Exalted: The Bronze Tide Part 3 - Together We Rise

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Click here for Part 1 and Part 2 of this arc.
==Fire and Nightmares on the mountain==
As the ships in the strait between Iliona and Baruntulga backed off from the coast of Chimuul to avoid further fire from Tokumei, the Circle returned to Jasem - the Captain of the City Guards - and the others. The people around seemed to be encouraged by their distance. It was now truly evening and Chimuul was not yet out of danger. As Tokumei gazed down from the walls she saw a force easily able to overpower the defenders meagre militia, however they showed no signs of another attack, Daxi and Hephestia could see that the rear of their camp was active with wagons packing up as if the besiegers were about to break camp.
Rather than let them leave at their leisure, Hephestia had an idea and asked for wood. Taking some from the barricades as well as rope and nets from fishermen and other spare timbers, she began the rapid construction of a potent catapult. Reeds and Daxi fetched supplies whilst Tokumei filled an empty barrel about 1/4 of the way with finely ground powder and coated the exterior in highly flammable pitch. When they had finished they let the Captain pull it and a flaming projectile was hurled through the night. Tokumei's fire elemental struck it before it hit the ground so that it exploded a few paces over the camp scattering flaming pitch over a large area. The screams of the besiegers significantly hastened their retreat and whilst the city was still under some threat, the bulk of the threat had been seen off.
The circle could not stay to consolidate their victory, as the Bay of Baruntulga was under greater threat. But first they wanted to check on the city of Nulbaram, on the southern tip of Baruntulga island. So Hephestia summoned her tornado and they set off over the bay, landing in the jungle overlooking the farmlands bordering the town. Rather than heading down to the city at night unannounced, the circle set up camp and after planting Widow's Steely Resolve in the ground above their small camp fire they went to sleep.
However mid-way through the night, they were roused by a powerful scream. Hephestia sat bolt upright screaming and sobbing as she pointed a finger at Reeds. "You! This is all your fault! You did this to me!", although it was initially hard to make sense of what she was saying. It became clear that she had woken from a powerful and terrible nightmare. The memories of the death of her husband perhaps, awakened by her connection to the naginata that was constructed in the wake of his death and forged to help process his loss. She clearly blamed Reeds for the awakening of her weapon that he did many months ago.
Daxi went over to her and warmly embraced her as only an enormous panda-beastman could. By the fire, Widow's Steely Remorse was glowing a sickly green and no longer seemed to be watching over them. After sobbing and Tokumei offering her some water, she went back to sleep uneasily. Tokumei looked around with her sorcerous sight and saw in the distance, a column of smoke from where a fire had been recently extinguished.
Without the protection of her weapon they divided the rest of the night in to watches. Daxi and Reeds taking the first watch with Tokumei taking the early watch. Daxi and Reeds stayed up for several hours and had a conversation about what he did to Widow's Steely Remorse. He didn't fully understand what he had done, but thought that he was only helping. Tokumei took the final watch and spent the time gently grooming and praising her firebird, for all its bravery and skill as she built up the fire for breakfast periodically feeding the elemental firewood and preparing breakfast out of their supplies from Chimuul.
They went down towards Nulbaram on foot, Hephestia being withdrawn especially from Reeds, whilst Tokumei stayed close to her protectively. As they approached the town they could see that its surrounding farmland was almost completely abandoned, with most of the buildings barricaded. In the distance they could see that the city had a stand-alone sea-wall across the bay, against which were dozens of boats seemingly having been burned to wreckage while at anchor. Going in to the city, the populace of nearly a thousand troops and half as many civilian supporters seemed exhausted, nearly bumping in to people like Daxi with barely a nod of recognition and a mumbled apology. They passed an alleyway where there was a wagon parked; an attempt had been made to clear the blood from it, but against so much blood it was a futile effort.
In the town centre they came across a man signing a document on another mans back who looked up and greeted the Exalts. Introducing himself as Saltbreeze, the mayor of the town and inviting them in to the main town drinking hall which was decorated in all manner of trophies including heads, skulls and notably an arm that seemed to have once belonged to a humanoid crab creature. The mayor related that most of the civilians had indeed evacuated. However people have been going missing since then and fires have been happening, with no culprit to be found. The constant threats had kept anybody from getting a decent night's sleep. Tokumei spoke up and said that they were Exalts from Marrull Vaar, and as they had previous experience with such things and that they would help find the arsonist and murderer.
Tokumei heads down to the harbour and wades in to summon a Tidemare, a type of water elemental in the form of a giant sea horse. She had thought that the arsonist might be a fire spirit and that water elemental might help extinguish any future blazes and help them fight their enemy. However the elemental ventured that whilst it had noticed the fires, it had encountered no beings of fire. Meanwhile Saltbreeze took Reeds and Daxi to the lighthouse to get a view of the area. Reeds wanted to build a scent library of the normal odours of the city so that he could spot anything that didn't belong. He and Daxi talked about the events of last night and their plans, and Reeds queried the mayor on life in Nulbaram before the evacuation. Eventually the three took a boat to the sea wall, which appeared to be made from the same stone as the roads and the monument in the Windland. Once there Reeds found an unusual scent, a chemical accelerant and Daxi could tell that three of the boats had been burnt at the same time, almost certainly ruling out an accident.
Back on land they met up and shared their discoveries before heading up to the granary that burnt down last night. Examination suggested that it had burnt from the inside out and there was another whiff of the same accelerant, though Reeds had not come across that type before. As they looked around in more details, they found a mysterious footprint in the mud by a nearby gutter - a three-toed, clawed footprint...
==The Chameleon people==
The circle followed the cart tracks of the blood covered cart, hoping to track it back to where it was ambushed and the people murdered. However as they went along the path Daxi stopped them, spotting something subtle buried in the road. There were small sticks sticking out of the ground, which when excavated were found to be attached to the shells of rare turtles. Inside each one were a pair of explosive compounds which when mixed would react violently. This minefield stretched up the road and Tokumei began to dismantle some.
As they did so Reeds, having wandered off from the group, was struck by a poisoned dart - at this signal they were ambushed by a group of Chameleon men who threw smoke bombs to obscure the road. Already emotionally frought, Hephestia separated from the others as she charged off madly under the influence of Widow's Steely Remorse.
In the undergrowth the chameleon-men's leader, a more bestial reptilian creature than the others, began hunting Reeds with a moonsilver dagger. From the treetops Daxi began throwing down objects at the creature, before descending as the smoke cleared to fight the creature.Tokumei tried to just disarm and disorient the chameleon-men she fought, as her firebird struggled to find its targets in the smoke, but when they persisted she combined the two chemicals she had taken from the dismantled landmine and funnelled the explosion with her fire control.
Daxi managed to subdue the leader - who glowed with a silver anima banner as it used its powers - but not before it managed to stab Reeds, who was already rapidly succumbing to the poison of the dart. As the chameleon-men broke and fled into the jungle, with a rampaging Hephastia in hot pursuit, the leader warned the circle -This is the Nulbarans' last warning - they have 24 hours to leave or they will be destroyed.With that, it shapeshifted into a snake and slithered into the undergrowth.
Coming to her senses in the jungle, splattered in the blood of fleeing chameleon-men, Hephestia returned to her senses. The Circle took Reeds and an injured chameleon-man back to Nulbaram. On the way back Hephestia and Tokumei talked about what Widow's Steely Resolve did. Tokumei suggesting that while making Widow's Steely Remorse Hephastia may have in fact channelled her grief in to the weapon rather than processing it.
Back at Nulbaram the Circle confined their two "patients" to separate rooms and reported their findings to a concerned Saltbreeze, who claimed there were no beastmen native to the island, but that in light of their leader's warning he had no choice to evacuate the city. Tokumei advised him not to take his people along the route he had planned, deep through the thick jungle on the western side of the island to the Fields of Mesynthos, but to come north to aid at the battle of Baruntulga Bay, reassuring him that she could summon another Tidemare to carry the most vulnerable to safety in Marrull Vaar. Still concerned, particularly at having to cross the burial grounds along that path, Saltbreeze nontheless agreed.
