Well.

The Purple League has managed to secure a powerful majority headed by once more Legate Marcellus Saenus and the once Prelate for Gausim al-Marain, Nasreen Shabani. Gausim al-Marain served a short period before rumors gave way to some reason they may have vanished. Reasons range from being called back to Baz'eel in protest of the upcoming War, needing to see to a sick relative, to being abducted by the tormented below. No one really knows, and it doesn't matter.



War is here, the truth of it cemented violently as if a concussion. Prayers and rites to the Wroth are given in dark depths, in simmering agony. Four names are spread across the Well by Legate Marcellus Saenus. The details of the assault are lost in the fog of anguish. A victory traded for lives of those bright and promising. A Zenithar laments a future that was never to be. A Star Falls. War is here.

Heed me, people of the Well. I bring news from the South. Both of joy and of sorrow. The Battle of the Boundary was victorious. We have won. But, four of our brave people will not return to us. Lift your cups to the heroes of the Battle of the Boundary. Apothar Cosine Mevura, Sergeant Lightdew... Legate Akna Ymir... Recluta Baako Mahmoud. May their bravery never be forgotten. Live and drink.

This is another one of your flights of fancy, isn't it boy? Well.. I don't find it amusing. Get ah- get back to the Tower, on the double. You're needed...

High atop the Eagle's Mount, just beneath the clouds, a terrible display of lights as one man begins to hurl burning fire and scalding ice into the skies.

Faint sobbing, some swear, could be heard above the incessant winds on high.

[Howlando]

Rumors spread of the latest diplomatic mission to Il Modo.

Despite a cold welcome and an uneasy start (it is said that the long-winded Legate Gloamingdaith may have inadvertently offended the Modini with his choice of gifting an old Caliphate amulet and a certain lack of clarity regarding his view of Modini sovereignty), it is reported that the troupe of performers - the "Floating Fantasia" - were a popular & appreciated spectacle.

It is also reported that Legate Gloamingdaith and his advisors succeeded in persuading the Modini to dispatch a representative to attend the Kardesler conference.

But at what price? It is whispered - in tones of shock and amazement - that the Ephians agreed to offer a gift of One Hundred Barrels of Well Water in exchange for this attendance.

Such a huge quantity of sacred waters (representing nearly an entire month's worth of discretionary production) being handed over to slimy eel-merchants and strange Sage-worshippers is widely considered to have been a colossal gamble. Many of the faithful of Ephia's Well are particularly angered by the decision and consider it a huge scandal, whereas others urge caution.... after all, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Perhaps the Legate is right and this distant naval power could in some way be persuaded to offer its help against the threat of the Thousand Clans...?