This story takes place previous to the campaign the Curse of the Blessed Isle and is written by Lord Stone.
The sound of hammers on anvils sounded through the blacksmith like any other day. Over a hundred slaves working on swords for the Realm’s legions under the watchful eye of the head blacksmith and his guards. The blacksmith was a cruel man, which also showed in the supervisors he hired.
When he was a child, Saraj had been captured along with the rest of his tribe. He was sold to the Realm who decided he would become a blacksmith. His story probably wasn’t much different from those of the men working here with him. Saraj didn’t really mind the job he was assigned to though; blacksmithing came natural to him. Being an enslaved man was what he didn’t agree with.
Today, this would all change though. Today was the day they were going to escape from this wretched hellhole. The plan was starting to get in motion, as the hammering started to get more and more synchronized. Within a few moments moment, the hall was not anymore filled with random hammering, but instead all their strikes landed simultaneously.
The guards were getting nervous. Of course, this was the whole idea behind this whole psychological game. Several of them were talking to each other in small groups, probably trying to make sense out of this phenomenon.
“YOU WILL STOP THIS AT ONCE!” their supervisor suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs. The strikes on the anvil interrupted him though, overpowering his voice. And they continued as planned.
He stepped into the blacksmith and grabbed one of the slaves’ arms. “STOP WORKING AT ONCE!” he ordered.
Obediently, Saraj stopped… and everybody followed his example. Suddenly, there was an eerie silence in the blacksmith; only the crackling of the many fires could be heard. It was never this silent. There was always working, day and night, so there was never an end to the sound of the hammers.
“You… return to your smithing,” he said to one of the slaves. Saraj nodded slightly at him, and the man returned to his work.
“Okay…” he walked to the next man. “You… start working normally. I don’t want to hear you hammering at the same time as your friend this time.
Saraj had counted on an action like this. The other slave started hammering perfectly out of sync with the first man. Neither the supervisor nor the guards seemed to notice this yet. He moved on to the third one and repeated the process, who hammered right between the first two. After four men, there was a perfect sequence of four repeating strikes.
When the fifth and the sixth slave started to get in sync with the first two, the supervisor seemed to notice. Saraj smiled confidently.
“STOP!” And they did.
“So, you want to play it that way?! All of you, go back to your work. Anybody who tries something funny again will get a serious whipping!”
The hammers started falling on the anvils again, but within a minute everybody was in sync with Saraj once again.
“OKAY! THAT'S IT!” He instructed the guards to get out the whips and start punishing the slaves. Exactly the moment Saraj had been waiting for; it was time to break free. His hammer struck the sword for one last time; the next strike was aimed at the head of the guard coming for him instead. His skull emitted an audible crack, but at the same time something changed in Saraj. His fellow slaves and the guards stared at him alike, but the chaos swiftly proceeded as more men attempted to overpower the many guards. Without hesitation, Saraj made his way towards the supervisor; and found that a new power he had just obtained made killing the man much easier.
When most of the guards had fallen, Saraj started leading the other slaves out of the blacksmith. A clear golden light emitted from him, and he realized what had happened. As the mastermind behind this plan, he was now a Chosen of the Unconquered Sun. Or, as the Realm would unjustly call them, one of the Anathema.
* * * * *
The escape had been utter chaos, but fortunately no Dragonblooded had a chance to interfere before the group was gone. They were not traveling towards Arjuf, where Saraj hoped to find a chance to sail away from the Realm. The slaves had all followed him, despite him being an Anathema. Saraj figured that escaped slaves of the Realm had little love for their stories, and gladly followed one of the Realm's dreaded enemies if that meant they would find freedom.
Saraj understood though… that he was not the kind of demon the Realm thought he was. He was a savior for these people, a hero. Without his help, they would all have been caught by now, but instead he managed to strike down all those who had opposed them. He only hoped he would not face one of the Dragonblooded.
Saraj entered the city with ten other men and women. It was about the most he could bring with him without drawing too much attention, Saraj figured. The rest would swim towards the ship they'd commandeer.
Arjuf was a very busy city, and Saraj was starting to wonder whether they could pull this off. If he showed his Solar nature in this city, the Dragonblooded would come for certain, so somehow he'd have to do this with only limited access to his newfound powers.
