Legend of the Long Journey to the Lake

The Legend of the Long Journey to the Lake is the story of Princess Tani Taka and how she became Queen of the City on the Lake. Further, it tells the tale of the creation of The Order and of the Cataclysm.

## The Journey Begins

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Zhang Taka was a wealthy shipping merchant, elevated to the level of Lord by the Emperor of Minsheng. In the two decades since his rise to prominence, Lord Taka became arrogant, caught up in the trappings of wealth and prestige afforded by a position in the Emperor’s retinue. Through his arrogance, Lord Taka’s actions displeased the Emperor. Realizing he was at risk of losing his lordship, Lord Taka offered his oldest daughter, Tani Taka, in marriage to the Emperor in an effort to regain favor.

The Emperor was pleased with Tani Taka as a present, for while she was no great beauty, she exhibited an elegance and delicacy prized in Minsheng. Despite this, the Emperor had no plans of letting the daughter of a disgraced lord marry into his family. A power-hungry and deceptive man, the Emperor devised a plan in which Tani Taka was to play a prominent role. As a peace offering, the Emperor made a gift of jewels, spices, and bolts of silk to the Counsels. He also offered Tani Taka as a bride to Kha Van Huu, the son of a Langaran Counsel. Seeking to lay to rest previous hostilities from the Minsheng Empire, the Counsels accepted the Emperor’s offering.

As proper in a tribute bride, the Emperor commissioned an elaborate gown for Tani Taka of the finest crimson silk, the color of the Minsheng Empire flag. The Emperor had Tani Taka’s long, black, and uncut hair bound in a ceremonial style befitting one of noble stock. The Emperor’s servants adorned Tani Taka with jeweled rings upon each finger, golden bangles depicting dragons and phoenixes upon both wrists, and golden Buyao hairpins with pearls and jade that jingled and moved with each step.

Upon the ship to Indagar, the Minsheng ambassador, sensing her provincial nature, explained to Tani Taka that she was to comport herself as a proper arranged bride – she was to be visually appealing and speak not at all. Seeking to honor her family and restore favor upon her father, Tani Taka accepted this role with quiet determination. Unbeknownst to Tani Taka, her family and those in employ with the Taka household had been put to the sword and her father’s holdings seized by the Empire in the early hours before the ship had set sail for Konagara.

Upon arrival in Konagara, Tani Taka was a shining example of an arranged Minsheng bride. She was demure, polite, and courteous as she was introduced to the Counsels and her betrothed, Kha Van Huu, who treated her with a small bow. The delegate procession made its way from the docks toward the Minsheng Embassy, located on the hills just west of the city center.

Nestled among the hills overlooking the three domes of the Central Temple, were the various embassies. The largest of these was the Minsheng Embassy compound, located at the top of the westerns hills, partially concealed by lush landscaping. After entering the southern gate, Tani Taka marveled at the perfect balance of the embassy gardens surrounding the buildings of assorted sizes. A tall, white wall ran along the perimeter of the embassy, serving as both protection from unwanted visitors and as a backdrop to the myriad of flowers and trees within its boundary. As the palanquin progressed up the winding path, Tani took in the scenery around her. There were pavilions, rock gardens, bridges over streams, and several kinds of trees – peach, winter plum, pine, and apricot. The delicate scents of water, trees, and flowers mingled to create an attractive and enticing aroma. Along the path she could see ponds, some small and dotted with lily pads and others large enough to contain small islands, symbolizing the Five Immortals. Everywhere there was bamboo, carefully cultivated so as to remain plentiful but not invasive. It was a paradise contained within the tall white walls.

Tani was given a lavish suite of rooms, the rooms the Emperor stayed in when he paid visit to Konagara. There was a sitting room with large ornamental windows overlooking a large pond teeming with koi. The bedroom was opulent in silks and damasks and the bathroom had a soaking basin so large it more closely resembled a pool than a tub. Tani considered her surroundings – the elaborate gardens and her well provisioned rooms. It was more than she had hoped for; it was less than she deserved.

Although relations between the Minsheng Empire and the Republic were improving, there were still many in Konagara for which there was no love lost between nations. As such, Tani was confined to the grounds of the embassy until her wedding and the day of the Millennial Celebration, the 1000th year celebrating the founding of the Republic – three months hence. Initially, this sequestration did not appear to be all that bad. Tani had a host of servants to see to her every need. She was free to roam the many wondrous gardens on the embassy grounds. She even had several tutors instructing her on the local customs and etiquette of Konagara. All her meals were brought and left for her to eat at her leisure in the expansive, private dining room. It was an experience befitting an emperor. It was torture for Tani.

