Chapter 1

***The First Exile***
*In the Words of Gol Golathanian, the Master-General*
You know perhaps the thrice-cursed name of Soliam Murr, the Emperor of Sahr, the first exile, and my Liege.
This chapter concerns him and those who found him in the Downside. Each of us was sent to take his life, such was the hatred for him in and around his country.

Yet, we found in Soliam Murr a man transformed, in body, mind, and spirit. A man deserving of much more than mercy.

In time he named us all his Scribes, and he became the eighth. It is my greatest honor now to share with you his deeds.

To know his story is to know the Rites...

***The Last Emperor***
*In the Words of Gol Golathanian, the Master-General*
How many nations did I scour in the name of Soliam Murr? How many countries fell before our spears and blades?

Such questions mattered less to me with every passing victory. Our legions swelled across the land, and our dominion grew.

The Emperor Soliam Murr paid all this little heed. He only tended to his personal affairs. Our legions relished the autonomy.

We did not know that the Emperor cared nothing for his legions, nor his people. He cared only for that which was before him.
One day, he learned of such a thing as to befit his name, and vowed to seek it out...

***The Rope-Caller***
*In the Words of Gol Golathanian, the Master-General*
I knew it was a fool's errand. But my liege, he would not listen. He instead insisted to pursue a certain treasure, a Celestial Orb! Freshly fallen from the heavens in the reaches of the Downside!

He would be a living legend, if only he could grasp it, whispered in his ear that Khaylmer Rope-Caller, his elder and most trusted aide. Would that I slew that man myself.

His was a simple and yet brilliant ruse, to draw the Emperor farther still from his responsibilities, and towards his greed.

Thus did the Emperor begin an expedition into the forsaken lands. He insisted that he go, himself...

***The Empire's Collapse***
*In the Words of Gol Golathanian, the Master-General*
It was not long before the Empire began to crumble. With my liege gone, his own country quickly turned upon itself.
I must admit that this collapse had started long before the Emperor's disappearance. His decision to give chase after a myth but hastened the inevitable.

All the while, the Rope-Caller stood by, awaiting such a time as he could rule in my liege's stead. He would be our people's savior!

His first charge was to organize a search for the missing Soliam Murr. Warriors, path-finders, and scholars heard the call, and prepared to seek him out...

***Down the River***
*In the Words of Gol Golathanian, the Master-General*
The Emperor Soliam Murr knew naught of this, of course. His expedition yielded not the treasure he desired, but brought him closer to his country than he had ever been before.

As he traveled down the River Sclorian in pursuit of greed, he found instead an inkling of shame. He saw the sunken faces of his people, heard their words for him. In time, he could not ignore it, and it proved more than he could bear.

The River finally claimed him, his belongings, and his retinue. Once the people heard, I understand they cried with joy.

Perhaps he ought have perished. But the mercy shown to him I think is what transformed him...

***The Hunt for Murr***
*In the Words of Gol Golathanian, the Master-General*
My Emperor lay there, bleeding and alone, stranded in a bitter land beyond the River. With fleeting consciousness he understood the folly of his quest, and the folly of his rule over his country. Thus did he await the last embrace.

It was the imp Ha'ub that nursed him back to health, and warned him often of the dangers he would have to face.

Many enemies of Murr would come in search for him, some under employment by the Rope-caller, some longing openly for cold, uncomplicated vengeance.

I was one of them. I plunged into the River willingly. We needed to be sure that he was dead...

***The Demon***
*In the Words of Gol Golathanian, the Master-General*
Emperor Murr... scarcely could I recognize him when at last I found him. A half-starved animal, horns sprouted from his head, a bestial mirror of his blackened reputation. And I, a man who conquered countries, feared my Emperor then in such a way as I had never known.

My charge had been to slay this man, but when I discovered him, he was already fighting for his life. The little imp, Ha'ub, proved of little help against the Sisters of the Arch, whose entire lives were culminating in this instant.
I was unable to watch. My heart ached with such pity for the man, and for the love I felt for him when I had served him, that I sprang to his defense...

### ***The Mercy Shown***

*In the Words of Gol Golathanian, the Master-General*

The imp Ha'ub and I, we helped to save my Emperor. And when the danger did subside, my Emperor Soliam Murr, he said something to me, which shook me to the essence of my being.

He said: 'You gave your freedom, Master Golathanian, so that I may yet have mine.'

'You, too, now are an exile of the Downside. In all the days which I have left, I never could repay the mercy you have shown me. So, if I cannot do so in this life, then I shall do it in the next.'

We crossed the land together. And, together with the imp, we gained the company of those who saw in him what I did…