“Good day, traveler,” a man said, and started walking next to him. Saraj looked at him suspiciously.
“Who might you be?” Saraj asked.
“The name's Anan. I'm a friend, you could say. You're not safe here, and you know it.” The man spoke in a low, whispering voice.
“I don't know what you're talking about,” Saraj said. “Please leave me and my friends be.”
“I'm from a group called the Cult of the Illuminated,” Anan said. “You do realize what that means right? You might have heard about them… but there is more to them than just a name.”
Saraj trusted nobody on this wretched continent… but something told him this man would help him get out of here. But could he risk acting on a gut feeling? Still, without any help this plan would probably be impossible to pull off to begin with.
“Talk,” he said.
“There is a ship, belonging to the Red Vipers. You will seriously piss off their Dragonblooded strategos if you take it, but the plus side is that this ship is ready to sail. If you act quickly and dispose of the guards, I can help you with a quick retreat. I’ll get the ship out on the water faster than you could hope for.”
“Why would you do this?” Saraj asked.
“Well, for one… while I'm not going to prove it here, as you will understand, the two of us are one of a kind. You will have to trust me on that one. We are not many, so it's important we help each other whenever possible. Secondly, I have a strong dislike for the Red Vipers, and especially their strategos.”
It was a risk. Pissing off a Dragonblooded would earn him more attention than he cared for. And he still wasn't certain whether trusting this man was a good idea. But a ship ready to sail was far more than he could hope for, and almost a guaranteed ticket out of here.
“Fine, show me.”
Anan walked ahead, and Saraj signaled his friends to follow him. One of them had some doubt about this ordeal as well, but Saraj reminded him about the kind of chances they had here. This might be their only opportunity to get off the Blessed Isle in a long time.
In the harbor there was indeed a ship all ready to sail. There were some guards with the ship, but by the looks of it they were all mortal.
“How many Dragonblooded are with this ship?” Saraj asked Anan.
“Only the Viper herself. This is her personal ship and her officers are currently out of town.”
Saraj grinned. Although dangerous, the look on that Dragonblooded's face when he'd sail away with her own ship would be priceless.
“There's no time to delay. You take care of any resistance we face, and I'll sail the boat out of the harbor for you. Once we’ve picked up your friends you’re on your own though; I’m staying on the Blessed Isle.”
“You’re staying? You must be out of your mind. It’s your choice though, so work your magic.” Saraj wondered though how this man had found out so much about their movements. How did he even know about the men that were waiting for him?
Anan had not exaggerated about his skills at all. It was as if the spirit of the ship listened to his very command; the ship turned and started moving out of the harbor as if it were a toy boat being moved around by hand. It didn't take long before a Dragonblooded woman in black Jade armor rushed out of the local tavern.
She didn't waste any words, but jumped right on to the leaving ship. A leap no mortal would have been able to make.
“Stealing my ship, ey? You're far out of your league boy. You'll regret this when I dump your guts into the sea.” She struck with her black Jade daiklave, but much to her surprise Saraj knocked the large blade aside with his axe with little effort.
“Maybe it's you who's out of her league,” Saraj said, and struck. She parried as well though.
They exchanged a few strikes, but it didn't take long before the woman was surrounded. One of Saraj's fellow ex-slaves grabbed the woman from behind, allowing Saraj to strike right past her defense. His axe dug into her side; a blow that would have killed a mortal, but not her. His friends all piled on her, but she broke free rather violently and threw her first assailant right overboard.
“You'll regret this one day, Anathema,” she said, and jumped overboard herself. He had almost jumped after her to finish her off, but Anan stopped him.
“She's water aspected. Go after her, and you'll die for sure. It might have been better had you now shown off your caste mark at her.”
Saraj was rather new to this whole using Essence thing, and realized he had made the mistake of tapping ever so slightly into his peripheral pool. While he wasn't shining with the light of the Unconquered Sun just yet, the mark on his forehead had revealed his nature to her.