Back in their townhouse, Hephastia recognised the garb and body painting of the Chameleon-man as being from one of the western islands, and expressed confusion as to why he would be so far eastward for a people so remote and insular. They interviewed the chameleon man, who was initially very reluctant to speak and fiercely protective of his "master", suggesting that they were mercenaries of a sort for the Bronze tide. During this time Reeds was hallucinating from the dart-frog's venom, his senses picking up the impression of moving though deep jungle, though whether this was his mind playing tricks on him or not is not clear. When he became lucid he fell out of bed as he tried to listen, and had to be returned to bed by the others.
Returning to the captive, Daxi noticed the pouches the man had been wearing had moved slightly, as if the man had discretely recovered something from one of them and tried to put them back. As he noticed this, the chameleon-man attempted to plunge the poisoned dart he had taken into his neck, calling out as he did so -
"FOR THE CAUL!"
After subduing the man and preventing his suicide attempt, the Circle managed to get more out of him with kindness and persuasion. They were from the Caul, a mysterious island far to the West that is sacred to both the Realm and the Lunars, and is currently embroiled in a bitter war for the various shrine-cities of the pilgrimage route winding through the island. The chameleon-men's unnamed master had been dispatched, along with the team of saboteurs, to aid them in stripping enough resources, men and boats from the islands in their path to allow them to cross the ocean and aid in driving the last of the dragonbloods out of the Holy Land.
Satisfied that the man would not attempt to take his life again, the Circle reconvened downstairs (including Reeds, much to the chagrin of Tokumei who had ordered him to rest). As they speculated as to whether the Tide were even aware that they were being roped in to this holy war, they heard a commotion from outside. Somebody shouted that "We have them cornered" and a mob was rushing to one side of the town. Tokumei and Hephestia made their way there, with Daxi staying behind to watch the prisoner and keep Reeds from trying to follow them in his injured state.
Tokumei arrived at a town house surrounded by guards. She asked the guards to back off and climbed up to the window with a boost from Hephestia. Thankfully her confidence was well placed as she greeted Mei Fang and the others of her circle. Talking the mob down, Tokumei reassured them that Gharial-who-Lies-in-Wait was not one of the saboteurs despite his reptilian features. This was not the easiest sell, but Salt Breeze certainly helped. (As an apologetic Mei Fang would later confess, "We tried to sneak into the town because we didn't want to cause a commotion!")
They made their way back to the Circle's house where they reconvened with the others. The Chameleon men being led by a Lunar was a surprise but it was hard to know what to do about the situation, so Tokumei took some black tea and read the leaves with Mei Fang. As they did so, the Circle noticed Gharial and Horizon's Teeth watching the skies with concern. When pressed, Horizon remarked that she was watching out for any birds in the area."Don't trust the birds. We don't know who, but they're someone's eyes and ears around here."The tea-leaves revealed a town much like the Northern port of the Bay of Baruntulga and a coin spinning on its edge. Mei Fang hearing this took it as a sign that they were close to Meng and that he must be in the bay area.
The Lunars offered to help with the evacuation, but when they mentioned the path they were taking Mei Fang asked "But what about the Thunderbirds?"
==Evacuation and the land of the Thunderbirds.==
Those with the sorcerous and folklore knowledge in the group knew of the warlike and temperamental Thuderbirds, elemental spirits of air that the local priest appeased with offerings of Bhang, a substance made from alcohol and cannabis. While they pondered what to do, Tokumei sent the Tidemare out to collect fish for the journey and so she could make a hearty meal for everybody before they departed.
Reeds, Daxi and Hephestia went up the hill towards the old burial grounds where they found a clearing with natural cave entrances leading underground and an abandoned adobe settlement in the hill overlooking it. These caves were the burial chambers. The body of Balestus, the "birdman" priest of Nulbaram, lay awkwardly sprawled at the base of the stairs to the adobe, his head twisted at an unnatural angle. They previously thought that this man had died on the cart with the others, but somehow he had made it here to sanctuary with his offerings but had seemingly slipped on the stairs in his hurry and fell.
Back in town Tokumei investigated the priest's home and found the recipe they used for the the offerings and she set about brewing the alcohol and adding the cannabis needed. While this was going on, she bade the villagers smoke fish for their trail rations and gather up the rest of it to offer to the Thunderbirds.
After asking the permission of the (presumably watching) Thunderbirds, who responded only by shifting the winds and fluctuating the light, Reeds explored the interior of the funerary chambers and found alcoves inside containing an effigy of the dead, who were wrapped in cloth and interred in larger alcoves further in. He and Daxi carried the body of the priest in to the mound and bound it. As they did so Hephestia crafted a small figurine of the priest and added it to one of the alcoves. With some hesitation Reeds took the Birdman's mask to use in the coming ceremony.
Eventually Tokumei and the evacuees came up the hill carrying two large baskets of fresh fish and the large barrel of Bhang. She joined in the preparations, making a white pigment from the local stones and plants for them to use as body paint and crafting a mask of her own.
Reeds opened a gateway to the spirits and a host of humanoid Thunderbirds stepped forward eager for the offerings. They told the Thunderbirds of the war coming to the Bay of Barantulga and their leader Wahkoowah recounted that they had gone on strike long ago over some ancient dispute, but sounded eager for a fight. As they consumed the Bhang, their leader came forward and jovially took a shot holding it in his mouth for several seconds. Reeds was able to gargle his for 60 seconds to the approval of the hosts, whilst Tokumei took a mouthful and breathed out the alcohol in a stream of fire. Having impressed them, the whole circle stepped through in to the spirit world where time passed slower. They spent what seemed like days or weeks inside in which they trained and drank with their hosts.
==The Walled City of Ostia==
Exiting the realm of the Thunderbirds after what had seemed like months of revelry and training, everybody but Tokumei was deeply hung over. Rather than drinking she had been studying a spell under one of the boisterous airy spirits that they felt would be quite useful in the upcoming conflict.
They saw ahead of them the line of Nulbaran refugees snaking down the far side of the mountain and moved as quickly as hangovers would allow to catch up with them as they made their way to Ostia. They passed through a series of buildings raised off the ground with stilts, these were evidently the homes of the locals who had left, turning the logs outside their doors that served as steps upside down to prevent easy access. Catching up with the Nulbarans they were making camp for the night by the time the circle reached the head of the column. They had already approached the walls of Ostia ahead, but they reported that they had been turned away by the guard.
Rather than charging in late at night, the circle also camped out intending to approach the city the next day. But first, the party availed themselves of a nearby pool to clean the remnants of the long revelry off themselves. As they rested afterwards, Reeds talked about sorcery, being uncertain how Tokumei did it. Something she was more than happy to demonstrate. She walked him through the steps to summon essence, moving through it like dance steps and telling him to visualise extending his aura out to gather the essence in broad strokes. He tries to follow her guidance but his aura grows too far and manifests scattering much of the gathered essence. However she reassures him that it's a good start and assigns him a few exercises. 
Hephestia wanted them to arrive in style, so summoned a tornado to approach the gates, allowing the guards to get a good look as they approached; initially they raised their weapons, but as Hephestia set down just outside the gates they relaxed, realising that she had no hostile intent. The captain of the Southern Gate, a man named Caspar told them that the city was full to capacity but both sides were cordial in their introductions. But after sending a runner to the palace he was told that the Queen of Ostia wished to meet them, so they would be allowed in. 
He took them through the concentric rings of walls with gates off-set at the cardinal directions. The walls themselves were made from the same substance as the other white stone roads and structures they had already encountered. The city was indeed overflowing with people from the surrounding countryside seeking shelter from the Bronze tide. The circle speculated as to the original purpose of the ruins, which seemed to have been used in times past to channel essence through it in various directions. 
At the inner wall they met Caenis, a female captain of the guard wearing a mempo bearing the likeness of one of her ancestors across her lower face, a moustached man. She was powerfully built with quality arms and armour better than the Captain of the Outer gates. As they waited, Caenis asked that the Solars mind their manners, as the Queen's husband Prince Consort Pelonus, was deathly ill and that it would be ill advised to raise her hopes as all the best doctors in the land had declared his sickness incurable. As they were led in to the Palace to see the Queen Tokumei saw a Plinth in the throne room that her sorcerous sight could see was a potent conduit for essence, although now only dregs of energy remained within it. 
Her highness Queen Lectra of Ostia was every bit as regal and dignified as her title suggested and was a gracious hostess. She listened to the Circle explain their journey from Marrull Vaar and their victories against the Bronze tide, but when they mention their desire to relieve the city of Baruntulga, her attitude becomes cooler and she refers to it pointedly as the Bay of Baruntulga. Evidently there was no love lost between the two cities. 