Kha Van Huu paid regular visits to Tani at the embassy. He would frequently bring small presents - a fruit native to Indagar, candies, delicate blown glass animals worked with golden filigree. Their courtship, such as it was, was slow moving. Kha Van Huu added to her lessons on Konagara with epic ballads – stories detailing the deeds of Konagaran heroes, and other tales of bravery long since passed.

It was during one such recitation that Tani Taka took a moment to consider her future husband. While his voice was strong and sure during his orations, she could tell that he possessed a more reserved nature. He had a noble mien, that is to say, he was not flippant when he spoke. He did not talk for the sake of hearing his own voice. Every time Kha Van Huu opened his mouth, his words were decisive, assured. But he was not cold or dismissive; there was an undercurrent of warmth, so faint one would miss it if they were not paying attention. Tani felt she could relate to him, and thought that maybe she could grow to love a man possessing such an upstanding carriage.

Despite Kha Van Huu’s frequent visits to the Minsheng Embassy, Tani quickly grew bored of the embassy’s confines. A gilded cage was still a cage to bird who longed to spread its wings. It was no easy task by which Tani persuaded Kha Van to assist her in breaking free from the walls of the embassy. Even with the knowledge that those from the Minsheng Empire were not always viewed favorably, Kha Van reluctantly agreed to assist Tani in escaping so she may experience the sights and sounds of Konagara.

Tani devised an escape plan, one that would be easy for leaving and returning back to the embassy. In the pale light, just after dawn, she would climb atop the pavilion immediately outside her dining room and scramble onto the roof of the guest suites. From there, she would walk along the top beam and hop onto the roof of the ambassador’s offices. It was a short leap onto a peach tree that hung over the southern wall. Tani eased herself onto the lowest branch that cleared the wall before lowering her legs to dangle by her hands. She lowered herself slowly before falling to the soft moss below. Kha Van Huu would meet her with a tunic and pants of roughspun, to cover her crimson silks. Tani would tie her hair into a low tail, more common with the women who lived and worked in Konagara.

Together they would explore the streets of the bustling city, for while Kha Van Huu had lived in there his entire life, being the son of a Langaran Counsel, his exposure to various parts of the city were nearly a limited as Tani’s. Khu Van Huu led Tani to the docks where they watched men unload cargo from ships that sailed the far reaches of the seas. Large jars filled with oils, crates bearing wares from eastern Indagar, cages with animals Tani had never seen before. From the docks, she and Kha meandered to the marketplace, a few streets from the docks. Merchants were setting up their stalls for the day. Nuts and fruits in one stall, delicately worked glass figurines in another. Men and women hurried along the narrow streets of the market, seeking to buy a bit of breakfast on their way to their own stalls or shops.

Kha Van Huu showed her his favorite areas of the city, places where art intertwined seamlessly with functionality. They visited libraries, museums. During one trip out, they even went to a peasant theater to watch a play. The art, culture, and people of Konagara mesmerized Tani, and although she felt homesick for Minsheng and the comfort of her father’s house, she became enamored with her new city. It was unlike Minsheng, in that the people were free and the oppressiveness that hung low in even the smallest of villages of Minsheng was absent in Konagara. Tani resolved to embrace this new culture, vowing she would use her situation to find happiness in Indagar that she had never experienced in Minsheng.

It was on one afternoon while Tani was returning to her rooms that she overheard a council meeting with dignitaries from Minsheng. As she traversed over the roof of the ambassador’s private meeting chamber, she heard him say the word “invasion.” Tani wanted to hurry to her rooms since Republic dress fitters were due soon but she felt an irresistible pull to find out what more the ambassador said; her curiosity won out. She crouched low on the beam and edged closer to the open ornamental window. She closed her eyes and focused on the voices. She was familiar with only the ambassador’s voice but the intonation of the others’ voices let her know that they too were from Minsheng. Tani climbed down a nearby apricot tree so she could better hear the details of the conversation.

The ambassador laid out plans from the Emperor of Minsheng to bring war to Indagar. With the marriage of Tani to Kha Van, Minsheng would be free to pursue trade with the formally closed harbors of Konagara, and thus the rest of Indagar. With trade routes open between the countries, the storied Republic navy would be less inclined to question the increased presence of ships bearing the Minsheng flag. As such, Minsheng military ships would disguise themselves as escort vessels to gain access to Republic waters. And that, the ambassador indicated, is how invasion would come to Konagara. He informed those present that only those Counsels who did not resist would be taken hostage although he believed all would not yield to Minsheng rule.