* * * * *
For almost ten years, Saraj lived a peaceful life in a little town at the edge of Creation. He was their smith and protector, keeping the village safe from the Fair Folk. He learned that there were quite a few Exalted so close to the Wyld. While the Solar Exalted were frequently hunted as Anathema, the Lunar Exalted had fled to the edges of Creation, out of the reach of their hunters. These Exalted rarely showed their true face at Creation, but they sought him out on a frequent basis after they learned he was Exalted himself. His reply was always the same though. He was content in protecting this region against the Fair Folk, giving folk living in such dangerous areas a chance to grow into a powerful civilization. The Lunars who visited didn't seem all that happy about the position he had taken, but barbarian raids were never an issue, and Saraj guessed they had something to do with this.
All was good until that horrible day. Saraj returned home after having paid a visit to a Fair Folk who kidnapped people from the region. Creation had one less of those wretched creatures now, but that was not the problem of this day. When he returned, he found a scene he had seen in his nightmare several times. That woman… he'd never forget her. The Viper.
“Deliver him to me, or I'll burn this entire village to the ground,” she proclaimed. She had taken down several villagers already. Kids were crying, and men and women alike cowering back in fear. This time, she was not alone either. At least eight other Dragonblooded accompanied her. None had spotted him entering yet, and Saraj stayed hidden from their sight.
“That's his wife and children,” one man said to her, pointing at his family. The traitor! To believe he had risked his life protecting them all, only to be betrayed by one of their own. Saraj kept his temper though, he was only one men. But now, his family was in danger. They were being dragged out and held at sword point. Saraj could think of nothing to stop her.
“I give myself up, Viper! Just let my family and friends alone!” He walked out of the alley he had been hiding in, onto the town square.
She looked around at him, and grinned. “Finally I found you, Anathema. You've hidden well.”
“Not well enough, it seems.” He kept approaching… anything to keep his wife and children safe. He could always make an attempt to break free after they left the city.
“Chain him,” she ordered, and two other Dragonblooded approached him. They put black Jade shackles around his wrist, and he felt his power sinking out of his body the moment they were closed.
“You're a fool to think I'd let a city full of Anathema friends just live. Kill them all, starting with his family.”
“NO!” Saraj shouted, but his wife and children were put to the sword before he could do anything. One Fire Aspected Dragonblooded started tossing fireballs into the houses, and soldiers started capturing and slaying the villagers.
“You! You said you'd let us all go, and reward us!” the traitor said to her.
“Did you really think we'd reward you people, who have knowingly hidden an Anathema for nearly ten years? Think again!” As a 'reward' the Viper personally sliced his head off with her sword.
Saraj desperately tried to get loose, but with is power draining and his wrists in shackles, there was little he could do. Everything was a haze until suddenly several golden and silver anima banners flared up, and a force of powerful cavalry rushed into the village. Many of the Realm's soldiers fell as a result of the surprise.
A Solar with the Night Caste symbol on her forehead approached him. She barely touched his shackles and they fell off his wrists in an instant. She was all dressed in black, and hooded as well, but Saraj got a minor glimpse of her face before she disappeared again.
Saraj summoned his axe to his hand and charged towards the Viper. Anger filled him; revenge was the only thing he could think of. Those shackles had cost him some of his powers, but he was still a dangerous opponent.
“I still have the scar from the wound you gave me, Anathema,” she said as she raised her blade. “Don’t think things will be so easy this time though. Your friends are too occupied to be helping you now.”
The fight was rather one sided this time around. Water was flowing around her form and her blade, and Saraj soon found himself nearly drowning despite being on dry land.
When he was nearly defeated, a Solar Exalt riding a black horse approached them and assaulted the Viper with his dire lance. Now facing two opponents, the Viper decided to withdraw with the remains of her troops.
“Who are you?” Saraj asked.
“The name's Deadalus. Our friend, Anan, told us about you. We knew you wanted to be left along, but when we heard about the Red Vipers coming your way we had to move. I'm very sorry we were too late to prevent this all to begin with.” The woman who had released him approached as well. When she pulled back her hood he realized how much she resembled his wife.
“We have to chase her. A monster like herself shouldn’t be allowed to simply walk around like that.”
“We can’t. Her retreat was but a momentary victory, but she’s got more troops and officers nearby.”
“I know how you feel,” the woman added. “She was my sister… but Deadalus is right. We need to regroup.”
Saraj cursed inaudibly. “It's all my damned fault. I should have realized the Realm would never let me live in peace, being an Anathema and all.”
“About that…” Deadalus said. “How would you feel about changing the world with us and our companions?”