Tokumei tried to save the situation by carefully pointing out the threat of the Bronze tide consuming all the resources of the island and leaving farms barren and that if they did not stand together, they would likely suffer a worse fate than if they did unite. They were dismissed, but the Queen did respond to some of Reed's and Hephestia's requests for details about the cities history. They were told that the Mayor Filberto would be able to advise them and that the old guildhall contained a number of historical murals. 
The circle was dismissed and they visited with the mayor to see the mural in the city guild hall. He was more than happy to show the Solars around, though he confessed Pelonus was more versed in the city's most ancient history. The guild hall had been used to store street furnishings for some time now. The mural was a huge stone slab depicting the history of the city across the centuries going back from before the Contagion. It told the story from what could have been the destruction of the city in the sea to the city's founders hiding from the contagion and the Balorian crusade to its development as a city and conflict with the Bay of Baruntulga (although the modern contribution was just a list of monarch names). 
Carefully, they asked the captain of the guard to see the Prince Consort; Tokumei hoping she could help him and the others genuinely interested in theories about the mural. After some convincing Caenis allowed them another audience with the Queen, who tentatively agreed but said that they needed to keep their visit brief and limited, the royal physician having only approved a few minutes with him. 
Tokumei could tell that the disease of the Prince Pelonus was suffering from was not the result of a disease or a poison, but a defect of their birth that slowly caused his muscles to wither and atrophy over time. So her charms could only at best, improve his condition for a matter of weeks or months, but would not change the outcome. He would die within a matter or days or weeks. So instead Reeds raised the Prince's spirits with tales of the mainland and the other islands, and asked about the mural and the history of the mountain. Prince Consort Pelonus, delighted to have a chance to talk about the old lore of the island told them of the ancient city in the bay that had been destroyed during the Shogunate by the anathema, and that these "silver wolves" supposedly ruled another kingdom somewhere in the jungle of the mainland.
Reeds told him a number of stories of their adventures until he was too fatigued to continue, but they promised to write to him about their journey. As they left, the Prince asked his wife to show them the plinth in the throne room. "Perhaps they can figure out what it's for?" 
As the party clustered around the plinth, a huge slab of white marble, gold & white jade, a crowd of onlookers gathered to watch. The base the plinth stood on contained a means to allow essence to flow through it, and there was a slot that seemed like it was made for a key like the one they found in the watchtower. As one person funnelled their own essence through and another slid the key into the slot, a brief flash of a map appeared onscreen before it was overwhelmed with error messages, as the lectern tried and failed to connect to its peers in other, now lost, sites. But the Solars couldn't help but catch one marker, roughly where their home city of Marrull Vaar was, that read: Containment Facility 3: Online
== The Road to the Bay of Baruntulga ==
In the throne room of Ostia the Solars hastily marked down what they had each seen on the map, as a morbidly fascinated crowd gathered around them. Even though they had between them seen only a couple of the markers, they could speculate at what those had been: 
* Containment Facility 3 (Marull Vaar) - Online
* Communication Facility 1 (Ostia) - Offline
* Communication Facility 2 (Somewhere North of the Grey Eye Peninsula) - Offline
* Research Facility 1 (appeared to be where the Mirrored Hall is located) - Offline
* Research Facility 2 (somewhere offshore between Kanilah and Jheroth) - Offline
* Unknown (roughly in the middle of the Grey Eye Peninsula, where the Wyld was coming from) - Offline
There was also an area in what is now sea, where the speculated that the ancient settlement of Njorlona was once located and was the epicentre of an area of destruction that created that area of sea. There were other sites they could see - a few inland, one deep in the jungle near the Anaathalay border, one in Zhaojun and another deep into the Southwest bordermarches - but the circle has no time to note what these were. 
Both impressed and shaken, Queen Lectra went and told her husband of these events and the Solars were ushered out by Caenis. Leaving the palace the courtyard was full of seabirds being fed by the local children, half of whom stopped squarking as the Solars approached, but they were too distracted in conversation to notice. Reeds, however, noticed something very different. 
As they were heading through the city to the outer walls along with Caenis, they came across a blue haired Mygdon woman scrubbing some markings from the front of her shop. She had done a good job of cleaning it up, but Tokumei was able to extrapolate that the message once said: "Get out pig". 
Caenis was visibly disheartened by this, remarking that it has "happened again", while Tokumei and the others went over to help her with the cleaning. The owner was named Padua, she was a merchant of dry goods such as rice, grain and dried fruits. She had a parrot called Choy, that Reeds was initially suspicious of, due to the earlier warning that the enemy used birds as spies. But he relaxed when it became clear the parrot was trained by its owner rather than enemy forces. 
She had been the subject of persecution because of her racial connection to the Mygdons of the Bronze Tide, despite her having lived in the city most of her life and having no loyalty to the Mydgon kingdoms. She had encountered trouble selling her goods, even in a city where food was being carefully managed. Thankfully Reeds offered to buy a sizable amount to refresh to food of the Nulbaran troops (even though they were well supplied, it would be good for morale to keep food stocks high). The Solars said that they would be trying to bring this miserable state of affairs to a swift end and she wished them luck as they left. Reeds did ask her to spread the word that if anybody wished to fight the Tide, that the Solars would treat them well and would appreciate the aid. 
As they left the city, they were met by Queen Lectra at the city gates. However Reeds noticed something odd; a pair of Vesper Gulls (Long ranging sea-birds) stopped their normal squawking and instead went quiet, seemingly listening to the Queens words. Tokumei could also tell they were magically influenced and Reeds pointed them out to Daxi. Quick as a flash, Daxi took a pair of coins and expertly threw them like tiny sling bullets to the birds, knocking them both out of the sky, with one coin (which clearly must have been clipped to have been so sharp, he noted) striking a bird dead and the other being dazed. 
Scooping the living bird up, Reeds recognised it as a local species called a Vesper Gull, unremarkable except for an ability to travel long distances by sleeping on the wing. This one, however, spoke in an exact mimicry of Reed's own voice - "Imagine their surprise when Ostean forces come to their aid"
Troublingly, the circle realised that these birds - so common to the area anyway - had been around them long before they had realised they were a threat. They had even eaten one for breakfast the night they had stayed in the tower.After that, Queen Lectia recovered from the surprise of the attack and addressed them. She had consulted with others and agreed that the Solar's words and actions had given her reason to reconsider aiding the people of the Bay. She approved the use of a large portion of the city's garrison to take up arms ad join the fight against the Bronze tide. 
Reeds then conversed with the Lunars about the birds, attempting to get their insight to reverse engineer how their powers might allow this control over animals. Comparing it with his own animal taming charms, he speculated that the Exalt responsible could likely only have a certain amount of creatures and that the larger the individual creatures, the fewer they could have. Although it was almost impossible to guess how many animals it could be. Tokumei took the birds and considered making food for the troops, but did not have enough, so encouraged the Nulbarans to hunt more of the creatures, hoping that the spymaster primarily used Vesper Gulls and this would thin out their numbers if they came close to the army. The troops brought back as many gulls as they could kill, which Tokumei put to good use in the troops' meals that night. 
On their way to the Bay of Baruntulga, Reeds first asked Hephestia for training in martial magic. She was hesitant as her magic was quite defensive and utility focused. She eventually turned him away to see Tokumei who pointed out that destructive magic required a killing intent, something that Reeds agreed he would struggle with. So as a compromise she instead taught him along the march the secret to creating elementals. With her mind on the upcoming battle, she created a feast for the troops that would inspire a sense of camaraderie between the Osteans and the Nulbarans and began to help train them in defensive movements. She was keen to keep as many of them alive as possible, mixing them in to groups of 2 Osteans to 4 Nulbarans for the purposes of exercises, allowing them to learn from each other and cover each others weaknesses. 
After a few days they arrived on the hills overlooking the Bay of Baruntulga, to see the vast flotilla of ships stretching out to the Horizon and the 20 mile wide bay entrance with its static sea fort defences and the overlooking keep. Soon, they would need to fight to defend it. 