As the conversation segued into municipal matters, Tani inched away from the open window, her thoughts racing. She wanted to tell Kha Van of the ambassador and Emperor’s duplicity. Discovering her marriage arrangement to be a farce was of little importance in light of the plan of invasion. Tani had to inform Kha Van Huu. Surely he would tell his father of this deception and so alert the proper parties. As she had only just left him, he would not be too far gone from the embassy.

As Tani made to climb the apricot tree once more, she was spotted and stopped by Republic dress fitters, who had appeared around a nearby pavilion. Again, she was instructed to remain in the embassy until her wedding day, a mere two days away. Tani glanced back towards the ambassador’s private meeting chamber but there was no sign that she had been noticed by those inside.

Since wedding preparations were beginning in earnest, informing Kha Van would have to wait until the day of the wedding. There would be time enough after the ceremony.

## The Cataclysm

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The Millennial Celebration began at dawn. Konagara had been lavishly decorated – every home, store, and building was covered in strings of celebratory, decorative paper and colored lanterns. From her window, Tani Taka could hear the festivities; she could see the citizens of Konagara out in the streets, reveling, eating festive foods, and their children running through the streets waving child-sized banners of the Republic. Such a true and honest celebration of a nation was not something that could have ever happened in the Minsheng Empire.

She was dressed in a borrowed wedding gown, one far more lavish than any that she could have afforded in her old life. They led her through the streets towards the central palace where the Chamber of the People normally convened, but was now empty for the wedding celebration. The palace was magnificently adorned with painted murals, some dating as far back as the founding wars of the Republic. Depicted in great detail were Republic heroes, captured in both battle and repose. Also represented in several places was The Well and the Spirits that made the Republic so powerful for so long. Awaiting her inside the Chamber of the People were a host of people she had never met, most of them elected officials from all throughout The Republic having come to witness her wedding and the ostensible alliance with the Minsheng Empire. Starkly missing, however, were the Counsels themselves.

Her wedding was overseen both by an official of the Republic and an Empire Priest, put there more for ceremony than by any real religious request. The officials spoke of the union between Tani Taka and Kha Van Huu, the marriage symbolic of the lasting bond being forged between the Minsheng Empire and the Republic. Tani Taka bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from hissing at the lies the ambassador had spoken.

As the wedding celebration ended, with the presentation of Tani Taka and Kha Van Huu before the congregation, fireworks lit up the sky above of Konagara. Music, cheers, and singing could be heard in the Chamber as the height of the Millennial Celebration was fully underway. Then the Cataclysm struck.

With a shudder, the floor of the Chamber lurched and split along cracks that raced from one corner of the building to the other. Tani Taka gripped Khu Van Huu’s arm as they were rocked from their feet, pieces of the ceiling dropped all around them like celebratory rose petals.

A single, high-pitched scream, metallic and deafening, tore through the congregation as the first person present succumbed to the Reaper. It was a member of the Chamber, a man from the Kingdom of Arkland. He doubled-over in pain and wretched, the crowd around him scattering like rats from the nest. He screamed in agony, his body contorting in unnatural ways. His skin burst open, spraying blood and gore as demonic tendrils tore free of his body, an ancient demon escaping from its mortal shell. The transformation had lasted all of three seconds, so fast that the horror of it had barely registered to those present. The man, now a half-demononic monster, spun around, as sinuous as a snake, to attack others in the congregation. Screams filled the room as people ran for the exits. As the first guests rushed through the Chamber doors, screams from the outside washed through the chamber. The entire city was under attack. People were thrashing about the streets, transforming into monsters. Reaper Energy, manifested in an explosion of thick, opaque fog, rose from the rents in the earth. The newly formed demons of the Cabal, robbed of any semblance of humanity, rampaged through the populace. The festive streets of Konagara were ablaze as the city burned.

Horrified, Tani Taka jerked her hand away as Kha Van Huu began to convulse next to her. She watched as he fell to a knee, his face and skin fading to a stark white. His veins, black as night, could be seen clearly through his skin. Tani Taka, unsure of where to escape, could only watch as shock rooted her to the dais upon which she had just been wed. Chaos reigned as the possessed – some full monsters and others human with the same pale skin and red eyes Kha Van Huu exhibited, began slaughtering fleeing guests at will. Beside her, Kha Van Huu rose to his feet, now visibly overcome with Reaper Energy, his eyes replaced by glowing red orbs, his skin a ghastly white. As he turned to face her, Tani Taka instinctively kicked Kha Van Huu in the jaw as he reached for her. As his body flew to the side, Tani Taka sprinted through a nearby door, escaping the horrors of the Chamber.

