Scarlet Chorus

The **Scarlet Chorus** are one of Kyros' many armies. Savage, primal, and ever shifting, the Chorus is one of the fiercest fighting forces in the world of Terratus.

## Background

The largest of Kyros’ forces is the loose collective of the Scarlet Chorus -- more a crazed horde than an orderly army. Led by the enigmatic Voices of Nerat, the Archon of Secrets, the Scarlet Chorus enforce the will of Kyros through sheer unstoppable fury and overwhelming numbers. Though the Chorus dates back more than a century - certainly to the time when Graven Ashe was fighting a hopeless war against Kyros, which is when he managed to almost destroy Nerat's army - it has no traditions like the Disfavored, constantly shifting, changing, and reinventing itself as it takes devastating casualties in battle, replenished with the bodies of conscripts and prisoners of war.

Nerat originally formed the Chorus in the earliest days of its (then *his*) ascension to power, cobbling it together from miscreants from freshly-conquered territories. Its size grew as Kyros expanded her great Empire, with Nerat tasked with subduing resistance. Those who opposed Kyros' Peace were brought to heel and given a choice: Serve Nerat or die.

## Organization

The Chorus is loosely organized into gangs led by bosses, with Voices of Nerat and his gang of Crimson Spears sitting at the top of the hierarchy (or the center of the web, like fat spiders). Bosses are anyone who commands enough respect to kill the previous boss or peel away enough Choirmen to form his own. Bosses constantly appear and disappear, consistent with the philosophy of natural selection that underlies its organization. In short: Leadership within the Scarlet Chorus is simply a matter of outlasting or usurping one’s superiors, and most do not get the chance to try.

Notably, when you are conscripted into the Chorus, it takes your name away. Whoever you were before, you aren't that person anymore. Then you earn back a name through great deeds - typically murderous ones. If someone has a distinct name, they have earned it.

### Laws

The Voices of Nerat keeps his horde in check by playing up petty rivalries and promoting a sort of Darwinian struggle. His laws are basic and mostly intuitive. The most important are:

* **Take What You Want, But Keep What You Take**: Whatever you can keep for yourself is yours for the taking. If you are strong, you will be able to keep it.
* **The Strong Lead, the Weak Serve**: Self-explanatory. This law forms the basis of the entire power structure of the Chorus, as all members - conscript and slave - are free to elevate their rank or make it up, as long as they have the requisite strength to do so. Nerat never granted a promotion in the history of the Chorus, all of its officers came to it that way.

### Training

For new recruits shoved to the front lines, 'training' means surviving the first battle. Anything beyond that is reserved for fighters who show potential, whether as martial experts or arcane casters. Those found worthy are put into rigorous training programs with zero margins of error. For example, Scarlet Furies are put through brutal training where a mistake brings death, while Blood Chanters are taught to harness blood and pain to fuel their abilities.

### Recruitment

When the Scarlet Chorus conscripts a village, they hold a ceremony known as 'the culling'. Every able-bodied man, woman, and child is given a weapon and forced to fight their family and friends to the death. Those who survive are deemed strong enough - and free from old ties - to join the army of the Voices of Nerat, where they're given a chance to earn a name, a weapon, and some semblance of a future. Similarly, when the Scarlet Chorus overtakes an enemy, the survivors are given the choice to join their ranks or perish -- leaving the Chorus mostly populated by those desperate or insane enough to accept the offer.

### Units

It should be noted that Voices of Nerat claims that conscripts can "Make up titles for themselves-if they can defend it" So these roles and ranks appear to be ever changing.

* **Horde**: The unwashed, undisciplined, unskilled masses of the Scarlet Chorus are known as the Horde. The only advantage these "soldiers" possess is their overwhelming numbers.
* **Scarlet Furies**: The highly skilled 'special forces' of the Scarlet Chorus, Furies are trained to ignore pain and crippling wounds in order to achieve their goals. Scarlet Furies use a spinning, acrobatic attack style incorporating dual wielded blades to confuse and disorient their foes.
* **Blood Hounds**: Blood Hounds are apprentice mages who are unable to properly harness arcane energy through sigils. Instead they channel magic directly - a dangerous practice commonly called "the Bleed". This pure magical energy is deadly to both themselves and their enemies.
* **Crimson Spears**: The Crimson Spears are the personal gang of the Voices of Nerat. These top enforcers of the Chorus answer only to the Archon of Secrets and all gang members must follow their orders as if they were the words of the Archon of Secrets himself.
* **Blood Chanters**: The Blood Chanters are the Scarlet Chorus' magical corps. Using fire magic stolen from the conquered School of Wild Wrath, and spells of fear and frenzy based on the study of Sirin, Archon of Song, the Blood Chanters practice a violent and visceral brand of magic.

## Interactions

In non-Chorus paths, the Chorus is your main enemy in the Stone Sea and Burning Library; Jagged Remedy's gang is encountered in Trapper's Junction.

### Reputation

Favor
* The Chorus enjoys irreverence, attitude, and lack of respect for conventional ways.
* Favoring the Scarlet Chorus during the Conquest will naturally make its members and their Archon predisposed towards the Fatebinder:
	+ Grant control of Lethian's Crossing to the **Scarlet Chorus**.
	+ Send the captured Stalwart commander to the Voices of Nerat.
	+ Do not punish the Chorus for poisoning Disfavored soldiers by accident.
	+ Meet with the Vellum Citadel Sages and give them time to prepare before proclaiming Kyros' Edict of Fire.
	+ Give warning to the people of Stalwart before proclaiming Kyros' Edict of Storms.
* Quests:
	+ Choose to fight alongside the Chours at Vendrien's Well.
* Interactions:
	+ Extort Kosma at Edgering Ruins, but only to give you a discount.
	+ Spare Tarkis Demos at the ruins after the battle.
	+ Intimidate the Horde guard at the entrance to the Scarlet Chorus camp.
	+ Threaten Death Knell at the Scarlet Chorus camp.

Wrath
* During Conquest:
	+ Grant control of Lethian's Crossing to the Disfavored.
	+ Sacrifice the **Scarlet Chorus** army at Plainsgate in order to buy time for you to proclaim the Edict of Stone against Cairn.
* Interactions:
	+ Order the execution of Halfways-Dead at Iron Hearth.
	+ While determining the fate of the captured guardsmen at Cacophony, order them to be executed.
	+ At Cacophony, grant half the cache to Requiem while pocketing the other half, or order the cache to be destroyed.
* Quests:
	+ Refuse to compete in a trial by combat at the Scarlet Chorus camp to save Lantry.
	+ Side with Graven Ashe during Assault on the Citadel.

## List of gangs

* **Crimson Spears** (Voices of Nerat)
* Filthy Lambs (Tipcap)
* Rusted Harps (Locks
* Bone Boys (Sharp)
* Hairy Hunters (Waterwheel)
* Lazy Malkis (Hauls-for-Shit)
* Ladies of Perpetual Strangulation (Scurvy Queen, Finger Food, Wild Gash)

## Behind the scenes

* The visual design of the Horde and Blood Chanters was created by Polina Hristova.

## References

1. ↑ Verse
2. ↑ Verse
3. ↑ Verse
4. ↑ Encyclopedia