== A Bygone Age, and an Imminent Threat ==
A brief assessment of the ships of the vaguard of the Bronze tide showed that they almost exclusively used Mygdon-style Trimarines, with each boat able to carry at maximum as many as 200 people. Giving the vanguard fleet a maximum population of 26,000. However it was currently unclear how full the ships were and what percentage were civilians. At the front, forming the tip of the Tide's vanguard, were 50 ships in a pattern Daxi recognized as a maneuver called the Shattered Spear, designed to split into clusters unpredictably to target weakpoints in enemy defences. Beyond that a second wave of ships almost as large stood at the ready, seemingly to sweep in once the spear had established a beachhead.
On the other hand as Tokumei surveyed their own troops: The Nulbarans had provided about 1000 people, divided in to three rough types. They had Fishermen who had had a history of fighting off aquatic threats. armed primarily with Sword/shield, they were among the most seasoned. There were the farmers, armed with an assortment of pole arms, primarily spears, with some agricultural implements mixed in. Finally they had a number of skilled hunters, armed with bows and arrows, good shots but uncustomed to fighting human foes. The Ostians had about 2000 soldiers, mostly made up of the well-equipped and armed city guards; however, their shiny uniforms spoke of practice drills in neat courtyards and marching in formation, but with very little combat experience. How much good these soldiers would do against the Tide would ultimately depend upon the strength of the forces they were reinforcing. 
The Circle and their reinforcements approached the bay and got a better view of the area. The bay itself was surrounded by numerous cities that had merged in to one another to form The Confederacy of Barantulgan City States, a continuous horse shoe shaped metropolitan bay with smaller outlying settlements. It was dominated by three sets of Shogunate era structures: The two fortresses at the mouth of the bay, four sea towers offshore each sporting a Harbour Cannon, and a palacebai. As they descended in to the valley they met a Shepherd called Ren; nervous at first, the boy took them in to the nearby town of Hadriani to find somebody in charge. As he did so, he told them a little of the stalemate the Confederacy had been stuck in since the arrival of the tide. At Hadriani, the local sheriff Anouar offered to help find the troops somewhere to wait and directed them to the Ekklesiasterion, or Palace of the Senate, where the town's mayor, Kwon, served as the senator for their settlement. Hephestia carried them there by Tornado and they set them down outside where they were greeted by the wary captain of the Ekklesiasterion Guard called Kareem, who escorted them to a waiting parlour while he sent for Senator Kwon who were currently in session. Both Hephestia and Tokumei got a good look at the architecture of the period, very well preserved - these were of Middle Period Shogunate era design, characterised as being spartan and minimalistic responses to more ornate stylings of the past. This particular structure once belonged to the Moeru Yōna Kabutomushi Bakufu, or Flaming Scarab Dynasty. A Shogunate fiefdom, not unlike a modern realm satrapy, was sometimes awarded by the ruling Shogunate government to a single family of Dynasts where a controlling government was needed to pacify a region. Their scarab iconography however was not a local animal, but a cultural import from the East of Creation suggesting a family with ties to those distant lands.
Whilst they waited Tokumei snuck off to find a better vantage point to see the fortfications on the coast, and as she did so she found a strange, chapel-like hall with alcoves and a plinth that had seemingly been a hangar for a squadron of Warstriders during the time of the Dynasty. These Warstriders had apparently been named Amber Rainbow Brigandine, Topaz Rainbow Labrys, Emerald Rainbow Pavis, Sapphire Rainbow Yumi, Amethyst Rainbow Spatha and Iolite Rainbow Hasta, and led by one named Excellent Ruby Rainbow Master that had knelt upon the plinth. Behind the plinth hung the lead Warstrider's ceremonial cloak, now displayed as a tapestry, depicting the squadron arrayed against their ancient enemies - Silver Wolves of the kind depicted in other historical art on the island, strange metallic birds led by a great eagle named "Radhika the Sky-Breaker", beastmen of both Elephant and Panda heritage, and a strange race of monstrous fish/crustacean people labelled "Niobrara". 
Eventually Tokumei rejoined the others as they were debating their next move and filled them in on what she had seen. Shortly thereafter Senator Kwon arrived, initially surly at being interrupted but considerably more inclined to hear the Solars out once he saw the forces camped outside his town from the window. Agreeing to get them an audience with the Senate, Kwon led them through the chapel where Hephestia was awestruck by the implications of the room and needed to be gently shepherded to the senate with reassurances that she can build a warstrider of her own later once the guns are up and running. The Circle found the Senate, 30 men and women absent one and the returning Kwon, embroiled in heated argument, but all stopped to hear Reeds address the audience: "Esteemed Senators of the Confederacy, from distant trading partners - at the behest of Belar Thrice-Crowned high king of Maruul Vaar, seen the devastation wrought on the other islands and we would not see the same happen here, 1000 warriors of Nulbaarum who wish vengeance against the Tide, 2000 soldier of Ostia in solidarity with their fellows as Islanders of Barantulga, we are here - if you would have us - to turn back the tide, for though it may seem implacable your harbours walls have stood for a thousand years, and we would see them stand a thousand more."After the ensuing hubbub and arguing died down, the speaker - a senator Montego - tried to bring things back to order. There was broad disagreement about what to do regarding the Bronze tide, but Tokumei gave reassurance that with their numbers it was very likely that there were a large number of civilians aboard their fleet and speculated that the number of able bodied soldiers in this part of the fleet was likely a rough match to the troops of the Cities of the Bay. However Hephestia stepped in and pointed out that not only should they be ready for the Bronze Tide but also for the Fair Folk that pursued them.
There was only one Senator who seemed to have been making preparations; a senator new to his post who was held in contempt by the others for his uncouth manner and supposed scaremongering about the tide - none other than the Solars' erstwhile circlemate Meng. According to the sneering Montego, Meng had spent a great deal of money since his arrival, which had earned him the loyalty of the people of Neptae, the village he was now Mayor of, but few friends in the Senate. While the Solars were eager to go and see him, Reeds tried to keep things calm and Tokumei suggested that the first thing they should do would be to go and repair the guns, which were not only broken, but also had uncertain supplies of firedust needed to be used. 
Outside the Senate, three Senators caught up with them - Kwon, the young Senator Koines of Dubris and the canny elder Senator Hagias of Curia. They filled in the Circle on what the Senate hadn't told them, and the news was bleak. They had barely 10,000 people under arms, most of whom were inexperienced, and the relentless bureaucracy and cultural chauvanism of the Confederacy had caused the senate to squander several opportunities to negotiate with the tide. What had at first been an offer of conditional surrender and offer to join the tide as partners became the threat of conquest and assimilation - with some limited autonomy if they surrendered - and was now a final demand: unconditional surrender, or no quarter. Unlike the other Senators, however, Hagias spoke highly of Meng - while he had arrived with his share of the Treasure of Fang Zan with every intention of spending it on alcohol and food as usual, Meng had been one of the few to take the threat of the Tide seriously, buying up every boat he could find in order to evacuate as many people as he could before the blockade began. 
The Solars for their part reassured the senators that stories about Meng were most likely true and that they had experiencing in fighting terrible things. When the possibility of a land assault from the North was mentioned, they said they would find some younger people not fit for military duty to watch the approaches from the city so that they would at least have warning. They took their leave and went to Neptae by Tornado, where they could not only meet Meng but also be close to the Northernmost sea tower and the Iguana Reef that lined the shore between the Bay and Leotha to the north. Neptae turned out to be a sleepy beachfront village... save for the workmen erecting rows of tree-trunk stakes in the beach as crude defence against any incoming ships. These logs were being thrown down to the beach from atop a wall by Meng, who upon seeing the other Solars... blurted out half an excuse before attempting to flee. Cornered by Daxi and Hephestia - alternately delighted to finally see him again and annoyed by his long silent absence - he joined them at the workmen's campfire. They noticed that he looked physically much better, having stopped drinking heavily to numb his pain. He confirmed much of what the senators had said, and was of the mind that the infighting and politicking of the Senate may have cost them their last chance to avert a disaster. Tokumei said she should call Mei Fang ad let her know Meng was here, but Hephestia offered to take a message to her physically instead. 
While they waited, Reeds decided to pay a visit to an old friend, Farzaneh, a trader from the Yensei territories who lived in the next town over. Finding each other in an inn, Farzaneh seemed happy to see Reeds but unwilling to discuss matters in public. It was not until she brought Reeds back to her house nearby that he learned the truth - she was as a spy of sorts for the Bronze tide, reporting on whether or not the Confederacy were going to respond to the Tide's demands. Farzaneh insisted, however, that the Bronze Tide would rather settle the matter without destroying the Bay; after weeks at sea the Tide would suffer from a protracted war almost as much as the people they would be overrunning, and leaders within the Tide were open to averting this if it was still possible. She could get a message to them, but it would have to be soon. 