She found herself at a side door along the outer walls of the Chamber. All around her people were fleeing, chased by demonic warriors or Reaper-possessed men and women. Everywhere she looked, she saw horror as the Reaper had unleashed its power of destruction on Konagara. Panic set in as Tani Taka realized she had nowhere to flee. She could not return to the embassy nor could she flee to the palace. Down the road she saw a group of people being led by a couple of plainly dressed men. She ran after them as they headed towards the eastern gates of Konagara in an attempt to escape the city burning around them. As they turned the corner onto the main causeway just before the gates, they halted, bodies colliding into one another and falling like wheat before the scythe. The Eastern Gate, while open, was blocked by terrifying, animated skeletons. Armor hung upon their bony frames, antiquated sets from bygone eras. An ancient army of long dead soldiers blocked their flight.

The people in the escaping crowd around her froze in terror, their screams caught in their throats. Running back into the streets seemed like suicide. Tani Taka looked at the terrified faces around her. These were not soldiers. They were ordinary citizens of Konagara – merchants, artisans, townspeople. She felt a sense of responsibility for them. These people were her people now, she decided. She was not a soldier but she had some training in defense. Tani pushed her way to the front, between the people and the line of monsters before them, her chin lifted in defiance. It was at this moment that she gained the nickname, “Warrior Bride.”

It was over as fast as it began. The creatures slashed at her with their ruined, magical swords, slashing the fabric of her wedding dress to tatters as she spun, avoiding the blades. Somewhere in the middle of her seemingly endless spinning dance, she grabbed a large chunk of rubble from the collapsed building next to her, and smashed the skull of one of the attacking skeletons. In that same, continuous motion, Tani Taka disarmed the soldier as it fell, grabbing the sword and using it to deflect the descending sword of another monster. She pivoted off her lead foot, spun in the opposite direction, and slashed its head away from its body at the neck, bone splinters scattered through the air. She stripped some battle gear off one of the skeletal warriors and put it over her tattered, red dress.

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The crowed was stock still in amazement, until they began to realize their way from the city was no longer blocked. They made to run through the now cleared gates but Tani stopped them. She told the women, children, and elderly in the crowd to go through the gate and flee to the countryside, but some of the men would need to stay at the gate. While other men in the group would head back into the surrounding streets to find more fleeing people to lead out of the gates. As she was giving orders, a small group of Republic soldiers rounded the corner and headed towards the gate. The stalwart man in charge was named Bu Jian and his second in command was Tong Fa, a man known for his overly large physique and propensity for overly large weapons befitting his stature. Bu Jian immediately fell in line with Tani’s plan, sending half of his troops to assist in gathering fleeing civilians, a handful of others to stay at the gate, and the remaining soldiers to lead the fleeing women, children, and elderly through the countryside towards Katsu-Lan. Bu Jian and Tong Fa vowed to Tani Taka that they would defend the gate with her.

That night, over a thousand people were able to flee through the Eastern Gate as Tani Taka, Bu Jian, and Tong Fa kept the demons at bay. When it seemed as though the city was completely vacated of survivors, they fled into the countryside as well, leaving the burning city behind. As the sun was starting to rise ahead of them, the group met up with the survivors and the rest of Bu Jian’s soldiers. Tani Taka assumed command, as Bu Jian and Tong Fa deferred leadership responsibility of the refugees to her judgement. They began the long walk towards the border of nearby Katsu-Lan.

## Turned Away At Katsu-Lan

It took the fleeing citizens a week to make the trek from Konagara to Katsu-Lan, normally a one day’s journey by horseback traveling on the well-worn road. The column was slowed by the near constant fighting of a rear-guard, set there by Bu Jian. As the refugees traveled, more and more survivors of the Cataclysm in Konagara joined their group. Soldiers and civilians alike fled into the countryside as the land died behind them. Bu Jian enlisted the newly arrived soldiers to aid in protecting the refugees from the horrors chasing them.

Bu Jian and Tong Fa were worried. They knew that an army marched on its stomach. The refugees were ill-prepared for the sudden exodus. Exhaustion set in. But Tani would not let the refugees falter. Despite her own fatigue, she pushed herself to keep walking. She talked with every soldier, thanking them for their protection. She spoke with every refugee in that flight, asking them about their life before things fell apart. Tani knew her accent made her speech borderline unintelligible, so she listened. Artisans, bakers, engineers, mothers, sailors, she heard all their stories. It was this kindness, in a time of darkness and turmoil, that earned her the admiration and respect of those in exile.