Back at the beach, Daxi sat down with Meng, asking him about his past and why he had felt so inadquate of Mei Fang's affection. Meng revealed that, having grown up a poor orphan he had always felt that he needed to prove himself worthy in the eyes of others to deserve to be around her. In a foolish plan to rob the local satrap for enough of a fortune that they could run away together, he had been caught and in the heat of the moment exalted. Terrified that this would drive her away he had fled, and his shame and inability to face her to ask for forgiveness had driven much of his regret and pain since. Daxi reassured him that, since she had spent so many years and miles chasing him then surely that meant he was worthy enough in her eyes at least. 
Over in Heciana Hephestia found Mei Fang in a cafe, where she and her pack mates were rapidly demolishing their food stocks, but upon hearing the news they left with Hephastia... leaving her the quite significant bill. Returning to the beach, Tokumei had conjoured a fresh robe for Meng and redid his dreadlocks so he would look his best. Mei Fang arrived, and despite some heated bickering in Delzahni (and a sharp kick to Meng's shin) they both began to cry with the joy of being reunited. He had been surprised that she was like him and now there were no further impediments to them being together. They left for a nearby house after their reunion. After they left, Reeds revealed what Farzaneh had told him and implored the others to go with the negotiations, but Tokumei was irritable and impatient given the impending danger, and it took the intervention of Hephastia to salvage the discussion. Reeds and Tokumei mended their differences, and he asked her to send a message to Luko'o on his behalf: "The nights have been hard but I will endeavour to sleep. Find me on the shores of dreaming, we shall talk of our last meeting so that we will know each other" 
Summarising with Daxi, they agreed that whilst a diplomatic solution would be ideal, this would require convincing the Tide that the City states of Baruntulga would be too costly to take, which also involved repairing the guns and readying the city militarily. So Hephestia set off to inspect the first of the towers, Yahim. Arriving by tornado she found the gun attended by a very strange figure. Their arms hidden beneath their robes, a book hovered in front of them with a floating pen making notes around the gun. They stood on tall wooden sandals perfectly balanced and wore an exotic helm that completely covered their features. It was a tall cylidrical help with 6 eye holes and numerous metal rods through it. 
They first tried to tell Hephestia that nobody was there, but whatever power it was attempting to use seemed ineffective. They introduced themselves by an even stranger name than its appearance: Canto 2:28 "as the dawn rises each day, ten thousand mouths sing their own song of life; together a symphony that echoes beyond the city's walls". It added "But I am told this can be a little much to remember at once, so Symphony will do." The figure remarked that it was there investingating a number of "irregularities" ("both Causal and spatial; multiple instances of the same object; assigned metropolitan deities not at their posts; designated administrator for the area AWOL on multiple occasions, and worst of all - missing paperwork") but was primarily performing some sort of audit of the situation, as apparently the outcome of the next few days could lead to two possible fates; A bay soaked red in blood which leads to the rising of ancient horrors if there is war, or a peaceful - or at least, less violent - resolution. It compared the situation to the toss of a coin, and remarked that while things seemed set in stone Exalts are prone to creating unusual edge cases and could push the situation in either direction. Hence the need to record all variables going into the situation. 
They thanked Hephestia for the conversation and climbed down a ladder that was not there when she looked a second time. 
== The Negotiation ==
Hephestia was perturbed by the stranger, but there was an engineering problem in front of her and that's what she enjoys, so she set about examining the first of the four canons. This one was named Yahim, she found the barrel to be largely intact, but the feeding mechanism was jammed and the remnants of fireworks scattered on the floor around it. 
She went downstairs to find some of the guards who were completely unaware of her. One woke up the other and pointed out their complete lack of preparation before sending them off for food, spare metal and other supplies. 
Meanwhile Reeds had a dream communication with Luko'o Mwabe and requested a meeting with the Bronze tide to discuss terms. 
Hephestia took the Tornado and went to the banks where their troops had made camp and after some discussion with them about their plans, she pulled out a number of Ostians to place 6 on each tower as additional guards. 
Hephestia then came back and rejoined the rest of the group at Meng's place. She discussed the mysterious figure she saw. Tokumei initially suggested that it could have been any number of things, from heavenly beaurocrats or other gods to some manner of Exalted. It was very unclear, but Tokumei hesitantly ventured that when she was found in the restricted section of her family's library, might have been related. She had uncovered an editing guide to deal with omitting information from pre-Scarlet Dynasty texts. Certain things should be framed as trickery or Anathema intervention. There were other parties involved in the Usurpation, not Anathema (Solar, Lunar or Fallen) and not Dragonbloods. The guide spoke about avoiding reference to "Maidens" and certain parts of the heavenly beaurocracy. 
However the prophecy of a bay of blood made the Solars reconsider their militant approach and focus on a diplomatic solution. 
They also suggested that the shore guns could be demostrated to both the senate and the Bronze Tide, by using Sea Iguana Reef, on the Edge of Meng's Senate territory and that this would both put pause to the Bronze Tide and also impress the Senate with the Circle's ability to get results. 
They went to the senate and told them the good news, that one of the guns had been fully repaired and that the other guns could be repaired in short order. However they added that, whilst the Solars felt capable of holding the bay, it would not be without great cost in life and disruption to the whole island a quantity of bloodshed that leave only a phyrric victory. 
So they proposed a plan, suggesting that the Solars could broker a truce that involved giving the Bronze tide the supplies they wanted, in exchange for them leaving the island unmollested. With supplies ferried out to them and some of their sick and injured taken ashore. As this would be costly Reeds proposed that he partially fund the purchase of supplies at below market price with the Senate making up the remainder of the price, meaning that it would cost relatively little and revitalise trade amongst their merchant class. 
The proposal was met with condemnation from representatives from around the path leading to the golden fields, who seemed slow to understand the message that a key part of the strategy would be in not be allowing the Bronze Tide to land and sending supplies out to them. There was also some complaint from wealthier provinces who felt that this would be an undue burden on their people to pay this ransom. However evetually the idea was agreed upon and the Senate was asked to select two people in addition to Meng to represent the Senate in this negotiation. 
Meanwhile Daxi was dropped off by Hephestia by Tornado to scout the Bronze Tide forces to the North not far from one of their war camps. He snuck up on the city, then activated a charm that makes him seem innocuous, walked right in and eavesdropped at their command post where they (Eskama Cordoba of the Pelith), Balestius of the local population and Chimwe of the Issyk) seemed pretty intent on invading. then they got called away to deal with a monster, a grasshopper with a plant growing out of it, a part of the Fair Folk courts that pursued them, that the tide managed to burn it at what they seemed to think was the last moment or near enough. Daxi got the impression this is spreading and a major reason they're feeling under pressure. 
He was able to find their camp and overhear some of their officers plotting proactive action against the Bay of Barantulga. But he was cut off, as it would take time for him to return and he would not be picked up until the next morning.
After dropping Daxi off, Hephestia checked out the remaining guns. There were three other canons named: Alessia, Ricce and Velstadt. Yahim was largely intact, but needed its elevator fixing, Ricce had a large crack down the barrel and would require completely reforging, but all three needed some work and were scandalously lightly guarded. So that took her a good portion of her day.
However she saw ships moving and went to fetch Reeds and Tokumei, where they found a large floating platform being assembled. 
They gathered up the three senators: 
* Senator Kyveli (F) of Praetonia - older sister of a pair of Senators representing the areas near the Golden Fields.
* Senator Hagias (M) of Curia
* Senator Meng  (M) of Neptae
They arrived on the Bronze tide platform by tornado and were greeted by excessive caution. Three sides had troops hiding behind high wooden barricade/shields that obscured those beyond. When they were lowered, rows of archers stood ready to bombard the area. 
The meeting was chaired by Jural Three-Trees and with representatives from other factions of the Bronze Tide. 
Reeds outlined their basic proposal. They expressed Concerns about the state of their vessels that would ideally need time in dock, their sick and injured and that they would be unable to go North as the way was blocked by the Fae, but the Circle volounteered to go and hold the Fair Folk off whilst the Tide headed away from the island. 
but was challenged by words that Tokumei and the others said about their previous encounters with the Bronze Tide, especially Tokumei's in her fury comparing them with monsters and stressing that it would be relatively simply for the Solars to eliminate the Tide if needed. Reeds didn't deny this, but said that this was in relation to the specific actions of the Migdans as they attacked the innocent. Hephestia and Tokumei chimed in to support and clarify his position. This seemed to asuage most of the Tide, who looked poorly on these Migdan actions. The surviving Prince, now King due to the death of his Father fumed in anger but could do little. 
Then there was a commotion from the one set of barriers that were still up. The real Jural Three-Trees stepped forwards intent on negotiating directly as his decoy stepped back. 
== Sealing the Deal ==
Daxi went in to Leotha, spied on the troops Balestus is the leader of the Leothan troops. Discussed what was happening. Explained that if he was a spy wouldn't he be speaking more. They were dismantling houses preparing to move. They were also concered that some of the Myrmydons appeared to be getting smarter and intentionally hiding. 
On the raft out to sea. Lukha Palash is the leader of the Bronze Tide  Jural Three-Trees is his second in command (There was also a spirit in Jural's form) 
They spoke on the boat and were able to make an initial agreement to resupply the tide in exchange for them leaving. Even the very reluctant opoositio senator conceeded it was a good compromise. They would take the injured in to Meng's province initially and help them. 
Tokumei mentioned Spear of Starmetal's predicament.
They pressed for intelligece on the tide and were told about two courts that seemed to be cooperating. The Court of the Ascendant Insect who used Myrmydo isectoid warriors and the Vale of Slumber, a court of plant-like creatures. The plant-things grew inside the insectoids and used them for mobility. 
Daxi made his way back observing the forces, and he felt the numbers against the bay would be overwhelming, noting signs of combat with the insectoids. On his way back he stood on the fingers ofg 
Flew back to the Senate to get things finalized, but there was a big thundercloud above the senate. Tokuemei went to speak to the Thunderbirds: Wahkoowah, and his war-chiefs Matunaaga, Hiamovi, Tangakwunu and Ohitekah. She explained that their mere presence had helped cause the Bronze Tide to sue for peace. But they would now be fighting the Fair Folk. They were hesitant, but Tokumei played to their egos and assured them that they would not be left to the fair folk's mercies. She agreed to signal them with a plume of fire to the sky.
Sending supplies around to the tip of Golden Fields to be picked up by trusted people. Then they could put in for repairs in some uninhabited islands. 
Hephestia went to service more of the canons, the final one just needing cleaning and trigger mechanism maintenance with 5 rounds.
Reeds came out after receiving intelligence from a snake spirit he summoned (Which shared its vision be enveloping his upper body)
Tokumei is told to contact the tide, she enquires about bird spies, and is handed a handful of breadcrumbs from the mornings breakfast.
She tries to attract birds, but only gets a handful that didn't flee from the Thunderbirds (Some ornamental varieties are Shogunate era imports) as she lays out fine tableware and generally shows her inexperience with wild animals. 
Sent a message to Jural telling him of the Chameleon people and that they should be called off any attacks on the city as we would be facilitating their journey to the Caul. Then heads to bed as Daxi also gets back in the morning. 
Daxi was coming back towards the Bay of Barantulga whilst Hephestia took her tornado out towards Leotha to meet him. He was exhausted by the long journey and when they reached the senate palace he curled up to sleep. 
----Hephestia took Daxi and Hephestia down to coast where they met the first of the Bronze tide ships dropping off the injured for treatment at Neptae. Helping tend to the sick and making sure there was room to treat them, the Solars also received the official delegation from the Bronze Tide; Lukha and Jural had come, as had King Chelian and Prasad from the Yensei fiefdoms, and Queen Nela of the Issyk, again bearing the strange carpet on her back. They sorted out the logistics of their current plan - the sick and wounded would be escorted across land by a team of Dragonbloods ("we were training to fight you" one remarked) along with an offering of supplies, and the Solars would help make sure the Tide could make it past the Court of the Ascendant Insect before they could cut the Tide off at Leotha.
Conversing with them, Daxi got a chance to speak with Cheunjing, the leader of Prasad's men he had met on the Little Peninsula, and Reeds made... friends(?) with one of the Dragonbloods, Wynn, asking about her strange blue Grand Daiklaive to smooth things over after she'd mistaken him for an intruder when he stormed into the camp. Admiral Leja's forces of the Southern Wing arrived not long thereafter, the Admiral appearing deeply tired, and seemingly a little drunk. Scornfully, Tokumei made her drink some water, and the two exchanged a tense look. As the arrangements were being finalised, however, urgent news came - the insects were preparing for another attack.
== Pride Comes Before a Fall ==
The vanguard force of the Court of the Ascendant Insect were massing on an atoll off the shore of Kanilah called Teteiwa. Huge insectoid ships were making ready to ferry the semi-sapient Myrmidon termite soldiers and three massive Beetle Knights leading them to Leotha, while a swarm of Locust Knights covered them from the sky and one in particular, Earl Parzifal, oversaw the arrangements. As the Solars came soaring in on the back of Stormwind Rider, the warbands of Thunderbirds they had recruited engaged the forces in the sky along with them. 
At first, things seemed to be going well. Tokumei's firebird joined the battle in the sky, while Hephastia strafed the milling insects, Meng jumped off to fight on foot and the others fired on them from above. Daxi's javelins were finding their mark on one of the Beetle Knights, Seneschal Ector, leading his comrade Duke Boers to cover him. In the distance, the Bronze tide ships were ploughing through the water as the Admiral burned through all her essence to steer them, and on the deck of the command ship Queen Nela began to charge the magic carpet she wore on her back, decorated with patterns of wind spirits, as her medicine men circled around her. But alas, the fortunes of the Solars on Teteiwa were about to change. Now that they were lower to the ground, the Myrmidons began to spit pungent, acrid gobs of acid that scorched the Solars' skin and lungs and made steering the tornado difficult. 
Daxi was the first to fall. Taking a clean shot from the Earl, he was knocked off the whirlwind, smashing into the coral below. Rising groggily to his feet, the largest of the Beetle Knights, Baron Hengise, lowered his head and charged him. Daxi attempted to catch the charge, but the sheer momentum of the Knight's charge was more than he could intercept and Hengise headbutted him, cracking his skull and knocking him out. Above them, Tokumei took the next arrow right to the chest, plummeting from the tornado and hitting the rocks in a shower of gore and bone. Like, seriously, she just fucking splattered on the rocks like she got hit with a rocket launcher in a videogame. Fukkin SPLORCH. ...OK fine, she didn't, I just wanted to prove that no-one actually reads these things. If you're one of my players and you spot this, let me know next game and I'll change it back. She actually disintegrated in a shower of essence as she was about to hit the rocks. 
Hephastia and Meng looked on in horror. Was Tokumei dead? 
Above them, the Thunderbirds were flighting valiantly against the swarming locusts, but were taking losses. Meanwhile, Queen Nela's ritual continued, as she finished unfurling the now-charged carpet. Several of the medicine-men had passed out, but she now had the spell ready, and with three hard whips of the carpet at the path ahead a great gale-force wind swept the sky clear and threw the insect-ships into turmoil, allowing the ships of the Bronze Tide to pass. The ships skidded across the water as the Admiral collapsed from the effort. 
Seeing how the tide had turned so badly Hephestia swept down and with her Daiklaive hooked the back of Daxi's armour attempting to flee with him aboard the stormwind rider. As the Beetle Knights prepared to duel Meng one after another in a circle of the Myrmidons, the Locust Knight suddenly received some kind of message from the main force and retreated. Hephastia came back around, hoisting Meng onboard as he prepared to square off and the three Solars retreated, deeply shaken by their defeat. 
== The Aftermath ==
Dropping off the limp form of Daxi with the Bronze Tide, who were regrouping their forces on the other side of Baruntulga, Hephestia and Meng took the Tornado back to the Palace of the Senate. While this had all been going on, Reeds had been trying to convince the senate that Leotha needed reinforcement, for if the Confederacy and forces from further south did not defend it and the Rakshasa were allowed to land, the whole island would be at risk of becoming a Bordermarch of the Wyld. During a break in proceedings, he also learned about the ways the Issyk had innovated to fight the Insects, using bullroarers and hollowed reeds to make whining sounds to confuse their communication and driving cattle with burning hay tied to their horns to blot out the air with smoke (the latter of which, Lukha remarked dryly, was a tactic they had planned to use when conquering the bay, too).