Katsu-Lan was the county represented by Kha Van Huu’s father. The province celebrated Kha Van Huu’s arranged marriage to Tani Taka nearly as much as the city of Konagara. She assumed that she could leverage her celebrity-like status into shelter for the refugees. However, news traveled faster than the exiles and instead of a warm welcome, a full contingent of Republic soldiers under the command of the governor of Katsu-Lan met them a mile from the closest village. Tani Taka looked beyond, into the valley below. She could make out other groups of soldiers, heading off in different directions. She turned her attention back to the commander in front of her. It was clear that refugees from Konagara were being turned away, lest the same fate befall Katsu-Lan.

Tani Taka implored the commander that she be able to speak to the governor. After the commander ordered her and Bu Jian stripped of their weapons and armor, he allowed them to seek an audience before the governor. Before departing, Tani instructed Tong Fa and the rest of Bu Jian’s soldiers to assess the feasibility of fighting the governor’s troops for access to Katsu-Lan.

As Tani Taka squared her shoulders and faced the Republic soldiers, one of Bu Jian’s soldiers from the rear guard came running up to to the head of the column. Riding astride horseback alongside the road was a small contingent of soldiers from the Ramal Nations, led by Abasi Naser, son of a great Ramaltas. He dismounted and gave Tani Taka a short bow and nodded in turn to Bu Jian and the commander of the Republic soldiers. He expressed that he and his personal guard were in attendance at Tani Taka’s wedding to Khu Van Huu and were also fleeing the destruction of Konagara.

Upon seeing the state of the refugees, Abasi Naser inquired about sanctuary in Katsu-Lan. Hearing that the governor was denying entry to refugees and instructing them to reroute to the northern roads without means of provisions, Abasi Naser ordered his Kasentas, Anua Hestes, to pay the governor to provision the refugees. Abasi Naser apologized to Tani Taka and indicated that the large cache of gold and jewels that he intended to pay with was, in fact, the wedding present meant for her wedding to Khu Van Huu. Tani Taka threw her head back and laughed. What use did she have for jewels when people were fighting to survive, having lost all they had? For the first time since they had fled Konagara, Bu Jian cracked a smile.

After several long hours, the refugees were provisioned. They made to head north, around Katsu-Lan, but this time, Abasi Naser and his personal guard accompanied them. He indicated that they would accompany the refugees until their safety was secured, even if that meant reaching the Spine. Abasi Naser indicated that they were, likewise, making a long trek home, as the sea lanes were no longer available and the land around Konagara and the Bay of Spirits withered to ash.

Unclear of where to go, Bu Jian reassured Tani Taka that while the governor of Katsu-Lan was a cowardly man letting fear govern for him, not all governors of the Republic would behave in such a manner. They would continue past the borders of Katsu-Lan until they could find sanctuary.

## The Chase Begins

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After several weeks of burning, the fires in Konagara started dying down. Where once tall, gleaming buildings stood, only blackened, smoldering frames remained. Ash drifted through the air like grey snowflakes, a thick layer of smoke blanketed the streets. Through the haze, bodies ambled towards the central palace. Wedding decorations flapped listlessly from the crumbling walls. Bodies and Minsheng flags littered the ground in equal measure.

In the middle of the central palace rubble stood Kha Van Huu, fully possessed by Reaper Energy and transformed into a Cabalist, a being so heavily corrupted by Reaper Energy that they thought only of turmoil and devastation. For while the powerful magic unleashed during the Cataclysm began to subside, the desire to conquer and destroy remained, inhabiting those Cabalists consumed with Reaper Energy. Kha Van Huu, still having use of his full mental faculties, sought to sow chaos across all of Indagar. To Kha Van Huu, the choice was obvious: he would sacrifice Taki Tana, thereby reigniting the war between the Minsheng Empire and the Republic. He could not have known that the Minsheng Ambassador and his delegation were already en route back to the Minsheng Empire, bringing word of the destruction of Konagara by the hands of demons. Any previous plans of Minsheng invasion were soon to be called off.

Kha Van Huu and several of the possessed Cabalists summoned demons of the Cabal to search for Tani Taka. They set off to the lands surrounding Konagara, supernatural power hastening their pace. While the demons of the Cabal ran through the countryside, the Cabalists discovered the powers and malevolent gifts that had been bestowed to them, in addition to the summoning of demons of the Cabal. Reaper Energy filled them with superhuman strength, agility, pain tolerance, and ferocity. They would be able to obliterate everything in their path. The Cabalists summoned more demons and left on foot, pursuing Tani Taka. Crops, livestock, and villagers perished in the maelstrom. The Republic soldiers guarding Katsu-Lan had barely registered the force majeure coming from Konagara until it was too late. Villages, towns, and cities in Katsu-Lan fell as civilians fled to the east, away from the berserked Cabalists. Word spread, the Cabalists were looking for Tani Taka and they and their conjoured horde of demons would kill everyone and everything in their way. Each outlying village and town around the perimeter of Katsu-Lan closed their gates to the refugees from Konagara. Nobody would take the risk of bringing the Cabalists to their doorstep by helping Tani Taka.