Having successfully rallied those troops not committed to escorting the wounded to the rendezvous point, Reeds prepared to march to Leotha, only to be met by his returning friends... two of them. Breaking the news that Tokumei had seemingly died and Daxi was gravely wounded, they comforted him and each other before taking shells from one of the cannons to drop on the insects at Teteiwa as some small measure of revenge. The insects, strangely, were already retreating when they arrived, but the Solars dropped their payload on the remaining Myrmidons before retreating to the ship they had left Daxi on, leaving Meng at Leotha to reinforce the defences there. On another cot in the ward lay the Admiral, still recovering from burning though so much essence to get the fleet past Teteiwa and Leotha; Queen Nela revealed the reason Leja drank so much was to blot out the trauma of losing her husband and children in the Song of Flesh and Blood. It was as they gathered their thoughts on how to proceed that they recieved an infaliable messenger from an unexpected source - Tokumei. Still alive, and somehow in the custody of the Court of the Ascendant Insect, she bade them come and meet their leader. After summoning a Tidemare in case they needed to make a quick getaway, the two left their friend to recover and travelled to Kanilah. Coming upon the ruins of Kibari, now overgrown and littered with the bodies of Myrmidons who had spread the sinister spores that destroyed it, they found two of the three Beetle Knights they had fought earlier waiting for their arrival. Far from acrimonious, the knights seemed in high spirits as they led the two inland, where strange burial mounds at the foot of the giant plants were tended by Myrmidons. Saddened to not see his newfound rival Daxi in the party, Ector - at Reeds' insistence and to Boers' chagrin - instead regaled the solars with his attempts at poetry; apparently the insects, when not at war, were beginning to learn other arts as their sapience developed, with... mixed results. Led to the foot of a particularly great plant, a host of locust knights bore the two up to one of the leaves, where Tokumei gave them the story of what had happened to her in the meantime.
== Meanwhile, with Tokumei ==
Tokumei had, though some virtue of her Solar caste, awoken lying in the middle of a massive leaf deep in the Vale of Slumber. A long, thin feeler had brushed her cheek as she awoke, belonging to a mysterious Moth maiden who looked down at her. She and the ladies of her court had formed a circle around her, along with their offspring, to await her waking and inform her that she was in the Court's new capital, Caerleon. The Lady Ygraine informed her that yes, she was their hostage, but they seemed strangely relaxed about it, as if the court were learning how to conduct themselves as a political entity.
It was then that Tokumei felt a presence above her gazing down. Looking up, she saw she was in the shadow of a gargantuan Whip Scorpion, whose body was at least 60 metres long with a legspan even wider, and borne underneath it was a huge slug the size of a large bull elephant seal with deep blue flesh with a glow inside it filled with stars. This was Psygotwyr, the Emissary, and his steed Hengeron. Lady Ygraine promised that once her husband arrived he would be able to communicate between the silent Emissary and Tokumei. In the meantime, Tokumei occupied herself conversing with the Ladies of the court and weaving herself a new dress usng some of their gossamer. To her shock, Ygraine's husband turned out to be none other than Earl Parzifal, the Locust Knight who had shot her out of the whirlwind. He seemed to bear no ill intent towards her now that the battle was over, however, but instead greeted his wife and communed with Psygotwyr... by consuming a slime the giant slug secreted, which overrode Parzifal's mind for a short time. With eyes glowing the same blue as his master, he bade Tokumei summon her friends, as the Emissary wished to speak to them most urgently.
== Meanwhile, with Daxi ==
In his unconscious state, lingering on the threshold of death, Daxi dreamed. At first, all he could pick out was three visions, playing back and forth with each fading as he tried to focus on them. At first, he was swinging through the trees in the jungles of the mainland (was it him? or some past memory from someone else?)... beneath him, he saw a sprawling city of glittering silver, in which many pandafolk and elephantfolk were dwelling. Then the vision would change, revealing the ruins of a different city, deep under an ocean tinged with blood, with mysterious voices chanting "Anuung... Anuung...". Then, looking down on him, a colossal cephalopod eye gazing balefully down at him. 
As he tossed and turned in his sleep, Queen Nela bade the nurse take the still-sleeping Admiral and leave, before discretely bringing in a new guest... Gizu, the leader of the Chameleon men who had attacked them at Nulbaram.
Daxi's vision began to change. He was now plunging endlessly towards an immense, monstrous gyre in an endless darkness. Around this gyre were hundreds of gargantuan crystalline coffins, churning endlessly but unable to plunge into the void. From where the eye had been there was coming a deep, booming noise and strange clicking, like some alien whale calling out... and from far to the southwest, a keening wail barely audible over the crashing noise of the Wyld called back. Far above him, he could make out a tiny white speck slowly traversing the abyss above him. As he desperately swam (or climbed?) towards it, in the waking world Gizu climbed onto Daxi's bed, kneeling over him and reaching for him... The speck came into view; of all things, a white cat which stopped its walk across the abyss and gazed down at him with cold green eyes. Daxi could hear a voice over the roaring; "...xi...axi...Daxi...DAXI!"
Then there was a shot of pain and a crunching sensation, and Daxi awoke. To his surprise, however, Gizu had not been there to take his life but to save it, and had in fact worked some Lunar healing charm on him, which would speed his recovery from a matter of weeks into a day. The pain however, and the scar, would take longer.
== A Dawning Civilization ==
On the island, the rest of the Circle learned how the war had been going from the perspective of the Court of the Ascendant Insect and the Vale of Slumber. The two courts, uniquely bound in symbiotic union as their minds and bodies solidified into form, had become aware of the world they had stepped into... and were terrified. Psygotwyr could perceive forces at work in this corner of creation, "a voice in the trench, the song beyond the penumbra" and some signal coming from the Merido Trench where Njorlona had met its doom, beyond them and perhaps even beyond the Spear Empress or anyone to contain. One of these forces had destroyed an entire court of Bhadri's army, that of Prince Zalak, whose remains the Tide had seen staining the surface of the ocean as they fled them. It confirmed that the Clockwork Caliph had retreated, its forces destroyed, and Prince Mharidan - having finished his own errand at the Shadowland and claimed his prize - had also returned, leaving the remaining Song of Flesh and Blood to their fate. But having taken shape and calcified into autonomous beings through coming into creation, the Court of the Ascendant Insect and the Vale of Slumber could not go back to the oblivion of chaos without being destroyed utterly.
As for the more pressing current crisis it warned them that the Spear Empress was indeed an Ishvara - a Rakshasa on the level of Prince Balor and the other monstrosities of old - and sought an unknown quarry amongst the Bronze Tide. The Emissary, through a rapidly faltering Parzifal, made an ominous prediction: “The eye is blinded by a darkness so deep that only the light of the Sun and Moon may pierce it.” It also offered them a gift of its foresight, through imbibing its slime. The three Solars cautiously accepted, and in the sudden burst of hallucinations that followed each saw a vision, though only one saw an immediate solution to their problem:
* Reeds saw the strange dreamlike swamp he had experienced before, this time seeing Djala and other figures moving in the mists. In the centre of a crossroads in the rivulets, he saw Bal Sho in his boat, with a white cat with green eyes sitting at the prow.
* Hephastia saw the Marquis, having slain one of the flesh hulks trying in vain to merge itself back into the oneness of flesh. Failing, it curled up in the mountain of gore in a foetal position and wept.
* Tokumei saw a vision of fleeing an unseen pursuer in a pitch blackness before coming upon a clearing in the centre of a jungle, with a stone platform in the middle of a pool with a great roaring hole into the wyld above it. The Grey Eye.
Agreeing that they would try and help resolve the situation for the Court when the crisis was over, the Solars - Tokumei in particular shaken by their ordeal - reconvened at Daxi's bedside, where Lukha, Mei Fang and the other Lunars had already brought Daxi a (surprisingly large) amount of food as a "Get well soon" gift. When they heard that the Solars were heading to the eye Lukha (and by extension Jural) insisted on coming; Lukha wanted to repay his debt to the Solars for averting the war, and Jural wanted to know exactly what had caused this crisis to happen in the first place.