With supplies bought from the governor of Katsu-Lan running low, Tani Taka, Bu Jian, and Abasi Naser had to formulate a plan to ensure the survival of the refugees. The land around them continued to crumble to dust. No crops remained, as people, fearful for what was happening to the land around them, harvested and horded what meager crops they could. Livestock was penned and guarded against opportunistic thieves. What the refugees could not beg or scavenge, they made do. At points during their long journey, they resorted to hunting and cooking what feral animals they could find. Bitterness and anger set in as the refugees became hardened to their new reality: no one would help them and nothing would be handed to them in kindness.

Tani Taka was determined to not let her people die. Bu Jian was determined to protect Tani Taka. At night, Tani Taka, Bu Jian, Abasi Naser, Tong Fa, and Anua Hestes would convene to discuss the state of the refugees and soldiers. For several long weeks, they slept in shifts, always three awake at any time – one to lead the vanguard, one for the rear guard, and one to lead the refugees. Anua Hestes would forego his sleep shift in order to protect Abasi Naser. These nightly respites were short-lived as attacks from summoned, demonic beasts started to increase as the Cabalists gained ground on the refugees.

It was during one such night attack that Abasi Naser was slain by one of the demons of the Cabal. Anua Hestes was seriously injured while trying to protect Abasi Naser. Naser's death signaled an end for Anua Hestes and his men as his Ramaltas would order their deaths upon return to the Sand Seas. Their loss was not without an element of gain, as the demonic legion that had been plaguing their escape was slain, Tani Taka and the refugees gained much needed time.

They were almost to the Spine.

## The Western Gate

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Standing eighty feet and cut directly into the rocky mountain side, was the Western Gate, an imposing structure that protected the Western Pass to the Spine. The stone and iron doors remained open during the day with Tianyi-Lan soldiers posted on both sides of the Western Pass to facilitate movement of peoples through the Spine. A marvel of the Republic Corps of Engineers, it shone like a beacon of hope to the refugees who had been fleeing for so long.

Harried and ragged, Tani Taka and the refugees sighed with relief as they caught their first glimpse of the Western Gate. For while Abasi Naser’s death had purchased them time, the civilians would never survive another attack in the open. The physical barrier of the Spine could offer natural protection, enabling the refugees a greater chance of escape. It was Tani Taka’s hope that the entire group of refugees could make it down the Highway to the City on the Lake. It was their best chance at survival.

Immediately, Tani Taka could sense something was amiss. The Western Gate was closed. The refugees continued their march towards the closed gates, elation hastening their steps. As they gained ground, Tani Taka could see that soldiers of the Stars of Ixohtl, who had also fled the devastation of Konagara, now controlled the Gate. The Highway was closed to the refugees.

Directly before the Western Gate stood a legion of soldiers from Tianyi-Lan, the eastern-most country whose soldiers normally controlled the Gate. They had been fooled into abandoning their post by the Stars during the commotion caused by the Cataclysm. The head of the soldiers before the Gate threw out a challenge to the Stars upon the gate. But the response from the Stars of Ixohtl was the same – they would not relinquish the gates. A battle was imminent.

News spread through the refugees who had settled in to camp for the night. Despair set it. After so long a journey, they were so close, only to be stuck on the wrong side of the Western Gate. Tani Taka could not stand to see these people be slaughtered by Kha Van Huu and the Cabalists. Bu Jian, Tong Fa, and Anua Hestes set to securing the refugees as the sun started its decent in the west.

After the whispers died down as refugees drifted off to restless sleep, Tani Taka grabbed her sword and tightened down her borrowed armor. She waited a couple more hours and creeped to the edge of the encampment. Ensuring that Bu Jian and Tong Fa were double checking the soldiers on watch, she stole into the night, heading north of the gate. After a quarter of a mile she stopped by a strand of trees abutting the Spine. She secured her sword and hoisted herself up the closest tree to the sheer rock face. From the top of the tree, she reached out and ran felt for a hand hold. She found a small ledge approximately two feet above the branch she stood upon. Fortunately, the wall above the ledge was pockmarked in several places, providing much needed hand holds.

Once on the ledge, she looked around for the best ascent. She noticed a figure not thirty feet to her right, scaling the rock face. Anua Hestes, recognizable by the dim moonlight highlighting his bald pate, had the same idea as she: to enter by stealth and take the gates. She quickly began to climb, in hopes of summiting before he could. As Anua Hestes pulled himself onto the top, he looked up and saw Tani Taka sitting calmly, waiting for him. She smiled as he pulled her to her feet. Together they set off towards the gate, swords sheathed to hide the moon gleaming off their metal surface.

After a few minutes, they saw the gatehouse lit only by a couple of hanging lanterns. A handful of horses slept on the far side of the gatehouse. Tani Taka knew very little of the Stars of Ixohtl but that they were formidable on horseback and more than skilled with bows. Realizing that stealth was their only path to success, she indicated such to Anua Hestes. They laid in wait, watching the Stars at the gatehouse. And in the small hours after the moon has set and the sun began to color the sky, Tani Taka and Anua Hestes crept up to the gatehouse and killed the Stars present.

Tani Taka made for the gate as Anua Hestes set to open the doors. The gates parted, opening up the way to the Highway for the refugees from Konagara. Tani Taka looked towards Anua Hestes as he made his way around the gatehouse to join her before the now open gates. Suddenly, he cried out, a look of horror etched on his face. With both hands, he reached down to his abdomen where an arrow shaft protruded. Tani Taka reached out to him as he fell, slowing his descent, but he was already gone. She looked up and saw a Star standing in the door of the gatehouse, another arrow knocked onto his bow, aimed directly at her chest. With a sudden flash of metal, the Star fell to the ground, an axe buried to the handle in his body.

Jumping to her feet and raising her sword in alarm, Tani turned toward the direction from which the axe flew. A group of Rangers and Stalkers from the Great Forest Tribes emerged from the far side of the gatehouse. At their head stood their Head Ranger, Morgan Matasan. The Rangers, wanting to help the refugees, set out in stealth to take the gatehouse. Yet, they hung back and watched Tani Taka and Anua Hestes take the gatehouse on their own. The Rangers expressed regret that they were not fast enough to prevent the death of Anua Hestes and told Tani Taka that they would see to his burial.

With the Rangers was a Bear Shaman by the name of Isbeil Bruis. She approached Tani Taka and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She had been instructed by the Wild to welcome Tani Taka to the Great Forest. Isbeil Bruis informed Tani Taka that the Wild had begun acting erratic. It started with the creatures of the Great Forest slaughtering one another beyond the basic need for food. It was only a matter of time before the animals turned on the human inhabitants of the forest. The people of the Great Forest Tribes, after fighting off a similar horror to that of Konagara, turned the blame towards the Republic and their Spirits for causing the imbalance of the natural order.

Isbeil Bruis commanded the Wild to provide answers for the sudden change in the animals of the Great Forest. Compelled by her spell, the Wild informed Isbeil that Tani Taka would arrive, and through her, a pathway to salvation for the Great Forest might be found. Isbeil Bruis thus sought to help her and the refugees reach the City on the Lake.

Tani Taka thanked Isbeil Bruis and the Rangers before she ceded control of the Western Gate back to the soldiers from Tianyi-Lan and warned them that the demons of the Cabal were still out there, chasing her from Konagara. She turned and marched the refugees through the Western Gate, across the Highway and towards the City on the Lake.

## The Battle of the Lake

 File:Battleofthelake.jpg
When the refugees finally reached the City on the Lake, they were greeted with compassion and given refuge. However, the city was unable to accommodate such a large influx of people within the city walls. The refugees crammed into any free space they could find on short notice. Boarding houses, parks, alleys, were all filled with the many exiles. Isbeil Bruis asked the Rangers to return to the Great Forest to acquire whatever support they could from the closest Tribes. While they were reluctant to leave Isbeil Bruis alone, so far from the source of her power, the Rangers set off to do her bidding.

Tani Taka approached the mayor of the city, a nervous man who had a habit of wringing his hands as he spoke. She pledged that her men, as tired and worn as they were from so long a march, would be available to defend the city against the growing darkness of the land in exchange for a more permanent place for her people. The mayor weighed the safety and welfare of his people against the additional mouths to feed and bodies to shelter and hesitantly agreed. The Rangers Isbeil Bruis sent back to the Great Forest returned, bearing food, bedrolls, tents, and other provisions for the refugees. Additionally, others had come back with them who would assist in building makeshift camps for the large number of evacuees. While it seemed that the long journey to the lake was coming to an end, Kha Van Huu and the Cabalists had not given up their chase.

It was several weeks after the refugees had arrived at the City on the Lake before they heard reports of demons in the night stalking the outer edges of the Great Forest and along the Highway. Isbeil Bruis brought the news directly to Tani Taka and the mayor of the City on the Lake. The mayor, in his cowardice, asked Tani Taka to take her refugees and flee, to spare the inhabitants of the city the wrath of Kha Van Huu and the Cabalists. Disgusted by his spinelessness, Tani told the mayor that she and the evacuees were finished with fleeing and that they would fight Kha Van Huu and the demons of the Cabal to the death if they must. She told the mayor that he could either fight alongside her to defend his city, or he could flee. In the small hours of the night, the mayor and several of his advisors abandoned the city and its people.