== The Grey Eye ==
That evening on the boat, the Circle rested, as Daxi recovered while Gizu's medical charm did its work. As they rested, they compared notes about their recent experiences. Amazingly, Reeds could actually understand the clicking sounds Daxi heard in his vision, and the word being chanted. An obscure, secretive sect within the Wreckers Coast that called themselves the Crab Kings in Exile spoke in an odd language of gurgles and clicks much like it. From what Reeds could make out "Anuung" meant "Spoken", referring to someone, and the clicking spelled out a phrase (or perhaps a name?): Deathlike Silence Revalation. Reeds also wondered as to the significance of the white cat from his vision of Bal Sho also appearing in Daxi's vision of the void. Since when did Bal Sho even have a cat? At mention of Bal Sho, Hephastia grew concerned that the workmen constructing her watchtower had also seen the supposedly cursed Bal Sho before she left. Tokumei on the other hand was more concerned with practical matters; food and sleep for those that needed it, and Daxi's advice on how she could avoid falling from the tornado in future. 
The next morning, the Circle and the two Lunars prepared to leave. Kissing each other for good luck before adopting bird form, the two warned of the dangers on the Peninsula. The Yensei Fiefdoms had become buried under an endlessly roiling sea of gold, the Mygdon lands had become the hunting ground of "the living cities" and whatever had happened to the Yensei steppe was not known as no-one who had ventured into them since the crisis had ever returned. In light of that, the Circle chose the direct Mygdon route. As they arrived on the coast they saw the Living Kingdoms: huge ambulatory cities on thousands of legs. Some were simply drinking from the ocean, another was goring a mountain. The City of Castio was slumbering partially on its side, where they could see its underbelly full of screaming people behind portcullis teeth. 
Meanwhile on the island between Kanilah and the Peninsula, Spear-Empress Bhadri and her colossal Devil-Tiger mount prepared to square off against Hengeron. Her skin was black as if completely absent of light; her fangs were as long as mammoth tusks and she wore a skirt of flayed human pelts. Keeping the tornado low, Hephastia snuck past both the cities and the gaze of Bhadri, but it was clear the tall densely packed trees of the jungle interior would force them to continue on foot. But alas, as the Circle landed Castio shifted its enormous bulk in its sleep. Hephastia had kept out of line of sight by hugging the valleys in their path, but by looking back at the city they saw the looming form of Bhadri in the distance, and in seeing her, she saw them. Her gaze filled the Circle with a mortal terror of the prey being hunted by the ultimate predator. As the Circle prepared to run, Bhadri cast her spear from the island to the mainland shore, and everything under its shadow died instantly, from a line of sea-life and humanoid aquatic corpses to the grass and even a city on the shore. 
Fleeing into the inky darkness of the interior Bhadri roared, imprinting upon them a terror of dogs from which she summoned a pack of unseen hunting hounds to pursue the Circle while she caught up. As they fled, the darkness summoned up the Solars' worst fears to assail them. Reeds' anima flared uncontrollably, drawing their pursuers in, and somewhere in the distance he heard Snails - somehow here in the heart of danger and calling for help. Humanoid figures joined the pursuit. To Daxi these appeared to be Lintha manhunters like those he had faced in his youth, led by someone with a striking family resemblance to Fang Zan. Tokumei meanwhile saw a Wyld Hunt led by Cathak Yukitada, a former pupil now leading the hunt for her erstwhile teacher. 
Hephastia, attempting to lead the party, hacked her way through the flesh of a colossal, unseen serpent from her own memories of Boomslang, but stopped as the weapon in her hand called out in her husband's voice, as if somehow trapped inside the blade she had made to remember him by. This, however, helped her shrug off the effects of the illusion, as her weapon's evocation allowed her to summon the real soul of Cliff Breaks the Tide to her side. Seeing the party faltering, Daxi flexed his powers to bellow at the Circle to stick together. Reaching the edge of the treeline into the heart of the Peninsula Bhadri's powers summoned a great cage from Daxi's memories to ensnare them. Alone this might have overcome him, but with the combined strength of his friends, the Lunars and himself, they threw off the cage before the hounds were upon them. Tumbling into the clearing, the hounds clawed and tore at the trees but could not enter the light completely.
The centre of the Grey Eye was a quiet, almost peaceful dell that stretched downhill towards a pool in the centre, in the middle of which was a stone platform and 4 pillars containing a roaring, unstable hole in the fabric of reality directly into the Wyld. At their feet there were scorched marks and discarded masks where figures had once stood, a matter of years but not decades since they fell. Casting a sorcery a couple of the circle recognized as Shadows of the Ancient Past, Lukha demanded an answer to the question - "Who Did This?". The figures, shown in faded spectres, were Issyk hunters who seemed to be pursuing some unknown party before a force from the portal annihilated them. Heading down into the pillars, the Circle heard smatterings of children's laughter, and saw spectres of teenaged youths running down the path in some recent past. Here and there in the grass, discarded amphoras and cigarette butts suggested people had been here some years ago.
In an attempt to conquer her fear, Tokumei was letting her mind travel back to a point in her past when she was strong enough to overcome the terror she had just felt. That point was her past incarnation, Suzaraine of Endless Flame. She received a vision of her past self standing on a balcony over the ocean, overseeing a battle between an aquatic force of Njorlona - their troops - waging battle against an army from the sea led by a creature bigger than any island now in the bay. This was the certainty she tapped into as she began to push the pillars back into place. As she did so, Reeds stepped into the Wyld and began to exert his will. Through some vision of the distant past, he saw the Horned Man cutting the original hole with the blade of 5 Midnights. 
Though the hounds were struggling to cross the threshold the other pursuers had no such difficulty. The humanoid pursuers - now revealed to be fair folk - wore the Lintha guises they had menaced Daxi with, as they swarmed down the slope to interrupt the Circle. Side by side, they fought; Daxi, Hephastia and the ghost of her husband, Lukha Palash and Jural Three-Trees. Though the Lunars fought bravely, Lukha seemed distracted, as the sound of the children's laughter unsettled him deeply. Finishing her work, and still wrestling for control with Suzerein, Tokumei began to wrestle with the maw of one of the hounds, seeking to unbind and consume its essence. And behind them all, Reeds fought to bend the Wyld back under control, the strength of all those he held dear buoying him as he held on.
But as the leader of the fair folk raised its cleaver to strike, the spear of Bhadri struck him dead and scattered his goblins. Ripping aside the trees and striding, colossal and terrifying, into the clearing, the group fell to their knees in horror as she loomed over Lukha... and declared she had come to fulfil the oath.
It was then that Jural's spell revealed the tragic reason the Spear Empress had come. Years ago, when he was just a boy, Lukha had gone trespassing into the jungle and sat drinking and carousing near the portal. In a childish boast, the young Lukha had bet "TEN talents of Jade that some fair folk won't reach out of this hole and snatch me!" and spat into the portal. And in the roiling chaos of the Wyld, Bhadri had accepted. 
Falling to his knees, catatonic with shock, Lukha was snatched up by Bhadri in one hand. But on the verge of becoming another pelt for Bhadri's belt, Tokumei - having resisted the thrall of the Ishvara's aura - challenged the terms of the wager. By the terms of the pact, she should have grabbed him from inside the portal, and by coming out with her armies she had broken the terms. The Spear Empress was incandescent with fury, but her hand turned to smoke and Lukha fell through her fingers to land on the ground. But as she retreated back to the Wyld, the Spear Empress made an ominous prophecy against the Solars:
“This land will fall, but not by my hand… though I and mine will make much sport of it before the end. I promise you this: you will be the instrument of your own destruction."
With the Empress gone, and Jural cradling his lover's limp form in his arms, the Solars held Reeds upright, Tokumei channelling the last bit of essence Reeds needed to stabilize the portal. As they did so, a strange window to a different version of the clearing they were in cut into the portal's surface. There, the land was pitch black as if in eternal night, and two figures watched the Solars. A woman alike in appearance to Hephastia except clad in Steel instead of Bronze, and with the Blade of Five Midnights forming the head of Widow's Steely Remorse, stood working on a panel constructed perhaps to control the portal. In front of her, a man identical to Reeds save for his white robes and curious, cold smile. This vision came only for a few moments, before being lost in the roaring chaos. 
As the Circle reflected on this, they rejoined the Lunars. Lukha, staring off into the middle distance and babbling, Jural cradling him and weeping. And then, somehow, the real Snails burst through the treeline in search of his master. 
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