Tani Taka knew that with Kha Van Huu in the Great Forest that she would have little time to prepare and fortify the city. She rallied the city militia and placed them under the command of Bu Jian to move citizens to more easily defensible positions. With the soldiers from Konagara and the rest of the Ramal soldiers previously under command of Anua Hestes, Tani Taka set about preparing the city for battle.

Their foes arrived two days later, just as the sun was setting. Kha Van Huu and his Cabalists had summoned a great army of magic to their side. Thousands of demons of the Cabal stood at the bases of the bridges surrounding the city. Tani Taka knew that to control the bridges was to control the city. There were not enough boats to ensure that all the inhabitants could evacuate. It was fight, or die.

The attack fell as the moon rose over the eastern stretch of the Spine. Kha Van Huu and his Cabalists were relentless. The natural defense of the Great Forest Lake surrounding the city mattered little as the demons of the Cabal could walk along the lake bottom. Skeletal armies began rising from its waters, ascending up the grassy coasts encircling the city. Bu Jian and the city militia, having secured the citizens, broke off into smaller units and ran down to intercept the demons of the Cabal. Tani Taka and the remaining soldiers fought to hold the bridges.

All night, the battle waged on. So many lives lost that the waves washed up red with blood. As the early rays of sun began to lighten the sky, all seemed lost. Kha Van Huu and his Cabal were nearly to the city gates. It was only a matter of time before they broke through and overran the city.

The tide turned when a soul-piercing war cry of Howlers erupted from the Great Forest. The Howlers and their Wilder kin poured out of the trees surrounding the Great Forest Lake and onto the bridges. Blood lust in their veins, they pinned Kha Van Huu’s forces against Tani Taka’s forces before them. Kha Van Huu was captured and his Cabal killed; the demons of the Cabal disappearing when their summoners were slain.

Isbeil Bruis smiled at Tani Taka and told her that the Wild had other plans for her and the city.

Kha Van Huu, now a prisoner of the Howlers was brought before Isbeil and Tani. Seeing that he was still possessed by the Reaper, Tani Taka ordered his immediate execution. But Isbeil Bruis stilled her hand and requested a stay of execution. Incensed, Tani Taka demanded she explain herself. Isbeil told those present that she could see through the possession and that if she could see through it that she could rid him of the dark magics possessing him. She planned on taking him into the Great Forest with the Rangers and would return with him after the next full moon. Tani Taka cautioned that Kha Van Huu was not to be trusted and that if he could not be cured that Isbeil would have to be the one to execute her former husband. Isbeil Bruis agreed and with the Rangers and Howlers disappeared into the Great Forest.

Tani Taka led the restoration of the city from its battle-ravaged state to its former glory. Many of her people, the original refugees from Konagara, were invaluable in rebuilding the city. Mostly engineers and artisans, they took on the reconstruction with vigor. Their new home would be resplendent and more magnificent than its former glory. Tani Taka was selected an interim mayor of the City on the Lake.

It was upon the next full moon, that Isbeil Bruis returned with Kha Van Huu from the Great Forest. As promised, Kha Van was changed; he no longer seemed possessed by the Reaper. He fell to a knee and begged for forgiveness. Although he and everyone present knew, no amount of apology or reparation could undo the carnage he had committed while possessed. He hung his head in shame and told Tani that he would dedicate his life, whatever she saw fit to leave him, to the destruction of the evil energy that had once inhabited him. Tani told him his life was forfeit but that she would spend it as she saw fit. She nodded her thanks to Isbeil and sent Kha Van Huu into the night to fulfill his sworn mission.

Kha Van Huu would return months later with several others who had been possessed by the Reaper. And again, Isbeil Bruis would take them into the Great Forest and they would return after the next full moon, the evil removed from their eyes. After the third such successful mission, Tani Taka ordered one of the newly renovated government buildings to be given to Kha Van Huu and the Order he had created.

Seeing peace restored and prosperity return to their beloved city, the citizens of the City on the Lake held a general assembly to address the absconding of the mayor and his advisors. It was decided to create a head of state and elected, by near unanimous vote, Tani Taka as the queen of the city.

Under Tani Taka’s rule, the City on the Lake became known throughout Indagar as a neutral meeting ground between the various nations, having been established by an alliance by its people during their fight against the Cabal.

--Neil (talk) 19:24, 19 October 2016 (AST)